Inspiration

Feb

2007-02-10T21:02:00.000Z

You know, I hadn't realised how long I'd not posted on here......still, goes to show I don't have much time for this sort of thing any more. Am having trouble just keeping in touch with friends by phone, let alone getting around to posting on my long-neglected blog. Ho hum.
Anyway, this February half term marks the halfway point of my first year in teaching. It's been a hard slog, and there's still a pile pf books to be marked and all my week's lessons to have planned by Monday after next, but I fully intend to make time for myself this holiday too. Starting with going to Cambridge tomorrow. :-)
We had a snow day on Thursday, which resulted in another day off school on Friday, because all the slush from Thursday froze and the roads were supposed to be like an ice rink. We only had about 3.5 inches of snow which, I know to some people will sound like a ridiculously poor excuse for a day off school, but here in the UK we're so used to mild weather conditions that any extreme seems to throw people off balance.
Anyway, am off to enjoy not having to work for once at the weekend :-D

Summer Holidays

2006-08-18T20:51:00.000+01:00

Well, can't believe it's been 2 months since I last wrote a comment on here. Now that I have actually got a bit of time to sit at home and just veg, I thought I might actually get round to making this blog look a little less sad.
Well, I have finished and passed my PGCE, and will start my new job at the end of this month. Very scary, actually. I'll have to do quite a bit of thinking and general planning before then.....
Have also found a place to live and will move in there sometime this week, I think.
Have had a lovely, relaxing time on holiday - both in France and Austria. Got to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in about 3 years, which was lovely. Just a shame it was only a short visit. The original plan was to fly out to Austria on Saturday, but I decided against that after the recent airport alerts resulted in massive queues and many cancelled flights. So, I went later on in the week. Had a good time, though. We stayed at this campsite that had tents with beds and stuff all set up for you, all for the glorious price of €12 a night. Would have been much better if it had been a bit warmer, but hey, you can't have everything.
On a completely different note, got a film developed today. I knew it had been in my camera a while, but I hadn't realised this went back over almost 2 years. It's quite fun, getting to see them finally, as you have NO idea what will be on at least the first 20 photos!
Well, better stop my rambling here and get on with something slightly more constructive (the washing up, say).

Cambridge....

2006-06-26T22:13:00.000+01:00

.....is lovely.

Went punting yesterday and had a whale of a time :-)

Easter Hols

2006-04-02T17:40:00.000+01:00

Well, I've made it to the Easter holidays on what is definitely the hardest course I have EVER done.
So far, the weekend has been spent not doing any work and REALLY enjoying that fact. The weather has improved considerably, and I have spent most of today wandering around Cambridge playing the tourist and showing my brother's fiancée round. Lovely :-D
So, here I am, sitting in my room, looking out of the window at a beautiful blue sky and listening to lovely music wondering what I should do next. Should I write a long overdue letter to a friend? Should I go for a jog? Should I sit and have a cup of tea and read the newpaper? The possibilities are endless!
Maybe it's just me being affected by the weather and the fact it is not grey and rainy and dull. I just feel quite light and relaxed. Long may this continue :-)

Horrible Monday

2006-03-13T18:22:00.000Z

Well, as Mondays go, this was was not the greatest. I had three lessons today, the last of which I was not happy with at all. It was the last lesson (straight after lunch, so they're a bit hyper anyway), and there was a fire alarm today as well, so that was something else to get excited about. The amount of chatter going on in that class today was unbelievable. It was the first time I had really got properly annoyed with a class. So, I made them sit down and copy stuff out in silence at the end of the lesson. Grrrr.......
Any suggestions as to how to get a class to be silent and listen to the teacher (besides clapping adn raising your voice) are welcome.
I don't want to threaten to keep them in at lunch/breaktime just yet.....am saving that for a bit, really. I just need a really good, attention-grabbing tactic for now, that's all..

2006-03-07T18:06:00.000Z

Belated Pics

2006-03-07T17:59:00.000Z

Finally! Here are the two photos I've been meaning to put on here for ages. They're not THAT amazing, but these are pretty arty shots for me. Hope you like them. My Mum and I went on a walk early January near my parents' home and these are two of the photos I took on the way.

