The funny business with Danny Zuco

Tonight I am having a calm evening of self reflection and relaxation, i.e. eating M and Ms, practicing my gangam dancing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFkXT49dKz0&feature=g-all-u and wishing I had somebody to talk to. All day I've been filled with a need to blog out my frustrations and I've been looking forward to this moment so much. The last few entries I've been very aware that I have people who are reading it and who are reading it with certain expectations and hang ups and judgments and I'm worried I have compromised who I am in this blog. I don't want that. I am me. This is for me. This is basically my diary so when I say things here they're heartfelt. I am a peanut m and m, cracked open with my centre exposed.

For some reason, and this could be due to any number of things, I'm having a day today where I just feel like I've gotten stuck between a rut and a hard place. Maybe it's a distinct lack of plans this weekend, or the few tangible friendships I thought I'd built here feeling a bit imaginary at the minute, or maybe it's just one of those days, but I just feel like I am in major need of some time apart.

Anyway, this is probably making for a pretty rubbish blog entry so I will promptly stop thinking about things and tune out of myself, because I have had some funny moments in the last week. That's right, it's been almost a whole week since my last blog entry. I've been taking some time off. A vacation without any holiday days. And now I'm back...to let you know, I can really shake it down! (Sorry, accidental but necessary Dirty Dancing reference)

What has been pretty much a constant in my life for a number of years is the feeling that my life might actually just be an episode of awkward. If you haven't saw this television show, you're missing out. It's funny and true and nice and shocking and...well, awkward. It's one of my true pleasures in life at the minute to watch all the episodes. If you enjoy the awkwardness of my blog, you'll also love this show.

Yesterday evening, I went out for dinner with several of the people from the BIC (Basel Irish Club) in this lovely restaraunt in KleinBasel called Volkshaus. It was yummy (pretty pricey) but yummy (we didn't have to tip.) I had the wurst und kase salat mit pomme frites (sausage and cheese salad with chips) It's one of the local classics and reaaaallly nice, I love the sausages and the cheese over here so it was win win for me. If anybody asks me how I'm enjoying Switzerland, I usually answer along the lines of 'Cheese. Yum. Me likey.' I guess that's why people have stopped asking me how it's all going. Or asking me anything. This seems an ideal time to place an ironic saying :TGIF....

 
Anyway, while out for dinner, there was also a Swiss woman who was sitting with us. So, along the lines of asking politely 'Why are you with the Irish club' I was told a story. A very long story. With lots of background. And a pretty awkward ending. Basically, the short of it, she fell for an Irish man...there was 'funny business'...he was married....wife read a letter she wrote to him...all hell broke loose, or as she said it 'The s*** well and truly hit the fan.' You know, the usual story. She was quite a character. But there was weird moment when I was looking at her, and thinking, and reading her novel she set on the table. And thinking some more. Hold on, she was an au pair, she's now and author, she seems to have appallingly bad luck with any/all males: it's future me! And then I got very deep. I was thinking, is this an inevitable end result? Is there any way for me to change this? I don't want to be the eccentric older woman who is still relegated to being a passing fancy for a man, even when she is older and has children. But she still has no luck?? So I was having an early-20s crisis, and I could sense I was pushing the button on the bus, shouting 'let me off at this stop, I don't like where we're heading', but it wasn't stopping, and the more I pushed the button, the more I was becoming an eccentric maniac pushing a button. I already am that girl that people describe as 'funny'. Crap. Is it too late? Am I ever going to be able to escape this path? Will I have to acquire a cat with a name starting with Mr something, an eccentric plum smoking jacket and an abundance of clashing clothes which I wear defiantly in public occasions while I talk loudly over people? I don't really want to do any of these things but I don't know if I have a choice anymore. I've always been told I'm funny. I have already been served the death sentence.

Danny Zuco

Jess Mariano

At lunch today, a very funny and rather teenaged thing happened. It had been building up for a while. There is a building site directly ajoined to the house here. There is a builder who looks like a cross between Danny Zuco (Grease) and Jess Mariano (Gilmore Girls). Anyway, I've been eyeing him up every time he comes around to work, because there's never anything much to look at while I'm working, and it's nice that if I have to play Mummys and Babies constantly then at least I can look at some art while I'm there. Everytime I see him I hear 'I got chills, they're multiplying...and I'm loooooosing control'. I guess it's some sort of social justice that after all the years of womankind being wolf whistled at and ogled by pervy builders, that I can right the wrong by watching him work with pure delight. Anyway, he said 'Hi' to me this morning and gave me a wave and suddenly I was donning my black spandex and some pretty poodley curls and squishing a cigarette with my peep toe shoes and saying 'Tell me about it, stud' in a rather inexplicable way. So, then at lunch, we were eating outside, and I could barely contain myself from staring at him while I was eating my raspberries and the dad of the family said to me 'Careful, you'll hurt your neck' and then said 'I think you fancy him.' Well, I looked at him deadpan and said 'I think you're right.' Well, the silver lining to my incorrigibility, they're all calling him Danny now. I'm terrible...

