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.
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3 comments:
Just to be an advocate for the devil - and because meat is oh so tasty (though not so affordable)
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/010403_organic.cfm
You should read some Michael Pollan - specifically The Omnivore's Dilemma - if you're interested in sustainable food production.
I read the article which mainly argues that killing animals is not morally wrong and is, therefore, not a basis for vegetarianism. I agree with that. I'm not your typical veggie I don't think. I love meat. I think animals are there to be eaten. Environmentally speaking, however, factory farming is doing as much harm to the environment as plain old factories. Plus the food that is produced is of inferior quality. Factory farming is quite disgusting and horrific but it was the environmental factors that pushed me over the edge. It's one factor in the fight against global warming.
I'm all for organic meat. If you can get me an organic steak for less than 10 times the price of a normal one I might think about eating it.
Hey, I paid for the gas didn't I?
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