Exam Extra!

I don't usually write 2 days in a row but I thought I would quickly post an update on the speaking exam I took earlier today.
My initial reaction after the exam was bloody hell, I certainly screwed that up! However, an hour and a half later, sitting here with a mug of tea and a chocolate hobnob and able to reflect on the exam calmly, I realise that my initial reaction was not strong enough!
It should have been more of a aaaggggghhhhhh...what the hell was I thinking of?????
Now go watch the sneezing Panda!

Welke Taal Spreek Je?...Exams

Exams and me don't get on. At school I had a series of average scores, remarkable only in their averageness. Apart from one year, I think I must have been 12 and I achieved 86% in my Maths exam. Now anyone that knows me will be able to tell you that me and numbers have never seen eye to eye.

Question:- How many beers have you had?
Me:- Erm....

So 86% in my least favourite subject was something of a surprise! Of course, the following year was a nightmare. I found myself amongst kids that bullys like to beat up for being brainy. I thought that Algebra would be easy because it used letters, but boy was I wrong! I was also questioning the point of learning some of the things we were being taught. Below is a short list of things I learnt at school but have never used since:

1. Algebra
2. Pie Charts
3. Logarithms (the answers were at the back of the book...what's the point of that?)
4. Fractions
5. Long Division

This week I have 2 exams, one of which I have already sat. The one I sat on Monday concerned writing, reading and listening. I have studied for it for the past few weeks, writing letters and short essays. However, I still have the same problem today that I had as a kid. As soon as you are told that you can turn the exam paper over you get that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you can't make head or tail of what is written on the paper!
After realizing that it was in fact upside down I found it a lot easier...I can never judge my performance when I take an exam. I found the parts I studied to be the hardest because they were slightly different to what I expected and had to use words that I didn't really know. The guy I sit next to was a bit nervous so I advised him to keep it simple and don't use words you are not sure about. I found myself not following my own advice!
Tomorrow I have the exam I dread. I have to speak! I always score badly and after every talking exam I promise myself I will do better next time. 1 day to go and I haven't got a bloody clue about what I've got to talk about!
Wish me luck!

Video of the Day

A Walk in the Countryside

Yesterday was a lovely day here in Flanders. My better half and myself decided to go for a walk, after dropping off this weekends dvd at the dvd shop. If you are interested, this weeks offering was The Day the Earth Stood Still starring Keanu "I know kung fu" Reeves. Worth a watch in my opinion. It didn't take us long to get off the main road and into what passes as countryside in this part of the world. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining and in the distance we could hear one of my favourite springtime sounds, the cry of the Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus).

A Sparrows nest, somewhere in Flanders...
Father Sparrow:-He's a little on the big side isn't he?
Mother Sparrow:-Oh hush, he gets it from my side of the family. My dad was a big Sparrow, people used to mistake him for a Thrush, remember?
Father Sparrow:-And not only is he big, he doesn't even look like me!
Mother Sparrow:-Listen, he's trying to speak!...
Cuckoo:-Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
Father Sparrow:-Why doesn't he say tweet like his brothers and sisters?

It must be a bit confusing for the poor things. Just imagine a young couple in England waiting for their first borns first words and he says "Bonjour Maman, Bonjour Papa." It's the same thing really!
The walk took us alongside some farms. Am I the only person that can't walk past a cow without saying moo to it?
Ting ting...ting ting...ting ting...
A familiar noise, behind us but approaching fast.
Ting ting...ting ting...
I looked over my shoulder and sure enough it's the Wieler Toeristen (Painus inde arseus).
Resplendent in their blue and white Lycra plumage, their familiar helmet's perched upon their heads, the Wieler Toeristen rides from café to café to drink beer and show off their wonderful colours. The WT, as we shall hence forth call them because I can't be bothered to keep writing Wieler Toeristen, will gather in large groups on the pavement, blocking the humble pedestrians path and thereby forcing them to walk in the road where hungry predators roam. In Belgium, pedestrians are often forced to use the same paths as the Cyclist, which is why the cry of the Cyclist is often heard whilst walking.
Ting ting - get out of the way!
Ting ting - yes I can see you've moved to single file but could you walk in the ditch?
Ting ting - would you please get out of my way otherwise we will be forced to ride in single file and I want to ride next to my friend!
Ting ting, ting ting, TINK!
That's the sound of me inserting a bell....nevermind.
I must point out that I have nothing against bicyles and I've nothing against people...I just hate it when you put the two together!
You will be relieved to read that both WT and ourselves survived the encounter, this time...

Studying

The following takes place between 10am and 11am.

My exams are next week. That noise you can hear is me tapping a pen against my teeth...annoying isn't it?

Let's see...Onderlijn de letter van het juiste antwoord op de volgende vragen over griepinenting:

1. Hoeveel van de verplegenden in Nederland zin ingeent?............tap, tap,..tap, tap...hmm, think I'll check my emails....................Ok, what have we got today?

Spam...spam.....spam....spam...spam,spam,spam,spam,spam,spam lots of spam wonderful spam! I do like a Monty Python sketch!

Click favourites.

Click comingsoon.com...wait...any new movie trailers?

Nope...watch Terminator Salvation trailer...again.

2. Als alle verplegenden gevaccineerd hebben we in de verplegenden a. 20% b. 60% c. 80% minder griepzieken.........tap, tap....tap, tap.....hmm, I always forget the small words, I really should know what als means by now....where's my dictionary?

Als-like, as

Right, so lets try and translate this...like every something something have we in the something blah, blah blah something something...think I'll make a cd for the car journey tonight............wow, the cars gonna rock tonight! oh yeah! starting to regret putting Do You Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart on it now...

3. Wat adviseerde de gzondheidsraad over vacinatie van verpleegpersoneel? (meer dan 1 antword)...anyone out there remember the old Charlie Brown cartoons? When you used to see him at school you could always hear the teacher making a noise like an out of tune tuba. That's me. Not the tuba, but Charlie Brown. That's how Dutch sounds to me sometimes, it makes as much sense as an out of tune tuba........hey wow! a wood pigeon just landed on the tree outside...interesting bird the wood pigeon...technically, it's not made out of wood at all.....pffffff....what time does the cricket start?

Wish me luck for next week!