Laura's Page

2007-09-15T22:12:00.000+01:00

2007-09-15T22:06:00.000+01:00

Photos

2007-09-15T22:01:00.000+01:00

Hello All,

After a lot of nagging from many of you I have finally got around to publishing some photos on this blog. Below are photos of Lou (our very cute cat), Matt (taken on one of our cycle rides home from work) and two of Southend seafront - which we cycle along every day. Above are some photos of our apartment so you can get an idea of where I am living now. Also photos of Matt and I taken in France at the wedding of friends of my parents.

Matt and I are very happy. I am now working at the same school as him (I have just finished my first week). I am really enjoying it. It is much better than Flightline that is for sure!!!

Life is good for us. Time is flying too - I have been living here with Matt for almost 6 months now.

Well... More soon,
Take care all
Lots of love
Laus
xxxx

2007-09-15T21:56:00.000+01:00

Southend and cool bikes

2007-09-03T11:36:00.001+01:00

Finally I have got around to updating this blog site!!! Sorry it has taken me so long.

I have now been living in the UK for almost 5 months and it has totally flown by. Matt and I moved to a new apartment quite a while ago and we are very happy here. The apartment is beautiful and we are working hard to make it as hoemly as possible. We also have a little cat called Lou. She is black and white and very funny. She is always scrapping with the other cats in the area and extremely loving to us.

Work at Flightline has been driving me a little crazy – it is really not for me. I have managed to find work as a teaching assistant at the same school Matt works in – I start work there next Monday (10/09). The job is basically helping ‘statemented kids’. These are the kids with behavoural / learning / mental difficulties. I will go to their classes with them and help them with the work – in an aim to helping them gain some qualifications. The pay is terrible so I am hop;ing to find work in the evening for a couple of nights a week – in a supermarket / bar or something.

Matt and I are on a big health kick now – the school is around 5 miles away. We both bought bikes and did a test run yesterday – it takes 30 minutes to cycle – and the route is along the seafront – so we intend to do that every day. My bike is ace! It is called a beach cruiser and has a wicker basket on the front. I went out today and bought a wing mirror and an old style horn! What a poser eh.

Well that is it for now – more soon
Love
Laus
xxxx

Basildon, air hostesses and car seats

2007-05-20T09:42:00.000+01:00

Hello All,

I thought it was time to update you all again on what has been going on in my life. I want to say sorry first as many of you have written me emails and I have been very bad about replying. I just never seem to have the time to sit down and reply to you all. I hope that by writing this update I will answer most of your questions.

I have now been in England for well over a month and time has really flown. Matt and I are moving house next weekend and we are both really looking forward to it. At the moment we are in a small studio apartment in Basildon but we have found a lovely apartment in Southend-on-Sea, which is in the perfect location. We can both get to work easily and we are walking distance from the sea and the cafes and the theatres and bars etc. The apartment itself is lovely – once we have settled in I shall take some photos to show on this site.

I started doing various temping jobs when I arrived here – firstly envelope stuffing (big yawn) and then working at a call centre for barclaycard. So enjoyable having people call you up to complain all the time!! Haha. Anyhow, I finally heard back from the airport and they officially offered the job of ‘Crewing Controller’. I have been working there for two weeks now.

It is a company called Flightline which is based at Southend Airport. They have 14 aircraft and around 250cabin and flight deck staff. My job is to make sure that every flight is fully manned by the appropriately qualified people, that they are in the right places at the right time – arranging flights and hotels as needed, and basically ensuring that the flights can run with the correct manpower. It is a bit like pulling rabbits from a hat at times – when a contract comes in for an extra flight and we have to find crew at very short notice – or 6 air hostesses go sick at the same time, or a plane has technical problems etc etc. I am hoping it will prove to be an interesting job.

Matt is working at a high school, teaching ICT (computers to the rest of us). He is good. We are both looking forward to living in Southend and getting away from the area we are in now.

We have a car now. Matt’s dad got a new car so we inherited his n reg rover. Makes life much easier for commuting. The drivers seat doesn’t move forward so if I want to drive it I have to take a cushion off the sofa to put on the seat so I can reach the pedals!!

Well, that is all for now, as I said before – when we move I will take lots of photos to put on this site. In the meantime… take care!!!!

Lots of love
Laus
xxxxxx

Back in England

2007-04-23T16:52:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone!

Well this is my first ‘English’ update. I have now been here for almost two weeks.

I would like to begin by saying that the area around Basildon is beautiful! Really! Matt and I have done a lot of walking - around parks and in the country. It is lovely. It is really not far until you are walking in country areas and I love the parks here. When I was overseas I really missed just chilling out in parks and reading books / having picnics etc. We have certainly made up for that over the last couple of weeks.

Matt is working every day at the school and I have been job hunting. I have just been given 6 weeks temporary work – at a credit card / bank card company. It doesn’t sound awfully exciting but it is certainly better than sitting around getting frustrated. I am still waiting to hear back from a couple of interviews and applications I have completed so hopefully something better will turn up soon.

Life here is very good. We have quickly settled down and it feels like I have been here for much longer than a couple of weeks.

Some things are strange – every now and then I hear a loud English voice and turn around – then I remember that everyone speaks English!! Doh! Also crossing the road is a bit of a nightmare – I have no idea which way to look, luckily I haven’t been run over yet.

I haven’t had chance to meet up with any of you here in England and I am sorry for that but hopefully when things have settled down and I have money coming in I can travel down to Hampshire and visit. I can’t wait to catch up with you all after so long.

Thank you for all the support and emails – it is nice to know that you haven’t yet forgotten about me!

I will update this again when I have more to say. In the meantime…. Take care everyone!

Love
Laus
xx

2007-03-10T17:04:00.000Z

Hello everyone,

Spring is here. I don’t know about you but Spring makes life better just by arriving. The sun, the blossom on the trees and the rise in temperature does wonders for me.

