Monday

Monday was definitely Monday today.  Kate and Megan forgot to set their phone back (we had daylight savings this past weekend and our ancient phones don't reset the time for us) so they woke up and started getting ready at 5 am instead of 6 am.  Then, in the getting ready process, they discovered a spider, apparently with a body as big as a quarter.  They couldn't kill it because it would be too loud (it was 5 am), so they just left it.  Naturally, I couldn't go back to sleep with a spider in the room, so I had to go sleep in Kate's room.  Then, when I got up at 7, I asked Sandy (our host dad) if he would come kill it.. of course it was gone.  So now we have a massive spider on the loose in our room.  Guess who won't be sleeping tonight.....

School was okay.  The combination of it being the first day back after half-term AND it being Halloween made the kids a little wild.  I was under the impression that Halloween wasn't celebrated in England.. turns out, it is!  We weren't allowed to do Halloween activities at school though, because it's a Church of England school and the Church of England doesn't condone a dress-up-and-trick-or-treat Halloween.  Still, all the children talked about all day was trick or treating and what their costumes were.  Not much else exciting happened today!

I got pictures from Kate from the first few days in Rome, so I'll post those when I get a chance!

Pictures

When looking at these pictures, keep in mind that we blew our straightener the first day there, so ignore my hair.. also keep in mind that I lost my memory card from the first 2 days, so this is just the last 3.

Colosseo (aka Colosseum).  The sand part is a reconstruction, but the rest is the original thing!  Absolutely massive.

Emperor's entrance to the Colosseum. 

One of the two gladiator entrances.

Apparently if you kiss this, your sins are all forgive for 100 days or something like that.  I felt like I'd rather keep the sins instead of kissing that thing that a million other people have kissed.  Talk about germs, my goodness!

Real arch and a blind arch.  The blind arches apparently distribute the weight of the rocks above?  Or something?  Our guide said it was similar to water on an umbrella. 

Just some ruins.

In the Roman Forum.

Place where Caesar was cremated, tucked away in the Roman Forum.

Part of a villa on Palatine Hill.

On Palatine Hill.  Behind me is a hippodrome, used by Roman rulers.  Directly behind me was the only place to sit to watch the events.  Only emperors and Roman high-society (senate members, etc) were allowed to watch these events.

Better picture of the hippodrome.  On the left is where the few people sat.

Some stairs we weren't allowed to walk up.

Kate and I by Circus Maximus, with Palatine Hill in the background.  We couldn't walk in the Circus Maximus because the Italian Army was doing training exercises or something in it.

Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus, and me.

Me and Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.. beautiful inside!

Part of the Keys clan on the Spanish Steps!

Awkward? Haha

Momma and Poppa Keys on the Spanish Steps.

That's all until I steal Kate's and Megan's memory cards from the first few days!

Rome - Days 3-4

Day 3 - Wednesday

We slept in a little bit on Wednesday morning because we were out kinda late on Tuesday night.  When we got up, we walked down to a restaurant that Kate wanted to go to called Cleto.  Turns out they don't open until 12 (it was only 1130), so we just ate somewhere else.  Then Megan got sick (like, really sick.. maybe food poisoning?) so we took her back to the hotel and Kate and I went exploring.  We walked to Piazza de Republic (I think?) and ate gelato by a pretty fountain.  Then we just wandered around and stopped at a farmers market and walked to some other pretty building.  At 3ish, we went to go meet up with Momma and Poppa Keys.  The Keys family then ventured to Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, an absolutely beautiful church.  Then we picked up Kate and Megan from the hotel and went to the Piazza de Spagna (and did the Spanish steps).  We walked to Piazza del Popolo, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and then Randy got us lost trying to find Campo de Fiori.  After walking in circles for a while, we found it.. I'm still not really sure exactly what Campo de Fiori is, but it was pretty!  We ate dinner and then walked home by the Roman ruins.  Overall, it was a fantastic night.  It's always good to see Momma and Poppa Keys.. too bad it was only for a night =(

Day 4 - Thursday

We had to be out of our B&B by 10:30 on Thursday morning, but our flight wasn't until 8 pm.. so we checked out and walked around with our luggage (which was annoying, but what can you do?).  We walked down to Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore again, so Kate and Megan could see it.  Then we walked down by the ruins of Trajan Market and by the Colosseum for one last time.  We ate lunch at the Cleto place that Kate wanted to go to.

