Student Teacher; Day One

I think it’s important to keep a record of the exciting things that happen throughout your life, as it’s easy to forget how you felt, or the little details, 30 years down the line. That’s why I started writing in this blog when I went to Thailand. It was new, exciting, scary, and ultimately interesting for both me the writer, and you the reader. I now have a new exciting path to write about. Today I took my first big step towards being a teacher here in the western world. I started in my placement school as part of my 2 year Masters of Education course.

For the purpose of this blog, I will not be directly naming my school, any teachers I work with, or naturally any children I teach. Let’s call the school Sunny Highschool, and my mentor teacher Ms. Wisdom (as she appears to be the fountain of all knowledge teacher related).

I was told on Wednesday to come in for a meeting today to discuss timetables etc, and I have to say, I spent the night dreaming of students who refused to do as I tell them, and horrible dark classrooms with nasty looking teachers in it. It was like going back to school myself! Terrifying. After a small breakfast, a disgraceful amount of coffee, and a lot of ‘I can do this’s in the car, I tottered in to meet my future. It’s a lot brighter than my nightmares allowed. The corridors were hectic, every student was looking wondering who I am (and probably why I look the same age as them), and Ms Wisdom was telling me every bit of advice she could regarding curriculum, discipline, resources, assessment. There were numerous names, dozens of handshakes and smiles, even one sarcastic mid 30s male English teacher who decided to mess with my head and tell me to run while I still can. I decided to take it as a joke ….

 It’s busy. It’s more than busy. It’s organised chaos. But then there was a moment after the madness of introductions and photocopying id numbers when I walked into the classroom with Ms Wisdom, and she introduced me as Ms Dalton, and I sat down to observe the lesson (I won’t be facing teaching myself for a few weeks at least), and she began with a smile to the girls. Suddenly there was calm. They all listened to her and they answered her questions, participated in the discussion, came up with their own ideas, and she seemed to masterfully conduct the entire think tank like it was an orchestra. She moved them in certain ways, brought about certain words, nudged them towards certain ideas and thoughts, and then brought it all back to their own lives. I have read the articles about teaching methods and lesson planning, and it sounds exhausting and so complicated, but suddenly the reality was there in front of me. It was a near perfect lesson, and she did it all without any problems. Grant it, she has 30 years or so more experience than me, but I have a whole year to learn from her, and she has a lot to teach.

Observations. Conversations. Assessments. Lesson planning. Lectures. Debates. Reading. Studying. Exams. Marking. Eating. Sleeping. Drinking. Keeping sane. For the first time since I finished college, I feel like I am moving forward, and forward seems ….. interesting (let’s keep it positive. It’s only day one)

And so it begins. 

Amy.

Give Me Sunshine .......

According to webmd.com (and they are always right you know, except when they always tell you that you are going to die from a head cold) people in Utah in the US suffer every winter from a bad case of the SADs. Seasonal Affective Disorder comes about when the population lives under grey clouds for the winter months and are in want of a bit of sunshine. Natural sunlight is proven to combat stress, depression, and general 'get out of my f*****g face' disorder. Unlike Utah, Ireland gets about 360 days of cloud and rain a year. So, when the blissful sunshine pours from the sky for the 5 days a year (usually leaving cert week or thereabouts), the whole country and it's residents are temporarily transformed.

Driving to work today at 9AM, it was a gorgeous 16 degrees out with the promise of 25 by lunchtime. The dogs were happier when I was leaving them, the cuckoo was having a good cuckoo in the garden, and the radio DJ was singing his way out of and into each song. Throughout the whole day standing in the shop I witnessed one happy person after another come and go. Whether they were on their way down south to visit relatives, or taking their first day out with a new baby and the mother-in-law, everyone had a smile and said the same thing; 'beautiful day isn't it?'.

Even in the world outside of my little bag shop, things seemed cheerier. I watched pictures put up online of friend's sharing ice creams on the beach and little kids playing in paddling pools in the garden. Kids outside the shop were taking off their velcro shoes with their little pudgy fingers and paddling in the shopping centre's beloved fountain while the security guard turned a blind eye. People were sending in stories to radio stations of how they were pulling sickies with their children and spouses to spend the day in the sun with them. It all just sounded so perfect and ideal, because even if it's only briefly, the whole country's priorities seemed to be aligned.

I didn't understand until this evening that it's not the vitamins in sunshine that makes people happy. It's the idea that comes with the sunshine that we don't have to be dark like the sky. You don't have to run with your head down in the rain, ignoring everyone around you. You can look up and take your time and see the world. people like to think that for those 5 days of sunshine we have a little bit of freedom. It's kinda like a snow day in Orlando. It's full of unexpected things; adventure, joy, laughing out loud, new memories, sunsets, tastes that remind you of a time when you didn't have to pay an ESB bill. We all want those things, and sunshine somehow makes them seem a little more possible.

