So. We had Easter, which was nice.
Someone knocked Jack's wing-mirror off his car when it was parked outside my house on Good Friday, which wasn't so nice.
And also my mum left the back door open for a few hours to 'let some fresh air in', and later that evening she discovered a frog squatting in the corner, unable to get back out as the door had since been shut. So we set it free and I think we all learned a valuable lesson about doors, and how creatures can get inside if they're left open unattended.
Jack and I went for a bank holiday walk on Monday and as the park was utterly deserted we decided to go on the swings for a bit, and it did not take long for us to start to feel sick. I think that's when you know you're not a child anymore, when you can't even go on the swings without feeling queasy. It's a bit depressing really.
All in all, a nice few days. Food and family. Win-win.
Song of the Day: You by Coasts (We're starting to pick up speed/ Scattered across the sky/ 'Cause you make me feel/ Like I'm holding on to something real)
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
It's nice to be looked after
I love having my parents in the same country as me again because it means I never really have to worry about meals - they will always feed me. That's not to say that when they're not here I don't eat, because that would be silly. I just mean that when teatime creeps up on me, I don't have to suddenly decide what to cook, because someone is already doing the cooking for me.
Yesterday, my parents went to meet friends during the day and so had their 'main-meal' at lunch time, so come the evening they were just going to have something small, leaving me to fend for myself (how selfish of them). But I discovered something new: if I stand in front of the fridge looking sad and pathetic for long enough, my dad will make me cauliflower cheese for my dinner. With chorizo, because I'm fancy.
Don't get me wrong; I'm an adult, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. It's just nice when someone else offers.
Also, a few weeks ago when I wrote about wanting to read The Martian, my dad came back from town with a copy of it for me, which is why it's sometimes useful to have parents who read your blog; surprise gifts. I finished it yesterday by they way, and it's really good, I would definitely recommend it. I've never rooted for a character so much in my entire life. Admittedly, it's hard not to root for someone who's been stranded alone on Mars, but still. Next up I'm reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and then after that I think I'm going to start the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor because it was recommended to me by my lovely friend Lydia. Yay, books!
Song of the Day: Alive by Empire of the Sun
Yesterday, my parents went to meet friends during the day and so had their 'main-meal' at lunch time, so come the evening they were just going to have something small, leaving me to fend for myself (how selfish of them). But I discovered something new: if I stand in front of the fridge looking sad and pathetic for long enough, my dad will make me cauliflower cheese for my dinner. With chorizo, because I'm fancy.
Don't get me wrong; I'm an adult, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. It's just nice when someone else offers.
Also, a few weeks ago when I wrote about wanting to read The Martian, my dad came back from town with a copy of it for me, which is why it's sometimes useful to have parents who read your blog; surprise gifts. I finished it yesterday by they way, and it's really good, I would definitely recommend it. I've never rooted for a character so much in my entire life. Admittedly, it's hard not to root for someone who's been stranded alone on Mars, but still. Next up I'm reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and then after that I think I'm going to start the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor because it was recommended to me by my lovely friend Lydia. Yay, books!
Song of the Day: Alive by Empire of the Sun
It's a bit warm out
Me: "It's hot today."
Jack: "It might be too hot."
- a conversation Jack and I have every single time the temperature exceeds 22 degrees (Celsius).
But yeah, that's my life at the moment. It's too hot, always. Even right now, it's raining but it's still too hot. I can't cope with the heat as well as I used to be able to, which is a bit strange because I used to live in Saudi Arabia (which is a very hot country, in case you were wondering). But then again, the house I lived in there had air-conditioning, as did all the classrooms in my school, and all the shops and supermarkets and so on. There is no air conditioning in my house here. There is no escape. Oh well, at least I can watch Wimbledon safe in the knowledge that at least I'm not as hot as the tennis players are. Silver linings.
My brother James has recently been having debates on Facebook with people who still believe the earth is flat. He told me about this on Friday and it made me irrationally angry. There's plenty of things that you can have plausible conspiracy theories about, but the earth being flat is not one of them. It's basic science. Apparently they think that the satellite pictures and everything have all been doctored. I was thinking about this intermittently and a couple of days ago we were sitting in the garden and I turned to James and said, "How do the flat-earthers explain the seasons then? Or time differences? Or why when it's summer here it's winter in Australia?"
And he said, "They can't."