Ahem....

2006-02-28T18:06:00.000Z

I cannot believe that I wrote that last post in January. The time has definitely flown by. I was hoping to get some pictures on here, but am having a few problems getting my camera to talk to my computer properly. Honestly, I had a couple of lovely arty shots of a snowy Lincolnshire, but never mind....I'll try and post them when I have found a way round the problem.
Either way, here we are at the end of February, and life is getting very busy over here. I taught more lessons last week than I had done the whole of last term - craziness!
Anyway, on that note, I'd better get on and plan a few lessons....
Will blog when I either a) get bored of my work or b) find time to do so.
:-)

January

2006-01-11T22:06:00.000Z

Came back from school today and it was still light!
Term started again on Monday, so it's back to the grindstone until mid February, when we get a 'reading week', which I suspect I will need by then.
We had a preliminary visit to our second placement schools before Christmas and I saw one group of 14-year-olds who behaved as if they were at primary school still. I should have known even then they'd give the trainee teacher this class, just to give them a bit of 'experience', I'm sure. Could be interesting, to say the least.
Other than that, appparently I have a couple of lovely French and German classes, so we'll see what that means tomorrow.
Need to get used to getting up early for school again after my lovely, relaxing Christmas holiday. I have to be out of the house by 7.20am. Lovely.....!
Anyway, speaking of which, have you seen the time? I should be getting to bed!

Christmas :-)

2005-12-29T20:19:00.000Z

Well, I know this is a few days after the actual event, but hey, we're still officially in the twelve days of Christmas, so merry Christmas to one and all. I hope everyone is having a good time, whatever they are doing, and that everybody has got something good planned to help see in the New Year. I haven't as yet, so any suggestions are welcome....!
It started snowing here about 2 days after Christmas day, and it is still white outside. Amazing. We have not had a white Christmas here in years, so this is pretty good for us. Would help if we had a bit of blue sky, though. Went for a walk this afternoon and tried to take some nice pictures of the scenery, but the sky was so horribly grey, I don't think the photos are going to be any good. Ah, well.....
This is not to say that British weather is always like this. If the stereotypes are to be believed, brits live in a constant dull climate with way too much fog. Shame - we get good weather over here, too. You just have to be here at the right time to see it!

Ummm.....

2005-11-13T22:30:00.000Z

Well, I have to say, I'm really pleased this past week is over. I had a huge essay to hand in on Friday, along with every other Secondary PGCE on my course (4000 words - huge for some, you know!), so I was REALLY glad to get that over and done with. Especially after having had a rather heart-stopping moment at midnight on Wednesday when, while attempting to get my usb stick to interface with my computer, the screen froze. So, tried the good old ctrl + alt + delete bit. Nothing. Tried it again, just for luck - still nothing. So, turned the power off at the mains, then turned the whole thing back on again. As the computer started up again, complete with promising noises coming from the CPU, I noticed that the screen had not started, and in fact was not even registering the fact that it had power. Lovely - just what you want after having spent several hours slogging away at an essay. I fixed it in the end thanks to the help of a good friend who very kindly replied to me at such an unearthly hour. So, the essay was rescued and all was well by bout 1am. The fact that said essay is, in fact, a pile of pooh is neither here nor there.....!
Also, got to stand up and teach most of a lesson again, which could have gone better, but hey. My main concern was the essay last week. NOW I can worry about actual teaching.
So now, I have another essay to hand in this Friday coming - half the size this time, but based on a lesson I actually did. Should be interesting, if nothing else....am about to attempt to teach a rather complicated rule regarding prepositions and cases in German to class of 13 and 14-year-olds. Oh, yes.....and we're now in school 5 days a week for the next 4 weeks. The words 'steep learning curve' were mentioned, which is a slightly scary prospect. We have all been issued with a mark book and instructions for yet another assignment, so I certainly won't be short of things to do!
Oh, and yes, it now seems that I have found a town that has gone one better than Cambridge on the Christmas decoration front. Step into the main shopping centre in Peterborough at the moment (went in yesterday - 12th November) and you will find all the festive light actually on. Worse than that, the Santa's grotto they have there every year is already open and yes, I did see people going in. In NOVEMBER!! Please....

