Global Village Post

Quotes

2009-02-08T18:28:00.003Z

I've been meaning to collect these for quite some time. Quotes that somehow made me come to a realization. Here are a few random ones from off the top of my head. They may come from surprising places!

"Once you have glimpsed the world as it might be, as it ought to be, as it’s going to be (however that vision appears to you), it is impossible to live compliant and complacent anymore in the world as it is."

-Victoria Stafford

-Just read this one today on in the Transition Towns organizations' information. Couldn't sum up my mindset more succinctly than that I don't think.

This next one is going to seem WAY OUT THERE. It's amazing how what's on your mind and what you hear will connect into a realization that is completely unconnected to the meaning of what's being said.

Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plans are horrifying. If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will get blown up, nobody panics. But when I say one little old mayor will die, everyone loses their minds!!

-The Joker from The Dark Knight

Ok, there's the quote that stuck with me. Here's the context of my life as I was watching this. I'd moved into teaching which is, I've discovered, largely about planning. I had very poor planning skills and, in fact, I was resistant to planning and organizing prefering to simply engage with life as it happened. I had a parent riding me about challenging her daughter and demanding to know what I would be doing to help her improve so I was obssessed with the idea of planning. I didn't like it, wasn't good at it and was convinced that over planning was a problem anyway. When I heard this I thought about the truth of what The Joker was saying (which is what makes him so scary). Then my mind flipped over to all the planning I had to do and hit me WHY I had to do it and why it was so important. People want to know what the plan is - what's going to happen - so they can prepare for it and so that they know there's a reason and (hopefully) a logic behind what they're doing. The Joker twisted this to his own nefarious ends in the film but it hit me that if I set a plan that was clear and well thought out in motion people would follow it. And they have!

The unexpected spin off is that MY life has gotten much more purposeful and focused and I am calmer and more relaxed. I now spend enormous amounts of time pre planning before a term. At least 3 solid - 4 solid days for every six week period. That's before I do all the actually day to day planning. But I'm calmer and life is easier for everyone else as well. If there's any questions eveyrone can quickly refer to my planning and it's all taken care of. Amazing paradigm shift for the man who believed that an unplanned unstructured life was the way to go.

Repetition is the mother of skill.
-Tony Robbins

Ok - I listened to some Tony Robbins. I certainly could see how you could criticise this guy but he actually does make a lot of sense. My problem is that he charges $10,000 for a weekend workshop. Ridiculous. Anyway it's true. You can't learn anything and get good at anything without massive repetition. Until it becomes second nature. And that my kids, is why I'm making you work on nouns AGAIN.

Think of the best coaches you know. Names that come to mind are Vince Lombardi, for example. What were they know most for? Teaching fundamentals to people who were already the best at what they do...
Invariably when I hear people say "Teach me something new," I know they're not into mastery....
I' m now taking Tae Kwon Do and I have the good fortune of training with a grand master of Tae Kwon Do in the United States. His name is Joon Ree (sp?). He taught me to go from the frame of mastering simple things over and over again. Everything he teaches to become a black belt breaks down to seven simple moves. Isn't that interesting? He says that most people who never make it to black belt never get there because they come in saying "Teach me something new," and he says "No no you have to master the fundamentals and if you do those and do them over and over again you'll become a black belt."

-Tony Robbins (abridged and condensed)

I just listened to this as it's the clearest illustration of what I've come to believe. I've seen it time and time again. In chess it's the middle 4 squares you must concentrate on. That and 4 fundamentals called development, time, material and space. All I did was get some ideas on how to develop my pieces, to attack the middle squares, to control space on the board and my chess game jumped from completely hopeless to intermediate fairly quickly. I didn't even get time down. All the memorization of openings I'd been trying was a waste of time because all I had to do was undertand what the other person was attempting do so I could counter it.

Writing - surprisingly can break down to VCOP. Vocabulary, connectives, openers (of sentences) and punctuation. Discovered this while observing at a school this year. An approach that is becoming widespread in England.

Poetry - breaks down to four fundamentals: Imagery, Rhythm, Rhyme, Word play

Acting: Ask these questions when approaching any scene.
Where are you?
Who are you talking to?
What do you want and is what you want extremely important? (the answer should be yes...as in life and death if possible
How are you going to get what you want?

Anyone want of volunteer any other sports fundamentals. I know that football is largely about controlling the ball and the space on the field (a bit like chess)

When calls of going "back to basics" in Education are being trumpeted this is what they're trying to say. Focus on the fundamentals. I think "going back to basics" means going back to how things were taught in the past...Which in fact largely didn't (I don't think) focus on fundamentals. It involved alot of wrote memorization which may not be the best way to go. But anyway - Fundamentals baby. That's what it's all about.

You are not your job.

-Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club.

Nuff said. Simple idea. Difficult to put into practice in reality. Too much of our identies come from our jobs.

It's Official - I've joined Transisition Towns

2009-02-08T18:00:00.007Z

I've joined Transition Towns Brixton. I discovered Transition Towns when I first did research for my environmental blog. Unfortunately that blog is almost dormant - though I'm throwing the odd thing on. Transition Towns are in the links on the side over there: http://www.transitiontowns.org/

I'm really excited! Time to take the next step and create change beyond my own personal actions and the eco-footprint of my home!

Transition towns is a global movement that started in small town England. The goal is to transition your town or city to one which is low carbon and environmentally sustainable. It's amazing how the movement has gone global. It has spread on the initiative and power of those who simply care and are determined to do something about the problems we face.

I've discovered a great blog: If you want to join or discover any information check this out. http://transitionculture.org/

Let's get green people!

Just in case you thought I was gone....

2009-01-27T23:45:00.002Z

Week 1 on returning from Canada.

Friday: Land. Xbox from Amazon is left on my front porch and stolen. (Nice one Amazon!)
Saturday: Demand money back - buy Xbox elsewhere. Play Xbox endlessly.
Sunday: Go to school. Plan for 8 hours.
Monday: arise 5:00 am Plan, teach, mark, plan Leave work at 8:30. Arrive home 9:30. Play xbox until 12:00

Repeat above pattern from Tuesday to Friday. That's right....I put in over 70 hours that week.

Saturday...play xbox.

Sunday.... Plan for 8 - 10 hours.

Monday work till 8:00.

Tuesday - Gen arrive back! Yay!

Then till now...pretty much cut back to leaving work at 6:00 and then playing xbox! Ha ha!

Ok...the xbox thing is a little pathetic.

I'll be posting again shortly.

Just found out one of my long lost high school aquaintances has her own blog now. Check out Jennifer Lester at her blog - see side panel.

I'm off to bed.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!

It's Official.

2008-11-27T13:27:00.007Z

It's official! I'm coming home for Christmas. I just got my passport back from the Home Office of Immigration here and I couldn't be more excited. I hadn't told anyone back home so as not to worry anyone but I sent in my application in July - only to get a letter back stating that they would not begin to process my application until the day it expired - Namely October 14th. They also held all my documents. Anyway, suffice it to say that I was worried about not getting it back in time for Christmas as the processing time stated it could take up to 14 weeks!

I called last week and was told by some monkey in a call centre that the documents were being processed - that was all the information they had. No I could not call anyone else, no I could not go into an office, no there was nothing I could do, no they could not look into it. If I wanted to ensure I had my passport I could only withdraw my application. They finally suggested writing a letter. I figured... here I am married to a British citizen, working as a teacher (an area in which Britain desperately lacks qualified professionals) and I haven't broken any laws. Wouldn't it be a fairly straightforward and quick process?

So I wrote a letter, attached my flight itinerary to prove I actually had bought the tickets and spent several days trying to get a recommendation letter from my head teacher(which was no problem). I sent the letter urgent delivery at 4:30 on Tuesday and came home to find the package had actually arrived that day! I have a passport and a visa! THANK GOD!

