Well now, it's the end of May already.
I'm not really sure where the time has been going, to be honest with you.
This month has been full of: unwanted drama, a trip to Brighton, ICT teaching two days a week, a visitor from Finland, a trip to watch Chicago, pretending that it's summer, various nights out to pubs, the booking of a trip to Canada, and as of today, the beginnings of a trip to Scotland!
So I suppose that is quite a lot. And that's not even counting the various things I've planned and cancelled.
I'll start with the teaching bit: until the end of the year I'm teaching ICT on Thursdays and Fridays. I'm oddly enough enjoying myself, even though it feels like SO LITTLE gets done in the ICT suite. But, I have each class between 40-60 minutes so that's not really much time when that includes getting things set up and tidied up. I'm learning a lot of names there, seeing as I teach the ENTIRE school minus Reception, I'm doing quite well. I know all of the year 5 class that I have Friday afternoons, and handfuls from each class.
Went to Brighton for the second time with my Canadian/teaching friends. I quite enjoy it in Brighton, although it IS rather overhyped. But I like water so I'm happy enough.
I went and saw Chicago with Sarah, an Aussie that I met while supply-teaching the year 3 class back in October that I really enjoyed. It was great, I was highly impressed with the MINIMAL usage of props - the most elaborate prop was a chair. It was basic in that way, that the production relies entirely on the cast. Which personally, I loved. Any more props would have detracted from the performance, imho.
I did decide to go back to Ontario for August. Little sad about the fact that most everyone in Toronto will be unable to see me for different reasons. But I'll have lots of time with my nieces, which is what ultimately convinced me to go for a visit. It's very strange for me to really miss anyone as much as I miss them.
Although, talking about missing people - I miss a lot of people. I miss my Toronto friends, I miss my really old friends who are all over the place. I miss some of the people that are not in my life anymore for various reasons. I miss my London friends that I haven't seen in months, and know that the only reason why I haven't seen them is myself. I feel really isolated, even though I'm not - I'm frequently out doing things with people. So I really just don't know what it is I'm wanting or feel like I'm missing. I'm afraid that it's just my need to leave feeling setting in. I wonder if I'll ever be rid of it?
Speaking of leaving - I'm off to Scotland today! Canadian Sarah and I are going up to Edinburgh tonight on the night bus. We will spend tomorrow (Monday) in Edinburgh and then we will leave on Tuesday morning for a 6-day tour. http://www.wild-in-scotland.com/6-Day-Hebridean-Explorer-01-0005.php That link should show you the tour we are taking. We're doing a tour as it's easiest - at least for me, everywhere I want to go is always rather isolated (perhaps THAT is why I'm always feeling isolated?! haha) and thus hard to get to without having a car. I'm quite excited for it, we've had it planned out since February when we were in Prague.
Which means next time I post here - it will be a Scotland update :)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
April Sunshine brings May Showers?
I could have sworn I knew a different rhyme ;) April in London was very sunny, but May (the few days we've had of it) have been rainy.
Not much has really been going on in my part of the world. Since Ireland, I've just been working. I spent a lovely weekend in Bristol with Siggy and Jen, where it felt more like being back in Canada as we had a bbq and I sat around in their allotment while Siggy did chores. hahaha.
Lately I've been in the frame of mind of "Oh crumb I need to save money" so I haven't been doing a whole lot of anything. Mostly this is because I know that come August, I'm going to go broke. A month with no pay, while having to pay this rather large rent and expenses? Yep. Gonna be a broke me.
So money has kept my life relatively calm and boring. But the other reason is that I'm simply not in the mood for a lot of urban things. I've been missing rural areas and just being outside. Now, yes, I could go outside whenever I want to. But going outside and walking down a street isn't the same as being outside in fresh air. I've been missing just sitting on a deck and reading in the sun, and BBQs, and hiking. Not easy things to do in London. We have a yard in this house yes, but there's nothing to sit on outside and the people we rent from don't want to invest in any cheap outdoor furniture... and we're not keen on buying it for the house as none of us will be living here for years and years. So there's nothing outside, which renders the yard useless. I don't know anyone in London really with a BBQ. And while I could go walking in the parks or hiking in areas near here... I've just been wanting RIGHT outside of London.
It doesn't mean that I love London less.... but I've been adjusting myself to the idea of not living here and it makes me want to go outside of London and explore more of England. So far, I've really only been to Brighton and Bristol. There's so many places I want to go, but it costs so much to go places on a regular basis.
Then there's also, for me, been the fact that lately I've been rather anti-social. Well, it's more like selectively-social. The idea of groups has just NOT been my cup of tea lately.... I've been a lot more interested in 1-on-1 interactions with friends, which is hard to do sometimes. Or groups of 3. Any larger than that and I sorta cringe. Which is odd, cause it doesn't mean there's anything I'm NOT wanting to see, I'm just not feeling incredibly social.
And I'm really missing my friends back in Canada, and my nieces. I wish it was cheaper to visit between the two countries, as I'd love to try to drag someone or another over here to visit me in August. It'd be really nice to see some of the faces I've been missing! I've been tempted to go back to Canada for August, but that's not a good idea financially. It'd cost over £500 though, and that's just not good financially. I don't think I'd spent £500 in August on food and recreation. I spent less than £50/week on groceries, so we'll just round that up to £200 for the month. That's £300 left for spending money. We'll drop £100 of that on books as that just seems like the sort of thing I'll do. Down to £200. I plan to get myself passes for zones 1-4 which I don't normally do, as I expect I'll spend a lot of time in the parks. That's £40 a week, and let's say that I go and spend 1 week with Siggy and Jen... so that'd £120. Ok, so that's leaving me £80 for a month of miscellaneous expenses.
Ok, so maybe I will spend the £500 in the summer. Ummm. Dammit. That's sorta a lot more to think about now.
:S
Not much has really been going on in my part of the world. Since Ireland, I've just been working. I spent a lovely weekend in Bristol with Siggy and Jen, where it felt more like being back in Canada as we had a bbq and I sat around in their allotment while Siggy did chores. hahaha.
Lately I've been in the frame of mind of "Oh crumb I need to save money" so I haven't been doing a whole lot of anything. Mostly this is because I know that come August, I'm going to go broke. A month with no pay, while having to pay this rather large rent and expenses? Yep. Gonna be a broke me.
So money has kept my life relatively calm and boring. But the other reason is that I'm simply not in the mood for a lot of urban things. I've been missing rural areas and just being outside. Now, yes, I could go outside whenever I want to. But going outside and walking down a street isn't the same as being outside in fresh air. I've been missing just sitting on a deck and reading in the sun, and BBQs, and hiking. Not easy things to do in London. We have a yard in this house yes, but there's nothing to sit on outside and the people we rent from don't want to invest in any cheap outdoor furniture... and we're not keen on buying it for the house as none of us will be living here for years and years. So there's nothing outside, which renders the yard useless. I don't know anyone in London really with a BBQ. And while I could go walking in the parks or hiking in areas near here... I've just been wanting RIGHT outside of London.
It doesn't mean that I love London less.... but I've been adjusting myself to the idea of not living here and it makes me want to go outside of London and explore more of England. So far, I've really only been to Brighton and Bristol. There's so many places I want to go, but it costs so much to go places on a regular basis.
Then there's also, for me, been the fact that lately I've been rather anti-social. Well, it's more like selectively-social. The idea of groups has just NOT been my cup of tea lately.... I've been a lot more interested in 1-on-1 interactions with friends, which is hard to do sometimes. Or groups of 3. Any larger than that and I sorta cringe. Which is odd, cause it doesn't mean there's anything I'm NOT wanting to see, I'm just not feeling incredibly social.
And I'm really missing my friends back in Canada, and my nieces. I wish it was cheaper to visit between the two countries, as I'd love to try to drag someone or another over here to visit me in August. It'd be really nice to see some of the faces I've been missing! I've been tempted to go back to Canada for August, but that's not a good idea financially. It'd cost over £500 though, and that's just not good financially. I don't think I'd spent £500 in August on food and recreation. I spent less than £50/week on groceries, so we'll just round that up to £200 for the month. That's £300 left for spending money. We'll drop £100 of that on books as that just seems like the sort of thing I'll do. Down to £200. I plan to get myself passes for zones 1-4 which I don't normally do, as I expect I'll spend a lot of time in the parks. That's £40 a week, and let's say that I go and spend 1 week with Siggy and Jen... so that'd £120. Ok, so that's leaving me £80 for a month of miscellaneous expenses.
Ok, so maybe I will spend the £500 in the summer. Ummm. Dammit. That's sorta a lot more to think about now.
:S
Friday, April 16, 2010
Luck of the Irish...
Anyone who reads this and also pays even a tiny bit of attention to the things I do will know that I just returned from a trip to Ireland. Now, this trip was special for me, and I'll explain why in a bit.
Before I do that though, I'm going to focus on that other key word in my title: Luck. To sum it up, I've got a lot of it. At least, if we go with all the various superstitions. I've known found two 6-leaf clovers, 2 5-leaf clovers, and I think it's 23 4-leaf clovers. I have also found one lone horseshoe on a lawn that was mowed every summer yet it had never gotten in the way. And I know I owned a lucky rabbit's foot, but I can say that I don't recall ever purchasing it, so I'm going with the fact that I'd probably found it. I've yet to find any gold at the end of a rainbow, however, but I'm going with the thought that that's only because I've yet to find myself at the end of a rainbow.
In all seriousness though, I actually am quite lucky. Sure, I make a lot of that luck through hard work and careful planning, but there is some genuine luck in there. I've learned to trust in it over the years. Things tend to work how the way I want them too, and I tend to find that the things where I have a lot of interference... generally don't turn out too well if I keep pushing to get it anyway.
Anyway, onwards to Ireland!
It was a special trip for me as I did it solo. I wanted to be able to say to myself years down the road that I went on a vacation all by myself. I think it shows how much I've changed over the years, as I really am quite shy in a lot of ways and being able to actually go all on my own (and be confident enough to TELL my friends that I was going solo) is something I'm proud of. Even a few years ago I wouldn't have been able to do it.
The First Leg of the Journey: Wales
I didn't head directly to Ireland. I went to Cardiff Wales first, to visit Mel. What can I say, I take people up on open invitations.
I had a relaxing time, and I hope that she wasn't too extra-stressed out while having a guest when she is busy working on her PhD thesis. I was there for Easter (as I failed to understand the hugeness of the holiday here in England... in Canada it's really not all that big) and we spent Easter Sunday at Dunraven Bay. It was a lovely bay with lovely cliffs that were made extra-awesome by the knowledge that they were Bad Wolf Bay in Doctor Who.
I'll say this now: I could sum up my time in Wales by saying that I was stalking Doctor Who.
Anyway, our drive out to the bay showed me what is common in Wales; sheep walking wherever the hell they want to. Who needs to worry about fences when you're allowed to just let the sheep roam free? I couldn't figure out how they could EASILY tell which sheep belong to who, but I'm sure the farmers there have it sorted out somehow.
Anyway. While in Cardiff I also did another first in my life: I went to the cinema on my own, to watch Alice in Wonderland. Now, I've been TRYING to get up the guts to do that for years. I didn't seem able to, despite the fact that I've gone out for meals solo which you would think I'd find a lot more intimidating, but nonetheless, going to the show on my own just hadn't happened. So I did that finally and was all rather proud of myself.
Ireland Part 1: Zombie time in Dublin.
Even though I had a really relaxing time in Cardiff and had lots of time to sleep in rest, I arrived in Dublin after less than an hour's flight totally exhausted. Why was this, you ask? Oh, because my body hates me. It refuses to sleep in, and I was really feeling it when I got to Dublin. I think it was amplified by the fact that the plane (it was a smaller one, where it was only 2 seats-aisle-2 seats) made me feel like I had a nosebleed. Fortunately it only lasted an hour. It really hurt though, I've never experienced that before. Normally I just have some of the ear-popping which is a part of my daily life so I don't notice it. But this plane? It hurt. The pressure hurt, and I kept putting my hand under my nose to make sure it hadn't started gushing blood. I'm going to blame it on sitting where the propeller was literally just out my window, because I don't know what made my head hurt like that.
I head off to find my hostel which was rather easy, I leave my bag and ask for a suggestion on what to do, as nothing IN Dublin itself really struck my fancy as something I needed to go and see. They suggested various things, and I ended up doing the one thing I never thought I'd do anywhere: I bought a ticket for a city bus sight-seeing tour. My logic was that I was too tired to want to walk and do anything, but I still wanted to see places because I knew that was all the time I'd spend in the city. So I hopped on this bus and sat on it for an hour and a half as it went around. I tried my best to listen to the tourguide, but it was hard to stay awake. I was getting really upset with myself, to be honest. I was only tired because my body won't sleep, but I was so tired it hurt and I just wanted to cry.
I ended up going to Kilmainham Gaol. Sure, I had the option to go the Guiness Storehouse which is what everyone else does... but I figured a pint of Guiness would have made me throw up or something, as I was really feeling awful from pure exhaustion. And I didn't seem to want to go to an average museum, so the jail it was. It was really interesting, and sad, and a little spooky. Somehow I made it through the jail without passing out since I was standing up the whole time. I then returned to the hostel and properly checked in since the time was alright finally. I laid on the bed and read for a bit, before heading back out.
This time, I decided I'd go to Trinity College and see the book of Kells. Well. I saw Trinity College alright, but I forgot about the Book of Kells. I was in the yard at the college, and sat down to enjoy the sunshine, and I wanted a rest (yes, taking a bus and getting off the bus tired me out) so where better to rest? However, during this rest I realized I was famished as well.
So I left for food, and forgot about the book of Kells until that evening. I had McDonald's. I was too tired to walk far and I didn't feel like having someone take my order or anything, so McDonald's it was. I felt a bit better after eating, so hopped back on the bus and went to St. Stephen's Green. It was a pretty park, which I just sat in. Didn't even walk around all of it, I just found a place on a bench in the sun to sit, and sat. Thought about how people would go there to watch public executions and whatnot. When I left... I realized a bit too late that the bus had stopped running (as I was still using the sightseeing bus). I hadn't thought it'd stop so early, and I didn't want to pay for public transit. (yes, my logic when exhausted is slightly lacking). So I started walking back in the direction that I thought the bus had came from. Keep in mind, I had a map with me, but forgot I had one.
I just left and went walking. In a strange city. That I had previously only been around one in a bus when I was half-asleep and not paying attention.
Now, this is when you're probably thinking "Oh no, she got lost in Dublin" and this is where you are dead wrong. I didn't. I got back to the hostel without a switch and only looking at my map once to see which corner of Merrion Square I'd shown up in, seeing as I didn't precisely follow the bus route and just walked in the direction I felt I should be. Lindsey's sense of direction for the win!
I then got back to the hostel and passed out, to wake up by 4am. Yep. I lose.
Ireland Part 2: The Cliffs of Moher
So, my first "awake" day in Ireland I was off for a day trip to see the Cliffs of Moher. These are the cliffs that are in the Princess Bridge, when the giant carries Princess Buttercup up the Cliffs after they are in the boat... and where Inigo Montoya waits for Westley/Dread Pirate Roberts at the top for their sword fight. If you've seen the movie.. you'll know how huge they are. If you haven't, then I'll tell you that these are 750 m tall monsters. Tall and gorgeous. But that's rushing myself.
I'll tell you first about the tour guide that day. He was an Irishman (but not a Dubliner) named Shawn who reminded me a bit of my cousin Kevin: sketchy and scrawny. But funny. Throughout the day, Shawn consistently beeped the bus at sheep and said "hi sheep!" Now, mostly, this made me giggle as it's the sort of thing that I do, except I tend to say hello to inanimate things that can't acknowledge I've said anything. He also had the habit of saying "hey sailor" to everything and anything. He also liked to point out all the farmers to us. hahaha. But, behind the somewhat sketchy front you could tell he's rather intelligent, and very good at his job. He was constantly sharing information with us and he talked almost all day long. He also sang songs for us. Now, true, he didn't have the BEST singing voice, but I will give props to anyone who is going to sing in front of a group of people. He sang us Molly Malone at one point.
The first thing we did was to drive through an area of Ireland called the Burren to go see a ruined Abbey. I was much more interested in getting to the Burren. Now, the Burren. It's rocks. Everywhere. The hills look grey and that is because they are grey; it's almost exclusively rocks. So naturally, I was happy. We went to see a Dolma, which was a burial site or something, sort of like a mini Stonehenge but not in a ring, but I spent most of the time clambering about on the rocks.
On this day, I met a nice American couple from California who kept thinking it was a cold day, when really, it was a gorgeous day. But they are from California. I also met a fellow solo-traveller from Chicago, and she was my photo-buddy at the Cliffs of Moher. I made sure to get a picture of them all to prove that yes, while travelling on my own I actually DID talk to other people. I wasn't sure if I would or not, as once I'm out on my own I tend to be quite content being a recluse. But I did, and I was glad of it. I wish we had had more time at the Cliffs of Moher though, as I would have loved to walk all the way down to the end. Didn't have time to though. The weather was amazing though, it was sunny and clear and warm and not overly windy. I didn't even need my jacket on, which was amazing.
Ireland Part 3: Howth
On Saturday I woke up (again, by 4am) and got ready in the dark so as not to wake my roommates. As in, I straightened my hair in the dark. Without a mirror.
When it was an acceptable time, I headed out and went to find the DART (rapid transit, like a train but cheaper) station which was just around the corner. I then headed out to Howth, which was on a small peninsula. It took about half an hour on the DART to get there. I'd wanted to go somewhere coastal and this had fit the bit, and I went out bright an early in search of seals.
Which I found. The seals live right in the habour, which I hadn't known. I was there early (very early) and no one else was around, so I had the seals all to myself. They were amusing, and very wrinkly. I spent my time with them wishing I could feed them (to discover later on in the day that one of the shops sells fish TO feed them! So I did. Money well spent, I say).
After I felt like I had been seal-watching solo for long enough, I headed out the for cliff walk I wanted to go. So off I go, and while walking up a hill I see this dog run across the skinny road. No big deal, until I notice a car come flying UP the hill super fast. I got worried that if I kept walking I'd startle the dog and that it would run back across the road to its owner or to check me out.. and that it'd get hit... so I stopped and waiting and fortunately the car saw the dog and stopped. When it went on, I said to the dog's owner something about how scared I'd been for his dog. He then asked where my accent was from and we had a nice chat. Where I had a soaking wet cocker spaniel sitting on my feet and getting my jeans wet the whole time. It was a nice chat, and we parted ways.
