Here's a quick update as I haven't had a chance to post much this week. School has been fine. I've taught a few lessons but just observed on Wednesday and Thursday. We've been learning about young learners (sounds like hard work but lots of fun!) and also had to write a 1,000 word essay on how much grammar, if any, should be taught. We were directed to a really interesting website about a certain teaching approach this is materials light - it's called Dogme (http://www.thornburyscott.com/tu/portal.htm). The logic is that the teaching should be structured around what's happening in the students' lives, not doing role plays out of text books that are of no interest/relevance to the students. In its most extreme form, the teacher plays the role of a facilitator and is an equal within the discussions that arise in the classroom. I found reading about this approach really interesting and there's definitely some aspects of it that I would like to experiment with given the chance.

I also found out this week that I can stay in this apartment for August if I want and also that I've got some work the week after the course finishes! A women is coming to the school for a solid week of English lessons (7.5 hours/day!), paid for by her employer. As this is so intensive, and because one of the English teachers is off on the Monday and Tuesday of that week, I'm going to be sharing some of the teaching. The scary thing is I've been told to act like I've been doing it for ages (er, ok...) but also the lessons I take will be very long as they'll be half a day each. I'm hoping that her level will be basic enough for me to have lots to cover and that the focus will also be on the office world (she's a PA), so we can do lots of flight and meeting bookings, emails, letters etc. I'll also be following someone else's lesson plan so that could make it easier. Or not. Anyway, the school obviously has confidence in me so I'm just going to go with the flow as it's great experience.

Last night Chri came for dinner (and he loved it - even the nibbles and the beer - and he wanted the recipe for the main = result! I gave him a choice of carbonara or couscous and he went for the couscous, so I managed to avoid making carbonara for him, which I was actually a bit nervous about!). It was so nice having someone round and also having someone else to help fill my empty apartment. After dinner we went to see Jamiroquai with about seven of Chri's mates. The gig was amazing! I loved it and will definitely have to rediscover his music. I don't know his recent stuff and haven't heard his old stuff for years. I kind of thought he'd disappeared. The friends were nice. I got on really well with a French girl who lived in California for seven years so speaks fluent English. She lives in the centre of Nice and is in the process of divorcing her husband, so I've pinpointed her as a potential meeting for a coffee buddy. Two of Chri's Italian mates from Genova are staying with him this weekend, so they joined us too. The guy spoke English but the girl reckoned she didn't, but when she had to, she managed and we got on well together. I'm going to Chri's this afternoon so Massimo (the guy) will pick me up from the station and we'll all spend the weekend together. Elivera (the girl) is a runner, so I've been told to take my stuff. I'm very excited to have running buddies! Chri also told me that Massimo is a great cook. Even better than Chri, and that's saying something! I've asked to be sous-chef so I'm hoping to come away from the weekend with some more Italian cooking skills (I think my mum thinks I eat carbonara every day!). He was talking about doing something with courgette flowers last night. Get in!!

I'd been a bit low last weekend and Chri had been a bit down last time I saw him, but he more than made up for it last night and put a smile back on my boat race. He loves winding me up and was really on form last night (and this morning in fact). We keep saying that after 15 years I should know better than to take the bait, but more often than not he gets me. Damn him. He also makes me laugh as he's adopted the word 'Marra' and has taken to calling Newcastle 'Chateau neuf'.

Right, I better think about making a move. School starts at 10h30 this morning and finishes at noon - hardly worth going in, but I suppose I better make the effort. I'll try and post again this afternoon, but if I don't manage to then I just wanted to thank everyone who has contacted me already with their kind words and thoughts. My lovely Ma was looking at flights to Nice when she thought I might be on my own this weekend, lovely sis has sent a card - thanks lovely sis! - and I've had lots of emails. Thank you all; you don't know how much that means to me. As always, please raise a glass or two to T this weekend and use this time to reflect on how you could take inspiration from him to try and live your life less ordinary. He'd really like that. I've had random visions of T dancing to Groove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite this week, so I might also play that while raising my glass. That will make me smile. To T then, who I will love and miss until my dying day.