Can't wait to come home and see everybody. I fly out 3 weeks tomorrow!

Journies through the Summer of 2008

2008-11-24T20:24:00.001Z

Our travelling exploits from the end of the school year in July to October 2008. Starts with the karaoake bash that kicked it all off and moves through Brighton, Edinburgh, Brecon (Wales), York, Stratford and Liverpool.

Thoughts on Another Week of Teaching.

2008-11-19T20:30:00.005Z

I'm really starting to enjoy this. I mean I really am.

I'm starting to get it.

There's a lot about teaching I arrogantly thought I understood but it turns out I was dead wrong. I thought book work and worksheets were for bad teachers who had no imagination. Turns out book work is important in terms of students improving their writing skills, understanding, and pride in their work. It works as notes to refer back to and as a record of their progress. Turns out worksheets set up the framework for those who can not work independently, provide information in addition to focusing writing and discussion.

Learning Objectives are not only crucial; they make teaching possible. Target setting is incredibly important in terms of focusing students so that they can concentrate on areas of improvement in a progressive and manageable way. Example instead of working on spelling, paragraphs, handwriting, vocabulary and punctuation... Target: Start sentences with a capital and end with a full stop. Once you can do that we take the next step.

I thought all the technical "boring" stuff like punctuation and grammar was, at least to some extent, a waste of time. Turns out that stuff is incredibly important and also has loads of meaning behind it beyond what you would simply see in the students written work. Punctuation, for example, determines rhythm, word emphasis and connects thoughts. Dry terms like punctuation, connectives, paragraphs, conjunctions, prefixes, suffixes, verbs, nouns, phrases, clauses, rhythm, imagery, themes and metre are all actually important and interesting.

Teaching involves lots of interesting questioning. Thank you Socrates.

The role of a teacher is a simple one. To teach in a classroom you will simply be a: Law Maker, Policeman, Shoulder for Tears, Punching Bag, Leader, Thinker, Disciplinarian, Role Model, Opponent, Priest, Writer, Authority figure...

[Deep Breath]

Upholder of the System, Shouter, Pleader, Beggar, Comedian Keeper of the Peace Evaluator Judge,Organizer, SchedulerAdminstratorPaper CutterComputer fixer docTORFOOTBALINFLATORCHESSCOACH...

[GASP]

...and then Monday ends and you go home and prepare for 4 more days and at least half a weekend of the same.

(Notice how the use of punctuation, spacing, and letter size affected the rhythm and meaning of the text? Ahem. But I digress)

Anyway I had the most amazing history class about the Indus Civilisation today. It's a civilisation which is 4,500 years old and was only excavated in the 1920's. It's in the Indus Valley which is between Pakistan and India. They were incredibly advanced - at least as much so as the Roman's and the Egyptians and they existed BEFORE them. Amazing. The students have engaged at a very high level. They're fascinated. Likely because no one has heard of these guys before. And possibly because my teacheing partner and I are doing such an amazing job. Hee hee.

Look up the Indus Civilisation. It's incredible.

I'm also lucky to be at my current school. I went and visited another school which is owned by the same organisation that owns mine (I'm in a private school, remember). The stress level of the staff there was palpable. Apparently, the students are much rougher at that school since it's in London but the students seemed engaged and well behaved. It may have been a battle to get them there , I suppose - things are never as simple as they seem when an outsider walks in a classroom. It was the feeling coming off the staff though. They seemed extremely harried, negative, and stressed. I just don't know what was causing that. Certainly we feel that way at my school and at my previous school...but that feeling of frustration and anger doesn't seem to ooze out of everyone at the school. It's a shame...it's just around the corner. Who knows though maybe I'll check it out in a few years.

Right now I like where I am.

Dear Obama

2008-11-19T20:28:00.000Z

Please save the world.

Yours Truly,

Edukator

p.s. No pressure.

The Power of Leadership and Role Modelling

2008-11-09T14:05:00.007Z

What is leadership?

Ultimately it's the person who sets the tone, the standard, the agenda and - most importantly - defines how we are to behave and look at each other.

Barrack Obama has already had a profound effect on me. I have been watching his speeches and debates throughout the campaign, have read his book The Audacity of Hope, but it is his acceptance speech which has floored me. His graciousness, humility, strength and honesty are all (to me) awe inspiring.

It made me think about how I interact with my students for:

As a teacher we know that in order for people to learn a skill we must model it for them (do it or show it), point out how that thing works (an essay, poem, football pass, or music piece) then have them practice it until they can do it independently. Children naturally watch adults and those around them to learn how to behave as well - and in the exact same way. I would argue that adults look to those with power the way children look at adults. How are we to behave? What are we to do to get what we want? What is acceptable to do to get what we want?

So I changed the way I've been dealing with my students. I've notice they're fighting a lot and pulling me into their conflicts...but then again I'm being quite angry and blunt with them quite often to try and get them to correct their behaviour...are they modelling me? So I've removed myself a bit from the direct conflicts and started talking about respect and how to deal with situations where we don't agree. In fact, I'm consciously Barrack Obama. I even showed them some of his speech when he got elected! Whoo hoo!

With that in mind; here he is!

Barack Obama Acceptance Speech Part 1 of 2

Barack Obama Acceptance Speech Part 2 of 2

How Long Does it Take to Fall in Love with a Country?

2008-10-28T08:52:00.009Z

Perhaps it's the cumulative effect of my exploratory journeys across the land in which I now reside that have enflamed in me something resembling a fondness for this strange and complex island or maybe I'm just getting used to it but...

I'm actually starting to feel like I like it here.

Living and working London has been one thing but in the past 6 months I've been to Wales, Scotland, York, Stratford, Derbyshire, Brighton and Liverpool.

In London I've managed to see Hampton Court, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The Thames, The London Eye, Brick Lane, Oxford Street, Covent Garden, The Tate Modern Art Gallery, The Tate Britain Art Gallery, The Natural History Museum, The British Museum, Somerset House, Soho, Greenwich and Greenwich Park, Canary Wharf, Borough Market, The National Portrait Gallery, St. James' Park, Hyde Park, seen the Changing of the Guard...been to the Globe Theatre...

and the list goes on but..

...it's only in the last week or two that I've actually started to enjoy living here.

I think a huge part of it is working at this school and feeling like I'm starting to get this teaching thing figured out. I came home a week ago on a high (which I wrote about on this blog) and I haven't really felt the old negativity since.

I can now navigate London with out anxiety. I know the lay of the land - it doesn't seem so confusing, claustrophobic, cramped and dull as it once did. I don't feel so claustrophobic in general.

I wrote numerous posts about how crowded this country is and how, for some reason, the Brits have to put fences, hedges, and what not in the line of sight at all times. The result is you can literally never see farther than 100 feet. Watch any British TV show - that's how it looks. I always assumed they were filming in some quaint area of the country. That's everywhere. Also - all pubs, stores and restaurants are tiny compared to Canada. I'm now starting to understand the British love of the "cozy." Everything is so small that you start to treasure a warm quiet spot. The result is I'm starting to feel at home.

I've also gotten used to the architecture. This country is full of brick. Everything is hard, dark, echoey, cold, loud and looks somewhat worse for wear. To be blunt - a lot of it is not that pretty (though I've discovered that much of it is). I did't like all the hard brick and stone for a long time. It's not that comfy feeling to a Canadian. I've gotten used to it now and I actually enjoy the good parts of it.

Above: Clapham High Street. Not too far from me. Typical looking street.

