You all lied to me..
When I told people
that I would be moving to England the common response was something
along the lines of “why would you do that? Their summers are
awful!”. It turns out that this is not the case and you all lied to
me.
So last week after I
left you all, I did nothing except revisit my childhood by watching
Mulan. Its amazing how a film can entertain you when you're five, and
nearly 19.. (I hope it's not just because I have a very immature
mind, although I do fear that may be the case).
Monday night I had
to help put the kids to bed because the other Gap was on camp with
the year 8's, so again I actually did something on my day off!
Tuesday was relaxed
as usual, so I spent the morning skypeing the parents and worrying if
I would have enough room to fit all my stuff into my bags.. In the
afternoon I had senior games on the front field and it was so much
fun! We played rounders (and yes I do mean we, I joined in to make
the teams even and rediscovered my amazing natural talent at playing
rounders)
The only thing that
made it slightly different than any other tuesday was the fact that
it was probably 28degrees in the shade..
Apparently when I
was on pool duty that evening the other gap thought I still looked
too hot so he kept splashing me, but don't worry I got him back *evil
laugh in the distance*
that night was, like
every other night that week, spent nagging the girls to tidy their
dorms and pack their bags. It is seriously amazing and slightly
impressive at how quickly they can make their dorms go from spotless
to a complete bomb site..
 |
| Proof of the hot weather just incase you didn't think England could have a heat wave |
Wednesday was
insane. At 9am it was already 25degrees and it got hotter..
Thankfully I spent my day outside as usual, but the heat was nearly
unbearable. Forest school was spent helping kids to make pizza,
because they had their lunch in the woods (and the beverage of choice
was some really good elderflower cordial!) but even under the shade
of the trees it was too hot.
In the afternoon the girls had house
matches for rounders – they compete against the other houses in a
tournament. But as you can imagine in 30degrees, a stupidly high
percentage of humidity and no nice cool breeze, there wasn't a lot of
action happening. The year 8's had just got back from camp so they
were all shattered which was only made worse by the heat. The games
pretty much consisted of the girls hitting the ball, running round
the bases and then lying on the ground in the shade trying to get
cool. It was a hard afternoon to say the least!
Whole house night
was a little different this week, as the younger kids had to pack,
and so the year 7's and 8's had a waterfight. Now somehow I managed
to get absolutely soaking by simply walking over to the playground
with a water-bottle in my hand.. I was completely drenched in less
than a minute, which was actually quite nice because it was still
stupidly hot. However it did mean that my hair got wet and therefore
went frizzy...
 |
| Nothing like a good selfie to capture the aftermath of a watertight! |
Thursday was a
complete contrast to wednesday, as it poured with rain pretty much
all day. I didn't do a lot really, because it was the second to last
day of term so my timetable was pretty empty! I had year 6 games in
the afternoon but because of the rain they were all in the gym
playing dodgeball which was quite hectic with an entire year group..
That night the
weather cleared up just in time for the summer concert! It was a
solid two hours of kids performing their pieces and showing off their
talents – and they were seriously talented!
However because none
of them were my relations I soon got quite bored, although it did
remind me of my days in the school orchestra (as you could have
guessed I was one of the cool kids obviously ;)
Friday was a pretty
good day! Partly because it was the last day of term and the sun was
shining (but it was a reasonable temperature this time!)
in the
morning the staff played the year 8's in a “friendly” football
match. I didn't play because I didn't want to show them all up with
my incredible football skills, so instead I sat in the sun and ate my
fish and chips while watching them play, and thankfully beat the year
8's otherwise that could have been embarrassing..
That evening was
the leavers party, and my job was to sit in the hallway near the
stairs to make sure the kids didn't go into the dorms when they
shouldn't. It turned out that the spot where I was sitting was the
best place to be, because as the food came out of the kitchen they
walked past me, and so I got to have first choice on all the plated
of finger food (and god it was good).
