What a difference a week makes

So I've taught 3 times now and I'm really enjoying it. I'm finding preparation hideously difficult but that's mostly because I'm the Queen of Procrastination and would rather be doing anything else. The actual act of teaching though, is so much fun. I love being in front of the classroom and creating a rapport with the students. It's enormously satisfying when I can see their interest and understanding and I will them along to do well.

I had a panic in my last class because I thought I wouldn't have enough material but I presented the students with a questionnaire to complete and then to write their own question. It was amazing to see them arguing back and forth in English, giving their opinions and having so much fun talking in this new language. One young Iranian lad picked up on my use of "fabulous" as praise and requested the spelling. I was half tempted to teach him to say "fabulous dahling" but didn't think it would go down so well in his workplace.

It seems to be an unwritten law that the weather at the weekend will be horrendous and prevent me fulfilling my plans. The sun and clement temperatures of the week have given way to biting winds and snow. I'd heard snow was forecast but didn't believe it. I really thought it would be the typical exaggeration for sleet and was therefore slightly surprised to see actual snow on the ground this morning. It has now been snowing since midday and only the wind driving the flakes horizontally is preventing the snow from sticking at any depth. I was going to go to laundrette and supermarket but I shall recycle my jeans and I have wine and chocolate so I'll survive! I really don't fancy going outdoors.

Tempus fugit

I can't believe I've been here over a week already. In some ways I would love to stay longer so I can make myself at home and explore properly. Athens is a city of contrasts and it's surprisingly Eastern but with enough Western influences for me to feel comfortable. Kafenions (coffee shops/bars) rub shoulders with Arabic smoking cafes, Starbucks abound and a sandwich is just that in any language.

The teaching practice on Tuesday was postponed as not enough learners turned up but it went ahead on Thursday. The lesson plan had to be altered and I didn't get a lot of help with it so I really felt out of my depth. I think it showed as well. The timing went well but I wasn't confident with my explanations or checking and it showed. However, the feedback wasn't too horrific and I can recognise my weaknesses which is half the battle.

I had dinner out with my tutor and fellow students on Wednesday. The other students had done their first TP and needed to let off steam a bit so we went and got quietly drunk. Got home around 1:30 I think but didn't go to bed til 3:30 because I was messing around with all sorts of rubbish, as I do. We all looked a bit sorry for ourselves the next day so I won't try that one again in a hurry. The hours are suiting me but I really need to make more of an effort to get a bit of routine going. I'm in school from 1 til 9pm but sometimes go for a coffee and chat afterwards so I get home around 10pm maybe. It's pretty late to be making dinner but I'm used to it. It's really nice to be able to walk home safely at that time. Some shops are still open, the kisoks which are dotted everywhere are open and the restaurants are packed. The trouble comes when I have to think the following morning. I'm not at my best before midday but it's just far too late to do much work the night before. Oh well, only another 3 weeks to go.

Don't panic!!!

Oh my God.


I have my first teaching practice tomorrow.


I knew it would happen but the reality of taking 30 minutes of a lesson is pretty damn scary. I guess I will feel better once I have the lesson plan done, and I know I'm in a good team so how bad can it be????

I'll let you know tomorrow.


*insert wobbly face here*

School and settling in

Thursday

Today I tried to settle in and find my feet. I found the supermarket and bakery. I had a little wander up to school in the afternoon, getting hideously lost on the way. I went upto school in the evening too in order to observe a lesson. The students who are about to finish their part-time course were teaching and it was useful to see what I would be expected to achieve by the end of the course. It was also a good opportunity to meet the adults whom I might be teaching. After class I went to dinner with the students and it was good to get to know them a little and talk about teaching and Greece.

Friday

Hurrah! The elusive plumber finally turned up to finish the job. I can now clean the bathroom properly as I know there will be no more mess.

