The men in dark suits seem to have been right in their forecast. Don't know whether to play this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds2GfiH5y1o or , more probably, as the five thirty news reports indicate , this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O-WG3eKZS4
Over breakfast yesterday 'The Font' suggests that it might be time for Angus to have a haircut ... the word ' soon' is added , emphatically, to the end of the sentence. So it is that at nine on the dot I'm in the barbershop located next to the 'artisinal' jewellery store . There are at least three barbers in town all of them proudly proclaiming that they're Turkish. Two other 'salons' exist but both cater to a student audience with a taste for the adventurous that Angus does not share.
Inside a Syrian gentleman is sitting playing a computer game on his phone. ' Good morning ' I say cheerfully. ' Howzat ' he replies . The Syrian gentleman, surprised at having an early rising customer, disappears into an office at the far end of the salon. Left alone Angus notes that above the basin there is a picture of a man who looks just like Kim Il Sung sporting a luxuriant perm. I think of taking a photo but the Syrian gentleman returns, without his phone, smiling broadly. He points towards a chair by the window and says ' Wozizyewwont'. I explain that I'd like my hair cut. 'Not too short'. I repeat this - twice - to make sure there can be no misunderstanding. To add certainty to the outcome I take a strand of hair and hold it a centimetre from the end to show where it should be cut. " Scissor or machine ?" asks my smiling friend.
Quarter of an hour later I meet 'The Font' in Starbucks. " Goodness " is the immediate response followed by ' You certainly got your monies worth '. The 'not too short' has been interpreted as carte blanche to get hard at work with the electric trimmers. The end result ? That Soviet era prison look. .
Pre-Christmas trade in town on an overcast day is lacklustre.
They don't speak French - which can't have helped : https://edition.cnn.com/travel/us-couple-dream-life-france-became-nightmare/index.html
11 comments:
Given the news this morning, I'm wondering if the couple in the last link will be reconsidering their decision to move back to the USA.
Cheers, Gail.
(The 'Eternal Father' tune in today's second link is not the one I'm familiar with).
Jake of Florida, I think you captured how I feel better than any of the people currently busy pontificating on social media. As to the CNN article, someone posted this yesterday on an expat forum in France, and it set off a long, and highly educational, discussion regarding different types of celery.
Interesting CNN article. Surely the woman shops at the local markets? The produce there is far superior to anything in the supermarkets. If, as she says, she's a "chatty box", she must have learned in her years of travel that we Europeans are more reserved than most Americans. Perhaps they should consider relocating to Italy - it's only just further south along the coast. The Italians are renowned for their sociabilty.
Hari OM
The two days I was parked at St Cyrus last week was punctuated by endless flyovers of the Pink-footed geese. Fantastic. YAM xx
Looking forward to a daily glimpse into a civilized college town across the pond, a little sanity in a crazy world.
Re the CNN article, for fresh produce in Niemes, go the central market, it is spectacular, and fresh is what is local and in season. The supermarket was the wrong place to shop. She is a fool. Don't ship the car, buy one that the local garage will know how to maintain.
I agree, not learning French was a severe impediment. It's hard to make friends if you don't speak their language. The simplest way to learn would have been simply to chat with everyone she met. What a shame. More money than sense?
Regarding Jake's comment, I too had higher hopes for us. I'll pass on books or shows about serial killers. Additional sordid drama doesn't help me. Your reports and photos of geese are wonderful. I've barely seen them this autumn.
Apparently not. Ugh...
I had read that article about the couple moving. In what universe do you think you can make friends without trying to learn their language? The surprising thing about the election is that Trump won the popular vote. Will they have a chance to change things in four years if they decide they’re even worse off?
Thank you Angus once again for showing me a bit of my family connections in St Andrews...the White van is owned by my cousins firm! Also great to see the geese which is one of the things I miss about autumn in Fife. They seem to give Llandudno a wide berth or I am just always missing them. One of the saddest mornings in U.S. history. Pity the couple in France didn't consider St Andrews... could it have been the weather? Mind you San Francisco could sometimes compete .
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