Woah....!

2005-11-03T19:18:00.000Z

Just a short comment.....went shopping last weekend and heard my first Christmas tune of the year played in a shop - in OCTOBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is wrong with shops these days? I think there should be a ban on people putting ANYTHING Christmassy in their shop windows until December. I know there's 'only' something like 7 shopping weeks left until Christmas, but come on......!

Small Aside

2005-10-18T20:34:00.000+01:00

Just because I found this so cool and mostly because I haven't written a decent post in a while, I thought I would share this with you. I was walking through Cambridge town centre the other day when I heard the sound of someone singing and playing the guitar. The guy sounded quite good, so I thought I'd wonder over to the source of the sound and listen to a bit more. Only here's the thing. I couldn't see a guitarist anywhere on the street. After a few confused seconds looking around and wondering if I had in fact finally lost my marbles, I noticed a small crowd next to a guitar case on the pavement next to a bin. Yes, a bin. The guy had actually managed to find a city bin, lever himself and his guitar in there and commenced playing. I actually took a photo of it on my phone, but as yet have absolutely no way of tranferring from phone to internet. You'll just have to imagine it, I'm afraid.
Made my day, though.....

Life in Academia/Education

2005-09-30T17:00:00.000+01:00

Well, here I am, two weeks into my course and I'm already feeling knackered. We have just spent a whole week at our first placement schools, mostly spent observing lessons and helping out where we can, but MAN am I ready for a relaxing night in! I have visions of me sitting there wrapped up warm in a nice jumper, with a mug of Horlicks and watching TV. Ahhhh.....!
I suppose it doesn't really help that I have developed the first cold of the winter, but then that's bound to happen when you're in a school. The thought has also crossed my mind that if I'm this tired after a week of observing, what on earth am I going to be like after I've actually done some teaching?? I'll just plod through and see what happens......one day at a time is the way forward.
There is lots of reading to do, and then we're also expected to read outside our set readings as well. Then there are assignments, and that's even before we've considered lesson planning, which takes AGES!
Never mind. Anyway, looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend, so that I'll be all rested and ready to go on Monday :-)

Shopping

2005-09-07T18:44:00.000+01:00

Have spent most of the past few weeks chilling and thinking about starting teaching training soon, and also shopping :-).
Went to a lovely shop in a Bourne, Lincolnshire, the other day, which was full of antiquey things like jewellery, furniture, ornaments, etc, all arranged randomly around the shop. When you go in , one of the shop assistants will greet you and ask if you would like a cup of tea or coffee - great! That doesn't happen often round here.
Also, as you are browsing through their stuff, you'd come across a stuffed dog in a sleeping position on an old chaise longue.......until you realise, to your shock, that it has actually opened its eye and heaved a huge sigh before settling back to sleep. Kind of cool - I also discovered two cats roaming around in other rooms later on. Fantastic!

Ho Hum.....

2005-08-31T20:23:00.000+01:00

Well, I would blog, but there's not a lot to say at the moment, I'm afraid.....
I had all fancy ideas of starting to gradually move stuff over to my student room this week, but that's all been halted since I somehow managed to twist a muscle/trap a nerve in my upper back the other day.
Had v. interesting appointment with an osteopath today, which involved lots of clicking vertebrae. The osteopath thinks it's been sorted, so we'll see what happens over the next few days.
In the meantime, am hoping to get nice things done, such as have a haircut and book my beauty lesson I was given for a birthday present - am really looking forward to that :-)

