Thursday, September 27, 2007

A Simone Update!

I feel like writing a random entry which may or may not be due to the fact that I'm on a sugar high and can't switch off! Trudy invited me to this church event - an evening with Bear Grylls, the man who broke his back and then went on to recover and climb Mount Everest at 23. It was a really good evening and he was really interesting to listen to. On the way out they were handing out chocolate brownies (I was greedy and had two!) and I think the sugar kicked in because on the train ride home I was prancing around like an idiot.

I have been good, I went to the gym today to combat the Heathrow Injection and when I was there I spontaneously decided that I would take up personal training again (mainly because the personal trainer I was talking to was HOT). Actually, no that's not the real reason. I've barely trained for the past two months because in August I spent a lot of time traveling (ahh it's a hard life) and when I got back I was really sick for a good 3 weeks with a few spots of recovery in between. So, I kind of thought that perhaps personal training might kick start me back into good health because I certainly need it.

I've been meaning to take photos of my new house and post them up but I've been quite lazy and I'm waiting for the cleaner to come so that the house is nice when I take photos but she hasn't been for a while. Kelly and I usually keep our room quite messy so I've got to wait until Kelly cleans her side of the room.. pfft. Our room isn't dirty it's just that it is a bit ... well, it's easy to chuck stuff on the floor cos sometimes what happens is I come home late when Kelly is already asleep and I don't want to wake her by opening the wardrobe and making noise so I toss my things in a corner.. she does the same and it just ends up staying there for a while until one of us decides to clean (usually Kelly) and then we both end up tidying the room! It works for us and we're happy (and both straight!)

London has been really great lately and I've been really happy. So happy that the thought of coming home in April kind of scares me, not because I don't want to come home for a visit but because I don't want to get back to London to find that things have changed since I've been gone.

Oh, after hearing Bear Grylls speak tonight I have decided that I want to travel around South America so that may be a plan for sometime next year. I either want to stay in London and get sponsored or I want to get a Canadian VISA and work at a ski resort in a resturant/bar or something and find a hot ski instructor to teach me how to ski. Trudy is thinking of doing this and I may just decide to do it with her. But, as I've always said, I just don't know what is going to happen and I can't say for sure. It's a year away yet and I can't foresee that far in advance. Also I would love to do a volunteer project in Cambodia or some 3rd world country - there is just so much I would love to do. At this rate I'll never be home.

My travel plans for next year (aside from Aus) hopefully include: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Morrocco, Croatia, Greece (again because I loved it soo much) and then maybe a month in South America. Then I want to try and do a volunteer project and then either come back to the UK which will be hard cos if I want to travel that much I will need to be back in time for school to start in September otherwise I will go to Canada and work there for a few months, travel a bit of the US, visit mum and travel Canada. But, these are just thoughts not concrete ideas!

Last thing - I'm booking my trip home on the weekend and I am going to be back around the 7th of April til about the 4th of May (but I may be in Thailand for the last week!) so keep some time free for me. Don't go planning any holidays cos I'm coming home to see you all - even though I may not have kept in massive contact with you all I think about you guys heaps and miss all of you more than you know.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

John Butler Trio @ Brixton Academy


When one comes to London there are certain things you simply must do before while you are here. One of these things is to go to a gig at the Brixton Academy. You just haven't gone to a concert unless you've been there. So when Jade mentioned that a few of our friends were going to see John Butler Trio @ Brixton Academy I had to say yes - even though I'd never really listened to John Butler Trio before (apart from Funky Tonight).

It was such an ordeal to get there though. I finished work at 3.15pm and was at the bus stop by 3.45 and I waited over an hour for my bus to arrive (I could have walked home, it would have taken an hour but I had the most uncomfortable shoes on so decided against that). I called the bus company who said the bus would be there shortly - which it was but such a pain. An hour!

So, by the time I get on the bus it's peak hour which means an extremely S L O W drive home. By the time I got home it was 5.30p and I had to meet the rest of my friends at the tube station at 6... turns out they were late so I had an extra 15 minutes - excellent.

We eventually made it to Brixton, stood in a massive queue to collect our tickets and made our way inside the venue. Sandra and I played a game of who can spot the most dreads before John Butler started! Sandra won 10-2.

