It's been a while since I've updated. Not because nothing has been happening, just the opposite, actually. This last term is proving to be busy, busy and since summer is on the way, loads of plans are being made. I've got just around 3.5 weeks of work left. It's incredible how quickly a year passes, yes? Got a cool Year 4 trip planned for a day in July. Stopped by Thinktank for a quick look today, in fact, and it is really cool. The kids will have a fab time! World Cricket Day was postponed because of the rain this afternoon. Bummer!

I am still sitting on some cool stuff that I can't share just yet. Soon, though. What I can share with you: I will still be employed at the same school in the autumn, thankfully! I will also be moving house, not likely to stay in the city centre, for a couple of reasons. Will visit lots, though!

The Birmingham international food festival has been a neat thing to check out. Mostly for the olive stand and the strawberry ale, admittedly. Plus,  the whole thing is best with enjoyed with sunshine.

Canada Day is fast approaching. Anyone in Brum wanna celebrate, Canadian or not? 

Hope all is well, all.

xx.

I am now on vacation until June 1st! I seriously love the amount of vacation time I get as a teacher here. These regular breaks are incredible!

I have been busy lately, with work as usual, as well as taking in a Ladyhawke show the other night (which was super, btw! - pics are up on Flickr and FB), and a social for the agency, etc. Tomorrow morning I am off to Leeds bright and early for the weekend. There is an incredible Thai restaurant there that I simply must get to while I'm there. Not sure what else is going on, but it will be nice to visit Leeds again. I quite liked it.

Next week I don't have too many plans, aside from dinner/coffee/drinks/etc with various peoples. Thinking of maybe driving down to London for a day, but we'll see. I also need to get a bit of marking and planning done. Otherwise it will be nice to have lie-ins and relax and just do nothing.

Things are good. Summer plans starting to come together a bit. I can't believe there are only 7.5 weeks left in the school year after the half term break is finished. Where does time go, exactly?!

Hope all is well, xx

This week was quite strange. Hectic, even though it was only a 4-day work week. Maybe because of, I dunno. Two weeks of work left until the half-term break. I await it impatiently.

I am brimming with so much good news, but I cannot divulge just yet.

Tonight some ladies and I went out for £3 cocktails. Good fuckin' times! It's now quarter past nine and just getting dark. I cannot wait for summer.

Hope all is well, all.
xx

So I am thoroughly enjoying my term break. I've done very little since coming back from Paris, just as I wanted. There is some work to do and it will get done, but I've been taking good advantage of the time off.

Paris was fantastic. It's a very beautiful, clean city (from what I saw). I almost wasn't sure I would go, after having stomach problems the weekend before. Still wasn't feeling well on the day we left but I am glad I toughed it out. Since I was feeling like crap when we got there, we basically just spent the first afternoon/evening in the hotel, which was located in Bastille and in a convenient location. On Tuesday I was still not 100%, so we didn't end up doing much until the evening, when we went on foot to Notre Dame. It was lovely at night! 

On Wednesday, it rained so we decided that was the best day to do the Louvre. We spent a few hours in there and barely scratched the surface. The building is huge, it would take days to see everything in it, I think. The building itself was really cool. A bit confusing to find specific things in, though. In the evening, we braved the rain and went by foot to the Eiffel Tower and L'Arc de Triumph. They are both beautiful at night, even in the rain.

On Thursday we got the best weather. It was warm and sunny and it reminded me of what spring is really like. We spent all day walking and seeing the sights. In the evening, it was time for a truly French dining experience, so we found a cute little restaurant near the Bastille. It was fabulous! The food was amazing, the service was perfect, and our server suggested a glass of red wine for me, and it turned out to be the best glass of red wine I've ever had. I don't know the name of it, though! I think I should email the restaurant and inquire. It was slightly difficult to find good veggie food, but I did manage to eat quite well in Paris.

We spent Friday walking around and seeing more sights, and went to the Sacre Coeur cathedral. We didn't fly out of Paris until 9:30pm. I was completely knackered upon arriving back in Birmingham, and it was totally worth it. I will definitely go back again one day. Pics are up on Facebook, might put some on Flickr as well.