By that time, it was only 1 o'clock.  We found a train (that we almost missed) to the airport.  The train was at 1:52, but they didn't put the platform number up until 1:48 and it was literally the furthest platform away from where we were.  We had to run through the Termini with a few other panicked people, but we made it.  We were at the airport like 5 hours early though, so that sucked.  We went through security, which is much more lax than security in American/English airports.  I didn't take a single liquid out of my bag, and Megan set off the metal detector, and they just sent us on our way!  Passport control was also a breeze.. they barely looked at our passports.. just stamped them and let us through.  We lucked out, I think!  The flight back was uneventful.  Our host dad, Sandy, picked us up from the airport (we love him) and we got back to our house around 10:30.

Now, back to the real world!  I'm spending the day studying for my GRE and planning lessons, then heading into London for a dinner date.

I'll put up Rome pictures shortly!  However, I lost my memory card from the first 2 days (not happy about it).. so I only have pictures from the last 3 days.

Rome - days 2-3

Day 2 - Monday.

Monday morning we were up bright and early for our Vatican Museums tour.  We took the Metro, which was interesting.  The Metro in Rome only has 2 lines, line A and line B.  Not the streamlined system the London Underground is!  It was packed, but it got us where we needed to be.  We met our tour guide, Francesca (who knows everything there is to know about everything in the Vatican), outside the walls of the Vatican.  We skipped the lines, and went straight into the Vatican Museums.  We went through all the museums and learned about the Popes and things.  Then we went to the Raphael Rooms, which are incredible.  Then we went in the Sistine Chapel, which is even more incredible.  And then, we went in St. Peter's Basilica, which happens to be the most incredible place in the whole world... so, naturally, my camera died while we were in there.  The Vatican is, hands down, my favorite place in the entire world.  I love it.  So much history!  I want to go back to school and study the Vatican and the Popes. 

After the Vatican tour, we ate lunch at a really expensive Italian place by the Vatican.  Then, we hopped on our tour bus and rode it to the Trevi Fountain, which is gorgeous.  After that, we walked to the Pantheon, which is also incredible.  Then we spent a few hours in Piazza Navona, which is beautiful at night.  We decided we should see the Trevi Fountain at night as well, so we hung out there for a while.  Then we walked to the Colosseum to see that at night.  We took the Metro back to our B&B at 11 pm-ish.  Long day, but easily my favorite day of my life.

Day 3 - Tuesday.

Tuesday morning was not as smooth as Monday.  We got up, and decided to take our tour bus to the Colosseum for our Ancient Rome tour at 10:30.  We got on the bus, and I realized I had forgotten our voucher.  So we had to get off the bus, walk back to the B&B, and then find a taxi to take us to the Colosseum.  It costs 8 euros for that taxi ride, and it was probably 3 minutes.  Our Ancient Rome tour started at the Colosseum, where we learned everything there is to know about the Colosseum.  Then we went to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, aka the coolest Roman ruins ever.  There are so many of them, and they are all so old and so impressive.  Our tour guide wasn't as good on this tour, but we still learned a lot.  Then, we walked over to the Circus Maximus.  The Italian Army was doing something in the Circus, so we couldn't walk down into it.  Still cool to see though.  Then we walked back to our B&B, and now we're getting ready for the night.  I think we're going to go to a karaoke bar.  Should be interesting!
I'll put all kinds of pictures up whenever I get back to England.

