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Hi everyone... just a post to say that I haven't forgotten about you and that I'm doing really well! I don't seem to find the time to write, but now that I'm on vacation (or I will be as of tomorrow at noon) I should get around to playing catch up in the next couple of days. In short, since my last post I have:

• Seen Versaille and seen the cemitary 'Pere Lachaise' where the tombs of Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison and Balzac can be found, among others.
• Spent a week skiing in the Alps with a school trip, where I not only made new friends but also really improved my skiing ability. The Alps are truly magnificent.
• Playing in my first rugby match. We won 3/4 of the games we played.
• Spent a week at school
• Tried my first kebab (this is not a shish kebab, but rather a form of street food sold all over the place here, which is basically a grilled bun stuffed with meat. It was good)

In less good news, last week while we were in the mountains we got some really sad news from our friends at home at school. One student was stabbed by another in the parking lot, and died as a result. It was apparently the tragic end of a deal gone wrong. This is the first time that something like that has happened at this school and so the entire student body and administration was in shock for the days following. So please try to keep the victim, who would have turned 18 a few days after his death, as well as his attacker, who is an 18-year-old looking at 30 years in prison, in your thoughts. I didn't know them, but thinking of their families makes me realize that no matter where in the world, really tragic things can and do happen.