A day in my current life

Yesterday was a chilled out day. I woke up when I woke up, wandered to my local beach (about a 15 minute walk - how amazing is that?!), refused to pay £12 for a lounger and parasol so lay on the pebbles in the sunshine, paddled a bit while contemplating how I'd get beyond the breakers. Decided against it. Had a banana baguette then had a stroll along the prom when it clouded over. I came back home, did some washing, snoozed in my reclining chair in the sunshine on the balcony, read some of my book then did 62 lengths in the pool. It was a quiet day but I quite enjoyed that quiet.

Today we didn't have to be in school until 11. I had grand plans for going running before breakfast but was too tired and ended up snoozing my alarm for about 40 minutes. I had my yogurt, muesli and nectarine and made my way to the station to catch the 10h38. School was good - I got feedback on my last lesson (which I thought went badly but the feedback was quite positive) and planned this afternoon's lesson, with a student I hadn't taught before - a young lad (20ish?) who is maybe pre-intermediate level. I'd been told he liked football so structured my lesson around that and it went like a dream! He came into the classroom and one of the first things he asked me was where I was from (I love students that ask me things - saves me trying to coax things out of them!). 'Newcastle', says I, 'Do you know it?' 'Of course', he replies. And you can probably guess the rest: 'How do you know Newcastle?', 'Because of the football team', and there was the lesson introduced absolutely naturally and with minimal effort from me. We brainstormed lots of football-related vocabulary and I think both he and the two observers were impressed with my football knowledge, especially as I'm a mere girl! I also told him that David Ginola used to be my heart-throb (tricky one to explain that!) and that I spoke French with him back in the day. I then probed him a bit about his team using the vocabulary we'd just learnt, then he read a text about the Mardona incident. This allowed me to introduce the past tense and I got him to complete a couple of exercises about that.

It was my best lesson by far. I think because it was natural, and a topic that we were both interested in, so we were both motivated and enthusiastic and that rubbed off on each other. One of the tutors told us that we should remember KISS - keep it simple, stupid - so true. OK, you're not always handed subjects like this on a plate (imagine if he'd liked rugby instead of football - I'd have been screwed!), but making it less formal and more of a chat with the one-to-ones is definitely a good tactic. Then they don't feel like they're learning and it's not too much of a chore for you as the teacher. Get in!

Chri also called and we made a plan for Thursday, so that got me excited about that. He's getting to mine by about 7pm, I'm cooking for once (already panicking! I jokingly suggested I could make carbonara so he could assess my progress but then he said maybe I could make it at the weekend for the rest of the Italians instead. Er, I don't think so!), then we'll head off to the concert, which isn't far from my apartment. I've been invited to Italy again this weekend, along with some of his mates, so I'm looking forward to that too. I really like being around people I know that look out for me and make me feel included - like part of the family. Maybe especially when it's a guy too, I'm not sure; thinking out loud a bit. I guess that's one of the many things I miss about not having T in my life and my male friends help recreate some of that to some extent. As I often say, I also like being liked, so it's also important to me that Chri feels he wants to share his weekend with me and introduce me to his friends (or 'marras' as he now says non-stop!). I haven't told Chri yet, and I'm not sure it'll click with him, but it means I'll also be there for the second anniversary of T's death. I'm pleased I'll be around people and I may or may not tell them, depending how I feel. But that's OK with me. The important thing is that I know and will be remembering, and that I'll have an old friend there for support if that remembering gets to be too much. I can't actually believe that two years have passed or comprehend how they have passed and I've survived, but I'll leave that analysis for another blog entry...

Anyway, this evening I caught the 17h09 train home and sat on the balcony reading my book for while. The weather had been nice all day but suddenly clouded over so I decided to go running. And that was great too! I ran away from the sea, towards the mountains to explore my 'hood a bit. I picked up signs to Renoir's house and centre ville so followed them and ran up a huge hill to Renoir's house. It's just over a mile from where I live! I love Renoir - my Dad had a book about him when I was growing up and I can remember looking through that and loving some of his work. If my memory serves me correctly, I also did a school project about him back in the day! I'm hoping to get to look around the museum before I leave but it was closed by the time I got there. I carried on, found the centre ville then ran towards the sea and back home along the prom. It was great running weather - not too hot - and I overtook lots of plodders, men and women, so that was satisfying. I was out for about 48 minutes and feel so much better for going. As always.

