Random Musings on Various Topics

2007-04-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

At Long Last

I think it has been over a month since I last posted....so likely no one is reading this right now. Oh well. It serves me right.

Quite a bit has happened in the past month or so. Here are some notable things that happened;

- I taught math classes

- Easter came and I ate lots of chocolate

- I went to London for the weekend, looked at some art and saw Avenue Q, which I found to be highly entertaining (though not for the easily-offended).

- I told my school that I was leaving, and I started preparing to come home on April 30th. That's right, I am coming home! I am hoping to interview and get a job with the Waterloo school board for next year. I am also hoping to get caught up on all of the KW fun that I missed...

- My computer, or should I say my school-issued laptop, decided to kick it. All of my pictures from my trip were on there. Those of you who know me well will have already guessed that I did not have them backed up. So that was sad. Luckily, the IT guy at my school thinks that my computer will be fixable and my pictures will be recovered. Hopefully that will occur BEFORE I go home.

- Meghan and I took a 2 week trip over the Easter holidays. We went to Krakow (Poland), Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Munich, Heidelberg and Amsterdam. Needless to say, it was a busy couple of weeks! Well worth it, though. I'd have to say that my favourite places were Prague and Salzburg (although paragliding in Innsbruck was also sweet!). Prague, although not necessarily my favourite city overall, was probably the most beautiful city I've ever visitied, and the scenery surrounding Salzburg is amazing. I kept wanting to sing songs from the Sound Of Music. I have also discovered how great Easter markets in Europe are. Mmm, carbohydrates...

And that is the last month in a nutshell.

In closing, I must mention that if any of you are going to see Ben Folds and John Mayer play in Toronto tonight, you are incredibly lucky and I am incredibly jealous.

That is all.

2007-03-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Final Pictures Of Spain (It's About Time!)

Here is the last installment of photos from our February trip. They are mostly from Gibraltar, and so mainly consist of us standing in front of or with cool things. They are some of my favourites though!

I think this is one of the funniest pictures I have. This is the outside of our hostel in Granada. That's right - we stayed in this extremely sketchy looking alleyway! It was actually perfectly fine, and it was even nice inside. Once we got over the shock of it, it made us laugh quite a bit.

And now, we come to Gibraltar. This is me pointing at Africa. AFRICA!! If you look really closely and squint, you can see it. It was my first, and hopefully not last, look at that continent.

Kim and I standing in a massive cave inside the Rock. I have never seen such a cool cave before. They even have a concert hall in there. I'm sure the acoustics are interesting...

I made a new friend! These are the only "free" apes in Europe.

Meg made a new friend too!

And to close, a picture of me in front of the rock.

That's it for the pictures - we'll see how many posts I have to do for our TWO week trip.

2007-03-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Meet The Next Rhodes Scholar

That's me! Or at least I'd like to think that it COULD be me, after our weekend in Oxford. Needless to say, I enjoyed it, it was very nice, and being there made me want to go back to university. All very predictable for people who know me. Funnily enough, I even felt smarter while I was there.
It's hard to say which I liked better - Cambridge or Oxford. Cambridge colleges had nicer "backs" which faced the river, while Oxford was less crowded and probably had a higher number of cool looking buildings (and seemed to have a higher number of famous alumni). Cambridge DOES have a better math program, though. So basically, if they offered me a spot at either school, I would take it.

Although it doesn't seem like it based on my posts, I have still been living in Great Yarmouth and going to work at school every day. The past two weeks were nice because we had a couple of students from Nipissing university doing some practice teaching. It turned out to be an interesting experience for them (they had a lot of problems with travel logistics and such), but it was fun to be able to talk about home. One of them had even attended Laurier for a year and understood how great Waterloo is! The two of them have gone on to France now, but having them around definitely made the last two weeks go more quickly.

I am glad that it is finally March, because ever since we came home from our week off in February I have thought that it was March. The trees have already been blossoming for weeks, the tulips and daffodils are coming up, and the days have been getting longer. Spring is here! As is March, which means much less confusion for me.

2007-03-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

More Pictures Of Spain

Here is one of the cool archways in the Mezquita in Cordoba, with Arabic writing on it.

The streets of Cordoba.

The Alcazar (castle) in Seville.

The Alcazar gardens...very pretty. Senior citizens can get in here for free, so we saw an old man who came in just to sit in the garden for the morning. I can definitely see why.

The amazing Alhambra palace in Granada. The architecture, the gardens and the setting were all awesome. I will try to pick the best pictures to give you an idea of how cool it was.

One of the ceilings.

