Day 12: Mike's last day in London

Went to dinner with Liz and Simon and Simon's sister's family tonight.  After Liz and I walked around Camden. We watched this guy maneuver his boat into a lock quite bruskly, I was impressed.  We watched him move a couple of locks, then Liz and I decided to walk along the canal.  We found ourselves chatting with the owner and then he invited us to hang out with him and his friends for several hours!  So nice people!  He just lives on his boat, moors it wherever he wants and heads into work (he works in london).  Anyway, had a pretty good time, it was interesting to see his boat.  It was really quite small inside, about twice as long as my office and he had his entire house in it, bed, kitchen, livingroom, and bathroom.  The kitchen and livingroom were of course one.  The bedroom was at the rear of the boat.

Day 11: Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Aujourd'hui je suis allée à un parc. Il y avait plein de sculptures étranges.  Il y avait aussi des vrais lapins noirs et marrons.  Il y avait aussi des faux en fer. Il y avait un dome.  En sautant sur un banc ça faisait de la musique.  Il y avait des hommes en métal qui faisaient des calins aux arbres.  Je les ai surtout bien aimé.

Antonia

Today, I went to a park with strange sculptures.  There were also black and brown rabbits and some fake ones made of iron.  There was a dome.  When you jumped on a bench it made music.  There were men made of metal who were hugging trees.  I liked them especially.

Day 10: British citizenship

The UK is one of those countries that's introduced a test for people who want to become citizens.  My sister in law can ace this test.  I get between 84% and 34% on practice tests depending on how many numerical questions they ask me.  Yes - you need to know the population of Scotland and the exact number of hours a teenager can work!!  When I was a Girl Guide, knowing which way up to fly the Union Jack was enough to prove your Britishness.  Some of me thinks learning about how the UK works is an interesting idea, the rest of me recognizes this as a scam to extract money from immigrants.  We didn't have to do a test to become French citizens, I'm not sure if the French would like to think that new arrivals knew more about the country than they did.

Like this?

Or like this?

Le Royaume-Uni a un test pour les immigrants qui voudrait devenir citoyens.  Ma belle soeur peut réussir ce test presque sans faute.  Elle a acheté tous les livres que le gouvernment a publié exprès.  Je pense que c'est un peu une arnaque, et un peu intéressant.  J'aimerais bien lui emprunter son livre. Quand j'etais jeune, le seul test était de savoir dans quel sens il faut mettre le drapeau.  Pour l'instant, mes résultats sur ces tests sont entre 84% et 34%.  C'est pas génial, mais c'est qu'il faut connaitre la population de l'Ecosse, et autres détails numériques de ce genre.  En France on n'a pas eu ce genre de test.  Peut-etre que les Francais n'aimeraient pas croire que les nouveaux citoyens en savent plus qu'eux sur le pays? 

Voting / Le Vote

The British are having a referendum on whether they should change their voting system.  I wondered if I should register to vote, so I can take part in it.  But do I have time to meddle in the affairs of more than one country?  Do I have time to meddle in the affairs of any country?  In a way I feel too internationalized to be committed to the politics of any one country, but democracy only exists at a local level. 

In the end it turns out I can't register, because I've been out of the country and unregistered for more than 15 years.  I suppose I have to live in Britain before I can start voting again.

Les Britanniques vont peut-etre changer leur système de vote.  Peut-etre que je devrais faire l'effort de m'inscrire pour voter?  Est-ce que j'aurais le temps de m'occuper des affaires de plusieurs pays?  Ou même un seul?  Quelque part, je me sens trop internationalisée pour m'impliquer vraiment dans la politique d'un pays en particulier, mais puisque la démocratie n'existe qu'au niveau local....

En fin de compte, j'ai appris que je ne peux pas voter au Royaume Uni parce que j'ai passé plus de 15 ans ailleurs.  Il faudra que j'habite en Angleterre avant de pouvoir m'inscrire.

