Not too much tonight

I'm actually here in the house tonight; I'm cleaning and getting ready for the folks from the English department to come over for Sunday dinner tomorrow.  Oh no, I'm not making a roast... I'm making Jambalaya, cornbread, salad, and for dessert?  Watermelon, lime juice and mint salad.  It's so good!  Better when it's hot out and I don't have three hundred thousand papers to grade, but still.  Very simple recipe, but it's really sweet and refreshing and healthy for you.  Now, the original had Feta cheese in it, but trying that once was enough.  There is too much of  a good thing you know.

Made my reservations tonight to go to Dublin in July.  It will be my last trip before I go home.  Whoo hoo!  Home.  Lots to do before I go, and it won't be like last year when I had weeks and weeks of summer to get things done.  Nope.  Last day of school is the 20th of July, I go to Dublin from the 22nd to the 26th, and then five days later?  I'm winging my way back home to Santa Barbara. 

{Side note here.  I had about three more paragraphs written, and just hit some button and lost it all.  How did I do that? Not my whole post, just the second half of it.  I hoped that it had automatically saved it, but no.  Now, what did I write?)

Oh, I know, it was about all the things I had to do before I left.  One of which is ending my contract with the minions of Satan Virgin Media. I had to sign up for a year-long contract, although I was told I could pay it off before I left.  Now, it took almost three months just to get through to someone and get it started (so I only started the contract in October), but that wasn't the worst bit.  I didn't actually have a working internet connection until January, if you all recall.  Oh yeah, and it means I will have to call them, which you might remember gentle reader, cost me about 40 pounds being on hold and having my calls to their service center dropped, the last time I tried calling them. I so very much hate that company and the way they do business.

Let's see... the year 10's did two exam papers last week; between 5-8 pages each.  Then my year 7's took a writing exam, that's 100 papers. Found out with the Year 7 paper though, that we're using a different marking scheme than what we normally use, with three areas to be marked.  You know, like grading it three times. Year 8's, of course, but that's only 20 students, and then my year 9's will be taking their writing exam on Wednesday.  It's another 5-pager.  Oh, and marks are due starting Tuesday; we have one week to get our marks on the school computer system.  Yes, you read correctly, we are giving a written exam actually after we are expected to start entering grades.  And the exams ARE their year end grades. 

I may pass out.

But Rebekah, you ask, doesn't your school end in another month?  Why do you have to be finished with your student's marks so early?

Frankly, I don't know.  We also have our summatives (year end reports) due for our form classes by the 30th of June as well.  About three paragraphs each for 25 students.  Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that.    I'm sure there is a reason for all this, but I've not been privy to it.


See, this is why I almost didn't post tonight;  whining, complaining, whinging, moaning... who wants to read that?

Sent my mother's birthday present off to her today.  Still haven't sent my sister anything.  Poo.  She wouldn't give my any clues on things she might like from London/England, and when I go into a shop, I go into brain-lock trying to figure out what she would like.  I pick something up and then put it back.  "Will she like this color?  This scent?  The shape of it?" I convince myself that whatever it is, she won't like it, and then I buy nothing.  I've never had this problem before.  I'm good at gifts usually.  Not this time.  Sister, if you're reading this, help me out.  Do you like vanilla?  Lavender?  cookies, chocolate?  Tea?  Do you like dangling earrings or beaded necklaces?  What colors do you wear most?  What size are you?

Finally got myself to York

What a great city.  I really didn't have the time to go; although the end of school here is July 20th, I have to have all my final marks in by June 29th.  I also have to write 25 Summatives, or year-end reports, for all the students in my form (like a homeroom class) by June 30th.  We are giving timed writing exams to all our students for the end of the year as well as their classwork assignments.  That means I will have one week to mark about 160 papers from my students from ages 11 - 15.  I've been told another teacher is going to help me out, but I am still rather crazed thinking of what lies ahead. Oh, and I leave for a four-day end meeting for Fulbright in Edinburgh (you know, in Scotland?) on hmm... what day?  Oh yeah, Wednesday the 29th.

It's overwhelming and I've been stressing heavily about it.  What do we do those last three weeks?  I actually don't know.  I've been told that lots of students leave early so their families can go on holiday early, but three weeks?  argh. The consolation is that I won't have to worry about things as much after those early deadlines pass.

Back to York.

This is York Minster.  My crummy little camera doesn't do it justice, but it was impressive.  It's so huge!  And you know, about three times as old as my country.  Puts things in a bit of perspective, don't you think?  It took 250 years (15 different kings ruled during this time) to build it.

What's so fascinating about it is that there was an Anglo Saxon church, and a Norman church on this site, going back to the 7th century.  History man, history.

Of course, there are lots of other churches there.  This next one doesn't look too extraordinary, does it?

