X-mas Tales

Well... Christmas has been great this year. It's been a far cry from last years stress and anxiety. Not that Christmas caused the stress and anxiety it was just the moving to the new country with the new job and all that.

Went to Uncle Neil's and Aunt Julia's on December 23 for Uncle Neil's Birthday and had a lovely time. There was plenty of delicious food and fun. Unfortunately we could only stay one day. We did manage to watch the season finale of Top Gear though. Top Gear is a fantastic car show. It's great. I don't even like cars much but it's akin to watching Emeril cook...it's not about the food (or cars) it just a wickedly entertaining show. They come up with the craziest ideas for testing cars. It's hillarious.

We then went to Babagenouche's Aunt and Uncle's House on Christmas Eve. Aunt Jane was away on the Isle of Wight taking care of her mother until the 26th so Baba and I agreed to go over and baby sit. :) We had a great time...much food and drink was consumed.

I got some great gifts. The best one I got (and this sounds really weird but I'm a bit nutty) was a solar charger from Babagenouche. It basically means you can charge any device you need using solar power instead of electricity. Takes me off the grid! Saves me money on my power bill! Reduces Co2! Is portable! Fun!

Babagenouche and I hae been spending some good times over the last week or so. Yesterday we took some Christmas money and went shopping in Oxford Circus. It was pretty manic but not as crowded as I had feared. I've discovered that Marks and Spencers has actually got some decent clothes that are reasonably priced! I thought they were more for old fuddy duddies and were expensive but they're alright! I got two shirts and a pair of chords and Baba got a pair of jeans (after 16 hours of trying things on might I add).

The best was that we then went to SoHo and got some Korean food. Ummmm....I love Korean. We even ordered a bottle of the dreaded Soju. Soju is the Korean equivilant to rice wine. It tastes like sweet vodka but does terrible things to your body. I drank a lot...got quite drunk and then was hit with a terrible headache ... all in about 40 minutes! Woo hoo!

Anyway, I've been enjoying all my gifts. Thanks all!

Sick Seagull

Oh what disappointment!

Babagenouche and I were extremely excited to the Royal Shakespeare Companies production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull last night. Our excitement was heightened by the fact that Sir Ian McKellan (Gandalf himself!) was in it, it was directed by Trevor Nunn (a director of apparently high repute) and it has gotten good reviews.

I tell you one thing. The reviews are lies.

This was one of the most excruciating nights of theatre I have ever sat through. I confess that I don't know much about Chekov but the usual complaint is that his plays are about people sitting around whining about nothing. I didn't know what The Seagull was about having never read it or seen it before and, after seeing it I can conclude only one thing. It is a terribly written play about people sitting around whining about nothing.

OH! I can hear all the retorts now! It's a masterpiece! It's one of the greatest works of art ever! Genius! You just don't understand the subtle subtext! The gigantic monumental shifts that happen below the surface of the world.

Perhaps. I was looking for them. Eagerly anticipating skill of this world reknowned theatre company to bring them forth. I was holding out for the second act to pull the play together. But alas...the second act completely unravelled. What in the hell is WRONG with these people? Boring!

Anyway, in my defence, I have seen Chekhov done and done well. I've only seen shorts of Chekhov done by Soul Pepper Theatre in Toronto and, believe me, it was way better. Babagenouche has also seen Uncle Vanya done by Soulpepper and loved it. She's also worked with the company and so I have insight into how they work...this just ain't it.

Here's how Chekhov SHOULD be done if it is too succeed (if I may be so bold). This is based on the work I have seen at Soul Pepper. The characters should be on the brink of breakdown, their emotions so overwrought, so near the breaking point, so tragic and comic in their desperation that every little thing they do should set them off and into hysterics. Then it's funny my friends. This production was supposed to be a comedy? I don't think so.

How ironic that they sit and talk about what makes bad art or theatre while being involved in the exact same process. Ugh! It was painful I tell you painful!

If you want to see Chekhov done well go see Soulpepper in Toronto. They're brilliant.

My final quibble is with the play itself. I think it's crap. In the first act I was annoyed that the actors weren't playing the aforementioned emotions. In the second act I was ready to scream in exasperation at the play itself. It makes no sense I tell you.

Maybe if it were done right it would work but I think the challenge of staging this would be to overcome the inherent weakness of the script itself. Supposedly The Cherry Orchard is a later piece by Chekhov and is his true masterpiece while The Seagull is an earlier effort and Chekhov hasn't quite got it right yet. Hopefully this is the case.

As you can tell from my venting...I hated this play. This seems to be the reaction Chekhov inspires in many. On the other side people seem to absolutely love him.

There you have it... that's Chekhov I suppose.

On an related note....

It occurred to me that I've seen a cross section of theatre here over the last year...from small fringe theatre, to new works, to established pieces, to the big shows and I honestly have to say that the theatre I saw on average in Toronto was better. There were far less disappointments and far more gems. It could be fluke but that's my experience. The only shows I've seen that were really good were:

1. A Moon for the Misbegotten - Eugene O'neil - with our good friend Kevin Spacey
2. Dying For It - by Nikolai Erdman - Very Chekhovian and brilliant! The way Chekhov should be played but most often isn't.
3. Avenue Q - Big West End puppet show. Brilliant Satire. Grew from a fringe show
in New York.
4. Love's Labours Lost at The Globe

Whew. Glad I got all that off my chest.

The Calm After the Storm

Whew. Made it.

The last several weeks of term were a crazy ride. I was, in the famous words of my favourite singer Paul Hewson, Running to Stand Still. Things got really hectic with exams and all. I thought exams would make things easier as, for a week, all I had to do was supervise exams and mark. What I didn't bank on was the fact that I'd have about 100 hours of marking to do. Damn! Then I had to enter all these marks and comments into their reports. Damn! Then I had two parents nights! DAMN! Then I had my regular classes that I had to plan for, mark, and keep focused while I had all the exam marking and report writing to do! DUH-AMN! Did I mention all the Christmas stuff?

Whew. I was one tired puppy last Friday.

The last week we also had a choir service that ran until 9:00 pm on Tuesday. That was quite impressive actually. Then we had a staff get dinner where we had to pay for our food but, get this, the school paid for our drinks! There was a Karaoke machine involved and I got the party started with a smoking version of Tom Jones' Sex Bomb. It was a great time. These teachers really know how to have a good time!

Then Saturday night the Sports department went out for their annual "Hootenany." This is traditionally held on the last Thursday of term and involves much more drinking and revellery. Friday was only a half day with an assembly, parties for the kids, and then a staff lunch which involved yes...more food and wine.

I came home at 4:30, slept until 7:30 then went to bed at midnight only to wake up at 12:00 on Saturday.

Things have gone well over all this term. I'm still finding my feet as a teacher but that's par for the course I suppose. I've run into problems with classroom management of all things - which I really didn't expect. It's been difficult to get the kids to behave and I actually got called into the office about it. I think I turned a major corner in the last week as I instituted a system of warnings and consequences and was ruthless with my insistence that they be respected. The kids turned around quite quickly. Now I just have to keep consistent next year.

Babagenouche and I had our annual Christmas bash and it was a real success. We had a bunch of people over on Saturday night and had a rip roaring good time. We got to meet the downstairs neighbours as well as they came up to party it up.

Overall things are going really well. I feel much more satisfied and relaxed this year. I feel like I've settled into the country to a large degree. It's nice to go places and know where you are and not be constantly confused and disoriented. Also, Gen and I are both working so we can actually pay our bills for the first time in 2 years. This makes life a lot more relaxing.

I'll miss everyone in Canada over Christmas though.

Oh...if you're reading this feel free to live a comment so I know you're out there damn you!

Rest in Peace Mr. Large

I opened the paper today on the way to work and read what could have been a typical headline in any newspaper in the world: Boy of 14 knifed for 'racist slur'.

Then I saw this picture:

...and I realized it was one of my students from last year.

My first reaction was a loud gasp as I stared unbelievingly at the paper.

I read on and it turns out he was knifed in the head after getting in a "row" with two boys and uttering a racial slur. He died in hospital.

