Snippets from the classroom 1.

I get so much from my students that for some time I have been itching to share some of it, but how to respect their privacy and confidentiality?     Well hopefully using a sort of twitter technique and offering only snippets and keeping to generalities it will be okay.    I learn so much from meeting people from all over the world, so everynow and then I will share snippets from them.   Their comments are, I hope factual, but that is not guaranteed as I may have misunderstood them or they me or their answer is just to use the language for example.


PM2.5  ( a new expression for me)  and heat reflection from glass, but pollution is going down in Beijing.  In turn the student found out that China is not alone with pollution problems and that we have a lot of pollution in the UK

60 men 55 women - retirement age China.  Many younger people help their parents financially.

Big eyes and a round face are considered beautiful features in China.

Chile is linked to the world through its shipping.

In Pakistan one of my students, a woman, had a much better schooling than I did, a much more rounded affair.     Good to hear positives re education for girls in Pakistan.

Just taught a person going home from work using Uber and did the whole lesson whilst  on the way home!  The student posed a great question querying how do people in countries like the UK or US plan for things long term when governments and policies and plans keep changing.     The student is from China, but knows both the UK and US well.    At the end of the conversation we discovered we had both studied in Manchester!

A few pictures from a wet Saturday in Hyde Park.

People's Walk for Wildlife

C

Swim Serpentine!

Christo clear water survival. 

A few pictures to whet the appetite.

Marcellus Theatre remains that have been dug up from under medieval Rome. 

Look closely - I have seen these in Berlin, but these are in the Jewsish Ghetto in Rome. 

A lovely warm evening in from of St.Peters. 

Senegalese salespeople selling Kenyan trinkets to the crowds in Rome! 

Vatican coffee!  

Roman holidays.

When my son was about 8 or maybe a little older we went to Lido di Jesolo.  Two things I regret about that holiday, one that we initially said no to the kids when they wanted to go on a gondola ride (we changed our minds but they did not want to go then) and that having promised Nathan and his friend Joanna that they could chill by the pool all day on the last day,  suddenly the weather changed and it really was end of the season. That was the holiday Nathan ate tiramisu every day!  I still do not like it, it was a lovely holiday. There was a moment, when Linda and Joanna were joined by more friends camping nearby and we all headed off for a memorable meal by the beach, just enjoying the sun, the sea and the company - in true Italian fashion, it felt like we were in a movie.    And Venice of course was Venice extra-ordinary.         Little did I realise that I would pass through a couple more times as part of my work for EiA, or that I would have a week working nearby to Lido di Jesolo, it was the last tie I worked for the company, but I have happy memories of working there and in Udine and Pordenone, northern towns I would not know otherwise. 

But I started to know Italy in my 20's, part of my degree, heading to Naples, Capri, Rome and Florence was an obvious choice.   It was not love at first sight, though it felt amazing to see so many world famous sights and to eat proper pizza for the first time.      I also made a life long friend,  though Brexit has almost done for us, but passing through passport control, we realised we worked for the same organisation and I am pleased to say we have kept in touch every since.   

In the meantime, I have visited Parma and Bologna, with my part Italian ex,  Milan and its surrounds including Mantegna and Verona and the glorious Dolomites with my step dad, whilst he lived out in Italy.   Abruzzo was the site of a memorable holiday weekend with my brother and his children and his then partner in their gorgeous home in the mountains, (which was marred by a horrendous car accident witnessed by me, but was a stunning location and of course a great and rare chance to be with my niece and nephew) and last year I was wowed by Genoaese architecture, palaces, and bridges.  It was horrendous to realise that one of these sublime structures crashed to the ground killing many.   But I have always intended to return to Rome.  I do not know how long we spent in Rome on our whistle stop tour.  I recall the Roman highlights but also that our hotel was very fragrant  So almost forty years on, I am back and despite it being September it is hot, hot, hot, so just as well my hotel is out near the airport in Ciampino and I was able to head out to Lake Albano today and the papal museums at Castel Gandolfo   I had a lovely day, but seemed to have totally misunderstood my booking as I failed to see the gardens but I did see the museum.  So it looks like I will just have to come back again!  Hopefully I have booked the right tickets for tomorrow as it is a return to the Vatican and Michaelangelo.

