by My mood is certainly better than when I last wrote. The spring-like weather, the snowdrops coming out, and the people filling the squares, might have something to do with that. Yesterday Piața Unirii was heaving. This permanent state of being a bit ill is one thing I really could do without, however. It’s slowing me down and tiring me out.
Last week I had 31 hours of lessons. Right now, that’s about my limit. They included two hours with my eleven-year-old Mr I Don’t Know, preceded by (for the first time) an hour with his mum. I could see where he gets it from. She was terrified to actually speak English, preferring to focus on grammar instead. I kept telling her that gaining the confidence to speak is more important (at the beginning, at least) than learning grammar rules. Her son had to contend with a day of school, followed by two hours of me, followed by three hours of Romanian. This was a Friday. Poor chap. I made sure we just played games during the second hour.
I now have a bookcase. On Saturday S an I went back to one of the hardware stores, and surprisingly the two-metre-long flat pack fitted in her rather small car. I put it together yesterday. My level of practical nous just about stretches to that.
Scrabble. I’m not playing all that much, concentrating on learning words (sevens and eights) instead. When I have been playing, I’ve mostly been winning, and my rating on ISC has hit the low 1400s once more. Come the middle of this year, the lexicon will have expanded to include three extra two-letter words (EW, OK and ZE, with OK being the most controversial), half a dozen additional three-letter words, and many more longer ones.
Tomorrow I’ll try and get an appointment with one of the ENT specialists. This has been going on for too long. I’m even looking into surgery, but I don’t like the idea of going under the knife unless it’s absolutely necessary. (I’ve just spoken to my brother about this, and typically, he says I should just get on with it.)
