Edinburgh, 8th-11th December 2011

When I had spared enough money to travel, I’ve decided to go to Edinburgh. I had ever been there before, when I was nearly 13, in May 2003. I was in Year 8, and it had been the best trip ever! With the pupils (and my friend Laurie J ) we went to the Highlands, the Loch Lomond, visited Sterling and the William Wallace monument. It was amazing J. Laurie and I wanted to go to Edinburgh for only one thing: have a chance to see J.K. Rowling J

That’s why, eight years and a half later, I wanted to go back there. After I booked the train tickets and the hostel, I packed and went to school: netbook, towel, clothes, camera, tickets and reservation… I looked like a turtle with such a bag, but I was so happy!!! J As I had my Thursday afternoon free, I took the first bus in Bishop Auckland for Durham train station. Listening to the last Nightwish, Imaginaerum, in the train, I spent two hours thinking about Princes street, the Walter Scott monument, the castle…

Once there, I completely changed my mind! Indeed, it was night already, and I couldn’t find the hostel! “Down Princes street, cross the Bridge, on the Royal Mile…” yes, but it’s so dark I can’t see the signs! Nevermind… I finally reached the place. OK, fine, I’m in Edinburgh and now… I’ve got nothing to do. I wanted to go out, discover the place, have fun! I just went to the common room with my netbook and logged in to chat with my boyfriend, and watch some series then. But right next to me, there was that guy… and i thought “oh… armchair looks comfortable!” (Hey, what did you expect?^^). When he left, I immediately took his armchair (I was sitting on a wooden bench…) and he came back. I felt ill-at-ease, and said to him: “sorry, I’m on your spot”. And he replied “that’s ok! I was about to watch some Big Bang Theories!” (yes, because for those who don’t know, the “you’re on my spot” phrase is from The Big Bang Theory ;) ). And after a brief introduction, we – “Steve” and I- decided to go out for a drink. We went to our room to take our coat and when we came back, a guy –David-, hold the door for me, so I invited to come as well… Worse mistake of my life.

We went out, and David was like “I know this town by heart… I know a pub always crowded… Did you know that the king blablabla…” well, we followed him to the pub he knew and… It was empty, and we only had 15 minutes to have a drink before the closing. That’s all. On our way back to the hostel, Steve and I had to fight against a terrible wind, I thought I was about to take off! Once at the hostel, David was like “ oooooooh, so tired, going to bed!” and Steve said “ well, I’m not tired…” I wasn’t neither. So, we went to another pub, the “world’s end”. When we ordered drinks, I told Steve “hey the barman didn’t ask for my ID!” and as he heard me, he did so… but I was of age, heyhey J

I spent a fabulous time with Steve: we liked the same series, same movies, both had a taste for trips and, most important, we liked the same music. He even knew the bands Avantasia and Edguy, which are not famous in France. I thought he could be my twin brother!

The morning after, we met for breakfast. We were supposed to be in the kitchen at 8 o’clock. I’ve been lazy, I was there at 8.15. But guess who was there already? Yes, David. He was so clingy that I kept my eyes on the door, praying for Steve to arrive. At least he came, and I was relieved! J

When the day before, I asked him about the organization of the hostel, he told me there was no cranberry juice available. The fact is that, there was. When I showed him the glass of juice I had (in a pot of Nutella which still had the sticker on), he replied “what, you’re drinking Nutella?” It’s silly but, Steve, I will always remember that joke!

Before we leaved, we exchanged our Face book. I really wanted to keep in touch with him, that guy was great. David was sitting next to us, and I must admit, I hesitated a while, I mean, if I should give him my face book or not. It broke my heart, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t stand this guy lol. I planned to visit the castle this day, and Steve had to go to Glasgow. It was time to say goodbye, and it broke my heart when I thought “I will never see him again”…

I spent the Friday in the cold. Wandering in the streets, I was happy to feel the Scottish spirit again. The flag of Saint Andrew, tartans kilt, bagpipes… I think I was smiling all the time. In front of a shop, the main headline of the newspaper was about the wind, the night before: I couldn’t believe my eyes!

