Careful on the roads!
Showing posts with label Emily. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emily. Show all posts
Friday, 5 August 2011
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Going HOME! Weeks 25 and 26
From the 14th to the 27th February, I visited my family back home in England. Everyone (I eventually realised, after Seb, Will and Jeremy remained hidden at first) came to the airport to collect me, even at 11pm or around there, at Bristol (handy, there’s an Easyjet flight between Berlin and Bristol).
I received Valentine’s cards from my two sisters, daffodils from Mum, and was very glad to be back.
On Tuesday 15th, I enjoyed lunch and a good chat with Mum at the refurbished Kings Arms pub turned posh restaurant. then with a good friend from church in Cirencester the following day, and then a walk and picnic in the surrounding countryside with Dad on the Thursday.
On Thursday, our Chinese lodger’s family returned back home, meaning there was room on Friday for our French grandmother to come, with a usual spattering of presents.
On Friday, me and Jeremy walked in on one of Seb’s and one of Will’s lessons in school, for a laugh. AND I received two offers from U n i v e r s i t i e s , wohoo!
On Saturday, Seb cut my hair very short and not all that evenly; it was his first time though, and I'm happy with the job he did anyway.
I went to church on Sunday, where it was good to see everyone again, though I hadn’t had time to prepare a small something to say about my time in Germany so far.
On Monday 21st, we all went out in the car to see snowdrops – and, whilst playing football, my brother Seb tore his knee open more impressively than I’ve ever seen before, skidding about a meter along a road after tripping over Will’s foot...
On Tuesday, me and Emily spent a long time cooking a delicious meal with stuffed chicken and roast potatoes.
On Wednesday, a hospital appointment in Swindon sadly kept me away from my family for a few hours.
On Thursday, I seem to have spent most of my time filming video clips with my siblings, which can now be found here – (or at the very bottom of the blog) and I think more are to come. (I swear it can be addictive, making videos like this. And very time-consuming.) Well done Seb for the editing, Will, Jeremy and Elise for their impressive (and partly dangerous!) acting, and me, for eating all the cookies.
On Friday, I was able to watch Will at Malmesbury Abbey Skate (where he, Elise and Jeremy had been already on the few days it was running that week), doing very well. (I also saw some good friends again there.) He also took part in a competition that evening, against two younger boys from skater families (!) who made him look not all that impressive, but he’d really improved a lot – good job Will!
And then, on Friday evening, Dad was kind enough to take me and Will to Riff’s bar, where we enjoyed very loud music from local band Dirt Royal, and from The Supernovas, of North London, and very cheesy chips. We dared sit at the front for a while, and after half a song or so, my hearing was going fuzzy and numb it seemed, so we soon went further back. And then we even said a few words to their singer at the end – and Will dared put on a high-pitched voice, I could hardly believe it.
Great fun anyhow, and the ringing in my ears had died down by the following morning.
On Saturday I went for a picnic with Sebastian in Malmesbury’s Nature Reserve – for once it was sunny, which was nice. I’d forgotten until I came home that the weather can be overcast or rainy most of the time – it’s a lot more sunny (though colder) in Frankfurt (Oder), with clear blue skies.
And on Sunday, I went to church again, (still hadn't had time to prepare anything to tell about Germany!) seeing a few more people who hadn’t been there the previous week. Then we had a very nice Sunday lunch, and I was given a set of Chinese Opera masks amongst other gifts, by our Chinese lodger.
And then, in the afternoon, according to the sense of German organisation which has taken possession of me, it was time to be off...
We left an hour and a half later, and thankfully Bristol is much easier/quicker to get to, and a very small airport, compared to Berlin Schönefeld, for which my need to be organised would've been more appropriate. I still got a bit of a scare with boarding the flight and had to run a bit...
...and got home, safe and sound, at half 12 early Monday morning, after talking to some very nice people on the plane.
This all reminds me of the story of the very hungry caterpillar, in which he eats an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, etc. We read it in the English club I run the first week I’ve been back. (I’ve been able to bring all sorts of materials – books and games – and edibles back with me, they’re a real help.)
Looking back on the two weeks, it was a really good time for our relationships (especially being away and realising how important they are to me), great fun, perhaps not that relaxing at all, and made me see how blessed we are as a family, which I don’t think I properly realised before. Amazing! Two weeks does go fast though...
I look forward very much to the whole family visiting me in April, up to and including Easter. Woohoo!
