Waiting to go home

I'm sitting outside a bar near the Gare du Midi in Brussels drinking wine and watching the post-Market clean-up following a brilliant 3 days of study. Friday was a great study day with Dot Parry about relaxation and touching on hypnotherapy.

The great thing about the day for me was that I got to meet other teachers who are teaching in Europe and one of the Paris teachers.  After talking to her I have a much better idea of who I need to talk to about teaching in Paris and I'm hoping to observe one of her courses.

Friday ended with a lovely BBQ and lots of sangria and wine and chat, but having been up since 5.15am I was glad to get back to Kate's and go to bed.

Saturday and Sunday were tutorial days, I think I had been rather overtaken with keenness at the previous tutorial as there was rather a lot of me facilitating on the Saturday, especially as one of my Sunday sessions was moved to Saturday, I hope everyone wasn't too bored of hearing my voice.

I am so lucky to be doing this training as I have met so many strong, inspiring women through doing it and I'm very grateful to the Brussels tutorial group for welcoming me and making me feel comfortable and safe.

The waiter just brought me a third glass of wine without me asking - he must be a mind reader! Also, while I've been sitting here a woman at another table has been breastfeeding her toddler while her older children eat their chips which is just as it should be. There's also a the odd waft of weed coming from somewhere, all we need is sunshine.

One thing I never thought would happen this weekend was that I would be identified as "Gavin's sister". On Friday night Alison, one of the antenatal teachers, and I found out that we'd both grown up in Winchester and both gone to Peter Simmonds, although she was a bit after me. On Saturday night we discovered that we'd both sung with "The Juniors" and that she was in Half A Sixpence, which I assistant directed and in which Gavin had a main part, hence the "Gavin's Sister" comment. It really is a very small world.

My train leaves in just over half an hour and I'm hoping I'll be back in Paris in time to join the rest of the family at a BBQ at the home of one of Emily's friends. Next time I'll buy a train ticket that I can exchange incase I get here early!

Oh, and if Mr Smoothy free glass of wine and calling me "madamoiselle" was after a tip then, sucker that I am, he got it.

Parallel Universe

It struck me as I boarded the train to Brussels from the Gare du Nord, that it sometimes feels as if we are living in a  parallel universe. A world where 14 year old girls need their passports to get into Disneyland but I can travel from France to Belguim without one.  Not that I meant to leave it at home, but it didn't cross my mind until I was half way to the Gare du Nord.

Nevertheless, I was able to arrive at the station a mere 10  minutes before the train was due to depart, buy a coffee, show my  ticket and board the train. Compare this with travelling from Paris to London on the Eurostar - you have to check in at least half an hour before the train is due to leave and go through airport style security and passport control before boarding the train.  In both cases you are getting a train from one EU country to another so why does it  have to be so hard to get into the UK? Ok, I know that the answer to this lies with the Schengen Agreement but I do wish the British Government was a bit more Euro friendly, maybe Nick Clegg can work a bit of magic!