I’ve talked a lot about being a language student and having a year abroad – in Switzerland, in my case. You might not know about that. I might not have mentioned it in the last five minutes (I wrote a blog about my year abroad last month). But I haven’t talked a lot about the … More Stay At Home Storytelling: What it’s like to be a language student in the UK
If you haven’t come across the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme… well, let me explain. What is the DofE? A life-changing experience. A fun time with friends. An opportunity to discover new interests and talents. A tool to develop essential skills for life and work. A recognised mark of achievement; respected by employers. It’s an … More Stay At Home Storytelling: My DofE practice expedition
Well, now seems as good a time as any to go back to my trip to Russia last year because one of my major projects at the moment is to get the scrapbook finished. The main obstacle is picking which of the 2-300 photos to have printed. The other obstacle is making it fit in … More Stay At Home Storytelling: Russia scrapbook, Moscow pages
I’ve mentioned, ooh, about ten thousand times that I possess a degree in French and Spanish. A Modern Foreign Languages degree course, for an average student-age student, includes a mandatory year abroad in a country where your language is spoken. Or it did in my day, when we were a member of the EU and … More Stay at Home Storytelling: A day in the life of an international student
Sparkle & Ice, winter survival camp, is always interesting. We’ve had mud, rain, snow and now we were going to be camping in Storm Ciara. Girlguiding has four flagship national events. The first-tier ones are Wellies & Wristbands, their 4-day summer festival camp and their Guides-only stadium gigs. The second-tier ones are Magic & Mayhem, … More Sparkle & Ice 2020: camping in Storm Ciara
When I went to Pax Lodge for the Thinking Day weekend a few years ago – 2016? 2017? – I completed their challenge and the receptionist who signed it off said they’d never seen a challenge completed so thoroughly. I might do a blog post about it later in the year. It’s partly about Pax … More The Our Chalet Challenge
Thursday was our last full day. Really, it was our last day at all. We’d all be leaving fairly early on Friday morning, having accomplished nothing more than a quick breakfast and the last of our packing. We met at 9am at the flagpole with our hiking stuff because today we were going to the … More Our Chalet: walking to the woodcarver on Thursday
After our busy day on Tuesday and our late night, Wednesday started in a leisurely fashion. Instead of being summoned to breakfast at 8am by a bell, we had a casual drop-in brunch from 9.30. It had the usual breakfast items of toast and cereal but it also had two baskets of miniature croissants and … More Our Chalet: Lazy Wednesday
Our first full day at Our Chalet is Tuesday. Monday is spent flying to Switzerland, taking two trains along foggy lakesides and a final bus ride into increasingly perfect mountain views. Then we get settled in and introduced to our new home. On Tuesday we’re up early for the Pinning Ceremony, a celebration of international … More Our Chalet: Tuesday up the mountain
I used to enjoy walking but in recent years I’ve gone off it. So I make a point of going on as many Region walking weekends as I can. The last time was South Wales nearly two years ago. They often clash with other plans. But this time I was available. This was a Level … More Bits fall off me on Dartmoor
I Am A Polar Bear 