Today was my first day meeting the children... and some of you might be wondering how that went... or perhaps some of you have nothing better to do than read the low-down of my day haha!~
I have started typing my blog posts on the notes option on my iPhone when I am underground on the train. What a wonderful way to kill time! Then I can just email the note to myself when home, copy/paste it to my blog, and voila!! Thank the heavens for modern technology!
Today...
I was supposed to turn up at 8.30am(!!!) and go and observe in the classrooms and basically get to know the children. When I arrived, Anne, the head teacher explained to me that I would be teaching Pete's class who are year four (our year 5) for the day as Pete had been burgled overnight and had to wait for the Police. His flat is in Kennington which is where Bryce and I were looking... And on the bottom floor which I have since been told to avoid like the plague!
Anyway, I ended up in Year four which are the class I'll be relieving in for three hours a week anyway so that was a stroke of luck. What Murrays Bay has in Asians, Townsend has in African children. They are *beautiful*!! I spoke with another teacher about some planning for the day and it was a little annoying as the teacher explaining things to me was doing so as if I had never taught before. I believe I have taught twice the time he has. He also was trying to show me how the smartboard worked and so I politely mentioned that I had taught only with a smartboard my whole career. I then rushed about and did the photocopying that needed doing and then decided to create a smartboard resource on goal setting in about ten minutes. Lol. Nobody creates their own here. And from what I have seen they don't adapt them either.
At 8.55am I went down outside and had to collect the children who were all nicely lined up. Amazing. I escorted them back to the classroom
and introduced myself and told them I'd come all the way from NZ just to teach them because I had heard how wonderful they were. I was met with a room full of white smiles :)
I showed them a world map because most didn't know where NZ even was and they asked me questions. Quite funny really. I've never been the one who has had questions asked about my country.
I started teaching the lessons, starting with 'new years resolutions' which I taught as goal setting- including the STAR method (specific, time related, achievable and realistic) and obviously had them record Learning intentions and success criteria which they sort of do here but very beginning stages. I'll change that ;)
All the lessons went well, they were lovely and really cute. Though I spent the day dealing with little quibbles "Miss he stole my pencil" and so on - I thought it too early for me to tell them to build a bridge and climb over haha!
Several of them came to thank me for teaching them and for being so nice and friendly. CUTE! I said "it's lovely you're thanking me, but it's my job" and one boy responded "yes Miss but you don't have to be so friendly"
So the day went well and I'm back again tomorrow before the weekend. Bryce and I are planning to go to Portobello Markets and perhaps Camden Markets of which Bryce has become quite a fan!! I intend on squeezing in some theatre this weekend too- though it's so hard to decide what to see as there is so much on!!
Cheery-bye :)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Goodbye Murrays, Hello Townsend...
Before I talk about my first day - Fran (my second cousin who hooked up my accommodation here) and her husband David came over the other night, and it was great to see them. Fran reminds me of a combination of my Aunts Bronwyn and Anna. They have asked Bryce and I to come down and stay with them in Devon which I hope we do sometime soon as it sounds amazing there - and being David is working in London (Chelsea) two days a week he wants to take us for dinner (in Chelsea... I wonder if we will see the Beckham's out and about?) So - this photo is for Mum and Nana and Bardy and any other whanau who are interested!!!
Anyway, So today was my first day, and I know you're all *dying* to know how it all went... so thought I'd write a post about it :)
I had my rescue remedy spray packed and ready in my bag- but it turned out that it was not required! I woke at 6am and jumped out of bed, into the shower and dressed. I was out of the house by 6.55am and on my way to South Ealing station. I arrived there at 7.05am and was grateful that the 7.04am train was running one minute late and I climbed straight on. It was the quietest I've seen the tube- only one other in my carriage. I said good-morning and smiled at him man but he just looked back at his newspaper. Still, I maintain to say hello and smile when I make eye contact with strangers. Maybe eventually others in London will do the same?! Perhaps not.
My train ride was 45 minutes and then 10 minutes on the bus to the school. To get into the school (which is surrounded by high fences!) you ring a bell and a beaming light comes out of the wall where there is a camera, so the office can see what you look like. I pushed it and a thick London accent asked who I was.... I told her and she buzzed me in. I then had to be buzzed into the office as well. My goodness- security central!
