This was pronounced mid week by one of my Saudi Arabian students after 3 days of continuous rain. Fortunately no sooner than school finished on Friday the sun started to poke through the clouds. The weather is perfect for the bank holiday weekend.
I have survived! My initial 4 week contract at Select English was extended to 8 weeks. Eight weeks of long days, work at weekends, basically a lot of hard work. Now I can enjoy a week off. Yay! It turns out I have quite taken to teaching English as a foreign language and have secured a further two weeks teaching at Select. This time a closed Italian group with less social activity commitments so it should be OK. When I began the job I did not expect that my colleagues would come from around the UK and further afield. However, I soon discovered it was pretty similar to being at summer camp. The bonus being I didn't have to live with the kids. It was sad to say goodbye to my new friends on Friday. The two I get on best with are the babies of the group and will be in London at uni so there should be opportunities to see them! As a group of teachers we have got on pretty well so there is some chance of a reunion next summer at Select.
So this week brings an opportunity to catch up with myself and maybe venture out of Cambridge to visit friends.
Will stop now coz this computer is particularly slow. I can type about half a line before the characters appear on the screen. More news soon.
Sunday 26 August 2007
Sunday 19 August 2007
Another week in Cambridge...
Had another school trip to London yesterday. We managed to time our walking tour nicely to arrive at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards - or so we thought. Unfortunately our guide Ashley, the social organiser, and local English boy, didn't know what we were looking at. So, while we stood gazing down the Mall awaiting the arrival of horses etc, the actual changing of the guards was taking place inside the palace gates hidden by the crowds of tourists on a Saturday. It will take Ashley a while to live this down. In the meantime we hope that the Russian leader doesn't twig that it took place right under our noses!
On my way home on Friday afternoon I saw an interesting busker. It would have been great to get a photo but unfortunately my camera is on the blink. So, a description will have to do. Picture a rubbish bin, large, round and black. Poking out the hole where you assume you'd put litter is an arm holding a guitar. As you get closer you hear singing - sorry I can't remember the tune. An ingenius way of making a few extra quid don't you think? I wonder if anyone mistakenly does put rubbish in there.
On Thursday we had "Football World Cup". In between the rain we managed to fit in a few football games at Girton College on the outskirts of Cambridge. While we were waiting outside school to put the kids on the coaches a friendly solicitor accosted the coach drivers. He claimed that according to the highway act they were illegally parked. Lots of yelling and shouting, much to my amusement. The guy even got on the phone to the police. Apparently it is OK for coaches to make pick-ups on double yellow lines as long as they are at least 15 metres clear of a junction - which they were. And they were stopped at a bus stop! It's hardly a surprise that the police did not show up to sort the matter out.
On my way home on Friday afternoon I saw an interesting busker. It would have been great to get a photo but unfortunately my camera is on the blink. So, a description will have to do. Picture a rubbish bin, large, round and black. Poking out the hole where you assume you'd put litter is an arm holding a guitar. As you get closer you hear singing - sorry I can't remember the tune. An ingenius way of making a few extra quid don't you think? I wonder if anyone mistakenly does put rubbish in there.
On Thursday we had "Football World Cup". In between the rain we managed to fit in a few football games at Girton College on the outskirts of Cambridge. While we were waiting outside school to put the kids on the coaches a friendly solicitor accosted the coach drivers. He claimed that according to the highway act they were illegally parked. Lots of yelling and shouting, much to my amusement. The guy even got on the phone to the police. Apparently it is OK for coaches to make pick-ups on double yellow lines as long as they are at least 15 metres clear of a junction - which they were. And they were stopped at a bus stop! It's hardly a surprise that the police did not show up to sort the matter out.
Sunday 12 August 2007
What's up?
Well, work continues to keep me pretty busy. In the last fortnight I have made two trips to London to catch up with Kiwi friends. Had a night out in a random pub near the Westbourne Park tube with Gina and a bunch of other mostly 'Naki people. We stayed at the huge backpackers "Generator" near Russell Square. An interesting initiation for 3 of the people who had not had the pleasure of real backpacker accomodation before. Especially the bathrooms on Sunday morning!
