31 on the 31st

only happens once in a lifetime!

more seriously, so far i got to wake up later, start work later, not work that much, do some shopping, get flowers, get loads of messages from friends (one could even be a love letter, if i wasn't written by one of my very best friends - i'm a girl, she's a girl, and we're not really that way inclined), and wow, it's a bit overwhelming! tonight i'm having dinner with my father, who took a little side-trip to see me on his way back from Denmark and all i all, it's a pretty fabulous day!

frosty

it's a shame i don't have a picture of this, but this morning, everything was totally covered in frost. it was amazing to look at: all the trees were wearing a white gown. everything was similarly magically transformed. it was gorgeous. if a bit nippy...

ashing

i was re-reading Edding's Belgariad and at one point, the heroes are in a city that is being covered in ash from the eruption of a far-away volcano. it reminded me of living in Kagoshima.

it didn't happen often and in fact, i missed most of it by always being indoors when it happened, but Sakurajima, our local active volcano, sometimes spewed up ash. students would walk in covered in it, and you'd get out of work and see a layer of it on the ground. it was also the reason why you couldn't just hang up your laundry outside and go to work, as you might have to wash it all again once you got home...

once, having blatantly missed quite a few of these occurrences, i ended up opening the non-see-through window to get a look at this weird phenomenon. it was like grey snow. weightless. minus the chill, obviously.

snow!

after weeks of waiting for it, it finally came last night. it started slow, but we had been warned about it going wild overnight, so it's weird that lots of people still managed not to get the point until they were on the icy roads with their non-snow-tired cars.

i took the earlier bus, across the street, knowing what chaos there would be in Geneva (they got rid of all their snowploughs a few years ago, as it hadn't snowed in ten years - guess what happened as of the very next winter?). if i'd walked my usual twenty minutes to my usual bus stop, i would have caught the bus before that. we're talking 2 kms here... anyway, i got to work on time (simply because i'm always way early), as person number 2 after the boss. some people never made it out of home, seeing as they live really far out in the countryside, or even in the mountains. one of my colleagues actually ended up in a ditch. she's ok but her car probably isn't... and she lives nearly two hours away...

3rd person

recently, i've taken up this habit of talking about myself in the third person. i have no idea why. but there i'll be, talking to a friend, and suddenly saying 'Super M.'s had fever for a few days now', 'Super M. has done it again', etc. i think i use it mainly to report stupid things i've done. not that i've thought much about it. i hadn't even noticed until Tinkie pointed it out a few weeks ago. but then i did it quite a lot this evening. i'm definitely weird...

return of the karaoke queen!

well, kind of.

not being anywhere near Japan, the conditions were not as good, but a lot better than i'd expected. in the end, i didn't get to sing cos there were already too many people in the bar that had signed up and after 2 hours, i had to leave (the fever was back and i was really tired). but my friends and i sang background vocals for the people (known or unknown) who were singing - although 'background' might be pushing it, when you consider that we were often singing a lot louder (and sometimes better) than the singers themselves! nonetheless, it was great fun, and the spirit of karaoke lives!!!

skills coach

my new title. on top of being a teacher, i mean. it's really the first time i have a title (apart from the times i worked as an assistant). this could be the time to get a business card...

the return of Super M.

after a month of cancelling pretty much all my evening plans due to my illness, yesterday marked my return on the scene of having a life.it was so nice!

i went to our usual bar after my last class and met up with lots of friends. some i hadn't seen in over a month! as usual, time was short and i left before everyone, but i also really needed to, as i'd only stopped the antibiotics that morning. after that, though, i had the fullest night's sleep in 3 weeks. and that was amazing!

our amazing universe

if you're into looking at our universe, check out these amazing pictures from the Hubble telescope:

http://tinyurl.com/ybxvo5

the sombrero galaxy

Will Smith on French tv

there is this talk show that i watch, sometimes. there's the host and a regular 6 'assistants', who talk about everything new or current (movies, politics, events...). they normally have 2-3 relevant guests for each show.

