The blog of Steve Root

  • Rotary – Club Visit 9 to Lige Rive-Droite

    142-newyellow100.jpg

    On the way to Eurocon I decided it would be good to visit a foreign Rotary Club. One of the objects of Rotary deals specifically with encouraging international friendship so Rotarians all over the world are welcome at clubs wherever they happen to be visiting.

    Having decided, the next problem was finding a suitable club. The criteria were quite specific:

    • Along the route from Calais to my destination (Simpleveld, Netherlands)
    • Ideally less than 1 hour away from my destination
    • Meeting on Thursday Lunchtime
    • Meeting conducted in French
    237-liegerivedroite-thumb-250x187.jpg

    After a lot of reserach on the internet (it took longer as I didn’t know the town names. For example, if a Visitor was going to Canterbury on holiday, how would they know Faversham is along their route?) Eventually, I choose to visit the Rotary Club of Lige Rive-Droite. There were a couple of options (Thursday being a lucky day for passing through the area) but Liege Rive-Droite was chosen because their web site had more information about them than the other clubs. They seemed active and approachable, so I sent an email. I wrote it in French first, then English in case I made no sense. The reply (you’re welcome to join us) came back in English. A good sign, if my French wasn’t up to scratch there’d be someone to help out.

    240-presenting-in-French-thumb-250x187.jpg

    After an unexpected long journey to meet them, I’m glad I went there. Asside from being very friendly, the food was definately the best I’ve had at any Rotary event.

    Learnings:

    • Vousing and Tuing – All Rotary friends are Tu, and also “Chez ami” (Dear Friend) even when you’ve just met them [note 1]
    • When I speak in French to a group (when I present our club banner), I really must prepare a bullet list. speaking in english I can remember the 3 things I would like to emphasise, whereas speaking in French I forgot the messages I wanted to put accross as I had to think long and hard to find the right words – along with ensure the best pronounciation I possibly could.
    • To raise funds for charitable purposes, they organise an annual, 8 hour long go kart race of around 30-40 go-karts. It raises (from memory) around 20,000. Useful to know as our develops into its second year

    [note 1] At a recent meeting, when Lucy gave her presentation on herself, one of the questions was when should you use ‘vous’ and when should you use ‘tu’ when speaking to a French person.

  • Eurocon 2009 – Let Battle Commence

    I’ve not been bloging as much lately because I’ve been very busy. Busy organising an ‘outdoor skills day’ (I’ll write about it later), busy with work and busy with life in general. Life has been good. You’re about to see a torrent of postings, not on things that are still in the ‘waiting to be written queue’, these will all be up to the minute current events as close to real time as I can make them happen. For the next 4 and a half days, I’m on holiday. I’m going to Eurocon!

    Last year, my journey to Eurocon was at rather short notice. Just 24 hours before the start my friend and online gamer from Germany known as ‘Flubby’ posted in our forum that he was too ill to go and his already paid for place was free to anyone who could cross Europe at such short notice. Rhonda said I could go and thus began a dash to the port and 4 days of fun.

    231-eurocon2009-01-thumb-150x112.jpg

    This year, it’s a little better planned. I booked my place months ago, I booked the ferry months ago and I sit here at my laptop writing not from a ferry this time, but from the terminal waiting area.

    I was booked on the 04:30 am ferry to leave tomorrow morning 15th April, but I’m in the terminal at 9pm on the 14th. Why arrive 8 hours early for a ferry? Blockade! The French fisherman have been blockading French ports again, lorries are parked all along the motorways of Kent waiting for crossings. Disruption galore to channel crossings, my journey could be over before I’ve even left blighty.

    All is not lost, last night a few ferries left overnight and on the phone to P&O they said I could arrive early if I wanted but they couldn’t guarantee a crossing. Fair enough, I arrived very early and they think they’re going to get a ferry out at 11pm. They’ve given me a ticket, now I just have to hope it leaves.

    234-eurocon2009-02-thumb-150x112.jpg

    On the plus side a group of German students are singing songs around a guitar here in the terminal building so it’s actually quite a happy pleasant place to be. Just like going away with the youth club all those years ago. Except for the language of course the only work I remember from German is Hangover that I learnt last year. Oh, and something like Ich haben deinen medicine! when I delivered a special bottle of Spitfire Ale to Flubby at home in Achen at the end of the Eurocon (it being only a few hours drive away).

    Anyway, time to go post this, set up the sat nav, stick on the head lamp adapters and try and remember what I’ve forgotten to pack (well, there’s always something!).

  • Marley and Me (Rooty Film Review)

    229-MarleyMe_10sec_small.gif

    I often think I’m lucky. Well luck isn’t just mine, Rhonda won two tickets to see a special screening of a new film not out until March, from the local radio station Invicta FM. Things got better, Uncle Dave agreed to baby sit and said he really liked the book. Marley and Me* was set to be the first grown up film we’d been to together for years. Children affect life in many ways, Wall-E, Toy Story and other similar films become the only cinema experience you remember after a while.

    Marley and Me is based on a nonfiction book, which is based on 15 years or so of a news paper reporters life. Starting just before he and his new wife get a dog after a friends suggestion that will delay her needs for a baby for a little while. It ends…. hmm, I’m trying not to give too much away, but it ends when the dog dies.

    I liked and enjoyed the film. It follows the real life trials and tribulations that happen to us all and that I think gives something that almost everyone can relate to. It’s a true life story that hangs around the presence of a pet dog but could just as easily hang around a much beloved family car or home. That said, Marley added his own life to the situation as only an animal can. Time flew by, the film was 2 hours long and there were good times and bad, happy times and sad, making the whole audiance move from laughter to tears then back again.

    I always find it hard to know whether a film is worth watching before hand and I’m often disappointed by the ends. In all honesty I’d often choose not to go the cinema and just have a couple of hours time with one of the many books I have waiting to be read. This film though was well worth watching. If you’re not lucky enough to win the tickets as we were, I’d recommend it as worth paying for.

    Rootie Ratings are normally a book thing, but I’d give this a four out of five. If only it could be found in the second hand bookshop along with all my other favourites.

    *The little animated dog also came from the films web site http://www.marleyandmemovie.co.uk/ where you can also dowload desktop wall papers and other parephenalia. The animated gif was suggested as an ‘e-signature’ that you can use within your email. I wont be, but it makes a nice little place holder graphic for the review.

Search this site

Free apps

  • birthday.sroot.eu – Your birthday or other celebration date based on [years on other planets] / [how many seconds/days] / [how far you’ve travelled around the sun]
  • stampulator.sroot.eu – Calculates the combination and how many 1st, 2nd, large 1st and large 2nd class Royal Mail stamps you need on large envelopes and packets

Recent posts

Archives

Categories