Tea tonight was salad on the balcony with a nice glass of red wine, followed by a rooibos tea and a square of my favourite chocolate that I can't get in the UK but can get on tap here - yay for that! I need to write up my review of today's lesson and will aim to get an early night as I haven't been getting enough sleep recently. (Last night's lack of sleep was due to the fact the wind woke me up at 3.20am - I think I've said before that the wind bothers me at night and that I've read it bothers women more than men - and I suddenly remembered that I had washing on the balcony. I got up, took my mobile phone with me as a torch, rolled the shutters up a crack so as not to disturb my neighbours and combat rolled underneath to rescue my clothes (that hadn't budged an inch!). I hope nobody saw me!)

Dreams are funny things

Last night I had a dream in which T and I were walking hand in hand through a built up place (it was actually a bit like Canary Wharf). T had still died but we were somehow back together again, talking about how it felt. T said something really succinct about the fact that he doesn't miss the children we didn't have, as that didn't happen so it's not important and we can't dwell on that, but he does miss the feeling of talking about having children together and planning for a future, as well as just sharing each other's lives, thoughts, hopes and dreams. It was the strangest thing. I was just walking along nodding my head in complete and utter agreement with everything he was saying. At last I'd found someone who understood how it felt! But of course he would understand, we would both have been in this together. It's hard that this one person who gets it and who knows exactly how it feels can only come to me in my dreams. I hope he visits me again soon. I woke up feeling dazed and confused, but while I was coming to and before I physically moved I could still feel his hand in mine and it was the best feeling on earth.

Taking stock

For the first time since I got here, today I've felt a bit homesick. But I don't think the hangover and tiredness are helping matters. It's not mega bad but I've been thinking a lot about the NE today, and it's places and spaces. I'm also missing my UK social life and support network :o( I'm a bit concerned about what I'll do when the course finishes, but that's not worth worrying about now and I'm under no real time pressure to make any decisions so I'm trying to just go with the flow.

So, we had a phonology test yesterday morning (that gobbledigook you see after a word in a dictionary that tells you how to pronounce it). I quite enjoyed it - we had to translate said gobbledigook into English and vice versa. We were also tested on intontation, the organs of speech and how we stress certain words in English. I didn't realise but there's a different phonemic chart for every language in the world, so the English one differs to the American one even though English is spoken in both countries (obvious when you think about it). These phonemic charts look a bit like the periodic table of the elements, with each sound represented by a different symbol. In the English one, for example, there is a sound and corresponding to the 'a' in 'car' and a different sound/symbol for the 'a' in 'cat'. It's more like the alphabet we learn when we're little where we say the letters as they are pronounced: a (like cat), b (like ball, not like 'bee'), c (like 'cat', not like 'see') etc. But the symbols correspond to sounds, not letters. So 'cat' and 'king' share the same sound, and if, for example, you're writing 'coffee' in phonemes you only need to include one 'f' as it relates only to the sound, not the letter. I quite like stuff like that!

We've also been learning about the stress we put on certain words/syllables in English - saying the sentence 'CATS CHASE MICE' takes a similar amount of time to saying, 'the CATS that CHASE the MICE' because we put the emphasis on the key words. This means English is a stressed-time lanaguage and is what gives it its 'sing-song' effect. This contrasts with say Italian or French. In French, the word for banana is 'banane'. It's said in a very flat way with no stress on any particular syllable, whereas in English we say, 'banARna'. Imagine how difficult all these nuances are for someone learning English! As well as the fact that the words 'comb', 'bomb' and 'tomb' only have one letter of difference between them but the pronunciation of each is completely different to the other. Anyway, enough on phonology...

