Wimp

Stu is acting like a total baby today. He played squash yesterday with Bram and has slightly overdone it... He's aching all over, he thinks he has broken all his ribs and strained all his muscles. He claims he can't move, walk, sit, eat, drink, cough or sneeze. If he only could not speak, my life would be so much more silent without his constant wining. He sounds like a whale to be honest. A whale whose toe nail's been cut off too short. That's what I've had to put up with since yesterday. No concentration for me today - only winge winge winge. But I love him really.

Finished off a big translation job today for ABN AMRO bank and got invited to lunch when I'm in Amsterdam next. I like it when my clients are happy. Also going to send back a test piece the biggest subtitling company in England sent me as they are still looking for Dutch subtitlers. I'm really getting into the whole film thing. I've subtitled two animation films for the Brussels film festival which takes place next month (photo ID backstage pass is on its way!) and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. Although one of the two films was rather odd - but I guess that's what they call Art these days. In fact it was rude, weird and fairly sickening… Not sure what to think of a guy having a shower in the wee of his father, giving God a blow job and eating a bird’s poo! Wasn't quite sure if I wanted my name (fully abusing the Scott name now!) underneath the film either at the end but it's all publicity after all.

Party time

Had a New Year's party at Bram and Tessa's this weekend to finish off the remaining drinks and meet all the Borrekenslei gang as we all celebrated New Year separately this year. The gang being Bram, Tessa, Tim, Danny, Yasmine, Gillian, Stu and me. We all had an enormous amount of fun, nibbling and drinking away, trying out Tessa's alcoholic concoctions. Until it really hit me. Ouch. I sat on my bike giggling on the way home because I couldn't go straight anymore, nearly ended up in the middle of a round-about and passed out on the bed after being violently sick (more than once). It was disgraceful and I haven't felt so sick since my Gay Pink Party two years ago. Also just a smidge embarrassing. I just can't take it anymore at this age... Anyway, no more drinks for me in 2007. Already have substantial liver damage for this year and we're only January.

Met the Loft people yesterday and have told them we're thinking about backing out. They all agreed it would be a great shame but all understood our point of view.

Just been to the cinema and watched The Prestige. I'd expected more as it was directed by the same people who did Memento which was awesome!! Funny thing was I recognized the butler Niles from The Nanny but failed to recognize David Bowie...

It snows!!
And it's not going to stop any time soon... Stu warned me yesterday before I got on the Eurostar that the weather was severe and that it would be tricky to get a train down South. No snow in Belgium to be seen, we soon enough went through France where everything was foggy and v.v. white! Coming out of the tunnel, I'd expected East Sussex to be covered with snow but instead I didn't see anything but green fields... No snow to be seen in London either; at that point I thought Stu had been over-exaggerating.

Got on a Tube to Imperial College (future Uni - fingers crossed) to sit my last exam. Christophe gave me the guided tour of the grounds and we sat down with a cup of tea to do the official bit. He said he'd discuss my paper with me as if I'd written it for Imperial, in which case he would have given me a C+ or a B-, which to be honest is not bad considering I wasn't even trying to write anything vaguely scientific, didn't use any footnotes and had no real structure... (my actual mark will be based on the level at Uni in Antwerp - so I'm guessing an A-) Jeej. We spent 5 minutes talking about the exam paper and than had a further 3 hours (!) talking about many other things. He also introduced me to some people who deal with my application so as long as there is at least one more person applying for Dutch>English/English>Dutch, it's looking hopeful...

I got on a train to Tunbridge Wells around 6pm which was jam packed. The covers of the evening papers had beautiful snowy pictures of London on; I guess it must have melted away before I got there cuz I still hadn't seen any snow up to this point. Arriving in Tunbridge Wells, it was clear that it had indeed been snowing... This is me this morning. I'd taken my "you're only allowed to wear this when it's really snowing"-hat with me just in case. It's only allowed out once or twice a year so I had to really jump at the opportunity! Still hasn't stopped snowing and they are predicting a huge amount more. I hope we'll get home on Saturday...

Nearly time for a holiday

The exam stress is nearly over. Had an exam yesterday which went ok, not entirly over the moon with the result, but I've definitely passed. You know when you study your syllabus horizontally and then they start asking you diagonal questions or ask you to compare things you hadn't even thought about putting together... Was a little bit like that but I think I've managed ok. Russian Grammar, this morning, on the other hand was another perfect example of why I wouldn't do well in a casino. I'm rubbish at guessing. However, I'm fairly sure I've failed this one but that hardly comes as a surprise...

I'm taking the Eurostar back to England tomorrow and will sit my last exam at Imperial College. Might also sneakily enquire about my Masters application cuz I still haven't heard... Nerve wracking. What is left for me to do today is:

1. do the dishes (over a week's worth!)
2. finish off my paper about swearing for the exam tomorrow
3. write about what could be improved in the British culture course next year (part of the exam)
4. watch an episode of Spooks with Julie as a light break between studying
5. sing (haven't sung for over a week - not counting choir practice)

Just talked to Saskia, an old friend from the Night of the Proms era and we're meeting up next week in Leuven. Jeeeej. Stu's never been to Leuven so I think it will be cool for him to go somewhere new. Might contact the Stella brewery and see if I can organise a guided tour; that should keep Stu quiet!

