A bit of this and that

Well, this will be a post with a little bit of everything. Since I haven’t written in quite a while there is a lot to catch up on.

Just after my last post I enjoyed a visit from my parents and brother over the May half term break. My parents and I took a trip up to Scotland and saw Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Isle of Skye. We went on an organized tour through Haggis Tours (would definitely recommend them if you’re headed for Scotland) for our first three days in Scotland and it was a blast! Our tour guides, Colin and Kenny, were absolutely amazing, and the scenery on Skye and through the Highlands was breathtaking. After our tour we headed back towards London, stopping for a night in Windermere. The weather was amazing the whole time we were away, and it hasn’t really gone downhill since then. It’s been really hot here in London lately, with record breaking temperatures in the +30°C range for days on end. I can’t exactly complain about the occasional day without work when I get to hang out in the sunshine all day!

In terms of work, there have been some changes since my last post, but I’m getting fairly consistent work, so I can’t complain. As can be the nature of supply teaching, my time at the SEN school ended in mid June. I’m back to daily supply for the rest of the school year, but recently I’ve been teaching one of my off-sight students from the SEN school a couple days each week. It’s hard to believe that there are only a couple weeks left of the school year here!

My plans for the summer include a trip to Croatia with my brother for a week in August, sailing through the islands. Then I’m hoping to swing over to Italy for a few days on my way back to London after Croatia. After that I’ll be back in Canada for the last bit of August and the first part of September.

In some ways I can’t believe that this school year is almost over. Time seems to have flown by since I’ve been here, but at the same time I feel like I’ve fit so much into this year. Sometimes I can’t believe the places I’ve travelled to and the sights I’ve seen. I’ve also met some great people, and continue to meet new friends here in London. I can’t wait to do it all again next year!

There have been some great events here in London throughout the spring and summer. London is such a busy city, there is always something going on! In general, just spending time down by Leicester Square or Trafalgar Square on a weekend, you are sure to come across something fun and interesting. Here are some pictures of this and that from spring and summer 2009. Enjoy!

Mom and I on Westminster Bridge


Family picture in Scotland. Foggy Day 1 on Haggis tour.


Pingu at West End Live in Leicester Square


Stormtroopers at Leicester Square


Pub night for Alexandra and my birthdays


Trafalgar Square: Impromptu gathering for Michael Jackson


Trafalgar Square: London Pride celebration; cast of Priscilla performing

The New School

This week was my first full week in my new full-time position at an SEN school here in London. I had a great week and I think I'm going to enjoy working at this school. I'm working one on one, or sometimes two on one, with students who for various reasons can't be educated at present in the mainstream school system. I think the part I like the most about this position, compared with the supply work I'd been doing previously, is that I actually get to know the students I'm working with. My first week has been filled with interesting challenges of putting together lessons that will work for the individuals I'm working with. It's nice to be using more of the skills I learned in university and teaching practica in the planning I'm doing now.

In other news, there is only one more week of work left until the half-term break! This half-term is particularly exciting, as my parents and brother are coming to London to see me and do some traveling together. I can't wait to get out of London and do some more exploring!

Here are some pictures of places I've seen recently:

Canterbury Cathedral

Leeds Castle

Springtime in London (Regent's Park)

Six month mark

It’s official: as of Thursday I passed the six month mark of living here in London. And I am looking forward to the next six, and however many more there may be. It’s funny to think that at this point of my Bolivia experience I was heading back to Canada, and feeling fairly ready to be going home. I can’t say I’m feeling that way about London yet.

Looking back on my time in London so far I can say that it started out a bit rough, but the city has really grown on me. I think the biggest adjustment at first was learning to live downtown in a big city. Coming from my small neighbourhood in Victoria, Central London is a busy and fast-paced place and I live right in the middle of this. It was overwhelming at first, but the more I got to know the city I was able to find places outside of the central core where I could enjoy the city without quite so much of the noise of downtown. I have to say, though, that I wouldn’t trade where I live at this point. Being so central is a real bonus when it comes to getting around for work, and for enjoying the night life on the weekends.

I suppose there was a certain novelty at first to being able to say that I live in London, England, and still is to some extent. Living in any foreign and exotic locale is exciting. However, for the most part my life here has been just that, real life. Of course, weekend trips to Paris or Ireland and Christmas in Spain are definite perks to living in the UK. Most of the time, though, I spend my week working and my weekends relaxing and enjoying the city. Real life in London.

Well, here’s to the next six months!

Land of the Shamrocks

This week marks the first week back from the Easter break. I'm back at work now, but I thought I would share my travels from the break. During the first week of my holiday I spontaneously booked a trip to Ireland. I went on a three day tour of the south coast of Ireland with Shamrocker Tours (for anyone who is thinking about going to Ireland, I would definitely recommend Shamrocker). The tour covered Dubin, Killarney, Doolin and everything in between. I was somewhat sleep deprived for most of the trip, as I chose to travel to and from Dublin overnight on the train and ferry. It only took about ten hours getting up there, but it took over twelve hours getting back to London because of waiting times for connecting trains.

