The new house

From the street. Semi-detached I guess as our neighbours on the left are joined to us. The downstairs window is my bedroom.

Orchard Avenue

My room - the half closest to the street.

The back garden - typical English style, that is overgown!

Summer at Select

ABOVE: Fun at Select party. Don't I look good as a mummy?

BELOW: Some of my Spanish students at Select

Home, sweet home

Well, it all happened in a bit of a rush. A couple of weeks ago I came home from work to be asked by my landlord if I could find new accomodation. Oh, and if possible be out by next weekend. No problem I said. The story goes that he was given some money by his mum and wants to do some work on the house. All a bit strange coz as I packed to leave a new Liverpuddlean girl was settling in to the flat. I wonder how long she'll stay? When will the renovations begin? Are there going to be any renovations? Seems a bit fishy to me. If you remember back to May there was a one week overlap between my arriving in the flat and the other girl that was there, Kelly, leaving. Maybe I just have an overactive imagination. Who knows?

Anyway, for whatever reason I had very little time to find myself a new home. I was slightly annoyed as I had just had a week off work which would have been perfect for scoping out potential places. Never mind. No time to waste so that very evening I went and viewed a room just down the road. Also made a few phone calls to set up other viewings for the weekend.

True to form I really couldn't be bothered looking around a lot. I settled on the first place I saw. I am now living with a lovely Australian family. That's right - I said family. Cam is an archaelogist at the university. Sophie is mum and about 6 months pregnant. Then there's wee Cleo, nearly 3. She has a very extensive vocabulary and would be in an 'Advanced' class at school with the foreign teenagers I have had over the summer.

I have a huge room on the ground floor. It's furnished which definitely makes life easier when you're moving. Also downstairs are the lounge and kitchen. The family occupy the 3 rooms upstairs where the toilet and bathroom are located. We have the best shower in England - although it is over the bath. The back garden is huge. Cleo does a very good tour pointing out the many statues, the bird bath, the glass house, the huge apple tree and of course, the sand pit!

So, that's the big news for the last fortnight. Summer school is finished now so I am back to supply work. Only had one day this week which has been nice while settling in to the new place. Hope to get a few more days in the upcoming week to finance my next wee trip. More about that soon.

Faking it!

I think I passsed the test. In recent weeks I have likened my summer job to that TV show where people pretend they can do a job they aren't trained for.



I was reading a book a week or two back. It was about a lawyer in London who worked ridiculously hard and had made it to partner of a major firm, aged 27. Things all went wrong and she ran away. With a splitting headache and dying of thirst she stumbled into a random house in the English countryside. The owners assumed she was there for a job interview as a maid. She didn't put them right as the thought of a nice bed for the night was all she cared about. She was appointed maid after reeling off a list of impressive credentials - all of which were fake. With absolutely no cooking skills or knowledge of how to work a washing machine she spent a considerable amount of money fixing her mistakes. Who washes clothes on a upholstery cycle? Or can afford to have catered food delivered from London to a town 100 miles away.



Anyway that got me thinking. Was I really faking it as an EFL teacher. In some regards I am equally as well trained if not better trained to teach English as I am to teach kids to cook. You decide.



My conclusion is that having had a one month contract extended a further 6 weeks I must have done a reasonably convincing job!