How Much Red Wine Per Day?

I think 'a glass of wine per day' needs to be more clearly defined ... or so went last night's conversation with my running coach.

He feels sure glass refers to a normal wine glass ... me, I'm not so sure. I feel there is room for interpretation and as wine comes in a glass bottle and, if it's red wine, who is to say that more isn't better and glass isn't referring to a glass bottle of wine per day?

It was a conversation that got me through 1x1 minute, 1x2 and 3x3 minutes of running ... and it has to said, conversation while running is a milestone for this reading/writing sedentary chick.

An old friend wrote to me after reading my blog about running. 'Am most concerned about your mental state………………taken up running?????' And that's how shockingly surreal my decision to run is. Fiona and I have been friends since we were 13 so she knows me.

I experienced a small cultural dilemma this morning. Gert and I were riding the tram to the city and it became clear that one of us had stepped in a dog poo... the scent would waft up every now and again. So I asked what a Belgian would do, as my Kiwi-self would have been mortified and cleaned my boots at the next stop. My business-suited man looked over and said, 'They'd sit here', so we did.

He continued a short while later, laughing quietly as he said, 'And in this instance, no matter how much you love someone, you hope it is them with the problem'.

I saw my chance and told him that if it was my shoe that smelled so bad, I was going to stay on the tram and go home ... 'how could I even contemplate going to class with shoes that smelt so bad?' He looked pained, he knew I would do it. Sigh, in the city we discovered there was a little poo on his shoe, so I had 3 hours of clothing and apartment talk in Nederlands.

On the upside, one of my Moroccan classmates took me over to a superb cafe for coffee in the break ... the break? Perhaps I forgot to mention 'the break' in my war stories of Nederlands class. We get half an hour ... it makes immersion bearable and takes nothing from the my truth of '3 hours of Nederlands' ... it's a mere technicality.

I'm reading 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' on the tram these days ... better to wander in Greece as it's been trying to snow here today.