Crazy Ex-Tenants in London Town

So we didn't move. We originally were supposed to move to our flat two weeks ago now. Then it was postponed a week - something to do with the landlord not issuing the eviction notice early enough to the tenant to legally have her out. So we stayed with Tony and Maria in Ealing for another week. We have been so fortunate to stay with such amazing people - they have not once made us feel like we are a burden to them, and we were only supposed to stay a few weeks, which turned into five!!

Bryce and I made excellent use of Argos to buy all our bedlinen online, in preparation for moving on the 28th of January, it all arrived by courier and was packed in large bags all ready to go to our new flat. Finally, our own bed linen, our own space... home. Friday the 28th of January arrived, and Bryce called me at lunch time to say that he had heard from the land agent, and we couldn't move today after all. I could have cried. It is quite hard to know you are living somewhere and working somewhere, but feeling like you are on holiday...temporary somehow. Living out of a bag really is no fun.

We went into the agent that evening as he had alternative accommodation - which at the time we were thankful for because we felt we just couldn't stay with Tony and Maria another week - we felt bad enough we had lived with them for five weeks! We turned up at the land agent about 5pm, and were told that basically, what happened was that the cleaner went in that morning to clean the property (which was interesting as we had been told the cleaners had already been in last week??!) to find that someone was living there. The 19 year old solo mother had broken into the property the night before, and was refusing to leave. She had been issued with her eviction notice, but she needed a bayliff notice in order to be rehoused with her child. The land agent called the Police, who went around to the property, but were not prepared to do anything as they felt it was more a council matter.

So besides the fact she forced her way in (the land agent had the locks changed for us) she was allowed to stay there. The landlord has flown in from New York today to sort it out. Meanwhile I was standing a the land agents not happy with the situation, or the idea of going home to ask Tony and Maria to stay longer, and considering the hostel option. The land agent gave us two choices. One being to give our rent in advance/bond of £3200 back and we could start over, OR the landlord had offered for us to stay at another property in South London for no charge until the matter was sorted. That sounded all well and good, until we realised that it was not even on a train line and would mean we would have to walk and bus a lot in order to get to work. Not cool. So Bryce and I went for a walk to work out what we each wanted to do. While we were out we stopped in at two other land agents and signed up to view two other properties, in locations 15 minutes walk from train stations and further South... we had half decided to start over was our best bet.

On the walk back to the land agent, I thought "Bugger them - we have been *more* than reasonable and patient, why can't the landlord pay to put us up in a motel on a train line, that is all we need." So we agreed that was a good plan, and went back and said this to the land agent - who said YES, I completely agree with you. Yussss. He then booked us one night at a hotel called The Gateway Hotel which was in Clapham South. http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/gatewayhotel.en.html?aid=311076;label=hotel-118783-gb-GvAwdwYlvAt2TAtwHGsdjwS672159204;ws=&gclid=CNa6vJac4KYCFYpO4Qod4xbv0g
The room was nice and clean enough, but quite small. (Bryce and I had to share)
We were moved today to Flexistay Aparthotel which are serviced apartments. It is quite good, and we are going to be fine staying here until the tenant is sorted... which we have been warned could be anywhere between 7-10 days. http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/flexistay-aparthotel.html?aid=318615;label=EN_Whole_District_flexistay%20tooting;sid=7734f480b05e59b4536734edd6368089

A typical street... they all look the same!

Dorking. LOL.

Our local station... 

Amazing window display. I totally want to go inside this shop!!

LOL!

Our bathroom in our apartment

The room! (Kitchen, dining, bedroom... haha)

Bryce's bed. On the floor. hehe

The common lounge, but nobody else seems to be here!

 The shared kitchen, well stocked and amazing!

We can help ourselves anytime, AMAZING!

Actually, the Aparthotel is quite amazing. The room is big enough, (we are sharing again, Bryce volunteered to sleep on the single on the floor and gave me the double) and it has a TV with Sky, free wireless, a kitchenette, a bathroom and also a shared common area with another kitchen, washing machine/dryer, and a fridge that is really well stocked and we are allowed to help ourselves whenever we want. More than we expected really. But it is nice to have something good happen after all the disappointments! We are in Tooting, and are looking at this whole situation as - well, we wouldn't otherwise have really explored Tooting... and now we have the chance. LOL.

