I took a slow moving boat from the port of Stockholm into the port of Helsinki. Actually, it was very calming to be on the boat. Except for the fact that the boat kept making these weird groaning noises...the same ones that the Titanic made in the movie after it had hit the iceberg and was starting to break up. My cabin was underneath the water line and that was kinda freaky. I shared the cabin with three others and it started out okay but turned into the worse night of sleep possible. The first guy I met was a Russian. He bought a bottle of whiskey from the dutyfree and we spent a good couple of hours drinking it while talking about russian hockey. That was the good part. The bad part was he snored heavily and the chinese guy on the other top bunk made these bird calls throughout the entire night. Bird calls. Exactly. Heading back to Sweden in 2 days.
ed
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Thursday, December 22, 2005
December 22nd - Stockholm
So, this is the Nobel Museum in Old Stockholm. (Old Stockholm is a small island just east of New Stockholm...does that make sense?)It's kinda neat from the outside but when you get inside you discover pretty quickly that the outside is probably the best part of the museum. It's weird that the museum is so dinky. Considering the city goes into celebration mode every December when they hand out the awards and how prestigous it is to get one of the Nobels (not to mention the $1.3 Million US you get with winning) the museum is a huge letdown. There are only six tiny rooms - well eight if you count the coat room and restaurant. One room is dedicated to Albert Einstein, two others are video rooms, and the remaining three are exhibits of stuff like the hat that one Nobel Laureate wore every day to work...I know, I don't really understand the relavance either. I was told that the museum had the original Watson and Crick DNA model but when you look at the model and the pictures the colors of the molecues are different. I kinda think they're pulling a fast one.
Today is day two of Sweden and I've already done all the things that I had planned to do. Unfortunately, hockey is out since the teams are on a Christmas break. Djurgarden is the nearest team that's on an island just east of Old Stockholm. Djurgarden aren't a very good team this year (they lost about 12 players to the NHL this year) but their next game is against HV17, which happens to be the best team in the Swedish Elite League. Unfortunately, that game is on the day that I return back to England. I'm looking into getting to Finland tomorrow. It's weird, though, that it's looking like a pretty difficult task. I can't figure out how to get there by ferry because all the ferries work outside of the country for some reason. The train might be an option but I couldn't figure that out either. Easyjet, Ryan Air, and Airberlin don't fly directly to Finland from here and Blue1 and Scandanavia Air are really expensive. I'll try something in the morning. I may go to the Vasa Museum if there's nothing else to do but I'm 90% sure I'll be on my way out of Sweden tomorrow and 99% sure that I won't be spending Christmas in Sweden.
Today is day two of Sweden and I've already done all the things that I had planned to do. Unfortunately, hockey is out since the teams are on a Christmas break. Djurgarden is the nearest team that's on an island just east of Old Stockholm. Djurgarden aren't a very good team this year (they lost about 12 players to the NHL this year) but their next game is against HV17, which happens to be the best team in the Swedish Elite League. Unfortunately, that game is on the day that I return back to England. I'm looking into getting to Finland tomorrow. It's weird, though, that it's looking like a pretty difficult task. I can't figure out how to get there by ferry because all the ferries work outside of the country for some reason. The train might be an option but I couldn't figure that out either. Easyjet, Ryan Air, and Airberlin don't fly directly to Finland from here and Blue1 and Scandanavia Air are really expensive. I'll try something in the morning. I may go to the Vasa Museum if there's nothing else to do but I'm 90% sure I'll be on my way out of Sweden tomorrow and 99% sure that I won't be spending Christmas in Sweden.
Monday, December 12, 2005
News
So, I've booked my flight for Sweden and I'm off on December 21st to December 28th. I'm really excited because this is about the time that they hand out the Nobel Prizes. Of course, it doesn't go out until the new year but I'm sure there will be some heavy scientist about the town at about the same time as me. As well, we have decided to book a van and drive up to Scotland for the New Year. Six people in a small van beginning December 29th. It'll be fun, I think. Whatever.
I haven't received my tickets for Turin Winter Games yet but they billed my credit card so I'm positive I'll be there for February 19th games (USA vs. Sweden and Finland vs. Canada) and the women's final on February 20th.
I've purchased tickets for the World Cup of Football in Germany, too. The tickets are super cheap but they sell out very quickly. I'll get a response email in two days telling whether or not I've got the tickets for Brazil vs. Australia. (It's Odette's choice...she wants to watch her home country play the hot Brazillian tean.) The game is in Munich and I'm sure it'll be a great time.
We're in the end stretch before Christmas. The year elevens are all studying for mock exams so I don't have to teach them. I only have seven teachable hours this week. What a relief.
Got a weird email from Guy dressed as a dwarf type thing. Odd indeed.
Hope all is well.