I walked a lot that day, from Saint Giles Cathedral to the Tartan factory, down the castle, I discovered a lot of things I didn’t have time to see nine years ago. A perfect day.  I even met William Wallace! I know, my mum told me, I look overweight on that pic... trust me it was cold!!!

 

But at night, I had to buy a scarf. Not because I didn’t have one, but I needed another one to put around my face. Really cold. I wanted to go back to the hostel to have a warm shower. During the evening (once again) I had nothing to do, except chat with my boyfriend and watch series. A big guy, Frank, from New-York, found of cinema, with long hair, a long beard and a jean jacket covered with metal bands names asked if I wanted to go have a drink. Of course I wanted to! We went to my FAVORITE PUB, the Banshee Labyrinth, on Niddry street, two streets far from the hostel. This pub is amazing: in one room, you can watch some old movies such as Nosferatu and Sunrise ( I studied cinema and, trust me, German impressionist cinema is my favorite period J ); in the basement, there is a room for concerts; there is also a free cinema with thematic evenings ( we watched Monsters, Inc) but the most remarkable thing is the cellar, there are chains on the wall and it’s lighten with candles J so gothic!

After the wind and the cold, on Saturday, it snowed. I saw Edinburgh covered in white, it was gorgeous!

 I spent the day shopping, visiting the museum (which is huge J ), met Frank unexpectedly, and went to Carlton Hill. It was OK to climb there, but I was afraid I could fall because the snow had turned into ice at night! There was a band playing that night at the banshee, so I spent my last evening in Edinburgh there. I was very very very sad on the Sunday morning, when I had to leave this town which brought me so much happiness! I promised I would come back! And I did… Last summer, I made my Lad visit the town, where he wants to go back again… We are definitely in Love with Edinburgh J

The Country of Harry Potter

So, after such a long time without writing anything, I’m back to tell you about the amazing country of Harry Potter ( by the way, I’m reading the new J.K. Rowling, A Casual Vacancy… great !). Remember, I told you about Durham’s Cathedral and the joy it had been for me to discover it was one of the places used in the movies (Come on Emma, you’re teasing, it can’t be true!), but yes it was!!! And there I was, 10 days after I arrived in England, strolling in the corridors of Hogwarts! Then every time I went there, it was stronger than me, I had to go in the cathedral. I’m sure you can imagine how happy and excited I was ( and if you don’t like Harry Potter, just imagine yourself driving a flying Delorean are being part of the fellowship of the Ring :P), I felt like a child when I saw the place, but I got even more excited later: a man offered us have a look inside a room, which was the classroom of Professor Minerva McGonagall! :D

In October 2011, I went to Asda, as I did twice a week. It was the day the dvds of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 were on sale. Guess who was there, at the entrance of the shop? Nope, it’s not J.K. Rowling; nope, not Daniel Radcliffe (by the way, I would have preferred Matthew Lewis J ); it was a owl! A real one! I was used to having my camera everywhere I went, except when I went shopping… too bad for me L But it was fun- very surprising, but fun 

The first weekend of December, I went to the Christmas fair in Durham. I went to the mass, first because I like to go to church in the towns I go to, second because I wanted to know what it was to sing and prey in such a terrific cathedral. Then, on the fair, I met Dumbledore and one of his colleague ( true story). They were selling spoons which looked like magic wands – of course, I bought several of these!

At the beginning of December, a week after Durham’ Christmas fair, thanks to the money I managed to spare ( and it’s really hard for a spendthrift like me), I went to Edinburgh. I had ever been to Edinburgh when I was 13, and I felt the magic of the place again. It’s weird to feel home in this city because I have never lived there, but that’s the way I feel when I’m there. I’ll talk about Edinburgh later, I have so many things to say about it! Just mentioned it because that’s the place where the magic started… we all know the story: a single mother, who did not have much money, taking care of her daughter Jessica, sitting at a table in The Elephant House… I found the café unexpectedly, when I was on my way to the National Museum. I felt as if I could actually touch magic J

Later, in March, I went to London to celebrate St Patrick’s day with French friends, two of them living in London, one in Hamburg (Germany), and one (my boyfriend J ) from Paris. Actually, to go to London, I had to take the train for about three hours, and my boyfriend had three hours as well with the train to Paris and then the Eurostar. Perfect timing J And in London, obviously, what do you do when you go there ( except that you spend half of your salary in one weekend)? Of course you get a picture of you on your way to the platform 9 ¾!!!

