Blaess writes that she had delayed writing to her parents as she been hopeful that she would in fact make it to England. The bureau for the English visas had said initially that they would grant her one if she presented her French visa. And yet when she went to collect this it was declared impossible as they would have to wait a further ten days, and kept delaying her. Blaess also describes the mounting pressure put upon her to leave the country by others, but that even if she wanted to this is impossible, so she is going to the countryside (Orgeval) instead for Christmas. She also details the presents she gathered for her parents including photos of herself from the photo booth for her mother as she had to take several for her visa, and she bought post stamps for her dad, sweets for Yolande, her aunt, her godfather and Mémé. This cost her a lot but she is confident her Aunt is going to give her 200 francs for Christmas so she can have more money. She also mentions her wish to change rooms at her boarding house, to save money and avoid nosy looks. She then recounts her encounters in Orgeval with soldiers: she saw barbed wire, a bayonet, then came face to face with a soldier hiding. She and Yolande then saw a lot of soldiers around the farm. She asks for her parents to send a book for a friend of hers learning the same language as well. She finally moved rooms and describes it (her new room is less colourful so she likes it better).