Last weekend it was a whirlwind trip to London on Saturday for lunch with Rachel F., Karen and Mark G. Had great food at a gourmet burger place at Leicester Square when we all managed to find one another. What would we do without cell phones? Then met up with the school group to hitch a ride back to Cambridge. We had drinks here on Saturday night to farewell our Course Director Ruth. She has been replaced by Natasha for the last 3 weeks of the summer.
Still continuuing to learn lots at work. Improving my pronunciation of names from Spain, Italy, Portugal China, Russia, Khazakhstan, Poland (they are really hard!). Try saying Przemek which is short for Przemeyslaw. Tomorrow I have the pleasure of a large class (13 students) of beginners. I have had the luxury of 6 weeks of Upper Intermediate classes which are a breeze. It is easy to give students instructions and lessons can end with discussions on a range of interesting topics. Will see how I fare with the lower level.
I have been punting twice with school groups in the last couple of weeks. Always a lot of fun. The first week one of my French students had a bit of an accident. It resulted in him falling or maybe it was jumping in to try and retrieve the pole. Very entertaining and we have made endless jokes about him being a good swimmer! Last week I tested my skills out. I definitely need a little more practice. I have faith in my balancing abilities so hopped straight up on the back of the boat. It was a little slippery as it was the first trip out for the punt which had just had a varnish job. None of this balancing in the back end like some beginners try. I understand which way to hold the pole to steer the punt but it is no mean feat to get the punt moving in a straight line. I could make excuses about the fact the punt was sitting high out of the water due to the recent varnish job but the truth is I wasn't that good. Got into a bit of trouble at a bridge where we were hit simultaneously by boats from in front and behind. We were kind of wedged in between the two boats under the bridge. At this point I handed over the reigns to Ashley the local boy to get us out of trouble. We then had to help another boat fetch their pole. This required some careful maneouvering which was out of my skill range.
Last weekend it was a whirlwind trip to London on Saturday for lunch with Rachel F., Karen and Mark G. Had great food at a gourmet burger place at Leicester Square when we all managed to find one another. What would we do without cell phones? Then met up with the school group to hitch a ride back to Cambridge. We had drinks here on Saturday night to farewell our Course Director Ruth. She has been replaced by Natasha for the last 3 weeks of the summer.
Still continuuing to learn lots at work. Improving my pronunciation of names from Spain, Italy, Portugal China, Russia, Khazakhstan, Poland (they are really hard!). Try saying Przemek which is short for Przemeyslaw. Tomorrow I have the pleasure of a large class (13 students) of beginners. I have had the luxury of 6 weeks of Upper Intermediate classes which are a breeze. It is easy to give students instructions and lessons can end with discussions on a range of interesting topics. Will see how I fare with the lower level.
I have been punting twice with school groups in the last couple of weeks. Always a lot of fun. The first week one of my French students had a bit of an accident. It resulted in him falling or maybe it was jumping in to try and retrieve the pole. Very entertaining and we have made endless jokes about him being a good swimmer! Last week I tested my skills out. I definitely need a little more practice. I have faith in my balancing abilities so hopped straight up on the back of the boat. It was a little slippery as it was the first trip out for the punt which had just had a varnish job. None of this balancing in the back end like some beginners try. I understand which way to hold the pole to steer the punt but it is no mean feat to get the punt moving in a straight line. I could make excuses about the fact the punt was sitting high out of the water due to the recent varnish job but the truth is I wasn't that good. Got into a bit of trouble at a bridge where we were hit simultaneously by boats from in front and behind. We were kind of wedged in between the two boats under the bridge. At this point I handed over the reigns to Ashley the local boy to get us out of trouble. We then had to help another boat fetch their pole. This required some careful maneouvering which was out of my skill range.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)