In April, I also travelled to York, first to visit the town, but also because I've been told about the train museum in which there is... THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS :D

Last, but not least, the last weekend I spent in the UK, I was with my friend Val and her daughter Lizzie, who was two years older than me, and we went to Alnwick Castle. I wanted to visit something great for the very last weekend as a French Language Assistant, but I wasn’t expecting something so cool. If you don’t know Alnwick Castle, go there! It’s really impressive, medieval style outside, Renaissance inside-there is even furniture from the castle of Versailles! But the best for me ( I know, Julie here, Julie there- hey, that’s my blog!) so I mean, the best for someone who is fond of Harry Potter was the Quidditch lesson! I know it wasn’t real (or was it? o_O) but I had really good fun riding a broom (and I wasn’t the only adult if that’s what you’re wondering ;) )

                                                                 Impressive, isn't it? :)

The teachers and I (cool guys!)

So, if you like Harry Potter, or simply if you want to discover something new, just travel from London to Edinburgh J

Because I have Decided to be a Student...

Because I have decided to be a student, things have been much more complicated - and much less fun. On the 3rd of October (yes, I did a lot of things that day...), I had to fill a document to send to Nanterre which said: " I, undersigned Julie, something something something, want to study civilization with missus *********, literature with missus **********, translation, phonology, grammar, theatre, oral and all that stuff in Nanterre, etc etc". I emailed it to our dear secretary, praying, crossing my fingers she would register me as a student in Master 1. To be sure I won't be forgotten, I also emailed all the professors whose lessons I will study. Two of them, the professors of grammar and translation, answered nearly as soon as I emailed them. One of them answered me only when I told her "Missus ********** gave me your email address because I think you didn't receive the previous mails I sent you" ( she did receive them... no comment), and another one answered a month and a half later, to tell me that " this lesson cannot be studied if you're not at University!!!" Well, thank you miss, you answered so quickly that now, it's too late for me to follow another lesson. You B****...

In this case, when you don't have support from the professors, you have to have friends. Really good friends. The kind of friends who will scan all their sheets to send you the lessons (thank you Caro, Aurélia, Aurélie, Hélène, Aziz, Nathalie, Gwen, Marion...). Thanks to them, I could enjoy the lovely fact of studying in England. I wanted to do my best. I wanted to succeed. I wanted to pass this year not to waste time ( though this year in England was not a waste of time at all). Missus B****** sent me all the texts I had to translate, I went to the Watergate in Durham to order several books for literature and theatre, I brought my netbook with me at school to work during breaks, and to revise as well. I worked all day, I studied all evening. I was SERIOUS! The only problem was civilization, I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do...

When December came, I didn't know what I had to do. One of the professors said that we (the assistants) could stay in England and have our exams in September. Another one said we had better to come to university in January, have our exams, so that we could resit it in September. Because I was not sure what to expect from exams, I decided, and I was not the only one, to come back to France in January. The headteacher agreed that I leave school for two weeks, I would only have to work on Fridays when I would come back. Nick, you rock!

Yes, my room looks like a library...




