Brussels

I really do love Brussels as a relaxing place to enjoy all the food and drink you could possibly need or want!  This was my third visit, but my first with just Matt and I.  Matt was visiting the British School of Brussels on Friday with two colleagues for his dissertation on the use of personal laptops for the kids in school.  This school already does it, and it was good research.  The school sounds incredible actually.  They are a non-profit school, so spend several million a year on resources and equipment.  Our school could learn a thing or two definitely.

I got the train from Duisburg after work on Friday.  It only takes 3 hours, with one stop on the fast train, which is pretty good really.  I met Matt and a chap from the Brussels school (who is also on Matt's Masters course) at 10pm at the station, and we went straight for cocktails and beer in some lovely little bars that only a local would know about.

On Saturday, we just wandered and drank and ate.  Since i've been to Brussels twice before, and because it's nota very big city, with not many touristy bits, I had to work quite hard to take photos that I didn't take the last two times.  I think I mostly succeeded, although it's impossible to walk past the little statue of a boy, 'weeing' into a fountain, without taking yet another photo of him in one of his 100 outfits.  I did have to get a bit creative in order to take new, exciting photos.  I ended up taking some photos of the posh chocolates in the shops that I had been to scared to take before (the people working in the shops are quite stern).  I became very stealthy indeed, which deserves a lot of credit considering how big my camera is!

We, of course, stopped for lots of drink stops, and it was in one of these pubs that we ran into our friend from school, who also decided to stay for the weekend.  9 mojitos and a 'tasting tray' of beer later and we were ready for some food!

We had the obligatory Belgian waffle...

... and the obligatory maceroons.

There was a free concert in the Grand Place too which was fun on Saturday night.

... and for something different, we tried bubble tea!

... I bought a 2017 diary from the Tintin shop, and Matt had a huge bowl of mussels.  All in all, a fabulously relaxing weekend.

Ski Trip Booked

It's been a strange week all round really.  Lots of teachers still aren't happy with the classes they have been given and the jumps around in age groups, so Friday after work we went to the local pub and had a bit of a whinge session!  It really seems like everyone needed it.

I myself have had an OK week.  I'm still off timetable, which will hopefully change tomorrow, and i've been concentrating on doing displays.  I spent the entire week receiving buddy application letters.  Last year the buddies were just year 6s, but this year I've opened it up to year 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the hopes that if a year 3 needs to find a friend, they might be more comfortable speaking to a fellow year 3 rather than a big scary year 6.  Anyway, I chose 12 buddies in the end, 3 from each year group.  They were all thrilled, and came up to me after saying thank you and how they wouldn't let me down.  Very cute!

Another positive this week is that we've booked to go skiing in the February half term with 10 friends from work.  We've booked a house in Winterburg, which is near where I go on the year 5 ski trip.  It's a really good bunch of people and i'm looking forward to it already.

Yesterday Matt and I went to the harbour for the 4th weekend in a row!  This time we met up with another couple and had dinner and cocktails with them, which was lovely.  The weather has finally cooled off, and the rain has started.  It was quite nice sitting under the canopy in the bar with the heaters on us.  Very cosy!

Tomorrow hopefully brings with it my new timetable at work.  I've been itching to get back into the classroom.  I also start tutoring a year 3 boy tomorrow after school.  Matt is tutoring too and we are saving all of the tutoring money for a holiday.  It will add up very quickly!

Cocktails at the Harbour

This seems to have become our Saturday evening routine as the nice weather continues in Germany.  We had another enjoyable evening drinking Mojitos in the sunshine.  It's a nice way to get us out of the flat and into the sunshine at the weekend, when it is so tempting to just stay in and watch TV after a hard week at work.

My week has been very busy but also quite boring.  I still don't have a timetable, so i'm just ploughing through admin work and getting started on displays for teachers and for the general corridors.  I do like doing displays, but i'd quite like to be in the classes chatting to the kids too.  I probably won't have my timetable next week either, so more displays for me!