Here's what I know about him. He was no saint that's for sure. He was at my old school (a school for children with emotional and behavioural issues - read fucked up lives) and he could be one of the most abusive people you would ever meet. He was involved in a gang, was a bully, was one of the most relentlessly dominating personalities I've ever met, he stole - in short he was no fun to be around.

He was born into a horrible life. His older brother was already in jail. His family in general known to be a complete menace in the area. I never heard a word spoken about his father.

But here's what else I know about him. Since getting out of jail last year he had been trying hard to change. Even though he was terrible to be around in some ways he was much better than he had been when he was at the school in the preceding years. It seemed the coin had dropped and he was trying to change.

He was eager to learn, desperate for attention, hungry for any kind of positive compliment, full of charm and eager for fun. I called the school and found out - to my astonishment that he'd won something called the Jack Petchey award this year which is an award given to a student each month based on their behaviour and progress. Ironically he'd just made an anti-knife crime poster he was really proud of and he'd been having a good year.

He was no saint but his death really shook me. I spent most of the time on the train holding back tears. I mean, here I've been stressed over all the work I'm doing and the deadlines and all that stuff seems pretty meaningless when a 14 year old kid who was given almost no chance to make it in this world gets stabbed. 14. Stabbed by 14 year olds. Why is it always young kids who are the most dangerous? Anyway, that's a question for another day I suppose.

I pray that his death and his life serve as a reminder and a wake up call to other students in the school and others around him who are going down similar paths. I hope the teachers at that school are ok. They're miraculous people I tell you. They hang in with these kids no matter what. It's an near impossible job. Trust me I know. I couldn't do it.

Achem. If there is a God out there I'd like to send this out to him and hope it does something.

Rest in Peace Mr. Large. I hope you find the peace, love and happiness in death that was so elusive to you in life.

Eating Blind

I forgot to mention that Babagenouche and I had the most amazing restaurant experience 10 days ago. We booked a reservation at Dans Le Noir to celebrate her birthday.

Here's the concept:

You eat completely in the dark and are shown to your table and waited on by blind people.

This way the experience of eating is all about the taste, touch and smell of the food.

Oh...and they don't tell you what you'll be eating. You can order seafood, meat, vegetarian and that's it. You get 3 courses and they tell you at the end.

In addition to this the restaurant neatly inverts the normal relationship between the sighted and the blind. Suddenly you're relying on them to "see" for you.

I thought...yeah sure it's dark...I'm sure there's a little light in there.

Nope!

It was crazy. I was really nervous when we were first shown to the dark area by our waiter. I't also quite crowded and loud and I was very disoriented. My sense of touch exploded as did my sense of hearing. I sat down and felt around the table to discover two glasses in front of me and a napkin wrapped around my cutlery. It was daunting at first. We'd actually ordered a bottle of wine and had a bottle of water on the table as well. Try pouring when you can't see anything! You have to stick your finger in the glass to feel when it's going to over flow.

The first course came and I quickly discarded the cutlery. I couldn't use it properly and I had to feel my food to figure out where it was (and try and ascertain WHAT it was).

The food was good through the courses but I wouldn't recommend the veggie option. Gen got the fish and it was WAY better. Desert was an unbelievably rich chocolate mousse. Yum.

We stumbled out blinking into the half lit bar at the end and they showed us what we'd had.

Great experience!

Plus...it was started by a charity for the blind as a way of educating people about the blind and helping the blind find employment. Everyone's a winner!

The Weeks That Were

Well thanks to the unbelievable shittiness of blogger I just lost the entry I've been typing for the last half hour. I hate this site I really do.

Anyway. I haven't put entries on here because I've been working on my enviro blog. It's on the right hand side there. Effortless Environmentalism. Check it out. You can also join my facebook group of the same name.

After not going to Genoa I spent most of the week developing that blog. I also lazed around, watched movies, read books, watched TV and hung out. I managed to unwind for the first time since I started at school really. What with moving, living in another house half the week for the first month, setting up, changing all kinds of accounts, figuring out transport and settling into the new school and all. Unfortunately I didn't get the organizing done that I'd wanted.


When I returned to school I was on the back foot all week. I'd been out of the routine for 2 weeks and I kept forgetting when classes were, where I was supposed to be and finally that I was supposed to supervise the year 8s in library on Friday. Oops. I thought it was kinda funny but my head of department and head of school strenuously disagreed. Apparently it's a safety issue...you know...leaving kids unsupervised. Oops. Sheepish sheepish sheepish.

I also hit a surprising amount of discipline problems upon my return. Students were pretty wild and actually taking the piss (as they say here). They were intentionally undermining and being subtly disrespectful. I was quite surprised. I've spent most of my time back in a real battle with them. The school expects kids to sit silently, do their work, speak only when spoken to and be doing copious amounts of book work. I had to be much harder on kids then I had originally been. I finished the week determined to get super organized over the weekend.

Well...that didn't happen to the degree I'd wanted so I was a bit off kilter again. I really hammered the students on Tuesday after having the worst Monday I'd had so far. It made a big difference though as they fell in line and things went better the rest of the week. Things looked easier on the surface as it's revision week and I didn't have as much planning to do as much of what I was doing was based on writing practice exams. Unfotunately it turns out you have to MARK that stuff so I was marking until 11:00 at night on Wed. and Thurs.

On the upside the kids started rugby on Friday. Rugby is actually a great game but it's basically managed by the referee throughout the game. I won't be refereeing any time soon.

I loved this conversation I had with a kid after the game - remember my year 4s are about 7-8 years old. Read the kid lines with your best upper class posh English accent.

Me: Did you enjoy the game?
Kid: Yes sir. Do you know what I enjoyed the most?
Me: What.
Kid: I enjoyed the fact that it was rufty tufty.

Had to stifle a laugh on that one.

Great film!

Check this out!

http://www.amsterdamn.org/2007/04/22/internet/this-amazing-short-film-won-35-film-festival-awards-watch-it/

Genoa Dreams Dashed

No Genoa for me.

I got to the airport pulled out my passport and...get this... it's hillarious! I pull out the passport and hand it over right? And she...now this is the good part...hands it back and...it's my wife's! HA! I grabbed the wrong passport. All flights are booked to Genoa until Thursday! HAHAHAHAHA! HA! HA HA HA! sob...

I was just looking on a great site from our good friend Mr. Stromoloupopous at the CBC. I know it's probably spelled wrong but I'm sure he's used to it. It's called "Is this a good idea?" They show product ideas and you vote whether you think it's a good idea or not. There's one for the Velo car which I think is a great idea except they cost $9 - 12,000.


Basically they're super aerodynamic, cover you in rainy weather, travel through snow (though I don't know how well protected you are) and can be power assisted to make travelling easier. Now I know they look ridiculous but so does the Smart Car and the Hummer but that's also their appeal. I say make 'em affordable and they'll take off. I personally would love one. They're hillarious.


Check out Canada's dealer at http://www.bluevelo.com or the video at http://goodidea.cbc.ca/

Why is this not on my environmental blog you ask? It's doesn't fit its mandate of easy to implement affordable and effortless changes that people can make. This one is expensive and a huge paradigm shift.

11 Hours to Genoa

Well I'm off to Genoa tomorrow. I think this'll be the first time I actually relax in my vacation. I have been on the run doing so many things I've been stressed and exhausted.

I think the Ritalin experiment is over. It's made me edgy, anxious, scattered and when it wears of I feel EXHAUSTED. I mean like I haven't slept in 3 days. No good at all.

I haven't go much planning done but I've got a ton of other stuff - as they say here - sorted.

I met up with a guy by the name of Simon Legge that I haven't seen since I was in Grade 8. That would be 20 years ago! He was only at De La Salle with me for that one year but he found me on Facebook and it turns out he live in London. Babagenouche and I went out with Simon and his lady last night and had a great time! He works in Finance and actually gave me some tax advice! Turns out that if I get an offshore account, get my pay deposited into it, then transfer it to an account here I would be in for some serious tax savings. Nutty eh? The government opened this loophole about 10 years ago to attract wealthy people from other countries to come here and spend their money...apparently... and it works for me too.

Anyway that's about it for me for a week. In the meantime check out this video!

If I'm on Vacation Why am I so Tired?

I'm supposed to be on vacation but all I've done for days is run around London and sort things out...banking...money transfers...Dr. Appointments...Library cards...going to school to plan...getting mobile phones...setting up all options on said mobile phone...cooking...copying...calling companies...

