It's educational

The wheel turns and we approach 12 months since my departure. It sure hasn't felt like it. Not that I haven't seen a lot in that time. But there is still so much more to see and do so I don't think I will be returning anytime soon.

Finished up work at Boys stuff last week, glad to be done with that. And so much for a Christmas bonus. What a joke. Still, paid the bills, just. Plus I will be back to teaching in '10, which should be better, and more money.

Christmas was an exciting one for me. Well not really. I decided it was about being with people you care about and as I had none nearby, I stayed in and watched Terry Pratchett movies. They were brilliant. Very funny in an obvious and subtle way all at once. Looking forward to the next one in Easter.

As for New Years Eve, think I will just go to the local for a few drinks. Can't really be bothered doing any more than that and to be perfectly honest I am getting a little tired of the bar and club scene.

The weather outside is weather...

Snow! It's brilliant. Makes everything so peaceful because the English can't deal with it so don't go to work. Although it does make cycling pretty interesting, especially as they only grit the main roads.

I saw my first 3d movie on Saturday, and what a movie to pop my 3d cherry. Avatar, a movie designed from the ground up for 3d. It was fantastic. They used more shots where things seem behind the screen which works a lot better than when thing come out of the screen but get cut off at the edges. The plot and action were pretty good as well. Although there were a few moments where the dialogue seemed a bit, well borrowed.

Only three more days left at Boystuff. Will be glad to finish up there and have a weeks break before starting at Kings Langley School. I will be back to earning a decent amount and doing what I am supposed to be doing.

You know those stupid Windows 7 ads? Well, for one thing how the hell is it windows 7? After Windows 3 we had 95, 98, 2000, me, xp, and Vista. So if anything it is Windows 9. But I digress. My idea is a combination of an Eyetap, cellphone, projector, all in headset, = awesome. The Eyetap is a camera that records what you see then alters it. So it can add information to the scene or take away advertising. Add to that a smart phone and the technology used with web cams and tags on products. Then you use you hands to move the information projected on your retina in real-time. You could even fit a micro projector to it so you can share what you see. All these things exist, they just need to be combined, it would be brilliant. I am a PC and where the hell is my headset?!

Jobbed!

Yes, I finally have another teaching post lined up. This time at Kings Langley school teaching Science and Chemistry. Should make a change from Verulam, and a welcome relief after working in the warehouse.

Bonk

What's the difference between a golf ball and a car? Tiger woods can drive a golf ball 400 yards. Just something I saw on the big screen at Eddie Izzard on Friday night. Which was fantabulous by the way. So much better live with the atmosphere of the crowd. Some of the highlights I can remember:

Terms and conditions: Everyone signs them, no one has ever read them. You could be agreeing to anything.

Bonk: Scrabble, a game invented by Nazis to make fun of people with Dyslexia. Dyslexia, a word created by Nazis to make fun of people who can't spell. Bonk is Eddies suggestion for what it should be called. 'Miss, I can't do this, I have Bonk. Very well, entertain your self with the sponges'

Stone age: How did men hunt without tools? Eddie mimes a guy hunting a buffalo who trips on a stone and gets an idea. 'Hey Steve! Check this out. What? (Hits him with rock.)'

Latin: Not just a dead language, a silly one. 5 ways of saying one word. a 10 second English conversation takes 10 minutes in Latin.

Ark: Noah 'OK, 2 tigers, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 mice, 2 rats. Hey Steve, what have we got so far?' Steve 'Uh, 2 tigers.' That is why all the pictures show a lion and tiger with big grins.

Stromatolites: 2 billion years of rocks with organic content. God must have been wasted.

10 commandments: Thou shalt not covert thy neighbour's ox. Typo, should have been cover. Hey wheres my ox? and whats your duvet doing out here? Also, why 10? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you pretty much covers it. Don't kill, don't steal, it's built in.

spartan sheep: Spartan men went GRR! and women went grr! and dogs went WOOF! and cats went MIAOW! and the sheep were silent! and snuck up on wolves and shore themselves with rusty blades to show they had no fear. So the wolves stole their clothes. True story. The battle of Thermopylae was immortalised by the movie 'The good ship lollipop' Starring Shirley Temple, although most links to the battle were removed in editing.

Dark side of the moon: The Americans must have landed on the moon as the Russians were first to do everything else and wouldn't have let them get away with it. And if there was a god surely he would have done something when we got from the blue ball to the grey one. Welcome, come to the dark side of the moon, sit with Darth Vader, Pink Floyd, and the giant squid that held back the Red sea for Moses.

All much funnier in the show however.

Coming up to the end of my stint at Boysstuff, but at the moment working 7 days a week which isn't fun but should mean some decent money for Christmas. I have 2 interviews next week so fingers crossed I get a place at one of them. Also I have noticed that the English weather isn't as bad as its made out. I think the English just like complaining. Speaking of the English, I also discovered why employers here like hiring Kiwis. British work ethic is rubbish.

This is giant squid of the starship Nostromo, signing off.

There's no meat in this pie...

Hmm, nearly a month since I last updated. Okay, starting at the beginning. Halloween was fun, I was pretty drunk though. Drinking Whiskey out of a stein and thought it would be a good idea to have it on the rocks. It wasn't. I saw some pretty cool costumes, some lame ones, and lots of guys as superheroes with padded muscles. Also, I somehow managed to lose my Solomons armband. This caused me a great deal of confusion as I would of had to have taken it off to lose it. Unfortunately the amount I drank meant I had little chance of figuring that mystery out. Still, a good start to the month nonetheless.

Didn't do Guy Fawkes's this year. Didn't need to, the week surrounding it the sky around my place was light up regularly. Don't really know why people waited so late for though. Sure back home we do but thats because it doesn't get dark for us until after ten. I also figured out what the UFO I saw earlier in the year was. It was a flying lantern like we sell at work. I saw lots about that week.

In biking to work I see many morons about. Mothers who have their kids strung out across the pavement, cars giving way to pedestrians in dangerous situations. Oh, and people parking across the flow of traffic. Can not believe this isn't illegal here. I see cars crossing the main road at rush hour to park on the other side. Morons. Also, Winter is showing itself. The sun stays low and it doesn't get very warm. Already wearing my ski mask, pretty soon I will be wearing my snow gloves.

This last week I did an experiment with my Skins compression top and longs. Previously I had been wearing them to the gym and when running. Very handy for keeping warm and dry. This week I wore them pretty much all the time and discovered they still smelled good. Definitely a good piece of kit. I was wearing them under my gym gear at the gym, lots of people mistaking them for tattoos. Come people, it's digicam. Who would get that as a full-body tattoo.

I am still not enjoying being poor. I haven't really been out since Halloween. Far less than I did as a teacher. And there are very few if any teaching jobs nearby which really sucks. Hopefully some people quit before Christmas. Speaking of, I am actually looking forward to Christmas like I haven't done since I was a kid. I guess it is because here it is the Christmas of TV, with the winter, the food, the decorations, etc. Hopefully I also have a bit of money then so I can enjoy it. Oh, but what is the deal with mincemeat pies? I had one the other day expecting a tasty savory treat. Oh no, these are sweet fruity things. My co-workers had a good laugh at my expense over that. What I have been enjoying recently is the Nintendo Wii. I hooked up my flatmate's' one a week or two a go. I only have Wii sports but it is still a lot of fun. Although I am not impressed when it tells me my Wii fitness age is 52. Stupid golf game.

