Last blog of the day ... just a bit about my life in general!
Life is good! I'm so happy here! My crankiness has toned down and I'm just trying to live each day to the fullest! My friend Niki has been a massive help in getting my life sorted here. She suggested I join some clubs or societies to make new friends. It's hard meeting people because I'm gone for work all the time. The only place we meet people is usually the bar, they're usually boys, and they usually don't just want to be our friends. Haha. I signed up for an online community and said that I was looking for FRIENDS because I was new to the city. This hasn't fared too well as I just typically get a bunch of creepers hitting on me and asking me for drinks and various other things. I have, however, made a few new friends here and there so it's good. At least I've usually got somewhere to go and people to hang out with! Awesome!
We go out a lot on the weekends. I'm sure my mum will be thrilled by this news, but seriously. C'mon! I'm a single girl living in London. I go to museums and musicals some weeknights so when the weekend rolls around, we head into town and check out the nightlife. I'm nearing 30 and seriously, when am I gonna have the chance to party in London ever again? I won't. So I'm taking advantage and having fun. I love this city - every night out is a fun one. I've stopped taking the night bus home for the most part, as I had a sketchy experience one night. If I do take it, I take it to the main shopping centre near my house and get a taxi from there. Much safer. Typically, us girls have learned to travel together and stick together so there are a lot of weekend sleep overs.
Things are pretty good with the living situation as well. My roomies are cool chicks and we get along really well. (Check out Crystals' blog for more regular blogs and general witty-ness) I love our house and our neighbourhood - they're really nice. The only problem is the distance. It takes me 1.5 hours at least to get to work, but it sometimes takes 2 hours as I have to take the overground train and they're fairly unreliable ... blah. Now that I've accepted the job, this means that I might have to move somewhere closer for work. I wanted to move closer into the city but I thought I'd do this after Crystal and Marlee headed back to Canada in June. Not sure if I can handle these 5 am wake ups every day. I get home at night, eat supper, pack my lunch, and I'm so tired I head to bed. We'll see what happens tho.
Anways, we're out of "loo roll" so I gotta run to the shop. Hope everyone is doing good. Miss you all lots but I'll be home for Christmas in a week and a half (Holy crap! Time flies!) So I'll hopefully see you then!
xo Megs
Sunday, December 6, 2009
PARIS, Je T'aime <3
So, I was fortunate enough to jet off to Paris last weekend and it was fantastic! I took my suitcase to work at the Academy with me last Friday and I headed straight from school to King's Cross Station. It was an absolute gongshow. It took me aeons just to get thru the train station. By the time I'd gotten thru, made a phone call, and ordered a crepe, it was time to get in line! I went thru customs, on to the train, and faced 3 of the most unhappy looking people I've ever seen. C'mon people, we're going to PARIS! Like cheer up! The Eurostar trip was pretty uneventful. Everyone gets so excited about taking the train thru the chunnel. I think it's pretty boring. You're on a train, in a concrete tube, under the English Channel, and your ears won't stop popping. But, it's better than the flying tin can, so ... meh.
I arrived in Paris at about 9h45pm and there was Miss Becky, waiting in front of EVERYONE for me at the Gare du Nord train station. It was so exciting to be in Paris and to see her, and to have someone waiting at the train station - felt very special! Within seconds of walking down the platform, I saw people making out like there was no tomorrow around the station. Welcome to Paris. We went over to Becky's flat which is really close and dropped off my bags and got ourselves ready. I met Becky's flatmate, Claire, who is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. She's (I think) 25 and a doctor and just ridiculously cool. She and Becky are a good match. We headed over to Pigale and grabbed some drinks with some London girls who were in town for Becky's friends' birthday. I made new friends! Exciting! We had a pretty low key night drinking beers (not classy in Paris) and chatting. It was fun!
I'd forgotten about the intense male attention received in Paris. I really had. Throughout the night, there were a few suggestive comments and winks from the waiter with the really long ponytail (yuck) and a few guys outside, but nothing major. The next morning, we wake up with wine headaches and head to the grocery store. I'm wearing the grubbiest outfit possible, no makeup, and a hat over last night's hair. Within 5 minutes of entering the grocery store, I'm accosted by a male demanding to know my name and if I'd like to go out some time. I pretend not to know French which doesn't deter him at all. I finally break away from him and continue shopping. We get to the beer and wine section, where two men are talking. They both give me the most blatant full-on up and down I've ever gotten and start telling me how gorgeous they think I am, etc etc. I was too out of it to even think of anything witty to throw their way so I just continued on. When we left, the first guy was standing forlornley (sp?) outside and gave a sad little wave my way. C'est la vie. I could get used to this!
That night was Becky and Claire's housewarming party. Wow can these girls throw a party. They had about 30 people crammed into their Parisian studio and we had a blast. There was a lot of alcohol being consumed and a lot of dancing going on. At one point I went outside with Becky and her friend Fahdi and got molested by two strangers in the street. The one kept trying to kiss me and put his hands on me so Fahdi had to get rid of him ... scary! He insisted on giving me his hat and told me he loved me before continuing on his way. I still have his hat. It still has the tag on it. Stolen presents. My favourite.
The next morning we could barely get up. We'd danced the night away, and part of the morning as well, but I had things to see and do! I jumped on Becky to wake her up, but this was a difficult task. Becky is a DEEEEEEP sleeper! We finally got ready and headed out ... we went to Montmartre and saw Sacre Coeur which was incredible ... until the sky opened up and DUMPED on us. Instead of taking the lift, we walked up the 80 billlion stairs only to find everything gated and locked up and we couldn't get around. So, being Becky and Meaghan, we CLIMB A FENCE with big spikes and spires on it in the pouring rain. At one point, I was straddling a 20 inch long steel spike. Things could have ended very very badly, but I only got a little knick in my jeans. Fun times. We took some pics, got too wet, and sought shelter in a gift shop. I got a really cute purple Paris umbrella and off we went. We hit a LOT in a day! Thanks to Becky for her excellent tour guide skills! We went to the Champs Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe (my favourite) and some boys breakdancing in the street. We also saw the Moulin Rouge and Pigale (the red light district of Paris) Finally we headed to the Eiffel Tower where I had a few tears in my eyes ... I've seen it dozens of times but it has been 3 years since I saw it and it reminded me of all my great times in France ... I love that country! Was so so happy. After all that, we had to head back to Becky's, grab my bags and jet off to the Gare du Nord for my train ride home. I wasn't able to buy a regular class ticket for the trip home so I had gotten a ticket for one class higher. Wow. For a few extra pounds, this was the life! Big spacious seats, lots of room, free booze and a yummy supper. A girl could get used to that! I also sat next to a tailor who had gone to Paris that morning for a special fitting with a client ... I'm guessing Jeremy the tailor caters to celebs but he kept mum on his clients. Atta boy.
Pulled into town at about 9h45 and went home to bed! A whirlwind trip but it was fantastic! I loved every minute of it! I'll be back, Paris!
xo Megs
I arrived in Paris at about 9h45pm and there was Miss Becky, waiting in front of EVERYONE for me at the Gare du Nord train station. It was so exciting to be in Paris and to see her, and to have someone waiting at the train station - felt very special! Within seconds of walking down the platform, I saw people making out like there was no tomorrow around the station. Welcome to Paris. We went over to Becky's flat which is really close and dropped off my bags and got ourselves ready. I met Becky's flatmate, Claire, who is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. She's (I think) 25 and a doctor and just ridiculously cool. She and Becky are a good match. We headed over to Pigale and grabbed some drinks with some London girls who were in town for Becky's friends' birthday. I made new friends! Exciting! We had a pretty low key night drinking beers (not classy in Paris) and chatting. It was fun!
I'd forgotten about the intense male attention received in Paris. I really had. Throughout the night, there were a few suggestive comments and winks from the waiter with the really long ponytail (yuck) and a few guys outside, but nothing major. The next morning, we wake up with wine headaches and head to the grocery store. I'm wearing the grubbiest outfit possible, no makeup, and a hat over last night's hair. Within 5 minutes of entering the grocery store, I'm accosted by a male demanding to know my name and if I'd like to go out some time. I pretend not to know French which doesn't deter him at all. I finally break away from him and continue shopping. We get to the beer and wine section, where two men are talking. They both give me the most blatant full-on up and down I've ever gotten and start telling me how gorgeous they think I am, etc etc. I was too out of it to even think of anything witty to throw their way so I just continued on. When we left, the first guy was standing forlornley (sp?) outside and gave a sad little wave my way. C'est la vie. I could get used to this!
That night was Becky and Claire's housewarming party. Wow can these girls throw a party. They had about 30 people crammed into their Parisian studio and we had a blast. There was a lot of alcohol being consumed and a lot of dancing going on. At one point I went outside with Becky and her friend Fahdi and got molested by two strangers in the street. The one kept trying to kiss me and put his hands on me so Fahdi had to get rid of him ... scary! He insisted on giving me his hat and told me he loved me before continuing on his way. I still have his hat. It still has the tag on it. Stolen presents. My favourite.
The next morning we could barely get up. We'd danced the night away, and part of the morning as well, but I had things to see and do! I jumped on Becky to wake her up, but this was a difficult task. Becky is a DEEEEEEP sleeper! We finally got ready and headed out ... we went to Montmartre and saw Sacre Coeur which was incredible ... until the sky opened up and DUMPED on us. Instead of taking the lift, we walked up the 80 billlion stairs only to find everything gated and locked up and we couldn't get around. So, being Becky and Meaghan, we CLIMB A FENCE with big spikes and spires on it in the pouring rain. At one point, I was straddling a 20 inch long steel spike. Things could have ended very very badly, but I only got a little knick in my jeans. Fun times. We took some pics, got too wet, and sought shelter in a gift shop. I got a really cute purple Paris umbrella and off we went. We hit a LOT in a day! Thanks to Becky for her excellent tour guide skills! We went to the Champs Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe (my favourite) and some boys breakdancing in the street. We also saw the Moulin Rouge and Pigale (the red light district of Paris) Finally we headed to the Eiffel Tower where I had a few tears in my eyes ... I've seen it dozens of times but it has been 3 years since I saw it and it reminded me of all my great times in France ... I love that country! Was so so happy. After all that, we had to head back to Becky's, grab my bags and jet off to the Gare du Nord for my train ride home. I wasn't able to buy a regular class ticket for the trip home so I had gotten a ticket for one class higher. Wow. For a few extra pounds, this was the life! Big spacious seats, lots of room, free booze and a yummy supper. A girl could get used to that! I also sat next to a tailor who had gone to Paris that morning for a special fitting with a client ... I'm guessing Jeremy the tailor caters to celebs but he kept mum on his clients. Atta boy.
Pulled into town at about 9h45 and went home to bed! A whirlwind trip but it was fantastic! I loved every minute of it! I'll be back, Paris!
xo Megs
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I Go!
Heya!
Can't believe I haven't written a blog in nearly a month! Sorry! Life has been NUTS! I decided to split my blogs up and write one for each part of my life so you can read about what you want to read, or you can ignore a blog that you're not interested in. So ... WORK!
I have been working like crazy. It's fantastic. I'm tired but I just love it. I got offered a job in a class last week and I had a tough decision to make. I was offered a job at an Academy near where I want to eventually move in London ... The commute from our current home is about 2 hours. Yuuuuck. So, I get up at 5, out the door by 5h45 or 6 , get to school at 7h45. Staff meeting at 8, kids come in at 8h30, classes go until 4. You do your correcting and planning for the next day, leave, and get home around 7. I'm gone from my house, for work, for 13 hours a day. Wasn't that fun, I promise.
The school itself was incredible. It's a new building that's won awards for the architecture. It's just mind-blowing. It has recording studios in the basements, big open common areas, tons of windows, big spacious classrooms, balconies, skylights, the whole 9 yards. Just incredible.
Academies are tricky because they typically host some extremely troubled kids. My 1st tip on teaching in London was to look around outside the school to figure out what kind of school it was. If it's surrounded by tons of low income housing units (massive massive apartment buildings that look really dodgy) the school probably hosts most of the kids from those apartments. This academy is literally SURROUNDED by them. The other thing about it was that it's a secondary school, not a primary school. I always swore I'd never teach high school, and here I was, stuck in the middle of teenage ignorance.
The kids were incredibly difficult. Just walking in the halls, I was forced back to high school. Once again I was getting teased and laughed at in the hallway, kids were making rude comments behind my back, etc etc ... and this time, I was a TEACHER! It wasn't really fun. My first day, some kid was just like beaking me off cos I asked him to stop hitting another student. He told me to F off and mind my own business. As a teacher, I thought this WAS my business?!