Day 9: sea voyages and spring flowers

Antonia is in one of those terrible states where she has got herself overtired, is taking days to recover, and is struggling to remember basic addition.  I didn't think we could do anything interesting today, but fortunately, she woke up after lunch.  We are preparing to go to sea, by learning ship vocabulary in two languages.  We designed this as a game, more than a labeled diagram, so that we can go back and revise which words go with which bits of drawing.

 Antonia est dans un état ou elle n'arrive meme plus a faire des additions.  Ca lui arrive (trop souvent) quand sa vie n'est pas assez reposante.  J''ai cru qu'on ne ferait rien aujourd'hui, mais finalement on a preparé notre voyage en mer en apprenant un vocabulaire nautique en deux langues.  Le dessin d'Antonia est conçu comme un jeu qu'on peu reprendre autant qu'on veut, au lieu d'un dessin etiqueté une fois pour toutes.

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Hier soir on discutait des mérites littéraires et culturels de quelques textes religieux.  La Bible de King James, le journal de l'église du village, et un petit livre datant de 1953.  Il contient toutes les prières et cérémonies en usage au sein de l'église Anglicane à cette date, et il fut presenté à ma mère quand elle avait dix ou onze ans, pour fêter la coronation d'Elizabeth II.  J'en ai retiré quelques extraits - une prière à utiliser pendant les tempêtes; une autre pour remercier Dieu d'avoir echappé à ladite tempête, le cas échéant; une autre à utiliser si on a le bonheur d'échapper à des pirates ou autres ennemis. En fait, c'est le langage poétique et archaique qui m'amuse, autant que la situation d'utilisation preconisée de ces prières.  Mais je n'ai pas eu le courage de les traduire.

And for some extra preparation, there is a book my Mum dragged out last night, while we were discussing the respective merits of the King James Bible and the Church News page of the Village Gazette.  It is called Common Prayer and is dated 1953. It was the official list of prayers and ceremonies used in the Church of England at that date and was given to my Mum when she was about 10 or 11 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.  From the section called Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, I've picked out a few extracts that could come in handy.  It's always good to know what to say on each occasion.

A prayer to be used in storms at sea:

O most powerful and glorious Lord God, at whose command the winds blow, and lift up the waves of the sea, and who stillest the rage thereof; We thy creatures, but miserable sinners, do in this our great distress cry unto thee for help: Save Lord, or else we perish...

Thanksgiving after the aforementioned storm:

... we found trouble and heaviness : we were even at death's door.
The waters of the sea had well-nigh covered us : the proud waters had well-nigh gone over our soul.
The sea roared : and the stormy wind lifted up the waves thereof.
We were carried up as it were to heaven, and then down again into the deep : our soul melted within us because of trouble;
Then cried we unto thee O Lord : and thou didst deliver us out of our distress,
Blessed be thy name ...

Thanksgiving on being delivered from enemies (such as pirates):

If the Lord had not been on our side, now may we say : if the Lord himself had not been on our side, when men rose up against us;
They had swallowed us up quick : when they were so wrathfully displeased at us.
Yea, the waters had drowned us, and the stream had gone over our soul : the deep waters of the proud had gone over our soul.
But praised be the Lord : who hath not given us over as a prey unto them.
The Lord hath wrought : a mighty salvation for us.
We got not this by our own sword, neither was it our own arm that saved us : but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of they countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto us.
The Lord hath appeared for us : the Lord hath covered our heads, and made us to stand in the day of battle.
The Lord hath appeared for us : the Lord hath overthrown our enemies, and dashed in pieces those that rose up against us.
Therefore not unto us, O Lord, not unto us : but unto thy Name be given the glory....

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Spring Flower Show - Foire des Fleurs

At the village's Spring Flower Show, only the people with the coldest gardens actually have any spring flowers left.  Nothing to do with global warming, no, not at all!! 

