Both Jaclyn and my Dad scolded me for not updating my blog enough.
Well, the truth is... nothing exciting has happened really! I have had a cold for the past two weeks (slightly getting over it now --- which I am solely contributing to the fact that I fixed my good luck whale necklace that had been broken since the night before I got pneumonia) and a lot of my classes that I've been teaching have been hellish yr 5s. Two sundays ago, Monica Bao and i went to the Imperial War Museum (toured the WWI, WWII, and Holocaust exhibits) and I really found that interesting and enjoyable. That was my kind of history! And then on Monday night, I went to a pub quiz night at one of our locals (The Fox and Firkin) with Monica, Chris (he got here on Sunday), Bao, Steve Topp and his gf Karen. Btw, I would like to shout a internet CONGRATULATIONS to Steve and Karen who are expecting their first child! Crazy! The pub quiz was fun but very UK-centric and therefore we came in dead last (our name was "and in last place..." because we figured as much). I hope to continue going back there though, I really enjoyed it! The trivia / Jeopardy dork in me loved it!!
But now.... the next 16 days.... they will not be boring. There WILL be posts (hopefully every other day at least!) because..... I AM FINALLY GETTING SOME TRAVELING DONE! I'm going to Italy and Eastern Europe! In like 10 minutes, I'm heading over to the hotel airport (we grabbed a room for the night because our plane ride is freaking at 6 am). I'm going with six other girls, two of whom (lisa and kristin) I know from Mac. Monica and Chris are meeting up with us in Rome on Tuesday. Our plan of attack for Italy is:
Pisa -> Florence -> San Gimignano -> Venice -> Murano/Burano Islands -> Rome -> Vatican city -> Naples -> The Amalfi Coast!
Then on the 10th, Lisa and I are saying bye to everyone else, hopping on a plane and heading to Eastern Europe!
Budapest, Hungry -> Vienna, Austria -> Bratislava, Slovakia -> LONDON!
Should be a whirlwind 16 days! See you in Italy!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Cat-pocalypse!
I just woke up to the Cat-pocalypse.
I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden I woke up to cats fighting very loudly. I was confused and then more than a little freaked out. The noises dulled a bit so I opened my door and went to the stairs. I turned on the light and saw fur everywhere. Now I'm sufficiently freaked out, no one else is moving around in this house and I begin to feel like I'm in some sort of bizarre nightmare. So I take my cell and text everyone in my house to see if they heard it too. Monica replied back, but understandably refused to open the door because it had happened right outside her bedroom. She eventually comes out and we marvel how in the heck Jonnie and Allen didn't wake up or get my texts too. I also tell her we need to check to see if Fred is hurt in the dining room / kitchen.
Armed with a flashlight (woo, what a great weapon... Monica and I decided we're going to each take one of Jonnie's golf clubs and keep it beside our beds in the future), we creep along the side of the hall to the dining room and I reach in and flick on the light. Nothing. So we move towards the kitchen (where the cat door is) and flick on the light. Nothing. No more fur here or in the dining room either. Monica is the worst horror movie investigator ever, she was like two feet behind me the whole time. lol.
By this time, Allen comes downstairs. He got my text but did not hear the cat's fighting. We wait around in the kitchen for about 10 minutes to see if Fred returns. He doesn't. We then start to joke about how the ghetto life of Lewisham is now getting to the cats as Fred has to protect his crib from the other cracker cats. We all retire to our rooms, but I am still WIDE awake (its now 4:30 am). I'm really worried about Fred. I hope he comes home soon and is not too hurt. :(
UPDATE: Fred got home at 5:30 and seemed alright, except when I woke up today there were splotches of blood on my covers from him and he's limping. Poor guy. At least I have a reason to buy my "own" new duvet covers....
I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden I woke up to cats fighting very loudly. I was confused and then more than a little freaked out. The noises dulled a bit so I opened my door and went to the stairs. I turned on the light and saw fur everywhere. Now I'm sufficiently freaked out, no one else is moving around in this house and I begin to feel like I'm in some sort of bizarre nightmare. So I take my cell and text everyone in my house to see if they heard it too. Monica replied back, but understandably refused to open the door because it had happened right outside her bedroom. She eventually comes out and we marvel how in the heck Jonnie and Allen didn't wake up or get my texts too. I also tell her we need to check to see if Fred is hurt in the dining room / kitchen.