I am not a Christian, let alone a Catholic, and since the last visit the horrors of the level of the abuse and the cover up of the abuse has thoroughly tarnished the credibility and reputation of the church and the faith in many ways.  Listening to the history of the many, many popes, though was interesting, to kind of have a view of how they have progressed through and been a key part of history.    The museum

Papal pretender

Papal Chair

Prewar Pope. 

Papal view.

perhaps not surprisingly put a better spin for example on how the church handled the Germans during WW2 and their stand against antisemitism.    So although it was not quite what I thought I was visiting, i am glad I have been there and the Lake is beautiful, the Pope just has the most wonderful view.   I want to picture him flying down the hill in his cloak and splashing into the lake as if it is Galilee and his Lord is there to great him.

Scream, scream, scream, scream, scream, scream, scream.

Having taken the time to send off the paperwork, I got back in touch with the Land Registry as I realised that I had given them the wrong form name when I phone.  They have now got back in touch with me to say I do need to fill in the form and have my identity checked. 

I think I am beginning to go mad.  Heaven knows what the people trying to sell will think,  I just want to scream and scream and scream and scream.   Bad headache, just got worse.

Things not going to plan!

2011 I move into my flat and immediately realise a lot of the information I have been given about it is incorrect e.g. electrics up the creek and gas illegal, whereas I had a certificate saying all was well!.  I had notified my solicitors prior to the purchase that the plans were incorrect and I thought corrected plans were arriving post purchase but they never did.   According to the plans to my home my internal staircase is communal and so is my individual door, whilst the promise that all the frontage was mine was evidenced in some documents but not in the details held by the Land Registry. In 2012 the solicitors registered my ownership and got this response.

Part of the land shown by red edging on the plan t the lease does not fall within the lessor;s title and is registered under another title.   .... The plan attached to the letter...... keep the letter and plan I have the letter but no plan, not one with any colour and the other land is not clear. Who or what does this refer to.    and what did it mean for the future sale of my flat. I have no idea, so it has always unsettled me, but getting the flat legal in other ways was my main focus till this year.

Nevertheless in 2013 I spoke to Land Registry, they agreed the plans were incorrect and they seemed to advise at that time getting a solicitor onto it and therefore I suggested to the person about to buy the flat downstairs and share the freehold that they get their solicitor to do it on all our behalf.  Their solicitor did not think incorrect plans were an issue.

This April I returned to the matter. I was advised to extend the lease using 1.1.1. - which made no sense as I wasn't extending the lease. I was told I could write in which I did,  but I did not get a response. I was again advised to write in and I sent in photos.  But still got no where. I was advised to use another form which again I did not understand so begged for someone in plain English to tell me what I needed to do. I spoke to someone who seemed to give me the correct information I was told I needed form TP1.  and to do an ID1. I set about arranging for bills and a new council tax to be sent to me. I got a surveyor to draw up the new plans to go with the TP1.  Today trying to fill in the TP1,  I could not make head or tail of it.  So I rang up Land REgistry and yes, they told me to write in.  They were also quite rude, assuming I had taken it upon myself to do things incorrectly all these years rather than trying to unsuccessfully follow their information.  So some 7 years since I bought the property I am back where I started and even though I have evidenced to them several times now that I do have a staircase and a door, here I go again!. 

I have always said I am happy to have a salary to get things wrong too,  I can spend years giving incorrect information if the Government wants!  However, it would just be nice to be given the correct information and in a simple straight forward form from the outset.

 Contested space, my vital pots.

Bags of room for confusion?

Earlier this year I struggled to find a small bag that I could use on Ryanair, and landed up with a very ordinary black bag, so I was pleased over the recent trip to the north to find a nice cloth bag,   I also bought a new cabin sized bag on wheels. so thought I was all set till I got a confusing message from Ryanair, which has revealed none of my bags seem to be correct!  I have had to pay for my bag for the first time on a Ryanair flight.   I am sure I am not alone.

Perhaps this means an end to the cut price easy visits to Europe and maybe with luck more extended trips either abroad further away or in the UK.  Being up north with the dogs and even in the bad weather has been lovely.  Apart from discovering and using the direct bus to Newcastle, I have been swimming, to lots of nice local cafes, and have walked and walked.    On the last day I got to go to the Wolsingham Show for the first time in years.  I loved it, lots of beautiful animals, dog shows, crafts, food, and more food, and even a stall promoting the growth of hemp in the UK.  Apparently a farm in Oxford even harvesting hemp as part of a volunteer project. Hemp could be a really useful crop for British farmers, so great that they this organisation was present.