Tomorrow, I get to see Momma and Poppa Keys!  So exciting!  

Rome!

We made it to Rome!  We flew in yesterday afternoon.  Our B&B might be the sketchiest place ever.  We came to check in and it's in an apartment building, so we buzzed and buzzed and no one answered.  So we snuck in when someone else opened the door. Then, we walked up to where this place was supposed to be and knocked and knocked and no one answered!  Finally, we found a couple who let us in.  The keys to our room were in our door and there was no one working the desk... so we took the keys and hoped it was the right room!  This morning, someone came at like 9 to ask us if we wanted breakfast.  So we got breakfast, and we told him our toilet doesn't work (cause it doesn't).  It's night time and it's still broken.  And no one cleaned in our room.  Very odd place.  We've called the number on the door at least 7 times and no one has answered.  


Last night, we met up with Megan's friend Max who's studying abroad in Rome.  We went to dinner at a little Italian place and then went to meet up with some of Max's friends.  There are eight guys, all from the east coast, studying abroad with him, so we went out with them last night.  It was a good time!  We went to some bar, and then tried to go to some club but one of the guys got us lost so we just went back.  This morning, we got up and went on a bus tour (about 2-3 hours long).  It was an audio one, where you listen to headphones, so not as good as the live announcers we had in London.  Still really good to see everything though!  After the bus tour, we ate at a little Italian place right by the Colosseum.  Then we walked around by the Colosseum and into the Piazza de Venezia (I think that's what it was called).  We hung out there for a while (absolutely beautiful buildings!) and then walked back to our B&B (after spending a good 10 minutes lost in the middle of Rome).  


Tonight we're going to check out to Piazza Navona.  Tomorrow morning, we have our Vatican Museums tour, which I am SO excited about!  The other girls are way more interested in the Ancient Rome stuff (which is interesting), but I'm really stoked for the Vatican.  Apparently, the Pope was cannonized today (because he cured a woman of Parkinson's).. we drove by on our bus right after the ceremony, so there were a bajillion people there.  


I just love Rome.

Almost half-term!

Today was a pretty eventful day at school.  For starters, our gerbil, Plus 1, died this morning.  He's been poorly for the last few days and he finally gave in today.  I don't think the children have even noticed that his container isn't there anymore though.  I taught Numeracy today and it went really well.  Definitely the smoothest lesson I've had thus far in my student teaching.  This afternoon, the fire truck came, so all the children got to go outside and look around the fire truck, and THEN they got to spray the hose (well, they got to pull back the handle while the fireman held the hose).  Very exciting for them!

Funny things the kids have said:
- Yesterday on the playground, a Year 2 boy came up to me and said "You know Miss Keys, you have a really good American accent"....... thanks? Haha.
- Today, I was reading a story and it said "shut up" in it.  I read it, and then reminded the children that we don't say that at school.  This little girl raises her hand and says "Miss Keys you aren't allowed to say for f**k's sake"......out loud, on the carpet, in front of 24 other little ears... I literally was speechless for a good 5 seconds.  You can tell how her mummy and daddy talk at home!

ONE MORE SCHOOL DAY UNTIL ROME!

Pictures from Windsor

Best picture I took all day. I love it.

Megan and I in front of part of the castle.

They walked by so close.

People live here.. inside Windsor Castle.  Like this man and his wheelbarrow. So cool!

St. George's Chapel and me.

Weekend/Monday

We had an eventful weekend!  Saturday, Kate and I went to Epsom to go shopping, then walked up Box Hill and did some reading.  Such a relaxing afternoon!  Then we cooked dinner and hung out at home.  Sunday, we went to Windsor Castle with Megan's parents.  Windsor is a much more impressive place than Buckingham Palace, in my opinion.  It is massive, and so much more like a fortress than Buckingham.  We toured the State Rooms and saw Queen Mary's Dollhouse, so that was really interesting.  St. Georges Chapel was closed because we went on Sunday, so that was really a bummer.  It's gorgeous inside.  We seriously considered going to a service there just so we could see the inside but we decided that might be disrespectful.  Very sad we didn't get to see the inside though.

