Hey everyone!
so, awkward story. I like started this blog and then it got to the stage where I was all like 'ohhh but I can't possibly blog about this week... I haven't done last week's yet!' which continued and continued and now i'm stuck with just some blurry recollections of what actually happened the past... month? really? wow. The following post is pretty much just trying to get my blog up to date, so please excuse it's lack of detail/disconnectedness.
Well the weekend beginning the 5th February was pretty tiring, what with all the hype about GFactor. On Saturday the girls all took part in a cheerleading workshop of which i stood around and took photos until I had to go back to the house to supervise the lacrosse girls. (and yes, they play lacrosse here. c'mon. it's kind of obligatory, being an English boarding school and all). So then I just went on facebook for like half an hour, which was a nice break. The girls then spent all arvo practising for GFactor and there were tears and tantrums aplenty.
GFactor itself was pretty good. Some of these girls are extremely talented and they all seem to be able to sing and play musical instruments. However I was kind of preoccupied with trying to remember our own dance. Yup, us Gaps had to do something too. So we put on the school uniform, brought sexy back, and then produced some awesome moves which were just dripping with cheese. (Like even cheesier than the Domino's pizza adds... with the extra cheese layer and the cheese puff crust). It was all in all a hell of a lot of fun.
That week was a fairly normal one, as most weeks here are. I got up early on Tuesday and Wednesday as normal, slept until almost midday on Monday and Thursday as I've become accoustomed to, called Louisa on Monday and Wednesday, probably spoke to parents as well at some stage. Nothing exciting that I can remember.
Friday was a fairly quiet Friday, as we went to Oxford the week before. Yve, Caitlin, Greer and I decided to have a cook off - Yve and I teamed up alongside a chocolate chip recipe, while Caitlin and Greer went carrot cake on us. The result: slightly undercooked (stupid oven) cookies and carrot cakes with delicious cream cheese icing. Leaving them to cool on the window sill attracted the attention of the Martins and a few cookies disappeared from our supply. We still had a lot more than we could eat so we sent some up to the Gap flat for the others to try. Anyway, we then went and saw Black Swan. Still not sure if i liked it or not. It was amazing, disturbing and a little bit of a mindfuck, and the costumes and set were amazing.
Went out to Yates's Friday night which was a bit of fun. Actually a lot of fun (except when Georgie's leather coat got stolen ) and Em, Aisling and I fully enjoyed tequila shots. I think we caught a taxi back which was good, because the hill is at it's meanest after a night out. Then Em and I sat on the couch and laughed for about half an hour before I crashed in Izzy's second bed for the night. I gotta say, her bed is amazingly comfortable. Amazingly.
Saturday 12/02 got to sleep in until about midday. After lunch the girls took part in a skipping workshop (and who am i kidding... I took part as well). it was a bit of fun, and the instructer was 'well fit' - according to the girls.
Sunday 13/02 - day before valentine's day. Fairly boring day as far as I can remember. After lunch we played ball games in the sport hall until the girls started to get annoyed at each other... 'Miss Egan, N just threw the ball realllly hard at me on purpose!' 'Miss Egan, J is cheating! I hit her and she's not going out!' and luckily it was then time for the IVs to go back to the house for their pamper day. The IIIs, who were slightly put out to hear about the manicures and facials that the fourths got to get, didn't seem too enthusiatic when it came to another hour of ball games, so after about 30 minutes of it, we went over to Highlands (the junior house) to make Valentine's Day cards with the younger girls.Fun. Actually it was pretty chill, just hanging out with the uppers, teasing them about who they were planning on sending their cards to, and generally just having a bit of a chat. And we got chocolate that evening at the Valentine's Day Service.
Then yet another week of the normal. The weeks kind of seem to drag sometimes, and nothing really changes. Get up, get the girls up, send them to school, work til 10, break, hang out with the other boarding gaps, pick up the snack, welcome the girls home, send them off to prep, put laundry away, dinner, help the girls, hot snacks on wednesday, thursday and friday for certain girls, send them to bed, lights off,
The routine sounds pretty basic, but it's a bit draining, especially when there's nothing really intellectually challanging.
So that's basically up until my Germany trip, for which I will start a new post. That's if I ever actually get around to it. OMG JANET JUST STOP BEING SUCH A SLACKER! nah it's cool. I have a lot of caffiene in my system, so I'll see what I can get done before dinner.
Til next post, (which is hopefully very soon!)
bye
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Time flies... like a G6
Wow... I've been here a month... It actually does not feel that long
Another week is over, and I can’t believe that it’s less than 2 weeks until I get to see awesome German people again! And go to Berlin! Wooo!
But enough ranting, time to put the thinking cap on and reflect on last week. How did it make you feel? Uhuh. Uhuh. Good? Well, that definitely means that you’re harbouring repressed sexual feelings for your father.
But seriously, Freudian allusions aside, it was pretty good as far as weeks go. Saturday was pretty nondescript. I was exhausted from getting hardly any sleep on Friday, so it seemed to go really slowly. Whilst half of the girls cooked dog biscuits with the dept. House mistress, (and don’t even get me started on those. Like gourmet canine cookery... wtf? It eliminates the best part of cooking – eating... not that that really stopped me from trying one of the parmesan and oat biscuits when no one was looking. Shush. It’s our little secret. But anyway, the dogs seem to like them), I watched the girls practise their acts for the talent show. A lot of them are doing dances. Watching them dance is kind of worrying. For 13 year old girls, they sure seem to like to use their hips. And each other. And basically anything that stands still long enough for them to grind up against. However they’ve assured me that that classifies as ‘dancing’ in Nigeria, and promised never to dance that way in front of the Headmaster.
Sunday was a trip to the London Science Museum which is actually a lot more interesting than it sounds. It has so much interactive fun stuff to do, and tbh with a group of 12 yr olds, we were hardly going to be reading anything that wasn’t on a computer. However it was exhausting and I must admit there were moments when it was extremely tempting to steal the girls’ chocolate biscuits for a little extra energy. Lol dw, I wouldn’t actually. They’d never forgive me.
