I'm too old for this shit

At the end of my spring break seems like the right time for an update. I have seen a lot and got another hit on my bucket list so overall a success. So starting at Easter. A few days at home recovering from the term were definitely in need. Followed by a day trip to London. In typical English fashion, it rained. But this didn't stop me trekking about and walking from London Bridge to Canary wharf and Greenwich park. I walked under the Thames and caught a boat back to the train station. In all, a good spot of exercise.

On the 8th I headed off on my road trip in my rental car, a Renault Clio with stupid European controls. Seriously, if you change the side of the steering wheel, swap around the damn indicators too. Soon got used to driving again, however dealing with other motorists and the motorways took longer. I headed West, stopping for a photo at Windsor before carrying on to Stonehenge near Amesbury (NOT Salisbury). The monument itself was smaller than I expected. However it was eerily quiet considering how close to the motorway it was and how many people were there. Also it is impressive by the mere fact that as far as you could see was chalk hills and burial mounds yet here are huge rocks that have come all the way from Wales.

From here I went on to try and find the Bulford Kiwi. I think I succeeded but could not find a good place to get a picture. I carried on South until I got to West Bay on the Jurassic coast. I had originally planned to crash here but it was pretty rubbish so I carried on West eventually stopping in Exeter which to be honest wasn't brilliant. Still, I saw the cathedral and quayside which was quaint. The good thing about down here was the decent hills, but the coast still disappointed me. So Friday morning I carried on to Widemouth bay on the Atlantic coast and stood in the ocean for a bit watching some tiny waves roll in a people trying to surf them. I soon tired of this and headed North through Exmoor forest with its winding roads and steep hills then crossed the bridge into Wales.

Friday and Saturday night I spent in Cardiff and it was a lot of fun. Reminded me a lot of home Wales did, in that its green, lots of sheep and very friendly. I saw the castle, the bay, the barrage and the Dr Who exhibition by day and by night, drank too much and visited the pubs. Also saw many people in costumes, most of whom seemed to be there for stag or hen parties. A great city which I feel is very underrated. I stayed at a great hostel called Nos Da directly across the river from the rugby stadium. Sunday I carried on North through the Brecon beacons and Hereford to Birmingham. Birmingham was pretty neat, large shopping centres and lots of canals with some great live music and nightlife, even on a Sunday. I had a Roo burger at Walkabout overlooking the canal which was neat.

Monday I headed back Southeast home, but not before stopping off at Warwick castle. Very impressive this, with a working trebuchet, falconry, dungeons and towers. A bit expensive but well worth it. I even had a proper carvery meal in the castle overlooking the mill. Tuesday I drove through East of England, camping overnight on a hillside in Cromer which wasn't the most comfortable but had to be done. Finally on Wednesday I stopped off at Duxford air force museum. A huge place with interesting exhibits. I walked through a Concorde, stood beneath a Blackbird, and marveled at a B-52. Definitely have to return here as I saw less than half of the place.

All in all a very good break, saw some country, had some fun, drank too much, and took many a photo. Looking forward to my next break away to Scotland in June. Oh also, I have myself a new hat, a brown straw trilby. Let's see what the kids think of that.

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.