Hard Day's Work.

Teaching, marking, writing reports... or white water rafting in Italy?

Don't have to ask T twice!

This was the boys' favourite activity and it was pretty high on the list for T as well. The rapids were fun and frequent but not too scary and the weather and location were pretty perfect.

Funniest part?

We rafted the whole day with two hours in between for lunch and the boys were instructed to drink about a litre of water over lunch to make sure they were hydrated. Before they were suited up again, T warned them all to visit the bathroom. Half an hour later, T was faced by a panicking boy and the following conversation:

Miss, Miss, please help me take off my life-jacket, I need to go to the toilet.

Sure, sure; you know, I did tell you boys to go before...

I did! I need to go again!

{both T and boy are working quickly to release him from the sticky, wet jacket}

Oh no, Miss! I'm going to go....I can't hold it! It's happening!

Needless to say, the poor kid didn't live that down for the entire trip.

Pizza love.

T's back from her adventure.

Best. School. Trip. Ever.

The evidence speaks for itself; here's a photograph from their night out in the Italian Alps at a local pizzeria. They were in a teeny town called Villeneuve where little English was spoken and the pizzas cost around four euro.

Besides food, the adventure had it all - sunshine, hot temperatures and the beautiful backdrops of the Italian Alps and the south of France.

Adventure.

Today, Traveller is heading off on another overseas adventure - this time on a school trip!

This is quite possibly the biggest perk that T has experienced from her time teaching in England. T, along with the games teacher and organiser, is taking her Prep Eight boys to Italy and France on an adventure trip!

They will first stop in Villeneuve in Italy to mountain climb, go white-water rafting and abseil (among other things) and then they are heading to the Ardeche, in the south of France to complete a 2-day descent in canoes!

T, while a little nervous at the prospect of being around 13-year-old boys for over a week, is quite excited!

She may be able to blog on the road at some stage but if not, there'll be plenty of stories and pictures upon her return.

{image}

Shakespeare in the Park.

One of Traveller's most favourite things to do is to watch Shakespeare.

{T guesses it's part of being a geeky English teacher.

She gets goosebumps every time}

Luckily, there is no shortage of the bard's greatest works on stage here in London.

In her time here, she has seen A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, As you like it, Hamlet and just recently she watched A Comedy of Errors, which was quite possibly her favourite so far.

Although, Jude Law in Hamlet was pretty hard to beat...

{read about it here and here}

T digresses.

A Comedy of Errors is currently showing at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and they couldn't have found a more beautiful setting. London really comes alive in the summer and the parks are the most beautiful place to be, so Shakespeare in the Park is like a little slice of heaven for Traveller.

The most delightful part about the production {aside from being funny - and we're not talking chuckles here - there was some definite guffawing happening in the audience) was that it was set in 1940's Casablanca and a live swing band were featured as part of the performance.

Traveller and flattie made the most of the lovely British weather and had a picnic in the park beforehand, consisting of all their favourite things - prosecco, strawberries, camembert and chocolate eclairs!

Well, T is excited to be properly back from her blogging break and she has lots to share with you!

The most exciting part involves an upcoming travelling adventure to somewhere sunny and beautiful...

Classroom Funnies.

Traveller's grade three boys are preparing for the English Speaking Board examinations.

They have to prepare a 2 minute speech on their favourite object (usually a toy), a 1 minute poem and a section from their most-loved novel.

Traveller asked one of her boys what he was going to show her and he replied with,

"Well, I've got my poem which I've learned ...on my harp."

"On your harp?"

"Yeah, I know it without looking at the paper."

So cute!

image

Teachery tales.

Sometimes the T should really stand for 'teacher' as Traveller spends much more time in the classroom, than roaming through Europe. In recognition of this truth, T is going to blog about a few memorable teaching moments from the past week.

Firstly, the musical was a hit!

And Traveller is more than a little relieved.

Having never starred in a musical before (she was, unfortunately, not blessed with tuneful pipes) and only playing minor helper roles at her last school - this was a big deal. However, it all went swimmingly and it was really hard to believe that her talented boys were all under twelve. They were brilliant!