Life here has been good, bad and in the middle over the last month or so. After a lot of soul searching and umming and arrhing, I bit the bullet and gave a months notice to leave here. I was staying purely out of loyalty and several things have happened to make me feel that was misplaced. It is hard to leave but also not.

I am finishing work here on 30/3 (at the start of the Easter holiday) and am returning with my parents to France, before moving, mid April, to live with Matt in England. He was over for a few days a week or so ago and we had a great time again.

I am working hard to tie things up here – writing reviews of all my classes and individual students for the guys that are taking over from me (my work is being shared out – no new teacher is being employed). I am also beginning to write exams for the end of term.

I am still going to do the DoS job in the summer – the early return to England will give me more time to prepare and gather materials that I feel were lacking last year.
I will look for temping jobs in the interim and full time work afterwards.

Life is changing for me yet again. But I feel positive and hopeful.

I will keep you posted.
Love
Laus
xxxx

Cold Cold February

2007-02-19T22:14:00.000Z

Hi,

Well, it has been great to hear from a lot of you, letting me know your stories and experiences.

I am good. Matt came out 3 weeks ago for a few days and is back on Saturday for a week. Neither of us can wait. I am learning the true meaning of the word 'impatience'. Things are going so well, I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I am awake and isn't just a dream. I can't wait for you to meet him. He is a great person and is very good for me.

Work is going fine. We are now approaching 'Matricula'. This is the time when the students who will take the Cambridge University Exams pay their money. It is a tough time for us teachers as we are running the final mock exams and evaluating the levels and capabilities of each student, deciding whether the option to even take the exam should be open to them. It means a lot of pressure. Especially faced with students that desparately want to do the exams but are just not good enough for it. A time of patience and diplomacy for sure!

The guy that worked with me last year (Eugene) is over to visit next week. I am looking forward to catching up with him and his news (he has been working in Ireland).

I seem to be in a bit of a rut these days, generally. I am trying to lesson plan and am suffering from a lack of motivation. I am fine in class, the kids (and the adult classes) are fun, but I am getting weary. I know that it is the start of what the Navy call 'RDP' which is 'Run Down Period'. I know that I have this whole new life to try out, just around the corner. Makes life here difficult to focus on!!

Last weekend (I think - time is merging right now) was the Martos carnival. I went with my friend Abi to see what it was all about. It was basically the population of Martos, converging on the main square of the town in fancy dress. Quite interesting to begin, but it quickly became boring. They didn't do anything, or go anywhere - just gathered and stood around!

My sister is at my parents at the moment, with Ben and Abi. It sounds like they are having a nice relaxing holiday. I am very jealous though as she cooked my parents a Chinese meal last night to celebrate the Chinese New Year. I was talking to a friend in Beijing yesterday and he was hiding in his apartment - trying to stay out of the way of the badly aimed fireworks going off everywhere! Bless him!!!!!

I got my contract through from Buckswood the other day and am in the process of building up the energy to walk up the hill to the post office to send it. I am definately being employed as the Director of Studies - from the 28th of June till the 12th of August. I am looking forward to it but also a little worried. I know I am capable but it is a new thing, thus a little scary!

Well that is it from me. I am looking forward to a great week with Matt next week. I am going to Granada on Saturday to meet him at the airport, we will get a hotel again and then come home on Sunday. Just a shame I have to work next week!!!

Love to you all
Laus
xxx

January

2007-01-21T12:37:00.000Z

Hello again everyone!

I promise this entry will not be as surprising for most of you as the last one! I don't have a lot of news really. Spain is unseasonally warm at the moment - clear skies and temperatures up to 20 degrees most days. I have been told, however, that winter will hit us next week. I am not looking forward to that!

Work has been really tough over the last couple of weeks. I am finding it hard to settle back down into the lesson planning etc - nothing is 'flowing' at the moment, and so I seem to spend much of my time either lesson planning or thinking about lesson planning. Doesn't make for much of a chilled life!!

In the last couple of weeks I have been able to talk a few times with a couple of close friends in Thailand (Jill and Penny) for quite a while which has been very good. I miss Thailand, and them, a lot. Jill has an amazing new job which she will be starting next month (flying to Mexico for a month's training). It seems we have all now moved on. This time in two weeks none of us will be at the school we met and taught at. Penny was sick over Christmas but seems fine now - just frustrated with lesson planning (sounds familiar).

Matt, of course, has been a godsend. We talk every day and usually succeed in getting totally frustrated about living in different countries! Anyhow, he is coming here next weekend and we are planning to be tourists in Granada before coming back here to Martos for a couple of days. We have booked a few flights now for the next couple of months, - back and forwards, so I know that we have lots to look forward to, prior to me going back permanently. Not easy though. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so caring about my students and their exams. If that were the case, I would go to him right now.

My big new news is that I had an 'interview / phone chat' with the recruiter from the English Summer School (http://www.buckswood.com) I worked at last year, and I have been offered the position of Director Of Studies. I am very excited about it. Being DoS will be a good experience, and also good for my CV. I think the job will be quite tough but a natural progression to my career. First time for anything is always the most nerve wracking isnt't it? I am postive I can do the job well though.

I don't have much more news. Work work work and not much else!!

I hope you are all well, and thank you for all the emails and phone calls, re Matt and I, and the support. Good to know you are all happy for us!!

Love
Laus
xx

New Year News

2007-01-05T20:11:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone!!

I hope everyone enjoyed the silly season. I went to France for Christmas and that was great as my sister, brother-in-law and their two children were there. Christmas is so much more fun when young kids are around isn’t it. They had SO many gifts there was paper everywhere!! I myself received some wonderful presents – a year’s subscription to National Geographic, some DVD's and Amazon vouchers. Books are like gold dust here and Amazon vouchers are perfect. I have already ordered 5 books which should be delivered soon.

