Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

lostinrates

vivatifosi wrote: »

I can't believe anyone would find that acceptable, they may as well take them back to the time in which my parents grew up and make them sleep under coats as well.

Like you I have eyebrows that I'm not always in control of lir. You can certainly see I'm botox free in that respect, can't control the blinking things. You should see what my left one did when I found the local problem male reading Diva magazine's guide to the best lesbian s e x.

Glad its not just me being prissy and stuck up (hard to tell when you are tired and indignant if its oneself or really the others!) I wish my eyebrows worked independently from each other.....I can't raise just one. Which is such a shame as a single raised eyebrow sometimes says so much more than all the words in the world.

lostinrates

michaels wrote: »

It would be interesting if you could find the marketing material from the language school to see what sort of experience is being offered and at what cost.!

I think this is a great idea, so I've so spent the last few minutes looking and will keep digging till I find something. Needless to say, all I have seen is the schedule. No paperwork or anything.

They really shouldn't have got rid of the roll eyes smilie. Or should give is a Viva's left eyebrow one instead.:)

silvercar

One family took 8 children home, the teachers on the group are really worried about that, they (I think fairly) aren't convinced its good for there to be so many together and were worried what the conditions were like.

With 8 of them in one house they are hardly likely to be speaking, or listening to, much english! Not much of an "experience".

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

One family took 8 children home

8 is wrong. 2-3 should be the norm. Never 1 and 4-5 only in an emergency. One of the reasons is that they're here to be 'forced' to speak in English, with 8 of them it's easier for them to just chat in their own language and blank the family.

lostinrates wrote: »

One person told me they were taking four boys home and two were going to share a double bed, ''but there are two single duvets on it'' they protested at my eyebrows, which I was to late to stop from rising.

This is normal and acceptable. Firstly they're children - and secondly they should have been allocated in their own chosen groups, when I had the list it just said: "2 boys", "2 boys", "3 girls", "2 girls", "3 boys".... and those had chosen to be together as they're friends. So they'd be sharing a bed with a friend - this works especially well with girls who do like a girly giggle - and some families report that where there's a double bed and a single in the room, in the morning they find all the kids are in the one bed together. It's a foreign country, strange room, strange bed, so they love bunking up together as it's part of the "fun" of being away from home.

One of the rules I worked to was that boys and girls were not to be in the same house, so if I had a family that had two rooms and could take four, in an emergency shortage I could use them for two sets of "2 girls" or two sets of "2 boys", but I couldn't supply them with one set of each.

lostinrates wrote: »

All in all, I think if I were a parent I'd be shocked if hard earned money went sending a kid on a holiday which at least 30% of is going to be being shipped around in a coach not actually doing anything

The parents know what they'll be doing when they sign them up. They know they'll be on a coach. My lot did trips of 20-35 miles each day.

lostinrates wrote: »

A few of the other people I spoke to had some french, many had none.

This shouldn't matter as [a] the kids aren't alone and they are on the trip to hear/speak more English. If there's a problem then the kids will have a phone number for their teacher/organiser and people like you will have your organiser's phone number.

One problem I did encounter quite often was the kids' parents phoning them ... while mostly this'd happen the 1st/2nd night, some parents actually phoned English speaking families the day before the kids arrived, which lead to some tense/stressful explanations I expect as they tried to explain the kids were arriving with them the next day.

Overall, from what you've said, the only thing that wouldn't have been allowed on my watch was 8 to one family.

PasturesNew

michaels wrote: »

both rooms were en-suite and they also got to use the pool, tennis court

Blimey, you were dead posh/rich weren't you!

John_Pierpoint

There is am interesting programme today about Asperger's syndrome.
A couple of intelligent guys try to explain how it feels.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01000z8

It is a bit late now, for the National Trust membership, but I understand that the clever money join the Natio0nal Trust for Scotland. The one that is North of the border is better run and cheaper and the tickets are interchangeable.

Anybody know if the National Trust for Scotland has a windscreen badge that acceptable in the English car parks?

Just for the record I joined the English one last year and found myself blagging my way in on the temporary ticket, because they just seemed unable to do the administration correctly.

PasturesNew wrote: »

National Trust membership query ....

Now, I know you lot are mostly posh and so will have experience of being an NT member.

I have a need/desire to join (for moneysaving purposes) .... when you join is it from an exact date to an exact date, so you should join at the beginning of the month, or is it like tax discs where if you join on the 29th of the month you've "wasted" a whole month?

I guess, as it's the 4th, I should just bl00dy join - then the ticket would be here by the weekend and I could start using it.... I'll do that. But I'd still like to know.

Plz thx.

Doozergirl

Anyone know anything about wine? I have 18 bottles of very nice, boxed wine worth £15 a bottle. 12 bottles of Marlborough Sauvignon fancy but drink it, and 6 bottles of a Malbec type which is a drink now/keep with really gorgeous bottles wrapped in paper in a lovely wooden box. I want to sell them but I don't know how to. Can I sell it at all or do I just bed down now and start drinking it?

I've got a wedding to go to, I guess I could re-gift it? (:o but it's worth more than I planned to spend). I want the wooden box but it makes the wine look proper posh.

PasturesNew

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

There is am interesting programme today about Asperger's syndrome.
A couple of intelligent guys try to explain how it feels.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01000z8

It is a bit late now, for the National Trust membership, but I understand that the clever money join the Natio0nal Trust for Scotland. The one that is North of the border is better run and cheaper and the tickets are interchangeable.

Anybody know if the National Trust for Scotland has a windscreen badge that acceptable in the English car parks?

Just for the record I joined the English one last year and found myself blagging my way in on the temporary ticket, because they just seemed unable to do the administration correctly.

I'd heard others were cheaper (NZ I think is cheapest), but was too anxious that there'd turn out to be some "problem" when I tried to use a furren ticket to get in... you know how Jobsworths a lot of these dozy volunteer types can get.

Used it already, today, "saved £2.20", on the other hand without the ticket I'd have never ever gone to that location. It is enabling me to go to locations I'd have dismissed previously due to parking charges. So it's a win overall.

PasturesNew

I'm experiencing big PC issues tonight. Not sure if it's my PC, my Internet connection, or MSE.

Re the programme.... I know how it feels
It feels awful - and most things make me angry. Nobody listens to me when I am asking for/about things; nobody listens when I try to explain things; nobody listens when I try to explain that I need more information, or that their 'solution' won't work "because".



It makes me angry. I spend a lot of time angry/sad, but I hide this; I hide away and am angry/sad alone.

michaels

Was just thinking about that earlier, we lived as church mice, no expense spent whilst their every penny went in to property - but then they both retired before 60 and now live a life of Reilly with homes in 3 countries and non-stop holidays.

I can neither live that frugally nor face the level of risk being mortgaged to the hilt as they were but nor can I aspire to their lifestyle now. Makes you think...

PasturesNew wrote: »

Blimey, you were dead posh/rich weren't you!