Ireland

A great time was had by all on our trip of Ireland. When we flew into Dublin all the fields were snowy white and looked stunning.  Dublin itself had had some snow melt so was very icy when walking around the city.  In the morning we started our tour with Mark on the paddy wagon.
Mark was hilarious and made the tour very worthwhile. He was great at explaining the history of spots we were visiting, especially the troubles in Northern Ireland.  Often he would play us songs that were relevant to the place for example U2s Bloody Sunday in Derry where 13 unarmed protestors were shot dead by British Soldiers. Our favourite song was 7 Drunken Nights by The Dubliners - a man suspects his wife of having an affair.  It is very catchy and we requested it alot, and tried to sing it coming home drunk on a few occasions.

Hopefully the song posted above so you can listen to it while reading the blog. 

The first part of our trip was in Northern Ireland - we stayed a night in Derry and Belfast.  The troubled past between Catholics and Protestants is terrible.  We did a black taxi cab ride round Belfast to se the walls that still seperate the two sides.  But whats silly is that the heart of the city is a neutral zone so catholics and Protestants work together no problems but then label themselves one or the other at home time. Silly buggers. In Northern Island we visited the Giants Causeway and walked the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
We then moved down to The Republic of Ireland which is on the Euro.  We did so many cool things.  Its great having a local guide as we had many little stop offs to things like the fertility stone and the Leprechaun wishing well. We took a ride in horse carriage around Killarney and kissed the Blarney stone hidden up the top of the Blarney Castle. The highlight of the trip for me was walking along the edge of the Cliffs of Moher.  Crazy how the clifs drop straight down to the sea below. 

The 7 nights we were Ireland we went to the pub pretty much twice a day - for lunch and dinner.  3 nights turned out to be fairly decent sized nights out.  We spent New Years night in a tiny spot called Annascaul which is on the Dingle Peninsular.  The hostel we stayed in was attached to a pub called the Randy Leprechaun so we started our night off there.  In the town there was one street with 6 pubs along it so we pub crawled down the street but only went into one other pub.  The others were closed or empty.  Arrived back in London with much bigger beer bellies and decreased funds in the bank account.

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.