lunedì 27 aprile 2015

The joy of the present perfect



Hard work pays off....or so people say.I'm not so sure but I definitely think that working with your mind and soul pays off.
Putting a bit of love and enthusiasm in what you do always pays off, especially 
where teaching is concerned.
It sometimes seems impossible to explain why it's wrong to say 'I have gone to London last year' but right to say 'I went to London last year' or why 'I'll call you' is better than 'I call you'!!!

You realise it was all worth the effort when as an expression of gratitude you find a glorious home-made chocolate cake waiting for you with a little note attached to the cling film covering it: 'Thank you for everything you have done....' and on the back 'since the beginning of the course!!'.


The present perfect with 'since' - What joy!!!

martedì 21 aprile 2015

Shopping in Lucca is amazing!


Not as amazing as Oxford Street but is still quite memorable. To begin with the shop windows are something else.They re-evoke scenes from an imaginary land where women become fairies in a wonderland. I stop and gaze at them on end....or until I get a strange look from the shop assistant.

I'm afraid to enter shops which is why I usually need the company of Italian friends. They are a support when asked what I desire by the shop assistants. Help!!!! What do I desire?? I really don't know and even if I knew how could I describe it. I tried once to say that I wanted a long sleeved top but I ran out of the shop as red as a beetroot almost in tears and WITHOUT a top! The assistant has not recovered either.

It's not easy to just look around without an aim or a desire here but I'm getting used to it. Nevertheless I never go in shops....there are a few I go into out of necessity and where the shop assistants know me but otherwise I avoid them like the plague.

As most of my friends living here I do all my shopping when I return to London. I leave from Pisa with an empty suitcase and return with a year's supply.

The clothing words, too, being so different don't help either. A pair of jeans or trousers becomes ' one jeans or one trousers (un jeans or un pantalone) and a vest is....well, I still don't really know. Jumpers are impossible as the collar can be girocollo, dolcevita or scollo a V together with tailleur and abitino for suit and dress are just too much for me to handle.

Sometimes friends come along for moral support but once left alone I'm a complete disaster. What should I do? Any suggestions welcome....