Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As you can understand and clearly demonstrated by the lack of blogging...I've been busy!

Alison and I have been having a fantastic time so far. I'll try to compress it into a readable blog!

After Ali got settled here with a nice long sleep she accompanied me to work on the last day of school. I was happy to have another set of hands and she was able to see the kind of jungle animals my students were (Past tense...new job starting Monday!) That night we went to a comedy show in central London where I got picked on by the comedian who tried to auction me off throughout the evening. Sheesh.

For the rest of the weekend until Tuesday we did all sorts of touristy things, such as Greenwich Park, the Royal Obsevatory, the National Portrait Galley, visiting the bar I used to work at, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, shopping at Westfield's (well, looking...very posh!), enjoyed fish and chips, and explored the 02 Arena, and went to see Les Miserables! It's all a blur now anyway... Right, on to Wednesday!

We got up early and hoped to heck we could make it to Swanage. The rail lines were all messed up because of the "horrible weather conditions"... it's quite comical how this country falls to pieces because of a little of the white stuff! Anyhow, we made it to Swanage in one piece and Alan Rouse met us at the station. We went and enjoyed dinner and civilized conversation with he, Ann, and Ann's 97 year old mother! We had a nice sleep in their downstairs flat and explored the town the next day. Late afternoon we took the hour or so drive to Eastleigh where most of the Rouse's families live. We were welcomed with open arms to Cherry and Martin's house. We enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve dinner and then did the complete opposite of the norm back home. Instead of going to church ... we went to the pub! And had a FANTASTIC time! Christmas morning arrived and we enjoyed seeing Mia (The Rouse's great granddaughter) open her presents. Christmas day was nice and relaxed. We went to visit Pip and Peter - the Rouse's son and daughter in law and their 3 kids (I played hide and seek for the afternoon!) Then was the huge Christmas dinner back at Cherry and Martin's - everyone was there! We felt so at home and as if we'd known everyone forever! That evening the party stayed at Cherry's place. All of the grandkids' (who are our age) friends came over and it was a blast! Needless to say, Boxing Day was a day for recovery... The next day we packed up and headed home to London.

Since we came back from Swanage on Sunday we've been busy little bees out and about! We've done the London Dungeon, Westminster Abbey, South Bank, Oxford St. shopping, St James's Park, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Green Park, the National Martime Museum, the Queen's House, and Karaoke! Actually, it was "rockaoke" at the Roadhouse - Ali and I both sang our owns songs on stage with a live band in front of hundreds of people - it was SO much fun! So, that brings us right up to date! It is New Year's Eve and to avoid paying minimum 30 quid to get into any bar where drink prices would be jacked up and people will be drunk off their rear ends... we are staying close to home and going to the Good Ol' Greenwich Park Bar & Grill where the company is great and the drinks are free!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderfully Merry Christmas and enjoyed the company of friends and family. Happy New Year!

God Bless

Amy & Ali

Christmas is so close, I can almost taste it!

My First Piece of Pottery!

A little pot with a lid! I made that!

Yes, so Christmas is nearly here, my holidays are coming up but I'm taking tomorrow off! Only because tomorrow morning I have to make my way to Heathrow Airport to collect a VIP! My sister! I am SO excited for her to come visit! I've got so many things planned for us and I will be keeping you all up to date as to what sort of things we get ourselves into. On Wednesday we are going to Swanage, Dorset, where friends of my granparents, the Rouse's, live. We will be spending the night with them and on Christmas Eve traveling with them to Eastleigh where will be spending Christmas with their whole family. They are very happy to have us and I'm very excited to meet them all! It will be a different Christmas for sure, but I think it will be very lovely!

Guess what...it SNOWED today. I bet all of you in Ontario are thinking, "amy, shut up"... but really, I WASN'T EXPECTING IT! It was just a few light flurries that melted as they hit the ground, but still! My kids were in awe and a little scared I think - one said "AAAAH!! Miss Amy - it's all over my coat!!!" HAHA! The staff were complaining as if they knew they would surely die walking home.

