100th Post!

This is the 100th Post on Bond's Blog! Time to celebrate!

And the timing couldn't be more appropriate:

• Today is my birthday!
• I am finishing my time here in England, and moving on!
• And it's the one year anniversary of my blog!

Truly perfect!

I can't believe it has been one year since I've started blogging (August 2006!) What a ride it's been! I wrote in my first ever post, Blog the First: " ...my plan is to document my travels in this blog for the next year (in an attempt to reduce the number of mass emails!)"

And I have been. I thought it appropriate to celebrate the 100th Post by listing the top 10 things I will miss about England, specifically Birmingham. I leave the city for good on August 14th - one week from now - and I want to chronicle what I've enjoyed here, as much for my own benefit as yours!

(I know, two list posts in a row. I blame Mitch for it! Yell at him!)

- 10 Things I Will Miss About Birmingham -

1. Harborne: The town I live in! 9 pubs, 8 charity shops, 7 restaurants, 6 banks, 3 supermarkets, 2 bookstores (one called Bond's Books - one reason I wanted to live here!), 2 chip shops, the Subway, the Blockbuster, the Home Bargains, the Art Store, the park, and the community center. The Harborne Carnival brings everyone together once a year. Feels good here!
   
2. Architecture: Birmingham is trying so hard. Amongst the run down dirty parts of the city, there are wonderful buildings and amazing architecture that I will miss looking at: the bulbous Selfridges building covered with thousands of mirrored disks, the stone Art Gallery and Victoria Square with the beautiful fountain and steps, the tall thin alien BT Tower, the many red brick houses, and the new modern style of Centenary Square and Brindley Place with it's open spaces, statues, and canals!
   
3. A Cup'a Tea: After being in England a year, I appreciate the taste of a good cup of tea! One teabag, into hot water, very short steep time, squash the teabag with the spoon, one sugar, dash of milk, stir....and sip. Mmmmm...
   
4. Pub Culture: More than just a place to drink, the pub is a meeting place, a landmark, a comfort zone, a restaurant, a games room, a Quiz Night, and the place to take a date! British life revolves around the local pub (mine is the Varsity - 22 seconds from my door to the pub, sober. And 5-20 minutes after a couple - usually due to a stop for a kebab 'n' chips or a Subway! Mmmm...)
   
5. Proximity to Europe: The bounty of Europe is just a short flight across the channel! And it is so easy and cheap to get there; EasyJet and RyanAir. Anywhere you want - France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece... so simple!
   
6. The Pound: I will miss earning money in pounds. I love looking at my bank balance and converting it into Canadian dollars in my head! It makes me giggle with delight! Although, the downside is that I have to rent a movie for 4 quid (= $ 9.50 !!!!)
   
7. The Safety of the Streets: Broad St in particular, where the nightlife is. Police, CCTV cameras, and well lit areas abound in this city which used to have a reputation as being dirty and dangerous. Now, it parts of it are clean and very safe. On more than one occasion, I have walked home late at night always feeling very safe!
   
8. My House: 13 Albany Road - the site of many parties, dinners, movie and game nights, TV viewings (Hollyoaks and Big Brother..), arguments, sleep-ins, painting times, quiets moments, days off, no heat, film scenes, barbecues, ant infestations, lunar eclipses, accidents, police talks, and late nights! A three-legged cat we call 'Stubs' or 'Stubby' visits us frequently! I'll miss my big room and it's wooden floors, high ceilings, and sink.
   
9. Family so close: It has been spectacular having so much of my family so close in England! On my Mom's side - Dave, Naomi, and Gloria, and on my Dad's side - my Granny, Nigel and Joyce, Tim and Meena, Elaine and Richard, Sarah and Abby, Yasmeen, Escandar, Rocheen, Angie and John, Lara and James, Nicky, Rav and baby Mia! I also consider my good friends Marianne, Duncan, and Nathalie family too! I will miss them all!
   
10. Friends: So many new friends! I'll miss mostly my housemates - Roger, Leon, Lee, Emily, and Andy. I'll also miss Lewis, Zoe, Karl, Catherine, Lisa, Ian, Teresa, Hassen, Renata, Katerina, Kate, Sophie, Debbie, Cate, Mary, Tina, Nicky, Claire, Michelle, Faye, and Sarah. I've made some fantastic friends who will stay with me my whole life, for which I am very happy!