Enjoy.

Amy.

ps. here is some Passenger. He just sort of fits the mood.

Scare Away The Dark

Mediocre

I miss writing.

Its basically the only reason I am sitting here typing away.

I watched a movie tonight. I am a sucker for them. But this one was one of those that will stick with me I think. It was called 'Julie and Julia' and was about a young(ish) Amy Adams who found herself stuck in a life she considered boring and unfulfilled. She decided to shake things up a bit. Most people get a new job, or improve their sex life (usually involving an ambitious read of 50 shades and the purchase of some scary looking leather), but Amy decided that was all too overdone. No. She was going to cook 500 and something recipes in 365 days. Sounds boring right? But it took off. Suddenly her life wasn't as boring as she thought it was, and she realised other people found her interesting, and cooking saved her.

I feel writing sort of saves me. It clears the head, you know?

Walking through Dublin city the other day, I sat myself down in one of my favourite spots; St Stephen's Green. Ultimate people watching location. It struck me, as it often does when I make a visit to the big smoke, how interesting people are. They are from little towns or big cities, they have lots of sisters and brothers, or grew up in foster homes. Their favourite food is sushi, or pizza, or marshmallows simply because they remind them of a camp-fire kiss after a few too many home brewed beers. They married someone they love, or someone they hate, or someone they really don't know. They have decades of stories and memories and thoughts. They go about living what they usually consider to be mediocre lives, but to the person next to them who considers their own life to be mediocre, they are anything but mediocre. There is really nothing mediocre about the lives and thoughts of anyone.

I personally have been working away in retail when I am not travelling too and from England to visit the other half, and have recently been accepted to Trinity College Dublin to begin a Masters of Education (English and History) in September. I shouldn't feel like that is mediocre and boring. That isn't mediocre. That's pretty interesting. So why am I not writing? The answer is, there is no reason why I shouldn't be. I have simply forgotten to push out the word 'mediocre'. I do and see and think interesting stuff every week, and judging from the work load of a student teacher, I am going to have a pretty interesting, albeit stressful, life come September.

So, I am writing again. About what? I don't know. Maybe the bird man in the park. Or the book on the bedstand that has been calling me for the past 4 months. Or maybe I will cook ..... Ok let's not get too carried away.

Amy.

'Doest Mother Know You Weareth Her Drapes'? - London & Stratford upon Avon.

So, it turns out writing about Rome three weeks after you have been there is not as successful as I thought it would be. It seems that unless I have just been there, I cant turn on the feeling a place gives me and turn it into a productive and entertaining blog. All I manage to do is bore myself and give up. So, as a result, I am afraid Rome is out of the question (not that there isn't enough reading material on Rome out in the internet sphere. Give it a google).

Onwards and upwards, or in this case onwards and across the puddle, I headed off last week to the suburbs of Birmingham England to take in the sights and sounds with a local friend. We spent two days exploring a bit of the local area, and a further one day in London getting the feel for the place, navigating the madness of the underground, and dodging the rain showers.

Firstly, London. This is the only city left on my 'have to do before I die' cities in Europe (I still have New York and Tokyo to go outside Europe) so needless to say I was excited! The city is teaming with character from its lovely red phone boxes and buses to the endless stream of black taxis and cobbled streets. Its squares are lively and bustling with people from every race, religion and age, and even the odd celebrity can be spotted. We took in the sights of Westminster, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Tower Bridge and the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (quite the pallavar to be doing every day!).

Its a lovely city to walk around, but unfortunately we didnt have the weather on our side and got pretty soaked by the time we had reached Tower Bridge. We arrived there looking to do the tour of the Tower of London only to find that tours finish in the winter at 2:30 and it was then 3:00. Slightly deflated, we took in the sight of the bridge and wandered across to the other side where the cold got the better of us and we headed for a little London watering hole. After a lovely pint of local cider in a very local London bar free of any tourist element, we headed back towards our train. I must say, having been in Asian cities, I am used to hustle and bustle, but the London underground is in a league of its own. The sight of hundreds, even thousands of people making their way with their briefcases down the incredibly steep flights of stairs to the tunnels below is slightly disturbing I have to say. Its not the mass movement that's scary, its the sight of all those people doing their very best to avoid acknowledging the existence of the person standing beside them. They stick their heads in their books, ipads, phones, ipods, and even stare into space to avoid looking at the person beside them. Coming from a city where you acknowledge the person beside you on the train with a smile or even strike up a conversation, I found the whole thing to be disturbingly yet fascinatingly cold. People who pass each other every day of the week and take the same journey and probably have so much in common know nothing about each other, not even each other's faces.