This Friday I get to tick of another of my 100 list. Eddie Izzard live at Wembley Stadium. My seat isn't fantastic but it should still be a funny show. Going to top it off with a night out on the town. The usual game, have some drinks, meet some people, tell some stories, see what happens.

Attend the tale...

So two weeks or some ago I attended the St Albans Operatic Society's production of Sweeney Todd. Mainly because my neighbour was in it, partly because I ad not seen the film yet. To be honest, it was pretty damn good. Very well played and produced, I was pleasantly surprised by this local production.The story itself was very clever and well written too, credit to whoever did that.

I have started my new job at www.boysstuff.com. It is not very mentally stimulating but I work with amusing people and the work isn't too hard, although there are a few occasions of heavy lifting, usually delegated to me since I am the machine of the warehouse. I have also become aware of the fact that although I am not the warehouse manager, I often find myself giving orders and directions. I guess old habits die hard. I mean, commander then teacher, hard to adjust to being a drone. Still, its just until Christmas. Then hopefully I should be in a teaching post. Oh, BTW, use the code BOYSSTUFF09 to get a 10% discount at the website.

I was going to rant about Britons and their littering habits, the stupidity and obstinacy of their politicians and the flaws of people in general, but I am drunk and happy so no time for that. New stories to come including the new hollow earth expedition stories (RPG)

The Odyssey Adventure

My first experience with role playing games, more or less how it went, at least as far as I can remember. However the ending has been altered to how I wanted it to go.

DARIEN JAMES PARKER

d.o.b. 6/6/1980

Mitte, East Berlin

5 ft 8 inches, 75kg, short black hair

scars over both eyes, bionic right forearm, wolf tattoo right shoulder

Odyssey mission, 2015, 5 days out of Earth orbit, beyond the Moon.

The comms array has caught fire and nearly killed our comms officer. The chief engineer and myself went to investigate and managed to pull her from the compartment and seal it, however I did not get off unscathed. While I'm recovering from injuries sustained during the comms array incident, I might as well get down how I arrived at this point. No doubt the people back home will want to know all about us if we succeed, and if we don't. well it really won't matter anymore. Right, starting at the beginning.

My parents (a soldier & a nurse) were killed smuggling me across the Berlin wall in 1984. I lived in various orphanage's in West Berlin until 1988, then I was taken in by German mob boss and groomed to be a contact in the army as an supply officer. I attended the best schools in West Germany and excelled in science. However I disagreed with the boss and ran away to join the Luftwaffe, 31^st fighter-bomber wing in 1996 (I lied about my age to get in). I left the combat wing in 1999 after an incident involving the bombing of an unmarked aid convoy under false intelligence in Kosovo. Afterwards I became test pilot. I was captured in 2000 by the mob boss who brought me up and tortured (where I received the scars on my eyes and nearly lost my vision, but i was rescued by KSK (German special forces), 1 platoon, just in time. After recovering at the est military hospitals I Joined KSK, 5 platoon in 2000 as a sniper. I advanced rapidly in the role, despite y injuries, serving in Afghanistan from 2001-2004. In 2004 I was seconded to the Global Defense Initiative. A newly established covert, multinational group specialising in protecting Earth from space-born threats. Here I specialised in spacecraft security and vacuum-capable weapons & combat. Upon hearing about it I immediately volunteered for the Odyssey project and was accepted as security officer due to my experience in space, adaptation to isolation, and lack of family ties on Earth.

The Odyssey project is a new spaceship design specifically to head out past Mars to intercept three asteroids that are on a collision course with Earth. They have been named the Gorgon

sisters, Medusa, Stheno and Euryale. This is a truly international mission, crewed from around the world and with the fate of the Earth in our hands. Midway through training for the mission I lost my right arm at the shoulder when it got caught in one of the rotating hatches of the spine of the ship. This is the reason we now have the hatches within the spine. I briefly returned to GDI to be fitted with a bionic arm to allow me to complete the mission. This not only increases my strength but also has some special features that may come in handy.

Now there is nothing to do but wait the 3 weeks it will take to recover from my injures, exposure to a vacuum unprotected is never a good experience. Still, plenty of time to think, and right now I am thinking about the comms array. On review of the ships schematics, there is no combustible material in that compartment. This makes me think that the damage may have been caused by sabotage. But who would want to stop the Odyssey? Only 2 groups I can think of; Doomsday cults like Aum Shinrikyo who wish to destroy the world, or extreme eco-terrorist groups like the Earth Liberation Front, who figure the Earth will recover from the impact, Humans will not. It would be prudent to check the crew records for any links to organisations such as those mentioned. Also psych profiles and religious backgrounds may show something. I know this sort of thing should have been picked up before selection, but you never know, GDI can go deeper into the system than others. Another thing, I need to talk to engineering about the magneto-shield thing. I have a cunning idea if we can modify it.

Now I am no astronomer, but there is something about these asteroids that has been bugging me. Three asteroids all on basically the same trajectory. What could have caused this to happen? Even if they were originally one and broke apart due to an impact, it seems unlikely they would all be moving in the same direction.

I came out of the recuperation chamber to discover the ship in chaos. It seems the crew suspected me of being an Islamic terrorist, a corpse in an overpowered thermal camouflage suit had been shooting up the place, and one of the smaller asteroids was producing a signal identical to Cape Canaveral. Oh, and the ship went through a wormhole and suddenly we are in orbit around the asteroids. I easily managed to convince the crew I was not a terrorist, just fascinated by religion. As for the corpse, it was unidentifiable. Also, the comms specialist, who was currently in a coma, started speaking in Latin intermittently.

Given that we could not find the captain, myself, the ship geologist , and the chief engineer took the shuttle Atlantis down to the asteroid producing the signal. Upon landing we discovered a metallic looking bug about 8 feet long. The geologist called out to it in Latin. Bad idea, it immediately advanced aggressively. Luckily I had brought along the rail gun and dropped it with a shot through the head. We entered what looked like a Greek temple and went down a level to discover a huge chamber to discover a massive humanoid being with wings and extensive injuries to its abdomen chained to the ceiling. suddenly the geologist went into a trance and relayed to us that this being was the titan Prometheus. Apparently Earth was supposed to be a planet specifically for the bugs and was closer to the sun. However, the titans disrupted this by pushing a smaller planet, Theia, into the infant Earth. This pushed Earth out of its original orbit and into one better suited for mammals. However the bugs were not happy with this, which is where the asteroids come in. They are designed to push the Earth back into its original orbit. Prometheus instructed us that if we relieved his torment he would help us avoid this catastrophe. So we planted a nuke with the being and beat a hasty retreat back to the Odyssey.

We docked and rested for a spell, only to discover the captain and assistant engineer had vanished along with 4 nukes and the shuttle. The remaining crew gathered in the in the mess hall to decide what we should do. However as soon as we were all gathered something strange happened. We all started to manifest different abilities and attributes. The engineers eyes caught ablaze and he discovered he could throw fireballs, the pilot turned red and discovered he could become 4 separate entities, the geologist started to manipulate gravity and rock. As for myself, my bionic arm became liquid metal, I could turn my entire body into metal, grow to 8 feet and fly through space ridiculously fast.