Oh.
Each to their own, I suppose.
Song of the Day: Saying Goodbye by Every Avenue
Happy New Year!
This post was meant to go up hours ago but I got distracted by my dinner and then pudding, and then I watched Salmon Fishing in the Yemen with my mum and brother (it's really good - I recommend it!). But anyway, this post. I wanted to take better photos but unfortunately the weather has been so appalling today that going outside was a no-no, and the lighting in my room is terrible. However, I got this dress from Topshop yesterday and really wanted to photograph it because I don't know when I'm going to get a chance to wear it again. It seemed New Years Day appropriate.
Dress: Topshop
Necklace: Dorothy Perkins
Please excuse the blurriness - as I said, terrible lighting, and everything just looked too bright with the flash on. Also the lampshade in my room is patterned which is why there's a funny shadow all over the walls. Also, here's a bonus picture. I flicked the camera on the shutter-speed accidentally and I thought the photo wasn't taking so I moved and then it clicked, resulting in this cool ghostly picture.
Can't quite believe it's 2014 already, last year really did go incredibly quickly, and Christmas has come and gone in the blink of an eye. I worked Christmas Day, but I've had a week off afterwards and so I'm back at work tomorrow and I really don't feel ready for it! Never mind, it's almost the weekend.
My New Years Eve was a quiet one. I spent the first half of it at my boyfriend's house, eating Chinese food and drinking Lambrusco. We also watched Mamma Mia! which I was happy about but Jack complained the whole way through, haha. After it had finished, Jack's family all seemed to be falling asleep, so we walked back round to my house to see what my mum and brother were doing. After a couple of games of trivia questions, it was almost midnight so we turned on the telly to watch the London fireworks (very impressed this year). After that, we flicked channels before inevitably ending up on Jools Holland's Hootenanny despite my irrational hatred of watching it! Then I was in bed by 1. Very rock and roll.
Anyway, Happy New Year! Anyone do anything more fun than me?
25 facts about me, 21-25
This is way overdue, and my Dad gave me most of these (plus extra, which I'm not including because they're super embarrassing - why do parents have to remember everything?!).
21. For my 9th birthday (or thereabouts) I had a pool party on our compound in Saudi. One of my friends had bought me a new pool toy; it was like an inflatable caterpillar chair or something. I really liked it anyway, and when we got to the pool to have the party, my Dad got into the water and tried to jump up and sit on this caterpillar chair and the seat part of it popped, leaving me with just an inflatable caterpillar head. I was distraught and hysterically cried for ages, quickly eradicating any guilt my dad felt by overreacting to such an extreme. But the injustice of it all - I didn't get to play with it once! Another traumatic experience from my childhood.
22. We were on holiday in Sri Lanka when I was little and in our hotel I got into a lift on my own for some reason, leaving my parents frantically trying to find me while I hopped from floor to floor.
23. When I was small I used to make up songs about what I was doing and just sing them. There's video evidence of this. I was a musical prodigy.
24. Another Kenyan safari story - at the beginning of our 3 hour safari, I vomited on the floor of the van which I'm sure made it a wonderfully smelly journey for everyone else on the trip!
25. I used to prefer rainy days to sunny days. I think a lot of that came from living in Saudi for most of my childhood, where it is sunny the majority of the time, so it was always a novelty when it rained. Now I like an even balance between the two. I do still love a good rainy day though.
So that's it, that's my 25 facts, although it was more like 25 childhood memories! How people managed to come up with 50 is beyond me!
Song of the Day: Pompeii by Bastille
Currently reading: Linger - I'm almost finished though. It's actually pretty crap.
21. For my 9th birthday (or thereabouts) I had a pool party on our compound in Saudi. One of my friends had bought me a new pool toy; it was like an inflatable caterpillar chair or something. I really liked it anyway, and when we got to the pool to have the party, my Dad got into the water and tried to jump up and sit on this caterpillar chair and the seat part of it popped, leaving me with just an inflatable caterpillar head. I was distraught and hysterically cried for ages, quickly eradicating any guilt my dad felt by overreacting to such an extreme. But the injustice of it all - I didn't get to play with it once! Another traumatic experience from my childhood.
22. We were on holiday in Sri Lanka when I was little and in our hotel I got into a lift on my own for some reason, leaving my parents frantically trying to find me while I hopped from floor to floor.
