I had something for this...

Been a while since my last update, but I figured better to do a decent post then just say the usual. Three and a half days until Spring break, looking forward to it. Hopefully I will get a bit further afield this time. Thinking of hitting up Stonehenge, Cardiff, maybe somewhere on the coast or up North. Nothing explicitly planned yet but there's still time. Also have to start getting sorted for June break when Mum and Dad visit and we go to Scotland. Should be fun.

Another two sessions of TKD has left me battered and bruised. Sparring based sessions, the second of which involved one in the circle with the others attacking them. Very tough but good exercise. Really need to look into getting some pads though. My legs and arms are black and blue.

So glad daylight savings has finally arrived. I might get back into running now that there is some light. Also the days are getting warmer, nearly to warm for a suit in my classroom, stupid South facing walls.

Had a interview on Tuesday for my current job. I didn't get the job despite covering everything OFSTED would look for in a lesson and nailing the interview part. Still, no matter. Plenty of job openings still and I don't need a new job until September. I am just a bit miffed I did not get any decent feedback from which I could improve off.

Hit O'Neills on Friday as usual, turns out I don't even need to order anymore. Just go to the right end of the bar an my man brings me the usual. Freaking sweet.

I saw a stretch limo Range Rover on Saturday, it looked ridiculous. I myself would prefer the A-team van kitted out with sofas, projector, bar, etc. Much classier.

uh, phrasing?

Pretty standard week this, continued to alternate from eating healthy and not, running and TV. Two highlights for me. First, Tae kwon do on Wednesday, very intense kicking based session that left me off balance and with sore legs. Finished the week with a game of football, staff v students. Was going well at the half, staff one up. But the youngins got in two more to win. Think I did pretty well considering it has been eight years since I last played. However Saturday morning my legs were killing me, probably shouldn't of gone to the gym as well.

I have discovered an interesting new show, Archer on Fiver. Cartoon about a 1960s super spy who is a bit of a tool. Pretty funny stuff.

Don't forget to breathe, very important.

I have taken up Tae Kwon Do this week which is fun, although I do not understand the commands just yet. I decided my goal has shifted from learning a martial art to obtaining a black belt in TKD. This will not be easy and may take several years, but if it were easy it would not be worth doing. Although flexibility may be an issue.

Thursday night I went to the driving range with some guys from work. After realising it is less about power and more about technique I got some pretty good drives in, even scoring a hole in one. Although I was not actually aiming for that hole.

This weekend was sunny so I spent it out wandering around. Did a short six km loop on Saturday and on Sunday decided to head out to the countryside. Thanks to my policy on turning back I ended up doing a 15km trek which included some cross country. Still, good exercise.


Work has been going well, the students are loving my policy of wearing a hat when outdoors. My fedora gets greeted with the Indiana Jones theme or mentions of cowboy or gangster while my flat cap. Well they haven't come up with a good one for that yet. I think I will get a white panama for summer. I have also taken to wearing pocket squares, just to raise the bar that much more.

Tigers are Nice in moderation...

The Waitangi day pub crawl was brilliant. Small speed bump at the start as I went to the wrong station, but going clockwise I managed to find the leading edge. Pretty easy to tell as I ran into Phar Lap and some all blacks. Over the course of the day I also saw sheep, beer bottles, poppa jacks, All whites, a kiwi cop, and strangely enough Buzz Lightyear. I drank with a variety of people in different pubs, ran into a girl from uni, found a toy gun, got lost, got some exercise, and overall had a great time.

First term went off without a hitch, more or less. I have only really had to shout once and the kids seem nice enough. Looks like I will be there until June, hopefully I can extend this further. I bought a new three piece suit recently, lack pinstripe. Now, I look damn good in it but as I have lately taken to wearing a fedora I do have a certain gangster look going on. The kids love it, I have all sorts of nicknames along that line, or cowboy, etc. Much better than the Terminator.

I had half-term break this week. Started off with the best of intentions to get out and do stuff. However due to a combination of poor weather and sleeping in I did not do anything out of the norm until Wednesday. I went into London, wandered round, sorted some things, went to the Science museum but left pretty soon due to all the kids around. Also saw two movies over the week. First The Wolfman which, while it did have some good points, was largely pretty naff. This Saturday I saw Solomon Kane, nice and violent but did not leave me feeling inspired or even particularly entertained. I also spent some time looking into different hobbies, etc. Figure it is about time I started getting to know new people and learn new skills. So far I have chosen archery, fencing, and some form of martial art, probably Tae Kwon Do or Karate. Just a matter of getting in touch with the groups and finding out how to get involved.

