Driver!

What do you do when the keys of your car disappear, together with your son who has no driving licence? Not for a day, only an hour or so - an hour of worrying and fear. Not worrying about our only car, but about my only son. If something goes wrong, it can go wrong big time! If the police stop him and fine him, that could be serious money. What's more - he would not be allowed to obtain a driving licence for some time (two years or so). If something goes more wrong than JUST that, consequences could be more serious if not tragic, affecting all of us. Sigh.

But then, what do you do if your darling, good (nerve wrecking!) only son gets that driving licence without even telling you he was working on it? And it takes a lot to get it! A first aid course, traffic safety course and tests and thirty driving lessons and two more (the "official ones - with the jury) to prove you are ready. Not to mention well over thousand Euros.

And how should you feel if you realize EVERYBODY knew what he was doing except you? His girlfriend knew. Okay. My daughter knew as well as her boyfriend. My nieces knew. My sister! My mum! Stupid stupid me! The bright side (if it is really): his dad still doesn't know, lol.

Congratulations, my dear son! Take care and drive safely!

(Next time - impressions from the wonderful wonderful stay in Denmark)

Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Denmark. Yaaay!

My colleague and I are taking 14 of our students there.

I probably won't be posting for a week.

I wish YOU a good time, too!

New Hobby and Side Effects

Bad photo quality today, sorry :(

What do you appreciate in people? I'm sure many people think of goodness of the heart first, and honesty, diligence and these are very important virtues indeed. But there is another one I really appreciate: good sense of humour. Not just telling jokes, but the humour in ordinary things. But let me get back to it later,

I've acquired a new hobby. My Main Squeeze has been taking part in it for some time now.

My Main Squeeze and his friends bought a few bows and arrows, joined a club and then founded their own. Took the kids to the national championship and brought quite some medals back. Yes, I know, there are 2 000 000 of us and not everyone takes part in archery. It couldn't be done in any country, but it was still an important achievement. More than anything, they became a team and felt like one. Local community support, family support, you name it.

I wasn't so much into it at first. But I did build their website. I still like doing that.

It has been only recently that I joined the actual archery activities, meaning shooting those arrows into the target,



right in the middle of it (I wish! :) , quite a few flying over it and so, but we have a good time up there.

We even took my niece there when she was visiting and she liked it so much we are trying to organize something for her to be able to practice at home and visit more often.

And it went on and on. It came so far that last Sunday, among other people, there were the following people at the practice: my niece, my sister and her husband, my MS, MY SON with HIS GIRLFRIEND and MY DAUGHTER with her BOYFRIEND. I mean, am I blessed or what? Can you say I'm not lucky? How many people can do a sport in such a company?

My son has bought some arrows, me too, now he has switched to a stronger bow, bought some stronger arrows and will give the old ones to his girlfriend. Poppy's "husband" is also making similar plans. In short, everyone loved Sunday afternoon. Everyone, that is, except Poppy. She was fussing all the time like a baby. Geez, Poppy!

But then, I must admit, it wasn't that interesting to somene who doesn't do archery. And the stuff that archery requires, does make a mess at home:

My nieces arrow case with a belt that will be replaced with a black one...



A whole bag with a bow inside (borrowed for now) and arrows (mine mine! :) two more cases for them and some small stuff...


Arrows in the hall...my niece's and my son's...



Some small stuff... and I don't mean the anti-tick spray, it can be important in such an outdoor activity, though...



Some more small sruff... feathers and arrow points...




The fletching tool and glue in the middle of the table and mess around them...



Then you have enough and go to the balcony and what do you find... someone is growing arrows! They are still featherless at this point...



The missing picture here is the one I decided not to take some ten days ago - that of a big purple-blue-yellow-black bruise on my forehand, caused by the bow string. It simply looked too ugly. It's fine now and I have almost learned how to hold the bow properly.

Anyway, my dear Poppy didn't decide to fuss about all this (and I know she could, it WAS terrible). Instead, she put THIS on the fridge:



You want to see it a bit better? Here:



A perfect message from a promising university student of English to her English-teacher-mother!

Need translation? I can translate it for you, but first, let me just tell you this is our way of communication - from time to time - she knows how to write it properly. But isn't it jus... cute! THIS is what I'd call a sense of humour. Wouldn't you?

(Translation: I would appreciate if there weren't arrows all around our house. Thank you.
And other archery things. Please! Thank you. :P ).

Difficult to write!

It's difficult to write when thoughts run about your head and jump up and own, chasing one another. And what thoughts might that be?

