Weekend fun

Last weekend we got all dressed up in “fancy dress” for St. Patty’s. of course it wasn’t fancy, but gaudy green, orange and white , flashing, and sequined garb. Sadly, we actually had people asking us why were were dressed that way, and even for a Sunday afternoon and evening, the pubs were fairly empty. We should have gone to the parade. We had a fun housemates day out though, minus the green beer I’m so used to.

This weekend was a step up as we went out for my birthday. We dressed up very nicely and went to a bar called paramount. It was a very swanky bar and in one of the tallest buildings in London. The 360 view was incredible, and, compared to the expensive price tag of going up the shard, we saved, even paying a little extra for our drinks.

We sipped our drinks, a G&T for me of course, and lounged on the black leather sofa with a view spread out before us. I could barely keep still though and loved walking around to see the view (and show off my pretty dress).

It was just what I wanted in a party; 11 people from 4 different countries, all dressed to kill, chilling in the candle light of a very cool LondonNot bad for a new life I’ve only been building for 5.5 months.

What a great memory to have for my 25th birthday! (Though I’m choosing to forget, quickly, the night bus home).

Teacher heartbreak

What a sad development.

Unexpectedly, my school has to make room for a new English teacher to fulfill contractual obligations. This fills the job I’ve been covering since January.

I’m not ready to say goodbye to these kids; I’ve poured so much into them to make them feel worthwhile again after being abandoned by two English teachers already this year. The new teacher will be great but I really hope I can make them understand that I didn’t want to go.

I wish I could have seen them until the end of this year. 4 more days and then on to the next thing.

Lazy weekend

I had such a miserable week I was too tired to do anything extravagant this weekend. So I thought I’d post about last weekend.

Friday night I went out for sushi at this really fancy hotel near London Bridge. It was cool because you could watch the chef preparing it. It was also the nicest sushi I’ve had, not hurt by the fact that I was enjoying it with a bottle of champagne. It was pretty awesome. After that I went to a bar in Brixton which is a pretty good weekend spot. I had one of my new favorite drinks. G&T… They are sweet though so I usually switch to gin and soda after one or two. It’s such a British drink 🙂

Saturday I was productive in the morning, I went to the gym and spent the morning marking. In the evening we had a housemates night and went bar hopping in Covent garden. I still don’t completely understand how to distinguish a bar from pub here though… I think we went to both.

Sunday morning I found myself back at the gym with my housemate Jenn. We are a good influence on each other except since we started going to the gym she has lost 4 pounds and I have a pesky extra 4 pounds that just keeps hanging around. (Not that I’ve changed my diet from chocolate and coffee that much). After the gym I met my other housemate Dan around Leicester square. We got lunch at a French bakery (trying to relive Paris) and we sat outside on a curb in Covent garden eating it. It was so sunny it was amazing.

So we didn’t waste the sun, we decided to spend the remainder of our afternoon wandering through Hyde park. Or is it high park. I always get confused about which one is here and which is in Toronto.

When I got home I skyped a friend and then watched my new fav program- Top Gear. I’m not a car person at all but that show is awesome.

All in all a great weekend. This weekend I’m fighting off a cold or something so I didn’t feel like going out too much. I saw the film Oz with my housemates and that was fun but other than that I’ve just been marking and at the gym. Boring but a well needed rest.

It’s been a homesick kind of week. I think I’m ready to come home soon. It’s just so hard to leave a few people behind and start over back in Canada.

Oh one other fun thing, the two empty rooms in my house got filled today. My house now consists of two Canadian girls (myself included), one british guy (Dan) and two Australians. Full house again! Let’s see how this goes.