The class that I would have had was a group of 8-10 (depending on how many decided to come to school and weren't suspended) 11-12 year olds with the academic ability of 5-6 year olds. They were 12 years old and in math, I taught them shapes. Wow. They were all borderline autistic which meant they weren't able to be diagnosed aka medicated and placed in a school specific to their needs. They all had severe ADHD, as did 90% of the school population (literally - not kidding) I worked with them for a week and a half and was offered the job. In that week and a half, I had totally fallen in love with these kids. I felt like this could be one of those jobs that was really rewarding, and where I could make a difference. After a week and a half tho, I hadn't really impacted any of them. They still couldn't trust me, they didn't listen to me, they were constantly running away, out of the classroom, and finally, on Thursday, one of them started punching and clawing me and it kind of reminded me of where I was and what I was doing and that this wouldn't work. This was the type of position that would lead me to hate my career and I'm far too early into my career to hate it. I didn't come around the world to not love my job. So, I turned them down. It was the hardest decision for me. I feel guilty all the time because I know I could have at least been a constant in their lives but ... it just didn't work out.
In the meantime, however, I had been teaching at a school near Camden, which IS the neighbourhood I plan on moving to. The school is an old building with 800 flights of stairs and no lift. All the classrooms that I teach in are on the top floor so I get my excercise! Haha. The staff is young and fun and we get to wear JEANS to school! AMAZING! I worked 3 days at this school and they booked me for the rest of my time here before Christmas. I heard they had 2 jobs opening up and they said they'd love to keep me on ... so I have a job! Yay! Now I have to decide between a full time nursery (preschool) position or a 4 day a week subbing position, covering the staff's PPA time etc. I'd be the regular sub for the school, essentially. Some weeks I would get 5 days but every week is guaranteed 4. On the 5th day, if my school doesn't book me, I could call my agency and get placed somewhere, or, I could take a long weekend and jet off somewhere. It's all really exciting! I think I'll take the sub job. Seems more my thing.
So that's it for work right now ... I'm pretty happy with where I'm at! Let me know if you have any questions or comments!
xo Megs
Can't believe I haven't written a blog in nearly a month! Sorry! Life has been NUTS! I decided to split my blogs up and write one for each part of my life so you can read about what you want to read, or you can ignore a blog that you're not interested in. So ... WORK!
I have been working like crazy. It's fantastic. I'm tired but I just love it. I got offered a job in a class last week and I had a tough decision to make. I was offered a job at an Academy near where I want to eventually move in London ... The commute from our current home is about 2 hours. Yuuuuck. So, I get up at 5, out the door by 5h45 or 6 , get to school at 7h45. Staff meeting at 8, kids come in at 8h30, classes go until 4. You do your correcting and planning for the next day, leave, and get home around 7. I'm gone from my house, for work, for 13 hours a day. Wasn't that fun, I promise.
The school itself was incredible. It's a new building that's won awards for the architecture. It's just mind-blowing. It has recording studios in the basements, big open common areas, tons of windows, big spacious classrooms, balconies, skylights, the whole 9 yards. Just incredible.
Academies are tricky because they typically host some extremely troubled kids. My 1st tip on teaching in London was to look around outside the school to figure out what kind of school it was. If it's surrounded by tons of low income housing units (massive massive apartment buildings that look really dodgy) the school probably hosts most of the kids from those apartments. This academy is literally SURROUNDED by them. The other thing about it was that it's a secondary school, not a primary school. I always swore I'd never teach high school, and here I was, stuck in the middle of teenage ignorance.
The kids were incredibly difficult. Just walking in the halls, I was forced back to high school. Once again I was getting teased and laughed at in the hallway, kids were making rude comments behind my back, etc etc ... and this time, I was a TEACHER! It wasn't really fun. My first day, some kid was just like beaking me off cos I asked him to stop hitting another student. He told me to F off and mind my own business. As a teacher, I thought this WAS my business?!
The class that I would have had was a group of 8-10 (depending on how many decided to come to school and weren't suspended) 11-12 year olds with the academic ability of 5-6 year olds. They were 12 years old and in math, I taught them shapes. Wow. They were all borderline autistic which meant they weren't able to be diagnosed aka medicated and placed in a school specific to their needs. They all had severe ADHD, as did 90% of the school population (literally - not kidding) I worked with them for a week and a half and was offered the job. In that week and a half, I had totally fallen in love with these kids. I felt like this could be one of those jobs that was really rewarding, and where I could make a difference. After a week and a half tho, I hadn't really impacted any of them. They still couldn't trust me, they didn't listen to me, they were constantly running away, out of the classroom, and finally, on Thursday, one of them started punching and clawing me and it kind of reminded me of where I was and what I was doing and that this wouldn't work. This was the type of position that would lead me to hate my career and I'm far too early into my career to hate it. I didn't come around the world to not love my job. So, I turned them down. It was the hardest decision for me. I feel guilty all the time because I know I could have at least been a constant in their lives but ... it just didn't work out.
In the meantime, however, I had been teaching at a school near Camden, which IS the neighbourhood I plan on moving to. The school is an old building with 800 flights of stairs and no lift. All the classrooms that I teach in are on the top floor so I get my excercise! Haha. The staff is young and fun and we get to wear JEANS to school! AMAZING! I worked 3 days at this school and they booked me for the rest of my time here before Christmas. I heard they had 2 jobs opening up and they said they'd love to keep me on ... so I have a job! Yay! Now I have to decide between a full time nursery (preschool) position or a 4 day a week subbing position, covering the staff's PPA time etc. I'd be the regular sub for the school, essentially. Some weeks I would get 5 days but every week is guaranteed 4. On the 5th day, if my school doesn't book me, I could call my agency and get placed somewhere, or, I could take a long weekend and jet off somewhere. It's all really exciting! I think I'll take the sub job. Seems more my thing.
So that's it for work right now ... I'm pretty happy with where I'm at! Let me know if you have any questions or comments!
xo Megs
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Freak Out!
I have not been a ton of fun. I think all my poor friends and and roomates are ready to strangle me. I'm not 100% sure why I'm such a cranky kid, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm completely incapable of sleeping lately. SO ANNOYING! If I'm even lucky enough to fall asleep, I wake up about an hour later totally ready to rise and shine. So, by the time 5h30 or 6h00 am rolls around and I actually DO have to get up, I'm not too freakin' stoked about it. I think I'm on some weird delayed jet lag thing or something. Anyways. Yes. I'm a crabby kid. So, to all my lovely UK buddies ... here's my apology - I'm sorry! Hopefully I start sleeping soon!
I didn't work yesterday. Not gonna lie, it was a nice chillaxed day off. I went to the Museum of London with Crystal and Lindsey and it was awesome! So interesting! Learned all about the London Fire and the history of London in general - amazing! After that, we strolled around St Paul's Cathedral and snapped some shots. I'm a bit of a moron and left with no jacket. London can be nice during the day, but once 4h30pm rolls around, it's like someone throws a switch and we're all thrown into instant darkness that is very very cold. I'm from Saskatchewan and I think it's cold! So, it's cold! So I'm wandering around London with no coat, and Lindsey points out the Millenium Bridge. So, we wander across it. I got about halfway across the River Thames on this thing and pretty much turned into a popsicle. So, we wandered into Pizza Express which is a delicious little pizza joint that doesn't believe in cutting their pizzas but really enjoys watching you trying to cut them yourselves with butter knives. The pizza is worth the effort.
After that, we strolled towards London Bridge to get the tube back. We discovered a really beautiful little part of London that's really tucked away from everything - I can't wait to go back there to explore!!
Today, I worked. I was tired, but I had a great day with this Year 5 class. (Grade 4) Aside from a child impaling another child in the head with a pencil, we had a pretty rad day. I was at a Roman Catholic school. I've found that I actually much prefer teaching in Catholic schools here - they just seem to have so much more structure and order ... makes for a more enjoyable day.
I've been toying with the idea of getting my own classroom. Some days, I commute up to 2 hours each way to get to work and back, and I usually don't know where I'm going. This can get old really fast. At the same time, however, I love leaving my job at the end of the day and ACTUALLY leaving it ... No going back to burn the midnight oil for this girl. So, both ways have their ups!
Anyways, back to me being cranky ... I should probs go to bed. I also think I'm getting a bit of cabin fever. I'm so close to all these incredible places in UK and Europe in general and I'm like a little kid - I just want to get out there and explore. It's stupid because I've wanted to move to London for 12 years and now that I'm here, I can't wait to leave and go on trips! I'm torn between heading to Brighton with some other Canadians in London or heading to visit Becky in Paris this weekend ... Who knows?! I'll keep you posted.
Until then ...
xo Megs
I didn't work yesterday. Not gonna lie, it was a nice chillaxed day off. I went to the Museum of London with Crystal and Lindsey and it was awesome! So interesting! Learned all about the London Fire and the history of London in general - amazing! After that, we strolled around St Paul's Cathedral and snapped some shots. I'm a bit of a moron and left with no jacket. London can be nice during the day, but once 4h30pm rolls around, it's like someone throws a switch and we're all thrown into instant darkness that is very very cold. I'm from Saskatchewan and I think it's cold! So, it's cold! So I'm wandering around London with no coat, and Lindsey points out the Millenium Bridge. So, we wander across it. I got about halfway across the River Thames on this thing and pretty much turned into a popsicle. So, we wandered into Pizza Express which is a delicious little pizza joint that doesn't believe in cutting their pizzas but really enjoys watching you trying to cut them yourselves with butter knives. The pizza is worth the effort.
After that, we strolled towards London Bridge to get the tube back. We discovered a really beautiful little part of London that's really tucked away from everything - I can't wait to go back there to explore!!
Today, I worked. I was tired, but I had a great day with this Year 5 class. (Grade 4) Aside from a child impaling another child in the head with a pencil, we had a pretty rad day. I was at a Roman Catholic school. I've found that I actually much prefer teaching in Catholic schools here - they just seem to have so much more structure and order ... makes for a more enjoyable day.
I've been toying with the idea of getting my own classroom. Some days, I commute up to 2 hours each way to get to work and back, and I usually don't know where I'm going. This can get old really fast. At the same time, however, I love leaving my job at the end of the day and ACTUALLY leaving it ... No going back to burn the midnight oil for this girl. So, both ways have their ups!
Anyways, back to me being cranky ... I should probs go to bed. I also think I'm getting a bit of cabin fever. I'm so close to all these incredible places in UK and Europe in general and I'm like a little kid - I just want to get out there and explore. It's stupid because I've wanted to move to London for 12 years and now that I'm here, I can't wait to leave and go on trips! I'm torn between heading to Brighton with some other Canadians in London or heading to visit Becky in Paris this weekend ... Who knows?! I'll keep you posted.
Until then ...
xo Megs
Sunday, November 8, 2009
I'm livin' for the weekend and working for the cash machine ...
Heya everyone,
I know, I know. I'm terrible. We FINALLY just got internet in our house on Saturday night, however. So it's really not my fault. I couldn't be arsed to sit in an internet cafe next to a bunch of creeps writing about my life. So yeh ... hmmm .. where should I start?
I think I finished with Halloween ... but what I forgot to mention about Halloween were our trick or treaters! We didn't really prepare for Halloween cos we weren't planning on being here. However, as were about to walk out the door, I opened it to a massive group of 7 or 8 trick or treaters. WTF were we gonna do?! Luckily, I little lunch snack things that are like kit kats. We handed those out, but we were already in our costumes and these trick or treaters were with their dads. Their dads were WAY too interested in us being Canadian and asked if they could come back for beers later that night? The morals of this country astound me.
I worked a lot last week, which was great. I worked 4 out of 5 days which isn't AMAZING but honestly, makes for a nice week. It gave me a week day to get my banking done and pay my bills which I desperately needed to do. None of the schools reallllly stand out in my mind - I think they were all pretty good. I actually forget most of them already. HAHA. On Friday, I taught in a school in Camden. Camden is my FAVOURITE neighbourhood in London. I just absolutely love it. I love our little house and I think my roomates are rad, but I think when they move back home for the summer next year, I'm going to go and look for a place in Camden. It just doesn't feel like we live IN the city by living so far out of central London. Our neighbourhood is GORGEOUS, as is our house, but the commute is really getting to me. Between walking for 15-30 minutes, taking a bus, and riding the tube for at LEAST an hour every day, my commute typically takes me 2 hours each way. I'm losing 1/6 of my day by travelling. I worked my butt off in that school on Friday and did my best to impress because it would be great to get a job in Camden!!
My birthday was on Thursday, which is Guy Fawkes' Day here in London, also known as Bonfire Night. I've been waiting to have my birthday in London for about 3 years, ever since I first heard of Bonfire Night. Those who know me well, know that I like to celebrate my b-day in style. I love b-days! This year, not so much. The day started off really cute ... I came down for breakfast in the morning to discover that my flatmates had snuck downstairs at 5h30 am to decorate our house for my birthday! That was so nice and SUCH a good start to the day - thanks so much girls - I loved that!! I got called into work, and off I went. I was going to come home and change and then go out for dinner but, with the commute, it just didn't make sense. So, I headed straight down to Clapham Common, which is where they were having a massive free fireworks display. I got to Clapham and waited to hear back from people about coming for supper. As it turned out, no one could come for supper. I said I was going to make my blog honest, and not to glam it out. Well, lemme tell you, there's nothing glam about eating chinese take away by yourself on a bus stop bench. It was definately a lonely feeling but it gave me the push I need to get cracking and go and make some friends!! I had a chat with most of my family that night and I had cards from my family and my auntie's family to open which was really nice. The fireworks themselves were AMAZING. I was so impressed. It was great. Almost got a bit teary watching them as I'd waited for that moment for SO long and it was one of those "OMG! I'm actually here!" moments. So great.
