Just Another Sunburnt Sunday

Some of you will know what I mean when I talk about new shoe love- the shiver of excitment when you look at your feet clad in their new finery. Shoe shopping with my sister in Blue Water Shopping Centre yesterday was funny because I spent most of my time looking in the foot level mirrors at last week's purchase. Those of you that understand will know why I putting this photo here



For those of you that don't get it- ah well, moving on.

It was indeed my birthday on Friday and I am not ashamed to admit that I turned 32 this year- wow!

Two years ago, James gave me this on my birthday



which I loved in Korea and which took a short vacation in Milwaukee until I picked it up on the last leg of my round the world trip. Penny also got on of these last year

but I have most recently been craving the sunshine buddy which dances- so imagine my delight when Penny throw this at me on Friday morning

Its head moves and its belly wobbles from side to side- I know how it feels after all the cake I was subjected to on Friday!



Though I did have some help! It was funny watching the students try and pass round paper without me noticing on Thursday and then a card for everyone to sign on Friday. I had to do a lot of pretending that cleaning the board was more difficult than it actually was!

Friday was a fairly quiet night though- a lot of people already had weekend plans and others were sick. But I managed to find six people to drink with and I knew all of those so bonus! my sister was waiting for me outside work (once I told her that we were no longer heading to the Salsa bar) along with Patrick and Heimi. We were joined in the pub by Matt (he of Land Rover fame) and Daniela and Camilo (old students and now friends of mine).

I may not have managed to get drunk enough to blag a rickshaw ride to the station (Sarah, my partner in crime for all of the blagging shennigans was sick and at home:( ) but it was a good chance to have a chat with some mates and offload some of the chocolate I had left.

Yesterday was a shopping day- though I only bought books for my classes- bless me!

Today me and the sister ventured into true Essex when we got on a train to go to the Southend Air Show

Southend was overcast and sunny by turns but fear not, people, I managed to work up a healthy sunburn and since we were looking up most of the day- to watch the planes and stuff- I even managed to sunburn my eyelids a little- a first for me!

I promise that I will got sunscreen shopping tomorrow, if the sunburn has gone down enough for me to leave the house

The show was good though as was the ice cream

Me and Pen both costumed up and went for a swim

Penny won a bear by throwing a ball into a cup

And we saw some mad chicks riding on the wings of some old style planes

Basically all you could want from an airshow.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday which means no work until Tuesday--- Hooray!

Crying Nut

Well, Ok, maybe one more post before the birthday at the end of the week. Went out last night to see a Korean band. It is part of the London Korean Festival- a rather low key affair but with free gigs and movies, it sounds good.

Weirdly the gig was in the nightclub that I used to go to just after I finished university. It was strange to be back within its mirrored walls. It looked the same, only smaller, and with a Nigerian lady in the toilets. This is something that I don't remember from the London of my youth but it is now impossible to go the toilet in a Central London pub without a Nigerian lady handing you a paper towel to dry your hands on in the hope of a tip or two. Personally, I never take my bag to the toilet so they are out of luck with me.



I met Patrick and Heimi at Charing Cross and we walked up to Tottenham Court Road. Unsure where the door was, we were alerted to it by the long line of Koreans waiting outside in the drizzle.

It was a bit like being back in Korea except that no one tried to take our photo or point us out to their mates in open mouthed amazement at the sight of a foreigner.

The gig was free and consisted of three bands- a Korean one opened and they were so cute, in their big red bowties. The next band, Wanderlust, is one of my co-workers' band. He is English but they have a Korean guitarist. They played 'Arirang' which was really cool, though not part of their usual set.



Then the main act, Crying Nut, who were excellent and a lot of fun. The Korean crowd went crazy and enjoyed the band's attempts to speak English a lot. It was a good night and afterwards we had a chance to take photos with them.

It is not that I mind

but why do people keep telling me that I LOOK Australian!

It has happened loads over the years and I just don't see it- what does an Aussie look like after all?

By the way, I guess that this will probably be my last post as a 31 year old- just don't seem to have time to post during the week. I am turning 32 on Friday- yikes! Not sure how much of a party there will be- certainly nothing will rival my 30th birthday party in Gangneung all those years ago.

But I am sure that I will give it my best!

Just a quick update

I have become a little obsessed with blossom recently. I seem to have taken this little number on the way home from the pub one night.

When I am not out and about photographing flowers I have been busy meeting up with mates. Patrick and Heimi came back from Tunisia the other week and brought me from chocolate



It appeared to have my name on it



Nice!

Summer has reached London again this week. And for me nothing says summer in London like people standing outside the pub glasses in hand



So at last my three hour long break has come into its own- after a week of late nights, I was able to nip off to the park for a wee kip in the sun at St James's Park yesterday. Perfect.

After school I was straight onto the train and off to Reading to visit Clare- one of the girls that I travelled with in Vietnam. Back in Asia last year we got into a bit of a fight with Vicky over whether or not there was cheese in fajitas. Me and Vick were against the idea while Clare insisted that the tortilla should be stuffed with cheese along with chicken and peppers. And offered to cook them for us when we got back to the UK- so off I went and here she is grating the cheese



Finished off the night with a drunk photocall to Vicky.

Only two weeks until my birthday:)

The Sultan's Elephant

I took my students out for a little walk around London on Friday morning. It was truly the best week for it- the temperature hit 26 degrees on Thursday and the sky was blue as anything on Friday.



Off we went. But there was something weird afoot in London. It all started on Thursday when this appeared



Penny had told me what was going on that morning but the students didn't know and I found it hard to believe. But when we reached Horseguard's Parade we saw this



massive elephant. But our time was over and I went back to school. I did managed to get back out into the sun again later with my next class when this climbed out of the rocket



The biggest marionette that I have ever seen. She walked down to where the elephant what stomping around and spraying people with water. It was all part of an enormous four day street theatre performance by a French group. It was awesome. I went back again on Saturday and stood in the rain to see more



I wasn't the only one- there were thousands of us cowering between umbrellas. I was there for an hour or so before anything happened and just as the band geared up a man pushed through the crowd, stood in front of me and popped his son on his shoulders. Dammit!



Ah well. It was good.

And on Monday I took some friends to Greenwich to feed the squirrels