Turkey Bound (and Goodbye Hockey Season)

HEY!

This is going to be so short it will blow your mind! I'm really just writing to let you all know that I made a last minute decision to go to TURKEY! I'm going with Jason, MY NEW ROOMMATE. (And also, one of my few teacher friends here.) I just bought my ticket last week, but it was relatively inexpensive, and Turkey has always been #1 on my list, so I thought...now is the time! I've already decided 10 days won't be long enough, but alas, that is all the time my budget can afford right now. I will spend the other week of my vacation (yes, we have a TWO week Easter holiday) gallivanting around England proper, for once. I think that, at the very least, Bath and Stonehenge are on the agenda. And MAYBE some Brighton/Cornwall/Devon (that's the beach for you non-English-ites) if the weather is nice! (I'm also going hiking in the Peak District over Bank Holiday in May. Thank goodness for finally getting out of London!)

So yes, the roommate search, which had taken a turn for the worst, has now ended successfully. Jason will be moving in with us on May 1st. He has wanted to live with us since he saw our place during our house-warming party so long, long ago...but the timing wasn't right. Well, the stars have aligned, and Jason will be moving in. You'll be seeing more photos of him in the future (...the crazy, dread-headed hippy that he is ;) )

In other news, the hockey season is over. Check us OUT. We are HOT. hehe. Or ridiculous. Or something. Thank goodness for summer hockey (starting May), otherwise honestly, half of my social life (and attempts at staying in shape) would be completely shot. And...there is talk of making a CRICKET team out of hockey girls. I don't know if I'm up for that...but it would certainly be something to write home about. (Does anyone even know the rules for the game???)

For some slightly trivial music news, I just bought a ticket for this for eleven pounds, INCLUDING service charge. Hell yea! And, a ticket for the Bouncing Souls, for 16 pounds, which isn't half bad. And this is a shout out to Chris, but, in other music news, I have a HUGE music crush on Eugene McGuinness, and apparently am destined to be out of the country EVERY time he plays London, which is pretty much monthly. What the EFF? (And let's not get me started on not getting Idlewild tickets. I'll cry.)

And now, about work. I, for the first time in nearly six months, worked in a highly-functional secondary school this past week...and I will be doing PATERNITY leave after April break for TWO WEEKS. I will be taking over for an English teacher (who also happens to be the head of the department) for two weeks. It will be nice to finally be able to use my education...I think my experience is atrophying a little bit here. The primary school kids bore me sometimes, to be honest.

So, to wrap things up...nothing new, fun, or interesting is going on here ;) I don't know if anyone remembers this, but I think I wrote about how for my New Years Resolution I gave up impulsive decision making, or something like that. It's going really well for me, and I realized on Saturday (at our hockey formal where everyone was kiiiind of ridiculous) that I actually don't think of it as a resolution anymore, but that I actually don't WANT to make silly decisions. (Earlier in the year, perhaps I would want to make decisions knowing full well they weren't a good idea, but I wouldn't do it "on principle." But now, silly decisions LESS frequently cross my mind. I say LESS, because, lets be honest. We all think about doing things we KNOW aren't in our best interests, alllll the time...you know, like walking across the street when the red hand is on the lamp-post ;) )

Right-O. So, you should probably leave a comment, or something. :)

Love, Sarah

Falling in and out of love...with London

Hello!!!

Happy Belated St. Paddy's Day!! In honor of St. Paddy's Day, I would like to let people who live under rocks see this.

Now, moving on...London is a rollercoaster, and I want to get off. Really...one day I love it, and the next...I'm dreaming of Ireland. (Or Portland.)

So, from where I left off, ironically, the day after I wrote my last blog about how I was "really getting settled into my new school," I got a call from my agency that the woman who was on leave from the position I had taken over at Globe Academy, was coming back. In other words, I was out of a permanent job, once again. It hasn't been so bad being back to regular daily substitute teaching, but as I mentioned previously, not much has changed in my feelings of restlessness towards substitute teaching. (At least it's fairly good money, and "is a great experience in working abroad, I guess.)

