Venice in the Winter

Venice in the Winter
Picture perfect ... even me!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Half way through my CELTA and a lovely diversion for the weekend!!


Ken getting ready to get on the train for his 10 hour journey through to Nice! The end of a fantastic few days.


Communist Rally... yes it was the communist one!!
At the top of my street... no traffic whatsoever for about three hours.. and I was carrying two heavy supermarke bags down the hill!! I was not impressed
and still more coming down the hill... they went in waves.. looked as though their was perhaps some law or whatever which meant they had to let so many go and then another lot.. not sure but there were 1 or 2 minute breaks betwen the waves and the whole front line were in a row.


Yes, believe it not I am more than half way through the CELTA course and it's extremely difficult. In fact, I am not doing very well at all. The other 5 girls are nice and friendly which makes things bearable.. but the workload is horrendous. I am at school every morning at 8.15 (when it opens) to print my lesson plan and activities I have planned.. or for some other work which still needs doing, lessons start at 9 and go through until 5 .. and then its more work, either on asignments or lesson plans. Yes we teach real Italian students who are learning English. We are taught how to explain everything in English as we can't use Italian (not that Iknow any anyway!!) and then its tutorials and that night there is working on the next assignmetn (one a week) as well as lesson plans. Lesson Plans are detailed.. almost every word you are going to say for the hour lesson. I rarely turn the light off before 1am and allthat time is spent working on school work. I will get to see Rome AFTER the course has finished.



Last weekend there was a huge political rally through the streets of Rome. Actually there was one the week before also but I didn't have my camera on me. This time I got some shots.. coming down my street.. or the main street my little private road goes on to.. Merulana is the name of the main street down from Termini.. and there were literally thousands of people, big trucks with music machines on the back (bloody loud too) and people following with flags, flaggons of wine.. you name it.. they seemed to be having a good time. And we have two days off this week.. a public holiday on Thursday and an extra day on Friday.. so 4 whole days to work on stuff for school lol!!! Then to complicate matters further for myself Ken was in Rome for a few days.. and I had a great time.. going out for meals, walking around looking at shops and generally having a relaxing time. Not that I am complaining.. it was absolutely fantastic to have someone here I could talk to about the real world.. and we went out to a nightclub where one of the girls at schools plays in a band (when she isn't spending 100 hours a week studying!!) Unfortunately for me I tried to have a few drinks.. not a good look. I hadnt drunk anything for so long and hadnt been eating and was dog tired.. I will leave the rest to your imagination!! And Ken was not at all impressed.. I think if we had been in Auckland he would have disowned me! No more g and t's with 80% alcohol!! That was Thursday through until this morning.. so now I have to get my A into G and catch up on a Assignment due Wednesday and a lesson plan on conjuctions.. at least its only conjunctions 'cause those adverbial clauses, infinites and present continuous tenses really do my head in!!




The weather changed last weekend and it was abnormally cold.. read freezing for me after two summers in a row!! I had to buy myself a pair of trackies for pj's and a warm thick jacket for Euro 5. It isn't the type of jacket I would wear at home but at five euros.. it will do me.. especially as its warm. And yesterday while I was out shopping I saw an electric blanket for fifteen euros.. so that will be my next purchase. However, luckily for me the cold snap has passed and its actually warm and sunny.. and has been for the past 4 or 5 days!! Things are looking up.

Monday, October 15, 2007

First Week in Rome.. it aint all bad!!

My room... as small as it is.. bed, table and little else!!
The garden out the back.. we have a door to get out through the kitchen but arent allowed into the garden downstairs as it isn't hours.. but nice to look at as you can see.
And the viw from MY window.. more apartments.. well it is Rome you know and there are millions of people living in such a small space.. it's always crowded!!
Me at the forum...
And another one of me at th Forum.. first weekend with Erica.. was nice to have someone to see the sights with.


I must confess I am slowly getting the hang of study again. Whenever I get lonely or homesick I think how hard it would be to put the hours into this course if I was at home in New Zealand. School officially starts at 9 but I am usually there at 8 to use the computers to print out my lesson for the day. Teaching (yes we teach real live students already) and lectures go through until 5pm but I need to stay until the school closes at 7.30 to get information for lessons etc off the internet.

Then its home to my ‘apartment’ which leaves a bit to be desired but at Euro500 a month it’s almost half the cost of the average ‘nice’ apartment in Central Rome. Writing up lessons, lesson planning, preparing lessons and doing assignments takes me through till about 11.30 (with a quick break for a salad or soup) when I hit the sack.