With Nath and Gwen, we had almost the same exams. We were together through the highs and lows... Such as when we had to get our exam of phonology. None of us knew what it was about, and the professor in charge of it never answered our emails. We knew what it consisted in the night before. We all passed it! :-D
Concerning civilization, well... Because I didn't have the documents to learn, I revised monarchy and royalty in England between 1509 and 1901. The subject was " unemployment of children in Northern England between 1680 and 1820" ===> OK! (No surprise, I didn't get a really good mark for that one...)
For the other lessons, though I expected good marks, I did better. Not that good, but better. It was just hard to enjoy a novel which deals with pedophilia and necrophilia (thank you Angela Carter). I need to tell you something that happened at the end of my exam of literature: I told the professor "Miss, I need to ask you something. I wanted to use the word "threesome" in my essay, but I think it's a bit rude" ans she answered "No No, that's fine, you can use this word". When I came back to Bishop Auckland, I asked Chris if I really could use that word, to which he answered " Noooooo! You can use that word with friends, but don't say it again in this school!" Ok, so, to be clear, I was right not to use it in my essay, though Miss IknowEnglishBetterThanYouForIamTheTeacher said I could... I'm disgusted I am judged by people who don't know anything about slang. So what else miss, you think a blue waffle is something you can buy in a bakery??? Silly thing...

Time went by, and the next session of exams was at the beginning of June. I'm waiting for the results. I hope I pass! I worked a lot on Shakespeare ( I read Henry V and Richard III several times, I watched the movies, I searched a lot of documents about it... cross my fingers!) and now, as you are reading me, I have to write a "mémoire" ( around 60 pages) of what I did this year - of course I won't write the same things I write here, I rather have to write my educational project as I want to be a teacher.

So, I spent my days at school and my evenings studying. However, I chose not to work on weekends. After all, I was there only for 9 months, I wanted to take the most of it and discover England!

Real first day - after school

My first day at school has been long and "riche en émotions", for I had to meet everybody, start the work with 4 different classes and remember the name of the students... If at first I was ashamed I couldn't remember everything, at the end of the year, I still didn't know some names and some members of staff - but they didn't know my name as well! Moreover, I was the first French assistant to work in this school. I was a kind of "novelty". One of my friends confessed, during the last evening I spent in England, that the first month I was at school, he didn't know what I was there for...


First French assistant indeed, that's the reason why I wanted to show the people in charge of assistantship in county Durham that I fitted the job. " Your first mission, if you accept it" was to go to a meeting organised in Newcastle, in a university. The only time I had been to Newcastle before was... when I arrived at the airport. Nothing else. After school, Anna told me how to go to Newcastle, and which directions to take from the train station to find the university. Take the bus from Bishop Auckland, go to Durham, take the train to Newcastle, find this street, go right, ...
Well, I had been to Durham by car, I didn't know where the train station was, and I must admit I was afraid to take the train, alone, for the first time... And my feet were crying for mercy in my high heels shoes.


Step one: school- bus station. Easy, I would have to do this every week-day then. Relief: the bus I usually takes goes to Newcastle :-D and as I'm childish, I sat on the front seat of the upper deck. It may seem silly for you, English readers, but for a French girl like me, it's really exciting! And let me tell you my boyfriend was really excited too about sitting in a double decker bus when we met in London!

Let's go to Newcastle. Two hours. I enjoy travelling in general, and then I had my eyes wide open. You see thing differently when you are in the upper deck of a bus. I saw Durham's Cathedral and the castle, Chester-le-street and its shopping center, the Angel of the North, Gateshead and Newcastle.

When I finally arrived in Newcastle, I read the note Anna left me with the directions I should take to find the university. Well... She gave me the directions from the train station, not from the bus station. So, I did as I usually do when I have to find a place: I walked. I saw Haymarket, Monument, the main street with all the shops, stopped to ask two guys where the university was ( "which one?" " what, d'you mean there is more than one in Newcastle?" "yep" "well... the one with a building called Henry V"), stopped again to ask my way to a policeman, stopped once more to check if my feet were still alive, crossed the road, followed a few Chinese girls... who were actually going to the university I was looking for. YES :D

I only had five minutes to find the room. The meeting was taking place in the building Henry V, which was the first building on the left. Easy to find. The room was well indicated, with lots of signs on the walls. When I arrived, I was:

- relieved

- bright pink

- sweating

- thirsty

-on time!

I was offered a glass of wine, sat down and waited for the meeting to start. A lot of foreign language assistants were there with their mentor or their roommate with whom they work at school. I was alone. A girl came and talk to me, Heike, a German language assisatnt in Hartlepool. She was living with her roommate Marion and they were here with another French guy. That guy scared me when he told he had to call his mother about his CRB check, documents for school and NHS... I had nothing of all this. I just wanted him to stop freaking me out! As if I was not nervous already...

