Making time...is hard

So I feel as though we should change our blog name to something along the lines of..."We only post when we take days off"...but obviously shorter and more catchy.
Yes its Friday, its beautiful out and I taught some pretty...lets leave it at 'difficult' kids yesterday so I decided that today would be my day off. I am therefore taking this opportunity to write/post...

I have a feeling that I am doing something wrong...T and I have a pretty awesome thing going right now...We work til 4pm everyday and then have the rest of the day off to do whatever we please...The only problem is that by 5:30 I am ready to pass out...like actually, curl up on the couch and die...I can't say that the kids here are any different than the ones back home. The schools are great and teachers typically leave you with a full plan of what needs to get done...Really so far London teaching has proven to be quite a breeze...a supply teachers dream. So why am I soooo super tired when I get home??? I am working on solving this mystery, perhaps I just need more days off...That seems like the great solution for the time being.

Other than being tired...a lot...which sucks...everything else is amazing. The weather has been beautiful, flowers are blooming all over the city. Grocery stores/flower markets sell daffodil bunches for 1 pound. There are pink blossom trees on every street and people just seem generally happy. We have been really into the whole market scene...perhaps a little overdone and cliche, but in reality there are some really cool treasures to be found. Here are some snap shots from several different markets that we visited...

BIG NEWS...T and I finally moved into the most perfect apartment ever. We lucked out with our wonderful landlord who left us with her books, her paintings and her plants. Our little place is cozy, feels lived in and has a super comfy couch for anyone who is planning on visiting :).

That is it for now...I want to get some sun...Stay tuned for some pictures of our lovely home.

V.

Snap Shots...

So I took a day off...yes I have only worked 3 days this week, but I feel like 3 days is better than none...The school was wonderful, the children a pleasure and the experience overall positive.

Even though we work for 8.5 hours a day and finish by 4:30...We have found it quite difficult to get anything done after work. By "getting things done" I mean exploring, taking time to enjoy and just do things that we normally have time to do...One of the things that I have been meaning to "get done" was to go through some of the pictures that we have taken and post them...so here they are. Just a few...London is beautiful, in the morning, in the rain, in the cold and obviously at night. So here are some of my favorites...

Buckingham Palace...It could be/probably should be a little more grand...

Street lights...everywhere...

Ben...he is quite big.

As cliche as it might be, the Eye and Ben are quite the sight...

A little cousin bonding...

Out door markets...so delish...

When the sun sets the palace turns pink...

St. Paul's on a beautiful/sunny/warm day...

St. Paul's...

Trafalgar Square...Ben is peaking out.

London China Town...small but they sell sriracha!

An ally way with lots of map stores...

T with a tree...in the park...there were lots of birds...

 Also just wanted to add this song...I have been listening to it on repeat today... originally by the Fleet Foxes but sung here by a 15 year old girl, I am blown away.

P.s...Happy International Women's day ladies...


V.

Londinium

Wow.

That is the first thing I say when asked about London living so far. The sights, the crowds, the weather, the architecture, the art, the culture.....one word, Europe. In the week and a half that both V and I have been here, we've taken the opportunity (the non-working variety) to explore as much as we could, and to see as many things as possible before work kicks in to high gear this week. We have also gotten many things accomplished from the time we've arrived, highlighted in V's previous post regarding London. I will not re-hash what has already been made public in terms of what our first days were like, but will instead highlight some interesting observations I have made during our time here so far.

1. Bathroom is called the loo. Why...not sure, it just is.

2. London is not an expensive city....flats can be expensive, but everyday spending in some cases can be even cheaper than back home. (ie. cell phone plan, cheese, wine, etc)

3. Pubs close early...11 pm usually.

4. Sunday nights are dead after 8:30-9 pm, especially when looking for food.

5. Every part of the city is a "bad neighbourhood" (except for maybe central London), depending on who you ask. Exploring and living in areas, are the only ways to know for real.

6. Red tape and paperwork always cause delays....not matter how well you prepared.

7. Coffee is very different from back home...the notion of a filtered coffee (aka regular coffee found anywhere and everywhere) does not exist here. The closest equivalent would be an Americano, a fusion of drip coffee and an espresso.

8. The notion of public wi-fi at cafes and restaurants, is not a common one here.

9. The tube is incredibly efficient, especially when compared to the "rocket" in TO and the Metro in Mtl.

10. Passion for football and £3 pints makes for an interesting atmosphere come game day. 

That's it for now, many more observations will undoubtedly continue to be made throughout our time here. Enjoy!

T.

6 days in London town...

If I was asked to describe London in one word it would have to be (as uncreative as this is) : Beautiful...perhaps it is because we are currently living extremely central with the London Eye and Big Ben just around the corner, Covent Garden a 5 min walk and Trafalgar Square right outside our window...that could be it...tip: in order to live in such amazing surroundings you either have to be a banker, be with a banker or just have a banker as a family member and you are golden!

