365: Day 118

Yesterday was a busy day; and it ended in a night wherein I attended two social events! The first was a social meet-up, for D/deaf and hearing people, that is a casual and informal way to practice sign-language and meet new people. For us (the big sis and I), it is partly to keep up with our signing skills, partly to help and support learners of BSL, and partly because, well, it’s fun and we get to meet and socialise with new people. Always a good thing, especially when it involves the use of sign-language, as opposed to trying to lipread new people. Then, afterwards, I headed on out for a birthday celebration…a handful of Instagram photographs will be coming soon… I hope you all had a great Friday!

You Don’t Need to Fix It.

I’ve been thinking of this for a while now, and over the last couple of days, it has been bubbling within me. On Tuesday night, I watched Rita Simons: My Daughter, Deafness and Me on BBC1. I had been looking forward to it, as my friend Lizzie had texted me about it being on TV, and my mum had been talking to someone else about it during the day too. Tuesday night arrived, I settled down with my mum and sister…and all started well. Rita’s daughter has a progressive hearing loss, which means that (like me), her hearing will most likely deteriorate as the years go on. To start with, I understood the heartbreak that they were experiencing, and could understand why they were looking for alternate ways to help their daughter. However, as the programme went on, I felt more and more irritated and appalled at Rita’s attitude. The way the programme was filmed was awful, in the end, too. Why? Well, bear with me.

Don’t get me wrong, it started well. Where it began to go wrong, though, was when Rita began to meet other Deaf people – and I mean Deaf with a capital D. (For those who don’t know, that means deaf people who are full signers, who are often enveloped within the Deaf Community and Culture.) Her attitude became quite defensive, as she spoke about how they were bringing up their daughter orally, mainstreaming her at school, and were researching cochlear implants. That would all be fine. But when she broached on the topic of cochlear implants, which, amongst D/deaf people can be an extremely controversial and sensitive subject, she became very offensive. One of the Deaf people she met suggested that, in her eyes, cochlear implanting a young child is like a form of abuse. Okay, so maybe that was quite an offensive thing to suggest, but the thing is, that was just her view, and she was not in any way suggesting that that is the only way to think about cochlear implants. However, Rita took offence by it, and began to enter into a debate about something that she really oughtn’t have, since it was apparent that she didn’t really understand why Deaf people feel the way they do.

What angered me more was the fact that the BBC didn’t feel the need to diverge further into this; the fact that they cut off the filming of that debate, just as it was getting interesting, it annoyed me. It painted a bleak picture of the Deaf Community, and made Deaf (and deaf) people look like evil, soulless creatures who are very anti-hearing. That is not the case, at all. The programme just went downhill after that. In the end, Rita said that she was in favour of cochlear implants “100 percent”, and that that would be the route they are going to go down. Although her husband had a bit more sense about him, (he actually went to listen to simulations of what speech and music sounds like with a cochlear implant) I have a bad feeling that they will end up implanting their daughter and cutting her off from the Deaf world. Not in a bad way, because I am not against cochlear implants, but in the sense that they, especially Rita, seemed to turn against D/deaf people, and wanted her daughter to be “normal”.

In a world that is supposedly becoming more and more accepting of differences, and disabilities, this attitude stunned me. It made me feel shit about myself. It made me feel like there are many, many people out there who think that deafness is something that needs to be fixed. In this day and age, with technological advancements, yes, I can understand that people want to use those advancements to help each other. However, what I will not, and never will accept, is the way that hearing people (sorry to generalise here, I know that there are many who are absolutely, 100 percent on the side of D/deaf people) feel the need to go around fixing poor little deaf people’s ears, curing them of deafness and taking away any sense of deafhood in those people. I’ve got news for you all; deafness cannot be fixed. It cannot be cured. Do you know why? Because just by implanting a young child, just by putting hearing aids in their ears, just by sending them to hours and hours of speech therapy…it does not, and never will, make them hearing.