When the test finished at 10.30am, we were told we were free for the rest of the day so I headed to the beach with three other girls from the course. It was nice having some company outside of school as I'm beginning to get a bit lonely being on my own all the time. I'm totally used to living alone now, but it's not the same without my network of friends and family to break the monotony of being just me, myself and I. I didn't brave the water this time, but did spend a good couple of hours laughing at people trying to get in and out the sea. The shingle, big shelf and big waves are a really bad combination, but do make for entertaining viewing! The techniques people adopt crack me up. One woman leaned forward and walked like neanderthal man (either that or like she'd just got off her horse). Some people got in as quickly as possible. The hesitaters tended to get knocked over. Some couldn't get back up. That was funny! People clung to each other, thinking there was safety in numbers but then a big wave would come and they'd both get knocked over. Some people tried to get in then chickened out and sat back down on the beach. Some tried to look like they were just paddling but you could tell they were weighing up their options. But you have to understand that I was really laughing with these people after my experience last weekend, they had my sympathy and I was secretly pleased that it's a common occurance (although boobgate wasn't copied by anyone - some women were topless. I reckon that could be a tactic!).

After a few hours chilling on the beach I came back home, got changed and went back into town to meet the others in an Irish bar. The Italian girl was craving a burger so we all had burger and chips! (I can't believe we're in France and all I'm doing is speaking English and eating and drinking in Irish bars - it's a travesty). From there we headed to the prom where there was some live music and some carnival action. We drank far too much wine and stayed out into the wee small hours. We knew it was bad when we tried to get into Wayne's Bar and were told we were too late and they were closing; not sure where the night went. We went back to the bar we'd just come from where we befriended two Glaswegians. The poor American girl couldn't understand a word they were saying which illustrated the phonology stuff really well - they were all native English speakers but struggled to communicate with each other!

I stayed in town with two of my classmates so avoided the lonely commute back to my apartment late at night. Today we woke up late, nursed our hangovers then met two other classmates and went to the Matisse Museum. I loved it! I knew very little about Matisse but now I'm loving his work. His stuff is so varied and really simple but effective. We had a stroll around the park, watched a wedding, had a gelato (Kinder and ginger/caramel for me - dee-vine!) and then I headed home. I made my trusty favourite: carbonara, spoke to my parents and now I'm going to hit the hay ready for a day at my local beach tomorrow. I'm going to hire a lounger and an umbrella and just chill out. I'll read my book, snooze, swim (if it looks like I can get in and out of the water without incident), snooze, read my book, swim ad infinitum. It would be nice to share my day with someone, but I'm going to just get on with it and enjoy myself anyway. I could arrange to see my classmates again but, as much as I like them, it's quite tiring being around people you don't know that well 24/7. I'm looking forward to seeing Chri again on Thursday when we're off to see Jamiroquai.

Grammar update

Apparently we all passed the grammar test. Not sure by how much, but the main thing is that we all passed. Phew. Still lots of self-study to do as I'm not quite sure I could explain the past perfect continuous aspect to anyone, nevermind someone who isn't a native English speaker...

I also took my first lesson; a one-on-one with a 15-year old girl. It went OK. I can identify lots of room for improvement but it's good to have got the first one out of the way. Speaking of firsts, I also ventured into the pool this evening and did my 50 lengths. The weather has been pretty dire here today so there were only two young boys in there. At least I know the ropes a bit now.

Loving hearing from you - thanks for your calls, emails, cards etc. You are the best! Night night xx

Some observations

In no particular order and for no real reason, here's some things I've been thinking about recently:

- The BBQ we had in Italy consisted of: carpaccio of beef with a tomato and red onion salad to start, then meat, meat and more meat. We had chicken, lamb, sausages and maybe pork too. But no sides. Later on a green salad was brought out, but no carbs/sides like we would have in the UK. I think us Brits generally tend to think something's missing if we don't have rice/pasta/potatoes etc with our meals. (On a separate note we also had the most delicious panna cotta for dessert!)

- It's funny (and nice) how loyal people can be towards the place they're from. The Italians at the weekend have lived in Genoa for a long time. They were saying that the foccacia in the area of Italy where we were doesn't have anything on the foccacia from Genoa. I think that's generally the same the world over though. I like it this patriotism/loyalty, and now I'm interested to try the Genovese foccacia so I can form my own opinion. (Apparently it should be thin - they say it's a mattress if it's too thick and spongy - crispy and have a lot of oil on it.)

- The internet must be my biggest distraction. I was meant to go running tonight. I've talked about and looked forward to it all day. Then I find a way to connect to the internet from my apartment and running has gone out the window. I'm going to have to go running or swimming before school tomorrow. Maybe swimming, as it's not every day I have a pool to use before the daily grind starts.