Unfortunately it appeared the bugs were aware of this as a group of about 50 flew out to the ship to attack us. I managed to rip the head of one and use the two pieces to take out some more, the engineer used fireballs and the group managed to dissuade them from attacking the ship. while the attack was going on the remaining crew discovered that 3 of the missing nukes had been planted around the ship and the engines disabled. With some creative engineering and quick thinking we managed to disarm the nukes and repair the ship. We then followed the shuttles trajectory to the largest of the asteroids. The geologist created a gravity bubble and we transported down to it. Upon landing we discovered the remains of the shuttle. Well that's what we though until the shuttle stood up! It resembled a giant transformer, albeit a rather clumsy one. With the help of the others I managed to rip into its chest and threw its core into space. Turns out the core contained the assistant engineer who had the ability to control technology. He had also left an armed nuke with the shuttle which also threw into space. We attempted to infiltrate the asteroid but after killing a different species of bug they got annoyed and the magnetic shield technician teleported us out of there.

The remaining crew gathered on the bridge and we decided on a rather radical solution to the asteroid and bug problem. given our combined powers we could create a micro singularity within the asteroids for a few microseconds which should be enough to crush the asteroids. First, the geologist created a gravity well in the centre of the field. Then the magnetic shield technician reinforced this with a magnetic well. Then we dumped all the nukes and the engine cores into this and finally the engineer cast a huge fireball into the mix, igniting it all. To top it off the astrophysicist manipulated time to compress all of this energy into a micro black hole that engulfed all of the asteroids and very nearly the ship. Luckily all the bugs were destroyed and we very narrowly survived, however, without engines it would take a long time before we reach Earth again. So much for being home in time for Christmas. Still, we were now heroes, which is something to look forward to when we get out of stasis.

Combat the leaves

I finally have a job. Its not great pay but it will pay the bills. I am now a warehouse operative for Boysstuff.co.uk. An online store that sells gadgets, RC toys, etc. My job is to pack the products into boxes to be shipped off. Its not teaching but it is local. Plus I can now focus on January for a teaching post closer to home.

The last two weeks have been pretty average. Hard to get up to much with no income. I have managed to walk nearly everywhere in St Albans, so last Saturday I went for a bike ride out to Symondshyde woods. After nearly getting run over a half dozen times on the narrow roads, I wandered into the woods and sat down to have my lunch. In a break between planes flying overhead I listened for a bit and beneath the sounds of birds and insects there was a dull roar of the city six km away. So it looks like I will have to go even further for some peace and quiet.


This weekend was pretty busy for me. My flatmate's leaving party on Friday. He is in Germany for the rest of the year so I have the apartment to myself which is a mixed blessing. But I still haven't gotten into this slow drinking thing, maybe I need more practice. Saturday night I went into London to Meet up with Bob and Jodi. After spending an hour and a half playing trains (not a fun game, especially when lines are closed) I got to Putney and we went to Wagamama for dinner. Good thing I had recently read about how to eat with chopsticks. Although rice is still difficult, so I improvised and made a spoon type device with the chopsticks. Then we went to a cheap bar and had some ale with weird names. While I was playing trains to get home I got talking to two couples from New Zealand, seems we are everywhere, particularly in West London.

Combat the leaves. This was the sign at the train station. It was explaining about how the autumn causes the leaves to fall on the tracks that can cause delays are the trains slip on them and cant accelerate and break as well. However I found it hilarious how the Rail department were waging war against leaves. I was drunk at the time.

Dublin drunkenness

A drunken weekend in Dublin, how could it not be fun? My journey began Friday afternoon at Luton airport again, it took ten minutes to get from entrance to gate, then half an hour to get on the plane. Pretty uneventful flight, although it was interesting to see the difference between England and Ireland from the air. They are both patchworks of fields with hedges separating them, but Ireland is much greener and less uniform. Ireland managed to put on a great weekend for me too. Had to walk a mile to get to the terminal in Dublin though. Then I met Bob and caught the bus into Dublin City University, where he was staying in a pretty flash apartment in student accommodation. Had a reasonably quiet night as had to get up early for paintball, but we still managed to get denied entry to a pub as we were apparently too drunk. Seriously? not admitted to an Irish pub for being drunk? That's like, something you just don't expect to happen.

Saturday morning saw us travelling South to Kilruddery house near Bray to play paintball. 27 Euro for a days paintball they say. Yeah, right. More like 100. Still, 6 different arenas with full helmets, overalls, etc. Me and Bob were there with a Dublin Aussie rules team that include two Aussies, so a real UN style team. Went through several hundred rounds and wound up with a few bruises. We followed this up with a night out on the Guinness. It really does taste better in Ireland. We started off at a really tourist-oriented Irish pub called O'Donoghue's, with a fiddle band, Irish grub, even some Irish dancing. we then attempted to get into Flannery's, however the queue was around 100m long. So we went down the street to DTwo, as there was no queue. This we thought was a rather small place. Turns out it had around 7 bars, a huge covered garden, and ended up with a huge crowd. We stayed here until closing at 4am, caught a taxi back to DCU and got there at 5am.

Sunday was sightseeing day, well, half-day since I slept til noon. It was All-Ireland Gaelic Footy final day as well so town was full of red and green supporters of Kerry and Cork. Saw around five of the top 10 sights including Trinity college, Temple bar, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and the Guinness storehouse. Dublin doesn't have many tall buildings, from the Gravity bar at the top of the Guinness storehouse you can see from swerve of shore to bend of bay (James Joyce, was on the window). The storehouse is quite interesting, particularly the cooperage exhibit. This shows the history of cask-making in Dublin. Amazing how they make those things. We then went to a pub near the stadium and caught the end of the match. Once again, packed full of supporters. I had an early night Sunday as I had an early flight. I managed to get stuck behind Eastern Europeans who had trouble with visas for 15 mins, so wasn't exactly early to the gate. Still, got home alright. Ireland is on the list for a rerun, however I think I will see more than Dublin next time.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146281&id=667668063&l=1a9ad9899b

The Devils hands are idle playthings

So back from holiday for nearly a month now and the weather here s definitely taking a downturn. Still, cannot be too upset, had a fantastic summer after all.

Unemployment kinda sucks. I mean sure, I have a lot of time on my hands, but how much time to I really need? Even when I was working I managed to get idle and watch reruns and documentary's about things I had no interest in. Still, I haven't been entirely idle. Signed up to 2 employment agencies and another teacher recruitment agency. Even joined some of those paid survey websites to try and make a few extra bucks. The extra free time has also given me a chance to really explore St Albans. You see quite a lot going for a walk on a week day morning. I have even done some long circuits, 12km the other week.

Off to Dublin this weekend to see Bob. Yeah I know, shouldn't be spending money when I don't have any coming in but how often do I get to see one of the crew from home? Not enough these days it seems anyway. It should be a lot of fun, and hopefully I will have some work to come back to. The teaching vacancies have been increasing daily it seems.

Chilling in the city of love

I managed to make it all the way on regional trains to Lyon. When I got here I found a TGV going direct, but it had no Interrail places left, so I paid the 45 Euro to get to Paris that night rather than waiting until morning. I got in around 1am, struggled with the bus system to end up in Montparnasse station. I then took a taxi to the hostel. Saw the Eiffel tower for the first time but was not impressed, it only had 4 lights on. I arrived at around 0230 and there were still people drinking, a good sign. A guy at the bar said I could crash in a room for free but in the morning I should pretend I was just then checking in. So I got a few hours sleep, walked around the block, then checked back in. This hostel is another good one, although the shower in the room was another push button jobby. Also they had one key per room which was left at reception when no one was in.