Then I seem determined to give myself projects. The Effortlees Environmentalism Blog for example. Now I'm coming up with proposals to lower my schools carbon imprint. This means I have work hanging over my head all day.

What happened to the guy who used to sit in front of the tv all day??

The Ritalin Diaries

As many people know I have ADD. I don't have ADD/HD which is the kind what most people refer to as just ADD. AD/HD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder which has that hyperactivity factor that everyone knows about. I just have the Attention Deficit Part of it.

I have a fairly mild case, I believe. This makes it incredibly sneaky though. Organizing and planning is extremely difficult, my memory is terrible, thinking ahead is difficult (as in...I arrive at the video store and realize I don't have the videos, or I arrive at the train terminal and realize I don't have the train tickets.)

So anyway, thanks to my big Sis I got diagnosed by a Dr. Turgay in Toronto when I was back for the summer. He prescribed concerta which is, essentially, slow release Ritalin.

I wanted something like this because I went to a total quack in Toronto named Dr. Hoffer on St. Clair (if you go there run away!) and he gave me Dexedrine which caused wild mood swings and abilities to concentrate as it kicked in and wore off again throughout the day. So I started on Concerta. I started on a low dose and slowly moved up. It made a WORLD of difference.

I could suddenly organize and sequence my thoughts. I'd think: Ok pack my bag with the the books and stuff for the post office, I'll go to the post office on the way to school, get stamps and envelope there, get on the bus and head to school. It'll take about an hour. What needs to be done TODAY? When I get to school I'll plan out the English. I'll print anything I need to copy as I go. I'll go copy it and put it in that plastic folder I've so cleverly added to my folder. I'll make up the list of instructions for the whiteboard. Then I should have time for marking. Then it's teaching time.

Without Ritalin I can't sequence or prioritize. It goes more like this: I've got to plan that stuff for English. Gotta go. Wait - what about the post office. Where's my bag? Eat breakfast. I've got planning to do. Damn I've got to mail that thing. I'll never get to school on time. Oops I should throw those in the laundry. I've got to plan English or I'm in trouble. Oh the marking. Gotta plan English. I'll have to do photo copying to. Where are my shoes? Gotta plan English. Ok I'll go to the post office. Oh where's the letter? I'll have to make copies. Where's the letter. I've got to plan English. Got the letter. Go!

Guess when I feel calmer and more confident?

Anyway I came over here and I've been battling the system to get more Concerta (loooong story). I finally got a prescription but it's for just normal Ritalin for the moment.

Day 1 I felt good. I could feel the ups and downs happening but not as bad as on Dexedrine. At the end of the day though I felt compeletly exhausted - like I hadn't slept in days. Ritalin is a stimulant so when it wore off I think I was wiped. Didn't eat much though either as it kills your appetite.

Day 2 I was ok but I felt really stimulated and jittery. I also did a couple of ADDish things like buying something then leaving it at the store...and getting on the wrong train. I came home aggravated due to the whole train thing and again felt completely and utterly wiped. I was irritable and couldn't concentrate. Again though...I didn't eat that much.

Day 3 Started badly today. The Ritalin made me scattered and irritable when it was kicking in. I decided to take the 2nd one as I was feeling better by then. I think my body needs to adjust to the stuff as well. Felt fine - took the third one and still feel ok. I made sure I ate regularly today so that might be why I'm not so tired.

If anyone out there is on Ritalin...does this stuff sound familiar?

Anyway...I'm off to Canary Wharf for drinks!

Correction on my new Blog

Ignore that last message. I've changed my blog name and address to EFFORTLESS ENVIRONMENTALISM www.effortlessenvironmentalism.blogspot.com

Didn't like that old name much.

I'm still having internet issues so I'm having problems gettting to update things.

I am now the proud owner of a pocket pc. To the uninitated it's a phone/mini computer. It can do everything including your laundry but the most important feature is the organizer that can sync with my computer. Hopefully it will help me run my life.

More exciting and informative posts to come soon.

My New Blog

SustainABILITY Living!

My goal is to find as many simple strategies and easy changes that people can make that have big environmental impact.

www.sustainability-living.blogspot.com

Happy 1 Year! I'm going to Genoa!

Well, due to overwork and difficult internet access at the moment I didn't get to acutallly post on my 1 year UK aniversary. It was the 14th. One year since I landed! How crazy is tha? If feels like 5. I've done more this year than any other year I think.

Gotta make this quick as I have guests...but I just booked a flight to Genoa for my half term break! I have a friend who's staying there so I'll be staying with. I'll put more details on that later. I leave on the 29th and come back on the 2nd of Nov.

1 Year...

Landed, set up a new flat, started at a new school, learned how to dial phones, travel around, walk the streets, bought household goods, taught science, battled behavioural psycho kids, lived in the semi-country and was connected to East London which is reknowned for being rough, made new friends, made some really close friends, met new family travelled to new areas of England, Isle of Wight, learned some of London's Geography....then it was Christmas...

Travelled to Tours France for New Year, saw Gen's shows, almost had a nervous breakdown, plowed through the last year, Gen had audtions for BBC, dragged my ass through the final haul...made it to summmer.

Returned to Canada...visited friend in Toronto, went to Brother's wedding, visted family in Sutton, Wellington, Victoria...went to Tofino...flew back...

Started new school...lived in a room 4 days a week for a month...looked like crazy for a house...found house...moved to South London - big bustling city...just about finished first term at new school...

and...

Hello Genoa!

Streatham Living!

We're in!

I'll post some pictures shortly.

I'm liking the new 'hood. It's in the bustling centre of South London so it's prety hectic but there's tons of stuff to do. It's true what they say I think. North and South London are two very different places. South London is busy busy busy but people seem much less aggressive in speech and in actions. Apparently this area used to be a no go zone as it was pretty rough but it's been moving up the ladder. I like it. Mix of high medium and low shops. Cool.

Schools going good. I got pulled into a meeting about not handling the kids strictly enough. Got some pointers and things are going a lot better. Kids are grat but it's a matter of learning the shorthand of wha they know and expect in terms of boundaries and how they should behave.

Anyway, I'm off. Wiped. Plus a few people are coming to dinner in a bit to eat and check out the new pad.

One week and then I get two weeks off! Whoo Hoo!

Moving Day.

We're almost out of Debden! Most of our flat is in boxes and we're moving things down. This is being complicated by the fact there's an East 15 final BBQ today and we're supposed to head down to meet up with Gen's family in Warminster for lunch tomorrow. I made it through the rest of the week at school. It was tough as I was drained of energy an on the back foot planning wise. Friday we took the kids to The Globe and did a workshop on Macbeth. That was cool. They work like I want to work in Drama. Which I pointed out to my head of department.

I'll be packing up the computer now!

Tonsilitis Without Tonsils

Obviously I didn't make the traditional Sunday entry last week... now why was that? I can't quite remember. Oh yes. I spent all day Saturday house hunting to much pain and heartbreak. This is not a culture shock thing but a statement of truth: Renters and property buyers in this country are screwed left right and centre. The demand so outstrips the supply that you're lucky to get to see a place before it's gone. Then they have these things called "Estate Agents" who are people that charge the owner (and you) a fee for the pleasure of showing you the place. They're the ultimate useless shady and opportunistic middleman. Sunday I had to plan or something and didn't get to the computer.

We did find a place though! On Monday I was supposed to go look at one place but, surprise surprise, got a call that it was already rented. So I went to look at a place Rachael had found which had the extra attractive appeal of being rented by the actual owner. Turns out it was very large in a decent area of town (Streatham) so we took it!

Then I went through last week which by all accounts was a very successful one. At school we're expected to keep a planning folder with all our lesson plans in there so that if we're sick they can pick it up and just go with it. Also, they can check this to see if we're following what we say we'll be doing. Anyone who knows me might realize that this kind of detailed planning is not my strong suit. I passed the test with flying colours though!

Then on Saturday Babagenouch and I went down to Lindhurst (sp?) in The New Forest (which is 400 years old or so) for Baba's grandmother's 83rd birthday. It was a great time. All the sons and daughters were there, various boyfriends, kids and grandmother's. Great laughs and jokes whizzed around. Good times!

