Weekending

My birthday is on Tuesday and so this weekend a bunch of us are taking the train to Berlin for a Big Birthday Berlin Weekend! I’m really excited!

Almost done NaNoWriMo and I think it’ll be tight but I just might make it. While what I have is nothing close to brilliant I think it’s a good framework to build upon. It’s been a good experience to write everyday and see what comes out. I think I’ll continue that even when this “contest” is over.

Plans have been solidified with The Engineer. Dates of arrival and departure have been confirmed and I’m actually starting to clean my flat.

Christmas Markets have opened and provide lots of after school fun.

It’s a good good time of year!

Seemingly Out of Nowhere…

I find this whole thing very confusing. Just when I had written The Engineer, and all other engineers off entirely the game started to change. He went and picked his grapes and came back and I got busy and pretty much ignored him. He moved to another part of France and I stayed here. He asked me to come and visit and I said no. It was left at that. Early into the week we started chatting again. The strange thing is that it was the real kind of conversation where you actually start to feel closer to the person. We asked each other the right questions. We made each other laugh. We stayed up talking past 1am. A couple nights in a row. (Now the chatting til 1am thing is not entirely impressive in itself but the fact it.. I’ve been getting up at 4:44am every day and so– 1am is HOURS past my usual bedtime.) At one point I made some comment about my approaching birthday. He asked if he sent me a train ticket to him would I like it? I said yes but I can’t make the billion hour train journey before Christmas. I said he should come here to experience the Christmas Markets. He said maybe. It wasn’t a priority for me because I have lots to do between now and Christmas and lots of people around. He said he would come the first weekend of December. I said that was not a great idea because it is my work Christmas party. He asked if I had a date already. I said no. He said he would let me know. I said if he came the next weekend we could spend more time together. A few hours later I received an email where he told me he had rearranged his plans and to expect him that second weekend.

During one of our conversations we started to argue. The thing about this guy is he gets under my skin and makes me feisty and firey. BUT when we fight/argue/heatedly discuss he does not shirk away. AND he can tell if I’m getting to upset and will make peace. So during this so-called fight he suddenly thought that it was stressing us out too much and we should just leave it for another time. Then he started talking to me about how he has known me for 10 years. He talked about how he really did like me back then but I was not picking up the clues he dropped and so he deemed me “not ready”. He talked about how he knew my schedule and would randomly pop up where I was. Now that I think about it, it all makes sense. So I wonder why he is telling me all these things…

I am slightly baffled that he has gone from being locked in a state of vague to this sudden “expect me at your place in the immediate future.”  Especially since if we end up getting along I’ll see him in Canada the next week…

Very strange. Just needed to get all that out. Will try not to ramble quite so much in the future.

The good news is that I have almost 3 weeks to clean my flat and get ready for his arrival. The bad news is that I think it will actually take that long!

Must reconsider…

all disparaging comments made about Engineers…

The Key Points

~ Professional Development Weekend in London was amazing! Spent time at The Globe, Stratford, saw Billy Elliot, visited places deemed inspirational to Shakespeare and Dickens, shopped, hung out.. twas lovely!

~ Handing in my Resignation letter tomorrow.

~ Booked a ticket to Hong Kong for a Job Fair in January… eeek! Here we go again!

~ The Engineer continues to mess with my mind… about 80% likely he’s coming to visit in a few weeks. His idea. He seems to really want to see me and it’s kind of silly because we’ll both be in Canada the week after that BUT if he wants to come here and hang out at the Christmas Markets drinking gluhwein then.. okay! Might be good to figure things out over here…?

~ Most likely moving out of my flat and down the street in the next couple months.. more on that later!

Breakfast of Champions!

This morning I had Guiness for breakfast! It was delightful! Just got back from Dublin and I gotta say.. I adore that city. Definitely some place where I could see myself spending significantly more amounts of time. I love the city feel, the history, the food, the people, the music, the accents, the boys, the the the the… it was great!

Had a perfect weekend away… lots of sight-seeing, lots of shopping, lots of eating, lots of drinking, lots of relaxing… and I don’t feel totally exhausted at all!

Also.. did you know that The Tudors films a lot in Dublin Castle? I waited around for Jonathan for quite some time but I guess he didn’t get my messages..

 

4:44 plus 5 days = Tired!

And it’s Friday again! Thank God! This has been a crazy week but it’s also gone quite quickly. I managed to get up at 4:44am every morning in honour of NaNoWriMo. It’s been an interesting week and I think I definitely have a workable story going. A combination of an old idea with a new one. I’m taking the approach of writing what I know but also just seeing what happens. It’s actually quite fun.

