Posted 12:14 PM by Lodger
OOPS

That was silly. I left that last entry hanging and kinda forgot about it. Fariba needed to use her computer and I had meant to return to the entry once she was done. Sorry about that. First few weeks back at work have been busy.

So I'm a few weeks into my second year at the school. I started off with a real burst of confidence. The kids treat me differently this year... I'm a face in the school they recognise and with that comes a certain level of respect. Sort of. Behaviour is still nowhere near what it is back at home... and my expectations have changed to accomodate that reality.

During my first week, I felt great. I felt like I belonged, that I was truly a member of the school community. And I love having my own classroom. E6 baby! The name is on the door.

However, since the first week I've come back down to earth, a bit. I realise there will still be days that leave me scratching my head. It's a constant cycle: try something new, fine tune it if it works, scrap it if it doesn't, and then back to the drawing board. The truth is each class of kids is a completely different kettle of fish from the next. Teaching a class of thirteen year ten boys with learning difficulties brings challenges I could have never forseen. They are their own worst enemies, a result of their profound lack of self-esteem. They're always at each others throats, a self-defence mechanism, I think, that often leads to unacceptable pockets of wasted time during lessons. The worst incident was a water fight on Thursday. It pissed me off to no end and resulted in me marching four of them down to the Head Teacher's office at 3:15. I wasn't impressed. Last year I wouldn't have taken it to the Head and I think it sent a pretty stern message to them. We'll see. Winnie taught them last year and tells me they respond well to rewards. Appeal to their competitiveness and bribe them. Chocolate apparently works best. And Canadian Skittles! Apparently they are far superior to the domestic variety. We'll see. Funny how they act like tough little gang bangers and yet are really little kids underneath. They are only thirteen though. What often comes out of their mouths makes it easy sometimes to forget that.

Outside of work, things are alright, if a bit quiet. I have a TV now, so weeknight evenings I tend to stay in, plan my lessons and watch the tube. I only have the five state channels which is all I want. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing on, but more often the opposite is true, especially during prime time and late night. They have some funky shows here. I can't get into the nightly dramas though. I watched one episode of Coronation Street and found it reasonably well acted and written, but too much work trying to figure out who is who. Who has time to make such a commitment? I've not seen Eastenders and have no desire to see it.

Bizarrely, I've only been into London twice since term has started. I'm truly becoming a bit of a Croydon resident. On weekends we've been hanging out locally mostly, either at JV's place or at Winnie and Scott's. Nightlife has been mostly local too. First Friday back was a killer... I was held up at work and met up with Winnie, Holly and JV at JV's place later on. They insisted I had to 'catch up,' and JV's liquor cabinet consisted of scotch, scotch and scotch. So I drank a bit of scotch. Then beer at the club later. Wine too at one point (just a bit). Oh well. You only live once. Unfortunately, so do your brain cells. Hmmm.

Been quieter since then. We had to work Saturday (Open morning at the school... parents shopping around for schools for next year come by to check our school out... lots of talking to people, not wholly unpleasant, but not my idea of a great Saturday morning either). That night Holly, JV and Verona, and I went to Scott and Winnie's for a BBQ. JV, a man who loves to cook (his curries are killer) brought enough meat to feed an army... lamb, beef, pork sausages, and chicken breasts and wings. We ate it all. Bunch of pigs, we were.

We had today off in lieu of Saturday. Holly, Winnie, Kala (new Vancouverite English teacher on staff) and I planned to go to Brighton for the day, but we were rained out. Kala, not feeling well, dropped out completely; the rest of us went to London instead. Saw David Blaine. It was fairly dull, really, but not offensively so. I don't quite understand why so many Londoners insist on abusing him like they have been. Had Vietnamese for lunch near Bank St.. Went to the Royal Conservatory in Greenwich. Stood on either side of zero longitude. Took a picture. Rode the DLR train for the first time. Sat in the front seat which is like kind of like being on a roller coaster. Sort of. Depends on your attitude really. Today, in a silly mood, fully aware we would normally be teaching, we chose to believe it was like being on a roller coaster.

The new Osbournes episode just started (on Fariba's TV... no cable in my room). And it occurs to me I haven't eaten dinner and it is ten at night. Big lunch. So...

it's naan bread and hummous and the Osbournes for me and then bed. Oooh, Ozzie's getting his teach cleaned. That's quality television right there. Gotta go!

Posted 2:51 PM by Lodger
THE BEARD RE-VISITED

Yesterday I apparently looked liked Jesus. Today I got a haircut. I had my glasses off as the barber cut my hair. When she was finished the beard no longer made me look Jesus-like. Instead, staring back at me in the mirror was a blurry Abe Lincoln! Jesus I can hande, but not Honest Abe. The beard goes tonight.


ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS

During our stay in Paris, Melissa and I visited the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise, the cemetery where, among others, Chopin, Oscar

Posted 10:44 AM by Lodger
We arrived back in London late Wednesday night and I dropped Melissa off at Gatwick yesterday morning.

Our final days in Paris were laid back, but we did see a lot... Musee D'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, a Seine boat tour, window shopping. We lacked the funds needed to take in the Moulin Rouge spectacle, but instead were able to take things at a slower pace and unwind at the end of a long trip.

Our days in London were also spent taking it easy, a couple of movies (American Pie 3 and Buffalo Soldiers) and a last dash bit of shopping for Melissa that included Harrods (I bought chocolate, my only purchase... coffee and vanilla creams. Delicious.)

Although I feel relieved to be back home and I'm looking forward to getting back to work (with some mixed emotions, of course... if only I had one more week!), it was sad to say goodbye to my little sister. We would both be the first to say we have a unique relationship, complete with its own inside jokes and vocabulary, a relationship that will undoubtedly change over the years, and yet somehow will always be the same. It will be very good to see family and friends back home this Xmas.


OLLIE'S BIRTHDAY

I don't believe I've mentioned little Oliver, Fariba's nephew, on the site before. Fariba babysits him often and the two of us get along quite well. He's a gorgeous little boy, huge brown eyes and sandy blonde hair, the result of his mixed parentage, Russian and Iranian (his father, Ali, is Fariba's brother). The lucky little guy's growing up learning three languages... Farsi, Russian and English, and he'll most likely pick up some French when he gets to high school as well. Yesterday the family celebrated his second birthday here and I was lucky enough to take part. A great variety of foods was served, including four Russian salads and gor masabsi (my own phonetic spelling), a delicious traditional Iranian meat dish I've had a few times here. Happy birthday was sang in three different languages and a Napolean cake was served as the birthday cake (Ollie even blew out the candles! with a bit of help from Daddy).

I enjoy the large family gatherings, the noise, the food, the warmth... it reminds me of my own family's holiday get-togethers back home. At times, discussions, sometimes quite passionate ones, break out in Farsi and I get a bit lost, but I can usually get the gist from what is said in English and I get running translations from Fariba or one of her nieces or nephews.

I'm sporting a temporary beard right now, a leftover from the trip, and it has brought about some interesting comments. Ali called me Van Gogh, then passed his observation on to his mother in Farsi, who quickly disagreed, saying Van Gogh was ugly. I said thankyou. She then said I look like Jesus!!! I need a haircut, but obviously it's more pressing than I had thought. Nooshin says she thinks the beard is cute, and reaction was generally positive here, but I had dinner and drinks at JV's place last night with him and another work colleague, Holly, who gave it the thumbs down. Too scruffy, she said. The plan is to lose it by Wednesday, anyway, regardless of popular response.

So tomorrow, back to work. Teaching by Wednesday afternoon.