Today, my supervisor came to observe me teach a PE lesson (the subject that seems to be the bane of every British teacher's existence).  It's just such a chore because they have to change out of their uniforms into their PE kits.  That is no small feat when you have a class of 25 five-year-olds!  Most of them can't even unbutton their top buttons themselves, so changing takes a good 10-15 minutes.  So, once they're finally dressed, I have to get them into the hall.  The hall is only about 10 feet from our classroom, but since they have to step outside to get there, they can't go barefoot, so they have to wear plimsolls.  Then, we have to figure out the best way to take their plimsolls off and where they can find them, because they needed bare feet for the lesson.  THEN, England has this rule that children have to learn how to take out their own apparatus.  So, for example, we used benches, stools, mats, and balance beams today.  So, technically, the children should have set up all of those things.  My children are not at all ready for that, so we just tackled the mats today.  Teaching them how to carry the mats from the rack to the floor took (I'm not kidding) 20 minutes.  That is our whole PE slot right there.  Changing, walking to the hall, and getting mats out.  I let them jump off the apparatus for 5 minutes (we just ran over time) because I didn't want them to have wasted all that effort getting the mats out and not using them.

All in all, PE is the worst subject to teach in England.  Also, the apparatus they use would never be okay in America.  Literally, the balance beams are wooden benches turned upside down, and they were jumping off of benches and tall stools today.  And that was perfectly fine with everyone.  Good thing I don't want to be a PE teacher because I don't think I could handle it!  Managing them is also so much harder once they get into PE mode.  I think my supervisor thought it went okay though, so that's good.

My teacher was sick today and will be out tomorrow as well, so our head teacher has been teaching our class.  It's a much different atmosphere with the head in the classroom.  She has this power over them.  It's amazing!  I'm sure it helps that she's been a teacher for a bajillion years, so she knows what she's doing.

We also had parent consultations tonight (aka conferences).  Always an interesting experience, especially being on the teacher side of the conference.  Some parents have such interesting views about their children.  That's all I'll say about that =)

Time to plan!

Friday, Friday... we don't have annoying songs like that in England =)

I've survived another week!  Only one more week until half-term and ITALY! YAY!  School was uneventful again today.  I taught the morning, which went fine.  After school, a couple of teachers and I went out for wine at a little place in Dorking and it was absolutely lovely.  I love them.  We've also been planning Thanksgiving, because we're going to do a whole Thanksgiving/America day on Thanksgiving!  I'm going to to assembly and talk about Thanksgiving and what it means.  It will be so great!  The girls have their staff outing tonight, so I'm either going out with my host brothers or staying in and having a quiet relaxing night, either of which would be just fine with me.

Fun facts:
We use the word "muddle" a lot at school, which is a word I don't hear often in America.  When something is confused or messed up, we say "Oh that's all in a muddle!"
An ice cream cone is called a cornet, not a cone.  Odd.

Also, it's called anti-clockwise in England, not counter-clockwise.  Fun fact.

Longest week ever....

I didn't know any week could be longer than last week.. but this week is taking the cake!  By the time Wednesday rolls around, I feel like it's Friday and I've lost all motivation.  It didn't help that the children were absolutely dreadful today.  Awful.  I had to stop in the middle of our lesson, tell them I would wait for them to finish their conversations, and just stare at them for at least a minute.  They just couldn't control their voices and they were fighting and crying.. so much drama!

I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend.  The girls have a staff outing with their school tomorrow night, so I'll probably snuggle up with a book and bottle of wine and relax by myself.  It's so weird how little I'm by myself here.  Literally, never.  Especially since I share a room.  Sometimes, you just need to be by yourself for a little while!  Megan's parents will be here on Saturday. I think we're going to go to Windsor Castle, which was my favourite place the last time we were in England, so that should be really fun.