I still have 4.5 more glorious days off. I'm thinking about booking a flight home to visit in the summer. Hopefully will be able to do that soon and plan that. I also have a week off in May and I am debating whether or not I want to go somewhere then. We'll see.

And now, I must get ready for a coffee date. I wish the damn sun would shine here!
Hope all is well.
xx

As it turns out, turning 30 is pretty painless. I don't feel old, don't look it either. These things, I appreciate.

A bunch of us will be going to the Slug and Lettuce for dinner before heading to the Fighting Cocks in Moseley for drinks. If you're in Birmingham, come along. If you're in Canada or elsewhere, you will have to arrange a date with me when I visit home, heh.

The term break starts next Friday. I am really, really ready for it. We leave for Paris on the 6th. I can't believe it's almost here. So excited! No doubt I will have loads of pics to show you when I return.

Have a lovely weekend, all.

xo.

Hello. I thought it might be time for an update.

Work is keeping me busy, busy. I had a student intern until Friday, which was her last day. Back to full-time teaching for me! It will be a little adjustment. We have OFSTED coming in this week at our school. Basically, they come round and make sure schools are doing what they are supposed to be doing, and doing it well. Nerve-wracking! 

There are 4 weeks left in this term, and then 2 weeks off. I cannot believe how fast the year is going by. I can't wait for the break, though - it means I go to Paris!

I joined a gym recently, which may or may not seem odd. But it's good fun and working out feels pretty awesome. I suck at kickboxing, though. Ha. I prefer Yoga.

I am on the fence about going home for the summer. I really miss people from home, and want to go visit, but I guess it depends what happens next year with my visa situation, and stuff. I'm going to see what I can do, though. There will be so many people I would want to see! 

There have been some decent new-ish albums that I have been listening to. I need more new music, though. Anyone have any suggestions? Mail would be cool, too. Ask for my address if you don't have it but would like to send me things.

The new season of Flight of the Conchords is hilarious! I have seen most of the episodes so far and it's just as great as the first season. I'm glad. In fact I will be having a FOTC Night, Part 2 very soon.

I have not left the house since Friday night except to get groceries this afternoon. I am trying to get ahead for the week and not feel so stressed. Got a feeling it's still going to be a long week, though. Roll on Friday!

Hope all is well with you.

<3

... on Flickr. They were really, really great!! I got a sweet T.

xox.

I put up some of the better pics from London on my Flickr account. I love London so much. I think it would be amazing to live there. This time round, I saw some sights that I hadn't seen on previous trips there, such as the Camden Market and Chinatown. Super cool! They were the highlights of the trip, along with the amazing Korean food at a restaurant called "Arirang," just off of Oxford street in Oxford Circus. Best K-food I've had outside of Korea! The weather behaved quite well while we were there, aside from a few little droplets of rain. They quickly disappeared.

Obviously, the half term break has been pretty fabulous thus far. I've been drinking good coffee, chillin', cooking good food at home, seeing movies, and tonight it's off to see Asobi Seksu at Barfly. Not sure what will go on for the rest of the week. More of the same probably. And in 6.5 more weeks, I will be heading to Paris! Fuck yeah.

Hey, friends at home, I miss yous. Come visit me.

xox.

...but never with the swanky new camera I have.
I will take many photographs this time. And post them here. (Or on Flickr.)

xox.

Can you imagine??!!?? It's been a year since I moved here. Much has changed and continues to do so, most of it for the better. Some things, not so much. But I do love it here and hope people will come visit me. Soon.

xox.

Last night I went with a friend to see New Kids on the Block at the NIA here in town. I agreed to go because she had bought tickets and then the person who was supposed to go with her ended up not being able to go. I have never seen so many women congregated in the same building at one time. There were maybe 10 guys there, ha!