23. When I was small I used to make up songs about what I was doing and just sing them. There's video evidence of this. I was a musical prodigy.
24. Another Kenyan safari story - at the beginning of our 3 hour safari, I vomited on the floor of the van which I'm sure made it a wonderfully smelly journey for everyone else on the trip!
25. I used to prefer rainy days to sunny days. I think a lot of that came from living in Saudi for most of my childhood, where it is sunny the majority of the time, so it was always a novelty when it rained. Now I like an even balance between the two. I do still love a good rainy day though.
So that's it, that's my 25 facts, although it was more like 25 childhood memories! How people managed to come up with 50 is beyond me!
Song of the Day: Pompeii by Bastille
Currently reading: Linger - I'm almost finished though. It's actually pretty crap.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! And obviously I hope you all had very merry Christmases. As soon as people started coming home (my brother and my parents), I quickly lost the inclination to blog, because anytime I wasn't working (which wasn't that often - Christmas is a busy time in the restaurant trade!) I just wanted to spend with my family and friends. And despite working so much, I still managed to have a fantastic Christmas. Here's some of my festive highlights:
- Listening to Christmas music whilst putting up the Christmas decorations with my brother and his girlfriend.
- Having my parents home to cook for me again, haha!
- Going to the German Christmas Market in Birmingham with Jack and going to watch The Hobbit at the IMAX while we were there.
- My Nan getting out of hospital on Christmas Eve, just in time to come with my Grandad to spend Christmas with my parents and I.
- Only having one or two grumpy customers in the pub on Christmas Day.
- A delicious Christmas dinner which my parents had prepared for when I would get back from work (which ended up being about 6.30) - thanks very much for waiting for me!
- Getting a furby(!) and a Kindle Fire from my parents.
- Being absolutely spoilt rotten by Jack.
- Watching Arthur Christmas on Boxing Day, then going round to Jack's, meeting a lot of his family (eep!) and playing Trivial Pursuit.
- Shopping with my mum on New Years Eve and having a quiet night in to ring in the new year.
- A nice walk on New Years Day with Jack during which we nearly got ran down by a tiny child on a bike which had no pedals.
I haven't been in work since Sunday but I'm now on my last day off before I head back to normality tomorrow. My dad left early on New Years Eve and my mum left this morning, and the Christmas decorations came down yesterday so the house is feeling very quiet and bare at the moment. I think I'll have severe post-Christmas blues next week.
Anyway, everything should return to normal on the blogging front now. Maybe I'll try and think up some New Years resolutions so that I can fail miserably at them.
Christmas Song of the Day: I know it's not Christmas anymore but I missed a whole bunch of these and I wanted to include my favourite festive song. I Believe In Father Christmas by Greg Lake
Currently reading: Since getting my Kindle Fire I've read 3 books but I finished one last night so I'm currently between books.
Is this summer?
I can't believe it's July already. When January rolls around, you think the year is going to go so slowly, but before you know it you're over halfway through. My mum got back from Saudi last week, and this morning my dad also returned, and I can smell a Sunday lunch cooking as we speak. It's good to have them home.
Yesterday the Olympic Torch passed through my city, so my mum and I went into town early to avoid the road closures as we needed to do a little bit of shopping. After leaving M&S and heading back to Sainsbury's we got caught in a torrential downpour which left us soaked through, despite having an umbrella. As a result, I felt cold for the rest of the day, then had to go to work and missed the Andy Murray match at Wimbledon.
We watched the live feed of the Olympic Torch relay through the city. We decided not to venture down to see it in person for fear of being caught in another freak shower, and also crowds of people preventing us actually seeing anything! As soon as I stopped seeing places I recognised, I lost interest and went back to the tennis.
In other sporting news, I'm hoping that Italy win in the Euro 2012 final tonight - I got them in the sweepstakes at work so I'll win the money if they can beat Spain! Fingers crossed.
Song of the Day: Does He Love You? by Rilo Kiley
Currently reading: It. Longest book ever (or it feels that way).
Yesterday the Olympic Torch passed through my city, so my mum and I went into town early to avoid the road closures as we needed to do a little bit of shopping. After leaving M&S and heading back to Sainsbury's we got caught in a torrential downpour which left us soaked through, despite having an umbrella. As a result, I felt cold for the rest of the day, then had to go to work and missed the Andy Murray match at Wimbledon.