Comme les Anglais aiment bien jardiner, les foires et concours de fleurs sont une institution.  Pour la foire des fleurs printanières, seuls ceux qui ont des jardins à tendance froide ont encore des fleurs du printemps.  Peut-être à cause du changement climatique, qui sait?

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At least I have the Tasmania trip sorted out, I think.  It's taken me some 8 hours to do the planning and I still have to make the reservations, preferably asap.

J'ai fini de préparer la partie de notre voyage qui se déroule en Tasmanie, du moins, j'espère.  Ca m'a pris 8 heures de recherches et il me reste les réservations à faire.  J'espère que je pourrais les faire tout de suite, pour éviter d'avoir à reprendre le travail.

Day 8: planning Tasmania

Mike has gone back to London to work, Antonia and I are worn out and walking around like zombies.  I spent the whole afternoon trying to work out the Tasmania section of our trip.

Mike est retourné à Londres pour travailler.  Antonia et moi sont très fatiguées d'avoir fait la fête pendant trop longtemps.  J'ai passé l'après-midi à essayer de mettre en place la partie de notre voyage qui sera en Tasmanie.

Day 7: Mothering Easter

English Mothering Sunday was last week, when I was still in France.  Easter Sunday is in two weeks when we're on a boat.  Today we're pretending that it's both of those with the family all together for the last time in a while.

Dimanche dernier, c'était la fête des mères en Angleterre. Dans deux semaines ce sera Paques, mais on sera sur un bateau.  Aujourd'hui on fait semblant que c'est les deux, avec la famille ensemble pour la dernière fois pour quelque temps.

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The rest of my family like to do those ghastly cryptic crosswords, but I decided to translate Robert Browning's poem instead.  It's very appropriate for the weather we've been having.

Un peu plus bas, ma traduction de ce poème très connu de Robert Browning.  Je crois qu'il était dans le sud de l'Europe au printemps et qu'il pensait à son pays natal.  D'habitude, je suis loin de partager ses sentiments, mais c'est vrai que c'est beau ici, quand il fait beau !

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HOME-THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD

Oh to be in England,
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows -
Hark! where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent sprays edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower,
- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

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PENSEES POUR MON PAYS DEPUIS L'ETRANGER

Je rêve d'Angleterre, 

Quand l'avril revient

Qui ouvre l'oeil en Angleterre

Voit, sans voire, un matin,

Que les basses branches et les brousailles forment

Des débuts de feuilles autour de l'Orme,

Et le pinson chante dans le pommier vert

En Angleterre !

Après avril, quand mai s'y mèle,

La fauvette batit, et les hirondelles -

Tiens! voila mon poirier penchant sous un fardeau

De fleurs; il éparpille parmi les trèfles du pré

Pétales et gouttes d'eau - au bord d'un rameau -

Voici la grive savante; ses chants par deux fois répétés

De peur qu'un passant ne l'estime trop envoutée

Pour reprendre l'air premier !

Et à l'aube la rosée ébouriffe les champs,

Mais tout sera beau, le midi reveillant

Les boutons d'or, trésor des petits enfants,

- Plus riches de loin que ces bouquets voyants !

Day 6: Degree ceremony

I got closure on my 9 year Open University degree adventure before leaving.  This is me admitting to my name to the master of ceremonies.

Je suis licenciée !  Enfin, diplomée...  en histoire de l'art.  Eh oui, tout en habitant la France, je suivais les cours à distance de l'Open University en Anglais.  On a passé la journée à Harrogate pour les cérémonies.

The highlights of my day were the delicious lunch my parents bought us at Van Zeller's and this amazing drawing Antonia did of the OU shield.  She even has the motto 'Learn and Live', or as my brother would have it 'Earn and Live'.  We went to the ceremony in Harrogate, a town I haven't been in since I was 19.  Before that we lived there for nearly 10 years.  Yorkshire and Yorkshire people have a recognizable style of their own which we was something I never realized when I lived here.

The OU was a great experience with very good quality, challenging courses.  I would definitely recommend it.