This afternoon is our first class at school. There are just 5 of us. We have an extra student for one week and there is a girl who doesn't arrive til Monday. So we're all female and I'm guessing we're all in out late twenties/early thirties which is nice. Gemma is British but lives in Athens with her husband, Mary is Greek/Canadian, Sarah is British/French and Ana-Maria is Romanian. I'm the only visitor as all the others live around Athens. I'm also the only one who lives in the city centre. It's good for me as I don't have to travel far but I was hoping to see more of my fellow students. Oh well, we'll see how it pans out. We all went for a coffee after class which was great to get to know one another and to bond a little.

Saturday

Slept in late. I've been averaging around 5 hours sleep a night for the last week, so the extra snooze time was very much needed! After lunch I had a wander around the city centre and the shops. As I headed towards Omonia Square, the police were closing off roads and a helicopter was circling. There didn't really seem to be a sense of urgency though and pedestrians weren't hindered so I couldn't tell what had happened. As I walked near to the National Museum and University, I started to smell smoke and for one awful minute i thought the fire was in the metro station. It turned out to be rubbish bins that had been set alight. Two rival political groups had clashed earlier in the day and set up barricades and burned bims. Riot police had eventually quelled the disturbance with tear gas. By the sounds of it the perpetrators ran off and disappeared into the crowds, leaving the police to arrest around 30 people who just happened to be standing close by. Makes me think maybe the police aren't that intelligent - lets hope I'm wrong.

Found the meat market which is amazing. Unfortunately I missed the fruit and veg market but I intend to do my shopping there in future so will see if I can take photos. It's a covered market hall and 3 sides are meat stalls, surrounding the fish stalls in the cenre. There must be at least 100 stalls and the cacophany of noise is astonishing. It's an incredibly vibrant place and I loved it.

I had a wander down the main shopping streets which are a strange mix. On one hand there are some rather expensive designer stores but down the pedestrianised streets are lots of immigrant men selling fake designer bags. These are carefully arranged on large blankets so they can pick them up and do a runner at any moment! I'm tempted to get some fake Prada but my suitcase was full as it was. I called into the supermarket on the way back to the apartment. I wanted a bottle of wine but had no idea what to choose. I picked up one bottle which I thought was around €5 but turned out to be €6,50. The lovely assistant pointed out it was a buy-one-get-one-free offer so I carried home two bottles of wine. At this point I had severe doubts as to the quality of the wine. I opened it up and the smell just confirmed my doubts. however by the time it had warmed up, it tasted rather good so I shall be back later in the week to see if there is any left.

Sunday

I played tourist today. The weather was beautifully sunny so I put my purse and map in my pocket, picked up my camera and wandered wherever I fancied. First I went to Keramikos, the old cemetry.

Then I wandered around Psiri and Monastiraki until I reached Plaka. The shops around here must be teeming with tourists in the summer but for now they are just quietly bustling with locals and the occasional tourist. I had a late lunch in a restaurant in Monastiraki. As I walked in, everyone turned to look at me. I honestly thought I'd wandered into a private party but it was a Spanish school trip and they soon lost interest. I ordered kebab with grilled tomato and tzatziki, a glass of wine and water. The waiter also brought some bread, olive oil and a dish of Kalamata olives. They were a beautiful bruised brown colour, fat and juicy and almost ready to burst out of their skins. Such an improvement on the stale bullets you get served in UK resaurants.

After lunch I wandered up the hill towards the Akropolis. It was a bit of an effort after such a large meal but the views were more than worth it. It fascinates me how hte old rubs shoulders with the new here. The ancient buildings are sometimes so well-preserved that they look newer than more recent contructs. I loved wandering little narrow alleyways, negotiating the tables and chairs left on the broad steps for kafenion customers, listening to the Greeks chattering around me.

On the Akropolis I felt more like a tourist than ever but at least it felt natural. I stopped to chat to a red-haired English family at the top. It turns out they are missionaries on the way to Cyprus and wanted to show their children where St Paul preached on the Rock of Mars. The children seemed more interested in playing hide-and-seek and grubbing around in the gravel to be honest. The father kindly took some time to explain his dubious mathematical evidence that proved the Bible was inspired by God rather than man, and the mother quickly got down to business and made sure my soul belonged to God. I'm afraid I lied to her and assured her it had been for a number of years, then made good my escape.