My parents were in the exact same situation as Rita and her husband, except, maybe, it was slightly worse. They got a double whammy dosage of “bad” news. Both my sister and I were diagnosed as being deaf at the same time. She was 6 years old, I was 2 years old. My mum has told me, in the past, that it was heartbreaking. She felt so confused, so lost. Her beautiful children, both of them, had damaged ears. What she didn’t know, back then, was that our deafness would in no way hinder our lives, or stop us from achieving whatever we want in life. The only thing that would hold us back would be the ignorance of people who are not accepting of differences. All of this may sound harsh, it may sound bleak, but it’s the way it is. There are many people out there who may see deafness as something that needs to be fixed. They may think that being hearing is the only way to be, and, oh golly, we can’t have people going around not hearing things, can we?! Seriously? Are you kidding me? I know how hard it is. Being deaf is both a blessing and a curse. Having a progressive hearing loss sucks, honest, it does. But I would much rather be deaf, than hearing, quite frankly.

Some who are reading this will probably be thinking I am mad. But, really, I’m not. I am glad to be deaf, because it has made me who I am today, it has meant that I’ve met some truly amazing, inspirational people, people I would not have been exposed to otherwise. Some of my friends are wonderful, and they are hearing. I have a whole other handful of friends who are D/deaf. It makes no difference. With the D/deaf friends, I can relate, I can be on the same wavelength in terms of experiences and our day to day lives. With the hearing friends, I can experience the hearing world, I can hear (yes, hear, wow!) their stories from their lives. Being deaf hasn’t stopped me from setting out to achieve my dreams. Last year, I lost a lot of my hearing. It was hard, and it was really, really painful. I was suffering for a long time, not in physical pain, but mentally. It hurt. To get used to one level of hearing, and then to have that hearing taken away from you, and to have to adjust to a whole new level of hearing…it’s tough. I won’t lie. But, still, I am happy to be deaf. I feel a sense of pride, of belonging, and all because of the things that Deaf and deaf people have achieved throughout history. The things they are still achieving today. I feel proud. I feel a sense of belonging that many hearing people do not have; I have a community, even if I don’t always join it. I have a foot in both worlds, the Hearing World, and the Deaf World, and I have my own world too – I have the world that is in between the two, a world in which I can be with just me, and watch both hearing people and Deaf people, my own, comfortable world.

I have no regrets. I am who I am today because of everything, and I mean every single little thing, that I have been through in my life. Heartbreak, natural highs, academic achievements, being on the stage, making life-changing decisions, enjoying the little things in life, as well as the big things; all of it, it makes up who I am. I love my parents so very much; they are both hearing, and they surrounded both my sister and I with love. My mum was the confidante that I would always go to with tears in my eyes, because I suffered so much, growing up, and had to accept how different my deafness made me from my hearing peers. I can’t even imagine how strong she had to be, to listen to me and not break down herself. My dad was always there to have a giggle with, to be goofy with. Then, as I grew up, I became closer to my sister. We have something special that bonds us; our deafness. It’s special, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Of course, there will always, always be obstacles and hurdles to overcome, but I have the right people around me, I am living in the right time period, to be able to get over any of it, to overcome it all. We are strong. Deaf people are not weak, they are not damaged, and they do not, ever, ever, need fixing. You don’t fix what is not broken. Rita ended with: “I cannot fathom for the life of me – and I’ve tried – if sound is on offer why you wouldn’t use it.” I end on a high. I am happy with what I hear; I miss the hearing I had, I miss hearing music naturally, I miss hearing the boy’s heartbeat…but I am content with what I can currently hear through hearing aids. No way do I want to hear music without the melody, to miss out on all those beautiful notes. Sure, it doesn’t even sound the same with hearing aids, but I’m getting there. I don’t want it to just become “noise”, which is what it would be with a cochlear implant, but that’s a whole other post…and I’m running short on time now. I’ve been ranting for a while. It’s clear now, and I am feeling happier now that I’ve put this all into words. Rita, as lovely as you may be, please, please reassess your stance, because you offended a great amount of Deaf and deaf people on Tuesday.

