"...ever met a politician you can really trust...?"

...hmm...I can't actually think of one can you -although I'm sure Toti's grandfather was a sincere soul :-)...but if you read the entry below (a letter I received about Icelands resumption of commercial whaling) and if you read Toti's blog (which actually seems to offer facts about this abhorrent practice, rather than political sleaze) it may make it even harder to trust these people whom we hand over such power too..long live democracy? well, at least without sleazy political spin, thankyou very much....
....on a more mundane but no less emotional note (cos I am always full of positive emotion for my Best Boys) you may soon see EBB on Japanese billboards and hoardings..under the title "cutey boy photographed in Iceland!". You see, yesterday Eli B and I decided to go and walk to the very famous pond in the centre of RVK so we could feed the ducks ("quack-quack..brahh-bradhh!") ..we have bi-lingual ducks in our household I'll have you know ;-)...and as we crossed the road near the council offices, we became embroiled in a coachload of Japanese tourists heading for their next stop..EBB stood for ages just watching all these people milling around him and a very nice japanese gentleman noticed him watching everyone and absorbing the events unfolding around us and asked if he could take Elijah's photo...and there we stayed for about 10 minutes whilst the littlest Burton was very gracefully passed between a whole coachload of visitors taking his photo and being given lots and lots of cuddles and kisses!! Eli B handled himself very well (not afraid of the limelight this musician's son!) and the coach driver was very patient too!!! So another star is born in the Burton-Freysson household..but we knew that lready! :-)
On another positive note Jolyon went to see a lady yesterday to help him talk about his feelings and it clearly did him a world of good and he was very chilled and jolly for the rest of the day..he has to work on positve thinking and getting rid of bad thoughts with good ones and he will see her again after our trip to the UK. It was really good to see (and somewhat of a relief). I am glad I suggested this course of action..sometimes one just needs to talk to someone other than ones parents doesn't one?
Anyway, must be off now..if I was my gorgeous husband I would now whitter on, in the cutest terms ;-) about a possible break in blog-transmissions whilst we are vsiiting the UK..but then you, dear readers, are used to that from this side of the blogging fence...and even better, I will be seeing most of you next week so I can blog in person over girly currys and pub lunches! (sorry for the people I won't get to see :-(..hope to see you all soon?)...so blog off and have a great weekend all of you!!
lots of love and peace to you all, from Joanna,Toti,Jolyon and Elijah xxxxxx

"...the man protesteth too much..?"