I arrived in France on Christmas Eve after another mammoth 24 hour bus journey, only to be met at the bus stop by my dad who drove me to a church where we met up with the rest of the family and proceeded to sing extremely out of tune Christmas carols. Christmas day, as I said, was spent with my family, plus a guy called Owen who is the son of my parents friends (holidaying in India). Boxing Day saw a ‘Mexican’ theme party at my parents with around 25 guests. It was good fun but a lot of work for my mum.

The next few days flew by – family catching up time mainly. Then, on New Year’s Eve I flew to England to spend some time with an amazing guy called Matt. I worked with him in China and although we have kept in touch over the years, recently we have talked every day for at least a couple of hours. Re-meeting him was nerve wracking to begin – I had to pluck up the courage before walking out to the arrivals hall!! But everything went amazingly well. He is a wonderful person and I had a fabulous time. He is coming out to Spain in three weeks to visit then I guess the next month I will go back to the UK again. He is studying for a PHD in Computational Linguistics. At the university he attends they run a Bachelors Degree in TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) which I have written to them about. The initial feedback seems to be that regardless of my academic qualifications (or lack of them) my experience would make me a candidate. If all goes well I will begin studying at the same university in September and Matt and I will live together and see how it goes. If I don’t get in the university I will still go over but find some work to do whilst he finishes his PHD.

It seems awfully sudden in many ways, but I have known him for years, albeit not this well, and he is an amazing guy. I figure that if I don’t take the plunge now and see what happens I will regret it forever. He has the same passions and ideals as me, and is a very special person. Watch this space!

Well that is it from me. Happy New Year everyone and I hope 2007 is as good for you as I think it will be for me.

Love Laus

xxxx

Culture Alert

2006-12-08T15:35:00.000Z

Hello all,

I thought I should update this again (just because I can!). Today is a holiday in Martos, to celebrate the first olive pressing of the season. At lunchtime I met Joe, Marie Claire and their children Jake and Ana, to visit the park.

Every year the population of Martos gather in the park to watch the first olives being pressed in the traditional way. It is very interesting. Firstly they appear to mash up the olives then they use a huge press. The press is open and there is a metal spike that rises from the centre at the bottom to about two thirds up (the press is around 7 foot tall in all). They have round rush mats that they place on the spike, they then spread the olive mush on the mat, before repeating the process, placing another mat on top. This is repeated around 50 times and then the press is lowered by means of handles which 4 men turn. By this time the pressure on the mats is high and you can see the oil pouring out of the bottom into a container. this oil is then ceremoniously transferred to what looks like an old metal milk trough.

Before the pressing takes place, everyone lines up and is given a large bag containing a small bag of olives, a bottle of water, a small bottle of olive oil, a hunk of bread and some dried salty fish. The park is filled with trellis tables and people crowd around the tables, eating the food and chatting. One big outdoor picnic type thing.

We met with parents of a boy that goes to Ana's school and talked to them for a while, watched the pressing and then went home.

Other than that I have been spending my time either writing exams for the students, or trying to energise myself to write them. I have had to teach some tough grammar points recently - things I had been putting off but had to do.

I had a good chat with a couple of friends from Thailand the other day which was nice - with work and the time difference we don't get chance often. I have also been chatting a lot to a guy I worked with in China which has been good. All in all having the internet has meant I have been able to converse far more with people I haven't been able to talk to for a long time.

I have only got two weeks left at work, which is a relief, as I feel pretty drained at the moment. I need a break and a chance to recharge my batteries.

I will hopefully update this blog at Christmas or in early January. I hope everyone has a really great Christmas.
Laus
xx

2006-12-01T11:18:00.000Z

Very cute!

2006-12-01T11:16:00.000Z

Typical costume (this guy is a student at the academy)

2006-12-01T11:15:00.000Z

Martos Feria

The last year - in a rush!

2006-12-01T09:43:00.000Z

It has been so long since my last update on this blog that I am not sure where to begin!!! Last year was a very tough year here in Spain. It took a LOT of getting used to after living in sociable Thailand!! I made a decision to save as much money as possible and get out of here as soon as my contract finished in June, with plans to return to Thailand. Things didn’t end up working out that way ….. I was persuaded to stay and felt better about returning by the time the summer came. I think the fact that come the end of April all the tables are outside the cafes again and everyone spent their evenings promenading around town. There was also a huge feria in town, which involved a lot of ‘cultural’ activities – one thing I had really been pining for. All the women and girls in town wore their finest flamenco dresses, whilst the men dressed in traditional Spanish clothes – shirts, high topped trousers, braces and hat. Everyone looked fantastic (although I really don’t see how anyone could think they look attractive in a flamenco dress!). The reason for the feria was to transfer the statue of the virgin to a church which is half way up the Peña (small mountain overlooking Martos). The celebrations lasted for days and I was invited to spend some of it with some Spanish friends.

Come the summer everything got a little hectic. My students had Cambridg exams, I had to write further exams for them, last minute report card writing and tying off loose ends took up much of my time.

I agreed with my landlord (after a little persuasion) that he would let me keep my apartment for July and August rent free; and rushed of to England to work at a summer school near Brighton.

Arriving in England after so many years away was very strange to begin. I couldn’t get over the fact that everyone around me was speaking English. I was met by my aunt and uncle and we drove to a hotel where we met another aunt and uncle for dinner. I hadn’t seen any of them for years so it was a great evening of catch up. Then it was off to work again…

I worked for Buckswood Summer Programmes at a place called Plumpton, which is in the middle of nowhere. The students were aged between 7 and 18 and came from all over the world – a real mix of languages and cultures. Bearing in mind I had had only a few days break I was exhausted before I began work – never good with summer camp work! It took me a while to get into it and understand everything going on but once I did I started to have fun. It was totally exhausting work but the other teachers were nice and we got on well. We all seemed to work all the hours God sent and by the end of the programme (7 weeks for me) I was close to dropping.