I no longer stare at the way people dress with amazement. I mean, compared to Canada or the US people here dress really strangely. Those who are "stylish" are off the charts compared to Canada and then there's the strange national obsession with the drab, tweed, hats...hard to explain but I found the dress here bizarre for ages.

I now have a feeling for pop references and politics. This might not sound like much but think of how many times you talk about a famous TV program, film or politician in a day. Remove 60% of your knowledge of that stuff and see how you feel. I tried to glean information about it from the news rags and gossip columns they have here but it's all very distorted. Keep in mind they have THE most blatantly biased news papers in the universe here as well. They don't worry about neutrality as much as in North America. Some (The Daily Mail) are downright fascist leaning. I am now starting to get comedians references to people and events - which makes them much more funny!

Accents: I can understand most accents now. I've picked up on most common idioms so I have some sort of idea as to what people say and mean. I'm telling you - it ain't easy in this country.

I've gotten a better handle on the people of this country. Especially after travelling around it. How can such a small island have such a HUGE number of cultures and classes? It's amazing and confounding! First of all I'd like to address the concept that the British are quiet. They are not. Even they think they are...but they're wrong. The Brits are WAY louder than Canadians. For instance - there's a shouting match going on outside in the street at the moment. The Brits talk more, use more words, and are all around more chatty than Canadians. Once you get into the upper classes the repression gets more severe and they definitely get quieter but as you go down the ladder...oh boy. There's can't be anyone in North America that can compare with the sheer volume and verbal aggressiveness of the working class British. Just can't see it. People will get in peoples face here like nothing I've seen.

Something about travelling and meeting people from different areas has given me an appreciation for the regional differences that exist. There really are MASSIVELY different cultures which exist beside each other within this country. To be honest, I don't know how the country actually holds together. We call Canada a country of two solitudes because we have two different cultures (English and French)? This must be the country of 1000 solitudes then.

The Brits are constantly racked with doubt about national identity. 'What does it mean to be British?' they ask. They no longer run an empire and they are now an extremely multicultural society. I was surprised to find they are as confused about being British as Canadians are about being Canadian. (Funnily enough, the Scots and the Welsh have no such problems.) How does this fractured society hold together? I suppose it was the class system upon which it was built which held it together. That system still exists. People are classified by accent, culture, and where they live in a way that we Canadians can't really grasp until we've been here for awhile. Is it love of God and Queen? I don't really know except that in a country so much anger seems aimed across the classes....everyone considers them self a part of the country.

I suppose it's the shared history that creates the connection. The HISTORY! People here can routinely tell you the history of their family, a building, or a product. They can build context for everything. I've never been to interested in history much farther back than WWII but this place... how can there be so much history, so many fascinating places, so many key events and figures of the Western world crammed into such a minuscule place. It's incredible. It's won me over. I had an anti-English bias when looking at history as I looked at it as a method of cultural oppression. We in Canada, for instance, weren't even able to study our own history until the 60's or 70's. Now that I've been here and have seen so many amazing sites... and it's not just the history of Kings - it's the history and development of all the people of this land that's so fascinating. The Roman Empire, The Anglo-Saxons, the Celts, Scots, Druids, the Normans...these aren't abstract concepts here. You can SEE the things they built, hear the accents they left behind, and engage in the cultures that developed over the last 2000 plus years. Amazing.

It's the modern Britain that I'm coming to grips with though. The tendency for people here to be negative and to put down their own country is something I've found confusing. I suppose it's the fact that many people here have taken a shit kicking for a long time that causes this. Some of it is also the "don't be soft" culture. Men can't say they like each other so they say as far to the opposite as they can to express affection. I've gotten used to the differences in products, foods, TV and film. At first I didn't like them, found them alien and was uninterested. Now I'll miss my Marks and Spencers, curries, TV shows, celebrities, brand names, tubes and trains and everything else when I leave. And the music! I mean the music here is incredible. I'm only peripherally involved in the music scene here and I can't get over it. There's also the theatre of course. Amazing - the sheer volume of it. Though I'd put the best of Canadian against the best of the Brits any day!

I now fear that when I go back to Canada I'll pine for Britain. How weird is that?

Liverpool

2008-10-27T20:54:00.008Z

We went to Liverpool this weekend where a young John Lennon and I hung out outside The Cavern.

Check out our photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_n_gen/

I was blown away (again!) by the history of the place. This was not so unexpected as Liverpool is well known as the location of one of the world's most important ports...until the last 100 years or so. It has been absolutely devastated by various economic factors starting with WWI, being bombed in WWII and then being part of "the north" when Thatcher basically abandoned everything north of London in the 80's. Things have improved since Liverpool won the right to be "The European Capital of Culture" for 2008. This has led to a massive regeneration in the last 5 years or so.

It's the home of the "most mistrusted accent in Britain" - scouse. The term "Scouse" apparently comes from the name of a stew that sailors ate. It's a blend of English, Irish and Welsh. Why it's mistrusted is beyond me. No idea other than, maybe, after 100 years of poverty the cities of Liverpool and Manchester have produced a fair number of criminals. I was told by a local that 8 of the top 20 most deprived areas in England reside in Liverpool. I personally like the accent a lot more than the Essex accent which may be the second most mistrusted accent. (But then, I had a miserable time in Essex) The Beatles made the accent famous but they don't really sound like a lot of the scouse I've heard. The Beatles sound way more laid back and softer than the high pitched accents of the many Liverpudlians. As with everything though there's a huge range of accents in the city and, as is usual in this wacky country, some of them are almost incomprehensible.

Liverpool was a massive and incredibly important port which ruled the shipping industry for centuries and so the people of Liverpool became wealthy and prosperous. The darkest part of it's history involves the role of Liverpool in the slave trade. Millions of West Africans were kidnapped and brought to Liverpool where they were sold, traded, or shipped to America. The economic windfall from slavery obviously greatly increased the purses of the people of Liverpool. In one century alone (I believe it was 1600 - 1700) 9 MILLION Africans were stolen from their lands. Shocking stuff. I learned all about this at the Maritime Museum at Albert Dock which contains the Slavery Museum. It's a sobering and powerful display and I admire the government of Liverpool for allowing such a frank look at an unflattering piece of their history.

Here's something that will blow your mind. I had the best meal I've had in England at a place called The River Diner. And...it was fish and chips. This fish fell apart and melted in your mouth, the chips were fantastic and even the salad on the side was sublime. There's something here called "mushy peas" which I usually find disgusting. Basically it involves making pea puree and putting a dollop of it on you plate. I hate peas so I can't stand this stuff. THIS mushy pea contained mint - didn't really taste like peas and was fantastic. Gen had a tomato soup which was clearly made from real fresh tomatoes - the bread that came with it was incredible. I'm telling you! It was great!

Albert Dock (which I previously mentioned) was some sort of massive industrial dock has now been turned into a huge museum/restaurant/shopping area that's amazingly beautiful.

Most of all though - I dig the Scousers! They're laid back in attitude though also incredibly lively and yappy. They're passionate and very social. I had the good fortune of watching the last 10 minutes of a Liverpool/Chelsea football match in a pub and as I stood among the sea of shaved heads, moustaches, and burly men shouting at the TV I thought "This is great!"

Just What are We Voting for?