On with the second half of the year now...
I received Valentine’s cards from my two sisters, daffodils from Mum, and was very glad to be back.
On Tuesday 15th, I enjoyed lunch and a good chat with Mum at the refurbished Kings Arms pub turned posh restaurant. then with a good friend from church in Cirencester the following day, and then a walk and picnic in the surrounding countryside with Dad on the Thursday.
On Thursday, our Chinese lodger’s family returned back home, meaning there was room on Friday for our French grandmother to come, with a usual spattering of presents.
On Friday, me and Jeremy walked in on one of Seb’s and one of Will’s lessons in school, for a laugh. AND I received two offers from U n i v e r s i t i e s , wohoo!
On Saturday, Seb cut my hair very short and not all that evenly; it was his first time though, and I'm happy with the job he did anyway.
I went to church on Sunday, where it was good to see everyone again, though I hadn’t had time to prepare a small something to say about my time in Germany so far.
On Monday 21st, we all went out in the car to see snowdrops – and, whilst playing football, my brother Seb tore his knee open more impressively than I’ve ever seen before, skidding about a meter along a road after tripping over Will’s foot...
On Tuesday, me and Emily spent a long time cooking a delicious meal with stuffed chicken and roast potatoes.
On Wednesday, a hospital appointment in Swindon sadly kept me away from my family for a few hours.
On Thursday, I seem to have spent most of my time filming video clips with my siblings, which can now be found here – (or at the very bottom of the blog) and I think more are to come. (I swear it can be addictive, making videos like this. And very time-consuming.) Well done Seb for the editing, Will, Jeremy and Elise for their impressive (and partly dangerous!) acting, and me, for eating all the cookies.
On Friday, I was able to watch Will at Malmesbury Abbey Skate (where he, Elise and Jeremy had been already on the few days it was running that week), doing very well. (I also saw some good friends again there.) He also took part in a competition that evening, against two younger boys from skater families (!) who made him look not all that impressive, but he’d really improved a lot – good job Will!
And then, on Friday evening, Dad was kind enough to take me and Will to Riff’s bar, where we enjoyed very loud music from local band Dirt Royal, and from The Supernovas, of North London, and very cheesy chips. We dared sit at the front for a while, and after half a song or so, my hearing was going fuzzy and numb it seemed, so we soon went further back. And then we even said a few words to their singer at the end – and Will dared put on a high-pitched voice, I could hardly believe it.
Great fun anyhow, and the ringing in my ears had died down by the following morning.
On Saturday I went for a picnic with Sebastian in Malmesbury’s Nature Reserve – for once it was sunny, which was nice. I’d forgotten until I came home that the weather can be overcast or rainy most of the time – it’s a lot more sunny (though colder) in Frankfurt (Oder), with clear blue skies.
And on Sunday, I went to church again, (still hadn't had time to prepare anything to tell about Germany!) seeing a few more people who hadn’t been there the previous week. Then we had a very nice Sunday lunch, and I was given a set of Chinese Opera masks amongst other gifts, by our Chinese lodger.
And then, in the afternoon, according to the sense of German organisation which has taken possession of me, it was time to be off...
We left an hour and a half later, and thankfully Bristol is much easier/quicker to get to, and a very small airport, compared to Berlin Schönefeld, for which my need to be organised would've been more appropriate. I still got a bit of a scare with boarding the flight and had to run a bit...
...and got home, safe and sound, at half 12 early Monday morning, after talking to some very nice people on the plane.
This all reminds me of the story of the very hungry caterpillar, in which he eats an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, etc. We read it in the English club I run the first week I’ve been back. (I’ve been able to bring all sorts of materials – books and games – and edibles back with me, they’re a real help.)
Looking back on the two weeks, it was a really good time for our relationships (especially being away and realising how important they are to me), great fun, perhaps not that relaxing at all, and made me see how blessed we are as a family, which I don’t think I properly realised before. Amazing! Two weeks does go fast though...
I look forward very much to the whole family visiting me in April, up to and including Easter. Woohoo!
On with the second half of the year now...
Monday, 15 November 2010
With Mum and Emily, just arrived - Week 1
I came to Frankfurt (Oder) not alone, but enjoying the company of both Mum and Emily, who travelled with me on the train from Rennes (more-or-less where the French grandparents live in Britanny) to Paris (with ‚le TGV‘ = Train Big Speed), on the Paris underground, then from Paris to Berlin overnight, then finally Berlin to Frankfurt (Oder). Good that they were there, otherwise I would’ve no doubt struggled with my three bags plus guitar, and arrived very sweaty.