So for now... all good I suppose. But bring on finally getting into our flat and having a home...
Tomorrow we are off to Bricklane Markets with our new friend, Cristie (from Sydney) so I'm quite stoked about that.... Markets tend to be an awesome day out :)

This is Cristie, with some random man who stands outside a restaurant all night... this was after a party that was organised by SMART Teachers agency :)

Anyway, must go, hoping this finds you all well :) Cross your fingers (and toes, and arms and legs...) that we are in our flat in no more than ten days!!

Cheery bye :)

Off to see the Queen and Camden Markets

Oooops this is from *last* weekend... but never mind. Here is the weekend of the 22nd-23rd January :)


Whew! What a busy weekend this has been! On Saturday Bryce and I decided it was high-time that we went and did the real touristy thing and went to visit the Queen. I went and saw Buckingham Palace in 2007 so knew where to go and what to look out for - and even remembered some interesting points I could share with Bryce that I remembered from a Bus Tour way back when! We watched the guards do their fancy little walk up and down- and took a bunch of photos. We then walked around the whole perimeter of the brick wall to the Palace. I was keeping my eye out for William but he was nowhere to be seen. Probably trying different wedding cake flavours out somewhere or something. I set a challenge for the day that Bryce and I could only spend a total of £20 for the whole day on food (we were out from 12pm until late into the evening) including drinks and snacks. I am proud to say that I managed to only spend £19.40 and Bryce failed the challenge as he spent £22.50. I win.

 I love this photo!

We got home quite late after a long day and a lot of walking, taking photos and sight-seeing, and now feel we have done the touristy thing and seen the Palace, Big Ben etc. 

On Sunday we ventured out to the Camden Markets. Another place I've been before but it is always different. We ate from the food stalls there and pored over the interesting, antique and down-right random things on display to purchase. Bryce got himself a leather "man bag" and was STOKED it only cost £28. We thought how awesome it would be if vintage goods came with a history card; who has owned something before, what they did for a job etc. How interesting it would make buying vintage!! Or is this just because I am nosy??

The market called "The Stables" was my favourite part of the whole market. Such interesting things on sale - loads of antiques. Perfect condition old Singer Sewing machines for just £30- amazing. Antique/Vintage Starwars toys... I most certainly thought of my brothers but to b be honest I wouldn't know what is worth buying! There was a vintage toy store in the corner of the market, and at one point (when Bryce and I were in a fur shop *shudder* and he was stroking the furs) we saw a large man in a red suit raise a trumpet to his lips and start to blow a fanfare tune. Once he had everyones attention he told everyone about the toys on offer today- and this form of advertising worked because people started flocking!! 

There are huge bronze horses everywhere at The Stables Market - amazing!

 Tempting... LOL!

I managed to find a couple of over-dresses for school from the market and some cool postcards which are winging their way to various places in NZ as I write this (on the train...again!!)

Tonight I thought I'd make the desert- it's what I do best after all. I thought apple crumble might be nice, thanks Dad for showing me how to make the best crumble in the world. Ever.


Just four more days of one hour travel (fingers crossed, please!!!!) and then we will be in our flat! 28 sleeps til Paris. And Euro Disney. Hoorah!!!

Until next time.....

Cheery bye :)

My mid-week theatre adventure!

So my adventure all the way out to Bromley to see "Jekyll and Hyde" began after school on Wednesday. I had already done a journey plan so I knew which buses and trains I needed to catch, so in theory I was all sorted. What I didn't count on was the bus service I needed to not be running due to a "technical fault". Sarah-iously! Gotta love London!! So I planned my journey over again, and using my handy paper tube map worked out which trains I needed to catch. The journey was to be a total of 53 minutes. Whew. 

I made it to Victoria station (if you've not been, it is HUGE) and worked out the train I needed. Once I was on the train and it was ready to go, a voice came over saying that at station "such and such" the train would divert two ways and if you were headed for Ramsgate you needed to be on the front six carriages. Well I had no idea which carriage I was on. I searched for a number but couldn't see one and in the end, I had to do the unthinkable. I had to ask someone. One of the worst things you can do in London! 