I was greeted by Hazel (the Helen Congalton of the school) and she called for the "Head" (Principal) Anne, to come and greet me. Anne ran up to me and enveloped me in a big hug and seemed genuinely excited to meet me. It was nice actually, and made me feel quite settled :) She then showed me around the school. It is four stories high, and the stairwells are bare concrete, with painted step edges and all smell like pee. Think the smell in room's 5-8 at MBIS and that is the smell it is. Haha. I also met another girl who is a Kiwi also - her name is Sam. AND would you believe it, she grew up in Browns Bay/Albany... and went to Westlake Girls. SUCH a small world!!! She teaches the Year 1's.
I was shown around the rest of the school, a maze of concrete and stairwells, and of course classrooms. The classrooms are *adorable* as everything is so small... I forget how big Year 7 and 8 students are in comparison!! After the tour and meeting many other new colleagues it was time for 'inset', which is their version of "Teacher only day". The meeting began with introductions, I was asked to stand for mine (cringe!!) and the staff all oohed and ahhed in excitement about the fact that they would no longer have to 'teach' their own music. I say 'teach' because from talking to them about what has been done so far doesn't seem to be much... and doesn't seem to follow any particular structure. It looks like there is a lot of work ahead for me to prepare lessons for the different classes, but I will of course need to meet the students and work out what they can already do and what they already know. I was given some useful lesson plan books this morning, but they seem to be quite old-school... not a lot of modern music which would really grab the older students, so I will work on that!
Typical... it is dark as and only 1.30pm!
The head teacher started to talk to us all about policies and how things work at Townsend, which I found quite funny because it sounded like everything she was saying, she was saying for the first time, as if everyone was new to the school. She was very passionate about some of her policies, including one about staff harassment. She has a zero tolerance for staff being malicious or nasty towards another staff member, and we have been told to say: "You are not being professional" and then walk away and come and tell her. This sounds extreme. I am not sure how many staff would be awful enough for this to happen?! She also spent time talking about gossip. She said it is not OK at *any* time to gossip about another staff member, and if you hear something, to never pass it on. Again, if someone on staff is heard gossiping about another, we are to say: "You are not being professional" and walk away. Interesting. It makes me wonder if they have had some staff problems in the past? How different all the information imparted today is from what we talk about at Murrays Bay!!! We are not under any circumstances to take photos of the children on our mobile phones, or personal cameras. If we use our personal cameras we must use a school memory card (do they really have different memory cards on-site for all the different types of cameras?!) and the memory card must remain on-site. There are a lot of safety regulations. Apparently there have been some terrible cases in schools involving children, so I guess all this is justified.
The second part of the day was a session introducing www.fronter.com which is a website much like Knowledge Net in NZ. In fact it is the exact same idea. It was really amusing for me to sit and listen to the teacher running it as this is the training I used to run, a few years ago now! Today was all about introducing it, getting staff familiar with how it works etc. The problem I had was that I knew how it worked, how it is beneficial and how to make the most of your pages and was literally *dying* to explain how it worked to staff, because so many were not convinced. Also it was a shame that the teacher running it only had a very basic page that didn't really offer anything for the staff to buy into... but I stayed quiet (and cringed on the inside when something was explained incorrectly and only confused people more!) and helped out the Year 5 teacher with her page when it came time to have a play around with how it works. It was actually very funny, because there were staff today saying the very same things about it that some of the MBIS staff said right at the very beginning. It is interesting we are 5-6 years ahead of this school. Learning about 'fronter' took up two and a half hours of my life that I'll never get back, but never mind! It is interesting to observe someone teach others about something you know a lot about (and I'm not boasting... it is not because I am more clever or anything, just that I have already used it since starting teaching!). I felt many a smile creep across my lips when I heard staff talking about this 'new' programme. The funniest comment was 'oooh do you see awl vhem fings you can do wif the right click then? Blimey."Haha. Saxon - there is even a lady who said 'I'm not bovvered am I?' and I had a smile about that and thought of you!
I had a chance to have a look at my 'music room'. Which is also a reading resource cupboard, a maths resource cupboard, a make-shift library - and an alcove in the hallway!! Sadly most of the instruments are damaged/broken although I did manage to find a pile of chime bars from the xylophones in a box... so I might be able to do some repair work!! It really is all in a pile... it was a little sad to see that this is how their instruments have been treated, and most of the drum skins had holes in them. The posters on the wall are coming down... tomorrow! I am so pleased I made some before I left NZ 'just in case'... turns out that they are going to make my little corner of the world much brighter!!