Friday night was spent housecleaning like a mad woman. I scrubbed and scrubbed. We still don't have a vaccuum ... our landlord says it's coming but it's been a month and our carpet is scary. Everything gets dusty so fast so yes, I scrubbed away. Saturday, Niki came into London and she was so lovely, she took me for a proper grocery shop in her car. I stocked up on EVERYTHING. It cost me nearly 100 pounds, but I don't need to get groceries for AGES now. So happy. Thank you, Niki! After that, we finally got our internet/cable/landline phone set up. We don't have an actual PHONE yet tho, so we'll keep you posted on that number!!!
Saturday night was our housewarming party as well as my flatmate Crystal and mine's birthday parties. Gongshow. I think we started partaking in beverages much too early. The theme was 'ugly mug' party so everyone had to find a hideous/ridiculous/funny cup and bring it as their drinking cup. We got some amazing finds for sure!!! Nice work people! We had a really good turnout, met some new people, and saw some hilarious drinking cups. We had a really great time and I was so happy that my friends Niki and Andy came into London from outta town just to come to our party - that was great!!
Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday night - I was not a happy camper and spent most of my time curled up in bed with my laptop. Haha.
Well, it's Monday now and I'm waiting for the phone to ring to get called into work. Crystal and I feel mutually that today would be an okay day to not get called in, but ... Murphy's Law. Haha So we'll see.
I hope everyone is doing well. Missing you all back home like mad!
xo Megs
I know, I know. I'm terrible. We FINALLY just got internet in our house on Saturday night, however. So it's really not my fault. I couldn't be arsed to sit in an internet cafe next to a bunch of creeps writing about my life. So yeh ... hmmm .. where should I start?
I think I finished with Halloween ... but what I forgot to mention about Halloween were our trick or treaters! We didn't really prepare for Halloween cos we weren't planning on being here. However, as were about to walk out the door, I opened it to a massive group of 7 or 8 trick or treaters. WTF were we gonna do?! Luckily, I little lunch snack things that are like kit kats. We handed those out, but we were already in our costumes and these trick or treaters were with their dads. Their dads were WAY too interested in us being Canadian and asked if they could come back for beers later that night? The morals of this country astound me.
I worked a lot last week, which was great. I worked 4 out of 5 days which isn't AMAZING but honestly, makes for a nice week. It gave me a week day to get my banking done and pay my bills which I desperately needed to do. None of the schools reallllly stand out in my mind - I think they were all pretty good. I actually forget most of them already. HAHA. On Friday, I taught in a school in Camden. Camden is my FAVOURITE neighbourhood in London. I just absolutely love it. I love our little house and I think my roomates are rad, but I think when they move back home for the summer next year, I'm going to go and look for a place in Camden. It just doesn't feel like we live IN the city by living so far out of central London. Our neighbourhood is GORGEOUS, as is our house, but the commute is really getting to me. Between walking for 15-30 minutes, taking a bus, and riding the tube for at LEAST an hour every day, my commute typically takes me 2 hours each way. I'm losing 1/6 of my day by travelling. I worked my butt off in that school on Friday and did my best to impress because it would be great to get a job in Camden!!
My birthday was on Thursday, which is Guy Fawkes' Day here in London, also known as Bonfire Night. I've been waiting to have my birthday in London for about 3 years, ever since I first heard of Bonfire Night. Those who know me well, know that I like to celebrate my b-day in style. I love b-days! This year, not so much. The day started off really cute ... I came down for breakfast in the morning to discover that my flatmates had snuck downstairs at 5h30 am to decorate our house for my birthday! That was so nice and SUCH a good start to the day - thanks so much girls - I loved that!! I got called into work, and off I went. I was going to come home and change and then go out for dinner but, with the commute, it just didn't make sense. So, I headed straight down to Clapham Common, which is where they were having a massive free fireworks display. I got to Clapham and waited to hear back from people about coming for supper. As it turned out, no one could come for supper. I said I was going to make my blog honest, and not to glam it out. Well, lemme tell you, there's nothing glam about eating chinese take away by yourself on a bus stop bench. It was definately a lonely feeling but it gave me the push I need to get cracking and go and make some friends!! I had a chat with most of my family that night and I had cards from my family and my auntie's family to open which was really nice. The fireworks themselves were AMAZING. I was so impressed. It was great. Almost got a bit teary watching them as I'd waited for that moment for SO long and it was one of those "OMG! I'm actually here!" moments. So great.
Friday night was spent housecleaning like a mad woman. I scrubbed and scrubbed. We still don't have a vaccuum ... our landlord says it's coming but it's been a month and our carpet is scary. Everything gets dusty so fast so yes, I scrubbed away. Saturday, Niki came into London and she was so lovely, she took me for a proper grocery shop in her car. I stocked up on EVERYTHING. It cost me nearly 100 pounds, but I don't need to get groceries for AGES now. So happy. Thank you, Niki! After that, we finally got our internet/cable/landline phone set up. We don't have an actual PHONE yet tho, so we'll keep you posted on that number!!!
Saturday night was our housewarming party as well as my flatmate Crystal and mine's birthday parties. Gongshow. I think we started partaking in beverages much too early. The theme was 'ugly mug' party so everyone had to find a hideous/ridiculous/funny cup and bring it as their drinking cup. We got some amazing finds for sure!!! Nice work people! We had a really good turnout, met some new people, and saw some hilarious drinking cups. We had a really great time and I was so happy that my friends Niki and Andy came into London from outta town just to come to our party - that was great!!
Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday night - I was not a happy camper and spent most of my time curled up in bed with my laptop. Haha.
Well, it's Monday now and I'm waiting for the phone to ring to get called into work. Crystal and I feel mutually that today would be an okay day to not get called in, but ... Murphy's Law. Haha So we'll see.
I hope everyone is doing well. Missing you all back home like mad!
xo Megs
Sunday, November 1, 2009
C'est l'Halloween, C'est l'Halloween ... HEY!
Howdy-ho everyone!
Hope you had a spook tacular Halloween! Here's my story ... I don't usually enjoy Halloween. I was SUPPOSED to be born on Halloween, but being typical me, I came a few days later. Five to be exact. So, my birthday parties are ALWAYS the weekend AFTER Halloween. Unfortunately, the majority of people are still recovering physically and financially from Halloween so no one ever wants to come and hang with me on my b-day. This year, I couldn't really care about my birthday - Crystal and I are having a joint party and making it our housewarming party as well next weekend so I already know I'm gonna have a good time. This year, we put together some crazy outfits and lived it up, London style to celebrate our last taste of the half term break. Wow. It was AMAZING! Such a good night!
We bought Canadian flags and made various costumes from them. I turned mine into a dress with some leggings. I fashioned a belt out of some random fur that Crystal cut off a Santa skirt for her costume, and Crystal made me a 'Miss Canada' sash out of a pillow case (Sorry, Sandra! Haha) We pouffed up our hair, put on red eye shadow and entirely too much liquid black eyeliner, some red jewlerry and my 'Miss Canada' costume was complete. Crystal dressed up as the well-known super hero 'Captain Canada' and Marlee dressed as her sidekick, 'Maple Leaf.' WE WERE A HIT! Walking to the subway, cars were honking and people were cheering and waving - it was great. The thing is, England isn't nearly as crazy about Halloween as we are. It's not really a big deal. So, we looked pretty bizarre in our little neighbourhood. So, I convinced the kids we needed to go to ... CAMDEN! (My favourite part of London)
We first went down to Goodge Street to gather up some other Canadians we had met the night before at a 'Canadian Get Together' at the Canadian Pub (I had a poutine and a pint of Coors - delicious!) We saw their flats that were like cute little dorm rooms and then we wandered down to the Tube. Coming out of the tube stop in Camden, we knew we were in the right place. There were people in ridiculous costumes EVERYWHERE!
We went to the pub 'The World's End' and eventually wandered down into its basement club, the Underworld. I've gone to the Underworld before with Niki and Andy, so I knew it would be fun. The not fun part was waiting in line for a drink for about 20 minutes. Total fun-sucker. But the DJ was great, so we danced and chatted up new friends. I met about 20 NBF's which is always a good time. Haha.
Hmmm what else to tell. I wound up not doing ANY travels this week ... I actually got a bad cold and my sinuses were MESSED. I felt like crap and still am not 100%. I did, however, go to the Phoenix show with Steve on Wednesday and it was AMAZING. Totally blew my mind. I was so impressed! Best lighting I've ever seen for a concert of that level. Just incredible. On Thursday, I went and did an adventure on my lonesome and went to see the musical Chicago. It was so good and I really enjoyed it. I hate doing things alone but I put on my big girl pants and it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Haha.
We were supposed to get our internet set up in our house on Friday but the dude called in sick so we still have no internet. Every person who has sat beside me in this internet cafe has felt the need to befriend me which is really irritating when you're trying to post a freakin' blog. Haha. I'm becoming a total Londoner ... don't talk to strangers. Just be a bag and keep to yourself. Haha. You learn this rule quickly in this city. I would always try to talk to randoms on the trains, etc. but they just ignore you if they can in any way. The last guy who sat beside me just told me that he tried out for Britain's Got Talent today ... he finds out in February if he made it. So, if you hear any news about 'Dwayne Duncan' ... that's my new internet café friend. He's the one I didn't MIND talking to cos his story was actually interesting! The old creepy dude who asked if I'd teach him about computers at his house ... not so much.
I booked my flight home for Christmas the other night. I'm pretty excited by that. I can't believe how calm I am about flying now. I'd normally be having panick attacks about this. I'm going to take an emtpy suitcase home and bring it back full of Kraft Dinner, Cheeze Whiz, Salsa, Clinique skincare, and licorice. Haha. I'll be home for two weeks and will make it back just in time to head to Paris for New Year's Eve. Yeh! Can't wait to see the family.
Anyways, I think I'll head out for now. Back to the daily grind tomorrow! Hope everyone is doing well. See some of you at Christmas!
xo Megs
Hope you had a spook tacular Halloween! Here's my story ... I don't usually enjoy Halloween. I was SUPPOSED to be born on Halloween, but being typical me, I came a few days later. Five to be exact. So, my birthday parties are ALWAYS the weekend AFTER Halloween. Unfortunately, the majority of people are still recovering physically and financially from Halloween so no one ever wants to come and hang with me on my b-day. This year, I couldn't really care about my birthday - Crystal and I are having a joint party and making it our housewarming party as well next weekend so I already know I'm gonna have a good time. This year, we put together some crazy outfits and lived it up, London style to celebrate our last taste of the half term break. Wow. It was AMAZING! Such a good night!
We bought Canadian flags and made various costumes from them. I turned mine into a dress with some leggings. I fashioned a belt out of some random fur that Crystal cut off a Santa skirt for her costume, and Crystal made me a 'Miss Canada' sash out of a pillow case (Sorry, Sandra! Haha) We pouffed up our hair, put on red eye shadow and entirely too much liquid black eyeliner, some red jewlerry and my 'Miss Canada' costume was complete. Crystal dressed up as the well-known super hero 'Captain Canada' and Marlee dressed as her sidekick, 'Maple Leaf.' WE WERE A HIT! Walking to the subway, cars were honking and people were cheering and waving - it was great. The thing is, England isn't nearly as crazy about Halloween as we are. It's not really a big deal. So, we looked pretty bizarre in our little neighbourhood. So, I convinced the kids we needed to go to ... CAMDEN! (My favourite part of London)
We first went down to Goodge Street to gather up some other Canadians we had met the night before at a 'Canadian Get Together' at the Canadian Pub (I had a poutine and a pint of Coors - delicious!) We saw their flats that were like cute little dorm rooms and then we wandered down to the Tube. Coming out of the tube stop in Camden, we knew we were in the right place. There were people in ridiculous costumes EVERYWHERE!
We went to the pub 'The World's End' and eventually wandered down into its basement club, the Underworld. I've gone to the Underworld before with Niki and Andy, so I knew it would be fun. The not fun part was waiting in line for a drink for about 20 minutes. Total fun-sucker. But the DJ was great, so we danced and chatted up new friends. I met about 20 NBF's which is always a good time. Haha.
Hmmm what else to tell. I wound up not doing ANY travels this week ... I actually got a bad cold and my sinuses were MESSED. I felt like crap and still am not 100%. I did, however, go to the Phoenix show with Steve on Wednesday and it was AMAZING. Totally blew my mind. I was so impressed! Best lighting I've ever seen for a concert of that level. Just incredible. On Thursday, I went and did an adventure on my lonesome and went to see the musical Chicago. It was so good and I really enjoyed it. I hate doing things alone but I put on my big girl pants and it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Haha.
We were supposed to get our internet set up in our house on Friday but the dude called in sick so we still have no internet. Every person who has sat beside me in this internet cafe has felt the need to befriend me which is really irritating when you're trying to post a freakin' blog. Haha. I'm becoming a total Londoner ... don't talk to strangers. Just be a bag and keep to yourself. Haha. You learn this rule quickly in this city. I would always try to talk to randoms on the trains, etc. but they just ignore you if they can in any way. The last guy who sat beside me just told me that he tried out for Britain's Got Talent today ... he finds out in February if he made it. So, if you hear any news about 'Dwayne Duncan' ... that's my new internet café friend. He's the one I didn't MIND talking to cos his story was actually interesting! The old creepy dude who asked if I'd teach him about computers at his house ... not so much.