Since the last blog, a fair amount of random things have gone on in life in London. Firstly, one of our housemates, Tim, is moving out. Quite frankly, he's the least awesome one of us, who never hangs out with the house and instead is a recluse in his room playing computer games...but, it's a huge pain in the a** trying to get someone to fill his space at this time of year. We have been looking for a new housemate for about three weeks now, and we have absolutely no takers. The cool people who have come to see the house, have consistently called us alter to tell us they found something in a better neighborhood, and then there have been the fair bit of crazies who, clearly, we aren't going to live with. The latest, whose name, incidentally, is KURT RUSSELL, actually asked us what our STAR SIGNS were. (LU-NA-TIC!) Needless to say, it has been a huge stress for us recently, and I don't know what we are going to do if we can't get someone to move in...

I recently found the best bar in London...called The Lexington...that serves BROOKLYN LAGER AND SIERRA NEVADA. What?!! Random thought, but very blog-worthy.

I went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade last week and it was shockingly smaller than the one in NYC. You'd think, being closer to Ireland and all, it would have been huge...

Look! Spring! After the parade a few of us went to Green Park (one of the MANY parks in London). It was the first perfect, warm, sunny day London has had in many, many months (and the first since I have been here) and the whole city came out of their shells. Hundreds of people were picnic-ing and laying around in the sun. It reminded me SO much of Central Park come spring. And, I should say, I fell completely in love with London.

There is nothing more wonderful than sitting in a park, surrounded by green, surrounded by a city, and lazing-around with your friends. (l-r: Jill, Helen, Rob, Sadhbh) It could only have been bested by a novelty flying disk (JAMES, you were missed!) or some playing cards. And yesterday, I got sunburned playing hockey!! Of course, my love-crush with London was shattered only days later when it took me 1.5 hrs to get into London city from my friends' place in Stoke Newington. (For those of you non-Londonphiles, it should only have taken about 25 minutes...I HATE London transport!!!)

My hockey team...we never win...but we are winners at life? Oh no. Did I really just say that? (l-r: emma, me, gabby, rowena, jo, lydia, minty, anna)

And now...for a list: The Short List of New Favorites:
1. Bar--The Lexington
2. Sport to watch on T.V--Rugby (One of the best sporting events I've EVER watched on Television...up there with 2004 Red Sox...)
3. Neighborhood--Stoke Newington (This isn't really a New Favorite...but recently I've been reminded of how much I love it...despite it's lack of proximity to a tube station.)
4. New Irish Crush--Tommy Bowe (Scroll down to the bottom and watch the video. Honestly, if I didn't love him before, with his tiny shorts and mouthguard on the pitch, then I certainly love him for having the guts to sing in front of this crowd.)
5. Hair Color--Ginger (Well, let's just say that I let Jaz dye my hair a couple days ago with a hairdye bought at the pound shop...and, well, now, I'm a little bit of a red head. But just a little bit.)

Well, this has been pretty short, for once (so no excuses about commenting!!) Happy Spring!

Love, Sarah

The strangest weeks!

Hey!

I will try to keep this RELATIVELY short (haha) because I have no pictures to back up all the writing...I have been lazy with my camera lately...I'll start taking it out again...I promise!

I don't know where to start! But firstly, I want to give a special shout-out to my momzers for sending me the most amazing package which is now fueling this blog. (Thank goodness for mini-pretzels and WHY do they not exist in this pretzel-forsaken country?!)

To keep things interesting, let me start out with a fun list:
Top 5 weirdest/most unpleasant/strangest things that have happened to me lately:
1) Ran into Eamonn on the tube. (What are the chances?) Apparently, we are trying to be friends again, or something like that.
2) Got pooped on in the pre-school. I'm pretty sure I did NOT sign up for that.
3) Taught a class full of kids with lice. (School sounds AWESOME, doesn't it?)
4) Got a RAW chicken leg dropped on my head by a SEAGULL (again, what? I'm PRETTY sure I don't live by the sea...)
5) I still had/have? bed bugs...even after the extermination...but, the exterminator came again last week, and I feel pretty confident (fingers crossed) that they are gone for good this time.

Alright, and now for the chronological order section of the blog...

I started my new teaching job 2.5 weeks ago...and I think it is the toughest school I've ever worked in. I mean, it is a primary/elementary school, so it is different then the toughness encountered at DHS and NHS, but, tough nonetheless. I scream, a lot, everyday, which I loathe doing. The kids are wild, and unruly, and slightly disrespectful (though some of them are angelic), and so so soooo far below grade-level. Sound familiar NYC teachers? The thing is...I have no contractual commitment, but for some reason, I have decided to stick with it.