After London, the Birmingham suburb of Bromsgrove seemed so quaint and community based. I was really taken in by it. It has everything you need, and we found some lovely local towns and villages nearby that had such a friendly atmosphere and were genuinely beautiful. We spent a half day in Worcester looking at the cathedral which houses the tomb of Prince Arthur and King John of England, along with some amazing architecture and quiet little corridors and gardens. We also wandered around the town looking around the shops and stopping for coffee in the local library, which was huge and incredibly impressive.

The following day we headed off to the famous Stratford upon Avon which is the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We visited his birth place which is still a really well preserved and large house, and went on to see the place of Shakespeare's house where he lived with his family and it's gardens, and also Hall's Croft, which was his daughter's house when she married. All were very luxurious for their time and were interesting and well preserved and presented.

In the evening, we treated ourselves to a little entertainment, and went to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to see Wendy and Peter Pan. Thinking it was simply another recreation of the disney movie, we were excited but didn't expect much. Personally, I was blown away by it. It was so well written, and the scenes so well choreographed and laid out. It was a really moving show with a really fantastic interpetation of how children cope with difficult life experiences. We were both blubbering messes at the end. Well worth going to see.

Another great trip and another part of the world experienced.

Slan.

How The Other Half Live; Florence in One Day.

In my last blog I talked about my two days in Venice, and I intended to do another blog the next day on my time in Florence, but work got in the way. The joys of retail work during the run up to Christmas. Its a little belated but I suppose better late than never.

Well, we arrived in on the train from Venice at about lunch time, and I have to say we were so impressed with the train systems in Italy. It worked out at about 20 euro for a 2 hour high speed train from Venice to Florence, and they are so comfortable and easy to figure out. Just buy your tickets online before heading on your trip. After the quiet and peace of the cobbled Venetian alleys, the hustle and bustle of the busy Florence city came as a bit of a shock. Writing this, I think I should get the negative aspects of the city over and done with before ending on the positives. We found our hostel easily from the train station, but instantly found Florence to be quiet different to Venice. As well as the noise of constant traffic, we found the people there to just not be very unfriendly compared to the Venetians. For example, standing in line to see the famous 'David' by Michaelangelo (more on that later), we found the sellers of memorabilia to be absolutely horrible. They were particularly racist to the Indian man standing in front of us, and like to harrass and hassle you a lot more than the Venetians, or even the Romans, to buy their products. I found them quite intimidating and they really set a bad feeling for the city as a whole from a tourism perspective. I personally also found the tourist sights and museums to be extremely busy and I felt a little like a member of a herd of cattle jostling around places. I found the people working in the tourist places, such as the cathedrals, churches and museums, to be quite rude and unfriendly. Even the people staying in our hostel room were rude!I slowly began to realise that in this city, money makes the world go round. As a backpacker, that's not the way you work, but more on that later.  To be completely honest, I really didnt like Florence, and wouldn't even think about recommending it or going back again ..... But that's my negative rant over . There are some nice things about Florence! Promise.

We started out our one day in Florence by seeking out the famous 'David' statue, built by Michaelangeo. It is located in a museum, the Galleria de Academia, whose entrance is on a little side street, easily missed if you don't have an eye for street names and a good map. When queueing up, I was standing there thinking 'is this really worth it? Its just a little statue' (tip,  book beforehand. The queue is much smaller). It is not little, at all, and it is really worth it. We got an audioguide (bring a drivers licence as they ask to hold id when taking the audioguide, and giving a passport is not a good idea), and it was well worth it. There is so much to see in the museum besides the statue, and it is really interesting. But the statue is by far the most spectacular thing there. It is HUGE, and has the most amazing detail and is so lifelike. Take time to sit and really look at it, but whatever you do, don't take pictures of it. If you do you will feel the wrath of one of the scariest and loudest museum security guards on the planet, only a little less scary than the ones in the Sistine Chapel.

From there we headed over to the popular shopping area in the old quarter of the city near the Rialto bridge. Here, we found ourselves wandering around, bemused, and ending up sitting at an old cathedral (now an art museum) feeling very, very poor. Everywhere you look there are the most expensive designer brands, from Dior, to Prada, to Gucci. You think of it, its there. To say our backpacker style and love for cheap pizza didn't really suit the atmosphere was an understatement. As my travelling partner pointed out, we were like peasants in a noble's castle. Similarly, when we found the Rialto bridge, we took our pictures and oood and aaaahd at it, and then wandered across it. What I didnt realise was the Rialto bridge is actually a shopping street rather than a bridge, and has only jewellery stores on either side. Very expensive jewellery stores. We moved across the bridge and took a wander through the Piazzas getting a feel for the place, and stopped for a beer or two, and admired all the amazing architecture in the streets.

