Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Boxing Day

Well I'm sitting in Chiselhurst at Babagenouche's Aunt and Uncle's house on Boxing Day morning with fine memories of Turkey, Christmas Pudding, Wine, Conversation, and hysterical TV show called "The Vicar of Dibley" dancing through my head.

It's been a bit strange being away from the family in Canada. I miss everyone there. So if you're reading this blog put a comment on it! It's the only way I know any one's actually reading it and it's nice to hear your voice...or read your text as the case may be.

Christmas day was wonderful. We got things rolling around noon with some champagne and orange juice. The we commenced to open gifts. I got some lovely stuff from Genevieve including a shirt of Darth Vader trimming a hedge in the shape of the Death Star. I'll take a picture and upload it. We had Christmas dinner in the afternoon which is traditional here. It's a good plan actually. Aids the digestion mightily. You get to burn off the meal and then have a light dinner later.

I've discovered the most dense substance in the universe: Christmas Pudding. You think to yourself "Jeez that's a small portion" as you gaze upon the small cake on your plate. After two bites, however, you're crippled. You can barely lift your spoon it's so heavy. It's like a delicious brick of boozy lead on you plate. Four spoonfuls and you start to go into a coma. Five and the weight of it tears a hole in your stomach and you die with a smile on your face. I survived six spoonfuls (or is that spoons full?) I'm proud to say. I've still got burn marks on my chest from the defibrillator but it was worth it.

We'll be heading out of here today and I'll post some pictures I took.

Merry Christmas to all!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Christmas Break, A Coma, and A Man Pisses on A Pop Machine in the Underground

Christmas break is upon me! Thank God! I crossed the finish line and collapsed into a mega coma last night. I fell asleep at about 8:00 and slept until 10:45 this morning. You think pimpin ain't easy? Try teachin!

I feel refreshed for the first time in 2 months.

As for the third line of my heading...

London is a different place than Toronto. It's also much different than Seoul. People do things in public that I just wouldn't expect in either of those two places. Granted - in Seoul people would wander out of bars and piss on walls in full view of everyone but at least they were kind enough to use a wall. Plus they were always dressed in business suits which added an air of respectability to the act.

Babagenouche and I went to a place called Spitalfields market today to do some shopping and were about to purchase a beverage with which to quench our thirst from a pop machine in the London Underground when a scruffy looking bum strode up and stood beside the machine and the wall in what I can only describe as the "Urination Position." Most men are familiar with this as it's the stance assumed at a urinal - though rarely at a pop machine. We backed off and within a minute or so (apparently some stage fright had slowed the process down) we heard a mighty splashing. I couldn't believe it. The guy was obviously hammered out of his mind, most likely homeless, and hopefully insane but I still couldn't believe it. I wish I'd had the guts to take a picture. I don't think he would have minded.

Having said that Babagenouche and I had a good day. Spitalfields market is a cool place. Usually it's rammed with people but since we went on a Wednesday during the day it was much less crowded. There's an area that's full of stall that are loaded with all the accouterments of alternative street stall life. Clothes ranging from hippie rags to stylish funk, knick-knacks of all sorts, beaded jewellery, art, drug paraphernalia, food stalls, and all the fair trade and organic food/clothing/furniture/jewellery you can eat. There are all kinds of great shops around that often fall into that high end specialty category. There's cool wine bar we have to go back to...a place to buy bean bag furniture...just a cool all around place.

We had a brunch meal in a place called Giraffe which is a "Global Eatery." Really good food and atmosphere. I have a picture of us in it but I don't know how much of the restaurant you'll see.

Anyway, back to school.

I had a pretty relaxed time over the last few teaching days. No planning. I just did some fun stuff like watching some movies. The students were pretty good overall. I was warned that things can get really crazy because the kids actually hate x-mas vacation as they often don't like the time they spend in their home lives. The kids were pretty good though. I think a lot of it has to do with the stellar management that the school is doing. There was a prize draw for a bike or a PSP (portable play station), gifts for students, and certificates of merit - all given out at then end of the last day. Oh and there was a Christmas meal at a pub on the second last day that went extremely well. The kids can be great when they're relaxed and having fun. I think this really tied some kids in and kept them going to the end.

Anyway I should have lots of support for the upcoming term from a science program at a nearby school and from a consultant. I'm really paranoid about my evaluation and record keeping so that's what I've got to improve for the upcoming term.

Hopefully I find the will to do some planning over the break.

Monday, December 11, 2006

A Moon for the Misbegotten


Wow. Babagenouche and I went down to The Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo on Saturday and took in a little play by Eugene O'Neill called A Moon for the Misbegotten staring Kevin Spacey and Colm Meany. Damn it was great! I took a couple of snaps of the theatre which I will upload to Flickr shortly.

For those of you who don't know Colm Meany he's this guy:

That's right. Star Trek the Next Generation's chief engineer. Chief O'Brien himself. He's done a lot of other great work actually including The Commitments, Layercake and some other stuff. Anyway he actually stole the show in my opinion. He was AMAZING.

The performances all around were fantastic but Eve Best was a force in her role as well. My room mate (who saw the play earlier in the month) though she was the best. There wasn't much to choose from between the three actors. All were great but when Kevin Spacey is not the brightest star on stage you know you're seeing something special. No knock on Spacey whatsoever. He was great he was just in great company.

What a play this is. It's a play of huge unending dialogue which could get boring if not for the skill of these actors. The characters are constantly lying and saying the opposite of what they mean which injects a lot of humour into a really heavy play.

But enough raving about the play.

After the play Babagenouche and I then went down to the Tate Museum of Modern Art and poked around there for awhile. Neither of us get modern art much. Best I can say is that everyone in awhile you think: "That's pretty cool".

Then we walked down the Thames, past The Globe Theatre (the reconstruction of Shakespeare's old haunt) and around Southbank. Southbank might just be one of the greatest arts areas in the world. It's chock full 'o' art. We ended up at The Chocolate Factory Theatre Cafe where we had a drink and a cheese plate. Fine times indeed.

Things seem to be coming together a bit better at school. I felt relaxed again today, although I didn't teach. I'm getting used to the power struggles with students. I've figured out that you have to win them all...just not right away. You have to log stuff and come back at students with a consequence later a lot of the time.

We have a production we're mounting next week and it's been a real struggle. It's an updated version of A Christmas Carol but students here are very challenging to work with in a Drama situation. They like to sabotage things, or just take advantage of being able to move around and get at each other. Trust is low between the students but I think we've actually got a show!

Well I have to go prepare. It's almost 10 pm so maybe I'll get to bed before midnight!



Friday, December 08, 2006

Four Good Days


Well for those of you concerned about the tone of my last oh...10 posts I'd like to state that I just had my first run of consecutive good days since I got here. Four days without feeling like either bursting into tears, kicking a hole in something, hiding in fear, or jumping off a bridge!

Monday I went into school and told them I'm wasn't sure if I wanted to sign on just yet. I had a long conversation the next day with the principal and he was really incredible. The guy is quite inspiration I have to admit. Anyway, the gist of our conversations has been that he thought I was doing a really good job and that I was an asset to the school. He thought my drama skills were needed and basically that, because I cared about the students, I was the right person for the job. I also had some conversations with the head of the school and the director of the school who all were very supportive. Heck I even went and saw the school pyschologist and had a conversation with her (reluctantly) and all in all it seems to have gotten me through.

I've had absolutely fantastic advice from the principal about classroom management and I've learned more in the last week on that level than I did in a year of teacher's college and 18 months of teaching before that. Things like laying out books on tables where students are supposed to sit, having materials organized and ready, writing the lessons objectives on the board, creating worksheets to focus on... kicking kids who are misbehaving immediately out to get the class under control and having work ready for those who have been kicked out ready are HUGE things I've learned. Much of this sounds elementry but its key to teaching these kids (and probably millions of others as well).

