Linda Liebster

There are few things that can make me feel happier than Irish pork sausages and Heinz beans on a snowy morning in Latvia. However, being nominated for a Liebster blogging award is one of them!

So a big thank you to http://eastraveller.wordpress.com/ (who is definitely not my mother) for the nomination! It seems the done thing is to answer 11 questions, write 11 things about myself and then share the love. So here goes…

1. What is the quality that you feel most proud of?

I’m full of…wit.

2. If you could choose one superpower, what would it be?

The ability to change temperatures from -30 to +30.

3. If the story of “Indecent Proposal” ever happens to you, what would you do?

I’m more of a Human Centipede girl myself.

4. What is your most embarrassing moment?

I was once a majorette (embarrassing enough you would think) and marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin. I dropped my baton. Cue cries of ‘Ye dropped yer baton missis’ from the baying crowd of drunk Dubs, as I scrabbled about, medals dangling, frilly knickers on view, trying to pick it up and act like nothing had happened.

5. Is there anything you can’t do anymore but you wish you could? What is it?

Earn Irish wages.

6. What is the title of the last book you read?

The Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly.

7. What is the first adjective you would think of when anyone asks you about China?

Chinese.

8. What is your favourite sport?

Is pool a sport?

9. What do you want to ask if you ever meet a great fortuneteller?

I went to one before. As she licked the chicken grease off her dirty fingers, she told me that I would have 3 careers in my lifetime. I’m now on number 2 so I’d like to know what number 3 will be…

10. What is your biggest superstition?

If I wear sunglasses instead of a hat in April, it will snow.

11. What do you do when you have some “ME time”?

Have a power nap.

11 things about me:

1. I’m very short. I have almost fallen into the freezer in my local supermarket several times while trying to reach for something in the back – usually a pizza.

2. Despite my small stature, I have a laugh that can travel through walls, floors, ceilings, and is recognisable across a noisy, crowded bar – even if you can’t see me, you’ll know I’m there.

3. I used to play the blues harmonica but stopped when I moved to Eastern Europe. There are enough blues here without me adding to them.

4. I’ve lived in France (1 year during university), Australia and New Zealand (1 year each on working holiday visas), Poland (9 months – that was enough) and now Latvia (almost 3 years…).

5. I’ve added the words bored, revenge, weapon, envy, surprise, body, trouble and affair to my Latvian vocabulary, yet still can’t string a normal sentence together.

6. I’m finding it hard to write 11 things about myself. Maybe I’m a really dull person.

7. On dark wintry mornings, I like to amuse myself by playing the ‘hat or hair’ challenge. This involves picking out some poor soul in the misty distance with an ‘interestingly’ shaped head. Then you have to decide (before they reach you) if the furry mass on top of their head is a hat or their hair. Often with surprising results. Another variation is ‘man or woman’.

8. The search terms that lead people to my blog tickle me. My current favourites are ‘I love rubber glove sex’ and ‘cold head in Latvian’. A link to my blog was also posted on a Latvian porn site.

9. My new favourite description is ‘a face sour enough to shame a lemon’, courtesy of the book mentioned above, and quite appropriate to my current situation.

10.  There are 7,175 Latvian Lindas in Latvia. But still only one Irish one. (I imagine there will be zero Irish Lindas here soon if the Latvian Tourist Board finds me.)

11. This has taken me a ridiculously long time to write.

So now to pass the torch – I nominate Diary of Kat the Expat – http://kathexpat.wordpress.com/, who I’m now living vicariously through, and my favourite black sheep – http://englishmaninitaly.wordpress.com/. Happy Liebstering!

Thanks again to East Traveller for the nomination and to everyone who continues to read (and seemingly enjoy) my ramblings!