Armed with a flashlight (woo, what a great weapon... Monica and I decided we're going to each take one of Jonnie's golf clubs and keep it beside our beds in the future), we creep along the side of the hall to the dining room and I reach in and flick on the light. Nothing. So we move towards the kitchen (where the cat door is) and flick on the light. Nothing. No more fur here or in the dining room either. Monica is the worst horror movie investigator ever, she was like two feet behind me the whole time. lol.
By this time, Allen comes downstairs. He got my text but did not hear the cat's fighting. We wait around in the kitchen for about 10 minutes to see if Fred returns. He doesn't. We then start to joke about how the ghetto life of Lewisham is now getting to the cats as Fred has to protect his crib from the other cracker cats. We all retire to our rooms, but I am still WIDE awake (its now 4:30 am). I'm really worried about Fred. I hope he comes home soon and is not too hurt. :(
UPDATE: Fred got home at 5:30 and seemed alright, except when I woke up today there were splotches of blood on my covers from him and he's limping. Poor guy. At least I have a reason to buy my "own" new duvet covers....
I love going to the pictures....
'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimbel in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
And so begins the Jaberwocky... a poem from Lewis Carrol's Alice Through the Looking Glass and one that we studied back in Grade 11 quite extensively as I recall. I went and saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland tonight and now I cannot get that poem out of my head!
Cinemas in London are much different than the multi-plex cinemas back home. For one thing, when you buy your tickets (your very EXPENSIVE tickets... £12.40 this time, and £14.50 when we saw Valentines Day) you choose where you'll be sitting! They have reserved seating so you don't have to rush in to get a seat. Some theatres have priority seating which you can pay an extra two pounds for and it'll give you "better" seats. Also, the theatres all have bars in them where you can order drinks to either be brought to your seat or you can bring in with you before the film starts. Similar snacks (popcorn, sweets, pop, etc), although they asked us if we wanted "salt or sweet" popcorn instead of "butter or salted?".
We've been to two different theatres. We saw Valentines Day at one of the Odeons in Leicester Square. This is where they hold all the movie premieres in London so this theatre was F-A-N-C-Y. It had a curtain and two tier seating. Unlike the cinemas back home, this theatre was only showing two films. Not every film is shown in every cinema and they don't all have similar times (like back home you can see a film at like 7, 9 or 11). The latest films are here start at 9. I think that's because the tube closes at 12:30. They show ads just like back home, but don't do that pre-ads slideshow. Anyways, I really liked this theatre, even though it was a bit more expensive than the other one.
Tonight however, we went to the "other one". We went to the Greenwich Picture House, which tends to show a mix of popular and art house films. For example, they were showing Alice in Wonderland, but also the Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (an AMAZING silent film I studied in one of my film classes at Mac). This theatre is also the closest to us as it's only a 15 minute bus ride away. The screen was not as impressive (much smaller than the Leicester Sq one) but still adequate. Anyways, I think this is enough talk about cinemas. I keep forgetting that most people aren't big film geeks like me.
I went and saw the film with Allen and Monica and we had a great time. It was a wonderful end to probably the MOST stressful week of teaching I've had here. Remind me never to take a supply shift that's longer than one day. Because if its only one day and it goes bad, you can relish in the fact that you don't have to go back there tomorrow. But if its a three day cover no matter how bad the first day was, you still have to go back there for two more days. YEESH.
Did gyre and gimbel in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
And so begins the Jaberwocky... a poem from Lewis Carrol's Alice Through the Looking Glass and one that we studied back in Grade 11 quite extensively as I recall. I went and saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland tonight and now I cannot get that poem out of my head!