Monday... I actually have no idea. I slept until midday and only just made it to lunch in time. Then I probs called Louisa, and I think Yve, Caitlin and I watched a few episodes of HIMYM. And then I probably had a nap.
Tuesday...worked, ate lunch, and then I think I had one of the most amazing naps ever. Now don’t get me wrong, I think all naps are great. Sometimes I think I should just be an old granny already, just so i can have regular naps. But this one was particularly spectacular. It was so hard to get up at 6 to get ready for work again.
Wednesday... can’t remember anything of interest.
Thursday was a bit exciting. I got to sleep in, something which I really look forward to. However I always stay up late on Wednesday night if only because I know that I have Thursday morning off. But I end up getting even less sleep than normal. Which is a bit annoying. But after supper we had a bit of a surprise for the girls. We decided to have another fire drill, something that they wouldn’t expect, because they’re used to them happening early mornings. By making it as real as possible we’d be able to properly assess the girls’ abilities to react to such an emergency, without the reluctance normally associated with fire drills. So we’d liaised with the local fire brigade who came in to help us set everything up. Smoke machine in the kitchen? Check. Fire engines waiting to come to our rescue? Check. Girls in the house, chilling, doing prep etc? Awesome.
Anyway, it was really full on, but kind of exciting. The smoke poured out from under the kitchen door really fast, and the girls started freaking out and everyone evacuated in under 60 seconds. It was actually a bit scary as well, even though us staff knew that it wasn’t real. I also did admit to a couple of girls that it was a drill, because a few started crying and freaking out a bit down at the meeting point, but overall it worked really well. And we got to watch the firemen do their thang. (The girls were sliiightly obsessed with them. ‘OMG THEY’RE COMING!! Get ready to wave!!! Oooh they’re soooo fit’ so yeah, typical 12-13 yr olds really) and then afterwards we simply went back and I got to eat some of Olivia’s delicious chocolate birthday cake. Good day. But dreadfully draining.
Yesterday (Friday), Yve, Caitlin, Greer and I headed down to Oxford for a day out. The forecast said 10 degrees and I was so so excited that I decided that if I wore a big woollen jumper, I could go without a coat. Big mistake, I spent all day freezing in my 40denier tights, with really strong winds. I think I might be getting sick now
But oxford was incredibly beautiful. We bussed in which only took 50 minutes or so. By the time we got to Oxford, we’d all decided to compete in weekly or fortnightly ‘masterchef’ competitions with each other, and yve and I had decided to start sewing/making/altering clothes again. I really need a hobby. Like my free time is a joke. I do nothing worthwhile at all.
I digress. Anyway, we started off by walking through the gorgeous streets and looking at beautiful architecture. We stopped at an Oxford souvenir shop and checked out the Covered Markets which had the most amazing cake shop. They had such wonderful displays in the windows, especially of wedding cakes. We zoomed off to the Oxford Castle and took a tour. It was great, as the guide was a character from its history – a thief who had twice escaped – and she kept us well entertained, especially when it came to the Castle’s history of being haunted!
We also drank this really yummy hot chocolate and climbed a grassy hill. It’s more exciting than it sounds.
We hat lunch at EAT which was pretty good, and had a Mcflurry on the way to Christ Church. Christ Church University was so amazingly beautiful. Like it had all the spire/turret romantic scenery thing going on, and the buildings were just spectacular. And to think about all the smart people who learnt there... right back to when it was first built. Ahhhhh! I would actually love to study there.
All in all it was an amazing day, and I’d definitely love to go back if we have time. It’s funny. I imagined being at Godstowe and travelling everywhere and anywhere, being able to see everything. But now that I’m here I’ve actually begun to notice how little time I actually have to see everything. It’s all just disappearing so so fast and I’m worried that I won’t be able to get everything done!
I really want to buy a map of Europe, if only to mark out all the places I’ve been and everywhere I want to go, but still haven’t found a shop selling them yet :(
So that’s about all for last week. Oh funny story though. So the school has a ‘no running inside’ policy, like most schools normally do, but they way they enforce it is actually so cute. They’ve convinced the younger girls that there are speed cameras situated throughout the school, and that they catch anyone going over 1.4km/h. And they’ve hung up pictures of blurred girls running through the school with captions like ‘Caught speeding. Who is this girl?’. So now everytime i see some of the little ones sprinting down a corridor I like to yell out ‘Girls! Don’t forget about the cameras!’ to which they sheepishly slow down and look about them worriedly. Heheheh.
(I also tried this with the fourths... but they’re like ‘uhhh Miss Egan... who do you think posed for the photos on all those posters?’ ah well, it was worth a try :) )
So there it is, fairly boring and nondescript, but that’s England for you. Have a great week and I’ll write more soon. Maybe.
Oh and p.s. I totes just booked my flights for Easter Holidays. Hellooo Italy, and TURKEY (Gallipoli for ANZAC Day anyone?)
Another week is over, and I can’t believe that it’s less than 2 weeks until I get to see awesome German people again! And go to Berlin! Wooo!
But enough ranting, time to put the thinking cap on and reflect on last week. How did it make you feel? Uhuh. Uhuh. Good? Well, that definitely means that you’re harbouring repressed sexual feelings for your father.
But seriously, Freudian allusions aside, it was pretty good as far as weeks go. Saturday was pretty nondescript. I was exhausted from getting hardly any sleep on Friday, so it seemed to go really slowly. Whilst half of the girls cooked dog biscuits with the dept. House mistress, (and don’t even get me started on those. Like gourmet canine cookery... wtf? It eliminates the best part of cooking – eating... not that that really stopped me from trying one of the parmesan and oat biscuits when no one was looking. Shush. It’s our little secret. But anyway, the dogs seem to like them), I watched the girls practise their acts for the talent show. A lot of them are doing dances. Watching them dance is kind of worrying. For 13 year old girls, they sure seem to like to use their hips. And each other. And basically anything that stands still long enough for them to grind up against. However they’ve assured me that that classifies as ‘dancing’ in Nigeria, and promised never to dance that way in front of the Headmaster.
