And so, we are back in autumn in England, and the gilt-edged invitations are hitting the doormat. Before you get excited (or start laughing) at the idea of me hoisting on tights and a black dress, let me say that these are mostly invitations for our boys to interview at schools. I have no doubt that having tea with the Queen requires less formality. Applying to new schools has been such a test of endurance and nerves that I actually set up a whole spreadsheet to make sense of it, an act of insane efficiency that sent Hanan wild with excitement. And so, with interviews approaching for two boys whose preferred mode of communication appears to be silent telepathy, I sat down with Luca over breakfast to slyly conduct a test interview. As he spat toast crumbs everywhere I started with an easy one.
‘What’s your favourite subject?’
He chewed impassively. ‘I dunno’
‘OK. If you had to choose a subject, which one would you pick?’ I responded, pleased with my savvy interviewing skills.
‘What’s a subject?’
I went off to get my own toast.
Back at the office, we are newly installed on the fourth floor (no lift) which means that after staggering up the stairs every morning, I can wait for my ears to pop and entertain myself by watching a series of student interns half my age panting their way in. By the time Hanan arrives, she has had plenty of thinking time on the stairs to come up with a whole new marketing strategy daily and a new To Do list for me. It’s only a matter of time before she installs an oxygen tank to deal with the altitude, and enlists a Sherpa to carry her Macbook.
And so to the Finnish Embassy for a film party this evening. When we first got the invitation we weren’t sure if it we were being set up for a practical joke. I mean, Finnish films aren’t that well known (hence the party I guess) and you name a famous Finn movie (except Finding Nemo). But we rocked up to Kensington Palace Gardens, which is very lovely and high security, and there was indeed an embassy and a party. The other invitees were companies like Disney and Xbox. Yes, it was them, and us, the makers of blockbusters I Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen. We got some brilliant advice on online marketing, so good in fact that Hanan dragged me away from the array of pickled and smoked fish and bundled me into the car so we could get home and make notes. Or blogs. But I’m going to see if I can get a tea break now. Chomping herring is thirsty work and I need to excuse myself from the vicinity before my wife realises I've been making up keywords with the word Finn in them...