Speaking of getting involved, I have recently discovered the Art of Manliness community. A wonderful site full of advice, articles, and fascinating stories. It has inspired me to further refine my personality and attitude to life. Starting off with setting down core values, fashion changes, taking up hobbies. I have also been looking into something called adventure philanthorpism. The basic idea is that you raise money for a charity and they send you to do something cool like climb a mountain or jump out of a plane. However as mum pointed out I do not really know many people here which would make fund raising a little difficult. Still, while searching I did come across some good deals to Kilimanjaro, Inca trail, Petra, Scandanavia, etc which could be a lot of fun.

A rock has no detectable opinion about gravity.

January draws to a close, two weeks remain until half-term break, the bank account is filling up nicely, the days are getting longer, and the weather is improving. Life is good.

Still, I should really explain the last two weeks. The week beginning on the 18th was pretty laid-back, it being my light week and all. I got all of my planing sorted through to the end of the term, learnt a few more of my students names, and finished the week off with a few drinks of the Friday night and saw Sherlock Holmes on Saturday. I thought it was pretty good but I haven't read the books so had no reference there. Nice action and intelligent humour, although the demonstrations of his deductive reasoning seemed geared towards your typical American movie-goer.

This week was full-on in comparison. Started the week with a busy day then went to the pub after the gym for game night. Tuesday was year nine parents evening and I saw bout 20 parents, trying to explain to them pathways which I barely understand (3 is top set, 1 is bottom. How does that make sense?), and the difference between double and triple science (No, double does not they only do two of either chemistry, biology, or physics). Wednesday night saw me taking the train in to London just to take it back out to Hertford (an hour train journey which is 30 minutes by car). All just so I could have a couple of pints in a car while reading my book then getting a card photocopied. Today I Bought myself some new suits to mix up my look a bit and then went to the Galleria with a view to seeing a movie but upon arriving discovered there was nothing good on until late so I walked the ~5km home.

As for my Sunday, revision is on the cards. I really need to get my chemistry down so that my older students can not stump me with questions I am unable to answer. I should probably do some cleaning as well. Oh and also, a cunning plan is brewing. More details once it is put into action.

Sodomy non sapiens

Yet another day off due to snow this week, so that is 6 days work in the last fortnight. Lets hope I actually get a full weeks work in this time. Although I have now met all my students. Most are pretty good but I can already see some that will give me trouble. Best learn their names and thrash them early. Otherwise settling in alright, finding my place and getting into the routine.

I have discovered that I should not buy books. Because I immediately drop everything and read them. First the second Gears of War book, Jacintos Remnant by Karen Traviss. Based immediately after Gears of War 2 and deals with the evacuation of Jacinto and the deployment of the Hammer of Dawn. An interesting read, but lacked the emotional impact of the first one. The last Saturday night I sat down with Mort by Terry Pratchett, next thing I know it is 3am. So I went to bed and finished it when I woke up. Very funny and interesting book all about Death taking on an apprentice then going on holiday, now there is only another 20 or so to go. Followed that up with Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. A boy goes of to battle school at 6 and learns to fight aliens and deal with other students. Very good concept this one, with an interesting twist at the end. Most recently I took Old Mans War by John Scalzi with me on my trip to Chelmsford for a medical. Almost managed to finish it on the train too. Another military sci-fi and a very interesting thing. Basic plot is This man reaches the age of 75, goes off to space, gets a new green body, becomes a soldier, and then fights aliens off-world. It also had some great humour to it.

Oh, on the RPG front, the last game got called off. This round its post-apocalyptic England with dragons/demons/etc and I am a military medical experiment that became a brilliant engineer/doctor who wanders the wastelands fixing people and stuff. So far I have ingratiated myself into a community by patching up several people and created a gas mask for fighting dragons. Fun so far.

Beginnings

Spent New Years Eve at O'Neills as planned, had maybe a bit more whiskey then sensible, but still, had a pretty good night. 2010 started off pretty well with clear weather but very cold. Cold that continued to the new term and has meant that I had two days work before the school was closed due to snow. Since the school closed the temperature hasn't risen above 0.

Kings Langley School is pretty good, the students are pretty well behaved, if a bit talkative and the staff and friendly and easy going. I even have my own laptop and classroom, more or less. The commute isn't too bad either. takes 30 minutes with one of the other science staff giving me a lift. Still, I should probably reserve judgment until I have spent more than two days there.

You would think I would enjoy a five day weekend, but with snow everywhere makes it hard to get anything done. Hopefully this cold weather eases soon so I can get things done.