I booked my flight home for Christmas the other night. I'm pretty excited by that. I can't believe how calm I am about flying now. I'd normally be having panick attacks about this. I'm going to take an emtpy suitcase home and bring it back full of Kraft Dinner, Cheeze Whiz, Salsa, Clinique skincare, and licorice. Haha. I'll be home for two weeks and will make it back just in time to head to Paris for New Year's Eve. Yeh! Can't wait to see the family.
Anyways, I think I'll head out for now. Back to the daily grind tomorrow! Hope everyone is doing well. See some of you at Christmas!
xo Megs
Sunday, October 25, 2009
This Fire Is Outta Control ....
WOW! Franz Ferdinand was SO amazing last night! I'd have to put it in my top ten concerts fo' sho! Brilliant! The opening band, which I think was called Music Go Music was also really good. We went to a really famous venue, the 02 (Brixton) Academy, which was one of the coolest and most interesting venues I've ever been to. It was all standing room only and it had ridiculously sloped floors down to the stage so everyone could see most of the time, even me. Until really tall drunken frat boys jumped into me. The whole thing was just really really cool and I'm stoked that I got to go. Franz Ferdinand didn't even go on until 11h30, tho, and the tubes stop running at 12. Here's the story about Brixton ... it's the gun crime capital of London. We had to wait for the night busses with hundreds of other people. Interesting experience to be sure. We managed to not get shot, and began a process of bus taking which got us pretty lost. No matter what Steve says, I know we were lost. After a 2 hour voyage, we eventually found our way. Phew. It was an amazing night tho for sure! I'm a concert fanatic so going to a show in London was just perfect!
I've had a tough few days of working, I can't go into detail because of the whole confidentiality thing with schools but I can say that I literally got attacked by a 10 year old one day which was overwhelming but I was working at the greatest school - I've been there a few times and the staff was phenomenal. They even invited me out for drinks after school and I got to make some new friends which was awesome. No matter what happens to me, I try to take it in stride. I came to London because I knew it would make me a better teacher, and that's exactly what's happening. I've already experience and learned so much ... it's insane.
It's half term, 9 school-less days. Hope I'll do some travels! I'll keep you all posted! Thanks to those of you who comment! It's nice to know people are reading!
xo Megs
I've had a tough few days of working, I can't go into detail because of the whole confidentiality thing with schools but I can say that I literally got attacked by a 10 year old one day which was overwhelming but I was working at the greatest school - I've been there a few times and the staff was phenomenal. They even invited me out for drinks after school and I got to make some new friends which was awesome. No matter what happens to me, I try to take it in stride. I came to London because I knew it would make me a better teacher, and that's exactly what's happening. I've already experience and learned so much ... it's insane.
It's half term, 9 school-less days. Hope I'll do some travels! I'll keep you all posted! Thanks to those of you who comment! It's nice to know people are reading!
xo Megs
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Twilight Omens
Hallo from Megs and Steve,
We are chillin' at Steve's flat getting ready for the Franz Ferdinand concert. Pretty stoked. I have lots to blog about but Steve says I'm boring when I blog so I must go for now. Hi to everyone ... I'll blog more tomorrow! xo Megs
We are chillin' at Steve's flat getting ready for the Franz Ferdinand concert. Pretty stoked. I have lots to blog about but Steve says I'm boring when I blog so I must go for now. Hi to everyone ... I'll blog more tomorrow! xo Megs
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Heya ....
Hey y'all!
I don't have much to say since I just posted a blog the other day, but thought I would drop in to say hello and let everyone know that life is good! Yesterday was a tough day. I got pre-booked for a school in one of the tougher boroughs of London. I was pre-warned that it would be a hard day. By morning breaktime, I was laughing. Everyone kept coming up to me nervously asking if I was doing okay. By that time, the kids had been tough but nothing I couldn't handle! I thought it was a breeze, and life would be good.
By lunchtime, I literally wanted to leave. Run away. Sit at a desk and cry. Anything but teach. I was MISERABLE. I hate to admit defeat, however, so I soldiered up and continued on. What a day. I had a T.A. for most of the day, but half of the time, (And I HATE to say this!) she was ENCOURAGING the behaviour! I'd try to get the class' attention and she would be laughing and talking and ignoring me WITH the students! WTF?! I LITERALLY had to bang large, metal objects ON the tables to get their attention. I got the scariest voice I've ever used (I terrified myself!) and gave them the most intense reaming out/talking to/deal making I have ever used with a class shortly after lunch. During breaktime, I LITERALLY saw 10 year old beating the $H!T out of each other on the playground. There was a helpful teacher next door, who luckily gave me things to do with them because when I arrived, absolutely no planning had been done or left out for me. I wearily walked back to the train station, and began my TWO HOUR journey home. I'm up for pretty much any challenge, but I would have to honestly be prepared and think about it/ be desperate for work to head into that school again. WOW.
All I wanted to do when I got home was crawl into bed, BUT once again, my new buddy Lindsey threw me a text and twisted my rubber arm to head downtown. She has a friend from Canada in town, so we headed into Camden (my fave neighbourhood ever! I want to LIVE there!) and got a bite to eat. Alexis had her proper London fish and chips (we photographed this big event) and I had a chicken sandwich that came exactly the opposite way of what I had ordered and paid (extra) for. Thank you, pub! Oh well. We then headed over to the Spread Eagle pub. I've wanted to go here since I arrived, for the reason being the name only. Too funny. We made all kinds of innappropriate jokes and comments and also took innappropriate pictures. Spread Eagle Pub is right up there with the Bung Hole Pub in my books. God, I love this city! I still headed home rather early and went straight to bed as I didn't know if I would be working today or not.
I wasn't pre-booked for today, and I woke up feeling like crap! My whole body was achy and stiff (It is missing my daily physio and chiro appointments for SURE!) I also felt like I may be coming down with the flu, and was a little shaky. Did NOT feel like going out to work, that's for sure! I called in anyways, tho, cos I'm a wimp who's terrified of living in poverty, and was sure I wasn't getting put in a school. I settled into the couch with Crystal and watched her 'favourite shows' with her that she watches pretty much every morning. Before we could get thru some children's reality show (that should be illegal!?) my fone rang, and I was heading out. I was half stoked to be working (yay paycheck!) and half sad (i feel like crap!). But, it's half term next week so I have a whole week off so I sucked it up and headed into the 'office.' Luckily, today, I wound up working in my own neighbourhood! This never happens! I'm used to 75-120 minute commutes! It still took me an HOUR to get there, though, since I was given the WRONG directions. Not the first time this has happened. Won't be the last, I'm sure. I love my job and I love going to different schools and classrooms every day - I'm learning and growing SOOOOO much as a teacher. It's fantastic. I am starting to HATE never knowing where I'm going, though, and I freakin' HATE two hour commutes each way. So shitty. Definately starting to grate on my nerves to the point that I've asked to be considered for my own classroom (long term position) next semester. It's a lot more work, and not the same experience but I'm spending at least $70 CDN/week on the commuting and losing up to 4 hours a day because of it as well. Not good.
Today, was different. Best day I've had so far. I went to a Catholic school near my house and fell in love with it. Big open classrooms with an entire wall of windows that look out onto greenery. TREES! Bushes! Nice playground! The playground is locked in, and every classroom has a door going straight on to it! Amazing! Someone really smart (aka a teacher?!) must have designed this school. It was so great. I also got two T.A.'s who were SO helpful. The children were amazingly well behaved, and I had my best day yet. Days like this renew my faith in this career after I've had days like yesterday! Tomorrow and Friday, I'm pre-booked for the school I was at last Thursday. It's a 90 minute commute but I liked the school a lot. It's flattering to me when a school specifically requests to have you back, so I'm looking forward to it.
Aside from that, I'm DEFINATELY going to the Franz Ferdinand concert with Mr. Steve on Saturday - SO excited! On Sunday or Monday, I'm almost positive that I'm going to head to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet up with my Swedish friend, Angelica. SO SO SO excited to go visit the motherland! And next weekend, I have tentative plans to head to Paris! Almost everyone I know is going to Italy next week, and I've been invited, so we'll see what happens ... I'll keep you posted!
Miss and love all my lovely people back home!!
xo Megs
I don't have much to say since I just posted a blog the other day, but thought I would drop in to say hello and let everyone know that life is good! Yesterday was a tough day. I got pre-booked for a school in one of the tougher boroughs of London. I was pre-warned that it would be a hard day. By morning breaktime, I was laughing. Everyone kept coming up to me nervously asking if I was doing okay. By that time, the kids had been tough but nothing I couldn't handle! I thought it was a breeze, and life would be good.
By lunchtime, I literally wanted to leave. Run away. Sit at a desk and cry. Anything but teach. I was MISERABLE. I hate to admit defeat, however, so I soldiered up and continued on. What a day. I had a T.A. for most of the day, but half of the time, (And I HATE to say this!) she was ENCOURAGING the behaviour! I'd try to get the class' attention and she would be laughing and talking and ignoring me WITH the students! WTF?! I LITERALLY had to bang large, metal objects ON the tables to get their attention. I got the scariest voice I've ever used (I terrified myself!) and gave them the most intense reaming out/talking to/deal making I have ever used with a class shortly after lunch. During breaktime, I LITERALLY saw 10 year old beating the $H!T out of each other on the playground. There was a helpful teacher next door, who luckily gave me things to do with them because when I arrived, absolutely no planning had been done or left out for me. I wearily walked back to the train station, and began my TWO HOUR journey home. I'm up for pretty much any challenge, but I would have to honestly be prepared and think about it/ be desperate for work to head into that school again. WOW.
All I wanted to do when I got home was crawl into bed, BUT once again, my new buddy Lindsey threw me a text and twisted my rubber arm to head downtown. She has a friend from Canada in town, so we headed into Camden (my fave neighbourhood ever! I want to LIVE there!) and got a bite to eat. Alexis had her proper London fish and chips (we photographed this big event) and I had a chicken sandwich that came exactly the opposite way of what I had ordered and paid (extra) for. Thank you, pub! Oh well. We then headed over to the Spread Eagle pub. I've wanted to go here since I arrived, for the reason being the name only. Too funny. We made all kinds of innappropriate jokes and comments and also took innappropriate pictures. Spread Eagle Pub is right up there with the Bung Hole Pub in my books. God, I love this city! I still headed home rather early and went straight to bed as I didn't know if I would be working today or not.
I wasn't pre-booked for today, and I woke up feeling like crap! My whole body was achy and stiff (It is missing my daily physio and chiro appointments for SURE!) I also felt like I may be coming down with the flu, and was a little shaky. Did NOT feel like going out to work, that's for sure! I called in anyways, tho, cos I'm a wimp who's terrified of living in poverty, and was sure I wasn't getting put in a school. I settled into the couch with Crystal and watched her 'favourite shows' with her that she watches pretty much every morning. Before we could get thru some children's reality show (that should be illegal!?) my fone rang, and I was heading out. I was half stoked to be working (yay paycheck!) and half sad (i feel like crap!). But, it's half term next week so I have a whole week off so I sucked it up and headed into the 'office.' Luckily, today, I wound up working in my own neighbourhood! This never happens! I'm used to 75-120 minute commutes! It still took me an HOUR to get there, though, since I was given the WRONG directions. Not the first time this has happened. Won't be the last, I'm sure. I love my job and I love going to different schools and classrooms every day - I'm learning and growing SOOOOO much as a teacher. It's fantastic. I am starting to HATE never knowing where I'm going, though, and I freakin' HATE two hour commutes each way. So shitty. Definately starting to grate on my nerves to the point that I've asked to be considered for my own classroom (long term position) next semester. It's a lot more work, and not the same experience but I'm spending at least $70 CDN/week on the commuting and losing up to 4 hours a day because of it as well. Not good.
Today, was different. Best day I've had so far. I went to a Catholic school near my house and fell in love with it. Big open classrooms with an entire wall of windows that look out onto greenery. TREES! Bushes! Nice playground! The playground is locked in, and every classroom has a door going straight on to it! Amazing! Someone really smart (aka a teacher?!) must have designed this school. It was so great. I also got two T.A.'s who were SO helpful. The children were amazingly well behaved, and I had my best day yet. Days like this renew my faith in this career after I've had days like yesterday! Tomorrow and Friday, I'm pre-booked for the school I was at last Thursday. It's a 90 minute commute but I liked the school a lot. It's flattering to me when a school specifically requests to have you back, so I'm looking forward to it.
Aside from that, I'm DEFINATELY going to the Franz Ferdinand concert with Mr. Steve on Saturday - SO excited! On Sunday or Monday, I'm almost positive that I'm going to head to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet up with my Swedish friend, Angelica. SO SO SO excited to go visit the motherland! And next weekend, I have tentative plans to head to Paris! Almost everyone I know is going to Italy next week, and I've been invited, so we'll see what happens ... I'll keep you posted!