Sunday was a trip to the London Science Museum which is actually a lot more interesting than it sounds. It has so much interactive fun stuff to do, and tbh with a group of 12 yr olds, we were hardly going to be reading anything that wasn’t on a computer. However it was exhausting and I must admit there were moments when it was extremely tempting to steal the girls’ chocolate biscuits for a little extra energy. Lol dw, I wouldn’t actually. They’d never forgive me.
Monday... I actually have no idea. I slept until midday and only just made it to lunch in time. Then I probs called Louisa, and I think Yve, Caitlin and I watched a few episodes of HIMYM. And then I probably had a nap.
Tuesday...worked, ate lunch, and then I think I had one of the most amazing naps ever. Now don’t get me wrong, I think all naps are great. Sometimes I think I should just be an old granny already, just so i can have regular naps. But this one was particularly spectacular. It was so hard to get up at 6 to get ready for work again.
Wednesday... can’t remember anything of interest.
Thursday was a bit exciting. I got to sleep in, something which I really look forward to. However I always stay up late on Wednesday night if only because I know that I have Thursday morning off. But I end up getting even less sleep than normal. Which is a bit annoying. But after supper we had a bit of a surprise for the girls. We decided to have another fire drill, something that they wouldn’t expect, because they’re used to them happening early mornings. By making it as real as possible we’d be able to properly assess the girls’ abilities to react to such an emergency, without the reluctance normally associated with fire drills. So we’d liaised with the local fire brigade who came in to help us set everything up. Smoke machine in the kitchen? Check. Fire engines waiting to come to our rescue? Check. Girls in the house, chilling, doing prep etc? Awesome.
Anyway, it was really full on, but kind of exciting. The smoke poured out from under the kitchen door really fast, and the girls started freaking out and everyone evacuated in under 60 seconds. It was actually a bit scary as well, even though us staff knew that it wasn’t real. I also did admit to a couple of girls that it was a drill, because a few started crying and freaking out a bit down at the meeting point, but overall it worked really well. And we got to watch the firemen do their thang. (The girls were sliiightly obsessed with them. ‘OMG THEY’RE COMING!! Get ready to wave!!! Oooh they’re soooo fit’ so yeah, typical 12-13 yr olds really) and then afterwards we simply went back and I got to eat some of Olivia’s delicious chocolate birthday cake. Good day. But dreadfully draining.
Yesterday (Friday), Yve, Caitlin, Greer and I headed down to Oxford for a day out. The forecast said 10 degrees and I was so so excited that I decided that if I wore a big woollen jumper, I could go without a coat. Big mistake, I spent all day freezing in my 40denier tights, with really strong winds. I think I might be getting sick now
But oxford was incredibly beautiful. We bussed in which only took 50 minutes or so. By the time we got to Oxford, we’d all decided to compete in weekly or fortnightly ‘masterchef’ competitions with each other, and yve and I had decided to start sewing/making/altering clothes again. I really need a hobby. Like my free time is a joke. I do nothing worthwhile at all.
I digress. Anyway, we started off by walking through the gorgeous streets and looking at beautiful architecture. We stopped at an Oxford souvenir shop and checked out the Covered Markets which had the most amazing cake shop. They had such wonderful displays in the windows, especially of wedding cakes. We zoomed off to the Oxford Castle and took a tour. It was great, as the guide was a character from its history – a thief who had twice escaped – and she kept us well entertained, especially when it came to the Castle’s history of being haunted!
We also drank this really yummy hot chocolate and climbed a grassy hill. It’s more exciting than it sounds.
We hat lunch at EAT which was pretty good, and had a Mcflurry on the way to Christ Church. Christ Church University was so amazingly beautiful. Like it had all the spire/turret romantic scenery thing going on, and the buildings were just spectacular. And to think about all the smart people who learnt there... right back to when it was first built. Ahhhhh! I would actually love to study there.
All in all it was an amazing day, and I’d definitely love to go back if we have time. It’s funny. I imagined being at Godstowe and travelling everywhere and anywhere, being able to see everything. But now that I’m here I’ve actually begun to notice how little time I actually have to see everything. It’s all just disappearing so so fast and I’m worried that I won’t be able to get everything done!
I really want to buy a map of Europe, if only to mark out all the places I’ve been and everywhere I want to go, but still haven’t found a shop selling them yet :(
So that’s about all for last week. Oh funny story though. So the school has a ‘no running inside’ policy, like most schools normally do, but they way they enforce it is actually so cute. They’ve convinced the younger girls that there are speed cameras situated throughout the school, and that they catch anyone going over 1.4km/h. And they’ve hung up pictures of blurred girls running through the school with captions like ‘Caught speeding. Who is this girl?’. So now everytime i see some of the little ones sprinting down a corridor I like to yell out ‘Girls! Don’t forget about the cameras!’ to which they sheepishly slow down and look about them worriedly. Heheheh.
(I also tried this with the fourths... but they’re like ‘uhhh Miss Egan... who do you think posed for the photos on all those posters?’ ah well, it was worth a try :) )
So there it is, fairly boring and nondescript, but that’s England for you. Have a great week and I’ll write more soon. Maybe.
Oh and p.s. I totes just booked my flights for Easter Holidays. Hellooo Italy, and TURKEY (Gallipoli for ANZAC Day anyone?)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Looking Forward to Half Term
Yup that's right bitches! Half term in less than a month and I'm looking forward to it! That's all for today, hoped you enjoyed the post.
...
lol jokes, keep your hat on, I'm still going to write stuff about stuff.
So, going back to last Saturday... after coming home from London, I immediately popped onto the World Wide Web to search for flights to visit Louisa in Germany. However seeing the prices just made me depressed, and it was impossible to find a flight for less than £300 on the Friday evening of half term. I was kinda grasping at straws when I went to see my House Mistress to double check that I actually was working Friday. But she was sooo lovely because when I told her what I had been planning to do, she gave me the day off, and told me to get the cheapest/earliest flight, so I could spend as much time there as possible. I am so glad that I chose to work in Turner House, because they are just all so wonderful. (and also, unlike the other houses, they always order the chocolate cream biscuits. Which means there are always packets just sitting in the cupboard. Pilfering schmilfering. I like to think of it as helping the girls. I care about their health and fruit would definitely be better for them than chocolate biscuits! Hence I take – nay, am FORCED to take – those sugary treats. It’s for their own good! But in all seriousness, they are there so that us staff can take a packet as well)
Half Term is now completely booked. Caitlin and I zoom our way over to Stuttgart on Friday evening and while she goes to meet up with long lost relatives, I bahn it to Ilshofen. Then after three awesome days, we’ll meet up at Stuttgart again and fly over to Berlin to see all the others. And we all fly back the next Saturday morning.