Anyway, they played a lot of their new stuff, which I had not heard before, and I cannot say I am a fan of. They did silly things like grab their crotches a lot (did they even do that back in the day??) and close-up ass shots on the big screen. They said "BirmingHAM"  a lot, too. They did do "Step by Step" and "Hangin' Tough for the encore, though, so I guess that is some form of consolation. My 11-year-old self was probably very impressed. My 29-year-old self, well... Anyway, it was good for a laugh and lots of people there loved it.

Work is going nicely. I have a student teacher this term and it's working out quite well so far. We have 4 weeks until the half-term break, at which point we are taking a trip to London, to get out of Birmingham for a bit. For the term break in April, we are going to go to Paris for a few days. That will be exciting, since I have never been. I am compiling a list of the things I must see while there. Suggestions, anyone?

It's a bright, sunny day outside. I think I had better get out there and enjoy it - sunny days are a rare occurence lately!

xox.

It was a long trip back, with two stopovers, but I made it  here safely, really happy to be back. I got picked up at the airport and headed home. After some food, a shower, and a power nap, I was good to go. We ended up going to Island bar with the intention of going to the square to see fireworks, but ended up drinking a lot of wine and we decided it would be best to just stay there and hang. It was a good time! I took a lot of pictures, but now my memory card has decided to be stupid and won't let me view them. Boo.
I have the next few days to relax and get ready for the return to work. I love having time off. So much. I think we are going to Merry Hill tomorrow to browse/shop a little bit, and then maybe take in a movie. There doesn't seem to be too much playing right now, though. Sarah is taking off to Amsterdam tomorrow, so I will have the apartment to myself for a few days. That will be nice.
Well I hope everyone had a nice celebration last night, and HNY, everyone! I'm listening to the countdown on CFMH and making pesto pasta. I love relaxing evenings. 'Til next time, y'all...

<3

I've had a wonderful visit home! Big thanks to everyone who made it fun. I put up some photos on Facebook, and will probably put some up on Flickr, too. I am not sure when I will visit home again, it depends on a few things, so it's awesome that I have had such a wonderful visit.
I am heading back to the UK tomorrow. I'll be in touch when I get back. It will be NYE afternoon by the time I get there. Not looking forward to the trip, but it will be really nice to get back.
Have a wonderful New Years Eve, y'all. I hope your holidays have been swell.

xox

Hi all,

Made it home safely after about 26 hours on the go. Got in around 4:00AM New Brunswick time. My flight from Detroit to Bangor was an hour late taking off, so that pushed everything else back a bit. I am just glad I got home safely and before the storm started!
It's really nice to be home! I have yet to do anything besides eat homemade Xmas sweets, watch TV, and internetting, but I am happy to be here and cannot wait to see everyone. Tomorrow I will get a haircut and meet up with some old friends.
One of my Christmas gifts was an awesome new Leica camera. I have put a few pics up on Flickr of the German Market/Birmingham, and will continue to add more as I take them.
It's nice to see the snow. I only say this because I don't have to put up with it for another 4 months! ;) I'm happy that we will have a white Christmas, as will the rest of Canada, it seems!
Take care all - cannot wait to see you!

xox.

I will almost be home. Let's hope the weather cooperates. So far it seems like it is supposed to be OK.
I cannot wait to see everyone at home! And to those in Birmingham - Happy Holidays! See you when I get back.

xoxoxox.

As someone pointed out, I've not updated this thing in a long while. Why have it if I'm not going to update it? Well, I will update tonight.

Work has been very busy this half-term. I have put in lots of early mornings and long days. This week, it appears to have let up a bit. Eid was today, for those of you who may not be in-the-know, so most of the kids were not at school today. It was a (strangely) quiet day but it allowed for us to carry on with our planning and getting ready for the last little bit of what is left of the term. Wednesday is our school trip to the cinema to see "Madagascar 2," and then in the afternoon it's our Eid/Xmas party. I know of at least 30 kids who are going to be extremely excited that day! ;) Next week we will have our Christmas concert and "Year 4's Got Talent," and Friday is a teacher training day. I assume these last few days before the break are going to fly by.

