Eish! London 18 - 19 June

Thursday, 18 June
How fantastic to read about South Africa in the Metro Newspaper today:
The 5 best zoo’s (in the world):
London Zoo opened to the public in 1874. Today it houses more than 750 species. Entrance Fee £18.50 including a voluntary donation.
Singapore Zoo which holds more than 300 species of animal and attracts 1.5 million visitors a year. Entrance Fee £11.00.
Vienna Zoo set on the grounds of a palace and founded in 1752. It is the oldest zoo in the world! Entrance Fee £12.00
Taronga Zoo, Syndey Harbour. Taronga means “beautiful view” in Aborginal. It houses more than 2600 animals in 21 hectares of ground. Entrance Fee £20.00
National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, formerly the Pretoria Zoo, was opened in 1899 on 85 hectares of land and is visited by about 600 000 people a year. Entrance Fee £3.40
The price difference between the lowest and highest Entrance Fee is quite something I reckon.

Another two articles I tore out of the paper were:
1) Graffiti artist gang jailed for six years. I intend to use this in my Scheme presentations. It’s always great to have real proof to show children what you are talking about, and that you aren’t just trying to frighten them.
2) Most knife offenders avoid jail. This article I found worrying as it said:
Four out of five knife offenders are avoiding jail, despite government promises of a crackdown on knife crime… In the first three months of this year, there were 6,477 crimes involving knives. A third of offenders were handed community sentences, while 1599 were cautioned and 1320 were jailed.
I think more Schemes should have plays on knife crime.

I know London is nowhere near as bad as South Africa when it comes to crime and I’m hoping that for 2010, my homeland will be smart and welcome tourists whilst keeping them out of harm’s way. In London I’ve found a different kind of worry and stress, especially because of the information I now have on the public transport systems. Bearing in mind all that electricity on the tracks, only last week:
1) I was beside myself when I saw a blind couple’s guide dog fall in the gap between the train and the platform at Baker Street Station. Someone pulled the alarm and they managed to save the dog. I choked back the tears when I thought about what could have happened to that poor animal and its owners.
2) The head of the Citizenship Division had a fire on his train last week.
3) Natt had someone faint in her carriage on the tube.
4) I was in a carriage and there was a huge metal case left behind under the seat I was sharing with a little old lady. She asked me if it was mine and I said no, then she asked the next guy, no. She started to panic. I pulled the emergency lever and ran to the front of the train to tell the driver there’s a suspicious bag in the second to last carriage. A station master arrived, picked up the bag and walked away… all that panic and he wasn’t even fazed. It wasn’t that long ago that there really was a bomb in the underground, and we teach the children not to take a chance. London really is a different kind of stress from South Africa.

Friday, 19 June
It seems I’m writing about all my interesting encounters, passions and opinions and non-everyday things, so today I thought I’d share my Boots shopping list with you, so you know I’m doing the routine everyday things too:
Body moisturiser
Allergy tablets (Hayfever)
Toothpaste & toothbrush
Panadol (British version of Panado)
Blister plasters
Bio oil
I went to Boots this evening and bought the items on my list {√ Tick}. I love lists, from the large goals in life, down to the littlest things; the satisfaction of ticking things off a list is therapeutically outstanding!

In the evening I managed to make it to Simon’s house in Pinner for the reading of Dealer’s Choice. It was great to recognize some faces. Personally I didn’t enjoy the play. It’s rather crude and has an all male cast, which is not my ideal choice. Nevertheless it’s was good to be part of a group again, even if I did have to speak like a man.