There was a lot of water around the palace, and it definitely signifies something. However, I can't really remember what at the moment.

One last shot of the exterior.

This is a view of the palace and the city, take from one of the old Muslim neighbourhoods in the city. The square we were at is now apparently also home to all of the hippies in Granada and many dogs.

I will stop for now, but stay tuned for a third installment which will include some pictures from Gibraltar. Don't miss it - they are some of the best ones!

2007-02-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

Books Are Fun

I decided that, instead of posting more pictures of my trip, it would be more fun to do this book list thingy that I saw on Steph's blog. Yay Steph, and yay books! I'm not sure where they got the 100 books from, but it's still fun.

Here are the instructions and the list:

“It works like this: The bolded books are books I've read (and even enjoyed) [but not necessarily] ... italicized books I would like to read, books with crosses are on my shelf and asterisked books I've never heard of. The books that are striked out I am unlikely ever to read. The books listed here that haven't felt the touch of my cursor and remain unedited I could care less or more about on any given day.I imagine the books on this list were selected for their best-seller status or something like that."

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) – I want to see what all the fuss is about.
2. †Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) – can’t believe I haven’t read this
4. †Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. †The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. †The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. †The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. †Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. †Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. †A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. †Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. †Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. †Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) – again, I want to see what all the fuss is about
23. †Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. †The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. †Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. †Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. †The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. †East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. *Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. †The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) – Don’t ask why I have this book…I even read a few chapters of it before I couldn’t take any more of the sugar and sap.
33. *Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. †1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. *The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. †Bible
46. †Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. †The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. †Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. †The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. †A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. †Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. †The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. †Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. †The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. †Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. *The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. †Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. †One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. †Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. †Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. *Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Ondaatje)
75. †The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. †A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. †Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. *Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. †Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) – I also can’t believe I haven’t read this yet
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje) – I, like Steph, wish I hadn't read this! We even took a copy with us to Europe, but it was unceremoniously dumped in a hostel in Girona, Spain. Perhaps it is there to this day.
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) – I don’t think you can go through teacher’s college without hearing about this book
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. *A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. *The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I didn’t strike any out, because I never know what I’m going to end up reading. I would say it’s pretty unlikely that I will read any of the ones I haven’t heard of though.

2007-02-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

I Guess I Should Post...

It has been awhile since I have updated my blog, and a fair bit has happened since then. The main thing was that Meghan and I went to Spain and Portugal last week for our half term break. We had a great time, saw lots of things, and the weather was warmer than it is here (all good things). It is probably easier to show you pictures, instead of trying to explain everything that we did, so here goes.

Our first stop was in Lagos, Portugal. It is mainly a beach town, and since it was not quite beach season it was quite dead when we were there. Still very nice though. I could see it being a nice place to come on vacation - nice beaches, supposedly nice weather in spring/summer, and a little bit of culture thrown in too.

In Portugal, people speak Portuguese, which is something I am not overly familiar with. Hence, there was a little bit of a language barrier at times. Here are some of the words I picked up as I went...
laranja = orange
sumos = juice
obrigado = thank you
aberto = open
You can probably see why we still experienced some communication difficulties, despite my command of the language.

Our next stop was in Seville, Spain. I thought it was quite a nice city. There were lots of things to see and an interesting culture, with flamenco and bull-fighting.

This picture is of the Placa d'Espana. It was a very nice square, designed for an expo that was held in Seville. I can't remember what the expo was for though.

We decided not to go to the right here. If you look closely you can see why.

This is where the bull fights are held in the summer. I was content to just take part in the arena tour.

From Seville, we took a day trip to Cordoba, home of winding, narrow streets, lots of orange trees, and the Mezquita (one of the best examples of Muslim architecture in Spain).

The inner courtyard of the Mezquita.

The inside of the mosque/cathedral (it went from cathedral to mosque back to cathedral) was huge and full of these types of arches.

My computer seems to have decided not to upload any more pictures, so I guess this post is prematurely finished. It also seems to have decided to make the format of this post all wonky, so that is why it looks so strange. Stay tuned for more (hopefully better aligned) pictures from Cordoba, Seville, Granada and Gibraltar at a later date!

2007-02-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Super-Bowl Sunday!

Also, happy belated Groundhog Day...

Both Groundhog Day and Superbowl Sunday are things that are significantly less popular here in England. In fact, I don't think there are very many people here who even know what Groundhog Day is, unless they've seen the movie. Oh well. I for one am still interested in whether or not Wiarton Willie saw his shadow on Friday. Although I can't remember whether that means there are six weeks left of Winter or what.

