Back At It...

Well, back to the grind again I suppose. Sarah & Kristian left this afternoon after a short, but awesome, visit. I went to London on Friday night to meet them at the airport--the police presense at the airport has increased since the Moscow bombings--and take the coach back to Northampton with them. Saturday consisted of market, sight-seeing & walking, lunch in the pub, Red Hot for supper & relaxing at home and watching a movie. After Red Hot, we tried to go back to O'Neills for an after dinner pint, but the bouncer wouldn't accept Sarah's international driving license as ID...lame.

Today we walked to my school (as if I don't spend enough time there...), back to the market square and other wanderings around town before they headed back to London to catch their flight back to Stavanger tonight. It was sad to see them go and I'm already looking forward to visiting them as soon as possible!

This week is going to be a hectic one at school. Lots of marking, a lesson observation and lesson planning my way through a new unit should make for a long week. One thing that will make this week easier is the lefse that Sarah & Kristian brought me from Norway. In case you don't know what lefse is...to sum it up, it is the food of gods. A soft flatbread with a sweet filling...so delicious. Another happy thought to get me through the week--only 3 weeks to go until Ireland--incredible! I can't wait.

There is so much to look forward to in the upcoming months...Ireland, visiting Norway again, possibly heading to London for the royal wedding, going home for the actual important wedding this July and, looking ahead, the London Olympics next summer. I'm going to have to start thinking soon what my plans are for next year. To re-apply at Malcolm Arnold or move with Timeplan (my employment agency) to a different location around England. I've already settled into life here in Northampton--will it be worth it to pick up and start all over again at the end of the summer? One thing that I'm definitely hoping to expand on in the very near future is my social life...I never realized how hard it was to make friends when you work full-time and know almost nobody to get your foot in the door. As of now, my social circle is sadly small. This definitely needs to change--and soon. If I move to another part of England, I might meet more people, make more friends and have a great time...but, I would be starting from scratch all over again. I really like my colleagues at Malcolm Arnold, Northampton is a nice enough town and central enough to be convenient without the insanity of living in London, and I'm happily settled into my apartment here. Wow. Considering I have a lesson observation in 12 hours, these serious thoughts are probably better saved for another time.

To sum up, I had a fantastic weekend with Sarah & Kristian. I miss them already and I've decided that being in my apartment is definitely much more fun when there are other people around. So, far away friends and family...come visit me.

Welcome Back..

Well, tomorrow would have marked the one-month mark without any blog updates. I decided to not post anything in the first couple of weeks since my return from home after Christmas because I'm sure a long rant moaning about England that oozes homesickness would just thrill everyone to bits. So, in short, it was a bit of a challenge to come back after Christmas, and a definite adjustment to living on my own here, but it's on the upswing.

Old news that needs to be mentioned: Christmas break at home was fantastic!...Once I actually got there that is. The biggest news of the holiday would definitely be Sarah's engagement! The next time I go home, it will be for a summer wedding and to welcome Kristian officially into the family :). Can't wait & am so excited!!

School is going well. Actually, school is settling into the same routine as usual, so I guess that counts as the same thing. The most exciting thing of the month is coming up this weekend: Sarah & Kristian are visiting!!! I am so excited to see them, it will be so much fun :). As well, I recently booked my ticket to Ireland for the February break. This is also extremely exciting news. I have been wanting to go to Ireland for years and now it's finally going to happen. Exciting!!

And, to sum up, that has been my life in a nutshell. Oh. I think my doorman is hitting on me. There. That is the end of the update. Until next time..