I've moved

Time to start blogging again = Time for a new blog

Come and visit me in my new home here

All change

I haven't blogged for ages and ages...and there are new piccies and Italy, London, and Christmas tales to tell. All will come soon. For now, I would just like to wish my readers a very belated Happy New Year, and to report my biggest move in recent times. I'm moving back to England! Japan was amazing, Italy was character building (that's code for 'it sucked!'), and a move to Prague turned into simply a holiday. I'm ready to come home...2007 is going to be a great year!

Photo alert!

Have managed to upload some pics....so hope you enjoy seeing a little bit of Italia...and if you scroll down further, you will find some Prague shots too!

A day by the sea

A few weeks ago, I decided to do a runner from Lecce, and head to nearby city, Bari, for the day. It was a lovely hot day, and I was by the sea...whoooo! The old town of Bari was full of maze-like little lanes, and dangerous, zippy mopeds. The sea was perfect blue, and dotted with rickety fishing boats. And the Maccy Ds I had as a 'treat' (naughty Lauren!), was yum! Enjoy the pics!

Lecce's Old Town

Lecce's old town is really pretty, and it's lovely to wander round the narrow streets during siesta time, when not many people are around.

The one where Lauren writes a very honest blog entry!

I normally settle into new places pretty quickly. When I was younger, on family holidays, I was always the first to make my new room look like ‘my own’, as I unpacked and put out nic-naks, and quickly felt at ease in my new environment. When I arrived in Japan...sure, the first week was weird, strange and new...but I never really felt homesick. And yet, here, only a 3 hour flight from home, in beautiful Italy, I felt an instant unease and a lack of ‘clicking’. You know, when a place just feels right…and despite the new things to get used to, you can still click with the place and are excited to explore it. Well here in Lecce...I’m sad to say that..almost from day 1…I didn’t want to be here. It’s hard to put my finger on what exactly I didn’t like, or didn’t feel happy with...I just felt really alone and out of place here.

Ria, Rich and I met up with Alison, another of the school’s teachers, and who had been here last year. She took us around the town, and showed us the local shops and cafes etc. Lecce is a nice town…it’s fine, it really is….I just didn’t really warm to it. From its enthusiastic write-up in Lonely Planet, and its description as the ‘Florence of the South’, I had expected great things, and a beautiful, exciting, vibrant place. It does have a lovely old-town, and some amazing buildings…but I just found myself disinterested in it all, and longed to be anywhere else but this corner of Europe. I will write a more balanced account of the town later (and put some piccies on as soon as I get back to wifi access back in UK). But for now, all I can say is that Lecce felt like a really small place, and I felt penned in by the tall apartment blocks, and the constant chaotic traffic noises. I guess after coming from Prague, very few places were going to be able to compete in terms of aesthetics and grandeur. But it was more than that…I just didn’t like the noise, and the town, and found the people of the South quite rude (compared to those I’d met on my brief spell in Tuscany 4 years ago)…and I longed to be somewhere where I knew someone….where I had pals to chat to...family to hug...people to interact with on more than a superficial ‘small-talk' level. Imagine a pot * ..put in the first ingredient…homesickness...and then add a great big dollop of what I think may have been reverse-culture-shock…as I wished to be back in my Japanese apartment, with only the sounds of the cicadas and the views of mountains and rice-fields…..and then sprinkle in a liberal handful of work-related niggles…and there you have one recipe for an unsettled and pretty blue Lauren! (Please note...Lauren is now fine, so there is no need for concerned blog-comments!)

Certain things have got easier…and I have got used to different parts of Italian life. However, I need to be somewhere with more people...with more things to do and more chances to have fun and be happy. Lecce, I’m afraid couldn’t be that place, and I only feel content here now, as I know I will be leaving in 4 short weeks. I will leave with my head-held high from sticking it out for a good 10 weeks, and with the knowledge that wherever I go next, it can only be better, and I can only be happier!

Footnote * = apologies for clichéd use of cooking/recipe/pot metaphor!!

An omen?

