Busy bee

I am happy when I am busy and I have been hopping around all day getting bits and bobs for next weekend. I am getting excited now about my weekend in the wilderness with the girls. Much as I do consider myself a city girl all the way, I do love the country. Last night we spent a couple of hours outside at Ns house with her new chimenea crackling with big fat logs smoking away. When I got home I spelt of cooking and burning wood and I fell asleep with woody hair smells in my nose.

The boot of my car is full of food already, a little barbecue, huge packets of crisps, coffee, tea, chocolate and I can't even remember what else. There is more shopping to be done with J when we are on our way down to Sherwood Forest to meet the other 10 intrepid adventurers that we will spend the weekend with. Adventure comes in all shapes and sizes these days, in our case it will come in the shape of a cabin in the woods, lots of tea and chocolate and laughing until tears stream down your face. Roll on Friday...

Destiny Calling

There is a stillness in my classroom and the faint noise of last lesson on a Friday is wafting through the wall as I sit and type. I am free now, free to be part of the weekend and let the weekend be a part of me. There is much to come and with Ns 40th birthday celebrations come food, wine and song. Now is the time to let social intercations wash over me, to talk, to wonder to relax and sigh.

I am ready for the weekend. Some-how, despite all the bitching of the last few months, I have found the routine that I craved in this temporary supply job. I am in school 5 days a week, I have the same classes, I am beginning to understand and like the students. I am tired every Friday, tired because of standing on my feet, tired because I work, earn my money. It is a beautiful tired that comes from knowing that a days work has been done. It is a tired that will grow boring pretty soon, but I can enjoy it for a while.

Only four more days of work before I am off on my road trip. I cannot wait now, car engine revving, bags loaded, food packed and J and I will be driving and singing along. I need that break, I need to be with J, H and M. Desperate for time in Pyjamas, laid on our beds fighting over who makes cups of tea. I cannot wait for this time away, it will come at the right time. As for this weekend, my destiny is calling...

Hush

I am spending lots of time looking over my Hungarian language books. So far I have only gotten to the phonics section and am still learning to read Hungarian. This is what I did before I moved to Poland and it worked well really. It meant that for the first few months, while I couldn't understand much, I could read signs and so ask directly for what it was I wanted.

When I started to learn Polish I could not discern single words, it all sounded like one mass of noise to me, and I have to say that Hungarian is the same. I never had proper lessons while I was in Poland, but I did when I was in France and I think that I would like to leave at least one of these places with a really good level of the local language. With that in mind I will be signing on to a two week course in Hungarian in the summer I hope.

I think out of everything that scares and excites at the same time with moving to Budapest the language is the thing that I know will take work. I was at the point in Poland where I could do most things and understood a lot more than I was able to articulate. In french I can have a chat and understand most of what goes on whilst watching TV or reading a newspaper. When living abroad I loved the fact that I was speaking another language everyday, sometimes switching within the same conversation. This is another reason to move, to change the culture you are linking with within a couple of hours.

Grrrrr

For some reason I am in the middle of arguing today. I just cannot seem to keep my mouth shut and for some reason I am seeing things that annoy me all over the place. With two people already on the 'who has Anne offended list' I am hoping to avoid any further conflict and keep out of trouble. What is the matter with me? I am feeling stressed and am taking it out on others. I need to make some apologies, at least to those that need it.

I don't think I realised how out of control I would feel once I actually had the job I wanted. I spent so long dreaming of the security that would come with knowing where I was in September that I never stopped to consider that I have to get the end of term here first. In addition to this I have to learn a enw language and worry about my new colleagues and workplace. Will I be happy there? Will I settle? Will I love Budapest as much as I hope I will. Again I am putting pressure on myself, and it is coming out in all the wrong ways.

Lessons I learned from the Freedom Writers

After hanging out with N yesterday she gave me a book to read. When I arrived at her house her cheeks were pufy and her eyes red and she told me that she has wept and wept while reading 'Lessons I learned from the Freedom Writers' by Erin Gruwell. This is a story that has been made into a film staring Hilary Swank and is about a teacher who works in one of the toughest classrooms in California.

The patience and committment that this woman has is nothing short of inspirational. I have to admit that it is all a little bit 'Oprah' for me, but the fact is that I picked up the book at 9.00 this morning and finished it a couple of minutes ago. It did make me cry, but is made me think so much about my own choices as an educator. Sometimes you do wonder how much actual impact you have on childrens lives.

It was just a brilliant book and an amazing story. There is nothing I wanted to do more than lose a few hours reading a book cover to cover while the grey clouds outside float over my head. Whether you are involved in teaching or not, this gives us all something to think about when it comes to how much we put into what we do.

One enchanted evening

After school yesterday I was knackered. It has seemed like a long week, but we had made plans to go for Thai food as it is N's 40th birthday next week. What T, R and L didn't tell me was that we were going to eat at the home of a friend of T's who is actually Thai herself and caters for home dinner parties. The food was exquisite, as was the company. Having not worked at the school for three years while I was abroad, I forgot just how much I enjoyed the company of my co-workers.

The evening took me by surprise really. We laughed and I ate so much that I am still full now, the morning after. We talked about all sorts of stuff and it was one of those enchanted evenings when the time just flew by. I have not enjoyed a night out so much in a long time. Maybe we will all go again before I leave to go to Budapest, any excuse to eat A's amazing Thai food,(deep fried quails eggs anyone?).

There are some pictures of the evening to follow, but for now I am content to feel settled and happy that a simple evening with colleagues and friends can turn into something so relaxed and warm.

Something on the inside

I have not been at work today, I have been elsewhere. I have begun to realise that there is something on the inside that makes me love travel. At a basic level, cars, buses, trains and planes, I adore that sense of movement. It doesn't have to be travel for hundreds of miles. I drove for about 40 minutes today and still ended up with a lightness to my breathing and weight released from my shoulders. I know it would be easy to get addicted to being away from home, to constant movement.

I ordered my books from amazon and today I recieved Hungarian language books, maps and guidebooks so that me M and J can plan next summers grown up version of backpacking. Croatia, Slovak Republic, Romania, I am going to try and sneak Transylvania onto the itinerary too. I wonder if this is a part of my personality that I was born with, this desire to live a life less ordinary without ever having realised what ordinary is.