Ed
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Sarah leaves the Abbey
So, it's down to two. Sarah left last weekend and now there are only two international teachers for the Abbey staying in the stables. It was a very sad time. However much we tried we couldn't talk her into staying. Glenn's job is still vacant and we're still looking for a permanent teacher but she wanted out. I've been asked to stay on for the remainder of the year but I'm not too keen on it. I'm on a weird contract that pays me about 15-20% less than the other international teachers, I can't write off any of my expenses, and the school isn't willing to help me out with my rent. Plus, I have the British Gas Company on my butt to make a gas bill payment that was for the previous tenant and the heat keeps knocking out. It's dropping down to freezing during the nights here and my new heating unit keeps knocking out. The other weekend it went out and when I called the management company on Saturday to come fix it they said the contractor couldn't come Saturday and might make it in on Sunday. Of course, they didn't come on Saturday because the contractor had tickets to a football match in London (he told our neighbor about it) and he didn't come Sunday even though a friend of ours saw him at the pub. I slept on Odette's floor for two nights. By Sunday evening, Len and I decided to fix it ourselves. I climbed up onto the roof to push a little red button which started the furnace up again. I don't believe the contractor ever did come to check out my problem. Then it went out again on Tuesday.
No heat and no hot water and the management company didn't think it was a big enough emergency to call in their second contractor. Hmmm, not persuading me to stay at all. Except, I've been told that the workload drops by almost half by mid May. Nothing happens as the year tens go away for work experience, the Year 12 and 13 are sent home. We only have to deal with the Year 11s and even then we only see them for a limited amount of time as they write exams. Glenn's schedule is a hard, though. He has some really difficult students. I'll have to think about it.
Graduation was last week. I missed it, of course. I got some pics from Diana and everyone looked great. It looked fun and I wish I coulda made it. Oh well, next time maybe.
ed
No heat and no hot water and the management company didn't think it was a big enough emergency to call in their second contractor. Hmmm, not persuading me to stay at all. Except, I've been told that the workload drops by almost half by mid May. Nothing happens as the year tens go away for work experience, the Year 12 and 13 are sent home. We only have to deal with the Year 11s and even then we only see them for a limited amount of time as they write exams. Glenn's schedule is a hard, though. He has some really difficult students. I'll have to think about it.
Graduation was last week. I missed it, of course. I got some pics from Diana and everyone looked great. It looked fun and I wish I coulda made it. Oh well, next time maybe.
ed
Friday, November 18, 2005
Abbey vs. Ailwyn Football
It's been a long time since I played footie but the kids asked me to play in a friendly vs. the teachers at our rival school 'The Ailwyn'. Of course, I should have known better than to take them up on this. When I got there, I recognized the old familiar faces of the six or so teachers from my school. The head of year ten was there. So was the head of Languages and the Head Master of the school. We were looking a little old, I'd say. Then I looked at the Ailwyn team. All fit, all young, all PE teachers. They scored the first few goals before I even knew what was happening. Then they scored a couple of more even though I knew what was happening. I did some sliding tackles and some weird side-of-foot passes that went to players on the opposite team. I cut my knees up preety good sliding on the astroturf. After everything was said and done, the game ended 6-0. (I don't think we had 4 shots on net, so even if we had traded a big jug of Rabina for their goalie we wouldn't have beaten the Ailwyn 'cause we didn't have that many shots to begin with.) Oh well. It looked fun. I don't really remember with all the gasping for air.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
King's Cross-St.Pancreas
This is a picture of Dwarf at King's Cross-St.Pancreas Train Station in London. We were waiting for the 805PM train from London to Huntingdon after getting off the TOPDECK bus. After I took this picture, there were about 6 or 7 people surrounding me. The train station attendent said he's seen a lot of weird stuff while working at King's Cross but this was one of the strangest. I don't think it's that weird to take a gnome on a trip. But whatever.
Roman Baths
The Roman Baths is the only remaining large piece of evidence showing the presence of the Romans in England. Unlike Stonehenge, there hasn't been much change or fixing-up of the baths. It's pretty much the same as it was found. They did clear out some of the stuff that had collapsed into the baths but that's about it. The water still runs through and into the baths, however it's high in iron and lead. (That's why so many of the wealthy that used the baths went crazy, I guess.) Very interesting but a lot of information. I kinda lost it after two hours.
They built another bath right next to this one. The spring water (filtered?) comes into the new bath and allows the public to come pay for the enjoyment of swimming in the baths. Unfortunately, it's been closed for the last few years because the paint they used on the pool is toxic and the hot spring water is causing the toxins to come out of the paint. Until they can figure out how to prevent the toxins from coming out of the pool it can't be used. End of trip. Back at work.
ed
They built another bath right next to this one. The spring water (filtered?) comes into the new bath and allows the public to come pay for the enjoyment of swimming in the baths. Unfortunately, it's been closed for the last few years because the paint they used on the pool is toxic and the hot spring water is causing the toxins to come out of the paint. Until they can figure out how to prevent the toxins from coming out of the pool it can't be used. End of trip. Back at work.
ed
Bath Abbey
The first day of the trip ended with a night in Bristol, which is the eighth largest city in England. It was okay. It's got three universities so they have a large and diverse night life.
