Right!
I'm going to bed.
I know I'm only just home, but I have to be up even earlier than usual tomorrow as Phil and I are driving a long way to somewhere spiffy and any fans of Phil and his Magic Kingdom are likely to see something a little bit special when we get back sometime late on Sunday.
In the meantime, I got lumbered with a training day today. A dozen people screaming silently for six hours. An arse-chewing boredom-fest of vomitory awfulness. In fact it was so bad that I can't even work up a rant about it so here's the last one.
Plus I have new and entertaining problems in the office …
To whit:
As you may or may not have gathered, Andy (who sits next to me at the office and who you met in our little Black Guy/White Guy meme thing) is working in Japan for the next six months, the BASTARD! So I now have a temporary neighbour; another in the constant stream of Kiwis who pass through here on working holiday visas.
I don't know what it is about New Zealand colleges but they churn out pretty damned fine architectural CAD-monkeys, of a far higher quality than our own shitty educational establishments can manage, hence we always have a couple of them deafening the office with their boisterous southern ways (I have yet to meet a quiet or decorous New Zealander).
The latest addition is Rebecca - or as she insists: R'Bicker.
She joins fellow Kiwi Squeaky Kate (whose name R'Bicker pronounces "Kitey") and who - to our misfortune - sits way over on the other side of the room.
Where Andy and I would chat happily (and quietly) about jazz and cooking and Japan and guitars and rugby and all sorts of stuff, R'Bicker and I have yet to discover any discernible cultural reference points (it's no use talking to a Kiwi about rugby as they simply fall about laughing at the English).
As a result, R'Bicker and Kitey have spent the week shouting constantly across the room about "min" (men), "tilly" (TV) and "Slibriddies" (crappy celebs) and shrieking with laughter.
Add in to this mix two new temp girls starting next Monday, one from China and one from India (we have Chinese and Indian schools and so Mandarin and Hindi are common languages around the water cooler) and I can see it's going to be a loooooong summer.
Hurry back, Andy!
P.S.
Andy just emailed me. He's sitting on the tarmac in Sri Lanka of all places. The drawback of last-minute cheapo flight tickets.
Hey ho. He'll be in Tokyo in a few hours.
At least he's happy, the BASTARD!
Anyhoo, I'll do my blog-visiting rounds when we get back.
Toodle pipski!
4 comments:
Oh that's just mean, sending Andy instead of you when you've been learning Japanese and love all things Nipponese. I can understand your frustration.
As for R'Bicker - I had a giggle over that - you have my sympathy, having to listen to the NZ accent. We can't stand it!
You need to give us a dictionary of these NZ terms as you hear them. Once you sound out the words, they kind of make sense, but we need someone like you to type them out into readable language first.
Ah...Japan. I would love to be in Japan right now...
I have always thought it was a gorgeous language. In fact, one of the best naps I ever had in my life was spent in a hotel room with a japanese movie going on the television. It had subtitles, but I fell asleep listening to the cadence of the sleep and I had the most restful sleep.
Yup, Mme. Andy has emailed me from Tokyo; he's arrived safely and is getting used to living in a three inch square box.
Hee hee. I know you Aussies love to mock the NZ "ack-sint". It is fairly awful but we are used to it here.
Robyn, nothing a Kiwi says makes sense to me.
Maria: Me too!
Hee hee. Perhaps when I can speak it better I'll make you a relaxation tape.
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