Monthly Archive for March, 2008

Hi from London #5

Care of Laura, here is our fifth (kind of) weekly update. It is, quite obviously, at least a week late making its way here, but finally it arrived:

Hi everyone! How are you all? Thanks for all the emails (I even got some photos this time.)

I have been counting down the days until these next two weeks. Simon and I are off to Germany for the Easter weekend with three other couples: Dave and Sue (our housemates) Ollie and Miriam from Adelaide and Matt and Jen from Sydney. Mims and Jen have done all the organising and we’re just along for the autobahn-castle-rhine-river-ride. We’ve never been to Germany and are so excited. We’ll be there for Easter, so hopefully the chocolate can come close to Begium’s offerings. The itinerary, as far as we’ve been told (we’ve really contributed nothing) includes Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Koblenz, etc.

We arrive back very late on Easter Monday and will head straight to a hotel in London where my poor parents will be sleeping off their jetlag. How terrible are we? They fly for thirty hours to not even be met at the airport by their own daughter and son-in-law. Mum made the mistake of asking, offhand, if there might be anything I’d like her to throw in at the last minute? Silly dear. A list ensued with numerous desired products ranging from the unattainable over here (cherry ripes for Sue, kitchen tongs, bonds singlets) to the “better in Aus” items (Cadbury chocolate over here is stangely inferior.)

This week Simon and I have been trudging through London looking for a place to live. We were originally going to get a two bedroom for us and Dave and Susan, but they had an offer of a room in a flat with friends right near Sue’s new job that was too good to pass up. So now we’ve been searching an oddly addictive site, Gumtree.com, for a one-bedroom flat in London. We’ve actually only ever lived just the two of us for one year out of our eight years together, and know it will be great. We want to get as central and as nice as our budget allows.

Having never seen a real studio before we had a go at one last week, and realised we would literally have guests walking into our bedroom. And knowing how many visitors we’re going to have, it needs to be as big as we can afford too. There are some gorgeous areas close to Hyde Park or Regents Park and, importantly, near the underground tube stations. A couple of viewings on Thursday weren’t too inspiring so hopefully the two we’ll look at today will fit us nicely. Ideally, we’d like to move in before mum and dad arrive. We’ve allowed ourselves a decent budget by London standards. If you want to make yourself feel ill (or alternatively more optimistic about “soaring Queensland property prices”) try converting 300 pounds per week rent into Aussie dollars.

On the job front, I sent out my CV to four or five agencies this week. I met a really nice girl last week who wanted me to work at her company in recruitment with her. I considered what is obviously a job that she loves, but I imagine it to be a bit too sales target-oriented for me. And from my experience, recruitment agents have to talk a lot of rubbish too. So I think I’ll hold out and keep looking for a PA job. I have heard it’s hard to get into without experience, but I think I’d really enjoy a position like that for a while and there’s no real rush yet.

I had a very eye-opening learning experience last week at school when Her Majesty’s external school inspectors came to visit. It’s called Ofsted (not sure what it means) and it is scarier, completely nonsensical and with more hoop-jumping than I could have imagined. A school will get audited every few years and our school knew it was coming (I thought I might just beat it.) On the Friday before, the headteacher received a phone call saying they would be in on the Wednesday (one day only) to assess the school and give it a rating that would determine its status, funding and staffing for another few years.

Of course Wednesday is one of two days for me when I teach five periods straight. Hooray for the tens having whole school exams in the morning, so it was just four classes for which I had to create show-stopping two-page lesson plans on the off chance that of the one-hundred staff at the school, Mr and Mrs Ofsted would be looming at the back of the room. It is just so stressful wondering whether the “secret agents”, as the kids put it, would burst into the room mid-Bruce blowing raspberries into his hands. Hmmm. How to prove Bruce is making progress and reaching his personal targets?

As something would have it, Mr and Mrs Ofsted’s entire opinion of the English department was formed on the basis of a thirty minute observation of another Aussie teacher covering an absent teacher’s class. That’s it. They didn’t even observe the “master classes” set up to help “improve selected children’s reading skills” (read: get them out of my class so no one sees them.) It is just absurd and pointless. There are three main ratings a school may receive: outstanding, good, satisfactory, as well as uh oh and bulldoze the place. The school needed to maintain its good status and, after much, much worrying, they did. And they deserved to.

