Pumpkin Pie...

I made my first-ever pumpkin pie (from scratch - they don't have canned pumpkin here)! It was quite an experience. This one I made for the people at work. I will be making another one on Saturday, along with the rest of my Thanksgiving Day menu, for the people at the house. I'll try and take pictures (since I don't usually do things like this, I want proof that I can cook).

Not a particularly special day, some of my kids made an effort to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving - that was sweet! Otherwise, just a typical school day...

Hope everyone had a nice holiday! And for those of you shopping tomorrow - be careful - "Day AfterThanksgiving" trips to the mall are hard-core! I've seen the sweetest looking ladies take others DOWN for sale priced clothing. It's a dangerous world we live in... (and suddenly I'm stuck with Genesis' "Land of Confusion" in my head.)

Happy Hump Day!

I have almost made it through another Week One timetable. You know it's bad when the guy who hired you says, "Yeah, you've got the worse timetable in the whole school!" So, in addition to having a full timetable (when other unqualified teachers have more free lessons for planning, etc.) I also have the worst in the school - thanks a lot! It's a wonder I haven't completely lost it yet... or maybe I have and they are just humoring me...

I had a good conversation with the acting Head of Department yesterday. She asked me about next year, and what my thoughts were (I seem to remember having this conversation with her once before). I told her that I'd like to stay. Of course, wanting to do something and being asked to do something are two completely different things in the world of employment. I've been reading up on expectations for getting my Qualified Teaching Status and it is going to take some serious work. Plus, the big, bad OFSTED will be paying a visit before the end of February.

There's a lot riding on performance right now...

Triple Challenge... And Now I'm Pooped!

It was an uneventful weekend. Nice, peaceful, but uneventful. I worked on school stuff, tried to make stuffing (but was missing some ingredients) and chatted away to various friends and family. Sunday night I played a game of Scrabble with Krissie - that was fun (even though I am convinced that Yahoo! tries to give you the worst letters for fun, just to see what you'll do with them). We played checkers, too, but she beat the crap out of me, so I wasn't going to mention that right away. Kristin caught me online in the wee hours of the morning and we chatted for a while.

Today, I went to the gym with Catherine and Claire. We joined the "Triple Challenge" class: step aerobics, weight training and conditioning. It was a good class, but I am worn out now! It was a nice way to forget about the crap that goes on daily in the classroom! I came home, worked on some school stuff, and just finished an online conversation with Laura. I haven't spoken with her since the trip to Wales, so it was nice to catch up.

Everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving there. Here, it's just another week. Of course it's one week closer to Christmas... one week closer to a break... one week closer to my trip to Belguim... one week closer to my trip home. Someone asked me if I was homesick, and really I'm not, I just miss my old life (the social one) and am ready for things to pick up a little around here. Plus, school is stressing me out and I am ready for a break. This work-thing is getting in the way of my having a good time...

Kids exhaust me!!

Try arguing with a mentally challenged 11 year old that just because I have no boyfriend, does NOT mean that I have to like women. The poor kid just could not rationalize it. And that was a conversation I SO did not want to have...

Time to Look for a New Place to Live...

What ever happened to being embarrassed to see a teacher in public?

Every weekend I walk into town and every weekend I see the same four year 10 students. They are sweet girls, but they really drive me nuts in class. Every time I see them in town, they always say "hello." Then I say "hi" and Monday I get to hear, "Miss, we saw you in town on Saturday." It's always the same routine.

Today, in addition to seeing my four regulars, I got to see two of my year 7 students (who are not at that embarrassed-in-public age). I heard "Hi Miss" from the older girls, then "HI MISS!!!" from the two younger ones who insisted on RUNNING up to me. One little darling decided to follow me down the street and attempt a conversation. I indulged her for a while, until she just became silly and wouldn't leave me alone. I'll say it again, what ever happened to being embarrassed to see a teacher in public? Instead, I was the one feeling embarrassed... Can't a woman be left alone to shop???

I need to get out of this town!! I need to live somewhere closer to the city where there is a nightlife and where I can walk the streets on the weekend and not fear harassment from an 11 year-old child. Ugh!!

Plans, plans and more plans

I am not usually a "plan" kind of girl. I like to see where life takes me, but lately it's been much more fun planning than working, so this is how I've spent the last few days:

Thanksgiving Menu:
Turkey (duh!), Cranberries, Cornbread Dressing (my grandmother's recipe that rocks! Plus, no one here knows what cornbread is...), Sweet Potato Casserole, Campbell's Green Bean Casserole (not my favorite, but very American Turkey Day tradition) and Homemade Pumpkin Pie (they don't have the canned stuff here, so it will all be from scratch).