I'm out of interesting things to say.

Not-so-terrible Tuesday

Normally, Tuesday is my least favorite day of the week.  Today, however, was not half-bad!  The morning started out rough, because my kids were being pains.  During literacy this morning, we were trying to think of words that rhyme with train.  We had a little girl raise her hand a say something along the lines of "I know this has nothing to do with what we're doing but I have to ask.  Do you think snails know that they are snails?"  ....  uhhhhh....?  They recovered nicely for the afternoon (and I had planning for half of the afternoon).  I had to observe my head teacher teaching the children music because I'm teaching it next week.  Yes, you read that right.  I will be teaching tiny British people about music and instruments.  It won't be pretty, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

During my PPA (I forgot what it stands for, but it means planning time), I got a lot done, and then stayed after school until almost 530 doing more planning.  Exhausting, but I'm starting to feel like I'm a little bit caught up with everything!  I have my lessons for tomorrow planned, and I've even started my lessons for Thursday (yes this does count as being caught up).

Fun fact of the day:  Peppercorns used to be expensive, apparently, so people used to use them as currency.  Because of this, there's a hangover from old British law that says you can collect and pay rent in peppercorns.  My school rents a piece of land right behind it as a nature area, and the man who owns it has them pay their "rent" in peppercorns!  How cute is that!  He came by today and had my head teacher pay the rent... a handful of peppercorns! I love it.

Beginning of Week 6

Can't believe this is already my 6th week of student teaching (and living in England)!  Crazy.

Today was a good day at school.  I spent the morning in Reception, just to see the differences between Year R and Year 1.  SO different.  Year R is mostly child-initiated activities with written observations by adults.  Year 1 is mostly teacher-directed or teacher-initiated activities with assessments being more formal (worksheets, etc).  I don't know which type of environment I prefer, but I do like the laid-back structure of the Reception classroom.  The Year 1 children were not happy with my absence though.  One little boy told my teacher that I wasn't allowed to stay in Year R because they needed me in Year 1.  Too cute!  The Year 1s and Year 2s walked over to the church for church assembly today.  We have assembly at school everyday, but church assembly is special ( I think it's once a month?).  I didn't get to go, but they all told me it was fun.

This afternoon, I taught a PE lesson where the children had to learn how to jump off of an apparatus (a bench, a stool, etc). Yes.  I had 25 five-year-olds jumping off of things with just me in the hall.  Absolutely terrifying.  They were SO well behaved though!  I was so impressed.  I love when they're well-behaved!  Haha.

British slang of the day:
"Taking a piss" = making fun of someone
"Having a laugh" = making fun of someone
"Taking the mickey out of _______" = making them the subject of your joke (making fun of them)

Weekend

Phantom of the Opera was AMAZING.  We couldn't take pictures, but it was absolutely beautiful and the people were so good.  We sat as far away as you possibly could (the tickets were expensive!) but we could still see everything, so it worked out.  Here is the only picture I could get of the stage beforehand.

Before the Phantom of the Opera, we walked through Trafalgar Square and into a big protest!  Kind of scary, because they were protesting the war in Afghanistan and some prisoner that we have at Guantanamo.. so not the most America-friendly place.  Really cool to see though!  Here are some pictures:

Crazy!  Not that I necessarily agree with what they were protesting, but it was definitely a cool thing to experience.  

After we left London, we went to Sutton to meet up with some teachers the other girls work with.  We had curry for dinner (for the first time).  I'm not sure I love curry, but at least I can say I've tried it!  Then we played some cards and then came home.  It was an exhausting, but good weekend!

...