Granted I am way more caffeinated than I’ve ever been and around 4:44pm I nearly hit a brick wall but it’s kind of worth it! At least I’m writing!

Last night, through the wisdom that only comes after a Jumbo Raspberry Mojito I realized that I haven’t fully let The Engineer go from my mind. There is something about him that I can’t just write off. I can’t dismiss him entirely even though sometimes I want to. Lately our chats and conversations and messages have been nice and he says the things I want to hear. The problems arise due to our location and lack of actual face time. We’ll both be home at Christmas and plan to get together a few times. He wants to sort out visits in 2010. I think that could definitely be arranged. So again.. wait and see…

Tonight I’m going to Dublin with one of my good friends! I’ve never been before and am really looking forward to it. We plan to go on the free walking tours, see some impressive things and spend the rest of the time in pubs. Works for me!

Tomorrow is November…

and the day I will start NaNoWriMo! I wasn’t planning on doing it but then I’m watching as my writing goal dates are getting closer and I have no signs of any workable material and so… I will commit the next 30 days to writing 50,000 words… It will be a bit tricky because I do have quite a few trips coming up but as long as I spend the non-traveling time writing.. I should be okay.

I am also going to start with some sort of fresh idea and boycott my “Canadian girl moves to Indonesia to teach and live…” plot line that is just becoming some sort of self-reflective drivel.. So we’ll see what happens tomorrow morning…

I am excited to have an actual deadline to work towards and I love all of the message boards and things associated with this. It helps to know I’m not alone.

ABCs of Me

I stole this meme from Dayna.. and she was right.. it is harder than it looks…

A – Advocate For: abolition of human trafficking. Yes a bit of a harsh start to an otherwise silly meme but this issue has really grabbed my attention, I do believe something needs to be done and I am looking into ways to get involved…

B – Best Feature: My eyes most likely or maybe my hair although people keep saying that I’m really blonde now and I’m scared that I’m now german rocker platinum blonde.. which is not the look I’m going for!

C – Could do without: Olives

D – Dreams & Desires: Get a good paying job in an “easy asia” country, publish something, find real true love…

E – Essential items: lip gloss and gum

F – Favourite pastime: books on the beach

G – Good at: making people laugh… saying the thing that everyone is thinking but no one will actually say…

H – Have never tried: sky diving…

I – If I Had a Million Dollars: I’d pay off my debt, buy my parents a cute cottage and myself a sailboat.. although a million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to..

J – Junkie For: gummy frogs and everything chocolate

K – Kindred Spirit: MK is my person

L – Little Known Fact: i’m carrying jude law’s love child..

M – Memorable Moment: I think my first flight ever.. when I was 24 and moving to Indonesia..

N – Never Again Will I: drink the green fishbowl drinks in Bali

O – Occasional Indulgence: trashy entertainment gossipy magazines

P – Profession: Highschool English Teacher

Q – Quote: “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” ~ Mother Teresa

R – Reason to Smile: so many exciting travel plans!

S – Sorry About: not saving money

T – Things That Are Worrying You Right Now: money and moving to another overseas location

U – Uninterested In: politics.. sorry.. i try but i’m just not…

V – Very Scared Of: living in the middle east

W – Worst Habits: eating my feelings

X – X Marks My Ideal Vacation Spot: SEAsian islands!

Y – Yummiest Desert: chocolate mousse

Z – Zodiac Sign: sagitarrius

Working Weekend Away

Budapest was lovely. We stayed at The Hilton.. the one in the castle at the top of the hill, overlooking the Danube.

Amazing to sit in a rather dull meeting, look out the window and see.. this:

The days were filled with meetings and workshops. I am so over pompous “educated” educators. I was in a workshop with some dude who had received his PhD from Oxford and made sure we were all aware of his great academic success. “As I once wrote for a higly prolific magazine…” Seriously.. he SAID that.. outLOUD!

In the evenings we wandered around Buda and Pest and went to the Opera, ate goulash, drank Hungarian wine, enjoying the sites. It was my first operatic experience and I must say.. I certainly hope it was not my last. We saw Bluebeards Castle by Bartok and it was.. inspiring. They set it during modern times and seeing as the opera is only an hour or so it was performed twice. Two completely different interpretations.

Sunday afternoon I went to St. Stephens cathedral and the Fine Arts Museum where I saw a Turner exhibit. It was all very nice indeed.