I've got so much to do before Ali gets here that I should get on it! I hope all is well back home - I'm very happy here and am so looking forward to this holiday!

Peace and Love,

~amy

A few Scotland pics & the REAL life of an inner city London teacher!

Before I start my rant of the last two weeks, I thought I'd put up some pictures I recently received from Diana of our trip to Scotland! A month or so late, but still, here are few!

They certainly do not capture Scotland as it is seen in person, in fact I feel like they are a bit of an injustice to one of the most beautiful countries in the world! These pictures are in no particular order as they were a pain in the rear to actually post!

These are my wet feet. After hiking during a day that couldn't be any wetter it didn't matter where my feet ended up. I hadn't even noticed I was soaked because my feet were numb! Only when I looked down did I realize and decided to take a picture!

This is outside of the Glasgow Cathedral. This was one of the coolest places I've ever been! A very eerie, gloomy, creepy, Medieval church! We just don't get to see things like this in Canada!

Hiking in the highlands. This was such a spectacular view and quite the hike to get there, but clearly well worth the effort. I've seen pictures of this area in the summer and when the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the hills are the greenest of greens, I am sure it gives a much different feeling.

The photo of me to the left is in Glenfinnan up in the highlands. My feet are absolutely soaked but I am so happy! This was day 4 of the trip and possibly one of the best days of my life!

Here is the now famous Glenfinnan Viaduct! Otherwise known to most as the bridge the Hogwarts Express travels on in the Harry Potter films. It was very exciting to see it up close! We hiked right up to it. It's absolutely massive!

There are still plenty more pictures I have but I guess I will have to slowly post the blog can only handle so many!

So, I guess it's been almost two weeks since I've posted a proper blog. I apologize to anyone who may be cursing at me for not doing so! I've been VERY busy. After Ofsted, which I survived somehow, things have just become more and more crazy at work. To put it bluntly, they have been lousy. Unfortunately, I've really been struggling with the lack of support I receive at this school and am just left to drown on my own. I usually think I am pretty good at figuring things out by myself and do fine being left to my own resources, but not when I don't know anything about anything when it comes to UK procedures and assessment. Not only does it GREATLY vary between Canada, but also different boroughs in London have different procedures its impossible to get it all under wraps. Bottom line, no one is answering my questions, offering any sort of support, or even giving a damn that I am confused! They don't seem to care one bit that I am a new teacher and even newer to the UK. No one seems to care about anything and it's really disheartening. Well, besides the paperwork end of it and all of its nonsense... my students are feral. In ONE week I was BIT twice by two different students. They are absolutely mad. I could go on and on for forever and a day about the behaviour I have dealt with, but I will spare you that. Being bitten is just an example of what I've dealt with so far, use your imaginations.

So, needless to say, I've had a good chat with my agent and I plan on sticking it out until Christmas and then move on to something else. I'm a very determined and dedicated person, but I know that life is too short to be unhappy and when the bad days consistently outweigh the good, it's time to move on. I sure am learning a lot though!!

As far as my social life goes - I make up for lousy weeks with exciting weekends! I've been going to watch gigs, visit museums, going on walking tours, and just catching up with friends. Today there was an open studio where I do pottery, so I went in to see everyone and enjoy some pie and mulled wine. It was very nice! Pottery is becoming my release - I am really developing a love for it. This week I am learning how to glaze my finished pieces before they go in the kiln! Only two weeks of this session are left... but I think I will continue on in the new year. Or, maybe I will do something else!

My sister Ali is coming in 12 days!!!! I CAN'T WAIT! It will be SO good to see her! My other sister is doing well with her new baby. I hear Gabe is adjusting well to having a new little sister so that's good news!

Well, I know this blog is mishmash of things - but know I am still VERY happy and nothing is going to change that! I am also happy because there is NO SNOW here and today was still about 11 degrees celsius outside! HAHA! It does rain a lot, but I don't have to shovel rain! I hope you are all well at home. I will be thinking of you all as the holidays roll around!

Much love,

~amy