I have been given my timetable, which is a mix of three days music teaching to each class (each class is allocated one hour of music a week) and a day release teaching in Year 2, 4 and 6 classes, and one day teaching six students one-on-one who are way behind and will not come out achieving the level they should without some intense help... so that should be interesting. I will certainly be getting a mix of different teaching which is quite exciting, because I have only ever taught year 7 and 8, and now will be teaching students right across primary school. The teacher I am releasing on a Monday morning asked me if I would be OK teaching PE and music and reading in the three hours I have her class. She asked if I know how to teach PE. I thought that was funny too - perhaps she assumes I have only taught music - and don't know how to do anything else!
My day ended with the one hour trek home... bus then two trains. The Bakerloo line was nice and quiet so I got a seat (yusss!) but the Piccadilly line was *packed* as it is the one that goes to Heathrow Ariport, so there are people with their suitcases all jammed on there. 25 minutes of standing, UGH! Bryce and I are seeing two apartments tomorrow at 6pm, one in Southwark, and one in Kennington. Both are available now, so if we like them we could have somewhere to live by tomorrow which is quite exciting. I am loving living with Tony and Maria - they really are wonderful to us. But I do still feel like I am just on holiday... living out of my bag etc. It will be good for me to actually settle in to daily life.
Anyway, So today was my first day, and I know you're all *dying* to know how it all went... so thought I'd write a post about it :)
I had my rescue remedy spray packed and ready in my bag- but it turned out that it was not required! I woke at 6am and jumped out of bed, into the shower and dressed. I was out of the house by 6.55am and on my way to South Ealing station. I arrived there at 7.05am and was grateful that the 7.04am train was running one minute late and I climbed straight on. It was the quietest I've seen the tube- only one other in my carriage. I said good-morning and smiled at him man but he just looked back at his newspaper. Still, I maintain to say hello and smile when I make eye contact with strangers. Maybe eventually others in London will do the same?! Perhaps not.
My train ride was 45 minutes and then 10 minutes on the bus to the school. To get into the school (which is surrounded by high fences!) you ring a bell and a beaming light comes out of the wall where there is a camera, so the office can see what you look like. I pushed it and a thick London accent asked who I was.... I told her and she buzzed me in. I then had to be buzzed into the office as well. My goodness- security central!
I was greeted by Hazel (the Helen Congalton of the school) and she called for the "Head" (Principal) Anne, to come and greet me. Anne ran up to me and enveloped me in a big hug and seemed genuinely excited to meet me. It was nice actually, and made me feel quite settled :) She then showed me around the school. It is four stories high, and the stairwells are bare concrete, with painted step edges and all smell like pee. Think the smell in room's 5-8 at MBIS and that is the smell it is. Haha. I also met another girl who is a Kiwi also - her name is Sam. AND would you believe it, she grew up in Browns Bay/Albany... and went to Westlake Girls. SUCH a small world!!! She teaches the Year 1's.
I was shown around the rest of the school, a maze of concrete and stairwells, and of course classrooms. The classrooms are *adorable* as everything is so small... I forget how big Year 7 and 8 students are in comparison!! After the tour and meeting many other new colleagues it was time for 'inset', which is their version of "Teacher only day". The meeting began with introductions, I was asked to stand for mine (cringe!!) and the staff all oohed and ahhed in excitement about the fact that they would no longer have to 'teach' their own music. I say 'teach' because from talking to them about what has been done so far doesn't seem to be much... and doesn't seem to follow any particular structure. It looks like there is a lot of work ahead for me to prepare lessons for the different classes, but I will of course need to meet the students and work out what they can already do and what they already know. I was given some useful lesson plan books this morning, but they seem to be quite old-school... not a lot of modern music which would really grab the older students, so I will work on that!