This afternoon I went to the zoo with the kiddies, and you know who was there??? Fizzy Man!! If you don't remember, Fizzy Man is the imaginary boyfriend of the little girl who sometimes calls and texts her, except the scandalous thing is that apparently he is now my boyfriend yet continued to contact me through her phone. He's cheeky, our Fizzyman. Anyway, I had a creative afternoon of Fizzy Man spotting with the kids, and I had them convinced that he had been allowed to go swimming with the seals and had played a rousing game of football with them while he was there. They were very jealous.

So, there you have it, Fizzy Man and I have plans now to drink a carbonated drink and some Haribo sours..because both these things are fizzy. Like him.

We bid you adieu.

T, G or U: It's always the way

Once upon a time there was a lonely girl. People told her she would not be so lonely if she found somebody. But she did not want just anybody. She wanted to marry a real gentleman. She searched high and low but could not find him. She saw people who were male. She saw people who claimed to be gentlemen. But they were not real gentlemen.

One night, there was a terrible rain storm. There was a knock on the door. A man stood there who did not say 'I am a gentleman' but the lonely girl liked him anyway. He was very wet from the rain. She said he could stay in her conveniently located house. Having read a rather good story, she searched her house for a hard, dry pea. She placed it under his bed. In the morning she asked, 'How did you sleep?' and he replied 'Terribly. There was something strange in my bed.' And she replied 'Ooh sorry, I got lonely and wanted some company.' And he replied 'Okay, there was also a hard object in my bed.'
She declared, 'You ARE a real gentleman. Only a true gentleman would not have said something nasty about my incessant need for company! Will you be mine?' And he replied, 'Sorry, I have a girlfriend./Sorry, I'm gay./ Sorry, I'm not interested.' So the girl was lonely for ever more.

Jingos, I'm talented!

As you can tell from my story, the subject matter of today's blog is my sheer disbelief as to how I could encounter such an extreme proportion of these three categories in my 21 short years. My friend Hannah coined a wonderful phrase when we were at uni 'Taken or gay, it's always the way.' and I think this is very true. And I think the rather unspoken category, judging by my track record, is that of uninterested. Sometimes I get so sick of always being the one who has to pursue people, only to discover they just aren't that interested. The worst part is when they make you think they are interested in really obvious ways but then can completely change their mind the next time you speak. Why??

So, there I was, two days ago, thinking I'd met not one but two nice guys and that I was finally beginning to settle in here. But alas, within two days I realised one is completely uninterested and the other one has a girlfriend. Sweet niblets!!

Anyway, this has been a bit of a rantasaurus, and I'm sorry if you don't enjoy the change from the normal blog format, but I really needed to get this off my chest.

Shall I give you an update of the highlights of the last two days. Well, let's go backwards. Today it was absolutely crapping it down outside, so the whole day has been spent getting wet and wearing waterproofs. On the plus side, think I'm doing a bit better with the kiddies these days. This afternoon, the three of us tried to go to zoo because the family have unlimited tickets because...wait for it, they own shares of the zoo. I thought that was pretty cool, until I opened the zoo brochure upon arrival and seen that one of the animal sections is literally named after them. Jeeeeepers!!! Unfortunately, it was too rainy even for us so after about half an hour of legging it between indoor enclosures, we had to call it quits. Luckily, got to see penguins, hippos and even eat our snack with the kangaroos...and there was a little joey there! Awwww! It was the closest I've been to anything Australian in a while- I want to go so baaaaad!!!

Have you ever tried controlling two mischievous under 6s on a tram before?? It's not too easy...that's all I'll say! I was glad to get home, that's for sure!

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had here yet, close to Sunday's standard. As I was off after lunch, I decided to try and meet up with Sam to catch the tram together into the city before our classes. So, after a pleasant journey, we arranged to meet up for dinner in Paddys after lessons. Class was great as usual, I really love going and learning! As his class finished an hour after mine, I went on to the pub on my own and had my usual Magners- got really close to ordering 'the usual' off Craig who served me and had a nice chat as usual. There was also a gorgeous new bar man working so I had to get chatting to him too- you know what I'm like! He was 22 and called Finnton and was lovely too, but I could tell the barmen didn't really want to talk to me as they were very busy and I know they were thinking I was just a complete loner!

So, needless to say, I was very relieved to see Sam arrive. I actually made sure to say to Craig 'See? Look! I do have a friend.' and he said 'Never doubted it for a minute!' Haha, oh the banter! So we ate some massive chicken burgers and chips and had a lovely time. I taught him some Irish/English slang which I wrote down for him to memorise in his notebook. The whole evening he was a perfect gentleman. He opened doors. He let me go first. If I dropped something, he picked it up. He even insisted on paying for my dinner. Everything screamed date except for his lack of single status. Very strange indeed. He even gave me a lift home in his car after the tram, rushed around to open my door for me and all, and we sat outside the house singing with the radio and generally being strange dorks. It was a lovely late evening and I know I at least have a friend now.

Still, what is it with me and people giving me cryptic mixed signals?? I must give off some weird sort of vibe or something...

At the minute I have no weekend plans...bit awkward :s

Mr Uninterested doesn't even need to be covered in the blog. He wouldn't be bothered to be interested anyway. Shame...