La vie en Haute-Normandie

Yesterday could so easily have gone terribly from the moment I got up.

"Ça va, mademoiselle...?"

I know I only updated yesterday afternoon, but even a few small tasks can provide enough entertainment for a blog post (or probably more).

Arriving in France

Journeying to France was not as easy as I thought it would be. There was me telling my mom I'd rather get trains than fly because it would be a simple trip...

On the eve of my departure...

I sit here listening to the most British music I own. It's not on purpose.

I promised this post a little while back.

Ed Balls talks a lot of...

Aha, I know what you were expecting.

Plagiarism.

I'm all for sharing somebody's work with all due recognition - up to a point when it's their livelihood - if you appreciate it and want others to see it, as long as you do not make a profit from it in any way. Please let me know if I have somewhere not done this, as I would deeply apologise and put it right.

However, as any student knows, plagiarism is bad.

I have only been on the receiving end of it once, and only in a slight way.

On one occasion, I happened upon a year abroad-related post which had been shared on Facebook by my own university's Modern Languages department. I had a spare minute and went to read it. Only, I thought, this introductory sentence is familiar... I think I've written this.

So I had a quick glance through my own work, published on this very site, and found two separate posts in which parts of two sentences had been spliced together to create one new long one on this other blog.

Firstly, see here: Saturday 31st December 2011: New Year's Resolutions "It’s been a long while since I found the time, energy or inspiration to write on this website,"

Next see here: Friday 11th May 2012: People and feelings and (a lack of) knowledge "I don't have many good excuses, it's just mainly been work, and reading, and family, and friends."

Finally, see here: 9th July 2012: Reflections on a year abroad... "First off, It’s been a long while since I’ve found the time, energy or inspiration to write on this blog. I don’t have many good excuses, it’s just mainly been work, and reading, and family, and friends."
Granted, the addition of "First off," is new. However, the next bits look like a direct copy-and-paste job with the author not even bothering to change the capitalisation of "It's". My "website" now reads "blog". I am not sure that it did the first time I saw this. The commas are all in the same place. Of course, this is only a small piece of plagiarism, and I know that once you put anything on the internet that is your own work, you run the risk of this happening, but I still don't have to like it.

I left a comment when I first saw this with something to the effect of "I noticed you liked my words enough to copy them, please don't do it again", and subsequently subscribed to the comments page to see if the author would reply. She never did. I forgot about it until tonight, when I searched for that successful subscription email in my inbox, followed the link and found my comment had mysteriously vanished.

As I say, this is very minor for me and I'll live, but it may not be for other, ripped-off authors, and it doesn't stop it from being a niggle. I write because I like to explore ideas with the power of my own words. You should write because you, as I, like your own words. Otherwise, why are you bothering?

Alright, what am I doing?

This is a massive question. And I'm not even talking in a philosophical, what-am-I-doing-with-my-life sense.

I am down to a single digit number of sleeps (eight) until I leave for France and although I have sent forms to a few places for other people to sort out for me I have yet to do almost anything productive towards properly preparing to move to a foreign country.

Wait, I lie. Today I bought a few necessary toiletries and cosmetics in the supermarket.

In which I go a bit peculiar, perhaps.

Everybody needs somebody, I believe I am sure of this.

I don't necessarily mean in a romantic sense, although perhaps it might be for some, but oftentimes for talking, unloading burdens, debating and discussing ideas, company, friendship... I could go on.

The greats rarely go it, or end up, alone. Holmes and Watson, Bonnie and Clyde, Shiver and Shake, the Doctor and Sarah-Jane, Rose, Romana, Amy, Donna... What is it that makes us such social creatures - even when we need some alone time, the majority of us will turn back to somebody in the end. For some of us it takes rather a while, I admit.

As with anything on this blog, I come from my own perspective. It's been a peculiar time as you may know. Earlier posts have pointed out some nostalgia which ebbs and flows; I have just realised more than ever that there is so much going on in a brain at any one time that no one can appreciate unless you take the time to look. That lack of understanding can be crucial. And that's what our social connections so often do. It's hard work but there's nothing better than finding a reliable and trustworthy outlet for things in your head, and there's no greater honour than being the one trusted, for thoughts, feelings and emotions are the most valuable, powerful things you can possess. It's even something more in my opinion to be one who offers to listen to someone else, to take that interest.

I should have studied Psychology.

In which I am rather patriotic about the Olympics.

We're a somewhat self-deprecating nation and London 2012 is over.

Now there's a statement.

In which I create a new theme.

In trying to establish how best to document my year abroad, I've clearly taken up this blog again, and a bit more regularly. But also I decided to make some videos from time to time. I'll be referring to the theme as "Confessions of a Year Abroader". I'm no professional, I don't aim to be (although please change the quality from lowest to highest - for some reason my camera decided to ignore HD-quality this time round) but sometimes it's easier to talk than to type. Today I have the first, although it isn't really year-abroad related, more just confession-y and a bit rambly. I think a lot, in case you hadn't already guessed.