The head teacher started to talk to us all about policies and how things work at Townsend, which I found quite funny because it sounded like everything she was saying, she was saying for the first time, as if everyone was new to the school. She was very passionate about some of her policies, including one about staff harassment. She has a zero tolerance for staff being malicious or nasty towards another staff member, and we have been told to say: "You are not being professional" and then walk away and come and tell her. This sounds extreme. I am not sure how many staff would be awful enough for this to happen?! She also spent time talking about gossip. She said it is not OK at *any* time to gossip about another staff member, and if you hear something, to never pass it on. Again, if someone on staff is heard gossiping about another, we are to say: "You are not being professional" and walk away. Interesting. It makes me wonder if they have had some staff problems in the past? How different all the information imparted today is from what we talk about at Murrays Bay!!! We are not under any circumstances to take photos of the children on our mobile phones, or personal cameras. If we use our personal cameras we must use a school memory card (do they really have different memory cards on-site for all the different types of cameras?!) and the memory card must remain on-site. There are a lot of safety regulations. Apparently there have been some terrible cases in schools involving children, so I guess all this is justified.
The second part of the day was a session introducing www.fronter.com which is a website much like Knowledge Net in NZ. In fact it is the exact same idea. It was really amusing for me to sit and listen to the teacher running it as this is the training I used to run, a few years ago now! Today was all about introducing it, getting staff familiar with how it works etc. The problem I had was that I knew how it worked, how it is beneficial and how to make the most of your pages and was literally *dying* to explain how it worked to staff, because so many were not convinced. Also it was a shame that the teacher running it only had a very basic page that didn't really offer anything for the staff to buy into... but I stayed quiet (and cringed on the inside when something was explained incorrectly and only confused people more!) and helped out the Year 5 teacher with her page when it came time to have a play around with how it works. It was actually very funny, because there were staff today saying the very same things about it that some of the MBIS staff said right at the very beginning. It is interesting we are 5-6 years ahead of this school. Learning about 'fronter' took up two and a half hours of my life that I'll never get back, but never mind! It is interesting to observe someone teach others about something you know a lot about (and I'm not boasting... it is not because I am more clever or anything, just that I have already used it since starting teaching!). I felt many a smile creep across my lips when I heard staff talking about this 'new' programme. The funniest comment was 'oooh do you see awl vhem fings you can do wif the right click then? Blimey."Haha. Saxon - there is even a lady who said 'I'm not bovvered am I?' and I had a smile about that and thought of you!
I had a chance to have a look at my 'music room'. Which is also a reading resource cupboard, a maths resource cupboard, a make-shift library - and an alcove in the hallway!! Sadly most of the instruments are damaged/broken although I did manage to find a pile of chime bars from the xylophones in a box... so I might be able to do some repair work!! It really is all in a pile... it was a little sad to see that this is how their instruments have been treated, and most of the drum skins had holes in them. The posters on the wall are coming down... tomorrow! I am so pleased I made some before I left NZ 'just in case'... turns out that they are going to make my little corner of the world much brighter!!
I have been given my timetable, which is a mix of three days music teaching to each class (each class is allocated one hour of music a week) and a day release teaching in Year 2, 4 and 6 classes, and one day teaching six students one-on-one who are way behind and will not come out achieving the level they should without some intense help... so that should be interesting. I will certainly be getting a mix of different teaching which is quite exciting, because I have only ever taught year 7 and 8, and now will be teaching students right across primary school. The teacher I am releasing on a Monday morning asked me if I would be OK teaching PE and music and reading in the three hours I have her class. She asked if I know how to teach PE. I thought that was funny too - perhaps she assumes I have only taught music - and don't know how to do anything else!
My day ended with the one hour trek home... bus then two trains. The Bakerloo line was nice and quiet so I got a seat (yusss!) but the Piccadilly line was *packed* as it is the one that goes to Heathrow Ariport, so there are people with their suitcases all jammed on there. 25 minutes of standing, UGH! Bryce and I are seeing two apartments tomorrow at 6pm, one in Southwark, and one in Kennington. Both are available now, so if we like them we could have somewhere to live by tomorrow which is quite exciting. I am loving living with Tony and Maria - they really are wonderful to us. But I do still feel like I am just on holiday... living out of my bag etc. It will be good for me to actually settle in to daily life.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
London: The first week
And what a week it has been. Everything is different, and our bodies are saying "What the??!?!!!".
BUT: Oh the things to see and do here that are not on offer in Auckland. This is why we are here. This is why I am here...