I'm getting a student teacher in my class next term. This should allow time for me to observe some other teachers in action, and to prepare for doing my QTS. I will hopefully see some progress in that area by Friday. That's all I will say about that for now!

Friday was our staff Christmas party. I think almost everyone got a little sloppy. My coworkers learned that I am not always a quiet presence in the room. I learned to never switch to cider after too much wine. I had a fabulous time, and I'd have to say it was one of the best staff parties I've been to.

So in 12 days, I will be on my way home for a visit! Eeeeeee! The excitement consumes me sometimes. I've got some shopping left to get done, and I hope to finish it all by the weekend, between socializing other weekendy things. I also need to get to the German Market at least once more before I go home. My plans for home (after I sleep off the jetlag) include rum and soynog and eating lots of food made by my mother. Oh - and lots of being lazy until I head to Halifax!!/Moncton/possibly Fredericton (for a bit). Join me in any of these things, plz!

All in all, things are very lovely and I'm excited and happy about so much stuff. I really should get some pics of Birmingham to show those of you at home - it really knows how to clean itself up for the holidays! The German Market is really cool. If I don't get some shots, I will "borrow" some from the roomie to show you. It's really fabulous.

I'll try to keep in touch more often.

xox.

Hi all. Just a quick post today. I have brought work home from work, as usual, which awaits me, but I thought I'd update real quick and say hi.

Just so you know, I will be home from December 20th (late - so I guess really, I will be home on the 21st) until the 30th. I am going to have a tight schedule while I am home so as to fit as many people in as possible. I will be in Hartland/the area from the 21st until Boxing Day. On Boxing Day, I may venture down Fredericton way. On Saturday the 27th, I will be in Halifax. Back to Hartland on the 28th and then leave on the 30th. I want to be back in Brum for New Year's Eve. (Anything going on then, btw? If not I will make something happen at my place.) So if you are going to be around on those dates, let me know. I'm totally excited to be going home again!

Did some shopping on the weekend. I've yet to buy Xmas gifts for anyone. Instead I am almost ready for Xmas parties! Got a fabulous red dress and some accessories. Just need some heels, now! Oh and gifts for people, of course.

The crowds here on the weekends are getting really huge and crazy, I guess because of the holidays approaching. It's starting to look Christmas-y all over the city already. It's kinda early, I think.

There are lots of things coming up in Brum that I look forward to before visiting home. Parties, shows, movies, hangoutz, etc. Lots of work, too, but I think that goes without saying.

There's your quick update for now. Keep in touch, y'all.

xo.

