The back garden - typical English style, that is overgown!
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Summer at Select
ABOVE: Fun at Select party. Don't I look good as a mummy?
BELOW: Some of my Spanish students at Select
Thursday, 20 September 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, 16 September 2007
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!
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!
Sunday, 26 August 2007
Summer is over ... or is it?
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.
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, 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.
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