We met up with some friends of Bryce's on Wednesday evening and they took us to Hyde Park to the annual "Winter Wonderland", which is much like the Easter Show, but better (sorry Devin). Everything is on a HUGE scale, the make shift roller coasters were mind blowing (from the ground, don't be silly, I didn't go on it) and the lights and entertainment and the FOOD was amazing. I believe it is a German theme park, as all the food was German themed... we ate German Sausages, Pretzels and drank hot apple cider... amazing.
I have to say this was the most amusing food I saw... I would *hate* to the 'other' daughter who was not the 'best one...' And the spelling error; BLESS!
We tried on some of the local fashion headwear, but decided that the styles were not quite 'us'.
BUT: Oh the things to see and do here that are not on offer in Auckland. This is why we are here. This is why I am here...
We met up with some friends of Bryce's on Wednesday evening and they took us to Hyde Park to the annual "Winter Wonderland", which is much like the Easter Show, but better (sorry Devin). Everything is on a HUGE scale, the make shift roller coasters were mind blowing (from the ground, don't be silly, I didn't go on it) and the lights and entertainment and the FOOD was amazing. I believe it is a German theme park, as all the food was German themed... we ate German Sausages, Pretzels and drank hot apple cider... amazing.
We tried on some of the local fashion headwear, but decided that the styles were not quite 'us'.
Up close and personal with Santy Claus.
Oh Em Gee I look like my mother here...eeep!
All in all it was an excellent night, finished with a glass of pinot gris at a cheap pub, in true English style. I think it cost me £2.20 for the glass, so about the same for a cheap glass as NZ.
Being Bryce had not seen a professional musical before, we decided it was high time that we did so. We tried for Phantom but tickets were sold out until after New Year, so settled on "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" at the Palace Theatre. Our tickets cost £21.50 and were obviously seated high up in "The Gods" as we call it. I was bouncing with excitement at finally seeing a show, but managed to buy another coat (yes, another woo hoo) before going to the theatre. Thank you TK Max! When we went into the theatre and tried to get to our seats, the stairs were blocked off, and a steward boy who was selling sweets walked up to us and said "Oh, I'm ever so sorry, but we have closed the balcony today... someone should have told you..." I was thinking, OK, so what does that mean? And he said; "You have been upgraded to the circle, so sorry for the inconvenience."
Sorry for the inconvenience of paying peanuts for seats and sitting with the people who paid more like £50 pounds?! Haha! AMAZING seats, second row of the circle. I was blown away at how much detail I could see in the costumes, and what a stunning show. I loved it all over again (saw it in Auckland) and was incredibly impressed with the clean and complicated looking choreography which I don't remember being quite that impressive in Auckland. A highlight was when Alf Stewart from the Australian TV Show "Home and Away" strutted on... "Strewth, ya flamin' mongrels!". Amazing. Bryce was very funny throughout at the theatre magic "How did they do that?" etc, and he was blown away that this is the people in the shows actual job... how I would love for it to be my job!!!!!
So Bryce and I have walked A LOT of London now... it is a BIG place. There are LOADS of people and most people on the street are grumpy. But I maintain to make eye contact and smile at strangers... I have to say, about 1 in 10 will smile back... not too bad I guess!
We set up our Barclays bank accounts yesterday, and then went on a trial run to my school which I start at on Tuesday the 4th. It is called Townsend Primary, and I have found a relatively direct route which means I catch one train and one bus to get there... from where we are staying in South Ealing it is a one hour journey (argh!) but from Clapham Common (where we are hoping to live) it is only 30 minutes... bring that on!
New Years eve was last night. We went down to Parliament Square and arrived at about 10.30pm... nothing much was happening but the crowds were coming in thick and fast, so Bryce and I decided to go and get something to drink, which meant leaving the square. Big mistake, oops! We couldn't get back in again darn it! So, we ended up standing a bit further away from Parliament Square but still on the river Thames edge.
The fireworks were quite spectacular... and went on for what seemed like an age! Someone let off some Champagne and it showered down on us... that was exciting. A stranger did NOT kiss me (thank god, as most the strangers around us were toasted... and smelt bad...) and we started to make our way home. The usual 40 minutes MAX trip took us two and a half hours. I have never in my life seen so many people jammed into one place, the people on the tubes looked like sardines, strangers hugging strangers to stay upright on the train... you name it, we saw it. The most AMAZING thing I thought, was that there were apparently 250,000 people in Central London last night, and I kid you not - we sat across from the very same two men on the way into town, as we did on the way home. What are the odds in that happening? I couldn't believe it. So much so, I made Bryce take their photo. Without them knowing of course haha! Bryce was 'pretending' to show me his photos from the night, whilst sneakily taking their photo...