Much of what I'm doing here flies in the face of what I was taught to do in teacher's college at York. Teacher's college was all about co-operative learning and integrating all learning styles into a lesson. If something wasn't a group based project that integreated dance/drama/music/art and social justice it was a failure. Unfortunately that stuff doesn't work here. Having kids read a passage and fill in some missing words here focuses them, makes them feel like they've accomplished something, and gives you a jumping off point for a review game where the material is discussed. Not exciting but it works. All the crap I learned in teacher's college and was forced to do is useless to real world early teachers. I actually think a lot of what we were taught is interesting but as a first year teacher in this situation its somewhat useless. Lessons on how to assess would have been nice....bah...my axe grindeth over.

Anyhoo...I'm feeling more confident largely due to the amount of support the school is giving me. They're giving me training as well.

As for England I'm beginning to manage that as well. I don't feel as confused, disoriented, fearful, and anxious as I did. I've started to realize that the English folk are loud and more agressive than I'm used to but that's not much to be alarmed about. A lot of what I hear is bluster.

Maybe I'll actually enjoy it here soon!

Thanks to everyone who's thrown support my way. You know who you are. Couldn't have made it without all of you.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Goodbye to a friend

One of my favourite blogs has disappeared!

I went to check in on postmoderncourtesan and an error message popped up. After much googling, and the imput of other bloggers, I can only conclude that there has been some scandal or other and the witty, well-written, poignant Olympia Manet has had to pack it all in.
It is a bit like losing a friend.
Goodbye Olympia - I read your blog almost from the beginning, and never felt brave enough to leave a comment. Thanks for sharing your fascinating, always provocative tales. Good luck and godspeed!

On an up note - I've just found another new fun blog: belleinthebigapple.blogspot.com. Another excellent writer with a unique style, seeking her fortune in New York and musing about delicious food while doing so. Bliss. As one door closes, another one opens...

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

No, really, I DO exist

Just to quell all of those internet rumors that my dear husband has chopped me up and hidden me under the floor-boards...here I am, alive and kicking (and posting!)

It's been a rough old couple of weeks. We have hit major assessment time at school, which means our class is constantly being scuntinized by our tutors for any signs (however vague or remote) that we have absorbed something (anything!) of what we've been taught this term. The biggest hurdle has proven to be the swirling whirlwind vibe of panic and resisting getting sucked down into it full force.

I guess I have an advantage over some of my class in that I've been through similar periods of stress and assessment at my last drama school, and so this process is vaguely familiar. Hopefully I'm able to learn from my experience and keep it all in perspective as well i.e. I'm no longer say to myself, "Oh god, if I don't absolutely nail this vocal warm-up where I lie on the floor and go, "huh HUH", they're going to chuck me out of the school!"

It's a funny old thing, though, to see what stress does to people and how they react under pressure. There was definitely some cracking on the part of my classmates. Tears, rage, and general bitchiness were in the air. I am a bit sad that my new group doesn't seem to be as supportive and generous towards each other as were my colleagues of drama schools past. Sometimes I do wonder where my kindred spirits are among them. Sometimes I feel really advanced and deeply wise and talented in comparison - and sometimes I feel like I know nothing and that they're all miles ahead of me. It's what is known as "actor's teetor-totter syndrome".... or it is now that I've coined the phrase, anyways.

We get the results of all these assessments in ye grande olde "feed-back" session this Friday, where we are sent in, naughty school-child like, to shuffle in our chairs before a panel of teacher people. I'll let you know kids....

In other news, lots of great film and theatre abound! And I have no time to see any of it! Must make effort this week and over Xmas holidays to get more cultured. Who has time to be cultured when you're training to make culture??

Also, Edukator and I have taken to jogging together nightly - mostly so I can defend his honour against any roving marauding Essex "youf" we may chance upon. We've become "the couple who jogs together." I know - let me be the first to offer you a barf bag.

And finally (because I love a good list!), I leave you with some details of things I do (when I'm not balancing on one arm in a dance studio reciting Blake poems, that is):

a) laundry. Endless laundry. This is because our washing machine is the size of a small basket ball - one pair of the Husband's jeans fills it to capacity. And it's in the kitchen. Hello, Britain!

b) walking. Lots of walking. We are a bit spoilt for walks, as there are some lovely bits of green fields and countryside out in the sticks. There's a really lovely hill right near our house with rather poignant 3 oak trees atop it - it's quite nice to hike up and watch the sunrise across the land.

c) shopping. Our fridge is the size of a cat-carrier. Shopping is a daily ritual. The Husband hates this, but I quite enjoy it. I pretend I'm a French woman, off to market with my panier. Our local Sainsbury's somewhat shatters this illusion: it's low-ceiling, dark, and dingy, like some ex-communist horror, complete with mysterious shortages of fairly staple foods on a regular basis. The Roomate and I look at it other, shrug, and remark stoically, "oh well, no milk today!"

d) make tea. Lots and lots of tea. Gone are my merry days of take-out coffees. They are too expensive here and, as we live in Essex, you are more likely to get an eel pie or a kehab than a coffee. This is why most people can be found:

e) going to the pub. When you're sick of doing laundry, buying food, and walking in the rain, there's nowhere else to go. There's no place like Essex...

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Claustrophobia ,Jogging, and a Haircut

I've been struggling with what I should do with this blog because it was pointed out to me that this is a public space and it's occurred to me that anything I say on here could come back to haunt me. Also, the damn blog is not working properly.

Techie question for anyone out there:
1) When I used to want to insert a picture into this blog I would insert the image, the image would appear and I could drag it around my window. Now I'm just getting code when I'm making my post but then the picture is actually there when I post it. This basically means I can't do anything but put a picture at the top, however, as I can't really figure out what all this code means. This is a new development. I thought it was because I upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 but I'm now using Firefox and that's not working either. Argh! I'm not really impressed with blogger I've had a lot of problems with it.
2)Same problem if I try and put things in italics or bold. I get the code on screen but it doesn't actually but text into italics.

As for postings, like I said I'm a bit worried so I'm thinking of moving over to Live Journal because I can set it so that only people I allow to view the page can view it. The just want to relate my experiences without worrying about saying the wrong thing. I go through my whole life worrying about that.

So anyway, last week was really really hard. The students at my school are very very difficult to deal with. You tell yourself it's not you but it's frustrating and emotionally draining to have to fight them to do almost anything. On the other hand I've established a relationship with some of them and gotten them onside - at least somewhat. I've started to feel a strange sense of responsibility towards them because I know that if I left they'd be completely thrown because they'd have to deal with another adult coming in who they'd have to figure out. They'd have to go through the whole establishment process again.

So why am I staying there? I don't know . The staff are amazing really. The head teacher is incredible and, really, so is everyone else. I have a technician who's been there 10 years and is really guiding me through the work I'm supposed to be doing. She's saving my butt all over the place. Having said all that... I'm about to sign on for the rest of the year and I have to go in tomorrow and tell them I don't want to. I don't know if I want to stay there the whole year it's just too much for me to even think about at the moment. It's going to be a really tough conversation. Basically I don't want to lock into some situation and not be able to handle it down the road. I want to have the option to leave if I have to. I'll always have that option of course but at least this way I'm being honest.

So yeah last week was incredibly exhausting. I realized that I landed and started teaching immediately in an education system that I have NO familiarity with. I'd say 60-70% of my stress is that I'm very often quite unsure if I'm teaching the right thing or not. England has these standardized tests that kids have to pass and I don't want to let the kids down by teaching things that aren't on the test or not teach them how to write the test and have them fail because of it. There's also this "course work" stuff they have to send in to some government agency to get marked. The course work involves samples of their actual work. I don't even mark it someone else does. It's all very stressful because I don't know the system. At least in Canada I know how it works just from having gone through it.

So that brings me to the title of my posting.

The culture shock here is still a major issue for me. I feel very anxious when I'm out and about and I think a lot of it has to do with the tightly packed enclosed space that is London. I've mentioned that the streets are so twisted and convoluted that you can't see more than half a block at a time. It's also hilly and everywhere you go buildings are crammed together with little alleyways leading everywhere. In Canada alleyways are danger zones but here everything in an alleyway so I think I feel like I'm in dangerous areas when I'm not. The biggest problem I have is that I really feel like I'm always in a tiny condensed packed in space. I spoke to a British man today who had travelled in America for 6 months at one point in his life and he mentioned that he noticed that feeling when he came back. I know I'll get used to it but at the moment it's difficult.