Our department had a post-Ofsted pudding party last night where I tried to recreate mini pavlovas for everyone. It was really good to spend some time with people from my staffroom, have some dessert and glasses of wine. I am really going to miss everyone from my department and sincerely hope I’ll still be able to socialise with them throughout the year. They go for drinks and out to the theatre a few times a year and I would love to keep in touch. A lot of people at school know I’m leaving and have been so great about it. Lovely Irish Hugh, the pastoral support man who found me blubbering in my supply cupboard, caught up with me yesterday and was so very supportive of my decision to leave. So, with five teaching days to go, all is well.

I hope the weather is treating you all nicely. We’ve had some really windy days here and boy, the British love talking about their weather! A really funny newspaper article I read the other day said, “Some bins, apparently, have been turned over. Worse, trampolines have been overturned. We don’t have to take their word for it – emailed pictures reveal the full extent of the devastation. We haven’t heard of anything this bad since the earthquake last month, when some chimney pots came down in the Midlands.”

Happy Easter to everyone next week. Love to you all, Laura and Simon.

Why can’t telcos get it right?

Ok, so I’m just doing a few last minute finishing off things before a trip to the Continent[1] and I’m on the phone to Vodafone (UK) and trying to complete some registration process so I can add cash to my Pay As You Go phone account without having to buy a voucher. As you’d expect it gives me five options. This doesn’t bother me much, especially since I want option number one. So I choose option one and then…nothing. A long period of nothing. Like five minutes of nothing, no hold music or anything. Nothing. Get the picture?

So I hang up and try again. This time, I get through to Kate the automated customer service representative (”one of the team”), who I can speak to (oh, this’ll be fun). Even though she seems a little hard of hearing, we’re getting through things so it’s all ok. Then, just as I seem to be getting somewhere, she says, “Ok, I see you tried to call earlier and got cut off for some reason. I’ll just put you through to a customer service representative to complete your enquiry.” Now, I’m assuming she meant a real live customer service representative, and if so, this is a genuinely good idea. It’s a real pity that it was executed so poorly.

Aside from the fact that it really wouldn’t have been very difficult (I assume) to complete the request with Kate, I’m now in a queue of some kind. Well, at least I think I am. Again, there’s almost nothing coming down the line, no hold music, but what I think might be a fumbling sound on occasion. Finally someone says something along the lines of “What’s your mobile number?” Reluctantly I gave my number (despite the fact that Kate knew my number without even asking, it’s nice to be talking to a real live human.) Then I have to tell the person (who’s name I still don’t know) whether I’m on a plan or a Pay As You Go customer (which Kate also knew the answer to). After I, again reluctantly, tell him I’m a PAYG customer I am informed that he is part of the team that looks after customers on plans and he can’t help me any further.

I’m now on my third attempt, seven minutes into the silence…before Kate. I’d say I’m going to ditch Vodafone at the first available opportunity, but I know the others aren’t any better.

Germany ahoy!

  1. Like that sneaky bit of European slang? []

GHD Resolutions 3/3

Well, the first GHD Resolutions review day is here and, I’ll be honest, I’ve not made a great start. The main problem is that I only really bedded down my resolutions a couple of days ago, so I haven’t had that much time to actually implement any of the changes.

I’ve decided that the solid establishment of one major habit per month should be achievable. And I’ll try and throw in some smaller, very achievable habits each month to make sure I’m not neglecting any of my resolutions.

Goals for March

The main goal for march is to implement the 10 O’Clock Rule, although for me I’m going to make it the 9:30 rule.

I always struggle to get to bed at a reasonable hour. And I always struggle to get up when I wake up. I’ve tried before to become an early riser without sustained success. But this time I’m just trying to be more organised. We’ll see how it goes.

A sub goal for March are to do step one of the 12 Step Program to Eating Healthier than Ever Before.

I’m also going to keep establishing the habit of checking my diary every day before I leave home, before I go for lunch and before I leave work. And of course taking it with me.

Hi From London #4

Laura has been way better than I have at keeping the folks back home informed of what we’re up to. This is the fourth installation in her “Hi From London” series. Cue Laura:

Two big pieces of news for this fortnight Friday’s email (not in any particular order):

  • I have resigned.
  • I have a fringe.

Laura I guess I’ll begin with the news item that may have the biggest bearing: my resignation. Belgium and the rest of my holidays were fantastic. Probably a bit too fantastic, for as soon as I returned to work last Monday, I was reminded of the unhappiness I’d been trying to fight at school. On Wednesday I spoke to dad on the phone who reminded me of why I am here: to enjoy myself and have as many exciting experiences as I can. He had me convinced that it would be okay – necessary – to quit my job by Easter.