So there we go: the top 10 things I will miss about Birmingham. But what next? The Traveler moves on...

• August 16 - fly to Madrid, then meet Greg in Lisbon
• August 19 to September 5 - travel around Portugal and Spain, taking in Lagos, Seville, Valencia, Ibiza, and Barcelona, including La Tomatina (tomato fight festival!)
• September 5 to 10 - show Greg around London (might visit Birmingham one last time)
• September 10 to 15 - spend a week in New York City, before flying home!
• Later - Move to South Korea for a year to teach English with my friend Steve!

Whew, a full packed summer! Only a week left in England and I have to spend most of it packing and cleaning my house.

That finishes my 100th post! Wish me luck on my travels and on another exciting year of blogging!

Canada Day in the UK!

Pete Bond brings Canada Day to Birmingham!

Sunday brought July 1st - Confederation Day for Canada - and my British friends and I celebrated in style! As the only Canadian, I was in the perfect position to educate the masses:

-Canada is the second largest country in the World.
-Canada loves Hockey (Vancouver Canucks!)
-Canadian Animals
-Canada is NOT American (we are Northern North Americans!)
-Famous Canadians (Micheal J Fox, Brian Adams, etc... but also Lois Maxwell (Mrs. Moneypenny!), Rachel McAdams, William Shatner (Kirk!), Alex Trebec (Jeperody!), James Cameron (Titanic/Terminator!), Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City!), Matthew Perry (Friends!), Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss (the Matrix!), Alexander Graham Bell (telephone!), and Margot Kidder (Lois Lane!) Whew!

We decorated the house with Canadiana (my info posters, map, and my flag!) and Emily cooked some incredibly tasty 'Canadian' food! Canadian Won-Ton, Pizza, and Soup. (Thanks so much, Em!)

And BEER!!! Unfortunately, we could not find Canadian beer (Is Coors Canadian?), so Ian and Lisa put Canadian stickers on Fosters (yeah, they thought Australian was close to Canadian... both colonies?) Karl and Catherine brought maple syrup, Canadian Dry soda, pancakes, and beef jerky! Claire brought Canadian Club whiskey! This is what the British think Canadians consume!

After a failed bonfire, we discovered an artifact from the past! While fanning the fire with a serving tray, it was hit too hard and broke. Within the tray we discovered some old newspaper. As the rain started to fall, we salvaged the old yellowed paper and brought it inside. Increadible, the newspaper was dated August 27th, 1950! I'll post pics soon, because the articles are fascinating! More on it soon...

With such a discovery under our belt, Canada Day couldn't have got better. Yet it did! At the end of the night, we went to the Harborne Legion (2 doors down!). They had an open mic for the regulars ('regulars' being of an average age of 81!), and the dancing began! 6 young fit single 20-somethings dancing with 40 old wrinkled frisky 80-somethings... It was a fantastically fun time!

Happy Canada Day!

Life Update

Well, it seems that my future is leaning more and more towards the Far East, specifically Korea. I have rejected my job here for next year, and my roommates and I have just found out that we are all evicted as of September, so the time is right for a change.

But this is what I have been planning for the last few months. A pause in teaching school and a try in teaching English. 6 months to a year in Korea (depending which type of job I go for), and then a bit of travel around South East Asia - Thailand, Vietnam, Laos - getting my scuba diving certificate, before returning to Vancouver.

My good friend, Steve and I are looking for work in Korea, preferably in a university (better hours, pay, and holidays), and will either head over for October or February. This summer, another good friend, Greg, is coming across the pond to travel around Portugal and Spain in August. I am then planning a stop over in New York on the way back from the UK, as I have always wanted to experience the city. Ghostbusters, King Kong, Gangs of New York, Big, When Harry Met Sally, Friends, Mad about You, and Sex and the City as well as the American Museum of Natural History and the Empire State Building call me.

On another film note, Tony's Empire, my first film, has been seen over 175 times in the last two weeks on YouTube. With such a success behind us, Albany Road Studios (my roommates and friend's film company) have decided to make another film! This one will be a direct sequel to Tony's Empire, taking place about two weeks after and will focus on Leon's sister and the Birmingham Police Department. It is a much more adventurous script, but I am itching to apply myself again after learning from my mistakes the first time around.

I will finish off the script today and will start production sometime next week. Tony's Empire 2 (working title) will have a much larger cast and more locations. I will be trying to 'show off' Birmingham this time around.