Nothing spectacular, but I tried to keep it very traditional considering my "guests" have never enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal. Have I mentioned how little I actually cook/bake? This could get interesting...

Christmas Holiday:
Things are starting to come together for my trip home. When I originally booked my ticket to the UK, I could not get a hold of anyone at the school to get specific holiday dates, so I assumed that they would be out for the week of Christmas (it being a Catholic School and all)... Nope. I was wrong. So, I have been approved to miss the last two days of school (without pay) so that I can fly home to the States... Whatever! I will arrive in New York late on the 20th, spend Tuesday with my sister (who is off from work that day!Yea!), then fly to Tennessee on Wednesday to spend the holidays with the family. I am trying to plan a little trip to Charlotte on the 27 - 29 to visit friends and maybe get my RiRa Trivia fix for another 4 months. Then, it's back to the island where the skies turn black at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

February Half Term Break:
The plan is to visit Paris and AliCante, Spain. So far, I have found that Eurostar is too expensive, so I have been looking at flights. I have found a flight from Paris to London for 9.49 Euros (£7.90/ $14.22) and a flight from London to AliCante for £47.99 ($86.38), but no flights from AliCante to Paris... By train, it will be 11 hours and we could travel overnight, but I haven't been able to confirm a price (website difficulties). It's still early in the planning stages, so there's other options to research. This is much more fun that grading papers or planning lessons...

March Break:
This is the break that I'd hoped to be touring the Mediterranean, but fate had its way with me and I had to find colder places to visit. So, I've narrowed my choices to two tours. The first lasts for 12 days and explores 8 countries. The second (which I would love to do if I can pull together enough cash) lasts for 16 days and explores 10 countries. These are my options: Tour One - Amsterdam, Rhine Valley (Germany), Munich, Tyrol (Austria), Venice, 2 nights in Rome, Florence, Lucerne (Switzerland), 2 nights in Paris and back to London; Tour Two - 2 nights in Amsterdam, Rhine Valley (Germany), 2 nights in Engleberg (Switzerland), Innsbruck (Austria), Venice, 2 nights in Rome, Florence, 2 nights in Nice, Avignon, Lyon, 2 nights in Paris and back to London. They are similar, but the second spends more time in France. :)

Guess I should really make an attempt to get some work done... I'm out of things to plan. Of course there's always lists to make: Thanksgiving shopping list, things to pack for the States, etc... I am the queen of procrastination.

Poppies Make an Impression

It's been a quiet weekend. Friday I watched tele all night - it was wonderful! Saturday I slept in, did a little cleaning, chatted with some friends (I love Yahoo! Messenger) and went to Bluewater. Chris & Jenny (the couple I am renting the room from) were having people over for dinner and I didn't want to intrude, so I thought I'd go see Bridget Jones... Somehow, when I got to the ticket counter and asked for my ticket, "Finding Neverland" came out instead. And, I am so glad that it did!! It was an absolutely WONDERFUL film!!!

I went to see a movie with Catherine and some of her friends Thursday night. We saw "Alfie." It was good, but I'd really like to see the original so that I can compare. The group that I was with consisted of three French girls, one German boy and one boy from Chile (I say boy/girl because they are all 21). They were all very nice, but I don't think they completely understood the film. That's gotta be hard to sit in the theater for two hours and not really understand what is going on... The three girls kept talking in French all night, which is cool - I know it is their first language and is much easier for them to communicate, but it left the rest of out of the conversation. When I am with Catherine and Claire, the same thing happens, but Claire makes a point to translate everything and keep me included. It's just a nice thing to do.

Anyway, a couple of interesting things about my two trips to the cinema: 1) they really do assign you seats in the theaters here, 2) every trailer I saw was for a Hollywood (i.e. American) film, and 3) I learned that American English is easier for international people to understand. They say that the British accent is hard to understand (I agree to an extent - especially the area that we are all working in is tough).

Today is Remembrance Day, A day to honor all of the people who have died in war. About a month ago I started to notice all of the red Poppy Appeal signs appearing around London and on the train. I didn't realize the significance the Poppy had in England, until I heard that they only grow in distressed earth and that after WWI areas (that saw lots of fighting and lots of death) were completely covered in poppies (and again after WWII). The Scarlet Poppy is the symbol of this day. On Thursday, November 11 (11/11) the school (along with the rest of the nation) has a two minute moment of silence. This weekend there have been parades in London. Today, churches had special ceremonies. The BBC some some great information about Remembrance Day, if you're interested check it out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/remembrance/history/index.shtml

My day yesterday absolutely SUCKED!! Here's why:

1. My lesson for Geography sucked... I planned to show a video, but the recording was horrible and you couldn't hear it at all.
2. So, when I taught Geography for the second time that day, I had nothing planned and my "wing-it" lesson sucked...
3. In that class, my students were absolutely horrible...
4. In that class, the classroom assistant decided to "take over" by writing things on the board, giving students answers and doing one girl's homework for her (the homework that she hadn't turned in two months ago and was reprimanded by the Head of Dept to have it in TOMORROW!!)
5. I didn't get to eat lunch because I was tutoring...
6. I didn't get to eat breakfast because I was running late...
7. I didn't get a break because I was running around between the two buildings...
8. It's time for grades and everyone is in a panic...
9. I've got a TON of stuff to mark (stuff that I have been told to wait and test them this week), so its not even like I've had it and have just been lazy about grading it...
10. My week ones are rough, anyway...

If you add to it the fact that the computer network died two weeks ago and I have not been able to use my laptop since before I left for Wales. The guys came out Tuesday to fix the problem, and it was working fine when they left, but somewhere between 5:30 and 9:30, my laptop connection pooped-out!

Then, I found out yesterday that the Mediterranean Highlights trip has been cancelled by the company that runs it. I'm sure I can find something else to do, but I was really looking forward to that trip!

It was a very disappointing day all around, but I survived. I layed on the couch and watched "Sex and the City." And today, I still have plenty of marking to do, but my computer is up and running (for the time being) and I don't have to teach any classes tomorrow!! Yea!!

Good Week at School

It's been a pretty good week:

• My year 10s actually behaved themselves long enough for us to have a "proper lesson" on Wednesday - I was completely amazed!! Then they were little shits again on Thursday.
• The classroom assistant called in the special forces on Thursday for a unit test I had with my year 7 class (the one that has lots of special needs children in it). There's usually two, sometimes three of us in there. I had approx. six extra teachers in that class - it was wonderful!
• I was asked to cover a lesson for a science teacher that was out on Friday. The class was a low-ability year 9 class that only had about 12 students in it (and two assistants). We did the work given, I made a few adjustments to the lesson, made it more my style... It was a rough class, but we made it through without any major problems. At the end of the day, I was passing an administrator's office and he complimented me on how I handled the class. He said he poked his head in twice during the lesson and was impressed. YEA!!!

I'm feeling much better about the things that are going on at school. The teacher that I was continually comparing myself to has made some really serious mistakes (some REALLY serious mistakes) and I no longer feel the need to compare myself to her. I can only do so much and just continue to try... Good news is that it is getting easier and I am feeling much better in my (many) classrooms.

I am coming home for Christmas. I looked into extending my airline ticket and just traveling around Europe for Christmas, but it would be less expensive to fly home. I may try and fit in a visit to Charlotte while I am in the States. I also booked a 13 day tour in March called "Mediterranean Highlights" which goes through Spain, France, Monaco and Italy - along the Mediterranean Sea. That should be fun!

Wales...

It's been a very busy week and somehow Monday turned into Thursday... That's okay considering most of you saw the pictures and got the story, here's the stuff I couldn't tell my Grandparents:

The trip to Wales was awesome! The countryside is absolutely breath-taking and the people on the tour were a blast! I caught the 6:30 train on Friday (that's AM) into London and met up with the rest of the tour participants at 8. Everyone was talking and laughing and I knew right away that this would be a good time! We boarded the bus and I sat beside a nice Australian named Anne. Our tour guide, Frazier, insisted that we all go to the front of the bus and introduce ourselves, and lucky me, I had to go first. I gave my little spheel, then had to tell an embarrassing story. I told about my first month teaching, when I had a HUGE split in the back of my pants and I didn't know until I went to the loo about half-way through the day. No one had said a word and I had been walking all around school with bright red undies showing for half the day!! (I figured that would be a safe "I barely know you" embarrassing story for the group) Anyway, as soon as I mentioned Tennessee, Frazier said that his favorite place he'd been in the States was Knoxville, TN. First, let me say that Frazier is Scottish and has this wonderful accent. Then, he tells me his favorite place is Knoxville... I was instantly smitten. Everyone else did their intro. song-and-dance and their embarrassing stories were lame! Not that mine was great, but one girl said "I walked to the wrong car in a parking lot!" There's gotta be better embarrassing stories than that!! Anyway, from everyone's intro. I found out that the majority of people on the bus are from Australia/New Zealand. There were two people from Canada, two people from South Africa, two Scotsmen (Frazier being one of them), one Italian and five Americans. Four of the five Americans had ties to Tennessee. I can't get over the fact that everywhere I go, here, I meet Tennesseans!! There were a handful of 19 year old girls. Most people were 22 to 26. I was on the upper end of the spectrum at 28, but there were a couple of others that were older than me. There were also a good handful of people living and working in London, and everyone else was doing the backpacking-across-Europe-thing.