The next day we travelled to Bath. The first thing we saw was the Bath Abbey. Another church. Unfortunately - or fortunately - it was closed for Sunday service so none of us got to go in.
The next day we travelled to Bath. The first thing we saw was the Bath Abbey. Another church. Unfortunately - or fortunately - it was closed for Sunday service so none of us got to go in.
Salisbury Cathedral
This is a picture of a moose with dwarf in front of the tower of Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury. Salisbury is one of the closer cities to Stonehenge and we were brought here because the spire on this cathedral is the tallest in the UK. It's not as imposing as the Ely cathedral towers but that's because this church isn't as big overall as Ely. The tower actually wasn't really impressing anyone until we were told it was the tallest in the country.
The trip that we took - with TOPDECK tour groups, which by the way is top notch and very good - consisted only of teachers working for or in association with ITN. Of the 32-odd teachers at least 10 were Canadian. Of the Canadians there were 6 or so from Vancouver. And four or five that took the UBC program during the same time I did. (I recognized them but they were in other cohorts.) The moose is from a woman from our graduating year. She carries a moose and includes it with her in all of her pictures. Coincidentally, I take a dwarf with me and include it in all of my pictures. So, we put them together. Voila, the two toy travelling companions.
The trip that we took - with TOPDECK tour groups, which by the way is top notch and very good - consisted only of teachers working for or in association with ITN. Of the 32-odd teachers at least 10 were Canadian. Of the Canadians there were 6 or so from Vancouver. And four or five that took the UBC program during the same time I did. (I recognized them but they were in other cohorts.) The moose is from a woman from our graduating year. She carries a moose and includes it with her in all of her pictures. Coincidentally, I take a dwarf with me and include it in all of my pictures. So, we put them together. Voila, the two toy travelling companions.
Stonehenge weekend
So, I finally got out of Ramsey and went somewhere that I actually wanted to see. However interesting the cathedrals are out here they weren't the things I really had in mind when I came to England. Stonehenge is a circular arrangement of, well, stone. The henge itself is not what it orignally looked like. Our guide told us that the whole thing had collapsed by the time they found it and the arrangement that we see now is an one organised by the people the restored it. It's not a very widely known fact because the English want tourists to believe they're coming to see the original - though deteriorating - henge.
It was very cold and my first thought upon seeing it was that it was very small. It's a great thing to see but you'll never make the 3 hour trek out by bus to see it again. £5 to walk along a 250m roped course around the henge was a little much. The only time that you can go and touch the stones are during the winter and summer solstices where they turn it into a festival site 'full of hippies' as our tour guide said.
It was very cold and my first thought upon seeing it was that it was very small. It's a great thing to see but you'll never make the 3 hour trek out by bus to see it again. £5 to walk along a 250m roped course around the henge was a little much. The only time that you can go and touch the stones are during the winter and summer solstices where they turn it into a festival site 'full of hippies' as our tour guide said.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
mateyanddwarf
The Matey thing on the right side of the dwarf (that's his right, not yours) is a bottle of bubble bath. It's a sample of the product I've been giving to students as a prize. They seem to love bottle even though the soap itself is rank. It smells like wax and I'm sure it'll cause smallpox or something if you use it in your bath. They're sold on the asthetic appearance of a young blond-haired lad with a sailor cap.
Haven't done much this week or the last. I'm going to Stonehenge on Saturday and Sunday but that's about it. Bought my Olympic hockey tickets from the British Olympic Website. Apparently, the British aren't big into hockey. They still have Team Canada tickets for sale. And gold medal matches.
They've been shooting off fireworks for the last 5 or 6 days. Not because of Halloween but because of some weird religious thing. Something about the resurection or something where they went around and killed all the Catholics. 'Off with their heads.' Odd.
I'm in the midst of marking and doing interim reports for my year 10s. I did the year 11s last week. It's super difficult considering we do these without any marks. I've been giving almost everyone an A, which is probably wrong. Whatever.
