Snow, Winter Wonderland & Ice Skating

 As you can see from the photo's we have had a lot of snow fall over the weekend.  Nath and I were keen to make the most of it so we wrapped up and went for a walk along the Thames to get some photo's.  Along the way my canvas shoes got quite wet so it was a good excuse to call into the shops at Hammersmith and buy new shoes.
Had a date night with Amy at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.  After looking around the rides and having hot chocolates we went to the Natural History Museum for a spot of ice skating.  It was freezing out but ice skating kept us warm.
This morning as Nath was off to work the temperature was -6, so I was pretty happy that I could stay in bed and read - gotta love school holidays!  Snow is forecast every day this week which could muck up our travel plans as Britian grinds to a halt if there is snow around.  We are taking the train to Brighton on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with my Uncle, then on the 26th we fly to Ireland for our New Year trip.  Once in Ireland we have a bus that drives us around, so there are plenty of opportunities for the snow to prevent us travelling!

Winter wonderland:

Ice Skating

In Bruges

We had an early start to the day for our trip to Bruges.  It was freezing and I dont suppose canvas shoes are the most appropriate footwear to have on in the snow! Had a fantastic day wandering around the market stalls.  We didn't buy anything except for chocolates, beer and a huge sausage for lunch.  We hid in local pubs to defrost our feet when they got too cold.  

On another note - I have spent 4 days supply teaching at my new school and the staff are lovely.  I have been invited to play squash, got invited at a quiz night and the staf xmas party.  I am going to the xmas party, black tie event, £55 3 course meal that the school is paying for - sweet. Much different to the Pram Coll partys that were held at school and we had to pay for the meal.  The students are pretty ok (for London) and already Im giving them stick and so forth.  I have probably taught most of the students that will be in my classes.  At each year level (7-11) there are two form classes and Il teach one yr 7 class and Justin the HOD PE will teach the other class at the same time.  Looking forward to starting in January.

1st Day of Snow

Finally the forecasted snow arrived in London.  It was a chilly walk from the tube station to work, and unfortunately the school is spread over 2 sites so I had fun walking between the two during the day and getting snowed on.  Not as much fun as the snow in Dunedin where we wouldn't go to class and would have snow fights until we were cold then would warm up in-front of the TV during the arvo. Nice.

Ice Skating - Somerset House

Nath and I had a fun time ice skating at Somerset House last night.  The temperature was below zero so it was pretty cold walking around London.  Hence why I have my hands in front of my face, trying to keep my cheeks and nose warm!  Nath was really good at ice skating - from his days as an ice hockey player.  He said I was better than he thought I'd be!
Yesterday we checked out some suburbs in North London - let the flat hunting begin.  Not only do we need to find a flat but we have to get someone to move in here.  And preferably before Xmas as we are away then and so are our current flatmates.  Next weekend is out as we are going to Bruges for the Christmas markets and more ice skating if we have time.
Here are some more pics from last night.  We walked across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye and came across a whole lot of stalls selling all sorts of Xmas treats and little gifts.  Gave us a taste of whats to come in Bruges.

 

 

No Longer a Lady of Leisure

Thats right folks - I have a job!  Scored a great job at a private school in North London.  Its a permanent contract so I get paid for the 17 weeks of school holidays.  Gotta love that private schools have more holidays than public sector schools.  Check out the web site at www.nlis.org  The school is an International school and teaches the Inernational Baccalaureate curriculum.  Students graduate with an IB Diploma which as well as academic grades includes hours devoted to the arts, community and volunteer work, and physical activity, in the aim of creating a well rounded citizen that will enhance society.  Teaching the IB curriculum will really enhance my CV, although Im not sure any schools in NZ teach this program yet.  Hard to believe that the NZ school year has nearly finsihed - what that means is that I've practically gone a full year with only working 5 full weeks.  Well I'll be in for a nasty shock come Jan when I start my 'real' job.  

London is starting to colder with our first snow fall forecast for later this week.  We still haven't turned on the heating which seems crazy but our flat is just so warm.  Nath and I are beginning to flat hunt though, as my job is over the other side of London, close to where Nath works, so it makes sense to move - looking at areas in North London.

On Saturday we went into Central London to visit the London Museum and check out the ice rinks that have opened up (we are aiming to ice skate this weekend after scoping out North London suburbs).   We went onto Bhav's for a night of rugby and poker.  Nath won so the winnings paid for Sunday lunch and ice skating this weekend.  Sadly Bhav and Emma move back to NZ on Tuesday :(  They will be missed. 