I am so so so so so so so so so so pumped! I may have been to Berlin two or three times already, but there’s always more to see! I love that city so much. But most of all I’m just so excited to see my host family again, even if it’s only for a weekend. And just Germany in general! I feel like it’s impossible to exhaust the potential of phrases like ‘beruhig dein Bauerhof’ and just denglishing it up in ‘general’. Damn, I wish there was a way of typing the German pronunciation of English words.
So the girls came back on Sunday night after spending the weekend with family etc, and Monday meant back to work as usual. On Tuesday, we went into town to try catch a movie, but alas, we got the cinemas wrong and hence just ended up shopping instead, which was still quite fun. Except when I got a zip stuck. And then broke the zip. Effectively imprisoning myself inside a lovely Zara skirt. Like, I know that the word awkward is really overused, but it describes the situation quite aptly. But it all turned out ok, the shop girl just had to rip the skirt off me. Pity, it was really nice and the last of its size.
Wednesday was Australia day, and we at Turner House celebrated with a little fire, barbequing pork and vegetarian sausages and marshmallows. The lucky teaching gaps, who had the evening off, went into London and hit up the pubs, whilst us boarders drank wine and watched inappropriate TV shows.
Thursday was boring. Nothing exciting happened. That’s kind of typical of Thursdays. Cool.
Friday: Our day off, which was lovely! I slept in. Majorly. After lunch, we made chocolate slice and then went and saw The King’s Speech (finally), which was actually so so good. But at the end it was just like wait... nothing actually happened in that movie. But it was good anyway. We came back, ate chocolate slice (yum!) and watched the awesomest dating show ever. Then Caitlin, Yve and I went out. And danced. And continually avoided creepy old weirdos. And overall had a great time.
So last week was great, except I seemed to have developed a really annoying habit of singing what I’m doing in different voices and accents, attempting to beatbox – very very badly, or just humming randomly whenever we’re using the computers. Now this would normally be perfectly fine, considering that Yve, Greer and Caitlin have long resigned themselves to my weirdness, but I tend to forget that we don’t always have the boarding houses to ourselves during the day. Maintenance guys, house mistresses, school girls who’ve forgotten work... all occasionally stick their head through the doors to check where the random noises are coming from, before quickly pretend that they haven’t noticed. Oh you polite English people! But still, it’s so hard to stop once you start. It’s like this vicious circle, and sometimes I worry that there’s no way out of this downward spiral.
Ah well, I should probably reply to some emails and then clean my room. The sink in my bathroom is completely blocked and I have to use my bath to wash my hands etc which is really annoying. So I need to tell the maintenance guys about it, but my room is actually so messy that I can’t stand the thought of them going in there to fix it. But at least it’s incentive to tidy everything up.
Have a good week.
...
lol jokes, keep your hat on, I'm still going to write stuff about stuff.
So, going back to last Saturday... after coming home from London, I immediately popped onto the World Wide Web to search for flights to visit Louisa in Germany. However seeing the prices just made me depressed, and it was impossible to find a flight for less than £300 on the Friday evening of half term. I was kinda grasping at straws when I went to see my House Mistress to double check that I actually was working Friday. But she was sooo lovely because when I told her what I had been planning to do, she gave me the day off, and told me to get the cheapest/earliest flight, so I could spend as much time there as possible. I am so glad that I chose to work in Turner House, because they are just all so wonderful. (and also, unlike the other houses, they always order the chocolate cream biscuits. Which means there are always packets just sitting in the cupboard. Pilfering schmilfering. I like to think of it as helping the girls. I care about their health and fruit would definitely be better for them than chocolate biscuits! Hence I take – nay, am FORCED to take – those sugary treats. It’s for their own good! But in all seriousness, they are there so that us staff can take a packet as well)
Half Term is now completely booked. Caitlin and I zoom our way over to Stuttgart on Friday evening and while she goes to meet up with long lost relatives, I bahn it to Ilshofen. Then after three awesome days, we’ll meet up at Stuttgart again and fly over to Berlin to see all the others. And we all fly back the next Saturday morning.
I am so so so so so so so so so so pumped! I may have been to Berlin two or three times already, but there’s always more to see! I love that city so much. But most of all I’m just so excited to see my host family again, even if it’s only for a weekend. And just Germany in general! I feel like it’s impossible to exhaust the potential of phrases like ‘beruhig dein Bauerhof’ and just denglishing it up in ‘general’. Damn, I wish there was a way of typing the German pronunciation of English words.
So the girls came back on Sunday night after spending the weekend with family etc, and Monday meant back to work as usual. On Tuesday, we went into town to try catch a movie, but alas, we got the cinemas wrong and hence just ended up shopping instead, which was still quite fun. Except when I got a zip stuck. And then broke the zip. Effectively imprisoning myself inside a lovely Zara skirt. Like, I know that the word awkward is really overused, but it describes the situation quite aptly. But it all turned out ok, the shop girl just had to rip the skirt off me. Pity, it was really nice and the last of its size.
Wednesday was Australia day, and we at Turner House celebrated with a little fire, barbequing pork and vegetarian sausages and marshmallows. The lucky teaching gaps, who had the evening off, went into London and hit up the pubs, whilst us boarders drank wine and watched inappropriate TV shows.
Thursday was boring. Nothing exciting happened. That’s kind of typical of Thursdays. Cool.