I enjoyed the city and would love to go back when I can really get into the nitty gritty of it. Also I forgot to go to the baths… on purpose.. kinda.

Business/Pleasure

I finished my reports! It’s never as big of a deal as I think it’s going to be once I get going.. but the getting going thing is always a bit tricky.

I’m off to Budapest tonight for a workshop/conference thing. I’ve never been there before.  I think it will be a good time although I have to spend all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday in workshops. However, it’s not going to cost me anything, I’m flying a decent airline and staying in a 5 star hotel… life is rough! We’re also planning to take a night dinner cruise and see the opera…

The only bad thing is that I’m really not feeling so hot. Stuffy head and crazy chest cough thing. Oh I knew I shouldn’t have been bragging about how I’m never sick… I just don’t want to be the coughy sneezy kid in the back!

OK off to teach a little bit and then I’m home to pack and off to the airport!

Heard on the Streets of London…

7 pm in Covent Garden, my friend and I were walking to dinner and we heard two guys our age having this brilliant conversation:

Guy 1: So like there is incontinence and continence right?

Guy 2: Right

Guy 1: So continence is when you can’t?

Guy 2: Yeah and incontinence is when you piss all over the place…

And to think I miss being able to understand what people around me are talking about!

Sunday Evening Stuff

Just got back from nearly a week in London. Oh how nice to be in an English speaking country! Had a lovely time catching up with friends, shopping, hanging out in cafes and the like. Also saw Jersey Boys which was quite entertaining and fun.

Went out with some girls on Friday night to some rather cool area of the city. The bars were filled with boys but seriously.. random idiots! All of them! I have heard bad press about English boys but always refused to believe it.. however there it was.. blatant.. obvious… ugh.

This is a short week for me. I have a ton of reports to write and then I’m off on Thursday for a conference in Budapest! Never been there so looking forward to it.

I’ve got some good travel coming up between now and Christmas.. will definitely break up the time between now and the next holidays…

After a week of eating far too much and drinking far too much.. I need some time to cleanse… so it’s up early tomorrow to hit the pavement!

October Break I think I love you…

I am finally on Oktober Break and what a nice feeling it is! Yes I know I’m lucky as the Canadian teachers only get Thanksgiving Monday off but I’ve been back at work since early August… so yes…

I spent the weekend chillin and cleanin and just generally relaxing while trying not to think about my family in Canada who were in the midst of a great big Thanksgiving Feast. This is my 5th Thanksgiving away… so it’s really not a huge deal but still I do miss my family and well I’ve been craving Pumpkin Pie!

Tonight I’m flying to London for the rest of the week! I am looking forward to catching up with friends and hanging out, shopping, talking, eating, drinking, seeing things… I think it will be fun! Quite a few of my friends from here will be there and so we’ll meet up and see shows I think.

I had another somewhat frustrating conversation with the Engineer who has relocated to a different area of France… apparently it’s closer to me but I’m not sure. Google Maps doesn’t seem to think so… Anyway I was joking about how I travel to ease the pain of knowing I’ll die alone [I tend to find this funny but it really throws people off].. and he launched into this whole thing about how I’m like a fine piece of art that will only go to the highest bidder.. but I’m getting the feeling that he has no desire to even attend the auction. Ugh… cheesy metaphors make me queasy.. I think the Engineer feels like he is impressing me but its really really annoying actually!

Alright well I think that is all I’ve got for now. I’m quite keen on relaxing this week as when I get back it will be insane! Reports, conferences, workshops and all that is involved with job hunting….

I can now say in German…

I am single.

I am not married.

I am not in love.

I am alone.

*sigh*

Grey Saturday thoughts..

Last night I went out with The Ladies. They are an amazing group of women, the majority are quite a bit older than me, quite a bit single and quite a bit content. It’s funny because while we ranged in ages from 25 to 50 we are all loving the lives we’re living. When I was younger and would look at older single women I felt a sense of horror and dread that I would one day end up like them. To be single forever seemed to be the end of the world! Yet last night I looked around at these ladies, and realized that it definitely is not the end of the world. They are strong, independent beautiful women. They have lived and are living and not about to put up with something boring or average. We went to a Spanish restaurant for Tapas and lots and lots of wine and talked and talked…

Now.. I’m not saying that should a good guy come along I will refuse to give in and will go for single independence over domestic bliss but I am saying that should I be one of those Single Forever women… I will make the best of it and know that it is not a horrific situation in the slightest!