Barrels and Beers

That is the name of the pub we met at this evening.

After practically a whole day at work, we went out.  This was arranged by the colleague on the left of the picture, whom I'll call Latté.  Latté teaches Spanish, Guilford Guy in the middle teaches English, and Camille on the right teaches French.  Later on we were joined by Gina, the colleague I helped out, and Scaramouche, who teaches Dutch.  We stayed for two hours, and then Gina had to leave for her fitness evening, I had to return home (I'd gone home briefly to leave my laptop as I didn't want it in the car while I was in the bar) because AW had Tuesday evening live bridge elsewhere, Guilford Guy had to cycle back to his family, and so on.  I hadn't been 'out' with colleagues for more than three years, so this was something I didn't want to miss.  I am not a social person and am not fond of going out for drinks, but I feel so at home with this bunch of language teachers that I said 'yes' to the invite.  Starting Monday next week, Latté will be teaching a group of enthusiasts some basic and basic-plus Spanish.  I have joined the group and look forward to reviewing ancient knowledge.  I've also asked Camille if she's willing to help me out with French.  This won't be a problem at all, she said.  They are offering this help for free, which we all appreciate.  In return, I said I was willing to share some knowledge about the language in the old country.  Really, though, this is not about owing anyone anything besides plain, decent respect and courtesy.

Went to work, worked, went back home, went out, and back again.  Having a quiet evening now, hoping the vodka I polished off at the bar will persuade me to have an early night so that I can wake up in time for tomorrow's whole-day seminar.