I introduced the buddy scheme back to school this week.  Last year I enjoyed being in charge of the playground buddies who were all in year 6.  This year I wanted buddies from years 3-6, and there was quite a buzz when I announced it, so hopefully i'll get lots of application letters next week.

I had to go into Nursery one day this week because the new TA hasn't started yet.  It's such hard work at the beginning of the year, because they are all new to the school and just scream for their mummies all day!  Exhausting!

We went to the pub around the corner from work after school on Friday, and are trying to organise a group skiing trip for February half term.  Other than that, it's not been a particularly exciting week.  Just getting back into the swing of things.  Only 5 weeks until half term!

Living in a Cupboard for the Week

A strange title to a blog post you may think, but it is certainly true of what I have been doing this week at work.  Colleagues joke that if they can't find me around the school, they go and look in one of 4 cupboards that I am generally to be found in!  This week, on Monday and Tuesday, I was rushing between cupboards trying to sort out all of the new stationary and resources that arrived all in one go.  Once packed away, each teacher then had to be distributed a selection of stationary and 200 assorted exercise books.  It was hard work, and I got very dirty from all of the filthy boxes being carted around.  Wednesday was the busiest day; the school open afternoon, where parents and students can come in and meet new teachers and have a look around the school.  The school had to be spotless, so there was lots of last minute tidying, and making sure all of the displays in classrooms were looking neat and tidy.  I was then 'front of house' for Primary with two others, helping people find new classrooms, and greeting people.  I ended up doing a private tour for a new family starting at the school in January.  The family were lovely, and the parent rep who came around with us was so impressed with me that she told the head of Primary, which was nice.  We had staff drinks in the canteen after work on Wednesday, but I was so exhausted I didn't stay long.

Matt had a very busy couple of days too sorting out lots of things for the start of term.  We've been coming home after work and having to have a nap!

The children were back in on Thursday, and it was really nice to see them all again. I'm off timetable for a good two weeks, so I was able to just get on with things, at a much nicer pace than at the beginning of the week.  Still busy, just a bit slower.

Matt went out on Friday night with the lads who play football.  They went to Enzos which is the pub around the corner from school.  He didn't get home until midnight, so presumably had a good time!

We decided to pop into Duisburg on Saturday for a mooch around the shops.  I bought some more wool for a few projects i'm currently working on, and then we went to the harbor for a couple of cocktails and fajitas.  It was a lovely warm evening, so we made the most of sitting outside. Completely different to today, which is torrential rain!  At least it's cooling the flat down a bit.

First Week Back

Finally I am not ill anymore!  I'd had a virus for the entire 2 weeks that we were back in England.  Monday was my last day of not feeling well, so I seem to be over it now.  Thank goodness.  It's exhausting being ill for that long!

This week I was back in school for the summer program.  It was a nice relaxing way to get back into the school routine, although I wasn't very happy about it on Monday morning I must admit!  I was doing the program with two teachers from Early years who are lovely.  I took the year 3-5s and they had the Reception to year 2s.  My lot were doing the academic program for the week, so we did some Maths and English in the mornings (all with the theme of Spy Week).  In the afternoons, it was so warm, we bought two huge paddling pools and just let the kids play all afternoon.  On Friday, we went down the road for bowling, which was fun.  At the end of the week one of the Mums gave us each a box of biscuits to say thank you for the week - very sweet, and not usual for our school's parents at all, who are more likely to pick up their kids without saying one word to you!

Anyway, I have no photos from the summer school, so here are some photos from the last two weeks that didn't make it onto the blog yet.  The first ones are from my trip to Buckingham Palace with Louise, and the rest are of the cute pooch Lola in the garden.

We've had a nice quiet weekend, trying to stay cool in the 36-38 degree heat (which feels like it is doubled in our roof flat - I can't be away from the fan for more than 2 minutes).  We went to the harbour in Duisburg on Saturday for dinner and some lovely cocktails.  We ran into a couple of friends there, who ended up joining us for a few more cocktails, and it turned out to be a lovely evening.  We've just started watching a new series, House of Cards, set in Washington DC.  It's amazing!  We've spent most of Sunday watching that!

