Mon 22 August

Summer has been a bit of a damp squib. Following on from what happened last year, August has been a pretty wet and unsettled affair. Although at least we had a scorching July last time around. This year, one day sun, then rain, then sun again. Has felt very English.

I heard the weather forecast the other day on Radio 4. It said "sunny spells, with occasional showers." That's pretty much how you could sum up an English summer.

Well, July was supposed to be the quiet month work-wise, but I actually had quite a bit of work in the end. It's been August that's been the quiet month this summer. Almost all of my students have at some point taken the obligatory 3-4 weeks off.

And if they're not abroad, they're doing up their house. Everyone seems to follow a very definite pattern throughout the year: January-February, go skiing. April-May, woodcutting(don't ask). And summer is time for renovation and/or painting and decorating. They're all at it.

Have been using my spare time to write, write and write. Have notions of becoming a freelance political writer/analyst, or whatever you want to call it. Partly inspired by my desire to try and do something other than a souless office job when I eventually get back to England. Of course I'll probably have to, for a while, until I find something else.

But, the writing gives me something else to focus on. And maybe a way out at some point in the future. And I like it. A lot. And I'm quite good at it. I think. In the name of cross-referencing/convergence, or whatever you want to call it, here are three articles that I've recently had published on the political blog Left Foot Forward, it being of the left/liberal persuasion. They were on: UK riots, the price of trains, and health and safety.

Have also found out that there will be no option to extend our stay in Belgium beyond our 3 year period. C will have to do a handover to her successor for a few weeks, which will mean moving back to England end of November/beginning of December 2012. Trying not to think too much about it at the moment. Have been in a bit of an anti-Belgium mood for weeks now. After almost 2 years here, you get a decent idea of how things work, or don't, as is usually the case.

Needless to say, I shall return to this familiar theme in the future. The thought of leaving behind our new wonderful friends though is not something I'm looking forward to.

There are however many, many things I cannot wait to get back to when I return. That's still a long way off, but another theme I'll return to - stay tuned!