Well, it’s been a bit of break from the hectic blog uploading previously – but as they say no news is good news. Actually, in this case – no news is no news… Compared to the excitement of the Europe adventure, the last 3 weeks spent in London have been very relaxing and quite stationary.
So, I got numerous requests (does 2 count as numerous? Thanks Mum and sister) to continue the blog but it seems harder without having stories such as people smuggling or fantastic historical sites to rely on. Let’s see what happens…
Job and House Searching
Well, I wrote a bit about this but I got bored… so deleted it and here’s the short version!
Work – none yet, (don’t arrive in June next time, like November in Australia for teachers) but jumped through all hoops now and got some casual stuff lined up. Big push for Sept after their holidays for more permanent work.
Accommodation – got good temporary accommodation and waiting to find out Sept. workplace before I lock myself into a spot.
Being a relaxed Tourist
After taking it very easy after the bus adventure for a couple of days – decided I needed to visit some touristy sites and enjoy London. I’ve been trying to save money (since work is still up in the air) but luckily there are quite a few places that are free. (Donations gratefully accepted though) Managed to visit quite a few of their museums – probably most interesting was the British Museum which is full of stuff not from the U.K. For those who don’t know, but the British borrowed/took/stole quite a lot of hugely interesting things from around the world. I’m not going to take a side to the argument but I will say, it was great to see the artefacts and remember the places they had come from, especially the Pantheon and Egyptian exhibits. And the Rosetta stone is a must-see!
Trooping the Colours
To celebrate the Queen’s birthday the troops all get together and have a massive parade and inspection. The British are very good at pomp and ceremony – unfortunately the best viewing is controlled by a ticket ballot that I missed pretty well. So for the average tourist there are some places to watch the actual show or you just get to watch them parade past. Managed to get a somewhat decent spot – needed to be heaps earlier but height has its advantages. This is the best photo I got of the Queen going round inspecting the troops.
(Queen on Carriage)
Unfortunately that photo is probably giving you a false idea of the view I had of the proceedings. Here’s a non-zoomed in photo. At least we could easily see them marching past and the music drowned out pretty much anything (except those stupid tourists next to me who wouldn’t shut up talking in their own language… argh…)
(View from the Public Area – New Game! Where’s Queeny?)
After all that excitement, the Queen heads back to Buckingham Palace – so I ran back to get in front of her and watch their Airforce do a flyover and a 41 gun salute. Lots of people everywhere but still worth it.
(Queen outside Buckingham Palace)
As you can see from the focus of my photos, I was pretty excited to see the Queen. Don’t know why but it was pretty cool. I think I’m a monarchist, at least until we see King Charles. Then there will definitely be a bit of a change!
World Cup
Life Lesson Learnt: Never mix a typical British man, with alcohol and the World Cup. Never a great result. For some reason the football games aren’t being broadcast on massive screens for the public in the city center (which I thought they would be) to watch for free. So had to go into a pub to watch and realised why I’m not a fan of football. Shhhh… don’t tell anyone. The England games so far have been painful. But not as painful as Germany v Australia. Ouch… (And the less said about State of Origin the better) I’m hoping England keep going because it will be fun being here experiencing it all but who knows.
Luckily Ghana game a lot better – I’m not even going to get started talking about red cards. But personally, something needs to change for me to become more than a World Cup bandwagoner. I just wish the Australian team wouldn’t complain… not a good role-model to the kiddies about how to deal with officials. But maybe that’s my teacher, ex-referee, non-patriotic or ignorant side coming out.
So go Ghana over Germany (unlikely) and Australia. Hopefully if we get knocked out I can go for Australasia – if they accept me!
Choose my Adventure
I have a request – for those who have reached this far in my rambling. Since my appointment book is pretty open – and August school holidays are upcoming – I’m looking for stuff to do! I was going to promise to try anything that was suggested but:
a.) I don’t trust my readers.
b.) Well… I think A is a good enough reason actually!
So instead of choose my adventure, maybe suggest my adventure would be better. If it’s reasonable, cheap (kinda… don’t let this limit if it’s fantastic) and sounds like fun (and not embarrassing!) I’ll give it a go. Facebook is the best way to contact me probably (and yes… I have officially converted. But pigs haven’t flown – how strange.)
Finally, I’ve been enjoying the accents here – and stumbled across this guy. Don’t know much about him but I laughed at this. And it has a graph! Maths and English teachers hopefully would find this funny. A rare opportunity! Hope you’re holding down the fort wherever you are!