Only to run into each other later in the day, as I guess I was being REALLY pokey on my walk and he took a different/shorter path. It was quite the surprise for me! So I walked along with him for a while. Feel bad, I never got his name, but his dogs were Benji and Margie! When I met him the second time he was taking some daffodils to a woman who lived on the top of the cliff and had just celebrated her 90th birthday. So again, we parted ways and I continued on my walk.
I got really tired and hungry when I realized I'd left my snack/water bottle at the hostel. I went to try to cut my cliff-walk short... and didn't succeed. I left the cliff, but couldn't find where the road would TURN so I ended up walking down the penninsula and it took my ages to get back to Howth. Overall, I think my cliff-walk lasted from 9:30am until 3:30pm, and that's rounding, it was likely longer. Keeping in mind how crappy my sleep had been... I was beat. I ended up just going into the first restaurant, and ordered one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive) meal I've ever ate: 15 Euros, for Hake with asparagus and roast potatoes. I will say though, it was delicious and you really could taste how fresh the fish was! Now, normally when I'm exhausted and starved I don't really TASTE my meal, so I think it would have tasted even better if I had been well-rested. I will make this comment about my meal though: I ordered a pint of Carlsberg as I wanted something light... and she brought me Guiness anyway. So I did, even though I hadn't really wanted it or planned in, drink Guiness while in Ireland. The country saw to it. PS. I got a tiny little sunburn on my nose and a bit below my neck. But it didn't follow the neckline of my shirt so I'm not sure what was up with that.
Ireland Part 4: The Last day, in the Wicklow Mountains and Killkenny
My last full day in Ireland began at 3:30am. Why? Who the hell knows. I went on a day trip out through the Wicklow Mountains and then to Killkenny, and this trip I did for free since I'd stayed for more than two nights at the hostel. It was a nice relaxing day.
It started with driving through Dublin early Sunday morning. It was pretty empty! Of course... that doesn't mean there was nothing going on. Oh no, at the first stop light we had to stop at.. when the light turned green, the truck in front of us doesn't go. Cars behind us start honking.. and (I was sitting right behind the driver) the driver (Connor) and those of us at the front notice that the man's chin is resting on his seatbelt. He was fast asleep. So Connor had to get out of the bus and walk over to the truck. The guys window was down, so Connor smacks him to wake him up. It was rather funny. Connor comes back to the bus and the truck goes bumbling off to the side of the road and almost crashed into a post. Yep. Someone was likely still drunk.
This day I met some other solo travellors... both near the London area. So had lots of company all day. We started out in Glendalough (place of two lakes or something like that) that had a monastery built there... it was gorgeous. Since the weather was so great, and not windy, the lakes were really like a mirror.. totally clear. It was a nice area to go walking.
We drove through the Wicklow mountains which were pretty. They were used in Braveheart, as were Irish horns which apparently pissed off the Scots a bit (can't say I blame them!)
Killkenny was a cute place, but it wasn't really somewhere on my list of things to want to go, so I was glad to just be all relaxed there. We went to a pub that was owned by the last woman burned to the stake as a witch. The food was really good. And yes, we drank a pint of Killkenny in Killkenny. Which, I learned is prounounced "kill-kenny" like I THOUGHT it was, but had peeps in Canada inform me was "kill-kin-knee" or something like that. So turns out whoever THAT was, was wrong, and that I was right, haha.
Well now. I've been sat here typing for wayyyy too long. I think I've summed up the highlights of my trip for me, and if not, then oh well! They're in my memories.
Before I do that though, I'm going to focus on that other key word in my title: Luck. To sum it up, I've got a lot of it. At least, if we go with all the various superstitions. I've known found two 6-leaf clovers, 2 5-leaf clovers, and I think it's 23 4-leaf clovers. I have also found one lone horseshoe on a lawn that was mowed every summer yet it had never gotten in the way. And I know I owned a lucky rabbit's foot, but I can say that I don't recall ever purchasing it, so I'm going with the fact that I'd probably found it. I've yet to find any gold at the end of a rainbow, however, but I'm going with the thought that that's only because I've yet to find myself at the end of a rainbow.
In all seriousness though, I actually am quite lucky. Sure, I make a lot of that luck through hard work and careful planning, but there is some genuine luck in there. I've learned to trust in it over the years. Things tend to work how the way I want them too, and I tend to find that the things where I have a lot of interference... generally don't turn out too well if I keep pushing to get it anyway.
Anyway, onwards to Ireland!
It was a special trip for me as I did it solo. I wanted to be able to say to myself years down the road that I went on a vacation all by myself. I think it shows how much I've changed over the years, as I really am quite shy in a lot of ways and being able to actually go all on my own (and be confident enough to TELL my friends that I was going solo) is something I'm proud of. Even a few years ago I wouldn't have been able to do it.
The First Leg of the Journey: Wales
I didn't head directly to Ireland. I went to Cardiff Wales first, to visit Mel. What can I say, I take people up on open invitations.
I had a relaxing time, and I hope that she wasn't too extra-stressed out while having a guest when she is busy working on her PhD thesis. I was there for Easter (as I failed to understand the hugeness of the holiday here in England... in Canada it's really not all that big) and we spent Easter Sunday at Dunraven Bay. It was a lovely bay with lovely cliffs that were made extra-awesome by the knowledge that they were Bad Wolf Bay in Doctor Who.
I'll say this now: I could sum up my time in Wales by saying that I was stalking Doctor Who.
Anyway, our drive out to the bay showed me what is common in Wales; sheep walking wherever the hell they want to. Who needs to worry about fences when you're allowed to just let the sheep roam free? I couldn't figure out how they could EASILY tell which sheep belong to who, but I'm sure the farmers there have it sorted out somehow.
Anyway. While in Cardiff I also did another first in my life: I went to the cinema on my own, to watch Alice in Wonderland. Now, I've been TRYING to get up the guts to do that for years. I didn't seem able to, despite the fact that I've gone out for meals solo which you would think I'd find a lot more intimidating, but nonetheless, going to the show on my own just hadn't happened. So I did that finally and was all rather proud of myself.
Ireland Part 1: Zombie time in Dublin.
Even though I had a really relaxing time in Cardiff and had lots of time to sleep in rest, I arrived in Dublin after less than an hour's flight totally exhausted. Why was this, you ask? Oh, because my body hates me. It refuses to sleep in, and I was really feeling it when I got to Dublin. I think it was amplified by the fact that the plane (it was a smaller one, where it was only 2 seats-aisle-2 seats) made me feel like I had a nosebleed. Fortunately it only lasted an hour. It really hurt though, I've never experienced that before. Normally I just have some of the ear-popping which is a part of my daily life so I don't notice it. But this plane? It hurt. The pressure hurt, and I kept putting my hand under my nose to make sure it hadn't started gushing blood. I'm going to blame it on sitting where the propeller was literally just out my window, because I don't know what made my head hurt like that.
I head off to find my hostel which was rather easy, I leave my bag and ask for a suggestion on what to do, as nothing IN Dublin itself really struck my fancy as something I needed to go and see. They suggested various things, and I ended up doing the one thing I never thought I'd do anywhere: I bought a ticket for a city bus sight-seeing tour. My logic was that I was too tired to want to walk and do anything, but I still wanted to see places because I knew that was all the time I'd spend in the city. So I hopped on this bus and sat on it for an hour and a half as it went around. I tried my best to listen to the tourguide, but it was hard to stay awake. I was getting really upset with myself, to be honest. I was only tired because my body won't sleep, but I was so tired it hurt and I just wanted to cry.
I ended up going to Kilmainham Gaol. Sure, I had the option to go the Guiness Storehouse which is what everyone else does... but I figured a pint of Guiness would have made me throw up or something, as I was really feeling awful from pure exhaustion. And I didn't seem to want to go to an average museum, so the jail it was. It was really interesting, and sad, and a little spooky. Somehow I made it through the jail without passing out since I was standing up the whole time. I then returned to the hostel and properly checked in since the time was alright finally. I laid on the bed and read for a bit, before heading back out.
This time, I decided I'd go to Trinity College and see the book of Kells. Well. I saw Trinity College alright, but I forgot about the Book of Kells. I was in the yard at the college, and sat down to enjoy the sunshine, and I wanted a rest (yes, taking a bus and getting off the bus tired me out) so where better to rest? However, during this rest I realized I was famished as well.
So I left for food, and forgot about the book of Kells until that evening. I had McDonald's. I was too tired to walk far and I didn't feel like having someone take my order or anything, so McDonald's it was. I felt a bit better after eating, so hopped back on the bus and went to St. Stephen's Green. It was a pretty park, which I just sat in. Didn't even walk around all of it, I just found a place on a bench in the sun to sit, and sat. Thought about how people would go there to watch public executions and whatnot. When I left... I realized a bit too late that the bus had stopped running (as I was still using the sightseeing bus). I hadn't thought it'd stop so early, and I didn't want to pay for public transit. (yes, my logic when exhausted is slightly lacking). So I started walking back in the direction that I thought the bus had came from. Keep in mind, I had a map with me, but forgot I had one.
I just left and went walking. In a strange city. That I had previously only been around one in a bus when I was half-asleep and not paying attention.
Now, this is when you're probably thinking "Oh no, she got lost in Dublin" and this is where you are dead wrong. I didn't. I got back to the hostel without a switch and only looking at my map once to see which corner of Merrion Square I'd shown up in, seeing as I didn't precisely follow the bus route and just walked in the direction I felt I should be. Lindsey's sense of direction for the win!
I then got back to the hostel and passed out, to wake up by 4am. Yep. I lose.
Ireland Part 2: The Cliffs of Moher
So, my first "awake" day in Ireland I was off for a day trip to see the Cliffs of Moher. These are the cliffs that are in the Princess Bridge, when the giant carries Princess Buttercup up the Cliffs after they are in the boat... and where Inigo Montoya waits for Westley/Dread Pirate Roberts at the top for their sword fight. If you've seen the movie.. you'll know how huge they are. If you haven't, then I'll tell you that these are 750 m tall monsters. Tall and gorgeous. But that's rushing myself.
I'll tell you first about the tour guide that day. He was an Irishman (but not a Dubliner) named Shawn who reminded me a bit of my cousin Kevin: sketchy and scrawny. But funny. Throughout the day, Shawn consistently beeped the bus at sheep and said "hi sheep!" Now, mostly, this made me giggle as it's the sort of thing that I do, except I tend to say hello to inanimate things that can't acknowledge I've said anything. He also had the habit of saying "hey sailor" to everything and anything. He also liked to point out all the farmers to us. hahaha. But, behind the somewhat sketchy front you could tell he's rather intelligent, and very good at his job. He was constantly sharing information with us and he talked almost all day long. He also sang songs for us. Now, true, he didn't have the BEST singing voice, but I will give props to anyone who is going to sing in front of a group of people. He sang us Molly Malone at one point.
The first thing we did was to drive through an area of Ireland called the Burren to go see a ruined Abbey. I was much more interested in getting to the Burren. Now, the Burren. It's rocks. Everywhere. The hills look grey and that is because they are grey; it's almost exclusively rocks. So naturally, I was happy. We went to see a Dolma, which was a burial site or something, sort of like a mini Stonehenge but not in a ring, but I spent most of the time clambering about on the rocks.
On this day, I met a nice American couple from California who kept thinking it was a cold day, when really, it was a gorgeous day. But they are from California. I also met a fellow solo-traveller from Chicago, and she was my photo-buddy at the Cliffs of Moher. I made sure to get a picture of them all to prove that yes, while travelling on my own I actually DID talk to other people. I wasn't sure if I would or not, as once I'm out on my own I tend to be quite content being a recluse. But I did, and I was glad of it. I wish we had had more time at the Cliffs of Moher though, as I would have loved to walk all the way down to the end. Didn't have time to though. The weather was amazing though, it was sunny and clear and warm and not overly windy. I didn't even need my jacket on, which was amazing.
Ireland Part 3: Howth
On Saturday I woke up (again, by 4am) and got ready in the dark so as not to wake my roommates. As in, I straightened my hair in the dark. Without a mirror.
When it was an acceptable time, I headed out and went to find the DART (rapid transit, like a train but cheaper) station which was just around the corner. I then headed out to Howth, which was on a small peninsula. It took about half an hour on the DART to get there. I'd wanted to go somewhere coastal and this had fit the bit, and I went out bright an early in search of seals.
Which I found. The seals live right in the habour, which I hadn't known. I was there early (very early) and no one else was around, so I had the seals all to myself. They were amusing, and very wrinkly. I spent my time with them wishing I could feed them (to discover later on in the day that one of the shops sells fish TO feed them! So I did. Money well spent, I say).
After I felt like I had been seal-watching solo for long enough, I headed out the for cliff walk I wanted to go. So off I go, and while walking up a hill I see this dog run across the skinny road. No big deal, until I notice a car come flying UP the hill super fast. I got worried that if I kept walking I'd startle the dog and that it would run back across the road to its owner or to check me out.. and that it'd get hit... so I stopped and waiting and fortunately the car saw the dog and stopped. When it went on, I said to the dog's owner something about how scared I'd been for his dog. He then asked where my accent was from and we had a nice chat. Where I had a soaking wet cocker spaniel sitting on my feet and getting my jeans wet the whole time. It was a nice chat, and we parted ways.
Only to run into each other later in the day, as I guess I was being REALLY pokey on my walk and he took a different/shorter path. It was quite the surprise for me! So I walked along with him for a while. Feel bad, I never got his name, but his dogs were Benji and Margie! When I met him the second time he was taking some daffodils to a woman who lived on the top of the cliff and had just celebrated her 90th birthday. So again, we parted ways and I continued on my walk.
I got really tired and hungry when I realized I'd left my snack/water bottle at the hostel. I went to try to cut my cliff-walk short... and didn't succeed. I left the cliff, but couldn't find where the road would TURN so I ended up walking down the penninsula and it took my ages to get back to Howth. Overall, I think my cliff-walk lasted from 9:30am until 3:30pm, and that's rounding, it was likely longer. Keeping in mind how crappy my sleep had been... I was beat. I ended up just going into the first restaurant, and ordered one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive) meal I've ever ate: 15 Euros, for Hake with asparagus and roast potatoes. I will say though, it was delicious and you really could taste how fresh the fish was! Now, normally when I'm exhausted and starved I don't really TASTE my meal, so I think it would have tasted even better if I had been well-rested. I will make this comment about my meal though: I ordered a pint of Carlsberg as I wanted something light... and she brought me Guiness anyway. So I did, even though I hadn't really wanted it or planned in, drink Guiness while in Ireland. The country saw to it. PS. I got a tiny little sunburn on my nose and a bit below my neck. But it didn't follow the neckline of my shirt so I'm not sure what was up with that.
Ireland Part 4: The Last day, in the Wicklow Mountains and Killkenny
My last full day in Ireland began at 3:30am. Why? Who the hell knows. I went on a day trip out through the Wicklow Mountains and then to Killkenny, and this trip I did for free since I'd stayed for more than two nights at the hostel. It was a nice relaxing day.
It started with driving through Dublin early Sunday morning. It was pretty empty! Of course... that doesn't mean there was nothing going on. Oh no, at the first stop light we had to stop at.. when the light turned green, the truck in front of us doesn't go. Cars behind us start honking.. and (I was sitting right behind the driver) the driver (Connor) and those of us at the front notice that the man's chin is resting on his seatbelt. He was fast asleep. So Connor had to get out of the bus and walk over to the truck. The guys window was down, so Connor smacks him to wake him up. It was rather funny. Connor comes back to the bus and the truck goes bumbling off to the side of the road and almost crashed into a post. Yep. Someone was likely still drunk.
This day I met some other solo travellors... both near the London area. So had lots of company all day. We started out in Glendalough (place of two lakes or something like that) that had a monastery built there... it was gorgeous. Since the weather was so great, and not windy, the lakes were really like a mirror.. totally clear. It was a nice area to go walking.
We drove through the Wicklow mountains which were pretty. They were used in Braveheart, as were Irish horns which apparently pissed off the Scots a bit (can't say I blame them!)
Killkenny was a cute place, but it wasn't really somewhere on my list of things to want to go, so I was glad to just be all relaxed there. We went to a pub that was owned by the last woman burned to the stake as a witch. The food was really good. And yes, we drank a pint of Killkenny in Killkenny. Which, I learned is prounounced "kill-kenny" like I THOUGHT it was, but had peeps in Canada inform me was "kill-kin-knee" or something like that. So turns out whoever THAT was, was wrong, and that I was right, haha.
Well now. I've been sat here typing for wayyyy too long. I think I've summed up the highlights of my trip for me, and if not, then oh well! They're in my memories.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath
The other weekend I went for a fast-paced bus tour. This was my first time on a proper bus tour aside from school trips, at least, I can't remember being on any. I normally opt for going without background information and instead taking things at my own pace.
Which is a little hard to do sometimes when you don't drive.
Melissa (from Orangeville) had wanted to go on the tour during February's half-term. I wasn't able to attend as I was going to Prague, and it turned out that she hadn't gone out during half-term at all. I'd been wanting to go back to Stonehenge anyway, so I asked her if she wanted to go still.
I then invite my friend Sarah (from New Brunswick) as I thought it'd be the sort of thing she'd like to do. Then I remember that Sarah and I both separately met Charmine (from near Barrie) so I decide to invite her out, thinking that she and Melissa would get on well.
Charmine then brings along Aleks (from YORK!) whom she's met here in London, and then later brings along a newly arrived Canadian named Aleisha (from Vancouver - she was lucky enough to be in the city during the Olympics!). So what started out as a two-woman party turned into 6. All Canadians, all but one who I know, and two who I knew BEFORE leaving the damn country. That's just a small-world coincidence really now. haha. I thought it was hilarious when Charmine mentions this girl Aleks and I immediately go "ooooh crap I know this name from somewhere!" only to discover that we both lived in Mac.
The day commences nice and early, hitch-free.
The first stop was Windsor Castle, where we discover that the Queen is home as that was the flag that was flying. I think I was the only one of us not trying to spot-the-Queen (I was overly conscious of the time and quite frankly, totally forgot she was home even though I kept taking pictures of the flag, not sure how that worked out!). I liked Windsor better than I thought I would, as it's not really my cup of tea. Was mega-rushed though!
In true Canadian fashion though, we were the first to arrive back to the coach out of a fear of being late. (This became a pattern for the trip, and we were always the first to arrive back!).
