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!
3 comments:
Such a hectic schedule. My teacher friends here in the states complain bitterly of the mountainous piles of paperwork that must be dealt with on a daily basis. It has reached a point where paperwork has completely usurped teaching as the primary function of the teacher. It’s all part of something called the “no child left behind” initiative and is touted by many as evidence of the self-destruction of the American school system.
Yeah the mountains of paperwork complaint seems to be common across Canada, the US, and Britain. My schedule will lighten once I'm not a first year teacher with no materials or lessons in his pocket.
Good to see you back! Sorry you have to take the bus. That sucks pretty much anywhere you live. Highly amusing schedule though...especially the 9:50-9:20 prep time part.
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