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).