Zoo, Medieval feasts, and London (which is practically a zoo...)

So this week has been brilliant. As I think I mentioned last time, on tuesday I got to go to bristol zoo. I seriously love my job- going to the zoo for the day, and getting paid for it, whats not to love?!
The zoo was amazing, and yes I remained mature and controlled on the outside while on the inside I was very excited about the animals. I would list all the animals that I saw but I think you can all imagine what animals were there (and if not you can probably google it). There are definitely perks of going to the zoo with year 3's- you get to go into the class room thats decorated like a rainforest where the teacher lady brings out animals that you can hold and touch. For our school group, the kids held cockroaches (I still don't understand why they are in a zoo, but apparently they were from Africa or something so that means that people want to see them... I don't get it personally) but I was soon made happy when a snake was brought out, it was the first one I'd seen in 4 years, and it amazed the kids that we don't have them in NZ. The last animal we got to pet was a Lesser hedgehog tenrec (yes I did have to google that to remind myself) but oh dear me it was the cutest little thing ever!

Other then the zoo, the rest of the week was spent working at the school. I'm really starting to get to know the kids at the school- I can now tick some of them off the lunch time register before they tell me their name (woah there amazing memory). I also got to play an hour of netball with the senior girls because they were a player short, so I was volunteered, and actually had such a good time!

He was my lunch date at the zoo..
 He didn't seem to be too pleased about it..

The hedgehog thats not a hedgehog..
Sorry about the rubbish photo but it wouldn't sit still

I also got to play dodge ball multiple times this week (again, I get paid for this!!) and while I am horrific at the game, that doesn't stop me from getting overly competitive and very frustrated when my team kept loosing (probably because I was on it...)
Wednesday Night's dinner was amazing. It was a medieval feast, and god it was amazing! There were three types of meat, three cheeses, grapes, beer (ginger beer, but still) and the plates were a kind of amazing bread plate, so its safe to say I was in a food coma soon after I finished.

Sunrise on Wednesday morning - one of the perks of the wake-up duty

Right, so you all should be proud of me. I am currently sat in my Sarah and Martin's living room in London, and I got here all by myself!

This may not seem to be that impressive to some, but for me this was a massive accomplishment! It involved catching four trains, navigating my way through the London Underground with a suitcase (admittedly a small one...) and over 4 hours of travelling, but I did it! This weekend all the boarders went home for the weekend, so all the boarding staff got the weekend off! So instead of waking up in my dorm and spending the day at the school, I woke up in London and spent the day shopping. I may have spent a bit too much money, and there may not be any room left in my little suitcase, but I have finally spent the money I got for my birthday in JULY. To justify my spending, I actually did need a lot of the stuff I got, but not all of it (there may have been some impulse buys... oops). And again, I navigated my way across London all by myself (4 trains I think) and managed to stumble across the most amazing cookie shop in London (I'll definitely be going back as soon as I can). I battled the crowds of Oxford street and even braved Primark and got some crazy cheap clothes! Lunch was the amazing cookies, sat by marble arch in the brilliant sunshine (even though it was a bit cold..). I made the clever decision of heading back home before rush hour on the tubes- funnily enough I didn't fancy carrying my 6 bags of shopping across 2 trains without getting a seat..

Sunday walks along the river are pretty perfect,
even when its overcast and cold

Sunday was a little more relaxed – a ferry across the river from Surrey Docks Farm to Canary Wharf, and then a wander around the area before catching the ferry back. That was pretty much it. There was an amazing roast lunch, and some fantastic chocolates afterwards, but except for that the majority of the day was spent watching various things on TV. It's my weekend off, don't judge me (and after the efforts of saturdays shopping, I needed a day of recovery)
Monday was my day to do a bit of exploring.. I had a little sleep in, and then headed out all packed ready to head back to work. I managed to see Buckingham Palace (I was too busy to pop in for a cup of tea), walked down the Mall to Trafalgar Square, had a rest because my I was exhausted because I hay have bought too much and my suitcase was freaking heavy.. From Trafalgar Square I wandered down to the Houses of Parliament and saw Big Ben and the London Eye, which was swarming with tourists (which I have decided I am not because I didn't need to look at a map once, and I live here now, so therefore- not a tourist). And on that massively modest note, thats pretty much all I got up to this week! I hope all is well wherever you are in the world, and that I didn't bore you too much, although if I did, you can always stop reading ;)

While most people take photos of the Lions in Trafalgar square, I take photos of massive blue chickens instead

I was going to pop in for a cuppa but Betty was too busy, and I had too much to do..

Snow and driving - not at the same time thank God

So, another week survived. I am probably speaking too soon, but I love my job so much! I never thought I would enjoy working as much as I do, but I genuinely love nearly every aspect of my job! When I say nearly everything, I mean the 7.10 wake up twice a week to get the girls out of bed and to breakfast on time isn't really my cup of tea, but I guess it's all part of the experience. And I'm being cheesy, but on those days I get to watch the sunrise, which makes up for it I guess.