I went out and found the meeting point for the Sandemans NewParis tour. Was shown around the city by a Canadian girl and meet 3 Kiwi girls and an Aussie girl on the tour. I heard about how the Romans slaughtered the original Parisii tribe, how the Romans tried to stop the Vikings with chains across the river, how the faces on the new bridge were drunk guests of Henry 4, how a Templar grandmaster cursed the king and pope for betraying him, how Henry 4s assassin missed his heart on his first stab and Henry told him he could do better, about revolutions, an idea to move the Louvre, how the German commander refused to destroy the city so just blew up the outer suburbs and the roof from the Grand Palais, saw the bridge and the M from Bourne Identity, Notre Dame, the new bridge, the Louvre, Cleopatra's Needle, the Arc De Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Grand Palias, Invalides, lots of statues.

Later that night I on went on the Montmartre tour, saw Moulin Rouge, Van Gogh's apartment, Picasso's apartment, the last remaining windmill, a city vineyard, Sacre Cour Basilica, the view of the city, Amelies cafe, the headless Saint Denis statue, the Agile Lapin cafe were Picasso swapped paintings for food. After this I went on the pub crawl. Drinks in Paris are damn expensive. still, for every one you bought you got one or two vodka orange shots from the crawl crew. I met mainly Americans here, a guy and girl from California, a Marine Cobra pilot, can not really remember the rest. went to a Irish pub and another bar, then ended up walking back to the hostel with the American girl.

Slept in the next day, then had a picnic on the banks of the seine, thought about climbing the tower and the arc but the queues were too long. I ended up doing a big long walk trying to find a supermarket. Then finally had a few drinks with a girl from Melbourne. On my last day I got up early to go out to the Normandy beaches, but didn't actually make it. I got to Bayeux and went to the museum there, but by the time I had finished I had ran out of time. The beaches are something that require a decent amount of time I think. I got back to the hostel and had some drinks with some Kiwi and English guys, went to a few bars were we met a French girl, then hung out with a girl from Brazil before calling it a night.

I just about missed the train to Calais as I had neglected to buy a souvenir before now.

Bumbling around Barcelona

Finally got to Barcelona after many small train journeys. It was very hot here and given that it was the first Saturday of the European holidays, very busy. I got in around 9pm and went straight to the hostel to wash. Then went out for some food and drink. Even though it was around 11 at night the place was still busy, although I only managed to find 2 actual pubs where I could get a drink. At the first, an Australian pub, I asked for a whiskey and coke and got a Carlsberg instead. go figure. I ended up deciding to call it an early night as I only had a few hours the next morning before I would have to catch my train. It was a shame as I think this place doesn't really get started until after midnight. Not that I was in any shape to go clubbing, what with having no shoes and all.

The next morning I had a free hostel breakfast and probably my first real breakfast of my trip. Then I spent 2 hours cramming in the sights of Barcelona before heading for the train station. The girl at the ticket office had lied to me. I spent an hour waiting for the first train to France. Now I am in the middle of the ordeal of making it to Paris when all of the direct and overnight trains are full.

Naughtiness in Nice

I didn't see much of Nice. I got in around 8 at night, found the hostel and cleaned up, then went into town for a much-needed drink. I saw a group of people heading somewhere so thought I would tag along, Turns out it was a Topdeck tour group, comprised mainly of Aussies and kiwis. I went into the bar with them and listened to a Dutch band play English and American music, hung out with a school teacher from England, and thats about all I remember. I somehow ended up further down the coast without shoes or keys, God knows what happened to them. I made my way back to the hostel but couldn't get into my room so I lay down to rest with a half-bag of cement mix for a pillow. Eventually got into the room when the manager found me. I spent the next day walking around re-hydrating, trying to find first my keys and then something to get me into my backpack. I finally found a $2 shop and got some pliers and new padlocks. I got into my bags and then started the journey to Barcelona. Or so I thought.

It had been confusing me as to why I had to go back East to Italy to go West to Spain, but there appeared to be no alternative. I tried to reserve a bed on the train from Turin to Barcelona but was told I had to do that in Turin. So I caught several trains and arrived in Turin around 9pm. Only to be told the train was full and the next one wasn't until Sunday! Met up with some girls from Iceland who were in the same predicament so we discovered there was a train to Barcelona at 8 the next morning. So I spent an uncomfortable night at the station with the two girls before catching the onwards train. But it wasn't one train, no that would be too simple. We pretty much had to change at every station we got to.

Visiting Venice

Venice was kind of disappointing. sure it had the canals, the gondolas, the old buildings, etc. But it felt like it was nothing new, having seen it all on movies. Besides, Venice is a city of romance and since I was on my own that aspect was wasted on me. Also, I have seen lots of grafitti around Europe, but I never thought I would see it on the actual islands of Venice, thats like tagging a monument or memorial. An interesting aside, bus tickets are valid on the boats, as the the only way to get around the city of Venice. I didn't end up going out in Venice for 2 reasons. A, I was damn tired and B, I could find anywhere to go! The part of town where I was staying was basically dead.

R & R in Rijeka

I found Rijeka to be a nice, relatively quiet Mediterranean city, not very pretty but it has character. It is very industrial but with development could become a nice tourist spot. I found my hostel, a small, eastern European affair, though quite nice, easily enough. Then I sat for a bit getting my land legs back after too damn long on the train. Then I met the Aussie girl who was in my room so we went to the beach. It was rather nice despite the rocky shore, near naked older people and oily slick. Later we discovered we had gone to the dirty beach and there was a better one further out. Me, I was just glad for a wash after 3 days of travel. I spent my time seeing the sights with the Aussie girl but didn't go out. It was a Monday after all and god knows I needed a decent sleep. Problem was it was too damn hot. That and in the middle of the night here was a huge thunderstorm, I got woken up by one hit I thought was an explosion.

The following day I just bimbled around town, not doing much until my train at around 2100. This one is in much better nick than the others I have seen. Only problem is I had a 5 hour layover in Pivka, somewhere in Slovenia, between 11 and 4am, before heading on to Venice. good thing I got a new book. Also, I will be back in the Eurozone, no more changing money bullshit. Oh and guess what, the train forgot to stop for me in Pivka, so I had to catch another train back to there. Good thing I had plenty of time on my hands.

Balkan struggles

It starts with the night train from Budapest. I was in a cabin with 4 people who barely spoke English and a German girl who was a bit better. It took 10 minutes of the foreigners discussing between themselves before anything got done about getting the beds ready. The cabins are small, the beds aren't great and it is always too damn hot. I didn't get much sleep and also kept getting border guards coming in for passports (and had to fill in a questionnaire about swine flu). I wouldn't recommend it but it is a good way to get between places without wasting daylight.

