Musings on 2013

What a strange year this is turning out to be...

Firstly there was the nasty dose of norovirus

And then came the travel...

As a freelancer I'm used to January being a quiet month but before January had finished this year, I'd been to Barcelona and Berlin, (purely for work reasons).

It was only slightly surreal going from snowy London to sunny Barcelona in the space of a morning

Berlin was icy cold and snowy

But, as ever, it was the exciting, creative city I love so much

There was the excitement, the hard work and the chaos of Fashion Week.  I wouldn't change it for the world but I'm always exhausted by the end of it.  

I can't talk about the rather peculiar job I did in a large London school, (if you employ me because you need a professional, you need to listen to what I'm saying) but how I'd love to!  All I can say is, schools certainly have changed since my day.

On a individual level, I had a particularly bleak couple of weeks when I was owed in the region of £5000 and had -£30 in the bank.  I wasn't far off fighting the down & outs in Lidl's for knock down items.  I've certainly learnt my lesson now and have savings which I won't touch unless absolutely necessary.

And on a more cheerful personal note, I've started taking French lessons.  It's something I've wanted to do for a while but it's harder than you'd imagine to find a good French teacher.  I've taken lessons with the Alliance Française in the past but I've found them to be rigid and inflexible.  Whilst I do appreciate the importance of being able to speak perfect French what I actually need is to be able to understand the people I'm working alongside in their everyday transactions with each other.  Les hommes versus les mecs, anyone?  I've got high hopes for the teacher I'm with now.  She understands that the purpose of learning a language is communication, not following a syllabus.  

Whilst we're on the subject of how strange this year is - what is up with the weather??  It's April (which if I remember rightly is spring) and it's freezing!  I've actually got the heating up on full.  Please let it be a warm summer.  Please.