Me? I’m happy. I hope you are too.

Spaces.

Last night, I went to a Deaf event in London. I don’t go to many, so whenever I do, I sometimes come away with mixed feelings. Now, I’m sure that if I were to immerse myself more in the Deaf community, I would lose some of these feelings, but the thing is, I like having the best of both worlds, and that means being oral for the most part and signing when I need/want to. Last night was completely BSL; everyone, and I  mean everyone, was signing; everywhere you looked, there’d be a conversation in BSL. It was lovely, and I love going to places like this, because it takes the effort off, you don’t need to focus so much on lipreading (although it does play a role in BSL), and it is just, quite simple, a lovely way to communicate with people. It’s so expressive and open.

However, there are certain politics that run in the Deaf community, and some of them, I don’t like. It’s just like with the hearing community; well, actually, they don’t see themselves as a community, but I’m sure that in the Deaf community, they look like one! Hearing people can (and I’m using it loosely here, as most people I meet are absolutely lovely and open to adapting the way they communicate etc) be inconsiderate sometimes; they cover their mouths when they talk, turn away from you when they’re talking, hardly move their mouths, eat whilst talking…I could go on. There are so many barriers in conversations sometimes, that it can be a bit of a nightmare. (On the other hand, there are many people who will make a huge effort to make sure you can follow them, so I’m not having a dig here…much.) So, as you’d expect, there are certain rules in the Deaf community, and if you stray from the rules, there can be a bit of eye-brow raising…

For the most part, it’s good if you can sign; if you don’t know much, just try, because a little effort is better than none at all. Even if all you know is how to fingerspell your name, and a few basic signs, it’s enough to gain the respect of a BSL-users (however, you will get the odd few who will turn their noses down at you…but it’s the same thing with hearing people turning their noses down at signers…so don’t be too offended!). If you go to a Deaf community event, and just plan on talking (orally) the whole time, don’t expect too many friendly faces. Sure, some people might talk to you, but when Deaf people go to these events, they are looking to catch up with old friends, see familiar faces, and just envelope themselves in the atmosphere. They have stepped in from the hearing world, and want to step into a world where they can understand everything; it’s not the place to create more barriers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

There are a couple of people you’ll meet at these events who will be strange with you, even though you CAN sign, and are trying to be as friendly as you can. It could be down to the fact that they don’t know you, they know you’re oral (Deaf politics here…), just aren’t friendly themself or they just don’t take well to new people. Whatever it is, don’t let it put a hamper on your mood, just move on and talk to other people. Last year, when we went to the same event, there was a Deaf man who was this way with me…and I wasn’t expecting it. Sure, I’d encountered it in the past, but I had thought that now I was more confident with signing and I knew more, that this obstacle would be removed; all I can conclude is that it’s just like anyone else you meet, there will always be the odd few that you don’t get along with, no matter how hard you try. Definitely an “oh well” moment.

So, how do I feel? It was good to go last night, and we did see a few familiar faces, and it was lovely to meet up with someone who was in our signing class last year. The thing I love about the Deaf community is all the characters; you will find it hard to meet a whole hall full of as many expressive and vivid characters as you can in the Deaf community. It makes me feel happy, because as a deaf person myself, I can sometimes feel like some hearing people are taken aback by how expressive, and at times, over the top I am. When I talk, I use the whole of my face as well. You will see my emotions. For some hearing people, that seems to be a bit much and they shy away from continuing a conversation with me, but you know what? I LOVE meeting people who are expressive, who aren’t afraid to be themselves and go a little mad. Why hold in all that emotion when you can just let it all out in your conversations? Let it go. Let it go mad!

