Hi There from London Town!
Firstly, apologies for not updating my Blog for ages - as most of
you know, I'm
a terrible procrastinator!! So instead of that, I'm sending off a
loooonnnnng one about my adventures since returning from Aus :)
So where to start!
Well I returned to London at the end of January, after an amazing 9 weeks back
home in Aus, to fly into Heathrow with the report that it was 4 degrees outside
with thick fog...YAH! 'Welcome Back', I thought ;) LOL
But since then I've been keeping myself busy.
I've been back for nearly 6 weeks now and have been back teaching for 4 weeks,
with a term break in between.
First week back I just chilled and gently eased myself back into London Life,
heading to an agency to sign up for teaching and catching up with friends. The
weather was just beautiful, and has been ever since. I think we've had maybe 3
or 4 rainy mornings that have turned into blue skies and sunny afternoons. Of
course, it has been cold, but after awhile you do become used to it. On one of
my days, I went for a lovely afternoon stroll through Kensington Gardens, Hyde
Park, around Buckingham Palace and through St James Park. It made me realise
why I love London so much. The history and character of this place is
overwhelming at times. Makes you stop and smile, to think that you're part of
it all.
Here's something I wrote (My Recount text! hahaha) whilst taking it all in on a
park bench:
'There's something magical about London. Why, yes it is freezing cold, but once
rugged up you quickly forget about it. Today was most magical of all. I woke up
to a rich, blue sky, the sun glistening gold against the buildings outside my
window. I realised this was why I had returned. On the way to lunch with my old
workmate, I enjoyed travelling
on my old bus route, peering down from a double-decker bus into shop windows,
drooling over the yummy patisseries.
Afterwards, I caught the bus to Kensington Gardens - you can understand why a Princess
would want this as their backyard! I strolled past the Round Pond and was in
awe of the bird life - so many beautiful swans, stretching their necks ever so
gracefully. Now I'm sitting by the side of the Serpentine River watching people
enjoying themselves: rollerblading, cycling, mothers pushing prams, lovers
arm-in-arm. You can understand why people of all ages and races are attracted
to London - it has something for everyone all in one central place.
It's starting to get really chilly now. They're predicting snow for the end of
this week - certainly feels like it! The sun is low on the horizon and it's
only 3.30pm. It'll soon be dark.'
Since then I've been following the tourist scene and attending many
events/festivals - visited the National Gallery, which houses the most famous
artworks from all over the world. Attended Waitangi Day (NZs National Day),
which was a big piss-up that packed Parliament Sq - we missed the 'unofficial'
Haka, but were entertained by dimwits climbing unsteady lamp posts! Had an
exciting Valentine's Day, with a lovely surprise at my front door ;) Have been
enjoying many nights out with the girls and Cass & Dave at different
pubs/bars, drinking a few too many glasses of vino rosso and enjoying some
great grub - Italian, All-you-can-eat Pizza, Wagamamas. Been into China Town
twice for Yum Cha with Cass and Dave, and to celebrate Chinese New Year,
watching traditional firecrackers zooming up into the sky in Leicester Sq. Have
become a regular at Portobello Markets (from the movie Notting Hill) on
Saturdays, to purchase quality fruit and veggies AND the famous Hummingbird
Cupcakes. School had one week off for Term Break, so I headed out and did a
free walking tour (fantastic company:
http://www.newlondon-tours.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=43)
and FINALLY saw all the tourist sights in the Royal End of London - well
finally heard the stories and history of the place, from our great Aussie tour
guide Dave. Visited the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and spent a few
hours in there, only covering about a 1/6 of the place! And apart from all of
that (if I've remembered everything!), I've just been doing the rounds at the
gym, the shops - too much of this! - and working!!
Work is very challenging. I am supply (relief) teaching day-to-day, mainly in central-east London, which houses many African-Caribbeans and Middle-Eastern families in council estates. After returning home, late afternoons, I'm usually too buggered to do anything more. The children demand most of your attention and energy. Also, it's been hard adapting to the curriculum - a Year 5 student here is learning at the equivalent level of a Year 2 student in Australia. Means the work is easy for me to teach, but just feels so demeaning teaching a child in Year 5 how to add and subtract numbers together. Nothing like Year 6 at St Ives Park!! Apart from that, many of the children don't have very nice home-lives which affects their attitudes and behaviours at school. Being a female is tough, when you have children who have no respect for authority, adults and in particular women. I've had my fair-share of children that I could not handle. Extremely stressful and upsetting. You wonder how their full-time teacher deals with it; however, I think after awhile, the children would probably be used to their presence and ways of teaching/managing the class. In regards to that, the plan at the moment is to teach until the end of this term (April 4th), as the money is very good, and then go back to office work. Will probably take it up again when I've recharged my batteries!
Hope all is well at home. Mum and Luke keep me in touch with all the going-ons. Sounds like you've had a pretty wet summer! That's what we had last year in London, rained nearly every day!
To the Reedys and Ceravolos: I have a stack of great photos I took in Melb that I have to sort through. Will send you a link to an online album when I get around to collating them. Hope all is well and everyone is behaving themselves! Tell them that Cuz Leigh will swoop down on them teacher-style if they get out of line! Hahaha Was so fantastic to see you all in Jan :) XXX
And to everyone else, when are you coming to visit?? ;) I've already made some plans for the rest of the year: heading to Egypt for 2 weeks on the 26 April, spending a girls long weekend in Copenhagen at the end of May, and visiting Morocco for 8 days at the end of Sept. Thinking of spending a week in Scotland at the end of July, but will see what happens with work. Am very excited about Egypt - have always been fascinated by it ever since I was little!
Must head off and do some boring Saturday morning chores. Am heading out tonight with the bunch of girls I've become friends with. We're getting very dressed up to go to a hotel for afternoon drinks and mini-sandwiches (haha!). And if you know me, you know how long it takes me to get ready....
Lots of love and hugs to everyone. Sorry to those I didn't catch-up with when I was back home. And thank you to those I did catch-up with - was lovely seeing everyone and spending quality time with you all. Love always, Leigh XXX
Below are links to my photo albums from now to last year that are on Facebook, for those people who are not members:
Being a Tourist
Thoughtless!