What shall I cook for lunch or dinner or whatever? They always tell me I make too much fuss about it, but in general they always have different ideas from mine that I should consider whether they tell me aboout them or not.
What would you like to eat?
Dinner.
Yes, but what?
Something good. Stop asking, just make something, I don't know why it should matter so much.
Would you eat pasta?
Naaah...
Steaks?
No, not steaks.
Chicken, mashed potatoes....
Yea,h right, meat, potatoes, salad, always the same.
What then?
Dinner.

It could just go on and on. Or I order pizza. Or avoid this in the beginning and not ask t all. Then it's either a lucky guess or long faces. Or I other pizza. So this "cooking thought" rambles in my head all the time.

Another one:
What should I buy? What do we need? Can I stay away from the shops completely for the day?

How about this one:
I wonder what I said that I shouldn't have - I talk too much and don't think as fast as my lips move and let the sounds out. I also wonder what I should have told someone but didn't because I forgot. My memory tricks me on daily basis.

And what about that kid that keeps breaking my nerves every time? I wonder how other teachers deal with him!

When will I have time for shooting again? Yep, I took up a new hobby. Archery is cool, but this bruise the string left on my left hand looks pretty nasty. Should I buy some powder or something?

The computer gives me some more to think about:
-I wonder how I would do my work without you,buddy!
-I hope it will go on working without breaking down for some time now! What was it the last time? The motherboard? No, that was the time before the last. Last time it was power supply unit. When did I last backup my files?
-What rank am I now at tetris?
-Should I write a post on my blog? Naaah.. nothing interesting going on....
-Any mail? Got a few more millions of dollars in Nigeria? Won in the lottery in UK? Yaaay!

And the favourite this week:
Anything new about Denmark? And I must say, nothing new is good here.

Let me explain: Our school is doing an exchange with a Danish school. So a colleague of mine, fourteen students and myself are flying there on Sunday to meet some Danish students and teachers and stay with their families for a week. I accompanied the students there last year as well, REALLY liked the experience, not to mention all the nice people and can't wait to see some of them again.

News could be trouble, though. As long as nothing is new, everytjhing is going smoothly. Cross your fingers for me, will you - may it stay this way till Sunday, without any unpleasant phone calls, no medical problems or forgotten documents, God forbid!

I feel fine. I'm excited. A bit nervous. But as soon as I see our Danes, evrything will be good. I know nothing will go wrong. Right? Right?

(Can't write everything - it still wouldn't make a decent post, anyway - it just goes on and on and on.... but I'm sure you already know that.)

Happy New Year!

For some of you it's been a few weeks already, (two, three?), others are just finishing the first week of school in this school year like myself. We started on Tuesday, had some real lessons on Wednesday, so this is really the third day when we have them. All good things come to an end, so do the holidays, but that is just another good thing, isn't it.

How should you start the new school year?

Be lazy. Just go through the stuff you learned at school today and do your homework. That will do for all that hard work you will otherwise have to do. If you leave your books and notes in your schoolbags, you'll forget most of it and then you'll have to do some serious studying.

Be naughty, but not too much. Most teachers can deal with a reasonable sense of humour. They can even laugh with you. It's the ill humour they resent. Expressing yourself is fine as long as you let the people around you do the work they have to do.

Have fun. Find the good things about school. Your friends are there (I know many of mine are!) and you can chat with them to your heart's content. Just don't do it during the lessons. Hugging forbidden this year, sorry, says the ministry of health.

Make plans. Plan your next holidays. Make sure you enjoy them. Do the work before that so that you have no "debts" in that field.

Read. Reading is learning. Even if you read magazines. It will be easier to read school stuff if you read anything else. Go now and find that trivia/football/car racing/music magazine you love and enjoy it!

Good luck, lots of common sense and plenty of success - these are my wishes for all you guys and gals out there that go to school - and to your teachers!

You're Crazy!

It was last Thursday.
Our (then still) headmaster was sitting outside a pub with an elderly man. (We'd never seen him there before.)
"So, you're retiring, I hear" said the man.
"Yes."
They sit and drink and one of my young colleagues drives by, going home from school.
"Just look what you have at this school of yours, how can you retire?"
They sit and another young female teacher drives by.
"You must be crazy, I really don't understand you" the old man goes on and on.
The headmaster doesn't say much, maybe smiles a little.
Finally, another colleague goes by on foot. She's fifty and something, but very elegant. Her thin legs are nicely tanned, she's wearing this cute minnie skirt and a lovely blouse and high heels.
"You know what, I think you're insane!" the man says, ending this conversation after he has clearly made his point.

(Told by te headmaster himself at the dinner thsat night.)