Yes, it has snowed again. More on that later...
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Still there...
The bikes aren't going anywhere fast. Knowing how I feel about modern art, someone suggested that they may be an 'installation'.
Yes, it has snowed again. More on that later...
Yes, it has snowed again. More on that later...
Monday, February 05, 2007
Serving the people
Weekends have been busy lately. I think it's had something to do with Mogfa staying here. Having three people in the house has made me much more sociable. This weekend we were so occupied that we didn't even notice several motorcycles exploding right under our balcony. Weird.
As expected, naked+2 didn't eventuate. I did a search around for superfluous items I could put on and found a silver bracelet that I bought in Chandni Chowk and a badge that Panda gave me in Hong Kong. She bought it to tease me for getting so excited about my brief fame when the media became interested in asylum seekers. I'm told it says 'serving the people' in Chinese.
I usually get annoyed at people who go to two parties in one night but I did it myself on Saturday and ended up at Jeanie's place for a very competitive game of risk. Jason was on my team but when we started losing he distanced himself, getting up to take these great photos. He finished in time to sit back down as we started winning.
Sunday involved Dreamgirls and a serious Macanese cooking session. The movie was good but not up to my sky high expectations. If only they could have sung real Supremes songs! Baked seafood rice was great. Photo to come later...
As expected, naked+2 didn't eventuate. I did a search around for superfluous items I could put on and found a silver bracelet that I bought in Chandni Chowk and a badge that Panda gave me in Hong Kong. She bought it to tease me for getting so excited about my brief fame when the media became interested in asylum seekers. I'm told it says 'serving the people' in Chinese.
I usually get annoyed at people who go to two parties in one night but I did it myself on Saturday and ended up at Jeanie's place for a very competitive game of risk. Jason was on my team but when we started losing he distanced himself, getting up to take these great photos. He finished in time to sit back down as we started winning.
Sunday involved Dreamgirls and a serious Macanese cooking session. The movie was good but not up to my sky high expectations. If only they could have sung real Supremes songs! Baked seafood rice was great. Photo to come later...
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Things you can catch
Much to my relief (but to the possbile detriment of this blog) a mutiny is on against the naked+2 theme. My source informs me that most people will attend tonight wearing an excessive amount of clothing in protest. I'm still very grateful for all your suggestions.
I had decided to wear an ankle length kameez, plus underwear or the hat, depending on how thick the material was. I even asked the old men's class this morning about where to buy one. They weren't much help, however, since they all agreed that 'London expensive, buy Morocco cheap'.
This morning's lesson was transport themed and someone asked me why we say 'catch the bus'. I had just finished giving some examples of things that we catch when one of the oldest students stood up, 'Joe, I need to catch the toilet'. I hope I'm that funny at 77.
I had decided to wear an ankle length kameez, plus underwear or the hat, depending on how thick the material was. I even asked the old men's class this morning about where to buy one. They weren't much help, however, since they all agreed that 'London expensive, buy Morocco cheap'.
This morning's lesson was transport themed and someone asked me why we say 'catch the bus'. I had just finished giving some examples of things that we catch when one of the oldest students stood up, 'Joe, I need to catch the toilet'. I hope I'm that funny at 77.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Naked+2
Yes - that's the theme of a birthday party I'm going to at the weekend. Only two pieces of clothing per person. Obviously it was concocted by someone who, unlike me, spends copious hours at the gym. Any smart ideas for my outfit?
One item could be my new hat - I may be making a fool of myself all over London but it gives me the power to make grumpy people smile.
One item could be my new hat - I may be making a fool of myself all over London but it gives me the power to make grumpy people smile.
Warning: Extreme Complaining Ahead
Working multiple part-time jobs has some definite positives. The main one would have to be variety. My students range in age from 17 to 83. Some speak English fluently and want only to develop a more formal style of writing. Others struggle to form letters or utter a whole sentence. I love what I do and I never get bored.
At the moment, however, I'm preoccupied with the negatives of my working situation.
Judging by the number of hours I teach and the amount of money I earn, my two jobs do not add up to full-time employment. Recently I've had a couple of offers of additional work but I'm not sure how much more I will be able to fit in.
Working in such a variety of contexts means I spend hours at home preparing material which I have little opportunity to reuse. On top of that, there is the expense and time of travel around London. And each job I have comes with its own set of admin, meetings and communications.
And from a professional point of view, I have another big frustration. The maximum amount of time I spend with any class is two hours per week. This severely limits the amount of progress that I am able to see students make.
That is frustrating in itself but what makes it really annoying is that I am expected to use complex planning, goal setting and assessment systems designed for teachers who have many more contact hours with their learners.
Unfortunately, this is the nature of the work that I am doing. Permanent full-time work in this field is very hard to come by. Things only seem to be getting worse in the UK with the government continually making cuts to the provision of English lessons for migrants.
I'm going to give it a couple more months, see how my new job offers work out. If things don't improve before the summer holidays (when I will have a couple of months without income) I'll need to seek some kind of extreme solution.
At the moment, however, I'm preoccupied with the negatives of my working situation.
Judging by the number of hours I teach and the amount of money I earn, my two jobs do not add up to full-time employment. Recently I've had a couple of offers of additional work but I'm not sure how much more I will be able to fit in.
Working in such a variety of contexts means I spend hours at home preparing material which I have little opportunity to reuse. On top of that, there is the expense and time of travel around London. And each job I have comes with its own set of admin, meetings and communications.
And from a professional point of view, I have another big frustration. The maximum amount of time I spend with any class is two hours per week. This severely limits the amount of progress that I am able to see students make.
That is frustrating in itself but what makes it really annoying is that I am expected to use complex planning, goal setting and assessment systems designed for teachers who have many more contact hours with their learners.
Unfortunately, this is the nature of the work that I am doing. Permanent full-time work in this field is very hard to come by. Things only seem to be getting worse in the UK with the government continually making cuts to the provision of English lessons for migrants.
I'm going to give it a couple more months, see how my new job offers work out. If things don't improve before the summer holidays (when I will have a couple of months without income) I'll need to seek some kind of extreme solution.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
