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.
Saturday 31 January 2009
Sunday 18 January 2009
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.
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.
Saturday 10 January 2009
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.
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.
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