School, Sport and Kiwi’s with bikes:
Life in Biarritz was worse than you could imagine. School started at an arduous 09:30 after a breakfast of fresh coffee and vegemite toast and a 20 minute bus trip. Classes were good although the text was better in Nice. In my class there was myself, Jorg (a Swiss) and 7 young Irish girls doing the same thing as Connor and his mates. The girls all thought that I was from Turkey (not Torquay) and questioned me after the first day of school as to why I spoke English so well?!? (my French isn’t that bad god damn it!)
Class went until 13:00 at which point the school reconvened à la Grande Plage….at the beach. The afternoons spend sunbathing , swimming, playing ball games were only slightly hindered by the need to homework. Home for dinner at about 1900 followed by a rendez-vous on the beach for the nightly “study session”. This impossible routine was only made worse by an hour and a half of private tutes twice a week. The private tutes were an excellent addition to learning and would strongly recommend them for anyone planning to take a similar approach to world travel and learning another language.
The weekend was totally different…..i mean there was no school, however not all of the weekend was spent on the beach. On Saturday Biarritz Olympic Pays Basque (know as B.O.), the local team of the rugby-mad region, played in the French grand final. The team had come second only a few weeks earlier in the European Championship.
Sporting our new B.O. jerseys, it was off to the pub to enjoy the atmosphere and watch B.O. dish it out to Toulouse. Once the final whistle blew it was all over…….Biarritz transformed into a massive party with red and white (the team colours) everywhere. Vehicles travelling through the streets, with flags flying and horns blaring, was the norm as the town partied hard into the wee hours of the morning and beyond. All curfews for the younger ones were off as the city struggled to contain the parties that spilled into every street of the town.
The following day, nursing more than just a few hangovers, the team arrived, in an open top double-decker, to a sea of red and white. After the speeches and thankyous it was…..back to partying. As expected, Monday morning class was sluggish at best however there was no time to relax. It was Monday 12th June……..Australia was making it’s long awaited return to the World Cup arena against Japan.
For those that watched the game…wholly hell. Basically after Japan scored the first goal in controversial circumstances and it was not until the last 6 minutes that Australia scored the equaliser and then 2 more!! As prearranged, the 3 Aussies from school, myself, Nichol and Mel, regrouped at the pub to watch the game. Despite all attempts to moderate the evening given the weekend, the combination of tension, a kick-arse win and close proximity to alcohol meant that: resistance truly was futile.
Tips for young players- the following combination does not work:
1. celebratorials after socceroo victory
2. an Australian
3. a Kiwi
4. point to on the handle bars of a bike being ridden by point 3
5. steep hill in the downwards direction
6. pavement
I couldn’t walk very well with my banged up left knee although at this stage (without x-ray) no broken bones on palpation; full ROM left ankle and knee. Abrasions to left elbow, left knee, left ankle and left foot. Able to weight-bear and walk (although slowly)……Luckily the bike was okay.
Go the Socceroos!!!
Class went until 13:00 at which point the school reconvened à la Grande Plage….at the beach. The afternoons spend sunbathing , swimming, playing ball games were only slightly hindered by the need to homework. Home for dinner at about 1900 followed by a rendez-vous on the beach for the nightly “study session”. This impossible routine was only made worse by an hour and a half of private tutes twice a week. The private tutes were an excellent addition to learning and would strongly recommend them for anyone planning to take a similar approach to world travel and learning another language.
The weekend was totally different…..i mean there was no school, however not all of the weekend was spent on the beach. On Saturday Biarritz Olympic Pays Basque (know as B.O.), the local team of the rugby-mad region, played in the French grand final. The team had come second only a few weeks earlier in the European Championship.
Sporting our new B.O. jerseys, it was off to the pub to enjoy the atmosphere and watch B.O. dish it out to Toulouse. Once the final whistle blew it was all over…….Biarritz transformed into a massive party with red and white (the team colours) everywhere. Vehicles travelling through the streets, with flags flying and horns blaring, was the norm as the town partied hard into the wee hours of the morning and beyond. All curfews for the younger ones were off as the city struggled to contain the parties that spilled into every street of the town.
The following day, nursing more than just a few hangovers, the team arrived, in an open top double-decker, to a sea of red and white. After the speeches and thankyous it was…..back to partying. As expected, Monday morning class was sluggish at best however there was no time to relax. It was Monday 12th June……..Australia was making it’s long awaited return to the World Cup arena against Japan.
For those that watched the game…wholly hell. Basically after Japan scored the first goal in controversial circumstances and it was not until the last 6 minutes that Australia scored the equaliser and then 2 more!! As prearranged, the 3 Aussies from school, myself, Nichol and Mel, regrouped at the pub to watch the game. Despite all attempts to moderate the evening given the weekend, the combination of tension, a kick-arse win and close proximity to alcohol meant that: resistance truly was futile.
Tips for young players- the following combination does not work:
1. celebratorials after socceroo victory
2. an Australian
3. a Kiwi
4. point to on the handle bars of a bike being ridden by point 3
5. steep hill in the downwards direction
6. pavement
I couldn’t walk very well with my banged up left knee although at this stage (without x-ray) no broken bones on palpation; full ROM left ankle and knee. Abrasions to left elbow, left knee, left ankle and left foot. Able to weight-bear and walk (although slowly)……Luckily the bike was okay.
Go the Socceroos!!!
posted by santas walkabout at 7:03 pm
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