I occasionally get increasing fed up, irritated and frustrated when I’m in a group of hearing people, because their way of communicating is not accessible. They talk over each other, they cut into each others’ conversations, they jump from one person to the next; and for a deaf person like me, who needs to lipread, and know who is talking at what time…oh, hell, it is tough! I’m sorry to say it, but I would rather not go to these occasions, and do something else, rather than go and feel shit about not following and just end up sitting there looking pretty because I’ve gotten fed up of asking people to repeat themselves. Woe. I mean, I AM looking forward to the Christmas period…but I just know that there will be many moments like this; but at least with my own family, I have my sister in the same boat, which always helps. If we can’t follow something, and we can’t be bothered to ask what is going on…well, we’ll just go ahead and have our own little conversations and giggles. If you can’t change something, change the way you think about it. There have been quite a few times when I’ve said to my family that they need to be more deaf friendly…but I think people are so set in their ways that sometimes you just can’t do a thing…

Before, I used to feel that I was stuck in the middle of the Deaf world and the hearing world…because I was oral but didn’t always feel like I fit in with the hearing world, and yet I didn’t feel completely comfortable in the Deaf world. However, I am now starting to feel more comfortable in both worlds…but, from time to time, I do like to retreat and hide in my own little world in the middle, with just me, myself and I for company. Spaces are confusing, but when you find the spaces you like, well, that is when you can truly feel comfortable.

Lee’s BSL Songs

Right, so on YouTube, there was a really cool guy that I used to follow, Lee’s BSL Songs, and he basically made sign songs and posted the videos. He was (still is) really good, and he gained quite a reputation for his videos. People in the Deaf community would recognise him, and he started to gain a following from people all around the world!

However, YouTube, you’re asses. I’m actually really angry about this; they’ve decided that his YouTube channel was an infringement of copyright, because he used songs made by other people. Right, so, he ALWAYS gave credit to the artists, and he NEVER claimed the songs as his own, he simply translated the lyrics into BSL so that D/deaf people (and even hearing people) could follow them. His songs were so good, a great way of expressing himself and a lovely way to enjoy music and lyrics. So, why, YouTube, why have you gone and deleted such an amazing account? What’s your reasoning behind this? You’ve just pissed off hundreds (dare I even say thousands, I don’t know how many followers he had) of fans, and not to even mention the disappointment felt by Lee himself.

Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. I had posted a few of his videos on this blog before, but now you can’t see them. However, although Lee is busy with Uni work etc at the moment, he has said that it’s not the end…the songs will make a comeback in some way in the future, so all we can do is wait and see. But, YouTube, this was the only thing I followed…and you’ve taken it away. Well done. Seriously, I applause you, if you keep this up, then what does the future hold for you? People will become scared to post anything for fear of copyright infringement.

And what the hell is going on in America at the moment…all this censorship stuff?! If that bill gets passed…I don’t know what will happen. Off topic! But, if Lee reads this, know that you have supporters behind you, and when you do put your songs back out there…it will be such a happy day. Lee’s video about the whole thing is below, worth a watch.

This point; right here.

Do you ever pause and think about where you are right now, where you were at this point in the past, and where you want to go? It’s something I think about from time to time, sometimes I feel good, sometimes I miss things and people, but if I hadn’t experienced any of it, I wouldn’t be where I am, and who I am. Currently, I’m planning lots of things, and whilst there’s a big part of me that is just itching to stop the planning and just do things, I know that the planning is essential. So I persist, and soon enough, I’ll be able to start the “do” part!

This time 4 years ago, I was in my last year on my college course, and I felt a bit strange. I was happy, very happy, because I was 7 months into my relationship with the boy, but I wasn’t completely happy education-wise. I do love the theatre, and the beloved-theatre-company, but I was at a point where I felt a bit odd; many of the friends I had grown up with there had moved on, gone to University etc, and I guess it was a bit strange to be in a place that held so many childhood memories, and yet I was studying there. I don’t regret it at all, because in doing the course, I had left my Secondary School behind, which was a good thing. But there was just something missing, I guess, because I was in a place where childhood was still so present, but I needed to grow up a bit, and to do that, I needed to go away.