The meeting started. The man talked about school and introduced some teachers. It lasted ten minutes. Then, we were told that around Newcastle, the accent is quite difficult to understand, and the vocabulary used is not proper English. NO, REALLY??? o_O what a surprised ><"

He made us repeat the sentence " She sells seashells by the seashore" and told us the world "hinny" stands for "honey" in Geordie. Then, he asked us to leave our internet address to be warned for next meetings. That's all. I spent two hours in a bus, half an hour in the streets with feet on fire for, let's say, a meeting which lasted half an hour, and I had to spend two other hours on the bus to go back home...

I felt like I wasted my time at this meeting - at least, the school had a proof that I was involved. Nevertheless, right after the meeting, I exchanged phone numbers and face book details with Marion. I didn't know it yet, but she was about to become my friend - and a very good friend :)

Real first day - daytime

Monday, 3rd of October 2011, first day at school. Remember, in a previous article I told you I spent the previous night out. So, when I woke up… God, my ears...

Nevermind. I had to be in the best shape I had never been. After all, I was going to meet around 200 pupils this week, and all the members of staff. Eye of the Tiger. I remembered what Anna told me about the dress code: “something smart, but casual”. Grey trousers, purple top, high heels…  make up ( or “how a girl can feel more confident behind chemical stuff”).Really, though I met Anna before,  I was so so so nervous :s.

That stupid nervosity increased when I reached the bus stop. Not that I was scared I could miss the bus or take one which didn’t go to Bishop, nooooooooooo. I’m not that silly, I can read timetable. No, what scared me was black, maroon, about 1,60meter tall and talkative… Children! Yes, during a year, I had to wait for the bus with students of Saint John’s catholic school (even if, trust me or not, the kind of things they discussed of were not very catholic…).

Bishop Auckland, bus station. Only after a while I found out it was better for me to stop in the town center to be on time… But I have never been late at school (indeed, I can run quite well with high heels).

At school, I discovered how it works. Blue badge for members of staff like teachers, green badge for 6^th forms, red badge for teaching assistants and visitors. Sign in in the morning, sign out when you leave school. I wondered if they sold maps of the school at the office, and I thought I could look stupid if I asked one. I looked around me for a sign with “French class: this way” written on it, but couldn’t find it. I decided to stay next to the office for a while, until I saw someone I recognized and that I could follow. Yeah, that’s clever, I know J

I didn’t know my timetable but heart then. I only knew who I had to work with (Anna, Janet, Anna, Anna on Monday), but not the classes I would meet. Anna was reassuring and explained me everything. The first class was the year 8A. 12 or 13 years old, good level. Anna asked me to introduce myself, in French, to the class. They didn’t understand. So, I did it in English, and then they asked me a lot of questions. I was expected something like “what did you do/study to work here?”, “Is it hard to move far from home?” but what they asked was more… well, it was different. I had to answer questions such as “ have you ever been to Disneyland Paris?”, “Do you eat snails?” ( I did when I was a kid, until I discovered what it actually was… Hey, don’t look disgusted, I’m French!), “ Do you eat frog legs?” No, but I used them for science, “Do you live in England?” No, I’m so rich I take the plane everyday honey ><”

They all asked the same kind of question. On Thursday, Thomas, Year7A, asked if I had children… At least, it was different from the other questions.

During the first week, when I met the students/children, they all look lovely (except for some year 11… Ha, teenagers!) though some of them tried to make friends with me ( which was useless because I was not the one who would mark their work hihi). Lovely indeed, but it was only the beginning…

First day at school

A few days before I was supposed to start, Anna sent my an e-mail to ask me if I wanted to meet her in real life, to meet the girls who took French for A level, to meet some other members of staff and to visit the school. Appointment  for Wednesday, the 28^th of September. However, I planned to go to Bishop Auckland and see where the school was located before I started the job.