Back again

2005-08-24T22:48:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been a week to the day (I think) since I left Germany and I have to say the weather hasn't really improved. It rained, then it was fine, then it rained again.....so who knows what we're in for next? I sincerely hope we don't get as wet as those poor people in seven European countries who are going to need boats if they want to get anywhere.
Either way, my time in Germany was lovely. I managed to just chill for two whole weeks, which mostly involved shopping and playing lots of piano and guitar :-D.
I met up with a few friends and even had a short trip down to Bavaria, which was cool. We went on a summer luge-type-thing in the Bavarian Forest, had a barbecue, visited a town called Straubing for the opening parade of a large festival and heard enough ooompah bands to last me for the rest of the year, I reckon.
Straubing was a lovely town - lots of shops and beautiful buildings to look at, so all was well at this end! This large festival was the Gaeubodenvolksfest, which apparently is second only to the Oktoberfest in Munich. The opening parade went on for well over an hour (possibly even two), and it was full of people in traditional Lederhosen and Dirndls. The one part of the parade I won't forget in a hurry was the sight of a relatively large group of men carrying oversized Alpine cowbells on huge leather straps round their shoulders, making a tremendous racket. The question HAS to be asked, though - why???
Once back in Braunschweig from our Bavarian adventure, the weather started to look a bit more promising, so we visited Goettingen (sorry - haven't found how to do umlauts on here yet!) and finally made it one evening to a small cafe called the Okerterrassen, on the banks of the river (yes, correct) Oker in Braunschweig. As the name suggests, there are tables and chairs on terraces going all the way down to the river bank, so you can enjoy a drink (a Berliner Weisser in my case) while looking out to the river. Every now and then someone would float by in a boat of some description. They would wave at you and shout a greeting and you would do the same back. Fantastic!
So, now I'm back home and waiting for my weeks' observation in a primary school before my term at University starts. I think startin back at University is going to be bit of a shock to the system, so maybe I should start doing some reading for it now...??!!

Finally!

2005-08-02T20:05:00.000+01:00

Well, as I write this I am in Germany, finally on holiday after all the excitement of moving out.
Moving from Bury took the whole weekend - I was kind of naively hoping that it would only take Saturday to get everything done, but i never works out like that, does it? Especially when the cleaning is still to be done.....
Still, my brother hired a van for the whole weekend and we managed to get most of the furniture out on the Saturday. We came back for another round on Sunday, and finally got down to sorting out the kitchen and general cleaning shortly before midday. In the end, a friend of mine from Bury who offered her services came over and we managed to get everything done by about 6.30pm. Never done that before! Tiring stuff, you know....
Anyway, we stayed on in Bury for a bit longer afterwards and had dinner at a pub with a couple of friends from work. We even had a go at the Sunday night pub quiz. If there had been more questions on topics not associated with television programmes and pop music, I think we may have been in with more of a chance. I'm not bitter - honest!
Spent most of yesterday unpacking things we had moved at the weekend and packing for today's trip to Germany. I stupidly got a ticket for a flight at the unearthly time of 6.30am, and was even considering spending the night in the airport. I drove down, with my brother as a passenger so he could drive back once I had gone into the departure lounge. Am soooo glad I didnt spend the night in the end. When we arrived, the airport was packed to the rafters with people doing the same thing. Was quite pleased to see that the check-in queue for my flight was one of the shortest. Obviously Germany isnt as popular a holiday destination as Italy or Spain, and you know what? Thats just fine by me!
So, now am on holiday trying to relax before I start my PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education, if you really want to know) in September. Am starting to think I must be mad, but it'll be a good challenge, if nothing else. It was definitely time to move on from where I was, and you know, trying things that may prove to be slightly outside your comfort zone can be good experiences. I know I would never have had such a fantastic time in Germany if I'd let myself get overly worried about being away from home for so long.
Anyway, I'm off to enjoy a nice relaxing evening that does not involve moving, packing or unpacking in any way, shape or form. Yay!

Last Minute Panic

2005-07-23T22:22:00.000+01:00

Ok, ok....I have one week left before I have to move out and I have NONE of my furniture sold by now. Is now a good time to start panicking? Was also really hoping I wouldn't have to hire a transit van (average price £50 per day) and use the work truck, but it now looks like I'll have to. Darn!
Spent most of today packing up smaller bits like books, CD's and similar junk, driving over to my parents' house and unpacking the lot over there. Surprisingly had a couple of hours to relax, which was fine by me, before I had to drive back early evening. I had a cunning plan which involved me coming back here and actually starting on cleaning the place, but that didn't quite work out....
Still, am feeling quite positive that I managed to move most of the smaller stuff. I like the feeling of having got things done, so I'll be MUCH happier once some of this furniture has found a new home. Ho hum...

