God is good, all the time

I blogged yesterday with some good news. Please disregard that news, I have something better.

Today we went to a TimePlan induction meeting, where we met with different council authorities and whatnot, and at the very end one of them came up to me and offered me a long term position. It would be for the whole year, which is an answer to prayer. It is in a school that is struggling with under achieving children and low test scores, but she said their behaviour wasn't a problem, and that the school was really great. She said they just needed some teachers to help improve the scores. She didn't know what year (somewhere between 3 and 6) but I said it really didn't matter. It is in the same area as Ryan is working, which is an added blessing because we can take the same bus!! I really think this is an answer to prayer, and even though I was questioning my decision to give up the long term kindergarten to Christy, it has worked out even better. Keep praying, we want this to work out!!

We don't have much time today, but I will try and get a longer post tomorrow with more details about the school and the job.

Today was a great day

Today has been a really good day. We went with our new roommate Christy to the TimePlan office (mostly because we had a long long long list of complaints about our place, but also because she wanted us to go with her so she didn't get lost). While we were there we met with a guy from South Africa who seemed to be really good about our problems and assured us that they would be dealt with in a timely manner. Anyway, long story short, while we were chatting he asked if we (Christy and I) were on day to day agreements (which we are) and he asked if either or both of us would like a job. So we obviously said yes. The choices weren't ideal, I'll try to explain them both as best I can...

One job was a kindergarten class for a minimum of two weeks. After that two weeks the job could disappear or it could turn into a permanent thing.

The second job was mondays teaching kindergarten, tuesdays teaching grade 1, and every other wednesday teaching grade 4. So, it's 5 out of 10 days for sure, plus TimePlan would give me at least three other days in that two weeks of other supply. That job was at least til october mid term break.

So I had a decision to make. I weighed the options, and said to Christy that it would have to be her decision about what job she took, and I would take either. I sort of told her that if she really wanted the kindergarten that she should take it. She agreed, and so I am doing the one day, one day, every other week job. It's not ideal (as in, it's not the same class every day for the whole year), but it is the same school two or three days a week, so it's better than supply teaching. Plus I still have the option of seeing other schools and getting out of it if I really hate it.

Ryan and I have our induction meetings tomorrow and friday, and then I am going to try and find the school I will be at. It is called South Park Primary School.

I don't have much more time to write today, but I will keep you all informed about the job as I get more details. Thank you for all your prayers, we both appreciate them so much!!!!

Happy Birthday to me

Well, it is August 27th. That should be a good day, right? Then why do I feel so lousy? Regardless of the fact that my ear is feeling a little better (I got a few more hours of sleep last night) and I am not entirely drugged up on miracle pills, I am not having a great day yet. Like Ryan said this morning, birthdays should be good days that you spend with family and friends and have cake and presents, and I am not getting to do any of that. Plus I am sick, and I am so tired of being sick. So far in this country I have been sick more than I have been well, and what fun is that??

We went to church this morning at a little baptist church down the street from our house. We have walked by it many many times since we moved here, and we thought it would be convenient. It wasn't unconvenient, but it was all older people, so we probably won't be going back. The pastor was nice enough though, and he had a good sermon, but we really need a place that we can make friends and fellowship with people (preferrably our own age!) They did sing hymns though, which made me kinda happy. Except I couldn't sing them between the tears. The pastor must have thought I was nuts!! The last song they sang was "Trust and Obey" which was especially touching since neither of us really want to be here right now. We are homesick, and lonely, and surrounded by a million people who don't know or care that we exist. And we keep hearing horrer stories about teaching the kids here, and that doesn't ease any fears about starting next week!!! I am sure life will get better once we know some people (we have yet to have any roommates move in) and once we get our internet installed. And maybe once my ear stops hurting all the time!!! Please pray that we make it through the next couple of weeks. They will no doubt be the hardest of all our time here.