And today is New Years Day. I had a small sleep in, called Mum on Skype to wish the fam Happy New Year, and then ambled on downstairs after showering and dressing. I have since been sitting in the kitchen (which is the living area here... it is the wamest!) and have done much of nothing. For the first time since arriving... heheh.
Anyway.... that's all for now. I think I have bored you all enough!
Cheery Bye :)
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Hello London :)
The airport before we left was full of mixed feelings... I was OK until I cuddled Zoey, my sister, Mum, Dad and Ryan goodbye and then it was all downhill eeep!!! It was easier once I walked through the doors and braved my new start... and Bryce was feeling much the same, so we both smiled through it together and boarded the plane.
It was a loooonnnng flight, and I was pretty over it by the second flight.... the last four hours were definitely the worst. I watched a few movies (The Time Travelers Wife was really good....) and organised my iTunes music into playlists and albums. Very productive I thought!
There was a friendly guy sitting behind us on the plane who was pleased to make it into our photo... we felt we should take a photo of us on the plane, even though neither of us had slept and felt like death. You'd never know with those outstanding smiles! Especially the guy behind us. LOL.
Our stop-over in Kuala Lumpur was longer than exptected, we had three hours to kill so grabbed some coffee, freshened up (cleaned our teeth... amazing feeling!) and then did some duty free shopping. I got some perfume and was stoked with my purchase :)
When we arrived in London it was 5.15am, and 3 degrees outside. I knew it would be cold... but it was colder than I expected... and 3 degrees is warm by their standards!! We collected our luggage and tried to kill some time, as we didn't want to wake Tony and Maria (good friends of my Dad's cousin, Fran who we are staying with, who are, by the way, AMAZING hosts!) at such an ungodly hour. We killed time until 7am and then headed on down to the tube. Bryce was very excited as he was a London tube virgin so it was entertaining watching him so excited yet so tired in the face! He was the ultimate gentleman, and carried my backpack on his back *and* his own suitcase...
And I carried the rest. Most of which was mine. Haha. How stoked was I that musical instrument cases were allowed as extra hand luggage??!!!!
We decided to make the first day an epic day, and stay awake until bedtime, and being we were surviving of about three hours of cat-napping sleep it was no mean feat!! We took the tube and found all sorts of places, and ended up doing a heap of walking around London town, which was great as it is good to get your bearings above ground as well as below! We have seen so many amazing things so far... it is a bustling city with something to look at everywhere you turn. Some groovy markets, and lots of Christmas Decorations... Mum - you would love it.
Mum - I think you should start growing the BIGGEST hedge anyone has ever seen. Then get Tim to make it look like Rudolf. How cool would that be??!! DO IT!
We had the most epic breakfast, at "The Shakespeares Head", it was 7 pounds 20 pence (about $14NZD) to get this huge as breakfast *and* a pint of beer. Because everyone should drink beer with their breakfast... (it was 12pm, and our bodies thought it was 1am, so beer is probably more acceptable...). So this was our first official London town meal. We were still VERY tired...
Where was I... oh... that's right... LONDON!!! Theatre. OMG. I was literally jumping all over the place with excitement. I think I embarrassed Bryce haha... so many amazing theatres, and so many places to book cheap tickets! Where to start... what to see first... I am keen to see "The Railway Children" (cue laughter now) at Waterloo station this week, out of interest :) I am thinking Billy Elliot next week perhaps too... so much choice. So many shows, and not enough time. Oh wait- I have a year! Yussss! I was walking around, however, thinking how cool it would be to have the theatre family all come over and see something. And Mum... you would be so excited to see all these amazing shows.
Les Miserables. Oh how I love you. Haha.
We did the typical London tourist thing.. had photos with post boxes, which by the way smelt like urine. Like the strongest, stinkiest urine you have ever smelt in your life. We couldn't even close the door!! I am holding my breath in this photo haha.
Sarah: Yoo Hoo.... London calling...