I looked for a friendly face. A young girl said "I dunno". So I- thanked her anyway and moved on. I was standing nearby to a man reading the Evening Standard and asked him- he looked at me like I had just peed down my leg and then grunted "this is five". So I was all good. 

I made it to Bromley Station and went to the Vodafone shop to organise going on contract- much cheaper than pay as you go (English-speak for Pre pay!) and organised all that. I was promised my phone would reconnect after half an hour. That was four hours ago. I am in Bromley- over an hour from home, and I am without a phone. Omg. If I get lost of run into trouble... I am screwed. And not in a good way!!! Here's hoping Victoria station is still open after the show. 

I searched for a place to eat, and the best I could do was BK, where a Russian guy called Sergei (surprise, surprise) served me. He asked if I was Australian. Honestly. He then proceeded to be rather chatty and told me about his life. He has a degree in town planning but could only get a job at BK etc... He was really interested in the fact I was from
NZ... But I was pleased when my burger was ready. So I "enjoyed" my own company before the show for two hours at BK. I say "enjoyed" because it is not really that enjoyable.... It's lonely as! Hence typing some blog haha!
I was pleased when the show was due to start and settled into my seat.

Theatre review: The guy playing Jekyll & Hyde is good but winds up to his top notes which is annoying. He is fab as Hyde and not so as Jekyll. His rendition of the song "I need to know..." I have heard Bevan sing (whilst mildly intoxicated) and he sung it better. Both leading ladies were stunning although I was disappointed with "Someone like you" as she articulated it weirdly. The company were awesome- diction fabulous- I could hear everything. Choreography all perfectly timed to what was happening in the music, heads snapping in all directions in time to the score etc. Very clean. 

The set was simple but very well done. So many flats coming down from the ceiling- seamless set changing which sounded motorised but excellent all the same. My favourite flats were the laboratory which had a huge window of glass which they projected night sky and clouds onto, and had shelves and shelves of medicine bottles which looked impressive. My other favourite was a book case that came down, simply because it was so impressive.  The props were minimal but not necessary. The music? Stunning. How I would *love* to play the flute/piccolo/clarinet score. Note to anyone listening: Please do this show in 2012 because I'd like to play for you! Haha. My ears are pretty tuned into the instruments I play- not surprising. I love the flute part and dare I say- the piccolo part is awesome. But the flute totally dominates the score. Yussss!!! 

So the show was excellent and well worth the hours travel. I got to Bromley South Station just in time for the 10.20pm train to London/Victoria, to hear a loud speaker saying it was cancelled. OMG! Panic set in for about a minute before I read there was another one in ten minutes time. I am on the train now and on my way back to town. It will take me an hour- but it was totally worth it... I miss my theatre buddies. It's not the same going to the theatre alone and having nobody to share it with. 

Hope you enjoyed my exciting mid-week adventure!!

Cheery bye :)

London makes me happy. Then mad. Then happy. Then mad.

London makes me mad. Actually - Barclays bank makes me mad. Oh! Where to start... I still didn't have my bank account open until today - at long last. I tried opening it on New Years Eve... the problem was that I didn't have proof of my NZ address - my bank lady at Westpac on Constellation Drive saved the day - with some help from my wonderful friend Jacinda who collected some printed bank statements and scanned them to me. I still don't have a card, but at least I have an account... should have a card by this week some time. Which is great being I have so much money sitting in an account that I can't touch yet!! (Compulsory savings??).

This has been a good week at school on the whole, I am settling into the day-to-day happenings and fitting in with everyone quite easily. I pick up their planning (??!!) and manage to make something up that is relatively engaging, some days I really impress myself. Just saying. LOL! It was a little awkward this afternoon because there has been a roll drop of about 160 pupils since this time last year, so the school is over-staffed and cuts are being made. There were all these official people from the Southwark Govern who came in to talk to us and explain the process. There were some really upset staff and some who were quite hurt and angry... it was a situation I have never been involved in so I was quite in shock at what was going on. I had already been told that my job was safe... but it makes it hard when I was the last one in the door, and here we are now with people losing their jobs, or losing hours. Not fun.