This time 3 years ago, I was just starting out at Reading University. It started well. I thought it was a good course, and I had made some nice friends on the course, and a few from outside of the course. But I was away from home, away from the boy, away from those I loved. At the time, it didn’t really suit me very much. As the year went on, I got more and more homesick, and I realised just how much I was missing London too – even though it wasn’t far away by train, when you’re in a whole different place, well, it’s just not the same. I didn’t feel completely comfortable in the presence of those at University either, but I’m only starting to realise this now. There was a fair bit of back-stabbing, bitchiness and two-facedness, and all of that really isn’t who I am. From that year, I’ve gained one really good friend, and the other friendships have now more or less fallen away. However, I also don’t regret this year. I learnt a lot about myself – I’m a home-girl at heart, I like to be around those I love more than being by myself, I’m creative, I have an ever-present love of bright colours, and I always, always try to face things with a smile!

2 years ago, I had just started on the long journey with the Open University. It’s been tough, you need loads of self-motivation, and at times I do get a bit fed up with it all, but I just have to remember what I’m working towards…eventually, I will have a degree…it’s just taking a little longer. The big sis and I had also started to get a bit more serious about the jewellery business at this point, and in the December, we held a jewellery party and did quite well with it. Little steps; it was a bit stop and start after that, but we’re now on the way to relaunching the whole thing…it’s exciting!

This time last year, I had started my second course with the Open University, and I was also doing my Level 2 BSL course, at last. Through doing the BSL course, my confidence was slowly starting to grow again, and I was realising just how much BSL I already knew! With sign-language, if you don’t use it, you might lose it, but there was a lot of knowledge in me, it was just tucked away, not being used, so I’m glad I did the course, because it helped me to feel more confident when I’m signing. It also helped that our teacher was Deaf herself, so it was great to see a strong, confident Deaf woman every week.

Where am I now? What is happening right now, at this point in time? Well, currently, I’m not studying, as there wasn’t an Open Uni course that started in October that I took a liking to…but there’s one starting in January that I like the look of…so that’s the next step – with the O.U. you can do it bit by bit, working your way to a degree module by module, course by course. However, I’m currently making lots of plans; the biggest thing is the jewellery business, which has stepped up a level – I’ve been working away on a business plan, budgeting, market researching…it’s hard work! It’ll pay off though, and I’ll reveal more here when it’s all up and running. At the end of September, I finally took the plunge and got my first DSLR, and I’m so happy that I did. I think it marked a real change, because I’ve love photography for so long, yet I’ve been using the trusty point and shoot cameras, and feeling green with envy whenever I saw someone whip out a DSLR when I was out and about. But now? Now I have MY OWN. Happy days. I’ve been having lots of fun with it. Lots of fun. A lot of ideas have been bubbling up too, so I’ve been pinning things on Pinterest, and soaking up all the inspiration on the internet. Watch this space, because there will most definitely be more photographic adventures to come, which I will document on here.

After all that has happened this year, I’m feeling grateful at this point in time. Grateful for friends, family, life. I appreciate that I have this time to create what I want, which currently means setting up the jewellery business and playing with my camera. I don’t know what the future will hold, but I’m feeling happy, and I’m feeling excited. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this excited about things; and, excited, I’m glad you’re back. I’ve missed you. The next few weeks will be busy, busy and fun, as I put the finishing touches onto the business plan, and start the first steps on the “do”…and that’s the most exciting part. Sometimes it really is good to reflect on things, to look backwards at where you have been, to look forward at where you want to go, and to look at where you are now and re-evaluate things. If you don’t like where you are, then you have the power to change it. And if you can’t change it, change your attitude. It’s your life.

“This is your world. Shape it or someone else will.” – Gary Lew.

Deaf Donald

Aaawww. Found this on WeHeartIt:

Yellow – Lee’s BSL Songs

Lee’s BSL Songs is my new addiction. His translations are great and I just watch and stare in awe whenever I watch a song that I love…because he can really get the whole feeling across with his signs. The other thing is that he really thinks about what the song/lyrics actually mean, and then he translates it into BSL – a mean feat considering that the BSL word order is different to the English word order, which is why you might be thinking: why isn’t he signing along with the words?! Hmmm, he’s amazing.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder…

Hello…once again, it’s been a while! I don’t know why I keep neglecting this poor blog, it’s done nothing to deserve this treatment from me! I keep thinking of a good blog post…and it’s normally as I’m drifting off to sleep at night, and I tell myself: “I must remember to post that tomorrow…” and lo and behold, tomorrow comes and I’ve forgotten about it all! I’ve said this before, but I’m gonna try and break this non-blogging habit I’ve got myself into! Uh huh. Yes I am. (Let’s see how long I last for this time.)