- It's weird how kettles haven't taken off in Europe (well, not in France and Italy anyway). To me it seems like a hassle to get a pan out, put the hob on, boil the water, remember to turn it off when it boils, then wash/dry the pan and put it away, when you could just fill a kettle and leave it at that. I wonder why that is?

- Language is funny. I've spent a lot of time with Chri recently. He says stuff in English like, 'let's make a tour' (of the town or whatever) because that's what they say in Italian, and French I think. Or, 'in this corner' (of the town), meaning in this particular area/neighbourhood. We wouldn't use these phrases in English but sometimes I can't think what we would say. I think we'd probably use a slightly different expression depending on what we were doing, ie. let's go for a wander, let's go exploring, let's go for a walk, let's have a look round. But now, because I understand what's intended by these phrases, I find myself using them in English as it's easier. It doesn't make for great English though, and means I'm not correcting Chri either. And recently I just haven't been able to remember some words in English. On Saturday I had to text Australia to ask what that game is where you use a mallet to hit a ball through pegs - you know, like polo but without the horses. Of course it's croquet (thanks my marra!), but there was no way that word was going to come to me. Strange what your brain does sometimes. The other day Chri had to ask Omar how they pronounce pistachio in Italian. His brain was listening to me saying it in English and French and it blocked his ability to think in his own language. I also learnt today that we will generally always think of numbers in the language we originally learnt them in. So if in 60 years I'm still living in France, I'll probably still count in English. How strange is that?

- Sometimes recently I've struggled to identify where in the world I am. For Bastille Day last week, for example, I was in an Irish pub in Nice with two Americans, an Italian, a Brit who has lived in Austria since she was 16, a guy from Northern Ireland who has lived in Sweden and France for the past 20-odd years and an Brit who has lived in Nice for six years. I was in France, speaking English, drinking pints pulled by an Irishman in an Irish pub. Talk about confusing! Then last week I was in London having lunch with my old colleagues and a few hours later I was drinking wine with my parents and their neighbours in the north east. I think my internal compass is struggling to keep up with all my recent travels!

- GB, who knows me and my inner brain workings/insecurities better than most, told me today that he's impressed with my lack of recent crying when the going has gotten tough. He said I'm getting strong. And do you know what? I think he's right. That drowning/indecent exposure incident was a classic example. Ordinarily I would have burst into tears, sat on the beach feeling sorry for myself and not gone back in the water all afternoon. Instead, I rearranged myself (ahem) and got straight in the sea without shedding a tear. Yay! I like it when I see progress without having made a conscious decision to act/feel differently. When T died, people said things would one day become easier. You don't believe that at the time. How can you? You think it will always be like it is. But it's not. I feel not just stronger, but strong. It's good! And I know T would be most proud of that. That makes me happy.

Before T died I had a lot of insecurities. I worried. A lot. About things that were totally outside my control. For example, on our South America trip I agonised for days about getting a boat home as I didn't want to fly. What a waste of those days in South America. Now I see flying as a means to an end. Yes, it's got risks, but if I want to travel to the places I go, I have to fly. My desire to travel outweighs those risks. When we went on holiday to Turkey we hired a scooter and I was past myself about getting on it and going a few kilometers down the coast, instead of just holding on and enjoying the ride and the scenery. Now I get on Chri's scooter without thinking about it. It gets us from A to B. I certainly worry a lot less than I used to about things over which I've got no control. I'm not completely cured (GB will definitely vouch for that), but I'm definitely in remission - although don't be expecting me to go in a field containing cows or to go anywhere near a frog! T would also be proud that I'm more carefree about lots of things. That's one thing he was constantly trying to help me with as he could see how debilitating it could be, and what a waste of bloody time.

Think that's my brain dump for the day. Better rest up before my early morning swim...

Where I am

I'm back. The good news is that we've been told that the grammar test went well for the most part. Not yet sure whether that means we've all got the obligatory 70%, but will find out tomorrow. Anyway, it went better than I expected, so that's a relief. I also just found out that I've got my first student tomorrow - a 15-year-old girl, not sure of her level so not quite sure how I'll create a lesson plan. Think I'll just try and wangle a one hour needs assessment.

