Chiswick

Just a really quick update as Im in an internet cafe and should be updating my cv!
Nath and I have moved into our flat. Its a brilliant location, just off the Chiswick high st, but unfortunately the walls are very thin and we can hear the people upstairs and even our flatmates in the next room quite easily. Things you don't find out about a place until you move in!! It is quite a newish building and the flat itself is quite big, 2 bdrm, 2 bathrm which is awesome. Will post some pics soon. Still waiting for internet to get connected at home. BT have to connect the phone line before O2 can hook up the net. Even then, our laptop has got another virus/crapped out yet again. So eve if we did have internet we wouldn't have access. Ugh.
Long weekend here coming up. Really feel the pressure to go somewhere exciting but unfortunately we have decided not to, and put the £ towards a new laptop.
Nath is loving his job. It seems fairly cruisy (how does he get cushy jobs all the time!!) and he wears jeans and t-shirt to work. Only wears a suit when having meetings. He has landed a sales/marketing job with a fairly new company that is still in the set up stages. Great business experience for Nath.
Not a lot of work around for me coming up to half term. Have been booked for a PE job starting after half term and going til the end of the school year. Still persisting with applying for permanent jobs for Sept start. Hence the CV update im supposed to be doing.
Better go, only 19min of internet time left (after being on facebook for a large chunck of the 1st 40min!!!).
Hope the rain has stopped in NZ.

Venice

Speed boat racing

Night time in the Piazza

Nathan, myself and a group of 8 others spent the weekend in Venice. It was an amazing weekend away and it still hasn't sunk in that we went to an international destination just for the weekend! Crazy. Up early Saturday morning, taxi picked us up at 5am, and we flew into Bologne. From there we hired a car and drove to Venice.Once in Venice we got a water taxi to take us to the island of Murano - the home of Venitian glass. Here we saw a glass blowing demonstration and wandered through the many shops selling glass creations. Had our first gelato of the weekend in Murano. Headed back to the mainland to have a look around and check in to our accom just off the Piazza San Marco.

Everyone spoke English and we did not once have to speak any Italian. Very different to South America where even in tourist destinations there is no english spoken.

On Sunday morning we did the quintessential Venetian gondola ride. It was very relaxing and surreal. We got up early so the canals were not to crowded. There was a racing carnival on so we got to see all the gondola crews dressed in racing stripes and warming up along the grand canal. On our canal ride we went past Mozarts house, Marco Polo's house and something else I can't remember! It was amazing to see the water lapping at people's front doors. Unfortunately global warming is causing the water levels to rise and this causes big problems for the population of Venice.

We had planned to do a walking tour after the gondola ride but our informant got the time wrong so we missed it. We did our own walking tour instead along the canals and because we had a GPS we explored the back streets, weaving in and out of narrow alley ways and over bridges that cross the canals.

We left Venice early arvo to give us time to have a wee look around Bologne before our flight home. When we first parked up we were in a bit of a dodgy area so busted a move fairly quickly to a nicer part of town. Found a lovely road side restaurant for alfresco dining that had amazing food before flying back to London (Stanstead). We were lucky that we got home as Stanstead was the only airport open as the others were closed due to ash.

Today Nath has had his first day working at his job. Will let you know how it went. Hopefully he liked it. He is working for a company that markets and sells financial software to the NHS and other big organisations. He is on a base salary plus comission - so he has incentive to work hard.

I have an interview on Wednesday for a Head of Girls' PE position. Not sure Im suited to the job as I haven't had a chance to get my head around the curriculum and the key stage levels yet. Have a timetable for the interview day and it is hard core. 5 applicants, all rostered to teach a lesson and have a formal interview. Im there from 8:30-4! Will def need a drink after that one. I have researched the school and my first impression is not that great but will see when I get there. Unfortuantely it is on the other side of London to where we will be living!! We are moving flats that night (if all goes well). We have found a flat Chiswick (where Colin Firth lives) and are flatting with an English couple. The flat is in a brilliant location but maybe not as nice as we wanted. I guess once we get our stuff in there it will feel a lot nicer. I will have to work a lot more than I have been now that we have rent and bills to pay.

Hope all you Kiwi's are snuggling into winter.

Get your fires going.

Photo's (to keep you interested in my blog!)

Inside the Museum of natural History. The building itself was as amazing as the exhibits.

Outside the Norwich Cathedral.

The Tower of London. The guards exchanging the password. The password must be said to get into the tower at night.


Tower of London.

Looking out from our deck to the Thames. The Thames is one of only a few tidal rivers in the world.

1st Month over already

Nath and I are into our 5th week in London. Time has gone by so quickly.
Since our last blog we have been keeping a fairly low profile in London. We have:

• been to the Museum of Natural History
• caught up with my friend Sara from Uni
• been to the British Museum
• caught up with Nick and Alicia who we often ski with
• had a day trip Norwich where Nath had an interview
• moved house (twice!) and still not in our final destination. Still looking for a room somewhere, staying with friends at the moment (Boz - you know them. We are staying with Philippa Brown who worked at EY with you)
• caught up with Helen and Chris (yay). Had an afternoon at the pub followed by a rugby match at Twickenham. The stadium is amazing and I was super excited to be at such a big venue. Helen is hopefully sourcing tickets for England v All Blacks in November. Go the ABs (All Whites are still my number 1 team though xxx)
• crossed off a few more London landmarks - covent garden, trafalgar square, leicester square, hyde park, royal albert theatre, kensington gardens

At the moment I am working for a week at the same school doing PE relief. Its an ok school but does take 90min to commute each way :( Next week I start a 4wk block with a school in South London, Cator Park, so that should be all good. I have started applying for permanent jobs for the start of the school year. A family has emailed wanting me to live with them in Rome and speak English to their 2 girls over the summer break. Im looking into it.

