The Redhead Jumped Over the Pond (And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon): Just Another Week in Paradise

Well, here's the most recent update on my life...
Monday, I didn't have a booking. So while I was awake and ready to go, I didn't get called in. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't! What a waste! So instead, I watched some videos online and even the movie "You Again." I remember not liking it as much when I saw it in the theatres, and my thoughts haven't changed. Though I really like the actors in it, I feel it makes light of high school bullying, as if it's something that one who has been severely bullied can just grow out of... It hit a chord with me, and I still don't agree with the message.. Anyways, on with my day! In the afternoon, after a fairly lazy morning, I went to the Delivery Office to pick up Alex's letter. It was double good as I now know where to go WHEN my birthday mail comes in (hint hint!). The rest of the night was pretty relaxing. I found out Liz stayed home sick-- poor girl! So we chatted a little bit and figured out where everyone was headed to for Tuesday AM.

Tuesday...
Liz, Maggie, and I were all headed to the same school today-- This'll be a new weekly routine. The best part was, Liz and I were only there for the morning! I enjoyed the time with the year 3 class-- I'm looking forward to seeing them every Tuesday and having some consistency. Some of the lessons had me a little confused but the teacher had gone to a meeting monday night and then gone to his course in the AM, so he hadn't had time to set out all of the resources. The morning went by pretty quickly, and before I knew it, Liz and I were on the bus headed back to the city centre. We got talking about being hungry and then decided to stop at Subway. This decision was made easier due to the fact that our bus ticket had buy one, get one free sub coupons on the back! Score!! So we stopped in and after my experience last time, with them looking at me weird when I asked about Sub sauce (they don't have it!!), I was looking for an alternative. I decided the sweet onion sauce looked similar. We took our subs home and watched a little tv. Let me tell you, the sweet onion sauce is NOT the same or even comparable! It made my sub taste odd but I kept eating because I was hungry and craving a sub!! While eating, I got a call from TimePlan. Apparently, there's a school on the Isle of Wight looking for a supply for 6 weeks from End of October to Christmas break. While I would love the consistency, I'm a little scared away by the planning and the fact that it's a year 5 class.. However, perhaps being with them every day, they would begin to learn my expectations of them, etc.. I called the school to set up a meeting, so I guess I'm waiting for them to call back.
Called my Auntie, and she thought I should at least go for the meeting with the school. So that's my plan. Once Hannah got home, we all walked down the ferry docks with the intent on grabbing a starbucks and relaxing. It was shortly after 5 and the sign on the door said they closed at 5:30 yet the door was locked! When we tried to open it, the worker just looked at us. The starbucks here has the weirdest hours! I think the employees just wanted to be done early! We were not pleased. We then tried to stop at the coffee shop across the street but the selection was horrible. We tried to order things that were advertised along the wall, and kept getting told they didn't have it... Why keep the board up then?!! We ended up walking back towards our flat, and stopped at the No.4 (which has subsequently become our regular hangout). The woman behind the counter is a Canadian and she chatted with us!! The hot chocolate was delicious and so was the chocolate cake that I took a small bite of from the girls. Yum, chocolate cake... It was moist and wonderful!
I had been messaging Anne off and on from our iPads. When I got home, and saw she had just sent a message, I tried to FaceTime her to say hello. Never did I expect to chat for 2 hours! Though I really can't complain-- it was so wonderful! For brief bits of time, I forgot that we were separated by distance and time zones, it almost felt like we were down the road from one another.

Wednesday...
I was back at same school as yesterday. Spoiled after being done at noon yesterday! Originally, I was scheduled to be in various key stage 1 classes in the morning and then year 2 in afternoon, but when I got there, I was told that I wasn't needed in that original classroom, instead I'd be doing reading assessments with year 6's-- awesome. I was left to sit in staff room for about an hour and a half just waiting for a student to come in and see me (luckily I brought a book).. Eventually, I ended up getting switched into a year 6 class but working with small group of students during their maths and literacy time. Though the morning went by pretty well, I was feeling down at lunch. Mostly feeling like I don't fit in at the schools, like a total outsider, not knowing routines etc. I spent afternoon in a year 2 class and felt better. In with the younger years is definitely my comfort zone.. I was texting Anne over my lunch as well and she made me feel better. I've had a good week or so, but sometimes it hits me that I'm in such a foreign place and I'm a outsider. I miss the familiarity of home, though I do recognize that its idealized in my head. A combination of new job, moving to a new country, and new people has me feel in isolated sometimes. I'm constantly telling myself to live in the moment! Maggie and I quickly soared through our marking at the school then caught the bus back to the city centre.
I was especially excited to get out because I was meeting a new friend. We ended up chatting for a good 2 hours-- the conversation flowed freely and easily. Afterwards, I met the friends from "Camp Canada" for a drink and we caught up on each other's days.
I was also able to chat with my FAV, Sarah!! It wasn't a super long talk but just to hear her voice and talk was amazing. We scheduled a time later this weekend to catch up in more depth. After talking to her, I was able to drift off into a restful slumber... That is, until I was awoken to my phone ringing at 11:45 pm. It was my family calling. My father seemed to have forgotten about the time change as he was sitting out and enjoying the patio. I had a short chat with him with the promise of talking the next day and went back to sleep.

