-electrocuted self badly on Wednesday while attempting to remove light bulb from lamp socket. They don't twist in, here...they just stick in. Mysteriously. Managed somehow to pull lamp apart and lay right hand across both lamp's (active) terminals simultaneously. I drop lamp, jump across entire length of room screaming expletives (with a Scottish accent, interestingly enough). Hand buzzes for full 5 minutes after incident. Wonder if this will make me a faster Chopin pianist
- girl in room before me, I learn, was about my age. From Glasgow. Studying international criminal law. Was in Der Hague for war crime trials of Milosevic. Now is in Cambodia for trials of Khmer Rouge. Here's a person doing something effective with her life. She leaves one spring jacket (white), one pair nude-colored tights, one flash drive, and several raisins on the floor in my room.
-guy in room down the hall before I arrived, I learn, was also about my age. From Sydney. Name was Ben. Was on Australian olympic kayaking team. Allan says of girl in room before me: "Oh yeeeea, she had the hots for BEN. He was good lookin' boy." I lament my late arrival on the scene.
-Yesterday at office, find amusing bookmark on the floor. See above.
-Yesterday at office, attempt to clean what appears to be chocolate off of edges of mini German/English dictionary, using CVS hand sanitizer with Aloe Vera. Doesn't work. But dictionary smells good and now--page edges soft to the touch.
-For lunch other day find bakery at north end of campus. Under lunch-hour, long-line, Don't-hate-me-I'm-a-foreigner pressure, accidentally order sausage roll + lemon pastry + medium white coffee for 2 pounds 20. Coffee tastes weird (like seagull spat in milk); sausage roll not vegetarian (shockingly) but eat it anyway; pastry is larger than sausage roll. turns out to be just hoagie bun smeared w/ lemon pudding, topped w/ lemon icing. Have been striking out here re food. Must ask Evelyn and Charlie for recommendations (Arkaig guest house owners. Think Fawlty Towers, w/o antics of J. Cleese and no Manuel, sadly. Everyone seems well- adjusted).
-Have breakfast with more oil rig workers staying at Arkaig house. Ask THESE guys for chopper ride out to rig. Wife of one (sitting on immediate left) laments that even SHE can't visit rigs. Boo.
-Going to join church choir of Guido and Jenny (didn't know they were Christians!) Practice tonight, in ancient cathedral (now Lutheran church) by crook in the river Don (spanned by the Don Bridge-- "Brigadoon". Shall see if bridge disappears into mist and reappears next century w/ Gene Kelly on it).
Ta!
p.s. can't post comments to your comments, for some reason. Am reading them, though. Feel less lonely (despite appearances). THANKS.
Wow...the bridge for which Brigadoon was named...is that for real? Or are you doing what I do, i.e., make up facts that seem absolutely logical to me (e.g., the "Okie" sale in S. CAL is a hold-over reference to the open-aire markets set up by dirt-poor Oklahomans who had travelled there to beat the dustbowl depression of 2009...er, I mean 1932)
ReplyDeleteOf course you know, your old man PLAYED the Gene Kelley role (Tommy Albright) in the Pecatonica HS production of Brigadoon...hence my interest in your blog note...course that WAS about 100 yrs ago, so I, too, should be appearing near you any day now!
How was the choir practice?
I like to hear that someone else in the world has trouble ordering food. When abroad I normally just order something that seems to have chocolate in it. Funny why I always gain weight while traveling. Still... I would recommend this tactic.
ReplyDeleteLike the blog muchly....keep it up friend. :)
I love the aloe vera and soft-edge book! Next time maybe try lavender - I hear that's a good book smell also. I have high hopes for the Gene Kelly appearance.
ReplyDeleteLOL at your shocking adventure with the lamp. Foreign countries-the dirt is in the details-it's always the little things that trip you up! LIke me trying to learn in Chinese "your child is very beautiful". When I actually serenaded a Chinese mother and baby with this lovely thought, she glared at me and walked away. I probably actually told her that her baby was contagious and smelled like a dirty diaper. Oh wait, they didn't have diapers in China when we were there. The babies just had splits in their pants and the moms held them over the side of the road.No kidding. On that uplifting note i leave you. love you lots!!
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