Our second stop was Stonehenge. Most people I know think there is barely even a reason to go there once, let alone twice, but I enjoy it. So I enjoyed it a second time! Although I got a kick out of how many people were taking pictures of the sheep in the fields (I then opted to take a few pics myself, because I felt like being a sheep myself I suppose!... when in Rome.... oh wait, that's the next stop!)
The next stop was what I was looking most forward too - going to Bath. I've been wanting to go visit the city for a while, and while I knew that we weren't going to get much time there, it would at least give me an idea if it was somewhere I'd like to go for a weekend. It is. It's on my list of cities to visit.
I loved the Roman Baths though, although I'd have loved it more if there weren't so many people there (what a shame, but it can't be helped really, so I spent as much time as possible pretending other people were invisible!)
I did, however get yelled at! Someone sad on a stone for a picture, so I thought it was ok and did the same. And got yelled at to get off the stone. I felt humiliated and really sorry, because really, as I'm sure you all know - I'm just NOT someone who does things when there's a sign or something telling me not to, but I hadn't seen one (and an employee of there was talking to my friends and I as the tour guide was talking to us, so if he mentioned it then I hadn't heard!)
Actually, this is a funny story. While those of us in my tour group were waiting with our silly little plastic entrance coins, I went to fix Char's hood cause it'd been driving me crazy. This guy (an employee at the Baths) comes over and starts straightening Char's coat out and sure did make me feel silly. I just cracked up thinking about it, and alas, I've lost the words so you'll just have to imagine an old man with a funny British accent straightening out Char's hood like a butler.
I also successfully resisted the urge to touch the water, even though I saw other people do it anyway. I really wanted to.
Really. I did really really want to.
I was the only one out of the 6 of us who didn't doze at all on the trip. It just doesn't seem to work.
Which is a little hard to do sometimes when you don't drive.
Melissa (from Orangeville) had wanted to go on the tour during February's half-term. I wasn't able to attend as I was going to Prague, and it turned out that she hadn't gone out during half-term at all. I'd been wanting to go back to Stonehenge anyway, so I asked her if she wanted to go still.
I then invite my friend Sarah (from New Brunswick) as I thought it'd be the sort of thing she'd like to do. Then I remember that Sarah and I both separately met Charmine (from near Barrie) so I decide to invite her out, thinking that she and Melissa would get on well.
Charmine then brings along Aleks (from YORK!) whom she's met here in London, and then later brings along a newly arrived Canadian named Aleisha (from Vancouver - she was lucky enough to be in the city during the Olympics!). So what started out as a two-woman party turned into 6. All Canadians, all but one who I know, and two who I knew BEFORE leaving the damn country. That's just a small-world coincidence really now. haha. I thought it was hilarious when Charmine mentions this girl Aleks and I immediately go "ooooh crap I know this name from somewhere!" only to discover that we both lived in Mac.
The day commences nice and early, hitch-free.
The first stop was Windsor Castle, where we discover that the Queen is home as that was the flag that was flying. I think I was the only one of us not trying to spot-the-Queen (I was overly conscious of the time and quite frankly, totally forgot she was home even though I kept taking pictures of the flag, not sure how that worked out!). I liked Windsor better than I thought I would, as it's not really my cup of tea. Was mega-rushed though!
In true Canadian fashion though, we were the first to arrive back to the coach out of a fear of being late. (This became a pattern for the trip, and we were always the first to arrive back!).
Our second stop was Stonehenge. Most people I know think there is barely even a reason to go there once, let alone twice, but I enjoy it. So I enjoyed it a second time! Although I got a kick out of how many people were taking pictures of the sheep in the fields (I then opted to take a few pics myself, because I felt like being a sheep myself I suppose!... when in Rome.... oh wait, that's the next stop!)
The next stop was what I was looking most forward too - going to Bath. I've been wanting to go visit the city for a while, and while I knew that we weren't going to get much time there, it would at least give me an idea if it was somewhere I'd like to go for a weekend. It is. It's on my list of cities to visit.
I loved the Roman Baths though, although I'd have loved it more if there weren't so many people there (what a shame, but it can't be helped really, so I spent as much time as possible pretending other people were invisible!)
I did, however get yelled at! Someone sad on a stone for a picture, so I thought it was ok and did the same. And got yelled at to get off the stone. I felt humiliated and really sorry, because really, as I'm sure you all know - I'm just NOT someone who does things when there's a sign or something telling me not to, but I hadn't seen one (and an employee of there was talking to my friends and I as the tour guide was talking to us, so if he mentioned it then I hadn't heard!)
Actually, this is a funny story. While those of us in my tour group were waiting with our silly little plastic entrance coins, I went to fix Char's hood cause it'd been driving me crazy. This guy (an employee at the Baths) comes over and starts straightening Char's coat out and sure did make me feel silly. I just cracked up thinking about it, and alas, I've lost the words so you'll just have to imagine an old man with a funny British accent straightening out Char's hood like a butler.
I also successfully resisted the urge to touch the water, even though I saw other people do it anyway. I really wanted to.
Really. I did really really want to.
I was the only one out of the 6 of us who didn't doze at all on the trip. It just doesn't seem to work.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Looking Up
I take a lot of pictures. We all know that.
Sometimes I take a lot of snapshots when I'm out with friends; sometimes I take snapshots because I'm taking a quick picture for someone I think would like to see what I'm seeing, but am not interested enough in the subject to put any thought into the photo. Then again, sometimes I take snapshots because I'm feeling shy or silly being in public by myself or feel rushed because the people I'm with are bored.
Other days I'm in a mood to take macro photos (not so much recently as my Rebel doesn't do so well close enough as I do not have a macro lens) and either photograph insects or things might go a bit more abstract.
Then again, somedays I'm more about nature. I either take landscapes or focus on animals.
I'm sort of all over the place in my style and methods and focus. I'm sure that it comes across everywhere that I post photos; the only real common thread is that I take a million photos and take a lot of shots of the exact same thing.
There are patterns though, if you're me and know about them or if you pay a great deal of attention to what I post. There are certain angles or lighting or subjects that I'm more likely to employ. The same can be said of my editing style when I am in a mood to process my photos - there are trends.
I think I might slowly start organizing my photos into various photo entries where I focus on one of my own trends.
The first trend: Looking Up. It's not particularly unique, and sometimes you lose a great deal of detail on the subject, but regardless, I love it. I like seeing pictures where the angle between the camera and the subject is so extreme that you feel like a tiny little bug looking up at something.
I never take these photos because it's the only way to photograph a building: it's usually a lot harder than taking more straight-on pictures and I feel like an idiot when I sit down on the sidewalk and fiddle around with my camera holding it as close to the ground as I can. These photos I can rarely (if ever) see what is in the shot until after I've taken it, as I might hold my camera a few centimetres above the ground.
With these photos, I rarely have the subject properly centered in my photo - again, this is intentional. As I said earlier, I like the angles. I tend to keep taking shots until I've got a fairly centered one, but it's very rarely the photo I'll post up publicly or be my favourite shot.
This is the lighthouse in Lion's Head Ontario. I've taken other shots of this lighthouse, but this is my favourite one. I liked how the door looks like an arrow pointing up towards the light.
This is a Cathedral in Lille, France. I forget what the name of it was. This is actually the only photo that I took in Lille that I'm happy with - even though I took a million shots of the grotto that was there, I wasn't happy with the lighting and my friends were frequently in the photos when I didn't want them to be. It was such an ornate building!
The monkeys are climbing up the arch in the Natural History Museum, London. The entire building was fascinating, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how it would look if these monkeys actually started to climb the wall. It was so busy in the building that I had a few people looking at me funny that I tried to ignore.
You'll notice as this post goes on, that I primarily use this angle for bridges and churches. The above is the Suspension Bridge in Bristol. This bridge is massive. I felt like an insect, and even though the bridge gate is a little bit basic, I just get a feeling of it being a monster that's going to eat me.
Tower Bridge, London. My friend Jay was with me while I was taking this, and what a sport he is as I don't think he even gave me a funny look when I was sat on the ground playing with my camera.
St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This building is so massive that I almost gave up attempting to take this picture. As it is, I'm not as close to the base of the building as I normally am.
Westminster Abbey, London. This one was hard to take a picture of. Like St. Paul's, I almost quit but at Westminster it was mostly because I felt intimidated sitting where I was sat!
Ah, the Astronomical Clock in Prague, Czech Republic. I have other shots with this angle, where you can see the door that's below the dials. I like this one better though, as the lighting was nice and you can see the little clock at the top. 
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Prague, Czech Republic. You can barely see the tiny spires at the top of this magnificent building! You can also see how other buildings are LITERALLY built up against it! This is one of those rare times where it's the only angle you can take of somewhere - I could (and did) take a pic of just the door, and I have plenty of photos of the top half of the building, but this is the only way I could take a picture with both in the photo!
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. I have a brighter photo of this, where you can see that the sky is blue (borrowed a friend's filter) but I liked this one better as I could see under it. 
St. Vitus Cathedral, in Prague Castle, Czech Republic. Ornate. This building is the definition of ornate, in my books. Inside and out, it was full of details. This photo makes it look less intimidating than it is, and actually looks a lot softer than it does in reality.
This is the Powder Gate Tower, Prague Czech Republic. This photo was difficult to get, as there is road running under it. This photo was thus taken while standing and walking across the road. I walked back and forth across the road a few times stopping near the middle to take a picture or so before another car would come and I'd have to run back across. 
Bath Abbey, England. I didn't spend as much time trying to get a more focused shot here, as I ran over to grab a few quick pictures while our tour guide was inside the Roman Baths getting our entrance sorted. I just couldn't resist the colours and the lighting.
Well, there you go. One entry somewhat describing my thoughts about the photo and why/how it was taken the way that it was.
Sometimes I take a lot of snapshots when I'm out with friends; sometimes I take snapshots because I'm taking a quick picture for someone I think would like to see what I'm seeing, but am not interested enough in the subject to put any thought into the photo. Then again, sometimes I take snapshots because I'm feeling shy or silly being in public by myself or feel rushed because the people I'm with are bored.
Other days I'm in a mood to take macro photos (not so much recently as my Rebel doesn't do so well close enough as I do not have a macro lens) and either photograph insects or things might go a bit more abstract.
Then again, somedays I'm more about nature. I either take landscapes or focus on animals.
I'm sort of all over the place in my style and methods and focus. I'm sure that it comes across everywhere that I post photos; the only real common thread is that I take a million photos and take a lot of shots of the exact same thing.
There are patterns though, if you're me and know about them or if you pay a great deal of attention to what I post. There are certain angles or lighting or subjects that I'm more likely to employ. The same can be said of my editing style when I am in a mood to process my photos - there are trends.
I think I might slowly start organizing my photos into various photo entries where I focus on one of my own trends.
The first trend: Looking Up. It's not particularly unique, and sometimes you lose a great deal of detail on the subject, but regardless, I love it. I like seeing pictures where the angle between the camera and the subject is so extreme that you feel like a tiny little bug looking up at something.
I never take these photos because it's the only way to photograph a building: it's usually a lot harder than taking more straight-on pictures and I feel like an idiot when I sit down on the sidewalk and fiddle around with my camera holding it as close to the ground as I can. These photos I can rarely (if ever) see what is in the shot until after I've taken it, as I might hold my camera a few centimetres above the ground.
With these photos, I rarely have the subject properly centered in my photo - again, this is intentional. As I said earlier, I like the angles. I tend to keep taking shots until I've got a fairly centered one, but it's very rarely the photo I'll post up publicly or be my favourite shot.
This is the lighthouse in Lion's Head Ontario. I've taken other shots of this lighthouse, but this is my favourite one. I liked how the door looks like an arrow pointing up towards the light.
This is a Cathedral in Lille, France. I forget what the name of it was. This is actually the only photo that I took in Lille that I'm happy with - even though I took a million shots of the grotto that was there, I wasn't happy with the lighting and my friends were frequently in the photos when I didn't want them to be. It was such an ornate building!
The monkeys are climbing up the arch in the Natural History Museum, London. The entire building was fascinating, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how it would look if these monkeys actually started to climb the wall. It was so busy in the building that I had a few people looking at me funny that I tried to ignore.
You'll notice as this post goes on, that I primarily use this angle for bridges and churches. The above is the Suspension Bridge in Bristol. This bridge is massive. I felt like an insect, and even though the bridge gate is a little bit basic, I just get a feeling of it being a monster that's going to eat me.
Tower Bridge, London. My friend Jay was with me while I was taking this, and what a sport he is as I don't think he even gave me a funny look when I was sat on the ground playing with my camera.
St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This building is so massive that I almost gave up attempting to take this picture. As it is, I'm not as close to the base of the building as I normally am.
Westminster Abbey, London. This one was hard to take a picture of. Like St. Paul's, I almost quit but at Westminster it was mostly because I felt intimidated sitting where I was sat!
Ah, the Astronomical Clock in Prague, Czech Republic. I have other shots with this angle, where you can see the door that's below the dials. I like this one better though, as the lighting was nice and you can see the little clock at the top. 
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Prague, Czech Republic. You can barely see the tiny spires at the top of this magnificent building! You can also see how other buildings are LITERALLY built up against it! This is one of those rare times where it's the only angle you can take of somewhere - I could (and did) take a pic of just the door, and I have plenty of photos of the top half of the building, but this is the only way I could take a picture with both in the photo!
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. I have a brighter photo of this, where you can see that the sky is blue (borrowed a friend's filter) but I liked this one better as I could see under it. 
St. Vitus Cathedral, in Prague Castle, Czech Republic. Ornate. This building is the definition of ornate, in my books. Inside and out, it was full of details. This photo makes it look less intimidating than it is, and actually looks a lot softer than it does in reality.
This is the Powder Gate Tower, Prague Czech Republic. This photo was difficult to get, as there is road running under it. This photo was thus taken while standing and walking across the road. I walked back and forth across the road a few times stopping near the middle to take a picture or so before another car would come and I'd have to run back across. 
Bath Abbey, England. I didn't spend as much time trying to get a more focused shot here, as I ran over to grab a few quick pictures while our tour guide was inside the Roman Baths getting our entrance sorted. I just couldn't resist the colours and the lighting.Well, there you go. One entry somewhat describing my thoughts about the photo and why/how it was taken the way that it was.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Vancouver Olympics
Ok so after making a fuss about almost-not-having two post in January, I go and blow it and have NO posts in February!
This isn't due to having a lack of things to say. In fact, I've had two posts prepared in my head - I just haven't wrote either of them because blast it all, February is too short and I spent a chunk of it not within England!
So I am going to fiddle and see if I can back-post this at all.
Last night the Vancouver Winter Olympics finished.
I actually sat there for the entire hockey game, and loved it. I found it rather intense. I couldn't even keep myself quiet. Thank goodness my flatmate watched the game with me, and I was chatting to various Canadians via my blackberry.
It really is our game, hockey. I found it somewhat fitting that the generally-regarded-as-the-most-important-game was the VERY last game to be played. It really showed all the tension and competition that can be found within the Olympics.
Now, we all know that I'm not much of a sports fan. It generally bores me. I'm not competitive. I think that most athletes (along with actors) are grossly overpaid.
However, I do enjoy the Olympics.
This reason why is this: it's really the only time that you fully get to see Canada being patriotic and openly happy about being Canadian. It really is the only time that the entire country comes together.
It was amplified this year, being on home soil. Yes, we showed a lot of Canadian stereotypes (especially during the closing ceremony, and while there were moments where I found it overly tacky, overall I found it amusing) but to me at least, self-depreciation is a part of our Canadian Identity.
Since I'm over here in England, I had the opportunity of listening to British commentators as well as Canadian. I think that in many ways, the world was surprised to see Canada being patriotic, and who can blame them? We so rarely show any pride in Canada towards ourselves. It doesn't mean it's not there though, it just isn't something I guess that we feel needs to be screamed out for the rest of the world to see. I think in a lot of ways, we're proud of being quietly happy with ourselves. So it was a shock to the world to see us being openly patriotic and loud about it.
But really, when else have we had the opportunity to do so? We're generally overshadowed by the USA or England, and we just go with the flow a lot. The world's never seen us at home. I think it was about time that they did.
And yes yes, we showcased all the stereotypes about us. But when it comes down to it, we're such a big place that those icons really are some of the few things that the ENTIRE country can agree on. We have a thriving outdoor adventure industry, we all know about Moose and Beavers, even if lots of people have never actually seen one (which, I'm proud to say, yes I've seen both in their natural habitat... although once I was very surprised to find a beaver swimming in Georgian Bay which is much too open and clear and cold for a beaver generally!). And in a lot of ways, but making fun of ourselves we're also teasing everyone else, because the stereotypes that we made fun of.... for some people, that's really all that they have ever known about Canada.
So I liked the Olympics, as being a rallying point for Canada to finally (after all of this time) show the world that we actually ARE proud of ourselves and have a personality.
PS. I even stayed awake until 1am to watch the closing ceremony, which did not end until 4am my time. I think I deserve my own sort of medal for that accomplishment!
This isn't due to having a lack of things to say. In fact, I've had two posts prepared in my head - I just haven't wrote either of them because blast it all, February is too short and I spent a chunk of it not within England!
So I am going to fiddle and see if I can back-post this at all.
Last night the Vancouver Winter Olympics finished.
I actually sat there for the entire hockey game, and loved it. I found it rather intense. I couldn't even keep myself quiet. Thank goodness my flatmate watched the game with me, and I was chatting to various Canadians via my blackberry.
It really is our game, hockey. I found it somewhat fitting that the generally-regarded-as-the-most-important-game was the VERY last game to be played. It really showed all the tension and competition that can be found within the Olympics.
Now, we all know that I'm not much of a sports fan. It generally bores me. I'm not competitive. I think that most athletes (along with actors) are grossly overpaid.
However, I do enjoy the Olympics.
This reason why is this: it's really the only time that you fully get to see Canada being patriotic and openly happy about being Canadian. It really is the only time that the entire country comes together.
It was amplified this year, being on home soil. Yes, we showed a lot of Canadian stereotypes (especially during the closing ceremony, and while there were moments where I found it overly tacky, overall I found it amusing) but to me at least, self-depreciation is a part of our Canadian Identity.
