I have a problem at the moment. I think I am overworked and it's actually affecting my job. It's not so much the actual number of hours that I have work but more how they are spread over the day and the fact that I work both nights and days. Add in to this the fact that the last few weeks I've worked 6 nights and sometimes 6 days a week and you end up with a very tired, sick frequently and generally grumpy me.

I actually slept through my first lesson of the day today and somehow dragged myself through the economics work I had to do. I still hate economics. I now have a maths lesson and then a science lesson and then house duty. My work on a Wednesday starts at 9am and finishes at 10.30 pm with hour breaks every now and then. It is not a fun day.

The maths class I have is with the bottom set and I really would like to throttle those girls. I can handle people who struggle with Maths, I can't handle people who couldn't even be bothered to listen to the explanations that the teacher tries to give.

I'm eating way too much chocolate and haven't been to the gym in ages partly coz my timetable and the gym's opening hours are not friends. I know it's only three weeks left but wow, it seems to be taking forever and I'm not a happy person right now.

 So much fun!

 Warning: do not read unless you want to hear my complain about my night last nigh. If you want happiness and joy and pink fluffy things, you won't find that here.

So, last night wasn't the best of nights ever. In fact it was pretty crap. I got an email from my boss giving me 3 more lessons to go to during the week. This may not seem like much but it effectively means I'm working a lot of hours during the day and still working at least 5 nights a week as well. Not my idea of fun. I was finding my timetable pretty tiring as it was before these additions.

I managed to upset Chris who wasn't feeling well and that sucked. He was really nice about it once I'd apologised but I tend to continue to beat myself up about things for a while and I'm still thinking about what I said.

I lost my one earring. These are my sleepers and I've left my other comfortable pair in South Africa. I have no idea where the earring could be as I'm not sure when it came off.

I thought I would make pizza because that usually cheers me up a bit. Yeah, it burnt even though I put it in for the same amount of time as last time when it cooked perfectly.

The bulb of my main light blew so I'll have to buy another one today. This of course happened when I was desperately trying to see if I'd turned the dial of the heater the right way so I wouldn't roast during the night. No contacts and darkness mean zero ability to see little white numbers against a red background.

So finally, I went to sleep. That should have gone well. Yeah. Think incredibly restless plus dreams that left me feeling exhausted.

One can only hope that today will be better. One can only pray that it won't be worse.

 It's nearing the end of my 5 week holiday in SA and I  can tell you one thing - I'm already counting down the weeks till I come back. It has been awesome seeing my friends and family again. I can't even describe how it's been seeing Chris - think lots of pink fluffiness and cute puppies and sugary soppiness and you might get the idea. I know it's terribly soppy and may make you feel ill but tough, that's how I feel :D

We had a really good day yesterday. We woke up lateish, he went to Aikido, I arbed around on sims. We went to Belugas for lunch - had the 26 piece sushi special each and cocktails. He had a Long Island Ice Tea, I had a very yummy frozen Green Apple Margarhita. The manager or someone equally important, sent us each a glass of complimentary champagne (nice champagne). Afterwards we went to the waterfront to get marcels and just wander around for a while. The sushi was delicious but oh so filling. I didn't quite finish mine and I was too full to have supper.

I'm looking forward to seeing people tonight at the games evening. I might even play more than just a bit of runebound :) Thinking settlers and maybe more runebound. Mostly I just want to see ppl, especially coz i'm going to be back in England at the end of this week :( but we're not thinking about that just yet.

This is our last day in Berlin today. We're off to Prague tomorrow. My feet hurt and my legs are shaky from walking around so much but it's cool :D I don't have much time to write up what we've been doing so if you  can stomach warren's random blog posts go read what we've been doing there.

Cheers

go visit ultixan.blogspot.com
where you will here about expiring trains, the competition score and other random ramblings

Yay! Only two more weeks of term left to go and then it's off on the Contiki tour and then back to see you all in SA. I must admit that I am pretty much over working here at this stage and absolutely craving to be back in South Africa.

I've just returned (last Friday) from a weeks trip in the south of France with the school. We took the lower Vths so it was a week with a bunch of screaming 13/14 year old girls - 81 of them in fact. We went to see Bisons, vultures, some really cool caves, went river rafting and visited a small village called Pont de Montvert and a small town called Mende. Photo's will go up on FB soon.

