Gym Snob

Never thought I'd be one, but am now, most definitely a gym snob.

This past week I joined the Virgin Active Gym near school. A teacher friend at school is always going on about how amazing it is, and the great classes and whatever else. Having cancelled my Fitness First membership (I never went, it's small, always had to wait for a machine, no classes I was able to attend), I decided to take a tour of this Virgin place to see what my friend is always going on about.

Well, so say the least, it's an amazing place. Brand new cardio machines, an extensive group exercise schedule, stunning pool that overlooks the Thames, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, spa - the works basically. There is a cafe area where you can check your email and grab a coffee, Molton Brown lotion and soaps in the change rooms and everything is generally really nice and beautiful and makes you want to be there.

It's definitely out of my price range, but I feel like it's worth it, and I deserve it. Location is ideal and since taking the tour on Wednesday, I've been twice. Might as well pay more for a place I'm happy to go to, and will spend time at.

Spanish went well this week - we learned the days of the week, months of the year, and did some grammar stuff. I'm definitely considering spending some time in Spain to put my (very limited) vocabulary into use. Barcelona? Madrid?

London has been exceptionally grey as of late. Since I've been back, there has been one sunny day. One. Last Sunday to be exact. Otherwise, it's quite grey and dull all the time. When living in Ontario, I always said I preferred a bright, blue skied -20 degree day to milder grey days. This holds true today. On the bright side, the days are ever so slowly getting longer. The sun does not rise and set while I'm in my classroom anymore, so that's a bonus.

This coming week is the last full week of January - yay! Always the toughest month of the year to get through, especially so for me last year. This year, definitely not as bad at all. I was able to get my sleeping on track almost immediately (take that jet lag!) and was coming back to a more familiar place compared to last year (had only been in my flat for a couple of weeks before Christmas last year).

Am particularly excited that this has been a super fast 6 week term, and we've only got 3 to go before half term in February. I'm going calm my travel bug this break, and hang around London and be a normal person and relax a bit. It will be good to save money for upcoming trips, see some more of London (the list of stuff I haven't yet seen here is long and embarrassing) and actually take a break.

As for the rest of the weekend, I hope to finnish the hat I've started knitting (first 'real' project to date - so far so good!), spend some time in the local pub, and of course, continue to increase my feelings of 'gym superiority'.

Don't Stop Believing!

I have always had a soft spot for 'Journey's' Don't Stop Believing. When I hear the lyrics 'Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world...' I can't help but sing along, at the top of my lungs for the rest of the song. I've recently discovered the Glee cast version of the song, and it's been playing on my ipod on repeat ever since. I can't wait to watch the show.

Other than that new addition to my playlist, this past week hasn't been very eventful. School carried on as usual. My students now get Tae Kwon Do instruction on Monday mornings, and are enjoying it so far. Lots of jumping and co-ordinating punches and kicks. It's good, because listening to instructions is key to learning the new moves, so it's interesting to see who is paying attention and who isn't.

I've been thinking about my plans for next year, and am trying to get myself geared up for leaving the U.K. which I think will be quite an adjustment, both good and bad. It's going to be great to be around friends and family again. I can't wait to be a part of people's lives in a more real way than phone calls, emails and blog posts. However, I'm anticipating that it's going to be a bit of an adjustment leaving the exciting, energetic atmosphere of London, and the people I've grown close to here. I also know it's going to be hard to be on the 'other side' of the adventure - there was so much build up and preparation to moving over here, it's going to be a little surreal to be back home again. It's all shades of grey: not rights or wrongs, which makes it that much more frustrating.

One thing I am feeling a little homesick about right now, is missing all the build up to the Vancouver Olympic Games. I'm doing 'The Olympics' with my students right now (we to topic teaching, so all the subject areas are taught through a central topic) so it's cool to think about all the things that have to do with the Olympics with a group of kids, and listen to the interesting questions that they come up with. I saw some cool stuff on the Canadian Olympic Schools website I've signed up for - a medal counting board, a 'Go Canada Go!' banner and a bunch of other resources that would be extra fun to have in a class in Canada.