Today I went and got a haircut at a place called Hair On Broadway which is a fairly high end sort of place. The guy who cut my hair was really cool actually and we had a great conversation. Then I went clothes shopping and almost bought a pair of pants (I'll get them on pay day!). I just wandered around looking for clothes and started to feel a lot better. Something about grooming myself and getting some nice clothes (almost anyway) made me feel better. Plus I got some exercise because it's a half hour walk into Loughton where all the stores are. I went to a Kebabery (Kebabs are big here) and had a massive chicken kebab. I started to relax for the first time in days.

I decided I need to get in better shape and that I need to exercise to deal with stress so I went jogging at 9:00pm and I actually jogged for 29 minutes straight. Don't ask me how. I think it's because I've done so little physical activity that my body is just not worn out at all...or something. I felt a lot better after having done this and I need to stick to the goal of eating better, exercising, and doing some things I like so I feel better.

So my goal is to do half an hour of exercise every day, quit drinking for the week, and eat right.

1 day down, 6 to go.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Another Week Ends With a Trip to the Isle of Wight


Well it's Sunday. The lovely Babagenouche and I just returned from the Isle of Wight where we had a great time with her family. The Isle of Wight is a lovely charming place just off the the south east coast of Britain. Babagenouche's grandmother lives there. You can take a look at where we were in the picture on the left!

We left Saturday morning from Debden which couldn't be farther away and still be considered even close to London and took the tube across town. Then we got on an hour and a half train ride which was actually quite nice. It sure beats the Tube. I have no end of complaints about the tube here but I won't bore you with that! We finally got to Portsmouth and took a 15 minute ferry ride across to the Isle of Wight. Babagenouche's Uncle Neil, Aunt Julia, and niece picked us up with her father (who is visiting Britain) and we went to Newport for a tour. We managed to find some pubs and sample so beers as well as poking around.

We finally went back to Babagenouche's grandmother's (Jean) house and had a fantastic time. Fantastic food, lots of laughs, just a plain old good time.

Today I went to my first English castle. That was fun.

I've upload pictures to my flickr site. Check 'em out!

As for me I'm settling into Britain a bit more. I go through phases now where I'm actually starting to like it. I realized that a lot of my irritation was caused by fear. I'm starting to get more comfortable with behaviour in public that would be considered very aggressive and inconsiderate in Canada but here is just boisterous, assertive, or just plain friendly. People talk to each other more here and I'm getting more comfortable with that. I've complained that no one talks to one another in Toronto and that everyone seems to walk around in their own zone of silence but even though I didn't like that I guess I was used to it. There's a lot more conversation here which I'm starting to like. I'm also twigging to the English sense of humour which is different than the Canadian. British folk really like to make fun of each other in a friendly way. I still get the "I hate this place" feeling but it's happening less. I also think this happens when I'm in some place that I'm totally unfamiliar with and it's really the feeling that I just can't get my bearings.

Anyway, meeting up with Babagenouche's family was great and I can't wait to get together with them again. They're a really fun bunch!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Feeling Better

Ok so I'm feeling much better. Thanks to those who posted comments on the 'ol blog on that one. Made me feel a bit better. I had a guy come in from a high school near by on Monday and show me the ropes of the curriculum a bit. That's relieved a lot of confusion and stress. The wife and the roomate have been great support and I have great family and friends who have been incredible. I even have friends in blogger land who are checking in on me and helping me out. Thanks all!

I feel pretty good because today we got to a point with the play we're working on that was very encouraging. It's been a constant battle through the whole process as students have been in and out and doing interactive work is very difficult for them. Today the Drama group, the art group, and the singing/dance group all showed what they'd developed so far and it went much very well. The students actually watched each others work respectfully and I think they were surprised at how things are going. It's getting down to the crunch and they're coming together. It's very exciting to see.

I'm starting Capoeira tonight. It's some sort of Brazilian martial art/dance type thing. I need excercise and an outlet for stress so it should help. Apparently it's African in origin but really big in Brazil.

Read all about it here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira

Monday, November 20, 2006

Culture Shock Part 809,973,498,430

Before reading ahead I'll state the following:

I know it'll get better. I might be at the worst point which is the turning point. I know it'll get better.


Ok I hate it here. Now before everyone gets alarmed and freaks out I know what I'm going through is Culture Shock. I know it'll pass. But right now I absolutely hate it here. Here's a little graph or two that I've found that illustrate the wave of Culture Shock that people feel when moving to another Country.

I'm definitely in the disintegration stage. The honeymoon phase was very very short in fact and it's been a steady downhill jaunt since then.

I've really hit the end of my tether. Brace yourself here comes a rant!



I can't understand what people are saying half the time, they can't understand me, I can't seem to get anything done properly. I'm at zero tolerance for screw ups. Buses that don't show up, entire lines on the tube that are shut down on the weekend, do I tip or not?, why is the hair salon sending me a text message to confirm and appointment I never made? Why are people yelling constantly?, why the hell are they swearing and screaming at each other constantly?, why are they talking to me?, What's with the profanity?, why did that pack of kids just throw a McDonald's wrapper at us? (seriously!), why the hell don't pubs serve food after 7 o'clock??, where do I go to buy a power cord for my computer?, how am I supposed to go to a bank to do anything when they're only open 10 - 4?, why are the young children causing a ruccus everywhere, how can you found your way around this city when steet maps look like spaghetti I mean no one can give directions without going into a 20 minute discussion about the 19 different ways you could get somewhere but you never actually get street names just land marks am I the only one uncomfortable with "turn at the roundabout, the you'll see a pub, it's after that can't miss it"?, where are the street signs?, the streets windiness means you can never see more than a half block ahead of you which is starting to make me feel claustrophobic, transportation is ridiculously expensive, the shops all shut down early, I'm stuck in the boonies and I'm in a seriously rough area of London I can't wait to get out of...

And that's just the beginning.

I went down to a place called Sloan Square the other day and walked around. It's a very wealthy shopping area and I started to feel better. I think it was partially because I saw something I recognized. There were stores I knew like The Gap, Swarovski, Guess and other stores that I at least recognized. Also people looked relaxed and like they were having a good time. This seems somewhat rare in my neighbourhood.

Anywyay I found some articles about Culture Shock that describe exactly what I'm going through. It's pretty typical.

I can't wait until I reread this 6 months from now and laugh and laugh and laugh at how crazy I was.

Flickr updated

I finally got to upload my pics to Flickr. There's about 50 of them. Click on the link on the left for pictures.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

The British Rollercoaster



Up and down up and down up and down. This is my life at the moment. One day I go to bed a nervous exhausted wreck and the next day I feel like I might be getting a handle on this place. Then it starts all over again. Britain is a much different place than Canada. I really can't believe it. I'll adjust soon I'm sure but I'm constantly thrown and made uncomfortable by the differences in day to day living.

There seems to be, and I could be totally wrong here, a real tendency to be much more upfront and direct than is typical in Canada. This might actually just be a difference in the way things are said or whatever, or maybe it's just that I'm unsure or shy about interacting with people so I get overwhelmed. Not sure. Maybe I'm just a little overwhelmed by it all so I end up not talking as much. Here's are some British idioms and some vocabulary that when I first heard I had no idea what the meant.

Taking the piss: messing around. So I think anyway. I found a definition:
Taking the piss - One of the things Americans find hardest about the Brits is our sense of humour. It is obviously different and is mainly based on irony, sarcasm and an in-built desire to "take the piss". This has nothing to do with urine, but simply means making fun of someone.

Trying It On: Used when someone is testing you or trying to push boundaries. "That kid was trying it on in there so I had to set him straight."

Fag: Cigarrette. I knew this but it is actually used quite regularly here.

Stropped off: Used when some one gets angry and loses it or gets very upset. Throwing a tantrum basically.