Frazier announced that our Saturday night hostel is attached to a nice little pub that will be having a Halloween party, so sometime before Saturday night we had to pull together a Halloween costume. Our first stop was Stratford-upon-Avon, where most of us found Halloween duds - thankfully, because we really didn't spend much time in a place where we could have bought anything after that. We all split up, but somehow found each other at Shakespeare's house and a group of about 10 of us when to search for Anne Hathaway's cottage. Anne (the Australian) had her Lonely Planet: Britain and told us it was only a mile away. We were given an hour and a half in this town and by the time we finally made it to Anne Hathaway's cottage we had about 15 minutes to high-tail it back to the bus (plus find some lunch on the way). I was not smart enough to use the loo before getting back on the bus. However, I was smart enough not to be the last person on the bus. Poor Reagan and Olivia had to sing to all of us their favorite 80's song.

Three hours later we stopped at the Pontcysyllre Aqueduct. At that point I was absolutely dying, and before he let us off the bus, Frazier announced that the toilets are on the OTHER side of the aqueduct. I tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery, but gave up and power-walked the rest of the trail to the loo - which ended up being a port-a-john in the parking lot. Every once in a while I would stop to take a quick picture and then start walking again. Not the best way to enjoy the beautiful Welsh scenery!

The first day was our longest day on the bus and we were all getting restless. Frazier stopped at Conwy Castle and gave us a little while to walk around. In the town of Conwy there is the "world's smallest house," so we walked down to take some pictures. One girl, Jo, wanted her picture taken with the sign. She's probably 5' and she was as tall as the door. Then, Mark (the 6'8" Australian) wanted his picture taken with the sign - THAT was hilarious! We got back on the bus, heading to [the city with the longest name] to watch the sun set when we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam. Two hours later, when the traffic started to move again, we decided to bypass the town and head straight for our hostel in Caernafon.

By the time we reached the hostel we were all starving, so we quickly unpacked our bags from the back of the bus and found our rooms. The landlord just counted us off into groups of 4 or 6 for the bedrooms, so I ended up in a room with Anne, Olivia, Mark (three Aussies) and Brent & Austin (with myself that makes three Tennesseans). We spent most of the night laughing - I feel sorry for the other rooms, we were quite loud! Olivia and Anne decided that they loved Austin's southern accent and went on and on about it. They were pretty damn funny about it, too! Both nights I ended up in a room with the three guys. Two nights in a row I got to see a HOT 6'8" Aussie in his tiny boxers, I was in heaven!!

I won't bore you with details of everything we saw on Day 2 or Day 3. I will say that Northern Wales is beautiful and that Snowdonia National Park is breath-taking! Saturday was a gorgeous day and we hiked part of Mt. Snowdon that morning, then spent time at Castle-y-Bere that afternoon. The ruined castle was especially cool because of its location. It sits in a valley and the view from the castle is amazing. Day 3 we hiked in Brecon Beacon's National Park (in Southern Wales), but it was rainy and hazy. Just wasn't as nice as the day before. With everything we did, there was a chance to talk to the various people on the tour. It was nice to meet all sorts of people from all over the world. I wish I would have been one of those people that just packed a bag and flew to Europe when I graduated from high school or even college. The stories these girls had were amazing!!

Our second hostel was in a town called Abergavenny. The pub was literally "just down stairs" so most of us started drinking as soon as we put down our bags. At 9:30 three girls on the tour had to perform for us (they were late getting back to the bus in Dolgellau and this was Frazier's punishment). They had choreographed this whole skit to "It's Raining Men" - they were great!! Then the pub started kareoke and that was it for the rest of the night!! Anne was the kareoke queen, she had everyone up with her at least once during the night - including me. (It's a good thing that you can't hear yourself sing with kareoke... I'll never know exactly how bad it was!) Frazier and Mark sang a duet - they were great - imagine a cute, nearly bald Scotsman dancing like he's in the 80's - I wish I had taken pictures!! At midnight, the bar closed down, so a group of us went wandering into town to see what we could find.

This is usually my favorite thing to do: wandering around at night, looking for trouble. We found Abergaveny's Castle and the kebab shop (only thing open in town after midnight). We noticed security sensors in time to not scale the castle walls (getting arrested in Wales would have been a bad thing). We met a couple of "locals" - two Belgium men who were drunk and trying to find their car. Oh! And we flashed a few cars driving down the main road...

Sunday was another long day on the bus, but we exchanged email addresses and the London group exchanged phone numbers. Not really sure if anything will come of it, but it was a great time!! I am ready to sign up for the tour of Scotland, maybe Frazier will be the guide...

Two months to the day...