Friday: Our day off, which was lovely! I slept in. Majorly. After lunch, we made chocolate slice and then went and saw The King’s Speech (finally), which was actually so so good. But at the end it was just like wait... nothing actually happened in that movie. But it was good anyway. We came back, ate chocolate slice (yum!) and watched the awesomest dating show ever. Then Caitlin, Yve and I went out. And danced. And continually avoided creepy old weirdos. And overall had a great time.
So last week was great, except I seemed to have developed a really annoying habit of singing what I’m doing in different voices and accents, attempting to beatbox – very very badly, or just humming randomly whenever we’re using the computers. Now this would normally be perfectly fine, considering that Yve, Greer and Caitlin have long resigned themselves to my weirdness, but I tend to forget that we don’t always have the boarding houses to ourselves during the day. Maintenance guys, house mistresses, school girls who’ve forgotten work... all occasionally stick their head through the doors to check where the random noises are coming from, before quickly pretend that they haven’t noticed. Oh you polite English people! But still, it’s so hard to stop once you start. It’s like this vicious circle, and sometimes I worry that there’s no way out of this downward spiral.
Ah well, I should probably reply to some emails and then clean my room. The sink in my bathroom is completely blocked and I have to use my bath to wash my hands etc which is really annoying. So I need to tell the maintenance guys about it, but my room is actually so messy that I can’t stand the thought of them going in there to fix it. But at least it’s incentive to tidy everything up.
Have a good week.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
London London LONDON!
Last weekend was our very first Exeat and in short, it was amazing. The Thursday before, us boarders all had like a bit of a freakout, as we hadn't planned or booked anything, and spent hours (literally) searching for accomodation on the Internet. After weeding through places that operated under the delusion that 'Centre of London' could mean up to 30km away, and some who's reviews were somewhat less than flattering; 'F*** this f***ing place. Where the f*** is the hot water and the rooms are f***ing filthy...'; We resigned ourselves to simply doing a few day trips into London.
Woke up bright and early Friday morning – my day off – thanks to a fire drill at 6:30am, however this meant that I was awake in time for breakfast, which I always seem to miss on weekends and Fridays.
After catching a train into London, we started the day off by walking over Tower Bridge which was pretty cool apart from the cold. Our faces seemed to freeze a bit as we walked past the Tower of London and forming words was starting to get hard. I really regretted not bringing gloves (well they were hot pink in colour...) We walked along the Thames for a while and saw the sun for like the third time since we arrived in cold, gloomy England. We stumbled across the Borough Markets which were so so cool! Then we sought refuge from the cold in a small cafe where we had our lunch. Unfortunately my doener days are over, but the felafel wrap substitute was pretty delish.
After lunch we went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and did the guided tour. It was so amazing to actually visit a place that I’ve heard so much about and the Museum was sahhh interesting. Wow that kind of sounded sarcastic, but it actually was amazing. We took awesome photos with a bear (not a real one alas) and Yve and I spent over an hour using magnetic Shakespearean words to make a list of rules regarding sons. Hysterical. Don’t worry, we took photos. During this time I somehow became semi-obsessed with the phrase ‘Suffer ye mutual brow’. I’ve no idea why I found this particular combination of words so funny, but I must admit, I still have to suppress a giggle writing about it.
And after the Globe, we went back to the Borough Markets and bought brownies, cake etc which was absolutely delicious. We then ended up at Buckingham Palace, and did a bit of shopping before meeting up with Georgie to have dinner in China town. I guess reasonably priced, easily available asian food is something we just take for granted in Melbourne. You don’t notice how much you miss it until you go overseas. Once in Germany, I went to a Chinese restaurant and got sushi... coz you know, Japan is just a city in China... duh. cool story hansel.
(P.S. I literally first realised the true sarcastic implications of that phrase 2 days or so before Christmas. All those times that I thought I was telling my biffle actual ‘cool stories’... lies, ALL LIES)
Anyway, I really enjoyed a change from the heavy fatty school food, delicious though it is.
Saturday was even better than Friday. Yve, Caitlin, Greer and I went to catch a train into London. Turns out that it’s not just metro who likes to cancel trains. We ended up having to catch a bus and then a train from a fairly dodgy station which had urinals in the girls’ bathroom. And yes, I did double check the sign on the door. Twice.
We got off the Tube at Westminster station and walked along taking photos of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We rocked up to a random cafe for lunch, but we didn’t eat much. The soup was out of a Maggi container and tasted weiriirddd and my bread roll – well you could hit it with a hammer and it would probably shatter, it was that stale. Hate to be a food snob, but blergh. Ended up with a wrap from Pret a Manger.
The tour of Parliament took about an hour and a half, and was really exhausting. The building is so so beautiful, being originally built as a palace, and when we first walked through we were like oooh don’t those seats look comfy! Isn’t it great that we won’t have to stand the whole time! Ooh how lovely’ But then it was like uhhh no... you’re not allowed to sit. Not even in the House of Commons. Well I spose they’re very selective there. Like... your mum is the epitome of common, but even she can’t sit. (yeah I went there)
But overall it was really interesting and absolutely incredible! The floors, the roofs, the throne, the paintings and decor. I really enjoyed the tour.
Afterwards we went to Harrods. Just wondering... is there anything that Harrods doesn’t sell? And don’t tell me lions, because that 'Christopher' lion chap was totally bought there back in the day.
There were lollies, designer jewellry, clothes clothes clothes, scarves that costed over £500 - that is when they were on sale, handbags, perfume, food, icecream icecream, cupcakes, sparkley cupcakes, shoes, chocolate etc. It was fun but really crowded.
Then I ditched Yve, Greer and Caitlin who were heading back to High Wycombe and met up with Izzy, Georgie and Aisling for dinner. And afterwards... oh hang on... what did we do? It's totally slipped my mind. Oh right, now I remember, something to do with London's west end. OMG WE WENT AND SAW CHICAGO which was absolutely wonderful and just really great. The music and dancing was terrific!
Then we feasted on Mcflurries for 99p and went back home (that is, Godstowe). Such a good night.
And on Sunday... we kinda slept. and ate food. and worked in the evening. TMI? I know, I know, I probably shoulded post such things on the internet..
yep, that was my weekend. What'd you get up to?