Thursday...
Was at a new school this AM, in a reception class (so the very young ones), I love getting to spend time with the kids, but I also find it tough because they need such a routine and as a supply I really don't know what the routine in. Luckily, I had a great TA in the classroom, however sometimes I don't know if she was aware of all the tasks the teacher had told me the TA would take care of. The day went by quickly, and I did enjoy it. I was also able to learn some of the student's names. One was having a tough time, feeling homesick, and I told her that it was okay to cry, even adults cry. The kids around me looked to me in shock! I wanted to tell them that I cry and feel homesick a lot sometimes.. but I bit my tongue ahha. The wonderful thing about a reception class is that there is very little marking, if any. So I was out of the school and on the bus bound for home by 4. I messaged Hannah in the thought that perhaps she'd be walking along the same route and we could walk or bus together. As we were driving down the road, the bus pulled up to her, I began making a face out the window, she looked up and jumped on the bus. It was quite the whirlwind. I told her I'd ripped my pantyhose beyond the point of any repair at my knee during the day, and what did she do, but reach over and rip them off so I had a random sockish thing and shorts under my dress! We had a good laugh about that!! Walking home, Liz called and turns out she was in the same area, so we began to walk with her and as we were crossing the street, we ran into Jesse (he was done much earlier than usual!). We ended up going home and then heading out to "The Tavern" a pub we'd been wanting to check out. We ordered food and chatted about the day we'd all had. We met Alex as we began to walk home and it was suggested to stop at the No.4 on way back home. The No. 4 is a quaint little coffee house. We enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and even played a few games of "Guess Who". I got the call for a Friday placement as I was leaving the school to head home. This school is in the city of Portsmouth -- to the east of Southampton. This little borough that I'd be going to is called Cosham.. well, that's where I'd be getting off the train. That's right, my first UK train adventure!
In the evening, I was feeling pretty tired so I left the girls at the No.4 and the live music to return home. I immediately got into my pjs and called home to chat for a bit, I also gave my CUZCUZ a call.. It was about 4 o'clock for her when I called her and she was on the way to Caiden's cross country. Good luck to my boy!! It was about 9 for me and I snuggled into bed with the intent on going to sleep... At this point, it became a little creepy as the lights began to flicker and I heard a sizzling sound.. I was too afraid of blowing up the flat that I didn't do anything to it. When Alex came home, I was already asleep but I heard her come in and woke up. We chatted about it, tried flicking the switch on the fuse box but then heard the sizzling sound still so kept it off. I didn't sleep very well as I was afraid I'd miss my alarm, etc.

Friday...
Was awake at 6 this am to ensure that I could leave the house by 6:45 to catch the 7:15 train. Walking over the Itchen bridge at 7 am was beautiful. I was nervous about getting on the train but found it easily. I even enjoyed the 20 minute walk from the train station to the school. My day in the year 2 class went well. It was a little hectic in the morning trying to figure out the lesson plans but once that was in order, the day went smoothly. I had to wing the gym lesson-- was given beanbags and told to get them to do activities holding beanbags on their arms etc. It worked out nicely with timing because they were loud and ended up wasting their own time so I didn't have to think of too much. The day went by quickly and after I was done the marking, by shortly after 4, I tried to find my way out of the school. However, I quickly discovered that the front doors were locked so I had to find a staff member to let me out through another exit. Walking home, I stopped by a quaint looking sweets shop and perhaps bought something for a friend but time will tell who it was for. I found the train station and made sure I had the right platform. With only two, theoretically, it shouldn't be too hard.. I caught the train that said to Southampton Central Station-- the direction I wanted to take! However, once I was on it, I began to realize that I don't think the train stopped at the station I wanted. Once we arrived to Eastleigh, the train pulled in and then changed direction! I eventually got off at the central station which wasn't too big of a deal, just a longer walk. I tried to get out through the turnstiles that you need to put your ticket through. I fed through my ticket, pushed against it and got rejected. The attendant came over, and looked at the ticket and said to me that I'd gone too far. I apologized and said that I had realized, unfortunately too late. He called me naughty but said he'd let me through this once.. I got called naughty by a 40 year old man... Different meaning in Canada, obviously. I then tried to catch a bus home but apparently wasn't allowed on it. In the end, I walked back to the flat, stopping for a few groceries at the ASDA along the way.
Friday night we ended up hanging out in Liz and Hannah's apartment. It was very relaxing. Jesse bought a new game called "Munchkin" and he taught us how to play. I guess it could be compared to "Settlers of Catan"... sort of. We had a discussion about which side of the sidewalk to go to when meeting someone walking. My instinct tells me to go right (as the other Canadians do because that's how our traffic is) but yet here, people go to the left! Or, you do the awkward dance/ shuffle and end up going very wide around..