My cell!

I've had a specific request from my mate Sal for more information about where I am and what it's like, so here it is: I'm living in the sparsely furnished apartment about 15 mins on the train from the centre of Nice. It's about a mile from the beach. It's very residential and green which also means it's much quieter than living in the centre - French cities are notoriously noisy to live in. It's very close to a decent-sized supermarket and about a ten minute walk from the station. Today when I opened the shutters the sky was the most beautiful blue and I love getting glimpses of the sea from various points on my journey to and from school. So far I haven't ventured into the pool (which is big) as there's always been people there and I don't know the ropes - I'm basically being a chicken. Might try going before school as I've never seen anyone there in the mornings and it would be a nice way to start my day. I'm also going to go for another run this evening. I went out the other evening and ran to the beach and along the prom. I love running beside the sea!

Longer term plans are still undecided. There's a possibility I might move into one of my classmate's apartments in the town centre in August and there's also a possibility that I might be able to rent a fully furnished one-bedroom apartment in the centre from September onwards. The family we had the BBQ with on Saturday mentioned to Chri that they might want to hire an au pair to teach their kids English, so that could also be a (short-term!) option. Who knows? I'm just taking it as it comes at the minute but if I'm staying here then I'd like to live in town as there's nothing going on where I am now and it's tricky to get home after a night out.

Making an impression

This might make you laugh; it makes me laugh just thinking about it! So, on Saturday I went to Italy to visit the Italian. I had to get up early (7.15am) and it took two hours to get there because you have to change trains at the border where there is usually a wait plus a delay (I don't think I've been on a punctual Italian train yet). Anyway, I arrive at San Remo, get a lift back to Chri's and drop my stuff on, then we set off on an hour and three quarter scooter ride to meet friends of his at a beach halfway between where he lives and where they live in Genoa. It was a stunning drive along the aurelia with the Med on one side and the mountains on the other. We passed through some lovely seaside towns and villages, including the one where my parents honeymooned which I was very excited about!

We eventually arrive at the beach and I meet the friends - so far so good and I don't feel too intimidated among the classy Italians. After saying hello, I go and put my bikini on and when I come back Chri is chatting to some of his friends on the beach while two of the guys have already gone into the sea. I don't want Chri to feel he has to look after me all the time, or to detract from his time with his friends, so I decide to go and have a swim to unwind after my long journey from France. I get to the shore and dip my feet in the water. The waves are quite big but not too scary. It's a shingle beach with a big drop. I go in a bit further, with the two guys encouraging me in. Big waves are breaking on my stomach. The next thing I know, I'm drowning! I'm underwater and my face is being pounded onto the shingle. I don't know which way is up. I'm being rolled by the wave and have inhaled lots of sea water. After what felt like an eternity, I surfaced to find one of the guys coming to my rescue Baywatch-style. I catch my breath, get my bearings and eventually look down to find I've popped out of my bikini. Definitely not cool! Almost drowning was embarrassing enough, but flashing someone I'd met about seven minutes earlier (plus half the beach) was mortifying, but perhaps a good way to break the ice!

The boys were very kind and recovered my sunglasses from the sea and eventually physically helped me into the water. I thought the bikini episode was going to go unmentioned but that was wishful thinking. When I saw them later that day I was asked if I'd gone into the sea after they'd left to make another show! Cheeky sods! Anyway, the rest of the afternoon was spent without incident - I studied a bit and had a little siesta. And I definitely didn't venture back into the sea! That evening we were invited to Chri's friends in Imperia for a BBQ. The food was divine and everyone was so lovely to me. Between the six of us we communicated in Italian, French and English, which worked. The weather wasn't great on Sunday so Chri and I went to the local beach where I studied some more and ate delicious sea bass before heading back to France.

Right, back to school. Will try and log on again later.