Woke up bright and early Friday morning – my day off – thanks to a fire drill at 6:30am, however this meant that I was awake in time for breakfast, which I always seem to miss on weekends and Fridays.
After catching a train into London, we started the day off by walking over Tower Bridge which was pretty cool apart from the cold. Our faces seemed to freeze a bit as we walked past the Tower of London and forming words was starting to get hard. I really regretted not bringing gloves (well they were hot pink in colour...) We walked along the Thames for a while and saw the sun for like the third time since we arrived in cold, gloomy England. We stumbled across the Borough Markets which were so so cool! Then we sought refuge from the cold in a small cafe where we had our lunch. Unfortunately my doener days are over, but the felafel wrap substitute was pretty delish.
After lunch we went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and did the guided tour. It was so amazing to actually visit a place that I’ve heard so much about and the Museum was sahhh interesting. Wow that kind of sounded sarcastic, but it actually was amazing. We took awesome photos with a bear (not a real one alas) and Yve and I spent over an hour using magnetic Shakespearean words to make a list of rules regarding sons. Hysterical. Don’t worry, we took photos. During this time I somehow became semi-obsessed with the phrase ‘Suffer ye mutual brow’. I’ve no idea why I found this particular combination of words so funny, but I must admit, I still have to suppress a giggle writing about it.
And after the Globe, we went back to the Borough Markets and bought brownies, cake etc which was absolutely delicious. We then ended up at Buckingham Palace, and did a bit of shopping before meeting up with Georgie to have dinner in China town. I guess reasonably priced, easily available asian food is something we just take for granted in Melbourne. You don’t notice how much you miss it until you go overseas. Once in Germany, I went to a Chinese restaurant and got sushi... coz you know, Japan is just a city in China... duh. cool story hansel.
(P.S. I literally first realised the true sarcastic implications of that phrase 2 days or so before Christmas. All those times that I thought I was telling my biffle actual ‘cool stories’... lies, ALL LIES)
Anyway, I really enjoyed a change from the heavy fatty school food, delicious though it is.
Saturday was even better than Friday. Yve, Caitlin, Greer and I went to catch a train into London. Turns out that it’s not just metro who likes to cancel trains. We ended up having to catch a bus and then a train from a fairly dodgy station which had urinals in the girls’ bathroom. And yes, I did double check the sign on the door. Twice.
We got off the Tube at Westminster station and walked along taking photos of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We rocked up to a random cafe for lunch, but we didn’t eat much. The soup was out of a Maggi container and tasted weiriirddd and my bread roll – well you could hit it with a hammer and it would probably shatter, it was that stale. Hate to be a food snob, but blergh. Ended up with a wrap from Pret a Manger.
The tour of Parliament took about an hour and a half, and was really exhausting. The building is so so beautiful, being originally built as a palace, and when we first walked through we were like oooh don’t those seats look comfy! Isn’t it great that we won’t have to stand the whole time! Ooh how lovely’ But then it was like uhhh no... you’re not allowed to sit. Not even in the House of Commons. Well I spose they’re very selective there. Like... your mum is the epitome of common, but even she can’t sit. (yeah I went there)
But overall it was really interesting and absolutely incredible! The floors, the roofs, the throne, the paintings and decor. I really enjoyed the tour.
Afterwards we went to Harrods. Just wondering... is there anything that Harrods doesn’t sell? And don’t tell me lions, because that 'Christopher' lion chap was totally bought there back in the day.
There were lollies, designer jewellry, clothes clothes clothes, scarves that costed over £500 - that is when they were on sale, handbags, perfume, food, icecream icecream, cupcakes, sparkley cupcakes, shoes, chocolate etc. It was fun but really crowded.
Then I ditched Yve, Greer and Caitlin who were heading back to High Wycombe and met up with Izzy, Georgie and Aisling for dinner. And afterwards... oh hang on... what did we do? It's totally slipped my mind. Oh right, now I remember, something to do with London's west end. OMG WE WENT AND SAW CHICAGO which was absolutely wonderful and just really great. The music and dancing was terrific!
Then we feasted on Mcflurries for 99p and went back home (that is, Godstowe). Such a good night.
And on Sunday... we kinda slept. and ate food. and worked in the evening. TMI? I know, I know, I probably shoulded post such things on the internet..
yep, that was my weekend. What'd you get up to?
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Third Week
Ok, so it's the third week here at Godstowe and I've finally caved to pressure and started a blog. Yep, and I'm totes going to update it regularly (Just like that journal of mine which is currently hibernating at the back of my draw). Who knows, I may even manage a weekly update.
Anyway, just a quick summary of what I've done since Christmas.
Left on Boxing Day, endured a disgustingly long flight to Germany, stopping over at Kuala Lumpur. Got picked up from Stuttgart by the most amazing girl I know. Finally saw my favourite German family again. Had awesome German food. Drank coffee. Slept. A lot. Went to a bar with German friends. Appreciated the lower drinking age on behalf of Louisa and friends. Schwaebisch Hall, Crailsheim and the like. Discovered that I was lactose intolerant. Had lunch at Robert's work - it was awesome. Drank coffee. Got sick (thanks Louisa). Felt like absolute shit. Went to Nuremberg - AMAZING. Stepped in katze kacke. So did Lous. Hung out with Jenny <3, Helped cook delicious stuffed eggplants. Drank coffee. Was very very happy. Saw German grandparents who are awesome! Lost 2kg. Set of fireworks NYE. Singed my hand. Felt really sick and wanted to just sleep. Woke up. Caught a train to Stuttgart with Louisa. Had really good coffee. Talked and Talked. Said goodbye. Cried. Caught a flight to London Heathrow. Met a lot of rude people in the airport. Got a bit lost in the airport. Got stressed out in the airport. Finally got to Paddington. Met Yve, Georgie, Aisling, Greer, Caitlin. Went to hotel. Felt better. Ate Chinese and watched Mary Poppins.
The hotel was pretty good; old quaint and charming; and we got free breakfast. I had eggs and mushrooms and tomatoes. Yummy.