As for tomorrow - Canada Day, we are having a Canadian dinner with Canadian music and drinks. It should be fun! I'll post about it Monday...

With that, I say to everyone, "HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!"

New Film is Finished!

"Hilarious!"
"Better than Good!"
"Not that bad!"
"Well, I've seen better!"
"Well done, son!"
"Best film I've ever seen ..... in the last 20 minutes!"
"Exciting in parts!"
"I liked the good bits!"

These and many others are actual comments made by actual people who have seen this actual film!


Tony's Empire: Harborne Hitmen is a 23 minute shortish action/comedy/gangster no-budget film, staring my roommates and myself "acting" as mafioso gangsters and hitmen. Shot entirely on location in Birmingham, England, the movie tells the dark tale of a group of mob friends that suspect one of them is an undercover cop. But which one? I play the gang's boss - Tony - who deals with the dirty rat.

WARNING: The film is rated R due to constant strong language (swearing) and scenes of violence and torture (with a knife!) Viewer discretion is advised...

Watch it now on YouTube below. It is in three parts, so make sure you watch them all!
Tony's Empire - Part 1
Tony's Empire - Part 2
Tony's Empire - Part 3

This is the first official film I have ever solely directed and edited and I am quite proud of it! Please let me know what you think! Tell me your favorite part and which part could be better!
All this will help me the next time... (can anyone smell a sequel?!...)

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy Tony's Empire: Harborne Hitmen!

4.3 and Game 3

Here is a quick post to show that England is not so different from Western Canada.

Saturday morning, the Kent area in Southern England was shaken by a 4.3 magnitude earthquake, rattling windows and collapsing some chimneys. The epicenter was located off the coast in the English Channel, near Folkestone. It was the largest tremor since 2002. Back home, BC is long overdue for a major earthquake...

I did not feel yesterday's earthquake at all for two reasons:

1. Birmingham is very far from Kent.
2. I was sleeping, having gone to bed at 5am. No, I was not partying, but listening through the internet 1040AM radio to the Canucks playing Game 2 against the Ducks! And we won!!! Go Canucks Go! (I then slept until 11am, and then finished season 1 of 24).

Tonight is Game 3 in Vancouver, and I am debating staying up and listening to it. The puck drops at 5pm Van time, which is 11pm UK time - not too bad! So here's to our Canucks! Go get 'em!!!


I have begun to play around with Photoshop and this is my first result.

Disco for 6-10 year olds

Today after school, a disco was held for the students! So, when the last bell rang, all the children filed into the hall set up with disco lights, dj table on stage, food tables at the back, and pumping music from the speakers. Kids are dancing, kids are eating, kids are singing, kids are spending (apparently an event like this disco will bring in over 200 pounds!)

The songs ranged from the nostalgic ("Can't touch this") to the inappropriate ("my Humps"). "I predict a riot" by Kaiser Chiefs and "Monster" by the Automatic ("What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster? Is it a monster?") were real crowd pleasers! And what was the addictive substance the kids were ingesting? Well sugar of coarse! The kids were high as kites!

And what of Mr. Bond? Did he participate? But of coarse, for a bit. Can't let them think you are having too much fun as a teacher! What a great moral boost for the kids and for the school spirit!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful St. Patty's Day and embrace the Irish spirit wholeheartedly! Have a Guinness, wear some green, dance a jig, play the fiddle, and enjoy the day.

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day on my blog, I've posted pictures of Birmingham's St. Patrick's Day Parade I went to. Slante!

Waiting for the parade in Digbeth...

The crowds bracing the cold air... with beers.

Even the Pope came out the bless the Parade!

Street cleaner getting into the ...um... spirits.

Debbie and I in the crowd

Ian and Lisa - friends

Kids love Tonka Trucks!

Some dogs make great handbags

I also love my Irish Quarter

Go go Irish-mobile!

Invisible floats!

March of the Bagpipes!

March of the Other Bagpipes!

Look! It's the Irish Bigfoot! Give us back out Guinness!

Young Irish Elton John

Artsy Balloon Reflection pic

Lisa bearing the cold with only a shirt and a beer.

And after, back to Hennessey's for drinks!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Weekend Vote

Boy, it's been a busy weekend!