And I FINALLY have my own computer up and running. This may not seem like much, but it really means a lot to me. I purchased the laptop back in August. I had been needing to replace my old desktop for over a year - the modem died right before I moved in to the apartment with Krissie. At that point, I couldn't afford much and I started to think about going abroad. Obviously, going abroad would have affected my decision between desktop or laptop computer, so I put it off, waiting for a green light on my future residence (among other things). When I ordered my laptop I really didn't think about HOW I would use it, only that I wanted one. (A decision made in haste, now that I think about it). Arriving in England, I was disappointed to find that there was no phone line in my bedroom - not for a phone, but for my computer. So, it has been a long two months of only using my own computer to play music... And, finally, I am up and running with my Yahoo! Messenger and my Microsoft Outlook... I am such a happy girl.

France

We have just unpacked the car from our trip to France. It was late last night and we figured things could wait. We left the house at 8:00 yesterday morning and drove to Dover to catch the train. We had to line up (like you do for the ferry) and drive on to a double-level train. Once all of the cars were on, they closed the doors to each section so that it looked just like a subway train. It only took 35 minutes to get across the Channel (it would have taken 1 1/2 hours by boat) - it was cool!

Once we arrived in France, we drove to St. Omer (approx. 45 km) to wander around the town. Driving was neat, we mainly passed small villages and lots of farms. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of back roads I've been on at home. However, at home they do not have fresh game - rabbits - hanging outside of Butcher shops! Agg! That was a shock!! Once in St. Omer, we walked through the Cathedral and had lunch at a nice little café. Then we drove to Arques, to the glass factory, ARC International. There were so many beautiful pieces and all I could think was,"I wish I could carry these home with me!!" Of course everything I liked was either too big or too heavy to take on a plane - grr!! After Arques, we drove to Boulognes for some grocery shopping at Achaun (think Super Wal-Mart, only bigger) and then into town for dinner. I bought some beer and some stuff to make Taco Salad for dinner (I've been craving Tex-Mex and that is the only thing that I know how to make). The town center in Boulognes was beautiful, I wish we had time to explore. There is a wall around the city and cobblestone streets. :) The streets were dark and they had soft yellow bulbs in the street lights - it was amazing, I felt like I was in a movie.

On the way back to Calais (for the train) we drove along the coast. The moon was almost full and the sky was clear- you could see everything!! We stopped at this one spot, had to drive up a hill to get there. There was a monument, a large cross, and you could see England across the Channel. I can't remember the name of the place, but I am sure it had something to do with WWII. I'll have to look into it more...

I enjoyed the day-trip to France. There is so much more I wish I could have seen - guess that means I have to go back... :)

Not your typical Sunday afternoon...

I have two new favorite places in London, both involve shopping. How sad am I?

I took my time getting out of the house this morning (the sky was gray and the streets were wet), but as soon as I walked out the door, the sun started to come out. Of course, I was dressing in full wet-weather gear (including a warm sweater under my parka and a scarf in my bag - in case it got even cooler). I knew I had made a huge mistake when I passed several people in town wearing t-shirts, but I had no interest in turning around, so I shoved the parka in my messenger bag and rolled up the sleeves of my cotton sweater. I was determined to get out of this town today!

Camden Market is an absolutely wonderful place - crowded, but wonderful!! Where else can you find fetish booths right next to hand-knitted sweaters and jewelry that spells out your name? It is this huge market of absolutely EVERYTHING and caters to every sort of client imaginable. If I took my grandmother and the Goth kid next door, we'd all be happy campers, finding all that our different tastes desired. Oh! And the food was amazing, imagine every ethnic cuisine you could possible think of - Mmm!! I don't really know how to describe it other than UNCC's International Festival meets hippy festival meets any UK town market and multiply it by 1000. Needless to say, I was in heaven. I didn't really buy much, just a few Christmas presents, but I loved the atmosphere and the people-watching. There were moon boots and purple hair galore, and scattered between the London postcards and "Mind the Gap" t-shirts were fuzzy handcuffs and crotchless panties. My favorite product was the "Magic Mushroom." There were several booths that were selling these fungi. They had varieties from Thailand, Hawaii, and many other exotic places, but they were packaged like the mushroom you'd buy in the grocery stores and all I could think was, "What poor sucker bought the magic mushrooms, hoping for something 'exotic' and got the fancy pizza variety?" Because they can't really sell the 'exotic' kind on the street corner, or can they? A place like that, they probably could, maybe... I'm really not giving this place justice - it really just blew me away!! The ONLY draw-back was the crowd. It reminded me of Adams Morgan (remember Robert & Ashley?), just massive amounts of people everywhere!!!