Then on the 2nd day of 2011, after discovering that even on Oxford Street, shops were closed on Sunday mornings, we all headed back to Godstowe. It was on this day that I first met 'The Hill'. First impressions weren't that great. I was tired, grumpy and a little sick, and dragging 25kg behind me. The Hill was most uncompromising, very set in its ways, and didn't do anything to make our first encounter easier. However since this day, i've had a very up and down relationship with Hill. Sure, we've still got issues we need to 'work out', but at the same time, I feel like it's helping me in the 'long run'.
Anyway, Godstowe is a really pretty school, compromising of really old beautiful buildings. For the first night, I joined the others in Highlands (the boarding house for the younger girls) and we cooked pasta and watched Misfits. I really enjoy that show, but it does have a tendency to be quite crude. Which can lead to awkward situations such as if said show was making inappropriate sound effects... and a hypothetical boarding mistress decides to come in and introduce herself and talk to us...But overall it was pretty good just to relax and catch up with the others. The actual schoolgirls wouldn’t be arriving until the 5th so we had some space to just chill.
The next day (3rd Jan), we met the Headmaster, David, who is actually a top bloke. [imput from Yve: ‘He so is! He’s the best!’] He’s really easy going and friendly and knows each of the girls by name. (and like Yve said... he does kind of remind me of Santa). So we finally organised who was doing what and I chose to work in Turner with 12-13 year old girls.
The last three weeks have basically been taken up by getting to know the girls and working. The hours are normally mornings and evenings, which means that i have the middle of the day free. Yay. But it’s so tiring working until 10pm and having to start work at 6:45 in the morning. But Thursday is my sleep in day, so I get to lie in bed and listen to Georgie doing all the work. Good times. And Friday – my day off! Last Friday we all (except Izzy) went down to Yates – the bar/pub/club and had a great night out. So yeah, coolio schmoolio, the work’s ok, and on weekends we do cool activities such as making rockets, putting gunpowder in them and then blowing them up in a park. Or see a Pantomine. Either’s cool.
Last Thursday we went down to the Doctor’s to have the customary ‘New Patient’ check up. It was kind of depressing, because it was mostly just with this machine who took height/BMI/etc and it was like BAMMM 5 kilos. Five for you! And none for Gretchen Wieners. Bye. We all seem to be feeling the effects of the plentiful and yummy food.
The school is currently recovering from an ‘epidemic’ of sorts. And no, I’m not talking about Bieber fever... the girls are so obsessed I don’t think there’s much hope for them. Same goes for the girls who have the hots for Jacob, or even get chills when thinking about their favourite sparkly icy cold vampire. No, those girls are beyond saving. However recently there’ve been a lot of girls coming down with a sort of gastro. Poor Yve and Caitlin, who are in charge of Highlands have had about 14 girls sick. So far Turner remains unaffected, so I hope no one here gets sick.
I felt really sorry for Rose, who just arrived on the 16th and got sick straight away. Not the best welcome to England.
The girls are really lovely, if occasionally a bit mischievous. My own tiny room is actually alongside a dorm containing 7 fourths (13 yr-olds), so I do hear it if any shenanigans go down overnight. Last night I heard a faint humming sound coming from the wall, so I went to go check that the girls had turned the fans off in the showers. They had. I was actually hearing the girls pretending that their dorm was an aeroplane just taking off, with the dorm captain giving orders as the pilot. Girls after lights out... just crazy.
I should probably briefly mention the joys of Primark/Topshop/Zara, but to be honest, I find the latter two slightly depressing due to my lack of funds available for simply shopping! But Primark... PRIIIMARRRKKK. It’s almost like a battle call! £1, £2, £3, £4 even £5! There’s just so much stuff. That being said, I have to say that I’ve only bought a few things from there so far. Just a small cardie and tights. But somehow I still feel really close to this shop... almost at home. Could it be... have I found... My new Big W???
Whilst everything here is really nice, I don’t think I’d ever want to be a girl in a boarding school. For one thing, you have no freedom. Showers are at this time, homework must be done from this time til that time. Snacks, reading, mealtimes - everything kinda operates to a schedule.
Another thing that would bother me is the absolute lack of privacy. Every morning I do a room inspection, which isn’t just checking if the beds are made and if the rubbish is off the ground. I’m also supposed to look in the wardrobe and through the coat pockets to make sure that no one has lollies or snacks or anything they shouldn’t have. Yesterday I had to go through everyone’s ipods and check to make sure that they have no videos on them (Girls aren’t allowed any movies or music videos etc on their ipods. It means they stay awake at night watching them. There was also a crackdown on it last year when they found girls watching Skins on someone’s ipod. Yeahhhh no girls, you’re 13). But then I also had to look through all the short clips that they’d taken themselves, ‘just to make sure’. It was just uncomfortable, because I’d hate it if someone went through my stuff.
But overall, it’s a lovely place and everyone is very friendly. Tomorrow the other boarding gaps and I are off to London for a day trip, and possibly again on the weekend, because we have an Exeat (all the boarders go home). It’s going to be STEAK SAUCE!
(we’ve also been watching a lot of HIMYM in our time off. God I love that show.)
So right now I’m off to look up rad and cool stuff to do in London. Yeah, just be jealous coz you know you want to come too.
Maybe I’ll even go for a long run after we’ve organised everything... haha LOL JOKES I’m going to have a nap. Viel spass everyone
xx
Anyway, just a quick summary of what I've done since Christmas.
Left on Boxing Day, endured a disgustingly long flight to Germany, stopping over at Kuala Lumpur. Got picked up from Stuttgart by the most amazing girl I know. Finally saw my favourite German family again. Had awesome German food. Drank coffee. Slept. A lot. Went to a bar with German friends. Appreciated the lower drinking age on behalf of Louisa and friends. Schwaebisch Hall, Crailsheim and the like. Discovered that I was lactose intolerant. Had lunch at Robert's work - it was awesome. Drank coffee. Got sick (thanks Louisa). Felt like absolute shit. Went to Nuremberg - AMAZING. Stepped in katze kacke. So did Lous. Hung out with Jenny <3, Helped cook delicious stuffed eggplants. Drank coffee. Was very very happy. Saw German grandparents who are awesome! Lost 2kg. Set of fireworks NYE. Singed my hand. Felt really sick and wanted to just sleep. Woke up. Caught a train to Stuttgart with Louisa. Had really good coffee. Talked and Talked. Said goodbye. Cried. Caught a flight to London Heathrow. Met a lot of rude people in the airport. Got a bit lost in the airport. Got stressed out in the airport. Finally got to Paddington. Met Yve, Georgie, Aisling, Greer, Caitlin. Went to hotel. Felt better. Ate Chinese and watched Mary Poppins.