Ed
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Free dinner
The other day Fiona came into my class to watch me teach science. I think it went okay, the Lindsay Lohan joke notwithstanding, and the students weren't too freaked out by having a second 'adult' in the class. However, I did take the liberty to take a coupla cracks at Fiona. We got around to what I eat during the day (I don't remember how but I'm sure it was of utmost importance that they understood the dietary norms or Mr.Jay) and I said something to the effect I don't usually eat a proper breakfast or dinner because there's no one at home to cook for me. Of course, this was tongue-in-cheek because Fi often cooks pasta and pasta-related dishes for dinner but the students felt concerned enough about this that they brought me a space dinner. I haven't eaten it yet - and I'm not too sure I will considering it's from a student - but apparently it's whole meal in a bag that I have to boil for 10 minutes. Great, eh? It's amazing how dropping little hints will reap unexpected rewards.
ed
ed
Friday, October 28, 2005
My weekend.
So, this was me Friday before I was suppose to head out to the wonderous Scandanavian country of Sweden on Sunday. However, I wasn't feeling well on Saturday morning so I went to the hospital in Huntingdon and they kept me for a few hours and I came home. I still didn't feel much better after a few hours at home so I went back to the hospital. They admitted me until Tuesday. Unfortunately, this means I didn't make my flight to Sweden. So, the closest I came to getting to Scandanavia this week was a small danish pastry I had yesterday in St.Ives. The hospital was very different from a North American one. They didn't really seem that concerned about having my spelled my name incorrectly. Nor were they really strict on the NPO stuff or the payment stuff. They didn't ask for identification nor did they ask for proof of residency. I was in a ward that had six beds and there wasn't really a door leading in or out of it. It had three walls. The fourth side was open to the nursing station. Weird. The nurses were very kind and there seemed to be a lot of them around. There were at least 2 porters, 3 nurses aids, 4 nurses, and 2 student nurses during my time there. The ward only had about 20 patients so this was a lot of people. The oddest thing that they did was every 2 hours they had tea. Everyone dropped everything and the nurses would make tea. You could have tea, coffee, or Ovaltine and it seemed even the patients that weren't suppose to eat or drink were allowed to as long as it was tea during tea time. Almost went crazy while there. The doctors push this metal cart around with them full of charts, drugs, notes, water, etc. as they went patient to patient during their rounds. I don't remember them on the Saturday. They missed me on the Sunday but the on-call doctor saw me in the evening and said I could eat so they gave me plain bread and butter. The attending physician(which was a surgeon so they didn't call him doctor but Mister) said that I wasn't allowed to eat for 48 to 72 hours so they took me off of food and put the intravenous back in (the resident put it into me and it took him three tries . . . the little bastard kept poking me . . . I thought I was going to pass out). Monday passed with the doctor saying I needed another day on the iv. Tuesday, they discharged me. So, I was discharged without getting to eat anything over four days except bread. Odd hospital, really.
Because I wasn't able to get to Sweden, I spent th elast few days in Cambridge to pass the time. Nothing else to say. School begins on Monday.
ed
Because I wasn't able to get to Sweden, I spent th elast few days in Cambridge to pass the time. Nothing else to say. School begins on Monday.
ed
Trafalgar day
This is a picture of Glen, Anna, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Horatio Nelson. Glen and Anna are teachers at the Abbey and the Ailwyn, respectively, and Friday was their last day. So, they decided to hold part of their going away party at the Jolly Sailor. Friday also happened to be Trafalgar Day, commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It is considered to be the most important naval battle in the history of Britain. The French attacked a British blockade in hopes of amalgamating the French and Spanish navys. (The British blockade was there to prevent this from happening.) If Napoleon could do join the two navys hewould hold the majority of the Naval power in Europe and then be able to conquer Britain. I think the guy on the left is suppose to be Napoleon (a far stretch if you consider his appearance but the man gave a damn fine performance . . . on the lines of Al Pacino in Taxi Driver) and the guy on the right is suppose to be the British Admiral Nelson (again, I don't think he looks much like the original Nelson but whatever).
Friday, October 21, 2005
The end of the first term
Hello all. Today is not only the last day of the week but it's also the last day of the term. We are now allowed to have ten days off to relax and get over the turmoil of teaching before we have to take on another 2 months of 'edjucat'n' the kids. Today was great. I taught the first few minutes of the class and then I showed an episode of the Simpsons. It was a great episode about the Simpsons coming to London for vacation. They loved it and I used it as a teaching tool.
Finally, the end of the day. The evening calls for a pub crawl going-away party for one of the Oz teachers that is going home. Actually, he's going to Vancouver, California, and Oregon before heading back. It's going to be a hard night, I think.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Cambridge. It's suppose to be the coldest winter here in a long time. I need a warm jacket that I can use for both school cover and travelling to Sweden, Russia, and Italy. Sunday, I'm off to Sweden. Sweeeedddddeeeeennnn!!!!
I got paid yesterday, which is only a month late. Not too happy about that but at least I have the money before Sweden. I'm happy.
The school has unofficially asked me to sign on for the remainder of this year and possibly a portion of, if not the entirety of, the next year. Hmmmmmm, not too sure what to do.
