New Beginnings in Switzerland

  I have been having six monthly dental check ups for years. There is something complicated about registration with your dentist in the UK. You need to have your check ups in order to be in the system. If you will have a problem, no problem, you are registered with your friendly dentist who knows you.   More precisely he knows your teeth.   My dentist is a friendly chap. I really like him. I had some troublesome start, but in the last few years my checkups were pretty boring. Usually my dentist would look at my teeth, talk some latin to the nurse and occasionally pull a tooth out (it thankfully has always been a baby tooth).   My dentist (His name is Paul) checked my teeth last week, and there was nothing to do. He asked me if there was anything else I would like to mention. You know me by now. I have always plenty of things I would like to mention. This time I had thought of this little annoying splinter in my index fing...

  Answer: Compulsory vaccination in school! The school nurse came to our class. She explained the benefits of vaccination. Insured, we are all going to be vaccinated at school, and that is that. I must admit I didn't understand every word she said, despite trying very hard. When she left there were many questions buzzing in my head.   My mum said "come on, it's not the end of life on earth".   That made me think.   Are there not vaccinations that could end your life?   Legally?   Isn't Switzerland one of the countries where they do this?   How is the nurse going to tell these two vaccinations apart? It is quite important.   Are they different colours?   Are humans not known for making mistakes?   Don't we (I) always say 'Well, I made a mistake. I'm only human' The leaflet that she gave us was not very encouraging either. See for yourself! I would like to finish this blog with something optimistic to say, but I can't think of anythi...

  There are three kinds of shopping trips. 1. Your parents need clothes. Avoid this at all costs. 2. Your household needs new kettle, iron, heater, etc. Try to avoid first. If not possible, and you find yourself in some electrical store, collect boxes with appliances as quickly as you can, and gently push your parents to the till. Use your body language, tell them the time every five minutes, say you are hungry, or there is loads of homework to be done (Gentle persuasive tactics) 3. You need clothes. This is the worst case. Difficult to avoid. This usually happens in autumn when you stop wearing shorts. You just put on your good old trousers and you notice they are two inches above ground level. Your mum will notice. Tell her this is IN this season, but you know the shopping trip is inevitable. Brace yourself. Try to agree with your parents the exact time you will be back. The actual time will be 2 hours later, but this is the best you can get.   Try ...

  Why going to school in the dark is not a good idea. It's just not. I woke up at 6, it was dark, cold, and raining. Cat Lolo who usually cheers me up was nowhere to be seen. Discovery: Cat's don't like dark, cold, rain and grumpy school boys. Breakfast: Will be good when I work out how to eat when I am asleep. First subject was Maths. When my mum tried to cheer me up this morning, she said the maths teacher has exactly the same problems as the rest of us, students. He probably doesn't like to go to school in the dark either. She was right. The math teacher, who is usually 100% on the ball, was 72.5% asleep, with the hope the scores will improve as the day will progress. You could say his logical part of the brain was either left to sleep at home, or was having a nap in the classroom. We tried to be respectful, and not to be too much better than him, which I presume would annoy him.   After all, we are all on the same team, we go to school in the da...