We did go to London yesterday. The bus passes that we bought are good for all of London and it's surrounding areas, so our home is on the farthest outskirting region of what is included. So it didn't cost us any more to go to London for the day than it did for us to ride the bus to the mall at the end of our street! That was a bonus. I wasn't sure I wanted to go, since I haven't been feeling well, but I sucked it up and went anyway. We didn't get much sightseeing in before I insisted that we go home. My pain from the ear had travelled to my jaw, and I could barely talk let alone eat something. We did see Buckingham Palace though, which was cool. I pictured the Queen standing at one of the windows wondering who all the people were outside her gate. There must have been hundreds of people milling around. It really makes you feel small and insignificant. We do have pictures, and I will get them up soon. I really can't wait to get internet at home. Having to go to a cafe everytime is starting to suck!!

I think I am almost out of time, so I will say farewell for now. We love you all very much and look forward to talking with you soon!!

another day, another visit to the hospital

Ok, so this is the second attempt at this post...I can't wait til we have internet at home!!!! At least I am using my own computer...

OK, so my ear is not better. I got almost no sleep last night for the pain, maybe three hours broken up. So by 8am I was ready to go to the hospital again. We walked over, and I was in really quick, there was no line. The doctor I saw today was kinda shocked that the doc from yesterday didn't prescribe penicillan. He was cute/funny though. He was an older east indian gent with a british accent. He checked my good ear first, and said reassuringly, "don't worry, I always check the good one first". Then he went for my bad ear and I instinctively went for Ryan's hand, and he just kept saying, "oh yes, that hurts...I'm gonna pull a little, yes, that hurts." He was reasonably gentle though (way better than Shemult). And he also suggested a different pain killer. Paracetamol? Has anyone ever heard of it?? When I first went into triage the nurse asked why I hadn't taken it along with ibprophen, and I said I had never heard of it. Anyway, it's like a magic pill, it's SOOOO good. And it has caffiene which is good for the person who was up more than half the night.

After the hospital we went to TimePlan to have our official meet and greet. I kinda thought we would open a bank account then, but now we have to wait more, and monday is a civic holiday, so hopefully we get one sooner than later. Right now it is not a good thing to charge everything to the credit card!! And most things require your information (i.e. Blockbuster, internet provider, etc.) So we want one up and running soon. Another hitch is that we have a pile of travellers cheques that NO ONE takes!!! So annoying! So the sooner we can cash those, the better!! It was good to go to the office though, because we actually talked to someone who could do something about the condition of our place. The head guy came over and walked through it with us, and gave us suggestions, and talked to the landlady, and got something started for fixing it up. We need to make a list of stuff that needs fixing, and then they will get started asap. I haven't figured out how to post pictures yet, and I am running out of time at the cafe, so I will get them up soon.

I'll sign off for now, and I will try and get some pics up soon. Love you all!!

England's hospitals are nice...

Yesterday was a good day. I was expecting today to be even better. Well, the day started with rain. Always a good way to start a day. I woke up with an earache. Actually, to be specific, I went to bed with one, so when I woke up, I knew that I would need to go to the hospital and get checked out.

We walked, because we haven't purchased bus passes yet, and also because it wasn't really that far from our place. It was just passed the mall we found yesterday. We found out that Subways don't really mean the trains that run underground, but rather tunnels that pedistrians walk through to get across a busy street. We navigated our way over to the hospital and found the emergency department without a hitch. There wasn't much of a wait either. We were in and out in less than an hour. The doc took one look in my ear and confirmed my suspicions. No more swimming in Georgian Bay for me!!! It is just an outer ear infection though, so I got some spray and it should heal up nicely.

We also made our way to the main bus terminal in our area and we bought monthly bus passes. So now we don't have to walk home in the rain.

We went for a walk last night, about an hour round trip, and got caught in the rain for the last bit of it. Walking has been good for us, not only for the exercise, but also so we can explore our surroundings. The houses in our neighbourhood were cute, but a little ways down the street it got kinda slummy. Helps us appreciate what we have!!

We would appreciate your prayers for my health, and also for us as we navigate this new path. We're both kinda homesick, and we miss everyone SOOOO much!!!

Love you all!

England is...Great?