Well, let's be honest, most of them were. As Traveller works with prep school boys, she doesn't want to discriminate against the less talented of the little munchkins. This unfortunately means (or fortunately - whichever way you look at it) that some of the boys didn't quite always sing or act, but sometimes just gazed giddily at their parents. Ah well, you can't always expect professionalism from eight year olds!

In other humorous, teachery news, Traveller had the annual cross country today.

T is used to Australian cross-countries where children suffer from heat exhaustion, sunburn and sunstroke and where the teachers have a great time - sunning themselves and cheering on the little mites.

School cross-countries in English prep schools are a vastly different experience.

Firstly, everyone freezes.

The weather is drizzly, the wind is icy and the sky is grey.

The boys' lips are blue and the teachers are numb with cold.

However, we endure these conditions with proud British fortitude and nothing is heard except for the cheering of the parents, teachers and boys.

On a slightly anthropological note - has anyone ever noticed how speedy and ostentatious young children become when running in front of their parents? We had children that would walk 375 metres of the track, but when they were running past their parents, it was like they were involved in an olympic sprint! Their heads were down, their faces were serious and they, like gazelles, glided swiftly past their parents, only to walk again a few seconds down the track. We also had one serious chap who, after running one {fairly slow} 400 metre lap {in freezing conditions}, doused himself completely with water! Right in front of the parents!

Did T mention it was freezing?

Opening Night Jitters.

The musical opens tomorrow night and Traveller is beyond excited.

The show has really come together in the last few rehearsals, even to the point where T has had goose bumps in some of the really catchy songs or pertinent moments.

It's moments like that that make all the work worth it.

T hopes her boys don't suffer too badly from opening night jitters.

Wish us luck!

photo from weheartit

All the world's a stage...

Traveller has been run off her feet this past few weeks with the school's latest foray into the world of musicals. As she is the boss of all things dramatic in her little English prep school, it is Traveller's job to choose the musical, cast the children and plan the production in its entirety. This includes tasks such as organising performance rights, ticket prices and the programme.

This is the first time that T has directed a musical by herself and it has been quite the learning curve!

When not rehearsing with the children or completing administrative activities, T has found herself working out dance steps in the living room. This has been one of the most daunting parts of the job. With no formal dance lessons and a dance repertoire that includes 'the sprinkler' and 'the lawn-mower' - this has been no easy task.

However, with only a week to go, the musical is actually starting to shape into something which isn't too terrible.

Cue huge sigh of relief from Traveller.

Despite all the extra work, T has to admit that she does so enjoy watching the lil' darlings singing and busting a move on stage. Musicals are just so cheesy and fun, aren't they?

photo via weheartit

In need of a little inspiration....

Traveller has been an English and drama teacher for four and a half years and has had many interesting, hilarious and memorable experiences.

She has, at times, loved her job.

And, at other, less favourable times, she has likened it to a visit to the dentist: painful and damaging to the bank account.

Currently, she works with boys. Prep school boys. They are young, boisterous, well-mannered and interested {mostly}. They come from all parts of the globe and are very well-travelled.

They are generally a pleasure to teach.

Nevertheless, Traveller sometimes feels exhausted.

Not just tired, but exhausted of creativity, warmth and compassion.

Traveller imagines that most people feel like this in their chosen profession at some stage.

Any wise words?

Any tales of fabulous, inspiring teachers to motivate Traveller?

And for those teachers out there: any triumphant lesson stories?

photo via weheartit

How the other half live.

This week Traveller was given the privilege of attending one of Britain's most prestigious schools and judging their annual science lecture competition. Now, as you may have guessed, Traveller is no scientist. However, she was there to judge the finalists on their English communication skills and their Head of Science was there to judge their scientific knowledge (phew!).

The school which Traveller visited is called Harrow School and it is a Secondary Boarding School on par in prestige to Eton (where the princes attended). The science competition happened in the evening from 9pm which meant that T was given the further privilege of being invited to join the two science teachers for dinner in the staff dining room. Now let's get one thing clear; this is no cheap, school dinner. Not even close.

