perfect timing

had just sent off an email to a dear friend of mine in the States, and what perfect timing that was! he got the email, was online, thought i'd probably be on Skype and called me. it was great. we hadn't actually talked since we'd last met up in Japan nearly more than 3 years ago. it was great to catch up (especially as he's now the father of a cute 4-month-old baby), and to see him too. unfortunately, while my webcam works, Skype doesn't seem to recognise it anymore, so he couldn't see me, but what the hell. we spent over an hour talking about everything - it was so much fun!

accidents

i was walking back from lunch by the lake yesterday when i saw this motorbike drive straight into the stopped car in front of it. the guy wasn't even wearing a helmet. he seemed unharmed, although he spent the first couple of minutes holding his head in his hands, but he said he was ok, after which he pulled out his mobile phone and called someone, presumably (couldn't understand the language) to explain he wouldn't be on time. he seemed unconcerned about the fact that 4 complete strangers were trying to make sure he was all right, so after a while, we all left.

then today, i was walking home from work when i saw this kid - 5 years old, i'm guessing - riding a bike on the path. i thought he was doing a really good job, keeping his balance while not at all looking in the direction he was riding (turned out he has wheels on the side, too). but i could also see that he was heading straight for the ditch. i was about to call out to him to pay attention when he saw it himself. he tried to stop but had too much momentum so he ended up in the water at the bottom and started crying. i got him out (well, i got him to come out, seen as he was apparently unhurt, just shocked, and i was wearing heels so not in the best position to actually get him out - although i would of course not have cared if he'd been seriously hurt!) and tried to calm him down, but all he could say was, i kid you not, 'i want my bike!'. all the while, only one of his friends had come to check up on him and insisted i checked him for leeches. eventually, the mother turned up, although you wouldn't have guessed from the fact that she didn't seem too worried - i actually had to ask her if she knew the kid before checking it was all right for me to leave...

it's hot!

it's certainly been a hot weekend! hot and somewhat humid. just what i like. i feel like i'm in Japan... less than 2 months to go before i go back. this has just made me miss it more!

early morning

day off, today. was shattered from the beginning of the week, the heat, and standing up in heels for too long, so ideally, i would have slept till noon. however, the pool would only be open from 9 to 12, ditto the supermarket, and i was possibly meeting friends for lunch in town, so i was up early. it was so nice to walk to the pool in the already warm morning with no traffic noise. got to the pool at 9.05 and there, another nice surprise: no kids yet, so no screaming of any kind. complete silence, in fact, as the only people there were serious swimmers like me. it really makes it all completely different. after that, supermarket. again, pretty empty, not a lot of noise. nearly peaceful. a dream morning.

tamil demo 2

there have been a number of Tamil demos in front of the UN these last few weeks. especially at the beginning, there was huge security around them, but i guess that the relative calm they had all taken place in lulled the police into a false sense of security. so today, obviously, after the news that the leader of the rebel movement had been killed, the Tamil demonstrators were very unhappy. the few riot policemen who were actually there were not having a good time, from what i saw from the bus. and that was just a little scary, cos we saw it from behind the policemen, and those people were really angry...

week 2: the easy week

well, it was supposed to be. once i'd finally managed to answer all my colleague's questions about the instructions i'd given her, the only thing i had to take care of was organising the oral placement tests for the prospective students. the person i was trying to contact didn't seem all too keen on replying, so if i got anything out of her, i'd at the most be able to set up a time and place before my boss and supervisor were back from London. not too complicated.

then came Wednesday.

basically, we (C., the only other person in charge and me) suddenly had to organise cover for a teacher who'd spent the night and day in hospital. she was supposed to come out that evening, but as i pointed out, would she really be up to teaching on the following day after a miscarriage? i didn't think so. we managed to sort out the problem and find teachers to replace all her lessons until the end of term and as i was one of them, i'd spent over an hour finding material for a class i had no information whatsoever on, only to find out half an hour before leaving to teach said classes that she was adamant she could teach. however, the boss wasn't too happy about this so i had to brief the replacement i'd found for her other classes on the possibility of cover being needed or not and what the options were.

at the same time, i'd finally managed to get a hold of my contact person at the other company and had been so relieved to finally get a hold of her that i set up the best appointment ever - on Tuesday, the only day every single prospective student would be at work and at a time where i had no lessons - only to remember 10 minutes later that i actually had an AGM to attend on that particular day; a meeting that had been set up in April, around my schedule as this was the only evening of the week i didn't teach. great. went back to C. to see what she'd recommend and found a solution. thank god she was around this week, is all i can say!