Since I'm over here in England, I had the opportunity of listening to British commentators as well as Canadian. I think that in many ways, the world was surprised to see Canada being patriotic, and who can blame them? We so rarely show any pride in Canada towards ourselves. It doesn't mean it's not there though, it just isn't something I guess that we feel needs to be screamed out for the rest of the world to see. I think in a lot of ways, we're proud of being quietly happy with ourselves. So it was a shock to the world to see us being openly patriotic and loud about it.
But really, when else have we had the opportunity to do so? We're generally overshadowed by the USA or England, and we just go with the flow a lot. The world's never seen us at home. I think it was about time that they did.
And yes yes, we showcased all the stereotypes about us. But when it comes down to it, we're such a big place that those icons really are some of the few things that the ENTIRE country can agree on. We have a thriving outdoor adventure industry, we all know about Moose and Beavers, even if lots of people have never actually seen one (which, I'm proud to say, yes I've seen both in their natural habitat... although once I was very surprised to find a beaver swimming in Georgian Bay which is much too open and clear and cold for a beaver generally!). And in a lot of ways, but making fun of ourselves we're also teasing everyone else, because the stereotypes that we made fun of.... for some people, that's really all that they have ever known about Canada.
So I liked the Olympics, as being a rallying point for Canada to finally (after all of this time) show the world that we actually ARE proud of ourselves and have a personality.
PS. I even stayed awake until 1am to watch the closing ceremony, which did not end until 4am my time. I think I deserve my own sort of medal for that accomplishment!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Prague
This is majorly late in being posted, but alas, I'm changing the date anyway!
This may seem like old news now, but I went to Prague, Czech Republic for half-term. It was a great city, and I would love to go back to it in warmer weather. We had great weather while there though, it wasn't overly cold and it didn't snow or rain while we were there. What can I say, I'm rather talented when it comes to the weather.
What we didn't have as much luck with, however, was health. Sarah was recovering from being sick, Lucy had been battling a cold, and I had no voice for the majority of the trip. I was shouting and all that would come out was a squeak. This made it hard to communicate, obviously, and hard to navigate as I was the only one out who was comfortable with directions. And little Sarah caught the flu while there and was rather ill.
Our health was the only negative part of the vacation.
We arrived in Prague late as our flight had been delayed - this had us worried, as the tube system wasn't running and we weren't sure how to get from the airport into the city centre. We hopped on the bus anyway, and arrived at the closed tube station. Fortunately we were not alone, there was another group of young adults at the station as well. And one of them spoke English, and overheard us trying to sort ouf where the hell we had to go. They were heading in to the city centre as well, so we followed them onto the night tram and got off with them in Wencelas Square. He directed us in the general direction of our hostel and we said thanks and departed.
This was the first encounter with my voice not working when it would have been beneficial. I had a fairly clear idea of where to go as I found where we were on the map, but no one else was able to hear me. They were walking off in the written directions that Lucy had wrote down from the hostel's website which was well enough, but the map was clearly showing me where it would have been a good place to go. We ended up walking in a huge circle that led to the road I had tried to say we should go down anyway. hahahaha. We get there though and promptly fall asleep.
Our room was nice. It was more like a budget hotel than a hostel, as we had our own bathroom and there were no bunkbeds in our 4-bed room. One evening they even gave us a bottle of champagne! Which was nice. The negative part about the hostel though were some of the other occupants who chose to ignore the quiet hours and were banging on each others doors and yelling in the hallway at 4am. Idiots.
Our first morning we headed out and encountered what is currently my favourite building in existence - the Astronomical Clock. I can't really explain how it works as it's complicated, but you should try looking it up. It just amazed me that it was built so very long ago. It's beautiful, and amazes me. Every hour there is a little show it puts on. The 12 Apostles rotate past and there is a skeleton representing Death that rings a bell. Many people are disappointed in the show, but I wasn't. I wasn't disappointed because I couldn't get beyond thinking about how incredibly OLD it is. Around 1410, actually.
After the Clock we went to find the Church Upon Tyn which we could see from Old Town Square. However, what we hadn't remembered reading was that this church is actually surrounded by other buildings, so you can't really see it without seeing other buildings. We ended up on a walk around the area trying to find it before discovering this fact for ourselves.
While in Prague, I have to say that my favourite things were the Astronomical Clock and Charles Bridge. This bridge, while under construction (disappointing) is still an amazing bridge to stroll across. There are multiple statues that adorn it, and it's just a really lovely atmosphere. I bought a small watercolour of it, as I was unable to really take the sort of pictures I'd like to have due to the construction.
There is in Prague a very delicious pastry, and it is in fact I think my favourite pastry ever. It's called a Tredlnik and it is made by rolling the batter around a stick and baking it over coals. It's amusing to eat as well as delicious. Once I tried one, I then proceeded to have one every day. They were that good.
Prague's Castle is hilarious. This is why: the gate, so the FIRST thing you see about this Castle... has two statues on the gate posts. One of these statues shows a man clubbing someone's head in, and the other has a man with a thin sword stabbing someone else. It's very friendly and inviting. Makes you feel welcome. Well, in actuality it made me laugh. It certainly would have been intimidating back in the day. The inside of the Castle has Golden Lane which I did not pay to go down, but it has Kafka's house on it. I didn't feel the need to see his house as I'd walked past the museum and not gone in - although I had laughed at the hilarious pissing statue. The hips swivel so that the men's 'piss' is more like-like I suppose.
The architecture in Prague is amazing - Prague has been left relatively undamaged, so the old parts of the city maintain a lot more of the architecture than you will find in many other locations. I enjoyed just simply walking around. Although Sarah and I did pay to go on a tour to see the Mirror Chapel (cool but not something I'd pay to see), the Astronomical Tower (do not confuse this with the Astronomical Clock, as this tower is where they did their stargazing and provided a really lovely view of the city) and the Baroque Library (what I had wanted to see, and was disappointed at not being allowed to photograph it).
Little Sarah and I after the Baroque Library had gone back to Prague Castle for take two (even though this involved walking up a huge freaking hill) because we wanted to go see the Lobkowiz collection. It was a nice little museum, and we learned that a lot of Beethoven's works were dedicated to someone in that family who was his patron. That was my favourite part, actually getting to see works by Beethoven and Mozart and being able to view their actual handwriting. Especially as I hadn't been expecting that.
Back to architecutre, however. There is a building in Prague that I had wanted to see, and on our departure day, since I was up hours before everyone else, I went for a walk around Prague alone to find it. It's the Dancing House, which is also called Ginger and Fred after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It's a more modern building, but I thought it looked lovely and wanted to see it. So I had a lovely stroll along the river while going to find it.
An area of Prague that I would have liked to spend more time in but didn't, was the Jewish Quarter. Prague is known for it's Jewish history, and while I'm sure most of you know that I'm not really keen on war-history, there's a very strong presence in this part of the city. It just felt really intriguing and heavy, moreso than the rest of the Old Town.
To contrast the more sombre memorial that is the Jewish Quarter, there is also in the New Town a wall dedicated to John Lennon. It's a wall covered in graffiti, so it's always changing. There's a lot on there and you could spent a rather long time examining it and still miss a lot. We were unfortunately not bright enough to have taken any markers with us, so we didn't contribute anything to the wall and I think we all wish that we had.
Overall, I really just loved being here. I've left out a lot, but I've tried to keep this entry somewhat contained.
This may seem like old news now, but I went to Prague, Czech Republic for half-term. It was a great city, and I would love to go back to it in warmer weather. We had great weather while there though, it wasn't overly cold and it didn't snow or rain while we were there. What can I say, I'm rather talented when it comes to the weather.
What we didn't have as much luck with, however, was health. Sarah was recovering from being sick, Lucy had been battling a cold, and I had no voice for the majority of the trip. I was shouting and all that would come out was a squeak. This made it hard to communicate, obviously, and hard to navigate as I was the only one out who was comfortable with directions. And little Sarah caught the flu while there and was rather ill.
Our health was the only negative part of the vacation.
We arrived in Prague late as our flight had been delayed - this had us worried, as the tube system wasn't running and we weren't sure how to get from the airport into the city centre. We hopped on the bus anyway, and arrived at the closed tube station. Fortunately we were not alone, there was another group of young adults at the station as well. And one of them spoke English, and overheard us trying to sort ouf where the hell we had to go. They were heading in to the city centre as well, so we followed them onto the night tram and got off with them in Wencelas Square. He directed us in the general direction of our hostel and we said thanks and departed.
This was the first encounter with my voice not working when it would have been beneficial. I had a fairly clear idea of where to go as I found where we were on the map, but no one else was able to hear me. They were walking off in the written directions that Lucy had wrote down from the hostel's website which was well enough, but the map was clearly showing me where it would have been a good place to go. We ended up walking in a huge circle that led to the road I had tried to say we should go down anyway. hahahaha. We get there though and promptly fall asleep.
Our room was nice. It was more like a budget hotel than a hostel, as we had our own bathroom and there were no bunkbeds in our 4-bed room. One evening they even gave us a bottle of champagne! Which was nice. The negative part about the hostel though were some of the other occupants who chose to ignore the quiet hours and were banging on each others doors and yelling in the hallway at 4am. Idiots.
Our first morning we headed out and encountered what is currently my favourite building in existence - the Astronomical Clock. I can't really explain how it works as it's complicated, but you should try looking it up. It just amazed me that it was built so very long ago. It's beautiful, and amazes me. Every hour there is a little show it puts on. The 12 Apostles rotate past and there is a skeleton representing Death that rings a bell. Many people are disappointed in the show, but I wasn't. I wasn't disappointed because I couldn't get beyond thinking about how incredibly OLD it is. Around 1410, actually.
After the Clock we went to find the Church Upon Tyn which we could see from Old Town Square. However, what we hadn't remembered reading was that this church is actually surrounded by other buildings, so you can't really see it without seeing other buildings. We ended up on a walk around the area trying to find it before discovering this fact for ourselves.
While in Prague, I have to say that my favourite things were the Astronomical Clock and Charles Bridge. This bridge, while under construction (disappointing) is still an amazing bridge to stroll across. There are multiple statues that adorn it, and it's just a really lovely atmosphere. I bought a small watercolour of it, as I was unable to really take the sort of pictures I'd like to have due to the construction.
There is in Prague a very delicious pastry, and it is in fact I think my favourite pastry ever. It's called a Tredlnik and it is made by rolling the batter around a stick and baking it over coals. It's amusing to eat as well as delicious. Once I tried one, I then proceeded to have one every day. They were that good.
Prague's Castle is hilarious. This is why: the gate, so the FIRST thing you see about this Castle... has two statues on the gate posts. One of these statues shows a man clubbing someone's head in, and the other has a man with a thin sword stabbing someone else. It's very friendly and inviting. Makes you feel welcome. Well, in actuality it made me laugh. It certainly would have been intimidating back in the day. The inside of the Castle has Golden Lane which I did not pay to go down, but it has Kafka's house on it. I didn't feel the need to see his house as I'd walked past the museum and not gone in - although I had laughed at the hilarious pissing statue. The hips swivel so that the men's 'piss' is more like-like I suppose.
The architecture in Prague is amazing - Prague has been left relatively undamaged, so the old parts of the city maintain a lot more of the architecture than you will find in many other locations. I enjoyed just simply walking around. Although Sarah and I did pay to go on a tour to see the Mirror Chapel (cool but not something I'd pay to see), the Astronomical Tower (do not confuse this with the Astronomical Clock, as this tower is where they did their stargazing and provided a really lovely view of the city) and the Baroque Library (what I had wanted to see, and was disappointed at not being allowed to photograph it).
Little Sarah and I after the Baroque Library had gone back to Prague Castle for take two (even though this involved walking up a huge freaking hill) because we wanted to go see the Lobkowiz collection. It was a nice little museum, and we learned that a lot of Beethoven's works were dedicated to someone in that family who was his patron. That was my favourite part, actually getting to see works by Beethoven and Mozart and being able to view their actual handwriting. Especially as I hadn't been expecting that.
Back to architecutre, however. There is a building in Prague that I had wanted to see, and on our departure day, since I was up hours before everyone else, I went for a walk around Prague alone to find it. It's the Dancing House, which is also called Ginger and Fred after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It's a more modern building, but I thought it looked lovely and wanted to see it. So I had a lovely stroll along the river while going to find it.
An area of Prague that I would have liked to spend more time in but didn't, was the Jewish Quarter. Prague is known for it's Jewish history, and while I'm sure most of you know that I'm not really keen on war-history, there's a very strong presence in this part of the city. It just felt really intriguing and heavy, moreso than the rest of the Old Town.
To contrast the more sombre memorial that is the Jewish Quarter, there is also in the New Town a wall dedicated to John Lennon. It's a wall covered in graffiti, so it's always changing. There's a lot on there and you could spent a rather long time examining it and still miss a lot. We were unfortunately not bright enough to have taken any markers with us, so we didn't contribute anything to the wall and I think we all wish that we had.
Overall, I really just loved being here. I've left out a lot, but I've tried to keep this entry somewhat contained.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The good news: January is over!
Yesterday I said I was going to try to squeeze in my two-entries-per-month I was aiming for.
So today I shall.
Yesterday I focused on the negative aspects of January, so today I will focus on the good.
The students whom I have taught since Christmas have all been quite wonderful - a few exceptions to the rule, but overall they have all been a pleasure. While back with supplying I've returned to schools I've taught at before (actually, my two favourites really) and it made me really happy to be remembered and welcomed back. It means a lot to me when someone remembers me, as I tend to assume that I'll be forgotten after a few weeks. I don't think my brain will ever change in regards to that, but it does allow me to be really pleased and happy to hear things like "welcome back" and "don't go". I even had a student groan when he found out what class I was teaching - not because I was teaching his class and he didn't want me there, but because I was teaching the OTHER year 6 class and he wasn't going to have me as his teacher.
Those sorts of things just make you feel really good inside.
My friends, on both sides of the pond, have kept my sanity this past month.
My flatmates have all been amazing (and hilarious) and are rather lovely people. I went out dancing with Lucy (one of my flatmates, another Canadian, for those of you not in the know) for her birthday with some of her friends. It was rather a fun evening, even if I WAS stressing about work. We went somewhere called the 100 Club and there was a live jazz/swing band playing. I, being the knob that I am, invited some guys to ask Lucy to dance since it was her birthday. It kept me amused, at any rate. Sometimes I baffle myself with just how opposite I am to myself.
My nanolondon crew have been amazingly supportive via twitter, messages, and in person. I don't know what I'd do without them sometimes, as it's so important to me to have friends outside of teaching. Although I am blaming them for an addiction to Twitter that we have all mostly been infected with. But, I suppose as far as addictions go, Twitter is rather harmless. They're just such lovely people, the entire lot of them. I just wish I saw them more often, and hope that my more stress-free life will allow me time to do so! Just need to get my act together and actually invite more of them out places, instead of only going when they invite me out. Cause how is that any fair!
Siggy&Jen and Gareth will get their own little mentions as they're Brits but not part of my London crew at all. But Siggy managed to keep me all relaxed when I was stressing out. This is quite the feat seeing as I spent SEVEN HOURS in the Imperial War Museum with him. It was quite tedious! Informative, and interesting information, but not my cup of tea. I did it solely for him and treated it as research for it my parents ever come over to England. I now know that I could easily abandon my father in there for a few days as he would not get through it in one day, and that if I absolutely must spend the day in there again that I shall most definitely find one of those portable stools to cart around and bring a book. In other news - mom and dad, you would both love the museum. Remind me to ditch you in it when you piss me off and hope you can't find your way home, ok? haha. As to Gareth, he is a friend of Tanis (my sister in law for those of you who have no memories!) and the poor sap has been stuck listening to me moan and complain on and off since I arrived in England. He even manages to snap me out of it by sarcastically insulting me somehow or another. (Do keep in mind, this is ME we are talking about, and I don't believe I've ever been not-amused by sarcasm, so well-done Gareth!)
My Canadaland friends. I haven't really talked to anyone very often, but as I'm doing a few shoutouts I'd like to point out that Ashley and Kristin quite stubburnly insist on having shitty sleeping habits, and thus are always awake when I wake up at 6am and are around to chat with. Even when I'm grumpy or inattentive to the conversations, I do always smile at having messages sat there for me while I've gone to brush my teeth. Sometimes I'm just not with it enough in the morning this past month to remember to respond, and sometimes I'm sure I've been snappish but these ladies put up with my splendidly in the morning when they should be sensible and go to bed. <3 Much love to them!
Peri (who will not read this as he does not have the internet at home as he is a loser and also won't know I called him such but this is purely his own fault) I'm going to give his own little paragraph too. (he also won't know that he's getting a paragraph all to himself! This is what happens when you do not use the internet!) Poor, poor Peri. For those of you who can't recall who Peri is, this is because I've only known him since last year at York. The poor soul was stuck having placement with me, plus a rather horrid Education class that we both despised. This meant that he heard me bitch and moan all year, and somehow had to composure to not kill me where I stood. He even went so far as to drive my sorry ass back home after placement, ditching class to go for beer, taking me to get groceries, coming to say hello after I endured the hell that was Convocation, and then taking me out to play pool before I left for England (we were both equally horrid at it!). Peri has done all of that sort of stuff for me DESPITE all the verbal abuse I've thrown his way (although he's never yet been caught unawares when I ask if I can kick him). He's continued that into this year! What a knob, if he was smarter he would have blocked all contact with me. However, as he has a blackberry, he has been getting routinely spammed on my way home from work or when I am otherwise away from the house and need either a laugh a smile or somewhere to vent. And, to further prove to all of you that I am amazingly lucky in the friends I have acquired over the years... he dutifully messages me back and even told me a story upon demand once.
What amazing friends I have!
So while I really have had very little to post about lately, I think a post primarily dedicated to pointing out just how AMAZING my friends is a good way to write a post. I'm just a lucky one, that's for sure.
So my dear friends, I love you all, please keep putting up with my sorry ass!
PS. If I didn't mention you by name or "grouping", I have not forgotten you. It just means that perhaps in the past month we haven't had much chance to speak! So *coughcough*dropmealine*coughcough*
So today I shall.
Yesterday I focused on the negative aspects of January, so today I will focus on the good.
The students whom I have taught since Christmas have all been quite wonderful - a few exceptions to the rule, but overall they have all been a pleasure. While back with supplying I've returned to schools I've taught at before (actually, my two favourites really) and it made me really happy to be remembered and welcomed back. It means a lot to me when someone remembers me, as I tend to assume that I'll be forgotten after a few weeks. I don't think my brain will ever change in regards to that, but it does allow me to be really pleased and happy to hear things like "welcome back" and "don't go". I even had a student groan when he found out what class I was teaching - not because I was teaching his class and he didn't want me there, but because I was teaching the OTHER year 6 class and he wasn't going to have me as his teacher.