The hotel was pretty good; old quaint and charming; and we got free breakfast. I had eggs and mushrooms and tomatoes. Yummy.
Then on the 2nd day of 2011, after discovering that even on Oxford Street, shops were closed on Sunday mornings, we all headed back to Godstowe. It was on this day that I first met 'The Hill'. First impressions weren't that great. I was tired, grumpy and a little sick, and dragging 25kg behind me. The Hill was most uncompromising, very set in its ways, and didn't do anything to make our first encounter easier. However since this day, i've had a very up and down relationship with Hill. Sure, we've still got issues we need to 'work out', but at the same time, I feel like it's helping me in the 'long run'.
Anyway, Godstowe is a really pretty school, compromising of really old beautiful buildings. For the first night, I joined the others in Highlands (the boarding house for the younger girls) and we cooked pasta and watched Misfits. I really enjoy that show, but it does have a tendency to be quite crude. Which can lead to awkward situations such as if said show was making inappropriate sound effects... and a hypothetical boarding mistress decides to come in and introduce herself and talk to us...But overall it was pretty good just to relax and catch up with the others. The actual schoolgirls wouldn’t be arriving until the 5th so we had some space to just chill.
The next day (3rd Jan), we met the Headmaster, David, who is actually a top bloke. [imput from Yve: ‘He so is! He’s the best!’] He’s really easy going and friendly and knows each of the girls by name. (and like Yve said... he does kind of remind me of Santa). So we finally organised who was doing what and I chose to work in Turner with 12-13 year old girls.
The last three weeks have basically been taken up by getting to know the girls and working. The hours are normally mornings and evenings, which means that i have the middle of the day free. Yay. But it’s so tiring working until 10pm and having to start work at 6:45 in the morning. But Thursday is my sleep in day, so I get to lie in bed and listen to Georgie doing all the work. Good times. And Friday – my day off! Last Friday we all (except Izzy) went down to Yates – the bar/pub/club and had a great night out. So yeah, coolio schmoolio, the work’s ok, and on weekends we do cool activities such as making rockets, putting gunpowder in them and then blowing them up in a park. Or see a Pantomine. Either’s cool.
Last Thursday we went down to the Doctor’s to have the customary ‘New Patient’ check up. It was kind of depressing, because it was mostly just with this machine who took height/BMI/etc and it was like BAMMM 5 kilos. Five for you! And none for Gretchen Wieners. Bye. We all seem to be feeling the effects of the plentiful and yummy food.
The school is currently recovering from an ‘epidemic’ of sorts. And no, I’m not talking about Bieber fever... the girls are so obsessed I don’t think there’s much hope for them. Same goes for the girls who have the hots for Jacob, or even get chills when thinking about their favourite sparkly icy cold vampire. No, those girls are beyond saving. However recently there’ve been a lot of girls coming down with a sort of gastro. Poor Yve and Caitlin, who are in charge of Highlands have had about 14 girls sick. So far Turner remains unaffected, so I hope no one here gets sick.
I felt really sorry for Rose, who just arrived on the 16th and got sick straight away. Not the best welcome to England.
The girls are really lovely, if occasionally a bit mischievous. My own tiny room is actually alongside a dorm containing 7 fourths (13 yr-olds), so I do hear it if any shenanigans go down overnight. Last night I heard a faint humming sound coming from the wall, so I went to go check that the girls had turned the fans off in the showers. They had. I was actually hearing the girls pretending that their dorm was an aeroplane just taking off, with the dorm captain giving orders as the pilot. Girls after lights out... just crazy.
I should probably briefly mention the joys of Primark/Topshop/Zara, but to be honest, I find the latter two slightly depressing due to my lack of funds available for simply shopping! But Primark... PRIIIMARRRKKK. It’s almost like a battle call! £1, £2, £3, £4 even £5! There’s just so much stuff. That being said, I have to say that I’ve only bought a few things from there so far. Just a small cardie and tights. But somehow I still feel really close to this shop... almost at home. Could it be... have I found... My new Big W???
Whilst everything here is really nice, I don’t think I’d ever want to be a girl in a boarding school. For one thing, you have no freedom. Showers are at this time, homework must be done from this time til that time. Snacks, reading, mealtimes - everything kinda operates to a schedule.
Another thing that would bother me is the absolute lack of privacy. Every morning I do a room inspection, which isn’t just checking if the beds are made and if the rubbish is off the ground. I’m also supposed to look in the wardrobe and through the coat pockets to make sure that no one has lollies or snacks or anything they shouldn’t have. Yesterday I had to go through everyone’s ipods and check to make sure that they have no videos on them (Girls aren’t allowed any movies or music videos etc on their ipods. It means they stay awake at night watching them. There was also a crackdown on it last year when they found girls watching Skins on someone’s ipod. Yeahhhh no girls, you’re 13). But then I also had to look through all the short clips that they’d taken themselves, ‘just to make sure’. It was just uncomfortable, because I’d hate it if someone went through my stuff.
But overall, it’s a lovely place and everyone is very friendly. Tomorrow the other boarding gaps and I are off to London for a day trip, and possibly again on the weekend, because we have an Exeat (all the boarders go home). It’s going to be STEAK SAUCE!
(we’ve also been watching a lot of HIMYM in our time off. God I love that show.)
So right now I’m off to look up rad and cool stuff to do in London. Yeah, just be jealous coz you know you want to come too.
Maybe I’ll even go for a long run after we’ve organised everything... haha LOL JOKES I’m going to have a nap. Viel spass everyone
xx
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