My little area of Italy is right in the heel of the boot, and the local airport to Lecce is Brindisi. I managed to get a fairly cheap flight from Standsted with low-cost giants Ryanair. I knew I was to be met at Brindisi by my new boss, an Irish fella, named Noel Gallagher (Oasis jokes at the ready!), and that on my flight somewhere were my other 2 new colleagues. The flight was as expected…boring and stomach-churning-inducing…I hate flying! But everything was going according to plan, until about 15 minutes before landing, when the pilot informed us that due to a security breach at Brindisi airport, our plane was being diverted to Bari (further north in the Puglia region). Great!! I knew that the other 2 new teachers were a couple, and were blonde. Spying 2 twenty-somethings who appeared to fit that bill, and starting to feel extremely anxious about what I should do when arriving in Bari, I decided to ask them if they were indeed my fellow EFL teachers. Thank god…my detective work was correct, and I hadn’t just introduced myself to 2 holidaymakers. We stuck together when the plane landed, and after collecting our luggage, Ria (of the couple ‘Ria and Rich’) was able to contact Noel on her mobile, who told us he would wait for us at Brindisi. We waited forever for the courtesy buses that took us the 90 minutes to Brindisi. We were finally at the right airport, and were spotted by Noel and school-owner Marcello. Brindisi airport was completely shut, but the parking area was full with TV vans and great big satellite dishes. It turns out that a plane had been ‘high-jacked’ between Turkey and Greece, and forced to head towards Italy...where military planes intervened and managed to land the plane safely at Brindisi. I can’t quite remember all the details now. A crisis averted….but a diversion and late night for me...and maybe a bad omen for some unsettled times ahead in my new ‘home’.

Family time

Before I start ploughing through Italy highs and lows, I wanted to go back in my lil time-machine and remember the fabulous weekend that I spent with my family before flying out to the land of pizza. The people? Mum, Dad, Paul and lil ole me. The place? London. The reason? Mum’s 60th birthday! Whoooo! Go mum!

I returned home from TEFLing in Prague on the Saturday and after being met by Paul at Gatwick, enjoyed a fish and chip supper and evening of chats with the family. That meal was actually the first time we had all eaten together since 2004! You see, that’s what living abroad does! After showing off my new-found English grammar knowledge, and boring the pants of the family with my EFL jargon (heehee!), it was time for bed.

Sunday was our fun-packed day...and we soldiered on in spite of the typical English drizzle (and occasional thunder storm!). We had a lovely boat trip down the Thames to Greenwich, took pictures around the Cutty Sark, and then had a good old wander. Eating our M&S sandwiches in a kind of wind tunnel was particularly memorable! We braved the pelting rain to walk up the hill to the observatory, and Greenwich meridian line! Cheesy photos of me standing on the famous line of time took place even though the weather was not at its friendliest. We took shelter in the museum for a while, explored, and then made our back towards the river (via a tea and biccies pitstop). The boat back to the South Bank was great, as there was a funny and informative commentary by a gift-of-the-gab Londoner, who wouldn’t have looked out of place playing someone’s granddad on Eastenders. He was great, and it was nice to hear little anecdotes about places along the Thames. Although, if you are after a tour guide to any part of London...that brother of mine knows his stuff!

Back on dry land, we headed over to Covent Garden to have dinner at Belgos (a cool restaurant that we had all been to before, and were happy to pay a 2nd visit…the food is lush!). After the flavoured schnapps for starters, I opted for the chilli ginger duck for my main course. It was divine, and I stripped that bird bare! After a brief stop at an Italian café for coffee and OJ (even Italy hasn’t converted me to caffeine!), it was time for a lovely lil surprise for meeeee! We wandered through Soho for about 10 minutes and finally stopped by a Japanese restaurant. I was confused..and then noticed the sign on the door in the basement area…..a lovely snazzy, Japanese style karaoke place!!! Yey!! We spent about an hour there….with Mum and dad just happy to listen (although I think Mum might’ve joined in a bit…I just couldn't hear because I was too busy belting out my Japan repertoire!!)…and Paul sharing vocals with me on a few songs. I don’t know how impressed Mum and Dad were with the concept of karaoke, but I’m glad that they got a chance to see what I had spent most of the last 2 years doing! I loved it though…cheers Paul! After a scenic black-cab ride through London, and a train back to Wimbledon, the day was at an end. Definitely one of my favourite family days ever! A particular highlight for me was taking a photograph of the 3 of them standing by the river with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in the background, and..unprompted...they did peace-signs for the picture! Whoooo!