London makes me happy. Actually, lets be fair. Theatre makes me happy. Oh so happy. Bryce and I went and saw "The Phantom of the Opera" at Her Majesty's Theatre on Tuesday night this week. I've now seen it three times and it still baffles me how the Phantom disappears at the end. Theatre magic much? The show was good- but not one I will see again for a long time. You see, there are simply far too many others on my list... Jersey Boys, Wicked, The Lion King... The list goes on!!! 

 Her Majestys Theatre

 Stage pre-set ... you're allowed to take photos *before* the show only. 

Randomly, Bryce and I were seated next to this at Planet Hollwood before we went to the show, lol.

Amazing old theatre!

On Wednesday night, I ventured up North to Highgate to go and see an Amateur Production of a favourite show of mine "A Slice of Saturday Night". The entrance to the theatre was through a little old pub, and there were a bunch of Kiwi's working behind the bar. I had a £5.20 feed of burger, salad and chips with a drink and went on through to the theatre. It is a *tiny* stage... seats about 120, and the seats are either side of the stage. The cast were good - the girls were stronger vocally than the guys but the guys were excellent comic actors. They made amazing use of the small space, the choreography was amazing, really exciting and quite difficult looking. I liked how Eric 'Rubber legs' Devene played the guitar and accompanied himself for some of the songs he sung. I would go as far to say that in all honesty I enjoyed it more than Phantom the previous night. 


London makes me mad. I had a bit of a 'mare' on the way home, as the station (which I thought closed at midnight) was closed at 10.01pm when I got there. I was all the way up in North London and had no idea of alternative ways to get home... after trying to work out the bus timetable and trying to recognise places I knew, I decided that I'd just get on a bus and get off when I recognised something... and called Bryce to tell him what had happened! He text me some directions to get to another station, which was thankfully open, and I arrived home about 11.20pm. Whew. How I missed having a car at that point!!!


London makes me happy. Tonight (Friday) Bryce and I met at Waterloo Station after work and went into Covent Garden in search of some food. We found a Restaurant/Bar called Navajo Joe http://www.coventgardenlife.com/places.asp?PlaceID=81 which was amazing... food was fantastic (and the margarita went down nicely too...) There were some cool Cuban posters up on the walls that Oli would have liked. After that we decided to go to Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum of Oddities. I downloaded an application for my iPhone which cost about $5.20 that offers vouchers etc for London eateries, attractions etc. I had a 2 for 1 voucher for Ripleys' which meant it only cost us the price of a movie each (£14.40) each. And what value for money!! It was amazing! We were there nearly two hours and it was quiet so we could wander around quietly with no crowds to be seen. 

 The Ripley's Museum of Oddities... so coooool!

 Moooooooooo!! Check out the hooves in her back! OUCH!

 Shrek's Chair. LOL. 

Ok, I'm ready for my closeup now. K. Thanks. Bye.

Huzzah! We appear on the map! Yusss!

He can be my new boyfriend. I would feel really petite! How novel. 

Chastity anyone?

Random fake photographer old man... 

London makes me mad. Well Clapham Park Estates agent make me mad. We were all signed off and ready to move into our flat tomorrow (Saturday) but now they say we can't until *next* Saturday because the current tenant (who is not even living there now...) is a single mother on a benefit and has been evicted, but the eviction notice was not handed out on time so everything is running later, and even though she is not living in the flat, nobody else can legally move in one week from when the papers are served. Or something like that. Needless to say I am pretty annoyed, because now it means another week of spending £9 a day on travel (currently that is almost $19NZD, multiply that by 5, and I am spending $95NZD on transport to work and back. ARGH!). Anyway, not much can be done... so I guess we wait it all out. Very frustrating though. 


London makes me happy. There really is so much to see and do. All the time. Tomorrow Bryce and I are finally going to go to Buckingham Palace and some other touristy places in town. I think I'd like to pay the money and go inside Westminster Abbey this time (last time I came we didn't do that). So I guess, from here... you can all look forward to more stories and more photos to come about our weekend. 