I've got Spanish again tomorrow. I haven't really practiced too much, so I'll have to brush up a bit at lunch time. We've got a few of the main phrases and sentences down now: What is your name? My name is..... How are you? And some basic counting. It's a bit tricky with the pronunciation, but hopefully next week I'll get some more practice in, and things will sink in a bit more.

Until the next post!

Blogging again in 2010!

Hello! Apologies for the insane months long delay between blog posts. I don't really have any real excuses, other than getting caught up in the craziness of the last half of the term, Christmas etc. and I kind of forgot about posting.

However, after a few subtle and not to subtle questions about the blog ('Heather, what's the deal? If you don't update soon, I'm just going to stop checking. Forever.') I figured I should get back on the ball. I also watched 'Julie and Julia' on the flight back from Toronto and it reminded me that I do enjoy writing my thoughts down and sharing them with those in cyberspace. I thought a new format would be fun too.

A quick recap: October half term my mom came to visit and we went to Budapest (amazing!) and then to visit relatives in the Czech Republic. My Christmas season started early, as I teach in a Catholic school. Lots of carol singing and nativity play practice happened in December. Was lucky enough to head back to Canada for the holidays, and had an excellent visit with friends and family.

Have a few exciting things coming up this year. After a 'knitting intervention' from my very experienced Aunt Marie over the holidays, I now am doing things correctly, which is nice and much more satisfying. There is a knitting store that opens it's doors on Wednesday and Thursday nights for people to stop by and work on their projects. They sell wine too! (Although I'm not sure I can handle alcohol and knitting at this point) I've got some chunky wool and plan to make some hats, and really cool wool my flatmate Holly doesn't like, so am going to attempt a scarf with that.

I've also signed up to take some Spanish courses on Tuesday night after school. A school in our borough is offering courses for free, so I feel as though I should take advantage. I'm hoping that my knowledge of French will help me out. Right now I only know how to say 'hot' and 'water' in Spanish.

That is all for now. I do plan on posting more frequently/regularly in the future, so check back when you can!

International Celebrations, Round 2

I'm writing this post on Thanksgiving Monday at home, and just a regular old Monday here in London. This year, Canadian friends and I decided to make the most of being ex-pats, and had our own Thanksgiving meal on Saturday. By all accounts it was successful.

I was in charge of pies, and set my sights on pumpkin and apple. Equipped with recipes from my Aunt, I was on a mission to get ingredients, and the most 'exotic' of them being pumpkin puree. I lucked out, and got the last can from a girl who had it in her hands at Waitrose (snazzier grocery store), and insisted on me taking it, after we got to chatting while the store clerk was looking for more. Thanks so much to her, for making the pumpkin pie a reality for us on Saturday!!

Despite my amazing pastry making skills (ha!), I decided to go with frozen pie shells. Little did I know, that they don't exists here. The man at Sainburys (another grocery store, not as posh) actually said "I've never heard those two words together....hmm." Cue panic. I did find some frozen pastry rolls, which worked, but was a little heavy for the dutch apple. I think it's pastry that's meant for meat pies, which are an integral part of British cuisine.

Now, instructions regarding measurements and temperatures need to be followed to produce pies. This is fine, when baking in a country you are familiar in, with equipment you know, and recipes you've used before. However, all previously mentioned situations were not my reality on Saturday. I was converting measurements given to me in cups, to grams; temperatures in Celcius to gas marks on the stove. I used my calculator as much as a mixing bowl, and have no idea where I'd be without the internet.

All my trouble and strife was worth it though, as both pies turned out beautifully. The pastry for the apple pie was a bit heavy, but definitely edible. Pumpkin pie was amazing. I can't believe I didn't like it as a child.