When I left Camden Market, I found my way to Covent Gardens (which I have been trying to find for some time now). Covent Gardens was much quieter than Camden and not nearly as quirky, but I have a feeling (considering it is so close to the Tube Station that I frequent) I will be making it a permanent "when-I-go-into-London" stop. There were many street performers, as I have been told there would be, and most of the shops were of the Bluewater variety, but it is still a WONDERFUL place to visit.

I made it home in time for dinner. A German assistant that stayed in my room last year when she was here, was in town and had dinner at the house. She invited a friend that is teaching at one of the other schools in town. Both girls were extremely nice and I REALLY enjoyed meeting both of them!! We've exchanged numbers, so (for those of you that are worried that I have no friends here) my social life may actually start to pick up soon.

If you get a chance, check out this artist's work: Tina Maas. I saw her booth at Camden Market and her photographs are really amazing! I especially liked her polaroids and the effect she uses - it almost looks like the image is projected on a silk scarf or a piece of fabric - really cool!!

I love NOTHING days!

I have done nothing all day and it has been wonderful! I slept in until noon, finished reading another book and have been daydreaming about how to spend my holidays. [They don't call it a vacation, here.] Around 2:00, when I finished my book, I wandered into the study to check my e-mail and see what has happened on the other side of the Atlantic (I read Krissie's site daily, along with other favorites). To my surprise, her journal entry was a message to me, "Please send e-mail with number so that I can call you!" It made me chuckle. We chatted this afternoon - I'm afraid we chatted for much longer than we should have, but is was so nice to talk that I didn't want to hang up. We used to talk everyday, multiple times a day (and that was BEFORE we became roommates!) - I miss you, K!! All-in-all, it was a very relaxing day.

Tomorrow I am going to London. I was thinking about Canterbury, but the weather was so nasty today and at least in London, there are lots of places (out of the rain) to explore. I'll save Canterbury for a nice (i.e. dry) day. Tuesday is my day-trip to France - Yea!! I'll probably spend Wednesday or Thursday at school trying to get myself organized. And, Friday morning I leave for my tour of Wales - :) !! I should have lots of pictures by the end of the week.

I watched "A Night With Rod Stewart" on BBC1 tonight (that's the second-most exciting thing I've done today). I'm such a lazy bum!

Just in case you didn't know...

I'm a bitch! Or at least that's what I was told today in class. It doesn't phase me, really, I've been called a lot worse. He did it in a quiet classroom, just called out "bitch" because he didn't like the way I was handling a particular situation his friend was involved in. I had a sneaking suspicion it was him, but didn't have proof, so I played it cool, moving on with the lesson. When I made mention of the comment in passing to the class, he was one that started questioning and just wouldn't let it go, "... Do you mean when I coughed, Miss?" After about the fifth time, I sent him into the hall. As soon as I got out there, he said, "I said it. Don't get the other boys in trouble." So I asked him if that's what he called his mother or his grandmother? By the time an administrator got to the class, he was already starting to change his story. Weak little prat! This is why I am pissed... I've been called a bitch before, but never did the story change. Two administrators stopped me today to investigate the situation saying that the student says that he "just coughed" and that I mistook what he said. I am a twenty-eight year old woman who KNOWS the difference between a cough and the word "bitch," it was clear and it was loud. There was NO coughing going on in that room and some snide little prick thinks he can get out of calling his teacher a bitch in a classroom! Arrggg!! Hell, if you've got the guts to do it why change your story at the last minute? Did you really think you could get away with it? Have you gotten away with it before???

That wasn't the end to my day. Let's just say that something metal came flying at me from across the room in my last lesson. Call me a bitch all you want, but don't try and cause me physical harm. Hell, if you're going to do that, then BRING IT, don't hide behind the rest of the class!!! The joke at my old school was, "go ahead and hit me, it'll give me some time off from this place!"

(In my head, I keep seeing Kirsten Dunst and that stupid movie, "Bring It On.") I've got too much aggression built up right now. I need to go find a wall to climb or something physical to do. Sex would be nice, but sadly it is not a possibility at the moment...

If I spend all of my time complaining, I'll just put myself in a horrible mood, so I'll leave things on a positive note. I had an observation today that was not-so-horrible. Of course, as someone in the department said, "that observer is always positive." I know she may have meant it as encouragement, but that kinda took the wind out of my sails as far as feeling good about what the observer had to say... Oh well, only two more days before half-term!! And, boy do I need it!!!

Happy Days Are Here Again...