First off, Patrick left the house, being replaced by our new roommate Andy. Andrew is a nice quiet Mauritian gay guy who works down the road at Marks & Spencer's. With Patrick leaving, we went on the lash (out for a night of drinking) down on Broad Street. I had a great time seeing all the friends I've made here. In the end, I went to bed at 6am!

Secondly, Debbie (the girl I'm seeing) and I went to see a friend of hers who lives in an actual haunted house. Apperently they have seen ghosts, have heard whispers, have felt unexplained cold patches, have had objects move across the room, and have been cut on the arm and stomach. They have had a medium and a priest do exorcisms to rid the house of the ghosts. I left a video camera running during the night, to try to catch some evidence. Did anything happen? Check back later to see that nothing did. I'll post some pictures later...

Thirdly, and much less ghostly but more spirity, St. Patrick's Day/Week began in earnest on Sunday with a huge Irish Parade. After getting a pint at Hennessey's, we watched the parade and all the green and orange colours. I'll post some pictures later showing the craziness.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend! Please vote on which "thing" would be the most fun for you:
a. Going out on the lash with friends until 6am
b. Visiting a real haunted house
c. St. Patty's Day parade

So? Vote!

Bus Rant

I know this sounds like I am posting complaints, but is this not one of the many reasons this blog exists? I just wanted to rant about my bus rides home on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If you find this topic too boring, please click on Traumador's blog to see what that crazy dinosaur is up to in New Zealand. If not, read on.

One of the hundreds of double-decker buses I ride everyday

I leave school at around 4:30-5pm each day. It takes me about an hour to get to and from Timberley Primary School. On this last Tuesday, the bus system (and all traffic) grinds to a halt. Seriously all traffic stops. And doesn't start again. Along with other passengers, I get bored of waiting and decide to walk to a stop farther along the route on Broad St (Downtown Birmingham). Unfortunately, the sky, which had been clear and sunny for days, decided to pick this moment to rain down in buckets. My umbrella also picked this time to completely collapse (it's like a conspiracy!), leaving me soaked. Eventually the bus came, traffic limped forwards, and I got home an hour late.

This happened again on Wednesday. 2 hour commute home. It wasn't until today that I heard that traffic was stopped and diverted because of a stabbing. Apperently the stabbee wasn't quite dead or alive yet, so the crime scene couldn't be touched, or something. But this still doesn't explain Wednesday.

Today was different. Traffic flowed and the buses smelled nice. Until a group of teenage high school girls got on the bus. Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't want to have to listen to loud music, shouting, swearing, screaming and swearing at your friend (?) on the cell phone while holding it an arms length away... I won't repeat any of it here as my mom reads this blog. (Hi Mom!)

Well, I do have to give the Birmingham buses a break, because "bus officials/cops" came and removed the foul ladies from the bus and I got home in time to watch Hollyoaks (where someone has just had a baby, and her mom is pretending it's her's, while the woman in jail died and blah blah blah soap soap soap...)

Everyday at 6:30pm

Houseparty last night

The '13 Albany House Posse' had a party here last night and we are slowly cleaning up. It was a good party with lots of drinking and some dancing. It was over the moon! No, literally. The moon was eclipsed last night! We were so lucky that the sky was clear and the lunar eclipse was spectacular.

Lunar Eclipse
(I didn't take this pic, but I did take some video I'll post later.)

Some of the highlights from the party include:

-Leon eating an entire onion for 20 pounds on a bet. He did it and smelled like onion after.
-Carl and Roger bet to see who could eat an entire pack of Jaffa Cakes first. Carl won by default as Roger began to choke after the first 5 cakes. He then threw up all the cakes and lost the bet. Roger is fine and doing well.
-Someone slipped on our front steps and was knocked unconscious. Her friends took her to the clinic and she's ok, I think.
-The Lunar Eclipse happened. Resulting in lots of moon jokes and puns. Loony.
-2 glasses smashed (I didn't break any last night. I only broke one while setting up the party and blowing up balloons. Best to not play volleyball around glasses.)
-A shopping cart full of beer and mixer out in the backyard.
-I went to sleep at 6am, woke up today at 12:30pm.
-No neighbours banging on the walls or telling us to turn down the music.
-Police cars slowing down outside our house.
-Random food on the floor: scotch egg, chip, pea (?), sausage roll.
-1am punch made by Roger including gin, rum, cranberry, lee & perins, chili vodka.
-Chili vodka jello: very spicy and jiggly.
-Random person sleeping on four chairs (of different heights) in our living room. I don't know who he was.
-No hangover for me!

