On German invitations

If you ever happen to find yourself invited to a German party, remember to turn up at least half an hour before the time on the invite. It doesn’t matter what kind of event it is. Birthday, Barbecue, Leaving do. In the last couple of weeks, I have been late to 3 different “occasions” despite […]

On beach parties

Originally, we wanted to spend the day on the beach. We packed a picnic and a bottle of water, swimwear and a couple of towels, and off we went. We got there just after high tide, and the dryest sand was damp. Damp sand never stopped us before so we sat down and ‘set up […]

On walking the last miles home

It’s very strange to be walking back to somewhere that in a few hours will no longer be ‘home’. I left the party just before midnight, walking the stretch of road from the station to my flat. At just gone midday I was on the road with the last of my possessions on the way […]

On shopping successfully

I don’t much like shopping. Food-shopping is bearable, clothes-shopping generally isn’t, although it is marginally better than shoe-shopping, and a whole lot better than bra-shopping. I tend to avoid it if at all possible. However. Sometimes life strikes, and I get invited somewhere that calls for something other than jeans. It seems life has struck. […]

On partying like a German

Warning: This post contains predjudice and unfair descriptions 😉 When in Germany, party like a German 🙂 The stereotype/predjudice is that the Germans are a very serious people. I’m not sure that that’s true, they’re just incredibly orderly. Even getting drunk and dancing on tables has to be done in an orderly fashion. Where I […]

On supermarkets and inefficiency

ARGH!! Not that I’m at all p****d off. At myself as much as at them. I went shopping this morning (why I’m home on a workday is another story). I wanted to buy milk, among other things. One of the 50.000 milk sorts was on offer. One that’s produced by happy, non-genetically-modified-feed-fed, local cows. It’s […]

On dancing with my eyes shut

For some reason I can dance better with my eyes shut. I’m going to assume it’s because when they’re open, they fully occupy my brain with all the visual imput, too selfish or attention-seeking to let my hands and/or feet join in. Once I close them, I’m much more aware of what it is my […]

On fighting suitcases…

(-The story behind yesterday’s walk home-) Over the years I’ve had a fair bit of practice at this. As a kid we went on holiday incredibly regularly. Mostly camping, or visiting grandparents, but nevertheless ‘going away’. This almost always calls for packing and carrying some kind of luggage. The folks packed the tent and other […]