Back to work tomorrow.  I have a day of cupboard sorting to look forward to, then a first aid course on Tuesday.  We have an open day for parents and kids to meet their new teachers on Wednesday, then the kids are back in on Thursday and Friday.  Should be quite a nice week.

Dad's Surprise 70th Birthday Party

It was a very successful surprise birthday party on Saturday, with smiles all round, and not a heart attack in sight! Not that I was worried or anything!

The week had been nice and relaxing at Mum and Dad's.  Matt and I saw a couple of friends for dinner, and we went for long walks along the beach.  Lovely.  We were all just gearing up for the party, although of course Dad knew nothing about it, (not for Matt's lack of trying however!  He nearly gave the game away twice).

Matt and I told Dad we were going out early to meet some friends for coffee, and spent a couple of hours setting up the room, at the lovely Huntsman of Brockenhurst pub.  Dad arrived later and we all shouted surprise, and sung happy birthday. He was very surprised indeed!

Amy made some lovely cakes - mint choc, and lime, to keep with the green theme.  Delicious.

Everyone had made a real effort in coming all the way down to the party, quite a long journey for some people.  Most had booked hotels for the night too, and made a weekend of it.

Very successful!  Here are a few photos from the night.

London

I sound like a broken record saying this, but 'it's been a really busy week!'

We came back to England last Saturday, and things have been non-stop since then.  We went to London city to go up the Shard as part of Matt's birthday surprise, last week, which was fun.  It's so high up, and you get an amazing view of London, but it was really expensive for what you get.  In the evening we met up with Matt's friends and brother for his proper birthday surprise, which was to do an Escape Rooms game.  We went into a room done up like a prison cell, and locked into handcuffs, all chained together, then locked into the cell, and then the room.  You get one hour to find keys and codes and unlock various padlocks that finally lead you to the final door key.  We managed to get out in 58 minutes and 11 seconds, with 11 clues (an average score apparently!).  We did spend 42 of those minutes handcuffed, because we didn't look properly for the handcuff keys!  It was really fun, and I would definitely recommend it.  Something different to do for a night out.  We finished the night with a Nandos and some beers.

The day after, our friend who we met in Germany, who now lives in Newcastle, came to stay at Matt's parents for a couple of days.  He had never been to London before, so we enjoyed doing a few touristy bits, including the Tower of London.  We spent a good 5 hours there, and it was a really fun day.  The Beefeaters do a free tour, which is fantastic.  They really know their stuff and are funny and engaging.  Worth the money to get in just for them.

 We also went to the first West Ham match of the season, a friendly against Juventus, at the brand new Olympic stadium.  The stadium is fantastic!  They have a wall inside with every season ticket holders name on it from the last season at the Boelyn Ground.  It's not in alphabetical order though, so i'll save trying to find Matt's name for another day!

There was lots going on because it was the opening match, so there were fireworks, and they officially opened the Sir Bobby Moore, and Sir Trevor Brooking stands, which was nice to see, as Trevor Brooking himself was there, and Bobby Moore's grandson was there too.  There was a marching band, and the woman who sings the national anthem at the rugby was there singing too.

It was very hot and we got a bit sunburnt.

I went to London to see my pal Louise on Friday.  We had lunch, and sat in the park with an ice cream, before spontaneously deciding to go into Buckingham Palace.  They had an exhibition there on the Queen's clothes, which was fantastic.  I really enjoyed the 17 state rooms too.  They are beautifully decorated, and the information audioguides were good too.  A lovely day out with my friend.

Matt's parents had a BBQ on Sunday, which Mum and Dad came for.  It was nice to see all of Matt's family, and the weather was wonderful.

Unfortunately, I've been ill for pretty much the entire time I've been home, with a virus that has given me horrible headaches.  They are just starting to go now, and today was the first day that I've felt OK, so hopefully i'll have a few days more with Mum and Dad feeling fine.  I came down to Hampshire on Monday, and Matt followed on Tuesday after football on Monday night.  Since, we have met up with one of Matt's friends from his PGCE, gone on walks to the beach and generally relaxed.  It's been lovely!