Those sorts of things just make you feel really good inside.
My friends, on both sides of the pond, have kept my sanity this past month.
My flatmates have all been amazing (and hilarious) and are rather lovely people. I went out dancing with Lucy (one of my flatmates, another Canadian, for those of you not in the know) for her birthday with some of her friends. It was rather a fun evening, even if I WAS stressing about work. We went somewhere called the 100 Club and there was a live jazz/swing band playing. I, being the knob that I am, invited some guys to ask Lucy to dance since it was her birthday. It kept me amused, at any rate. Sometimes I baffle myself with just how opposite I am to myself.
My nanolondon crew have been amazingly supportive via twitter, messages, and in person. I don't know what I'd do without them sometimes, as it's so important to me to have friends outside of teaching. Although I am blaming them for an addiction to Twitter that we have all mostly been infected with. But, I suppose as far as addictions go, Twitter is rather harmless. They're just such lovely people, the entire lot of them. I just wish I saw them more often, and hope that my more stress-free life will allow me time to do so! Just need to get my act together and actually invite more of them out places, instead of only going when they invite me out. Cause how is that any fair!
Siggy&Jen and Gareth will get their own little mentions as they're Brits but not part of my London crew at all. But Siggy managed to keep me all relaxed when I was stressing out. This is quite the feat seeing as I spent SEVEN HOURS in the Imperial War Museum with him. It was quite tedious! Informative, and interesting information, but not my cup of tea. I did it solely for him and treated it as research for it my parents ever come over to England. I now know that I could easily abandon my father in there for a few days as he would not get through it in one day, and that if I absolutely must spend the day in there again that I shall most definitely find one of those portable stools to cart around and bring a book. In other news - mom and dad, you would both love the museum. Remind me to ditch you in it when you piss me off and hope you can't find your way home, ok? haha. As to Gareth, he is a friend of Tanis (my sister in law for those of you who have no memories!) and the poor sap has been stuck listening to me moan and complain on and off since I arrived in England. He even manages to snap me out of it by sarcastically insulting me somehow or another. (Do keep in mind, this is ME we are talking about, and I don't believe I've ever been not-amused by sarcasm, so well-done Gareth!)
My Canadaland friends. I haven't really talked to anyone very often, but as I'm doing a few shoutouts I'd like to point out that Ashley and Kristin quite stubburnly insist on having shitty sleeping habits, and thus are always awake when I wake up at 6am and are around to chat with. Even when I'm grumpy or inattentive to the conversations, I do always smile at having messages sat there for me while I've gone to brush my teeth. Sometimes I'm just not with it enough in the morning this past month to remember to respond, and sometimes I'm sure I've been snappish but these ladies put up with my splendidly in the morning when they should be sensible and go to bed. <3 Much love to them!
Peri (who will not read this as he does not have the internet at home as he is a loser and also won't know I called him such but this is purely his own fault) I'm going to give his own little paragraph too. (he also won't know that he's getting a paragraph all to himself! This is what happens when you do not use the internet!) Poor, poor Peri. For those of you who can't recall who Peri is, this is because I've only known him since last year at York. The poor soul was stuck having placement with me, plus a rather horrid Education class that we both despised. This meant that he heard me bitch and moan all year, and somehow had to composure to not kill me where I stood. He even went so far as to drive my sorry ass back home after placement, ditching class to go for beer, taking me to get groceries, coming to say hello after I endured the hell that was Convocation, and then taking me out to play pool before I left for England (we were both equally horrid at it!). Peri has done all of that sort of stuff for me DESPITE all the verbal abuse I've thrown his way (although he's never yet been caught unawares when I ask if I can kick him). He's continued that into this year! What a knob, if he was smarter he would have blocked all contact with me. However, as he has a blackberry, he has been getting routinely spammed on my way home from work or when I am otherwise away from the house and need either a laugh a smile or somewhere to vent. And, to further prove to all of you that I am amazingly lucky in the friends I have acquired over the years... he dutifully messages me back and even told me a story upon demand once.
What amazing friends I have!
So while I really have had very little to post about lately, I think a post primarily dedicated to pointing out just how AMAZING my friends is a good way to write a post. I'm just a lucky one, that's for sure.
So my dear friends, I love you all, please keep putting up with my sorry ass!
PS. If I didn't mention you by name or "grouping", I have not forgotten you. It just means that perhaps in the past month we haven't had much chance to speak! So *coughcough*dropmealine*coughcough*
Saturday, January 30, 2010
January Hell
Salut my friends and family!
It is a testament to how insanely busy my January has been that I have not written twice this month. I've tried to write twice a month for the duration of my time in London, and this month I finally failed.
Perhaps I'll do a meme after this, just to make myself better by seeing (2) next to January! Or perhaps I'll split this post into two posts, depending on what I write about. We shall see. Or perhaps I'll just leave it at (1) so that I will always remember the insanity of this month.
We'll let's see. The last time I wrote was before New Years Eve - I spent NYE in my standard fashion - at home on my own! I completely bailed on the plans that I had, as I was just not keen that day on using public transit! I fail, I know, but to be fair, I had an enjoyable evening watching Mr. Bean and chatting with people back in Canada land, and I did indeed stay up until midnight.
My January since then has consisted of teaching and overworking myself. I've barely seen my friends, and I have both cancelled plans and bailed out early on the ones I've attended. Even when Siggy came to visit me from Bristol, the majority of my conversation was stressing out about work as it was all I could really think about. Fortunately Siggy didn't mind, as I DID spent 7 HOURS STRAIGHT in the Imperial War Museum with him. This is quite the feat for me, and I'm rather proud of that accomplishment! I didn't even complain! It was actually a better museum than I thought it would be, it's really well done. Just not my flavour of history.
The year 5 class I spent January teaching are wonderful children. The other teachers in the school are all quite friendly. I was having a hard time with the school since I'm both new to teaching and new to the country, and in three weeks I had 1 prep period. I was barely able to keep up even though I was working through my breaks and lunch breaks, staying at the school until after 5 and often after 5:30, and still working when I was at home.
I'm no longer at that school, and I'm glad of it. There were offers of support, and the year 6 teacher was quite helpful and I'll miss her, but even though support was offered and I said yes I could use help, I never actually got any. I think the school wanted someone with more experience, even though my experience level has always been open. I just don't know if they realized that when saying that were willing to help a teacher get QTS, that it meant a very brand new teacher and I think stuff got confused. Who knows.
I won't really go into details on this blog, as it's public. All I will say, is that I wanted out. So I've spent the last week back to supplying and have had multiple comments on how I seem a lot happier. Cause I am. My stress level is going back down and I've actually got energy again. When I've smiled and laughed this week - they've been real smiles and laughs. I've actually enjoyed the conversations I've had. When I take some time to relax, I don't feel guilty or stressed out because of x,y,z needing to be done. It's great.
The worst part about the whole experience is that it's making me question if I am willing to put up with the education system in this country. I hate that the job made me feel like I owe Ontario's Curriculum a huge apology! I'm not sure how much of it was the way that particular school was, or how much of it is really country-wide. I'm thinking it's a combination.
The education system here seems about ass-backwards or at least a few decades behind Ontario's curriculum. From what I've gathered from this country, their idea of "differentiated learning" is to segregate the students within the classroom, where the 'smart' students are at one table doing activity A, the average lot are doing activity B, and the 'low' group are doing activity C. The students are expected to all progress at the same rate - which means that there is zero scaffolding being done to help bring the lower group closer to the average. It is basically what I've been taught in Ontario is completely wrong.
In Ontario, I'm used to where all the students are doing the same activity - you just provide extra challenge for the higher students when they're finished, and find accommodations for the lower students to help them achieve the same end goal. It's common practice in Ontario to have mixed ability tables, so that the students can actually learn from each other. Here in England... the students are always arranged in ability tables, so the lower ability students cannot usually turn to each other for assistance. There's no student-teaching going on at all in English classrooms, or at least a very minimal amount.
I've also found that homework is given out for homework's sake. This is COMPLETELY frowned upon and discouraged in Ontario - if you give students homework in Ontario you really have to justify it. Usually it's something that the student didn't complete in class (and you have to justify why they didn't finish in class and why you know they can understand it and finish it at home) or is something that the student will NOT need assistance with. Which means homework is sent home rarely in Ontario.
Also, every school here seems to work on some sort of sticker-reward chart. The students want a sticker for EVERYTHING that they do. it's a little sad. I like stickers and all, but it sometimes feels like it's getting ridiculous here!
Ah well.
I hope that the next time I take on a long-term (I definitely need a break from it for now) that I'll be in a more supportive school, and not a single-form school where I'm the only teacher for the grade.
It's just getting really frustrating how everything here is centered on how it looks on paper.... being able to tick off that a classroom has/uses 1,2,3,4,5.... instead of actual student learning or really looking at if what's in the room is actually being used to an advantage. It just needs to be there, to be seen. As long as it looks good on the paper or in a photograph, then it's a-ok in this country.
I hope I'm wrong about it.
It is a testament to how insanely busy my January has been that I have not written twice this month. I've tried to write twice a month for the duration of my time in London, and this month I finally failed.
Perhaps I'll do a meme after this, just to make myself better by seeing (2) next to January! Or perhaps I'll split this post into two posts, depending on what I write about. We shall see. Or perhaps I'll just leave it at (1) so that I will always remember the insanity of this month.
We'll let's see. The last time I wrote was before New Years Eve - I spent NYE in my standard fashion - at home on my own! I completely bailed on the plans that I had, as I was just not keen that day on using public transit! I fail, I know, but to be fair, I had an enjoyable evening watching Mr. Bean and chatting with people back in Canada land, and I did indeed stay up until midnight.
My January since then has consisted of teaching and overworking myself. I've barely seen my friends, and I have both cancelled plans and bailed out early on the ones I've attended. Even when Siggy came to visit me from Bristol, the majority of my conversation was stressing out about work as it was all I could really think about. Fortunately Siggy didn't mind, as I DID spent 7 HOURS STRAIGHT in the Imperial War Museum with him. This is quite the feat for me, and I'm rather proud of that accomplishment! I didn't even complain! It was actually a better museum than I thought it would be, it's really well done. Just not my flavour of history.
The year 5 class I spent January teaching are wonderful children. The other teachers in the school are all quite friendly. I was having a hard time with the school since I'm both new to teaching and new to the country, and in three weeks I had 1 prep period. I was barely able to keep up even though I was working through my breaks and lunch breaks, staying at the school until after 5 and often after 5:30, and still working when I was at home.
I'm no longer at that school, and I'm glad of it. There were offers of support, and the year 6 teacher was quite helpful and I'll miss her, but even though support was offered and I said yes I could use help, I never actually got any. I think the school wanted someone with more experience, even though my experience level has always been open. I just don't know if they realized that when saying that were willing to help a teacher get QTS, that it meant a very brand new teacher and I think stuff got confused. Who knows.
I won't really go into details on this blog, as it's public. All I will say, is that I wanted out. So I've spent the last week back to supplying and have had multiple comments on how I seem a lot happier. Cause I am. My stress level is going back down and I've actually got energy again. When I've smiled and laughed this week - they've been real smiles and laughs. I've actually enjoyed the conversations I've had. When I take some time to relax, I don't feel guilty or stressed out because of x,y,z needing to be done. It's great.
The worst part about the whole experience is that it's making me question if I am willing to put up with the education system in this country. I hate that the job made me feel like I owe Ontario's Curriculum a huge apology! I'm not sure how much of it was the way that particular school was, or how much of it is really country-wide. I'm thinking it's a combination.
The education system here seems about ass-backwards or at least a few decades behind Ontario's curriculum. From what I've gathered from this country, their idea of "differentiated learning" is to segregate the students within the classroom, where the 'smart' students are at one table doing activity A, the average lot are doing activity B, and the 'low' group are doing activity C. The students are expected to all progress at the same rate - which means that there is zero scaffolding being done to help bring the lower group closer to the average. It is basically what I've been taught in Ontario is completely wrong.
In Ontario, I'm used to where all the students are doing the same activity - you just provide extra challenge for the higher students when they're finished, and find accommodations for the lower students to help them achieve the same end goal. It's common practice in Ontario to have mixed ability tables, so that the students can actually learn from each other. Here in England... the students are always arranged in ability tables, so the lower ability students cannot usually turn to each other for assistance. There's no student-teaching going on at all in English classrooms, or at least a very minimal amount.
I've also found that homework is given out for homework's sake. This is COMPLETELY frowned upon and discouraged in Ontario - if you give students homework in Ontario you really have to justify it. Usually it's something that the student didn't complete in class (and you have to justify why they didn't finish in class and why you know they can understand it and finish it at home) or is something that the student will NOT need assistance with. Which means homework is sent home rarely in Ontario.
Also, every school here seems to work on some sort of sticker-reward chart. The students want a sticker for EVERYTHING that they do. it's a little sad. I like stickers and all, but it sometimes feels like it's getting ridiculous here!
Ah well.
I hope that the next time I take on a long-term (I definitely need a break from it for now) that I'll be in a more supportive school, and not a single-form school where I'm the only teacher for the grade.
It's just getting really frustrating how everything here is centered on how it looks on paper.... being able to tick off that a classroom has/uses 1,2,3,4,5.... instead of actual student learning or really looking at if what's in the room is actually being used to an advantage. It just needs to be there, to be seen. As long as it looks good on the paper or in a photograph, then it's a-ok in this country.
I hope I'm wrong about it.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Come on 2010!
Well... it's that time of year again. The time where it ends. Out goes 2009, in comes 2010.
I, however, live with the school-year. For me, my year basically started in September. If this is Frank's #yearotf, then basically my year is always near my birthday, since I'm mid-August.
So far, this year has been great. By that, I mean THIS school year.
2009? Well. 2009 rather stunk, although I'll mix it up with 2008's ending.
My 2008/2009 year: AKA the last year at York University:
- break up with Luke just before the year starts
- York goes on strike for 3 months
- I can barely afford groceries due to said strike as I was laid off for its duration
- Luke and I completely stop talking
- lose touch with more than one rather close friend
- Uni life was very stressful
- crazy drama revolving around my younger brother
+ spent the majority of 3 months with my nieces
+ graduated! I'm now the owner of a Specialized Honours BA, majoring in English. I am also the (much less proud) owner of a Bachelor of Education, specializing in Junior/Intermediate English
+ despite all terror, applied and went through all the red tape to come teach in England!
My 2009/2010 year so far:
+ moved to London England!
+ realized I actually LOVE living in London!
+ wrote 70,000 words in the month of November for Nanowrimo!
+ met some wonderful people through Nano
+ actually enjoyed supply-teaching!
+ got hired for a Year 5 class starting Jan 2010!
+ learned to let myself spend money when it comes to doing what I want
- as such, I'm not QUITE saving as much as I want to be
- worried that some of my friends back in Canada are going to forget about me or just not bother trying to keep in touch
- miss my friends and that back in Canadaland
As you can see, 2009/2010 year is starting off quite wonderfully. I've never been happier.
I don't do New Years Resolutions, but these are my near-future (how close the near-future is is debatable and up for change) goals:
* finish my novel
* save up money and find my own flat (this I think is quite ambitious living in London!)
* pay Siggy back
* keep on top of my student loan
* get the rest of the 2009/2010 year PLANNED thoroughly
* travel somewhere outside of England
* get a new lens for my camera
They won't be done in that order, but those are the goals. Well. The new lens IS the last on the list, but nonetheless, it is a goal that I have in the back of my head.
I, however, live with the school-year. For me, my year basically started in September. If this is Frank's #yearotf, then basically my year is always near my birthday, since I'm mid-August.
So far, this year has been great. By that, I mean THIS school year.
2009? Well. 2009 rather stunk, although I'll mix it up with 2008's ending.
My 2008/2009 year: AKA the last year at York University:
- break up with Luke just before the year starts
- York goes on strike for 3 months
- I can barely afford groceries due to said strike as I was laid off for its duration
- Luke and I completely stop talking
- lose touch with more than one rather close friend
- Uni life was very stressful
- crazy drama revolving around my younger brother
+ spent the majority of 3 months with my nieces
+ graduated! I'm now the owner of a Specialized Honours BA, majoring in English. I am also the (much less proud) owner of a Bachelor of Education, specializing in Junior/Intermediate English
+ despite all terror, applied and went through all the red tape to come teach in England!
My 2009/2010 year so far:
+ moved to London England!
+ realized I actually LOVE living in London!
+ wrote 70,000 words in the month of November for Nanowrimo!
+ met some wonderful people through Nano
+ actually enjoyed supply-teaching!
+ got hired for a Year 5 class starting Jan 2010!
+ learned to let myself spend money when it comes to doing what I want
- as such, I'm not QUITE saving as much as I want to be
- worried that some of my friends back in Canada are going to forget about me or just not bother trying to keep in touch
- miss my friends and that back in Canadaland
As you can see, 2009/2010 year is starting off quite wonderfully. I've never been happier.
I don't do New Years Resolutions, but these are my near-future (how close the near-future is is debatable and up for change) goals:
* finish my novel
* save up money and find my own flat (this I think is quite ambitious living in London!)
* pay Siggy back
* keep on top of my student loan
* get the rest of the 2009/2010 year PLANNED thoroughly
* travel somewhere outside of England
* get a new lens for my camera
They won't be done in that order, but those are the goals. Well. The new lens IS the last on the list, but nonetheless, it is a goal that I have in the back of my head.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Christmas in London
This will be my first Christmas post-university, and although it won't be the first Christmas I've spent by myself, this will be the first Christmas where I've planned and looking forward to spending Christmas all on my own.
A lot of people have seemed to think it's a sad thing, but you know what? Honestly, I'm quite excited for it. I haven't been this much in "the Christmas spirit" for absolutely years. I think being at York might have affected it - was always so busy and stressed out in November and the beginning of December, that by the time Christmas came all I wanted to do was sleep and play video games. Not a bad way to spend the holidays, but for the most part I really had no excitement about the holidays and only thought "thank gawd, no more essays"
This year? For the last few days now I've been listening to Christmas radio when on the computer. That's right. Christmas radio.
I've also bought and set up the most Charlie Brown of Christmas trees. I am working on a small budget so that's alright with me. It looks cute when it's dark, but during the day it's a little sad to look at! Poor thing. I really dislike putting the lights and garland on the tree though. You can sort of tell by looking at it. Dismantling this tree is certainly going to be a challenge!