Miss and love all my lovely people back home!!
xo Megs
Monday, October 19, 2009
I ALMOST FORGOT!
Silly girl, I am! I almost forgot my two kinda cool events of the past week. Right now, the BFI Film Festival is going on so London is crawling with celebs attending premieres, etc. We went down to Leicester Square on Wednesday night to watch the celebs walk the red carpet for the Fantastic Mr. Fox premiere ... it was so cool to see the things you see in magazines and on TV (Hello, TMZ?!) in real life! We saw Cindy Crawford, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wes Anderson, and GEORGE CLOONEY walk the red carpet ... George even threw a wave our way! That was pretty cool ... we were like 8 feet away from these people!
Also, I just finished reading 'The Time Traveller's Wife' and it was BRILLIANT! I loved it! Must mention, however, that I'm a bit disturbed by the idea of my 14 year old sister reading that book ... totally not 14 yr old appropriate but definately Megs appropriate. Haha. So ANYWAYS, the author, Audrey Niffenegger (I know I prob spelled that wrong but I'm lazy and cold and need to go home!) was in London doing book signings for her NEW book last week ... we didn't know this so we totally missed out. BUT, we walked by a bookstore that had her new hardcover on 50% off because it was the book of the month, and they had extra signed copies! So I got a signed hardcover for dirt cheap which was AWESOME! I'm a book nerd so this was exciting to me! Anyways, that's it for reals ... I need to go home! 'Nite all! xo
Also, I just finished reading 'The Time Traveller's Wife' and it was BRILLIANT! I loved it! Must mention, however, that I'm a bit disturbed by the idea of my 14 year old sister reading that book ... totally not 14 yr old appropriate but definately Megs appropriate. Haha. So ANYWAYS, the author, Audrey Niffenegger (I know I prob spelled that wrong but I'm lazy and cold and need to go home!) was in London doing book signings for her NEW book last week ... we didn't know this so we totally missed out. BUT, we walked by a bookstore that had her new hardcover on 50% off because it was the book of the month, and they had extra signed copies! So I got a signed hardcover for dirt cheap which was AWESOME! I'm a book nerd so this was exciting to me! Anyways, that's it for reals ... I need to go home! 'Nite all! xo
Lovin' The London Life!
Hiya everyone!
I have been sitting in an internet cafe for 3 hours and 7 minutes. It is freezing in London and they refuse to close the door to this place, it is steadfastly held open. I am a human popsicle. I have been in here for ages because I had loads to do. I had to do expense claims for work, travel research for work, check my 74 Facebook notifications (I love you guys!) and my 37 emails (mostly work related ... and related to 3-4 days ago. ) We finally got our internet/landline/cable tv kit in the mail ... only to find out our house has no jacks for any of these things?! WTF?! Apparently no one who has ever lived in our house has had these things? I need we lived pretty far in the outskirts of London but SERIOUSLY! I didn't know we'd gone so far we'd hit Ireland! (Haha just kidding - I love you, Ireland!) Life has been CRAZY busy and super hectic and not having the internet BLOWS and I never have time to make it to the internet shops, so I'm really sorry for the lack of posting. I'll try to fill you all in.
WORK: I've been working LOTS! I was a bit worried because I've been hearing these horror stories about supply teachers getting no work here. I have a GWA (Guaranteed Work Agreement) so I'm guaranteed to get paid anyways, but still ... I came here to work! And work I have! Here's the deal. We try to get pre-booked so we'll KNOW if we have to work the next day or not, but this usually doesn't happen. The joys of day-to-day supply! SO, we get up for work at 5h45 or 6h00 am, shower, do our hair &makeup, eat a hearty breakfast (mmm Wheatbix!) and get dressed. At 7h00am sharp, we call into our agency and state our name and ask if they have work for us. They put our name on the availability board and say they'll call us back. Sometimes they never call. So you just got up, got ready, and got fed for NOTHING. Other days, they call back and you do a cartwheel and go flying out the door cos it will take you at LEAST an hour to get ANYWHERE (from our house, anyways!)
My first day available was Tuesday ... no work. I met up with my new friend Lindsey and we did some sightseeing and shopping instead. Lindsey is a cool chick from Ontario that I met on our Facebook group. We've spent every day except today together for the last week and we get along great and have a ton in common, and we both don't like to waste our days off so we hit the town! Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I got jobs! Yes! Teaching here is so different and so the same from teaching in Canada. They have different rules, kids wear uniforms at every school, and little things are different here and there. One rule that threw me for a loop was that every recess, and every lunch hour, you may have to take your kids right out to the playground, but you ALWAYS have to pick them up from the playground. I sure did not go out to pick up my kids on Wednesday. Whoops. Luckily, all the schools I've been to have been calling my agency and leaving good feedback about me, which is awesome and means I'll get placed more, because they know I'm doing a good job. One school has already called back and asked just for me again, this Thursday! It was probably the toughest group of kids I've had so far, but work is work, and I'm not here for a cushy job so I'll TAKE it! My contact for my agency called me today and got me pre-booked for tomorrow, which is GREAT.... BUT ... she said it will be by far my most challenging placement ever ... I'm going to a pretty rough school in a tough neighbourhood ... yikes! But I have confidence that I can handle it! I came here to become a better teacher and this can ONLY help me! Here's hoping! Wish me luck!
My roomates were NOT having good luck with work. They don't have contracts, they are day to day supply, and weren't getting much. Luckily, Crystal has now been called to do Nursery (pre-K) at the same school twice now, and Marlee actually got a full time job with a private Nursery so that's AWESOME! Things are looking up!
So the school I went to today was about two hours from my house, no lie. I had to take a bus, two subways, an above ground train, and walk (there's always walking to be done here!) for about 15 mins. I got my call at 7h10, and ran into the school at 9h05. Late. So, I had this lovely 2 hr trip home to look forward to ... until our tube (subway) stopped because of a malfunction in the tube signals for about 45 mins in a dark tunnel ... NOT FUN. I did strike up a convo with the 15 yr old girl across from me who was really sweet and told me she wanted to visit Canada. We're now BFF's and even swapped e-mail addresses. New London Friend Count : 3 (Lindsey and I met two randoms at dinner last night who gave us flowers!)
Social life wise, it's not bad but I'm a bit bored. I think I expected more. The thing that really sucks is that there are no nightbusses to our neighbourhood so all transport to our house is over at 1am. If you go to a club until 2am , you have to ride the bus as far as you can and then pay a small fortune for a taxi for the rest of the way. We learned this the hard way on Friday. My amazing friend Niki was in town so we went to her friend's housewarming party to meet some lovely Londoners. The party was fab and we headed out to a cute little pub 'n club (two in one!) in Balham. Just getting to the party itself took us 1hour and 25 minutes, door to door. Crystal fell asleep on the tube clutching her plastic bag of beer which was cute. We went out, had some drinks, danced, had a lovely time, etc etc. I even met NBF #2 ... A lovely boy named Ricki who was way too cute. NBF #1 is not an honorable mention, if you're wondering. Haha. The night was great and we were having fun. We ditch the bar, the booze, the friends and the booze shortly after one and begin the adventure home. About 3 busses, 3 hours, and a big nap later (Thank GOD Crystal stayed awake!) We still weren't home. It's after 4am, I'm exhausted and lost. I literally ran ahead of all the people and desperately waved down a taxi in the middle of the street. £16 (almost $30cdn) later, we were home. THAT will NOT be happening again! We need to come up with a new plan on how to get home! It was a fun night tho, for sure!
Not sure what else to write. UK kids have no school for more than a week next week. I'm not sure what I'll do with my free time. I believe my buddy Steve and I will head to the Franz Ferdinand concert this week (OMG YAY!) and I'm contemplating a mini trip up to Scotland, and a visit down south to my one true love ... Paris! I'll keep you all posted. For all you know, I'll try to get some actual sleep and relax for once! Who knows? I hate sleeping and staying home here. Every second that I'm sitting around being lazy drives me nuts because I can't help but think 'I'M IN FREAKIN' LONDON ... I NEED TO GO EXPLORE!' I have been all over so much of this city but there's still so much to see ... I can't wait!
I talked to my family the other day and my sisters are going thru some tough times ... it makes me feel really guilty to be away from them while they're going thru these things. I just want to give them big hugs. I think now I will probably be going home for Christmas because I miss my peanuts and want to smother them with love. I'm not homesick at all - I love my life here and I love being here so much. The only reason I wasn't going home for Christmas was because of my fear of planes and I appear to have overcome that! Yay! So I will prob come home for the holidays but have plans in Paris for New Year's so we'll see what happens. Miss everyone lots and lots back home but I sure don't miss HOME! I love my new home! Hope you're all doing well! Please post comments so I know people are actually reading this ... it doesn't encourage me to write anything when I think no one's reading my random rants! Hope you're all doing well.
xoxo MEGS
I have been sitting in an internet cafe for 3 hours and 7 minutes. It is freezing in London and they refuse to close the door to this place, it is steadfastly held open. I am a human popsicle. I have been in here for ages because I had loads to do. I had to do expense claims for work, travel research for work, check my 74 Facebook notifications (I love you guys!) and my 37 emails (mostly work related ... and related to 3-4 days ago. ) We finally got our internet/landline/cable tv kit in the mail ... only to find out our house has no jacks for any of these things?! WTF?! Apparently no one who has ever lived in our house has had these things? I need we lived pretty far in the outskirts of London but SERIOUSLY! I didn't know we'd gone so far we'd hit Ireland! (Haha just kidding - I love you, Ireland!) Life has been CRAZY busy and super hectic and not having the internet BLOWS and I never have time to make it to the internet shops, so I'm really sorry for the lack of posting. I'll try to fill you all in.
WORK: I've been working LOTS! I was a bit worried because I've been hearing these horror stories about supply teachers getting no work here. I have a GWA (Guaranteed Work Agreement) so I'm guaranteed to get paid anyways, but still ... I came here to work! And work I have! Here's the deal. We try to get pre-booked so we'll KNOW if we have to work the next day or not, but this usually doesn't happen. The joys of day-to-day supply! SO, we get up for work at 5h45 or 6h00 am, shower, do our hair &makeup, eat a hearty breakfast (mmm Wheatbix!) and get dressed. At 7h00am sharp, we call into our agency and state our name and ask if they have work for us. They put our name on the availability board and say they'll call us back. Sometimes they never call. So you just got up, got ready, and got fed for NOTHING. Other days, they call back and you do a cartwheel and go flying out the door cos it will take you at LEAST an hour to get ANYWHERE (from our house, anyways!)
My first day available was Tuesday ... no work. I met up with my new friend Lindsey and we did some sightseeing and shopping instead. Lindsey is a cool chick from Ontario that I met on our Facebook group. We've spent every day except today together for the last week and we get along great and have a ton in common, and we both don't like to waste our days off so we hit the town! Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I got jobs! Yes! Teaching here is so different and so the same from teaching in Canada. They have different rules, kids wear uniforms at every school, and little things are different here and there. One rule that threw me for a loop was that every recess, and every lunch hour, you may have to take your kids right out to the playground, but you ALWAYS have to pick them up from the playground. I sure did not go out to pick up my kids on Wednesday. Whoops. Luckily, all the schools I've been to have been calling my agency and leaving good feedback about me, which is awesome and means I'll get placed more, because they know I'm doing a good job. One school has already called back and asked just for me again, this Thursday! It was probably the toughest group of kids I've had so far, but work is work, and I'm not here for a cushy job so I'll TAKE it! My contact for my agency called me today and got me pre-booked for tomorrow, which is GREAT.... BUT ... she said it will be by far my most challenging placement ever ... I'm going to a pretty rough school in a tough neighbourhood ... yikes! But I have confidence that I can handle it! I came here to become a better teacher and this can ONLY help me! Here's hoping! Wish me luck!
My roomates were NOT having good luck with work. They don't have contracts, they are day to day supply, and weren't getting much. Luckily, Crystal has now been called to do Nursery (pre-K) at the same school twice now, and Marlee actually got a full time job with a private Nursery so that's AWESOME! Things are looking up!
So the school I went to today was about two hours from my house, no lie. I had to take a bus, two subways, an above ground train, and walk (there's always walking to be done here!) for about 15 mins. I got my call at 7h10, and ran into the school at 9h05. Late. So, I had this lovely 2 hr trip home to look forward to ... until our tube (subway) stopped because of a malfunction in the tube signals for about 45 mins in a dark tunnel ... NOT FUN. I did strike up a convo with the 15 yr old girl across from me who was really sweet and told me she wanted to visit Canada. We're now BFF's and even swapped e-mail addresses. New London Friend Count : 3 (Lindsey and I met two randoms at dinner last night who gave us flowers!)