As I walked past the temple of Dionysus, texting my friend and wishing I'd made use of the toilet at the restaurant, a Greek man in his fifties forced his acquaintance onto me. I flummoxed him slightly by telling him I was in Athens to study English and he claimed to be a jeweller. That's probably why he noticed my unobtrusive emerald jewllery straight away. He kindly offered to take a picture of me on my phone which I politely refused. Honestly, these people must think I was born yesterday but they must catch out enough tourists to make the risk worth while. Why on earth would I hand over an expensive bit of equipment to a stranger??

First Impressions

For those of you who ever have to catch a connecting flight at Heathrow, you should know you have to go through security again. You should also know that bottles of water show up on their machines. It may even be worth noting that carrying a bottle of water will result in your belongings being thoroughly searched, your electronic equipment being investigated and spot-checks being performed on liquids you are carrying. They are very nice about it all though in the best traditions of British politeness.

The film on the flight was Mr Margorium's Wonder Emporium. I'm not a film critic but it wasn't bad for a kids film. I have to say that I was incredibly disappointed to have missed Kermit the Frog's cameo while I was busy choosing my alcoholic beverage from the drinks trolley.

As the plane came into land, I did have a moment of "what the hell am I doing here?" as the reality of being on Greek soil hit home. I was reassured once I'd made contact with the school and managed to meet my tutor at the correct metro station. I was even more reassured once we made it to the apartment.

After showing me around, Marisa (the tutor and school director) toook me to dinner. She had a little chat with the guy in the kiosk downstairs about tavernas in the area but we eventually caught a cab upto the school and went to a restaurant there. It was a pretty casual place with a lot of students and the food was good.

It was an ideal opportunity for Marisa and I to get to know one another a bit better but I have to admit I was slightly flummoxed by the "so tell me about yourself" question. What are you supposed to say when you are asked that? Spout your life history? Tell her all the minutiae of daily life in your family? List a load of random stuff? I went for the broad history (language student, local government wage-slave) and a limited story of what I had been doing for the last year (sod-all and baby-sitting). Perhaps the random stuff would be more interesting but there is always the risk that a stranger will start to question your sanity. Let's try it and see what you think.*

I love really good dark chocolate especially with orange, cloves, vanilla, chilli, but sometimes only a creme egg will hit the spot.
I adore music of all descriptions but I can't sing or play an instrument.
I like to dance and jump at gigs and I don't care who's watching.
I burn really easily and worry about skin cancer.
I like my freckles and can't imagine what I'd look like without them.
I have green eyes. They were blue until I was 14 then they turned grey.
I like pashminas at the moment.
I enjoy learning new languages while it's easy but I'm a bit lazy to do the hard work.

Talking of languages, I have to master the word for plumber pdq. I have to leave my keys downstairs for him but they don't speak English. I don't speak Greek but I figure I can just hand them over with the word "plumber" and they will understand. I hope.

So today will be about discovering my neigbourhood. While we were walking last night, we had a view down the street of the Akropolis. I did actually think that maybe I could see it from my balcony but the sunshades cut off the view. The apartment is in the Keramikos district so it's pretty close to the archaeological sites. I'm going to go to the supermarket, then have a little wander round and take some photos.


*I don't want a report, thank you.

Panic over!!

Spoke to the school director and accommodation is sorted and someone will meet me in Athens.

*breathes huge sigh of relief*


As independant as I am, it's nice to have some things sorted for me.

Of course I am a control freak now and again so I was a little worried.

Ready for the off

erm......no, not really.

Not much of a surprise and I've always been Queen of the Last Minute Rush. I'm pretty much organised and I have a couple of days yet so it'll all work out. I think my biggest concern is hoping the school in Athens manage to find me an apartment to stay in!

After the initial excitement I started to worry and doubt my abilities. Strangely, I'd always doubted my ability to teach but now I'm more confident about that and less confident of my knowledge of English grammar, but hey, that's why I'm going to school.

Christmas was the usual family scrum but more so. Nobody seemed to have any idea of what presents they wanted so I bought myself a grammar book on behalf of my mother. Joy.

So that's pretty much it. I've said my goodbyes and I'm ready for the off.