It is quite amazing to me that we have already made it to February. Our trip is only a week away, and I can't wait! Should be interesting to see how we do in our first journey to the continent and to a non-English speaking country. I'll let you know how it goes!

Here are some select pictures from last week-end in Edinburgh. Enjoy!

Me after climbing to the top of this......

Arthur's Seat: the highest point in Edinburgh. It is actually taller than it looks in this picture.

The National Gallery, which contains paintings by Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Raphael, El Greco and Rembrandt, among others.

The Castle, as seen from the Princes St. Gardens.

The outside of St. Giles' Kirk on the Royal Mile.

I liked this picture from the inside of St. Giles' for some reason...

Kim and I looking "scared" on our nighttime Ghost tour of Greyfriars cemetery.

The three travelling companions - we obviously survived the tour!

2007-01-30T09:34:00.000-08:00

Think Before You Speak

This past weekend, Meghan, myself and our friend from Canada named Kim went to Edinburgh for a little trip. It was our second time in Scotland, and we were really hoping not to have to stand on the train on the way up there. Unfortunately this was not to be. Yet again, we were forced to stand in the area between cars for a few hours. This time, however, there were a bunch of other Americans with railpasses who were stuck standing with us (as well as some other British people). We were chatting, and I was just starting to think that these Americans were way less silly than some of the others we have encountered, and then this happened...

Meg and I were mentioning how grateful we were that people had offered to help us with our luggage on the London Tube on the way home, and one of the Americans replied with "Wow, that's very un-British!" Out loud. In a British train. Surrounded by actual British people. Who could hear us. I think you get the point. Anyways, I tried to distance myself by making a "I-can't-believe-he-just-said-that" face to the British guy beside me, and Meg did a good job of explaining how we have always found British people to be helpful, but still. I know that I shouldn't always assume that American travellers will be silly (because they definitely aren't always, and there are some equally bad Canadians out there), but this situation didn't really help with the stereotypes.

Other than the awkward moment on the train, we had a great trip. The weather was actually nice all week-end ("Wow, that's very un-Scottish!") and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I will try to post pictures in the next couple of days so that you can join in the fun too.

As for every day life in England, we got a bit of snow last week. It wasn't nearly enough to warrant a snow day - it was, after all, on the ground for a grand total of one or two hours. It did remind me of home though. I am also excited to report that our days are now a whole hour longer than they were when we first got back. This means that it is usually somewhat light outside when we go to catch the bus. Which means that I am usually in a somewhat better mood in the morning. Hey, anything that makes mornings slightly better is a great thing!

2007-01-21T08:50:00.001-08:00

Zebras, Wind, and Guy Love

I want to start off by mentioning the Scrubs musical episode that aired this past week (and included a song called "Guy Love", hence the title). I was able to watch it on my computer and it was AWESOME. You should definitely all check it out. I'm pretty sure that I had a silly smile on my face the whole time I was watching it. After all, there were, among other things, grown men singing about poo. Good quality stuff.

I am finding it difficult to find interesting things to write about my routine here in England - hence the lack of post last week. Classes have been proceeding pretty much as usual, although both the year 11s and year 9s wrote some practice exams this week and last. It turns out that my groups did fairly well. It is encouraging that my complete lack of knowledge of and experience with the British school system hasn't completely messed them up.

Time is also passing quite quickly, as usual, and the next few weeks or so should go even more quickly. We had to put off our Edinburgh trip until next week, the week after that I might be going to Cadbury world (that seems like it could be dangerous!) and then in 3 weeks we leave for Portugal. Not too bad of a schedule. Not that I'm trying to brag... I did, however, do some calculations on a particularly dull bus ride last week and discovered that, for the 80 day period between February 10th and April 30th, I have to go into work on a mere 41 of those days. Again, not a bad schedule. So I guess I better not whine about work for the next few months....

We DID have a wind storm last Thursday, which was slightly noteworthy. Walking home from the bus that day was quite challenging, actually. If you decided to take a step at the wrong time, you came dangerously close to being knocked over by a strong gust of wind. The roof of a nearby pub even blew off onto the street and they are still in the process of cleaning it up. Unfortunately for Meg and I, both of our schools were still intact the next day. No "wind damage days" for us. Not that I really need any more days off in the next little while (see previous paragraph).

I saw a sign on my way home from Norwich this afternoon that said "Caution, new Zebra crossing ahead". I'm sure that it must mean something other than "black and white horse-like animals need to cross the road here", but it still made me do a double-take. Maybe the Norfolk countryside is more interesting than I thought. Hmm.

2007-01-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

...And We're Back

The Christmas holidays have come and gone, and we are now settling back into our regular routine here in England. To be quite honest, I wasn't overly enthusiastic about coming back, but everything seems to be going ok so far.