To Wind Someone Up: To aggravate someone. Very common. As in "If that guy doesn't stop winding me up I'll hit him with this ironing board."

To Bang someone: Hit them, beat them up. Definitely not what it means in Canada. As in "If you hit me with that ironing board again I'll bang you."

Getting on my tits: That's agravating me or: "That's really getting on my tits." I find this hillarious.

Effin and Blindin: Swearing. As in: "Did you hear that guy out side effin and blinding into his mobile phone?"

Bollocks - This is a great English word with many excellent uses. Technically speaking it means testicles but is typically used to describe something that is no good (that's bollocks) or that someone is talking rubbish (he's talking bollocks). Surprisingly it is also used in a positive manner to describe something that is the best, in which case you would describe it as being "the dog's bollocks".

To Pull: To pick up women or men. So when someone says "I pulled last night" it does NOT mean what it means in Canada.

Fanny - Really bad word for vagina. One doesn't normally talk about anyone's fanny as it is a bit rude. You certainly don't have a fanny pack, or smack people on their fannys - you would get arrested for that! Careful use of this word in the UK is advised!

Hash - That's the pound sign on the phone.

Snog - If you're ON THE PULL (I'd say cruising) you'll know you're doing well if you're snogging. Making out heavily.

That's all I can think of for now but let's put all these in context shall we?

So I was out on the pull last week when this girl thought I was taking the piss out of her when I complimented her on her fanny pack. She stropped off but not before she told me that her boyfriend would bang me if I kept trying it on. I tried to say sorry but she was really winding me up with all her effin and blinding and I couldn't understand why she'd stropped off. I said "Bollocks to this" and lit up a fag whilst wondering what went wrong. I wasn't even looking to snog I was just making conversation. She'd stormed off after saying I was getting on her tits but to be quite frank I think she was getting on mine. This isn't really related but when I got home I tried calling telephone banking and when I did they asked me to enter my bank card number and then press the hash key but I didn't know what that meant so I went to bed.

Ta Da!

Some Brit will probably come along and tell me I got everything wrong but hey, I'm still a rookie here.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Innit?

I can't understand what half the people in this country are saying.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Return of the Monster Blog

I'm back!

For those who were concerned (and I'm sure there were thousands) fear not! We should have internet in our house on Monday. I hope. In the meantime I'm limited to posts of about once a week.

And life in England continues.

I guess I'm starting to settle in here. The truth of the matter is that I haven't really had a chance to think about being in England much because I've been so busy. I'm working what I would consider to be an incredible amount of hours. I've basically determined that I have to get up at 5:00am in order to get ready and out the door by 6:10 so I can get to school by a little before 7 so I can get things in order for the day. My schedule goes something like this:




5:00am - Burst from bed confusedly. Stumble into door/stub toe/forget to turn on cold water and scald self in shower as appropriate.
5:30 - Feel relaxed as I am on schedule to leave apartment.
5:35 - Panic as lunch has not been made/shirt has not been ironed/all trousers are missing
5:55 - Rectify previous problem
6:10 - Make breakfast
6:20 - Finish breakfast realize that bus arrives outside my house at 6:20. Run screaming from house.
6:21 - Chase bus up street *****
6:22 - Sit and fume for 20 minutes
7:00 - Arrive at school organize materials, plans for day
8:15 - staff meeting
8:30 - Breakfast with Students
8:45 - Opening assembly
9:00 - 9:50 - Teach
9:50 - 9:20 - Prepare during break time.
9:50 - 12:20 - Teach
12:20 - 1:00 Lunch - 10 minutes of eating time - 30 minutes preparing/dealing with students
1:00 - 2:25 Various activities on different days with students
2:35 - 3:00 Closing Assembly
3:00 - 3:30 - Catch up on work time with students
3:30 - 4:30 - End of day meeting
4:30 - 6:00 - Prepare
6:00 - 6:45 - Take bus home. Observe random youth approximately 14 and under on bus as they fight, drink, walk on without paying, throw things on to bus.
7:00 - arrive home
7:00 - 8:30 make dinner, eat dinner with wife and awesome roommate.
9:00 - 12:00 Prepare lessons

***** ALTERNATIVE BUS EVENT
6:10 arrive at bus stop 10 minutes early for bus which departs at 6:20. Feel good

6:28 glance at watch in alarm
6:38 Realize 10 out of 10 on Exasperation scale as bus pulls up and stops while driver has coffee a block away.
6:39 - Knock on bus drivers window and ask when he's leaving as no 6:20 bus arrived. Bus driver supplies me with phone number to call and complain while saying "Call and let them know. The hardest part is catching them. See a lot of guys won't show up. Some of them don't like coming down here because they have to turn all the way down this street."
6:40 - Look at bus driver like he's from the moon.
6:41 - Call customer complaint department and get hung up on.
6:42 - Call back and explain situation. Get told they'll call me back when they find out what happened. (which they don't, not that I care)
6:44 - Get on bus and think "I'm not in Canada any more."

Things are going well at school. I'm getting into the swing of things and the students have come around a lot. The know now that the consequences of misbehaving in my class are the same as the rest of the classes so they're co-operating more and we're getting more done. I'm working at spending less time in my room preparing and more time getting out and interacting with the students so we can get to know each other better. I'm still getting to know them just like they're getting to know me but things are getting better. Also, as previously mentioned, the staff is AWESOME.

Another thing I've noticed is that Britain is a complicated place. It seems every stop on the tube denotes a place where the culture and language is slightly or even drastically different that the one before it. It's really quite amazing.

Babagenouche and I went to see Avenue Q. It was awesome. See it immediately! Fly to New York it'll be worth it.

That's all for now. I have to go pick up my Laundry. You can drop it off at the Laundromat here and they'll do it for you. That's one big bonus about living here!

Friday, November 10, 2006

I've got a loverly bunch of coconuts...

Although the life of a drama student is unquestioningly many things - drunken debauch, navel-gaze, periods of elation ("I'm brilliant! I rock!"), periods of despair ("Oh my God. That was the worst scene that has ever been acted in the history of acting, ever. I should eat my own head. I suck.") - one thing it definitely is not, is predictable. Who would have guessed, for example, that this week alone I would have:

a) been the voice of a small coconut called Ralph who is afraid of parrots
b) had to be "fire" - not something on fire, but the essence of "fire" itself
c) taken responsibility for providing the following special effects: crying baby, boiling kettle, and a violently clanging central heating system....armed only with a bent ironing board and my own moxy
d) jogged around a squash court for an hour, practicing "pushing" and "pulling" my classmates...but without actually touching them.

These were the fun bits. The not so fun bits included a 20 minute presentation on the british labour party (which I had to pull out of God knows where, since the library is only open while we're in class, and my seminar partner was in Wales all weekend) and an essay on how the technical effects can "help or mar a successful radio drama".

Ugh. I've also got to come up with some sort of topic to do my Christmas Master's thesis on. Essays? Don't they know we're actors? Coherently string more than two words together? Bloody hell. Unreasonable demands. I have no idea what I'm going to do yet. Our MA prof Zois says we should pick something that interests us, but I don't think eating nice yogurts and fingering vintage jackets will be suitable somehow....

So while I go away to ponder this question over a large vat of wine, I will leave you with a few more pithy observations about life here in Britain.

a) everyone, everyone rolls their own cigarettes. Apparently they do this because it is cheaper. The only people I ever knew to roll their own smokes in Canada were drug dealers or homeless.
b) the carbohydrate is alive and well and living in London. You get chips with your mashed potato and a nice side of Yorkshire pudding as well.
c) pants are trousers, underwear are pants, suspenders are braces, sneakers are trainers.
d) people don't ever ask, "how are you?". They get quite freaked out when you ask, actually. The traditional substitute seems to be "y'alright?"....but they don't really expect an answer.
e) computer keyboards are all different and backwards. The @ and the " symbol are inverted. You can't believe the grief this causes.
f) bus drivers give change. I knew I was here for a reason.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

We Don't Need No Ed-u-cation...


Teaching. Ah yes the reason I'm here. The fruition of my year's training at York.

