Ice Skating, Cristmas trees, Yoyos and Little Brothers

So Christmas has come and gone it seems. Just want to share a few special happenings.

The first made my month finishing off at school. After 15 weeks of 'challenging' kids, I decided to tag along with the year 8's on their year group outdoor ice skating trip down in Greenwich instead of marking books. I loved it, all these kids that I've struggled with all term coming up to me "Sir can I skate round with you this time". I'm looking forward to my return to school now in some funny way.

The second was my free Christmas tree, left outside a primary school by Victoria station. It was a bit too tall though so I had to chomp through it with my Leatherman, picking up a few interesting looks and comments throughout the ordeal. But after dragging it home and propping it up I was quite satisfied with the priceless aquisition.

My third was my yoyo. I got a yoyo from my lucious Lucy. So I'm rocking the cradle and walking the dog quite happily at the moment.

The forth choice thing that makes the list has been my little brother Andrew who's come over for a visit. He's so cool to have around and it's so nice just hanging out. We played rugby yesterday for the Old Alleynians, we both got a few tries. After not having played together for about 5 years we managed to find each other now and again.

So that's me. We're off to Windsor tomorrow to visit her majesty. Then spotting some sparkly things in the sky come midnight, followed by a 5 day trip around the the south coast in a wee rental car. Sweet as.

The Disorientating effect of a Northern Hemisphere Winter

It's only 16 days till Christmas, but I am feeling awkward on a few different levels. First it's supposed to be hot and I'm supposed to be at the beach. All around me is supposed to be a bright crimson backdrop of Pohutakawa trees flowering. School is supposed to be breaking up for 6 weeks, and my feet are supposed to pop out of their shoes in a green puff and slip wetly into my jandels as soon as I get in from work.

The reality is, it's cold, we're eating delicious hot roasts and yum soups. I'm ducking from bus to train to bus to bus to avoid raindrops, the trees are skeletal and no one has jandels on. When I get home, I massage my toes to get the blood running through them once more and then eagerly pop them into a nice warm pair of slippers.

And then there is the sun. In winter time down under when I look to the east (not religiously or anything...just trying to make a point) the winter sun is supposed to be a bit lower in the sky on my left hand side (learning moment: Towards the equator), but in this crazy winter up here when I am looking to the East (for the sake of argument) the sun is in fact low to the horizon on my RIGHT HAND SIDE. A trivial matter you might think, but pause and ponder the implications for my delicate at the best of times sense of direction here. Midday when I subconsciously feel as if I'm facing east with the sun on my left hand side, I'm actually well and truly facing west. Craziness!!!!

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my wife says that if I have 3 posts before christmas she'll link to me again.

...and a few weeks on.

Someone asked me today at school, "why are you still here?". I wonder why quietly. I used to work for a Christian group called Student Life on a university campus, when I first started I wondered if I could work with a group that had 'To change the world' in it's vision statement. I find that really hard to imagine. Yet surely that's why we do anything, to try and positively influence our little part of our ginormous world. My wife Lucy has really helped me to see that changing the world is not just some mythical unattainable dream, because she's doing it most days of the week. I'm praying pretty much everyday now that God can help me try and do it too. Being a follower of Jesus I've got a bit of an advantage in that respect.

Redemption

I wanted to quit teaching for ever it seemed about 5 weeks ago. I don't really know why, I just had had enough. It makes me a little mad all those ads in NZ and even here in the UK about teaching being this totally fantastically wonderful thing to do if you're fed up with earning tonnes of money doing a seemingly pointless job. Teaching for me has to be a calling. And I guess, no actually I know that that is why I'm going to try and stick it out. The kids in my classes are naughty... oh so so naughty. They swear at me, yell at me, push me, cause me to face the whiteboard and swear under my breath very very quietly. But I'm going to try and stick with them. Convince myself, and hopefully them too, that I am committed

Final Daze

After getting back from France I decided that I would try and last 2 more weeks and then call it a day. So that's what I've just done. Supply teaching is blinking hard over here, leaving 2 weeks before the end of term was mainly for the preservation of my passion for teaching youngsters, which had been being daily stripped away by harrasment from students and the seemingly pointless endeavor of attempting to teach under excrutiatingly trying circumstances. I'd walk out at the end of the day 100 pounds better off, but pretty discouraged. I was lamenting with another kiwi teacher about the fact that we both used to really enjoy heading off to school most days back home. Out of the 38 days that I have been a supply teacher I don't need a second hand to count the days that I've felt the same here. Shoot it's discouraging, but I guess it's just the truth of it.

Over all though, I've appreciated the experience, and I hope that it has allowed me to gain a few more skills as far as crowd control goes.

I am actually really looking forward to starting off with my own bunch of kids come september. Teaching, in my humble experience, is way more effective when you have a long term perspective. I reacon a lot of the kids that I've worked with are sick to death of short term people in their lives, teachers, step dads, social workers, church groups. Being another short term person to add to the list wasn't that nice.

I do hope though by some miracle of a graceful God, I have added a glimmer of light into the darkness of some kids' lives.

Why you should never write a post on Friday afternoon

I gotta do a new post... Hey France was so nice, loved every second of it. Back at school though this week has been the biggest drag ever. I have begun questioning my career choice..but then the reassuring thing is that 'career' is such an open ended word these days. I've been told that still in some parts of wales people's last names still elude to their jobs. Or maybe that was 50 years ago. I've really got an appreciation this week that job satisfaction involves a whole lot more than good money. Words like 'meaning', 'significance', 'influence', 'genuinity', 'service' spring to mind as things that my job currently lacks in any substancial degree it seems. Sorry, way too depressing. Can I just say though that throughout this week, this wonderful family that I have joined over here has bought me tonnes of yum treats to make up for the monkey enclosures that I've been trying to teach in. Thanks guys!!