I had such a good time at home . It was so much fun to see everybody and to hang out at some of my favourite places in Waterloo. It was weird though - when I got to Waterloo, it seemed as though I had never left. And then, when I got back here, it also seemed as though I had never left England. Very strange. I guess that is the way it works when you live in two different places.

Anyhow, there is not much interesting going on here right now (except for the FA cup in Football, about which I know nothing). The weather is very similar to what it was at home, although it is actually SUPPOSED to be above zero here. Meg and I have a trip to Edinburgh planned for in a couple of weeks, and I am already getting excited for our first trip to the continent in February. Sunny Spain and Portugal, here we come!

To close, a couple of random tips/facts that you may find useful:
Tip: When travelling, always assume that your train will be delayed or rerouted. That way, you won't be as stressed out when you arrive at the airport less than an hour before your transatlantic flight is due to take off.
Fact: Dragging 90 lbs of luggage around the London Tube system is a great arm workout. It is also no fun, especially when you have to take the stairs.
Tip/Fact: Watch Prison Break. I discovered this show over the holidays and it is EXTREMELY addictive. Which may actually be a good reason NOT to start watching it...

THE END

2006-12-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

I Know Where It's At

One of things I like about living here in England, other than Cadbury, is that it is easy for me to keep on top of the British music scene. It seems that one of the biggest musical stories right now is that both Take That and All Saints are making a comeback. You can imagine how exciting this is for us. With that and Oasis' greatest hits album having been recently released, I often feel like I'm back in junior high school when I listen to the radio.

In slightly better musical news, I was fortunate enough to hear The Darkness' Christmas song, "Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)", on BBC1 the other day and it instantly put me in a good mood. I defy anyone to listen to that song (or any song by The Darkness for that matter) without smiling at least once. Nobody says/sings "It's Christmas Time!" like The Darkness. Literally.

The countdown to my return home for the holidays is down to ten days. I know this because my advent calendars say so (yes, that's calendars plural -see pictures below). Ten days! It's hard to believe that the past four months have passed so quickly.

And finally, here are some pictures from our recent trip to Canterbury.

Meg and I on our unexpected "side trip" to Trafalgar Square in London. Note my expert camera-work, as well as the pigeons in the background. We are blissfully unaware that they are about to attack us.

The ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury. It wasn't the "famous" St. Augustine, but it was still pretty cool.

Lastly, some pictures of the Cathedral, the Cathedral gate, and the town centre of Canterbury.

2006-11-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

Pictures Of York...

The first two are from York Minster (inside and out). The next is a typical street inside the city walls.

...and Manchester

Old Trafford

2006-11-25T00:48:00.000-08:00

Subtle Hints

Ok, so who wants to come visit me in the winter....come on, I know you want to! (And no, Zoom airlines didn't pay me to post this. They should have done though.)

2006-11-22T06:08:00.000-08:00

The Ultimate Cure

On Monday, I was sitting in the staff room with my friend Daniel the IT guy and a couple of student teachers. Daniel started to hiccup, so Jamie, one of the student teachers, turned to him and said, "I'll give you 50 quid if you can do that again unintentionally". All of us waited expectantly for a minute or so, and it actually worked! No more hiccups for Daniel. So I am happy to pass along the "Bribery" cure for the hiccups, sadly one of the most exciting discoveries I've made all month. I recommend that you go out and try this on all of your hiccupping friends... only please don't hold me responsible if you end up losing 50 pounds (approximately 110 dollars) in the process.

2006-11-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

I Could Win the Amazing Race

Last weekend I took a solo trip to Manchester to see Muse live in concert. This was my first time taking an actual trip by myself, so I was a bit nervous albeit very excited. The concert was amazing (more on that later), as was the trip itself. I stopped in York on the way, which is a really cool city. I took a tour of York Minster, ate some awesome chocolate cake, wandered along some narrow, medieval streets, and braved the cold, rain and wind before setting off to Manchester. There, in addition to seeing Muse, I was able to visit Old Trafford (home to Manchester United) and eat the best breakfast a hostel has ever offered me for free. Manchester doesn't have as much character as many of the places I've been, but it's still an interesting place.

Last Weekend In Numbers...
In a 36 hour period, I:
-visited two cities
- saw one concert
- stayed in one hostel for one night
- ate too much chocolate (I'm not going to itemize - it's too pathetic)
- had one setback at 7:00 Saturday morning when I discovered my first train wasn't running
- made one unexpected bus trip to Norwich
- took six different trains
- rode in three different taxis
- got lost zero times
This is why I think I could win the Amazing Race. Look out for me!