Cinemas in London are much different than the multi-plex cinemas back home. For one thing, when you buy your tickets (your very EXPENSIVE tickets... £12.40 this time, and £14.50 when we saw Valentines Day) you choose where you'll be sitting! They have reserved seating so you don't have to rush in to get a seat. Some theatres have priority seating which you can pay an extra two pounds for and it'll give you "better" seats. Also, the theatres all have bars in them where you can order drinks to either be brought to your seat or you can bring in with you before the film starts. Similar snacks (popcorn, sweets, pop, etc), although they asked us if we wanted "salt or sweet" popcorn instead of "butter or salted?".
We've been to two different theatres. We saw Valentines Day at one of the Odeons in Leicester Square. This is where they hold all the movie premieres in London so this theatre was F-A-N-C-Y. It had a curtain and two tier seating. Unlike the cinemas back home, this theatre was only showing two films. Not every film is shown in every cinema and they don't all have similar times (like back home you can see a film at like 7, 9 or 11). The latest films are here start at 9. I think that's because the tube closes at 12:30. They show ads just like back home, but don't do that pre-ads slideshow. Anyways, I really liked this theatre, even though it was a bit more expensive than the other one.
Tonight however, we went to the "other one". We went to the Greenwich Picture House, which tends to show a mix of popular and art house films. For example, they were showing Alice in Wonderland, but also the Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (an AMAZING silent film I studied in one of my film classes at Mac). This theatre is also the closest to us as it's only a 15 minute bus ride away. The screen was not as impressive (much smaller than the Leicester Sq one) but still adequate. Anyways, I think this is enough talk about cinemas. I keep forgetting that most people aren't big film geeks like me.
I went and saw the film with Allen and Monica and we had a great time. It was a wonderful end to probably the MOST stressful week of teaching I've had here. Remind me never to take a supply shift that's longer than one day. Because if its only one day and it goes bad, you can relish in the fact that you don't have to go back there tomorrow. But if its a three day cover no matter how bad the first day was, you still have to go back there for two more days. YEESH.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Full of cupcakes.
"And if your strife strikes at your sleep, remember spring swaps snow for leaves. You'll be happy and wholesome again, when the city clears and sun ascends"
- Mumford & Sons, Winter Winds.
I think I've played that song about 8 times a day for the past week.
Things have been picking up this week! Although it's been really cold the past few days, it hasn't been raining and I have FINALLY SEEN SOME SUNSHINE! I am also no longer terrified of teaching - I think it was a whole "ripping off a band-aid" (or "plasters" as they call them here) situation... I just had to get back into the swing of things by diving into teaching. I've had a pretty decent week but not been with one class for the full day. I had one day where I was split between nursery and yr 2, and then two half days (a yr 4 and yr 1 class). And I got 4 High School Musical stickers from the Yr 2 class for being a "cool teacher". :)
Tonight Monica and I FINALLY went to a museum. We hit up the British museum after work today. It's not really *my* favourite history (not too keen on egyptian / roman sculptures - I'm much more into 19th and 20th C history), but it was still very impressive. PLUS, I got to see the Rosetta Stone!! That was pretty f-ing cool for a history buff. When we came home we ended up having a lazy night of eating amazing cupcakes we picked up on Tottingham Court Rd, watching bad British TV (aka "Hotter than my Daughter" and "Snog, Marry or Avoid?") and playing Scrabble. I don't care if it's "lame", it was FUN.
Tomorrow we're going to Greenwich to see the Observatory, fix our watches and stand on 0,0. We're meeting up with a dude I met at the Albion during the Gold Medal Game (woo facebook friends!) and hopefully it won't rain tomorrow and spoil our fun! In the evening, it's either going with allen to see a friend's band play or finally watching Valentines' Day. Either way, I think we have a chilled out weekend planned.
P.S. I just wanted to shout out to the people that have sent me messages of cheer and "don't worry, you can DO it" encouragements. You know who you are and I really appreciate it. :)
- Mumford & Sons, Winter Winds.
I think I've played that song about 8 times a day for the past week.