All in all a great party. I hope your Saturday night was as fun and lune-y as mine!

Second week at Timberley

Just finished my second week in the new teaching position and things seem to be settling in fine. The problem classes of last week are starting to get used to me and I'm learning what works with each class.

Don't get me wrong, there are some children who are horrors. The entire year 4 class used to be one, but was split into two as there are so many children with behavior problems! One child. Thomas, is on a behavior diary, where he is assessed a 1-5 on every lesson, and that gets sent home to parents. His behavior is that he hates writing, so anything to do with sitting and writing, he flips out and refuses to work, throwing things and sulking on the wall. He has been "excluded" (which means separated from the class - mostly sitting in the office all day) many times, though I haven't seen a flip-out yet.

The same class also produced Tavian, a hyperactive, partially-blind partially-deaf attention-deficit-disorder kid, who last week drove me crazy, but this week I was ready for him. The girls in this class are also terrible - mostly from a tattle-tale point of view. They keep telling each other off!

"Mr. Boooooond! Jane broke my pencil!"
"Mr. Boooooond! Chelsea stuck her tounge at me!"
"Mr. Boooooond! Sarah looked at me!"

What?! Oh NO! She looked at you?:!! Oh what shall I do!? Pluck her eyes out??! I'll get the ravens!!!

Oh man. Immaturity can suck. But look who's talking! Hehehe.

On a less school and more social note, my flat is having a house party tonight and you are all invited!!! Should be a blast and I'll be taking photos, so I'll let you know about it later. Party on!

First week at Timberley

A few posts back, I mentioned I had got a new job - a PPA (teacher prep time) coverage position at Timberley Primary School. My job would be to take over a teacher's classroom for half the day while they do their preparation, planning, and marking elsewhere. Having had my own class in September, I understand how precious this time-out-of-class is.

Before lunch, the lessons I teach include Numeracy (Maths) and Literacy. After lunch it seems to be Geography and Religious Education! Yup, good old RE! (One lesson had the children draw pictures of what Jesus looked like! Apparently sometimes he needed swords and clubs in his ministry!)

I am finding that the teachers tend to give me the lesson plan on the day, so that I can quickly read it and teach it....kinda a skill. Unfortunately, my dream of "no prep/no marking" was quickly crushed, as I now have to mark the lessons I teach (which kinda makes sense...)

The coolest thing about Timberley is that last Thursday they held a disco for the kids! Pumping loud music, sweets and hot dogs and pizza, and everyone dancing their heart out - all the children got to dress up in their dance/posh clothes and have a good time. Who says school is all about reading, writing, and arithmetic?! Its also about rhythm, rocking, and rolling!!!

Where there is smoke...

So my house has not burnt down and I am still alive. I was never really in mortal peril, but it's not everyday that the building two doors down catches fire!

The firemen did their job and put out the fire, leaving a charred pile of burnt furniture on the sidewalk.

The resulting husk of the burnt-out building....umm...looks fine?

In fact, it is hard to tell that there was a fire in this building at all! Obviously the bricks did their jobs and contained the fire (80% of Birmingham's buildings are made of brick!)

Free firewood, anyone?

Do you smell smoke?

It is 11:00 pm here in the UK, and the building two doors down from me is on fire.

After hearing shouts and sirens, I poked my head out the door and was greeted with a spectacle of flashing lights and the smell of smoke. Fire trucks were stopped outside of my house with crowds of tipsy merry-makers from the Legion pointing and gasping. So I went inside and grabbed my camera!

Firemen entering the house

The house two doors down had a plume of white smoke pouring from the roof. Fire fighters in full gear observed the situation, then busted into the boarded up building. Smoke billowed out of the open door and hoses were brought in. The building was empty and had just been sold.

The firetrucks outside the Legion

Smoke and lights fill the house on fire.
My house is behind the white car!

The situation is still ongoing, and I'll update you all once it's finished. I should be safe...

Albany Road - completely blocked off

One Year Later - One Rockin' Band

As some of you may know, my sister -Lisa- is the lead-singer of the North Vancouver band One Year Later! About a week ago, they played at the Buffalo Club:


Luckily, someone recorded them playing one of their songs, and Lisa has posted the video on her myspace site. Please check it out here! (You'll need to scroll down.) It rocks! I've also put it here, below. I am one proud big brother...



