So, with a head full of potential blog fodder, T has reached the point where she needs to put pen to paper, so to speak.
Berlin
One of T's favourite European cities so far because it is simply where history books really come to life. One can walk from East to West Berlin and pass Hitler's bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, sniper towers, the spot where the burning of the books happened, the Berlin Wall and much more. Also, as those who know him can imagine, Hubbie was in foodie heaven with all of the various sausages on offer. Unbelievably though, he ate sausages with every meal.
Our most favourite experience in Berlin was the Fat Tire Bike Tour. The bike tour started in the centre of the city at 11am and we finished at 4pm after riding 16 kilometres around the city! We saw every possible sight and were filled in with interesting historical information as we rode around. The tour guides were young, fun and had History degrees, which made all the dark history quite digestible. The highlight of the tour was the lunch stop at a traditional German restaurant where we munched on schnitzel and sausages and drank some lovely German beer.
The tour guide, in the middle of the cyclists...
The Berlin Wall
Dublin
Upon telling anyone in London that you are going on a visit to Dublin for the weekend, it is met with much enthusiastic response. They love the city and it is the host of many Londoner's stag and hen's nights and various other parties. Hub's and T were excited about their weekend away and while it they had many fun experiences, it wasn't their favourite European hot spot. We had some fabulous fish and chips, visited the infamous Guiness factory (which is definitely worth it) and saw the Book of Kells in the Trinity College Library. Aside from that, there isn't much else to report! We do want to go back to Ireland, but next time, see more of what they are truly famous for, their beautiful countryside.
The New Job
After working for a recruitment firm in the city for over 6 months, Traveller was truly missing her profession and had been looking around for the 'perfect' teaching job. Now teaching jobs in London are not shortcoming, but 'perfect' teaching jobs are few and far between. London 'state' schools are notorious for their misbehaving, knive-toting students, and are places where 'teaching' is really just a euphemism for crowd control. However, there is a bright rainbow over this dark cloud of teaching prospects and that is, the independent school!
Independent schools are privately owned and operated and are schools where the parents are paying for their child's education, thus putting the pressure on the student to behave and achieve. T was lucky enough to be offered a position in a preparatory school in North London where she is the Head of English and Drama. It is an all boys' school of 200 students and while it is challenging and lots of hard work, it is an excellent learning experience and a step forward for T.
On the job, Traveller is learning that although boys can be malodorous and boisterous, they are quite fun to teach due to their competitive nature. And yes, as you can imagine, T's psuedo-English accent is getting way out of control due to speaking to 'posh' English boys all day.
The one catch upon accepting the position was that T had to accept the job on a two year basis, which means T and her hubs won't be coming home permanently until July 2010 at the earliest.
So life in London lives on, and T and hubs are looking forward to a brief sojourn home in December and many more European experiences in the new year.
So life in London lives on, and T and hubs are looking forward to a brief sojourn home in December and many more European experiences in the new year.