the other day, they were talking about Will Smith's new movie, and so he and the director were invited. and it was great. the assistants asked their pointed (or rather, provoking) questions, and Will Smith not only answered, but put such passion into it that you couldn't help but admire him. then one of the assistants had prepared a small 'sketch' to do with Will Smith: while the director pretended to be directing, the two had to act out this thing where they were best friends and dying, and Will Smith told his friend that he was much better, deserved to live and should leave him to die because the friend was the hero and still had loads of people to save. it was hilarious! and at the end, Will Smith even cried to add the the act. everyone was impressed. he made everyone feel like they were old friends and did his very best to make everyone comfortable. when he left, he got a standing ovation, which i'd never seen happen. all i can say is, well done Mr. Smith, for humouring the French!

deep sleep

some people, when sick, take the day off. it's altogether better for them. some people, like me, don't, which is altogether worse for everyone. yesterday morning, i had to see my face in the mirror before i realised that this was one day i had to stay home, or it was probably going to end badly (say, in the hospital).

so once i'd called the school to let them know i wasn't coming in, i went back to bed, and slept an amazing uninterrupted four and a half hours - something i hadn't done for a good week. the uniterrupted part, i mean. when i woke up, i felt a hell of a lot better, and while i'm not in top form today, there is improvement. and yes, i was back at work.

it stops at 3

the first two days of the year having been so wonderful, i was delighted to have luck stick with me on day 3, as i found myself a pair of skis - meaning, a woman who'd just bought a new pair was throwing her old skis out, leaving them in the street for the rubbish collectors. whilst a bit old, there was nothing wrong with them, so that makes me the proud owner of a 'new' pair.

however, i knew it couldn't last, and how right i was! after having felt reasonably fine since Saturday, and even stopping the medicine on Sunday, things started getting worse yesterday (i started working again - psychosomatic?), and today, boy is it bad. so i took advantage of my second prescription (when i'd seen the doctor, she'd given me 3 prescriptions - one for 'then', the second one if it didn't work, and the third one of the second one didn't work) and got loaded with antibiotics. to the tune of over 80 euros! bloody hell! they'd better work, is all i have to say...

day 2

...was just as good as day 1.

i'd invited a few friends over for dinner. the catch, as it turned out, was getting home in time to meet them! what happened was that i'd finally got to see a movie (The Holiday, which was great, as romantic movies go), but it had started a bit late and, admittedly, i'd set the dinner time right after it, so it was a close call from the beginning. luckily, i bumped into friend number one, who'd got off at the wrong bus stop, in the street on the way home, and as we were talking quite loudly, reassured friend number 2, who was actually on time too and not understanding why i wasn't answering the door, that neither he nor i had gone crazy in that he didn't get it wrong and i hadn't given him wrong information. i hadn't even got around to getting people drinks when friend number 3 called to say he'd arrived and why wasn't my doorbell working. my sister walked in about ten minutes later.

after that, we ate and drank and basically had a good time. this really is a good start to the year!

1st day of the year

so, having got home quite late (or early, depending on how you see it) in the night that changed 2006 into 2007, i naturally got up quite late after that. despite my best efforts, i didn't actually achieve anything after that, which is ok, really, cos let's face it, i was still dead.

and then i was invited to a fondue dinner at a friend's place. saw friends i hadn't seen in a while (say, since March last year!), met new people (who, incredibly enough were related to old classmates), and happily gobbled down about 200gr of melted cheese, topped off by lemon sorbet. and some chocolate.

if this is a preview of things to come, i can only say 2007 looks mighty fine...

New Year's Eve

had a great time last night!

first we had dinner at T.'s. salmon, lobster, caviar, foie gras and various other goodies, and of course, champagne! we ate loads of food and drank quite a lot. then we moved on to a party. it was the first time i actually did the count down with loads of people. hugged or kissed friends under a rain of small pieces of paper. it was nice. danced a lot (at least until poor ventilation killed my eyesight), and only got home at about 6am... a good night.

happy new year to everyone!