...in other news, I joined my housemates in participating in the "Harborne Mile." This event is a pub crawl which hits most pubs along Harborne High Street: Oneill's, The White Horse, Harborne Stores, The Vine, The Varsity... and some others. After drinking a pint in each, you tend to forget names of pubs! In the immortal words of the other world-famous North Van band, Spirit of the West:

"Well were good old boys, we come from Harborne,
drinkers and carousers, the best you've ever seen,
and this night by God, we'll drink till there was no more,
from Oneill's to the Varsity, and all stops in between!"

Cheers! Bottom's up!

Snow Day

Well the skies have opened and we've been covered by 15cm of the white stuff - snow! For those still in suspense, all the schools in Birmingham closed today...and will stay closed tomorrow! And the next week! (Though that's due to the half-term break, not the snow!)

So how did I celebrate my day off? Well, I slept in! After a strange dream of running around with police and playing tag with a hula-hoop (I don't know why!), I woke up to the cold - the boiler was off again! Called the landlord and he came over and fixed it again...We shall see how long this 'fix' will last.

After watching Little Miss Sunshine (which was hilarious!) my roommates came back early and we all decided to head to the pub where it was nice and warm. It's been a few hours and a few pitchers since then and I am feeling a bit wobbly as I write this.

I also picked up a bunch of travel guidebooks from the library today, so I'm going to spend tomorrow reading up on Spain, Portugal, Greece, and the UK. This is because decisions need to be made. Plans are coming together: after traveling somewhere for a bit in July and August, I'm going to meet up with my good friend Greg (from Vancouver) in Lisbon, Portugal! We are going to experience Spain and it's tomato festival before doing a bit of London sight-seeing. Can't wait!

Until then I'll be enjoying my time off in the snow!

Day in the Life of a Brummie

Well today's been an interesting day in the life of Me: Birmingham Resident.
It all began with a flame...

The flame I mean is the one inside the boiler tank of my flat. It went out yesterday, leaving the six roommates without hot water or, more importantly, heat. Heat isn't usually a problem, but on this night of nights, the temperature outside had dropped to a chilly -4 C and the house was-a-cold!

After a chilly start to the day (boy did I want to stay in my warm cozy bed), I took the hour-long bus ride to Timberley School to find I would be teaching reception this morning. For those not English, reception = kindergarten! What a blast! It was Cameron's 5th birthday, so we all sang and hugged. Then we read Jack and the Beanstalk and put the story in order! Then it was Numeracy (or maths or math for the non-English) and we spent the entire lesson cutting out shapes with scissors! And without cutting or stabbing anyone!
The afternoon was in the dreaded year 4 class that I don't like...but I won't talk about it as it frustrates me.

After a good day at work, I enjoy a good commute home. Unfortunately, someone HAD to call in a bomb scare in the conference center and the police HAD to evacuate and seal off the downtown core of Birmingham, making my bus detour around the entire city. This added 30 minutes to my commute...not so bad considering if it was a real bomb!

This leads me up to now, where any second the skies will open and we shall receive our first big snowfall! We have a heavy snow warning out there and it is set to fall all night and into the morning commute, paralyzing Brummies (who act very much like Vancouverites do when they get a little snow!) Should be a fun morning tomorrow...

...I'm kinda hopping school will be closed and I can play in the snow. Ah snow. And who says my life here in Brum isn't exciting!

New Job?

It always feels nice to be offered a job, doesn't it? Especially if you've just left one that sucked. Hurray! This is me today!

I had a 'trial day' today at a large primary school called Timberley, doing PPA coverage (basically I cover one lesson in different teacher's class throughout the day, while the teachers have their preparation time.) I have been doing the same job for the past two weeks at Nonsuch Primary school and have really enjoyed it - no preparation, no marking, and experience with different year groups and classroom teaching styles.

My experience today went quite well, with Timberlake being much stricter and having a better Head Mistress than Jervoice, my first school! The position I was offered today was to do PPA coverage for Monday to Thursday beginning Feb. 19 until Easter Break.

And so, I took the job!

