Oh Give Me A Home...

Thankfully, things were not as bad as they seemed yesterday (I know you were all sitting at the edge of your seats trying to figure out how we’d solve this problem...that is if you got through to the bottom of the message I posted yesterday). We woke early and ate a quick breakfast, getting out of the B&B by 8:30am (thank you John from Kett Kabs) and arriving at the Northamptonshire board office for 9:00am. We were shown to the “staff area” and taught how to use a futuristic looking coffee machine (which was much easier than it looked) and awaited the orientation to start.

Well, it turns out that they weren’t expecting so many teachers, and our school hadn’t registered us (so we could have missed it and none would be the wiser). However, this orientation actually taught us something about the school system and the curriculum – you know something besides “don’t kick the students”. It reminded me that I AM a teacher, and that’s what I’m here to do...teach. The past week has been crazy with so many other worries that I think I got lost in it all and the main reason I am here. The girls and I were saying that we feel more like we’re on an odd vacation and that it really hasn’t hit us yet...but I’m sure with us moving into our flat completely tomorrow, we will begin to feel the reality of things more quickly. (More on the house below) Anyhoo, so we had an interesting induction meeting today and found out at lunch that rather than the 2-day orientation they had originally planned, they just crammed it all into 1 day so we were free tomorrow. YAY!!!! Furniture can be delivered without worry!!!!

After the orientation, we hoofed it back to Kettering and to the letting agency for the signing of our lease documents and the collection of keys. We then made a mad dash for the stores to pick up some important items (i.e. vacuum, cleaning supplies, toilet paper) as most stores here close by 5:30, and made our way back to the house in the (surprise) rain. After dropping that stuff off, we quickly headed to a nearby Subway restaurant for our first “meal” eaten inside our home – albeit on the carpeted floors (yay, meatball sub!). Krista decided now would be the time to assemble the few parts required assembling on our vacuum cleaner. When I tried to help figure out why the hose wouldn’t stay in the slot, she nearly took out my eye as she swung the hose at me telling me she’d figure it out (LOL). Don’t worry, pictures will soon follow showing her finally figuring it out. We waited for our angel, Luke (the bed guy), to deliver the mattresses, then walked to Morrison’s for our linens and a few groceries (it’s like Sainsbury’s but cheaper). We headed back in a taxi and began cleaning the downstairs windows and putting up our front and back curtains (which consisted of Nike standing on large pack of toilet paper to reach the metal rods).

We called it a night and walked back to the B&B, speaking to Sylvia and Ron about tomorrow’s plans. They’ve been nice enough to offer to take us and our baggage to our place – of course requiring a couple of trips. They have been lovely!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next instalment. It promises to have a lot about killing spiders, cleaning the house from top to bottom, and making our first meal. Will we be able to assemble all our furniture before the night is through??? You’ll just have to return tomorrow to find out, now won’t you?

Interesting facts:
1) The streets are so narrow here, especially in town, that in the car it appears as if the two cars might hit each other as they drive in opposite directions of the street...but people are still driving 60 or more km/h.
2) To prevent the loss of side mirrors, a lot of people have bent in their side mirrors when they park their car. Those that don’t usually have duck tape holding up their mirror.
3) Whereas in Canada we have a white line that separates lanes going in the same direction, England has white lines to separate the two lanes of traffic (one for each direction). Yellow lines indicate where NOT to park.
4) Everything is so close here that most people walk places – and yet there are still a lot of little cars about.
5) Vehicles have two license plates – one white and one yellow. The white one (placed at the front) makes it easier for cameras to photograph the car plates; the yellow (placed at the back) makes it easier for police to read the license plate.
6) When crossing the road, look: right, left, right...except at a one way street...then good luck.
7) Don’t try to cross at a round-about...unless you have a death wish.
8) Cars park any way they can – including nose to nose...but park with a tire touching the curb and you’ve got an instant ticket.

Fun fact:
Don’t use the term “go over” as in “You really go over(board) here”. It means having sexual relations. Luckily for my roomies and me, we didn’t find that out the hard way...it was the other girls who let us know of that tidbit of information