So, cut to the next day, Thursday, my least favourite teaching day. I had an awful morning and awful afternoon when students filing out of the room actually apologised for their class. 3.02pm and I was in the dark in my supply cupboard crying. Literally, my supply cupboard. I felt like Elliot from Scrubs. It was just awful and I knew I couldn’t keep that up. Usually no one would ever come into my classroom of an afternoon, but as something would have it, I heard voices and a lovely teacher, Hugh, had come looking for me. He opened the door to me, went “Oh,” and sent for reinforcements.

I spent the next forty minutes blubbering into my scarf (hooray for winter) and admitted to my head of department that I couldn’t continue working there and would have to leave. The conversation I’d been dreading was met with both Holly and Jackie’s amazing compassion. They were so understanding of how I felt and so generous in their praise for how well I’ve been doing. Since then, they have offered to drop classes for me or let me go part-time to convince me to stay, but I’ve decided to leave and will finish the week after Easter, when mum and dad arrive. I agonised over the decision and feel genuinely terrible after all the school has done for me.

It wasn’t that I am naïve about what a teacher does, but here, when there are so many more exciting things to be doing, it’s hard to spend so much free time working. By 3pm every Sunday, my thoughts turn to school and I end up feeling I need to get home to do work. Plus the midnight marking sessions are a killer. The kids are great at times, alright at others and really, really terrible at others. I end up yelling a great deal and being terribly angry and frustrated and it’s just so unpleasant.

Anyway, I am so happy now that I have made a decision. I will not teach over here. I am going to try something new and have started putting my resume together for personal assistant work in London. We were happy to uphold our side of the lease here on the caretaker cottage, but the school has been great there too, letting us move out when I finish. Poor dad comes half-way round the world to help one of his daughters move yet again. He’s been told to bring his ute.

A Day Out At Hadleigh Castle (8 of 11) We’ve had a couple of great weekends since our last communication. Some Aussie Londoner friends of ours admitted to never having really been to the country and spent the weekend with us in Billericay. We went on a genuine country stroll (kissing gates and everything) to the ruins of the 12th century Hadleigh Castle. We have some great photos of our day there where we befriended a man with dogs and we all threw balls and climbed things. We then went to Southend-on-Sea, a very cool crumbling 1950s seaside resort town.

Last weekend I punished the beginnings of a bad cold by going out and getting very messy in London. Legendary London club Turnmills is closing soon and we paid a visit until about 3am. It was an excellent night with half a dozen others, drinking and dancing. After a four-thirty bed-time, terrible chest pains ensued and I spent Sunday looking bedraggled. Silly girl. The bossy people I live with made me stay home on Monday, which was quite fabulous. Especially when I got a knock at the door from a woman holding a beautiful bunch of tulips that mum and dad had sent to give me a smile.

And I had to go out on Saturday night to celebrate my new fringe! Although I am cursed with a cow-lick, a hairdresser friend managed to disguise it and gave me a great colour and fringe to perk me up. Unless you knew me in year two, you probably wouldn’t have seen me with one, and even then it was usually offset with a side pony or vertical fountain, so I look different anyway.

Simon’s work is going well. He got his first pay cheque today for the last month and, yet again, manages to get paid more than me to do less. He was dreading telling them about all the upcoming holidays he needs to take, but they were very cool with it. We’re currently looking for a new place to live from the start of April. We’ll probably stay living with Dave and Sue and there are some great two bedroom flats in London near public transport. Tomorrow we’re going into the city again to meet up with Moogs and others for tea, then off to a show with them on Sunday. It has always been a must for me to see a play at The Globe theatre. Tickets went on sale last week and we snapped up June tickets to King Lear which I am already very excited about.

Thanks to those who’ve emailed me in the last couple of weeks; I’ve managed to keep up with some of your excellent news. If you are sitting on excellent news, then please, let me know. Hope you’re all well. Lots of love, Laura and Simon.

(Photos on Facebook, flickr and dphoto.)

P.S. Seasons are different here! And not in the obvious way. I was very excited to remind teachers at school today it was spring tomorrow and they insisted it doesn’t start until something silly like the 21st of March. Don’t we all agree that seasons change every three months?