I've also went through the process of somewhat buying myself Christmas presents (aka, some things I would have bought myself anyway, plus some knick knacks that I wouldn't have, plus the various chocolates that I only ever have at Christmas). Now.... the nerdy and embarassing part: I had no presents to wrap in this country, and after decorating the tree my next favourite thing is wrapping presents. So I wrapped my own presents, because what else was there to wrap! It made me happy, but once they were all wrapped I really felt quite silly for it. I believe I will feel utterly embarassed unwrapping them, but I really just wanted to wrap something.
I started off my Christmas celebrating by going out with some of the #nanolondon crew (Mel, Jay, Claire, Jen, Ben, Chloe and Sarah plus a few of their friends). We went to a traditional German Christmas Market down at Southbank, right where we've been writing for the past month for nano! It was a great evening, which mostly consisted of food. We had mulled wine (Gluwein) and for most of us, it was our first time having it. I thought it was absolutely delicious. Mel and I also bought roasted chestnuts! I've wanted to try roasted chestnuts since I was a little child, so I was quite excited to finally get to! I was not disappointed at all, as I loved them, which was good since the rest of the nano-crew really didn't seem to like them!
It was a lovely evening with them, and felt very Christmasy to me.
In other news, completely unrelated but is basically an awesome Christmas present for me: I've been hired! It's with a year 5 class who are quite lovely children, in a small and really lovely school. I really like how it feels there. I only found out last Thursday (the 10th) so I'm really very excited! The school is willing to get me my QTS which is possibly the best part, as that's at the top of my priority list!
It's really setting up to have 2009 end on a really good foot, which is the exact opposite of how the year started. Last January was not a good time! I've got a lot on the calendar for now though - dinner with Melissa before she heads back to Canada for Christmas, dinner with my flatmates before they head off, Christmas and Birthday drinks for Frank and the nanolondon crew. Cookie baking at Claire and Jen's, kareokee at some point for Claire's and possibly Sarah's birthdays, New Years at Claire and Jen's, a trip to visit Mel and go to Windsor Castle just after New Years... somewhere in there will likely hang out with Tony, and at some point Jay is going to come over for movies in Wanstead... Plus whatever I end up deciding to do all on my own! So I've got lots more to go.
I also yesterday went and spent the day at Jay's, and while he was worried that his flat would be messy, the only things I could possibly give him shit about where 1. he met me WITHOUT A COAT ON!! 2. he needs to get himself FOOD so he can eat and 3. there weren't any pictures of his girlfriend up! All of which are easily remedied, so silly stress-case had nothing to worry about. I had an absolutely lovely time just hanging out and playing games and watching Dr. Who. Seeing as games and watching tv are Christmas traditions for me (being the only time I really have to do either!) it felt a lot like holidays. Plus Jay just started his Christmas holidays a week early so it really IS holiday stuff). It was really nice to have a relaxing social day, since normally I keep myself running around ALL THE TIME.
Anyway!,I hope that everyone back in Canada is having a wonderful start to the Christmas season, and I really hope that 2010 will be wonderful for everyone.... everyone I know has worked so hard that you really deserve to have things going your way! As for me, I really think 2010 is going to be amazing (even if it does get stressful right at the start when I adjust to working full-time as a teacher!) and I am amazed at my luck at having everything go so wonderful already. Of course, I know that most of it has been due to my own hard work and determination and whatnot, but a lot of it has also been luck. For example - yes I made myself go out and do the write-ins for Nanowrimo. But the luck came in when it turned out that everyone at those write-ins was so awesome! What a fun group of friends to have ran into! It was definitely luck. But I'm rather lucky so I'm not all that surprised.
All the best Canada!
PS. Your snowstorms make me smile.
A lot of people have seemed to think it's a sad thing, but you know what? Honestly, I'm quite excited for it. I haven't been this much in "the Christmas spirit" for absolutely years. I think being at York might have affected it - was always so busy and stressed out in November and the beginning of December, that by the time Christmas came all I wanted to do was sleep and play video games. Not a bad way to spend the holidays, but for the most part I really had no excitement about the holidays and only thought "thank gawd, no more essays"
This year? For the last few days now I've been listening to Christmas radio when on the computer. That's right. Christmas radio.
I've also bought and set up the most Charlie Brown of Christmas trees. I am working on a small budget so that's alright with me. It looks cute when it's dark, but during the day it's a little sad to look at! Poor thing. I really dislike putting the lights and garland on the tree though. You can sort of tell by looking at it. Dismantling this tree is certainly going to be a challenge!
I've also went through the process of somewhat buying myself Christmas presents (aka, some things I would have bought myself anyway, plus some knick knacks that I wouldn't have, plus the various chocolates that I only ever have at Christmas). Now.... the nerdy and embarassing part: I had no presents to wrap in this country, and after decorating the tree my next favourite thing is wrapping presents. So I wrapped my own presents, because what else was there to wrap! It made me happy, but once they were all wrapped I really felt quite silly for it. I believe I will feel utterly embarassed unwrapping them, but I really just wanted to wrap something.
I started off my Christmas celebrating by going out with some of the #nanolondon crew (Mel, Jay, Claire, Jen, Ben, Chloe and Sarah plus a few of their friends). We went to a traditional German Christmas Market down at Southbank, right where we've been writing for the past month for nano! It was a great evening, which mostly consisted of food. We had mulled wine (Gluwein) and for most of us, it was our first time having it. I thought it was absolutely delicious. Mel and I also bought roasted chestnuts! I've wanted to try roasted chestnuts since I was a little child, so I was quite excited to finally get to! I was not disappointed at all, as I loved them, which was good since the rest of the nano-crew really didn't seem to like them!
It was a lovely evening with them, and felt very Christmasy to me.
In other news, completely unrelated but is basically an awesome Christmas present for me: I've been hired! It's with a year 5 class who are quite lovely children, in a small and really lovely school. I really like how it feels there. I only found out last Thursday (the 10th) so I'm really very excited! The school is willing to get me my QTS which is possibly the best part, as that's at the top of my priority list!
It's really setting up to have 2009 end on a really good foot, which is the exact opposite of how the year started. Last January was not a good time! I've got a lot on the calendar for now though - dinner with Melissa before she heads back to Canada for Christmas, dinner with my flatmates before they head off, Christmas and Birthday drinks for Frank and the nanolondon crew. Cookie baking at Claire and Jen's, kareokee at some point for Claire's and possibly Sarah's birthdays, New Years at Claire and Jen's, a trip to visit Mel and go to Windsor Castle just after New Years... somewhere in there will likely hang out with Tony, and at some point Jay is going to come over for movies in Wanstead... Plus whatever I end up deciding to do all on my own! So I've got lots more to go.
I also yesterday went and spent the day at Jay's, and while he was worried that his flat would be messy, the only things I could possibly give him shit about where 1. he met me WITHOUT A COAT ON!! 2. he needs to get himself FOOD so he can eat and 3. there weren't any pictures of his girlfriend up! All of which are easily remedied, so silly stress-case had nothing to worry about. I had an absolutely lovely time just hanging out and playing games and watching Dr. Who. Seeing as games and watching tv are Christmas traditions for me (being the only time I really have to do either!) it felt a lot like holidays. Plus Jay just started his Christmas holidays a week early so it really IS holiday stuff). It was really nice to have a relaxing social day, since normally I keep myself running around ALL THE TIME.
Anyway!,I hope that everyone back in Canada is having a wonderful start to the Christmas season, and I really hope that 2010 will be wonderful for everyone.... everyone I know has worked so hard that you really deserve to have things going your way! As for me, I really think 2010 is going to be amazing (even if it does get stressful right at the start when I adjust to working full-time as a teacher!) and I am amazed at my luck at having everything go so wonderful already. Of course, I know that most of it has been due to my own hard work and determination and whatnot, but a lot of it has also been luck. For example - yes I made myself go out and do the write-ins for Nanowrimo. But the luck came in when it turned out that everyone at those write-ins was so awesome! What a fun group of friends to have ran into! It was definitely luck. But I'm rather lucky so I'm not all that surprised.
All the best Canada!
PS. Your snowstorms make me smile.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
A Reflection on Nanowrimo
(most of this was written while running around London with the most amazing group of writers!)
The Nanorilla Reflection
When I was 7, being the practical child that I was, I would have told you that I would have loved to be a writer, but that I wouldn't be. This wasn't because I thought I was horrible, I just 1. knew it wasn't a reliable job and 2. didn't want to do something that I loved so much as a job. So I decided being a farmer was a better choice (I could only think of farmers or vets as options, as I wanted to work with animals and I couldn't bear the thought of cutting an animal open... apparently I hadn't thought of slaughtering the farms animals!).
One of my life goals has always been to write a novel. Not publish one, but write one. I've had it set as “something to do once I was finished with school” since before I was even in highschool.
I am now done with school, having graduated last June. I have now written almost 70,000 words in a novel. During the past month. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is only 76000 words roughly, to give you an idea of how long it is. It will be even longer by the time it is finished. I've left out a lot of probably-needed description in the novel, since I hate writing, so I will need to go back and edit that in at some point (which will make it even longer). I also need to edit it so that the writing quality is of a higher grade that Twilight (that will be easy though, have you READ Twilight?!).
So I've wrote a large part of my novel and I did it in a month. That's right. One month. As part of National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org). I first heard of nanowrimo while I was at York, and I promised myself I would do it when I finished uni. The challenge for nanowrimo is to write 50000 words into a novel in the month of November. I met that challenge on November 16!
Of course, when I first heard of nano I wasn't thinking about moving to London. I knew that was my plan (to move to England) but it wasn't fully real to me at the time. So I move to London at the end of the summer, which is huge and new, lovely and scary. I was finally starting to live the life that I want to live.
Not much was missing in my life. I love London. I love being here, and being free to do what I want with my spare time. I can start pursuing my hobbies, which are all time-consuming and/or expensive. And while I am not fully pursuing all of them, I have at least began to. For September and October I mostly contented myself with exploring the area and hitting up various parks and museums. Which I love doing.
In all of that enjoyment, I totally forgot about Nano over the last few months.
I remembered about it though. Towards the end of October I realized what I was missing (I was starting to notice a downward trend in my moods by this point). I was missing my social life, which I'd always thought was rather tame. I was really starting to miss my friends (and I still do).
So, when I finally remembered about Nanowrimo, I was super excited. Something to do for the month! I joined the site and planned out a memoir (which I changed a few days before it started, and have been writing something that was completely fiction and rather unplanned). Trolling the forums in my pre-nano excitement, I discovered that I could join a region. I joined the London region, and discovered something far more awesome – write-ins and meet-ups! Apparently people actually get together and write! Who'd have thunk it? Who the hell can write WITH someone? I was a bit unsure of that idea. I thought it sounded a little weird.
Ok, so this may or may not sound odd to you, but I'm actually fairly shy. Once I'm in some situation where I have to interact with strangers I'm perfectly fine and overly chatty (to be quite frank, I'm overly chatty BECAUSE I'm shy and nervous at first, and don't want to stop talking so that I can ignore any weird looks and avoid the potential let-down in someone's response... no one notices this because once I'm comfortable I just babble away happily... but when I first start babbling? I'm NOT happy and comfortable. I'm incredibly nervous and self-conscious and end up giving off the worst impression ever and then get right paranoid). But generally, I avoid contact with strangers as I NEVER initiate. I just respond when someone starts a conversation with me. I'd find it rude not too and don't want to start an argument, so it's easier to respond and be polite and friendly and hope it will be over shortly. So meeting people for Nanowrimo didn't seem like a very good idea to me before November started.
If I had still been in Toronto, I can say I wouldn't have gone. I would have been too shy to go without knowing anyone. However, I'm in London. I really DON'T know anyone. I haven't figured out how to actually meet people here, as I normally befriend people through school or work. Hard to do supplying! I wouldn't find it easy to meet people who share similiar interests, as all my happiest activities are very solitary. If I made myself go to the meets, I reasoned, at least I could have some social contact, with the possibility of keeping myself motivated to write the entire month. I wasn't sure at that point if I was going to tell my friends that I was attempting to do this, as I wasn't sure how I felt about being questioned and was worried about embarrassing myself.
The first meet was going to be during half-term, when I didn't have to work. Thinking back, I probably would have chickened out if I had had to work the next day. I decided to cut my stay at Siggy and Jen's in Bristol a bit short to attend. By doing this, I assured my attendance – I HAD to go since I'd cut a visit with one of my best friend's short! I would have been miserable if I left Bristol early for no reason!
So off I went. I can say now that it's probably one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself. I met some fun and crazy people at the meet up, and it gave me the courage to try attending a write-in. So I went to my first write-in in Bethnal Green, and enjoyed myself. I wrote a lot, and it was nice to be with other writers. Reading the forums, I decided that maybe I would try braving one of the central London write-ins, as they seemed to have a larger crowd and a different atmosphere. I was apprehensive about getting there though, as I work in East London and don't usually know exactly when I'll be finished my day. I was worried I'd be late.
Those of you who know me well, should know about my issues with being late (as in, if I'm going to be late, I will likely cancel or not show up), so the prospect of being late combined with being with people I didn't know and the potential of getting lost finding the venue? Led to a stressful debate.
I dragged my laptop with me to the school I was teaching at that day. I ended up finished remarkably early, as the school day at that school was finished at 2:45pm. Wow eh? I made it to the venue at least an hour early. I wasn't sure that I was in the right place until I found the nano-group amassing tables.
Attending that write-in is probably one of the best things I've ever done. It took a huge amount of courage for me to get there, and I was a huge ball of nerves. I think I only loosened up when I recognized @jayintheclouds from the first London meet and Twitter. Yes, I have Twitter to thank. Oh Twitter, how the #nanolondon crew has used you! The difference between Bethnal Green and Southbank was very noticeable to me; there were a lot more people (increasing the intimidation factor) and it was much brighter and I couldn't hide in a corner in a pub. (I will explain a wee bit about myself here and now – I'm GOOD at mingling with strangers as I'm used to having to do it. It doesn't mean I enjoy it or feel comfortable. Just because I seem happy and cheerful, doesn't mean that I am. I just force it and hope it changes. Southbank was one of those times where I managed to actually succeed in feeling comfortable.) The people I met at Southbank were amazing. They were friendly and outrageous, and it was such an interesting mix of personalities that I was hooked.
I began to go to all the downtown write-ins, because I loved the people that were there so much. I eventually concluded that we all had three things in common.
1.we like to write
2.we're all some variety and level of geek
3.we're all a little crazy
Everyone has been so supportive of each other throughout the month, and getting to actually spend time with such people has been such a pleasure. In a way I feel so close to them all and I've only known them for the month. It feels a bit like a frosh week, except so much better. I haven't felt nearly as lonely in London as I had been, and I really feel like I've just started some proper friendships with some really wicked people. Scarier still, I really think that at least some of those friendships will continue after this is all over.
It feels so silly to write that, about making friends, but it's been a very real, and very emotional, experience for me. I knew I would see people at the write-ins for the month, and that it would likely be friendly. But I didn't actually think that I would meet anyone who could stand the idea of seeing me beyond the boundaries of Nanowrimo. And yet, at this moment, I really feel like some of the people I've met actually enjoy my company, and that is why it feels so silly to write that.
We've all gotten along so well that many of us plan to keep writing together afterwards, and that makes me so happy. It really does, and I think it's the first time in my life where I actually feel like I fit IN. Normally I always feel like I'm on the periphery of a group, floating around on the edges and looking in but never actually belonging in it. I'd just wait until it was time to move on or end up excluded. It doesn't feel like that with the nano-group. It's so weird for me, and until they read this (even though right now they are sitting all around me in Covent Garden drinking caffeine or alcohol) they won't know how much of a positive and profound experience this has been for me, and how much it actually means to me to actually feel that way. Lol [Yes, I wrote lol when I was writing on the paper!], I almost cried writing that and I feel mighty silly. Thank gawd I didn't, everyone would have wondered what the hell was going on! I just never imagined I'd feel like I fit in in a group. I gave up years ago, and definitely thought the opportunity for it even being a possibility was long gone now that I'm finished with school. And yet here it went and happened and I have all of these lovely people to thank for giving me that. I just can't get over feeling amazed with everyone.
In a way, for that reason if nothing else, I really love all of these people.
Now as to a recap of our day so far: It's been such an honour today to go traipsing around Central London writing in random locations, getting crazy looks from strangers, and laughing like maniacs. We met at St. Paul's Cathedral and froze while we gathered and wrote on the steps. Jen and Claire (the lovely organizers of the write-ins) had even made cardboard signs for the #nanorilla Twitter group!
After freezing and writing on the steps of St. Paul's, we retreated into the Starbucks that we could see from the steps. Somehow we managed to get enough seats for nearly 20 of us. I had a Black Cherry Mocha and it was delicious (and it did NOT burn my tongue!). We wrote Stick Novels. On the stir-sticks. Mine was about an airplane.
[Henceforth this is what I've typed at home, everything before I wrote while running around in London]
My first Stick-Novel was a memoir on one side, and a story about a Princess (Cleo gave me the topic). I couldn't think about a Princess name and I accidentally called it Jay, so Jay got a bit insulted with what I wrote, naturally. So I gave it to him and no one else has read it. After, Jay told me to write about a plane. So I did, and this was my stick-novel:
“Once upon a time there was an airplane. It really wanted to be a ship so it crashed into the sea. (other side) Once the plane was in the sea all the passengers drowned. The plane regretted its decision.”
Later in the day at the pub, I wrote two more. One was about beet (Jay's topic) and one was about the rain (Melanie's topic). Everyone wrote rather hilarious Stick Novels in my opinion!
We headed towards Tate Modern, deciding that we needed to be indoors (although I did manage to miraculously keep the rain away all day, cause I've got skills like that. You can ask my dad!). Inside Tate Modern we went to see the big old black room. What was it called? Jay had a moment before going inside, so I was basically his guide dog while in there. Yep, I noticed when I said that at Tate that I'd just basically called myself a bitch. Kept Jay safe and made fun of myself for acting like a teacher at the same time. We then sat in Tate and wrote, and I have no idea what people thought of us as I had my back to the crowd. Jon hit 50k while there, so cheers for that!
After Tate we ended up writing on the BlackFriar's bridge. It was a fun, but short, stop! Had a LOT of odd looks for passers-by, and we had someone stop and photograph us for a while. It was quite amusing. What else was amusing was our group conga-line and that that we had going for part of our walk to there.