The next day, Paul and I saw Mum and Dad off at Kings Cross, as they headed back up to York, and I stayed behind ready to fly to Italy the following day. We had a nice relaxing day in London…topped off by a lovely haircut at the trendy Lee Stafford Salon. Definitely the best hair experience I’ve had…and made even more exciting by the salon being used for filming a BBC programme ( the celebrity hair cutting programme for ‘Children in Need’…for those of you in the UK)…and actually seeing Lee Stafford himself. I’ve used that guy’s products for years!!! Oh, and whilst we were browsing in the Apple Store…I spotted Rob Brydon (again, only people in the UK will know who I’m talking about!)…so it was a good day for star-spotting! I will be staying in London with Paul for a little while before Christmas, so I am looking forward to hunting for more famous faces, and further exploring our lovely capital!

Still here!

Well…it’s been a while! But I’m back to blogging! Yey, I hear you cry…maybe not…I might have lost all my readers in the last month…but I hope not! I’ll be brutally honest and admit that I have had a pretty rubbish and unhappy past 6 weeks, and have simply not felt like writing, in the fear that all of my usual ramblings (which are generally quite upbeat) would have a wallowing negative slant. So, I thought I would wait until I was a bit more of a happy chappy, when I had certain stuff sorted out, and when I felt ready to talk about the positive as well as negative points of my life in Italy. Oh yes, I have managed to find some positives! That’s progress and reflection for you! So now I’m ready to start my mammoth slog of blog entries on Italian ‘stuff’! I’ve got 4 weeks to get everything up-to-date…because then I’m out of here!

Note 1 – I have a new job in Prague starting in January
Note 2 – I have an interview for PGCE at York Uni while I’m home for Christmas
Note 3 – I have the best brother in the world. Grazie mille Paolo!

Prague people

I didn’t get the chance to make any Czech friends really, as we were all too busy teaching, planning, and generally fretting about the course. The students in our classes were great, and were very patient in all the lessons. A few of them were real characters, and it was nice to get some chance to see what Czech people were like, and how they viewed foreigners and learning English. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the handful of Czech people I encountered in the town and restaurants. They were just a bit rude to be honest, and very blunt …abrupt is perhaps the best word. In a certain restaurant near the school, the waitresses were apparently calling us rude words in Czech, according to our Czech student spies. Nice to feel welcome isn’t it!! The staff in the school café, however, were lovely, and really sweet, and even put on nibbles and a ‘trumpeter’ on our last night!! I think it would definitely take a little longer than 4 short weeks to warm to and understand the Czech people. I reckon they’re probably a ‘hard nut to crack’, but then they’re your friend for life!! That’s what I will continue to believe until the next time I visit Prague anyway!

As for the people I met on the course…well what can I say…diamonds, true diamonds! I don’t think I could’ve got through the 4 weeks without my CELTA family!! Haha, corny I know! There were 18 of us, ranging in age from 18 to 50, and from Blighty, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I had a month of great supportive hugs from Alasdair. I made a new BFF in New Yorker Carolyn, who was always happy to have a natter, a bitch, and also a hug! Canadian Scott was a ray of sunshine and a great pal. My teaching practice group were always on hand for advice, encouragement, and words of wisdom!! And all the others were really nice, genuine people. I feel lucky to have had such a nice group, and I hope everyone is doing really well now in their new jobs across the world. You people still in Prague, I hope to see you again sometime soon!

The CELTA course

I don’t want to think about all of the CELTA stuff for too long, so here are a few points about the course.

- It’s tough, and at some point in the 4 weeks you WILL cry!
- Being observed while you teach is not a nice feeling, but at least I feel a bit more prepared for next years PGCE!
- Having to write a 4 page procedure, a lesson plan, a language sheet, worksheets, etc etc, for each lesson takes it toll by the middle of week 3.
- Apparently a word is not always one thing…i.e in the sentences ‘I got on the bus’, ‘got on’ is considered one word! What the hell! Think I’m going to ignore that piece of TEFL thinking!
- You make the fastest ever friendships!
- You will never have a ‘perfect’ lesson…there is always something to work on.
- Grammar is hard! Only 2 tenses in the English language, but many different forms / times…it all adds up to a very confused Lauren!
- Trying to remember how to write an essay was a struggle, but I soon got back to grips with it. You only had to pass 3 out of the 4 assignments, however, and that’s exactly what I did!
- On days when I was teaching, there was no time for lunch! In fact, on the one day I did have a spare 10 mins and ordered a toastie…I was so nervous about my lesson that I couldn’t stomach it!
- Bacon and cheese toasties and 3 Bit chocolate bars will make even the worst day seem a bit better!
- Hugs are essential for survival.

