Can we make our own 'from our own correspondent'

[teafortwo]

I love love love this radio show...

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/default.stm

Can we please please please have a thread that has a vibe a bit like this?

We can have a bunch of parents who live all over the World in all kinds of countries (including Blighty), with all kinds of neighbours and themselves living in all kinds of situations (rural, city, suburbs and anything inbetween) explaining what is happening where they live. Day to day things (what is on sale at your local market, what you ate for lunch), portraits of figures in your community (e.g a lovely old village character), big news stories (e.g student riots), little news stories (a much loved dog has died that used to wander around the town centre), arguements in the cafe (sport, politics, religion), music and dance (e.g I notice all Parisian teenagers like to do this weird wiggling dance and they even have lessons for how to do it on national telly), observations on things that are different from where you come from (I don't know...e.g a New Yorker's take on living in the Lake District), interesting discussions on languages spoken... etc etc... I think it could be fun!!!

So tell me...

Am I making sense?

and..

What do you think? Shall we give it a go?

LOVED the story about the helicopter.
So what do I call myself, can't be Paris FOOC as that's TeaforTwo, so I guess I'll say Paris Western Suburbs, or Yvelines or something, as I'm out in the styx.
Lovely weekend last week, Gally Farm held their Autumn Fair. This is one of our favourite places to go - there's been a farm on the site since at least 1183, and the same family has owned it for the last 300 years. It's now a children's farm, complete with tractors to climb on and "ateliers" where the French show their kids how to press apples, or bake bread. For the Autumn Fair, they had rides in a pony and trap, collecting your own flowers from the field to dry and make a bouquet, leading a draught horse, and making your own apple juice. There were traditional musicians playing, and DD insisted on dancing with me, to my great embarrassment. DS shouts "Baa" at all the animals because so far he's only learnt what sheep are supposed to say. The whole spot is beautiful, out in the country with quite a medieval feel to it.
Other than that, it has been completely chaotic, because it is La Rentrée. Ile de France, having completely shut down for August, now goes completely mad. The first week back at school, everyone gets the list of what their child requires, and suddenly the shops completely run out of felt tip pens, lever arch files and gym shoes. This year I left it too late to get DD new clothes for school and Carrefour have now completely run out of leggings in her size, so she's been going off in skirts barely covering her knees and trousers that end mid-calf.
I've never seen anyone in France playing conkers, but I've only been here a couple of winters, so will keep my eyes peeled!

BriocheDoree - Lets be cool about this feel free to be Paris fooc as well!!! Unless one day Anna8888 joins the foocs and then we will both shyly back down and call ourselves the Paris 'burbs foocs - because she is a true Paris babe!

How closely have you been following this thread? I purposely haven't told you the exact town I live in because I thought it would be fun for you to slowly discover through things I say on the thread where I live. I thought you might hav a fairy good idea by now... Do you???

We live in a tumble down very bohemian apartment in .................???? nothing as fancy as in your woods - but if you manage to work out my address feel free to pop in for a REAL cup of tea!!!!

Hmm, I joined this thread about half way through and haven't reread all the old posts yet (slowly working my way through the pages, enjoying and digesting) so will take my time to see if I can work it out!!
I'm not sure I could claim to be a Paris FOOC as I haven't been past the periph' since early July!

Oh don't worry about that - Nor have I - I have never actually been to Paris in my life. No-one has been anywhere on this thread! Actually I really live in Essex, ninedragons lives next door to me eidsvold opposite and QS lives next to the ice rink!!!- Just make it up no-one will know!!!! Ha ha ha ha

Briochedoree - on a serious note - Glad to see you back and looking forward to loads more posts from you!!!!!

brisbane australia

LOL at tea for two

How did you know I lived in Essex when I lived in the UK? MY dd1 is an essex girl born in Southend!!

Oh - Thanks eidsvold!!! I was having a tumbleweed moment with that joke!

I said Essex because I lived in Essex when I was a child!!! In a big village called Silverend - I loved it! My sister was born in Chelmsford.

Hey... Us Essex gewls get around a bit, hey? Ha ha ha!!!!

(T42 now fears another big tumbleweed moment after making another Essex joke)

FOOC Auckland NZ
ooh another Essex girl here, well actually born in Whitechapel but school and grew up in Essex. Maybe it's Essex that sends us all to far shores . DH and I were married in Leez Priory, near Chelmsford.

www.countryhouseweddings.co.uk/leez-priory/

Wow!!!

