A few answers!

Hi everyone,

Andrew has promised to do this week's staff blog, but I just thought I'd slip in a few quick answers before he posts.

Thank you, as ever, for all your comments.

Tanya - Elena has promised to try and get rid of Will's photo and put mine up instead - I don't think that will be an improvement though!

Habooba - thank you for checking on the origin of the word toboggan - I'd never thought about it before. Scouts and Guides meet in all sorts of different places. Some meet in school buildings, some in church halls (but you don't have to be a Christian to be a Scout or Guide), some meet in village halls and some (particularly Scouts) have their own buildings, usually called a "Scout Hut".

Pary - at the 蜜芽传媒 we get 25 days paid holiday each year (if we work 5 days a week) and I think that's about average for workers in England. In addition we get public holidays and at the 蜜芽传媒 we get an extra day at Christmas. Legally workers are entitled to 24 days holiday per year - but they are not legally entitled to public holidays. Of course, not everyone actually goes away for 25 days! Most people go away for around 10 - 15 days a year - the rest of their leave is spent at home - especially around Christmas.

Marianna - I'm glad my photos brought back some memories. Digital cameras have certainly made it easier to share photos - I think I took around 300 during the trip, but quite a lot of them will end up being deleted. Here's one just for you:




Cristina - the ice-cream really was yummy: lots of vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, fruit and meringue.... The cheese fondue was nice, but, to tell you the truth, was a bit boring after a while! I've had chocolate fondue once - yummy, but very naughty!

Filippo - yes, I did bring chocolate back from Switzerland...bars and bars and bars of it- but it wasn't all for me, honest! As I'm writing this, we have the TV on in the office, watching the Olympics. Team GB has done amazingly well so far, and it has just been announced that in October there will be a special parade for the team through the streets of London. I'm also please Rafa won the gold medal - are you?

Hanan - funny you should mention Egypt - I'm hoping to visit later on this year on a business trip. While I'm there, I'm hoping to visit Alexandria, because my grandfather's name is on a memorial there.

Maryam - yes, we all have to pay for the trip. Some of money is paid by the parents and leaders. They started to pay nearly 2 years ago, and each month paid a bit towards the trip. In addition we had to do a lot of fund raising - our aim was to raise 拢1,000 towards the trip. To raise this money we had 2 quiz evenings (people buy tickets to come and take part in a quiz); we baked cakes and collected old books and sold them. However, our most successful event was just before last Christmas. We went to our local supermarket and helped shoppers pack their bags at the tills. The leaders stood with buckets near the exit to the supermarket and people put in coins (and sometimes notes!). The money we collected was shared between our trip and a local hospice that cares for sick people and children. We were also really lucky and got a grant from the - a charity which helps young people in London. So you see, we had to work hard to go on the trip.

I'm off now to go and encourage Andrew to start writing! I'll leave you with a last taste of Switzerland. This is a carved tree stump in Wilderswil - I would have loved to take it home with me....





Take care

Carrie

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