Nath's job hunt continues. He has a few interviews each week which is promising.

We randomly booked flights to Venice with a group of 8 friends. We are going in 3wks and its just for the weekend. Totally bizzarre that we can go to another country just for the night!! Awesome. Nath reckons if the canal ride is too expensive he will row (?) the gondolar himself!!!

Thats all folks.

If you want to get in contact or leave a comment but aren't sure how to do it via the blog, email me on hey_mich@lycos.com or nathan at nathan.andrews@yahoo.co.nz

Brighton

My Uncle's church - built in 1795

The main st in Brighton, heading down towards the sea

At dinner in a curry house down Brick Lane. I put this photo up to prove we have friends in London!

The rear end view of St Pauls Cathedral

Nath and I went to Brighton over Easter weekend to catch up with my Uncle and to see a bit more of the mother land.

Brighton is cool - I liked the vibrancy of the people. A lot more colourful than Londoners! We went to Brighton Pier which is totally tacky and the 2nd most visited tourist attraction in all of England!! We also went to church!! I only went because my Uncle is the priest and he said I would get easter eggs if I went. So you know that I'd do anything for chocolate. Poor Nath was a little out of his depth and didn't enjoy the experience at all (not even the easter egg hunt at the end of the service!).

Thursday before easter we had a dinner in Brick Lane with Bhavik, Emma, Fraser and a few others. Brick Lane is a road that is totally covered in Indian restaurants and you can bargain with restaurants for meal deals before going in. It was fun and reminded me of South America where we would negotiate free drinks before entering restaurants. We then hit a kareoke bar to send Anu back to NZ in style.

It is school holidays over here so no work for me for 2wks, and unlike in NZ, no pay either :(

Nathan is busy with job interviews this week, he has at least 3 lined up already. Bought himself a nice snazzy suit so hopefully that will help the job prospects.

Obviously now we are not travelling and settling into 'normal' life again the blog wont get updated as much. I dont want to bore you with everyday life stories.

Still keep checking back though cause I will keep you posted with anything exciting that we have done.

For now though,

Over and out.

1st week in London

The row of houses where we live in Herne Hill

Me outside Grandma's house


Nath took this photo - and thinks its quite good cause you can see my eyes and mouth!

London has been great so far!

I have had 2 days of work. The 1st school I went to was really poorly organised and the students behaviour was terrible (it put me off teaching in London). My agency later admitted that it was one of their tougher schools on their books. Good move sending me to a tough school on my 1st day. My other agency sent me to a much nicer school, although stil not brilliant. Students involvement in PE lessons is minimal and the teachers seem ok with this. On Tuesday I am working at a school that is looking to employ me for 4 weeks afte easter break. They have seen my cv and are really keen to see me teach. This 4 week stint could lead to a permanent job for the beginning of the school year. This school achieved top 75 GCSE results and is only 2 stops away on the overland rail :)

Nathan has had several interviews with recruitment agencies and has an interview with a company on Thursday.

At the moment we are living in Herne Hill which is a really cool suburb with lots of character. Its only 8mins by overland rail to Victoria station. Next stop down the road is Brixton which doesn't have a good name, but has a vibrant feel to it. Not sure how long we will be in Herne Hill as we are bunking down for 3 weeks in a spare room. 2 weeks to go then we might be living under the rail bridge!

Today we have done a little spot of sight seeing. We went to the London Museum because entrance is free and learnt a lot of the history of London. After we went to Buckingham Palace and had a wee nosey. Tomorrow we might head to Clapham to check out the area, as we think this is where we want to settle. Clapham sounds like its an STI like "I got a bit of Clapham in the weekend" and "my Clapham is really itchy"

Easter is next weekend and Im excited to report that the easter bunny does appear to visit London :) Nath and I might pop on down to Brighton to catch up with my Uncle and to see a bit more of Britain.

The weather is fairly poos - not freezing cold but still need to wear a jacket when venturing out. The morning has good weather but it clouds over and gets dark by lunch time.

M&N

London (and photos from Santiago)

Baggage claim at Santiago Airport

A very expensive pair of shoes!! Actually only $70 USD

Looking out over the city from the cable car

We have arrived safely in London and are loving it so far. We mastered the underground on day one and have not got lost once. This may change as I have to find my way to work without Nathan to help me.

We are onto our second home already!! We lived with Bhavik and Emma for 3 days and now we are living with Simon for 3 weeks, and then who knows where we'll be.

I met one of my teaching agencies the day we arrived and I got job starting Monday!! Im working up north at Frien Barnet school. Im really nervous and not sure what to expect - in terms of student behaviour and PE Dept resources. Im thinking Im going to have to get up really early for the 1st morning to allow for peak hour on the tube, which Nath and I haven't experienced yet.

Loving watching live premier league football (even Nath is watching it and reckons he could learn to like it).

The cost of living is cheaper than we expected. On our night out we got 4 red bull vodkas for $12 (we dont have a pound sign on our NZ laptop). Also clothes and shoes are cheap as are pub meals :) Check us out with our cheap drinks at The Walkabout.

Will keep you posted on how work went. Nath has two interviews with recruitment companies on Tuesday and Im hoping on Monday he gets a hair cut. I also need a haircut as Im over the ginger mullet, but I will have to wait for pay day.

Tonight we will have to cook dinner for the first time in 7wks! It was fairly weird having to walk to the supermarket then walk home with all your groceries. Usually I would drive. I dont think supermarkets here will let you take home trolley's like the old days back in Dunedin. If we want to go to a bigger supermarket with more selections we have to take the tube and that will be weird carrying groceries on the tube. When in London...........