That's all. Out.
Ed
Finally, the end of the day. The evening calls for a pub crawl going-away party for one of the Oz teachers that is going home. Actually, he's going to Vancouver, California, and Oregon before heading back. It's going to be a hard night, I think.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Cambridge. It's suppose to be the coldest winter here in a long time. I need a warm jacket that I can use for both school cover and travelling to Sweden, Russia, and Italy. Sunday, I'm off to Sweden. Sweeeedddddeeeeennnn!!!!
I got paid yesterday, which is only a month late. Not too happy about that but at least I have the money before Sweden. I'm happy.
The school has unofficially asked me to sign on for the remainder of this year and possibly a portion of, if not the entirety of, the next year. Hmmmmmm, not too sure what to do.
That's all. Out.
Ed
Thursday, October 20, 2005
aheadonboatams
Before we headed out of Amsterdam, we decided to take a canal boat ride. This was my view during the entire ride. And he smelled funny, too.
amsterdam8
Odette having a break at an outdoor cafe in Amsterdam. We had great weather during our stay. The hostel, the flying pig, was a great hostel. If you're thinking about staying in Amsterdam, check out the pig. They have the best beds in the world. Well, in Europe, at least.
annfrank2
This is me waiting in line for the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. It was really, really long and when we got in they told us we weren't permitted to take pictures.
aredlight1
Well, I went with Odette to Amsterdam last weekend (15th) and it was pretty fun. We saw a lot and did a lot. I don't remember much but Amsterdam is a very neat place to visit. I think.
lincoln5
This is the dwarf in the same lookout in the Lincoln Castle. You can see more of the slit here, can't you?
lincolncastlefi
This is Fiona inside the Lincoln Castle. The area she's standing in is the look-out for the castle. Behind her is a 6 inch wide slit-window that allowed them to look out but prevented them from getting hit with anything.
lincolncath3
This is a great picture of the Cathedral from the wall of the Castle that's in Lincoln. It's super, monster big.
lincolncath11
We went to Lincoln a couple of weeks ago. Lincoln was a fort town and Lincoln has the third biggest cathedral in the UK. This is a picture of the dwarf in front of the cathedral. It's a very, very big building but it wasn't open when we went to visit. I have no pictures of the interior of the building.
party25
This is a picture of the dwarf making Fiona a cup of tea. Fi is staying at my flat for a while. She's looking for work. She'll be happy today. Apparently, she became an aunt today.
marmite
Here's a picture of the Marmite that my students gave me the other day. We were doing a unit on microbiology and we were trying to list microbial-made foods. Marmite is a yeast extract bread spread that tastes somewhere between salted fish and dead fish. It's really strong and not that great. Actually, the students told me that I ate it incorrectly the first time. You are suppose to toast the bread lightly, put on loads and loads of butter, and then a little dab (smaller than the size of a Canadian dime) of marmite. I'm thinking, if the amount that you need is, like, nothing than it can't be that good, right? If you need a bottle of marmite, you can have mine.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
cheekydwarf
So, I've been here for about four weeks now and it's starting to grow on me a little bit. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Lori from the hospital came to stay with me last weekend and we did Cambridge and Ely but we probably didn't do as much as we should have considering I was still trying to get my lessons down for Monday. I've joined the gym here but I've only been once. The other teachers and I have figured that we can only go at 0630hrs because any other time of the day the students are crawling all over the joint. I've fallen behind in marking and the class websites however I hope to get them back up tonight. I'm trying to get out of town more often. Visited St. Ives and Cambridge and they are very nice places. They have early buses out and late buses back so I'm thinking about going to these sites every Saturday. We may have a car soon as one of the teachers here has a brand new skoda but neither she nor her partner have a driver's license. I may be driving on the left hand side of the road and passing lorries in no time at all. Fiona's with me now. She's moved in for a time until she can get a job in Cambridge. No problems yet nor are there any foreseeable ones anticipated. I signed up for NASN, a cable sports channel that only shows North American Sports. They actually show all the CFL games. I'm a little pissed, though, because it hasn't been installed yet and the hockey season starts tonight. Well, I'll have to make some more phone calls to them later today I guess. That's all for now. I'm booked for a pub crawl on Friday, Amsterdam next Friday and Sweden the Friday after that.
tittyho
This is Lori reading the local paper in the Jolly Sailor Pub in Ramsey. She seems very involved with a particular article.
elydome
This is the inside dome of Ely Cathedral in Ely. It's proportedly the biggest church in England and I've been told it's bigger than Notre Dame in France. It took us 6 hours to get to and that was totally not good. But it only took us 30 minutes to get back because we ran into Len and Carol. They live in the flat next to me and they gave us a ride back. If we only had a car . . .
