People moving over here

I've enjoyed quite a few recent chats with people that are moving to the UK or Europe. I'm only 1.5 years in, but it's amazing to think what's changed in that time. The questions are different from each person, so there doesn't seem to be much of a common theme. "How do I get a job", "is it hard to bring animals", "what's it like" might be the most common. Interesting to me that the questions don't seem to be about culture or food, then tend to be a bit more individual and tactical in nature. Wonder what's behind that.

Glamping in Devon

Let's try glamping! I think the word glamping is a combination of glamourous and camping. It basically means that you sleep in the woods, but in some kind of existing primitive housing structure as opposed to a tent that you build. 

We found a place called Loveland Farm. The website was nice and the owners were even nicer. They own a farm with several kinds of animals, and they've built several "pods". Each pod looks like half a golf ball, with a dome-like shape comprised of hexagons. There's also a nice little kitchen in a handmade wood structure. The bathroom is called compost I think, although that doesn't sound right. It means that you go to the bathroom in a hole and cover it with compost. Apparently the house flies like it. 

The pod really was great! It had a full size teepee within it, plus several beds. One bed was hanging from the ceiling, which was very exciting for the kids. 

During the days, we drove to nearby beaches. We went to Croyde, Woolacombe and a funny place called Westward Ho! The exclamation point is truly in the name of the town. 

The beach at Woolacombe was highly rated and we agreed with the rating. It had endless sand and white hillside houses overlooking the beach. I slept on the beach, only to be awoken by the water rushing toward my head. The family thought it was very funny to watch me wake up and run. 

Noticing popular words

I've noticed the word "boring" is being said a lot lately. It's said in quite a negative way. "I sure hope I'm not boring" and comments like that. Interesting to me because I don't find the stiff upper lip boring at all, I tend to find it emotionally intelligent.

I've been corrected on my pronunciation of the London tube. I've been saying TOOb, it's more like CHube. So there you have it.

Not Bad - The Key British Phrase

Not bad is not just two words. Not bad is a quintessential phrase with at least four meanings. As I've been studying Mandarin for a few years and learning about "tones", the phrase "not bad" is a perfect example of tones in English.

If you hear "not bad" with a downward town, it actually means "really bad". Especially if there's a quick "yeah" before it.

If you hear "not bad" in a monotone, that actually means not bad. "It's ok".

If you hear "not bad" with a slight uptone, almost like asking a question, then that means "pretty good actually". "I kind of liked it, but don't really want to admit that since I don't know how you feel". 

If you hear "not bad at all", that means "probably the greatest thing I've ever seen, but why be so dramatic"

I'm still working on my pronunciation, but it's certainly a key phrase to know!

French Riveria

We visited the French Riveria. Marseille was a bit rough, but Nice and Cannes were fantastic! 

French food is delicious and we had great service everywhere we went. The

drive from Marseille to Cannes was like a lush desert with rocks and trees. It appeared to be the worlds wine supply with all the grapes we saw.

Cannes is beautiful. And almost any age can laugh the first time you see the road signs that say Nice Cannes, since the two towns are next to each other. Cannes has a great boardwalk with high end stores and exotic cars.

I didn't realise that Monaco is technically a different country. It's the second smallest in the world, only the Vatican is smaller. 

We also visited "the European Grand Canyon". Actually it's called Parc Verdon Gorge. We hiked the canyon and gorge to include some very memorable pitch black tunnels where you need a flashlight/torch to see two feet in front of you.

Grasse was a secret little town that we found, we enjoyed walking around that one and eating there. 

As we woke up one morning, we found ourselves extremely privileged to be asking questions to ourselves deciding which beach to go to. Do we want a boardwalk or no? Rock formations or no? Sandy or pebbles? Amazing. 

Nice is nice! Great boardwalk small town, great beach, white covered benches. We drove all around to see and walk on several beaches. We ran into some trouble paying for parking, it didn't like our credit card and wouldn't accept cash, but we eventually got it to work.

All in all the French Riveria lives up to its great reputation!

My first massage

My wife booked my first massage. I was strangely nervous going to it. I guess it was the fear of the unknown and unfamiliar. She had booked me for a hot stone which is apparently one of the more gentle and easier places to start.

We're in a small town, so the venue was just off High Street in someone's house. That increased my nerves a bit. I pretended to be fearless and went inside the house. The masseuse was there to greet me and I instantly felt more at ease. 

We had a nice chat and the massage was great. The only catch is now I know what relaxed actually feels like, so there's probably a risk of massage addiction :)

Embrace the Ridiculousness for a moment

It's all a bit ridiculous. Everything. We all have different ways of interpreting the world and when you step back and watch our behaviours, it's actually quite funny and ridiculous. 

For example, we enjoy a popular show called the Great British Bakeoff. It's a bunch of amateur bakers having a cooking competition in a big white tent. And the whole show is full of subtle hilarious innuendo. There's another popular show called W1A, which is the BBC creating a sitcom to make fun of itself, almost a spinoff of The Office.

But bigger than tv, it's about real life. There's a guy that stands at Trafalgar Square everyday handing out newspapers. But he doesn't just stand there, he teases people, he chases them, he makes loud noises, he contorts his body to make the paper seem more interesting. It's silly and it's perfect. I often wonder if he has the secret to a happy life, embracing the ridiculousness. 

It can be interesting to watch how people react and respond to him. Of course many people just walk by. Some people steer as far away as possible. Other people walk right up to him and join in the silliness. The energy coming from stressed people on the run versus the people that embrace him is noticeably different. 

Life seems to have some fragility and futility to it. Maybe an undertone is a healthy approach. I'll not confuse this short term humour with learning and development and having a strategy to head toward something. Maybe an occasional bounce into our playful ridiculous self is a nice way to balance out the planful part of our lives?