A hard slog, but I did it!

No photos at the mo

Apologies for the lack of photos to accompany my posts at the moment. I'm blogging from my school's computer, and so can't pull photos across from my computer etc. If you'd like to see my Prague pics, then have a look at my Flickr page www.flickr.com/photos/laurencampy/

Beautiful Prague

Prague is a magnificent city. There are churches, spires, and amazing buildings around every corner, and my camera was never left in my bag for long. I managed to scrape together a few days of sightseeing amongst all of the lesson stressing, but it is definitely a place I would like to go back to in order to wander the museums, streets, and shops some more.

Charles Bridge is one of my favourite tourist spots in Prague. Overloaded with souvenir sellers…yes. Packed with tourists from all over the world (including a lot of Brit hen/stag parties)…yes. But, there is a real charm to this bridge in spite of having to share it with a million other sightseers. There are entertainers ranging from a didgeridoo player to a Czech jazz band, from a blind Spanish guitarist to an American OAP barbershop-styley choir. Yes, you have to jostle for space on the bridge, and you certainly wont get a perfect shot of the bridge with no people on it (unless you’re up at the crack of dawn), but there is a great atmosphere of excitement and admiration as you walk along this bridge. Down the sides are amazing statues of people I don’t remember (apart from King Wenceslas), as well as hundreds (ok, so I’m exaggerating!) of artwork stalls. There are paintings, sketches, and photographs of Prague in a multitude of styles and colours. Of course, as one of the main tourist parts of the city, the prices are pretty steep for small pic, but if there had been the perfect shot I would have bought one to add to my collection of prints etc that I have bought on my travels. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t find what I wanted, and so (shock horror) didn’t really buy a souvenir from Prague…I decided that I would much rather have one of my own photographs blown up and framed, rather than pay for someone elses! Cheapo Lauren time! But it was still nice to wander the stalls, and look at the glass jewellery that I couldn’t afford, before stopping on the right hand side for a perfect shot of the looming Prague Castle in all its glory. I think I liked Charles Bridge so much because at night-time it was just magic, and you would look around and see the river, the glowing castle, and the distant spires, and think “wow, I’m in Prague!” Might sound stupid, but since when have my blogs and thoughts in general been exclusively ‘normal’!!

Prague Castle, St Vitus cathedral, the Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter…were also all really interesting, and you can check out my pictures on my flickr page if you want to see more. One thing in Prague was a bit of a let down however…the astronomical clock in the Old Town Square. This clock is famous for showing the time (obviously!), along with lots of other stuff….can’t quite remember what all the other hands and faces are for! Anyway, every hour this clock chimes, and people gather round to watch the clock! I knew that figures were supposed to come out of the clock…and I was expecting to see some quaint old display…something along the lines of an advanced cuckoo clock!! I arrived at the clock at 5 to the hour, and joined the huge group of people who were looking very excited about the clock chimes, and had their cameras at the ready. The clock itself is very beautiful, and is in the gorgeous town square which immediately lends it even more grandeur. I was excited to see what would happen when the hand reached 12. I’ll tell you what happened….nothing!...it was rubbish! The clock chimes, and 2 figures come out of doors above the clock face…they move out, they go back in, and that’s it! It wasn’t just me that was a bit dismayed by the lack of ‘spectacle’….everyone around me seemed to mutter a kind of ‘oh’ as they realised that what they had been waiting for had lasted for about 5 seconds! Ah well…no city is perfect!

p.s. To see more pretty Prague pics...click on my flickr box..on the right side of the blog!

All over

Where do I start with my tale of Prague? It was definitely the longest month of my life, and certainly the most stressful period of studying I have ever done….but it was worth it! I passed the course, got my qualification in EFL teaching, and made some great friends along the way. Stand by for my thoughts on the city, the people, and the reason I was there..the CELTA!