In all honesty, it's a hard school to be in, but 3 out of 5 days I enjoy myself. The other teachers are young, intelligent, and caring, which really helps. And, to be honest, the kids really love me. (Some of them don't seem to respect me very much....but they are extremely warm, ironically.) And, of course, they are needy...which I think is the main reason why I don't want to leave the school. I already feel "sucked-into" their world of neediness, and I don't want to give up on them. (Again, NYC teachers will know exactly what I'm talking about.) They do suck a lot of energy out of me, and I'm tired a lot, but I enjoy going to the same school everyday and having those bonds that you have with students when they are "yours." Because I teach the same students on a schedule (same students every Monday, every Tuesday, etc), they are used to me, and they ask me when I'm teaching them next when they see me in the hallways or canteen. Friday is Red Nose Day so I will be proudly wearing my red nose and doing a relay race for charity during lunch. I guess you could say I'm getting involved in the school :)

In other teaching news, the truth is, I'm still not sure where I'm going to be next year, but to let the cat out of the bag, I've been sending out applications to schools/jobs of interest in London/Surrey, Portland and Seattle. Basically, it's time for me to move somewhere green. New York City is also on the radar, as is Denver, CO (Kirstin--Here's your shout-out!), but I haven't actively sought out jobs in those places, yet. However, neither NYC, nor Portland OR Seattle are hiring teachers for next year. I know that sounds like complete hyperbole...but check their websites...it's the truth. At least in the public sector. They, and many other school systems, have "put a cap on new hires" and are going to be "re-circulating" people around the system. In other words, I have no chance. Which leaves private schools, and other jobs. (Any thoughts on other jobs? I'm thinking...truck driver...lunch-lady...chaiwalla?) So...I'm going to avoid recession talk for the rest of this blog, but, according to my sources ;), I should just stay put if I have a job here, because I'm not going to be able to find one in The States. (My mum is worrying about my lack of benefits, but right now, I feel like the fact that I don't have a pension plans seems better than not having a job at all, right?!)

Okay, so let's see then, besides the new job...I guess I should blog a little bit about social things, right? Fat Tuesday, otherwise known as Mardi Gras, otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday, is ALSO otherwise known as PANCAKE Tuesday! Basically, the tradition in the British Isles has it that on the last day before Lent, people used to make pancakes (really more like crepes) to get rid of all of the things they wouldn't be eating for lent...sweet jams, sugar, eggs, butter, etc. It has become a British/Irish tradition to have pancakes on the day before Lent...and EVERYONE does it. It's practically a national holiday. Needless to say, I decided it was time I put myself out there and finally threw my first dinner party in London. It was more of a "breakfast for dinner" party, but it was a huge blast. (I know enough people now to throw a dinner party, yay!) We had savory AND sweet pancakes...American style AND Crepe style, and lots and lots of Mimosas (also known as "Bucks Fizz" here in England). I wish I had pictures, because we all had an awesome time, and the kitchen was a DISASTER. It's nice to be able to have a dinner party with a reasonably sized kitchen now, though. It makes such a difference (and damn, do I sound horribly domestic)!

Hockey has been another really important part of my non-work life lately, as well. It has been keeping me in shape, and the girls are really great. We had a Rugby social two weekends ago (because, for the lot of you that don't follow Rugby, it was the Six Nations Tournament--big deal) and the clubhouse was filled with people. There are 6 girls teams and 7 guys teams, so there are just so many fun people to hang out with. I won't go into too much boring detail, but I will say that, though the clubhouse closes at 11pm, there was plenty of time for me to have a Zoolander style dance-off with a total stranger. If I were slightly more shy, it could have been mortifying.

I guess that pretty much sums up anything half exciting that has been going on here lately. I had the best night that I have had yet in London this past Saturday. My team had gotten completely annihilated (we've yet to win a game) and I was feeling pretty down, but I ended up going out dancing with a couple of my housemates and Jill. We ended up staying out way too late and finding this really awesome unpretentious place to dance. (They played IDLEWILD. Who DOES that?!!!) London has its redeeming qualities...and great dance venues is certainly one of them!

Anyway, I'll take more photos for the next blog, and I'll keep everyone posted about any future returns to the states (as well as anything else half exciting that's going on).

Comment? haha.

Love Sarah