Muse

I couldn't write a post about last weekend without giving these guys a plug (because I'm sure that will make such a difference in their careers...) They put on an amazing live show, and are some of the most talented musicians I have ever seen perform. If you ever have a chance to see them in concert, I highly recommend it. Songs worth checking out: Time Is Running Out, Hysteria, New Born, Plug-In Baby, Starlight, and Map Of the Problematique. At least, they are worth checking out if you like to listen to music by musicians who are innovative and can actually play their instruments well.

Matt Bellamy Of Muse - The guy can sing, play guitar, and plays some serious classical piano as well. Feel free to be impressed - I definitely was.

2006-11-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

To Remember Is To Work For Peace

Derry, Northern Ireland

2006-11-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot...

Today is Guy Fawkes day, which means that we have been hearing the sounds of fireworks going off for the past couple of hours. The day's celebrations are named after a guy who tried to blow up the British parliament and failed. I was a bit confused at first as to what we were celebrating - the fact that he made the attempt, or the fact that he failed. It turns out that it's the latter, which I might have known had I been paying better attention during "V for Vendetta" (that movie is the first thing I think of when I think of Guy Fawkes Day, which isn't all that often).
Anyways, Meghan and I kind of tried to find a fireworks display/bonfire to go to, but ended up just staying at home. We were celebrating in spirit though. After all, this will quite possibly be the only time we're in the UK for Guy Fawkes day. Now all we need is one of those creepy masks, and we're all set.

2006-10-31T12:17:00.000-08:00

C'est L'Hallowe'en

And so I have decided to post some picture of my trip to Ireland. I am nothing if not logical.

This is not Ireland, but it is a nice picture of Meghan, Mandy and myself in London so I thought I would include it.

This is where we set up camp in Heathrow.

Some of the murals in Belfast. You can find these at a number of locations around the city, but these were some of the better ones.

The Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland.

The Giant's Causeway on the Antrim Coast. This is unique formation of hexagonal volcanic rock.

A Unionist neighbourhood in Derry. Notice the lampposts and curbs are painted red, white and blue. Republican neighbourhoods are decorated in a similar way, but with the colours orange, white and green.
Celtic crosses in Donegal.

A waterfall in "Yeat's Country", County Mayo. Apparently this was featured in one of his poems.

The Cliffs of Moher on the West Coast. This was my favourite thing on the tour, I think. We got to go right up to the edge, although we had to crawl to make sure we didn't blow off (!).

The outside of Newgrange burial chamber. I went to visit this, and another burial chamber called Knowth, as a day trip from Dublin. Newgrange is known for letting in a very accurate beam of sunlight during the Winter solstice. It is quite cool on the inside, though unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures.

The "beautifully carved stone" at the front of Newgrange, featuring what is know as the tri-spiral. Some neolithic carvings from the site of Knowth.

2006-10-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

Eire

We are back. For those of you who didn't know, Meghan and I (as well as my other cousin Mandy) spent a week in Ireland for our half-term break. Sadly, that half-term break is already over, which is why I am at home writing this blog.

I already knew that I really, really liked Ireland before leaving, and this trip kind of soldified this opinion. It is a beautiful country, with beautiful people and an fascinating (albeit tragic) history. I am always sad to leave.
I guess I could go into a detailed description of everything we did and everything we saw, but I'm sure nobody (including me) wants me to do that. So I will try to summarize some of the highlights in yet another list.

Here goes...

Carley's List of (Hopefully) Interesting Things That Were Seen/Experienced In Ireland:

- Sleeping In An Airport Overnight. Technically this did not occur in Ireland, since we were at Heathrow, but it was part of the Ireland trip as a whole. I have never tried to sleep in an airport before; I can't say that I'd look forward to doing that again.

- The Aftermath of "The Troubles". We spent a couple of days in Northern Ireland, and it is easy to see remnants of the past tension (and some present tension, unfortunately) in cities like Belfast and Derry. It is clear that there is still alot to be done before both sides can live in complete harmony, but it seems as though the majority of the Irish people are optimistic and trying to make it work.

- Beautiful Scenery. I mentioned this already, but Ireland is a beautiful country. I particularly liked the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland, the West Coast and the Connemara, and the Cliffs of Moher. I won't try to describe these places in words - I'll post some pictures instead.

- Butler's Chocolate Cafe. This should not be surprising, given my chocolate addiction. They have really good mochas and brownies, and they give you a free truffle to go with your order! What's not to like?