Until my throat started to hurt. Then I got a fever. By the time we left I was very, as they say here, poorly. By Sunday I was slightly worse with a raging fever that could only be held somewhat at bay by taking two tablets of paracetamol (tylenol) every 3 hours. Luckily I already had a Dr.'s apt to try and get my ADD medication on Monday. This would be the third such appointment...and no they still didn't give it to me...but don't get me started on that!

Monday I awoke slightly worse and suffered through the day. The doctor informs me I have tonsilitis. I had my tonsils out when I was 4 but he prescribed me antibiotics and I was in no mood to split hairs after arguing about the ADD medication thing.

Awoke today feeling better. Hopefully I'll be back at school tomorrow.

Week 1 Down

Well, week one is down and things are going well. It's been quite a week. Monday I have most of the day off - as non contact time (or prep time as we'd call it). I spent much of the day organizing things like crazy. Tuesday's not so bad either and one of my classes got cancelled as the students were writing a language test. The result was I hadn't seen the year 6 class until Wednesday. This was a bit weird as it was a week until I actually taught them the first time.

The kids in this school are great. The hardest thing is getting them to calm down and not talk during class. This sure beats kids calling me a fucking cunt, throwing things, and storming out of class!

I took the year 4's out to their first football (soccer) match Saturday morning. They're 8 years old and have just come up from the primary school to be in the secondary school with the big kids. Secondary in my school goes from age 8 - 12...basically grades 3 - 7. That was an absolute blast. It was so fun to watch these little guys playing football. They're really quite good. The private school system is sport mad and these kids can play and are in really good shape.

The week went well. There are a few things I'm struggling with at the moment. The first is Drama actually. The Drama section is ridiculously short. I have 2 classes of Drama but it's only for half an hour once a week with each. Both classes are really wild and unfocused. They're hard to control and I end up spending half the classes struggling to get them on task. I started doing some silent mirroring work with them to get them calm, focused, and connecting to one another but it didn't work that well. The kids keep asking me if they can do acting stuff. Now I'm scratching my head wondering if I should change what I was going to do or just keep doing in so that they go through the process and see some value in it. I think I might get them to do some scenes and do the stuff that's a bit outside the box a bit later down the road.

I started smoking again and then quit again. Unbelievable really. I quit 5 years ago. Don't ask why. It doesn't make much sense. Basically I had a few drags at parties over the last year and it slowly caught up with me just like I knew it would. Anyway, I haven't had a cigarette for 8 days and I'm feeling ok. So far so good. Gen almost killed me. :)

I'm also working on developing a one man show with German David - a director friend of mine. We call him German David because there are 3 David's. German David, Italian David, and Canadian David (me). We're in the brainstorming phase right now. We'll see how it goes!




All in all things are looking good.

Positive Change

What a week! It all started on Sunday when I moved into a room in Acton. I'm really lucky because a friend of mine (Sassy) has parents who own a house that they rent rooms out in and there was one available. Acton is only about a 15 minute train ride from where I work. So I'll be staying there for the next 5 weeks from Sunday night to Thursday night and travelling the 2 hour journey back to Debden on Friday night.

Well I've been going slightly balistic for the last few weeks trying to prepare and get things in order but I'd been only marginally successful as many of the things I wanted just weren't available until school started. I've been terrified of being too disorganized, getting lost, and losing the kids early in the year.

Things have gone well though! The kids are great. I mean really great. I've had a few classes where it's difficult to get them to settle down but that's as far as it goes. They're very capable kids. Some of the writing I've seen is quite amazing and you should see them play soccer! I was with year 4's yesterday and some of these 8 year olds were amazing!

One of the biggest differences is the fact that I have a department and a Department Head along with over all plans for each term, lesson plans, books and resources connected to them. I also have people to ask. Last year I was the only science person with none of that stuff. It makes life a LOT easier. Staff are cool - kids are brilliant. It's looking very good!

Reunion with Friends

Last night I went down to The Hollybush pub in Loughton and met up with some friends I hadn't seen since the end of last school year. It was so good to see these guys! Especially Italian David and Ray. We call Italian David that because there are three David's. Italian David, German David, and Canadian David (me). We all hang out. It gets confusing.

Anyway it was such a great time! I've discovered another pleasant difference between the beginning of this year and last. It's great to see "old" friends. Sure I've only known them for less than a year but they're great peeps!

My room mate Rachel is also back which is great and I'm hookin up with various other mates from last year. Good times!

Antici...........................................................pation.

Well, went into school today again and met some more teachers. Got a bunch of textbooks I'm supposed to hand out into my classroom so that I can...hand them out.

Rarin to go. Really trying to get a handle on anything I can.

I'm paranoid about assessment and classroom management. Gotta get the kids functioning and create some sort of valuable experience based on some sort of coherent plan.

I'm really antsy. I just want to get started. Get the ball rolling. Move forward. Advance. In the meantime I'm reading up on all kinds of stuff about teaching reading and writing and trying to get a handle on how to run my class.

At least I'm feeling good and positive as opposed to burnt out and half suicidal like at the end of last year. There's nothing like a break and a change of venue to lift the spirit.

Geography

Interesting.

Last night I went out to meet a friend of mine who was in town who goes by the name of Matt Dowsett. Funny guy!

Anyway I was in Greenwich and upon getting off the train I realized I'd been there last year when I went on the "Tour of the Thames" (and the pubs it contains) with a couple of teacher's from my school. I had no idea where I was a the time. For the longest time I had these little pieces of London in my head but had no idea where they were or even in what direction I'd travelled to get there. I'm starting to link them all together. It's quite a thrill when I realize I'm somewhere I've been before and I actually know where it is, what's near it, and how I got there.
Makes me think of kids and how they learn...or people in general I suppose. Kids get all these random concepts in their heads that don't make any sense until they're able to relate them to other concepts and knowledge they know.

Anyway I'm starting to feel much more comfortable in this town.

A Day at The Globe

Babagenouche and I went to The Globe yesterday afternoon to see "Love's Labour's Lost." It was quite a thrill to walk into an exact replica of the Shakespeare's original theatre on the exact location that it was first built. We bought tickets for 5 pounds and stood as "groundlings" in the standing section around the stage. The play was fantastic! Imagine! 5 pounds to see world class Shakespeare at The Globe in London!

Here's the ticket:

7 Days of Veggies

Well it's been a week of solid vegetarianism and I have to say it ain't that hard! There was one slip where I went to a friends house and he'd made a pasta sauce with (unbeknownst to me prior to tasting it) pancetta in it but I ate it anyway. I figure a little sprinkling of meat in one pasta sauce isn't going to destroy the planet.

I think one of the things that made me figure I could do this was discovering there's a lot more to eat than just salad. In fact, I've eaten very little salad. My diet hasn't changed all that drastically other than the omission of meat from my meals.

Also, I've started to save plastic bags that I get from the grocery store and bring them back to reuse them. I always saved them and reused them but only once. I always put my lunch in a plastic bag but then I throw it away. I figure, if it's not torn or soiled, I'll just bring it home and reuse it. I did this 3 times last week and therefore saved 3 bags. I haven't been using them for lunches in general anyway since I'm not going into school and they're starting to pile up. So, I figured I'd bring them back to Sainsbury's and just reuse them there. First time I've ever done this was today. Two bags saved! Less oil and pollution! Go Environment!

There's a store here called ethical superstore which I just discovered. I think it's fairly new. I'm not sure. I'll be checking it out when buying stuff. Not sure what the prices are like. I checked those energy efficient light bulbs and they seem way more expensive than I could get them elsewhere but I haven't really looked that much into other products.

It's based in the UK but here's the website for anyone who's interested: www.ethicalsuperstore.com

The UK is just so far ahead of Canada in Environmental initiatives that it just ain't funny.

I saw solar charger for phones, ipods, cameras etc on there and I thought that's a great idea! I wonder how much energy comes off the grid to recharge all those items? I wonder how much of your energy bill consists of energy used to charge stuff. You could save money! See, every time these sustainable and green technologies are used it benefits the environment and the consumer.

