E

She came and she went and or a few days there has been some-one else in the flat. We have skipped all over my city and maybe she started to love Poland as much as I do. We went to Krakow where she could see how another city was different to Warsaw, but we got on the train and came home again to my city.

I felt like a tourist and I was, so I bought souvenirs and took hundreds of photos, no longer guilty about getting out my camera. I watched the sunset over the main square and then we ate pierogi until our stomachs ached. We walked the streets of my city and I loved it too, like I did the first time I lived in Warsaw. My breath was snatched away when I stood at the top of the Palace of Culture, vivid blue as a backdrop to all the Warsaw buildings.

I still have have a few days left of my half term holiday. E is back in Paris and as I am not there any more, we don't get a chance to talk everyday. Now that she is on the bus and away, that makes me a bit sad. What makes me happy is that she came and looked, wanted to see my city and so she did.

"Burn the land and boil the sea,
You can't take the sky from me"
(Theme from Firefly)

Left or right?

You Are 35% Left Brained, 65% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Pumpkins and parties

There are a lot of pumpkins around at the moment and half of them are being amde from paper plates in our classroom. Only two more days now until half term and I have to say that I just cannot wait. E is coming and I am looking forward to finding Warsaw again. During half term there is also all saints day and all hallows eve, the time for visiting the cemetries and placing candles on graves of our ancestors and family.

Don't freak out, but I might even start Christmas shopping. Only two more wage packets to go until Christmas and I am not the richest person in the world. Traditional Polish gifts for everyone.

Food from across the world

Any meeting which involves people from all over the world, beautifully involves food from all over the world. I had to post these two pictures, I loved the idea and taste behind them both. This is a picture of Prashad. It is a mixture of sugar, flour and butter and is given as an offering from God in Hindu temples.

This is a picture of Kim bap, Korean maki. In Korea, you can use pretty much anything in your sushi making, and these ones have egg, crab, radish, mushroom and other things. You can also pit meat in if you wish, which is never done in Japan I am told. Kim bap is one of my favourite things and I like to watch my little Korean children get out their chopsticks and lunchboxes.

Show some love

The classroom rings silent once more.2.45 has come and gone each child has been collected one by one. All that is left is the sound of my keyboard and the click of the words making their way onto the page. The weekend has started, but it seems to have started without me.

I have no plans for the weekend, not one. For the first time in a long time I can feel the space ahead and it stings a little. I am still filled with a desire for home and I have no idea what to do with the longing that fills the space between alseep and awake. Images of a Christmas lit York, purple heather flaring across the Dales and sleepy Northallerton, my place. Even as I am typing I am sad, wishing that I was there and not here. Wishing that I could get into my pink car and drive to places that bring me comfort.

Instead I will wander my city, I will photograph her, I will wait for the light to appear through the trees. I will drink cinnamon coffee and spend time with K and N that I love so much. I will shop and go to museums that I have been to before, collect a programme for the Opera and start planning some trips to the Ballet. I can't be with the one I love so I will love the one I am with. Will the grass always be greener? What is wrong with me?

" I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you."
Jack Kerouac

Finding the silence

I am back at work today after two days of being stuck in my apartment. It is so nice to be in human company again as being ill when you are away from home and no-one is there to look after you is a nightmare. TFT came and popped round and so did K, so beautiful to see a friendly, concerned face. Being ill just made me yearn from home and even back at school today that feeling has not yet faded.

I was pretty ill and so have not read books, listened to music or watched TV over the last two days. I have only slept and kept still, no moving while my brain sought out the point of my latest source of discomfort. I am just so pleased to be back at work, how often does that happen? There are people around here and there is noise. There are hugs from the children and happy smiles from the parents to see their childs teacher back at school. There are cups of tea in the staffroom and one more day until the weekend.

This afternoon there is still noise and there is still mess and 6 year olds. I am so grateful for that noise today, it makes quiet the thoughts that are spinning around my head like dirty washing on a spin cycle.

Best laid plans

I had big plans for the weekend. I had plans for taking pictures of the autumn leaves filtering out the sunlight in the park. I had plans for phone calls, cooking and relaxing in my apartment. I wanted to walk my city, gaze up at the buildings, find new places to eat cake and drink coffee. Instead I spent the whole weekend holed up, bored and feeling totally horrible and sick.

Being ill is horrible for many, many reasons. One of the reasons is that you cannot enouy watching TV, reading magazines or going to bed very early, because you feel ill. You don't call people because you just whine about being ill. Yes, there was no fun at all to be had this weekend. I still feel a bit sicky, but I am sure that I will live and I felt too bad about the ankle-biters to stay at home and recover for another day.

Please, will some-one tell me something interesting that they did this weekend? Is there a world that carries on having fun outside my front door while I feel ill?