On growing up (and getting old)

The girl I looked after when I first moved to Germany has just finished school. Not for good – she’s going back after the summer to do the German equivalent of A-Levels – but the compulsory part. When I first met her she’d just turned 6, and wasn’t due to start school for almost a […]

On talking too much to sleep

It’s gone one am and I’m not asleep yet. I’m at my third AuPair family’s house. I haven’t been here in 8 or 9 years, and it is amazing how much has happened since then, yet how recent my time here seems. It doesn’t feel strained or tense or foreign, it’s more like I’ve been […]

On the wonders of chewing gum

I don’t remember coming across chewing gum as a little kid. By about year 4 I’d discovered bubble gum, but wasn’t ever very good at blowing bubbles (glass is much better than bubblegum in that respect, even if it doesn’t taste as good ;)). A bit later, maybe in year 8 or 9, someone told […]