I've landed in my school and it's been a trial by fire. I'm kinda hoping I survive until Christmas at this point but, hey, that's only 7 weeks away!



Well, here's the good, the bad and the strange:

The Good

My schedule is not bad. I'm teaching science in the morning and then taking care of various activities in the afternoon. One of them will be working on an updated version of "A Christmas Carol" with the other Drama teacher. I also tutor two kids one on one on one day...and I'm not sure what else is going on the rest of the time.

I have a free morning on Monday's because my lab assistant can't be there on Monday's so they've compressed the Monday classes into the rest of the days of the week.

The staff is incredibly supportive. The headmaster I report to seems to really believe in me. He's been incredibly supportive. I've told him that I want to do hands on science experiments as much as possible and he's enthused about that. I told him I'm a first year teacher and I have a lot to learn and he's talking about gettting me support from a science teacher from a local school, bringing in an advisor to help me out and stuff like that. I was surprised and thrilled to hear this! He seems to think I'm going to do a great job which is very encouraging. It's the opposite of much of my York experience where I was being rated evaluated and made to jump through hoops. That mostly happened in my first term and during my time at York itself. My second placement at Cityview was blessedly free of that kind of stuff (in case anyone from there reads this!)

Because of the nature of the students' difficulties there's more leeway to have a much more left field approach.

The Bad
I arrived at school on Tuesday morning at 8:00 and found out I was on my own and that I was supposed to be teaching 4 classes that day. No one knew what the students had been studying or anything since there had been several supply teachers through the room. The biggest issue is that there's a lab assistant who knows everything that's going on, has access to all the materials, science equipment etc. but she's on vacation. This meant I had to teach without much knowledge for the whole week. I also had no lab equipment so I couldn't do any experiments.
I don't know the curriculum here so I'm learning that as I go. I'm also struggling with what the heck level the students are at. Student's called "Year 7" are not "Grade 7" but more like "Grade 5" Year 10's and 11's are supposed to write a standardized test to get their "GCSE" but obviously I don't really know what' s on this test. I've been doing some looking into it and it all seems very dry and complicated.
Apparently I have to send student's work and test marks off to some government moderator who then determines whether or not I've marked correctly and done a good job. Super!
The Strange
The Students. I almost put them under "The Bad" but that would be kind of wrong wouldn't it? I'm teaching children with behavioural problems and boy are they tough. Fights, swearing, refusal to do anything I ask, threats towards me (that guy is suspended), talking in class, interrupting, undermining, ignoring me you name it. Apparently they're "testing me." I have no choice but to be a Nazi on upholding the rules and I'm trying to strike a balance between authoritative and angry. Who knows where that lies?
On the other hand I have to keep in mind that these kids are severely emotionally damaged by things that have happened to them in their lives. I don't know any of their stories yet but I assume some pretty horrific things have happened. I'm the nearest adult that they can target their anger at. It'll all be about building bond of trust with these kids.
I'm teaching Science. I failed Science 4 times in University - not because I couldn't do it but because I hated it so much. On the 4th try I ended up in a great Science class and have been really interested in it ever since. Still...me as a science teacher now that's bizarre.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

On the Other Hand

This is the anidote to my previous posting.

There are a lot of things I like here. I live in a great apartment. Genevive is with me (which she wasn't in Korea) and that helps enormously.

Our roomate Rachel is fantastic.

Marks and Spencer is the greates store ever! I bought cod with tomato pesto wrapped in prociutto for 6 pounds. It was all natural and not frozen. Delicious.

Wine and beer are cheap, tasty, and easy to get.

We live in lovely quaint looking area.

The staff at my school are amazing. Even if the students themselvs are hell on wheels. (more about that in another post)

I don't live too far from work.

The food here is amazing. There are so many absolutely delicious foods here.

I can get cheap clothing here apparently (like 5-10 pounds for a pair of trousers. --> Not pants! Pants are underwear here)

I'm on a big adventure that'll get easier and more fun as I go.

It's the Little Things that Kill


Ok. I'm frustrated. I have to admit it. I'd love to put a nice "I love Britain" posting here but Im surprisingly aggravated by just about everything at the moment. Things are slightly different...just different enough often enough that trying to do day to day tasks is difficult. For example if I've just discovered that to use "quote" marks I have to hit a different place on the keyboard. Otherwise I end up with @quote@ marks if I hit where I normally hit. Then I'll try hitting enter and this will happen insead ---> #

The enter button is one more button over and it's hard to reach.

So...who cares about the keyboard you ask? Well it's just one of many things that I run into on a moment to moment basis.


Things I can't Seem to Figure Out. An Incomplete List:
Telephones.
A) How many digits do I dial? 11 sometimes. 8 other times. Sometimes I think it might be something different. I tried dialing phone numbers for days and got about a 10% hit rate.
B) Public phones take about a penny a second off you. If you put a pound in and only use 50 pence they DON'T give you the extra money back!
C) Mobile (cell) phones. How do I send a text message? How does that dictionary thing work? Granted this my problems with mobile phones revolve around the fact the last one I owned was in 1999 for about 6 months.
D) Home phones. Apparently you get charged to make out going calls on home phones.
E) I have a pay as you go phone which means you can go to a store and add money on to your acount. My phone's run out and I can't find the damn card!!
Locks - Oh you thought unlocking a door would be simple!!
A) The locks are very often about mid thigh height. Everyone here is 6 feet tall...what the hell?
B) About 50% of the time I get the key in the lock and have to jiggle it and twist it for a good 3 minutes before the door magically unlocks.
C) Because I'm in a school where EVERYTHING is locked I now have about 1500 keys and I can't figure out which one is which.
Public Transit
A) Fares change by the number of zones you're going through, and the time of day you travel. How much is it to go to Hainault station? Who knows?!
B) There's a thing called an Oyster card which you put money on and then the system deducts money as you go. A real struggle figuring out how this works and what values there are as there are millions of fares. Actually it's good though.
C) If you get of the train and get on to a bus you have to pay an extra fare.
D) It takes me 40-50 minutes to go 8 train stops to school. I often get caught waiting 14 minutes for a train.
E) Many trains refuse to go two extra stops to the transfer point on the line. They simply stop before they get there...to the tune of 4 in a row on my first day. Why don't they go to the end of the line? 2 stops!!
Toilets
A) Mine doesn't flush properly. You have to keep pumping it to get it to go.
B) The three toilets I've used are all the same design and just don't flush properly.
Washing Machine
A) Can't do more than half a load at a time.
B) No dryer is standard, all my clothes are wet and I have to go out tonight.
Bank
I opened an account at Lloyds and they couldn't do it same day because they were "short staffed" They said it would open the next day and that I'd recieve a form I had to sign and mail back. Haven't got the form...no account info...is it open??
Crossing the street.
A) Subway means a path that goes down under the road so you can cross over. It's not the path to the transit system FYI.
B) They seem to build roads so that you can't cross them and have intermitent crosswalks every 90 km or so.
Getting Around
A) The road system is so windy and convoluted here that no one knows how to get anywhere. Like, people who have been living in the same general area for years don't know how to navigate out of it.
I didn't experience these feelings in Korea. I guess I went in with no expectations of ANYTHING being the same so I just expected everything to be weird and different and I enjoyed it. It was also all much simpler. I had an apartment, phone, internet, tv, pots and pans, furniture, cutlery and everything else in the apartment. Everything was pretty simple there. I walked in, set up a bank account, visits to the government offices were short and productive and I didn't really deal with them anymore. I also had the collecive wisdom of teachers who had figured all this stuff out before. Here I don't seem ot have any of these things so I'm constantly at a loss and frustrated.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Blood and other fluids

So how to even begin to explain the theatre school experience?

One, it's all consumming and exhausting. I start at 8:30 am every day and finish usually by 7 pm. Five days a week. I'm always with the same 14 people. I do all kinds of classes, including: Movement (where we flop around and balance sticks), Voice (where we pretend to be fluttering around Elizabethan gardens whispering sonnets to each other lustfully), Audition (where we are recounted terrifying true anecdoctes about the business we're about to enter), Acting (where we, well, act), Articulation (where we discuss the merits of cartoon voices) and Singing (in which we rub our ribs, bounce up and down, and belt out Cole Porter).