We were quite a spoiled bunch on Saturday, enjoying delicious juicy chicken, creamy mashed potatoes and squash, stuffing to die for and a yummy veggie bake. Probably the best brussel spouts of my life (maple syrup?! amazing!) and green beans. In addition to cheesy potatoes and broccoli/cauliflower/cheese bake makes for a very satisfying night. I do believe the terms 'food coma' and 'food baby' were thrown around.

Two weekends ago it was Jetherdan 2009, where we celebrated my birthday along with my friend Jordan's. It was an amazingly fun night out. We went to a really cool bar near Liverpool Street station, that used to be a Turkish Bathhouse, and still had a lot of the building designs and decorations. It was a rock-a-billy 50's night, so they played great oldies music all night long that everyone was dancing to. Everyone was in a mood to have fun, and I think we were there until 4am - a success in my book! Thanks so much to Jaime and Jess for organizing.

It's funny, but celebrating my birthday and Thanksgiving for the second time in London, has make me re-evaluate the year, and consider all that has happened since moving to the UK.

It's made me think about my friends at home, and how incredibly important they are to me, despite the distance and my infrequent attempts at contacting them.

It's made me think about the relationships I have with my family members, and how lucky I am to have people who support me and are interested and value what I've chosen to do over here. It's made me realize how close I've gotten to the people I've met over here, and how weird it will be not being in the same city as them next year.

It's made me realize how much I've grown to love this insanely intimidating, big, loud, messy city, and how excited I am to get back to the familiarity of Toronto.

Things That Remind Me I'm Foreign

Despite feeling really comfortable and excited to be back in London when I arrived just over a month ago, there are things that I notice every once in a while that remind me I'm a Canadian living in the U.K.

My favourite London 'rag' newspaper (free ones that get handed out on the street weekday evenings for your commute home) The London Paper has just recently gone bankrupt - tear! - and I really related to one of their columnists final articles. Here are some of my favourite parts of what she wrote:

You know you're a foreigner living in London when....

• Asked "Alright?", you answer "I'm fine, why?".
• You've learned never again to sit upstairs on the number 38 bus at night after breathing in the secondary crack smoke from the junkie behind you. ( *Personal Note* Night buses are an experience and a half over here)
• You're amused watching Londoners tell off tourists who stand on the left... after learning the hard way yourself.
• You find yourself prudish about Page 3 girls (*Personal Note* It's honestly unreal the pictures that are in daily papers, every day.)
• People think you are the local crazy lady when you fleetingly smile at them in the street. (*Personal Note* I AM that person in my neighbourhood. People are ok with it now that they know I'm Canadian)
• It takes you a while to learn what people are talking about when they refer to "the city".
• You discover that sanitizing hand gel exists and learn that you'll die without it.
• You keep falling for Ryanair's 'free flights' deal - even though they're not free - and then bitching about the 10 pound credit card fee
• You discover drugs are cheaper than at home - unless you're from Columbia
• You can't believe you have to bag your own groceries... and be the one offering the friendly greeting (*Personal Note* This means that you are at the mercy of the people in front of you in line. Cashiers won't start the next customer until the previous one has all their stuff bagged up and off the counter thing.)
• You find it fascinating that riding on the Tube turns your snot black (*Personal Note* Totally true!)

Written by Kirsty Ross (www.kirsty-ross.com).

This may have been more entertaining for me to read than people not in London, but it's a bit of an insight to what it's living somewhere new.

Things are going well at school. It's crazy busy, but the kids are great, and I'm enjoying it. I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what I did last year with all my free time, but I'm not sure I'll find an answer to that, ever.

Back to Blogging

Greetings!

It's been a while, and my apologies for that. I was back to my home and native land for 4 weeks this summer and it was a fantastic trip back. Did a lot of catching up, visiting, partying and relaxing. One of my best friends got married, which was a beautiful, thoughtful and fun celebration that I was lucky enough to be a part of. Another bestie back home and her hubby are expecting their first baby (any day now, right J?!), so it was great to see them and 'the bump' in action.

