Do they know?

I have taught here in the UK now for five whole days. Well, not whole days exactly since I only teach one class a day at the moment but you know what I mean. It has been a fun week really.

I am teaching a pre-intermediate class which would easily be at advanced level if they were in one of my classes in Korea. They have been an interesting class. Of course, we have had our ups and downs, mainly my down actually. I wasn't happy with the class I gave on Friday so have been worrying about today's all weekend. I have found some great exercises today though on One Stop English which I am quite excited about using.

Hum, I guess that this blog has changed a little since I was haring around Vietnam on back of a clapped out motorbike, partying in Korea, whale watching in Oz, shivering at the rugby in New Zealand, lazing on beaches in the Pacific or carving pumpkins in the US. I was going to give it up when I got home but you might have noticed that I am still writing it. Why? Because you asked me to! Plus, what with my three hour working day, I still have plenty of free time. And technically, the money hasn't run out yet since I still have two thousand Vietnamese dong in my purse.

So if you will forgive the more static nature of the blog, then I will carryon with these inane ramblings for a while longer.

But I haven't been stuck in one place the whole time. On Friday night after a gruelling three hours at work (it is not quite as lazy as it seems, my hours will be doubling after Christmas and it does take me 90 minutes to get to work and another hour to get home) I hopped on a bus back to the old homestead.

Christmas lights seemed to lead the way back to Felixstowe. After three years of living in a country that tries to do Christmas but doesn't quite cut it, especially outside of Seoul, I am really into the whole lights and decorations thing. While everyone else on the bus was complaining about how early the lights were up this year or how over the top they all were, my mind was just full of 'Hum, Christmas lights..'

It is not the day itself that I am looking forward to, just the build up that I am enjoying. Mind you, I didn't manage to get an advent calendar this year to my bitter disappointment. Me and Penny went looking on 30th Novemeber but they had all gone. So I am counting down the days on my fingers instead.

I had a great Saturday down in Suffolk. I went out to Woodbridge, through the beautiful countryside, with my Auntie and her friend. Then back to the 'Stowe to meet Linda, my oldest friend, and her daughter. And me and Pen drove back to Purfleet that night.

Yesterday we went to the local shopping centre and gazed at the queue outside Santa's grotto- seemingly snaking all the way to the North Pole. Neither of us have much left to do in the Christmas shopping stakes so we bought shoes instead. Ah the luxury of being in a country where I can buy shoes, will I ever get over it?

So I don't have any photos from the weekend for you so you will have to make do with some of pigeons just outside Trafalgar Square from last week. Just outside because the wily critters know that they can't be fed on the square itself but the tourists just can't help themselves and have to feed them somewhere.

One of the fountains at the Square, they have signs saying that it is not safe to enter the water but there is no recourse when it is so windy that the spray is blown into your face

And I never noticed until last week how weird the mermaids on the fountains are