We also took in the splendour that is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo as it is better known. This is a gothic style cathedral, and really is amazingly detailed and awesome in size. Squeezed into a piazza, it is free in (wear appropriate clothing) and has the most amazing 3D like fresco on the roof of the dome, although your neck won't thank you for your interest in it after.

To end the day, we sat on the roof of our hostel and watched the sun set down over the city, which was really beautiful, and we chatted to some nice Malaysian tourists and relived our time in Asia. We then found the nicest food in a restaurant near our hostel named Mamma Napoli, which was located opposite the entrance to the Mercato Centrale Firenze (Florence Central indoor Market). The waiters there were so friendly and the food was incredible and pretty cheap. We finished off with a few beers during a Rome v Florence football match.

I must say, although there are some lovely things to see in Florence such as the Duomo and handsome David, unless you intend on doing some serious shopping, I wouldn't come to Florence. It is characterised by the smell of cigars, expensive coffee, and poodles in knitted jumpers. It should never be on any backpacker's hot list, and you know, once a backpacker, always a backpacker; you just cant shake the innate attraction to cheap, and Florence really doesn't like cheap.

Next blog, Rome (I promise, its a happy ending).

Slán.

A Venetian Venture; Venice in Two Days.

'We'll give it a shot' .....

Not the greatest thing to hear your pilot say as you circle above a large bank of fog in a Ryanair plane doing more shakes than a 19 year old student on the dancefloor of Copperface Jacks. But this was what we faced as we flew into a Venetian airport, anxious for our Italian adventure. Two weeks previously we were sitting in our sitting rooms moaning about our niggling travel bug, and there we were, thinking of pizza and pasta, praying the 'shot' would be accurate. You can assume from my presence from behind the keyboard that it was accurate enough.

Two hours later and a bit of directional help from some friendly locals, we found ourselves booked into our hotel and sitting on a local bus into Venice.

Tip #1 for Venice; Stay on the mainland rather than the island. Much cheaper, it has some lovely places for a coffee and pastry breakfast, and its easy to access the island on local buses (buy your ticket in local newsagents BEFORE getting on the bus. It only costs about €1.20 one way).

Venice was more his city than mine, and I wasn't really bothered seeing it as I had heard some stinky stories in regards to the city, but I was captivated from the moment I stepped over the bridge. Its full of clean, old, leaning architecture towering over little cobbled streets. Everywhere you turn it leads you more into the mazes of hidden piazzas filled with little cafes, gelataries and little churches filled with the most amazing paintings. The quiet is so peaceful as there is no traffic, only quit gondolas accompanied by the odd singer with his love songs. The place is full of Italian character, and wine, lets not forget the wine!

We started off our two days with a gorgeous pizza for €6.50 (average enough price for Italy), followed by an exploratory stroll where we came across the Chiesa di San Rocco, the Basilica di San Marco and numerous antique shops full of old first edition books and maps. Also wherever you turn you find little local shops run by local artists who make the traditional venetian masks worn through the annual 'Carnival of Venice'. Very 'Phantom of the Opera'. Bloody Ryanair hand luggage allowance! I would have brought the lot home!

We moved on to a dinner at a restaurant on the main canal ...

Tip #2; the restaurants on the canal are nice and romantic, but the service doesn't seem to be as good as the other little pizzerias on the side streets. Oh and ...

Tip #3. If you say 'grazie' when you hand over money and you expect change, you wont get it. Saying thank you means 'keep the change'. Nightmare when you hand a 50 for a dinner worth 16 euro. Just say nothing and tip after. Much easier.

The next morning, after a coffee and pastry breakfast for no more than €2 in the local café, we headed back into the city to explore the lesser touristy area of the Jewish ghetto. This area is made most famous, as many nerdy English lovers would know, from Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice'. This area was where the Jewish population were forced to live from the mid 1500's, and its still very community based, with quiet squares which see local jewish men discussing the daily goings on and old women sweeping out their houses and hanging out their clothes. The perfect escape from the bustle of the tourist squares, and great for lovers of photography.

