' Her pronunciation was really bad ! '

On of the ushers who's doing an Upper Intermediate English Course at the British Council commented on one of her classmates' bad pronunciation:


The student had been asked to read part of a text from the coursebook but her pronunciation and fluency was more like the level of an Elementary student! Another surprising thing about the students in this class was that the usher was the only student to have done the homework; the others had made the excuse they hadn't time because of their work but the usher has to work as well and she hadn't had any problems in doing the homework. In fact she had done her homework alongside her daughter who also had homework to do.

' Parents ' Day - that was a waste of time ! '

' spilt coffee is lucky in Tunisia '

During the break from the training session with the Tourism School teachers the waitress in the restaurant suddenly accidently spilt coffee onto Myriam's blouse,she didn't seem too upset; in fact she said that spilt coffee onto a person's shirt/blouse is considered good luck in Tunisia!

' Cest bon ? le photo '

' If you want to meet for a coffee just call me '

While I was at Café Kom Koi I bumped into a Tunisian woman , who was with her son; she suggested meeting up for a coffee another time. The trouble is I don't know who she is - during the four years I've been here in Tunisia I've met quite a few students and teachers so she could be anyone! I've got no idea! So I can't call her as I haven't got the faintest idea who she is!

' I now work for the World Bank '

At Jimmy's Café , I bumped into Sadok, he now works for the Communication department at the World Bank and hopes to do some work with British Council Tunis. He also mentioned a possible project for the BBC.

' Pizza moyen - it looks more like a big pizza ! ' ' life work balance '

There's a technical problem '

Café Kom Koi have recently started a loyalty card scheme but so far no points accumulated as there's a technical problem.

' I got some flowers '

Maureen mentioned she got some flowers ,it was a present from David - I imagine he gave her some other presents or treated her to a special dinner!

' We rented a car and went round Cap Bon '

Peter talking about his holiday.

' I listen to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers every night '

One of the students,Aziz, in the Elementary 3 class, said he listens to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers every night!

' I did a 6-month hotel reception training course at the Hilton Hotel '

This morning I met one of the local residents and asked him about the building work that was going on the recently dismantled bridge. He said there was disagreement by some people in La Marsa re the rebuilding of the bridge whether it widen it or to keep the same design and size.
He mentioned that 45 years ago he had done a hotel reception training course at the Hilton Hotel in Hyde Park in London.

Later while at Café Jimmy's I bumped into Kristin and her parents; it turned out that Kristin's father had been to Tunisia a long time ago on a school trip - unusual country for a school trip!

' And that was the time of the dog ! '

Matthew,Mariol ,her mum and I were sitting at a cafe overlooking the beach. Anyway we had been sitting quite awhile waiting to be served when there was a loud crash behind us ! One of the waiters had suddenly dropped his tray of drinks; seemingly a woman had bumped into him. However, instead of the waiter staying calm , in a fit of temper he smashed a glass on the ground and stormed off in the direction of the cafe. Everyone was dumbstruck.

Matthew mentioned the last time he and Mariol had been at this cafe he had been with Peter and his wife plus the dog but they hadn't been able to get served because of the dog even though it was on a leash. 'And that was the time of the dog! ' ; it's strange that the owner of the cafe wouldn't serve them as there are often dogs on the beach with or without a leash and yet nobody worries about that.

Maybe this afternoon at the cafe could be called  ' and was the time of the dangerous waiter ! '

' Je suis libre ! '

The hotel porter ,of the recently-opened hotel in La Marsa ,who showed me the swimming pool on the top floor terrace also showed me the library area, and the spa facilities. Later on he mentioned that he used to be married to a French woman but he got divorced and is now single;
as he said 'Je suis libre' a smile of quiet contentment appeared.Someone who luckily escaped!,
obviously he didn't celebrate Valentine's Day yesterday!

' Even numbers are unlucky ! '

The two women at the tourist office at the train station in Tunis had been given a pink rose from the florist at the station. I asked them why they had only been given one and they replied that even numbers in the Arabic World is unlucky.

' The artist of this exhibition is my brother '

I visited a new exhibition at the Hope Contemporary Gallery 'The Day of the Bey' , the girl who showed me paintings mentioned that the artist was her brother.

' The original is in the cemetary in Carthage '

Today I went to the Bardo museum and in the final section there's a mausoleum but one of the museum assistants told me that ' the original is in the cemetery in Carthage '.

' You're on holiday '

On Tuesday morning at work I had found that I was supposed to be on holiday and not working , even David who had done the placement testing schedule thought I was working.
Well, it was too late to book anywhere to go to.

' I liked your silence '

One of the teachers doing the one-day TKT Introduction workshop at the British Council in her self reflection said she liked my silence; she realised the importance of the teacher being silent and allowing students to focus on their work.
She also mentioned that Tunisian teachers talk all the time and end up with a cough; probably losing their voice at the same time!

' C'est ne pas bon! '

There some construction work going by the seafront in La Marsa and a Tunisian man informed me
that the building was going to be another block of flats, which seems pretty stupid since the block of flats and shops for let is virtually empty! The man commented ' C'est ne pas bon! and he added it was better to have a park instead.

' I study Arabic five hours a day '

' Worms in my orange juice ! '

' The best thing about this place is the view ! '

While I was at the Tourist School in Sidi Bou Said one of the teachers mentioned that the best thing about the school was the view from the veranda outside the café/restaurant.

' I don't want to be teacher rep ! '

Peter, a new teachers, commented on being one of the nominated people for teacher rep:
' I don't want to be a teacher rep... I didn't even vote for myself!...'

He was surprised to find out he had already got a vote.

' R2D2 used to live down my road '

' It was an amazing day ! '

Today I did a TKT introduction workshop; overall the session went well and one of the participants said she enjoyed it very much ' It was an amazing day ! '.

' If we could have the BC Tunis office here..'

Amanda who used to work at the BC in Tunis but is now in Hanoi; she enjoys living in Vietnam but not working at the BC there and prefers BC Tunis!

' It's snowing in Algeria '

An Algerian man, who I often bump into at the bus stop, said it had been snowing in Algeria
- 10 cms of snow '.