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I was born in Sussex, just before England won some small football match, growing up in Newick, a small village in the south east of England, about 20kms from Brighton. Mum, a primary school teacher and Dad, a university lecturer in Chemistry, have since retired to France where they are very happy. When I was nine years old, we lived in British Columbia, Canada for a year. After leaving school, I worked driving a van around before feeling ready to go to Aberdeen University to meet lots of new friends and learn about living in a big city, as well as to occasionally study English and History of Art. At this time my parents moved abroad, so I got to travel to the Far East a few times. Once I'd paid off my debts (by working for the Royal Mail delivering parcels) I moved to Berlin in 1991 with a few marks, a friend to stay with, an old Land Rover full of my possessions, but no knowledge of the language or continental culture! Well I obviously liked it as I have stayed here ever since and passed the time working in a café, assembling Ikea furniture, and doing other jobs to survive, as well as later, when the German had improved, studying translation and interpreting. A few years ago, I twice went to Turkey to teach English in Izmir. I now spend most of my time teaching English both privately and at the VHS, an adult education centre, as well as translating. This has left no time for marriage, but I've got four wonderful nieces in France and Australia. I've been a vegan for over 12 years and love cooking for friends, who seem to enjoy it. I am most passionate about music, and anything old with an engine, especially cars and motorbikes, which I seem to have acquired a few of and they are the source of a lot of jokes by so-called friends! But even though I've got a wonderful flat and lots of beautiful things, it's those friends I've made over the years that bring me the most happiness (as well as a few grey hairs!). What's with the rock band? It was one of the first things I was asked in Berlin, by a taxi driver. But it was not for the last time! And no I'm not, and I'm just starting to learn to play the guitar leaning against the wall in the flat, but I used to be able to play some Beethoven on the piano. And the birthday voucher for singing lessons is somewhere in the flat!
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