- Participating in a Guided Tour. The majority of our time in Ireland was spent as part of a tour group of about 13 people. I haven't done a tour for longer than a day before, so this was an interesting experience for me. As someone who is fairly independent, likes to have control over my itinerary, and likes to stay in locations for more than one day, this was not really the ideal way for me to travel. It did take a lot of stress out of planning and we did see more than we likely would have on my own, so it wasn't really that bad. Just not quite what I'm used to, that's all.

- Seeing Shane Butler live in Temple Bar. I actually had no clue who Shane Butler was, but we were fortunate enough to see him play in Dublin. He did a lot of great covers, and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. You may want to check him out - he's pretty good.

- Tim Horton's. I'm not really sure why there is a Tim Horton's in Ireland, but there definitely is one. We saw it at a rest stop in the West somewhere. I guess it IS important that the Irish people have the opportunity to "Experience a Canadian Legacy", as the signs there so eloquently put it.

Carley's List of Things She (unfortunately) Did Not See In Ireland:

- Fairies, leprechauns or pots of gold

- Four-Leafed Clovers

- A Pint of Guinness that looked appetizing to me

- Bono

And that pretty much sums up my trip.

Actually, I'm sure there's heaps more that I've forgotten to mention, but I'm currently drawing a bit of a blank. I'll add more (and I'll post pictures) if I think of anything.

2006-10-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Just Think - If I Hadn't Come Here I Wouldn't Even Know Who Lil' Chris Is

Lil' Chris is a 16 year old reality TV show star from Norfolk. He was on the "Rock School" show, which involved Gene Simmons of KISS teaching a bunch of high school students how to be real rock stars. That should give you an indication of the level of talent we are dealing with here. And we at Caister high school were fortunate enough to witness this talent in the flesh yesterday. Needless to say, there was much excitement at the school (and it wasn't just me - the students were excited too). Now if only he had actually sung something for us .....

Another unique opportunity I have had while teaching at Caister High was the chance to completely embarrass myself by attempting an African dance in front of all the year 9s. A group from Zimbabwe came to give a presentation at our school and called the teachers onto the stage to receive a "gift". In order to claim said gift, the teachers were required to take part in a rather intricate African dance, much to the delight of the students. It was actually quite fun, although I'm pretty sure we didn't actually get our present. Unless our present was Lil' Chris coming to our school.

This week we have been enjoying the company of my Aunt Karen and my other cousin Mandy. All four of us spent the weekend in London, although I spent a good deal of time touring by myself since I had seen many of the main sights before. I would post some pictures, but when you are by yourself it is a little difficult to take lots of pictures. I might throw some in with my Ireland pictures, assuming I actually take some on that trip. Yes, that's right, we are going to Ireland next week. I can't believe half-term is here already!

Anyways, here are some things I realized while in London:

1. I love London. Really. This is especially notable considering London and I did not get off to a good start last year. But now it is right up there with Paris on my "Favourite Cities" list. I highly recommend it.
2. I also highly recommend travelling alone. Not to say that I officially travelled alone, or that I would do it all the time, but having successfully completed two days of sightseeing on my own was a great confidence builder and gave me a great sense of freedom. I got to do whatever I wanted! Now of course the down side was that I was completely alone, but if you can get over that....
3. Places really can change a lot in one year. The neighbourhood we stayed in last year already had at least two new Starbucks and it was much more crowded. That is not necessarily a good thing.
4. Tourists can be quite annoying. Unfortunately I must classify myself as one, even though I really wish I didn't have to.
5. There must be 100 Starbucks in that one city. Crazy.
6. McDonalds seems to have wised up to the popular backpackers' strategy of using their free bathrooms. That is really too bad. Fortunately you can use the facilities at the hundreds of Starbucks fairly easily. So all is not lost.

Finally, I should mention that I still have 1 and 1/4 chocolate bars left. And it's been almost six weeks!

So with that, I'll be off. I hope everyone is having a great October, and I'll let you know how Ireland was as soon as I get back. You can hardly wait, I know.

2006-10-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Turkey Day

I'm a bit disappointed that the English don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Of course, historically it makes sense - the pilgrims didn't arrive here, they originated from here. But I'm still feeling the lack of turkey, dressing and all that good stuff.

As for life in England: school is the same old, same old, except that now we have only two weeks until half term break (!). Meghan and I will be going to London next weekend and to Ireland the following week, which should be fun. And at least then I will have something interesting to write about. Right now I don't....so with that I will close. Have a great long week-end, and make sure to eat some pie for me.