I'm actually excited and encouraged by the green initiatives that are taking place. I read an article in the financial section of the paper the other day that said that Green Technology is expanding at 20% per year - which would get any investor excited. They're talking about a possible boom such as happened in communications in the 90's. This would probably be followed by the requisite "bust" but the internet and communications technology stayed and revolutionized our lives.

Green developments are being built everywhere. Even in Victoria BC! There's a great condo initiative there. In fact it's one of the best in Canada. I went to the show room when I was in Victoria and was really impressed. Valerie is thinking she might buy one. (Go Valerie!) You can read about it and watch a video about here: http://www.windmilldevelopments.com/resources_news.html

In London they created a "Congestion Zone" a few year back that charged you 8 pounds to if you travelled by car down town. This money went to fund more busses down there and it's cleaned up congestion, air quality and improved transit. Now they're proposing that high efficiency that get great gas mileage (smart cars for example) would pay nothing, typical cars would still pay 8 pounds, and inefficient cars like SUV's and sports cars would pay 25 pounds. Great idea I say. Reward the good cars and charge the bad. It'll lead to a shift in consumer spending which will make efficient technology cheaper.

I could go on and on but I'll have to leave some for another day.

Boston Legal and the Mysteries of the Human Soul

Boston Legal.

Can I recommend this show to everyone? James Spader and Willam Shatner (of all people!) are brilliant! The writing is fantastic. It's quirky, funny, surprising, unpredictable, deep, takes on issues, and is full of sex and conflict to boot! Crazy demented characters who are more than meets the eye.... it's fantastic!

I recommend watching it on DVD so you can go episode by episode. It's not necessary to understand the show but it sure makes it more fun.

I love shows and movies that explore the inherent weirdness of people. We're all supposed to fit in these neat little boxes and be certain things but of course none of us do. Human's are all inherently weird in one way or another I think. We all have our secrets don't we?

With that in mind here are my favourite shows and movies and books involving weird fascinating and real people: (in no particular order)

1. Boston Legal (obviously)
2. Six Feet Under (the 1st season is perfect. slowly goes down hill after that)
3. American Beauty
4. Secretary (film with James Spader and Magie Gyllenhall)
5. Books by Dave Eggers
6. Books by David Sedaris
7. Notes on a Scandal
8. This is England (movie about how british skin head movement went from relatively harmless group of working class kids and was co-opted by white supremacists. Brilliant!)
9. Fight Club

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head but if anyone else can feel free to post.

Busy But Laid Back

Busy But Laid Back. Like this lady in the picture. Busy but in a calm yogic place.

Babagenouche says she's discovered why there are so many great academics in this country. It's because it's cold and rainy all the time so everyone just sits inside and reads and writes.

I concur!

Bab went out today to scout buildings for her character in her upcoming project. They'll be using the pictures of houses around London to show where their characters live. They also took pictures of coffee shops and stuff that their characters would hang out in. Pretty cool actually. Good way of getting into the character as well. Just what sort of building would your character want to live in?

I had a chilled out but productive day. Did a lot of reading of "Yellow Brick Roads." Which is a book about teaching. We got it in University but I didn't have time to really process it. This is one of my big complaints about education. In fact I think it's everyone's complaint about education. The "Brain Dump." Like here's 1000 pages of text you have to read this week and then we'll talk about it. Then we'll do 1000 more next week! We were taught repeatedly not to do this in teacher's college...while they continued to do this to us anyway.

Why is it I read all the books I was supposed to read in University AFTER I finished University? I got curious about all those books sitting on my shelf. Schools have a real skill at taking the pleasure OUT of reading. I loved Harry Potter as do many other people I know. Now think if I told you that you had to read 4 chapters a day no matter what. How fun would that be?

How do I avoid this as a teacher?

I have no idea.

But I digress.

I'm really stoked about the upcoming school year. No matter what happens at least I'LL be interested in what I'm teaching. I have all this energy. I got all kinds of stuff done today, found resources for History and Geography. I'll be posting any good links on this blog to share with any teacher's out there who might be interested. Got mailing done, made notes and plans for English, went shopping. Very productive day!

And now to bed.

Return of the Killer Blog

I'm back! I know you've all been checking this daily since April 15th and now you will be rewarded. I admire your perseverance!

I'm back after 4 weeks off and feeling good.

I just went into my school today to get thing settled and I'm feeling really good about it. The school looks great. The head of English (who is also assistant head of the school) is really helpful and enthusiastic. I have good English teachers there to bounce ideas off and help me with ideas, resources look good, kids are supposedly fairly well behaved. Looks like it could be fun! I'm really looking forward to tackling the English and Drama stuff. History and Geography make me nervous but we will see.

The school looks to have a strong arts bent to it even though they're very geared towards formal comprehension for written exams. The kids at this school are gearing up to write entrance exams at elite schools at the end of year 8 so it's very important they can write those exams well. Hopefully I can keep up with them!

I feel way more relaxed and grounded this year even though I'm going to be entering a new school. First of all there was the 4 week visit back to Canada. Man that helped! It was great to see everyone. Sorry to those I didn't (Len, Cathy, Cara, Casey, Gord, Kerry, Warren, Cody, Jake, Jessie, Cori and everyone else!) Sure was sad to miss the FamDamily Camping Trip.

First of all it was so good just to get back to Canada and see open space and nature! Toronto is a oasis of calm compared to London so it was good to not feel so hectically rushed. It was great to see family and friends again and just hang out and relax.

Biggest highlights:
1. Brother's wedding and the speech that almost killed Mike. (I won't say why but I don't think anyone noticed he started over from the beginning halfway through)
2. Boat ride on West Lake in The County
3. Tofino!
4. Great times all around with friends and family. Absolutely wicked time!

Coming back is to England is a much different experience. I was hoping it would feel more like coming home than coming back to returning to a foreign land and it does. It feels normal to return here as opposed to the disoriented culture shock I went through last time. It's great to see friends here again and it feels good to be able to navigate the landscape, stores, and even dial a phone!

As I said the school looks great so I'm looking forward to that.

Big changes are up coming for Babagenouche and I but I think we'll settle for a bit after that.

1. Babagenouche will be done her showcase, school, and master's thesis in about 6 weeks! Then it's time to take over the BBC!
2. We'll be moving to West London somehow.
3. We may or may not have a room mate when we do that.
4. I'll be starting at the new school which is 2 hours away at the moment. Hoping to find temporary accommodation during the week somehow.
5. Our new place will hopefully be permanent for the next 2 - 3 years.
6. We're both trying to diet right and exercise to shed that holiday weight...well in my case that last 3 years worth of weight.

and to that end...

I'm officially a vegetarian.

Why?

It's all about the environment baby!

Why not eat meat? Well the reasons are numerous assuming you believe that Global Warming is an environmental crisis. If you don't, watch An Inconvenient Truth.

It's not about the animals for me it's about the humans and the planet.

Here are some off the top of my head:
1. Deforestation:
Forests are cleared for animals. Trees eat C02. Deforestation leads to global warming, harm to ecosystems - the usual stuff.

2. Food wastage:
There's only so much farmable land on earth. Much of it is used to grow food to feed animals that we eat. If we used that land to grown food to feed people we could feed more people.

3. Cow farts:
Major source of methane - bad for atmosphere. Seriously.

4. Water contamination:
Tons of animal "effluent" (shit and piss) from massive amounts of animals goes into water table and contaminates water supplies.

5. Health concerns:
Hormones, Drugs, Mad Cow, genetically modified animals, disease spreading in factory farms.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

I did a quick search on Google and here's a link with some info: (I'm not going Vegan tho)
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/environment.html

Fairly random source but it's a start for those interested!

Right now I'm just not eating meat. I eat eggs and I'm trying to cut down on cheese. As for cutting out all products that have any animal product in them ( like lard in muffins or something)....not sure how I'll handle that. It'll be an adventure.

And finally...I'll be making this site accessible only to people I authorize shortly. This just means you'll have to create a user name and password.

Greece. Not a bad place at all.

Well we're back from Greece. It was a lovely place to be I must say. The weather was outstanding the whole time we were there. It was bright and sunny with not a cloud in the sky.

Our hotel was great. It was convereted from some old building that was there in there at some point in the 1990's and it was really unique and charming. It was amazing to lie in bed and stare at these stone walls and think: "Someone was livng here 1000 years ago."

