Fake It 'Til You Make It

First of all I would like to make an amendment to 'What's this?'  Pointy cucumbers are actually called Okra.  Personally I think Pointy cucumber is a much better name, but there you go!  Thanks Uncle Chris for your wise vegetable knowledge.

Today's blog title actually refers to the 'fake market' that we visited today (more on that later), however, it also works for the rest of the week, which has been a whirlwind.  We have officially made it through our first week of school, and it's been tough, but I've really loved it.  Matt has struggled a bit with the new job, since it's such a step up from last year, and the person he took over from didn't leave much for him to go on.  She did leave plenty of crap in and on her desk for Matt to tidy up though!

My week was really good, apart from a slight overload of information on Tuesday and therefore a slight wobble, I have really enjoyed myself.  My new team are fabulous!  There are 8 of us sharing an office; 4 learning support for special needs kids, and 4 of us in EAL (English as an Additional Language).  They are the most welcoming, fabulous bunch of ladies ever.  They are from all over the world; England, Ireland, America, Singapore, China, Spain, and are friendly and chatty and helpful.  At the end of my first day, we had a 'first day selfie'...

They love taking photos!

There was lots of information this week, and I needed a few walks home on my own and intense gym sessions to get out of my head for a while.  Matt has been worse, since he is getting home at nearly 8pm at the moment.  It will ease off for him, but he feels like he is already playing catch up at the moment.  For me, as soon as I started planning, I felt better.  Planning was what I was worried about because I have never done it before.  But getting my timetable (3 year 4 classses; 2 transitional, 1 intensive, and 1 intensive year 5 class), and planning my first week of get-to-know-you games made me feel a lot happier.  I will be going into year 4s planning meetings every week, since I am the lead person for year 4 EAL, and will try to combine the curriculum with EAL lessons for my classes.  That will take some work too, but I have a fairly light timetable next week as lots of kids are still in their form classes for getting-to-know-you activities in there, so I have plenty of time to plan the week after.

I have also volunteered to be a house leader.  We have 4 houses, and I am head of 'Howard', which is red, along with a year 3 teacher, who is also new.  I'm considering joining the teachers Drama group too.  Just trying to throw myself into school life.

I got given the club I had put forward too, so I will be doing Archaeology Club this term.  Super excited.  I am currently working on the head teacher to give me a patch of grass to excavate, and have already got the OK for my 'mummifying sardines' lesson.  Year 3 do a Paleontology module on dinosaurs, so have a few resources I can borrow.  They do however call their module Archaeology, and get their kids to assemble dinosaur bones in white lab coats.  Very bizarre.  I am going to very politely mention to the year 3 coordinator that dinosaurs are Paleontology, not Archaeology, which is the study of HUMAN impact on the planet.  I feel a bit embarrassed saying something, but I want the kids to know what they are actually studying!

Friday was my 29th birthday.  I was the first one into the office in the morning, but as soon as someone else arrived they told me to leave.  I came back to find my desk decorated like this...

Then the others came in with 12 Dunkin' Donuts, and sang happy birthday to me.  They had all signed a card, and given me a £30 voucher to get my nails done.  They were so lovely and made the day very special.  I had even been sneakily quizzed on my preferred donuts during the week, hence two of the smiley face ones, which are vanilla cream with banana icing! yum!

Firday was the first day that they new children were in school, so we were all dressed very smart and had big smiles to welcome the new families.  Our children were in classes, so I didn't get to meet anyone that I will teach, so still quite a chilled day for us.

My other fabulous pressies were a great cook book from Sam and Amy, and a watch and bracelet from Matt.

To celebrate the end of the first week, the individual schools (Seniors, Juniors and DUCKS/Early Years) had social events in different places.  I was in the Big Bamboo, while Matt was in Kebabs on the Grill.  It was nice to unwind and have a couple of drinks.  Matt joined us after his free bar ran out (we only got 1 free drink!) and we stayed for a couple of hours more, chatting to old members of staff that we hadn't met before.  We left about 9pm and got a New York Pizza takeaway for my birthday tea.  A really nice day.

This morning (Saturday), we went to the 'fake' market, which is fabulous!  Everyone's Christmas presents will be coming from here!  It is an Aladdin's cave of treasures and tat, and we loved it.  The pictures really don't explain just how huge this place is.  There is a photo of the map, which may give you a better idea.

Lots of shops are tailors, but you can literally buy anything here that you could possibly want, including some great fake designer bits.

Just a short interlude here to tell you what this picture is of.  These are umbrellas that you can rent and return to other rental umbrella stands in the city.  This place is just bonkers!

Here are our fabulous fakes, and a gorgeous embroidery for the wall, that cost us £5.  I am particularly pleased with my Michael Kors bag, which actually looks remarkably like the real ones!

Tomorrow will be a fun and exciting day for us, so stay tuned for photos, but to end, here are some pictures from last Sunday night's social event at Mortons, a very posh steak house where you can buy £100 steaks.  It's right in the centre of the skyscraper district, with a fabulous view of the Oriental Pearl Tower, that lights up at night.  Enjoy...

(and our favourite, Yang's dumplings)