2006-10-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Now That's What I Call A University Town

The highlight of this week was definitely yesterday's visit to Cambridge. It is a beautiful city, and has a great atmosphere. We enjoyed a punting trip down the river, saw lots of colleges (and lots of students - term starts this week) and ended off the day at an Evensong service in King's College chapel. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And it did make me seriously wish that I was a student again, so if I don't come back home next year you'll know where I am. (Don't worry Mom, I'm just kidding...)

Anyways, here are some pictures of my new favourite university, with some of our roommates thrown in.

Me and our roommates Kelly and Darren.

Darren, Meghan and I

The view from the punting docks on the river Cam.

Trinity College, apparently one of the more famous of the 30-some colleges in the University.

Another view of the river, and our punting guide Sam. We could have rented a punt without a guide, but I'm pretty sure that either Meghan, myself or our pole (or all three) would have ended up in the river.

This building was used in the Harry Potter movies!

The Bridge of Sighs, where students get one last glimpse of daylight before writing their exams, named after the bridge leading to the execution chambers at the Doge's Palace in Venice.

The Mathematical Bridge. I obviously had to take a picture of it.

The Founders' Garden at Clare college.

The King's College chapel - home to an exceptional choir.

The inner courtyard at King's College.

King's College at dusk.

2006-09-25T14:06:00.001-07:00

Today's Math Lesson: Rain = Total Chaos

I must have jinxed it with my last post - today we had massive amounts of rain, even by English standards. Actually, the rain in England is generally a constant annoying drizzle, while today we had a massive downpour. Which for some reason threw the whole school into confusion. To be fair, there was some flooding in one of the wings, and apparently thunder storms are not that common over here. It was still surprising to see how scared some of the students were, and that they were not allowed to leave their classrooms for almost two hours because of the weather. Luckily the kids I had to entertain were pretty cool.

All in all, I can't really complain about the weather, since it led to me having some extra time off and missing two of my least favourite classes. Not everyone in Yarmouth can be quite so postive; one of the streets near my house was under a few feet of water. They had to re-route all the traffic and many stores and houses experienced quite a bit of damage (enough to be the top story on the Norfolk news). So we can also be thankful that our house seems to be on relatively high ground. It does concern me that this is not the first time (or even the second time) that someplace I have been visiting has been featured in the news... it really makes me wonder.

2006-09-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Adventures in Church-Going

I must start out by admitting that I didn't actually have any such adventures today - instead I decided to sleep in. I have, however, visited a couple of churches in the past month, and have definitely had unique experiences at both. The first church I visited was an old Anglican church in the town centre of Yarmouth. It is a beautiful building, and the service seemed fairly typical of the Church of England (based on my extremely limited experience with that denomination) - except for the fact that there were dogs and cats (and some snails!) present in the congregation, along with a couple dozen humans. Apparently I was visiting on "Pet Sunday" and people were bringing in their animal friends to be blessed. That was definitely something new for me. The other church that I visited was also quite small and the people were extremely welcoming, but I don't think it's the place for me. It was a little too open-ended and disorganized for even me (although there is definitely something to be said about not over-rehearsing for Sunday morning services). So it seems as though I must continue my search for a church community - although I may check out the "pet" church again sometime.

In other news...well, there isn't much to say that I haven't already said in previous posts. Here are a few things that may or may not interest you:

The school weeks continue to fly by (which is good, because the weekends fly by equally quickly). My classes are still challenging but manageable, and the weather is still sunny and fairly warm (even though it's England! It's quite amazing, actually).

The stores here have already started selling Christmas candies, cards and decorations, which seems ridiculously early, though not entirely surprising.

I have just finished reading Marley & Me by John Grogan, which I quite enjoyed. It's obviously not great literature, but it is an entertaining read. Who doesn't like stories about precocious dogs?

I have also discovered a couple of British TV shows that I can tolerate (although I'm not sure I should admit to watching either of them...): Da Ali G Show and X-Factor, which is like American Idol except maybe slightly less annoying.

I said "pants" instead of "trousers" for the first time on Friday, luckily not in front of any students.

Other than that, I am feeling quite settled and am looking forward to doing some travelling in the next month or so. So I guess that's that.

To close, here is this week's chocolate bar tally: 5 and two thirds remaining. Of course, I consistently fail to mention the various other forms of chocolate I consume on a daily basis...

2006-09-16T16:17:00.001-07:00

Has It Really Been Two Weeks?

Remaining Chocolate Bars = 8. (Seriously!)

