Blogcoven

This is the first time in a long time that I haven’t been flying regularly. I’m way, way under my average at the moment, mostly because I’ve tasked this winter as “stay where I am, learn to ski”. Also, we’ve paid this place through to 2020 which I reckon is well the far side of the apocalypse. Meet me on the far side & call me out on this statement and I’ll happily stand you a pint :)

Last year, 2011, had a strong theme to it, starting off with a lot of faffing about, falling off my culture shock curve into a little too much warcraft – much of that poorly timed during bouts of insomnia to achieve maximum inconvenience for not so much progress in the game. I scrubbed that for a while and ventured out to the beach, tried this whole outdoors thing. It proved somewhat agreeable so I’m trying a bit more of it. Or rather, when I started looking around the region here the tide of things to do just swamped me so for 2012 I’ve got three objectives: learn to ski (winter), build more scuba hours (summer) and get my French up to scratch (full year). If I can get all that done, it’ll have been a reasonable productive year.

The book has been mothballed until I sort out my social life. I’ll most certainly have another fine opportunity to be a shut-in on the corporations dollar in the near-to-mid future so I may as well get out and about while I can.

Oh – and tip to anyone coming to France; carry a lighter even if you don’t smoke, its how people ‘introduce themselves’ to strangers. After that talking about skiing is *the* icebreaker. I’m not saying 100% but between the two of those you’re good for quite a lot of social situations. Provided you’ve got some French; no French, no dice. But since almost every French person who’d care to talk to strangers knows more English than we do French, you just need to make them feel comfortable enough to use it by demonstrating how terrible your French is, then you’ll switch into Franglais and go from there.

2012, who’d've thunk it? Its like the future snuck up.

Listening to: Downlink – Gamma Ray Burst