At some stage I might put up where I'm going to go on the Contiki tour. It's just a matter of not being lazy and actually doing it.

Hi all!

Yeah, so I'm apparently not very good with updating my LJ frequently so I decided to finally post something. Life has been full of up and downs but recently there have been a lot more ups than downs.

One of the big ups has been all the shopping I've been doing. That sounds so girly but hey *shrugs* . I've now managed to get myself a laptop and an ipod nano and many many items of clothing (skirt, good number of tops, about 4 pairs of shoes, gym stuff). Oh, and miscellaneous extras like a sleeping bag for the upcoming school trip to France and for the Contiki tour.

My parents also came to visit me over half term (last week of May) which was super awesome! It was really great to see them and we did tons of sightseeing considering the short time they were here. I miss having them here but it's not too long until I'm in SA (just over 7 weeks) so it's not too bad.

There is another thing in my life that has led to me feeling the happiest I've felt in a long while but I'm not quite ready to share that yet tho some of you reading this will know what I'm talking about. Apologies for being cryptic but I think it's better this way.

I'm off this Thursday to Cevennes in France to stay in the middle of nowhere for a week with 80 odd 14 year old girls and only like 7 other adults. eeeek! It should actually be pretty fun but damn tiring.

I can't believe I'm writing this at 6.44am and that i'm thinking of going to gym in 15 mins. I'm not sure what's happening to me. Possibly it getting light at just past 4 in the morning which, let me tell you, is rather annoying has something to do with it. Right now I'm debating trying to go back to sleep for another hour and going to gym at 8. Hmmm warm bed vs cold outdoors and exercise.

Oh, and my copy of Sims 3 is sitting on my bed at home waiting for me :D

As some of you may already know, Karl and I ended our relationship on Tuesday evenings (the 28th). It was a mutual decision and we are still friends. Despite this, it was an incredibly difficult decision to make and has taken it's toll emotionally. I can't speak for karl, but I am going through periods of intense sadness. On the whole I am coping with it better than I thought I would but something like this is never going to be easy.

Thank you to friends who have already offered their sympathy and support. Special thanks go to someone who I've been leaning on rather heavily during this time but he knows who he is.

I arrived back at the school somewhere around noon yesterday and I haven't actually left the school building since then. I've basically been reading and eating and occassionally packing stuff into plastic bags and suitcases. I can't say that i'm overjoyed to be back but at least I will be progessing towards coming home. I've had enough of being away from friends and family but unfortunately it's still over 14 weeks before I'm home for a while.

Coming up in the near future:

• A fixed exeat in two weeks time - basically a weekend where all the girls go back home. This time it's a four day weekend for me coz the monday is a bank holiday and the friday is my day off. Going to spend most of the time trying to learn how to play the violin which i ordered yesterday. A certain somebody thinks i'm kind of crazy for buying a violin but I've wanted to learn how to play since i was 16 so i figure it isn't just a passing craze. I'm also taking a lesson from my sister here: she wanted to learn how to play the piano so she started piano lessons, she wanted to learn to play the guitar so she got a guitar, she wanted to learn how to play the drums so, well, she took lessons. I on the other hand spent 7 years wanting to play the violin. I've decided to try to be more like her in this respect and do the stuff I actually want to do.

• The last week of May my parents will be here with me which is something I'm really really looking forward to. They'll arrive on the 21st and stay until the 28th. I won't get to see them the day they arrive coz I'll be working but after that I intend to stick to them like glue. We're going to do a ton of cool touristy stuff and when they leave I'll spend the last few days of half term watching torchwood season two and crying.

• After that comes the school trip to France in the middle of June which is for just over a week. Going to be hard work but at least it will be different work.
   
• Then it's July, Warren arrives and we go on Contiki tour! yay! :D
   
• And after that I'm in South Africa for just over 5 weeks which will be awesome.

Of course in between all that I have work at the school which on the whole isn't too bad.

That's pretty much it for now. I'm fairly homesick at the moment so I don't want to write anything depressing or emotional coz that would just set me off.