I returned to France to some very well earned R and R at Mum and Dad’s house. It was great to be there in the summer – lovely weather and bbq’s in the garden – just what the doctor ordered.

After a couple of weeks it was time to return to sunny Spain. I was feeling a lot more positive about returning here at this point. A new teacher was starting at my school (there are only 3 of us total) so I was quite curious about what he would be like. It turned out that we couldn’t have been luckier, the new teacher is a guy called Joe who has come over with his wife Marie Claire and their two kids to live in Spain. They are lovely and I get on well with them. We meet up for beer or tapas often and seem to find a lot to chat about. In general life is much much better this year, I seem to be out and about a lot more, and work is good too. I have a couple of tough classes to teach – you know the type… teenagers that are more interested in the opposite sex than actually knuckling sown and learning English grammar (can’t imagine why!!), other than that it is all good. My boss has put my name forward to become a Cambridge University Oral Examiner (sounds much better than it is!) and I begin training for that in January. I am going home for Christmas and everyone will be there this year (Mum, Dad, Caz, Rob, Abbie and Ben). My parents are coming down here for Easter so I can show off the wonders of Martos to them (!?). I am hoping to go back to the same summer school in the summer and then it will be back here for a third year (least that is the plan at the moment!) Well that is the year in a small nutshell. I will try to keep more up to date now I have the internet….Promise!!! Laus

xxxx

2006-01-03T10:29:00.000Z

At the Martos Olive Festival, a girl in traditional Spanish dress

2006-01-03T10:26:00.000Z

Martos

2006-01-03T10:24:00.000Z

Jesus!

Pre christmas update from chilly Spain

2005-11-29T09:59:00.000Z

Hello All!!

It has been a long time since I last wrote an update for this webpage, and figured it was time to do something about it. I last wrote to give you some thrilling historical facts about the town I am living in, Martos. This time I want to spend some time telling you about my observations since I have been here.

Work aside, I haven’t been out much but I do like to wander around the town when I am trying to escape from my computer and lesson planning at home. There are some peculiarities that I have noticed during my wanderings.

One of the more disturbing of these is the Spanish tradition of putting posters up to say that someone has passed away. On every empty piece of wall (or so it seems), there are bunches of black and white A4 sized posters. They all have a picture of Jesus (incidentally a very popular name here and pronounce hairzeus), or of the Virgin Mary. Under these often macabre pictures are the name and birth / death dates of whoever has passed on. It might seem like a quaint custom, and a good way of letting people know. I feel sad though as I am always seeing the towns’ elderly gathering around the walls, scanning the posters for news of friends and acquaintances. Every time I walk past one of these posters I invariably see at least one, sad looking, person looking at them. I have tried to imagine what it must be like to find out about the death of an old and dear friend on a wall by the side of the local supermarket! Harsh I reckon.

There is one guy that makes me laugh every time I see him (which is twice so far). He is an old guy, obviously from the country, with a tattered waistcoat and his trousers held up with string. He walks up the main thoroughfare of the town, past all the new and shiny cars, leading his old white horse behind him. The horse looks as old and tired as him and always has big rush baskets of grass on its back. There is also a small dog that stands on the back of the horse – looking around and trying gallantly to stay standing as the horse sways along. Every time I see him it brings a smile to my face. I don’t know what he does with the grass, where he has been or where he is going but he brightens up my day!

There are a lot of teenagers in Martos and there isn’t a huge amount for them to do. There is a park near the library which is the ‘unofficial’ youth drinking club at the weekends. Whatever the weather huge groups of them firstly visit the off licence that serves the underage and they then converge at the park and endeavour to get as drunk as possible whilst flirting and posing with the groups of the opposite sex who are close, but not ‘with’ them. Apparently, in the summer, people in their 20’s an 30’s also take wine or something similar and sit out in the park in the evenings. It has certainly seemed busier than most of the bars when I have walked past.

There are a huge amount of bars and restaurants here, given the size of the town. We have two Chinese restaurants, about 8 or 9 Pizza restaurants, lots of tapas bars and some more upmarket restaurants. We also have (which surprised me greatly) and Irish bar! Yep, you read that right – there is actually an Irish bar here. It is down one of the side roads and plays English music (as does another bar called the ‘Belfast Bar’).

As well as myself and Eugene (the 42 year old Scottish guy who works with me) there are two young 20 something girls who are here on a year out from University where they are studying Spanish. They are here until May and have been placed by their University and the Spanish government to work as teachers assistants at two primary schools in the area.
They are nice enough girls but make me feel very old. One of their less honourable hobbies appears to be seeing how much vodka they can drink before they fall over! Oh to be that young and carefree again.

Spain is still very religious which actually causes problems with one of my groups at the academy. I teach a group of children that are 8-9 years old. The problem is that next year they will all have their first communions at church. The boys will dress up in sailor suits (I have asked but couldn’t clarify exactly why!) and the girls will wear wedding dresses. As this will happen next year they have to attend regular catechism classes, which clash with our timetables. Apparently it is fair enough for the students to forego basketball or football practice to attend classes at the academy, but they MUST all attend their catechism classes. They take it very seriously.

I had a letter from the Junta the other day (the Junta is the Spanish name for the local government), saying that my request for residential status in Spain has been approved. This means that my health care is free and I get to pay taxes (yay!). I have to go to the office shortly to pick up my Spanish Identity Card. It is nice to be legal. I have to visit on Friday to give a fingerprint for the computer system - big brother is watching!

I am finally able to properly pronounce all my students names. There are some odd ones such as Aurora (pronounced Aw Oo Ora), Jesus (hairzeus), David (the a is pronounced like the a in apple), Juan Carlos (Hwan), Marie Carmen (marry karmin), Adrian (the a is like apple again) and Justa (whosta) Sometimes I say their names in the English way just to raise a laugh. Jesus loves it when I call him Jesus (pronounced our way). I also find it amusing to say ‘Jesus be quiet and listen to me’ – that feeling of power haha – as if I were speaking to the ‘real’ Jesus. I remember I had a student in Thailand who’s nickname was God. It did amuse me when I pretended to be very upset if God missed my class!