We watched the live feed of the Olympic Torch relay through the city. We decided not to venture down to see it in person for fear of being caught in another freak shower, and also crowds of people preventing us actually seeing anything! As soon as I stopped seeing places I recognised, I lost interest and went back to the tennis.
In other sporting news, I'm hoping that Italy win in the Euro 2012 final tonight - I got them in the sweepstakes at work so I'll win the money if they can beat Spain! Fingers crossed.
Song of the Day: Does He Love You? by Rilo Kiley
Currently reading: It. Longest book ever (or it feels that way).
Barmouth
So February kind of crept up on me and I lost my blogging focus for a while, but I've been to Barmouth and I have some photos, so at least I have something to put on this little space of the internet for today.
Barmouth was awesome. Daf's sister and little nephew were there as well, so we got to play with cars and do some colouring in and puzzles, which is always fun. We also played with stickers, which basically consisted of putting stickers all over your hands, then put them back in the sticker book. It's all good fun. Also, Daf's mum sent us back to Wolverhampton with a cake, so that was a bonus.
I'll be back soon, and who knows, I might actually write something!
Song of the Day: Love Love by Take That
Barmouth was awesome. Daf's sister and little nephew were there as well, so we got to play with cars and do some colouring in and puzzles, which is always fun. We also played with stickers, which basically consisted of putting stickers all over your hands, then put them back in the sticker book. It's all good fun. Also, Daf's mum sent us back to Wolverhampton with a cake, so that was a bonus.
I'll be back soon, and who knows, I might actually write something!
Song of the Day: Love Love by Take That
Dipstick is a great word
I went to the cinema today with my Mum and Daf. Mum and I watched One Day whilst Daf opted for The Inbetweeners (which I still really want to see - wasn't too sure what Mum would make of it though!). Apart from a problem with the picture at the start (it was too big for the screen and the top and bottom of the picture was cut off), One Day was really good. I read the book (by David Nicholls) in near enough one day, ironically enough. I only got it on Wednesday and really wanted to read it before we saw the film, and luckily I managed to finish it - I'd definitely recommend it.
After the cinema, we went into town to a Thai restaurant, which was lovely. In the car on the way home, as my Mum was overtaken on a residential street for the third time, she said: "Another dipstick! That's three dipsticks today!" Dipstick is her favourite word to describe other drivers. I love my mother.
Anyway, I've now got five days of work in a row to look forward too. Maybe everyone will feel sorry for me working Bank Holiday weekend and tip really generously. One can only hope...
After the cinema, we went into town to a Thai restaurant, which was lovely. In the car on the way home, as my Mum was overtaken on a residential street for the third time, she said: "Another dipstick! That's three dipsticks today!" Dipstick is her favourite word to describe other drivers. I love my mother.
Anyway, I've now got five days of work in a row to look forward too. Maybe everyone will feel sorry for me working Bank Holiday weekend and tip really generously. One can only hope...
I am a little bit concerned
Okay, so the rapture was supposed to happen on Saturday, and it never did so that's good news. Except that now I think it's happening. God can do whatever He likes I guess, He doesn't have to stick to a schedule. That's one of the perks of being God. He lulled us into a false sense of security, and now it's the end of the world. It's SO ridiculousy windy, and it's been raining really really heavily, but due to how windy it is, the rain is horizontal. Isn't this how it started for Noah and his Ark? Lots and lots of rain, and also (I'm guessing) wind? Maybe this is the beginning of the apocalypse. I am afraid to leave the flat because a) I'll get blown over, and b) I might get raptured by some Zombies or something. That's what the rapture is, right? Zombies? I thought so.
So anyway, I need to go to Poundland to get some toothpaste and Fairyliquid and milk, but if it really is the end of the world, I guess the washing up can wait. I have instructed Daf to get them on his way back from his exam, so fingers crossed he doesn't get raptured. I shall want a cup of tea at some point.
Elsewhere in the life and times of Emma, I think my Dad has disowned me because I (and I quote) "publicly dissed" him in my last blog post. That's right, ladies and gents, my Dad says 'dissed'. No one says dissed anymore Dad, that is so five years ago.
Hopefully you will be hearing from me again, dear reader, but in the mean time, I'm off to find someone with an Ark.