We then high-tailed it to Covent Garden, as we were cold and hungry. So what did we do? Sat outside at Covent Garden at a cafe and drank caffeinated or alcoholic beverages. Somehow we had miraculously got enough seats for all of us, ALL TOGETHER! What the hell are the odds of that one!
We then left to go find a pub. It was dark and we couldn't keep writing. This is when we lost the leaders of our pack, as the walk way was too thin and crowded for such a loud group. No fears though, as we found our way there in the end. And spent the next 3 hours or so in the pub, just hanging out.
My fingers are sore, so I am so not giving the day justice in it's recap, but it was a marvellous day and had many many hilarious moments that perhaps I will add in at some point!
The Nanorilla Reflection
When I was 7, being the practical child that I was, I would have told you that I would have loved to be a writer, but that I wouldn't be. This wasn't because I thought I was horrible, I just 1. knew it wasn't a reliable job and 2. didn't want to do something that I loved so much as a job. So I decided being a farmer was a better choice (I could only think of farmers or vets as options, as I wanted to work with animals and I couldn't bear the thought of cutting an animal open... apparently I hadn't thought of slaughtering the farms animals!).
One of my life goals has always been to write a novel. Not publish one, but write one. I've had it set as “something to do once I was finished with school” since before I was even in highschool.
I am now done with school, having graduated last June. I have now written almost 70,000 words in a novel. During the past month. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is only 76000 words roughly, to give you an idea of how long it is. It will be even longer by the time it is finished. I've left out a lot of probably-needed description in the novel, since I hate writing, so I will need to go back and edit that in at some point (which will make it even longer). I also need to edit it so that the writing quality is of a higher grade that Twilight (that will be easy though, have you READ Twilight?!).
So I've wrote a large part of my novel and I did it in a month. That's right. One month. As part of National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org). I first heard of nanowrimo while I was at York, and I promised myself I would do it when I finished uni. The challenge for nanowrimo is to write 50000 words into a novel in the month of November. I met that challenge on November 16!
Of course, when I first heard of nano I wasn't thinking about moving to London. I knew that was my plan (to move to England) but it wasn't fully real to me at the time. So I move to London at the end of the summer, which is huge and new, lovely and scary. I was finally starting to live the life that I want to live.
Not much was missing in my life. I love London. I love being here, and being free to do what I want with my spare time. I can start pursuing my hobbies, which are all time-consuming and/or expensive. And while I am not fully pursuing all of them, I have at least began to. For September and October I mostly contented myself with exploring the area and hitting up various parks and museums. Which I love doing.
In all of that enjoyment, I totally forgot about Nano over the last few months.
I remembered about it though. Towards the end of October I realized what I was missing (I was starting to notice a downward trend in my moods by this point). I was missing my social life, which I'd always thought was rather tame. I was really starting to miss my friends (and I still do).
So, when I finally remembered about Nanowrimo, I was super excited. Something to do for the month! I joined the site and planned out a memoir (which I changed a few days before it started, and have been writing something that was completely fiction and rather unplanned). Trolling the forums in my pre-nano excitement, I discovered that I could join a region. I joined the London region, and discovered something far more awesome – write-ins and meet-ups! Apparently people actually get together and write! Who'd have thunk it? Who the hell can write WITH someone? I was a bit unsure of that idea. I thought it sounded a little weird.
Ok, so this may or may not sound odd to you, but I'm actually fairly shy. Once I'm in some situation where I have to interact with strangers I'm perfectly fine and overly chatty (to be quite frank, I'm overly chatty BECAUSE I'm shy and nervous at first, and don't want to stop talking so that I can ignore any weird looks and avoid the potential let-down in someone's response... no one notices this because once I'm comfortable I just babble away happily... but when I first start babbling? I'm NOT happy and comfortable. I'm incredibly nervous and self-conscious and end up giving off the worst impression ever and then get right paranoid). But generally, I avoid contact with strangers as I NEVER initiate. I just respond when someone starts a conversation with me. I'd find it rude not too and don't want to start an argument, so it's easier to respond and be polite and friendly and hope it will be over shortly. So meeting people for Nanowrimo didn't seem like a very good idea to me before November started.
If I had still been in Toronto, I can say I wouldn't have gone. I would have been too shy to go without knowing anyone. However, I'm in London. I really DON'T know anyone. I haven't figured out how to actually meet people here, as I normally befriend people through school or work. Hard to do supplying! I wouldn't find it easy to meet people who share similiar interests, as all my happiest activities are very solitary. If I made myself go to the meets, I reasoned, at least I could have some social contact, with the possibility of keeping myself motivated to write the entire month. I wasn't sure at that point if I was going to tell my friends that I was attempting to do this, as I wasn't sure how I felt about being questioned and was worried about embarrassing myself.
The first meet was going to be during half-term, when I didn't have to work. Thinking back, I probably would have chickened out if I had had to work the next day. I decided to cut my stay at Siggy and Jen's in Bristol a bit short to attend. By doing this, I assured my attendance – I HAD to go since I'd cut a visit with one of my best friend's short! I would have been miserable if I left Bristol early for no reason!
So off I went. I can say now that it's probably one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself. I met some fun and crazy people at the meet up, and it gave me the courage to try attending a write-in. So I went to my first write-in in Bethnal Green, and enjoyed myself. I wrote a lot, and it was nice to be with other writers. Reading the forums, I decided that maybe I would try braving one of the central London write-ins, as they seemed to have a larger crowd and a different atmosphere. I was apprehensive about getting there though, as I work in East London and don't usually know exactly when I'll be finished my day. I was worried I'd be late.
Those of you who know me well, should know about my issues with being late (as in, if I'm going to be late, I will likely cancel or not show up), so the prospect of being late combined with being with people I didn't know and the potential of getting lost finding the venue? Led to a stressful debate.
I dragged my laptop with me to the school I was teaching at that day. I ended up finished remarkably early, as the school day at that school was finished at 2:45pm. Wow eh? I made it to the venue at least an hour early. I wasn't sure that I was in the right place until I found the nano-group amassing tables.
Attending that write-in is probably one of the best things I've ever done. It took a huge amount of courage for me to get there, and I was a huge ball of nerves. I think I only loosened up when I recognized @jayintheclouds from the first London meet and Twitter. Yes, I have Twitter to thank. Oh Twitter, how the #nanolondon crew has used you! The difference between Bethnal Green and Southbank was very noticeable to me; there were a lot more people (increasing the intimidation factor) and it was much brighter and I couldn't hide in a corner in a pub. (I will explain a wee bit about myself here and now – I'm GOOD at mingling with strangers as I'm used to having to do it. It doesn't mean I enjoy it or feel comfortable. Just because I seem happy and cheerful, doesn't mean that I am. I just force it and hope it changes. Southbank was one of those times where I managed to actually succeed in feeling comfortable.) The people I met at Southbank were amazing. They were friendly and outrageous, and it was such an interesting mix of personalities that I was hooked.
I began to go to all the downtown write-ins, because I loved the people that were there so much. I eventually concluded that we all had three things in common.
1.we like to write
2.we're all some variety and level of geek
3.we're all a little crazy
Everyone has been so supportive of each other throughout the month, and getting to actually spend time with such people has been such a pleasure. In a way I feel so close to them all and I've only known them for the month. It feels a bit like a frosh week, except so much better. I haven't felt nearly as lonely in London as I had been, and I really feel like I've just started some proper friendships with some really wicked people. Scarier still, I really think that at least some of those friendships will continue after this is all over.
It feels so silly to write that, about making friends, but it's been a very real, and very emotional, experience for me. I knew I would see people at the write-ins for the month, and that it would likely be friendly. But I didn't actually think that I would meet anyone who could stand the idea of seeing me beyond the boundaries of Nanowrimo. And yet, at this moment, I really feel like some of the people I've met actually enjoy my company, and that is why it feels so silly to write that.
We've all gotten along so well that many of us plan to keep writing together afterwards, and that makes me so happy. It really does, and I think it's the first time in my life where I actually feel like I fit IN. Normally I always feel like I'm on the periphery of a group, floating around on the edges and looking in but never actually belonging in it. I'd just wait until it was time to move on or end up excluded. It doesn't feel like that with the nano-group. It's so weird for me, and until they read this (even though right now they are sitting all around me in Covent Garden drinking caffeine or alcohol) they won't know how much of a positive and profound experience this has been for me, and how much it actually means to me to actually feel that way. Lol [Yes, I wrote lol when I was writing on the paper!], I almost cried writing that and I feel mighty silly. Thank gawd I didn't, everyone would have wondered what the hell was going on! I just never imagined I'd feel like I fit in in a group. I gave up years ago, and definitely thought the opportunity for it even being a possibility was long gone now that I'm finished with school. And yet here it went and happened and I have all of these lovely people to thank for giving me that. I just can't get over feeling amazed with everyone.
In a way, for that reason if nothing else, I really love all of these people.
Now as to a recap of our day so far: It's been such an honour today to go traipsing around Central London writing in random locations, getting crazy looks from strangers, and laughing like maniacs. We met at St. Paul's Cathedral and froze while we gathered and wrote on the steps. Jen and Claire (the lovely organizers of the write-ins) had even made cardboard signs for the #nanorilla Twitter group!
After freezing and writing on the steps of St. Paul's, we retreated into the Starbucks that we could see from the steps. Somehow we managed to get enough seats for nearly 20 of us. I had a Black Cherry Mocha and it was delicious (and it did NOT burn my tongue!). We wrote Stick Novels. On the stir-sticks. Mine was about an airplane.
[Henceforth this is what I've typed at home, everything before I wrote while running around in London]
My first Stick-Novel was a memoir on one side, and a story about a Princess (Cleo gave me the topic). I couldn't think about a Princess name and I accidentally called it Jay, so Jay got a bit insulted with what I wrote, naturally. So I gave it to him and no one else has read it. After, Jay told me to write about a plane. So I did, and this was my stick-novel:
“Once upon a time there was an airplane. It really wanted to be a ship so it crashed into the sea. (other side) Once the plane was in the sea all the passengers drowned. The plane regretted its decision.”
Later in the day at the pub, I wrote two more. One was about beet (Jay's topic) and one was about the rain (Melanie's topic). Everyone wrote rather hilarious Stick Novels in my opinion!
We headed towards Tate Modern, deciding that we needed to be indoors (although I did manage to miraculously keep the rain away all day, cause I've got skills like that. You can ask my dad!). Inside Tate Modern we went to see the big old black room. What was it called? Jay had a moment before going inside, so I was basically his guide dog while in there. Yep, I noticed when I said that at Tate that I'd just basically called myself a bitch. Kept Jay safe and made fun of myself for acting like a teacher at the same time. We then sat in Tate and wrote, and I have no idea what people thought of us as I had my back to the crowd. Jon hit 50k while there, so cheers for that!
After Tate we ended up writing on the BlackFriar's bridge. It was a fun, but short, stop! Had a LOT of odd looks for passers-by, and we had someone stop and photograph us for a while. It was quite amusing. What else was amusing was our group conga-line and that that we had going for part of our walk to there.
We then high-tailed it to Covent Garden, as we were cold and hungry. So what did we do? Sat outside at Covent Garden at a cafe and drank caffeinated or alcoholic beverages. Somehow we had miraculously got enough seats for all of us, ALL TOGETHER! What the hell are the odds of that one!
We then left to go find a pub. It was dark and we couldn't keep writing. This is when we lost the leaders of our pack, as the walk way was too thin and crowded for such a loud group. No fears though, as we found our way there in the end. And spent the next 3 hours or so in the pub, just hanging out.
My fingers are sore, so I am so not giving the day justice in it's recap, but it was a marvellous day and had many many hilarious moments that perhaps I will add in at some point!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Bonjour, Blog!
Ok. So it's been a month since I've written.
What have I done in that past month? Umm. I went to Bristol to visit Siggy and his fiance Jen! (Except she wasn't that THEN, but is now, and I knew that was coming! hahaha) and I had a great time, even if I DID spend most of my time there sleeping cause I'd been sick!
So that was that week, and then it was Hallowe'en, and I haven't really done much since then.
Except write 50,000 words. Oh yes. That's what my word count has been on msn.
I decided to take part in www.nanowrimo.org this year. I've wanted to participate for YEARS but knew there was no point while in uni. So I had promised myself I would do it my first year out, and so I did.
And can now say that I've written 50,032 words in SIXTEEN DAYS. AND I've worked! Since it's for the month of November, I'll see where I end up by the time the month is done, cause I'm certainly not done the novel.
It's been an extremely social month for me though. As odd as that might be, since I've spent all my time writing. There's a lot of other people in London taking part in nanowrimo as well, so I've gone to various write-ins and meet-ups. A write-in is when a bunch of us meet up at a certain time, with our laptops, and then we ignore each other for a few hours and write our novels.
So I've been out a lot of those, and it's great. Feels like I have a social life again, as I'm sure most people who will read this have heard me complain that the ONLY time I'm missing from Canada is social-time with my friends. I was getting a bit lonely in October, but Nano's helping with that this month so I've been quite happy.
And no, you may not read the novel. It's not finished, for one. And for two, it's an UNEDITED FIRST DRAFT. Half the time my characters sounds the exact same as each other, and there are large segments of dialogue with VERY little going on in between (the setting doesn't help though). And no, I'm also not going to bother explaining my story, because it's complicated and I can't do it justice. I can babble about it in person, but writing it down doesn't seem to work out quite as well. Ask me again when I start spamming the internet about FINISHING a novel. Then we'll talk.
What have I done in that past month? Umm. I went to Bristol to visit Siggy and his fiance Jen! (Except she wasn't that THEN, but is now, and I knew that was coming! hahaha) and I had a great time, even if I DID spend most of my time there sleeping cause I'd been sick!
So that was that week, and then it was Hallowe'en, and I haven't really done much since then.
Except write 50,000 words. Oh yes. That's what my word count has been on msn.
I decided to take part in www.nanowrimo.org this year. I've wanted to participate for YEARS but knew there was no point while in uni. So I had promised myself I would do it my first year out, and so I did.
And can now say that I've written 50,032 words in SIXTEEN DAYS. AND I've worked! Since it's for the month of November, I'll see where I end up by the time the month is done, cause I'm certainly not done the novel.
It's been an extremely social month for me though. As odd as that might be, since I've spent all my time writing. There's a lot of other people in London taking part in nanowrimo as well, so I've gone to various write-ins and meet-ups. A write-in is when a bunch of us meet up at a certain time, with our laptops, and then we ignore each other for a few hours and write our novels.
So I've been out a lot of those, and it's great. Feels like I have a social life again, as I'm sure most people who will read this have heard me complain that the ONLY time I'm missing from Canada is social-time with my friends. I was getting a bit lonely in October, but Nano's helping with that this month so I've been quite happy.
And no, you may not read the novel. It's not finished, for one. And for two, it's an UNEDITED FIRST DRAFT. Half the time my characters sounds the exact same as each other, and there are large segments of dialogue with VERY little going on in between (the setting doesn't help though). And no, I'm also not going to bother explaining my story, because it's complicated and I can't do it justice. I can babble about it in person, but writing it down doesn't seem to work out quite as well. Ask me again when I start spamming the internet about FINISHING a novel. Then we'll talk.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Portobello, Natural History, and random encounter #1
Oiy!
Apparently I have forgotten to keep this up-to-date. I pass off all blame by saying that I have been busy, but mostly work-busy so there is less to write about and less time to write it in.
Since Lille, this is what I've done: Attended some seminars, went to the Natural History Museum and quickly into the Victoria and Albert Museum, went to St. James Park and found Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and Random Creep #1, tried some Indian Cuisine finally, went to the Vietnamese restaurant on our High Street, have a class to teach for two weeks, went to HomeBase (sorta like Home Depot) and bought various things to start making my bedroom my bedroom, went out for Thai, went down to Leicester Square to meet Tony at work and go for Sushi, went to the market on Portobello Road and then to Kensington Gardens again...
So now, for the stories.
I decided one day that I wanted to go to the Natural History Museum. I knew it would be lovely. A piece of trivia my flatmate shared with me: the architect who designed the building.. it was his SECOND attempt ever. He was a genius. It's a gorgeous building. So, off I went.. and discover a HUGE LINE OUTSIDE. There was no way I was going to wait in that line, cause I knew it was for bag checks. So, I decide I'll walk down the road to the Science Museum to see what its line was like. On the way to there... I discover this tiny little door with a security person standing there.. and random people going in. Curious, I stopped and asked what the entrance was for. It was for anyone! So in I went to the Natural History Museum.. and totally bypassed the queue.
So take a mental note of that: there is a SIDE ENTRANCE that is not as well known, and lots of families prefer the bigger entrance cause it's more grandoise.
It was an amazing museum, and I did a whirlwind tour of it. I kept stopping to admire the architecture, cause it was gorgeous, and I could have spent all day there (and I did spend most of it) but I had to rush myself. I did NOT go to see the dinosaurs however, even though I really wanted to. But I wasn't waiting in that queue all by myself!
After the Nat. His. Museum I wandered into the V&A museum.. it wasn't fully my thing, and I was exhausted and had gotten a headache so I left again.
The next day, I decided I was going to go to St. James Park as I wanted to see the pelicans that reside there. Despite getting off at St. James Park Station... I was unable to locate the blasted park! (I went the wrong way as I didn't look at signs and just wandered off and had forgot my A-Z book at home). So, instead of St. James Park I discovered Big Ben and Westminster, which I hadn't been looking for. So I enjoyed the area and I did a big huge circle and ended up back at St. James Station (go me and my topographic map in my head, as I had quite the meandering course and still ended up where I wanted to get back to!). I then find my way to the park finally, and I spent at least an hour or two watching the Pelicans. Yes, that's right, I'm a bit of a nerd. They were right up near the fence and OMG the pelicans actually will let you pet them gently. I was so excited that I actually asked some strangers to take a picture of me with them (using my point and shoot, and NOT my Canon Rebel). That's right... I asked a stranger for help.
Since I was in the area, I figured I should probably go over and look at Buckingham Palace.. so I did, and remained unimpressed. lol. So I wandered off to find the Canada Gate that I'd remembered seeing the last time I was there, and find it I did. Then went off to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. What can I say... I really like parks and it was a gorgeous day.