It was an awesome night and they performed really well. I was really impressed and have since decided to download more of their stuff. A late night which meant a grumpy Simone for work today but it was well worth it.

As for work - oh - what can I say! I don't think I've ever wanted to cry in front of a class before this week. They have been so challenging and frustrating this week. I yell at them and get no response. Normally you can yell and you get at least a shocked look from the kids because they don't expect it - these kids have no reaction. I try to reason with them but they're consistently talking, calling out, fiddling with pencils that you can't hold their attention. I turn around to tell one kid off whose being a dick head only to turn around and find a pencil flying past my face and a bunch of giggling boys who think it's hilarious. It drives me insane.

I was also told by the head teacher that since I am planning some classes and taking specific subjects that I am going to have to keep assessments and write subject reports for those classes. This is exactly what I came to London to avoid. So, I rang my agency and told them this, I basically requested a pay-rise but even so I'm not sure I want to continue working in such a stressful environment for the next year. The agency said that they'd talk to the school to see what they say about a pay-rise and I basically told them that if I didn't get one then I wouldn't go back. I can get the same amount of money with less work doing supply. I'd rather do that. Decisions!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Being sick in London

I had the horrible ordeal of being sick in London but before I begin this story, let me take you back to the day where I decided to register with a doctor in Putney... I thought that before I got sick in London I'd register with a GP so that when in times of crisis I'd have help at hand... Well.. It took me a week before the doctors surgery even had time to regsiter me on their system and making an appointment was even more tiresome than getting registered. It turns out, in London, if you are going to be sick you need to know in advance and inform the doctors surgery at least 3 (preferable 4-5) days in advance so that they can see if they have a slot available for you to fit into... And then they only spend 5 minutes with you before shuffling you out to see the next 'patient'.

After an enjoyable 2 weeks in the Greek Islands I came back to London and got straight back into the routine of work... Only to then discover that one of the snotty nosed little shits that I teach had given me some disgusting illness which made me feel like I was going to die. I was in pain - I had a runny nose, an annoying dry cough, sinus issues, headaches which would not disappear even after taking 6 panadols, sore throat, loss of voice (no cheering!), earaches, sore jaw and I'm probably sure there were more symptoms which I've forgotten about.

So, after 10 days of suffering and taking several days off work I decided that I should go to the doctor. Anyways, I knew it would take ages to get an appointment if I went to my normal GP so I decided to go to a walk-in centre. I wander in around lunch-time and find a whole heap of people waiting and after hearing horror stories of people waiting 4 hours for an appointment I was a bit stressed.. Luckily I only had to wait an hour for my appointment and got shuffled in to see the nurse who told me that 'oh it looks like your problem requires you to see a doctor'... I wasn't sure what to say... I had so many thoughts running through my head mainly 'what the heck, isn't this a doctors clinic' but apparently you see a nurse who decides if you need to see a doctor and because I did I needed to get an appointment which they couldn't give me until 7pm that night! Frustrating times! Still, I was sick, I needed to get medication so I went home frustrated and came back at 7pm and got my antibiotics (which apparently you're not allowed to drink alcohol at the same time as taking them... Saturday night will be messy as a friend is having a house party!)

Anyways, it was such an interesting experience at the walk-in centre. Some of the people who came in were crazy. One guy came in with his eye pouring with blood and he pushed in front of the line to get to reception.. and one of the ladies in line had a go at him because of the fact that he pushed in even though his eye was pouring blood. He yelled at her and told her that his condition was more serious and she got really narky.

Later in the evening, a lady was in the waiting room drinking BEER and it appeared as though she'd wet herself. Hmm... and then, there was the woman who came in demanding to see a doctor because she was disorientated and was thinking about committing suicide and could she call her neighbor to look after her birds while she admitted herself to hospital! All at Charing Cross Hospital! Excellent stuff. I love the stories you get from living in London!

Anyways it's bed time for me, hopefully no more coughing fits during the night and antibiotics kick in and get rid of this chest infection/sinus congestion!!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Photos from Greece


Beautiful sunset

Me in Santorini
View in Santorini

Perissa Beach *with the black sand*