So anyway, I need to go to Poundland to get some toothpaste and Fairyliquid and milk, but if it really is the end of the world, I guess the washing up can wait. I have instructed Daf to get them on his way back from his exam, so fingers crossed he doesn't get raptured. I shall want a cup of tea at some point.
Elsewhere in the life and times of Emma, I think my Dad has disowned me because I (and I quote) "publicly dissed" him in my last blog post. That's right, ladies and gents, my Dad says 'dissed'. No one says dissed anymore Dad, that is so five years ago.
Hopefully you will be hearing from me again, dear reader, but in the mean time, I'm off to find someone with an Ark.
******
Song of the Day: The Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less Than Jake
I'm so far gone/That deep down inside I think it's fine by me/That I'm my own worst enemy
I have received an official complaint . . .
My father has complained about the black background - apparently the white writing hurt his eyes, so I've changed it because I'm SUCH a good daughter. So I hope he's happy now. There's always one who ruins it for everyone, isn't there?
This is how I feel about having to change my background. Minus the Christmas cracker hat. Never mind, I've made it a little bit pinky-purpley, so I'm still rebelling against the plain white background. Anti-establishment, yeah!
No song today because I can't be bothered. Until next time.
No song today because I can't be bothered. Until next time.
I'll just say this...
Pretty much the only good thing about being home on my own is that I can sing along to the radio when I'm doing the washing up without my Dad saying, "Are you alright? You sound like you're in pain."
Nicknames
In my lifetime, I have been awarded several nicknames, some of which are variations on my name, and some which are purely from the imaginations of my Dad/brother/friends/boyfriend.
In no particular order:
Em
Emmy
Emmington
Emma the Bemma the Queen of the Blues (shortened to Em-Bem)
Chappers
Chapstick
Chappy
S.B (Second Born)
T.B (I'm not telling you what that stands for)
Ogden
Roland
Pink-eye (in year six I had pink frames for my glasses)
Jizz-eye (when I was in 6th form I kept getting conjunctivitis and one of the boys started this charming nick-name)
Velma (from Scooby-Doo)
Dubs
Poops
Poopington
There's probably a few more but I think that'll do for now. Ogden was fairly prominent at one stage. I think there's a poet called Ogden Nash, and my brother James heard the name somewhere, thought it was really funny and just started calling me Ogden. At first I kind of thought it was funny too, and so I would respond to it (big mistake.) Pretty soon however, it had become old news and I began to tire of humouring James and just wanted my real name back. So I started to ignore James when he called me anything other than my name and figured eventually he would get the point and leave me alone. I remember sitting in my room once, reading a book or whatever the cool kids were doing back then, and James started calling me down for dinner.
"Ogden, teatime! Come and help me set the table!"
Sticking to my new regime, I ignored him. Twenty seconds later:
"Ogggg-dennnnn!"
Again, I did nothing. Sooner or later he'd have to use my real name. Another twenty seconds or so went by and then I heard my Dad's voice booming up the stairs:
"Oi! Ogden!"
Marvellous.
In no particular order:
Em
Emmy
Emmington
Emma the Bemma the Queen of the Blues (shortened to Em-Bem)
Chappers
Chapstick
Chappy
S.B (Second Born)
T.B (I'm not telling you what that stands for)
Ogden
Roland
Pink-eye (in year six I had pink frames for my glasses)
Jizz-eye (when I was in 6th form I kept getting conjunctivitis and one of the boys started this charming nick-name)
Velma (from Scooby-Doo)
Dubs
Poops
Poopington
There's probably a few more but I think that'll do for now. Ogden was fairly prominent at one stage. I think there's a poet called Ogden Nash, and my brother James heard the name somewhere, thought it was really funny and just started calling me Ogden. At first I kind of thought it was funny too, and so I would respond to it (big mistake.) Pretty soon however, it had become old news and I began to tire of humouring James and just wanted my real name back. So I started to ignore James when he called me anything other than my name and figured eventually he would get the point and leave me alone. I remember sitting in my room once, reading a book or whatever the cool kids were doing back then, and James started calling me down for dinner.
"Ogden, teatime! Come and help me set the table!"
Sticking to my new regime, I ignored him. Twenty seconds later:
"Ogggg-dennnnn!"
Again, I did nothing. Sooner or later he'd have to use my real name. Another twenty seconds or so went by and then I heard my Dad's voice booming up the stairs:
"Oi! Ogden!"
