
Found on flickr.com
My French skills were the cause of much hilarity this afternoon:
A colleague called to say that she was experiencing light bleeding during pregnancy and that she needs some time off. As my boss happened to walk into the room at that point, I passed her the phone with the remark "elle a le sang qui coule". I didn't understand why she suddenly went white, snatched the phone and shot out of the room.
I looked over at my French "room-mate" colleague, who had caught the whole situation and was killing herself laughing. She explained between gasps that I had painted a near death scenario ! Literally translated I had said: "her blood is flowing / she is loosing (a lot of) blood!"
I have been in the state of agony for the last few days. I am in love. In love with a pair of shoes!
On the fateful day (last Friday), I was strolling home around midnight, absentmindedly glancing at the well-lit shop windows. When suddenly, my gaze was caught by a pair of expertly crafted black high-heels. It was love at first sight! I shot over and pressed my nose against the glass, drinking in every single little detail. Then, my eyes fell upon the price tag. My insides churned. “They are so expensive! No!!! Wait, I am a fully fledged business woman now, I can afford them", I thought happily. Yet I must be growing older, because I was surprised to find that a black monster had begun to rear its head. Roaring for me to be sensible and all that crap. I found it imposing some kind of masochistic ban on those shoes, which goes so far, as to me denying myself the pleasure of even IMAGINING THE POSSIBILITY that one day they could be mine. It is driving me insane! Day after day the shoes innocently flirt with the glances of predatory shoppers. Giving me anxiety attacks, that when one day the beast is finally silent (I am already hatching a cunning plan to kill it while it sleeps) they won't have my size!
I am in serious need of a long holiday. My motivation has dropped to below zero and I have to force myself out of bed in the morning – on limb at a time. I need a change!!!!
“Harry Potter and the deathly hallows” is coming out on Saturday, so at least that’s something. But wait, he’ll certainly die, so after this weekend I will be in full mourning… hope it’s not too hot out… black does attract the heat!
I am at home in my flat in
M. will start his new job in August. So that’s him happy. Didn’t have to look for long (2 weeks) but was moaning as if he had been out of work for a year! Men….!
We got a new boss at work. The one on maternity leave decided to leave permanently, so voilà, an opening came up for someone moving back to Geneva from Austria… and she happened to have experience on the brand…. fate!
Everyone is happy and my co-worker has calmed down with her exploits, so we’re a fully functional team for now.
One of the good things about being ill (flu - nothing serious), is the fact that all my weekend retreats (family, boyfriend, friends) have wireless internet access. It is such a joy to be able to read my private mail again!
After an eight weeks stint in Morges, I now finally own a key to a flat (well, room would be more accurate) in
A laidback and friendly country with beautiful scenery, intriguing animals and most importantly 35°C!
We flew to Sydney via Tokio, which was a bit of a strain. We arrived looking like wet, disheveled rags and envying all who managed to look fresh after our long flight. Having six hours in which to amuse ourselves at Tokio airport, we discovered the conveniency of their ‘Day rooms’. These rooms are very small single or double bedrooms, with a private bathroom, to be booked by the hour. After our gruelling flight a three hour kip was just what we needed!
Spending Christmas Day away from my family felt slightly strange. But as we were so jetlaged, we slept most of the day anyway. Boxing Day, I rose bright and early, all set to start the day with a good cup of coffee. The barrista was a chatty person and asked me if we were planning to hit the sales. “Sales?!” I squeeked. “Oh yes, Boxing Day Sales are THE sales of the year. Everyone looks forward to them.” Hmm. And here I was thinking that we may manage to travel without breaking the bank. Well, that apparently was not meant to be!
Sydney was lovely if windy. We took the ferry out to Manly beach and ended up having our first surf lesson there. It was fantastic, even if we did swallow half the ocean. Luckily the water there is soooo clean! A friend is / was taking an English course at a language school down on Bondi Beach. She introduced us to the Australian way of life by hosting a BBQ (or barbie) on the beach. We ate English sausages and a skippy (kangaroo), the latter unfortunately did not agree with everyone’s stomachs.
Driving down from Townsville to Airlie Beach was uneventful, even if we were driving on the “wrong” side of the road. We must have made a very half-baked impression on the Europcar guy... he even drew us a detailed map on how to get to airlie beach (ca. 3 hours drive straight down the coast). As I said, very kind and helpful people.
We saw the New Year in with a countdown and two Australian guys. Both had decided to come up to Airlie Beach by themselves for the New Year. Funny that.
As the beach was off limits on account of the stingers (jellyfish), we took a sailing boat trip out to Whitehaven beach. That was quite an experience!
On we drove down to Noosa, breaking the journey in Yeepoon, a town that could have been the setting for the film “psycho”. Needless to say, I did not sleep a wink in that motel!
Our next stop was Noosa, a lovely place, if catering solely for tourists. We discovered the many pleasures of Australian wine and bland food. (Even if everything sounds and looks so appealing, the Aussies do not know how to season their food! Such a disappointment!)
I met an English couple who had just been to Singapore and they were showing me a film of the sights. We kept chatting with me occasionally glancing down at the camera, when suddenly a lady from a nearby table stood up and approached me. "You do realise that you have been filming for quite some time with the cap still on the front of the camera!" She blurted out. I looked at her in amazement and tried to stifle a laugh. "I am not really filming, but watching a film. But thanks for your concern." All her friends fell about laughing at that. Thankfully she did too!