Treading the boards

With two trips to OZ, Christmas, and six weeks of teaching in less than two months, it would seem difficult to believe that T and hubs had managed to squeeze anything else in. However, T managed to see a ballet, two Shakespearean performances, and she ice-skated at the Tower of London. T and hubs also spent their fifth wedding anniversary in York and they saw the biggest snowfall London has experienced in over 20 years! Life in London Town is never dull.

This brings T to her current favourite topic of conversation - theatre in London!

The first performance T was lucky enough to see was the ballet production of, 'Edward Scissorhands'. The production was housed at Sadler Wells, and was simply one of the most engaging and colourful perfomances T has ever seen. The visit was a gift from her brother and sis-in-law, and it was a real treat.

The second performance T and hubs saw was at Wyndham's Theatre. This is the second production T has seen at Wyndham's Theatre - the first was Chekhov's 'Ivanov' starring Kenneth Branagh. This time around they were seeing, as a gift from their flat-mates, 'Twelfth Night', starring Derek Jacobi. The peformance was outstanding - both uproariously funny and completely mesmorising. The next two performances of Wyndham's theatre season are 'Madame de Sade' starring Dame Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike, and 'Hamlet' starring Jude Law. Needless to say, T will definitely be along for those two!

The other performances T has seen have been school theatre trips she has organised for her fifth and sixth formers. It is an interesting task taking 12 and 13 year old boys to the theatre, but they have been respectful audience members and so it has been a pleasant experience, so far. She has taken them to see, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' put on by the RSC and 'Lord of the Flies' at the Unicorn Theatre. 'Lord of the Flies' was outstanding - a little bloody, but so powerful. It made for much discussion in the classroom the following day.

If there is one thing that T will miss when the time comes to eventually leave London, it will be the theatre. Besides New York, it seems there is no other place in the world which houses such amazing productions night after night. There are so many experienced actors and the productions are so profitable that they manage to have one actor for each part, unlike many other places which see one actor playing two or three small parts. T (and hubs) love it!

T's signed copy of Ivanov's program

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.