culture shock... or something like that
The great trek to Walmart turned out to be a bit more of a trek than anticipated. Two buses, sounds simple enough. We got off at the wrong bus stop first of all, so had to get back on the same bus (it's an express so they come like every 10 minutes anyway) to the correct stop, where we could get on the 92 that goes to Walmart. What we didn't realise is that it only comes once an hour - cue forty minutes waiting around.
We did eventually get there though... cue the Great Disappointment of Walmart.
Everyone always bigs Walmart up, so yes, we went with great expectations. It wasn't like the shop was disappointing (I bought twelve ice cream sandwiches, pretty successful if you ask me), but there was a severe lack of trolley etiquette. I'm not sure if that's a thing, but it's now a thing. And clearly, Brits have it, and I'm not convinced many people over here do. Everyone was just like let's charge around this extremely large shop with very narrow aisles only thinking about ourselves, because it's not like it'd be logical to let other people in when they've been waiting a whole five minutes.
sfksldflsfkjsklfjlsdflsjfkldldfsldjflks and breathe.
Rant over.
Almost. (It was really annoying).
Basically, Walmart made me miss nice, calm trips to Asda Gosforth. I didn't think I'd ever say that, but yes I did. Sort of can't believe I just said that.
We then missed the bus home by what must have been seconds, and ended up waiting literally 55 minutes for a bus. We were sat on the curb of the road with shopping bags looking like actual tramps, it was all very sad. Plus it wasn't particularly warm - but we did manage to blag the WiFi from the Italians behind us. If you're not going to password protect your WiFi, you're asking for it pal.
I do miss home a bit. Okay, I'll be totally honest. I miss home quite a lot. I'm not sitting around crying about it, but at the same time, I feel like I'm not getting anything out of this experience that I couldn't have got at home. It's mainly because the stuff I'm doing at work totally sucks at the moment - I'm introducing myself, and leaving. Whilst I love the questions from the students and having a bit of banter with them, it's long days filled with almost nothing - until I actually start working properly. Plus I'm unlikely to get many days off when I actually start working, because of this weird timetabling thing that they're doing. I'm looking into whether I can change this but we'll just have to wait and see.
I hate saying I'm missing home, because people just assume you're miserable. I'm not miserable. I'm having a pretty good time actually. I just need work to slot into place - right now, the Monday morning dread is like the same as it was at actual school. I do have faith that it will all work out pretty soon. I think. Na it'll be sweet. I've emailed the girl who worked in my school last year to see how she dealt with it all.
I can't remember if I explained last blog post (I probs didn't), but the way the timetable has been planned at the moment, I'll be following one single teacher for each cycle of nine days. That means I'll be expected to attend every single one of their classes. Which, when I'm working for the teachers who basically work part-time, is awesome. But when I'm working with the full-time staff, it kinda sucks a bit. I personally think there'd be far more sensible ways of doing it, but I'm not really sure how much control I have over it. That's a lie, I know how much control I have over it- none whatsoever. I'd really rather have a timetable that stays the same every week, with a couple of heavy days and a couple of days off. Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
So yes, this has probably a bit more of a sober post than the rest of them. Please (this is mainly to my parents I guess) don't think that I'm woefully depressed and sat here drowning my sorrows with a bottle of wine - though now you mention it, that bottle of wine appeals quite a lot. Quite the opposite, I'm tucked up cosy in bed (yes, that bed that I now have), watching Sherlock. Anyone that knows me knows that that is my idea of heaven, so fret not. There may be a few bumps that need straightening at the moment, but on the whole, life is pretty good. I'm actually quite excited to start proper teaching, because the kids so far seem to be really good. So, as it was when I was living with the family, I'm in a kinda limbo, teetering on the edge of something great but having to wait around for a bit. Waiting's good for the soul. Not sure if anyone said that, but now I have, let's make it a thing.
I do really miss squash though. Like the juice. It's nowhere to be found in this province, though I hear it's sold in British Columbia. I can't really afford to shop it from Vancouver though. I'm getting by with a combination of a low-sugar powdered ice tea and a mixture of flavoured/herbal/green teas that smell incredible but really just taste like colourful hot water.