I moved apartments at the beginning of November and am much happier in my new place. My neighbours are all elderly so no more loud ‘bomm bomm’ music at all hours! The problem at the moment is that the apartment beneath me is being gutted and totally refitted. This means that the workmen begin banging at around 8am and continue until around 8pm. The only day they have off is Sunday. I was hoping Sunday would be nice and quiet but it seems that this is the day that the man who owns the place has chosen to go in and do his own improvements to the work that has been completed in the week. It is not unusual for me to wake up in the mornings and for the first thing to leave my mouth to be a swear word! Doesn’t do much for my karma!

My normal working day does not officially begin until 3.45 pm but due to circumstance I have to be at the academy everyday by 9.30 am. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays I teach a business English course from 9.30 – 10.30 am. On Mondays and Thursdays from 9.30 – 10.30 am I study Spanish with my private tutor. My Spanish is coming along slowly. I spent my last class conjugating irregular verbs (yippee). Nothing about Spanish appears to be straightforward (although my students probably say that about English). My teacher s good though. Much better than my first teacher (who I sacked for being crap). She is around 45 years old and teaches English to primary school kids.

The weather has turned cold here and last week I bought myself an ‘estufa butano’ (to you and me that means a fire that is powered by one of the huge gas bottles). It has made a huge difference to my home life. The temperature today in my kitchen is 5 degrees but in my living room it is 18 degrees!). I know this as I invested in a couple of thermometers in one of those – exactly how sorry for myself should I feel - moments! I daren’t imagine how much gas I will go through to power the thing as it is on from the moment I wake to the moment I sleep (unless I go out). I wheel it into the bathroom for 30 minutes before I have a bath and do the same in my bedroom before I go to bed. As nothing in Spain is simple, although I bought the heater itself, I had to buy the tubing and the gas bottle connector cap separately from the Ferretaria (hardware shop). The guys in the shop thought it was highly amusing that I literally had to buy everything to install it – including a screwdriver as I didn’t have one (my dictionary came in very handy). I managed to put it together easily enough. I was told that I should soak the tubing in hot water to make it more pliable and easier to connect to the metal sticky out bits (technical eh). Anyhow, the water was a ‘little’ too hot to begin and I melted the tube! I had to chop the end off and start again with a slightly shorter tube and slightly cooler water! It did the job though!

A Spanish kitchen idea has greatly impressed me. They never dry up their crockery here. Above my sink is a cupboard with no bottom. It has racks for plates, cutlery and pots. You just wash your stuff and stick it in the cupboard to drip dry. The thing I keep forgetting is that the water and soap suds on the newly washed crockery drop straight out the bottom. I have had food in a strainer in the sink, quickly washed the pan it was in, put the pan in the cupboard and ended up with soapy food! Simple concept but one I repeatedly appear to fail to grasp! Peas a la lemon washing up liquid are becoming my speciality.

I have an oven in my new apartment. I keep meaning to take a picture of it. On the front, near the temperature dials are some pictures of various food items and the numbers they should be cooked at. One of the pictures is of a reindeer – I kid you not! I guess that if you go out and shoot some wild animal you should always cook it at number 8. Seeing as the only thing I want to shoot at the moment is the builder downstairs I am a bit confused as to what temperature I would cook him at – number 8 I guess.

In one of my rooms is a huge statue of Jesus on the wall. Quite normal for this area I presume but I find it a little bizarre. I swear he is making a peace sign with his hand. I don’t think I have ever seen a ‘peace man’ Jesus statue before – although the concept is quite obvious really isn’t it. I shall take a photo and stick it on this site when I go home at Christmas so you can also experience it.

I have invested in a truly wonderful ‘school’ bag. It is on wheels! Apparently this is normal in France too but I think they are great. All the kids have them to go to school (they tell me it is because they have too much homework to carry but I don’t believe them!). I haven’t seen any other adults with them but that doesn’t worry me – it is great! It looks like a normal backpack type school bag (and indeed can be worn as one) but it also has an extendable handle and wheels on the bottom. As I have so many books to take to and from the Academy it is a god send. The cheap bag I bought at the Monday night market in Thailand lasted about 2 weeks before it died on me.

The final thing I want to mention in this update is….. MULLETS! You know the hairstyle I mean (where the person has short hair on the top and sides, then long at the back). Well, here it appears to be (take a deep breath here) fashionable!! God it must be the world’s worst hairdo but so many teenagers here walk around proudly sporting mullets. Sad, very sad. I only hope it is a passing (quickly passing) fad.

I am planning to go to Granada on Saturday for another wander around and to buy Christmas gifts for my family luckily one of my adult students lives there at weekends so I have a free lift there! If you want anything in particular you had best get your orders in quickly!!!

Well, that is it for now from me; I hope you have enjoyed hearing a little more about my life here. Take care and have a good Christmas (Navidad here).
Love
Laus
xxxx

Martos

2005-09-19T10:47:00.000+01:00

Hi Everyone,

I decided that this blog entry would be reserved for "Martos". I have found some information about the town which I have decided to type out, to give you a better idea of where I am living.

Surrounded by endless olive groves, it doesn´t take long to realise why Martos is Spain´s number one producer of olives. The ruins of a Moorish fortress, La Pena, on a great rock outcrop that towers over the small town, are a vivid reminder of the great struggles of the reconquista when the Moorish forts of Jaen became the front line against hostile Christian incursions, and the scene of bitter battles and sieges. This one fell to Fernando III on St Marta´s Day in 1225, thus giving the town its present name. In the old quarter with it´s narrow, winding streets the church of Santa Maria de la Villa is thirteenth-century, constructed soon after the victory, although it underwent substantial rebuilding in the fifteenth and later centuries. The interior has an outstanding Baroque retablo as well as fine early Christian sarcophagus dating from the fourth century. The fifteenth-century church of Santa Marta with its Isabelline entrance and the former sixteenth-century prison, now the Ayuntamiento, graced by another fine portal, is also worth a look.

