I was living in Paris, where I shared an enormous communal bedroom with a bunch of strangers. However, I was not always completely friendless: one day PA, JB and CS from my first secondary school passed through as temporary residents. Two of them – JB and CS – were using the boarding house as a temporary stop-off on their way to work contracts in Philadelphia.

My main priority each morning was to dress appropriately for the changeable weather, preferably in clothes that fitted me. Unfortunately my over-indulgence over the summer meant that I struggled to get into much of what I had packed. I could feel the pitying looks of my room-mates as I discarded yet another piece of underwear that would not stretch around my fat back.

I also missed TPR terribly, but I stuck to my resolution to stay here for the rest of the year. This was the only sensible strategy if I were to find the peace and quiet required to finish my (second) PhD.