Only One Day of 2006 Left!
Federico, my friend!
I understand that you have been very busy (at work) during the last week and that finding the time to blog has not been easy for you. Now, I guess, you are perhaps preparing for New Year celebrations. I hope to hear from you before the year ends but, just in case I don’t, I thought I’d post this blog today. If I have time before I leave for Paris – very early tomorrow morning – I’ll post a final blog just to wish you, and all our loyal and generous readers, Happy New Year.
So, what has been happening in Lima? One of our readers, from Russia, says that it has been raining very heavily and there is severe flooding in parts of Peru. I have heard nothing about that in the news here. How bad is it, and have you been affected?
Here the weather continues to be strange. Last night we had a fierce storm with extremely strong winds, but this morning it is like a day in late spring – bright sunshine and temperatures around 14 degrees, no wind, no rain, just perfect in fact. I hope it stays like this in our part of Europe for the next few days (the climate in Paris is more or less the same as the climate in London).
I’m sorry that this has to be such a short blog but I have to go to the bank to collect my euros (for Paris), then I have to pack, and then I have to go out and do some food shopping so that Lucy doesn’t starve while I’m away. Actually, I feel very uneasy about leaving Lucy here. It was her choice to stay here. She’s going to a New Year party with some good friends and I’m sure she’ll be OK, but…
Some of our readers asked about New Year in Moscow. I know Moscow quite well having been there five or six times. The last time I was there was for New Year three years ago. I found it fascinating to be back there for the first time since the end of the USSR. It was cold, of course, but not too bad, and there was no snow until about 11.00 pm on New Year’s Eve when it started to snow gently so that by midnight Red Square was just perfectly ‘decorated’. Red Square is one of my favourite places in the world. In winter, covered in fresh snow, it is like fairyland. Lucy and I had a good time with our Russian ‘champagne’ and a handful of balloons and streamers. Everyone around us was friendly. The entertainment was good, and the fireworks at midnight were lovely. One of the best photographs I have ever taken shows St Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin, part of Red Square and the New Year fireworks.
There will be fireworks in Paris tomorrow night. If I can relax enough to stop worrying about Lucy (and whether she’s wrecking the house!), I’m sure I’ll enjoy them. If I get any good photographs I may be able to post them here before the end of next week. With a bit of luck I should be able to continue blogging, with a new student, during January, too.
Here is London, people gather in Trafalgar Square to listen to Big Ben at midnight on New Year’s Eve. When I was a much younger man I spent a New Year’s Eve there, dancing and splashing around in the fountains. Nowadays, the fountains are switched off and covered for the night, which is a good idea. I spent the next month trying to recover from the worst flu I’d ever had. It was minus ten degrees and all those of us stupid enough to jump in the fountain were totally soaked. Like I said, I was a VERY young man.
Down by the River Thames, by the London Eye (a huge wheel you can take a ride on – the view from the top is spectacular), there are fireworks, too. But London probably isn’t the best place to be in Britain on New Year’s Eve. If you are ever here for New Year you should try to get to Edinburgh, in Scotland. There they have a two-week Winter Festival with ice-skating, rock concerts, fairgrounds and fireworks. On New Year’s Eve itself – the Scots call it Hogmanay – there are hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of the city centre and the atmosphere (so long as you don’t mind crowds!) is wonderful.
Right now, though, Federico, I am thinking of you. You must be very overworked. Now you really must find time to relax and enjoy the New Year. I hope to hear from you today. But if you really can’t make it, well, have a great New Year’s Eve and a healthy, happy and successful 2007. It has been a really great experience for me to blog with you for these four weeks. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. I hope it’s been useful, too.
All the very best of luck with your exams and your plans for Australia.
Take care!
STEPHEN
SOME USEFUL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
severe
very bad, extreme
fierce
strong, violent
to pack
to put clothes, etc., into a suitcase before a journey
starve
die from lack of food (I am using the word in an ironic, exaggerated, way here)
uneasy
uncomfortable, worried
streamers
very long narrow strips of coloured paper used for decoration
wrecking
damaging, destroying
With a bit of luck
If everything goes well, if nothing unexpected happens
soaked
as wet as possible
Comments
hi stephan, am a first timer here.l simply loved going through your blogs. they are very useful too. i wish you a Happy new year-2007 and a great time in paris. thanks a lot.