Well there you go! My new home...

That is it for this update. More soon
Love
Laus
xx

Spain begins

2005-09-09T11:03:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

Well, as promised, here is my first Spanish update.

I have now been here for just over a week. It actually feels more like 6 months to me. The whole culture shock syndrome has been hitting hard. I think fondly of Thailand with all its trials, pleasures and laid back living.

So, first impression...
Martos is a small town surrounded by mountains (some near, some far) and olive groves as far as the eye can see. It is very beautiful, white washed houses nestled at the base of a rather large mountain, with a most impressive church / cathedral type thingy perched a little way up (more on that when I have been up there). It is very Spanish and very rural. No one speaks a jot of English - in fact I wonder at times if they have even heard of England!

The Spanish (not only in Martos) are shunning the traditional country life and are instead moving to towns and cities. They are swapping (willingly), wide open spaces for life in an apartment block. This seems sad doesn´t it.

The nearest large town to me is Jaen (15 km). Jaen is the capital of the province (aptly named Jaen Province). It is a large, bustling university town. It has a quite amazing cathedral and castle. It is also at the bas of a mountain (a different one). I visited there yesterday but only lasted an hour or so. It was just too busy, commercialised and impersonal for me. At least I now know where to go shopping crazy should the need arise!

Before I arrived here I looked back on my initial periods living in Thailand and China through rose tinted glasses. Now I am doing it again all the anxieties and doubts have come flooding back. I know that I can do it and that as soon as I learn more of the language and settle in things will be good. I envy Penny that when she came to Thailand she knew me, so things were easier. I would kill right now to know someone here!

I am studying Spanish (by cd) every day and at the end of each ´class´ I feel really confident. Then I go out and people speak so fast I can´t understand a word. Spanish people need a built in pause button I reckon.

Well that is it for now guys. I will post some pictures here when I have batteries for my camera!

Take care
Love
Laus
xx

Cheese, wine, baguettes and COLD days!

2005-08-23T09:43:00.000+01:00

Hello all!!

I decided it was about time for a new update.

The last time I wrote was during my final few days in Thailand. I left Thailand on the 2nd of August, and flew to Paris to spend some time with my family. The day I left Thailand was a strange one. I did not feel as though I was leaving for ever - more that I was going on holiday and would be returning.

After a long flight (changing in Bahrain) I arrived in Paris at 0700 on the 3rd of August. My dad drove up to Paris to collect me and we got home at around lunch time. It was wonderful to see all my family. My sister had flown over from Switzerland with my little niece Abbie. Obviously I am biased but she is one beautiful little lady! She has this wonderful habit of doing something wrong (maybe dropping something) and then saying uh-oh (like a telly tubbie). It is very funny. My sister's husband flew out for a week too and it was good to catch up with him - I haven't seen him for a long time.

Most of the first two weeks was spent doing not a lot, catching up, drinking lots of rose wine and eating french bread and cheese as much as humanly possible! ah happy days.

At the moment my friend Nikki and her husband Pete are staying. Nikki came out to visit me in Thailand a couple of years ago but I haven't seen her since so we have had a lot of gossiping to do in order to fill in the last 2 years! They have been here for a week or so and go back tomorrow.

Next week is all change again for me. I have booked myself on a coach to Madrid next Wednseday night (I leave Poitiers at 2130 and get into Madrid at 1030 the next morning). I am staying in Madrid overnight so I can have a look around and then I will move on to Andalucia.

I have a new teaching job in a town called Martos (close to Jaen) in rural Andalucia. It is teaching at a private language school, and I have a year contract. At the moment I am trying to learn Spanish to make my initial stay a little easier! I am not doing awfully well though - there is always something else to do.

I am really looking forward to working in Spain. It will certainly be different from the past few years spent in Asia (China and Thailand) but I think it will reap its own rewards. I am hoping to learn how to do pottery whilst I am there (and maybe flamenco dancing and bullfighting of course!).

Well, that is all from me now. I hope all is well with you and I will update this blog again when I have been in Spain for a while.

Take care

Laura
x

2005-07-30T12:24:00.000+01:00

Me bonding with my 'Duck' dinner!!

2005-07-30T12:22:00.000+01:00

Penny and I having a 'had enough of packing' moment!!!

Leaving Thailand

2005-07-30T12:13:00.000+01:00

Leaving Thailand
Hello again everyone. Well the time is almost upon me. I finished work today, my last day teaching in Thailand! It was a strange day – only two contact hours instead of the usual four on a Friday – this was because it was ‘Thai Language’ day and many of the students were involved in activities in the afternoon.
I don’t feel as though anything has truly sunk in yet. I still don’t really feel like I am leaving. This in itself is surprising given the amount of leaving parties I seem to have had!!
I think that it will begin to seem more real tomorrow, when people are coming to collect furniture they have bought from me. An empty house is sure to help it all sink in!!
Anyhow, this weekend is mostly devoted to cleaning and lifting and shifting. On Monday I have some last minute stuff to sort out (including changing my money into Euros) and then Tuesday is airport day. The school minibus is driving me, and what seems like half the school, to the airport. Coming to see me off are Penny, Jill, Ajarn Charawee, Ajarn Pannapa, Ajarn Joom and Ajarn Siriwan. I am not looking forward to the good byes at all.
Ah well – always look forward eh. End of one chapter, beginning of another. I can’t wait to see my family and also friends that are coming out to France. Then it is off to sunny Spain.
I will update this blog when I get home, but in the meantime Chok Dee Na Kha! (good luck to you!)
Love
Laus
xx

2005-06-11T07:12:00.000+01:00

School assembly, every morning the students raise the Thai flag and sing the national anthem.