And then we have MA Tutorials. This is where all the MA students in our year, no matter what their course, get together and discuss things. Usually violently. Today, for example, we were shown a documentary about an Italian man with terrible teeth who paints himself white and then proceeds to open his veins and bleed all over the stage. In front of a paying audience. For big money. And this is art? Or theatre? Or just crap?

I know what I think- but the debate raged fast and furious to say the least, with much shouting and gesticulating and eternal emnities being sworn. I could offer my two cents re: other theatre I have seen where bodily fluids are released, such as vomit and urine ect. (and yes, I have seen such things - what a very modern liberal complete education I have had!)

I will say this though - this artist is public enemy number one where the blood banks are concerned....

Monday, October 16, 2006

Tally Ho and Pip Pip!


I'm here! I'm actually here!

I landed on Saturday the 14th and was whisked across town by a very calm and friendly Indian gentleman. We were almost killed on the highway by a woman who failed to check her blindspot but luckily at the last minute she swerved back into her lane. Other than that, and the fact that he couldn't find the address in his mapbook, on his GPS mapping system, or the fact that he dropped me off and Genevieve wasn't at the aparmtment my trip was stress free. Except for an airport incident that I don't even want to get into.

Genevieve, it turned out had just gone to the store for a moment so she when she returned everything was finally right again.

I'm very impressed with the living accomodations that she has found for us! The building is very nice and the apartment is bright and well lit. Our roommate, Racheal, seems awesome and I feel very comfortable there. We have a grocery store right beside us and the Subway is a 2 minute walk. Oh, I discovered today that the "Tube" or train is differnt here. It took me an hour to go 8 stops with a transfer. My train comes every 15 minutes or something. Bad news... hope I can find a faster way. Anyway.

Day one, we unpacked, then went out for alook around. We went up to the high street (main street) and straight into the pub where I had my first pint with a Steak and Ale pie. Yes guy. The menu boasted that it weighed a pound. And...it came with a potato. I took a picture of it but I can't upload it just yet. It's a beautiful thing.

Then Gen and I poked around the shops and stuff. It looks like we're in a small town because all the houses are small and quaint but it's very densely packed. It's actually very crowded although it doesn't really look that way.

Sunday we went into Loughton (half hour walk away) which is like the main town/shop area. It's really amazing. I went into a Marks and Spencers and even took a photo of it for Genevieve's mom! She looooves Marks and Sparks.

Anyhoo...spent the whole day today registering at TimePlan and getting my bank account opened. Met another teacher named Beth from Toronto who had just come in because HER visa was rejected too.

I flew on a night flight on Friday on which I slept only about an hour. Then I didn't go to sleep until Saturday at 7:30pm. I got up Sunday at 9:30 and I've had no jet lag whatsoever.

I'm taking pictures of random things like my meat pie, a store called FAGS AND MAGS, and funny street signs but I can't upload them just yet.

All in all I'm really looking forward to my time here and feel relaxed and hopeful for the first time in abut 2 - 3 months.

I don't have internet access yet so I'll be updating and emailing when I can.

Cheerio Y'all!

Talk to you soon.

David

Friday, October 13, 2006

Leee-vin ON a jet plane..


"She may not look like much kid, but she can do the Kestle Run in less than two parsecs."

This is it. I board my air ship in 8 hours and blast off. Thanks to everyone who helped me out so much while I was here. Mom, Dad, Brian, Louise, Madelaine, especially for letting me stay at their places and Phil in Belleville for hiring me. Also Gen's family Valerie, Robert, Gareth, and Pam for helping us out HUGE too.

I'm a bit wired and a bit nervous/anxious about teaching in England. Especially since I'll be teaching kids with behavioural issues. I really think it's got the potential to be an extremely rewarding experience. I've been in their shoes and I know it's tough but life can be turned around.

Well, times up. I leave Wellington in about 2 hours. I'll be posting next from London!

David

Thursday, October 12, 2006

When you commute 2 hours each way, you have to multitask I guess....

If you have ever wondered what you would do if, whilst on the 7:21 am commuter train between London and the leafy subhurbs of the Southeast, you happened to notice that the couple sitting near the back of the carriage were, in fact, engaged in frisky bout of foreplay (and yes, the lady was certainly gobbling more than a breakfast croissant) - if you've ever wondered how exactly you would react in this situation, wonder no longer, gentle reader, for I will tell you precisely what you would do:

You would studiously ignore them, like everyone else on the bloody train did.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Turkey...The Final Frontier


Well, last weekend in Canada couldn't have been a better one. Got down to my stepsister Karen's house and hung out with the family. As usual it was a whizz bang affair with more people than you can shake a stick at, throw a cat around, or ...mix a metaphor with. There are some pictures on my flickr spot at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_n_gen/

Two days of work left. I can't believe it, but it feels like it'll be two years. Then 2 days until I leave. 4 days. AAAAAhhhhh!!!

I guess if I've gained anything from this whole sordid affair it's been a better appreciation for some of the smaller more "mundane" things in life. I've been flabbergasted by nature on several occasions since I've been out here. Us city folk forget there's actually a thing out there called nature. We know there's an "environment" to be concerned about but I don't care how many parks you visit you'll never see a half kilometre line of geese floating slowly past your window on a calm Lake Ontario morning as the water gently pats the shore. Amazing!

I also saw about 20,000 (no exaggeration) sparrows flying about every day on the way to work. I assume they were gathering to get ready to head south. The leaves are turning and producing some of the most spectacular colours you can imagine. There's just a huge sense that the cycle of nature is quickly moving towards winter. Animals on the move, trees dying, squirrels running crazily about, wind kicking up, fields lying bare and brown...it's a different feeling than in the city where I stepped out of my climate controlled buildings every day and said "sure is getting colder!" then stepped back in. I've also had numerous conversations about cows! To wit:

I think more than half the people I work with live on farms. Some get up at 5:00 am and do chores there then come to work. One girl said she can't eat meat because whenever she'd eat meat at home on her farm as a kid it would be "Earl" or "Bessie" or whatever cow they'd killed. I mentioned that I'd heard you're not supposed to name them and she said she knew that but she got attached to them as a kid. There was one cow that had twins and, it turns out, when cows have twins the offspring are sterile (who knew!). So they kept the female one for three years and wouldn't let the father kill it. One day she and her Mom went away and the Father killed it! So this is why she can't eat meat. I looked at her and said, "Y'know, you just don't have these kinds of conversations in Toronto."

Also I saw the biggest orange moon I'd ever seen in my life. It was the harvest moon, so I'm told, and as it came over the horizon it was as big as the sun. I couldn't believe it. Blew my mind. There was a massive planet hanging there in the sky.

Anyway, mundane or not, these things have kept surprising me during my time here and at least I had that.

Oh...the other lesson I learned was to be organized. No bureaucracy shall defeat me again!

Friday, October 06, 2006

The Visa is Here!

It's in my hands! I'm looking at it! It's very colourful!

This is it! I'm outta here!

I've booked a flight for Friday the 13th (that's a bit ominous isn't it?). I'll be arriving there on the 14th. Things are a go!

(holy crap now I have to teach)

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Don't Hold Your Breath but...

I received the following email from the British High Commission today:


Your application has been approved and the visa has been issued. Please allow a minimum of 3 working days for your documents to be sent to you and also before tracking your package with our office.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

On Gehry, the Nature of the Artist, and Inspiration

So I'm watching a doumentary on Frank Gehry the famous architecht who I had only barely heard of and only then because he's redesigning the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. I was aware of some of his surreal architecture but had never thought about it much.

So anyway, his psychiatrist is being interviewed (Ha! I'm sure Gehry loved that!). I'm working from memory so it won't be perfectly word for word here but he says something along the lines of:

"People come to me and they say oh I have this problem in my marriage, how do I handle this stress at work, how do I fix my life, my kids and so forth. When an artist comes to me he wants to know how to change the world."