So... I find the boating area and take a seat on a bench and take out a book to read. I'd been sat there reading for ages... when I end up with my first creepy encounter in the UK. (AND IF YOU ARE READING THIS THEN I'LL SAY IT PLAINLY - LOOKING SOMEONE UP IS NOT COOL).
Here is the creep story:
I'm sat on the bench and this guy sits on it as well. I glanced over cause I always do just to see who is sitting near me. It was only a quick glance and I went back to my book. Guy then asks me if there's anything on his back, and says that he'd been laying on the ground (lots of people do) and wasn't sure if there were any leaves.
I'm then not allowed to go BACK TO MY BOOK as this guy keeps talking to me. Now, you all know me... I'm polite. I'm friendly. I've had a lot of experience with random creeps. I've already learned that it's just easiest to be polite and friendly and not bother getting bitchy or rude cause that just tends to lead to more disaster. Within a few minutes this guy has invited me over to his place for tea - saying he lives in the area. I say no and said I had dinner plans with a friend (I didn't, although I made some later!). He then wants my phone number. I say no, but he was persistent, so I ended up saying that I don't KNOW my phone number (which is true, I've ALMOST got it memorized but I'm never sure). He was then going to try to show me how to find out my phone number or someshit like that, and I really DIDN'T want to give out my phone number (since my agency allllways shows up as "Unknown" so I have to answer all those damn calls that I normally ignore... fortunately it's always been my agency!)... so I decided that the easiest way to get rid of this would be to just give him my email (I was thinking of my msn address) and then block him and be done with it.
Of course, I'd had a long week and was tired and worn out and frustrated with the conversation by this point, and what do I do? GIVE OUT MY REAL EMAIL. Stupid ass me. Y'know.. the one with my NAME IN IT. Whoops. I noticed it RIGHT as it was too late and was busy going "fuck fuck fuck FUCK" in my head. So I looked at the time and lied and said I really had to leave to get ready to go out for dinner... so off I went. Thought that it MIGHT have went ok as far as the creepy encounters go... and just from experience and a hunch, I opted to look behind me a few times to make sure that he wasn't following me along at all... he wasn't, so I gave Tony a call and told him the story cause I was looking for a laugh.. then invited Tony out for supper and we found a really delicious Thai place in Isle of Dog.
Now, I shall say that when I got home I had two messages from Creep#1. One was to the email.. and he looked me up on facebook. This is what they were: facebook - " i like seeing your picture Lindsey. Very impressive profile on word press. Will you take it down when I asked you to. I should tell you this privately though. Are you still reeding DavinCi code."
to my email - "Hey Lindsay
Apparently I have forgotten to keep this up-to-date. I pass off all blame by saying that I have been busy, but mostly work-busy so there is less to write about and less time to write it in.
Since Lille, this is what I've done: Attended some seminars, went to the Natural History Museum and quickly into the Victoria and Albert Museum, went to St. James Park and found Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and Random Creep #1, tried some Indian Cuisine finally, went to the Vietnamese restaurant on our High Street, have a class to teach for two weeks, went to HomeBase (sorta like Home Depot) and bought various things to start making my bedroom my bedroom, went out for Thai, went down to Leicester Square to meet Tony at work and go for Sushi, went to the market on Portobello Road and then to Kensington Gardens again...
So now, for the stories.
I decided one day that I wanted to go to the Natural History Museum. I knew it would be lovely. A piece of trivia my flatmate shared with me: the architect who designed the building.. it was his SECOND attempt ever. He was a genius. It's a gorgeous building. So, off I went.. and discover a HUGE LINE OUTSIDE. There was no way I was going to wait in that line, cause I knew it was for bag checks. So, I decide I'll walk down the road to the Science Museum to see what its line was like. On the way to there... I discover this tiny little door with a security person standing there.. and random people going in. Curious, I stopped and asked what the entrance was for. It was for anyone! So in I went to the Natural History Museum.. and totally bypassed the queue.
So take a mental note of that: there is a SIDE ENTRANCE that is not as well known, and lots of families prefer the bigger entrance cause it's more grandoise.
It was an amazing museum, and I did a whirlwind tour of it. I kept stopping to admire the architecture, cause it was gorgeous, and I could have spent all day there (and I did spend most of it) but I had to rush myself. I did NOT go to see the dinosaurs however, even though I really wanted to. But I wasn't waiting in that queue all by myself!
After the Nat. His. Museum I wandered into the V&A museum.. it wasn't fully my thing, and I was exhausted and had gotten a headache so I left again.
The next day, I decided I was going to go to St. James Park as I wanted to see the pelicans that reside there. Despite getting off at St. James Park Station... I was unable to locate the blasted park! (I went the wrong way as I didn't look at signs and just wandered off and had forgot my A-Z book at home). So, instead of St. James Park I discovered Big Ben and Westminster, which I hadn't been looking for. So I enjoyed the area and I did a big huge circle and ended up back at St. James Station (go me and my topographic map in my head, as I had quite the meandering course and still ended up where I wanted to get back to!). I then find my way to the park finally, and I spent at least an hour or two watching the Pelicans. Yes, that's right, I'm a bit of a nerd. They were right up near the fence and OMG the pelicans actually will let you pet them gently. I was so excited that I actually asked some strangers to take a picture of me with them (using my point and shoot, and NOT my Canon Rebel). That's right... I asked a stranger for help.
Since I was in the area, I figured I should probably go over and look at Buckingham Palace.. so I did, and remained unimpressed. lol. So I wandered off to find the Canada Gate that I'd remembered seeing the last time I was there, and find it I did. Then went off to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. What can I say... I really like parks and it was a gorgeous day.
So... I find the boating area and take a seat on a bench and take out a book to read. I'd been sat there reading for ages... when I end up with my first creepy encounter in the UK. (AND IF YOU ARE READING THIS THEN I'LL SAY IT PLAINLY - LOOKING SOMEONE UP IS NOT COOL).
Here is the creep story:
I'm sat on the bench and this guy sits on it as well. I glanced over cause I always do just to see who is sitting near me. It was only a quick glance and I went back to my book. Guy then asks me if there's anything on his back, and says that he'd been laying on the ground (lots of people do) and wasn't sure if there were any leaves.
I'm then not allowed to go BACK TO MY BOOK as this guy keeps talking to me. Now, you all know me... I'm polite. I'm friendly. I've had a lot of experience with random creeps. I've already learned that it's just easiest to be polite and friendly and not bother getting bitchy or rude cause that just tends to lead to more disaster. Within a few minutes this guy has invited me over to his place for tea - saying he lives in the area. I say no and said I had dinner plans with a friend (I didn't, although I made some later!). He then wants my phone number. I say no, but he was persistent, so I ended up saying that I don't KNOW my phone number (which is true, I've ALMOST got it memorized but I'm never sure). He was then going to try to show me how to find out my phone number or someshit like that, and I really DIDN'T want to give out my phone number (since my agency allllways shows up as "Unknown" so I have to answer all those damn calls that I normally ignore... fortunately it's always been my agency!)... so I decided that the easiest way to get rid of this would be to just give him my email (I was thinking of my msn address) and then block him and be done with it.
Of course, I'd had a long week and was tired and worn out and frustrated with the conversation by this point, and what do I do? GIVE OUT MY REAL EMAIL. Stupid ass me. Y'know.. the one with my NAME IN IT. Whoops. I noticed it RIGHT as it was too late and was busy going "fuck fuck fuck FUCK" in my head. So I looked at the time and lied and said I really had to leave to get ready to go out for dinner... so off I went. Thought that it MIGHT have went ok as far as the creepy encounters go... and just from experience and a hunch, I opted to look behind me a few times to make sure that he wasn't following me along at all... he wasn't, so I gave Tony a call and told him the story cause I was looking for a laugh.. then invited Tony out for supper and we found a really delicious Thai place in Isle of Dog.
Now, I shall say that when I got home I had two messages from Creep#1. One was to the email.. and he looked me up on facebook. This is what they were: facebook - " i like seeing your picture Lindsey. Very impressive profile on word press. Will you take it down when I asked you to. I should tell you this privately though. Are you still reeding DavinCi code."
to my email - "Hey Lindsay
I googled you.
See the link below. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home
I must meet you soon to discuss with you something important.
I like your girly writting, just between two of us. You look good to my eyes.
Come, come. Let get it going." (dont click the link... I never have)
Yep. Lovely eh? Man was I cursing away by this point. How the HELL are either of those even remotely acceptable? Still haven't fully figured out what was meant by asking me to take it down... I'm guessing a photo. Who the HELL thinks the have the right to ask someone to take down their picture? Fuckhead. I was so mad. I wasn't expecting the messages to be thhhhat disturbing, and who the hell googles you? Yep... I've got some skill in attracting the scum really... I don't know how I do it, I was SAT THERE READING.
So I replied to the email quickly and in anger, but was still trying to be polite so I asked something about what on EARTH could be so important. The reply? "You of course and a couple of kisses in your cheek):" .... *smacks forhead* Good lord. I've now had enough by this point and sent back: "Look, I'm sorry, but that is really just inappropriate. Each message you have sent has been inappropriate, and I'm going to ask you to stop. Goodbye.".
Since then, these are the messages I have received:
"No, what do you mean. I haven't said anything inappropriate. It's between you and me and confidential. Most importantly depends on how one looks at the wording. But I left that to your imaginations, Lindsey. don't get upset. I take a break for a while." (sent the day I'd sent the last message... anyone else get what was meant by CONFIDENTIAL? If it's between me and him.. and *I* say he was being inappropriate.. then it MEANS HE WAS BEING INAPPROPRIATE!)
"Hi Lindsey How's work? It would be very nice if we could begin a normal conversation again! XX SAMAD" (sent the next day.... long break eh?)
"I would like to invite you to an event for movie's, show "theater in Covent Garden", or a trip to Windsor Castle. Would like to join me in one of these event. Please let me." (sent less than a week after the last one... persistent fucker no?)
*slaps forehead* So hopefully that's done, it's been a week since that last one now.
The next week for me was also quite long, and rather exhausting, so by the weekend I decided I was just going to stay at home for the Thanksgiving Weekend and not do anything. It was VERY hard to do. But I know I've been wearing myself so I thought it would do me some good.
Sunday for Thanksgiving I went to Cuckfields for a thanksgiving meal with my flatmates. Had roast chicken, roasted potatoes, and veggies. It was yummy for a thanksgiving meal, but I was really missing pumpkin pie. This country doesn't do pumpkin!!! I was so upset.
Last week I made up for my slow weekend by being out every night: Monday went to Tony's for thanksgiving proper.. we were going to make steak but the car wouldn't work, so we ordered Chinese and watched a movie. Tuesday went to the last of the seminars. Wednesday went to meet Tony downtown in Leicester Square for supper for when he was done work.. we went for sushi and it was delicious, and then we wandered through China Town. Just so you know, London's China Town kicks Toronto's China town's ASS. Thursday I went to Homebase and bought all sorts of stuff for my room that I wanted. Friday I invited Tony over to go to the Vietnamese restaurant on our High Street cause I had heard it was gorgeous and delicious. And it was.
Just so you know, my room is starting to look and feel like MY space. Especially since I put up the shower rod and hung up a sheet on it (it's a work in progress)... and my photo wall. I just need to figure out how to get other photos up on my wall. I will manage it though.
Saturday I went to the market on Portobello Road. I LOVED it. I've wanted to go there since I was a kid and watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I think it's been one of my best experiences.. I left here at 7am to make sure I was there by 8am when it opened (I wanted to avoid the crowd). There was so much to look at! I went on a hunt for small presents for my parents and danny... but the best parts of my day were the things I bought for myself. I bought a GORGEOUS (word of the day apparently!) mechanical bird cage clock... the bird does the ticking and the ball thing in the middle rotates to show the time. I'm not sure when it was made though cause I forgot to ask. I don't care if it's an actual antique or if its a reproduction (I'm going to let myself think it's legit!) cause it's so lovely. The box it came with smells rather oldish.
I also bought myself a 1913 Vest Pocket Kodak Autotrophic Camera. haha. It's lovely. The shopkeeper was lovely too. I was just walking around and stopped when I saw his stall inside and was like "OMG this is the most awesome stall I've seen today! I didn't think I'd see anything this cool!". Seriously, I sounded like an excited little kid. The shopkeeper and I were stood there chatting and I eventually asked how much some of them were... and then I was like "OMG I can actually afford that!!!" and was then so excited that I told him I would just have to buy one. So we picked me out a cute one and he showed me that it was £25 pounds, but said there was one in better condition for £35 pounds. So he said he'd knock off £5 for me for either of them, so I was going to get the £35 pound one.. which he then saw the tag said £30, so he still knocked it down to £25 for me.
(MOM DON'T LET DAD READ THIS PARAGRAPH... it's about all your presents!)
I also was excited with what I bought my dad.... a 1930s barometer from germany. It's just hilarious, I've got a photo of it I can send you. I loved it. I also bought a necklace from that stall, which is very much NOT antique but I really liked it and it was only £3. Mom I bought a small trinket for and I can't say what it is but I can say that it was crafted by a friend of the man who sold it to me. And danny I bought a little soldier that's wearing a gas mask, and is in a "CHARGE!" position. It's holding a bayonet and the arms holding it can move up and down. It's new from the looks of it and the stall, but that was fine with me. The stall-keeper was super cheerful and he and I chatted around.. he helped me pick it out cause I wasn't sure what to get.
So... that's been my life for the past few weeks!
Yep. Lovely eh? Man was I cursing away by this point. How the HELL are either of those even remotely acceptable? Still haven't fully figured out what was meant by asking me to take it down... I'm guessing a photo. Who the HELL thinks the have the right to ask someone to take down their picture? Fuckhead. I was so mad. I wasn't expecting the messages to be thhhhat disturbing, and who the hell googles you? Yep... I've got some skill in attracting the scum really... I don't know how I do it, I was SAT THERE READING.
So I replied to the email quickly and in anger, but was still trying to be polite so I asked something about what on EARTH could be so important. The reply? "You of course and a couple of kisses in your cheek):" .... *smacks forhead* Good lord. I've now had enough by this point and sent back: "Look, I'm sorry, but that is really just inappropriate. Each message you have sent has been inappropriate, and I'm going to ask you to stop. Goodbye.".
Since then, these are the messages I have received:
"No, what do you mean. I haven't said anything inappropriate. It's between you and me and confidential. Most importantly depends on how one looks at the wording. But I left that to your imaginations, Lindsey. don't get upset. I take a break for a while." (sent the day I'd sent the last message... anyone else get what was meant by CONFIDENTIAL? If it's between me and him.. and *I* say he was being inappropriate.. then it MEANS HE WAS BEING INAPPROPRIATE!)
"Hi Lindsey How's work? It would be very nice if we could begin a normal conversation again! XX SAMAD" (sent the next day.... long break eh?)
"I would like to invite you to an event for movie's, show "theater in Covent Garden", or a trip to Windsor Castle. Would like to join me in one of these event. Please let me." (sent less than a week after the last one... persistent fucker no?)
*slaps forehead* So hopefully that's done, it's been a week since that last one now.
The next week for me was also quite long, and rather exhausting, so by the weekend I decided I was just going to stay at home for the Thanksgiving Weekend and not do anything. It was VERY hard to do. But I know I've been wearing myself so I thought it would do me some good.
Sunday for Thanksgiving I went to Cuckfields for a thanksgiving meal with my flatmates. Had roast chicken, roasted potatoes, and veggies. It was yummy for a thanksgiving meal, but I was really missing pumpkin pie. This country doesn't do pumpkin!!! I was so upset.
Last week I made up for my slow weekend by being out every night: Monday went to Tony's for thanksgiving proper.. we were going to make steak but the car wouldn't work, so we ordered Chinese and watched a movie. Tuesday went to the last of the seminars. Wednesday went to meet Tony downtown in Leicester Square for supper for when he was done work.. we went for sushi and it was delicious, and then we wandered through China Town. Just so you know, London's China Town kicks Toronto's China town's ASS. Thursday I went to Homebase and bought all sorts of stuff for my room that I wanted. Friday I invited Tony over to go to the Vietnamese restaurant on our High Street cause I had heard it was gorgeous and delicious. And it was.
Just so you know, my room is starting to look and feel like MY space. Especially since I put up the shower rod and hung up a sheet on it (it's a work in progress)... and my photo wall. I just need to figure out how to get other photos up on my wall. I will manage it though.
Saturday I went to the market on Portobello Road. I LOVED it. I've wanted to go there since I was a kid and watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I think it's been one of my best experiences.. I left here at 7am to make sure I was there by 8am when it opened (I wanted to avoid the crowd). There was so much to look at! I went on a hunt for small presents for my parents and danny... but the best parts of my day were the things I bought for myself. I bought a GORGEOUS (word of the day apparently!) mechanical bird cage clock... the bird does the ticking and the ball thing in the middle rotates to show the time. I'm not sure when it was made though cause I forgot to ask. I don't care if it's an actual antique or if its a reproduction (I'm going to let myself think it's legit!) cause it's so lovely. The box it came with smells rather oldish.
I also bought myself a 1913 Vest Pocket Kodak Autotrophic Camera. haha. It's lovely. The shopkeeper was lovely too. I was just walking around and stopped when I saw his stall inside and was like "OMG this is the most awesome stall I've seen today! I didn't think I'd see anything this cool!". Seriously, I sounded like an excited little kid. The shopkeeper and I were stood there chatting and I eventually asked how much some of them were... and then I was like "OMG I can actually afford that!!!" and was then so excited that I told him I would just have to buy one. So we picked me out a cute one and he showed me that it was £25 pounds, but said there was one in better condition for £35 pounds. So he said he'd knock off £5 for me for either of them, so I was going to get the £35 pound one.. which he then saw the tag said £30, so he still knocked it down to £25 for me.
(MOM DON'T LET DAD READ THIS PARAGRAPH... it's about all your presents!)
I also was excited with what I bought my dad.... a 1930s barometer from germany. It's just hilarious, I've got a photo of it I can send you. I loved it. I also bought a necklace from that stall, which is very much NOT antique but I really liked it and it was only £3. Mom I bought a small trinket for and I can't say what it is but I can say that it was crafted by a friend of the man who sold it to me. And danny I bought a little soldier that's wearing a gas mask, and is in a "CHARGE!" position. It's holding a bayonet and the arms holding it can move up and down. It's new from the looks of it and the stall, but that was fine with me. The stall-keeper was super cheerful and he and I chatted around.. he helped me pick it out cause I wasn't sure what to get.
So... that's been my life for the past few weeks!
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