7 Things ...

It seems I was naive in thinking that I would squeeze out at least a couple of blog posts during the holidays. Term 1 is off & running ... But before we get too far into it, and having been tagged a while back by Jess McCulloch, I thought I could at least get one simple post in to start off the year. After all, it wasn't that long ago that I only associated the word 'tag' with schoolyard games (more specifically, being hit hard by a tennis ball).

Anyway, this first post is all about 'me'. 7 things you may not know about me & weren't really worried about in the first place. Mind you, I have enjoyed reading other blogs in this meme. As you build your Personal Learning Network (PLN) and discover the value of it, this kind of meme adds a little bit more to the connections being made. So, here goes ...

1. Despite being born in Wimbledon (England) I am far from a competent tennis player. In fact, the last time I attempted the game resulted in a prolonged back injury.
2. As a child, I lived for 6 years in Athens. An awesome place to live and go to Primary school. Although I don't remember the bits and pieces of Greek that I knew at the time, I think that it was here that I picked up my interest in languages. Many friends were from bilingual families and speaking more than one language was the norm.
3. Ever done something really silly ...??? Once, whilst at St Catherine's, as a result of being most concerned about receiving my dues from the tooth fairy, and after examining various 'safes' for it - I distinctly remember trying out every possible spot in my school desk ( one of the old sloping wooden desks complete with ink holder & groove for pencils) - I decided the best spot was in my ear. Sounds silly now but I thought it was the perfect plan. End result - surgery to remove it. Not sure if the tooth fairy came for that one or not.
4. 2nd year of University was not the best for me in terms of passing courses (more for not being there than anything else) but that was the year that I first went to Japan, on a Homestay program, and everything fell into place from there. Despite getting off at the wrong station and then having to wait several hours before eventually finding my Homestay family, I was fascinated by Japan from the very first moment - and still am.
5. In an attempt to save money and go back to Japan, I once worked at the airport in catering. This basically involved cleaning the scraps off the in-flight meal trays and putting them through the wash. During busy times things banked up a bit and some trays contained several science experiments worth of growth on the left-over food scraps. It's always good to gain a new perspective on things.
6. My wife claims that one of her first thoughts on seeing me was that she would "never marry that guy". It was at work (an English conversation school in Osaka, Japan) and allegedly my shirt was half hanging out at the time.
7. Down time for me is running, preferably along the bush tracks not far from our door, and cycling. This year I aim to ride to work more, to do my little bit for the environment - and because it's quite a nice ride.

So there you go ...

Time to tag a couple of others for this meme ...

Isabelle Jones

Lisa Stevens

Joe Dale

José Picardo