So there I was enjoying the holiday when the news from Los Angeles came through. I was surprised by how I felt: shocked but not really that shocked. What shocked me most was the fact that I felt genuinely…. sad. My head had told me that there was no way he was gonna be able to do the fifty gigs at the O2, but my heart had hoped he could. On a human level,I hoped that there would be redemption for him: as, I suppose, we all hope that each one  of us, no matter how far we’ve fallen, can at some point and in some way be redeemed. But now that there was no chance of that. He was dead and if I’m to be honest here, I think I may have cried a little: but not, and it shames me to admit it, for him, but for me, for life and how fleeting it really is.

The next morning I realised that the only one of his songs I had on my iPod was Human Nature, so along with half the world (if the download charts are any indicator) I downloaded a compilation and found both Ben and, in particular, Man in the Mirror peculiarly affecting. My sister Fiona is over from Chicago and we were having lunch when it happened…..

By it I mean the first jokes started popping up in our phone text inboxes.

Why is it that every time there is any disaster or shocking death some mean-spirited cyberjester disseminates their cruel ‘wit’ before the bodies are even cold on the slab? Who is it? is it one person? Is it an evil collective? What is their problem?

Before any justifiable accusations of rank hypocrisy are levelled at me I must rush to admit that I’m the first person to enjoy an outre joke. Humour is a great mirror and in times of adversity it is, for me at least, an unsurpassable coping mechanism. But I also feel that for humour to be great it should be tempered with taste and, in cases like this, just a little bit of compassion. Otherwise it’s just hateful. And if you say why? why? I’ll tell you that is Human Nature.

Mike

One of the hardest elements of learning English in London is getting rid of, or at least softening, your accent and I like to focus on this in my Advanced classes. One of the ways students can do this is by noticing that small words , like prepositions and auxiliaries receive no emphasis and are almost ,’Eaten,’ in natural speech. In my English classes in Shepherd’s Bush, I sometimes ask students to notice how this happens in songs and in one such lesson this week , we had one of those moments that make this job so brilliant.

The song I chose to use was ,’One day like this,’ by Elbow. I’ve always liked the band; they’re the typical sort of combo that I love: grumpy (but only because they’re brokenhearted!) men from the North of England with guitars and a good ear for a tune. Another reason I’m a fan is the fact that although they have never been particularly successful or made much money, they STILL refused to accept a pile of cash to let a bread company use this song in a television ad. How refreshing in an age where ex-heroes like Ringo Starr and Iggy Pop are flogging insurance! When Elbow won the Mercury prize last year, the assembled rock fraternity, a usually notoriously cliquey and snide bunch, rose as one to applaud them. There was a lot of love in the room for Elbow.

Back in our classroom; After we’d gone through the lyrics, isolated the vocab and predicted which words would be pronounced with emphasis and which would not, we turned off the light and drew the blinds. Then, as we all giggled at the strangeness of being in class, but in darkness, I pressed play….

The song is one of those instant classics that just makes you happy to listen to it and it has an amazing singout finish (Like in Hey Jude) repeating the same lines over and over again.

“Throw those curtains wide

One day like this a year’d see me right.”

As this life-affirming message swirled around the class, we very slowly raised the blinds, thus allowing an almost divine wave of pale winter sunshine to fill the room. Everyone’s faces broke into big silly smiles, the bell rang and although the magic had only lasted a few seconds, we had all felt it, though it was impossible to explain. Ok, it was corny, ok, it was cheesy and ok, it was sad drama-queenery of the most vain and self-indulgent kind. It was also great, though.

Mike

Every single person that you meet in this city will stay with you forever, no matter how close you are, every slightest detail will be remembered: a stupid joke, a funny comment or even the strange way that some people cook rice over here (why did I mention this?).

I went for a stroll around my neighbourhood yesterday. I could still remember my friend saying: “You are gonna love this place, it’s SO you!” She was right, I am completely in love with this area. To tell you the truth, I moved here by accident, one week later I found out that this was the place that my friend constantly talked about.

Last week was a tough week. The same friend who gave me tips about places to live, who has been my ally through the daily battle of living here as a student, is about to leave me. I do not want to sound over-sentimental here, she is not dying (knock, knock, knock!) or anything, she is just moving to a different school and we are not going to be able to study together anymore (an incomprehensible power, beyond human nature has lead her to a divergent path). After so long sharing the same space, having fun and wanting to kill each other, this change will probably make me feel as if I no longer belong to that place.

I guess this is life, or at least, it is what people say. Sometimes you will find some people who, despite the cultural differences, will amazingly become part of you and share your hopes and disbeliefs, someone that can be as hopeless as you are. The scariest thing is that, being from different parts of the world, you may not be able to see these friends ever again in your life.

Sorry for being so pessimist, I AM going to mention that after all, every good or bad moment that you spend with your friends is very precious and this is what friendship is about. Last week was just a tough one.

Yumi/ Japan

English UK has today sent out to all its 376 members a 10-page note of interpretation and guidance on the new visa system and on applying to be on the Register of Sponsors.

Tony Millns, English UK’s chief executive, said: “Only language centres accredited by an approved accrediting body such as Accreditation UK can apply to be on the Register of Sponsors. And only organisations on the Register can issue a ‘confirmation of acceptance for studies’, a unique reference number which students must have to apply for a full student visa. So non-accredited centres will no longer be able to enrol student who need visas next year. This is good news for the accredited English language sector, which brings more than 350,000 students to the UK each year to learn English, generating around £1.5 billion in foreign earnings for the country. The low-quality and sometimes frankly bogus non-accredited colleges damage the reputation of the UK for providing a quality education, and that reputation is our key selling point abroad. There are many details of the system to be sorted out before it comes into operation, but we are pleased to have been closely involved by the Home Office in the design of the system and we will continue to work with the Home Office and the UK Border Agency on how it will be implemented over the next seven to eight months.”