Eish! London 7 - 8 May

Thursday, 7 May

"Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance." Samuel Johnson

I sent an email to an English lady I used to work with in Durban in 2001, she has since married a Portuguese gentleman and moved to Portugal. She had emailed to find out how I was doing, so I told her about some classroom of the incidents, the public transport, the incident on the bus with the lady and her baby in the pram, and some of the other things I’ve told you about. Her response was classic (I hope she doesn’t kill me for including it here!):

Subject: RE: Life in London
Date: Thursday, 7 May, 2009

Hello Shannan,

Sun is out and the sea looks great - lots to smile about even if other things are stressful!　 Give us a month or so and hopefully we'll be in a new place with a comfy spare room... flat hunting must finish soon! :-) We’ll soon be free to move back to Lisbon, so will all pan out well in the end.

London locals aren't friendly - we poms are trained to be private people, especially in small places. They say that if you put two people of the same nationality in the same room they'll find something to talk about; two English people will walk to opposite sides of the room and pretend the other doesn't exist. Nice area you're teaching in though... yikes!　

We may be reserved, but we can be friendly too, just not on public transport - gave up my seat for an old lady once and she was shocked.　 Buy lots of books and learn how to read them with your head in a West Indian’s armpit on the tube - ahhh London, I don't miss rush hour! :-)　 Get out of London, head to the Home Counties and the village life (where I grew up - much friendlier people).

Glad you found a nice place, it’s not easy as there are loads of people desperate to find a place and loads of landlords who will rent out squats and call them rooms.　 Not to mention the freaks they lease to!

Sure you'll make the right decision re: teaching/acting.　 　

Hope pay comes through soon!

Ange

I was laughing when I read her email, because I have been on those ‘head-in-armpit’ tube rides! Honestly I don’t think I could ever be self-contained and focused enough to read in the squash. It’s always good to know that someone else gets what you are going through. Thanks Ange.

Friday, 8 May

Today I did Physical Education cover day as the present, qualified teacher with the P.E. coaches in a North London high school. Which effectively meant: I only had to be in the sports hall, the coaches did everything else.

I was blown away by their gym facilities. A full gymnasium complete with marked out basketball courts and hoops, climbing equipment and ropes and the like. For their lessons the learners had the choice of outdoor tennis, table tennis and / or badminton; and ALL the equipment was provided in an excellent condition. What did most of the learners do? Lounge on the gym mats and play on their phones. I was fuming! All I wanted to do was take this fabulous P.E. set up back to South Africa where I know my learners would have loved using all the cool equipment and learning all the different games. I couldn’t believe that these ‘learners’ lounged around in apathy as if their only other option was the equivalent of peeling a thousand potatoes! Instead of pulling my hair out, I took a few deep breaths before each lesson and had a blast using all the equipment myself. I did manage to coax a few learners into playing badminton and table tennis; and surprise, surprise; they thoroughly enjoyed themselves once they got into it. So frustrating!