Went out with my cousins last night to watch the final session of their DnD campaign. They played from about 6pm last night until 6.30am this morning. I got back from that, slept for about 2 or 3 hours and then woke up to go to the South African shop with my aunt and uncle - got biltong and Simba chips and Milo chocolate so it was worth it.

It was so good to even just watch roleplaying. I can't believe how much I miss it. I might even get to play a session of Scion before I go back to London coz the group is eager to try Scion out (I introduced them to it last week sometime).

This holiday in Holland has been absolutely fantastic. It has been heavy on the sightseeing but has rather been a chance to relax with family and experience life in the Netherlands as the locals do. I did take a trip to Belgium with my one cousin's girlfriend but we went around with her dad who lives there so it was sightseeing in a very local way. (if this doesn't make much sense, please take into account the lack of sleep).

I was going to go for a run today but decided that I would fall asleep on my feet. I will go for a run tomorrow tho to finish off week 7 of the Shape running programme. I'm only a week behind where I should be so I don't want to miss any runs. It's definitely easier than the last time I attempted it but it's still a challenge. I'm looking forward to being able to go to gym when I'm back at school in just over a weeks time.

I'm still trying to decided what I'm going to do with my life next year. The teacher training is still an option but I'm also thinking about a Masters in Operations Research thanks to a chat with my uncle over lunch at the beach. The advantages of doing the Masters degree are numerous and that is mostly likely the route I will take. I may even be able to afford to move out and thus be closer to my friends :D

I can just about keep my eyes from closing so I'm going to stop writing now.

Why?

• It's my day off which is always good
• It's super sunny outside with a beautiful clear blue sky and birds are singing
• Despite the sun, it's not going to be horrible hot - we might possibly hit 12 degrees today
• I'm off to Tunbrigde Wells and I'll have delicious Subway for lunch - BBQ Rib & Cheese, toasted
• I feel awake this morning for the first time in ages (have been sleeping in the last two days)
• My upper fourths behaved brilliantly last night after we had a little chat about their recent bed time behaviour. I left them a not congratulating them and they all thanked me for it this morning. Really great way to start my day :D
• In just 4 short weeks I'm off to the Netherlands to see me cousins for 18 days
• In less than 22 weeks I will be back in South Africa for a holiday and get to see my beloved again
• And last but not least, I got paid today!
   

This is not to say that my life is all happiness and sunshine at the moment, coz it's not but I am determined to appreciate the good days and try to forget the bad ones.

To everyone who reads this, enjoy your Friday :D

Yeah, my youth hostel room in London was Room 6, I was in bed 6 and there were 6 of us staying there. Hmmmm...

London was very cool. I walked pretty much everywhere coz most places aren't that far apart. Overdid the walking just a little bit so on Sunday afternoon around 3pm, I had to go back to my hostel and just lie in bed. I was going to get up at around 7pm to go do something else but when I tried to get up, I realised just how sore my body was.

I got to see many, many sights but at the same time I still have a long list of places I want to go and things I want to see. I also met up with Rebecca from school and her finace on Valentines day in Covent Garden. She's the French language assistant.

Valentines sucked this year. What you really don't need to see when you're desperately missing your significant other, is hundreds of couples, all enjoying valentines day. I was starting to get slightly pissed off when I they were on the tubes as well. I really didn't need to see them happy and kissing and, most importantly, able to actually hold each other. This sparked off a huge crying episode that ended with me locking myself in the toilet cubicle and talking to karl for an hour or so on the phone. Felt a lot better after that but even on Sunday, the sight of couples would annoy me just that little bit. I tried to feel happy for them that they got to see each other but it didn't work. I'm evidently not a nice enough person.

I was happy to get back to the school on Monday. By Tuesday I was not so happy anymore (huge understatement for anyone who knows what happened on Tues). I'm not quite ready to discuss what happened on Tues with those who don't know. Just know that I spent most of Tuesday evening and Wednesday in tears.

Wednesday saw a few things happen that improved my mood considerably. Thursday was even better and I was actually smiling for longer than a few minutes at a time. I have to thank all my friends who either directly helped me through the bad period or even just offered a hug or a kind email if they didn't know what was wrong. I especially have to thankskylarkza for the many hours of skype chat where she let me cry to her and also managed to get me giggling many times. She was there for me and was never too busy to let me talk. So, a special thank you to her.