Since I am sitting in bed right now waiting on some working news and T is out being super productive and finding us a flat (yes I will now call all apartments flats)...Let me share a little play by play of how our first few days were...
So we arrived Friday morning, 8:30ish...Gatwick airport. T and I were sitting right beside the exit door on the plane which at first was slightly terrifying but did provide us with TONS of leg room...So its 8:30am London time...so 3:30 am T-dot time, at this point I have probably slept for an hour and a half and poor T has absolutely no sleep under his belt...(there was quite a bit of turbulence...Apparently I can sleep through anything).
8:30- we run out of the plane, the first to get out...feeling a little bit like we are on the amazing race. We meet a friendly airport worker who takes us on a short cut to passport control. We are pretty much the first ones there. T with his EU passport walks through like he owns the place, they didn't ask him a single question! I probably took a few extra minutes but by 8:45 we were waiting for our bags...

***side note: complaining that 23kilos is NOT enough when moving across the ocean is fine...realizing how heavy and uncomfortable carrying that much weight is totally sucks...

-our bags take a little while, but all pop out of the bag hole in one piece and we are soon on our way to buy train tickets. By around 9:15 tickets are purchased and we lug our elevendy billion pounds of bags out towards the platform. I really should not be complaining as T was carrying most of the bags...champ.
Right away we meet a super friendly couple who ask us a million questions about Canada, the weather and that kind of thing. They give us tips on what our first purchases should be and where to stand with our bags to insure that we get on the train. The train ride takes about a half hour. The taxi takes another 10 and now we are standing outside our destination...Cousin greets us with hugs and kisses, shows us his flat (super nice) and then we start running around the city like crazy people.

-First we go to the bank to see if my card still works...it does! We schedule T an appointment and with persistence make it for the same day instead of Monday. At the bank our adviser suggests cell phone providers so we run off to get that done before the bank meeting. By 2pm I have our cell phones and T is at the bank. We schedule a few flat viewings for the next day...By 4 we take an hour nap because at this point we can not see straight...
-8pm uncle comes storming in our room calling us lazy Canadians and rushing us out for dins. I guess we did not hear the alarm clock...semi rested we are taken to an AMAZING outdoor market with the best chorizo sandwiches, hot cider and fresh olives.
Overall our first day/night is perfect.
-Day 2:
-Have super delish coffee...
-Walk uncle to the train station
side note: The weather here is absolutely perfect! Warm and sunny. Flowers are blooming in parks and girls are wearing open toed heels...
-Spend the day traveling to what seems like WAAYY outside the city to look at places that are not even close to what we were expecting...
-Accidentally come across borough market I was impressed with myself for remembering where it was...no big deal.
-Came home pooped after taking overground trains, underground tubes, buses, walking and getting lost...
-Took a nap and by 9 pm were out and going to a house party. It is nice to know people in the city.
-House party was great, we met a bunch of really cool people, actually a lot of them seemed to be in the same boat as us which was pretty cool.
-Had to leave early because of the train schedules, but once back in central London we got some food and sat by the art gallery at Trafalgar Square and ate dinner on the steps. :)
....

perhaps this is enough for now...I will write more later. Stay tuned for day 3-6 perhaps later tonight. 


V.

It's Happening...

In a few hours....which when said out loud seems totally unreal...T and I will be on a plane. This plane will not be taking us on vaca...this plane will be taking us towards the next couple years of our lives...our lives away from home to a place that we will have to make home.
Neither of us ever planned/dreamed/desired to live in London, yet somehow I am sitting in my living room with packed suitcases surrounding me...all weighed by a handy dandy little suit case weighing tool! (Thnx neighbor)...getting ready, or what appears to be 'me getting ready' to move across the ocean to where people talk with awesome accents, where we will ride the tube and where we will be teaching little British youths...
Friends keep asking me if I am excited, ready, nervous...everyone looks at me with big open eyes telling me how amazing this adventure will be...and honestly I believe them because at the moment I feel as though I am in a weird meditative state where I actually have NO thoughts running through my head. I nod and smile and make concerned faces but realistically I have absolutely no clue what to expect. I can not picture our new lives...well I sort of can in terms of how I will eventually decorate our "flat", but that is as far as my thoughts have allowed me to go.
So thank you friends for the inspiration, excitement and enthusiasm that you have all shown us in the last few weeks...Thank you for coming over every night to say goodbye, thank you for sharing a billion bottles of vino and most of all thank you for being there for us.

T and I will be setting up a special calendar for visitation purposes so do please sign up as we believe in first come first served...We will also be looking for a place with ample amounts of floor space and will look into purchasing a blowup mattress :)...

Big warm hugs...a bientot

V.