Hearing that startled me because it hit home so directly. I've been mentally chewing on it ever since.

So in honour of Mr. Gehry here are some pictures of his architecture. I mean this stuff shouldn't even stand up let alone ever have been made. Why am I posting this? Good question. There's something about these buildings that inspires me. Gehry referred to them as the chaos of Democracy. I can't really put my finer on it but that's the point. It's about not walking the beaten path, about insisting in doing it your way, about making something be more than what it was thought that it could be, and probably about pissing people off who would say "No good. Building line must be straight. Bad Building. Baaad Building." And because I want one.

On with the show! Gehry seems very inspired by sails. This building in Manhattan was specfically designed to look like sails as inspired by a brief conversation he had with Barry Diller who owns IAC/InterActiveCorp which in turn owns Ticketmaster, the television shopping network HSN, online dating service Match.com and search engine Ask Jeeves. It's hard to tell from the picture below but all the walls are actually glass.

The IAC Building - Manhattan

If you look at the front of the Disney (below) building it looks like two sails. In the documentary he said he designed it that way specifically based on the shape and form of the two sails (fore and aft I suppose?) when their both filled with air. Unfortunately I have no nautical vocabulary to describe this.

The Disney Building - California


Think of standing between the two and facing to the right of the photo and you can see that they really do look like sails.

The Dancing House - Prague

I love this building. It's so bizarre. There's a triangle piece in the tower on the left that looks likea pin and it looks like it's deflated the tower on the left. I assume it was done on purpose.

MIT Stata Complex


This is only 1 angle but I love it! I want to live in this building. Or work in it. It is so wickedly cool. Unfortunately I think that MIT requires some sort of math skill to get in.

Guggenheim Musem - Spain - Two Different Angles

The first anglemakes seems to fall under that sail theme again and the second seems to imply a boat. Love it!

The Seattle Music Experience Building

First the above view of the whole complex. It looks like a heart to me. That's what I thought. Apparently it's inspired by the image of a shattered Fender Stratocaster. Uh ok...not seeing it. Doesn't matter. It's still cool.

The Seattle Music Experience Building

Below are two angles of the Music Experience Building. It's an incredible place. See more photo's and read about it at: http://www.arcspace.com/architects/gehry/emp_n/index.htm
I just love the way light plays off the angles. When the light hits it it becomes, in Gehry's words, a living thing.

The Art Gallery of Ontario

I believe this will be completed in 2008. I see a sail motif again. The only problem with this is that it's interesting but not daring. This makes it a perfect fit for Toronto. (oh snap!) I can say that. I'm grew up there and I'm leaving for a reason. (snap! snap!)


And thus ends our mildly informative and hopefully somewhat inspirational tour of Gehry.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Woikin for da man every night and day...

David here. Just thought I'd identify who I am so you know before reading the whole posting. :)

Well, the new job is going well. I went through day 1 and spent eight hours planning preparing and focusing what I'm going to train on. I'm a little intimidated because, even though this is a new help desk, the company has hired only people who have previous experience. Technically that makes my job easy although I worry they've heard everything I'm going to train them on before and will be resistant.

So today I woke up with a bit of a lump in my throat and went to work. I finally finished planning my first hour long training session and I got to sit down with Phil (my manager - awesome guy) and showed him what I was planning. He was happy with it. At 4:00 he walked up and said, ok I've got two people you can train right now. And I thought "OH CRAP!" I did the training thing and it went really well.

Here's a note to all those who said we didn't learn anything at York or anyone who says education programs are useless. I've tried teaching BEFORE I went through the education program and I've tried teaching AFTER I went through the education program and I'm telling you it's night and day.

As for me I'm getting kinda homesick. After bitching about Toronto for years I'm actually missing it. Being in Wellington/Belleville is strange. I never realized how small Belleville was until Tuesday when I drove most of the way across town, paid a bill, and drove back to work again in 28 minutes. It's great that it's more laid back but the lack of options is startling. Then again, you've got whatever you need. In Toronto I can get food from 7 different countries on my corner - in Wellington I can't even order pizza past 9. It's a way different life. It is simpler though. It's easier to maintain focus here.

Anyway, I'm missing Genevieve too - Love you baby! Considering my minor culture shift her culture shock must be pretty intense.

I'll just keep plugging away at work and pray the whole visa thing works out. Argh.

Burns out.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Grand Central Station and talk of the Theatre....



Due to the housing woes (i.e. mainly the fact that I don't want to live with a bunch of filthy drunken frat boys, as proposed by Dave's school), I am still bunking with my lovely and generous family down in Chislehurst.

Currently living here are: myself (on spare matress on floor), my cousin Emma, my cousin John, his girl-friend Becky (most nights), Jane and my uncle Ron, 3 cats, and 3 lizards.

And there's only one bathroom.

Consequently, mornings are a bit like Grand Central station, or some Dickensian bording house, with girls thumping up and down stairs for their five-minute slots in the john, followed by five minutes at the breakfast counter (with the stool still warm from its prior occupant), all set the the dulcet sounds of yelling about who's got the hair-dryer and mum, what did you do with my jeans? no, not the blue pair, the black pair! No, not that black pair, the other black pair! And then, door slams at 7:30 and, in a whirl-wind of coats, everyone is suddenly gone, and the silence is not reassuring but somehow lonely and a bit of a let down.

But...I have located a new flat, as Dave previously mentioned. It's five minutes from the school and is brand-new, bright, modern, clean, with all new appliances and double-glazing, which always illicites approving murmurs over here. We'll move in on October 13th, which is a scant 3 weeks away, and gives us time to get our stuff together...maybe I'll even have a husband on these shores by then to help with the heavy lifting!

In terms of the theatre school...it's going well.

This week is mostly registration, meeting our tutors, going to classes on how to budget, lectures on the importance of proper hygene and frequent washing now that you are no longer living with Mummy (which sounds crazy, but you'd be surprised....I had a few run-ins with the personal hygeine problem at George Brown and it was NOT pretty. ) Pretty dull, and lots of hanging about, which is a pain when you have to travel 2 hours to get here each way, but all necessary stuff in order to begin properly next week. Meeting loads of nice folk, so that's good.

So things are looking up...hopefully tonight I will be able to FINALLY collect our 15 lonely boxes of shipped cargo from Stansted....fingers crossed y'all!

Good News...Finally

David Burns is now employed and Genevieve Burns now has a place to live. Whoo hoo!

First thing I thought of when I couldn't get to England was that I would have to find some sort of work here, but alas, I despaired that it would take a week or two to get work an interview and then another week or two to get hired...and then I'd be gone.

But sometimes strange things happen. A friend of my father's called and mentioned that he'd just started managing a call centre. I've been working in call centre's off and on for about 8 years now so my dad asked him if they were hiring. Turns out it's a very new call centre so they really need knowledgeable people. After talking to Phil (dad's friend) he thought I could train people. So I went in for an interview today and convinced the Operations Manager that, despite the fact that I'm only going to be around for 4 weeks (maybe more) I could really help them out.
She asked me to sit down and listen to some calls and inform them what I could do to help. I listened for about and hour and then noted the areas I saw for improvement. I prioritized what we should focus on based on their goals and needs and she hired me! Amazing how convincing you can be when you actually know what you're talking about. This type of training is something I've really wanted to do for a long time so it's a good match.

As for Genevieve, when she arrived at the house where the recruitment company was going to put us up she found it was an absolute pig sty. (is that one word?) There were at least 7 people living their, our bed looked slept in, there was underwear hanging on the staircase railing, moldy dishes in the sink and garbage on the kitchen table. We're not really picky but it was unlivable. That was Saturday but on Monday she found a nicer cleaner place that's a 5 minute walk from her school! And it's cheaper! We're going to move in with another student from her school named Rachel who seems super cool. All in all it's been a great two days. Things finally went right for a change. Genevieve described the house and it looks just like the one on the left minus the columns, 8 bedrooms, 5 fire places, 11 bathrooms, the brick exterior and the trees. It's a good size, well lit and clean though!