But without my (winter) coat, as I managed to completely forget that as we were leaving France. Not so wise when coming so far east.
We were welcomed by the wife of the man who is responsible (in a good way) for my being here – he teaches at a vocational college in Frankfurt (Oder), and, after an email from me asking about working as an English Assistant was directed to him, he suggested to me I could volunteer with the CVJM here.
Anyhow, the first week we were here, we were granted the pleasure of staying at their house, enjoying the company of their four children, and sleeping in their guest room. They were extremely welcoming, generous and ‚warm‘ people, I don’t think I’ve come across anyone like them – regularly asking whether there was anything else we needed. All three of us felt very at home, I think.
(And I said ‚were‘, but they still are.)
Together with Mum and Emily we were taken on a tour of Frankfurt (Oder), and also the neighbouring Polish (but very German-orientated) town Słubice, where many Germans go, even from Berlin, to buy cheaper petrol, cigarettes, and alcohol, amongst other things.
Together, the next day, we also met my new (first!) boss, and later went for lunch in the sunshine at a restaurant (Das Kartoffelhaus - the ‚potato-house‘) overlooking the wide river Oder and the green marshland on the Polish side. Those were good times, despite the several wasps.
After that, we wanted to donate blood, for which you get 14 or 20 Euros here (unlike in Britain where you're generous and give it up for nothing!), but a) we had drunk beer, and b) they don’t accept blood from anyone living in the UK, something to do with BSE (aka Mad cow disease). Schade! (shame)
We also visited Berlin before they took the coach home, going to the famous ‚Brandenburger Tor‘ (Brandenburg Gate) and then enjoying a simple bus tour of the city, with commentary in German and English – and more was always said in German than in English. Then it was straight to the ‚Central Omnibus-station‘ (not sure if that’s a fair translation (but is it ever?) of ‚Zentralomnibusbahnhof,‘ aka ZOB) where we took our time saying our goodbyes, and Mum and Emily set off on their long coach journey back through Brussels (correct me one of you if I’m wrong...?), over the channel, to London, and then on home.
And I set off alone, back to Frankfurt (Oder), and my year as a volunteer (t)here.
But without my (winter) coat, as I managed to completely forget that as we were leaving France. Not so wise when coming so far east.
We were welcomed by the wife of the man who is responsible (in a good way) for my being here – he teaches at a vocational college in Frankfurt (Oder), and, after an email from me asking about working as an English Assistant was directed to him, he suggested to me I could volunteer with the CVJM here.
Anyhow, the first week we were here, we were granted the pleasure of staying at their house, enjoying the company of their four children, and sleeping in their guest room. They were extremely welcoming, generous and ‚warm‘ people, I don’t think I’ve come across anyone like them – regularly asking whether there was anything else we needed. All three of us felt very at home, I think.
(And I said ‚were‘, but they still are.)
Together with Mum and Emily we were taken on a tour of Frankfurt (Oder), and also the neighbouring Polish (but very German-orientated) town Słubice, where many Germans go, even from Berlin, to buy cheaper petrol, cigarettes, and alcohol, amongst other things.
Together, the next day, we also met my new (first!) boss, and later went for lunch in the sunshine at a restaurant (Das Kartoffelhaus - the ‚potato-house‘) overlooking the wide river Oder and the green marshland on the Polish side. Those were good times, despite the several wasps.
After that, we wanted to donate blood, for which you get 14 or 20 Euros here (unlike in Britain where you're generous and give it up for nothing!), but a) we had drunk beer, and b) they don’t accept blood from anyone living in the UK, something to do with BSE (aka Mad cow disease). Schade! (shame)
We also visited Berlin before they took the coach home, going to the famous ‚Brandenburger Tor‘ (Brandenburg Gate) and then enjoying a simple bus tour of the city, with commentary in German and English – and more was always said in German than in English. Then it was straight to the ‚Central Omnibus-station‘ (not sure if that’s a fair translation (but is it ever?) of ‚Zentralomnibusbahnhof,‘ aka ZOB) where we took our time saying our goodbyes, and Mum and Emily set off on their long coach journey back through Brussels (correct me one of you if I’m wrong...?), over the channel, to London, and then on home.
And I set off alone, back to Frankfurt (Oder), and my year as a volunteer (t)here.
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