Hello all. How are things? I am having a fabulous half-term break. Amsterdam was super cool, chill, and fabulous! I highly recommend it.
On Sunday we took off just after 1pm for Amsterdam. Me being the nervous flier that I am had to have a couple of glasses of wine before takeoff. It was fine. Got to Amsterdam on time and found the hotel really easily. It was about a 2-minute walk from Centraal Station. Found a fabulous Italian restaurant for dinner, explored the city on foot for a couple of hours, and then basically crashed for the night.
Monday morning proved to be sunny and pretty. We found coffee and croissant-type things and then set off for adventures. We ended up getting I Amsterdam tickets and taking the tram to see the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, an outdoor market, and tried to do a tour of the Heineken brewery, but that was closed until November. Boo to that! But the stuff that we did see was super cool. In the evening, we had dinner and then went on a canal cruise. I want to live in a flat on a canal in Amsterdam. It was absolutely incredible to see.
Tuesday proved to be rainy in the morning, but we set out anyway to see a synagogue and the Jewish History Museum. Once we got there, we walked around the buildings only to realize that we could not find the entrances. It was pissing with rain, so eventually we gave up and took the tram back to the centre and went to the hotel to dry off. It did clear off, though, so we set out again. We went to Anne Frank House, which was absolutely amazing. I'm not going to lie, it was an insanely moving experience. Especially when you get to the end of the tour and can see the actual diary on display in the bottom room. OMG. I did not leave that place dry-eyed. In the evening, we found a fantastic Thai restaurant near the Red Light District, which was super cool to see itself. The odd thing was, it didn't seem as sleazy as one might think it would. I kind of wish we had spent more time than we did walking around and exploring it.
Yesterday we went out to quickly get a few souvenirs of Amsterdam and then checked out of the hotel. We made our way from Centraal Station to the Schipol airport and hung out there for a few hours before taking off for Birmingham. Good times.
The trip was incredibly cool, and Amsterdam is a beautiful, relaxing place to see. I was not once sketched out, and I didn't come across any seriously dumb or annoying people. Everyone speaks English there, which was convenient, since Dutch is not one of the languages that I have experience with... yet. Haha. I would totally go back to Amsterdam. Go there if you ever get the opportunity. I do have some photos of the place (Mak's were better) that I will post soon.
I had a spurt of homesickness yesterday, sitting on the plane back to Birmingham. I was thinking about the awesome people at home, and how I will be going there in a couple of months for Xmas, and I felt an incredible longing to see my friends and family and it was almost overwhelming. That does not happen to me too often. I guess I just cannot wait to see everyone, because after Christmas, I am not certain when I will go home again. When I got home, a package full of goodies from Mary was waiting for me on my bed. It was like a sign of something. I teared up reading the note she sent with it. I cannot wait to visit for the holidays.
Today I got some marking done and tomorrow I have to get some planning done. Then I will have tomorrow evening and the rest of the weekend left to just chill and enjoy the half-term break. I love my time off so much. It's seriously awesome.
Now I must get going. I hope all is well with whoever reads this stuff. Details about my Xmas trip home will be verified ASAP. I will keep you updated, if you're interested.

xox.

It's been a busy, busy term, hence the lack of updates or posts recently. And we are now officially on break until November 3rd! I think we've totally earned it -  I say "we" as in our year group at work (we rule, basically). Since we're all pretty much "new" teachers, we are not totally sure of everything that we are doing, but we are getting on very well. And now it's time to relax and not be in teacher/stress mode for 9 whole days!
I plan on sleeping in lots, and having loads of good times in between. We leave for Amsterdam on Sunday, for 3 nights! The hotel we've booked is in the heart of it all, hellz yes. Not too sure of the whole game plan yet, but I have heard so many awesome things about the city that I cannot wait to explore it in person. Pictures and details will follow.
I need to finalize plans (and book a flight home) for Xmas. So many people I want to see, so little time. I will be home for approximately 10 days. More info. to follow about that.
Tonight it's off to have a late dinner with a co-worker and some others at Brindley Place! I guess I should go get ready! 

It's a nice, quiet weekend here. I love my weekends. I'm not up to much, since I'm currently recovering from a case of tonsilitis and a crazy infection on my hand. Apparently whatever bug attacked my system and gave me tonsilitis tried to get out through my fingers. Weird, I know. Never happened to me before. Hopefully it's getting better now. I am feeling much, much better.

So work has been keeping me busy. Had parent interviews on Thursday. They went quite well. I have two more weeks of work until half-term break. It has been decided that Amsterdam is my destination. I have a wonderful travel partner and I'm totally pumped to go! We'll be leaving on the Sunday and back on the Wednesday in time to catch Hot Chip at the Academy. SO EXCITED FOR ALL THESE THINGS.

Tomorrow, the roomie and I will host a small Thanksgiving dinner here, in honour of the holiday back home. There will be brownies (made from a mix from home, even) for dessert! haha. I'm waiting on a superawesomewicked package from my best bitch that includes Pumpkin Spice coffee. My autumn will be made when I receive it!

I'm thinking about doing my Qualified Teacher Status, which means I will be fully qualified to teach in the UK (officially) and I will be able to get a work permit and stay here indefinitely. As of now, I want to stay longer than what my visa is for, so that would rule. This would begin after the new year.

So that's a small update. I'm still loving being here. I hope very much that I will get visitors from home over the course of this year. So far, at least one person is sure about it! :)

Hope you are all well!

<3