The day I arrived in Bishop Auckland, I went to the tourist info centre where a lady gave me a map of the town. I kept it. I now have a good collection of maps ( York, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sunderland, London… even a map of the tube in London). So, it has been quite easy to find the street. And to find the school, well… I just had to follow some kids with the uniform of “King James”. Clever, isn’t it? J

My first reaction when I first saw some of the girls who didn’t wear the uniform of the school was “oh my Gosh…” Indeed, one of them was only wearing what we consider in France as tights… I noticed she had a tattoo (not that I was looking at her but… everyone could notice it). I was later informed that the students who don’t have the uniform are 6^th formers. It’s the privilege of age! But the more I lived in England, the more shocked I was because of the way girls are dressed…

The school impressed me a lot. Indeed, contrary to the "modern" buildings we have in France, this one looks old and is very classy. I felt happy when I saw the place I would spend the next eight months in.

When it was time, I entered the school. “All visitors must report to main reception”. Oh no, here we are, I don’t even know where main reception is. I managed to find it and “reported myself” to the secretary. “Hello, I’m Julie, I’m visiting missus Peti… Pefi… Pethy******” ( or “how to pronounce the TH when you’re not English… well, this way the woman could guess I was the French assistant!). I waited around ten minutes before Anna arrived, and when she was here, I know I smiled a lot (though I’m smiling most of the time^^). She seemed to be so nice (which I can say she is, now that I know her). She led me to her classroom where three girls were waiting for me: Jessica, Jillian and Kathy. I think they were as shy as me! They had prepared a few questions to ask me –in French, which I was pleased to answer. And I was glad to discover that one of them had chosen to work to study the film Jules and Jim, which I like, and I could be helpful as I studied cinema. The atmosphere was very warm and friendly. The only thing I was afraid of, actually, was to tell them my age. I was 21, so to say, only 3 or 4 years older than them. I thought because I was young, they wouldn’t take me seriously. But everything was fine J

Then, we visited the school. Straight up, then one corridor on the right, one on the left, go out, go to middle school, remember the code to the door, “here is the music room”, “here is the LSU”, back to the school, “here is the staff room”, “here is…” This school is such a maze! But now, I’m fine with it :)

When you live with other people...

I was in England, in Spennymoor, in a big house with the two landlords and their daughter Emma. But I did not know until about ten days that there was another lodger. Maybe Ann or Emma told me about her, but as I was still confused and not that good at English - the "real" English I mean, not the one we are taught at uni- I did not pay intention. So, after a while in Spenny, I met Kemi. Kemi was from Nigeria and studied in Durham. That is approximately all I know about her. Because she added me on Face Book, I know that we were in the same house for her birthday. We did nothing special, we had not met yet.
The first time we met was actually... in the kitchen. She was boiling chicken and a lot of vegetables whereas I just wanted some water to "make" soup. That's all.
But if I talk about her, it's because something happened later (I cannot write only boring stuff)! Indeed, around the 20th of September, she packed her belongings. I've been told that she was leaving on Monday morning. Then I told to myself " it's quite sad... I have no friends here yet, I have spent three weeks with someone about my age and we didn't do anything..." knock knock knockin on Kemi's door... "Hi there!" Kemi looked at me as if I were completely crazy, but, nevermind, " I know you go back to Nigeria in two days, and so, I was wondering if you wanted to have one last drink before?" Still no reaction. I kept on smiling, waiting for an answer. "I don't really go to pub, she said at least, what should I wear?" Haaa!!! super! "Whatever you like, it's just for a drink!".
So, I needed to get prepared for my very first night out in... Spennymoor. In the afternoon, I walked to the town center to see where we could go and what we could do. Two pubs offered karaoke on Saturday night, it could be a good idea. Back home, I told Kemi if she was OK for a karaoke. She seemed really reluctant to the idea of going out at night, but she agreed. She told me she still didn't know what to wear, though.
We went to the Bridge. As Kemi had packed many of her clothes, she was wearing jeans and a top. I was so happy to go out for a drink that I had a nice shirt, shorts, high heels and make up. You know, I'm always afraid when I have make up to put to much blush on my cheeks. What I discovered this night made this fear vanished, completely. Indeed, women were dressed like I would be dressed for New Year's Eve, with short dress, no sleeves, with very colourful and glittering fabrics. In France, I would look ridiculous dressed that way only to go to the pub, but here, it seemed normal. Well, new cultural shock!
Before we left, Ann told me that the pubs in Spenny are quite "local". They are indeed... It seemed like everybody knew everybody and that no room was left fom "strangers". Nevertheless, I fought against my fear, ordered my pint of Foster and sat at a table. I remembered that Kemi took nothing to drink...too bad :(