Thank you for your correspondence concerning Icelands policy onwhaling. I wish to assure you that Iceland has no intention of catching any ofthe endangered species of whales, killed on a large scale by other whaling nations in the past. Icelands resumption of sustainable whaling only involves abundant stocks and is linked to Icelands overall policy ofsustainable utilisation of marine resources.
Several countries catch whales, most of them on a much bigger scale than Iceland. The biggest whaling countries among the members of theInternational Whaling Commission (IWC) are the United States, Russia,Norway, Japan and Greenland. The whaling operations practiced by all those countries, as well as Iceland, are sustainable and legal and in accordance with the rules of the IWC. Iceland fully appreciates the need for careful conservation of marine resources. Our economy depends on those resources as marine products constitute around 60% of Icelands revenue from exported goods and almost 40% of all Icelandic exported goods and services. Disruption of the ecological balance in Icelandic waters due to overfishing or other reasons could have catastrophic consequences for the livelihood of Icelanders. As you may know, Iceland was among the first countries in the world to extend its fishery limits to 200 nautical miles in the year 1975, in order to put an end to the uncontrolled fishing around Iceland by trawlers from other countries.
Since then Iceland has taken great care in maintaining balanced and sustainable fishing in Icelandic waters by enforcing an effective management system for various fish species including cod, herring and capelin. Iceland takes pride in its pioneering work in this field, which has been emulated by many countries in the world wishing to avoid unsustainable practices. The annual catch quotas for fishing and whaling are based on recommendations by scientists, who regularly monitor the status of the stocks, thus ensuring that the activity is sustainable.
For a number of years, Iceland has acknowledged the need forscientific research on whales to gain a better understanding of theinteraction between the different whale stocks and other marine species andthe role of whales in the marine ecosystem. Therefore, Iceland beganimplementing a research plan on minke whales in 2003. So far, 161 minkewhales have been taken and we look forward to the completion of theresearch plan in 2007 when the sample size of 200 minke whales has been obtained. Whaling quotas will take into account the number of whales that are taken in the implementation of the research plan, ensuring that thetotal number remains well below sustainable levels.
There are many different whale species and stocks in the world's oceans. Some are in a poor state and in need of protection. However, many whale populations are far from being threatened or endangered. The totalstock size of Central North-Atlantic minke whales, for example, is close to70,000 animals. Of those, around 43,600 live in Icelandic coastal waters.Fin whales in the Central North Atlantic number around 25,800 animals. Both estimates have been agreed by consensus by the Scientific Committees of theInternational Whaling Commission (IWC) and the North-Atlantic Marine MammalCommission (NAMMCO).
Icelands decision to resume sustainable whaling involves takes of 30 minke whales and nine fin whales, during the current fishing year which ends on 31 August 2007. This will bring the total catches of minke whales in Icelandic waters during this fishing year to 69, including the minke whales taken in completing the research plan. These takes equal less than0.2% of the number of minke whales in Icelandic coastal waters, an even smaller fraction of the total stock, and less than 0.04% of fin whales inthe Central North Atlantic. Both are considered to be close to pre-exploitation levels and estimated sustainable annual catch levels are 200 and 400 fin and minke whales respectively. As the catch limits now issued are much lower, the catches will not have a significant impact on whale stocks. A responsible management system will ensure that the catchquotas set will not be exceeded. The catches are clearly sustainable andtherefore consistent with the principle of sustainable development.
Icelands resumption of sustainable whaling is legal under international law. At the time of the re-entry of Iceland into the IWC,Iceland made a reservation with respect to the so-called moratorium on commercial whaling. As a part of that reservation, Iceland committed itself not to authorise commercial whaling before 2006 and thereafter not to authorise such whaling while progress was being made in negotiating theIWCs Revised Management Scheme (RMS), a management framework for commercial whaling.
At the IWCs Annual Meeting in 2005, Iceland went on record expressing its regret that no progress was being made in the RMS discussions. At this years IWC Annual Meeting, Icelands judgement of the situation was reconfirmed as the IWC generally agreed that talks on an RMS had reached an impasse. As a result, Icelands reservation has taken effect. Therefore, Iceland is no longer bound by the so-called moratoriumon commercial whaling. In this respect, Iceland is in the same position as other IWC members that are not bound by the moratorium.
Iceland was one of the first countries in the world to realize the importance of a conservation approach to whaling. As signs ofoverexploitation of whales emerged early in the last century, Iceland declared a ban on whaling for large whales around Iceland in 1915. Whaling was not resumed until 1948, except for limited catches 1935-1939. Strict rules and limitations were applied to whaling in Iceland from 1948 to 1985 when all commercial whaling was halted again following a decision by theIWC.
Iceland has been a leading advocate for international cooperation in ensuring sustainable use of living marine resources, including whales. This has been the position taken by Iceland within the IWC, based on theInternational Convention for the Regulation of Whaling from 1946. The stated role of the IWC, according to its founding Convention, is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possiblethe orderly development of the whaling industry.
I hope that this information will be useful to you in understandingIcelands position on sustainable whaling. You may rest assured, that the desire to ensure the conservation of the whale stocks around Iceland andelsewhere is fully shared by the Icelandic Government.
Sincerely yours,Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson
Ambassdor of Iceland

''..whale-watching..you'll be lucky...''

...its been a positive day for me mood-wise (I was even singing to the radio, which I havn't done in ages)but my mood gets seriously angry when I see photos of slaughtered whales all over the front of the 2 biggest Icelandic newspapers..if you don't know, Iceland has defied the IWC and starting commercial whale hunting and everywhere I look I see whalers and politicians hacking at bodies of these benign and beautiful creatures...its all money orientated and it just defies belief...the wonderfully intelligent and sensitive whales have been on this planet far longer than any of us humans and yet we continue to persecute them, so their dead flesh can go onto the plates of a few misguided tourists and a few more misguided Japanese businessmen. Everywhere one goes in RVK, one can see the sea and as I enjoyed a cycle this p.m, all I could envisage was blood and destruction...I have campaigned for animal welfare issues since I was first given a membership to the RSPCA for my 7th birthday, so now I have to say...don't visit Iceland on your holiday, hit the politicians where it hurts cos all they and the whalers care about are their bank balances, protest in whatever way you can...
...as you can see, this issue creates great emotional conflict inside me..I want to share this beautiful country with as many paople as possible but I want everyone to respect this beauty...dams destroying bird breeding grounds, men (and I use the term loosely) murdering whales with steel harpoons...is Iceland going backwards? We have been the unfortunate victims of such prejudice and short-sightedness, but at least we can speak up...a politician recently said Iceland is now the North Korea of the IWC membership committee...I think that says it all....
Protest Icelanders, Protest Potential Visitors...I, for one, want to share this land with my children and their children..we are part of this community...I don't want to leave my descendants a land of desolation and destruction, do you?
Peace and love to all, Joanna x

''..disease and desperation!...''