2008-10-19T19:15:00.005+01:00

I just read an article about Tony Blair in The Gaurdian called "Look Back in Wonder" that completely shook me up and not at all in the way that the writer had intended. It's a re-vist of a a book called "The Blair Revolution" written by Peter Mandelson in early 1996 - almost 13 years ago. Mandelson was in the New Labour government at the time and was the architect of Government policy. The article made a list of issues that were not on the agenda in 13 years ago and it's jaw dropping. They include:

1. Very little on foreign policy other than Europe. The U.S. was barely mentioned.
2. Ignorance of climate change (tiny mention)
3. Mobile phones are unmentioned luxuries
4. There was no: text messaging, web, email, or blogs. That's what the article mentions...I also think of no: Youtube, Google, MySpace, Facebook, spam, camera phones, ipods, Apple was nowhere to be found, organic movement, hybrids, video download issues, nuclear threat from Pakistan - Iran - Pakistan or North Korea, no war in Iraq, no Al-Qaeda...
5. Gay rights are barely mentioned with almost no reference to gay marriage (this became a central rights issue to New Labour during it's term)
6. Race and migration are not mentioned. "Polish plumbers" (The Poles now form a major work force due to large numbers of immigrants) or Islamic radicals
7. Hedge funds
8. Music downloads
9. No mention of credit crisis
10. Nothing substantial about the National Health Service (which has been a major issue)
11. No mention of terrorism outside problems with Ireland (Ireland is no longer a concern)
12. No mention of wars with Iraq or a special relationship with the U.S.

All these things became MAJOR issues in the 12 years since.

So what then...are we voting for in Canada, the U.S., here in Britain or anywhere else when we cast a vote? We have absolutely no way of knowing what the person we are voting for is going to have to do. Who could have predicted 9/11? Who could have predicted the credit crisis and it's economic downturn? In 1996 there wasn't even a hot housing market. Canada was barely limping out of a horrible recession and the dotcom bubble was just inflating.

We think we're voting for an alternative to what has come before, a person that shares our values and one that we trust or hope will lead us through the issues of the day. What we're really voting for, I think, is a someone we hope is a great leader, who shares our values and will lead us through any and all unknown crises that will arise. We want this person to have the wherewithal to identify what needs to be done. Most of all we want them to be able to bring people together and unite them to handle whatever problems arise with the best intentions of the people at the forefront of his or her mind and as a key to the policies they implement.

With that in mind I choose Barrack Obama. To me he is one of the few politicians I have found to be truly inspirational, who I believe has the greater good at heart when he acts, and has the ability to create a more positive and unified politic than currently exists. Wish I could vote for him. Canada? I see no one like that on the scene at the moment - certainly not Harper. Dion a little maybe and here in Britain...I don't see anyone like that here either. Guys like Obama only come along once in awhile though. They're rare and that's what makes them so special. I hope he gets elected and I hope he turns out to be what he appears to be.

It's a bit scary to think that when you vote for someone you're voting for them to deal with problems that haven't even been invented yet, don't you think?

Read "Look Back in Wonder" at http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/11/tony-blair-peter-mandelson

A Good Day

2008-10-18T15:13:00.003+01:00

Well I walked out of school today on a cushion of air. When things go well (finally) it renews your faith in why you decided you might want to be a teacher to begin with.

(not my class...shhhh)

I planned and executed my first Drama class that was worked the way I wanted it to. I came up with a concept, planned it, executed it, used drama techniques I have learned along the way when I needed (in other words I was able to think on my feet), the students co-operated and got along well, and everything ran like clockwork. It was fantastic.

This may be a bit boring for non teacher's but here's how it went (for posterity).

I came home on Thursday night and realized I was supposed to run the Drama session the next day (I'm alternating weekly lessons with another teacher). I knew the theme was supposed to be spooky stories (Halloween is approaching after all). No idea what to do. I thought I might read them the first part of a spooky story and then they would have to come up with the ending. I went online to find spooky stories but they were too gory or long in many instances.

I opened "Structuring Drama Work" by Jonothan Neelands and looked for ideas. I found one which called Objects of Character which essentially means you give the students some objects that a character owns and they have to figure out who the person was. I thought that was interesting. Then I stumbled across one called A Day in the Life in which starts end of a story (or at a dramatic point) is given or created and the students have to work backwards to build scenes running up to that point. So...

It thought wouldn't it be interesting if I gave the students objects for a person who had disapeared and challenged them to figure out who the person was and then build the story up to the point in which they disappeared. And it worked!

I was worried they'd just come up with all kind of gore, screaming, fighting and mayhem so I we discussed some different reasons people might disappear other than being killed. Maybe they were on the run, kidnapped, or left volutarily without telling anyone? Then I showed them some objects and asked them what we could tell about the person by the objects they had left behind. All I showed them was a dictionary, a pen and a set of headphones. The ideas they had were really creative!

I separated them into groups and gave each group a bag with 4 objects in it. These objects were found in an apartment in which a person had disappeared. These were the only objects left and we knew nothing about the person other than they were gone.

They had 5 minutes to think about who the person might be.

They then had 5 mintues to create a tableau showing the moment at which the person actually disappeared. They would show this to the rest of the class and we would see if we could guess what was happening.

They would then have 15 - 20 minutes to create the story leading up to that point.

We would then present and the groups would get feedback.

It went brilliantly.

Key points things I did:

The warm up:
Doing a proper stretch and warm up for 5 minutes before starting was essential.

The mental set:
Bringing up some ideas about what could be done before starting. Also stating the obvious such as "Of course they could be horribly murdered but let's challenge ourselves to think of other possibilities" before starting. I learned this by watching the Drama teacher last week.

Time:
When doing my final acting class at University I was amazed at how little time we were given for tasks and how that helped us focus. The thing is we were adults so I think students need more or they basically freak out and start yelling and don't focus. 15-20 minutes is still short and the last thing you want to do is run out of time before they can come up with something good and work through their ideas.

Keep it simple:
Keep tasks simple and build on them class by class. I learned this through the Physical Education classes we're doing at school and by wathing the other teacher I'm working with there. I've been guilty of piling on too many ideas in too short a time in the past. It also makes more sense as the students need time to work on a specific task for awhile so they can engage with it and learn it before moving on.

I also realized that you are not meant to select 1 technique from each of the 4 sections of techniques in Structuring Drama and use them all in one lesson.

Performance and Feedback:
Once the performance is complete ask the students for a few things they liked about the scene and some suggestions to think about for improvement next time. Then give your own ideas. (This actually helps me think of thigns to say as the students bring up very valid points)

But there's more...

Also had a great grammar class in which I used erasable whiteboards with the students for the first time. I first observed these in a math lesson a last week. The math teacher gives each student and small whiteboard on which they can write answers with an eraseable marker. She asked them some questions and they wrote answers on the boards and held them up. They were reviewing things they had worked on previous to that class. This was amazingly effective as it was low risk for the students, they all got to have their answers seen by the teacher, and they DIDN'T SPEAK! They were quiet and focused (which is the hardest thing to get students to do). Then they continued with a focused lesson.

I took this and used it in Grammar. I put sentences on the whiteboard in the classroom and asked students to write down the nouns, verbs, or adverbs etc in the sentence. Then I could see who knew what, students were quiet and focused and they actually learned the aspects they dind't know once we talked about the answers. Brilliant.

All my other classes went well as well.... it was a good day.

I'm starting to feel like I might be able to do this job. I'm starting to love my school. I'm even starting to not feel so much like an alien in this country. All in all things have gone well.

Parent teacher night next week though. Should be fun.

Canada's Banks World's Strongest?

2008-10-11T20:30:00.003+01:00

Read: http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4981X220081009?rpc=60

There it is! In black and white. Unbelievable. When I think back to 90's and how the Reform party (now cleverly rebranded as The Conservative Party) were banging on in a very American free market way about how we were missing the economic boat I am so happy that Canadians stuck to their values and avoided the "fatten the rich so the scraps from their table will fall down and nourish the poor" philosophy. The Americans have gone through two massive boom and bust cycles since then. First there was the dot com bubble burst (which was easily predictable and did very little real damage) and now this. There was massive pressure to deregulate our banks and the argument was that the world's big boys were coming in and would snap up our institutions or drive them out of business. We couldn't compete it was said. Well all those banks are now out of business. The madness allowed by deregulation and the "make my bonus at any cost" seems to have lead to, quite possibly, the collapse of the global finance structure. Maybe it will be a good thing long term. Maybe we can fix things. As the system is remade I hope to God that it's built in a better way - that incentives are put in to improve our energy and environmental issues along with our wallets. We simply can not overuse every resource on the planet and survive. The crash will always be just around the corner whether it be an unsustainalbe banking system, energy resource or food supply. But that's just my opinion I could be wrong.