It seems slightly unbelievable but I have actually completed two full weeks of teaching. Time is just flying by, which I guess is a good thing - at least when I'm feeling homesick. But generally I am having a good time. As for my job, I am learning a lot as I go and am gradually becoming comfortable with the way that things work over here. I do find it hilarious that students are making appointments with me for Year 11 Parents' Night next Tuesday. One student put it well when he asked, "You really won't have much to say at this point, will you miss?" No, I will not indeed.

I have also discovered that when I was told that the students were relatively well behaved, the word "relatively" was key. English students are definitely more talkative than the students I have dealt with in Canada, and they definitely seem to have less "fear" of those in authority. Which is sometimes not a good thing. I do teach a lot of great kids though...they aren't ALL bad.

Aside from teaching, some of the last couple of weeks' highlights included:

- finally getting bank accounts AND our first pay cheques!

- visiting Norwich this afternoon, doing a lot of shopping (i.e. spending the aforementioned pay cheque), and being accosted by a man on the street handing out random incense...

- hanging out with our roommates, Darren and Kelly, who, sadly, are leaving us in a few weeks for Canada, of all places

-having my first English Starbucks! It was eerily similar to Canadian Starbucks...surprise, surprise.

So obviously it has been a productive couple of weeks.

I will close this post with a few pictures. More pictures of our house will probably follow (if and when I decide that isn't embarassing to stand on the street outside one' s house and take pictures), as well as pictures of our roomies and any future travels.

This is my room four weeks ago. It is now much more chaotic, and the walls are not as empty.

Another angle of my room.

Our Bathroom!

Meghan and I in Inverness.

Loch Ness.

A view of Urquhart Castle from across Loch Ness.
Our castle hostel in Culrain!
One of the lounges inside our Castle hostel.
The Nevis Range.
Me freezing near the top of one of the mountains in the Nevis range.

A very Mel Gibson-esque statue of William Wallace at the base of the Wallace monument.

The view from Stirling castle (the Wallace monument is in the distance)

2006-09-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

Good Music Is On the Way

Today is the release date of John Mayer's latest CD Continuum. I know this because I have been waiting for John to put out a new album for a while now. Since I haven't actually purchased said album yet, and have only heard one of its tracks, I probably shouldn't be singing its praises at this point. But if John's other three CDs are any indication, this album will be worth checking out. Well, at least if you like to hear strong musicianship and better-than-average lyrics. So go out and listen to it, and let me know what you think.

2006-09-10T04:05:00.000-07:00

Cadbury is My New Best Friend (Or Is It My Worst Enemy?)

One of the things I had been looking forward to before coming to England was the chocolate. Forget the travel experience and the new people - I came for Cadbury. Happily, it seems to be just as popular here as it was last year. And, since I am a serious chocoholic, this is a dangerous thing. Case in point: yesterday I purchased ten chocolate bars (yes, 10) for a mere 2 pounds. How could I honestly pass that up? I was so proud (proud/embarassed...). I'm hoping that my chocolate supply will last me the month - feel free to make your predictions on how long it will ACTUALLY last.

2006-09-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

The World Wide Web Arrives in Yarmouth

We have internet!! I am sad to admit that this is one of the most exciting things that has happened this week... it really is kind of shameful that I am this dependent on technology. But anyways, all this to say that I will hopefully be able to post more frequently and chat with people over the computer. As Kip Dynamite would say (or sing): "I love technology". What can I say.

2006-09-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

And So It Begins....

Not just my blog either. It is also the beginning (pretty much) of my year in England, and of my 25th year of life. So this really is a momentous occasion.

I started this blog so that people could keep up to date with my (mis)adventures overseas....and with my life in general. It does seem a little presumptuous to assume that people will want to read this - so thanks for actually reading it!

Anyhow, since I should probably write something of actual interest, here is how I've spent my time in the UK thus far:

- wandering around the town of Great Yarmouth, trying to find internet access, various household supplies, food, and other such items. I discovered (much to my dismay) that there is very little in the way of coffee shops, and there are very few people my age. Though there must be some 24 year olds (I can't believe I'm 24!) somewhere...

- visiting the school I will be teaching at and discovering that I really know nothing about the education system. The people seem nice though, and apparently the students are relatively well behaved.

- travelling Scotland. My cousin and I visited Inverness (yes, we did tour Loch Ness, and yes, I did feel like a tourist. It was a beautiful lake though), Culrain (where we stayed in a castle), Fort William, and Stirling (home of the William Wallace monument). It was great to get back on the road again, and Scotland was amazing. I liked it almost as much as I liked Ireland.

And I guess that's it for now. I have no clue how this year is going to turn out, but we shall see what happens. At the very least, I will have lots to write about...

The End.