I can't really say that the "skies are clear again" because that just doesn't seem to happen much this time of year in the UK, but I am feeling much better (both physically and mentally). I have spent a lot of time this week on the phone, probably doubled the number of calls I've made since August, but sometimes you just gotta reach out and touch... Ya know? I've tried to keep myself from feeling too lonely here, but I've been on a downward spiral and it finally hit hard this weekend. My grandfather went into the hospital early in the week and had a pace-maker and defibulator put in to his chest. He's fine, but it made me realize exactly how far away I am right now. I caught a nasty British bug that knocked me on my ass for a few days. I'm better now, but those are the times I wish I was in familiar territory - I know the right drugs to buy at the store to get better, I know the good television programs to watch when I am laying on the couch and bored, I can hop in my car and run to the store without it taking much work (instead of packing a bag with an umbrella and rain coat and trekking into town), I also have a box of movies that I like to watch when I am bored or sick, but they are in an attic in Tennessee... You get the point...

So, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I have spent the weekend thinking about Holidays and vacations and trying to prepare for this trip to Wales. Today, I bought good trekking shoes and a larger pack. And now I have a list of a few smaller items that I "need." The most important being flip flops for nasty hostel showers. In December there's a bus tour that leaves from town and goes to Brugges. The French assistants (Catherine and Claire) and I are talking about joining that tour. It's only one day, but I've never been to Belgium before... Then, there's a Half-Term break in February, which I may have some company that week, can you say "Krissie and Andrea take Paris by storm?" I am also looking at a big trip in March (I have 18 days between Winter Term and Summer Term) and there's a company called Contiki that has these GREAT itineraries: Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Rome... I can't remember them all, but it sounds wonderful!! They are a little on the expensive side, but it includes all accommodations and some meals... Can't hurt to look (and start saving now!) In May my parents are talking about coming to visit and they've mentioned an interest in visiting Scotland. That leaves the summer, which depending on what happens I may or may not be packing a suitcase to head back to the States... Either way, I have found a tour of Morocco that I am just dying to join, so I may have to stick around long enough to travel to Northern Africa... Lots of ideas, lots of possibilities, who knows what I'll actually follow through on there's a lot of time between now and the end of July.

This Sucks!

I have spent the last three days in bed and miserable. I was miserable with a cold on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday I was miserable for being stuck in the house for so long. And now I am facing the same dilemma that I do every weekend: I want to get out of the house and do things but I also have about 12 hours of school work to do. Do I work today so that I can enjoy a Sunday afternoon out and about? Or do I go out today (because the thought of staying in just one more day irritates me) and just hope I can get everything done tomorrow? The problem is that I usually choose the later and I never seem to finish all that I need to do... Ugh!! This sucks!!

Half-term break is coming up. It's the week after next. If I can just make it through next week, I'll be a happy girl. The couple that I am staying with have invited me to go on a day-trip to France with them on Tuesday. The next Friday I am leaving for a "backpackers tour" of Wales. There's a pretty jam-packed itinerary for the three days, but it should be fun.

Day 1 London - Caernarfon : We leave behind the hustle and bustle of the big city and fill our lungs with fresh air en-route to the quaint little town of Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born and finally laid to rest and where historic and medieval English history comes to life! Then we head straight for the Mountains and Valleys of Britain's only Principality, the majestic Wales. We'll wander along the spectacular Pontcysyllre aqueduct, stop off for a walk in the forests and hills, and even try to teach you a bit of Welsh along the way -some say Europe's oldest language! After passing the magnificent monument of Conway Castle, we'll take you to the famous ''Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch', arguably the longest place name in the world, get your passport stamped and we'll not be leaving until all of you can pronounce it perfectly! We end an action packed day in the walled town of Caernarfon, which sleeps in the shadow of one of Britain's most spectacular castles, built by the invading King of England, Edward I and where the original and current Prince of Wales was inaugurated.

Day 2 Caernarfon - Abergavenny : We leave the amazing castle town behind and head into the Snowdonia national park, home of Wales' highest mountain, Snowdon. We'll take in the spectacular (and eccentric!) village of Portmeirion, home of many television shows, the spectacular coast-lines of the Cardigan heritage coast with its long golden beaches, and tiny mountain railways. Lunch is in the ruined Castle y Bere built by the last Welsh Prince of Wales, Llewellyn the Great. We then enter the Brecon Beacons National Park, which contains some off this country's most dramatic scenery. Tonight we stop in the historic town of Abergavenny, where we'll hear about the Ogre,and the brutal murders he committed. You also have the chance to try some traditional Welsh food!

Day 3 Abergavenny - London : Before we start making our way back to London, we'll stretch our legs and hike around the Brecon Beacons, then drive down some of the industrial valleys of Wales where the coal and steel industries once thrived. We then head for Caerphilly, home of the largest ruined castle in Europe, with its famous leaning tower. We'll then explore the Wye valley and visit the romantic Tintern Abbey, inspiration to poet William Wordsworth and one of only six cathedrals to survive the wrath of Henry VIII during his battle with the Church. We then drive up the border through the Forest of Dean and cross over into England arriving back in London at approximately 5.30 - 6.00pm.

