Still homesick...
Some of you may have caught me earlier this week hitting the depths of misery. I am still feeling very homesick, but am getting by. I am no longer quite at the point where I miss things like NZ Post and Auckland buses (that's when you know it's really bad), but I'm still yearning for the familiar.
School is probably one of the hardest adjustments, but then it probably was always going to be. Different school in a different country with different procedures, different expectations, different rules. I am finding my year 7 and 8s difficult to get allong with. It is a challenge I am going to have to look at in a different way.
I mostly have them in the afternoons, which is a horrible time to do maths, so I am going to have to look at changing the format of my afternoon lessons to accommodate for this.
Today the water went off around 10:30am so at about 12:30pm they closed the school (brief reprieve from year sevens at the end of the day!).
It has been a funny start to teaching here - two snow days and now this. There have been a few jokes, along the lines of 'now you can go back to NZ and tell them what teaching in England is like!'
I haven't been paid yet, which irritates me a little. It's not the school's fault. I don't really think it's anyone's fault. There just seems to be some crossed wires. Both the tax company and the agency seem to be keen to pay me, but they keep asking for paper work, which I swear I've sent them before. Whatever. By tomorrow it should all be cleared up.
I am enjoying walking to and from school. Sort of. It can be a pain in the neck, and it tends to be very cold. And dark. But the space to think is nice, and I get to walk along listening to my iPod, and it helps to just chill. And yay for exercise!
Speaking of which, they are starting up some sort of social sports club at school. I might join. I'll be useless, but I feel it will help me get to know other members of staff and provide some entertainment.
I am thinking I need a pick me up. I am hoping to go into London on Friday, maybe I'll look into booking myself some tickets. Where to, I don't know. Wicked and Les Mis, maybe. Or maybe one I haven't seen before. Tough choices.
School is probably one of the hardest adjustments, but then it probably was always going to be. Different school in a different country with different procedures, different expectations, different rules. I am finding my year 7 and 8s difficult to get allong with. It is a challenge I am going to have to look at in a different way.
I mostly have them in the afternoons, which is a horrible time to do maths, so I am going to have to look at changing the format of my afternoon lessons to accommodate for this.
Today the water went off around 10:30am so at about 12:30pm they closed the school (brief reprieve from year sevens at the end of the day!).
It has been a funny start to teaching here - two snow days and now this. There have been a few jokes, along the lines of 'now you can go back to NZ and tell them what teaching in England is like!'
I haven't been paid yet, which irritates me a little. It's not the school's fault. I don't really think it's anyone's fault. There just seems to be some crossed wires. Both the tax company and the agency seem to be keen to pay me, but they keep asking for paper work, which I swear I've sent them before. Whatever. By tomorrow it should all be cleared up.
I am enjoying walking to and from school. Sort of. It can be a pain in the neck, and it tends to be very cold. And dark. But the space to think is nice, and I get to walk along listening to my iPod, and it helps to just chill. And yay for exercise!
Speaking of which, they are starting up some sort of social sports club at school. I might join. I'll be useless, but I feel it will help me get to know other members of staff and provide some entertainment.
I am thinking I need a pick me up. I am hoping to go into London on Friday, maybe I'll look into booking myself some tickets. Where to, I don't know. Wicked and Les Mis, maybe. Or maybe one I haven't seen before. Tough choices.