Now that I'm back in London, oddly enough, it doesn't feel like I even left. Coming back to my familiar flat, neighbour hood, school and most importantly local pubs felt strangely comfortable compared to all the anxiety and 'every thing is new, and I'm not sure I know what's going on' of last September. I'm really glad I gave myself a bit of time to adjust back to London life, and not worry about work straight away. Speaking of work.....

I've just completed my first 2 days teaching in my own classroom, and it's been fantastic! I love so much that I'm the person that gets to set things up they way I like, and that work for me instead of working within someone else's framework that works for them. Granted, I saw and learnt a lot of new things while doing PPA last year that I will definitely use, but there are just as many that didn't make the cut for my Year 4 class this year.

My class is full of really great kids, and I'm really excited to get to know them over the year. I'm sure it will result in a teary goodbye at school come July, but oh well. There are two new students in my class, one with CP and she's in a wheelchair, which made classroom set up quite a challenge. We are still working things out so she has enough room to get around, and it's a trial and error process. Basically, inclusion and team work and understanding have been my middle names and will continue to be for the next little while. I really want the classroom environment to be welcoming and positive for the two new ones, as well as everyone else.

It hasn't all been sunshine and lollipops however. I've always been a little bit nervous about planning, and now that it's actually time to plan, I've been stressed. It's difficult to get started, because I'm not sure about basic things, like what the documents I need look like, or are located. I'm not sure about obtaining resources. I have no idea how to set up ability groups, or if I even should. Assessment and leveling work is beyond me. What types of records should I be keeping? How do I plan lessons that are interesting and informative, yet still encourage independent thinking and problem solving? I also have 2 TA's in my class - which is fantastic, don't get me wrong for a second - but I'm in a position where I'm a 'superior' to women who have been TA's for many years, and am finding it awkward to 'manage' them, if those are even the right terms to use.

When you think of all the uncertainties, and things that need to be done, and things you don't know about at once, it's incredibly intimidating and daunting. I was in that frame of mind at the end of the school day. I had arrived early and stayed late and still felt like I had a million things to do. I probably gave myself 3 new wrinkles with my furrowed brow the whole tube ride home.

Good thing my mother had telpathic powers. When I arrived at my front door, I was greeted by a dozen pink roses, with a little card that said 'Congratulations and Good Luck. You will do an excellent job. Love Mom' How amazing is that?! How AMAZING is my MOM?!?! I think we'll need to visit the tea room at The SoHo Hotel when she's in town next....Needless to say, I've shifted my thinking into a more positive light, and am feeling like things are at least manageable now. Thanks again mom!

I need to wrap up this epic 'first post of the new school year' now, so I can get to bed. I'm going to make an effort to blog regularly about teaching and life here in London. We've also got wireless broadband at school, so hopefully I can get my act together and post some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Summer Hiatus

Well, I've made it.

I've moved to a new and strange country, travelled to new and exciting places, and taught in a new and different educational system. 

I don't want to come off as some kind of self doubter, but I'm a little surprised that I've been able to accomplish all this. I just never thought that I'd be 'that' person to have the guts to pick up and move to somewhere new, and make some kind of  life of it. It's also a bit of a surprise how quickly this year has flown by. It does not feel like 10 and a half months have passed since I've moved here; but at the same time, my life in Toronto feels like a lifetime ago.

Either way, I'm home tomorrow for a whirlwind summer visit. I'll be home for four weeks in total, and will spending some time in Vancouver/Victoria, attending one of my best friends weddings, and catching up with friends and family all over Ontario - Toronto, Kingston, London, Elora and Haliburton.

I won't be able to post regularly during this visit, so have decided to take an 'official' break from blogging for the summer. Look for regular posts once I'm back in London and am back to 'normal' life. Have a great summer :)