Strange. I never thought I'd be proud of a bank.

The First Month

2008-10-11T11:36:00.004+01:00

Well one month down and things are going better than last year. At least that's what I think. I thought they were going better last year but it turned out they weren't. I think they are though. I have had a really positive experience at the new place.

It's all about the management there. They're very supportive and, when I have a problem, they offer solutions. It's great! I have a tiny class which makes my marking workload manageable. I've been able to come home on many nights and not work until 11:00 pm on planning. I've had a some good times with the students and even one profound moment where the class actually came together and started to bond. That fell apart in a day or two but we'll keep working on them. They just don't get along very well and a lot of the problems go back years.

On the other hand...I'm starting to wonder if I'm not being TOO hard on them. There's that point where you have to insist they do what you want but if you come down like a ton of bricks all the time it starts to wear thin. Not sure how to balance that at the moment. It's something I'm working on.

Also had a parents night in which one parent (whose child is brilliant - and I mean really amazing at English) tore into me. It was a bit of a shock as I figured she'd be happy her child is doing well. Apparently I'm boring her daughter. Not pushing her enough. Oh well. The rest seemed happy.

I planned and executed my first class trip. We went and did a survey of pedestrians and shop owners on the High street (read: main street) to determine if there was support for the high street being closed to cars. That went really well. You have no idea how much insanity goes into planning these things. I'm talking writing and collecting letters to parents, filling out about 8 forms to do with health and safety, gathering medical information, making badges for the students with the school name, address and telephone number on them to stick on each child in case they get lost, bringing a first aid kit...the works. I managed to do it and not forget a single thing! Miraculous! The trip went really well too!

I learned a lot from my mistakes of the past. The biggest difference is that I spent the better part of a week looking at every weekly teaching objective and then making a schedule for what week I would be teaching it. Most importantly I went though all the books we had and recorded what page numbers and what books I would be teaching each week. This cut my planning during the term down by easily 200%. I used to spend most of my time trying to find the actual text that I would base my next lesson upon. I could spend an hour or more per lesson just trying to figure outh what I was going to look at. Now I go...what am I teaching this week? Look at the schedule and go. It's awesome. -It's like the schedule on the left. Cause it keeps me on track! Get it?! - My planning and objective setting abilities are growing exponentially. Probably because I'm actually taking the idea of planning more seriously as I see the benefits. I've also cut down on "bells and whistles" lessons through the first term. I wanted to go in and do all the exciting interactive stuff right away last year but I've discovered that students need to sit down, focus, and do work before you can do those things. The routine is important. Even if it doesn't seem exciting.

I am feeling upbeat at the moment as I made it through the toughest week so far of the year. I had that trip and the parent meetings within two days of each other. Also - babagenouche's mother and her new man came to visit last week and stayed with us. We had a GREAT time. it was really fun having them around (and thanks to my new found orginisational prowness I was able to hang out with them at night). We even went to Hampton court with them last Saturday. I had no idea it was an enormous castle. It was Henry the VIII's party palace apparently. Amazing. The upshot of all that though was I hit this week tired and literally had to work until 9 - 11 at night from Monday to Thursday to keep on top of everything.

Finally:

I met with a psychiatrist again after doing tons of testing to do with ADD. Actually I did a huge range of tests from intelligence to emotional. He finally had all the results together and it turns out I'm pretty bright! Apparently in the top 2% for Verbal and Language abilities. I came out reasonably well in other areas as well. I'm one not to put too much stock in these kinds of things but, now that I've done well, maybe I'll take them a little more seriously. ;) Anyway looks like I do have problems with attention deficit but not with hyperactivity. I knew that but there you go. Next step is 2 weeks to discuss strategies as to what to do.

So there you go. One big update. I'll try to keep posting regularly it's just the hectic business of my life that makes sitting at a computer and typing seem painful at then end of the day.

100 Foods to Try Before you Die

2008-08-28T17:19:00.003+01:00

As most of you know, I have an obsession with all things food-related. This leads to me trawling foodie websites and blogs into the wee hours of the night, neglecting my husband while I read about Frenchmen making bacon ice-cream and where to find the best kimchi in Buffalo.

It was whilst visiting one such blog (probably while ignoring pressingly urgent work) that I came across the intriguingly named "100 Foods to Try Before You Die" list. This is the list of the 100 things that Very Good Taste thinks everyone should eat at least once in their life.

Here's what you do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

Here are my results -
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (Gareth’s favourite!)
12. Pho (gee, tripe, no thanks!)
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (mmmm, Italian gelato!)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (Dave’s dad brought us County wild strawberries once…)
23.Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (memories of Grampy…)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Phaal
42. Curried Goat
43. Whole Insects
44. Goat’s milk (gross)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel - yuck.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea Urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (for my sins!)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (ah, the endocrine glands!)
63. Kaolin -
64. Currywurst –
65. Durian
66. Frogs legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (to my shame!)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (thanks Mummy!)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97 Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99.Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake

I've done 68 which is pretty darn good considering my tender years! What about YOU all? How many do you have?

Thoughts at the Twilight of Summer.

2008-08-25T12:02:00.007+01:00

First of all. If anyone I know reads this please post a response. It'd be great to know who's still hanging on out there!

Well. One week to go. Tomorrow I await the arrival of a new fridge and, if it arrives early enough, I'll head into school and start preparing for this year. Whew. 8 weeks almost gone.

It's been a strange and wonderful summer. Since I stayed here Gen and I decided we'd try and go something every weekend we could. Gen has did a show in July and had some weekends occupied so we didn't get moving on this until August but it's been great. We have been to Brighton York, Edinburgh, and Brecon (Wales). We were going to go to Cornwall but we decided against it due to the expense and the fact that I have to start teaching on the following Monday. We will, however, be going to Stratford in two weekends. We'll be taking a show and staying overnight.

It's been a bit of a weird summer. I've spent loads of time in state of complete inactivity. I watched 9 hours of The Wire Season 3 in one day last week. I looked for a job - albeit half heartedly. I bought a guitar and got back into that...though now I sense that will fall by the wayside as my teaching takes over my life again. I worked at Abel and Cole for a week and a half answering emails. It's cool company actually. They deliver organic produce and organic goods to your house. They're a really ethical company and they treat their customers and employees well. That was good. I volunteered at a green charity...for a day (because I got the Abel and Cole job as soon as I volunteered). Then we had the aforementioned weekends.

Now as for the trips here's what I've learned:

Brecon, Wales

It's a whole other country! I did not know that. Well I did know that before I went there but I didn't know that before I came to Britain. I thought it was something along the lines of Quebec - a different culture but the same country. Technically it is a separate country. But there's no real customs to clear....or border security... It has it's own government sort of. I don't know. Scotland and Wales are separate countries but the same at the same time. They send people to British Parliament...they have their own governments... it's all very muddy. Definitely a different country though! Don't say anything different or they'll rugby tackle you to death.

And it's beautiful. It's very rural. Driving through Wales is a breathtaking experience at times. Lush green mountains with sheep grazing everywhere. There are more sheep in Wales that people. For real!

