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October 25 Done my TEFL course...One of the more worthwhile things I have done with my UK time off is to complete an intensive weekend Teaching English as a Foreign Language course at the weekend. Good two days and enjoyed learning something new again.
While 20 hours training is really very little, it's made me look forward much more to my first four weeks in India when I'll be teaching up in the North. The course gave some inspiration and common sense advice and concepts on how to manage a class, ideas for teaching basic grammar, how to structure lessons and other basics. We did lots of presenting and role playing to each other and there were plenty of imagnitive ideas on how to get students actively involved in learning rather than the old fashioned way of the old days of sitting in rows and learning language parrot fashion. Feel more prepared now and inspired. Hoping to cadge some Microsoft branded pens so i can give them to my students as rewards Just over a week to go...The last four weeks has rushed by but I am in a pretty good state of readiness now. Got my tickets, jabs, Visa applications are in, re-painted the house ready for the tenants to move in, have been busy buying rucksacks and other travel items.
There is some great travel kit around - some of the modern fabrics are very good, so you can buy highly breathable jackets and layers which are warm, waterproof but pack up really small. The clothing options needed a bit of thinking about because for the first month I am in the Himalayas which will be very cold but the following month I'll be in Southern India and then Thailand which will both be baking. Not sure if I have bought the right rucksack, not sure if I like the way the main compartment in soncfiguered but think I will stick with it now I've bought it. If it proves crap I may ditch it and buy another one. Just need to buy a few odds and ends and a compact digital camera. One of the small things I am fretting about is what second bag I get - either a second smaller rucksack or a messenger type bag which would be better for carrying my SLR and film. Carrying my expensive camera around, more particularly the lense, is the thing I am most concerned about losing
Still have to pack up the house and move it into storage which will take most of next week but currently everything is going to plan. Really starting to get a sense of excitement and anticipation now October 20 Things I'm not going to miss about the UKThe veil debate
The endless obsession with talentless celebrities and reality TV
The aggression and expense of city life
The Brown vs Blair leadership debate
The long English winter
24 hour news, most of it bad
Inland Revenue tax return reminders
The two month Christmas shopping period
 October 13 Metamorphosis at the Hammersmith LyricSometimes theatre can astonish and entertain in a way that is beyond cinema. The production of Kafka's Metapmorphosis is probably one of the most engaging I have ever seen, not that I tend to go to the theatre that much, it's too bloody expensive for a start.
It boasts an original score by Nick Cave, and the staging is a mixture of ballet, trapeze and conventional theatre acting. The actor who plays Gregor, the son of a poor Prague family who gradually changes into an enourmous insect, is wonderful as he uses every muscle and sinew to bring the horror of his existence to life in a way that does not rely on prosthetics or special effects.
This show has had rave reviews and if you can get to Hammersmith for it's current run you won't regret it. I assume that after the reviews and full houses it will be transferring to the West End at some point.
October 12 booked my tripWell my imminent global trvels are becoming alot more real now as I've booked my itinery with Trailfinders. It's all subject to a bit of date changing but this is it roughly
Nov - India - teaching English in Himal Pradesh
Dec - India - Rajakastan, then Trivandrum in the South for Christmas and NY then back up to Mumbai via rail
Jan - Thailand - visit my sister and family in Bangkok, complete my PADI in Koh Samui and do a bit of island hopping
Feb - China and Laos - independent travel through Laos and a trip up to Beijing to see the Great Wall of China
March - Hong Kong and then Japan. Two weeks in Japan travelling around by rail, eating alot of sushi, and trying to understand the language
March - Australia, mainly Perth. More diving, and some road trips
April - NZ. Motorbiking, bunjee jumoping and other adrenaline sports, plus traking in the wonderful countryside. Plan to do alot of hiking
May - Easter Island and Chile. Not sure what I am going to do here yet, may go to Patagnonia
June - Peru. the Inca trail and maybe some of the amazon
Late June - Canada. Specifically Toronto, staying with my friend Nicholas who is Consul General there.
October 05 Joy of Not Working Part 1Not being obsessed with email
Having time to read a paper on a weekday
Going to the gym everyday
Listening to hours of new music
Planning my trip
Not riding into central London
Doing nothing
Pottering
Avoiding the rush hour |
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