London

2005-07-10T22:34:00.000+01:00

Bizarre, isn't it, how in one week a whole city can go from euphoria to shock?
Most people here seem to have taken the attack as something that was going to happen anyway, but everyone also seems to be confused as to what exactly the message from these fanatics is supposed to be.
If they're trying to provoke a certain reaction from Londoners, i.e. fear, they may have picked the wrong people here. The spirit that kept the Queen's generation going during WWII seems to be alive and well, and I have to say that is a wonderful state of affairs.

Time flies.....

2005-07-03T20:48:00.000+01:00

Amazing. It's been almost a month to the day since I last wrote an entry. Ooops! Still, better late than never, I suppose!
Well, am feeling decidedly more summery now that we've had a warm spell and Wimbledon is on - yay! Actually, I should correct that statement, as I've just finished watching the men's singles final, culminating in a third win for Roger Federer. It's just amazing watching that man play - he makes it look soooooo easy!
So, over the past few weeks, I have played tennis a few times with a friend here in Bury. We're both at a similar level, i.e. were once not too bad but through lack of practice have become inconsistent, shall we say....! Still, over the past few weeks I think we have managed to progress from awful to getting on for reasonable. Plus, it's a good way to get some exercise, so it's all good as far as I can see ;-) So yes, I've actually been inspired by something for once!
I can't help thinking how nice it would be to be a professional tennis player, you know, but being in my mid-twenties, it's a bit too late for that sort of thing now. I'll just have to find another way to make my millions...!
Tennis aside, I have one month left in my job and then I'm officially on HOLIDAY!! Can't wait. Unfortunately, can't actually get too excited about that yet, as there's loads of stuff to do before then, like sell on furniture, get the flat properly cleaned and find accommodation for September. Aaaagh! Must think positive......

Bank Holiday!

2005-06-02T21:58:00.000+01:00

This weekend (just gone) was the Spring bank holiday in the UK, so a three day weekend - yippee!
We had beautiful weather on Saturday, which I enjoyed whilst pottering around in Bury town centre and then lazing in the Abbey gardens with a newspaper and ice cream :-).
Went out for Thai meal with a friend in Cambridge on Saturday. After some encouragement from the waiter, I finally decided to go for a green curry. Even though he claims this is a mild dish, I can say, without any shadow of doubt, that it was the hottest meal I have had...possibly ever. The funny thing was, though, I actually managed to clean my plate, so maybe I should try more spicy food? We'll see....
Anyway, went to Church on Sunday and was then supposed to meet up with another friend in Cambridge. It turned out her plans had changed and that her parents wanted her to go and spend some time in Walsingham with them, so I was asked to come along too. When I said yes, I didn't realise it was going to be camping overnight, though....
Either way, we had a lovely time. Walsingham is a beautiful village in the middle of Norfolk and, for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, is also a place of pilgrimage in the UK. I believe a certain Lady Richeldis had a vision of the Virgin Mary in the 11th century, and so a shrine was built. Today, there are two main shrines - one Anglican, one Catholic, and they both have a sense of peace and spirituality about them. I have to say, though, I had trouble distinguishing between the two shrines, which goes some way to proving that, in fact, it is all one and the same thing.
Loveliness was overcome by cold by the time night fell, though. We had supper by candlelight and then went to sleep in a tent lent to us by another family there, dressed in as many layers as we had brought!
So, got back to Bury early Monday afternoon after having helped out striking tents and clearing up everyone's belongings just before the rain started to fall.
No shopping was done in the end, but I'm definitely the richer for it!

I have to apologise, though - I have not got very far with the mole poem at all. Must try harder!