As for Bucharest, shit, don't even bother with Romania. The people (the ones I met) are terrible, the country is rubbish, it really doesn't have much going for it. Sure it had a revolution in 1989, but so did heaps of other eastern European countries and they came out alright. Hell, Serbia and Croatia had wars in the 90s and they are still better. two main things screwed it up for me though. First, I managed to get sucked in to an over priced taxi, even showing me a lonely planet with a fake exchange rate. Then he got really hostile when I refused to pay what they said. Then I caught a bus to a backwater border town of Romania and Bulgaria. I got off at the train station and there was no one there. I got in a taxi (I know, slow learner) but this one was legit. Only the driver was a fucking moron. When asked if you know English and you know 5 words, you say no! I ended up pulling the handbrake and taking his keys out when we got to the border crossing, fuck knows where he was taking me. I approached a Latvian family for help getting to Ruse, the Bulgarian border town, and they were much nicer than any Romanians I had met. Unfortunately they had no room, but a nice Belgian who was going to the black sea for a poker tournament took me across.

Upon enter Bulgaria, a different world. No one there was trying to screw me over, they were really friendly (even if they couldn't speak English), a woman at a cafe gave me a bottle of water, some policemen gave me directions, and a nice couple at a bar gave me money for a bus and showed me where to go. I got to the bus station and found I had to wait about 6 hours for the train. A persistent and friendly local there gave me advice, directions and changed money (I checked the rate first), even though I didn't go in his taxi. I walked to the main square and sat people-watching for a while, helped some Turkish tourists, had dinner at a nice bar, and thought to myself how much difference a simple border makes. I finally caught the train around midnight and had some drinks with an American guy on an archaeological dig and two English girls. I also got a bit of sleep, probably more here stretched between two seats than in the sleeper cabin.

I arrived in Sofia around 6 in the morning, and was stuck here for 6 hours. So I thought I would go and see a movie. Only problem, it was Sunday and nothing was open. So instead I saw some sights and had McDonald's for whatever meal it was. Sofia was a nice place but didn't get to see the full potential as I only here for a day. Caught the train around lunch for Belgrade. The entire journey took 9 hours, 6 of that was getting to bloody Serbia. The train was going slowly and kept stopping. I was in a cabin with foreigners who kept smoking outside the door and being checked over by border guards (they didn't care about me for some reason). luckily most of them got out before Serbia so I got a decent sleep on the fold down seats for a few hours. The train was only an hour late getting to Belgrade so I suppose that isn't too bad. Belgrade is an interesting city, Unfortunately didn't see any of it. I also discovered they don't change Bulgarian money in Serbia.

I decided on a sleeper cabin for the Belgrade to Zagreb leg. Once again, foreigners who didn't speak English, smoked and were too bloody noisy. I also woke up thinking I had missed my stop. No, the train was an hour late again. Zagreb is another interesting city I didn't get to see enough of. Also discovered they don't change Bulgarian or Serbian money in Croatia. Then on the Rijeka leg I had to get off and catch a bus for part of it, not really sure why. I Finally arrived in Rijeka around 10am. I did notice the further North and West we came, the better the trains got.

Hungary for a party

A very interesting place Budapest, you get off the train and on one side are old, architecturally wonderful buildings, on the other, BK, KFC, Tescos and a sex shop. Once again got lost trying to find my hostel as they don't have signs on the outside of them. Eventually I found it in a fancy protected building with a covered courtyard. The Maverick hostel was pretty small but had all the conveniences and I got to leave my luggage there all day after checking out, even got to have a shower. Met up with an Aussie guy on the train and we went to his hostel for some beer, meet some more Aussies, a German guy, a Polish/Finnish girl, and an American girl. We went out to Morrisons music club that was huge, its covered courtyard was a garden bar. I managed to meet another Aussie tour-group, and was amused by a girl who told me to fuck off, obviously thought she was all that as she had joined our group. She clearly didn't understand that while she may be regarded as attractive where she comes from, she was surrounded by much better looking women. I finally got home at 5.

3 hours sleep later I was out to see the sights, crossed the river and climbed the citadel, then caught a free walking tour at 2. It wasn't as good as the Sandemans ones but still good value. Heard a story about how the bridge would hide in the tunnel with bad weather, saw the presidents house, saw some hussars, heard about how they invaded Austria but the emperor wasn't there, listened to the blue Danube waltz, and saw a statue of a horse with shiny balls (what does shine mean on statue? someones been rubbing it!). Still, that was mainly the Buda part of the city, didn't see much of Pest at all.

Having a ball in Vienna

An amazing city, one day was not enough to see a fraction of it. I got here late in the day and went to my hostel, Meininger. A very flash place, the 4-bed dorm was fully equipped with couch, tv, shower, toilet and phone. It even had curtains around the bunks. I attempted to go on the Travelshack pub crawl but they didn't get enough numbers. Still, 12 Euro got me an hour free drinking, a free shot and a 8 Euro voucher. Funny thing I noticed, lots of Australian pubs in Austria, a bit of an oddity. Still, it was nice to have some (near enough) familiar atmosphere. I was going to call it a night as I started to come down with a migraine, however after getting lost trying to find the hostel I took some painkillers and it went away. I went back to the Travelshack and met up with 2 girls and a guy from Ireland, a Chinese guy and 2 Swedish guys. I went with them to a decent club with a free drink on entry (but no cover charge?). We got things started on the dance floor, then one of the Irish girls nicked a bottle of vodka from a second empty bar, sneaky bitch did it twice! Still, made for a great night. After leaving the club I found myself talking to 2 girls from Germany, then got lost after showing them the bus stop they needed when trying to find the hostel again, finally got in at 6am, 3.5 hours sleep and I was off to explore Vienna by day.

What did I find? some amazing and varied architecture, lots of beautiful women, and a strange amusement park that seemed trapped in time. Vienna is definitely somewhere on the return to list though.

The Prague spring

A 4 hour train journey south from Berlin to Prague was much more interesting than the trip to Berlin, passing through winding river valleys with cliff top forts and amazing scenery. I arrived in Prague with no idea of where I was or where my hostel was, I didn't even have an address to tell someone. I Eventually took the metro to the central station and found the tourist help point. Took the tram too far as the city is smaller than I thought and found the Clown and Bard hostel. A bit out of the way but very nice. Free internet, nice rooms, cheap bar, etc. The rooms are more like an apartment, with 3 rooms to a shared kitchen, foyer, shower, and bathroom. My first night there I went on the bars own pub crawl with two English girls from my room. We managed to get left behind at one bar and walked all over the place before meeting up with the group again. Prague crawls rock, a power hour with free beer, wine, vodka, or absinthe shots. Can be deadly. Also had a shot of this spirit called Becherovka, it tasted like Christmas. Saw an amazing club called Cross Club. All the furniture and decorations are made from scrap metal, it was awesome. Something like four storeys with a food counter, 2 dance floors and a chill-out bar which in stark contrast to the rest of the place is furnished in cane.

On Tuesday I took the Sandemans free walking tour of Prague, another great tour, more great stories about how the Czechs invented the tank (a cannon on a wagon protected with shields), no one noticed, protestantism was invented here by Jan Hus, no one noticed, people being thrown out of buildings (defenestration), The Germans annexing the border defences, then just waltzing in, stacked Jewish graves, cubist buildings, a Mary statue that came to life to take a thief's arm, the astronomical clock and its show, a Wagner statue being destroyed instead of a Jewish one, a communist museum next to a casino, getting the Russians lost by changing street signs and saying all villages were named the same, assassinations, a golem snatching a Nazi, sieges, revolutions and war. Followed this up by what was supposed to be a few quiets with the guy from the Isle of Mann who was in my room. ended up meeting a London lad, 2 French guys, 2 Dutch guys and 2 Dutch girls. Had more than a few quiets then went out with the English and the French. They doubted my navigation skills so instead of a half hour walk we spent an hour wandering around trying to get back to Cross Club. We eventually found it again and had absinthe, beers and a great time.

