View from Europe

I still follow quite closely the news and current events in Australia, using the ABC website almost exclusively for this. Two recent stories in a row made me think a little about what Europe currently means to an expatriated Aussie.

The bombing at Madrid Airport made me sit up and take notice since Gaynor and the girls were only there the day before. Even though the bombed terminal was two kilometres away from the one the girls were transiting through it certainly made me stop and think about what it means to live and travel in such a place. While we feel closer, in some sense, to the centre of the world that also means being closer to world events, even the ugly ones. Certainly Europe has seen (and caused) more than its fair share of wars over the centuries and, in part, I put it down to the large number of sharply varying cultures crammed into a relatively small area. I am still amazed as how quickly culture and language change as you travel, even within a single nation. However, on the whole I think Europe does a pretty fair job of keeping it all in check -- tolerance, building on common ground and the like -- but incidents such as this bombing make you realise it's not all roses yet.

A story about a 40 year old learner caught doing 177km/h -- according to the police (and look he probably was!) -- also caught my attention. Despite growing up in Australia with a fair amount of government and traffic authorities' propaganda, I've never believed that speed alone is dangerous. Since driving in Germany, especially on the autobahns (I'm missing them already!), I'm even more convinced of it. In my opinion the Germans, at least, take a much more balanced and reasonable approach. There are very strict rules governing traffic here and they view their driving much more as a social responsibility than as a personal right. The cost to obtain a licence alone is enough to make one value it.

There have been many reasons why the time we have spent here has been very good for us and getting a different view of the world and life is certainly one of the top three.

I Wish I Was A Daffodil

I wish I was a daffodil
People would call me Billy.
I turn my face to the sun,
Now wouldn't that be silly.

a poem for english class

School Stuff

This school year I have started some new subjects (Latin, geography & chemistry) and my classes have changed from last year. I've not done much study because I am too busy playing Runescape online. I have Latin with my old history teacher and he's as blind as a bat and he reads a book the same way archaeologists examine old papyrus rolls. (Really really closely). he was absent for the 1st week of school for an eye operation and now he can see a lot better but he still looks like an archaeologist examining something very carefully. My other new teachers are all the same boring lecture giving people as most teachers usually are.

Christmas Plans 2006

Heading for our second Christmas north of the equator and it still has a movie-like feel about it. Having grown up with Christmas during the summer time -- and all the wonderful things that means -- a northern hemisphere Christmas seems a bit like living in a movie. You know, you've seen many things in movies and if you ever experience it -- say you get the opportunity to stay in a high-class hotel after having only ever seen them depicted in movies -- then so many things that you know about but have never experienced suddenly become more real. The full-on winter clothes, everything spiced with cinnamon, snow, Santa actually needing a fur-lined suit; these all make a little more sense now.

So having said that, we decided last year that we felt we'd like a break from the cold (mostly Gaynor) and are heading to Spain for a week just after Christmas. Thanks to a generous benefactor we'll be shacking up in warmer climes, along with my brother who is flying over from the US. Gaynor notes that with his arrival here all my siblings (barring Alistair) will have visited Europe.

So in light of the trip Gaynor has decided to "go easy" on the Christmas feasts. She listed the menu the other day and I'm not sure exactly what she means by the term but I'm looking forward to it! We are also going light on the presents -- something I personally prefer anyway -- due to the move at the end of July next year. More on that later perhaps. (No, we don't know where we are going yet).

So we wish you a happy and joyous Christmas time and of course, all the best for the New Year.

Blogger Hiccup

Google have released an updated version of Blogger -- the site and software which power this blog. During the change over many articles were 're-published', so to speak, when we applied the new labelling system [1]. So if you subscribe to the blog via the Atom or FeedBlitz newsfeeds (see down the left-hand side of this page) then you will receive notification of all the 'new' articles. Feel free to ignore them or re-read them, as you wish. Just pay attention to the date at the top of each post so you know if you are getting something fresh or a history lesson!

[1] You'll see any applied labels at the bottom of each post. You can click on it to get all the articles so labelled.