The weather was grey and cloudy when we started our tour last Friday morning, but by the afternoon the clouds were gone and we had sunny skies and warm weather for the rest of the weekend. I even got a sunburn while wandering around on the second day of the tour! Amazing weather for this part of the world!

On day one we started in Dublin and drove to the Rock of Cashel. The weather was still cloudy at this point, but we walked around and took some pictures of the castle. We then went to Blarney Castle, which you will see a picture of below, and kissed the Blarney Stone. They have quite a system set up to hang you upside-down so you can kiss the stone properly! It was an experience, for sure. Next, we went spelunking at the Mitchelstown Caves. The caves were huge and very impressive, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. By supper time we were moving on to Killarney to check into our hostel. A few of us bought food at a convenience store and had a picnic dinner in Killarney National Park. The weather was perfect for a picnic, but as the sun started to go down, the bugs started to come out. So we left and headed back to the hostel. Later that evening, our tour guide had arranged for us to see a local storyteller at a nearby pub. The storyteller was an interesting guy with a talent for drinking and talking. I think he downed about four pints of Guinness and two whiskeys during the hour long show. At the pub I had my first pint of Guinness in Ireland. I had tried Guinness at home before and wasn't entirely impressed, but I have to say it tasted a lot better in Ireland. I seemed to be the only beer drinker of the female variety on the tour, so I ended up finishing a few of the other girls' half pints as well. After the storyteller we went to a local disco where a live band was playing, before heading back to the hostel for the night.

Day two started at 8:30am, leaving the hostel and heading out for a day of amazing scenery. In the morning we drove along the Dingle peninsula. We stopped at a beach and hiked down to the sand to enjoy the sun for a bit before moving on the most westerly point of Europe. It was incredible looking out over the Atlantic Ocean with nothing between us and North America except a whole bunch of water. And again, the weather was spectacular for our day of scenery. On day two we stopped for lunch in the down of Dingle, where I tried a deep fried Mars bar at one of the local pubs. So good! Mmm, nutritious lunch! (just joking, I went to the grocery store and got my real lunch after) In the afternoon we took a ferry ride across the River Shannon and drove to the Cliffs of Moher. These impressive cliffs were also used to film the Cliffs of Insanity for The Princess Bride. As day two drew nearer to its end, we drove into the little town of Doolin. And I do mean 'little'. Doolin has one main road; our hostel was at one end of it, and the pubs were in the middle of it. The group of us went to a little pub called McGann's for dinner and stayed to listen to an Irish music group who played in the evening. On our way to the pub we met a friend. As we were walking along the road a very friendly dog, named Penny as her collar suggested, came along and laid down right in the middle of the road in front of us. We thought this was kind of odd. After we had coaxed her out of the middle of the road, she followed us along to the pub. Penny was very cute and made me miss my own dog like crazy!

By day number three I think we were all a little tired. We spent part of the morning driving through the Burren, which is a desolate rocky landscape in County Clare. It was quite cold and cloudy in the early morning, which added to the feeling of this vast grey landscape. In the early afternoon we came to the Clonmacnoise monastery along the River Shannon. The sun had come out again and it was a beautiful afternoon to wander around the grounds and look at the remaining buildings and tombs. Our final stop of the tour was at Locke's whiskey distillery for a tour and whiskey tasting.

Altogether, I had an amazing time in Ireland and I hope to go back again for a tour of the rest of Ireland soon.

Blarney Castle: at the top is the Blarney Stone which I kissed... not too sure if I've got the gift of the gab now.

Me at the most westerly point of Europe, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.

Me in front of the Cliffs of Moher (aka the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride).

This is Penny, a very friendly dog who followed us around Doolin on our way to the pub for dinner.

Looking up the road in Doolin. The building at the top of the hill is a church, which was built on the former site of the gallows in the town. It's no wonder Doolin is known as the most haunted town in Ireland.

At the Clonmacnoise monastery.

Ponderings and Pictures

I'm a little late with the Paris pictures, I know. Better late than never. Below are a selection of pictures from my trip to Paris in February during the half term break.
Now for the ponderings. I had a year 4 class for all of this last week. They were a fairly well behaved class compared with others I've had of that same year level. Still, one thing stuck out to me, and has in general about the older primary kids. They seem to be noticeably lacking in personal problem solving skills. Now, I'm not just picking on this class in particular, I have encountered this in other classes of the same age group. However, this week this phenomenon seemed a little more exaggerated than usual. Case in point: Early on in the week, I would be asking questions about the lesson we were working on and when I'd call on someone to answer, more often than not I would get some variation of, "Miss, s/he hit/poured water on/kicked/swore at/talked to/pushed me!" Kind of made me wonder if anyone was actually listening to the questions. It got to the point where when I called on someone to answer a question I would first ask, "Is this an answer to the question or are you going to complain about something?" A real time saver was simply starting off question time by asking for anyone who had their hand up to complain to put it down; generally, about half the hands went down.
With the girls there was also an interesting addition to the complaining. Again, during a lesson a hand would go up. Thinking it was a question about what we were actually working on I would call on them and get, "Miss, she said she's not my friend!" My thought: "Well, we're right in the middle of a lesson, but obviously your having some sort of pre-teen friendship crisis, so we should probably just drop everything and focus on that for now" (sorry if your computer screen is damp, that's just the sarcasm dripping through).
Overall, it was a good week, but I did feel slightly frustrated at times that we couldn't get through a whole lesson without the kids expecting me to solve some fairly simple problem. I don't seem to recall having these same kind of issues in Canada, and I'm still not entirely sure what the difference is. It seems to vary slightly from class to class here, so I would guess that the teachers, to varying degrees, enable this behaviour. Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely don't believe that kids shouldn't come to their teacher with legitimate issues, but I think kids need to be taught how to deal with these everyday kind of problems at some point before they get to year 4 and can't get through a whole lesson.
Well, that was the pondering, and now, the pictures. Enjoy:

Does it really need a caption?

View from the top

Glass pyramids at the Louvre

'Climbing' the pyramid (and stepping on some unfortunate person)

The National Opera House

Inside the opera house (pictures don't do it justice... stunning)

The Arc de Triumph

Inside Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Flying buttresses and all

Another photo update

So, I spent two days in Paris this week, but before I can post pictures of that trip I must fill in the gap between Spain and now. Here are some pictures of January and February in London:

Changing of the guards at Windsor Castle.

St. George's Cathedral at Windsor

Leah's birthday celebration

Snowday in London. January 2nd and 3rd

Fountain at Regent's Park

Christmas Abroad

The holidays are officially over and now I'm just getting back into the swing of work. My Christmas holiday started off a little bumpy as I ended up in the hospital for the first weekend of the break. I am convinced now, after ending up in the hospital here and in Bolivia, while living there, that I must be cursed to experience the hospital systems of each new country I live in. I am also convinced that they have much heartier flu bugs over here in England than we do in Canada. Since I've been in England I think I was only actually healthy for the first week. Before the break I was feeling particularly unwell, and not having a GP here yet I went to the A&E (Accident and Emergency) at the hospital just up the street. The nurse I saw first said I had a fever, gave me some painkillers and sent me back out into the waiting room until a doctor was available. The doctor said I had a fever and he wanted to do some blood tests. At this point Leah was nice enough to come to the hospital to hang out with me whilst I was poked with needles. After several tests came back inconclusive, the doctor decided to call in the Infectious and Tropical diseases doctor, since I had recently moved from the infectious and tropical country of Canada. After being asked a bizillion questions and having more blood taken, I was admitted to the hospital for further observation until my fever went down. This all happened on the Friday that started off the break. Fast-forward to Sunday and I'm still in the hospital, and rather ticked off that no one had been able to tell me anything about my test results or when I would be getting out of there. I must say, though, that I was very grateful for Leah, Nicole, and Megan who visited me in my interesting little corner of the inpatient ward throughout the weekend. Finally on Sunday, I had a visit from a doctor who could actually tell me something about my test results. It turned out that all my tests came back fine and that I most likely had a virus. It also turned out that I should have been released as soon as those results came back, but through some communication error I had been kept much longer than needed. So I was finally released, but not before this doctor emphatically told me I needed to go home and rest... and quit my job as a primary teacher! And he was totally serious. "No one should have to work with children," I believe were his exact words. Apparently he wasn't fond of children and their germ spreading abilities.
So I was out of the hospital and just in time to get ready for my trip to Spain that Tuesday. All packed up and ready to go, Leah and I arrived in Spain after a slightly painful flight due to lack of ear-poppage. Once on the ground in sunny Alicante I realized just how accustomed I had become to the dreary skies of London. The sun was fabulous! After a short bus ride into town we set out to find out hotel, which we had booked online. It turned out to be much more of a hostel, with no heat, which proved interesting at night (pictures to come). But we had our own room that we could lock, and we spent most of our time outside. Alicante is right on the ocean, and I was surprised at how much I missed walking on the beach or watching boats out on the water. The climate definitely wasn't as warm as I'd expected. During the day it got up around 17 degrees, maybe a little warmer. But at night it felt a lot colder than the 10 or 12 degrees displayed on the sign board in town. We spent a lot of our time roaming the streets of Alicante, shopping and eating at restaurants. One day we went up to a castle on a hill overlooking the city. The castle had been there for centuries without ever being overtaken. It was impressive and the views were absolutely amazing. After five days in Alicante we headed back to London, which surprisingly was sporting a sunny sky as well when we arrived.
For New Years Eve I went out to a little pub near Little Venice with Leah and Alexandra. Upon arrival we found out there was a Rocky Horror Picture Show theme to the night, which we quickly realized only the staff had observed. We were there with a party of about 20 people, along with several other large parties, in a rather small pub. Suffice it to say there wasn't much room to be had in there by the time midnight came around. We toasted, we danced, and we rang in the new year in London.
2009, a brand new year filled will all sorts of possibilities here in London.



Walking on the beautiful beach in Alicante

One of the buildings at Castillo de Santa Barbara

View of the beach from the castle on top of the mountain

Enjoying churros in our cozy little hostel room

Our sleeping attire for the chilly nights in Alicante

Palm trees in one of the many squares in Alicante