I'm excited about Half-term and want to find something to do the first weekend, before we leave for France. I am also starting to worry, when will I find the time for the 12 hours of school work I'll have do before we start back...

I had every intention of going to the Rugby match today.

I went out last night!! Woo-hoo!! God, I miss that! There were about 6 of us that went to a pub close by. Two were French, two were British, one was Swedish - we were the International table in the pub. We drank five bottles of wine, ate bags of crisps (potato chips) and just talked and talked. It was wonderful! Afterward, we went to one of the girls' flat (which was right across the street) and had late-night chips (French fries), more wine and some SALSA dancing lessons. Catherine and I stumbled home around two in the morning. I don't think I could do that every weekend, but it was nice to get out of the house on a Friday night. I should have taken a B12, though.

This morning I slept in until 11, or so. Then decided to march myself to the infamous ASDA. ASDA, it seems, has been bought-out by Wal-Mart (and I love aimlessly wandering the aisles of Wal-Mart, so it could have meant trouble). I'd heard so much talk of this UK version that I had to see for myself. ASDA does not compare. Its main focus is groceries (which is never my main focus), so I was disappointed. The electronics aisle is about 6 feet long - that's it!! I looked at the signs labeling each department and they were right on top of each other, not miles and miles away like in Wal-Mart. Meaning, there is little to no selection of anything (other than food). I used to spend hours walking up and down the aisles, contemplating life and whether or not I really needed the microwavable egg poacher. The stores in town close at 5:30, the Pubs close at 11:00. Guess it is probably a good thing that the ONLY 24 hour place in this town sucks. I'll have to find somewhere else to contemplate the meaning of life.

In my running around town this afternoon, I missed a second opportunity to see a Rugby Match. One of these days I'll make it. There's always next Saturday...

Follow Up

Thursday I asked to speak with the (acting) Head of Department and asked her for some feedback. I explained that she is the only person that has spent any time in my classroom and was just wondering how things looked from her perspective. She was positive and didn't mention anything about subject knowledge, but I also don't feel she was being completely honest with me. Instead of feeling miserable about it all, I wanted a chance to confront her and say "I hear a lot of talk about this other teacher, if there are issues or concerns about me, please bring them up now." I don't like to be talked about, I'd much rather have someone in my face because, hopefully, things can get worked out that way. At least I said something... Maybe it will open a door.

More Happy Mail!

Got a package from Krissie today! :) She sent two Dexter Freebish CDs. The live one I have been listening to all night. Thanks, K!

It has been a rough few days. The kids have not been especially bad, they are who they are and you can't exactly fault them for being kids. Unfortunately, adults can behave like kids and that's where I have issues.

The problem starts with the fact that I am not the smartest individual in the group. I know enough to get by, but I don't know (if I had grown up in the UK) if I would have been accepted to a University here. Only a small percentage of students go on to year 12 or year 13, and those are the students who are considering college. A-Levels and GCSEs, I'm not sure what all is involved, but I have doubts as to whether or not I would make high enough scores. I have a degree in Middle Grades education, which allowed me to take a variety of classes within my two concentrations: science and social studies. I did not major in Biology, Chemistry or Physics which makes it difficult to be a "subject expert" in any of those topics. My most-recent experiences in Science were in Environmental Studies and Geology (which I won't get to teach here).

One of the other new Science teachers is having some real difficulties in the classroom. It started to become the topic of conversation in the break room whenever she was not around. Now, while her problems have mutiplied in the classroom, that is about the ONLY topic of conversation in the break room. Being a new teacher, myself, I can sympathize with her problems, but in all honesty she is really making some BIG mistakes. Kids are out of control in her room, and while I feel that way about my room, I know that it is not the same. We are now into Week Four of school, and the complaints in the break room have turned to subject matter knowledge. I understand that I may be a little sensitive to this issue, but I draw the line at citing her for that! Number One: Subject matter is the last of your worries when you are trying to manage classroom discipline and lesson planning, etc. Number Two: Sometimes people know more than they realize and only experience and confidence will let that show through.

It finally dawned on me last night what was happening in the Science Department. There has been so much talk about this particular teacher, but I am starting to wonder if (when I leave the room) my name doesn't get replaced for hers. It's sad, really, we are all adults and yet we are acting like children. Last night at Open Evening I met the new Head of the Science Department (she'll take over in January) and her first question to me was, "So how are you feeling about this subject content?" Hello and it's nice to meet you, too. If that didn't give it away...!!! I went home furious, but can I really fault them? I am not a subject expert... Of course, I've never claimed to be one, so why should I be made to feel stupid?