dwarfbusdriver
This bus driver arranged it so we wouldn't miss our connecting bus. He on purpose, by mistake missed about ten stops along the way to guarantee that we'd catch the last bus back home from Huntingdon. When we got to the bus station, our connecting bus was there idling and this bus driver got us onto it. The next bus driver didn't seem very pleased about the missed stops but he was very pleasant with us during our trip. The bus driver proudly holds dwarf like he's just won the Ashes. Good on ya, Mr. Bus Driver Man. Not just anyone gets to hold my dwarf.
theeagle2
The most famous pub in Cambridge is the eagle. It's just around the corner from Cavandish College Lab, which is the lab that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA in. The patrons of this pub found out about the structure of DNA three months before the scientific community because after they figured it out they went to the eagle and had beers while telling all of those inside what they'd just discovered. The magazine Nature, which published their paper, came out three months later. This is dwarf with the plaque on the eagle pub.
dwarfinquad2
I went to Cambridge on Saturday. Very impressive. It is amazing how big it is yet very small college feeling. There are 52 or so different colleges in Cambridge but we only got to about 4 or 5 of the big ones. This picture is the dwarf in the quadrangle of King's College. Each college has it's own cathedral and King's College is the most famous and the largest one in Cambridge. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside of the church but I do have lots of pictures of Cambridge itself. Just click on this picture.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
guyinukbus
As I was taking the bus back to Ramsey, we pulled out from the station and lo and behold this is the picture on the back of the neighboring bus. It's Guy's arch nemesis, Guy. I've seen him in the Vancouver Phone book, The New Yorker Magazine, and now the back of a bus in England. He must be the most famous Chinese guy on the Island. More famous than James Eha. (He's the guitarist from Smashing Pumpkins. And I think he's actually Japanese but you get the idea.)
dwarfpicadilly
This is dwarf standing in front of the famous neon sign that's facing Picadilly Square. I didn't think it would turn out so nice but I think it's a great picture. Fiona wouldn't even hold the Dwarf never the less hold it so I could take a picture of him. I held it out with my left hand and took the picture with my right. People were staring but I think they were staring because they couldn't believe how cool it was. In their minds they were thinking "What a great idea. Why didn't I think of that? A dwarf in Picadilly. Great!"
fiandmecamden2
So, I was in London and ran into this weird woman that wanted to take a picture with me. Upon conversation, I found that she went to Uni in British Columbia. Turns out, she's an unemployed teacher that's looking for some sort of work. I don't really know what kind. Actually, Fi and I met up at this funky little (?)- actually large - market in London called Camden. I was scared but Fi pulled me in and protected me from the odd and discomforting. London was great. I enjoyed the time away from Ramsey more than you can imagine. I didn't do much and was very stressed out on Sunday trying to get my lessons done for Monday and Tuesday but it was all worth it in the end. Stayed with Krista, unfortunately forgot to get a picture of her for the blog, but she and Helen were very accommodating. I can't tell you how much they had to put up with. However, all three were kind of freaked by the Dwarf, I must say. I don't know why. It's just a piece of clay but they seemed a little disturbed that I wanted to take pictures with it in them. Hmmmm. I don't know. It seems like a neat idea. I'll probably look back at it in twenty years and think it was the stupidest thing I've ever done but I don't think so.
ed
ed
Friday, September 23, 2005
gates
This is the original part of the abbey. It's a late 15th century or so gate that used to protect the original abbey. It's the part that's haunted by dead religious things. The gate itself is very small but the field leading up to it is huge. It's as long as a football pitch and the size of the field makes it seem that much more grand.
We have bats in the gate leading to our flats. They were dive-bombing Sarah yesterday. We watched it happening and the bats were getting within a foot of her head as she walked through the gate. They hate us.
I'm heading to London today. Back to civilization. We got Skydish yesterday and a telephone the day before so we're getting to a point where we're actually getting more comfortable. It only takes a tv to get back to the realities of life. Until now, I hadn't really realized how much of life you could learn from watching 'Friends'. That Joey has shown me the way.
ed
We have bats in the gate leading to our flats. They were dive-bombing Sarah yesterday. We watched it happening and the bats were getting within a foot of her head as she walked through the gate. They hate us.