I taught my first real disaster of a lesson yesterday.  They keep saying you should make mistakes, I just don't like it. Haha.  It was an art lesson about making puppets, and we were designing the templates, just on paper.  It was so awful.  It was Friday afternoon and the kids were tired and didn't want to sit and then my lesson was un-organized so they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing.  All in all, it was a disaster.  Lesson learned!

We went out with our host brothers last night.  I'm pretty confident people in England can just drink more than people in America because they are all tanks.  It's amazing.

Today, we're going to see the Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre.  SO EXCITING!  Then we're going to Sutton to go to another teacher's house for dinner/cards.  Should be a fun day!

FYI

My first tea purchase. I am officially British.

Thursday

So close to the weekend! I need it, desperately!

My EA supervisor came to observe me today, along with some other man (I think he's training to be an EA supervisor).  I made sure to tell the children that they came to watch them, not me, so they were angels all morning.  My lesson went really well.  I did get a stern warning about how the tone of my voice is harsh, and if I continue using my voice in such a harsh way, I will damage my vocal chords.  I wasn't speaking loudly, just with a harsh tone, apparently.  I'm not sure how to un-harshen my voice, but that's my task before he comes to observe me again!

However, there is only so much feedback a person can take in one day.  Don't get me wrong, I love hearing how I can improve and I love the feedback, but at some point, your brain is just full.  My brain was definitely full of feedback after they left this morning.  Luckily, my head teacher is conscious of these things, and let me take my afternoon lesson all by myself, with no one observing me.  It was a nice change!  I did teach most of the day today though, so my throat feels like someone rubbed it with sandpaper.. pretty much a guarantee my voice will be gone by tomorrow night.  Teaching is just really hard.  People don't realise how much work it is!

I showed off my tie tying skills to the class today.  They were all really impressed!  They weren't sure I could do it at first, because it took me a few tries, but I showed them!

I learned today that instead of "Ready, set, go!" they say, "Ready, steady, go!"  Interesting.

Also, football club was after school today.  My favourite part of the week is when the handsome, young (by young, I mean in their 20s) football coaches come on Thursdays.....  keep in mind, it's an all female staff at my school.  When I was helping the children get their boots on for football, one of the Year 2s said "Miss Keys, are there a lot of trees in America?"  I just don't know what the fascination is with the trees in America.. every question the Year 2s have asked me about America has been about trees!  So odd....

The end.

Case of the Tuesdays

I just really think Tuesdays are the hardest days of the week.  There's nothing to look forward to, because there's still 4 more days until the weekend, and Mondays are always exhausting, so then Tuesdays are double exhausting.  Doesn't help that I was up sniffling all night last night.

I had Subway for dinner last night, because we have one in Dorking.  Not impressed.  They don't have flatbread, and the menu is about half the size of an American Subway menu.  I got what I usually get (except on bread instead of flatbread) and it just didn't taste the same. Very disappointing!  We also tried Dominos here last week.. not impressed with that either.  If America is better than England at one thing, it's definitely fast food!  =)

Not much exciting happened today.  I taught history and outdoor classroom today.  Definitely don't like outdoor classroom.  It's a good concept, but it's so much harder to manage a class outside than it is in the classroom.  Classroom management does get easier with practice though.

I was at school until almost 6 today.  I got my lessons planned for tomorrow, so that was good.  My supervisor comes to observe me on Thursday, so no pressure!  I actually need to go plan that lesson now.

If you haven't listened to this, do it. It's the best thing I've ever heard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAHyGbOXoF4

Case of the Mondays..

It was a rough morning in our house today!  We use our phones for alarms, and neither of them decided to go off this morning.  So the other girls, who get picked up at 645, didn't wake up until 630.  Then, I didn't wake up until 720 and get picked up at 750!  We need to invest in a real alarm clock I think.

It was a pretty good day at school today.  I taught numeracy this morning, and PSHE this afternoon (personal, social and health education).  Pretty uneventful lessons, both went pretty smoothly.  During register, the boys think they should join in with the "You look like a princess," but they want to sound cool so they say things like "Good afternoon Mrs. Bass, you look like a soldier and/or a knight."  Not exactly the same as a princess, but they do their best.