There were pre-dinner appertifs, followed by the menu below:

Pumpkin Soup
with Crispy Chorizo
----
Duck Breast au Poivre
with red onion relish and jus
----
Herby new potatoes
grilled leeks with goat's cheese glaze
asparagus tips and baby corn mis
----
Vanilla Creme Brulee
----
Cheese and biscuits

All of these were accompanied by wine, from an extensive wine list.

Oh, and the dining room had a wall-to-wall view over the whole of London.

Traveller thought that she had died and gone to teacher heaven.

It would seem, however, that she would not be able to actually teach there, as most of their staff come from Oxford, Cambridge or an Ivy League school.

The children pay around £26, 000 a year to attend (they live there) and, by golly, they receive their money's worth. The school plays host to a golf course, a fishing pond, a museum and an actual farm, on top of regular world-class facilities like a sports centre, playing fields, and an art gallery on over 400 acres of land. This type of school needs a museum as it has old boy's among the likes other schools could only dream about. Churchill (one of the eight British Prime Ministers to have attended), Byron, Sheridan, King Hussein of Jordan are just a few of these.

There are many facts about the school that fascinate Traveller, here are just a few:

- The boys wear a morning suit every Sunday which includes; tails, striped trousers, a waistcoat and braces. The regular boys wear boaters and the monitors wear top hats. They wear this every Sunday. The head boy wears a white suit!

- The boys are required to wear their hats on the hill's (Harrow is located on a hill) high street. They are also required to tip their hat at any adult who walks past.

- While the school is steeped in tradition, they play host to many modern languages, such as; French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese and Italian.

One interesting anecdote the Head of Science (also a doctor, a previous student of Oxford and the Director of Studies at Harrow - yes, T was a little out of her depths in dinner conversation!) discussed at dinner was that the Arabic teacher was there upon insistence of the royal family that attend the school. The school pays for his teaching services, his travel and at times his accomodation, and he only teaches for nine hours during the week! He has 12 students.

The actual judging of the competition was really fun; the boys were lovely (in a British mumsy kind of way) and seemed to be very intelligent and eloquent. In all honesty, it was such a pleasure to be asked, and it was an experience that T will remember for a long time to come.

{T almost wished that she was a boy and could turn back the clock, just so that she could attend - honestly, you couldn't ask for a more interesting educational experience!}

photo via flickr

Occupational Hazard #1: The Nervous Fart.

Teaching in a school that is heaving with boys has consistently been a malodorous experience for Traveller. There are numerous situations where she finds herself overwhelmed with noxious odours. And, whilst trying to maintain a certain type of 'political correctness', can T remind you of the fact that she teaches in North London. This is a particularly multicultural area where many, many bowls of curry are eaten night and day.

Today, however, Traveller had a particularly fetid experience. It began when a boy in Grade Five approached her, looking notably anxious. T had just posted the cast list for her production of 'The Demon Headmaster' amid a flurry of excited students. Following this, said student mentioned that he hadn't intended to audition for the part and wouldn't be able to participate in the production. The part was small and wasn't at all a concern for Traveller.

What was a concern, however, was the thick cloud of smelly fart that permeated the air around her, in the increasingly narrow school corridor. The boy, whose chin was noticeably wobbling from the fear that he was going to 'suffer the consequences', had dealt T a fate worse than having to re-cast his part.

He had dealt her the nervous fart.

photo via flickr

Children say the darnedest things.

Today, in Grade Eight creative writing, Traveller put this picture on an interactive whiteboard, and asked the children to write a creative response. They had to explain how the man in the wall got there.

T watched as the children made themselves ready for the task; they were opening their books, taking out their pens and starting to write. Traveller continued to watch as one boy stared open-mouthed at the screen. After a couple of minutes of this, he raised his hand.

T went over to him.

The conversation went like this.

'Mrs ___________, I'm a little confused. I can't believe there is a man in the wall. How did he get in the wall? What happened to him?'

T started at him, dumbfounded.

The class are silent. Not even a breath can be heard as they await T's answer.

It finally clicked.