Social life wise, it's not bad but I'm a bit bored. I think I expected more. The thing that really sucks is that there are no nightbusses to our neighbourhood so all transport to our house is over at 1am. If you go to a club until 2am , you have to ride the bus as far as you can and then pay a small fortune for a taxi for the rest of the way. We learned this the hard way on Friday. My amazing friend Niki was in town so we went to her friend's housewarming party to meet some lovely Londoners. The party was fab and we headed out to a cute little pub 'n club (two in one!) in Balham. Just getting to the party itself took us 1hour and 25 minutes, door to door. Crystal fell asleep on the tube clutching her plastic bag of beer which was cute. We went out, had some drinks, danced, had a lovely time, etc etc. I even met NBF #2 ... A lovely boy named Ricki who was way too cute. NBF #1 is not an honorable mention, if you're wondering. Haha. The night was great and we were having fun. We ditch the bar, the booze, the friends and the booze shortly after one and begin the adventure home. About 3 busses, 3 hours, and a big nap later (Thank GOD Crystal stayed awake!) We still weren't home. It's after 4am, I'm exhausted and lost. I literally ran ahead of all the people and desperately waved down a taxi in the middle of the street. £16 (almost $30cdn) later, we were home. THAT will NOT be happening again! We need to come up with a new plan on how to get home! It was a fun night tho, for sure!
Not sure what else to write. UK kids have no school for more than a week next week. I'm not sure what I'll do with my free time. I believe my buddy Steve and I will head to the Franz Ferdinand concert this week (OMG YAY!) and I'm contemplating a mini trip up to Scotland, and a visit down south to my one true love ... Paris! I'll keep you all posted. For all you know, I'll try to get some actual sleep and relax for once! Who knows? I hate sleeping and staying home here. Every second that I'm sitting around being lazy drives me nuts because I can't help but think 'I'M IN FREAKIN' LONDON ... I NEED TO GO EXPLORE!' I have been all over so much of this city but there's still so much to see ... I can't wait!
I talked to my family the other day and my sisters are going thru some tough times ... it makes me feel really guilty to be away from them while they're going thru these things. I just want to give them big hugs. I think now I will probably be going home for Christmas because I miss my peanuts and want to smother them with love. I'm not homesick at all - I love my life here and I love being here so much. The only reason I wasn't going home for Christmas was because of my fear of planes and I appear to have overcome that! Yay! So I will prob come home for the holidays but have plans in Paris for New Year's so we'll see what happens. Miss everyone lots and lots back home but I sure don't miss HOME! I love my new home! Hope you're all doing well! Please post comments so I know people are actually reading this ... it doesn't encourage me to write anything when I think no one's reading my random rants! Hope you're all doing well.
xoxo MEGS
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sorry Sorry
Heya,
Sorry I've been MIA. We've moved into our fabulous flat and we've no internet until Thursday. Yech. It is hard to live without internet when it's something you're used to!
Lemme start off by saying our place is AMAZING! It can't even be called a flat, really, I believe they call it a 'maisonette.' Essentially, we have a little house. It has three nice bright and white bedrooms upstairs, as well as a 'loo' with an amazing skylight. Downstairs, we have a nice, big living room with hardwood floors and leather sofas and everything. Our living room also has some lovely French doors that open up onto a little deck. Our landlady said she's getting us deck furniture. Sweet! Past the living room, we have a nice sized kitchen with a big dining table and full sized fridge (Which is important ... a few of the places we saw had mini bar fridges! No way!) True to English form, our flat also boasts of a washing machine conveniently located in ... the kitchen. Bizarre, I know. It is very hard to get used to the no dryer thing. Crystal has magically rigged up a clothesline in the 'garden' (located just off our little deck in the back yard) and I've bought a drying rack that appears to be a permanant fixture in our living room. We had a lot of clothes to wash after over a week of hostel life, so hopefully we find a system that works. We are lacking a microwave and a vaccuum, but hopefully our landlady will help us out with this. We've spent enough £££ (aka $$$) on things like dishes and linens, a toaster, kettle, and iron!
We did a massive shop in Ikea on Friday night and it is so cheap here! Ridiculous! I got all my bedding (duvet, cover, pillowcases, etc) for like £15! Less than $30cdn! Ikea is pretty tricky to get to, tho, and required many transportation transfers which proved a bit confusing.
I'm kind of all over the place here, but I have to mention that my amazing friend Kristin and I got to hang out on Wednesday! Kristin is a friend from Lethbridge who married Anthony, who is from the UK. She's been living over here for about 5 years and I stayed with them for a bit the last time I was in the UK. They are the sweetest couple! I met up with Kristin and we dined at a lovely place called 'Pizza Express' which is a huge pizza chain here and is delicious. Please note - if you come to the UK, they do not believe in slicing their pizza, but they DO give you a BUTTER KNIFE to cut and eat it with. Your pointer fingers get a mean workout from pizza eating! Kristin is managing a Lush store so she brought me an amazing package filled with all kinds of bath and body products! YAY for Kristin! My first shower in my new home was incredible thanks to her!
So, we got all moved in and set up on Friday, and on Saturday, we headed down to Trafalgar Square. This is where the Canadian Embassy and the National Gallery are located. We took some pics and explored the area a bit. There is a statue in all 4 corners of the square. There is one corner that always changes. Last time I was in London, it was a sculpture of a nude woman with no arms. This time, it's actual people who get to go up on the podium and do an action of their choice for an hour. They were pre-selected by the 'artist.' It was really neat!
I'm supposed to start work tomorrow, so here's hoping! I have to run for now, but we are getting internet on Thursday so I promise there will be more updates soon! Hope everyone is doing well and had a nice Thanksgiving!
xo Megs
Sorry I've been MIA. We've moved into our fabulous flat and we've no internet until Thursday. Yech. It is hard to live without internet when it's something you're used to!
Lemme start off by saying our place is AMAZING! It can't even be called a flat, really, I believe they call it a 'maisonette.' Essentially, we have a little house. It has three nice bright and white bedrooms upstairs, as well as a 'loo' with an amazing skylight. Downstairs, we have a nice, big living room with hardwood floors and leather sofas and everything. Our living room also has some lovely French doors that open up onto a little deck. Our landlady said she's getting us deck furniture. Sweet! Past the living room, we have a nice sized kitchen with a big dining table and full sized fridge (Which is important ... a few of the places we saw had mini bar fridges! No way!) True to English form, our flat also boasts of a washing machine conveniently located in ... the kitchen. Bizarre, I know. It is very hard to get used to the no dryer thing. Crystal has magically rigged up a clothesline in the 'garden' (located just off our little deck in the back yard) and I've bought a drying rack that appears to be a permanant fixture in our living room. We had a lot of clothes to wash after over a week of hostel life, so hopefully we find a system that works. We are lacking a microwave and a vaccuum, but hopefully our landlady will help us out with this. We've spent enough £££ (aka $$$) on things like dishes and linens, a toaster, kettle, and iron!
We did a massive shop in Ikea on Friday night and it is so cheap here! Ridiculous! I got all my bedding (duvet, cover, pillowcases, etc) for like £15! Less than $30cdn! Ikea is pretty tricky to get to, tho, and required many transportation transfers which proved a bit confusing.
I'm kind of all over the place here, but I have to mention that my amazing friend Kristin and I got to hang out on Wednesday! Kristin is a friend from Lethbridge who married Anthony, who is from the UK. She's been living over here for about 5 years and I stayed with them for a bit the last time I was in the UK. They are the sweetest couple! I met up with Kristin and we dined at a lovely place called 'Pizza Express' which is a huge pizza chain here and is delicious. Please note - if you come to the UK, they do not believe in slicing their pizza, but they DO give you a BUTTER KNIFE to cut and eat it with. Your pointer fingers get a mean workout from pizza eating! Kristin is managing a Lush store so she brought me an amazing package filled with all kinds of bath and body products! YAY for Kristin! My first shower in my new home was incredible thanks to her!
So, we got all moved in and set up on Friday, and on Saturday, we headed down to Trafalgar Square. This is where the Canadian Embassy and the National Gallery are located. We took some pics and explored the area a bit. There is a statue in all 4 corners of the square. There is one corner that always changes. Last time I was in London, it was a sculpture of a nude woman with no arms. This time, it's actual people who get to go up on the podium and do an action of their choice for an hour. They were pre-selected by the 'artist.' It was really neat!
I'm supposed to start work tomorrow, so here's hoping! I have to run for now, but we are getting internet on Thursday so I promise there will be more updates soon! Hope everyone is doing well and had a nice Thanksgiving!
xo Megs
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Busy Busy Busy!
Hi Again!Sorry for the lack of posts ... My flatmate Crystal is much better at writing daily blogs than I am! (Check her out under my followers if you wanna read her blog as well - I think she's funnier than me too, haha) It has been a CRAZY couple of days here in London!
So I think I left off writing about the first day only! Wow, a lot has happened since then! On Saturday, Niki, Crystal, Marlee and I headed down to Oxford Street and did some shopping and sightseeing. Here, on Oxford Street, we made the BIG PURCHASE ... UK Mobiles (aka cell phones) We were shallow and picked our cell phones based only on the colour (I got neon yellow, Marlee got hot pink, and Crystal got bright purple - our fave colours.) Then we wandered down past Ambercrombie and Fitch to check out the studly male model they pay to stand half naked in the doorway to take pictures with random people. Interesting. Tough job?
After that we took a stroll down to Bond Street. AKA The Street I'll Never Be Able to Afford to Shop On! This is a street of crazy high end stores like Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Prada, D & G, etc. It was fun to stroll along checking out the flashy cars and crazy outfits people wore.
We continued along on our stroll and wandered into Green Park which is a lovely little park with lots of pigeons for Marlee and Crystal to chase. Crystal is not a pigeon fan and is determined to kick one before we leave. I'm doing my best to sway her from this plan as I'd like us not to be deported anytime soon. Green Park leads to Buckingham Palace and also holds the Canadian War Memorial and the Canada Gate (across from the palace) It's a bit humbling to see something so incredible dedicated to our amazing country. I'd seen the gate and palace before but not the memorial. We met a pretty decent looking dude from Vancouver at this point and Crystal has decided he is her new boyfriend. Love it. We took some pics of the Canada Gate and headed over to Buckingham Palace and the Victoria memorial. No changing of the guards as it was mid-afternoon but was still fun. We followed the Princess Diana Memorial Walk for a bit and then veered off to the left to visit my buddy Big Ben. We got to Big Ben and the Parliament buildings and snapped a few pics. Interesting lesson for some of you : Believe it or not Big Ben is NOT the large clock tower most people think it is ... it is actually the large bell inside of the large clock tower. After this we headed over to Downing Street and checked out the Prime Minister's residence thru the gates. After this, we decided it was imperative to check out some housing arrangements and get looking for a flat.
We got back to our teeny tiny hostel room and it was beginning to wear on our nerves. As exciting as moving to London is, it is incredibly irritating to live in a tiny hostel room with 2 other people and ALL our luggage. Hostels are fine for travelling but not really cut out for moving! We were getting a bit irritated and snappy and on top of this, poor Niki was still with us and no longer had a room of her own so she was stuck in a room with us! At this point in, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from my good Avignon buddy, Andy! Andy, Niki and I were all best buds in Avignon and had some great times together. Andy happened to be in London and was nice enough to travel across London to meet up with us so Niki and I headed around the corner to the pub and met him and his friends for a pint. Andy's friends, Tim, Ed and Sonja were really nice and we had a great time chatting and swapping stories.
We decided to split up for dinner and to meet up for some nightlife action later on. I know it's important to find a place to live etc etc but there wasn't much we could do at night about it anyways. Marlee and Crystal stayed home to do a bit of research and get some rest and Niki and I headed out to the Camden area to meet Andy, Tim, and Ed. We started at a pub and things got pretty fun from there! I drank some "posh" beer as Tim called it and we wandered to various places in Camden throughout the evening. We had a really great time and Andy's friends were super nice and showed us a good time so a huge thanks to them. We eventually wound up at a famous jazz bar that said it was closing and wouldn't let us in. For SOME bizarre reason I convinced the bouncer that I was a journalist for Elle Canada and that I'd give them a nice review if we got in. It worked and in we went. Closed? It was open for HOURS (or so it felt) later once we got in. We had a great time dancing the night away. We eventually went looking for a taxi as the tubes were done for the night and we couldn't figure out the night bus schedule. It took us awhile but we got a cab and Niki and I wandered back to the hostel and the boys headed ... actually I have no idea where but hopefully they made 'er back safe and sound. Haha.
The next morning, as I'm sure you can image, was NOT the best morning of my life. I woke up with a cold, a headache and a hangover to boot. Awesome. We mustered up the courage to get outta bed, had a cold shower, and back to searching for a home we went. We pored over the website Gumtree trying desperately to find something. We sent out countless emails and made many a phone call. We went and looked at a few places but nothing felt right. We had to say goodbye to our dearest Niki as she had to get back home for work in the AM and discovered that in just a short day or two we had MASTERED the tube. YES! One hurdle down! We still really need to learn how to use the busses tho - that knowledge has totally deserted me.