The people there seem nice and friendly. They like to shout a lot in the toilets. Some of the funniest things I heard at the Jazz festival I heard in the toilets. It rains like crazy in Wales. Poured the entire time we were there. Apparently Brecon is bad because it's in a valley so they get tons of relief precipitation. Also learned that Brecon is one amazingly beautiful town.

We went up with Dan (friend of Gen and I) and stayed at his parents house. He grew up on a farm there. It might be the greatest most quaintest farm house ever. We had a great time on Sunday trekking through the fields in the pouring rain. Almost got stampeded by a herd of cows. Wandered up through the woods and spent half an hour falling down on the side of a 45 degree angle hill in the sopping mud. Dodged some more cows. Great fun.

Just in case people don't believe me when I say it roads here get claustrophobic...here's a video of driving through Wales!

York

Wow. I knew this country had history but the more you look around the more astounding it becomes. York was AMAZING and steeped in so much history it wasn't even funny. Originally named Jorvik by the Danes it became a major trading city when the Vikings took over. Eventually the Saxons (who came over from Germany) took over and had a hard time wrapping their tongues around the word Jorvic so it became York.

It was England's second city after London for centuries. The middle of York is still surrounded by the medieval walls that William Wallace (ie. Braveheart) overcame during his time. The entire inner city still looks like a city from the medieval times and there are monuments, plaques, museums and displays everywhere. There is also the Abbey Museum Park which has the remains of an ancient abbey in it. Incredibly impressive park. There's York Minster which is an INCREDIBLE church. By the way - a minster is the first church set up in an area. York Minster was originally a wooden hut or something.

Anyway, it was great. Did I mention it's only a 2 hour train ride from London. And that's over halfway to Scotland! How did so much happen in such a tiny place?

Edinburgh (or Edin-brah)

Astounding. Go to my Flickr page and check out the pictures. This city is the most impressive I have seen outside of London. In some ways it's more impressive than London. It's much smaller - only 460,000 people I was shocked to hear - but it has this fantastic castle on a hill - in fact it's is partially carved out of the rock I think. The castle is only part of the picture though as impressive building shoot into the sky from atop this massive hill. They have the most incredible monument there to a WRITER of all things. Walter Scott. He wrote a book called Rob Roy which, I have just discovered through the pages of Wikipedia, is actually NOT the book the hollywood movie was based on. Nevertheless an impressive monument to a writer...there's something cool about that! The Scots seem to be bigtime into the arts. Lots of funding and whatnot apparently.

Also - the Edinburgh Fringe is nuts. 300 venues! The city was packed to the gunnels. It also runs all of August so there must be 1000's of shows. I didn't actually get to look into the history of the city much as we drove up on Friday night, arrived at 2:30 - didn't get to sleep until 4:00 - took in some shows on Saturday - stayed up until 3:00 got up and saw another show - ate a lot and tried not to fall asleep. I would love to go back. I could see living there actually. It's also amazing because it's surrounded by mountains. Beautiful.

We took in 3 shows while we were there. One with two guys completely naked for the whole show, one musical, and one staging of a Tom Waits album with a 14 piece orchestra. I think the naked show and the Waits show were equally good. Naked show was funny. Even funnier because the actors were Dan's friend and we crashed at their house on Friday.

On a side note we drove there in 8 hours and that's most of the country. Crazy! How did so much happen in such a small place I once again ask you!

And now...

Now there is the teaching coming one. God help me! Hopefully this year goes well!

Looking forward to Christmas and my return to Canada. Another 2 years here max. and then we'll be back.

They're back

2008-05-19T20:10:00.001+01:00

Yup. Had that class again today. Same story over again. Well...there were a few students trying to work but the usual suspects were out of control. I dread this class. There's no way to get them back. All I can do is put up with there crap for the rest of the year.

The tired update.

2008-05-17T15:19:00.004+01:00

Hmmm... coming up on 2 months since my last entry. Aw well.

Well things have been interesting since my last entry. I've managed to get to the gym about twice a week on average which is 2 days less than I want. I always feel good when I do but it's tough to get in there.

I actually slept until 1:20 today. I was completely exhausted all week. I had one of the toughest days of my life on Tuesday. I don't know if it's because I was so tired what but every student I ran into seemed to be mocking me or giving me trouble. The day just seemed to be spiralling out of control culminating in a really bad class at the end. I actually had a chat with that class the next day and was honest with them. I told them I felt the were being disrespectful and that I, as a human being, felt I deserved better than that. I told them I had lots of respect for them and outlined all the things I'd done to try and make the class interesting for them which they had quite often tried to undermine. It was amusing to see them actually feel really bad. Then I had a Drama class with them on Friday and they were great! Maybe I finally broke through with this class! Hopefully. It' only took 9 months but hopefully they'll be better.

Exams are coming up. I never realized this puts teachers under immense pressure as well. You've got to make sure you're covering everything that's going to be on the exam, get them revision guides (revision = review in Canada). You've got to make sure you've covered all the bases in English to make sure they know how to write essays, stories, do comprehension exercises in poetry, prose....know their grammar and punctuation....and half of them won't. I have the bottom set for English and they're going to bomb these exams even if they do well at what I get them to do in class because I'm working on far more basic skills. The exams are set up to test all levels so these guys'll probably mostly get in the 50's for marks. Maybe some'll do well, hopefully.

Got in touch with my Grade 8 teacher on facebook! That was really cool. He's 24 years into teaching now - amazing. He was really great but he would LOSE it in class with frustration sometimes. I remember thinking "Why's he taking this so personally? We just don't want to do our homework." Now I get it. He was a pretty new teacher then so I assume he doesn't take it so personally now lol. Really great to talk to him though. He says he didn't think he could do it when he first started either. Sigh...ah well. Actually the incident this week reminds me of part of a book called "Teacher Man" by Fank McCourt (of Angela's Ashes fame). He was a teacher for 30 years in New York and he's asked for some advice from a New Teacher and he says "It's just you and the kids. Find what you like to do and do it. I didn't always like teaching but at the end of the day it's just you in a classroom with the kids." Or something along that line. It's true isn't it? Just me and them. Seems simple but it's not.

Looking forward to Babagenouche coming home! 13 days! Yay! It'll be so good to have her back here! Think of the savings on phone bills alone! I'll be picking her up at the airport and locking her in a closet or something so she can't run away again damn her! :)

Is This Possible?

2008-03-31T22:42:00.002+01:00

Well I'm on my Easter break and I've decided to get some good health back in my life. I joined the Virgin Gym up the street and the strangest thing happened.

I went in last Wednesday and did 40 minutes on the treadmill and during this time you can grab on to these handles and it'll measure your heart rate - which I did - and my heart rate was up in the 170s or something. The next day I went to the initial consultation and the guy put me on some pretty low level work outs - the idea being to ease me in and work on form instead of lifting heavier weights and causing myself serious pain. I was all for this. I don't like pain. Anyway I did these various cardio things and my heart rate was consistently 152 to the high 160s. This was on level 4 on the machines.

I've managed to go for 6 straight days (I'm proud to say) and when today when I hit the cardio machines my heart rate didn't go above 135! I didn't believe it. I actually switched machines three times to make sure it was right.

That's amazing. 6 days and it appears my heart has become much stronger already. How incredible is that? I mean if that kind of improvement is possible in 6 days what's possible in 6 months? Also, if that kind of consistent effort pays those kind of dividends in that area how could that kind of thing help in others? I'm inspired.