arghhhhhhh!

i can't believe this! i've been trying to get a tour of CERN for years, but since the LHC was started up (and since, during the repairs), it's apparently been impossible to go down there. and then, last week, i found out that the radio was running a competition to visit one of the experiments at CERN in connection with the release of Angels and Demons. so for the first time of my life, i actually participated. the visit was to take place either on the 15th or the 16th. but of course, the email informing me that i'd WON 2 tickets for tonight went straight to my spam box and i've only just received it. i sent an email asking if it was possible to go tomorrow instead, but i have little hope...

an eye opener on men

at a time where i was having trouble figuring out what a guy wanted (or didn't want) from me, one of my male friends sent me this explanation, which i think is hilarious and quite true for some men. i thought i'd share it in case other women out there are in a situation where it seems men make no sense:

"Men (boys) write emails [...] or say things completely flirtatious to someone, because it usually provokes some kind of response, and when men get a an indication that what they say is having an effect and that they are getting some attention, they like it.

What scares them though is commitment. So they will continue to flirt, but when confronted, or asked about their intention, they will deny that they are flirting and basically try and spin it, so it makes the girl looks as if she's the one that got it all wrong, they will then back away, until the opportunity presents itself again and they'll start all over again. This is the truth for all men, some grow out of it earlier than others. I've done it many many times.

The best way to deal with this kind of behaviour is not to respond to it, to become completely indifferent, though this almost always has the effect of making the man go crazy and make him realize that he's been silly and as a consequence he doubles his effort to get attention, which makes him look even more ridiculous in the eyes of the girl who by now has truly moved on from the pathetic idiot. This all ends with the man being heartbroken and feeling sorry for himself and he's convinced that he's really been treated unfairly.

Eventually boys grow up, I would say between the age of 39 to 43."

the funny thing is that, upon reading it, it was all so clear that i felt i'd somehow always known about this, but had never really taken it in. having it written down definitely makes it a lot clearer.

Hunt for Gollum

LOTR fans will probably like this: a half-hour fan movie that takes place just at the start of The Fellowship of the Ring, between Bilbo's birthday and Frodo leaving the Shire. considering it's all made by fans for fans and that noone got paid for any of it, it's really well done. although noone can replace the actors of the now famous movies, the likeness of Aragorn is really good, and Gollum's voice (and face, at the end), very similar too. the rest of the acting leaves a bit to be desired, but then, so it did in the movies anyway (Legolas, among others...)

anyway, check it out on

http://thehuntforgollum.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html

week 1

my boss had said that i probably wouldn't be doing much of the new job for another 2 weeks. how wrong he was... within half a day, i'd already spotted something that needed taking care of. and that just spawned nearly endless emailing for the best part of the week. and just as i thought that had been taken care of and i could go home, what did i get but an email from one of my clients asking that new group courses be set up for 11 people. of course... the kind of stuff that wasn't really going to happen until the summer, i'd been told. i got a bit nervous, as it was my first time doing this, and having to word it all in French as well... it's just hard when you've spent the last 15 years of your life writing all the official stuff in English. practice will make perfect, of course, but i basically spent a lot of time double checking with my line manager. problem is, neither him nor the boss will be around next week, so that'll be fun...

that's why you got the job

... said my supervisor. he'd just mentioned one of the duties i'd have from now on and i passed a comment on how i was seemingly the only teacher to ever really do it in general and that was his reply. i.e. i can do what i'm asked to do and i pay attention to these seemingly silly details. well what do you know?

holiday allowance

my new contract specifies that i have 20 days holiday a year (i.e. 4 weeks). but that's 20 days from January to December, and my contract starting May 1st, i end up with just 13 days, which happens to be exactly the time i'm taking over summer. lucky me. unluckily, i'd planned to take a day in Sept and another couple in December, but it looks like that won't be possible anymore...

finally!

yesterday was a day to remember: for the first time in over five years, i'm on a regular, full-time contract. for the first time in over five years i'll know for sure that a (known) regular amount is coming in every month, instead of hoping that i'll have enough work to cover the bills... a load off my mind!

also, i'll finally be doing more than just teaching: i'll be taking care of two of our big clients, organising all the logistics, liaison and stuff. a way out of teaching altogether, if i like it... at least, there's much more potential in it, and that can only be good!