Berlin blitz

6 hours is a long time to spend on a train. I kept falling asleep and losing my place in my book when I dropped it. Also the air-con went out in my carriage so it was sweltering. Wasn't terribly impressed with the mid to northern German scenery, everything was bloody flat. finally got into Berlin and spent a good half an hour trying to get a map that showed where my hostel was. Finally got on a bus which I'm sure I rode its whole route before having to walk a further kilometre to find the hostel. The Generator is huge but a bit impersonal due to its size. Nice rooms and ensuites though.

Ended up going out with the guys from my room, an Aussie and two Californians (these ones were alright). We tried to get into Watergate club, first to discover it didn't open until midnight, then it took the door staff a half hour to start letting people in, then they didn't let us in as we had no girls with us. A group of girls got turned away as the didn't know the name of the dj playing. So we ended up at a placed called the Soul Inn. Here they played 1950s style soul and Boogaloo. it was definitely different, but lots of fun.

Sunday I took a free walking tour of Berlin. These are great, Sandemans NewEurope free tours. I Spent 3 hours walking around seeing the sights of Berlin and hearing interesting stories about its past. Things like the Nazi SS uniform was designed by Hugo Boss, the company that made the anti-graffiti paint for the Holocaust memorial also made the Cyclon B gas used in the concentration camps, how Hitler couldn't watch his own dog die (they tested the cyanide pills on it), took cyanide and shot himself (thought he deserved a soldiers death) before being partially cremated, taken by the soviets and finally had his ashes scattered in the Elbe river in 1970. Napoleon taking the statue from the Brandenburg gate, the same statute renamed as Victoria above Paris plaza watching the French embassy which is designed like a bunker. The best story of all though was how the Berlin wall fell because the press secretary for Eastern Germany hadn't been at the meeting and said the wrong things, which resulted in a huge party for east Berliners with champagne, bananas and the movie dirty dancing.

I ended up hanging out with two Aussie girls I met on the tour, went to a random park that had a flea market happening while adjacent there was public karaoke and all sorts of street performers. Ended up drinking with the Aussie girls at their hostel bar before meeting a group of Irish lads and unsuccessfully trying to find a club. If staying in Berlin I recommend wombats hostel, rooftop bar and central location.

Suicide cyclists

Another 4 hour train journey and I arrived in Amsterdam to an announcement to beware of pickpockets. Probably didn't spend as much time here as I should have, as all I really saw was canals, lots of bikes, A Scientology church, Dam square, A bookstore that seemed to only sell zombie literature, leaning buildings and an Aussie street performer. Didn't even get to the red light district. Started my night out at the hostel bar having a drink with a guy from Hawaii, then played beer pong on an Iphone, having some space cake and went to a casino with a dude from Cincinnati, and followed that up with a few drinks with some girls from Canada. Stayed in a place called Hans Brinker Hotel. had a nice bar but the rooms were pretty bleak, the shower ran for more than 5 seconds though.

In Bruges

After about a 3 hour train journey from Calais arrived in Bruges. First thing that struck me was the number of bicycles outside the station. I wandered about the city looking for my hostel and who should I run into but one of the teachers from my old school. Spent a bit of time seeing the sights like the belfry, palaces, statues and windmills. Discovered at certain points around the city a funny smell, I think it has something to do with the canals. Stayed at St Christopher's Inn which was quite nice with a decent bar and tidy rooms. Only gripe here is the showers, you press the button and you get 5 seconds of water. Ended up going out on the town with the people from my room. That being an Aussie guy living in Holland, an Aussie girl living in Edinburgh, a guy from Spain and a guy from Brazil. also met two guys from California but they didn't have much sense of humour, so we ditched them. Went to the park where there was a bar and stage set up and had a good time drinking, yarning, and playing fooseball with a rock.

Calais beachhead

A sleepy seaside town from all appearances, Although it had a very nice stretch of beach that wasn't very busy at all. I stayed at a pretty cheap and basic hotel across from the station on my first stop here and saw what there was to be seen. On my second stop here I stayed at the youth hostel which was quite nice. 25 Euro for a private room with shared bathroom. also ended up with a free drink and internet as I did an interview for a journalist. Didn't get to laze on the beach as I had planned though as there was a bitter wind coming off the sea from England, does not bode well for my return.

Its over!

And so my time at Verulam comes to an end. It has definitely been an experience. From arriving with all my worldly possessions in a backpack on a snowy winters day, the two snow days, the fire, all the changes at the school, things have been interesting. Wrapped the year up with a bit of a shindig, a few drinks, a few laughs. My haul from it all, a box of chocolates, 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of scotch whiskey. I am going to miss the place. Not so much the students or facilities, but definitely the science staff. Them, and having a job with such a small commute. But that chapter has now come to an end. Who knows, I may be back someday. But for now it is time to move on and find a new job. But before that...

Summer break! 3 weeks in England, 3 in Europe riding the train around France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Germany, etc. I have a vague list of places to see but mostly I will go were whim takes me. Should be a lot of fun.

The epithatree told me so

Coming up on 6 months since I have arrived in England, and also summer break. So what has been happening in the past month and a bit? Not too much really. Plodding along with work, various nights out in STA, my continuing application to the British TA, and two trips into London. The first into Brixton, the second to central London where I was drinking on a boat, never a good idea. Ended up walking back from Temple to Kentish town to catch the train home, did not get to bed until noon the next day. In a word, rough, adding 2 more, but fun. I have also managed to lose 2 pairs of sunglasses. Really got to stop taking them when im gong drinking. Well, that or wait until dark before drinking.

Transformers 2. I liked it. They brought back the humour that was present in the G1 series, although at times they took it a bit too far. Plus, Jetfire as a geriatric old man? Awesome! The matrix of leadership was well done too, particularly as it was never mentioned in the trailers so a vital plot point wasn't ruined (ahem - Terminator: Salvation nudge nudge - ahem). The Fallen was a good way to keep the franchise fresh. They even set up for another sequel, not sure how far they can push it though. Although what the hell are kids wearing these days? I cant tell the males from the females anymore, and those silly ass hats! If that is what it takes to be cool, I am proud to be uncool, at least I don't look like a twat.

So 6 months. I have had good times, met a lot of people, seen a lot of things, been many places. And you know what, a lot of it, I really cant remember. So yeah, no prizes for guessing what the Epithatree told me then.

Nightrunner rides again

So it occurs to me, as I am jogging back to my flat from Batchwood to keep warm, that there is far to little personal and social responsibility in this world. The amount of trash I came across during my jog and elsewhere a prime example.

As far as I can recall, this world works on the principle of you do your part, I will do mine, and the rest will sort itself out. Kinda like Starship Troopers. I'm doing my part, are you? In fact, this is one of the foundations of society. We all come out better off if we work together. Therefore we give up some of our freedoms (e.g taking what you want by force, killing, speeding, basically the things there are laws against) so that the group as a whole benefits. This idea is all well and good, but what I have found in my travels are that people are by nature selfish and, well stupid really. Of course you could say this is just genetics, the organism is driven to reproduce so it only focuses on itself. But that argument can only account for so much.