Right, so…what’s happened in this absence? To summarise it all:

• I’ve joined a small theatre group, voluntary…and they’re really cool! C-O-O-L! Yep. They’re a theatre company aimed at a mixed audience of deaf AND hearing people, young and old. This means that they combine the use of sign-language, speech, physical theatre, mime, puppetery…and make theatre that has a punch. At the moment I’m just learning the ropes but in the new year I’ll be getting involved in the performance side of things…it looks pretty exciting at the moment!
• BSL Level-2 classes… It’s going well, today was the last class before our first exam next Thursday – eeeeek! But I feel that my signing has vastly improved, probably because my confidence in my signing has improved. I’ve also noticed that I’m increasingly switching to the BSL word order, rather than using SSE (when you follow the word order of English…BSL requires you to change the word order and omits a lot of small words, such as “it”, “to”, “and”…) So this is quite good, as it means I’m learning to sign “properly” in a way – not that SSE is bad, it just follows the wrong word order really (SSE means Sign-Supported-English).
• I’ve started the shows at Chickenshed…so far, so good
• The jewellery business is slowly getting back on track! I think we’ve managed to re-ignite the passion there – we lost it for a while…and now it’s BACK. Good times.

Generally, I think things are going fairly well at the moment Although, on a bad note, I had my first car accident yesterday! Whoops! It was only a minor accident…but it was the first one I’ve had (touch wood no more) and it just shocked me, more than anything. It’s so true that just a split second is all it takes. Just one little look out of the side window, then you look back at the road…BAM! Too late. It just served to remind me that I need to concentrate ALL-THE-TIME! There’s not really any room for errors on the road :s nope. Oh dear, at least it was minor, no injuries, just knocked the bumper of the car in front…

Hope everyone is getting into the festive spirit…tis the season to be jolly! (And I promise, I’ll try not to be absent for so long again.)

New beginnings…

Well, come Saturday, I’ll be starting my next Open University course! I finished the last one, Creative Writing, at the beginning of June and I spent most of the summer pondering which course to do next…although at the back of my mind I knew that it would be the one I’ve chosen to do – Children’s Literature. It should be an interesting one…fingers crossed. The course material arrived a week or so ago but I had yet to open the package, til now that is. I was reluctant to open it for some reason, probably because I was slightly nervous at the prospect of another year’s study.

I’m pleased to say though, that I’m pleasantly happy with what the package contained It includes: a study guide that takes you through the course week by week, which contains all the activities you need to complete and also some reading extracts that accompany the activities; two study books to go along with the study guide; two DVDs containing “a variety of audiovisual material including performances of children’s literature, and interviews with children, authors and publishers” (may need to get some help with these as I’m unsure if they’ll have subtitles or not…); a book – ‘Peter Pan and Other Plays’ by J.M.Barrie; and a course guide, which explains each part of the course. Phew! It all looks pretty exciting though and I’m genuinely looking forward to starting now, whereas before I was feeling a mixture of trepidation and nervousness! Silly me.

I’m hoping that I’ll enjoy this course, as the last one began to stifle me a bit. I do enjoy writing but I’ve learnt that I prefer to do it by myself and keep it to myself, rather than writing something that I know has to be marked at the end…for me it blocked my creativity a little. It was the first time that I had my creative writing analysed and thoroughly marked – before that it was only at GCSE level at secondary school and the marking system isn’t as tough as it is at University level, obviously! I’m guessing that the Children’s Literature course will mainly be built upon analysing books and poetry aimed at children, and looking at how it can aid their development, whilst also studying the history of children’s literature and how it has evolved. Uh huh, I think I’m definitely looking forward to this one.