Now if you're thinking that this job is sounding really easy, think again. For those who have children, yo'll know how hard it can be to get them organised. Now imagine trying to get over 20 girls all under the age of 13 out of bed, and anywhere on time. And then again, but even harder, is trying to get them all into bed by their bedtimes, and getting them to NOT TALK after lights out. It's a literal daily struggle.

To make you feel even sorrier for me, although I do have the odd hour or so of free time during the day, on Thursdays I start work at 7.15am, and don't finish until 10.30pm. All of this on a small pay – which I have not yet received because its monthly.

Today I went driving with one of the people who work at the school, pretty much them making sure I'm a safe and responsible driver – which apparently I am, who knew? All I can say is that the roads here are terrifyingly narrow, and there always seems to be a massive truck coming towards me on every single corner. But all of the driving around the local towns today was for a point, as the school has a car that you can book out, and now that I've been on the test thing, I am able to book the car when I wish and go on a drive to where ever I want- within reason- as I think it'll be a while before I go on a full on roadie. The car isn't too hard to drive, but its verging on people-mover size, so I have made a mental note to always park in large parking lots, simply because there is more room for me to correct my inevitable failure of a park. Although judging by the size of the roads, a large parking lot may be a long shot and I may just have to park away from busy roads and (heaven forbid) actually walk places.

Other then a trip to Bristol Zoo tomorrow, there is nothing really new. I'm able to find my way around the school without getting lost! And it's becoming less surprising when the kids call me Miss Doole, and most of them actually pronounce it right! I even look like I work at the school, I have jumpers and coats and track pants with the school name on them, and all of them are lovely and warm which is needed because I don't think it's been over 5degrees in a week. On Tuesday it was particularly freezing because it SNOWED and I was massively over excited. Nearly all of the staff found it hilarious at how excited I was over a couple of centimetres of snow, and it properly settled for an hour or so, but then it melted within a couple of minutes of the sun being out..
I've signed up for Netflix, and have since wondered if it was a good idea that I have seemingly endless movies and TV shows at my disposal. But when you're spending all day around children, coming back to my room and watching a couple of movies keeps my sanity intact, so I think it was a good choice.

The snow on the school grounds.  It doesn't look like much but it got thicker, and my phone couldn't get a good photo of it...

I'm still no where near understanding the currency here. Instead of getting the correct change from my wallet, I just hand over the notes and get even more coins in return. I cant get over how many freaking coins there are here! It's all so confusing and makes paying for things really difficult. Hopefully sometime soon I'll magically understand them all, but I honestly don't see that happening...

The back of the school. You can see my bedroom window, but I can't be bothered explaining what one it is. Sorry :)

I think that's all for this week!

Survived the first week! WOO!

Okay, sorry for there being no updates at all, but the internet here decided it hated me just as I finished writing the original post, and it died, taking my lovely little update with it. So instead of starting it again straight away like I probably should have, I had a little tantrum and procrastinated for a couple of hours instead – which included a walk to the local pub for a cup of tea (how very grown up of me). But never fear! For now I have over an hour until dinner so I am re-writing it and hopefully this time with success!

So, I have officially been in England for a week now, and it has been such an amazing week!

I'm starting to feel settled into my new job and home, both of which are lovely. And I can also find my way around the majority of the school without getting lost- result!

Pretty much my job is making sure the kids are out of bed by 7.15am (not one of the highlights) and sending them to breakfast which I then attend myself. Then its either babysitting the pupils that get to school early – and by babysitting I mean sitting in the same room as them while they play and I read.- then I wander around the classes locating the children that weren't marked off on the roll. After that I spend the day either helping out in various classes- mainly sport (I had to play netball with year 6's. Thankfully they were all a foot shorter then me so it wasn't as horrific as it could have been) or I spend it in my room doing stuff. In the afternoons there's a bit more babysitting, and then the thrilling task of trying to get 20 hyper girls into their beds, and get them to stop talking. This would all be a bit easier if I knew their names so I could threaten them with the possibility of an earlier bedtime for the following night. But once they're all in bed, I go to bed too because jet lag has not been my friend recently, but thankfully that's pretty much gone now.

It may not seem like a lot, but spending a couple of hours a day outside on the netball courts in the English winter tires you out. It also makes you realise how tough these kids are, like they never complain about the cold. If it was like this in New Zealand, they'd move the lesson inside just to prevent the risk of goosebumps..

The other thing that I am surprisingly loving is the food. I was warned about tasteless, horrible boarding school food on multiple occasions, but so far the food has been so good! And if there is something I'm not overly fussed on, there is always another option. Also there is dessert with both lunch and dinner, and I don't have to cook anything myself!

The school which I live/work. Safe to say its by far the prettiest school I've ever attended.

So, so far so good. I've even got a bank account sorted, and am having a driving lesson on monday – watch out England.- I will try and update you all fairly frequently, but with this internet, and my amazing talent of procrastinating for what can be days, there are no guarantees that they will be regular, or have any form of grammar present in them. Sorry (not sorry)

The view from my bedroom window. Sorry for the crappy photo, but I am not a photographer, although I personally blame my phone for the bad shot...

My new room for the year. It's pretty cool because there's a kitchen just for us two Gaps, so I only have to walk 2 metres for food!