The way I see forward of this, and it is a solution many I know agree with, some do not, is one of universal national service (or global, depends on how ambitious we are being), a centralised and compact leadership group, intensive surveillance, and full transparency throughout. I know what you are saying now. You cant do that, thats facism, communism, a police state, everything we fought against in the past. But thats the thing, in the past, these ideas were driven by corrupt dictators who wanted control. Put into place properly, my idea is a form of socialism. Everyone is a part of the system, from leadership down to the unemployed (who now work for their country). So everyone is doing their part (obviously bar those who are incapable of any form of work at all), everyone reaps the benefits. With everyone earning, people will still be spending, which would get rid of this recession business.

more to follow

What is your zombie plan?

So the rest of term? Humdrum sums it up nicely. Just the same ol grinding away at the wheel trying to get the boys to learn in the face of gross indifference and arrogance. As someone once said, its a hard knock life. However I am currently greatly enjoying one of the perks of being a teacher. You guessed it, holidays! I am in Malta until Sunday and have spent my time here walking around old cities, drinking more than is sensible, scuba diving, and basically enjoying being away from teenage boys. Oh and B-T-Dub, all-inclusive is key. I spent the extra I had to pay for it in my first 2 nights drinking. Nothing like being able to eat or drink whenever you want.

So day-by-day you want huh? Ok, day one, Saturday, got up at 3am, caught the train, then plane and got here around 11am. Arrived at the hotel then went for a wander around Qawra, Buggiba and St Paul's Bay, the 3 linked towns where I am based. Saw some towers, visited some shops, realised I was not in the youngins part of Malta. Surrounded by aging Britons who do nothing but laze by the pool and get sunburnt, just like in the tv shows. Went to a few pubs but didn't see many people and didn't stay out too late.

Sunday I met the Chevron Holidays rep and organised some tours, got the name of a dive company. Then I caught the bus to Valletta (0.54 Euro!) and saw the firing of the cannon, the walled city, fort St Elmo, and the Malta experience, which goes over the history of Malta. Then I came back to Qawra and this is where the trouble began. Dropped into the hotel bar (All-inclusive remember) and sunk a few or a few too many whiskies. Then I went to the head of Tourists street and followed it towards my hotel drinking in every bar I came across. I remember meeting some young Britons on holiday, then blank, then the zombies attacked.

Now this part could be delusions as I had just finished reading World War Z, a book about the zombie apocalypse. But I clearly remember barking at a dog (go figure), being on a rooftop, climbing walls and dealing with barbed wire. I assume I tried to take a shortcut as there are many streets here that go in the direction you want and then stop. So me in my wisdom thought, fuck that, I'm going over. My jeans, shoes, and body attest to the difficulties I had. I had to repair a rip in my jeans, there are sandstone scuffmarks on my clothes, and I have a gash on my leg from barbed wire and grazes reminiscent of wall-climbing. Needless to say, I awoke in the hotel room with fuzzy memories. Monday I visited the dive shop to tee up some scuba, then did some souvenir shopping. didn't go out this night, wonder why?

Tuesday was my first day diving, and who should I meet? Another bloody Kiwi. Not only that, but she was also a teacher living in London on holiday in Malta to do some diving over the break. I don't know the odds of that but they cant be high. That first day we went to Cirkewwa reef, a nice sheltered bay on the West coast. Saw some fish, got my bearings and saw a statue of Madonna underwater.Got in 2 dives here and visibility for both was excellent.

Wednesday we went to Valletta and dived on 2 wrecks in the harbour, the X131 (Carolita) and the HMS Maori. The Maori was a tribal class destroyer sunk during WW2 and the gun bases are still visible, along with part of the superstructure. The wreck lies in around 6 metres of water. The X131 was a lighter (barge type boat) from WW1 and is at a slope from 5 to 22 metres. Not much to see as she has a pretty clean deck.

Thursday I went on a tour of Gozo. Saw the citadel and walled city, took a boat ride to the blue grotto and saw the prehistoric temple at Ggantija. The temple was impressive considering it is older than Stonehenge (3600-3000 BC), has pretty large liths and has weathered pretty well. Gozo is a very nice island and much greener than Malta.

Friday was my last day diving. First we went back to Cirkewwa where I bimbled around behind a lesson and really depth-tested my camera. 19 metres, well exceeding the stated 10 metre limit. Although to be fair it did stop working and only resumed functioning when I came higher. Next we went to Popeye village and did a cave dive. Kind of spooky to be swimming around in the dark and all enclosed, Guess it would be worse without scuba though.

Saturday I took a tour of Malta itself. We went to the old capital of Mdina. This is another walled city and has some interesting history and architecture. Then we went to the craft villages and saw glass-blowers and filigree workers. Glass blowing is damn impressive. I watched a guy make a horse out of glass by pulling on it with pliers and turning it. After this we went to the South coast for lunch and then visited Mosta dome, the 3rd largest unsupported dome in the world. For such a tiny country there sure is a lot to see here, would of liked to have had more time but never mind aye. Spent Sunday at the movies as I had to check-out at 11am and didn't fly out to 2125 and being Easter Sunday, most places were shut. The flight back was relatively uneventful, getting back home at 2am.

So reflections on my trip. Malta is a really interesting country with friendly people. If you are going for the nightlife then head for St Julian's, thats were the young people hang out. Did my diving with Aquatica in St Paul's Bay. An excellent company with good knowledge of the dive sites and a relaxed way. Bella Vista hotel Qawra was nice, well stocked bar, decent and plentiful meals and in a quiet but handy location. Chevron air holidays handled my flights and accommodation and offered good advice on attractions. Overall had a great time and would definitely recommend Malta.

Oderint Dum Metuant

Inconsistency, thy name is Peter. Seems as though life is starting to slow down, or at least the eventfulness that has been my life is easing off. Where were we last? Oh right, Second day back at work after the holidays and some fucktard decides it would be a good idea to set the school on fire. After the evacuation it comes out that the fire alarms in the school are faulty so Wednesday was plagued with fire drills and then at the end of the day we were all told the school would be closed for the rest of the week. Didn't help they told the students this at the start of 6th period, made teaching even harder. Turned out to be quite convenient as I had a friend coming to visit so we had more time together.

Apart from that first week the rest of the term has been pretty standard. Going through the usual routine of work, gym, eat, tv, sleep, with a night or two on the town thrown in. I will have to make up for this lack of excitement and adventure during break. At the moment I am looking into diving in Cyprus or Turkey, supposed to be lots of wrecks and ruins in the sea there. I did go to see Watchmen last weekend. It was pretty darn good with lots of healthy violence and a nice cynical view of the world. I am definitely not the film aficionado I once was however.

I also just finished reading the Starship Troopers novel by Robert A Heinlein for the second time. For a novel 50 years old it has some pretty innovative ideas. It also echoes a lot of truth on how the infantry roll. The ideals of Honour, Duty, Courage from the novel, The Octus Canon from Gears of War, 3CI from the NZDF, the knights code of old, the way of the Spartans. Seems the way of soldiers haven't changed in millenia. Why? because they work, and as the saying goes, if it ain't broke...

