A few weeks ago I noticed that the wheel rims on my town bike were looking rather mucky, and although I didn’t resolve to clean them at the time, today they are sparkling like new. However, this is not because my Virgo natured self could not live with such uncleanliness but because, in the space […]
Make it happen
August 27, 2013
It’s not often that the manufacturers slogan on a shopping trolley is worth a second look, in fact it’s never worth a second look unless you happen to be a buyer for a chain of supermarkets, however a recent visit to one UK chain store had me sniggering to myself … During my short time […]
VDM
June 27, 2013
The French are rather fond of their acronyms. If you’ve spent any significant amount of time in the country you’ll already know SMIC (minimum wage), CAF (family allowance), CMU (basic health cover) and maybe FFF (French football federation). Unlike these ‘official’ acronyms VDM is more likely to be discovered in posts on Facebook, in emails […]
Get your kit off
April 23, 2013
Any visit to the Strasbourg-Alsace region wouldn’t be complete without a quick nip across the border to the famous spa town of Baden-Baden for a dip in the waters.
There are two sets of baths that you can check into for a few hours of relaxation: the Friedrichsbad, which is advertised as a “Roman-Irish” spa, and the Caracalla, an all-encompassing spa for the masses. The Roman-Irish experience, although I have yet to experience it myself, combines classic hot baths (Roman) with sadistic cold ones (Irish) [...]
M and M-Pokora
March 26, 2013
My current status as a student, and teacher of students, has recently required me to make a bit of an effort in the hipster department. I am no hipster, and I usually wear regular trousers, but having some grasp of what’s hip in France is becoming more important as I try…
You don’t fart a cable
March 4, 2013
The verb for “to fart” was something I learnt early on in my studies of the French language. I don’t remember why now – but it probably had something to do with an awkward situation in a lift. Anyway, the verb in question is “péter” (pronounced petay) and it is, for obvious reasons, seldom heard […]
Dross 17
February 18, 2013
If you’ve ever flicked through the channels on offer on France’s digital terrestrial service (TNT) in search of some quality late-night entertainment, it is very likely that you will have skipped past channel 17 on more than one occasion… and I don’t blame you. Currently labelled as “D17″ (D for dross or diabolically-bad I assume) […]
I’m Cookie Dingler
January 14, 2013
It was Australia Day 1998, when I happily found myself being driven along the Great Ocean Road by a local Aussie lass – to see the Twelve Apostles (12 great hunks of eroded cliff-face separated from the coastline by a few meters of open water) just west of Melbourne, Australia. There, as we cruised along […]
End of Semester
December 27, 2012
So what’s it like to be an English Masters Student at the University of Strasbourg? Well after a whole semester there I feel I am now in a position to make an objective(ish) judgement. First off, I have to say that the quality of teaching is superlative. I have had the honour to be in […]
U2
October 27, 2012
Firstly I should apologise to ‘organic’ surfers who have hit this page in search of the latest gossip about Bono et al. – because this post has nothing to do with ageing Irish Rock Bands. Well, almost nothing. Actually, I have to confess, my fondness for U2 (yes, the band) has been on the wane […]
Am I the only man in the room?
October 5, 2012
Yes, you are. All of the students around you, including a not insignificant number on foreign exchange programmes, and the teacher are indeed … female. Unfortunately you are also old enough to have fathered most of them … except the teacher.”
… said my ethereal self to my other inner self last Wednesday morning at approximately o’eight hundred hours (for we use the twenty-four hour clock in France); drawing my attention to the general genre of my surroundings.[...]
Mon Impasse Campus
September 12, 2012
So my first week of studies seems to be going well. It has been a steep learning curve on all facets of University life. This is what I have learned so far:
- local dogs go for walkies on Campus at night – just so there’s plenty of caca for us to step in by day
- the machine coffee is rubbish [...]
Let’s talk about fees, baby
September 10, 2012
Traditional A-level disciplines such as French are in “freefall” following a record decline in entry rates over the last decade … according to recent figures.
It seems the youth of Britain remain wholly unconvinced as to the usefulness of mastering a foreign language. If you ask me, this is because the reasons for doing as much have never been presented terribly well. [...]
Back to school …
September 1, 2012
… or ‘la rentrée’ if you prefer, is upon us. We, like all normalised French residents, have spent the past two months en vacances. In essence this means we have sent our kids away at every opportunity – so that we can enjoy some peace and quiet at home. Three weeks out of the eight […]
Planet Sushi: what planet are they on?
June 28, 2012
When it comes to food I am always ready to try something new. However, since accidentally ordering whole, cold, curried squid for breakfast in Yogjakarta some years ago, I do now at least make a point of knowing what it is I’m biting into first. My gung-ho days are long gone.
It is with this spirit that I approached a recent takeaway menu shoved through the door from Strasbourg’s newest Sushi restaurant: Planet Sushi. [...]
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