Easter Holidays and new job

I had a really good two weeks off to prepare myself for the craziness that is beginning full time work in a private English school. I was really lucky to be able to spend the first week of holidays visiting friends in other parts of England. The first weekend was spent in Cambridge where I met Elliot, my cousin? (we think actually my mum's cousin's son, but not totally sure!) properly. We have apparently met before but neither of us remembers it so it was awesome to actually spend some time together! I also met up with Edward Linscott from Dunedin uni days who turned out to be a real handy person to know in Cambridge. Edward is finishing his PhD in Physics and belongs to Corpus Christi College which got us into the other colleges for free! Cambridge is a stunning town to visit with some remarkable architecture and fascinating history as well. Despite rather average weather Edward did take me punting down the river Cam as one of the quintessential Cambridge activities and I had an absolutely fantastic time. I counted it as a success as I did not lose the punting pole or fall in!

Edward at Corpus Christi

Kings College

Later in the week I spent a couple of days visiting Rachel Keeler in her hometown of Lymington in Hampshire. Rachel and I worked together in the English department at Mahurangi College last year so it was wonderful to see her again. The weather improved considerably and we only had one rather adverse day. It was nice to see the sea and be out in slightly more rural England as well - lots of windy country lanes and super cute villages! On the rainy day Rachel took me to Beaulieu (forget your French, it is pronounced "Beau (from beautiful) - lee) where they have a car museum, ruined abbey, and a fancy old house. The cars were fun to marvel over and they had the car used for greenscreen in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! On my last day we went down to Christchurch to see the Priory and old Norman keep and house. Aren't old things just so fascinating?????

Beaulieu Palace House

Christchurch Priory

Norman house with the keep in the
background

Once back in London I remembered I wouldn't be paid for another two weeks, ah the joys of being a relief teacher, and decided the best way to save money was to stay at home. It was quite nice to take the time to simply laze about and rest my feet which had been hard pushed over the last week. I also injured my collarbone at acro about 6 weeks ago and had to get it x-rayed. Everything is fine but it was probably good to force myself to give acro and cartwheeling a proper break!

The weather over Easter was absolutely stunning with temperatures well into the 20s and beautiful sunshine all weekend. I spent some time in St James Park and checked out the climate protests in Parliament square. Over 1000 people arrested and traffic disruptions for central London has certainly meant people are talking about climate action which is great! On Easter Sunday, Rawyin and I went to Knebworth House where they had a jousting tournament, and an awesome old house too! Super fun to see the jousting and I had a go at archery too. Oh, and on Easter Monday I moved house which was a huge relief (though seeing a mouse in my bedroom just now has dampened my enthusiasm...).

I've been at the new school for three days now but only met the boys today. Staff have been very welcoming and helpful and the boys I've met have been nice so far! My biggest class is 15 and the smallest is 8 which just seems rather unbelievable. I have high hopes for it being a really positive experience and am happy to be back to actual teaching!

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and thanks for the emails and Facebook messages I've been getting from you all. It is always nice to hear from those reading this and hear how things are going in your lives too!