kuhne tafelesig

The German Lesson

Yesterday, Rubén, my Spanish housemate from a small village called Lodosa, gave me a lift home. This isn’t extraordinary in itself though the whole driving experience is quite… interesting. The man drives a relic: a Fiat Cinquecento, the second-generation model methinks.His car, for instance, randomly brakes, swerves around the curves as if it were a RallyGP car, and generally spices up your day after a lulling day in the office.So yesterday, on our way back from the office, Ruben tells me he’s got a German lesson at Suffolk College and is running a bit late. If he were to drop me off at home, he would most certainly be late and perhaps the small detour would prove too burdensome for his […]

polaroid camera

POLAR.OÏD

I recently bought a camera. A real tangible camera. Quite bulky as a matter of fact. Cheap-looking with its casing essentially made of plastic.But it’s no standard camera. As a matter of fact, it’s an endangered species camera (Esc…). It’s a Polaroid. These cameras were the rage when I was 8 or so. It was the early nineties then and having an instant camera was a bit of a rarity. My dad tells me that 24-hour processing was quite a scary thought too – almost like witchcraft. Don’t even mention 1hr processing. Yep, old-timers took their time to live life.It reminds me of Civil War soldiers and the brave few photographers who paced up and down the battered battlefields of […]

sillhouete of eiffel tower

Métro Boulot Dodo And Rooftops

Midnight faded into dawn, dawn gave way to early morning traffic which eventually yielded to my alarm clock. A quick breakfast of French bread, croissants, and unsalted butter (Parisians…) took the final yawns and wrinkles out of my face. The day seemed daunting. With a three-hour presentation in the morning in front of a twenty-odd crowd of academic people, I was going to be the unwilling star & start of the show.The underground stole past Central Paris to drop us off in the southern suburbs of Paris where our meeting was to be held. The meeting in itself wasn’t worth mentioning. It’s all work and no play for poor little Jack. However, there were two items to remember. Firstly the […]

Sweet Lutèce

London Saint Pancras – The train is due to leave at ‘five past eight’. It’s nearly 7:30 PM and still no sign of Theo. The fellow made a desperate dash from his home in Colchester at six and if anything he should be arriving in a couple of minutes. Surely enough, I soon receive a phone call and down the main hallway of the newly renovated train station, I can make out the man’s familiar silhouette. Spot on time.While I was waiting for him, I strolled around the station stopping at a bookshop (Folger’s I believe?) for I had forgotten a book I had bought for my niece in Ipswich and wanted to make it up to her by getting another. […]

pencil on white smartcase near eyeglasses

Madrid – Ipswich Roadtrip (Update)

As time flies out the window and into oblivion, it’s time we got our trip preparation underway. To start with the team: not just any team, The team. Pilot A will be JuanLu – no discussion about that. After it is his ride, his wheels, and his initial idea. I’ll be the copilot and manager of the roadtrip. After all I’m the oldest guy, France will be the main country to go through and I’ve got a gut feeling that letting JuanLu do the mapping could lead to catastrophic decisions such as those illustrated in the picture hereafter… We’ll be joined by JotaLu’s brother and whoever else dares trek with us. Our car of choice will be the Ford Fiesta […]