After the party was
finished, all the kids watched films, because it was the last night
they would be sleeping in the boarding house so it was a bit of a
treat-night. We ordered in pizza and they had their tuck, and the
year 8's didn't get to bed till after 11 apparently, but I was in bed
by 10.30 because I was knackered.
Saturday was
officially my last day of work till september! I was up at 7 because
we had to make sure the kids had packed everything so that their
parents could pick them up and not have to worry about it. It was a
really hectic morning trying to get everyone ready for prize-giving –
I was running round the landing polishing girls shoes (I didn't know
what I was doing because I never polished my shoes at school but I
didn't tell them that)
Prize-giving was
really... how do I put this... dull. I mean it could have been
interesting if it was my sister or relation getting prizes, but
obviously it wasn't so I sat there for a good two hours applauding
these kids for their good work, being bored out of my mind the entire
time..
Though once it was
over, it was food time! So for the next four or so hours I wandered
around eating, chatting to parents and staff and saying goodbye to
the kids that were leaving (I may have nearly cried because some of
those kids were awesome!)
The school really
laid on the food, there was a Mr Whippy van and amazing desserts, and
free booze (even though that didn't impress me as much as the
unlimited free food.. but I had a glass of champagne because it made
me look sophisticated and I liked that :)
 |
| Tyla and I being mature at the post-prizegiving party |
 |
| I realised that I didn't have a picture of me (when i'm not behind a painted piece of wood) so i took a photo because i liked my skirt :) |
By the time all the
parents had left I was shattered, so I went up to my room and had a
little nap before I went down to the pub with some people from work-
for the last time in a while!. That night all the residents had
dinner together and it was such a good night! The food was amazing
(all home cooked, just not by me..) and we chatted for hours about
every topic you could think of! It was such a nice way to end the
term! It was an interesting night tho because at 2.30am we had the
brilliant idea to go and play dodgeball in the gym! We had the music
blasting and we were there playing dodgeball for a solid hour before
I called it a night and went to bed. I think that's the latest i've
been to bed all year! Because as I got into bed I could see the sun
starting to rise which was not as nie as you'd think because it
reminds you how little sleep you'll get..
Sunday meant leaving
the school with all my bags and making the journey to London. Now I
hate this journey at the best of times, but with 4 bags it is
absolute hell. I had my big suitcase, my small suitcase, my backpack
and a tesco's bag of tuck that the kids had left behind. All full to
bursting point and really heavy. And of course one of the trains was
half an hour late so that made it even more enjoyable! Now I don't
think I'd have been able to get my suitcases across London if people
hadn’t helped me carry them up or down the seemingly infinite
staircases that are at every station (because having lifts is a
ridiculous idea apparently). Every time I was struggling to get my
bags up or down the stairs some lovely human would offer to carry one
of them for me which restored my faith in humanity. By the time I
made it to Sarah and Martins I was shattered and sore, so I did
nothing for the rest of the day!
 |
| Views like this make the train rides a little bit easier! |
And so we are back
to Monday!
This morning I
headed into the city to get some things before I go off on my trip on
Sunday (!!!!!) and on the train into Victoria I saw someone famous!
Now most of you won't have heard of him, but I met Alfie Deyes! He's
a youtuber and has millions of subscribers (he's written two books
and is getting a Madame Tussauds wax figure!) So I got a selfie with
him, as you do, and then made my way to the shops. Now I was quite
good and restrained myself, so I didn't actually buy that much stuff!
And I did need everything (or most of the things) I got. I wasn't out
for too long because it was hot and the tube isn't a fun place to be
when it's hot (so i've learnt) so I came back, and started to write
this!
And so there you
have it! Another week gone, and no more boring work stories for a
good two months!
Now i'm not sure
when the next post will be. It might be saturday, or it might be in a
months time...
Either way there'll
be one eventually so don't panic!
So until next time
then....
 |
| Me and my new bestie Alfie :D !!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i was very excited, if you can't tell) |
