I have to admit….life isn’t that exciting right now. But in an attempt to keep my promise (to myself) that I will write a post at least once a week, I need to find something to say by 12 pm tonight… so let’s see how I do!🤷♀️
When I made the decision to quit my job last year
(with no new job lined up),
I decided to do a 168-hour online TEFL course… just in case I couldn’t find any work – I would then have an online teaching backup plan.
(At that point I wasn’t 100% certain that that universe had my back yet😉)
To say I have ‘hated’ or disliked it intensely would be an understatement…..
(No offence to TEFL – there is nothing wrong with their course!! )
It’s all me! It hit me about 3 hours into my studies that I just couldn’t give a rat’s arse about subordinating conjunctions, defining and non-defining relative clauses, determiners, interjections, present perfect functions, cumulative verb tense ….and the list goes on and on and on…….So yes, it dawned on me pretty quickly that I am most DEFINITELY not ever going to be an English language teacher (online or off). While I most certainly understand the importance of good grammar and having knowledgeable teachers who can teach it properly, I am N.O.T the woman for the job.
(Don’t hire me!!)
Fortunately
(or unfortunately),
one thing I definitely learnt from both my parents was to always finish a job that I started. So I have stuck with it
(begrudgingly)
…for probably close to about 578 hours now. 🙄 But frankly, it’s been like pulling teeth, daily with no Novocaine. It is one of the reasons I had so little time to write at the end of last year and why I haven’t had time to even say ‘hi’ to any of my friends that are in London yet. I literally have 1 week left to finish my last assignments, and I can’t freaken wait to get my life back and stop dreaming about grammar! It’s been a good reminder for me how important it is to allow our kids to choose subjects that they are interested in at school….anything less than that truly is mentally excruciating. 😳
So my first week with my new nursery class went well. Have I mentioned how absolutely adorable they are? My first goal is to get them all doing their own zips……I think on average I must do about 30 zips a day; that’s 150 zips a week and 5850 zips a year!!!! Good Lord, I’m patient, but not that patient. 😂Definitely, the most interesting part of my day is carpet time where I get to ask them all questions about their little lives. It goes something like this…..
Me: So what fun things do you do with your mummy and daddy at home?
Girl one: “My mummy is like go up sitting.”
Girl 2: “I have doggy”
Boy one: “He lat mefa remtya lup”
Eh…ummmmm?
(Seriously, the only word I understood was “He”. )
Unfortunately, there are only so many times you can ask a 4-year-old to repeat themselves before you just need to give up, smile sweetly and say: “Thank you for sharing, my angel” But they have this penetrating look that just screams:
“Did you actually listen to what I said?”
(So for the record, little ones…….I really want to understand you!)
I sincerely hope that with a little more time I will become more fluent in toddler talk. Because right now I pretty much suck at it. 😂
My definite blonde moment of the week was when I discovered that the beautiful, green-eyed little girl with gorgeous long black curly hair in a ponytail who had been sitting on the carpet staring adoringly at me for the last 5 days …..was, in fact, a boy. In my defence, he does have a Spanish unisex name ( I googled it!). I was mortified, but I am pretty sure I’m not the first-ever early years teacher to have had this experience…..so I decided to forgive myself on the basis that life is too short.
My online dating is going ….mmmmm…..well-ish. I am trying to stay positive and not moan!
(……but give me a few more weeks and I will without a doubt crack and it will all come pouring out!)
But staying on positives…I did have a coffee date with a hot fireman last week who was built like a brick shithouse.
(Not a term I would normally use, but it was the first thing I thought when I saw him, and I AM in England now, innit?😉)
So turned to Urban Dictionary just to make sure:
A brick shithouse: A very big person, normally male, who is as broad as he is tall yet carries very little fat. Not the sort of person you would willingly upset. “ (https://www.urbandictionary.com)
Yep, that pretty much summed him up. Honestly, I’ve never really been attracted to big, muscular men….but he had a lovely, kind face; he was relatively easy to talk to; AAAAANNNND he SAVES PEOPLE’S LIVES FOR A LIVING! – how could I not? He did message me after our date and ask if he could take me out for dinner this week. I must admit the prospect of a second date carried me through Valentine’s Day relatively unscathed. Mmmm…that being said, it is now dawning on me that we are almost halfway through the week and I still haven’t heard from him yet….. 🤔 I’ll be honest, I spent some time analysing our last text message exchange for some clue as to what I could have possibly said to scare him off sooooo quickly. The analysis lasted about …ummm 1.5 minutes, and then I decided to be my own best friend and follow the advice of my dating guru Matthew Hussey – “NEXT!!! ” So I have another date planned on Thursday with a financial risk manager😉
(His profile says he has all his own teeth! What more does a girl want??? )
Have a super week…I need to go finish an assignment on the past continuous tense……I can’t wait!