About two weeks ago, I finally got started on my way to achieving my Level 2 in BSL (British Sign Language). I’ve been talking about it for quite a few years but have never gotten started. I did try when I was in my last year at secondary school but the GCSE exams got in the way and took all my attention. For me, it’s mainly a case of honing my signing and polishing it ready for the exams. There’s three exams in total, each one different from the other. The first exam involves watching a video of someone signing a story in BSL, and at intervals they will pause the story and ask you four questions about the story – all in BSL of course – and then you have to mark your answer on a sheet of paper with multi-choice answers. The point of this exam is to remember the details from the story, such as remembering which pocket the person took their phone out of – either their shirt pocket or the pocket in their jeans – which will prove to the examiner that you can process BSL correctly and hold the information that you’ve been given. There’s no signing from you in this exam, it’s just a video/paper exam. We’ll be sitting the first exam in mid December so we’ve still got time to practice and scrub the memory sections of our brains! Eeek.

I’ve been looking into becoming a Level 1 BSL tutor again…and it’s not quite as confusing as I thought it was. Basically, if you’re going to be teaching post-16 level, you just need to be a qualified teacher but not in the sense that you need to get a PGCE and all that. Which was the confusing bit. You just need to get an award called ‘Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector’, PTLLS for short and then you have to get another qualification that is suited to the role you’ll be undertaking. Then you’ll need to be fluent/knowledgeable in the subject area you’ll be teaching, in my case, Level 1 BSL. I’m not sure how long it’ll take to be fully trained but I’m just relieved that it’s not quite as complicated as it seemed when I researched it before. For now it’s a possible option…watch this space!

I think new beginnings can be scary, but once you’ve taken those first few steps, the scaryness starts to fall away and you can tread your path confidently. Just got to take those first few steps.

An afternoon in Covent Garden

Yesterday, I went with Cats and Chocolate to her audiology appointment…and it poured with rain. Literally. There was no escape from it, you just had to get soaked. It probably wasn’t helped by the fact that we were attempting to share one umbrella! After the appointment we popped into Starbucks…yummy. Whilst there, we decided to go onto Covent Garden for a bit of a wander – plus I had the excuse of needing to get a friend a birthday present :p

I simply love Covent Garden; there’s the market, Neal Street, Neal’s Yard (where an adorable little Italian restaurant is tucked away) and shops galore! There’s also that lovely atmosphere, it’s relaxed, yet it’s in the centre of London. Although, I do admit, it can get busy at times and it’s also quite touristy…but then again, a lot of places in the centre are these days, hey diddle dum. We went for a stroll along Neal Street, popping into the usual suspects – Office amongst them – and then we went into Apple Boutique, a little compendium of unique clothes and accessories. After, we walked back towards the market area and went to Ella’s Bakehouse – something you cannot miss if you are a fan of cupcakes! I had a Red Velvet cupcake – a red sponge chocolate cupcake with cream cheese icing…delish! Topped it off with a cup of tea…then it was back home for us.

Last night was the second session of our (Liz and I are doing it together) Level 2 BSL (British Sign Language) class…scary stuff! Although it wasn’t as nerve-wrecking as last week! There’s about 17 of us in the class, which was probably why it was a bit scary last week and it was also down to it being the first session… So far, it’s not been too bad. I’ve been signing fairly fluently since I was quite young, and I got my Level 1 when I was 12…so it’s about time I got my Level 2 really!! The teacher expects you to use the same signs as her though, which is fair enough but sometimes it’s a bit difficult to remember the signs if you’re used to using another one – there are often many different signs for the same thing, normally due to the accents from different parts of the county (believe it or not, sign language has accents too!). I guess it’ll get easier as it goes on.

Eeeek, I’m in a bit of a rush now…going to have to cut this short and get a move on – meeting two friends for a coffee in two hours and I’ve got to get a few things done first…why do I leave things to the last minute?! Hope you liked the video I posted previously Ciao for now…