We stayed in the the old town of Rhodes which, I didn't quite realize going in, is actually a 100% old medevil town. I was a bit disconcerted at first as it's full of crumbling buildings and parts of it are bascially old ruins. It began to grow on me as the days went by though and by the time I left it I was in love with it. It's got it's tourist trappy type of places but they're a million percent better than the New Town which is just outside the city walls. The New Town is over run with Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Hugo Boss, endless crappy restaurants, Subway (!), and hotels. Basically it's a name brand shopping mall where as in the Old Town there are shops that sell that stuff but it's all small businesses. The Old Town is full of charming places to discover too. It's not very big and maps of the place seem to have been made up by a blind man who has never been there so I thought it was bigger than it was the first few days as I wandered randomly through it.

We found some AMAZING food there. The first night we we went to a restaurant that was good but was, as we found out later, way over priced. We had a conversation with a retired Scottish couple who, it turned out, were staying at our hotel. We were into our appetizer at another restaurant and I saw them out front looking at the menu. I went out to get them just as they were walking away and told them this place was great so they came in and sat by us. We had a great time eating and talking to them for about 3 hours after that. Fantastic time. We ended up hooking up with them on the final day and sitting at another cafe for about 3 hours whilst sipping wine. They were really great people.

The best stuff we saw in terms of sites were all in the Castle of the Knights of St. John. The Castle was HUGE. It was extremely well maintained as well. There was also an archeological museum that was a lot bigger and more impressive than I had expected. It was housed in part of the castle that hadn't been fixed up which added to the "old historical" feel of the place.

I tried to see if there was any scuba diving but apparently that doesn't start for a month or so. Ah well, I'll have to fullfill that dream another day.

Babagenouche and I had a great time poking around, eating great food, getting sun and relaxing.
Babagenouche's Aunt and Uncle were super kind and picked us up at the airport late Saturday. We finished off my vacation (Babagen has another week damn her!) with a lovely breakfast and a wonderful Sunday lunch with the family.

A great 5 days.

I've posted pics on my flickr account.

Greece is the word.

Well tomorrow Babagenouche and will be off to Greece! I've checked the weather forecast and it's calling for 4 days of temperatures between 14 and 20 degrees Celcius.

We'll be staying in the old town of Rhodes. It's a Unesco heritage site...so...why you can actually stay in hotel there is beyond me but apparently it hasn't changed much in a few thousand years. It looks something like this:

I'm really hoping to get some of this in:

I've never really gone diving before but there's a place you can go diving for 30 Euro's for the day! Whoo hoo!

Anyway, I'm not bringing any school work with me so maybe I can stop worrying about it for 10 seconds.

It should be a great time. We'll be there until Saturday. I'm looking foward to much relaxing, good food, warm weather, a bit of adventure and maybe a night out of dancing! Who knows? Could happen!

I'll post pictures and a report on Sunday.

It's Been Yonks

Well I know I haven't posted much lately but I swear I tried to post on Friday and my browser crashed after I spent hours working on a lengthy and gut bustingly funny post. Alas it has vanished into the digital abyss.

Well, I'm on vacation for the next two weeks for Easter break. I've just been paid - they only pay you once a month here which is causing me great consternation - and I've spent the last few days trying to get a good drink of England. I've had a wonderful time. I spent Friday in an alcohol induced haze as I hit our The Plume of Feathers - my favourite local pub. Saturday I went for breakfast at a lovely cafe we've discovered in Debden then went to see a play called Tom Fool. The play was massively well reviewed and highly disappointing. This is the third such play I've seen that fits this description and I'm starting to wonder what the hell is wrong with English theatre critics. Anyhoo... Sunday Babagenouche and I went to Brick Lane which is much like a larger better version of Kennsington Market. We stopped off at a place called Leytonstone which is the first place I found I really actually liked in the East End of London. Something about it just feels neighbourhoody in a good way. I went to a place called Primark which sells the cheapest clothes in Britain. I managed to buy a pair of jeans and a sweater for 17 pounds.

This all lead to today's trip to Oxford. Now this was awesome! It was Babagenouche's idea and, as usual, it was a great one.

We went down to get the bus at Victoria station and I was immediately impressed. I'd been into central London before but I really dug this area. (Have I mentioned I live in nowhere land in the east end?) Anyway we got a seat on the front window at the top of a double decker coach and enjoyed a lovely ride to Oxford. I was absolutely amazed at how amazing and beautiful Oxford is! It's incredible! I've uploaded pictures to my Flickr account so check them out.

We toured around the colleges of Oxford itself and they're absolutely incredible. HUGE! You walk into these gates or door ways off the main street and next thing you know there are big parks and masses of buildings that are somehow hidden within the city itself. Here's me in Magdelene College.

The architecture is incredible and the city is a-hoppin with all kinds of people and energy. We were lucky to have great weather to boot. Mabye this country ain't so bad after all.

Debden Diary

Well I'm through most of the term. This up coming week is all activities which will be tiring and frantic but at least I don't have to plan anything or do much after school.

Interesting thing happened on Tuesday. It all began a few weeks back when my Principal and I had a bet at golf. Our school goes out on some sort of outing every Friday and I made the foolish mistake of betting the loser would have to do "the worm" in assembly at the end of the day. Well, he got 60 points on the driving range and I got well...um...6. So I did a little mock break dance followed by the worm.

The next time we went out it the activity had changed to skating. He actually started the betting process despite the fact that he can't skate. He's a good sport. I won a race so I made him wear his clothes on backwards during assembly and then the week after that I made him wear a dress. Going in last week I figured I'd have to figure out a way to lose to even things out but I was a little apprehensive as to what I'd have to do. The principal rigged it so some kid came in and interfered with me during the race and the forfeit was mine. The kids decided I had to dress up like a gangsta and do a rap in the next assembly.

This turned out to be Tuesday. I hid out until I was announced and walked in the room with full hip hop attire. I hit play on the sound system and launched into the second half of "Parents Just Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.

I was shitting my pants as I started but then people really got into it. Staff and students were looking somewhat bewildered and amazed 'cause I'm a low key quiet guy at school. I had yet to launch my performing arts skills at their maximum power. Anyway, it went over well and now the kids won't leave me alone to do it again. I rapped the damn song over and over on two more bus trips but they can't seem to get enough. I'll be doing a repeat performance at the term end assembly. I'm trying to think of how to jazz it up a little bit...maybe more bling...maybe a little dance...maybe I'll blend "Bust a Move" in there somehow.

I'll keep you posted

But you wouldn't want to live there

I would say I have more experience and knowledge of England and it's culture than some north Americans.
My dad was born in London, all of my mother's family come from England, and I've watched more episodes of Are You being Served? and Jeeves and Wooster than your average country vicar.

However: none of my previous field research into the goodness of Marks and Spencer's prepared foods and the delights of Rybena and dry sherry has prepared me for the sheer assault on the senses that is: life in Debden.

It's a yob night-mare. It's a tiny, ugly, battered concrete high-street, which someone optimistically (presumably while drunk) named the Broadway. A testament to all that is wrong with post-war building, it contains shops so depressed and shabby that you get the feeling the owners would be all too grateful if you shoplifted them into an early retirement. When I moved in, my aunt from Chislehurst said that it was like a time capsule to the high-streets of remembered from her youth in the sixties and seventies. There are two betting shops, three hair-dressers and (here's the kicker) two discount carpet shops. Now I know we all love a good piece of discount carpet, but come on. Two shops?? Are you seriously asking me to believe that the crushing demand for cheap rugs has swollen to the point that one such establishment can no longer keep up?

Then there's the population of Debden: old people and youwf. The eldery are lovely - my only issue with them is that they are always in front of me at Sainsbury's, buying twenty packets of cream crackers, rooting around for the correct change, and having prolonged discussions about the council's decision to relocate the bus stop twenty yards down the road.

The youwf (i.e. local pronounciation of "youth") are all ten to twelve years old, wear baggy track pants, hang around the local gas station (or 'garage'), bum smokes and beer off of anyone they can, litter, spit, shriek, rev the engines of their cars, beat each other up, shoplift, and generally get underfoot when you're fighting your way towards a pint of milk at ten o'clock at night.