I learned how to tie a tie today!  The children wear ties, so when they're changing after PE, they always ask me to tie them.  Last week, they were astonished when I didn't know how.  This week, one of the children said "Miss Keys did you learn how to tie a tie yet?"  I said I hadn't, so one of the TA's taught me during PE changing time.  The kids thought it was so funny and kept whispering to each other "Miss Keys is like a kid learning something!"

Now onto more lesson planning!

Brighton

Yesterday, we spent the day in Brighton with Paul.  Brighton is my favourite city in England so far.  I absolutely loved it.  It took almost 2 hours to get there because the traffic was so awful.  It was a beautiful day outside (75 and sunny) and the seaside is in Brighton, so it makes sense that the traffic was awful.  Once we got there, however, it was amazing.  We went to eat at a place called Food for Friends, which is a vegetarian restaurant.  I didn't like my food, but everyone else's food was surprisingly good.  Then we walked along the seaside, and explored some little shops.  We managed to find Toms in a little shoe store, so I got a new pair.  Then, we watched the sunset on the beach (which was a pebble beach, not sand.. ouch), and then walked down the pier so Megan and Kate could go on the roller coaster.  Paul and I played air hockey (and I won, obviously).  It was one of my favourite days in England!  Here are some pictures:

Brighton seaside (aka my favourite place in the world).

The seaside in Brighton again.

The Brighton Pier (not the best picture).

In the freezing cold ocean!

Right before we got soaked by a wave.

Kate, Paul and I at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

Royal Pavilion.  Fun fact: During WWII, Hitler wanted to use this building as his headquarters in Great Britain, so he ordered his army to not bomb it.

Sunset in Brighton.  I'm obsessed.  That structure out there was the old pier, called West Pier, but it burned down.

Kate, Megan and Paul watching the sunset.

Really dark picture of me and the sunset.

Megan, Kate and I being in love on the Brighton Pier.

Easily my favourite day so far.  I like Brighton even more than I like London!  Now, back to reality and homework today.

Friday

I'm much less frustrated after teaching most of the morning yesterday.  My head came in to observe me teaching phonics, which was really intimidating (especially since I hadn't taught all week).  It went fine though.  Then I taught numeracy, and that went really well.  It was just a much better day all around!

Last night, I took the bus to Kingston to meet the girls and some teachers from their school for dinner/drinks.  We ate at a place called Nando's, which I would never go back to.  They sit you at the table and then you have to go back downstairs and wait in a long line to order your food at the counter.  Really inefficient.  And the food was not phenomenal.  And they didn't have any napkins (it's a wings place.. really?).  After Nando's, we went to a little pub (no idea what it was called).  Then, we went to a night club.  Really intense security at this night club.  We got our ID's checked, paid £5, then had to go through a metal detector and the guys had to get frisked.  Luckily the bouncer didn't find my shank.. but he did take my water bottle............ I told him he could smell it.. it really was water.  He wasn't interested in that.  4 hours later, we left the night club and called it a night.  There were definitely some interesting characters there.. and some people who couldn't be more than 17.  Seriously. I don't know what the age to get in was but if I had to guess, I'd say 16.

Today, we're going to Brighton for the day with Paul and Kari (Year 6 teacher at the girl's school).  It's supposed to be hot again (it was 80 yesterday!) and we didn't pack any hot weather clothes, so it will be an interesting day.  I think we're going to go out in Reigate tonight, a town not too far from here.  I'm not sure how long I'll last though, because I'm getting sick again.  Apparently 1 healthy day a month is all I get!  Annoying.

Poppa Keys turned 51 yesterday.  He's so old now.  If everyone wants to start calling him "Gramps" I'm sure he would be fine with it......  Love you Pops! =)