Karaoke means you have to sing, and I like to sing. We had a list of songs, we just had to choose one. At the beginning, we were not really... ready to sing in front of a lot of stronger. Moreover, we could not, definitely, because two women were going one after the other, screaming in the micro and dancing at the same time as if they were pop stars, that was fun! I decided to sing, I started with Barbie girl. I think I wanted to learn English thanks to this song, but I never really tried to understand the lyrics. I thought it was just about the life of Barbie...

"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!" so here that's fine, it still deals with Barbie...

"you can brush my hair" ok...

"undress me everywhere" oh, it sounds fun...

"I'm a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world,

Dress me up, make me tight, I'm your dolly, 

you can touch, you can play, if you say I'm always yours" Oh my Gosh, what am I doing???

Yes, for my first song there, when I was very shy, in front of a lot of people I didn't know, I understood the lyrics... FML?

For the second song alone, I sang La Bamba and Kemi said "so you can speak French, English, German AND Spanich???" well, I can... sing La Bamba lol

I finally forced her into singing something. She did not want to be alone, so we spent a long long time to decied what song we were both able to sing - at least a song which rhythm we knew. She wanted to sing My Hump by the Black Eyed Peas. Well, I'll try to... We both took a microphone, I started. When it was her turn, she didn't sing. Oh Gosh, just say something please!!! Then, because she thought she couldn't do it, she... left me in the middle of the song. So I had to sing the two voices in the song. People were smiling, and clapped at the end. They said they liked my performance... Maybe I should trust them! lol

After my "show", we left the pub and had a walk at night in the streets. It was fine. I enjoyed that night. The day after, I didn't see Kemi, and the other day after, she left. We never said goodbye.

"No one is irreplaceable", some people say. About a week after Kemi went back to Nigeria, someone else moved in, someone really really really different. Scott, 38, divorced, likes beer, lager, cider, women, music, video games, football, has a big TV, a playstation 3 and a mobile phone to play with his PS3... Yes, I know a lot more about him! As I asked Kemi to go out for her last night, I asked Scott to go out for his first weekend. Moreover, I knew there was a band playing in a pub that night, Black Sun, so it was a good opportunity to have a drink and a talk. We went there, had a first pint. Once again, compared to the other girls and the way they were dressed, I felt like a nun. The band was good, and Scott talkative and thirsty. I had a very good night, I enjoyed his company. He offered me a pint. He had one also. And another one. And another one. He excused himself, went to the toilets, had another pint and brought me a cocktail, had another pint, went to the toilets, had a sixth pint, a seventh pint, went to the toilets again. What I didn't tell is that this happened on the 2nd of October, the day before I started the job at school... I was afraid I wouldn't wake up on time the morning after. So, I told Scott that it might be time to go back home...

On our way home, he spoke French. He tried to speak French. Because it was late, he asked me "keleuwétil?" ( "quelle heure est-il"), so I answered "it's nearly midnight". He picked some dandelions and blew on them, repeating "quelle heure est-il?" several times until I understood he was a bit... tired?

Gosh, we were home! My ears buzzed until 2am, I couldn't sleep and I was nervous about my first day at school!


Scott still lives in the house. We went out again for my birthday, with other friends and colleagues. He is a nice guy. Though sometimes noisy when he plays video games late at night  (and he swears a lot)! But I like him because the bathroom is clean after he uses it (though, sometimes, the toilet seat is up... well, he is a man)!