I just watched a show on TV called "Alternative Therapies" about meditation. It was a show by a physicist who was trying to determine the benefits of meditation. Most of the show was interesting but at the end of the show it touched on the whole issue of neuro-plasticity which is another way of saying the brain can stretch and change as we train it. I ran into this in a book that called "The Elastic Brain." This is possible all through life. This physicist when through the whole show trying to find if there was an actual link between meditation and better physical and emotional health because there are so many claims that it does. It wasn't until the end of the show that she finally found one scientist who measure the cortex of meditators and non-meditators and found a significant difference. The cortex is the thin layer around the brain in which the processing of emotions takes place. In the group that meditated regularly there was an 0.1 mm in increase in the thickness of this layer. They all had a thicker layer with which to control their emotions. Meditation is primarily a process of focusing our thoughts. This then means that we can PHYSICALLY change our brains with our thoughts. This is also borne out by the previously mentions neuro-plasticity theory.

This then also connects to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy focuses on the distorted thoughts that go through our mind that cause us to feel depressed, anxious or angry. By changing those thought we can change our mood. For example if a person thinks "Nothing good ever happens to me" over and over again in their head they'll believe it. If you write this down, examine it and think about it then it is obviously not true. By refocusing your thoughts on what is good that happens to you your mood changes. If this "recording" you play in your head goes long enough...based on the findings with the meditation this could mean the part of your brain that makes you depressed would actually get stronger! Good news is...you can reverse that!

This also connects to work in Drama, I believe. Drama is so much about unblocking yourself that you inevitably get into this stuff when you're doing the work. In fact - it seems that all creative endeavours inevitably wander into this realm because ridding yourself of the fears and self defeating blocks enable you to do the work. You just can't do much if you can't over come those things.

Then there's Yoga!

I've been hesitant to type this but ah...to hell with it. I've been feeling pretty down lately and
I know it's the voice in my head running me down. I hate it I really do. That negativity that just plays endlessly and is so self defeating. I've done a lot of stuff to overcome this over my life time, in fact a lot of people do. So I was considering the 'ol Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, then I thought about this book "The Artists Way" which is brilliant. I thought of meditation which made me think of daily affirmations and stuff like that...and by the way the affirmation thing has never worked for me at all. Try this - think of something you're think you're bad at and then tell yourself you're good at it 10 times. Like say, try "I am the greatest teacher in the world." Your brain immediately starts arguing in the opposite direction. Cause no matter what I know I'm not. I don't think affirmations work...but I'm off on a tangent.

Anyway this all lead me to motivational speakers. This lead me to the famous Tony Robbins - who I have never had any interest in before. I watched some You Tube stuff and thought hmm....maybe he's worth a look. Then - and most importantly I think I found a website that showed that listening to motivational tapes for like 20 - 40 minutes a day or something actually resulted in mood elevation that lasted much longer than just the duration of the tape and resulted in increased mood and confidence over all. I thought that this made sense actually because it connects to CBT - it's about focusing your thoughts on the positive for 20 -40 minutes which would hopefully keep going longer than that and eliminate the negative recordings and core beliefs you had.

So I downloaded some of Tony Robbins stuff and I've been listening to it. The stuff he talks about connects to CBT, all the therapies I've been talking about, the process your brain goes through with meditation so I think he actually makes sense. But most importantly...I feel better! The exercise has made a HUGE difference, I've been eating well and I haven't had a drink in over a week...I actually feel great.

Whew. I just typed a whole lot. You can tell I'm on vacation when I start philosophizing and pontificating. Why did I type all this?

Maybe, just maybe it IS possible to create positivity and happiness in your life. Maybe the way you think and feel - and thus act and achieve IS within your control

Amazing.

Good News for a Change

2008-02-20T21:26:00.002Z

Well, despite my best efforts this year I've had some serious struggles with classroom management. It's been a great year in some ways but in other ways it's been really tough. My classroom management skills are not where I would like them to be. To be honest the school hasn't been to happy with me on that level.

But today...

I got observed and things went wickedly well! My head of department is quite a what's the word...ball breaker. She's been hard to deal with as she tends to be more critical than helpful. I've had a very hard time controlling this class so we've been cracking down on them and, of course, when she's in the room they're quiet and terrified. I got observed a few weeks ago and it went well and she gave me some feedback - which I took on board.

This lesson I did went as perfectly as a lesson can go really and she actually seemed happy and was positive at the end!

I feel like this is one of my first major victories in education.

I'm learning a lot this year. Teaching ain't easy I'll tell you that much.

But for today I feel good.

Amsterdam Photos on Flickr

2008-02-17T23:32:00.002Z

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_n_gen/ <-- Go there.

Had a good time in Amsterdam. It was weird travelling alone though. Don't think I'd do it again. Despite all the exciting and seedy stuff that Amsterdam has to offer I was most impressed with the art and museums! Amazing stuff those Dutch have done! (Rembrandt! Holy cow! Van Gough should be even half that good)

Anyway, I'm back - gotta go to work tomorrow.

I see Babagenouche tomorrow as she flies in from Italy to do her BBC thing. I get to meet her for a few hours at Paddington station. Maybe I'll meet the famous bear!

Off to bed.

I'm going to Amsterdam!

2008-02-10T01:52:00.001Z

Babagenouche is away in Italy doing her tour and I've just hit my mid term break. I was hoping to go visit her in Italy but I can't so I started to think of other places to travel. I've always wanted to go to Amsterdam (hell...who doesn't!).

I'll be there until the 14th. Whoo hoo!

Just in Case You Thought I was Dead

2008-01-21T23:47:00.000Z

I'm not....

I have parent teacher interviews...which means I have to go through all the kids books and put post it notes on various sections, make notes on the books, and prepare to talk to parents. This takes about 15 hours on top of my 65 hour work week.

To anyone who doesn't think teacher's work hard: bite me.

I hate kids. I hate parents. I think I hate life. It's 11:50...have to wake up at 5:30...go to school...some how prep more for the interviews, teach all day interview until 9:30pm...prepare cover for the next day as I have a Dr. apt.

(sob)

Flickr Update

2008-01-03T09:50:00.001Z

For the first time since I went to Greece in April of last year...flickr has been updated with photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_n_gen/

X-mas Tales

2007-12-30T11:56:00.000Z

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

2007-12-22T12:03:00.000Z

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

2007-12-17T10:17:00.000Z

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

2007-12-03T20:52:00.000Z

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

2007-11-20T19:41:00.000Z

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

2007-11-18T18:11:00.000Z

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!

2007-10-31T11:44:00.000Z

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

2007-10-29T18:40:00.000Z

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

2007-10-28T22:35:00.000Z

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?

2007-10-26T21:40:00.001+01:00

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

2007-10-25T18:07:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-24T23:25:00.001+01:00

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

2007-10-22T01:13:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-10-16T21:41:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-10-11T19:19:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-10-06T10:48:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-02T10:09:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-16T10:05:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-08T11:34:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-31T16:54:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-08-30T18:17:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-28T11:48:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-27T13:27:00.001+01:00

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

2007-08-27T12:35:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-24T12:17:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-21T23:11:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-20T20:05:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-04-15T21:38:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-04-10T20:38:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-02T22:31:00.001+01:00

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

2007-03-25T22:57:00.000+01:00

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

2007-03-13T08:38:00.000Z

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

2007-03-05T21:26:00.000Z

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!

2007-03-02T21:00:00.000Z

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

2007-02-16T16:30:00.000Z

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

2007-02-08T18:52:00.000Z

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

2007-02-06T18:54:00.000Z

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

2007-01-11T12:07:00.000Z

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

2007-01-10T14:09:00.001Z

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

2007-01-05T18:57:00.000Z

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

Musings on the Importance and Random Occurance of Support.

2007-01-05T18:51:00.000Z

I'm really amazed at what some kind words can do --> even if they're from unexpected sources. Maybe especially when they're from unexpected sources.