2005-06-11T07:03:00.000+01:00

Me chilling out between classes at the noodle bar opposite school.

Resignation

2005-06-11T03:24:00.000+01:00

Hello all,

I thought I would put another entry on this site to let you know all my latest news. Well the last couple of weeks have been quite traumatic here in Thailand. I officially gave 2 months notice to leave my school here and return to Europe. I wrote a letter to the Head of English, the Assistant School Director and the Director himself. I got this traslated into Thai to make sure that it was fully understood!

When I gave it to the HoE he was quite on form with his emotional blackmail tactics to get me to stay. It was very hard not to breeak and take the letter back! When I told the Thai English teachers they also piled on the blackmail, one of them even crying. It was really really hard. I have been through a few tissues :-)

Well, I managed to stay 'focussed' on the big picture and kept the resignation in. I have been up to Bangkok and booked a flight home. I leave Thailand on 2nd of August, arriving in Paris on the 3rd. I will then have time to catch up with my family and some friends that are coming out to visit there before moving on to work in pastures new.

The thought of leaving Thailand is quite daunting.. It will be almost 2 1/2 years since I arrived by the time I leave and I have made lots of friends. My house will be a hassle. I had to furnish it myself as Thai houses do not come furnished here. This means that I have to get rid of a
whole house of furniture!! eek!

Well I am going to dash now - The pest man has just been round to spray my house and it stinks- I need fresh air!!!

I will try to put a couple more photos on the site too.

I hope everyone is well - and I will be seeing some of you soon!!!

Back at school

2005-05-21T08:56:00.000+01:00

Hello,

Well, I have just finished the first full week back at school. It has been tiring - after the break, late mornings and relaxing!

I am teaching Mattayom 1 (aged 12 - 13) and Mattayom 4 (aged 15 - 16) this semester. Most of the kids seem ok but I do have a couple of nightmare classes. Some of the kids have a really good level of English (for Thailand) but some of the M4 students could not even tell me how old they were in English. It is a challenge but they good fun so I am sure we will get along fine.

The weather has finally started to turn now and the afternoons / evenings are cooler. At night it is now in the 20's which is nice - it is hard to sleep with the temperature in the 30's.

I don't have a lot of news as I haven't really been out much. Saving to return to Europe is proving quite painful! Ah well, it'll be worth it in the end I am sure.

There is quite a big outbreak of Dengue fever in Thailand at the moment - apparently with cases in Phet'buri where I live. There is no cure for it, or any innoculation so the only thing to do is to avoid mosquito bites.. hahaha They love me!! I am always being bitten. It is apparently the mosquitos that are out during the day that spread the disease - and I have been told that the carriers have a white stripe on their back. Have you ever tried to get a mosquito to stay still long enough to look at its back?!?! I am damn sure I can't. I have a wonderful mosquito killer though. It looks like a tennis racquet and when you press the button it give an electric shock to anything it touches... needless to say the mozzies don't like it much. BTW all dengue fever does is make you sick for a while - nothing major!

Well I will write more soon. Take care all
Laura

2005-05-01T06:28:00.000+01:00

One of my birthday gifts from Penny - it is a light made from plastic teaspoons hanging from a funnel. HOW COOL!!! I love it.

2005-05-01T06:26:00.000+01:00

Friends that came along to drink (too much) beer with me.

2005-05-01T06:24:00.000+01:00

The band! They sang Happy Birthday wonderfully!

2005-05-01T06:22:00.000+01:00

My birthday cake (too many candles!). The orange on top is shredded dried fish - now how is that for tasty! Don't you just love Thai food!

2005-05-01T06:20:00.000+01:00

My birthday party - posing with my bike!

2005-04-28T12:29:00.000+01:00

My wonder bike! parked in front of my house.. No elephants around this time!

2005-04-28T12:26:00.000+01:00

Monkey feeding time at my house (he has stolen a banana from the tree!)

2005-04-28T12:23:00.000+01:00

Elephant feeding time at my house!

2005-04-28T12:21:00.000+01:00

The 'work site' Koh Phi Phi

2005-04-28T12:17:00.000+01:00

Koh Phi Phi

2005-04-28T12:15:00.000+01:00

Koh Jum

2005-04-28T12:13:00.000+01:00

Songkran 2005

Koh Phi Phi

2005-04-27T09:35:00.000+01:00

Following Songkran Penny and I decided to go back down to the south of Thailand again. The boat to Koh Jum had stopped the week before and so we opted to go to Koh Phi Phi instead. We got another overnight bus down to Krabi and then a boat out to PP. I had never been to PP before but knew that it was very badly hit during the tsunami, with many people losing their lives and livelihoods on Boxing Day.
When we arrive it was distressing to see how the tsunami had ripped the heart out the place. A lot of rebuilding has happened in the last 3 months but the devastation is still very obvious.
A volunteer group called hiphiphi (www.hiphiphi.com) held a meeting every night at Carlitos Bar to talk about what work would be happening the next day. After an afternoon wandering around we went to the meeting. It seemed that every foreigner on the island was there – backpackers / holiday makers / older couples / families etc… We were told that there was an area that had not been touched since the tsunami and they wanted volunteers o work there the next day. Penny and I both volunteered.
The next morning we got up and met the rest of the group at the bar. We went down to the ‘tool shed’ where we were given gloves, spades, rakes and wheelbarrows. We then went to the area we would be clearing. It was a shocking site, concrete, twisted metal, clothes, rubbish, blown down trees (and that is just the tip of it!). We set to work in heat of around 35 degrees. We set the stuff into 3 piles, burnable / non burnable and re-usable. It was tough work, each concrete block was lifted by hand and dumped, along with everything else.
I think that all of us had it in the back of our minds that over 600 people are still missing following the tsunami so we were a little afraid of what we might find. Luckily there were no bodies there (I presume that teams had looked through it in the aftermath looking for people). We did find a dead dog which was sad. The other things we found were disturbing in their own way though. We found a lifejacket stuck up a tree, car keys, toiletries, clothes and kids shoes etc.
We worked on the site for about 6 or 7 hours and by the end we were all totally exhausted.
We met up with others that evening for drinks and to watch the infamous Hippie Bar fire show. (well I actually caved in and went to bed before it began!!!).
The next day Penny and I decided to take a boat trip to visit the infamous Maya Bay (where the filmed the movie ‘The Beach’). We hired a longtail boat and acquired a couple of snorkeling sets. We got to the bay and it was stunning. We jumped out of the boat (easier said than done when in a longtail boat!) and went snorkeling. Although the tsunami had hit the bay the coral was not badly affected at all. It was wonderful to snorkel with thousands of brightly coloured (and some bizarre looking) fish swimming around us. Penny wore a lifejacket and the fish liked chasing one of the straps that was hanging from it. After snorkeling we went on the beach for a while and then returned to PP. That night we again went to the fire show (and I managed to stay up for it this time!).
The following day was our final one on the island so we stayed by the swimming pool and chilled out.
Phi Phi really was a beautiful place, damage aside, and I would love to return there one day…

