You all right???

"You all right?" to start with I thought I must look like I'm not alright, till I realised it just what people say around here instead of "how are you?". To me though it has seems to make the assumption that your not... and you clearly need some help. Maybe it is just me?

Settling in well to the school here. The teaching is better now that i'm past revision lessons for stuff i didn't teach them. Got to use the Van de Graaff yesterday, the MAGS one is better, which clearly means i'll have to come back at some point as I can't live with a sub par Van de Graaff. I did tinker with it though and it did a bit better. Lit bunsen buirners etc... it's like magic for the 11 general science class. Sadly i didn't get observed during that lesson, or the great one today with my 11 physics class. Oh well, I live to be watched another day. I have a bunch of ideas from what they do here that could be used at MAGS, i'll send some stuff soon.

Photos: 1. Wellington Arch in London (just like the statue). 2. The NZ war mamorial in Wellington Park. 3. Mum and Dad with Harrods behind them (was covered in scfolding last time i saw it), 4. The Horse....

Highlights this week... I meet a Horse...  Went to London on Saturday, was ment to be for a course, but that never happened, which was ok cause it meant i got to spend more time with my Family (Mum, Dad, Amanda and her 2 children Matthew and Kathryn), was a great day. I have some video from it, but haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet. Sunday was relaxing, church and general shopping in MKcentral. This weeks teaching has been pretty standard, except the ALD where we took the Y11 for the day and made Horror film trailers. Was a fantastic day, except for the ussual technology issues at the end of the day when editing and saving things.
Go to http://www.waltonhigh.org.uk/ there is a story on the front page and
http://www.waltonhigh.org.uk/images/horror/horror-video.htm to see the winning trailer from the day, it is pretty good for a days work.
Have been out several times with some of the staff here, they are a nice bunch.

Most things seem to be going very well.
God bless you my friends.

Half way to term break... settling in...

Well another few weeks have passed in Milton Keynes, they seem to have flown by, but I fell progress has been made to settle in both at school and the city. Only 3 weeks till mid term break so I'm considering where I should travel to. I have been making an effort to get out and meet people.

School wise most exams are over, snow days seem to be behind us for now. So i’ve been able to start teaching new topics, which is helping to settle my classes and the teaching is easier than motivating students in revision (like my first 2 weeks).  Really looking forward to next Tuesday which is a ALD (Alternative learning day), on this day the science department is running a day where all the Y11’s will be split into groups of about 10 and will spend the day making a horror film trailer.  I hope I’ll be able to upload my groups trailer (with their permission) after the day. We have worked out how to make realistic fake blood and wounds. :D

The city...  I’ve posted a couple of video’s on youtube (& facebook) of the city. Learning my way around the area more and more.

I’ve been out with some of the teachers here. There is a social group who go to the nearby pub on Fridays. Nice to get to know people more outside of work. I have also found a local church (MKCC) and more importantly a small group who get together weekly, they are a great bunch of people (with excellent humour) who are more interested in sharing and enjoying the time together than following any set program or plan. There are also a few teachers in that group from other schools. I’m also discovering how multicultural Milton Keynes is, most of the population has moved here from elsewhere, very few people are “native” Milton Keyneians, one of my flat mates was actually born here though, only person I have met so far who is “native”.

Things i’ve learned...

Seize the moment. Sometimes we have the best intensions to do things but never do them. Actions are far more important that intensions. If something seems like a good idea or you know you should do it, then just do it. Do not get stuck saying “When this happens then i’ll do it” for example “When I have a desk in my room then i’ll do some school work” or “Once things settled down at work then I’ll spend more time with the family”. If you are passionate about something then get into it and do it. And certainly there are more important things than that like friends and family. Life is short, grab hold of the now and do what is good, don’t put it off.

Best intensions don’t mean a thing unless you act on them. Live in the moment and enjoy what you are doing everyday as life is short.

Shopping, Garden centres and Falconry.

The last few days have been pretty relaxed, although we went shopping at the "Bull ring" in Birmingham on boxing day. The picture doesn't quite show the craziness, in the shops it was packed and a little difficult to move. Most of the shops were a bit of a mess too, as people found it difficult returning items to where they found them. All a bit crazy. Didn't end up buying anything, just found things i want to get. Discovered later that more than 200,000 people had been through the mall that day.

Today (27th) we went in search of the original Hobbit's village. Houses in the rock face that inspired the idea for the Hobbit's shire. On the way we found a Garden Centre (Doesn't sound exciting i know) that will forever ruin other garden centres for me. "This way to Garden plants, Fencing, paving and Falconry". I mean clearly, what else do you put with paving and shrubs, but your falconry centre.

Anyway turned out to be an excellent little bird of prey sanctuary. Best of

all because they specialise in helping to return injured birds to the wild. Here are a few pictures for you.

After the invertible distraction of birds of prey we went hunting for the hobbits. We found the place in Kinver's edge. The photo is of Kinver village (sweetness of a little village).

Unfortunately we couldn't get up to the houses because of the ice (middle photo is as close as we got). But i took some pictures of the frozenness anyway.

Loved the tree in the middle of the clearing with a ring of snow/ice around it. I did also discover the perils of ice and gravity though, fortunately my eyebrow broke my fall. I was holding my camera at the time so the picture below is as i fell... Actually looks quite cool...

The first steps of change...

I find myself in Singapore airport, killing time... A good a time as any to start a Blog. First 9 hour flight went well, didn't get much sleep as we fled the night, staying in daylight till after we landed. Now it is 9:45 local time and sleep still hasn't taken hold.

God bless the Singaporeans for their free Internet at the airport, even if it is in 15 minute chunks. Have walked the whole airport now, used many of the free computers. Done some window shopping, pretended to be interested in things to keep shop assistants busy.

"They" say "change is a good thing", but it isn't easy to take the step. Not sure what the future holds exactly, but I know i needed the change and I'm sure England will be a good base for it. A little excited for what England and all my travels hold. A little freaked by what the job will be like, I hope the students are even half as great as the ones I've left in NZ & the staff are as fantastic as the lot at MAGS. A little saddened to leave so many friends (old & new) in NZ, keep in touch & I'll see you on the flip side.

Bless you all, thanks for your good wishes & support.