Random thoughts

It's now only a week until we go to New Zealand, I can't believe it's come round so quickly. We've started packing, which is surprisingly easy since we have so little stuff. Coming back to Singapore will be simple now that we know the place. I'm glad we've made the decision to go back to London next April, I am missing my friends and HTB. I'm also very excited about the PGCE, I've decided that Kings College London is my first choice. As much as I would like to study in Oxford or Cambridge, I really want to go back to London where all our friends are.

I'm loving teaching and generally enjoying life, apart from a cold (in this weather, really!) things are good. We met up with some of Paul's DB work colleagues at Lau pa sat the other day, and we played canasta with George and Alex last night. George and I really do have a similar sense of humour, it's quite funny. I had an urge to do some drawing last night, I think I'd like to take some classes once we settle (and probably once I've finished my PGCE). I really need to get on and start the application for KCL for September 2007, I will get on to that today. Working with the 6-8 year olds is fun, but it has made me realise that I definitely want to work with older pupils, so this voluntary work at the Canadian school has been very valuable. We have a gecko (or a chicchac as the locals call them), he is growing rapidly and he lives behind our lounge curtain. I have a sneaking suspicion that he is keeping the mosquito population in check. I keep getting munched,...

Well, this week has been a bit odd. I cam back from Hong Kong on Sunday and got offered a job on Monday. I started teaching English part-time at Goro language school on Wednesday morning. I have two great students; Louson and Yin Hang, as well as a couple of private tutorials with Japanese ladies. It has to be said that I am thoroughly enjoying the teaching. I don't have much time for lesson planning, but that does not matter much as I am only expected to work through the Headway text book with them. The other teachers seem nice too, although they're all a little surprised that I've given up working in an investment bank to work at Goro! It is also valuable experience shadowing Alex at the Canadian International School. It is good to see so many different teaching styles in action. I realise that I have made the right choice with teaching older kids, as much as I like the younger age group I do prefer a bit more interaction. An aside to all this teaching activity i...

I started looking for a job on Friday, and got a call to an interview with Goro language school on Friday evening. I've just had the interview and have been offered the job. I'm excited, I'm finally getting to use my TEFL qualification and I will get some teaching practice prior to applying for a PGCE. The language school is very smart and professional-looking, it is owned by a Japaneses guy called Naga. I think it will be a fun place to work for a few months. We spent the weekend in Hong Kong with Alex. It is a multi-cultural, crowded, noisy and dirty city. That said, it has some awesome geography and is really quite spectacular. I'd booked the hostel, and the confirmation email had warned about 'angry men' and 'mafia' in the lift lobby - always bodes well. True to their word, we did feel a little threatened, but managed to get to our hotel only to find they'd given our room away and put us in an even dodgier hotel. Oh well... at least we h...

Since it looks like we are coming back to Singapore for three months after we've done our two months travelling New Zealand, I've started looking at rental apartments again. I found a nice-looking place in Novena which would be very convenient for friends, church and work. It is modern, clean and light and even comes with a weekly cleaner included in the cost. Brilliant. Why is it that Singaporeans are always late for appointments? I had to wait twenty minutes for the estate agent today. That said, the air conditioning repair guys were spot on time, so I can't really complain. I like having time at home, but I'm also looking forward to doing two days a week at the Canadian school from next week. It will be good teaching practice and it'll be good to be busy again. It's amazing how quickly I've got used to the heat here again after the UK. The humidity is high, but it has great effects on skin and hair. I went for a pedicure yesterday, at my usual pla...

This Blogger site even lets you publish your blog by email.  Let's see if it works. This will be very handy when we are travelling in New Zealand.  Happy birthday to Mum and Luci today.

Back from the UK I just got back yesterday after a cold and enjoyable 10 days in Blighty. It was great to see everyone, and really good to have so much free time in London. I missed Paul loads, but that was made easier by the fact that I was seeing so many good friends over there. I was really lucky with the weather, I had about five really bright, crisp days (just the type I've been missing since living abroad) and a bit of snow. I even managed to take in some of the sights; fleet street, St Pauls, the V&A museum, the National Gallery and the Tate Britain. Plans Paul and I made some plans for the next couple of years yesterday. It feels good to know that we will be able to do all of the travelling we want to do as well as furthering our careers in the way we want to. So, it looks like we'll be back in the UK from April 2007. Then I'll start my PGCE in September 2007. Back to Singapore It's surprisingly good to be back. The weather is certainly very agreeabl...