Songkran!

2005-04-27T09:26:00.000+01:00

Songkran is a huge festival in Thailand. It is the Thai New Year and takes place during the hottest part of the year. This year I stayed in Phet’buri for the festival and had a fantastic day.
Traditionally Songkran used to e monks sprinkling a little water on people’s heads when they visited the temple on the morning of the Thai New Year, nowadays, however, it is a free for all! It basically means that the whole day people everywhere throw buckets of water at each other. Also it is the only day of the year when guys can touch women on the face. They make up a paste of talc or chalk and water and put it on the faces of everyone that gets close to them.
I began the day by visiting a seamstress who was adjusting a new blouse I had bought. Bad move!! As soon as my friend and I turned up we were besieged by children and adults alike, throwing water at us and pasting our faces. I went back to my friends house and we armed ourselves with some rather large water pistols. We then spent a happy few hours downtown in the main market area both attacking people and being attacked. In the afternoon we went to another friend’s house and ended up in the back of a pick up truck filled with her husbands extended family. We had huge rubbish bins full of water and proceeded to ride around town attacking both pedestrians and other trucks with the same plan as us.
We then drove out to a beach close by called Hat Chao Samran and jumped in the sea to warm up!! We stayed there to eat some seafood on mats by the beach and to dring some beer. By the time I got home I was exhausted and went to bed for a happy few hours of blissful sleep! Well earned I think J

Teaching the teachers!

2005-04-27T09:11:00.000+01:00

A couple of months ago the Thai English teachers at my school (Prommanusorn School, Phet’buri) asked if I would be a ‘trainer’ or lecturer for a course the Thai Government were running to ‘teach the teachers’. It was a course for Thai English teachers and looked at areas of teaching such as Morphology, Methodology, Phonology etc. All the Thai teachers in the Phet’buri province that taught English were invited to attend.
It was my first experience of ‘teaching’ teachers so I was very nervous! It actually went really well though and I was pleased that I had agreed to help.
Anyhow, it turned out that the course went so well that we were asked to run another one, this one aimed towards Prathom (Junior School) teachers. Their level of English is generally much lower as many of them did not even graduate in English, they were just expected to teach it. This course took place the week after Jane flew back to England. For this course I taught Phonology, Morphology, Culture and Games & Songs. It took place over one week and was very hard work!!!
There were 2 groups of teachers, one with 80 teachers and one with 40. In the class with 80 teachers I co-taught with another girl, an American called Jill. As we were teaching Prathom teachers we tried to organise the course using the widest variety of activities we could, in order to give them lots of new ideas for the classroom. This was great fun but exhausting.
After the course finished I was back on holiday again…….

Koh Jum Adventure

2005-04-27T08:36:00.000+01:00

Hello again!
At the moment it is the school holidays in Thailand so I have finally had some time to myself. My friend Jane came out to visit for a couple of weeks which was great. Having not seen her for years it was great to catch up. She arrived in Bangkok and I brought her straight home to where I live in Phet’buri. We hung out in Phet’buri for a couple of days and then decided to travel south to an island. As we both wanted to go somewhere to chill we decided on a small island in the south of Thailand called Koh Jum. We got an overnight bus down to a town called Krabi and then jumped on a boat. The boat we caught was going to Koh Lanta and so when we got near to Koh Jum a longtail boat came out to pick us up and take us to the beach.
This was my first visit to the south since the tsunami and it was obvious that it had hit this small, peaceful, island. Apparently no one on Koh Jum was killed but there was a lot of damage around. The place we stayed was beautiful. Asthetically there was a lot of damage but the people were nice, the sand was white and the sea was warm. What more can a girl ask for!!! (oh! The beer was cold too!).
There is no electricity on the island so in the evening a generator was turned on for a few hours to give light. It was a very quiet there, but I remember lying in bed listening to waves (which sounded awfully loud) and wondering what it must have been like to be there during the tsunami.
The people of Koh Jum are mainly fishermen and sea gypsies. We were told that since the tsunami the sea had been very different, tides higher than usual and at low tide the sea receded farther than before. The fisherman are still very jumpy and come back to the island at any hint of bad weather.
After spending a few days on Koh Jum we came back to Phet’buri before going up to Bangkok for the last few days of Jane’s holiday. We visited some of the sights, the Grand Palace, Wat Pho (the reclining Buddha) and Jane had a couple of massages and a dress made from Thai Silk.
When she flew home to England I returned to Phet’buri……

First Entry

2005-04-27T07:51:00.000+01:00

Hello all, this is a 'first entry' to see if this really works!