I was on top of a double-decker bus when I took this photo, and I'm sorry it's got the bar running right through it.  Do you see the main entrance at the left side of the church? That's where the people would come in to worship, or get married or to christen a child. But wait, see the small door to the right of the middle of the church?  That was the devil's door.  It was only opened briefly, right after a child was baptized.  It was to let the devil (because of original sin, the devil was in every child, of course) out of the church.  It would be closed again very quickly so he couldn't get back in.

Wait, there's more.  Even though the bar is running right over it, can you see the tiny double windows near the bottom of the church on the right? Those are Leper's Squints.  There were  a lot of people back then with Leprosy, and they weren't allowed in the church to avoid infection, but they were still expected to worship.  They would be able to watch the service through the "Squint" and stay outside at the same time.   Again, this history thing? pretty cool.

Here we are.  I didn't ask permission from M. to post this, but since she's hiding behind the shades, I'm hoping it's okay.  Got to be careful and all.  We took a bus tour, and the weather cooperated, which was nice.  You just never know what's going to happen.  Makes packing a pain, that's for sure.

I'm going to leave you with my last photo.  It's of the street name of the shortest street in York:

That's it. More like an alleyway than a proper street, but the name is funny.

I liked York.

You know...

It's really nice to see a comment or two after a post.   Just sayin'.

Half term break

This week has been great, with its share of annoyances. 

Saturday I left for Kyiv (or Kiev, or however it is you feel it should be spelled).  I loved it, but the visit was far too short.

It's a beautiful church behind me, right?  Well, yes and no.  Yes it's beautiful, but it's no longer a church.  It's used for storage.  Even though it's not been a communist country for almost 20 years, this lovely place is used as a giant garage. 

The main market is on the Andriyivskyy Descent; a very steep, and cobblestoned street.  It was Kyiv Days, so it was more croweded than usual.  Some of the women there wear heels I'd have problems just standing still in, yet they navigated these streets with ease.

I love the nesting dolls.  As a child, one of my aunts brought one back from her travels, and I remember it very well.  I could look at it on the table, but I wasn't to play with it too much.  It was too special.  Yes, technically they are Russian, not Ukrainian, but still...

 We went to a traditional Ukrainian (read"Catering to tourists")  restaurant, and it was delicious, but I got a kick out of one of the offerings:

No, I didn't order it, but it sure made me giggle. I would have really liked to see what it was though.

What was really nice about the trip as well, was just being with an American family.  Just like at Christmas with S and T in Vienna.  J and P and their two kidlets are a typical family in a very atypical setting, yet it felt like home.  I think that's how it must be for a lot of foreign service workers with spouses and children.  As  a single person, I don't notice it as much until I'm around a family.

Okay, so it was a quick visit, and I was back on Tuesday.  Wednesday night, very late Wednesday night,  my friend H who is another Fulbright teacher here in  England, came over to spend the night.  She was in London to see an opening of an art exhibit, and thought she'd be to my house by nine or ten.  Hah.  At a quarter to one she rolled up in a taxi. Even tipsy though, she's one of my favorite people.  She's truly interested in everyone she meets, and hanging out with her is easy and comfortable.  There's no rules I have to follow or topics I have to avoid, or actions I'm not allowed to take.  I've met a few folks in the last few years that say they want to be friends, but only on their terms.  I just want to be myself; and not have terms and conditions for the friendship.  Anyway, H is a good one.

We took a three-hour (which turned into a four-hour) boat trip down the Thames to Hampton Court on Thursday, and it was a beautiful day.  The suntan lotion did its job except where I missed; the tops of my feet are still quite red.  We raced around Hampton Court, and then came home and ordered Indian food.  I will never get tired of  that stuff.  I know I'm going to miss it terribly when I go.

Yesterday, we went to Kew Gardens, but only for  a short time because we were meeting another teacher from my school to go to the Museum of London.  Sheesh.  Do you get the feeling that  I'm running around, trying to get in all my cull-cha before I go?  You're right.  I really have a short time left at this point and I don't want to miss anything. 

It was another beautiful day, and after the museum we walked all over the south end and over to Covent Garden... definitely ready for a pint or two at the end.  And I discovered a new favorite adult beverage:

Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer.

Wow.  Yummy yum yum.  So tasty on a hot afternoon.  We hung out, had a few drinks and then decided it would be fun to take the bus home.  Hm... perhaps not the best choice on a Friday night, but still. 

It's light here until almost 10 o'clock now, so it's always rather surprising to look at my watch and find out it's bedtime rather than dinner time.

And that's what time it is now folks.  I know... this wasn't a post, it was a list.  Sorry about that.  I could complain about how my paycheck still has not been issued, and that it's a week late, and that I only get paid once a month, and how I am not one of those people who have six months worth of salary in savings, and how I'm getting charged an obscene amount of money to use my overdraft account, but that would be boring, wouldn't it?