Maybe I spoke too soon

OK, so things were going so swimmingly that there was bound to be a hiccup. I was due to be taken to the new place by one of the male staff members on Tuesday night. He picked me up as planned but told me there was a problem. The apartment's electricity had been disconnected so not only was there no electric, but no hot water either. He told me he'd take me there and I could drop off my bag but then I had to stay with him that night as he wasn't prepared to leave Johnny Foreigner in a dark apartment with no hot water. He also told me he'd cleared it with his girlfriend and as she trusts him implicitly, no problem. I wasn't given much choice in the matter and was both grateful and slightly concerned in equal measure. I had no idea where he was taking me or what his living arrangements were or why he was being so kind to little old me.

I texted my old mate GB and told him the score - gave him the guy's contact details just in case, although when asked for an address, I had no idea where I was! We rock up at his apartment and I meet his Russian girlfriend (not important, but she's almost 20 years his junior). She was distant and polite but not overly friendly. We have some wine (I'm thinking, have they spiked it - see my posting on my first night alone in Saigon for an insight into how my mind works - it's very Hollywood!) then order pizza and watch TV all night. It's all fine but a bit awkward. I sleep on the settee and the next morning the guy makes me a cup of tea and we head into school together. He tells me he wants to set me up with his Iranian friend (who arrived here without any papers, but this guy sorted all that for him - he knows a lawyer etc etc)! Anyway, the outcome was that there was no ulterior motive. Thank god. And it was actually very kind of him, if a little bizarre.

Yesterday I discovered that there was still no electric and was dreading him inviting me back, but fortunately he didn't - maybe the cold Russian wasn't quite as OK with it as he made out!? I was given two torches instead! I had a disasterous journey home (got the wrong train ticket, got the wrong train, waited an hour for the next train, got caught in a torrential thunderstorm, got soaked, then arrived in the new apartment that's barely furnished). But it was fine and I didn't cry (which tells you that it really was fine - that set of circumstances could have easily reduced me to tears!). The sun came out. I went to the supermarket and got stocked up. Did some homework and unpacked. Electric should be on tomorrow. It's only for a month and I quite like the apartment. Believe me, you'd know about it if I was remotely bothered by any of the arrangements!

School is tough. Lots of tricky grammar points to get your head around and a test on Monday. You need 70% to pass. Weather is good (apart from the storm yesterday). May or may not see the Italian later as his scooter is broken again. He was going to come for the big firework display for Bastille Day, which is today. Either way, I'm going to head to Italy for the weekend and chill out there. Oh, and revise! Nice Italian has also lent me his French mobile, so I can contact my French-based friends (of which I only have two!) without running up huge bills on my UK phone. That's kind of nice.

Right, back to class so have to go. Ciao ciao.

Ha!

This has been my day: Get up, shower, buy a brioche and have a coffee. Get to school and all the people are nice (Robin, English, 55ish, lived here for 20 years; Lucy, English but lives in Austria, 22ish; Rachel, American, 22ish and not annoying (sorry to be racist!) Michelle, American, 22ish (ditto), brought her dog with her from Chicago (to Europe, not to school) for two months; Ken, N. Irish, 55ish; Eleanor, Italian, 25ish; and Rupert, English, 42, lived here for six years). They seem like a nice bunch. No complete losers and people I think I'll get on with. I don't feel stressed and have a good day. I find out that I've got a host family but, and this bit isn't quite as good, they've got three cats (I'm a bit allergic). On the positive side they live a two minute walk from the school but again on the negative side, that's quite near the station and those areas are notoriously not very nice. Later I'm told that something has happened in the family and they can no longer host me. There are no other host families available so the tutor tells me she has a newly-refurbed apartment in Cagnes-sur-Mer that I can have for 150E less than I was going to pay. It's got a pool and she's going to furnish it (basically I guess) tonight. The downside is that it's about a half hour bus ride from Nice. I think I can live with that though! Actually, I've just done a quick search and it's 6 mins on the train from Nice. Perfect! I came out of school and had a split second of thinking, oh, what am I going to do now all on my lonesome before it hit me that I can go and have a nice swim in the Med - how bloody awesome is that?! Admittedly I do have some homework to do, but I can do that this evening. Better to enjoy the sunshine for now. So all in all a pretty good day I'd say, and I'm feeling very fortunate that things have worked out so well. I think that good karma thing might just be right.