Things have been picking up this week! Although it's been really cold the past few days, it hasn't been raining and I have FINALLY SEEN SOME SUNSHINE! I am also no longer terrified of teaching - I think it was a whole "ripping off a band-aid" (or "plasters" as they call them here) situation... I just had to get back into the swing of things by diving into teaching. I've had a pretty decent week but not been with one class for the full day. I had one day where I was split between nursery and yr 2, and then two half days (a yr 4 and yr 1 class). And I got 4 High School Musical stickers from the Yr 2 class for being a "cool teacher". :)
Tonight Monica and I FINALLY went to a museum. We hit up the British museum after work today. It's not really *my* favourite history (not too keen on egyptian / roman sculptures - I'm much more into 19th and 20th C history), but it was still very impressive. PLUS, I got to see the Rosetta Stone!! That was pretty f-ing cool for a history buff. When we came home we ended up having a lazy night of eating amazing cupcakes we picked up on Tottingham Court Rd, watching bad British TV (aka "Hotter than my Daughter" and "Snog, Marry or Avoid?") and playing Scrabble. I don't care if it's "lame", it was FUN.
Tomorrow we're going to Greenwich to see the Observatory, fix our watches and stand on 0,0. We're meeting up with a dude I met at the Albion during the Gold Medal Game (woo facebook friends!) and hopefully it won't rain tomorrow and spoil our fun! In the evening, it's either going with allen to see a friend's band play or finally watching Valentines' Day. Either way, I think we have a chilled out weekend planned.
P.S. I just wanted to shout out to the people that have sent me messages of cheer and "don't worry, you can DO it" encouragements. You know who you are and I really appreciate it. :)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Help, I'm alive
I tremble. They're gonna eat me alive - if I stumble. Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer? - Metric, "Help I'm Alive"
My confidence in teaching is.... nil right now.
I haven't been working for three weeks and today was going to be my first day back... but I made myself so nervous / anxious about teaching that I canceled. So instead, I spent the day doing NOTHING and feeling sorry for myself. Definitely NOT the attitude I should have.
I think I'm just scared of going back to a classroom and getting eaten alive and not being able to hack it. I feel like a rubbish teacher and I felt that if I went in the morning then the children would see I had no confidence and destroy me. So that was my reasoning for flaking out this morning.... So I should have taken this day off and gone to a museum or something. Instead I haven't left my room. I'm in a rut. Feeling pathetic about flaking out this morning and mad at myself for letting my consultant down. I had SUCH a good weekend too!!! Went out for dinner and saw Wicked (AMAZING) on friday with Monica. Then on Saturday we went to Oxford with Jen and toured around (saw the Harry potter dining hall!) and then Jen and I went to Jen's town Fleet to party with her boyfriend and his friends. Thennnnn the amazing gold medal game at a bar near St. Paul's called "The Albion" with Kyle and his friends and a bazillion other Canadian ex-pats. Great weekend, but shitty shitty day today.
I just need to get out of this funk I'm in. Monica suggested movies and dinner tonight so hopefully that'll work.
My confidence in teaching is.... nil right now.
I haven't been working for three weeks and today was going to be my first day back... but I made myself so nervous / anxious about teaching that I canceled. So instead, I spent the day doing NOTHING and feeling sorry for myself. Definitely NOT the attitude I should have.
I think I'm just scared of going back to a classroom and getting eaten alive and not being able to hack it. I feel like a rubbish teacher and I felt that if I went in the morning then the children would see I had no confidence and destroy me. So that was my reasoning for flaking out this morning.... So I should have taken this day off and gone to a museum or something. Instead I haven't left my room. I'm in a rut. Feeling pathetic about flaking out this morning and mad at myself for letting my consultant down. I had SUCH a good weekend too!!! Went out for dinner and saw Wicked (AMAZING) on friday with Monica. Then on Saturday we went to Oxford with Jen and toured around (saw the Harry potter dining hall!) and then Jen and I went to Jen's town Fleet to party with her boyfriend and his friends. Thennnnn the amazing gold medal game at a bar near St. Paul's called "The Albion" with Kyle and his friends and a bazillion other Canadian ex-pats. Great weekend, but shitty shitty day today.
I just need to get out of this funk I'm in. Monica suggested movies and dinner tonight so hopefully that'll work.
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