Three Weeks Down...

Well, I have been back in London for three weeks now since Christmas, and am glad to report that I am feeling much more settled. I suppose it just took me a while to get over: 

• jet lag,
• getting back to work, 
• adjusting back to being in the UK,
• getting used to the idea that close friends and family are far away. 

I also am getting used to: 

• exploring new and cool areas/aspects of London, 
• looking forward to half term break trip to Amsterdam, and other school breaks
• figuring out other places that I want to see that are within reach and reasonable (Paris, Dublin, Rome and Edinburgh are 'must do's' for me right now; wish list includes - Dubrovnik, Lisbon, Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Brussels.....)

Now, I am focusing on 'what's next'. I don't want to appear as though I'm wishing this all away, or counting down to the end already, because I know what a fantastic opportunity it is to be here, living and working in another country. It is a little disconcerting though, to have a big question mark for what you're going to be doing with your life in 7 months.  

On one hand, I can head back to Ontario and attempt to get a job in a school board, which has always been a dream - to have my own classroom. Be in same time zone as most friends and family.  Not be stressed about exchange rates and sending money back home.  Enjoy familiar Canadian culture.  Travel to other areas within Canada I have yet to see - which is quite a lot. Get an apartment, a kitten and a keyboard (New Years/Life resolution to get back into piano playing). 

On the other hand, I could stay here until my Visa expires (Sept. 2010 - eep!) and knock off many places that I want to see from my list, and many more.  I would become more of a London local and feel more familiar in this huge metropolis. In the grand scheme of my whole life, 2 years isn't really that long. Since I don't think I'll pick up and live in another country again, once I decide to go home I will stay.  I would become more familiar with the British school system and different teaching styles.

Obviously, this is a decision that will take a while to make. I also need to do some research about both sides (Stay - Where will I work? Live in the same spot? Go - How easy is it to get a job? Where will I live?) which will hopefully make things clearer.  I am also aware that whatever decision I make, if I turn out to be miserable I can always go back.  Hmmmmm

Until next time

~h

Laundry in London

A whole post on doing laundry in London? Yes. The struggles surrounding having clean clothes to wear are outlined below:

• Machines here tend to be much smaller, which means that your loads are also much smaller, and you have more of them.
• Washing machines are almost always located in the kitchen, under a counter top, like a dishwasher would be.
• Dryers on their own are quite rare.  You can dry your clothes on a drying rack, or by putting your stuff on radiators. I do this with the majority of my clothes anyway, but it gets tricky with towels and sheets.
• Washer/Dryers in the same machine exist here. You switch the knob to change the function. 
• Dryers (or the dryer function) take an extremely long time, and you clothes are never really dry. You pull them out and they are steaming, and hot to touch, but still damp.
• Washing cycles also take forever. The shortest cycle that I've found is one hour. 

All in all it means that getting to the bottom of my laundry hamper takes an extremely long time. It's not that big of a deal, but it does make doing laundry extra annoying. Who knows, I could have extremely high laundry standards and maybe this wouldn't bother someone else. 

Half Term Break - Sorted!

Fantastic news to report - it appears as though I have figured out what to do with myself for the half term break coming up in February! More on that later, first a recap on this second full weekend back in 2009.

Friday night I went out for drinks and dinner with colleagues from work, which was a lot of fun. First we stopped at a pub right near school for a few pints. It was a really cool spot with a nice relaxed feel - nice wood ceiling, neat lighting, and a big fish tank at the bar. After that we went to a new Thai restaurant down the road from the pub, which was really good. There was a bit of drama between the receptionist and the Year 2 teacher, so that was somewhat awkward. After a smaller group of us stayed at the restaurant bar for some drinks to debrief the events that happened over dinner. It was really nice to hang out with some different people, and to spend time with work people socially.

Saturday was fantastic. Went to Greenwich Market with Jaime, Sheena and Erika. What a cool spot! Lots of really neat stalls - one was full of old bottles, one was these cool little doorstops that you fill with rice that are shaped like all kinds of different animals, and another was these really cool flower/herb pot holders. I definitely want to get one of those at some point. We then walked up to the Royal Observatory, and saw a really great view of London on the way up. Once at the top we saw the Prime Meridian and took pictures, and then checked out the gift shop. In the evening we all went to April and Kiran's flat for a belated house-warming.

Sunday Jess and I went to Hampstead Heath, which is a really posh area in North London. There is a really big park there as well. It was a cool, but bright and clear day - perfect for wandering around. It was great. I came home, called my mom, wrapped up my laundry and did some research for half term.