I should probably nap it out now - it's almost half 11 and I have the delights of a 6.18 alarm in the morning. Yes, 6.18 is a stupid time for an alarm. But 6.15 makes me want to vomit, and yet I can't justify the extra 5 minutes. It's a good middle ground. Speak sooooon.
We did eventually get there though... cue the Great Disappointment of Walmart.
Everyone always bigs Walmart up, so yes, we went with great expectations. It wasn't like the shop was disappointing (I bought twelve ice cream sandwiches, pretty successful if you ask me), but there was a severe lack of trolley etiquette. I'm not sure if that's a thing, but it's now a thing. And clearly, Brits have it, and I'm not convinced many people over here do. Everyone was just like let's charge around this extremely large shop with very narrow aisles only thinking about ourselves, because it's not like it'd be logical to let other people in when they've been waiting a whole five minutes.
sfksldflsfkjsklfjlsdflsjfkldldfsldjflks and breathe.
Rant over.
Almost. (It was really annoying).
Basically, Walmart made me miss nice, calm trips to Asda Gosforth. I didn't think I'd ever say that, but yes I did. Sort of can't believe I just said that.
We then missed the bus home by what must have been seconds, and ended up waiting literally 55 minutes for a bus. We were sat on the curb of the road with shopping bags looking like actual tramps, it was all very sad. Plus it wasn't particularly warm - but we did manage to blag the WiFi from the Italians behind us. If you're not going to password protect your WiFi, you're asking for it pal.
I do miss home a bit. Okay, I'll be totally honest. I miss home quite a lot. I'm not sitting around crying about it, but at the same time, I feel like I'm not getting anything out of this experience that I couldn't have got at home. It's mainly because the stuff I'm doing at work totally sucks at the moment - I'm introducing myself, and leaving. Whilst I love the questions from the students and having a bit of banter with them, it's long days filled with almost nothing - until I actually start working properly. Plus I'm unlikely to get many days off when I actually start working, because of this weird timetabling thing that they're doing. I'm looking into whether I can change this but we'll just have to wait and see.
I hate saying I'm missing home, because people just assume you're miserable. I'm not miserable. I'm having a pretty good time actually. I just need work to slot into place - right now, the Monday morning dread is like the same as it was at actual school. I do have faith that it will all work out pretty soon. I think. Na it'll be sweet. I've emailed the girl who worked in my school last year to see how she dealt with it all.
I can't remember if I explained last blog post (I probs didn't), but the way the timetable has been planned at the moment, I'll be following one single teacher for each cycle of nine days. That means I'll be expected to attend every single one of their classes. Which, when I'm working for the teachers who basically work part-time, is awesome. But when I'm working with the full-time staff, it kinda sucks a bit. I personally think there'd be far more sensible ways of doing it, but I'm not really sure how much control I have over it. That's a lie, I know how much control I have over it- none whatsoever. I'd really rather have a timetable that stays the same every week, with a couple of heavy days and a couple of days off. Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
So yes, this has probably a bit more of a sober post than the rest of them. Please (this is mainly to my parents I guess) don't think that I'm woefully depressed and sat here drowning my sorrows with a bottle of wine - though now you mention it, that bottle of wine appeals quite a lot. Quite the opposite, I'm tucked up cosy in bed (yes, that bed that I now have), watching Sherlock. Anyone that knows me knows that that is my idea of heaven, so fret not. There may be a few bumps that need straightening at the moment, but on the whole, life is pretty good. I'm actually quite excited to start proper teaching, because the kids so far seem to be really good. So, as it was when I was living with the family, I'm in a kinda limbo, teetering on the edge of something great but having to wait around for a bit. Waiting's good for the soul. Not sure if anyone said that, but now I have, let's make it a thing.
I do really miss squash though. Like the juice. It's nowhere to be found in this province, though I hear it's sold in British Columbia. I can't really afford to shop it from Vancouver though. I'm getting by with a combination of a low-sugar powdered ice tea and a mixture of flavoured/herbal/green teas that smell incredible but really just taste like colourful hot water.
I should probably nap it out now - it's almost half 11 and I have the delights of a 6.18 alarm in the morning. Yes, 6.18 is a stupid time for an alarm. But 6.15 makes me want to vomit, and yet I can't justify the extra 5 minutes. It's a good middle ground. Speak sooooon.
Comments
Post a Comment