Bryce: OMG! Batman, is it really true???
It was a loooonnnng flight, and I was pretty over it by the second flight.... the last four hours were definitely the worst. I watched a few movies (The Time Travelers Wife was really good....) and organised my iTunes music into playlists and albums. Very productive I thought!
There was a friendly guy sitting behind us on the plane who was pleased to make it into our photo... we felt we should take a photo of us on the plane, even though neither of us had slept and felt like death. You'd never know with those outstanding smiles! Especially the guy behind us. LOL.
Our stop-over in Kuala Lumpur was longer than exptected, we had three hours to kill so grabbed some coffee, freshened up (cleaned our teeth... amazing feeling!) and then did some duty free shopping. I got some perfume and was stoked with my purchase :)
When we arrived in London it was 5.15am, and 3 degrees outside. I knew it would be cold... but it was colder than I expected... and 3 degrees is warm by their standards!! We collected our luggage and tried to kill some time, as we didn't want to wake Tony and Maria (good friends of my Dad's cousin, Fran who we are staying with, who are, by the way, AMAZING hosts!) at such an ungodly hour. We killed time until 7am and then headed on down to the tube. Bryce was very excited as he was a London tube virgin so it was entertaining watching him so excited yet so tired in the face! He was the ultimate gentleman, and carried my backpack on his back *and* his own suitcase...
And I carried the rest. Most of which was mine. Haha. How stoked was I that musical instrument cases were allowed as extra hand luggage??!!!!
We decided to make the first day an epic day, and stay awake until bedtime, and being we were surviving of about three hours of cat-napping sleep it was no mean feat!! We took the tube and found all sorts of places, and ended up doing a heap of walking around London town, which was great as it is good to get your bearings above ground as well as below! We have seen so many amazing things so far... it is a bustling city with something to look at everywhere you turn. Some groovy markets, and lots of Christmas Decorations... Mum - you would love it.
Mum - I think you should start growing the BIGGEST hedge anyone has ever seen. Then get Tim to make it look like Rudolf. How cool would that be??!! DO IT!
We had the most epic breakfast, at "The Shakespeares Head", it was 7 pounds 20 pence (about $14NZD) to get this huge as breakfast *and* a pint of beer. Because everyone should drink beer with their breakfast... (it was 12pm, and our bodies thought it was 1am, so beer is probably more acceptable...). So this was our first official London town meal. We were still VERY tired...
Where was I... oh... that's right... LONDON!!! Theatre. OMG. I was literally jumping all over the place with excitement. I think I embarrassed Bryce haha... so many amazing theatres, and so many places to book cheap tickets! Where to start... what to see first... I am keen to see "The Railway Children" (cue laughter now) at Waterloo station this week, out of interest :) I am thinking Billy Elliot next week perhaps too... so much choice. So many shows, and not enough time. Oh wait- I have a year! Yussss! I was walking around, however, thinking how cool it would be to have the theatre family all come over and see something. And Mum... you would be so excited to see all these amazing shows.
Les Miserables. Oh how I love you. Haha.
We did the typical London tourist thing.. had photos with post boxes, which by the way smelt like urine. Like the strongest, stinkiest urine you have ever smelt in your life. We couldn't even close the door!! I am holding my breath in this photo haha.
Sarah: Yoo Hoo.... London calling... 
Bryce: OMG! Batman, is it really true???
Piccadilly Circus, looks amazing at night time...
The London eye, Parliament building and Big Ben in the distance. Haven't gone close to them yet, but we have time :P And we want a nice clear day for going on the London eye.
Oxford Street was *manic*. There were so many people, pushing and shoving and fighting their way into shops to get the best discounts... it was quite overwhelming actually, we will go back after new year when it *might* have quietened down!!
The park across the road from where we are staying... looks really eerie. This was early in the morning... it doesn't get much brighter than this to be honest!
Anyway, tomorrow we are venturing out on the Northern Line to find somewhere to live... it should be an exciting day... then to Hyde Park in the evening for something called 'Winter Wonderland' which sounds awesome. I bought a new camera today to replace my one which seems to be dying... it is the latest Sony Cyber-shot, Tx9... and it is amazing. Has a 3D function, and a panoramic sweep which should take some pretty epic photos!!! Looking forward to playing with it tomorrow!
Cheery bye :)
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