If you want to live a healthier life get a Nozzle

Scientific research has proven it. Having a dog leads to a healthier life.

And as I feel my health deteriorating rapidly this month, I'm going to need a dog. According to an article that appeared in a Psychological Journal, having a dog is doing wonders to your health in more than one way. It's cholesterol reducing (I guess you feed him the fatty bits under the table), your blood pressure decreases and physical condition improves (all those long and healthy walks), you suffer less minor ailments (the dog sniffs and licks all the dust in the house which reduces your chances of a snotty nose? - in that case: works as a hoover), they act as early warnings to epileptic seizures (always a bonus), it facilitates the development of social contact (the sexy next-door neighbour walking his poodle?! - no wait - that's got gay written all over) and it enhances the psychological human health (he will always love me regardless what).

Stu has no leg to stand on anymore. How can he say no to this fur ball? I think getting a dog now/ this summer when we've moved back to Tunbridge Wells, is definitely going to increase our fitness regime. We'll have to go for walks, which will be quality time and an excellent opportunity to discuss third world countries and the American strategies for the war in Iraq. We'll meet more people; only a Russian dictator can walk past a Labrador puppy without any sign of affection. (or maybe Stu as well) Plus we'll also be practising our 'responsibility' skills. All good. And in the few cases, we both need to work out of the house, Nozzle has permission from Jamie's mum, Suzy, to come and stay at the farm where he can run around all day, play in the mud, and get to meet some horses and the other 4 dogs living there (v. important for my dog's social life). Only need to convince Stu now somehow...

New Year's reception

As all Wednesday evenings I went to choir practise. Last night was a special event however as we had the annual general meeting plus election of the committee (all very formal) and a little drink with nibbles afterwards. Nothing out of the ordinary, was it not for the fact that we had our little get together on the 26th floor of den Boerentoren. The Farmer's tower is the second tallest building in Antwerp, after the Cathedral. The tower is now owned by a bank and because the chairman of our choir is some big manager with the bank, he arranged our reception there. The tower is about 75 years old, was built in Art Deco style and was the tallest building in Europe for a long time. And if I thought the building in itself was brilliant, I hadn't even seen the views at the point... The 26th floor is basically a room with glass windows on all 4 sides, giving you this 360 degree view. As it was dark, the entire city was lit with lovely lights everywhere. The harbour in the far distance was one big light bulb and the river was nearly invisible; you could only make out this big black meandering snake. It was gorgious and I was very pleased I was given the opportunity to see my city from above with a glass of champagne in hand.

My exam yesterday went really well, couldn't have wished for it to go better. I'm currently working on my paper for my English Culture course. I decided a while back to write about the British attitude towards using expletives, but it was only yesterday I sent out an email to a bunch of people asking if they wanted to participate in my little survey. I've been receiving emails all day and the results are pretty interesting. Once I finish my paper, I'll post a link so it's readily available to check it out.

Have been studying hard today. Julie came over to study which helps the peer pressure immensely!! I know I probably would have taken a break or two or phaffed around for a while today, but instead I was well focussed - because Julie looked so focussed. Perhaps she was thinking the same thing of me... Oh well, it's all beneficial and paid off!! All my work I'd planned is done. So for the rest of the evening it's going to be me, Dr. Oetker and Judge John Deed.

Pink Soup

I've had another healthy brain wave and decided I'm going to detox and give my body the necessary vitamins. As I still hadn't tried out my Christmas present from mum and dad (the Princess blender) I went to the Turk and bought tonnes of fruit and vegs. I started off with a smoothy for breakfast and I must say, this blender is my new friend! I then started making a vegetable soup from all the veggies I'd bought. Picture me walking in the shop, looking at the vegatbles on display and grabbing one of each. I'm sure it was all going to be lovely and healthy, including this pitch black - yes black - vegetable I found. Got back home, started chopping and discovered this black thing was bloody red on the inside. So that's what beetroot looks like eh?! I normally don't really like beetroot but thought about the fact I loved 'borsh' in Russia (which is beetroot soup) so decided to wack it in there anyway. After an hour of cooking, I took the lid off and discovered I made 10 liters of pink soup. I feel I have adopted Bridget's cooking skills.

Whilst reading some more of the A-Z of British culture for my exam next week I discovered this peculiar entry under the letter T amongst TEFL, The Tempest, Thames and Tesco:

Teletubbies are a demonic group of hell's minions sent to hypnotize babies into killing everybody in the world. Particularly aimed at babies and preschool children...

I'm not sure if my lecturer just blindly copied this from a website and failed to read it for accuracy or whether he's had some unpleasant encounters with the fluorescent ADHD monkeys?!