Since then our life has been a whirlwind of going into our work offices to do paper work and set up bank accounts and to sign up for National Insurance numbers (like our SIN numbers back home) We've looked at numerous apartments and have gone from depressed to elated and everywhere in between and then back again. I never thought it would be this hard. I knew it would be this expensive, but it's still mind boggling from time to time. We finally found the perfect place for us yesterday. We breathed a sigh of relief, gave each other a knowing look, and turned around to tell the guy we'd take it - even before knowing much about it! We were DESPERATE! We were so excited last night making plans in our head for the new place. We didn't hear back right away so I sent the guy a text asking if he knew if the landlord had accepted us or not ... the only way he would take us was if we would make a 2 month's rent security deposit! WE FREAKED OUT! Rent is over $1000/month Canadian each when you do the conversion. This guy was basicaly asking for over $5000 between the 3 of us as a damage deposit because we were foreigners. We said no way, that we could get references, etc from Canada. In the end, we lost out and some British girls got our lovely flat. This was depressing to us because we had thought we were SHOE IN'S! We did our best to brush it off and jumped back in. We called another few agencies, and headed back out to West London, where we were looking at moving. We looked at flats all day and the only nice one we saw, we couldn't afford (bummer!) We were not too happy about this but plugged on to our last appointment. The lady took us in her car to see 2 flats (they take us in their cars all the time which I thought was weird. Oh well - saves us a tube trip!) We walked into the first home, saw the big windows, clean white walls, leather furniture, wood floors, open & airy bedrooms and cute little backyard/garden and we knew we'd found it. We went to the 2nd home and it basically looked like a crack shack after what we'd just seen! After seeing the second place and having been so frustrated for 3 days, we handed over our money, signed the papers, and we were in business. We found the flat thru a rental agency so we had to pay them a fee but we didn't care anymore. We had a home! The rental agency gives our info and references to the landlady and the landlady has to approve us but she said she thought it would be ok! Here's hoping!
Tomorrow we have some meetings etc and hopefully Thursday we'll move. During this time, we may not have internet so that will be my excuse for the lack of blog posting. Hope everyone's doing well. I think of you often and miss you guys lots but I'm really happy being here in London and I hope you all know that! This is exactly how I dreamed my life after uni would turn out and I can't wait to see what the future holds!
Much love,Meaghan xo
PS) I tried posting this last night but it wouldn't work ... seeing as how it's 5am and I've been wide awake for 2 hours I thought I'd post it now! xx
So I think I left off writing about the first day only! Wow, a lot has happened since then! On Saturday, Niki, Crystal, Marlee and I headed down to Oxford Street and did some shopping and sightseeing. Here, on Oxford Street, we made the BIG PURCHASE ... UK Mobiles (aka cell phones) We were shallow and picked our cell phones based only on the colour (I got neon yellow, Marlee got hot pink, and Crystal got bright purple - our fave colours.) Then we wandered down past Ambercrombie and Fitch to check out the studly male model they pay to stand half naked in the doorway to take pictures with random people. Interesting. Tough job?
After that we took a stroll down to Bond Street. AKA The Street I'll Never Be Able to Afford to Shop On! This is a street of crazy high end stores like Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Prada, D & G, etc. It was fun to stroll along checking out the flashy cars and crazy outfits people wore.
We continued along on our stroll and wandered into Green Park which is a lovely little park with lots of pigeons for Marlee and Crystal to chase. Crystal is not a pigeon fan and is determined to kick one before we leave. I'm doing my best to sway her from this plan as I'd like us not to be deported anytime soon. Green Park leads to Buckingham Palace and also holds the Canadian War Memorial and the Canada Gate (across from the palace) It's a bit humbling to see something so incredible dedicated to our amazing country. I'd seen the gate and palace before but not the memorial. We met a pretty decent looking dude from Vancouver at this point and Crystal has decided he is her new boyfriend. Love it. We took some pics of the Canada Gate and headed over to Buckingham Palace and the Victoria memorial. No changing of the guards as it was mid-afternoon but was still fun. We followed the Princess Diana Memorial Walk for a bit and then veered off to the left to visit my buddy Big Ben. We got to Big Ben and the Parliament buildings and snapped a few pics. Interesting lesson for some of you : Believe it or not Big Ben is NOT the large clock tower most people think it is ... it is actually the large bell inside of the large clock tower. After this we headed over to Downing Street and checked out the Prime Minister's residence thru the gates. After this, we decided it was imperative to check out some housing arrangements and get looking for a flat.
We got back to our teeny tiny hostel room and it was beginning to wear on our nerves. As exciting as moving to London is, it is incredibly irritating to live in a tiny hostel room with 2 other people and ALL our luggage. Hostels are fine for travelling but not really cut out for moving! We were getting a bit irritated and snappy and on top of this, poor Niki was still with us and no longer had a room of her own so she was stuck in a room with us! At this point in, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from my good Avignon buddy, Andy! Andy, Niki and I were all best buds in Avignon and had some great times together. Andy happened to be in London and was nice enough to travel across London to meet up with us so Niki and I headed around the corner to the pub and met him and his friends for a pint. Andy's friends, Tim, Ed and Sonja were really nice and we had a great time chatting and swapping stories.
We decided to split up for dinner and to meet up for some nightlife action later on. I know it's important to find a place to live etc etc but there wasn't much we could do at night about it anyways. Marlee and Crystal stayed home to do a bit of research and get some rest and Niki and I headed out to the Camden area to meet Andy, Tim, and Ed. We started at a pub and things got pretty fun from there! I drank some "posh" beer as Tim called it and we wandered to various places in Camden throughout the evening. We had a really great time and Andy's friends were super nice and showed us a good time so a huge thanks to them. We eventually wound up at a famous jazz bar that said it was closing and wouldn't let us in. For SOME bizarre reason I convinced the bouncer that I was a journalist for Elle Canada and that I'd give them a nice review if we got in. It worked and in we went. Closed? It was open for HOURS (or so it felt) later once we got in. We had a great time dancing the night away. We eventually went looking for a taxi as the tubes were done for the night and we couldn't figure out the night bus schedule. It took us awhile but we got a cab and Niki and I wandered back to the hostel and the boys headed ... actually I have no idea where but hopefully they made 'er back safe and sound. Haha.
The next morning, as I'm sure you can image, was NOT the best morning of my life. I woke up with a cold, a headache and a hangover to boot. Awesome. We mustered up the courage to get outta bed, had a cold shower, and back to searching for a home we went. We pored over the website Gumtree trying desperately to find something. We sent out countless emails and made many a phone call. We went and looked at a few places but nothing felt right. We had to say goodbye to our dearest Niki as she had to get back home for work in the AM and discovered that in just a short day or two we had MASTERED the tube. YES! One hurdle down! We still really need to learn how to use the busses tho - that knowledge has totally deserted me.
Since then our life has been a whirlwind of going into our work offices to do paper work and set up bank accounts and to sign up for National Insurance numbers (like our SIN numbers back home) We've looked at numerous apartments and have gone from depressed to elated and everywhere in between and then back again. I never thought it would be this hard. I knew it would be this expensive, but it's still mind boggling from time to time. We finally found the perfect place for us yesterday. We breathed a sigh of relief, gave each other a knowing look, and turned around to tell the guy we'd take it - even before knowing much about it! We were DESPERATE! We were so excited last night making plans in our head for the new place. We didn't hear back right away so I sent the guy a text asking if he knew if the landlord had accepted us or not ... the only way he would take us was if we would make a 2 month's rent security deposit! WE FREAKED OUT! Rent is over $1000/month Canadian each when you do the conversion. This guy was basicaly asking for over $5000 between the 3 of us as a damage deposit because we were foreigners. We said no way, that we could get references, etc from Canada. In the end, we lost out and some British girls got our lovely flat. This was depressing to us because we had thought we were SHOE IN'S! We did our best to brush it off and jumped back in. We called another few agencies, and headed back out to West London, where we were looking at moving. We looked at flats all day and the only nice one we saw, we couldn't afford (bummer!) We were not too happy about this but plugged on to our last appointment. The lady took us in her car to see 2 flats (they take us in their cars all the time which I thought was weird. Oh well - saves us a tube trip!) We walked into the first home, saw the big windows, clean white walls, leather furniture, wood floors, open & airy bedrooms and cute little backyard/garden and we knew we'd found it. We went to the 2nd home and it basically looked like a crack shack after what we'd just seen! After seeing the second place and having been so frustrated for 3 days, we handed over our money, signed the papers, and we were in business. We found the flat thru a rental agency so we had to pay them a fee but we didn't care anymore. We had a home! The rental agency gives our info and references to the landlady and the landlady has to approve us but she said she thought it would be ok! Here's hoping!
Tomorrow we have some meetings etc and hopefully Thursday we'll move. During this time, we may not have internet so that will be my excuse for the lack of blog posting. Hope everyone's doing well. I think of you often and miss you guys lots but I'm really happy being here in London and I hope you all know that! This is exactly how I dreamed my life after uni would turn out and I can't wait to see what the future holds!
Much love,Meaghan xo
PS) I tried posting this last night but it wouldn't work ... seeing as how it's 5am and I've been wide awake for 2 hours I thought I'd post it now! xx
Friday, October 2, 2009
I'm Safe & Sound in London!
Hey Everyone!
I'm safe and sound in London Town! So happy and excited to finally be here, starting my new adventures! We had an amazing flight-Those of you who know me well, know that I DESPISE flying - I'm terrified of it! This flight totally changed my mind set! We flew with Thomas Cook Airlines and it was the smoothes flight I've ever had - two minor bouts of turbulance I can handle! I actually don't feel a fear towards flying at all anymore! Thank Goodness!
Niki came to fetch us from the airport and it was so great to see her! She's my good UK friend that I met in Frnace and we've not seen each other in 3 years! She's amazing! She gave us a lift into London from Gatwick and then took us to our hostel. Our hostel is interesting. Smallest room ever but at least it's PRIVATE! Whoo! Poor Niki has to share a room with some strangers tho :(
After dropping off our luggage at the hostel, I went to meet my employers, Smart Teachers. Apparently, we need to bring our original copies of our Canadian Criminal Record Checks with us! I didn't get this memo so I DON'T HAVE MINE! I can't start work until I have it so after frantic calls to mum and the RCMP, it should be on its way sometime next week. Phew.
After that, my new roomies (Marlee and Crystal, from the Regina, SK area) had a nap at the hostel and Niki and I went and explored Covent Garden - so cute! We saw street performers and wandered around ... finally hit me ... I LIVE IN LONDON! Whoo!
Went to look at phones but was absolutely too knackered with jet lag and time changes to make a decision - I've got my eye on a cute little neon yellow number. Haha.
Went back to the hostel and had a little nap for 2 hrs ... first time sleeping since we left Thursday afternoon, really, as my airplane slumber was frequently interrupted due to me being in the aisle seat.
Got up about 7pm and got ready ... mmmm first nice hot shower - we were grubby, sweaty, dirty and smelly (NOT GONNA LIE) from being on planes, in cars, and on the tube all day and carrying all our massive luggage.
We went down to Leicester Square for supper and had a lovely little Italian bite to eat ... yum! We also popped into the nightclub in our hostel - it was a bit dead but the DJ was really good and we had free drink vouchers! Yeh! We then wandered around Leicester Square, people watching - so many interesting people around here! Then we wandered thru China Town and back over to Covent Garden.
After all that walking (sore feet and legs now!) we headed back into the hostel, grabbed a nightcap and bought some internet minutes so we could write home to all of you guys!!
Going to head to bed now - big day tomorrow. We HAVE to get UK cell phones and we HAVE to find a home - our hostel's nice but is literally a 4x4 square with NO room. I am, again literally, sleeping WITH my suitcase IN my bed with me tonight to save on space. Welcome to Europe! Haha.
Miss and love all of you back home! Thanks for reading - post comments so I know how you are!
xo Megs
PS) Check for pics on Facebook!
I'm safe and sound in London Town! So happy and excited to finally be here, starting my new adventures! We had an amazing flight-Those of you who know me well, know that I DESPISE flying - I'm terrified of it! This flight totally changed my mind set! We flew with Thomas Cook Airlines and it was the smoothes flight I've ever had - two minor bouts of turbulance I can handle! I actually don't feel a fear towards flying at all anymore! Thank Goodness!
Niki came to fetch us from the airport and it was so great to see her! She's my good UK friend that I met in Frnace and we've not seen each other in 3 years! She's amazing! She gave us a lift into London from Gatwick and then took us to our hostel. Our hostel is interesting. Smallest room ever but at least it's PRIVATE! Whoo! Poor Niki has to share a room with some strangers tho :(
After dropping off our luggage at the hostel, I went to meet my employers, Smart Teachers. Apparently, we need to bring our original copies of our Canadian Criminal Record Checks with us! I didn't get this memo so I DON'T HAVE MINE! I can't start work until I have it so after frantic calls to mum and the RCMP, it should be on its way sometime next week. Phew.
After that, my new roomies (Marlee and Crystal, from the Regina, SK area) had a nap at the hostel and Niki and I went and explored Covent Garden - so cute! We saw street performers and wandered around ... finally hit me ... I LIVE IN LONDON! Whoo!
Went to look at phones but was absolutely too knackered with jet lag and time changes to make a decision - I've got my eye on a cute little neon yellow number. Haha.
Went back to the hostel and had a little nap for 2 hrs ... first time sleeping since we left Thursday afternoon, really, as my airplane slumber was frequently interrupted due to me being in the aisle seat.