My apartment is on the first floor of a very old building only 3 minutes walk from the school. I have my own bedroom with a table for study, and eating, a small single bed, a bookcase (which I use for my clothes) and two ornate hutch dresser type affairs. The bathroom and kitchen I share with two other girls, both very nice, both very young and socialites one of whom speaks no English whatsoever. However that is compensated by the fact the other speaks Italian – to varying degrees – and we are all considerate which makes for a pleasant life. Italian kitchens leave a bit to be desired.. no microwave, no toaster, no jug, no dishwasher, an ancient gas cooker and a very ancient washing machine that only works on very hot!! Still… one can’t complain as the apartments I saw advertised in the local Rome magazine in English ranged in cost between Euro1,500 and 3,000 a month!!! I am counting my blessings!

Sunday afternoon I put aside for exploring. Erica, one of my classmates who is from Chicago and I spent three hours wandering around the Colosseum area which includes the Forum, Palentine Hill and the Vittoria Emanuele Monument. She was a fantastic tour guide having studied Roman Classics and Art history. a great way to see Rome without paying a cent. We didn’t venture inside the Colosseum or Palentine Hill or the museums as you had to pay and we were really just generally exploring or was I just being a poor student?

The Forum is amazing.. to think these five acres were once the heart of the Mediterranean world and have been around since the 3rd Century A.D. In fact parts of it were ‘re-constructed’ in the 2nd Century AD!! Imagine that!

The Vittoria Emanuele Monument however, was only built at the beginning of the 20th Century to commemorate the unification of Italy.. yes Italy has only been a unified state for little more than 100 years.. yet another piece of information I learnt today. The tomb of the unknown soldier was guarded, as they all are, by two guards who, I am happy to report were not in the silly garb we saw in Athens but in traditional soldier like uniforms.
History lesson over folks.. but it is amazing to think you can just walk out the front door of your apartment and within three blocks arrive at some of the most amazing historical sites in the world.

And now its back to my Aprtment to study all those bloody horrid tenses and to do some more work on my first assignment which is, as you can guess, all on grammar!! Why didnt I pay more attention at school?

Saturday, October 13, 2007

'The' Flight.. and first day in Roma

The trip over here was just terrible.

I arrived at Stanstead at 10am for a 12.45 flight and I only just through boarding at 12.10! My suitcase was heavy, yes I grant you as it was full of books so after standing in the queue for 40 minutes I then had to go and stand in another queue to pay excess luggage.. they only allow you 15kg so I had to pay £82.

I was then allowed back in the front of the queue to put my bag through... only to find they class a laptop as a bag and you are only allowed one carry on bag.. not a handbag and a bag just a bag. So I had to go through the whole proces again.

I was almost in tears and I think the girl knew. I went to the front of the queue, much to the disgust of everyone else and said.. I am sorry but I didnt realise I can't take this laptop on board.. in NZ you are allowed a laptop and I didn't know'... she took pity on me, didn't charge me and labelled it for me.. but no.. it doesnt end there. If I wanted it to go as fragile I had to take it to another queue to go through the scanner.

Still more to come.. I then had to wait another 30 minutes in Security and once through security where you get well and truly frisked BELIEVE IT!! .. unfortunately it was by a woman! I then had to take my shoes off at another line. Yes, everyone has to take their shoes off and walk through another scanner while the shoes go through separately. I guess that's London for you.

After an uneventful flight which was only 2hrs and 5min and the bus from the airport another 45 minutes with me trying to manouvre a 32kg suitcase, laptop and backpack which has now disintegrated! Needless to say when I did finally arrive I didnt venture out and so only started exploring Monday morning.

Rome is warm still, a mild 28 degrees when I arrived yesterday afternoon and the sun is shining brightly this morning althogh I am in jeans.

My digs leave a bit to be desired. It's a room on the first floor of a very old building right in the heart of Rome, that is its a 7 minutes walk to Termini Station which is great as its only 2 minutes to my school which means no money for busses. On the first floor are two other bedrooms with students, a shared kitchen and a shared bathroom. Phillipa, one of the other students came and introduced herself to me last night on her way out. She completed the course a month or so ago and is now teaching!! After talking to her I felt a bit more confident about getting a job teaching as she said it was easy to get a job once you had completed the CELTA course.. so time will tell.

I was feeling very sorry for myself last night.. no TV or Radio or music of any kind... stuck in one room with no groceries etc but this morning everything seems a bit brighter. I guess I will just have to get my shit together, meet other students on the course and start working hard. I start officially on Wednesday... so more news from me at the weekend.