And the frustrating thing is that Debden actually has the potential to be a charming little village. It is surrounded by some of the greenest, loveliest, most breathtaking countryside you could hope for. The local Epping Forest is renown as a place of calm and beauty and tranquility (as well as being a convinient place to dispose of corpses, but never mind.) When the sun comes out, there's not a more picturesque place to behold. Too bad you have to squint past the clouds of underage smoke and people fighting over the latest carpet sale to see it.

Dispatches from the front

I'm officially in training for the title of Worst and Most Infrequent Blogger Ever.
To me, blogging is like communism: I love the idea in theory, but it ain't working so well for me in practise.
Also: I am frantic right now. It's March! End of term approacheth! Busy, busy, busy bees are we! Here's a run-down on what's keeping me busy right now:

a) training for a Stage Combat Exam (involving rapier and bare-knuckle fighting...don't worry, no serious injuries to report yet....knock on wood!)
b) big night of duets coming up this Wednesday...I'm singing this song from a musical called "Chess", which was a big deal back in the 80's and is written by one of the guys from ABBA. (Truly, there is no end to their talents. Truly.) My partner is a lovely Welsh boy called Dan, who turns into a Restoration dandy or "wit picker" when he's had a few drinks, and proceeds to be exceedingly cutting and foppish to the amusement of all assembled.
c) involved in creating a new theatre piece with two other actresses and one of the directors from the directing MA program, which involves weekly meetings where we've so far determined that the main things we have in common are love of wine, avocados, and weekend newspapers. It's a start.
d)heading down to Ravensbourne tv and film school to shoot our specially-commissioned-for-our-class tv scripts. I get to play a morally ambiguous psychiatrist (is she evil? isn't she? how much does she know? is she in on it?) named Dr. Krane...boy the writers really stretched themselves to come up with that name, didn't they? I'm working with a great group of fellow actors, so I feel really lucky and priviledged and hope the shooting next week will be fun. Ravensbourne is in Chislehurst, just round the corner from where my aunt lives, so that will be fun to tromp round my old haunts and possibly pop in to eat my family's cupboards bare along the way.
e) private coachings thrice-weekly for the Carleton Hobbs auditions in 2 weeks. Not sure who knows about this and who doesn't, so, in a nut-shell: auditions at the BBC for the chance to win a 6 month paid radio contract with them. Highly coveted and desirable prize. Difficult to even get selected to audition. Fabulous opportunity. That's March 19th, so cross your fingers for me please. I'm up against approximately 80 others, competing for potentially 8 places. One in 10 odds? Child's play. I spend my professional life gambling on such odds. I'll win it if I can.

So sorry if I don't blog much. It doesn't mean I don't care. It just means I'm deaf, dumb, and mad from exhaustion. But it's a full life. I'm very lucky.

Friday Night is MY NIGHT!

The end of another week. There's no better time than Friday night. I hit the end of the day and no fucking way am I doing any work, worrying about it, thinking about it, or picking up a pen or paper for any purpose other than to write down a take out food order or a phone number to call for pizza, or a grocery list for dinner. From 5:00pm on is my only stress free time of the week. I suck it in like a drowning man coming up for air. Eat it up like a starving man at a buffet. Live it like it's my last day on earth. It's feel good time baby!

Another two weeks since I last blogged. I'd like to blog more but I've gone through this phase where I'm slacking off because it seems like more work and I'm pretty over worked. Teaching is stressful. Especially where I am. Have I mentioned this before?

I had a science specialist who I've been working with come into class today and I think he was pretty shocked at the kids behaviour. Every one tells me I should relax and not worry about my teaching but I know there are things I should be doing...like evaluating, having the proper work ready, having extra work ready for kids, focusing on their tests, organizing so I can get experiments done for them... all of which I'm struggling with mightily. One day I'll look back and I'll laugh and laugh and laugh at all this but it's the tough at the moment.

Having said that I seem to have the undying support of the administration and many of my colleagues which is what really keeps me going. Apparently I care about the kids and this is important. Good to know. Just wish I could teach properly. But there you have it. The caring of the kids is important. It's amazing how much work I can put into a 45 minute lesson. Like an hour minimum. Maybe an hour and a half. People keep telling me to stop doing this but I'm not quite sure how. I can't seem to stop planning and replanning or quite figure out a simple logical sequence for a lesson.

But it's Friday! Enough of that!

Babagenouche and I are going to central London tomorrow to check out a show called I like Mine with a Kiss which is getting absolutely fantastic reviews. That should be fun. Incidentally has anyone heard about Daniel Radcliffe playing in Equus? Daniel Radcliffe is better known as Hary Potter and Equus is better known as "full frontal nudity play about an insane psychologically damaged young man who blinds horses." It's getting absolutely amazing reviews! Radcliffe is apparently amazing. Who knew Harry Potter would go so far?

Babagenouche and I are also planning on going to Valencia Spain over our Easter Break in 4 weeks. Should be awesome sunning and relaxing time.

Good things on the agenda in the near future! Hooray!

Downtime

I've been on half term break since last week and I've been chillin out mightily. I've gone in to school and gotten some work done during the break but not nearly as much as I should have. I'll live to regret this but at least I've done something.

As I sit here I'm eating what must be my 15th pizza of the week (store bought though) and drinking a fine fine pint of Young's bitter. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are blasting in the background and I'm trying to forget that I only have 2 days left in my break.

I went through another term...that's 2 down for the year. It was harder in some ways and easier in others. It was tougher in some ways because I began to expect more of myself but I'm still a rookie so I keep falling short of where I want to be. I also started liking a lot of the kids which made it more difficult to deal with them in some ways. It's harder to be really hard on kids if you like them. You'd think it would be harder for them to be mean to you if some of them like you too but I'm not sure that's so much the case. It must be for some kids. I guess they're the ones I'm not having the toughest time with.

On another note I got cast in a play of sorts at East 15! There's a director there who's doing a play called "The Investigation" by Peter Weiss. It's verbatim scripts from trials after WWII. It's not the Nuremberg trials - it's some other trial that's similar. It's 4 hours long so they're going to do readings every week for the next few weeks. I've been cast as the judge for the first section. Should be fun. I think they're aiming to do a full stage production but I'm not a hundred percent sure how that'll work since they have different people reading in all these different readings. Anyway it'll be fun to dust off the acting tool kit again.

Tonight I'm going to see a play my room mate is in about these women who camped in a park somewhere in England next to this nuclear silo for like, 30 years, to protest nuclear warfare. Should be good. The play has taken that situation and blended it with Antigone (ancient Greek play where the women go on a sex strike to stop a war). They've been doing tons of research for it including camping in the actual park itself.

Babagenouche is doing well. She's got this audition for the BBC coming up which is great but also a lot of work and stress. She'll so great though I'm sure!

That's it for now.

Snow Day

News from BBC.com

Thousands of schools are shut and motorists are being urged to travel only if necessary. Some households are also without power.

Up to 10cm (4in) of snow fell in some areas.

4 inches! Bwahahahaha!

Well today was another good one. Likely because I didn't actually end up having to teach. The entire city ground to a halt as 4 inches of snow fell on the city. Apparently it doesn't actually snow in London most years. This was a legitimate snow fall and it created all kinds of problems.

It took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to take the usual 45 minute train ride to work. Apparently the snow was interfering with the current. I'm not surprised because trains here are constantly sending out huge sparks as they travel along. Then again...shouldn't they be built a little safer?

I got off at one station and crossed over to the other side of the platform there was a constant blue arc shooting out of one wheel. It looked like a welders torch. It quickly began to burn through the metal of the track. Then flames started appearing as well as smoke. There was a worker with a walkie talkie saying things like "Move the train off the platform before it welds itself to the rail!" Apparently it couldn't move... or wouldn't. Eventually the arc stopped. I think it burnt a whole in the rail.

Once I got to work it became apparent this would be a relaxing day. There were only 8 kids in at first so we made up a short schedule.

<--- not my kids but you get the picture.

Then break time hit and the snowball war started. It was awesome! here we had about 14 kids who have major social and emotional problems having a huge snowball fight for about 40 minutes. I was out there on my own for about 10 minutes and had a great time chucking snow around. The kids got to whip snowballs at the teacher and, more importantly, I got to throw snowballs at them.