For now though, Cheery bye :)

Townsend Primary School: The First Week

I don't think I have added any photos of my new music room - which I share when I am not using it. The walls are concrete so not much I can do in terms of decoration, but I did give it a good tidy up and am pleased with the space I've created. 

My timetable for school is varied and quite honestly- pretty crazy! I turned up on Monday morning having planned only my music teaching. The teachers I go in and relieve for are supposed to give me planning- and I suppose to a certain extent they do give me 'planning' as I enter their room, but it is unlike the planning that I am used to! I had year 2's first up Monday morning (our year 3's) and taught half an hour of music (which was really fun- lots of singing and action songs) and then poetry. I was given a focus of similes and a poem. Problem was- there was not *one* simile in the poem. It was however, full of onomatopoeia so I focused on that- thank goodness for having enough knowledge of language features! 


I then took them outside; yes- outside, for PE. Easy stuff but oh so cold! I still feel reasonably shocked that the boys and girls change for PE in the classroom- I hadn't been forewarned of this so asked the children if this is where they normally get changed- as they stared back at me with confused expressions... In their underwear!!! The funniest part was when Blake (a naughty boy who I suspect is special) was sitting in only his tighty whities on his chair- not moving. When I questioned why he was not changing into his PE "kit" he said "I forgot it Miss". I think he thought doing PE in his underwear was the go... Interesting. I actually had to turn around as I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face!! The rest of the day was a breeze - but then came teaching the year 4's (our 5's) who are at this stage my favourite class. I was asked to teach a lesson on the 10 Human Gods of Sikhism. A topic I knew nothing about. As in I have obviously lead such a sheltered life that I had not even heard of Sikhism as a religion. When I asked the teacher what he could tell me about the topic so I had a little prior knowledge he said he had no idea. Great. All's I can say is thank goodness for three things:
•A quick thinking brain.
•A smartboard
•YouTube!!!!

Tuesdays see me in Nursery (3-4 year olds omg!!!) from 8:30-11:30am. I can say this; they are adorable, they are fun... but they are exhausting!!! I was knackered! Hats off to pre-school teachers!!! I finished the day back in year four teaching science and history- and having a blast. I showed them Murrays Bay Intermediate's website at the end of the day. They wanted to know what schools in NZ were like. We looked around the panoramic views on the site- when it came to the music room there were kids in the photos not wearing shoes. Oh my. The year 4's could not believe it. They actually asked if we wear shoes in NZ!! Haha. They also thought the school field was a park- and couldn't understand how if you wanted to get from a classroom to the gym or the Music room you actually had to go outside. Here, you can get everywhere without going outside. It was really very funny.

Wednesday is my least favourite day. And it was my hardest. But it was "hump day" which made it more bearable! I am the release teacher who releases anyone who needs it for Wednesday mornings- which is fine. In the afternoon I have year 6 music then year 3 music. Both classes of which were badly behaved and didn't follow instructions and all clearly have a negative attitude to Music. I will change that.

Thursdays I do one-to-one tuition for writing which I loved! I worked with five students during the day who are in year five but working at a year 2 level in writing. It was really rewarding and a nice and easy day. Another man is employed to come in on a Thursday and do the same. His name is Mark and he is from Invercargill. He sounds like Rhys Darby- no jokes!! I'm looking forward to this Thursday to see if the kids I worked with last week retained any of what we did!! I might be doing one-to-one with the year 6's on Fridays too- watch this space. On Fridays at the moment I teach one of the reception (new entrant) classes in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Planning was jotted down on scrap bits of paper but it was nothing special and not very detailed...as in it said things like: "Maths. Counting." But again I sucked it out of my thumb and managed fine. The teaching assistant in the afternoon had observed me teaching maths with a group of kids. She commented to me that I must have taught this age a lot. I said no. First day. Haha. She said she was really impressed how I taught them maths and seemed to be naturally good at it. I think I thank my mother for that skill. And having young nieces and nephews!