So I won't.  Have a good rest of the weekend people!

It was HOT today!

Sunny with spells of rain

Sunday morning. I got up early (I can’t help it, the sun comes up now just after 5 am), and got some laundry in. Thought I’d get the sheets done on the line, since I don’t have a working dryer. Everything else is okay, but there’s no where to hang sheets. Of course, two hours after I hung them up, it started raining. I was just glad I hadn’t left the house yet. Now I’ve got sheets draped over things in the house.

I miss having a dryer. Here, it seems people are more frugal; most have a clothes line or clothes “horse” to hang things on. Jeans, socks and towels, those are the ones that just don’t get soft unless they are tumbled dry. Maybe I’m just spoiled. There is a dryer here, but it’s broken; it heats up but doesn’t spin. Ah well. I have discovered the magic of laundry conditioner. It certainly helps.


Yesterday I was writing a letter to my mother, and listed 10 things I’m looking forward to when I get home in August.

1) Charlie (but you all knew that anyway)

2) Stores open later than 5:30 pm

3) Mexican food

4) Showerheads attached to the wall

5) The beach

6) Going to Outback Steakhouse with my mom

7) Phone calls to businesses that don’t cost 60 cents a minute

8) Hanging out with my friends

9) Warmth

10) Trader Joe’s



Then I thought of 10 things I will miss when I leave England.



1) Indian food

2) Boots. They have EVERYTHING there.

3) Students who hold the door open for me

4) steak, stilton, and potato pasties (I miss these already since Morrison’s stopped carrying them)

5) My new friends

6) Tea break

7) The tube

8) Prescriptions that never cost more than ten dollars

9) The markets

10) Dinner and a show for 20 pounds


Oh, and you teachers out there? The US teachers? Shut up already on Facebook about having only 15 days left of school. I still have over two months.



Bitterness.

Post 41

I actually do have a lot to say, but don't seem to get it down.  Not a lot of good excuses for it.  Oh, like right now, I have a pretty incredible headache, or lately I've been getting heartburn like you wouldn't believe... these things happen when I get stressed.  Why am I stressed you ask?  Because there is not enough time in the day to do my job well.  I plan for four different levels and I'm finding it impossible to plan for them all at the same time. Most other teachers here have five or even six levels they teach, so I can't complain, but still.  I will plan out some fabulous lesson for year 10, and then realize I've not made the copies for my year 8 class.  And the marking?  Good god.  Although homework is only assigned once a week here, the marking is amazing. 

No more complaining right now.  The high today was a balmy 48 degrees.  In May. 

Oh wait, that was going to be more complaining, wasn't it?

Okay, here's something, This weekend, I got together with some friends I met in Japan.  When I was 24, I signed a contract to teach English for three years in Nishinomiya, Japan.  It was one of the best decisions I've made in my life.  Living as an absolute foreigner, one who is pegged the moment she is seen as "other," actually did change my life and my outlook on it.

However, I sure had fun.  Being that there were so few westerners there, perhaps around a thousand in our 20's, teaching English, having adventures, we had a pretty tight-knit community of English speaking "Gaijin."


S was from Ireland, P from Canada, and J  from the east coast of the US.  I even went on P and J's first date, not knowing it was supposed to be a date. They got married and now live in the Ukraine where they both work for the embassy.  S married a Japanese man, and they live back in Dublin now.

Anyway, we had a reunion of sorts.  S flew out and stayed with me the past two nights, and P and J and their two kids are in England for a 10-day vacation (they lived here for several years as well).

It is amazing sometimes, when we look back.  I've not seen S since 1993, and P and J since 1995; we've all taken different paths, lost touch with each other for periods of time, and yet last night, eating take-out indian food, and drinking (far too much) white wine, we had a ball.  Yes, we're all in our 40's now, yes, we all have responsibilities now, but we're still the same.  We still get along, we still laugh and laugh and laugh.

As much as I complain, I have a blessed life.  I really do.  I have friends all over the place, from all different parts of my life, and yet they are the kinds of friends who last.  Last summer, I got back in touch with a pile of friends from the summer camp I used to go to and then lifeguarded at when I was in college.  They are all good people.  We all met up at the beach just before I left for England, and again, I was touched by how lucky I am.  There are so many lovely people in my life, who have been in my life, and will continue to be in my life... new people from this year in Enfield too. 

No, I don't have a family of my own.  Not the one I fully expected to have when I was 21 or even still hoped for at  30.  I won't give birth to my own children.  But I do have a family.  These people, all over the world, are my family.  Do I wish things were different?  I can't answer that.  Would I have to give up one for the other?  Perhaps. My life is what it is.  Right now?  It's a pretty good one.