Marvellous.
******
Today I'm loving: That it's Monday, and Monday is GLEE DAY!
Today I'm hatin': That I have been attacked by a cold completely out of nowhere. Sneak-attack, not cool.
Song of the Day: Ice Cream by Sarah McLachlan
Your love is better than ice cream/Better than anything else that I've tried
A trip down memory lane
I'm going to write a post about Saudi Arabia, because I haven't done that yet and feel like I should.
It's quite hard to write about, because in the past I've found that people just cannot comprehend the fact that I used to live there. If I tell someone I used to live abroad, they look all interested and say, "Oh wow, really, where?", but when you tell them Saudi Arabia, their eyes glaze over, they say something like, "Oh, right", and then maybe politely ask a question or two to feign interest.
My parents are teachers, and when me and James were small, they successfully applied for teaching positions at a British school in Saudi. I was only two years old when we moved out there, and that's where I spent my incredibly happy childhood. We lived on a compound called Green Valley, which had two swimming pools, a corner shop, a restaurant, tennis courts and a park, to name a few. There were a lot of kids around my age, and the beauty of it being a compound was that they were all right on my doorstep. I was never a lonely child.
The school I went to is the same one that my Mum still teaches at. I've been to four different schools overall, and it is definitely the one that I have the best memories from. I loved the school in England where I went to 6th form (for the most part), but I was in Saudi for much longer and so the good times there definitely out-weigh those from other schools. It was a big campus which was shared with an American school. The classes were small, everyone was friendly, the weather was great (although quite humid at times), the teachers knew who you were and what you were like.
After I had finished year 5 (which would make me 10 years old), we left Saudi and came back to the UK. I think my parents wanted a change, as there are a lot of limitations in Saudi - especially for women. It was strange starting a new school, where no-one knew who I was, and they certainly didn't understand where I came from. A lot of people thought I was American, because I had picked up elements of an American accent whilst in Saudi - a side-effect of having a lot of American friends. I remember sneezing once in class and someone said, "The American sneeze!" and everyone laughed. I was completely bemused - I couldn't hear it.
The other kids in my class also had trouble accepting that I was British. We had kept our house while we were in Saudi so that we had a base for the summer and Christmas holidays, and it was also convenient to have somewhere to live once we had left Saudi. But when I started my new school and told people where I used to live, they'd look at me in confusion and say, "So...you're Arabic then?" I grew tired of telling people that no, I wasn't Arabic, I was born in England to English parents - in fact, I was probably born in the same hospital that they were.
People had no concept of what living in Saudi was like - which I can't blame them for. We were in a P.E. lesson when I was still pretty new and someone asked me if I spoke Arabic. Although we had Arabic lessons, I was not particularly advanced and could only say a few basics. One of the boys overheard the conversation and was confused as to how I could go to school in Saudi if I couldn't speak Arabic. When I told him that I went to a British school, he shook his head at me. "You lived in Saudi Arabia but you went to a British school? That makes no sense." It infuriated me. Luckily, once the novelty wore off, people stopped asking me questions about it and I was able to carry on as normal, but it still made me dread meeting new people for a while, if this was what everyone was going to be like.
We ended up going back to Saudi a couple of years later, but I'll save that for another day.
Today I'm loving: This.
Today I'm hatin': Charlie Sheen. Just get off the TV already, I don't care that you got sacked.
Song of the Day: From Now On by Nada Surf
I'm such a lucky mess/I just need some rest/Take me along/From now on
It's quite hard to write about, because in the past I've found that people just cannot comprehend the fact that I used to live there. If I tell someone I used to live abroad, they look all interested and say, "Oh wow, really, where?", but when you tell them Saudi Arabia, their eyes glaze over, they say something like, "Oh, right", and then maybe politely ask a question or two to feign interest.
My parents are teachers, and when me and James were small, they successfully applied for teaching positions at a British school in Saudi. I was only two years old when we moved out there, and that's where I spent my incredibly happy childhood. We lived on a compound called Green Valley, which had two swimming pools, a corner shop, a restaurant, tennis courts and a park, to name a few. There were a lot of kids around my age, and the beauty of it being a compound was that they were all right on my doorstep. I was never a lonely child.