Friday night I crashed. I had been fighting a head cold or something all week and paracetamol was my saving grace to survive the week! On Saturday, Bryce and I went to Shepherd's Bush to the BIGGEST Westfield shopping centre I've seen in my life. Designer brand after designer brand and just amazing. We were there the entire day hahha!! I bought a dress for work and a couple of other things. We went to the movies which was inside the mall- we saw "The Kings Speech" which was fabulous- what an amazing job Colin Firth did! I recommend you see it!

Today I took the day off school. I have been fighting the head cold thing which has since moved to my chest and is affecting my asthma so it was time to see a Doctor. Lucky for me there is a Doctor surgery down the road from our new flat. Unlucky for me we don't live there until this weekend- it took me an hour and fifteen minutes just to get there. Feeling dreadful, I then had to register and have a full-on physical exam before seeing a doctor. Urine test and all. I felt like they were testing for drugs lol. Being I'm on "The street where I'll live" I thought it a good idea to take a few pics. It is just a three minute walk to the station. And will be a ten minute ride to work- amazing! Bring it on!!

Our street sign :) Welcome home... for a year ;P

 Looking down the street towards our place. If you can see the blue rimmed doorway in the middle of the photo, our flat is on the left of that. 

Our front door - yussss! Oh and credit *must* go to Courtney Herbert who told me about this amazing photo app for iPhone... such cool shots it takes! Cheers Courtz xxx

So there were two rather random things that happened today. The first? An elderly man, pants around his ankles peeing against a phone box in broad daylight - what the?

The second- a rough looking lady on the train on the way home who decided that 1pm
on the train was the perfect time for a can of Guinness. Although she hadn't bargained on it exploding and spraying others on the train on opening it as she cursed "feck". My Guinness?  My goodness!! I guess she was lucky her can came with a free 13.5% extra. LOL.

Cheery bye :) 

Portobello Markets, Billy Elliott and a day at Townsend Primary!

So I feel it must be high time for another blog post. Friday evening was exciting... We are in London, we are young and fancy-free- so in theory we should have hit the town. But we were both too exhausted- I had worked four days and Bryce one. I have to say I am already looking forward to the mid-term break haha. We stayed in on Friday evening- but that meant we could go out on Saturday night! We left the house about midday Saturday and went to meet with a land agent about a flat. We walked into the flat and both got a good feeling- our code for "oh my god get me outta here" was "I wonder what your mum would think?" (Subtle but worked well) and neither of us piped up with that line, like we previously had at another flat viewing in Southwark. 


This one is only one street from Clapham North station and both streets are well lit so safe for me to walk home at night. The flat itself is not huge - but has a combined lounge/dining, bathroom with shower over bath, new kitchen and 2 bedrooms. One bedroom is opposite the front door- I was crossing my fingers that Bryce wouldn't mind taking that room as I don't want to be the first room in if an intruder should get in! Thankfully he thought the same and is happy to take that room. My room is down about three steps to the right of the front door and is a decent size. I can swing a cat. Not that I have a cat, but if I did - I could definitely swing it!

It's nice to have a new kitchen- it has a washing machine (woo hoo and hehe it being in the kitchen!) fridge, dishwasher, microwave and a gas hob. I'm pretty pleased with it- it will be so nice to finally have somewhere I can call home!

So we signed it all up- it is £320 a week between us, and we were lucky to get it for that because a flat just two doors down is on for £350 a week. We move in on Saturday the 22nd January, which is two weeks away. Two more weeks of an hours travel to work and an hours travel back- over it! This flat is only 15-20 min from work - yusss! If you go here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=51+sandmere+road+lambeth&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=51+Sandmere+Rd,+London+SW4+7PS&gl=uk&ei=h30rTaLBHJK1hAeU68mxAg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA  or if the link doesn't work, go to Google maps and type in 51 Sandmere Road, Lambeth. It will find it and you can see our front door, it is the black one to the left of the blue one hehe.

If you'd like the address please private message me on facebook or email me ;)
Gifts of marmite, pineapple lumps and Milo are always appreciated haha!!!