Hello Stephen, I have been enjoying of reading your blog. I would like to wish you and Lucy a happy, healthy and prosperous new year 2007.
Happy New Year for Stephen and Federico and all the Readers as well! :))))
Dear Stephen, It's great to hear from you again. Thank you for your warm memories of New Year celebrations in Moscow. Judging by the readers' comments, there are quite a few hearts here in Russia who wish you and your lovely daughter a Happy New Year! (I suppose you are becoming a celebrity - how do you and Lucy feel about it?) Honestly, I am looking forward to reading your new stories in the year 2007. Take care! Elena
Tim, tim...a great New Year for you, Stephen and for all readers. In spite of the bad things that are happening around the World, I think they will gradually become better.
Hello,Stephen!I hope you had a great New Year in Paris,and I wish to you and your Lucy all the best!I feel myself a little melancholic now,but whenever I read your blog I feel happier somehow.To read it is like to talk to a good,kind,and clever man.To tell you the truth,I would like to keep a blog here some day,too! :)Who knows,maybe I'll manage it this year..I'd like to ask one thing,(is it possible for you to mention it in your blog?but if not,it's ok :)))-what authors do people in the UK read nowadays?Here,in Russia Chesterton is rather popular(as a girl I enjoyed the stories about Father Brown very much!)I also love Galsworthy's "Forsyte's Saga" (not sure about the spelling).Have you ever read it?And,surely,Dickens :).As to modern books I've read "The secret diary of Adrian Mole" by Sue Townsend and some books by Terry Pratchett.And what are your favourite modern english writers?I'm sorry to bore you for such a long time with my comment,but I'd relly love to know your opinion!Thanks a lot and have a great time !
Dear Professor Keeler, I want to say that I would like you stayed the Teacher Blogger more and more longer, because it seems to me that you and your daughter Lucy have become relatives of mine. Wishing you and all your readers all the best.
Hi,Stephen I wish you a very best happy new year and to be healthy and happy all the year around and I am sure you will successfully make the journey in February and I also wish your daughter,Lucy to get the university which she wants to go in September.I do not know you are coming back on this blog again,But i really look forward to hearing from you in near future.millions thank you for your help and goodbye now
happy new year! hello! is for the first time i read this blogs, actually, i had no ideea there's such a page hosted by the bbc. what a great ideea. i love your blogs. i didn't read all of them, i got only at the ones from 23th of december..there are many more to be read, i know. i'm delighted to read this, i even got a notebook to write words that i don't know, some expressions so i can use them properly. i like your stories about your traditions, what you eat, how you spend time and i hope to find out more and more about england. it's the country i dream at, maybe only to visit, maybe to live and work there one day. my best wishes to you and your family! you do a great job, i's sure everybody believes this! i'm looking forward to hear new stories from you! and also...i was wondering if you could once in a while check my grammar and help me improve it. it would be great if i could write more to you . a great 2007 for you and your daughter!
Hello Stephen! You have very nice memories from Moscow. I've never been there but I've heard that it's very interesting place to visit. Do you remember a name of this Russian champagne? Maybe it was "Sovetskoje Igristoje". In old days it was also very popular in Poland too ;) Happy New Year to You and all Readers!!!!
Hello Dear Stephen!!. Happy New Year. The best proyects and wishes for this 2007 for you and Lucy. I'll miss your blog (very usfullfor me) and I1ll miss your homours too)
Hi Stephen,I love to watch your blog.I think it's all because of your personality.You always talks about everything especially life in London.It remind me of the wonderful sightseeing experience last summer.Your blog breathe warm,bliss and encouragement.I really appreciate your blog!Now,2007 is here.I hope you and your daughter get very well.
hi stephen, happy new year, i am happy to know that you are a teacher blogger for this month also. i am really enjoying your writing. it helps me very much to learn Englingh.I will tell more about your teaching later.
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