Back in Belgium

I tried very hard to study on the (many) trains I had to take home today but didn't manage to focus for longer than 1 minute. On the train from Tunbridge Wells to London an Indian family joined me on the train. Their 2 year old son sat opposite me and had the most beautiful big chestnut-browny eyes. He was staring longingly at my pencil case which is rammed with coloured pens and pencils. (I had all my stuff spread over the table - you see, I was making an attempt) I asked the little boy if he wanted to produce some art on the white sides of my syllabus. He looked at me rather confused. Only when I gave him my 4-colours-in-1-pencil, he understood where I was going and gladly took it of me. I now have a beautiful and colourful scribble in my syllabus. I told his mother he was going to be a heartbreaker with those eyes and the cheeky smile. She agreed.

On the Eurostar I had a snoring Dutch man sitting next to me which didn't help my concentration either. I then made the quick decision that trying to study amongst a bunch of loud mobile users (and snorers) was only going to make me more agitated and therefore I was going to finish off reading Memoires of a Geisha. I absolutely love the book and highly recommend it to anyone. (even the ones who aren't into eastern stories like me) I read and read and read and arrived in Brussels and read and got on a train to Antwerp and read some more. And right when I got into Antwerp, right at that moment in time when I had to get off the train (or I would've ended up in Amsterdam) right then, I only had one more page to read!!! How's that for an anti-climax!?!?

Trying to study again now but seriously can't focus on this. It looks like Translation Studies and Philosophy have a lot more in common than I first thought... Think I might have a long soaking bath with a sneeky episode of Spooks on the laptop (next to the bath). Will retire for the evening and give it another go tomorrow morning!

Percival the Peacock

Jeej the car has broken down

Poo there's a storm going past which has been keeping me from sleeping for over a week now. Countryside living is great, only the trees are a little annoying... You would expect that living between cows and sheep would be peaceful and fairly silent apart from the occassional moo. Trees are officially the loudest things in the world. I seriously was fearing for my life two nights ago. And poor Percy (we're calling him Percival now - it looks like he's walking around feeling so much more important) was nearly blown out of his tree!!

Percy is the peacock that arrived in the garden about a year ago, out of the blue, no idea where he came from. Well mannered peacock, leaves his Percy Truffles always on the ouside table and has never attempted to attack us. Therefore, he's now become the Scott's pet. He runs around the gardens in the area and the woods and shows up when he's feeling hungry. He even has his own labelled tin of 'peacock food' in the kitchen. I feel they might be taking it too far now! The kids next-door apparently call him Bob. Talking about a crisis of identity.

So yes the car has broken down. Gear box went. Crunch. Dead. In front of traffic lights in the centre of Eastbourne. And guess who was driving?! I swear I didn't do anything (wrong) and the garage guy has backed me up cuz the gear box had been dodgy for a while. This means I now need to go back to Belgium with the Eurostar which is not a bad thing considering the stormy weather in the Channel. Whilst people above me will be in a permanently green state with a bag attached to their head, I will be very comfortably snoozing in the tunnel beneath. Excellent.

Work do da

Just got back from East Grinstead. The initial reason for going up there was to see Olga as she kindly offered to help me with my Russian translation for my exam next week. I'd phoned Wordtrans to let them know about me coming up so we decided to go for a drink first with everybody at the office. Matilda had to cancel as her ex-flatmate came to collect her sofa - her words were 'I finally got her out of the house so I'm not going to risk her moving back in'. Fair enough.

A drink lead to a curry at the curry hut in East Grinstead. Did some excellent gossiping about New Year with Nicola. Can't go into much detail as I'm not sure who might be reading this but for further details contact me in private!! It's juicy!

Afterwards met Olga for a drink whilst we (technically she) did all the translating. I feel an A+ coming along... She mentioned at least 5 times she couldn't believe the difficulty of the text. (Some short story, all very literary, old Russian words and phrases - the kind you wish would have gone up in flames during the Book Burning Times. (I'm trying very hard to think of the word for that period in time but thought if I write it with caps it would look just as fancy)).

Just got a reminder from uni if I could kindly pay my tuition fees for this year... Probably should put a reminder in my phone for Wednesday - first exam - as they won't let me sit them otherwise.

I might have decided to start blogging again...

In a moment of boredom I thought it would be nice to start writing again about my daily (let's say weekly as we all know I'm never going to keep this up on a daily basis!) adventures in life.

I'm currently a week away from sitting my half term exams and everything is going according to plan - although I don't have a plan to great disgust and disapprovement from Stu. As I was studying for my Terminology course, I entered a phase of day dreaming and yauning and needed a bit of a break from staring at books. I therefore thought it might be cool to start writing again.

This has also been brought on due to seeing Andrew and Carrie over Christmas and New Year. As they have now purchased the most beautiful house in the world, they are not moving back to England any time soon. Bugger. And as Carrie and are were talking about lots of things, amongst which there was the future and potential children, I thought this might be an excellent way to let friends in far away countries know about my wellbeing and doings these days.

Sadly I now need to head for bed as I have a very busy schedule (who am I kidding) of studying ahead. Watch this space!