New Entry

2005-05-15T21:35:00.000+01:00

I know, I know.....such an amazingly original title for a blog entry, but hey - I could have left it without a title!
Had a couple of interesting things happen this week. I had a mole removed in a small operation during the week, which is just the oddest experience ever. At a loss as to what to write in this entry, a good friend suggested I write a poem to send off my mole with, and possibly call it 'Ode to a Travelling Mole'. A truly fantastic idea which, as soon as I get some inspiration, I will be working on.
Then yesterda, I played in a concert at Church, which was OK. I was getting a wee bit stressed during the final rehearsal as I STILL hadn't found someone to turn the pages, and there are two particular parts which have horrible page turns. i solved the problem by asking my Mum to come and be the official page turner, a job which she did amazingly well, and it made the whole pricess of playing MUCH easier. The piece we were performing was called "Agape" by Marty Haugen. It's a musical (our version was a concert performance and not dramatised) based on the setting of the Mass, but is mostly about peace and social justice. Some very cool pieces in there and maybe worth a look for some of you churchgoers sometime ;-).
Anyway, any ideas/inspiration for the mole poem would be much appreciated!

What a week!

2005-05-02T02:37:00.000+01:00

I have had an amazingly socially active week this week, so I actually have something to write about on my blog for once ;-).
It started off with a visit to Hengrave Community, which is about 5 mins. by car from me - I finally got to say hello to all my friends there and just chat and chill for a bit. I keep on meaning to take some music so I can play one of the pianos there, but, I never quite get round to it.
Tuesday was our Finance Director's 40th birthday, so there was a nice atmosphere at work, with photos of a young finance director plastered across every photo/certificate frame in the building and a stack of balloons in her office.
The 'girls' from work then went out for a birthday meal on the Wednesday night, which was lovely. We had a good chat and a good laugh, but I have to say I was not my usual sparkly self the next morning...;-)
Thursday may come as a bit of a shock to those of you who know me, as I went to a beer festival (yes, you did read that right...!) for the first time ever. I have the commemorative beer glass to prove it, too! This was purely because I had a couple of friends who were volunteering behind the bar, so all in all an interesting experience, but one better had perhaps with a group of friends who are there for the tasting, and not serving behind the bar.
Friday was not overly spectactular, so we'll move on to Saturday. I had a rehearsal for our church performance of 'Agape' in the afternoon, which did not go too badly, but much practise is required, methinks! The evening was spent at a friend's 30th birthday party. It was actually a lovely evening with a barbecue, lots of lovely wine and party games. No horribly loud music or stupidly drunk people. Fantastic. I lost all the party games, but never mind....it was a good laugh.
So, here we are on Sunday. One of our friends from the party got confirmed at the Cathedral today, and I was invited as a friend to come and sit up at the front, along with a few others. It was a really lovely service, with a good sermon from the Bishop and lots of good music. The organist pllayed Widor's Toccata afterwards, which was just wonderful. There was coffee and biscuits upstairs for all the confirmation candidates and their friends and family after the service and then our group had a picnic under a cherry tree in the Abbey Gardens for lunch after that.
I'm sure you'll all be surprised to discover that the weather here at the moment is not that bad at all - there is sunshine and it's actually warm. In fact, I can confirm, I finally turned off my heating today, so it had better not be cold again now until Winter!
Anyway, better stop here before this post turns into a small novel!

Karen

Any ideas?

2005-04-17T19:54:00.000+01:00

The name of this blog comes from the fact that I had a severe lack of the aforementioned inspiration when it came to choosing an internet nickname. Many thanks to my sister for help with that one! I actually only originally signed up so I could comment on a friend's blog, but as the saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound!
So, unlike many other bloggers, who have well-defined areas of their lives they wish to write about, this blog remains completely aimless.
The URL, if anyone is interested, refers to a book written by Paulo Coelho, called 'The Alchemist', in which someone's personal legend is something which a person has always wanted to do. And, as the book suggests, you never know quite what adventures this personal legend might lead you to. I actually read the book in French, so apologies if my translation isn't quite right!
So, on with the wonderous aimlessness...!