Norwich Whitlingham and The Brick Kiln for Dinner








I had a great last few days in Norwich with Calvin taking me to Whitlingham which is a 5km walk around a man made lake with a 'beach', wild geese etc and really nice and of course a Cafe at the end for that coveted Flat White and chocolate cake.

This 'lake' was actually a big hole a few years back having been a gravel quarry and the gravel dug out for building materials. The council spent money and made it into a lovely picnic, walking and swimming area where, in the summer, the hold Rock Concerts. The stage was huge and it was easy to imagine sitting around the lake having a picnic and a wine or two listening to great music. Roll on summer!! (Was that me who said I would love to feel the cold again after all those 40+ degree days? Surely not!)

In the evening Jenny and Ray took me out with their friends Frank and Eileen to the Brick Kiln for a lovely meal. Honestly I have never seen such a large menu. And we were home just in time to see the end of the NZ v France game!! I will say no more 'cause if you felt as sick as I did there is nothing more to be said.

And then it was a 6.30 wake up call to catch the dreaded Ryan Air flight to Rome!!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Wells Next the Sea Norfolk

The Crown Hotel where we had lunch and it was an amazing lunch with a menu you would be hard pressed to better even at Number 5 or Sails!! And guess what? the Chef is a Kiwi; you had better believe it. He actually has a TV cooking programme over here cooking local fish caught along the North Norfolk Coast, Coastal Kitchen. I have never heard of him so if any of you have please enlighten me. Here is the blurb on their website.

General Manager, Kiwi Master Chef Chris Coubrough ...



And down on the sea front at the other end of the culinary scale is the local Fisherman selling Crabs and Lobster caught that day. Unfortunately for us he had sold out of crabs so we had nothing to take home for dinner.


mmm...couldn't resist this. I have never noticed before but there are loads (a hundred maybe) of these little beach huts at the back of the beach still on the sand which have power.. and they are privately owned for people to get changed and have a cup of tea!! It's true, It's true I tell you!!!

Calvin was saying earlier in the year a few beaches further around the coast one of them sold for £30,000... thats dearer than a parking space in Auckland City!!


And you wouldn't want to be in difficulties out in the water, well at least not until the tide came in!! This is their rescue boat up on dry land with no way of getting anywhere near the wet stuff until a considerable rise in water levels!!

And another great weekend came to an end. We actually walked for about an hour after lunch as we had eaten so much it was divine..I even had to have desert.

Wells is a lovely seaside resort (although the weather left a bit to be desired) a long sweeping beach bordered by pine woodland and a harbour full of small fishing boats and children fishing for crabs and digging for cockles against a backdrop of Georgian houses along the sea front.

And all that not half an hour away Norwich....

Cambridge .. Norfolk

The kind of history we don't have in New Zealand. This is a picture of Kings College Cathedral in Cambridge .. the first stone laid by Henry VI... here's a bit of a blurb

Henry VI was only 19 when he laid the first stone of the 'College roial of Oure Lady and Seynt Nicholas' in Cambridge on Passion Sunday, 1441. At the time this marsh town was still a port so, to make way for his college, Henry exercised a form of compulsory purchase in the centre of medieval Cambridge, levelling houses, shops, lanes and wharves, and even a church between the river and the high street (now King's Parade). It took three years to purchase and clear the land.
A picture taken from the back and the Cambridge River where the famous Oxford Cambridge boat racing takes place. The day we were there we could see lots of Punts on the river but most of them moored.
..the ceiling of the Chapel..itis just amazing

Uncle Calvin with Kings College itself in thebackground.Kings College was one of the first in England to admit women so they have been ahead of their times and Prince Phillip also studied here.

The genealogy of the College.
And a little bit more history.
A full view of the actual college. They are rather pompous and The Porter, who is little more than a butler dressed in extremely pompous garb actually stops you going in (in his oh so perfect BBC English) unless you have membership and it's only members who are allowed to walk on the grass. Now we might be from the Colonies but what a lot of pomp and ceremony that is!!
It was a rather cold Saturday Calvin took me over to Cambridge which is about 1.5hours from Norwich and boy was it busy. The whole Town of Cambridge was absolutely packed there were buskers (a group were playing some great rock sounds) while others were more mellow, and shoppers and just generally lots of people. We spent about an hour and a half looking through the Colleges.. there are several.. Jesus College, Trinity College and I guess they all teach various discilpines but cant confirm that I was overawed at the history of the place.