..its been a while..again, I know..but my body and psyche are getting to the end of their tether and have been telling me for a while to give it all up and go back home...so what happens?..well, I keep fighting it, suffer from chronic coughs and sore throats, fall prey to a nasty tummy bug, which only affected others for a few days and landed me in bed for a week...suffer from having poor quality sleep, little appetite, low mood etc etc...but I finally gave in and we are going home on the 3rd December and I can't wait!!!
It may be back to my mum and dads house and back to unemployment and our cat in quarantine and ridiculous removal costs but hey! its all relative and I will be near friends and family and have a Christmas 'do' to look forward to with 'the girls from the office'and we won't have to worry about how to ship the Christmas presents over and, hopefully, our boys will settle and our biggest bestest boy will be happy again...
Jolyon is still anxious re our return as he really wants to live in Mossley but I am sure once he is settled at his new school he will feel some sense of belonging again.I am looking forward to getiing back to work although this is proving a tad difficult as some Trusts will offer telephone interviews and some won't even change the day of a face-to-face interview but I keep applying and have a couple of interviews set up so far and hopefully at laest one in the pipeline. I'm even looking in the private sector and at staff nurse posts on the wards..a regular job is all I desire at the mo...just so we can get a mortgage... wish us both luck!!
Jolyon has just phoned and has had a really good day and Elijah and i are off to the intercultural centre this p.m so I can tell all the mums how to look after themselves..not sure I'm a great example of health at the moment but I can talk-the-talk even if I can't walk-the-walk at the moment;-)!!
So better go and get organised..its absolutely freezing here so can't wait to get back to the English autumn!
Love to you all from us all..hope to see you all soon..J,T,J and E xxxxxx

''...forgiveness and patience...''

...yesterday was an exceptionally difficult day for J...and for his principal, who basically had to speak to each member of her school and finally get to the bottom of what has ben happening between Jolyon and some of the girls in his class...its a long,lonely story but involves Jolyon being teased and picked upon and his responding in a manner which is quite alien to him...and as it transpired, it all was a bit more deep-seated than just classroom conflict and was spread throughout the school. So all the children got together and said their piece and apologised and today is (hopefully) the start of a period of forgiveness.
I don't envy J's principal for having to deal with this-we have been dealing with just one unhappy, angry young man and not an entire school-full and its wearing us down..but I do wonder if the more relaxed icelandic educational system is partly to blame for what J has experienced? There is very little supervision at breaktimes-when most of the conflict occurs and physical boundaries are not as strict..at J's first icelandic school there appeared to be little if no understanding of the bullying he was experiencing..at his school now at least the teachers have acknowledged the problem and started to address it..it doesn't always fill you with confidence though, when Jolyon tells you he has actually learnt to roller-skate in his extra icelandic lesson (really)..we have not explored that one any further!
We have to remind ourselves sometimes that J is back in the private school system..its still not strict enough for J-he needs firm, clear boundaries and that is why I made the decision years ago to keep him within the private schools system. Toti and i both agree that both boys will receive a better standard of education in the UK..for EBB too, the focus here seems to be on play (remember children don't go to primary school here until they are 6) which is fine at the moment but he is a bright little boy who picks things up in the blink of an eye..and that means that he too will soon need more of a challenge -one which the english education system (certainly in the schools we have used) achieves with a gold star...
...and as an aside...come to think of it, the ol' NHS ain't too bad either..remember when we were charged for my attending A+E?..well, yesterday T went to the dentist for one filling and repairs on 2 more..the cost??only an amalgam-free £220
:-0 ..neeedless to say I have cancelled my appointment for now...at least until after next payday!Makes your private dental care seem a bargain doesn't it Erika?!
Anyway..off to more lesson planning...love to one and all...love J and 3 boys xxxxxx

''...that monday-morning feeling on a sunday night...''

...and thats never a good thing...but thats how I feel on a sunday p.m...I start to get all anxious and unsettled and I know it is because our weekend family time is coming to an end and the next day everyone will go off to their respective work, school etc and I will be at home with little to stimulate or interest..
don't get me wrong..I do have things to do, such as lesson planning and sorting things for our move but its not the same as nursing and experiencing the challenge of an unknown day..I miss caring for people and am really looking forward to getting back to work and helping look after older relatives too..my aunt was moved into residential care in the summer and my uncle is struggling without her, not to mention my grandad who celebrated his 98th birthday last week ;-). It will be good to be around and do more and feel needed..I know Toti always says to me that I am needed but it doesn't quite feel the same..?
Jolyon is much more settled now and I worry sometimes that we have made the wrong decision but then I remind myself that part of the reason he is calmer (and he has told me this) is knowing that things won't be the same forever..he is looking forward to going to wakefield independent school and is already planning what extra-curricular clubs he is going to join. He is back into his football now and regularly plays out in his shorts and football socks..despite the increasingly autumnal weather..:-0
We drove out of town yesterday and enjoyed the countryside and felt loads better for it..we have packed a lot of things into this weekend..Toti helped with my lesson on saturday and it was good..I'm getting better but will still be relieved when I have survived ny first term..I will miss everyone and it has certainly taught me alot re teaching and young people..and yes, all the positive discipline stuff that Toti talks about on his website is good both in the classroom and at home :-)
Still applying for jobs..still house-hunting..still wondering what it will be like to live in Yorkshire again after all these years..still do get anxious re return to the UK but I try to keep things in perspective...by reminding myself how nice it will be to pick up a newspaper and actually understand it!!
Stay safe and happy everyone..hopefully we will see some of you very soon..lots of love from Joanna and boys xxxx