October 2018
Friday 12th October 2018
This month I scored another ‘first’ - my first visit to Asia. At the invitation of SIL, the non-profit organisation I used to work for, I attended a set of international meetings in the role of an English-French interpreter.
The meetings took place at Baan Phu Waan conference centre in a suburb of Bangkok. I really enjoyed getting to know new people and working in a team with them. But it was also great to work alongside old friends from our time in Africa.
Saturday 20th October 2018
Recently we went out for a walk up on to Bochslen our local wooded hilltop. While we were sitting enjoying the mild autumn weather and the peaceful view over the lake towards the mountains, something fell with a plop on the ground just behind us. It was a conker.
We were, let me explain, sitting under a horse chestnut tree and at this time of year trees like this drop their nuts (“conkers”). Horse chestnuts are similar to the sweet chestnuts which are being roasted on our streets at this time of year, but they are not good for eating (not for us humans, at least). But when they fall from the tree they lose their green husks and reveal their beautiful shiny, slightly marbled, chestnut brown skins.
When I see them, it immediately takes me back to my childhood. The village where I grew up, like many English villages, has a village green. And on one side of the village green, right in front of the primary school, was a horse chestnut tree. It was part of the annual tradition of kids in the village to play conkers. [In the picture above the big tree to the right of the school is the horse chestnut.]
This is how the game goes. First of all you choose a good strong-looking conker – one without any cracks – and carefully bore a hole in it from top to bottom. I used to use a meat skewer to make the hole. Then you thread a piece of parcel string through the hole and tie at knot at the bottom end. You end up with string about 30 centimetres long with a conker hanging on the end. When you’ve done that, you’re ready to play.
This is how the game goes. First of all you choose a good strong-looking conker – one without any cracks – and carefully bore a hole in it from top to bottom. I used to use a meat skewer to make the hole. Then you thread a piece of parcel string through the hole and tie at knot at the bottom end. You end up with string about 30 centimetres long with a conker hanging on the end. When you’ve done that, you’re ready to play.
You take it in turns. One person lets the conker hang down on its string, while the other takes a swing with their conker. The idea is to hit your opponent’s conker with yours. Quite often you miss, but if you aim well, the two conkers may collide with a “conking” sound. Then it’s the other player’s turn. You keep on playing until one of the conkers breaks. Each player keeps track of how many other nuts their own conker has broken. A conker that has broken three others is known as a “three-er” and so on.
By the way, where does the word conker come from? One possibility is that it comes from the word to conquer since the idea of the game is for one nut to conquer (beat) another. Or maybe the names sound just like the conking noise a conker makes when it strikes a hard object like another conker (if you’re a good shot) or your head (if you’re not).
By the way, where does the word conker come from? One possibility is that it comes from the word to conquer since the idea of the game is for one nut to conquer (beat) another. Or maybe the names sound just like the conking noise a conker makes when it strikes a hard object like another conker (if you’re a good shot) or your head (if you’re not).
There’s rather a sad end to this story too. In 2008 they discovered that the horse chestnut which had provided generations of children with conkers was riddled with disease. As a result, the tree was no longer safe and they had to have it cut down. To make matters worse, they can’t even plant a new one of the same kind because the bacteria which spreads the disease is also in the soil.
Front page story
Look back to 1665: the Plague Year
Contact
If you’re interested in English lessons or translation and checking services, please feel free to contact me in the language of your choice - English, French, German or even Lingala!
Here are my details:
Here are my details:
Mobile
078 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
Location
Tödistrasse 9, 8634 Hombrechtikon
(New address from 24th March 2018)
(New address from 24th March 2018)
If you are travelling from Rüti / Wolfhausen, drive past the Hombrechtikon place-name sign for about 300 metres and turn right into Tödistrasse, just before the Tobel bus stop.
Approaching from Hombrechtikon
If you are approaching from the centre of Hombrechtikon, follow the signs to Rüti. At the Tobel junction (the Methodist Church is on the left) turn left. Tödistrasse is the next turning on the left, just past the Tobel bus stop.
The entrance to our new flat is about 100 metres from the junction with Rütistrasse, on the left-hand side of the road.
The house number is number 9 and we are on the first floor.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
Arriving by bus
If you arrive by bus from Bubikon, get off the bus at Tobel and follow Tödiweg until you get to Tödistrasse. Our house is on the right.