'Sam, that isn't really a man in the wall. (laughter arises)

'Oh, really? I thought he was real,' he replies, sure in his response.

'It's a sculpture, Sam.'

Pause. Followed by muffled laughter from the class.

'Ohhhh'.

Back in the Game.

Traveller has had a good day.

Make that, a great day.

A great three days really.

Being back at school is like coming alive again. Along with the holidays, teaching brings a real sense of satisfaction and happiness to Traveller. Last year was T's first year of teaching in England, her first year of teaching only boys, her first teaching position with extra responsibility and her first year of teaching children under the age of 12. It was hard. Some days it was really hard. The English prep school day is longer and the lesson times are shorter, so you really feel like you are running around in circles. But now, after a year of experience, Traveller (so far) is loving it!

She knows the children. They know her. She planned much of the curriculum last year, so now it's about tweaking it and improving it. Her smartboard is also an absolute life-saver! Last year, anytime T wanted to use a powerpoint, play a DVD, listen to a song or view a webpage with her class, it required a lot of re-arranging for all involved. Now, she can do this every lesson! It is absolute bliss.

She is also blessed with seriously small classes. Her largest English class has twelve children in it. Her smallest has six! The Drama classes are larger, but that is definitely the way that T likes it.

So, even though the days are long and there's more to do once T gets home, she's enjoying herself so much she has to stop herself from skipping down the street.

No one likes to see a girl in her late 20's skipping.

It's just weird.

photo via flickr

Is it over already?

Nine weeks of holiday have passed, and Traveller is back in the classroom tomorrow.

She's a little nervous.

Nine weeks is a long time.

Nine weeks of sleeping in, enjoying novels, watching films, seeing old friends and learning new things.

Now she has six weeks (before two week's half-term holiday).

Six weeks of teaching, marking, using her smartboard (woo!), planning and learning new things.

She is a little excited to see the kids tomorrow.

To hear of their holiday adventures, their new experiences and their goals for the year.

She hopes she can manage to get out of bed before 6:30am.

Better set the alarm.

Wish T luck.

She hopes to back soon.

photo via flickr

Traveller can't sleep.

It's 11:30pm and while that doesn't sound late, T would really like to go to sleep now. Please? For the last few days she has been battling some weird head cold and, as a result, had a late afternoon nap this afternoon. This type of behaviour is usually fine when one has a cold, but T is (hopefully) coming to the end of it, and as a result, apparently didn't need all the extra sleep.

While she was trying to sleep, T realised that it's only four weeks until school starts again. That means she has already had about five week's holiday! As Traveller started to think about school, the familiar classroom-anxiety set in.

T is not ready to become teacher again. But she has to be. She has to get ready. Ready for the year to come. There are units to plan, books to read, plays to find and a new interactive whiteboard (yay!) to become familiar with.

There is something really beautiful about teacher's holidays though, especially over the summer. You get to become you again. No need to think about reports, marking, lesson planning, production schedules, or costumes for the latest play - time to do whatever you want.

T had things that she really wanted to do over the holidays. Perhaps if she makes a list - they will happen?

Here goes...

1. Take a cooking class of some kind.
2. Learn something new.
3. Read at least 10 novels.
4. Plant some herbs or salad.
5.Visit the Imperial War Museum.
6. Go somewhere new in London. Each week.

Well, there's a start. Now here's to hoping her cold vanishes by the morning, so that T can get started!

Anyone have any ideas of what Traveller could learn? She is thinking of something in the line of photography, cooking, writing, teaching; ideas are welcome!

photo by flickr

Holidays are Bliss!

It would seem that full-time teaching has led to Traveller being an inept blogger.

The last few months have been full of many experiences - some fabulous, some quirky and some, quite simply, dreary. There has been a long weekend in Barcelona, a day in Brighton, a few concerts, a couple of plays and loads of school work.

No matter how busy being a teacher can make you, the one insurpassable positive about the profession is the weeks and weeks of holidays! Traveller is currently on nine weeks holiday (week 2) and is looking forward to doing some serious blogging! She is going to aim for a blog a day (feeling the pressure already!) and fill you -blog-readers - in with as many details as you can possibly handle.