Got up about 7pm and got ready ... mmmm first nice hot shower - we were grubby, sweaty, dirty and smelly (NOT GONNA LIE) from being on planes, in cars, and on the tube all day and carrying all our massive luggage.
We went down to Leicester Square for supper and had a lovely little Italian bite to eat ... yum! We also popped into the nightclub in our hostel - it was a bit dead but the DJ was really good and we had free drink vouchers! Yeh! We then wandered around Leicester Square, people watching - so many interesting people around here! Then we wandered thru China Town and back over to Covent Garden.
After all that walking (sore feet and legs now!) we headed back into the hostel, grabbed a nightcap and bought some internet minutes so we could write home to all of you guys!!
Going to head to bed now - big day tomorrow. We HAVE to get UK cell phones and we HAVE to find a home - our hostel's nice but is literally a 4x4 square with NO room. I am, again literally, sleeping WITH my suitcase IN my bed with me tonight to save on space. Welcome to Europe! Haha.
Miss and love all of you back home! Thanks for reading - post comments so I know how you are!
xo Megs
PS) Check for pics on Facebook!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Leavin' On A Jet Plane!
I'm not sure if anyone is even reading this blog (yet?!) but just to keep the family updated, I'm in Calgary! I'm moving to London with two great girls, Marlee and Crystal, who are also recent Education grads. We are in Calgary staying with Marlee's brother (THANK YOU, SEAN!) Our plane flies out tomorrow afternoon at around 3h25pm. We'll arrive in London at 7h30am London time. I THINK the time difference is 7 hours so that'll be about 12h30 Saskabush time. I've still got my cell phone but I'm leaving it turned off to avoid gnarly roaming charges. I hate flying and would normally be having crazy lady panic attacks by now but I'm actually doing okay. We'll see how tomorrow goes. It took me about 17 tries to get my suitcase packed and I actually just did it again in Sean's apartment. It's still going to be overweight but I hope the luggage/airline Gods are smiling down on my tomorrow and it doesn't wind up costing me a fortune!
I'm pretty pumped to get my life in London started ... I know there's going to be so many great experiences ... probably some tough ones too but that's life! It feels great knowing I have so many friends and family supporting me 100% ... I'm lucky to have all of you! Well, just gonna put my carry-on back together and head to bed. My 3 Albertan sisters, Chelsea, Casie and Maddison are comin' to see me off at the airport tomorrow - can't wait to see them! On the other end, I have my amazing British BFF waiting to collect me from the airport - can't wait to see you again Niki! (It's been THREE years!) I also get to see my friend Kristin from Lethbridge who is living over there now on Wednesday - Will be great to see familiar faces!
Good night, everyone, and I'll post as soon as I can from London! Say a little prayer for me tomorrow that my flight goes safe, sound, and SMOOTH! (Bah turbulence!)
xoxo Megs
I'm pretty pumped to get my life in London started ... I know there's going to be so many great experiences ... probably some tough ones too but that's life! It feels great knowing I have so many friends and family supporting me 100% ... I'm lucky to have all of you! Well, just gonna put my carry-on back together and head to bed. My 3 Albertan sisters, Chelsea, Casie and Maddison are comin' to see me off at the airport tomorrow - can't wait to see them! On the other end, I have my amazing British BFF waiting to collect me from the airport - can't wait to see you again Niki! (It's been THREE years!) I also get to see my friend Kristin from Lethbridge who is living over there now on Wednesday - Will be great to see familiar faces!
Good night, everyone, and I'll post as soon as I can from London! Say a little prayer for me tomorrow that my flight goes safe, sound, and SMOOTH! (Bah turbulence!)
xoxo Megs
Monday, September 28, 2009
All signs point to yes ...
Well, my ultra-organized and wonderful mum pulled together a going away party for her side of the family last night. All of my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins were able to come and it was great. We had great food and even better company. And rock band. I will miss Rock Band in England. As I mentioned earlier, I'm an emotional kid when it comes to goodbyes. Judging by the fact that I was dry-eyed for the entire night aside from a small two minute section on the driveway, I take this as yet another sign that I'm destined for England. I love my family and will miss them lots but I'm ready for this next step in my life! Well, almost ready. I still haven't started packing yet. We leave for Calgary on Wednesday. I'm screwed! Haha. G'nite all!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Holy Cow, Batman!
Tomorrow is my last day of work. I leave in less than a week! Where did the time go? Dear London : Let's do this!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Au revoir mes amis, au revoir ...
So, I don't like to think of myself as a wimpy person. I like to think I can hold my own. For the most part, I'm pretty successful in this attempt ... until I have to say good bye to someone. I am absolutely TERRIBLE at goodbyes. I have moved a LOT over the last 10 years and almost anyone that I've met in these ten years, I've had to say good bye to at some point. They will vouch for me in saying that I SUCK at bidding adieu. I cry a lot and it gets messy.
My goodbyes have begun. And leavin' ain't easy.
I started this experience off by driving to Lethbridge, Alberta this past weekend. I did my first degree here at the U of L and let's keep in mind that I've already said good bye to my friends and family on NUMEROUS occasions. NUMEROUS. More like a plethora of occasions. I haven't even LIVED in Lethbridge for two years. I actually did pretty well in saying good bye to everyone and didn't get too teary eyed at all. Inside I'm thinking "Yay me! Well done!" About an hour later, I realized that I was PROBABLY too hung over from celebrating my 2nd cousin's 52nd birthday with about 52 shots of B-52's the night earlier to even emote any emotion. Dry well from dehydration. Mystery solved. Whatever. I still won that one.
I drive to Medicine Hat later that night and had supper with my auntie and my two little cousins. My auntie and I are super close - she's only 12 years older than me and used to treat me like a little sister. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her little girls ... they are incredibly precious! Needless to say, the 5 yr old gave me a hug and asked me not to leave and I had a meltdown. Poor child probably thought SHE made me cry ... she looked a little terrified. Needless to say I had an emotional trip home that night ... thank God for the lack of wildlife on the highway that night!
The day after that I drove to Regina to grab the last of my mail, get my hair done by my amazing friend Heidi-Wood and to have dinner with anyone who'd join me. I had a really fun day just takin' 'er easy, not worrying about work and getting primped. Went for supper and was happily surprised that 11 of my raddest friends from Regina had come out to wish me bon voyage! We had an interesting supper (rotten lemons and mayo topping on pizza?! yikes!) but an incredible time together ... I love how the majority of my friends can just come together and hang out and get along, even with having never met ... just shows how amazing they all are!
I did SO good at not getting weepy in Regina, too! Was extremely proud of myself ... until my cousin BK shed some tears and then it was Team Red Eyes once again.
I thought I had already said my goodbyes to my extended family at a weekend at the lake a few weeks back. I'm lucky that my extended family is rather close and I get to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins pretty frequently and we all like getting together and having a good time. Leaving the lake I had a little moment of tears thinking I may not see any of them for a year or two. I thought about not being home for Christmas and that hit me like a brick, too ... I always say I'm not coming home and it doesn't faze me but it doesn't make it easier. My mom just dropped the bomb on me last night that we're having everyone here this weekend for family supper. Don't get me wrong, I am SUPER pumped to see my family ... I just KNOW I'm going to be "that girl" you know ... the crying one that people point at. AWESOME.
The point of my blog is not to bore you (Too late!? I thought so ... ) but to let all of you who ARE close to me know that leaving you SUCKS! If I could pack you all up and take you with me, I totally would! I hope everyone knows how much I care about them and how hard it is to leave. I feel SUPER fortunate to have such incredible people in my life supporting my decision to go! I'm a lucky girl to feel so much love. OK OK I know ... I'm being cheesy. It's deff time for bed. G'nite kids. 7 more sleeps until my London life BEGINS!
xoxo M
My goodbyes have begun. And leavin' ain't easy.
I started this experience off by driving to Lethbridge, Alberta this past weekend. I did my first degree here at the U of L and let's keep in mind that I've already said good bye to my friends and family on NUMEROUS occasions. NUMEROUS. More like a plethora of occasions. I haven't even LIVED in Lethbridge for two years. I actually did pretty well in saying good bye to everyone and didn't get too teary eyed at all. Inside I'm thinking "Yay me! Well done!" About an hour later, I realized that I was PROBABLY too hung over from celebrating my 2nd cousin's 52nd birthday with about 52 shots of B-52's the night earlier to even emote any emotion. Dry well from dehydration. Mystery solved. Whatever. I still won that one.
I drive to Medicine Hat later that night and had supper with my auntie and my two little cousins. My auntie and I are super close - she's only 12 years older than me and used to treat me like a little sister. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her little girls ... they are incredibly precious! Needless to say, the 5 yr old gave me a hug and asked me not to leave and I had a meltdown. Poor child probably thought SHE made me cry ... she looked a little terrified. Needless to say I had an emotional trip home that night ... thank God for the lack of wildlife on the highway that night!
The day after that I drove to Regina to grab the last of my mail, get my hair done by my amazing friend Heidi-Wood and to have dinner with anyone who'd join me. I had a really fun day just takin' 'er easy, not worrying about work and getting primped. Went for supper and was happily surprised that 11 of my raddest friends from Regina had come out to wish me bon voyage! We had an interesting supper (rotten lemons and mayo topping on pizza?! yikes!) but an incredible time together ... I love how the majority of my friends can just come together and hang out and get along, even with having never met ... just shows how amazing they all are!
I did SO good at not getting weepy in Regina, too! Was extremely proud of myself ... until my cousin BK shed some tears and then it was Team Red Eyes once again.
I thought I had already said my goodbyes to my extended family at a weekend at the lake a few weeks back. I'm lucky that my extended family is rather close and I get to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins pretty frequently and we all like getting together and having a good time. Leaving the lake I had a little moment of tears thinking I may not see any of them for a year or two. I thought about not being home for Christmas and that hit me like a brick, too ... I always say I'm not coming home and it doesn't faze me but it doesn't make it easier. My mom just dropped the bomb on me last night that we're having everyone here this weekend for family supper. Don't get me wrong, I am SUPER pumped to see my family ... I just KNOW I'm going to be "that girl" you know ... the crying one that people point at. AWESOME.
The point of my blog is not to bore you (Too late!? I thought so ... ) but to let all of you who ARE close to me know that leaving you SUCKS! If I could pack you all up and take you with me, I totally would! I hope everyone knows how much I care about them and how hard it is to leave. I feel SUPER fortunate to have such incredible people in my life supporting my decision to go! I'm a lucky girl to feel so much love. OK OK I know ... I'm being cheesy. It's deff time for bed. G'nite kids. 7 more sleeps until my London life BEGINS!
xoxo M
Friday, September 11, 2009
Contract!
Am very excited! After finally getting the chance to talk with a lady who works for my teaching agency, I've been offered a guaranteed work contract. This is exciting to me because now I am GUARANTEED hours in London, which means there is potentially less chance for me to go bankrupt whilst in England. Teaching more means shopping less. Haha. Got our hostel booked for our first weekend in London - staying in a notorious party hostel which could be interesting but really chose it for it's location - it's near Soho and we're more than a little excited to check out some of the musicals going on ... Niki (MY BBF - I had one before Paris Hilton did!) wants us to go see Wicked right away! Everything is coming together and I'm getting pretty excited ... 3 weeks today, and I'm on a jet plane! Only a few more shifts at my night job - thank GOD! I'm getting tuckered out from working so much!! Well, I think that's all I have to post today!
-Megs
-Megs
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Countdown : 21 days to England
I have to start off this blog post by saying I honestly hope this goes better than my failed attempt at Blogging during my time in France. I promise to try harder. Great. Now that that's out of the way ... welcome to my blog! I'm not sure that anyone will actually read it but I know a lot of people have told me that they want to keep updated on my life in the UK. I figured this was probably the quickest and easiest way to do that.
For those who don't know me, I'm Meg. I just finished University, and I'm starting my first major job in my career as a teacher in the UK. Teaching is all that I have ever pictured myself doing and now I can't wait to get back into the classroom! I've dreamed of living in London since I was about 14 years old. I always thought it was a silly dream that would go away, but it didn't. Throughout my interviewing experiences in Saskatchewan and Alberta, I knew my heart wasn't in it. I love Canada and it will always be my home, but I was ready for a new adventure!
During my time in London, I plan to do a ton of travelling! (Hopefully, s'long as my rent doesn't break me! Haha) I'll be keeping this blog up-to-date with pictures and stories about my experiences. I hope you enjoy it!
For those who don't know me, I'm Meg. I just finished University, and I'm starting my first major job in my career as a teacher in the UK. Teaching is all that I have ever pictured myself doing and now I can't wait to get back into the classroom! I've dreamed of living in London since I was about 14 years old. I always thought it was a silly dream that would go away, but it didn't. Throughout my interviewing experiences in Saskatchewan and Alberta, I knew my heart wasn't in it. I love Canada and it will always be my home, but I was ready for a new adventure!
During my time in London, I plan to do a ton of travelling! (Hopefully, s'long as my rent doesn't break me! Haha) I'll be keeping this blog up-to-date with pictures and stories about my experiences. I hope you enjoy it!
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