Things I need to write about:
- slaughterhouses
- luxembourg
- Hammamet and Tunisia
- Marseille
- Ryanair
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Awake, bored but cashing in
It's 4:30 am. I'm at the offices of a french TV news channel. We've been here since 0h30. Still haven't worked for so much as 30 seconds. Just told we have to stick it out longer. Which means more money. But also more time without sleep.
Later today I'll be giving my first class at my former university. That'll be funny, considering how utterly zonked I'm going to be. And afterwards I come right back here for some more "work". Hopefully we will eventually get to interpret. There's a pleasant, collegial and relaxed atmosphere - hard to imagine anything else at this time of night (and with a strike going on throughout the country as a bonus!)
I don't know whether I'm still making sense. I don't think it's a requirement at this hour anymore. The only legitimate reason for being up at this hour is to go fishing.
Later today I'll be giving my first class at my former university. That'll be funny, considering how utterly zonked I'm going to be. And afterwards I come right back here for some more "work". Hopefully we will eventually get to interpret. There's a pleasant, collegial and relaxed atmosphere - hard to imagine anything else at this time of night (and with a strike going on throughout the country as a bonus!)
I don't know whether I'm still making sense. I don't think it's a requirement at this hour anymore. The only legitimate reason for being up at this hour is to go fishing.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Pleasantly pickled in Paris
...and not on plonk! I left today for my first non-European interpreting mission. Destination, sunny Tunisia, with a weather forecast calling for 29 degrees. The location, Hammamet, a resort town on the Mediteranean.
The challenge, not missing my flight. Which doesn't seem so bad, until you see my track-record with airports.
Things started off reasonably well. I left home a mere twenty minutes behind schedule, and knowing that there was a problem with the urban train going to the airport. But then again, when isn't there something in Paris? Today it was just a ten to fifteen minute delay due to a sick passenger. Happens every day! Of course, it didn't keep me from fretting. But since I only took carry-on items, and not many at that, the suitcase was light and I could speed along at a good clip.
I caught a break, too, when the next train to board was an express to the airport, covering the distance in only 20 minutes. Jackpot! I thought, I made up for my late departure!
But no, of course it wasn't going to be that easy.
First step, the boarding card. The type of reservation meant that I needed to got to a check-in counter and couldn't bypass the whole process through automation. Fantastic. Fortunately, there was no line-up, and as an added bonus, the staff-member who helped me out let me know that my ticket gave me access to... the Lounge!
Now for those of you unfamiliar with the Lounge, it is that swanky-looking room that you sometimes sneak passing glances into but can never enter. Entry requires you to either pay a hefty fee at the door, or to have a so-called Premium ticket. Even then, not every flight entitles you to free access. So being the greenhorn interpreter that I am and being told my ticket provided the privilege was like winning the lottery.
...to be cont.
The challenge, not missing my flight. Which doesn't seem so bad, until you see my track-record with airports.
Things started off reasonably well. I left home a mere twenty minutes behind schedule, and knowing that there was a problem with the urban train going to the airport. But then again, when isn't there something in Paris? Today it was just a ten to fifteen minute delay due to a sick passenger. Happens every day! Of course, it didn't keep me from fretting. But since I only took carry-on items, and not many at that, the suitcase was light and I could speed along at a good clip.
I caught a break, too, when the next train to board was an express to the airport, covering the distance in only 20 minutes. Jackpot! I thought, I made up for my late departure!
But no, of course it wasn't going to be that easy.
First step, the boarding card. The type of reservation meant that I needed to got to a check-in counter and couldn't bypass the whole process through automation. Fantastic. Fortunately, there was no line-up, and as an added bonus, the staff-member who helped me out let me know that my ticket gave me access to... the Lounge!
Now for those of you unfamiliar with the Lounge, it is that swanky-looking room that you sometimes sneak passing glances into but can never enter. Entry requires you to either pay a hefty fee at the door, or to have a so-called Premium ticket. Even then, not every flight entitles you to free access. So being the greenhorn interpreter that I am and being told my ticket provided the privilege was like winning the lottery.
...to be cont.
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