Auckland... how lovely too! Hey - What is it like? And is it true everyone calls each other 'cous' all the time?

WOW - I taught for a while at a school in Basildon - that was a bit of a culture shock. I lived in southend area and then dh and I moved to a little village outside Chelmsford. I loved living in the village. It was great - walk over the hill past the church - highest point in Essex ( apparently) and then down the hill to the pub for a great sunday lunch.

yes - came from Australia to Essex!!!!

Ha ha ha!!!!

Actually Essex gets a bad press. It is really a very friendly, pretty, and interesting place!

I really wouldn't mind having an Essex fooc!

FOOC ing from Nairobi

I lived in Essex when I was little for a couple of years Perhaps it is our fate, one must do time in Essex to graduate to bigger things.

Ninedragons, I have to say I am becoming more and more enamoured with Shanghai by the day. I wish someone would shout I LOVE YOU at me as I walked along the pavement, much better than 'Mzungu'. I don't walk along shouting 'Kenyan Man'.

FOOC - North Yorkshire

We have just decided that our little ones are getting big enough to do some short walks and have been buying waterproofs etc for them. We have also bough this fab book today in which all the walks are between 2 and 3 miles long.

We aim to start them soon, although we are off to Flamingoland which our Tesco vouchers tomorrow and then brambling after school next week if the weather holds

Briochedoree - try du pareil au meme for leggings.....

I am still with you guys, love reading all these. But have nothing interesting to report!

Quint - your post made me think about the berries

That is all I do these days, you guys must be fed up reading about QS berry picking extravagancas! Spent the whole day in the mountains yesterday picking blueberries, came home to prepare and make jam. My aunt dropped by a plastic bag of Lingonberries, and we prepared those and made jam, before taking the boys out do pick some more blueberries. Red currant day tomorrow lol. I must bore you all senseless with the berries!

That is so funny QS. We went to Jardin d'acclimatation again today. Walking home I thought "Oh no - I have nothing to tell the foocs!"

Eidsvold - that is a great new national anthem... here is the new British one!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwsUWcK-PzY

And for all the Essex gewls, including themasterandmargarita, here is a song dear to the part of my heart that will always be a little bit Essex gewl....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-JIzWFfsPk

Where in Essex did you live themasterandmargarita?

FOOC in The Windy City, USA

Well, it is wet here. Very wet. It has rained incessantly for 2 days now, which never happens. Lots of homes are flooded and people without power. And I'm 1000s of miles away from the hurricane. I know I am very lucky. The rain is set to continue as Ike makes its way up here tomorrow. It will have died down a lot but we have flood and tornado warnings again. This is where living on the 7th floor is a good thing. I know I should be safe up here. And now I know that the sirens are tornado warnings and that I am meant to go and sit in the hallway, it should be less scary than the last ones.

I think we will go conkering on Monday.

I'm not an Essex girl but grew up in East Herts so not far off.

I watched Northern Lights again and did smile to myself when Joanna Lumley said, 'quintessential'

LOL @ Billy Connelly and the Archers

Since dh is in sunny California dd has been waking in the night crying and demanding a "Daddy kiss". I am very tired!

She woke this morning just before six. Somewhere in my foggy brain I remembered I hadn't yet watched the documentary qs put a link to. So I twisted the computer so we could see it laying on the bed and pressed play.

DD stopped toddler sream-crying almost straight away. "Awww waaaooowww" she exclaimed and snuggled up to me. We drank warm milk then both fell back to sleep.

Thanks qs - What a completely great progamme!!!! I have a feeling we will be watching it again and again!!!

Nothing much to report here other than the fact that yesterday was National German Speaking Day. We were approached in Cologne yesterday by a woman in a very strange hat. She was waving a brochure about the Verein Deutsche Sprache. I had a look at the website, it is all about not using foreign words when speaking German and encouraging children to speak less Denglish.

I thanked her for the leaflet then spoke very loudly to my DCs in English as we walked away. I did think about telling her that I offered a course last year giving babies their first taste of the English language, but thought that she might faint dead away.

I find it quite baffling sometimes, that someone can find the use of foreign word and phrase in everyday conversations so terrible, they have to start an association to protest about it.

LOL at the alternative National Anthem. My DH learnt a lot of his English by watching Billy Connelly. I am not sure if that is a good thing

califrau all dds wearing pink hats playing in the garden. They loved them.