And now onto the title of the post - half term plans. The school system in the U.K. is set up differently, where you aren't at school for more than 6 weeks in a row before a break. This means that we have a week off from Feb 16 - 20 off - excellent! I originally was planning on Portugal for somewhere sunny and warm, but once I started looking into flights and accommodation it was out of my price range. Also, the temperature at the end of Feb. is only about 15 degrees, so not all that hot. Anyway it looks like Amsterdam will be where I'll be spending 4 nights of that week off, which I'm really excited about. It's a city that I've heard rave reviews about, and have always wanted to visit. There are lots of things I want to see - Anne Frank House, Heinekin brewery, Van Gogh Museum - in addition to checking out the coffee house experience, and possibly renting a bike to ride around. I've found return flights for 30 pounds, and accommodation for about 15 pounds a night, which is much more reasonable. I hope to have everything booked by the end of the week.

Until next time
~h

p.s. A huge thanks to Crystal for mailing me my Christmas present - a wonderful surprise! Thanks again :)

Here vs. Home

I'm going to dedicate my second blog post to the differences that I have noticed as a Canadian living in London.

• Driving on the opposite side of the road/car. Obvious, I know, but this also means that people also tend to walk on the opposite side of the sidewalk. This took me a while to figure out, as I was walking into people and wondering why they were running into me when in fact it was the other way around.
• Money - coins here are much heavier than at home, and there are more of them. This makes my wallet very heavy
• Everyone goes to the pub all the time. There is definitely a pub culture where it is totally acceptable/expected that you stop off at the pub for a drink or two on your way home from work at the end of the day.
• The mail comes/goes on Saturday.  If a packages are delivered to your house, and you're not home (i.e. at work) you can only go pick it up between 8am-12 Mon.-Fri., and between 8am-1pm on Saturdays. This means that I have to wait until Saturday to pick up the 'mystery' package delivered here on Monday (Mystery because I don't know who sent it. I gave credit to my mom for it, but she won't claim responsibility for it. Hmmm.)
• Cupcakes are called fairy cakes. Don't get it.
• It's somewhat difficult to obtain a decent cup of brewed coffee. Most places offer espresso based coffee drinks like lattes and cappuccinos, but no one seems to care much about just plain old coffee. If anyone wants to start a Second Cup franchise over here, I'd be all for it!
• Streets do not run parallel/perpendicular to one another. This made travel by foot difficult initially because I was under the 'Toronto grid system' mentality. I now carry my trusty 'A-Z' which is a map book of London that even Londoners need and use. (Holly has one as well)

The First Post!!

Greetings!

One of my resolutions for 2009 was to start a blog so that I could easily let everyone at home know what I'm up to over here in jolly old England. I'll do my best to keep it interesting and to post on a regular basis.

Quick update for those of you out of the loop:

I moved to London, England on September 5, 2008 to teach. I had registered with an agency in Canada that helped me get set up over here - bank account, place to live, job etc. I have been working at the same primary school since I got here back in September - St. Edmunds Catholic School. There I am the PPA teacher. PPA stands for 'Planning, Preparation and Assessment' so when the regular classroom teachers have time out of class to do those things, I cover their class. It's great because I don't have to worry about planning and marking and all the extra work that's involved with having your own class, but I'm always at the same school, so I know the kids, staff, routines etc. I live in a great flat with one of the teachers from my school, Holly, who is a Londoner. 

Back to the present day. I just returned on Tuesday from a great (and busy!) Christmas vacation at home. It's been a tough transition back into London life. I was ready to turn around and hop on the next plane to Toronto for a little while, but am feeling somewhat better now. It took me a while to get a decent nights sleep at night, and my stomach was also quite upset and not feeling right for a few days, making life somewhat miserable. I also was coming back from vacation to go back to work, which is never fun, no matter where you are. It's been tricky because it was so easy to get back into familiar routines with familiar people, and then coming to a place where everyone who is important in your life isn't with you has been an adjustment. I don't know what I'd be doing at home if I was there, so it makes sense to stay in London for the next little while (July 2009). I'm just not sure when and how I will figure out what to do next will happen. I suppose I have some time to figure things out... ;)

This past weekend has been good though. After seeing a Pantomime of Mother Goose (a play, where the female lead is always played by a man, and there it lots of audience interaction) with the school on Friday, I meet up with Jess and Jordan (I know Jess from teachers college in Toronto) for some drinks in North London. We stumbled upon a house full of jukeboxes, and the man invited us in to see them, which was surreal. He had about 10 on the main floor, and getting us to listen to the difference between the 1954 and '55 Wurlitzer's. Crazy. Saturday I slept in a bit, and watched some t.v. before going over the Jaime and Sheena's place to hang out. We caught up after the holidays, and shared feelings of being back, made some dinner and watched a movie. Today Jess, Jordan and their friend Aaron and I, met up at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was great - lots of different things. I really like the jewelry and ironworks exhibits. The glassworks one was closed for some reason today, which was disappointing. We plan on seeing the Natural History Museum next weekend. 

Until next time!

~h