I'm heading to London today. Back to civilization. We got Skydish yesterday and a telephone the day before so we're getting to a point where we're actually getting more comfortable. It only takes a tv to get back to the realities of life. Until now, I hadn't really realized how much of life you could learn from watching 'Friends'. That Joey has shown me the way.
ed
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Ghost story
I went to the Angel for supper yesterday with Odette and Sarah. Everything was going well for the first few hours (had lasagna followed by bread and butter pudding . . . very english) until we got the bill. The waitress felt it was her duty to tell us about the ghosts that haunt the Abbey. The Abbey isn't the original abbey (1837 or so after the first two were taken down) but the graveyard, gates, and stables are original. The stables are where we're staying. And there are ghost!!!!!!! We thought we were, you know, above all this ghost stuff but our confidence got the better of us. Odette and I decided to go to the Church at 2000hrs to check out the bell toiling practice. (The bell guys practice ringing the bells Tuesdays beginning at 2000hrs and lasting until they feel they have it down. We were invited to come down and check it out and maybe even get a chance to ring the bells.) Unfortunately, when we got there the doors were locked. This freaked Odette out a little. I was okay until I suggested we check for another door. Just as I went to go down the right side of the church I noticed that the graeyard began right at the front right edge of the chuch. I was walking on dead people and the moon was so bright that the headstones were glowing this eeery white. (OHMYGAHD!!) We ran back to the stables. We got really freaked so we decided to stay at one flat for a while 'cause we all know that ghost only attack individuals and not groups. (Well, duhhhhh, eh?) Unfortunately, I had to go back to my flat sooner or later and I was totally scared of the idea of heading back alone!!!!! Ghost of the members of the Abbey are known to haunt the gates and the graveyard and I can see the graveyard from my window!!!! I'm seriously thinking of moving out. ed
classroom
So, this is my classroom. My dek is actually just a table with a rolling filling cabinet next to my left leg a la Ikea. The Swedes can do anything with wood, eh? If you want more images of the classroom just click on the image and it'll take you to my flickr site which contains four or so more pictures of the room.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
dwarfabbey2
We went up on top of the abbey today. We scoped out the side that didn't have a closed circuit tv and climbed up the fire escape. It was pretty hairy for a while cause the damn thing was so old. I almost dropped Dwarf on the way up. But, alas, we made it. Here's proof. This is Dwarf on top of the abbey.
abbey
This is the abbey. It was built in 1837. The original was built in the 1500s but was torn down and the bricks were used to build Cambridge University. If you look close enough, you'll see that Dwarf is standing at the doors of the abbey.
dwarf3
My new dwarf. I bought him at a £ store in Peterborough. In place of me, he's going to be in all of my pictures. I don't know why he has a pizza spatula, though. Very odd.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
insideb6
Me as the Pope. Wait, this is a Christian church. I snuck onto the pulpit and this is the view. I could see the evil in everyone from this location. Bad people!
dead7
So, this is one of the tombs inside the great Becket's Cathedral. I don't know who this guy is but he's obviously famous enough to have a statue of his image lay on top of his dead body. Mmmmmmmmm calcium carbonate. Click on him to get to the other pictures of the inside of Becket's church if you like.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Circus freak show
Well, I'm on to the second week of teaching. It's mostly getting better (one class is getting worse) and I actually only look forward to the end of the work day for 5 hours instead of 8 hours of the day.
I went back to Peterborough on Saturday and this time I went into Barret's Catherdral. I've got pictures that I will post in the coming days. The cathedral is famous for the fact that Queen Katherine is buried there. There where other famous members of the monarch that were buried there but they were eventually repatriated to the royal cathedral (I can't remember the name) in London.
I was freaked out last night by some banging on my window. That's the window closest to the graveyard. Had a difficult time sleeping so I stayed up listening to UK sportstalk radio. 3 hours of cricket talk about the ashes. It's the only sport that will end a game after a certain amount of time without considering the fact that the winning team had 10 more outs than the losing team. A five day contest and you can't make it fair enough that each team gets the same number of at-bats? It's just a jar full of wood ash anyways. Why would you care about that? The British are dominating obscure world sports these days. Next thing you know it, they've won the Stanley Cup, the Arena Football Championships, and the WNBA Championships.
I've decided to bribe all the kids I'm teaching - except the worst one . . . they get nothing - but it's starting to cost me. Bags of chips here are only 10 cents each but I keep eating them. And chocolate bars are cheap but the kids don't like the ones I buy. I keep buying orange flavored Kit Kat bars. How could you not like these?
I'm very happy to hear from all that have been emailing. Considering that I can't see, hear, or talk to anyone back home directly, it's very nice to still have contact with members of home. Besides the fact that you aren't here, it almost feels like you are.
Did you know that they don't sell carry-away cups like the Middle Year 2005 one we got? It's come in handy. Very handy.
Got to go now. I'm out of toilet paper and the only grocery store in town closes at 1900hrs.
Mr.Jay
I went back to Peterborough on Saturday and this time I went into Barret's Catherdral. I've got pictures that I will post in the coming days. The cathedral is famous for the fact that Queen Katherine is buried there. There where other famous members of the monarch that were buried there but they were eventually repatriated to the royal cathedral (I can't remember the name) in London.