The school I went to is the same one that my Mum still teaches at. I've been to four different schools overall, and it is definitely the one that I have the best memories from. I loved the school in England where I went to 6th form (for the most part), but I was in Saudi for much longer and so the good times there definitely out-weigh those from other schools. It was a big campus which was shared with an American school. The classes were small, everyone was friendly, the weather was great (although quite humid at times), the teachers knew who you were and what you were like.
After I had finished year 5 (which would make me 10 years old), we left Saudi and came back to the UK. I think my parents wanted a change, as there are a lot of limitations in Saudi - especially for women. It was strange starting a new school, where no-one knew who I was, and they certainly didn't understand where I came from. A lot of people thought I was American, because I had picked up elements of an American accent whilst in Saudi - a side-effect of having a lot of American friends. I remember sneezing once in class and someone said, "The American sneeze!" and everyone laughed. I was completely bemused - I couldn't hear it.
The other kids in my class also had trouble accepting that I was British. We had kept our house while we were in Saudi so that we had a base for the summer and Christmas holidays, and it was also convenient to have somewhere to live once we had left Saudi. But when I started my new school and told people where I used to live, they'd look at me in confusion and say, "So...you're Arabic then?" I grew tired of telling people that no, I wasn't Arabic, I was born in England to English parents - in fact, I was probably born in the same hospital that they were.
People had no concept of what living in Saudi was like - which I can't blame them for. We were in a P.E. lesson when I was still pretty new and someone asked me if I spoke Arabic. Although we had Arabic lessons, I was not particularly advanced and could only say a few basics. One of the boys overheard the conversation and was confused as to how I could go to school in Saudi if I couldn't speak Arabic. When I told him that I went to a British school, he shook his head at me. "You lived in Saudi Arabia but you went to a British school? That makes no sense." It infuriated me. Luckily, once the novelty wore off, people stopped asking me questions about it and I was able to carry on as normal, but it still made me dread meeting new people for a while, if this was what everyone was going to be like.
We ended up going back to Saudi a couple of years later, but I'll save that for another day.
Today I'm loving: This.
Today I'm hatin': Charlie Sheen. Just get off the TV already, I don't care that you got sacked.
Song of the Day: From Now On by Nada Surf
I'm such a lucky mess/I just need some rest/Take me along/From now on
This is new
So I've never written a blog before. I used to have a diary that I wrote utter nonsense in, the sort of teenage 'my life sucks, no one understands me, blah blah blah' rubbish. I found it buried in my room not too long ago and it was so embarrassing that I just had to throw it away so that if anyone found it in a hundred years or something it couldn't be associated with me anymore. But anyway, I love writing. I've always loved writing. I used to spend hours writing stories because I was convinced I was going to be a famous author some day. Who knows, maybe I will be. I have been writing less and less as I've gotten older though, which is a shame, and I'm not really sure why. I think maybe I felt like I didn't really have anything to say. I'm still not sure about that. But I do know that I want to improve my writing, and so to do that I actually need to write, and that's where this blog comes in.
After that long-winded introduction, I should probably say something about myself. I'm Emma, I'm 21 and I'm in my last year of a History degree. In a few short months, I graduate (hopefully), and then real life begins and I have to figure out what to do with myself. Of course, in the meantime I have to write a dissertation and pass my exams and write a few other essays and assignments. So starting a blog is clearly a wonderfully productive use of my time - I am a world class procrastinator. I live with my boyfriend, Dafydd* during term time (I know, very grown up), but in the holidays I'm usually at home with my family, if they're around. I used to live in Saudi Arabia because my parents teach there, but that's perhaps another story for a separate post. I have an older brother, James, whose currently living in Ireland with his girlfriend. The photo I've put of me in my profile is actually pretty old now, it was taken around Christmas time 2008, but I don't have any pictures of me recently on my own without a serious case of double chin going on. So instead I picked a photo that I thought showed my natural charm and charisma...um, yeah.
These blogs will be a mixture of things. Anecdotes that I find particularly funny or interesting, probably a lot of venting about things that irritate me (and believe me, that's a long list), photos that I've taken on my awesome camera, and anything else I fancy. I wonder if anyone will even read this. I hope so.
I think that'll do for my first post. I'll leave you with a photo of Dafydd's dog, Bruno:
Isn't he adorable?
Laters,
Emma
*I love that how when I wrote this, it got underlined as a spelling mistake and wanted me to change it to Daffy, Daffodil, or Daffie.