Saturday...
We had our pancake breakfast in the AM. Yummy! Hannah and Liz found a maple syrup that is somewhat close to maple syrup that can be found in Canada (it's fairly expensive over here to get real Canadian maple syrup!). So for now, the Clarks syrup will have to do and it isn't too bad. We started chatting about plans for the day. In the end, we decided to get ready and prepare to leave about 11. Well, Alex and I got ready and waited for the girls.. Jesse came over and asked where everyone was.. The girls had left but their door was open.. We assumed they'd gone to do laundry. When we waited for another hour or so and still hadn't heard from ten, we decided to go to No.4 (coffee house) and jokingly said they were probably there. Well, guess who WAS there sitting playing a game of cribbage! (miscommunication there..) We had a bite to eat (I'm really enjoying the green pesto paninis WITH tomato!) and then Alex, Jesse and I were off to the city centre. Jesse had to find trousers, and Alex and I walked around running some errands. We met up over an hour later and walked home.

In the evening, we'd planned a games night with a few other invites. In the end, most were unable to come but Hannah's new Canadian friend, Dan, was able to come from Portsmouth. We enjoyed meeting him and he fit in well with Camp Canada. Loved playing heads up with the group! There were lots of funny moments! For supper, I made a chicken casserole (new recipe, didnt turn out as well as I'd hoped), for some reason tonight I was feeling emotional, like an outsider, like I'll never fit in. Even with this group of amazing people, I sometimes feel like I'm an outsider. It's nothing they've done (they've been so wonderfully accepting!) but I just can't put my finger on it. When Maggie came up to tell me the casserole was ready and my alarm was going off, she found me crying... It got better, being with friends, as the night wore on, but this weekend hasn't been a most positive one for me. At about 10, we headed into Ocean Village proper to meet Marta (another TimePlan teacher) and her group of friends. Marta just moved to Ocean Village so it was a nice house warming of sorts. Hannah was our directioner. However, she got a little misplaced and leaned into someone's open patio door and asked them if we were in the right direction. It was quite a humour moment! I only stayed for about a little over 30 minutes, and then walked home around 11. My hope was to wake up and go for a run before church.. Who knows if it'll actually pan out...

Sunday..
Woke up to my alarm going off but decided to remain in bed until the 8:20 alarm for Church. The past two weeks, Hannah, Liz and I have gone to Above Bar Church. The first week, I found the sermon really resonated with me. Last week, there wasn't really any sermon. So, this week we had decided to give it another chance and see what would happen. I got up showered and met the girls downstairs to realize they'd gotten in much later than planned last night and were awake but not planning to go to church. Instead, about half an hour later, we went to Chiquitos (a mexican restaurant down the street) for breakfast. I got some toast and hash browns-- so delicious! We walked back home and then Alex and I immediately packed up our blankets, books and pillows and walked down to the dock to our spot. We sat in our own little worlds enjoying the beautiful day. At noon, I met Liz and Hannah at Starbucks to send Liz off on her date. Hannah and I tried to subtly creep them but apparently we were caught! We walked back to the spot and ended up spending a few hours by the dock, reading and napping. It was very relaxing!
Mid afternoon, I was home cleaning off my bed (which during the day, seems to be magnetic to all of my stuff-- receipts, books, clothes etc)... I got that familiar antsy feeling in my chest... I'm still trying to force myself to stay in the moment and have so far been doing alright with that.. However, I think not going to church today took away a bit of my inner peace. Going to Church is a familiar thing for me.. Though the sermon may be different and I don't know any of the congregation, it helps to having that grounding time and to know that that's what I'd be doing if I was home.. I'll have to remember that for next week. Sarah and I had planned to Skype tonight so while I waited for her, I ended up calling my mom. We had a great chat for an hour just catching up (she hasn't usually been home when I've called during the day during the week). Explained how I've been feeling to her had me tearing up at moments, but I didn't break down. Once done with her, I went down to see what the girls were doing-- watching Batman! So how could I resist! Hannah made me some tea, and I grabbed a few digestive cookies and we watched the first part of the movie. Will finish it another day.

So there it is... Pretty much the same with me...