I was freaked out last night by some banging on my window. That's the window closest to the graveyard. Had a difficult time sleeping so I stayed up listening to UK sportstalk radio. 3 hours of cricket talk about the ashes. It's the only sport that will end a game after a certain amount of time without considering the fact that the winning team had 10 more outs than the losing team. A five day contest and you can't make it fair enough that each team gets the same number of at-bats? It's just a jar full of wood ash anyways. Why would you care about that? The British are dominating obscure world sports these days. Next thing you know it, they've won the Stanley Cup, the Arena Football Championships, and the WNBA Championships.
I've decided to bribe all the kids I'm teaching - except the worst one . . . they get nothing - but it's starting to cost me. Bags of chips here are only 10 cents each but I keep eating them. And chocolate bars are cheap but the kids don't like the ones I buy. I keep buying orange flavored Kit Kat bars. How could you not like these?
I'm very happy to hear from all that have been emailing. Considering that I can't see, hear, or talk to anyone back home directly, it's very nice to still have contact with members of home. Besides the fact that you aren't here, it almost feels like you are.
Did you know that they don't sell carry-away cups like the Middle Year 2005 one we got? It's come in handy. Very handy.
Got to go now. I'm out of toilet paper and the only grocery store in town closes at 1900hrs.
Mr.Jay
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
My work schedule
Here's my teaching schedule for the Abbey. They do it weird here where the teaching blocks go for a fortnight. Another oddity is that because of workload issues I have to share the 11SL class with another teacher. So, my schedule has me teaching them 3 days straight Tuesday to Thursday in Week A and then I don't see them in Week B. David gets them for two days in Week B. This messes up things since we have to teach off where each other has ended at and try to teach in a similar way. The red blocks are my preperation blocks. I can't teach in these blocks at all. The orange blocks are spares and I may be called on to teach as a TOC for teachers that may be away that day but they promised it wouldn't happen often. So, I teach only 32 out of 50 blocks every two weeks. The biggest problem is that I have so many lesson preps. Some of the year 10s and 11s don't start the same units and if they do they have different curriculum. For example, the 10SA and 10SE are both doing Humans as Organisms but they are of different ability. Triples are the A students, C and below . . . well let's just say they aren't A students. Because of this, the triples get a different, more involved curriculum and the 10SE get something less involving. A big positive is we don't have to do lunchtime monitoring but if we want to do it we get paid about $20 and hour. I'm gonna look into that one since that'll buy that many more smarties. The year 10s have module tests in early November meaning I have to get done the unit before this. There is no exceptions to writing the modules and they count for their GCSEs, which is the equivalence to Provincials in BC except they count for 70% of their overall mark. So, really I'm here not to grade their ability but to make sure they have the ability to write the modules. My kids have been okay so far. They gave me top flight students, which means they have better attitudes but this also means I have to teach more of the complex and involved curriculums. Boohoo for me. Plus, it's the kids are expected to do well so when, not if, their marks come back less than satisfactory I'll be called out to explain myself at which point I'll begin crying and then balling up in the foetal position as they kick me to the curb. Unfortunately, they want me to teach to them directly instead of using my new found teaching strategies bestowed upon me by UBC education. The upside to this is they have a million very good textbooks. I love the large pot-of-gold bundle of resources they have for me. They've even produced Unit Plans (which they call Sheets of Work) for entire units that we are requested to follow as it ensures we finish in time. They're great! If I have time, I'll post a sample for you all to see. Gotta teach in 20 minutes. I'll finish this up at the end of the day.
Monday, September 05, 2005
placemat
My first day in class. It was okay. If you want to check it out I'll post the web addresses for my class websites soon. They were on their toes today and I didn't have any real problems but I expect them to lax a little. As well, this was the top form (triples or something meaning we expect letter grade A from them in this subject) and they're really keen to learn.
Had them do a place mat today. They weren't as inventive or demanding as the Canadian kids I've had do this for me.
Had them do a place mat today. They weren't as inventive or demanding as the Canadian kids I've had do this for me.
smarties
Smarties!!!!! I was warned that this country wouldn't have any but here they are. Actually, candy and beer are super cheap here (£1.99 for something like 24 twix bars and £.99 for a 2L of vanilla ice cream) that there might be some causational data for the dental problems associated with Brits.
graveyard
The view of the graveyard outside my bedroom window. The occupants have been quiet so far.
starbucks
The first and only starbucks I've seen so far. It's in Petersborough next door to the cathedral.
Friday, September 02, 2005
graves
The graveyard that's just feet away from my bedroom window. It's super old (1500s) but is still active for passing members of the Ramsey family. There are some above-ground graves that have no bodies in them anymore. I guess the animals have taken away all the bones. The night I took these pics, there was a thunder and ligtning storm that freaked me out.
flys
Actually, they're wasps but they're only a handful of the thousands of wasps inside my flat. I never see them coming in but there are more and more every passing day.
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