Cadbury Chocolate Factory

Yesterday, some friends and I finally went to Cadbury World - the original Cadbury Chocolate Factory! After almost four months of living in the next village over (Harborne borders on Bournville), I decided it was time to spend the 13 pounds (~$29!!!) to experience the world's first chocolate makers.
Here in Birmingham, The Cadbury Brothers experimented in creating the best tasting and highest quality chocolate possible and succeeded in 1904. The key was adding a glass and a half of milk!
They built the existing factory outside of the dirty city, and named the area Bourneville. The Cadbury family valued their workers so much that they built houses, churches, and schools - a whole town - for them, and were one of the first companies to give their workers benefits, sick days, and fair pay!
The Cadbury Factory instantly reminds me of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, and I wonder if there are any Oumpa-Lumpas inside... The smell of chocolate hangs thick and sweet in the air as we head inside and line up for tickets.
I have also heard rumors of free chocolate from the locals I have asked. Mmmm...Free Chocolate! Did I get any? Well, by the time I left, my teeth and tongue hurt, I was high with sugar, and my pockets were heavy with 5 bars of chocolate I didn't pay for!
On the tour, my friends and I (above) will witness the story of where chocolate stated (Aztec Civilization) and follow its path through the Spanish Empire, through Victorian Europe, and finally to Birmingham and the Cadbury brothers - all through fabulous interactive displays.

We watch as chocolate is actually made in the factory, and robotically packed in the packing plant. The smell of chocolate seeps through every pore of your body and clothes, and I will return home reeking of the sweet stuff. A bit like the Friday night cigarette stink from the pub.
Chocolate was first used as a drink for the wealthy, famous for its healing properties! We were given a cup of melted milk chocolate and I began to feel better right away. Cadbury World is a bit like Disney Land, except everyone is on a huge sugar high!

I meet the man himself - George Cadbury - and check my glasses as well... Soon, we are off on a Disney-esk slow car ride through Cadbury Land - inhabited by ...um... chocolate beans.

Here are chocolate beans in a house. The whole ride (like It's a Small World, but with chocolate-bean-people) was SO surreal, I felt like I had passed out with the chocolate smell and the sugar high, and dreaming....***
***...hello, Mr. Bean Man...you're round and brown! ...cool green grass though....***
***...hello Sultry Bunny...what are you doing here....advertising mascot?....oh....***
***Whew. The ride ends and I wake from my dream. We then pass through the "Happiness Room" where you can try the "special Cadbury dance floor" Hun?... Then the advertising room, which shows TV ads from the 50's to the 2000's.

The tour -not surprizingly- ends in the huge gift shop, which sells every type of Cadbury's chocolate you could ever want for cheaper then the shops - including a 5 kg bar of Dairy Milk! Mmmm... I leave with 12 cream eggs, a large Dairy Milk bar, and my dignity!

Certainly not worth the 13 pounds, but if you subtract the free chocolate and the complementary psychedelic experience, then it would come to something a bit more affordable.

I leave Cadbury World feeling a bit sick. I really enjoyed myself, but the smell of concentrated chocolate for 4 hours really got to my head. On the way out, I notice this sign:
Perhaps it isn't the chocolate smell at all!

I am doing fine

Well, it's been a week since I've left Jervoice Primary School, and I feel much better. I thank everyone so much who have emailed me and left comments here. This week I've been working at a smaller school (close to Jervoice) - a school with the strangest name: there is nonsuch a school as Nonsuch Primary School! Yeah, a strange name, but a happier school.

I feel the same good buzz I felt last year while substituting in North Vancouver. I had forgot how much I enjoyed TOC-ing! I am booked at Nonsuch for the next week as well, so they must like me too.

Tomorrow night, I am going for drinks with some of the Jervoice teachers - the good ones. It should be very interesting to hear the gossip of what's been happening this week. Leaks of information hint that the parent and kids were unhappy of my "leaving," that another teacher (assistant Head, no less!) has taken a job elsewhere, and that moral is so low that many teachers may not be there after Easter!

And with Ofsted (government school auditing body) to visit any day now, the school looks in bad shape. Depending how the Ofsted assessment goes, the school could potentially close - worst case scenario...

Anyway, with my newfound flexible job, I am planning to do more traveling - Greece at Easter, Ireland for St. Patrick's Day, and Spain in August...

IN OTHER NEWS...

SMP's pantomime Robin Hood and the Singing Nun is in Hell Week now, and opens next week! Break a leg, Guys! Please go and see them - it will be a fantastic show!


This is my t-shirt logo design in stitches! Looks funny/cool!