We spent the day strolling around the city, eating and people watching, exploring the various little churches, and we ended up on the opposite side of the city looking out across the sea to the Palazza Ducale. Around here we found lovely artists selling their paintings, and it is the perfect place to find nice little pieces to put on the walls at home when you returned to the bleak. We finished off the trip with a gondola ride (a bit pricey at €80 a gondola, but worth it. Can't go to Venice without a gondola ride) where we had a nice tour through the little canals with a singing gondola man, stripy top, hat and all. We found a nice piazza to have gorgeous pasta in while the sun set (a little place called Taverna Dally. Lovely service and food) and then had some incredibly cheap drinks at our hotel.

Tip #4; stick to the hotel for alcohol. €1.80 for a glass of wine!

And finally,

Tip #5. Promise yourself a trip back to Venice. Magic isn't the word.

Slán.

Exploring Dublin's Fair City

In my previous blog post I talked about how I had hastily made the decision to take off on a trip to Italy to attempt to quench both the monotony of daily life and my ever nagging travel bug. I teamed up with a fellow traveller and together we excitedly planned our week trip of three of Italy's main cities; Venice, Florence and Rome. The next number of blogs (the exact number will be determined by my 'at that very moment' level of nattering) will be relating to the above mentioned trip which I returned from last night and am now fighting severe depression as a result of (lack of Italian pastries and good carbonara will do that to you). They are mainly meant to be tips for travelling in these parts, but may be taken over by my massive love of describing Italian food. Beware, do not read on an empty stomach.

Firstly, before jetting off to explore Venetian canals, my travel buddy arrived from his home in Birmingham to meet me for a few days of exploring Dublin city. When we decided he would come over, I instantly felt the pressure to show him the tourist attractions and defend my home city against those of Europe. I originally thought this was practically impossible, as Dublin, in my local opinion, is as boring as it gets. Turns out, after my Mother raided a tourist leaflet stand, that Dublin has a lot more to offer than I thought.

We began our two day trip with a visit to one of Dublin's newest museums; The Little Museum of Dublin opposite St Stephens Green park. This place is fantastic! It has two main rooms filled with memorabilia of the city from the 1900's onwards, and the guide points out a few interesting ones before letting you off to explore the walls. There is everything here, from old newspaper cuttings from the rising, to James Joyce's death mask, to models of Wanderly Wagon. A perfect starting point to get a feel of the city and its little people throughout time.

From here we went down Grafton Street and headed into Trinity College where we got a tour of the grounds and the history of the college, and then moved on to see the book of Kells in one of the buildings. The book is impressive I have to say, but for myself and my friend, nothing beats the long library upstairs. This arched roof library holds thousands of old books and manuscripts, and smells of time and ink. It's got the serious wow factor and any book lover would find it hard to stop themselves from diving over the cordons to root and touch and marvel.

I then took a stroll down to the main street of the North inner city; O'Connell Street, where the famous 1916 uprising took place against the British forces who controlled Ireland at the time. Now just a normal working post office, the General Post Office building in the centre of the street was practically burned to the ground at Easter 1916, and the bullet holes left from fighting with British forces can still be seen in the outside walls and pillars. There is no tour or proper explanation for what went on, but any Irish person around can tell you the general gist.

For dinner, I took the two of us back up Grafton Street to Captain America's cookhouse and grill which does the most amazing food at student prices. The walls are filled with music memorabilia and the atmosphere is always light and easy. The cocktails there are also great! Always a good thing.  From here, we headed to the famous tourist party area, Temple Bar, where any American in Dublin to learn about his 'great great grandaddy' can find traditional Irish music and dancers. For those who are a bit less optimistic about the existence of leprechauns, I suggest CopperFace Jacks (if you are quite hammered, left some personal dignity at the last bar, and want a serious student club night out), D2 on Harcourt Street for a little more club class, or The Porterhouse bar near Trinity for more types of beer than your head can handle.

Day two involved a trip up town a little to Christ Church Cathedral to see the Dublinia exhibition. This shows the settlements and social life in Ireland from the early Viking and medieval times. It basically involves a lot of life like dummies, which scare the bejaysus out of me, so I spent my time trying to breath while letting him wander and wonder. The things we do the entertain the visitors. Onwards and upwards, we went down the road to the Guinness storehouse, which to me is one of the best attractions of the city. Yes I know, typical Irish person to love the drink, but it shows a lot about the actual work that goes on and the social benefits of the factory in its early days and how they work the business today. You could easily spend two hours exploring the 7 floors, and the view from the sky bar at the top alone is worth the visit.

We left the city early enough to head back to my house to ready ourselves for our ridiculously early flight to Venice the next morning, and enjoyed an evening of home cooked food and a meet the parents show. I felt at the time that it was a good start to the holiday, and the amount of walking was a sign of what was to come over the next week, but nothing could have prepared us for what Italy had in store for us, but that is for tomorrow ....

Slán.