The only point I got really nervous was when this one year 11 student who is REALLY muscular came after me. He kept coming for me and trying to push snow in my face and eventually we ended up grappling. I thought I might be dead. Eventually he took me down - hard. So I got up again and took him down - hard. Really glad I managed to. I think I earned some respect. :) Amazing experience because none of this would be tolerated at a "mainstream" school.

Then we went inside and had hot chocolate.

It was a fun day.

One day left and I'm off for a week.

Thank God.

1 Near Perfect Day

Hot Damn it's been a long time since I posted!

Apologies to any who have been checking in regularly - I've probably lost every reader out there. Post a reply if you're still reading!

I don't know what happened today with my kids but I went through my toughest day in terms of scheduling with almost nary an incident to report.

Tuesdays are usually brutal. I have 4 straight classes in the morning and then an hour and a half straight of Drama. That would normally be ok but I'm usually exhausted and Drama is damn near impossible with these kids. They really don't want to do it it seems. I think we could do a much better job though. We need to start with just playing games...anyway! Enough about that.

Four straight classes of engaged students. Unbelievable. I had points where I was standing there watching them work - completely unsure of what to do with myself. Usually I'm arguing with them. Or they're arguing with me. Is this what teaching in a normal school is like? I actually have energy left over. Usually I'm so tired I can't stand up by the end of the day. It's also amazing how my disorganization and inability to get any tasks done outside of lessons faded away. It's stress I tell you! I've been so overwhelmed I can't think straight.

So here's to one good day!

I'm sure it'll be WWIII tomorrow. :)

Culture Vulture

In between waiting for my cakes to cool and my chestnuts to roast (see previous food porn post), I have taken in some pretty incredible art this holiday season.

Last week I saw the Holbein exhibit at the Tate Britain. Braving the long hike out to Pimlico, and the even longer queue for tickets with a bunch of snow-haired, well-dressed, personal-space-ignoring old folks, I managed to score a ticket to see the portraits of this most remarkable artist.

In case you're not a rabid slobbering fan of sixteenth century England (but how could you not be? religious upheavals and persecution! sumptuous silks and brocades! live birds baked into pastry! and plague, plague, PLAGUE!), the crash course on Holbein is this: famous portrait painter, became attached to the court of Henry VIII, and is responsible for that great tyrant's most famous portrait. You know the one: legs open, hands on his hips, codpiece prominent and thrust forward, mean little eyes in a pudding face. He also painted several of Henry's wives (heads still on, naturally), as well as other prominent courtiers and officials of the day.

Yawn, you're all thinking. But the remarkable thing about Holbein is that makes all these people so alive - he's particularly good at eyes and mouths. It's a sense you don't truly get until you see these paintings up close and personal. For example, I've seen Jane Seymour's royal portrait before - with its tightly pursued mouth and bland expression, like milk jelly, I didn't think much of her. But when I got up close, her eyes are actually incredibly gentle and thoughtful, especially in the early sketches, where they are surprisingly beautiful.

And this little painting was one of my favourites....isn't he a little sausage? That's Henry's little son by Jane Seymour, the great hope for England. Sadly the little cutie died in his teens, paving the way for his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Little precious.

One of my other favourites: Christina of Denmark, a prospective bride for Henry, sixteen years old, all in black because she's already been once widowed. Her face, robbed of its hair, framed by a weird black hat, is beautiful, cautious, a little nervous, with an incredibly direct and straitforward gaze, but quirks of humour and kindness in her mouth. You feel you know exactly who this girl is, looking out into her future with confidence it will be extraordinary.

I can't reproduce these images here with any justice, but google Holbein and download some for yourself. They're glorious.

I also visited the Dennis Severs' house this week (damn you, Christmas essay!) near Spitalfields market. I'd stumbled across the website and was intrigued by the description of the house:
"a time capsule...the artist lived in the house in much the same way as its original occupants might have done in the early 18th century...to enter its door is to pass through a frame into a painting: one with a time and a life of its own." Giddyup!

So I went along, rang the old-fashioned bell, and after being briefed on the ground-rules (no talking, no touching, no photography), I was turned loose on the house to begin my "experience."

The website describes "the game" as being "you interrupt a family of Hugenot silk weavers called Jervis who though they can still sometimes be heard seem always to be just out of sight. As you journey off in silent search throughout the ten rooms, each lit by fire or candlelight, you receive a number of stimulations to your senses..."

Well, it was probably one of the most captivating and evocative things I've ever encountered. Each room over the four floors is exactly as it would have been in the 1700's - crammed, cluttered, dark corners to be explored, tiny clues as to the family who live here. It felt a bit like an afternoon on the Marie Celeste: you saw overturned chairs, baking griddle cakes abandoned, half drunk glasses of sherry, crumpets still stuck on toasting forks, broken teacups, still-smoking pipes! Wigs, silk dresses, and frock coats were slung over the backs of chairs - tiny baby shoes lay dropped under a high-chair in the kitchen, with a half-eaten gingerbread man in a bowl, and the sink high with dirty plates.

The smells were intriguing: a heady honey scent in a woman's bedroom, something lemony, fresh, and verbena-like in her daughter's room, tobacco and old smoke around an interrupted card game and whisky bottles. And always, very faintly, sounds: a man's voice, a tolling bell, a creak on the floor above you, a carriage going by - always tantalizingly out of reach.

It was very poignant, and haunting. "Still life drama", as the artist described it. How different the world looks though candle and fire light. The darkness is somehow colder, an enemy. But when there is light and warmth, how appealing and sensual things are: a mountain of sugared fruits, a half-eaten loaf of bread, a pile of books, cosmetics on a dressing table. Tiny curls of paper, lists of calls the ladies have made, little notes from family members to each other, even clues from the artist to the sharp-eyed, such as this gem "The late 20th century is an intriguing place to visit...but who would want to live there?"

I loved it - the whole thing was magical. I staggered into the street stunned and battered by the sudden assault of the modern world, and trudged back into this careless and rushed place we call the 21st century.

The Dreaded Lurgy

I managed to get through the Christmas holidays without getting any serious sickness. This seemed quite miraculous at the time as most of London was felled by one flu or another.

Unfortunately that all came to an end yesterday morning.

I awoke feeling fine but by the time I was halfway through brushing my teeth I realized there was an ever tightening knot in my stomach and that my head was beginning to pound. I realized that I was quite likely to throw up at any moment.

Throwing up, hurling, visiting the porcelain telephone and speaking to Ralph... all these things are about the worst thing I can imagine. I hate being sick more than anything else. I fight it to the bitter end.

Which is exactly what I did.

I spent the next hour and a half arranging my lesson plans so I could email them in. Luckily I got sick on the day that is, without a doubt, the most organized day I've ever had as a teacher. I had EVERYTHING set up for the day. I was actually looking forward to going to work so I could enjoy the fruits of my labour. Someone else did, but at least it made me look good.

I woke up this morning and still had a pounding headache and a high fever so, alas, here I am at home again.

I'm feeling better though so I'll probably be at work tomorrow.

There ya go. Not the most interesting post but a post nonetheless.

Leafs 10 - Bruins 2

Alex Steen: 3 Goals 2 assists = 5 points
Matt Stajan: 2 Goals 2 Assits = 4 points
Boyd Devereux: 3 Assists
Bates Battaglia: 2 goals

Highlights can be found at: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Video

	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM	TOI
SUNDIN	0	1	2	3	0	16:17
MCCABE	0	0	5	2	0	21:39
GILL	0	1	2	1	0	19:36
O'NEILL	0	1	1	4	0	14:53
BELAK	0	0	0	0	12	1:44
BATTAGLIA	2	0	3	4	0	23:08
KILGER	1	0	1	2	0	17:25
DEVEREAUX	0	3	3	0	2	18:02
KABERLE	0	2	1	0	0	21:55
KUBINA	0	1	0	0	2	18:26
POHL	1	2	2	5	0	16:55
ONDRUS	0	0	0	1	0	4:34
COLAIACOVO	0	0	1	1	0	12:22
BELL	0	0	1	0	5	5:58
STAJAN	2	2	4	4	0	19:12
NEWBURY	1	1	3	5	6	13:16
STEEN	3	2	4	6	4	17:04
WHITE	0	2	6	1	2	19:59