Booked a cheap break to Sharm el Sheikh in April. Very warm and sunny. Had an exhausting day trip to Cairo, saw the pyramids and sphinx. Enjoyed it but hard work too.
Big day today, passed my Life in the UK test. I’ve been studying for a while from books, then recently downloaded an app of official tests. Generally this was a dull rote learning exercise. I was anxious about the test and very pleased to pass it.
Now just got to do a big form filling exercise, get a pic taken, get two referees, work out from my passport stamps which days I was out of the UK over the past three years, get a whole load of documents together, get my form and documents checked and authorised copies made…then pay a large sum of money and send it all off!
Need to crack on to hit my 2012 target for completion.
OK, so I’ve got a lovely speedy new road bike and now I’ve finally started commuting by bike – 14 miles. I ride to work from home and do a train assisted return journey – round trip mileage of around 23 miles.
Next step is to build up – either commuting more frequently, from 2 to 3 to 4 or 5 days a week, or by riding the full distance both ways.
Ive also found a great cycle group that does night time longer-distance rides: http://fnrttc.blogspot.co.uk/ Friday Night Ride to the Coast. They do Brighton rides. Need to improve my fitness before I go for this but getting there.
Went on the two day course and it was hard work. We even had homework on the first evening.
So now I can understand a map, orient myself in a location using topographical features or a compass, work out grid references and plan a hike. I even got a qualification -NNAS bronze award.
Very pleased with it, need to go out and do sone practising now.
Beautiful mountains and lakes, total forms of transport used: eight. Went to Zermatt, saw the Matterhorn. Met a friend in Zurich. Visited Bern. Stayed in Lucerne. Lovely trains, public transport that worked properly.
I tidied up over Christmas and found this DVD. Got sick during the holidays and watched it.
Enjoyed it, felt homesick a bit too.
http://www.wallacecollection.org/
Enjoyed it a lot. I have been there before but only to have lunch in the nice restaurant! This time I looked at the collection and it was fun.
Saw two yesterday: Susan Hiller and the Watercolour show.
Watercolours moved me less than anticipated but was interesting to see how much more flexible a form it was than I had expected.
Susan Hiller I liked but didn’t find terribly engaging. What stayed with me the most was the canvases she had painted and later frayed into their threads and plaited or wove or tangled the threads into new shapes. Absolute highlight was a work in a darkened room with hundreds of little speakers, each playing a description of aliens. The speakers looked like stars hanging in the gloom. I gazed at it for quite a while, enjoyed the visual aspects more than the aural.
Studied today, a little. I am taking the book on my commute and read it then. Some information on UK life is quite interesting, esp the statistical information.
I’ve taken a step towards this. Well two steps really.
I am a bit cinema phobic, don’t like sitting amongst lots of people and easily irritated by people talking, texting, eating etc. Decided I had to get over it and have been to cinema a few times with friends and on my own. Realised I actually felt quite anxious when I was sitting in the cinema. Now I’ve been a few times it doesn’t worry me so much.
Second step – bought two tickets to Howl and asked on FB if anyone wanted to come with me. An old colleague did, hadn’t seen her for ages. Had a lovely evening :-)
Finally wrote a thank you note to a friend who had a Shrove Tuesday dinner way back at the start of March
First step is to pass the Life in the UK test. Bought a study book. Looks pretty straightforward as long as I read it.
Planning to book a test in about a month’s time, will concentrate my mind. Once I’ve got the test done I just need to wade through a load of paperwork – worst thing will be working out when I was out of the UK, my passport has stamps on top of stamps, I should not have gone away so much.
and wish I wasn’t. God it’s pretty bad. Courtney Love is waving her hands around instead of acting. Depressing marriage breakdown drama…
Mmmmm booked a random cheap flight to Switzerland in July! Going to do it on the cheap, stay in hostels, get a rail pass and just see some things, go on a hike or two and there’s a train trip I want to take… Will probably also eat some cheese. And maybe chocolate – two excellent Swiss products.
Switzerland! Yeah.