I'm meeting my Italian friend for lunch tomorrow and there's a big fireworks display in Nice on Thursday for Bastille Day (which we have to work, shock horror!), so will probably go to that. We also get every Friday afternoon off, which is even better! The course is going to be hard work, especially the grammar. Can't say I knew this, for example:

We [subject] are [complement verb] late [complement].

Or this:
He [subject] underwent [object verb - never heard of one of them before] treatment [direct object].

Or even that there are no-object verbs like slip and talk (you can say 'I slipped' but not 'I slipped my foot'). God knows how I'm going to speak about this kind of thing to my colleagues for 10 minutes in the morning, nevermind explain the logistics of it to an inquisitive French student!

Interestingly, the grammar section is being taught by a French lady. I thought this odd until I realised that we probably know more about the grammar of the foreign languages we learn than the grammar of our own language, which we know innately. Ho hum. I guess it might make you slighly less jealous to know that my life isn't all about soaking up the sunshine and cooling off in the Med ;o)

The next adventure has already started...

I appreciate I haven't updated this for a while - apologies for that. To cut a long story short, I had an absolute ball visiting my old friend in Italy. We hadn't seen each other for 14 years but once we got over our initial meeting we just picked up where we left off and it was great! I felt like I was in a film as I cruised along the windy (not the blowy kind of windy; more the twisty turny sort) roads of the Riviera on a scooter; popping to the market, out for a standing-up coffee, to the beach... I lunched in Monaco (over-rated), did Fete de la Musique in Marseille, and had the best surprise reunion with another Italian friend I hadn't seen for 14 years who drove all the way from Genoa to have dinner with us. I was a very very happy bunny! I also learnt how to make pesto and the best carbonara, as well as panzanela. I tried the most delicious burrata - an exceptionally creamy mozzarella (in fact, I think it's got added cream) - with the freshest figs and salami. And I ate Nutella semifreddo, which was as divine as it sounds. I need to go back to sample an Aperol and ginger ale. There's worse reasons to go back somewhere.

After a week in Italy, I flew to Toulouse where my parents and I had hired a gite for a week. It was wonderful! It was an old stone conversion in the middle of nowhere; the only noise was from the birds, cows and insects. And me jumping in the pool to cool down. We lazed around, visited beautiful Medieval villages, drank delicious wine, ate delicious food (and cherries!), lazed around some more, went running, read our books, drank coffee, ate pastries and cakes, went to markets and castles, watched sunsets and generally just relaxed. Bliss.

We got back a week ago today. On Monday I spoke to my mate Sal. Moaned and groaned about how nice it would be to spend the summer in the south of France but how I couldn't think of a way to make that happen. Woke up on Tuesday and, on a complete and utter whim, googled Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) courses in Nice, applied the same day, got accepted onto a course on Wednesday (when I also booked a flight), spent a lovely night with Pam and Mick who were over from Singapore, got absolutely wasted at a supplier lunch on Friday, somehow managed to catch a train to Newcastle and had one night there visiting my family, came back to London yesterday, packed and flew out of Gatwick this evening. The course starts at 9.30 tomorrow morning. Phew!

The good thing is I've not had time to over-analyse the decision or stress too much about it. The stress has more been around getting my act together in the short space of time I had. I was really sorry not to be able to catch up with more friends and not to have been able to spend longer with my family up north, but I simply couldn't do everything. It's really strange how it has all worked out. It feels like it was meant to be. I got an email from my stepmother-in law (it's complicated!) today saying she felt good karma about this one. I do too. But we'll have to wait and see. I know English is for me (I'm a bit anal with my red pen where spelling and grammar are concerned), just not sure about the teaching part. The course is going to be pretty intense, but I love learning and meeting new people and challenging myself in a controlled environment. I'm ready for this and who knows, it may be the answer to some of my longer-term plans. The course lasts for a month and I haven't had time to think what I'll do after that. Time will tell. But as well as possible job hunting, I'm also going to have to find time for a bit of a social life as my lovely Italian friend has already been getting things in the diary!

Anyway, I need to try and get some sleep before school starts bright and early tomorrow morning! I'm staying in the tiniest but cutest room in a lovely little hotel that I found online. I love it! Check out the bathroom - it's even got it's own balcony! Only here for two nights though, then on to a homestay; hope I love that as much...