I just started back for the New Year. I've been feeling lower than I've felt in a long time. I'm terrified of all the planning, marking, assessment, collection of student work, databases of student marks and long term planning that are just lacking from my teaching life. I'm struggling to get 4 lessons planned for tomorrow and just can't get the big picture in place. Plus I'm massively disorgainzed.

Babagenouche has been amazing to me the last few days including a wonderful dinner tonight. Then I read a comment by a Sledgehammer (who I've never met) on my New Year's posting and I feel much better. Thanks Sledge! And thanks Julie. And thanks everybody who's written and said nice things to me!

Edukator

Here beginneth the food porn

2007-01-04T21:17:00.000Z

While my beloved Edukator has been delving deep into his soul these past few days, taking a good hard look at himself, and generally preparing for the new year in an awe-inspiring spirit of quiet maturity and sober reflection...

I've been baking things. And searching out shops that bake things. And reading about other people baking things. Hmmm. Two different sets of priorities are beginning to emerge here. To illustrate my point: on our recent New year's junket to Tours (all hail cheapie Euro-flights!), a ridiculously lovely medeival village in south-west France,

this was the kind of thing Edukator
wanted to take photos of:

...and this is what I
wanted to take photos of:

Good thing Edukator likes eating baked things, or we'd have absolutely nothing in common :)

Now in case all this food-porn sounds decidedly frivolous and decadent, here are some of the culinary challenges I've taken on and tackled this festive season (lest anyone suspects I've actually been enjoying my time off):

1) I roasted my own chestnuts. Given the sort of rampant foodie I've become, it was bound to happen one of these days.
2) I invented a graham-cracker substitute, in order to form the crust of my mother-in-law's world-famous Xmas "fiesta bars". I got a package of ginger snaps (the closest biscuit I could find to ye olde grahams taste-wise), wrapped them in two layers of plastic bags, and reduced them to crumbs by beating them with an empty wine-bottle. Which took a VERY long time. But my bicepts look incredible as a result.
3) since it's impossible to buy chocolate chips in anything larger than a 25g package, I hand-chopped two large 500g slabs...again for the fiesta bars. Advancing my carpal tunnel symptoms along nicely.
4) I baked gingerbread, poked holes in them, and strung them around the flat as cheap, festive decorations. Thank you, Nigella, Domestic Goddess indeed.
5) I don't have any of the right culinary equipment to bake. Which led to great creativity: the empty wine-bottle was my rolling pin, I tempered chocolate in the microwave, I used wine glasses as my cookie cutters. Liquids were measured using cleaned-out honey and jam pots. And all creaming and mixing was done by hand, which works up a sweat! No wonder people were thinner back in the day!

All of this, really, because I have tons of Christmas term homework I ought to be doing. Avoidance is a wonderful spur to my culinary creativity. There's nothing like a looming essay on the theatre of the oppressed to give me the urge to make marshmallows from scratch or bottle my own quince jam :)

January 1 2007

2007-01-01T22:42:00.000Z

Well this is it. A New Year. Usually I look forward to the New Year with great anticipation. I am looking forward to a big year but I'm also very stressed because I have to back and teach again. Oh no!

The upcoming year will certainly have some big events in it. The winds of change that started to blow when I decided to go back to get my Bachelor's of Education in 2005 will to howl and blow. Babagenouche and I did a recap of our accomplishments this year and I can't figure out why I think my life is boring all the time.

Here are my accomplishments in no particular order except mostly chronological.
- Completed second teacher placement.
- Completed mountain of work - much of it inane - for Teacher Training.
- Completed Bachelor of Education
- Met wonderful friends at Teacher's College (you know who you are!)
- Taught Drama to Mentally Challenged Adults
- Packed up apartment, life, moved to Britain
- Survived some of the toughest emotional times in my life:
The denial of my Visa, Getting Stuck in Canada, Getting a job in Canada in the meantime,Getting to the Airport to find I'd missed my plane, Finally getting to Britain, Adjusting to Britain, Teaching for the first time, Teaching in a different system/culture/difficult students. (There I said it. Difficult! Not challenging. Difficult. Let's be honest they're difficult to handle. )
- Began to learn a new language: British.
- Found a school with one of the best staffs one could imagine.
- Started to get more organized.
- Worked harder than I've ever worked to try and get things going in my first term of teaching.
- Set up new life in Britain.
- Started this blog!

Babagenouche was going to contribute but she's fallen asleep on the couch so I'll have to toot her horn for here a bit.

- Had the courage to cross an ocean and audition for Masters Acting programs in order to follow her dream.
- Was Accepted from hundreds of applicants for a very specialized and select program.
- Packed up life and moved to Britain to continue her dream
- Worked intensely and with great commitment through very difficult program.
- Promoted from 12/hr job to $40,000 per year job in one year. Quit. :)
- Organized, planned, and initiated most things needed to get life moved to Britain. Dragged husband moaning and wailing the whole way.
- Received excellent praise and feedback at end of first term.
- Found apartment and room mate when all looked lost.
- Survived the Visa denial fiasco.
- Endless source of love and support.
- Inspiration

Resolutions:

Endeavour to Persevere
Stay Positive
Believe in Possibility
Get in better shape.

And now I leave you with some thoughts and images I hope will carry you and me through the New Year.

"Perseverance and Honesty are more important that Brilliance"

PATIENCE

PRACTICE

PERSEVERANCE

Boxing Day

2006-12-26T11:37:00.000Z

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!

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

2006-12-21T19:40:00.000Z

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.

A Moon for the Misbegotten

2006-12-11T21:19:00.000Z

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!

Four Good Days

2006-12-08T19:34:00.000Z

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.

Goodbye to a friend

2006-12-06T10:16:00.000Z

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...

No, really, I DO exist

2006-12-05T20:33:00.000Z

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...

Claustrophobia ,Jogging, and a Haircut

2006-12-03T23:35:00.000Z

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.

Another Week Ends With a Trip to the Isle of Wight

2006-11-26T20:24:00.000Z

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!

Feeling Better

2006-11-21T20:05:00.000Z

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

Culture Shock Part 809,973,498,430

2006-11-20T02:54:00.000Z

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

2006-11-20T00:44:00.000Z

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

The British Rollercoaster

2006-11-16T18:17:00.000Z

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.

Innit?

2006-11-13T23:25:00.000Z

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

Return of the Monster Blog

2006-11-11T15:29:00.000Z

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!

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

2006-11-10T16:24:00.000Z

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.

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

2006-10-26T14:52:00.000+01:00

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.

On the Other Hand

2006-10-21T15:42:00.000+01:00

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

2006-10-21T14:46:00.000+01:00

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.

Blood and other fluids

2006-10-18T19:27:00.000+01:00

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....

Tally Ho and Pip Pip!

2006-10-16T16:58:00.000+01:00

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

Leee-vin ON a jet plane..

2006-10-13T19:16:00.000+01:00

"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

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

2006-10-12T22:19:00.000+01:00

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.

Turkey...The Final Frontier

2006-10-10T01:20:00.000+01:00

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!

The Visa is Here!

2006-10-06T16:35:00.000+01:00

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)

Don't Hold Your Breath but...

2006-10-05T22:50:00.000+01:00

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.

On Gehry, the Nature of the Artist, and Inspiration

2006-09-30T17:35:00.000+01:00

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.

Woikin for da man every night and day...

2006-09-29T02:38:00.000+01:00

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.

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

2006-09-27T10:17:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-27T05:33:00.000+01:00

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!

Disaster

2006-09-23T18:29:00.000+01:00

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.

A Ray of Hope

2006-09-22T08:46:00.000+01:00

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.

Cleaning House

2006-09-21T00:37:00.000+01:00

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!

You may now have pie...

2006-09-20T17:53:00.000+01:00

...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.