We were quite excited after that and decided to go to Portobello Markets- which are AMAZING. There are antiques as far as the eye can see- clothes, bags, shoes all vintage and so much jewellery. It was quite something to see! Some fabulous buskers too. I bought some cherry blossoms that have lights in and are really pretty when on at night, they'll look lovely in the flat :)

 Yep - that's the sun you see in this photo... hahah!

 Jam packed streets of amazing stalls as far as the eye can see!

This is the 'Travel Bookshop' used in the movie 'Nottinghill'. It actually sells shoes and bags LOL!

We then (after two hours of exploring) went into the city to Piccadilly to buy some theatre tickets. Most of the half price booths had sold out but we found a place that had a choice of Billy Elliott or Wicked. We chose Billy Elliott and made our way to Victoria Station, the station opposite the Victoria Palace Theatre (which is where Barnum was on with Michael Craword many years ago!). We paid £35 a ticket and had great seats. Yes we were in the gods, but to be up that high you could appreciate the choreography and dance formations so much better and the set. It seemed like there was set even behind the set- seamless. E.g it looked like people walking down the street at night but they were behind the set- people in the stalls would never know it!

 There she is... the Victoria Palace Theatre. And an AMAZING show waiting to be seen!

 This was our view... in the Gods but a great view all the same :) I video skyped Rebecca from inside during the interval and showed her around. Tried skyping Mum but she wasn't online :(

Seeing another show. Happiness. 

The show was stunning. I was blown away at the talent of the 12 year old playing Billy. He tapped, he did ballet, he did interpretive dance. He was just amazing. The costuming was fabulous and the characterization impressive. Direction great- amazing use of space and stage and the set- OMG!!! there was a staircase with Billy's bed atop that came out of the floor- the kitchen table came out of the floor too- it was really quite amazing and made transitions between scenes so seamless. The finale had the entire cast tapping- LOVE! Overall I was very impressed and it's well up there on one of my favourite musicals ever. I would like to see it again but there are too many other shows to see first!!! Tracey Andrews was right; I'm just like a kid in a sweet shop!!! The only downer was that the girl next to me was taking photos the whole time which was really pissing me off. It was distracting- but also I know how illegal it is. And it was excessive. I'm not talking a few here and there- in Act 1 she must have taken 50 shots. I went and told a member of staff at halftime but her camera never came out in Act 2 so she got away with it. Some people!!!

After the show Bryce and I were in high spirits so went in search of a cocktail bar to celebrate having a flat. Thank goodness for iPhones with the Internet as we could google an address. We found one called Jewel on Glasshouse Road and it was INCREDIBLE! We had a few (!!) cocktails and then headed for home. It was 1.15am and unluckily for us we had forgotten that trains finish at 12am. Oops. So we went in search of a bus. Again- thankyou iPhones!! We had to catch two buses and it took two hours to reach home. Not a mistake we wish to repeat- but it was so worth it!!!

This guy was great, I danced around him on the street haha. Oh, and gave him £1. 

I'm on the tube as I write this and it stuns me how quiet it is. You can hear the rumbling of the train and newspaper pages turning. Insane.

Anyway- today was the first day of my actual timetable. I started my day with Year 2. I taught music for 30 minutes (which really is not enough!) and then poetry. After that there was an assembly (there is one everyday... Waste of time much?!) and then PE which the kids seemed to love. After lunch I supervised 8 kids for writing 'intervention' which is like remedial help. I ended up with the top group who are above their chronological age and was told to play word games for half an hour, before getting the rest of the class back for more music- again only 30 minutes which is not enough. I then taught the year 4's Religious Education which was on Sikhism. Omg. I knew nothing about this. The plan I was given was far from helpful. Google needs to help me be at least one step ahead- eek!!

After a long and exhausting day I met Bryce at Elephant and Castle station, but dragged him (he actually didn't need much persuasion) into a market just below the station. I got some purple leather gloves for £5 and a black Louis Vuitton handbag for £35. Amazing. I even bought jeggings. Kill me now. Haha.

Well, home now ready for another amazing meal prepared by Tony and Maria (gosh I'll miss that when we move to our flat!) and then another early night. It's a long day with all the traveling. (I won't miss that once we're in our flat.)

Hope everyone back home is well...until next time...

Cheery Bye :)