the movers

ok, so since yesterday, movers have been all over my father's house. and i've been here to help supervising and listing. not exactly fun. and, although i didn't actually lift a thing, or pack, or anything more strenous than going up and down the stairs more than i care to think of, i was absolutely exhausted when they left at 7pm. i could have gone to bed there and then. except my bed, of course, was not here, but in my own flat.

so, after a quick dinner with my father, we headed back to my place (to drop off some stuff). but first, it turned out they'd packed my shoes. just great. and yes, i have others, and yes, my father will find them and mail them back to me next week but they are my only waterproof pair, and it currently rains a fair bit over here.

anyway, the movers are back today (and will be on Monday and probably Tuesday) and they'd barely arrived that the packing started again. another amazing day looking at my childhood home emptying out...

pancake day

i'm a week early, but i won't have time next Tuesday, so i decided to make pancakes tonight. i invited a few friends to share them, and 6 became 9, who became 8, then 6, then 5 (which happens when people have jobs with strange bosses). in the end, we were 4. it was really nice. we ate lots of pancakes smothered in either sugar & lemon juice, chocolate ice-cream, or rhubarb jam. and my friends got to see the new flat, which they were really eager to, seen as i've been talking about nothing else for months!

housewarming next week.

the nicest compliment

so, tonight was my dad's farewell do. i saw people i hadn't seen since i was a teenager. some of those were my mother's old colleagues. one of them had had breast cancer before my mom got it the first time. and she said that i looked more and more like my mother, not only in looks but obviously also in spirit. the others agreed, and it was really nice, cos there is nothing that could make me happier.

blowing off steam

got a new student yesterday. the school manager assured me this woman could speak really well but had a poor knowledge of grammar. the latter part is very true. as for speaking very well... it is totally not. at least not in class. maybe she speaks 'good' English in her university (where everything takes place in English, but that's somewhere in Africa so i'm suspecting it could be some kind of pigdin English, cos it makes no sense at all), but in my class she can't even produce one correct sentence. not one. not without huge amounts of help from me or the other students. and as this is an exam class (i'm preparing them for the First Certificate), and the general level is good, this is a huge problem. but the school manager is not around right now, so we can't do anything until Monday. but let's face it, she doesn't even know you need the auxiliary 'do' to make a question (as in, 'Do you work?'), and here i am explaining the finer subtleties of 'could' and 'may' as modals of certainty and possibility. and tomorrow, we're practising the speaking test! i don't even want to think about it... it's going to be a nightmare... blood everywhere. i can feel it now, i'm going to hate tomorrow's lesson.

skiing

finally, i made it to the slopes this morning. i was at the top at 9.15, and there were very few people in sight. some of the runs hadn't even opened yet (as i found out). the weather was gorgeous, the snow was amazing. it was really good. hopefully, i'll have a little more time to go skiing from now on, although my wallet might not agree. but i can't wait for the next time!

things i miss - part 4

i really miss having a paper to flick through every day. i know i could just go and buy one, but it's not like i really read them. i read the headlines, the comics, maybe an article if it looks interesting... but suddenly, i feel so out of touch with the world. i'll have to spend more time on the BBCworld news website.

running into love

i'd like to refer everyone who knows Tokyo, and everyone who's even a tad romantic, to my friend's blog: www.skootie.blogspot.com. on the 1st of Feb, she posted an amazing picture...

gingerbread

i love gingerbread. the best way to eat it is to butter it up. then it's yum-my...