The most important thing to mention is that T and her lovely hubbie are just peachy. We love our new city and the many adventures it has brought us so far.

Moist towelette, anyone?

The last few months have seen Traveller and her hubbie become well-versed in the art of international travel. With no less than 96 hours spent on various flights, it sounds as if T and hubs have been living a life befitting the rich and famous. However, the flight miles were merely between London Town and T's home town - the sunny Gold Coast.

T and hubbie ended up making two trips to Oz which were less than two months apart. Both trips were essential. The first was for the wedding of a dear friend which happened to coincide with Christmas. The second was for a last-minute trip to update visas, which unbelievably managed to coincide with four birthdays, a christening and a birth (all in less than 14 days)!

The visa trip happened much to T's, and her school's, annoyance and vexation. UK immigration decided to change visa laws at the end of November, which meant that T and hubbie needed to travel home rather than have their visas updated in the UK. The Australian immigration website stated that visas were taking a minimum of 25 working days - so T was looking at a very quiet Term Two which would involve sending lesson plans over the Internet. However, due to the efficiency of the British High Commission in OZ, the visa was issued in less than a week!

T and hubs had their biometric data taken on a Monday, they received a phone call notifying them that their applications had been recieved on Tuesday, and then, miraculously, on Wednesday they received an e-mail stating their visas were approved and would be dispatched within five days! Hubs was so shocked that he thought the e-mail was some kind of hoax.

So T now writes this blog from the comfort of her London couch. Looking back on our time in Australia, it must be noted that it was wonderful to spend time with friends and family, catch some rays and eat countless Tim Tams. That being said, T and hubs are definitely ready for their next European adventure.

Next stop - if all goes to plan - is Spain!

Blogger's Fatigue

One may ask, "How can Traveller possibly have blogger's fatigue when she hasn't blogged for over a month or more?" Well, the truth is, T has been blogging. In her head. She has blogged about her trip to Berlin, her trip to Dublin, her new job, and her various other adventures in London town. The only missing link has been the actual time needed to transfer said blogs from T's head to the computer.

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.

Time lasted in new job = 8.5 hours

Time it takes to find a totally new job in a completely different position = 48 hours.

Back in Australia, Traveller had found a job through a teaching recruitment agency to start a few days after arriving in the U.K. The job was a full-time position teaching English in an all-girls school near London.

It felt good to have a position ready for when we arrived. However, it took only 8 or so hours to realise that this position, school and enviroment were not what Traveller wanted. It was not that the girls were naughty (they were quite fine actually) - it was lots of factors rolled into one.

- The school was about 1 1/2 hours travel away from North London where we are staying.

- The position was replacing a teacher who had left at Christmas time, so the girls hadn't had a proper teacher for a couple of months and, as a result, were very behind. So there were about 7 classes of confused girls who needed tons of time, effort and knowledge to help them pass. EEk!

- There was no induction process - even though they had promised one. They put Traveller in the classroom (with another teacher) the minute she arrived and expected her to teach that afternoon (in a totally different curriculum, with no idea of what she should be teaching).

- The school was dreary, and no one seemed very happy. (There were police officers in the hallways- and this was supposedly a good school!)

So, Traveller arrived in the London flat that night and her huband and family decided it was best not to go back. The next day, Traveller's sister-in-law booked a meeting for her with a well-established recruitment agency. The meeting went well, and after some testing, they promptly offered her a job at their agency! So, now after completely changing careers (at least for a little while) - she starts work tomorrow in a reception gig in London city. Should be interesting!

The Countdown Begins....

The job has been secured, the Visa's obtained, and the tickets have been purchased. Traveller and her husband are officially ready to go to the U.K for their biggest adventure. With one and a half weeks to go, many goodbyes are still to be said, but the impending feeling of excitement, mixed with nerves and apprehension has set in Traveller's tummy. Life here has been rather comfortable for the past three years, and the thoughts of a new school, a new home, and saying goodbye to dear friends remain constantly on the mind. Oh well, c'est la vie - Traveller decides, 'You only live once - it's now or never!'.