I really don't know how we managed to last for a whole year on dial-up internet. Suddenly having a slow connection sounds FANTASTIC!!! In case you don't get my drift, we have no internet. Even if we wanted to get internet (which is a possibility) we would have to pass the installation by our landlord, who would be contacted through our contact at TimePlan, who is on holidays for the next week. So, basically we are lonely. We have so many stories to tell, and no one to tell them to!! Currently we are sitting in an internet cafe. It'll do for now, so be patient!!

Ok, so let's talk about our place. First impressions were not too good. It is a place that has not been really well maintained, so it was really dirty, and it looked like the last tenants (whether they were teachers or not, I don't know) didn't clean the place before they left, so it's pretty gross. After cleaning our apartment from top to bottom before we moved out, and helping April with the one place, having to move in and clean all over again wasn't really a pleasant welcoming gift. We did talk to the people at TimePlan and they said they would send the person who is supposed to clean (yes, we have a cleaning lady) over asap to get things in order.

The house itself is super cute. It is a great layout, and we will have to make sure we get blueprints or something because we may want to recreate it when we get home!! We have the biggest and nicest room of the bunch. There are two single rooms, and two other double rooms in the house. Count with me...that's seven people all together. It could be eight, but one girl has a double room to herself. SEVEN PEOPLE!!! So much for not living with roommates. We are going to give it a try though, and hope for the best. The best part though, I have to say, is the fridge. It's a tiny little bar fridge. To share with seven people??? And even better than that, we had to take the shelves out because our milk jug doesn't fit in any other way. This should be fun.

We talked to a guy from Sky Service today. (That's like Bell Express Vue) He offered us a good deal on a cable package, which would include our internet router, for only £15/month. That doesn't include the tv licence of £11/month, or the tv itself, or the phone line for £11/month. So the good deal may not be such a good deal afterall. We will have to figure out if the budget can hold it. If we are sharing with a pile of other people it won't be so bad, but I don't know how I feel about being the person who is responsible for collecting everyones share.

We went for a nice long walk today, and we found a MALL!!! So exciting!! Even Ryan was excited to see it. We found a travel agent and booked flights home (not because we are homesick, necessarily, but because the planes are already almost full!!!) So, we are going to be in Ontario on Dec. 20th and BC Dec 24th. More details will come later.

I hate to end it here, but I don't think I have much time left...so we love you all, and we will talk to you as soon as possible!!

We're Here!!

Hello all!!

We have finally arrived in England. After a long anticipated trip, we left Toronto Pearson August 20th at 10pm and arrived at London's Gatwick airport just before 10am London Time.

The flight was uneventful. Even before that, the daunting task of getting through the airport was so much easier than we thought!! We were anticipating lines, and tight security, and all kinds of difficulties because of all the stuff we were bringing onboard. There was NONE of that. We were told that we would have to take off our shoes, and start our computers, and all kinds of other security measures, and we didn't have to do any of it!! I was surprised that I didn't set off the metal detector with all the metal I had on, but I walked right through and to the other side. We only had to take our computers out of the bags and through the x-ray. We didn't have to open anything or start anything or turn anything on. It was so easy!!

When we finally got on the plane, Ryan said, "Can you believe it's been an hour and a half since we said goodbye to everyone?" And it was true. Time went really fast, not even including the time change!! The flight was quick (or as quick as seven hours can be). We even got a hot dinner, which was a pleasant surprise.

We navigated the airport with relative ease. The line for customs was, as Ryan put it, "the shortest long line we have ever stood in!" We didn't have any problems with our passports or visas, and we even found all our luggage!! The hardest thing to find was Ryan's bike, and that wasn't even hard, we just weren't looking closely enough. We even navigated the hotel shuttle without a hitch. That was my biggest fear going in, and it was so easy!! I think the driver was amazed at how much luggage two people could have!!

We crashed as soon as we arrived at the hotel. We were so tired!!! We slept for about four hours, and now are waiting for some dinner. We will have to get ourselves used to the time change.

We are expecting a taxi tomorrow to take us to the TimePlan office, to get ourselves set to teach. We will also arrive at our new home. We will get pictures up as soon as we have them.

We miss you all very much, but are having a great time on our adventure!! We'll be in touch soon!! Lots of love, Elaine and Ryan