Loads of hype over the Royal Wedding - yawn.  It does give us a 4 day weekend (public holiday has been announced for the wedding day) so its a good opportunity to go away.  Nath being the huge romantic that he is will be keen to watch the Royal Wedding and soak in the atmosphere in London!  Will plead my case to shoot off somewhere, London will be crazy.

 

Looking out from Bhav's apartment to the Docks

Ice skating at the Tower of  London

  

Edinburgh

Nath and I had a fantastic weekend in Edinburgh.  To me it seemed like a large scale Dunedin, with many roads and landmarks sharing the same names. 
The main point of our weekend away was to watch the All Blacks play at Murrayfield.  It was a great game and the All Blacks had their biggest win over Scotland since ages ago.  The atmosphere was neat with bag pipes bursting out around the stadium.  One New Zealand supporter had his pipes so when the All Blacks scored points NZ supporters cranked out the celebrations.  Random hearing pokarekare ana on the bag pipes!
We have a couple of quiet weekends planned which means we will have time to do some Xmas shopping and get it in the post. 
This week is a bit of a hell week for me.  I got supply work Mon and Tues and now my week finishes off with 3 interviews on 3 days.  Not fun.  As interviews over here consist of teaching a lesson then having the formal questioningn there is a lot of prep to do before the interview.  I am particularly nervous about todays interview as I think I want this job the most! This is my second time going to the school for the interview process, today I have to teach a lesson, and Im not to sure my lesson plan is any good!  Will let you know how I get on.  Hopefully Nath and I plan something to do in the weekend to take my mind off these yucky interviews.  As we took the train to Edinburgh you get 2 4 1 deals on some tourist sites around London such as the London Dungeons, Madame Tussauds etc.  Maybe we will head into central London for shopping and a tourist activity.

All Blacks Vs England - Twickenham

 Pre Match drinks

 Helen showing strong support for England

 The drowned out Haka

Loyal supporters

At the pub afterwards - watching South Africa beat Ireland

We had a fabulous weekend with Helen and Chris.  It was neat to have them stay with us in London and of course go to the rugby together.  Twickenham was amazing, it was sold out with 80 something thousand in attendance.  The suport for England was so strong that we couldn't hear the Haka over the Sweet Chariot 'anthem'.  The result was in our favour but I would have liked to see a couple more All Blacks tries.  Today is a day of rest and recovery and maybe cooking some dinner.
We are very excited to be in Edinburgh next weekend and also watch another All Blacks games.  Im certain there will be more tries this time round.
Have been contacted by a few teaching agencies for long term jobs starting in Jan. I had an interview on Thursday and I have another interview on Tuesday with a different school.  Thursdays school as pretty much offered me a job but they're not sure if its for 3 or 5 days, so they're getting back to me with a more definite offer once they know what they need.
Gotta get back to my rest.
Manewa (my Maori facebook name).

Update

Last weekend Nath and I went to a travel show which promised discounts from numerours travel companies.  We were not disappointed when we went home having booked a day trip to Brugge (or Bruges) and a 6 day trip around Ireland.  The day trip to Bruge is at the begining of December and the point is to check out the Christmans markets.  Unfortunately anything we buy will not make back to NZ in time for Chrsitmas!  Bruge is meant to be beautiful, being a UNESCO world heritage site, so with the Christmas lights I think it will be very photogenic!  As it has some canals it is sometimes referred to as The Venice of the North.
Our trip around Ireland is going to be so much fun.  It is with a company called Paddywagon Tours - just the name alone sounds fun.  We are going for New Years so it will be great having drinks and celebrations with other people.  We will actually spend the night of the 31st on the Dingle Peninsula.  My brother and his girlfriend will be travelling with us.  The trip departs on 27th Dec and finishes on the evening of  the 1st.  Don't think we will be booking flights back on the 1st!
Soon the All Black's Tour of the Northern Hemisphere will begin.  We are going to two of the games.  Helen and Chris managed to get 4 tickets to the AB's Vs Engalnd at Twickenham on 6th November, its going to be a great weekend with H&C staying at ours for the weekend.  How much fun it will be ribbing Chris when the AB's win.  The following weekend we are off to Edinburgh to watch the AB's smash Scotland.  Lots happening in the lead up to Christmas.  Time is flying by.  We are now into our 9th month living in London.  It has nearly been a year since I finished work at Pram College, crazy.
Not sure what our plans are for Christmas.  Was thinking of ducking over to Paris but will probably spend Christmas in London and fly to Dublin on the 26th.  Nathan thought it would be nice to be around home so that we have internet access to be able to skype family and friends back home on the big day.
Half term break starts today.  I am working today but managed to get a teacher to log me on while Im supervising a class in the library/computer room.  Sweet.  I can see that most of the class are playing games but at least they're quiet which has enabled me to write this blog :)
Nathan is going to a ski show this Saturday in the hope that there are some deals on ski packages for the Feb school holidays.  That would be cool.  Also looking at a trip to Turkey for ANZAC day as ANZAC weekend falls on Easter weekend so it would mean Nath wouldn't need to take annual leave.  There are some 5 day tours that we are looking into.
The weather has taken on a chilly bite in the past 2 days.  So far I can still see daylight and the sun is shining, it just isn't very warm.  Winter is here!

Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath and Andrews' Family Visit

The Andrews' arrive in London!

Nath and I have had a very busy week. Brian, Lorraine, Kylie and Ashleigh arrived in London after 5 weeks of travelling around Europe. They were pretty tired when they finally got here but managed to pack in a lot of sight seeing in the 6 days that they were here. They had a day trip to Brighton and a day trip around Bath and Stonehenge. Also the usual London tourist spots were visited as well as having a curry down Brick Lane. While we were visiting Greenwich we came across barriers that prevented us walking around the Royal Navy College. It took a split second to realise that it was the filming of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie! I lay down on the concrete to sneak some pics from under the barriers but that didn't go down to well with the security staff!
It was sad to see the Andrews' leave as we don't know when we will see them again. Brian and Lorraine would like to come back and are already talking of places to visit. Kylie wants to come back to do Greece and little English towns. Hopefully they return while we are still here.

Windsor Castle

Stonehenge

Bath

Avebury

Thatched roof in Avebury

York, Hammerton, Knaresborough and Sutton Bank

The Shambles

Knaresborough

York town walls

York Minster

A wicked weekend had by all at Helen and Chris'. They live in a small village called Hammerton that has a post shop and a train station. It is a 10min train ride to York from their village. On Saturday morning we had a look around York - climbed the city walls, visited the York Minster, sampled local food at the market and walked down The Shambles. In the arvo we went to picturesque Knaresborough and rowed along the river under the train viaduct stopping in at the local afterwards. Saturday night was really fun with team challenges of Wii and Cranium - Naths favourite! Sunday was not a lazy Sunday. Nath and I walked around H&Cs farming neighbourhood - coming across blackberry bushes, pheasants and tractors. We all took a drive out to Sutton Bank where we did a track walk to the white horse carved into the hillside. After all the activity it was time for a hearty cavery lunch and then home time back to London.
It was great to catch up with Brenda and Jonte over the weekend, had loads of fun with everyone. It was neat to be with NZ friends (and Brenda bought us pineapple lumps and jaffas - legend).
Work has been picking up for me lately. I had 3 days work last week and this week I have 5 days. Three days are working for TFL (Transport for London) again so hopefully they keep booking me as they get busier. Nathan is away in Liverpool for work today and tomorrow. Doing some product demonstrations and hosting user groups for those that have the software already. His family arrive in London tomorrow evening so it will be a busy week trying to fit as many things in for Kylie and Ash to see and do before they fly out. We are hoping to hire a car and spend a day around Bath, Stonehenge and Oxford. I have Stonehenge is crap but I will go there myself and let you all know what I think. Im going to be knackered after this week - I havent worked a full 5 day week since the end of June.
This is a video of our boat race. Half way through Helen felt sorry for the losing boat and asked Chris to slow down. Very funny.

Pope's Visit

The Pope

Looking towards Buckingham Palace

St James' Park

St James' Park

Yesterday we lined the parade route to catch a glimpse of The Pope. Very pompous affair. The parade route was patrolled by police from 2 in the afternoon even though the drive by wasn't until 6. Nath and I arrived in town at 2 and had a look along the parade route then wandered around St James' Park. We also met up with Bhav and Emma who we managed to convince to come with us to see the Pope, and they convinced us to go to Brick Lane with them after for curry. Good end to the day. Especially as I bargained well for our group at dinner and got free popadoms, no corkage or service fees, and 2 4 1 on everything. So our dinner cost us £4.50 each - popadoms, vege samosas, curry, naan and rice. Bargain.