From there it's been a steady climb back to normal moods. Went to the gym on Thursday and managed to row 1000m in a little over 5 mins which for me is pretty damn good. Unfortunately gym on Thurs meant a reoccurance of sore feet on Friday so I've just been resting this weekend. It will be back to gym and running starting Monday.

I have a good couple of things to look forward to in the next few months: I'm off to Holland to stay with my cousins at the end of March for almost 3 weeks. My parents are coming to visit me in May which will be awesome. I'm hoping to buy a laptop. I'm trying desperately not to purchase hundreds of pounds of roleplaying books. I'm working my way towards paying for my Contiki trip but I have paid my deposit so I have a place. Yeah, after my parents visit in May, there's a month and a little bit before Warren arrives and then it's off on Contiki and back to South Africa. I absolutely can't wait! I really miss my family and friends an enormous amount. Coz you guys are all awesome :D

Oh, and happy Thinking Day to those who were once/are still involved with Guiding or Scouting. Happy birthday(s) to Lord and Lady Baden Powell too!

 ...having read through all your webcomics for the day in under a minute.

If you have suggestions of webcomics you think I might enjoy, please share.

Yip, I managed to run from the school to the end of the village and back again with detours in to cul-de-sacs without stopping. Stopped the stopwatch at 24:49 mins which is pretty close to 25. Walking up the steps to my room was complete hell tho. Took me a couple of minutes to make it up the 76 steps.

Had more good news in that the housemistress of one of the 6th form houses has offered to let me use her house here for half term so i won't have to stay up in the attic of the school all by myself. I'm going to go to London first for a few days and then come back here and make day trips out. Need to try to save some money seeing as though I need to pay for Contiki and another return flight this year as well as pay my parents back. Oh, and save for next year. Not much.

There have been a few not so nice bits to today. I had a really nice dream about Karl this morning and then woke up only to realise I won't see him for the next 6 months. That was the worst bit.

Off to go help some girls with their statistics now. It's just like varsity - tutoring statistics and helping in the career centre :)

I had no idea how difficult it would be to get from where I'm staying to Dover so I can apply for my schengen visa when I made my appointment.

I either have to take a bus and a train and a taxi and walk part of the way or, and this looks to be the better and cheaper option, I need to rent a car for the day. How sad is that?

I'm seriously considering buying a car to use whilst I'm over here. Not too sure how much insurance and stuff will be tho.

I'm out in the middle of nowhere and it currently takes me an hour and a half and 5 pounds return ticket for the journey to Tunbridge Wells to go shopping! 

All those with cars, please appreciate what you have. 

Well, mainly the trip to Christchurch and the trip to Rotorua.

( Christchurch... )So, on to Rotorua aka the smelly place...

( Rotorua )

I know this post is coming before I finish the posts on New Zealand but it's my birthday so I'm allowed to do things my own way :)

I have now been in England just over a week. There have been as many sunny days as rainy days but they have all been cold. That's not really suprising seeing as though it is the middle of winter here.

So, starting small and moving out: My room.

The gap students (me, Caitlin and Nicole) are housed, at the moment, in the attic of the main school building. There are 6 lower school houses in total: Hemsted & Norris are housed in the main school building, Guldeford and Echyngham share a building a little way away from the school and then there's Marshall and Medway (the houses I'm attached to) which are even further away. The three of us live in the top of Hemsted house.

We have a small lounge with a tv and a phone at the one end of the corridor as well as a bathroom and toilet. Then we each have our own room and finally we share a computer and a pathetic little kitchen. I drew a rough plan of the place in paint. I know it's a work of artistic genius so no comments are needed :D

Hello from the other side of the world to anyone reading this in SA!

I haven't yet figured out how to upload pictures easily to LJ without downloading anything (coz I'm using friend's PC) so you'll just have to look on Facebook for the pictures but I can tell you what we've been doing so far.

( Read more... )

And that's the first week of our trip here. Still to come are the trip to Christchurch and the trip to Rotorua that we have just come back from but seeing as it's around 10.30pm and we've been driving for most of the day (and playing Settlers in Burger King) I think I'll post info on that some other time.