Home for a rest, again

Hmm, been a while hasn't it. Well lets see. The last few weeks of term were tolerable but not easy. Particularly with all the snow. Still, got a few days off out of it. The boys seem to think like the rest of Britain, a little snow and the world grinds to a halt. Funny how that works. However I managed to survive the first term.

To reward myself, I took a trip to Zakopane, Poland, for a week of skiing and drinking. Was a fantastic trip. I spent the week learning to ski with a bunch of Aussies on various ski-fields. Managed to go from a beginner to a competent skier who can handle red slopes. Of course I had a few spills learning but thats part of the fun. Also won 3 out of the 4 races I took part in. I Also got in some snowmobiling which was awesome. Did it right on dusk so the second half of my ride was in darkness. Kind of thrilling to think you are out in the wilderness somewhere reliant on a machine, a machine that very easily gets bogged down in deep snow. It can be difficult righting the machine and no one is coming to help you.

The town itself was very interesting. Very few signs in English and the money is worth a fifth of a pound. Food was very cheap, home-made pizza for around 4 pound. Local beer for 1.20 pound. The main street was filled with little stalls selling bread, woolen clothes and gimmicky toys, and there were sideshow type games at the main junctions. What was really out of place was the giant billboards and video screens in the centre of town with horse drawn sleighs going past. The town had just had a week of snow when I turned up and everything was buried in over a foot of it.

Of course, the other part of my trip, the drinking. The first night there was Valentines night and I have vague memories of vodka, a dance club, 4 Polish girls, being lost, falling over in the snow and having to get a cab back to my chalet. I was woken up the next morning by a knock on the door and 5 mins to get ready. Managed it of course, military training is good for something aye. Sunday night I didn't go out so I was able to enjoy the excellent breakfast the chalet put on. Went out again on the Monday night, had to go to a different club, don't think much happened this night as I didn't get lost and I was welcome at the club the next time I went. But of course I once again slept in the next day, still managed to grab breakfast and be ready before the bus though. The rest of the drinking was relatively uneventful apart from some more falling in snow (those snow drifts get deep!), and slight lostness.

Now I am back in St Albans enjoying a quiet weekend before I have to go back to school. Just another 6 weeks to go before my next break. Maybe I will go to Egypt diving this time, or paragliding in the Pyrenees, I don't know, I haven't decided yet. Its going to shape up to be a pretty good break though.

Everything in life is only for now

Avenue Q. A very hilarious and worthwhile show. Basically think sesame st but with rude characters in their 20s. Although next time I will go for a seat that is not in the balconies. Also finding somewhere to stay before arriving in London is also a good idea. Would have saved me an hour of walking around London at midnight looking for accommodation. My weekend in London was pretty fun though. Saw the Imperial War Museum (took 3 hours) then walked along the Thames seeing the sights, as my photos will attest. Saturday night I went to a comedy night at a pub which was great fun, some very good talent.

My week so far has been pretty standard. The boys are hard work and my planning for lessons is limited, but I am managing. Also have moved into my new apartment. Its a real bachelor pad tastefully decorated in grey, black and cream with a huge tv, couch, and not much else. When I moved in the fridge was full with beer and nothing else. My flatmate is pretty cool too. He is Scottish and works in London so I don't see too much of him. As for me, tonight I am watching said huge tv and having a few drinks to brace me against the cold for when I venture out into St Albans town tonight.Should be fun, wish me luck.

Updating------------ update complete

I could not put it off any longer. After all these casual years, I have finally suited up. The school is starting a process of change and I decided it would be a good time for me to do the same. New country, new job, new Pete. Pete V3.0 has been effective these last 6 years or so, lets see how Pete V4.0 deals with the new challenges and adventures to be found over here.

The second week of school was grueling to say the least. I discovered at the moment I have 16 classes containing around 400 students. I do not know how the boys expect me to learn their names when they keep forgetting mine. So far I have had sir, mr sir, mr cahill, mr cardle and mr guns. A problem I am noticing is that the boys like me, probably due to being in the army. However the boys liking me does not mean they are any easier to control. They are a little scared of me as they think I can kill them with one hit, and rightly so. This can be funny, one boy accidentally hit me with a bit of paper and basically ran for his life, he could not have been more apologetic. Hopefully the new school policies and the new me will make it easier to control and teach the lads.

I have very nearly got myself a flat, a very nice apartment a quarter mile from the school. Huge tv, cable, wireless broadband and a cleaner, all for 150 pound a week. A bit more than I wanted to spend but I the pad is worth it. Supposed to be moving in next weekend, it will be good to have a place I can call my own finally. Hopefully my pay goes through on monday so I can afford it.

I still have not been out on the town here on a friday or saturday night, not really something you can do when living at someone else's place with small children. I have however been visiting a Irish pub every week or so and discovered I quite enjoy Magners Irish cider. Really do need to broaden my beer palette though, something to work on. Thinking of maybe going to London next weekend or the one after. maybe actually see the sights and take photos this time. Hoping to see the show, Avenue Q. If you have not heard of this it is basically Sesame Street with adult themes, sounds like a lot of fun.

I arrived in december and London was cold,

I stayed in the bars along Charing Cross Rd. Well, Borough High Street actually. But I am getting ahead of myself. My leaving party did not really go off so Steve, Richie and myself got a hotel room in New Plymouth and dealt to a good amount of beer. We got some strange looks bringing a chilly bin into the flash hotel we were at. Had a great night which was a good send off from NZ.

My journey to London began with a day spent in Auckland, a day in Sydney catching up with Bob and seeing the sights, a night in Bangkok worrying about the shuttle, then a two hour transfer in Bahrain. Of the airlines I flew with, British airways came out on top. When I asked what they had to drink the response was -Everything-. Before we left Bahrain Gulf air had two air hostesses walk through the plane with fumigators. Always a good start. I arrived in London half an hour early so had extra time to get through customs. I arrived at the hostel at 2300 New Years eve and was at the bar by 2330. Double shots and red bull helped me get into the spirit of the season. I ended up watching the London Eye fireworks on the tv in the bar, much better then standing in the cold by the river. Had a great night, even though I do not remember much, ended up lost in London and did not get back to the hostel until noon.

New Years day I woke up to darkness. This put me in a spin until I realised it was only 4 in the afternoon and it gets dark early here. I met some Finns and ended up going to Ministry of Sound with them to see David Guetta. Cost 30 pounds to get in but the music was great and the girls pretty. I ended up taking the train to St Albans on the sunday and stayed in a hotel near the school I now work at.

I woke up on the monday to a frigid day with snow on the ground. Snow! I arrived at school early and waited around until someone figured out what to do with me. Turned out the heating in the science labs had been turned off so the whole department was frozen. Verulam school is much different to Waitara. I not only have twelve classes that are made up of 300 odd students, they behave worse than the kids at Waitara. But, I have survived a week and the longer I am there the easier it should get, in theory anyway.

Differences I have noticed so far between NZ and Britain? The cold to start with. Better music, Larger loaves on bread, the chocolate milk tastes weird, burgers seem to be bigger, servos do not have pis or pie warmers, they still have 1, 2 and 5 cent coins, paper money and no option for pin on credit card. Broadband runs at 50mb, and supermarkets have huge selections of ready to go food. All in all it is similar to home but with enough differences to make it interesting. Now I am going to go and enjoy my weekend before I have to go back to work.