Strange synchronicity on the job front, makes you wonder if there's someone looking out for you.

Anyway, off to work tomorrow. Whoo Hoo!

P.S. Happy anniversary Genevieve. Sorry I can't be there. I love you!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Disaster

VISA REJECTED!

So the package arrived from the British High Commission yesterday at my mother's house. I was gleefully ready to drive back from Wellington. My mother opened the package and it contained a letter stating that the Visa I applied for was not the correct visa.

Apparently the recruitment company has been using what's called a Holiday/Work visa for teachers coming from Canada. This visa is intended to allow people to travel on holiday to England for 1 year and also to work during that time. The restriction on work is that you can't work over 195 days of the year. Since a school year is 9 months teachers fall under this number. Apparently this year a large number of Canadian applicants were refused. Apparently if you ticked off the box stating you would be working you were rejected. If you checked of the box stating you were going on holiday you were accepted. Once again... honesty is not the best policy.

So now I have to re-apply for a spousal visa. I would have done this to begin with but my recruitment company was resisting sending me a letter confirming employment and a letter confirming my housing. Why? I don't know! Genevieve has had the same problem with the school. You get responses like. "We don't do that." Then you ask why because after all it just means typing a letter for 5 minutes on a computer. Their response is generally "We don't do that."

Anyway, I'm 4-5 weeks from getting over there as I have to go through this whole process again.

On the upside I may have a job starting as early as this week in a call centre.

My family and Genevieve's family have been wonderfully supportive through all this so thanks to everyone...Dad, Louise, Mom, Brian, Genevieve's Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Aunt and Uncle and everyone in England.

And now we wait.

Friday, September 22, 2006

A Ray of Hope


I got a call from my mother today and apparently the British High Commission called and said my visa is in the mail! It should arrive Friday or possibly Monday. I'm heading back to Sutton tomorrow (Friday) to await its arrival. Hopefully it arrives and I can get a flight out same day...or at least before Monday. Amazing how this news has opened an emotional door I thought I'd lost. I've literally felt completely flat for days and days. I thought I was just getting old and worn out but it turns out I was just FREAKED OUT! England heeeere I come!

Oh...Rent. Terrible. I know I know. You love it, it was so moving, the singing was so wonderful. I'm going to forget about your feelings and say: WRONG! Unfortunately I can't contest the cachy-ness of the songs. LA VIE BOHEME! Goddamn it! LA VIE BOHEME! Take this song out of my head! Remove the (One song) rest of (Glory) songs from (One song) from my (before I go) head (Glory) before I kill myself. I can sing the whole FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED MINUTES by heart and I've only seen the movie once. This movie is way to way too bouncy and it's trying way to hard. It's also very cliche, or so I thought. Maybe it was hard hitting in the early nineties or to the Broadway musical crowd who can't believe they've seen a drag queen or someone shooting heroin or gay people but I've seen this all before and done way better.

Proof: Great acting. I think they messed something up in the movie version cause I just didn't quite get if that Dad (Anthony Hopkins) had been crazy the whole year he and his daughter (Gweneth Paltrow) had been doing math together or not. Completely confusing. Great performances though. Paltrow is amazing.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Cleaning House

Well, today was action packed. I spent the day cleaning the house here in Wellington with the 'rents. I know it doesn't sound exciting but at least I wasn't in couch mode all day yesterday.

For those of you who don't know, couch mode is a terrible place to be. It usually begins with me waking up and thinking...I have nothing to do today (which is almost always incorrect). Then I lie on the couch for hours and just flip channels. As I do this I sink deeper and deeper into the couch until only my eyes are visible from between a cushion and one finger stretches out to depress the up arrow on the remote. The farther I seep into the couch the darker my depression gets until I'm completely destroyed. I get anxious thinking about things I should be doing like eating, showering, going to the bathroom...breathing. But I keep avoiding them until I finally drag myself out of my pit and have a shower. This usually involves and immediate brightening of the mood followed by the phrase "I feel better!" Couch mode can last hours, a day, or - as in this summer - weeks at a time. Yesterday it lasted until about 5 when I went jogging. I always have the same thought when I get clean and moving. Why did I wait so long to do this? I feel so much better! But therein lies the deep mystery of couch mode. It's secret is as elusive as Unifying Theory of the Universe. One day a great man or woman will crack the secret and our entire world will change. Until then...I lie in my pit and suffer.

But enough of that!

So yeah, I cleaned the windows. Cleaning windows is very rewarding actually. You see immediate and startling results. I've also discovered that 1 Bounty paper towel is wort 2-3 normal towels. They're not shitting you in those ads.

I got bored so I rented a couple of movies. I rented Rent cause as a theatre person I think it's my duty to eventually take this in. I have a feeling I'm going to hate it but we'll see. I also rented Proof which is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play. I'd heard of it playing in Toronto. Sounds good. Anthony Hopkins/Gweneth Paltrow and Jake Gwheneaaynnayanaynaananal or however you spell his name. I think there's a few more "y"s and "a"s but I got tired.

I'll let you know how they are.

And...no I haven't got my visa yet. They're supposed to actually look into it and get back to me in a day or so. Nice eh!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

You may now have pie...


...rhubarb pie, that is.

Since it is so intermidanbly dull to simply sit around and bewail my current lack of shipped cargo boxes (or delightful husband for that matter!), I've been taking matters into my own hands and have been doing some baking.
But not eating the baking...those of you who remember the infamous fry up of last Sunday (which is still working its way through my spleen and lower colon) will recall that a health and fitness regime was pledged to begin that day. I've been sticking to it, with a rigorous program of yoga, running, and pilates to be followed daily (boredom is a wonderful thing and will make me slim yet!)
However, there's the urge to bake. So I cleverly came up with the idea that I would bake something that didn't necessarily appeal to me - something I would glean pleasure from making, but not be tempted to eat in one go in a frenzy of gorging.
Hence - pie.
Also, rhubarb is a typically English dessert-thing, thus I figured I'd better learn it's secrets so as to further ingratiate myself with the locals and blend in seamlessly. Plus, although my grandmother used to make pies out of it, I'm pretty much a rhubarb virgin.

...and we can't have that, now can we?

The first thing that went wrong was the top crust - which I forgot to roll out and add to the pie, which I had lovingly blind-baked, filled, and popped into the oven. I blaim the English and their measuring system - they bake with scales and weights and gas ovens and yard sticks, and the whole thing threw me off my game. Had to improvise a top crust with a variation on a crumble - so actually, I've make a new hybrid dessert: a "pumble" or "crie". I think "pumble" sounds better, but let's put it out to the blog world...what do YOU think?

Still no sign of my cargo or my husband...maybe tomorrow I'll make a cake.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Another Day Goes By

"We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic."
-Susan Jeffers

Ain't it the truth.

Another day here in Wellington. I got up this morning and ran around with my Dad on some errands pertaining to the theatre thing. That was fun. Got in his '83 rabbit convertible and listened to some rock 'n' roll along the way.

Called the British High Commission and they said to call them Wednesday as that's when they'll get an update on my file. Hopefully it should say it's complete at that point. If not, apparently they can push it a bit at that point.

Went for another walk/jog today for another hour. I call it a walk/jog because I spend about 70 % of the time walking and 30% of the time jogging but that ration will eventually reverse itself. It felt good. Exercise is a great way to focus. What happens is you end up in excruciating pain so, fortunately, you can't really think of anything else! I'm now determined to lose weight and get in better shape. I even found another blogger who's doing this. She has a blog on the side under my blog links called "Flip This Body."

Anyway, I'm waiting patiently for my visa. I'm praying I get some sort of resolution by Wednesday.

That's it for now.

Beautiful Subways?

Ok, I'm officially addicted to Randomly blogging. For anyone who doesn't know if you press that "Next Blog" button it selects a random blog and sends you there.

Subways of the world beautiful? What? Check it out: http://metroart-subways.blogspot.com/

Here's a sample of three of them:

Soviet Union:


Stockholm:


And TORONTO! (been there!) Cool Optical Illusion.


Ok I'm a geek.