Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire

Hello all!

I know it's been a while, but I've been semi-busy, semi-lazy over here and I haven't gotten used to this whole blog thing. Here's what I've been up to since the last post:

Canadian Thanksgiving: Still keeping up with the Canuck holidays and what better way to celebrate than with fellow Canadians! Me and the other maple syrup-loving teachers gathered for a night of good food and good company. Here's a pic of our glorious meal, courtesy of Gwen's cooking finesse.

Work: I've actually been working sort of steadily since the mid-Autumn term break. However, it still isn't every day, hence this posting in the middle of the day. It's been a struggle adjusting from a relaxing student life to the real adult world, made more difficult by the fact that I don't have an actual full-time job and have more days off than I probably should. I need someone to give me a kick in the pants to really "grow up." On the plus side, the school I've been supplying at recently is the best that I've had so far, with kids being more comparable to those found in Canada as opposed to out-of-control hellions in the other London schools. Thank goodness, because I was on the verge of rethinking this whole teaching thing and having to come up with Plan C. On the other hand, Plan A (as in the acting thing) has yet to pan out so far...I've been looking at auditions and such and am finding it difficult to find ones that match my description as I am neither Caucasian, Black or Asian (which has a different meaning here than at home, Asian here being Indian, Pakistani, etc. as opposed to East Asian or "Oriental" as if I were a rug). There does not seem to be as many indie films that don't care what race you are which is mildly irritating, but is something that I've noticed about London in general. The amount of times that my Chinese-ness has come up is surprising given how multicultural the city is.

Poland: I went to visit Basia in Krakow over the mid-Autumn break. The trip was amazing, despite enduring two 26-hour bus journeys to get there and back and atrocious American movies (i.e. What Happens in Vegas, Are We There Yet?) with even more atrocious, monotonous Polish dubbing. Krakow is a beautiful city with lots of great food and historic buildings galore. If only I had more time there! I also went to Auschwitz-Birkenau which made for a rather harrowing day, but it was incredible to actually be there and see the place in real life rather than in grainy black and white photographs. I also went to this awesome 70o year-old salt mine in Wieliczka which was full of sculptures carved from salt by the miners that worked there over the years. There are even a couple dozen chapels carved into the place, and one of them was as big as a church and gorgeous. If I ever get married and convert to Catholicism, I am soooo getting married there.

Birthday: The big 2-5. Yes, my quarter century has now come and gone. It's all downhill from here. I suppose I had built up the milestone in my head but I can't honestly say that I feel any different. Shouldn't I be a little wiser?

Other: I feel very settled here and I'm loving it! There are still many tourist-y things that I'd like to do and my list just keeps getting longer. One of my favorite things about living here are the markets, filled to the brim with food from all over the world and random trinkets. I also found the best way to watch a movie: Secret Cinema. You buy tickets to a movie but you have no clue what it is til the night before when they drop hints. You dress up for the event and show up to the venue that's all decked out by theme and people dressed up as characters from the movie. We went to one on Halloween to see Alien and it was awesome! I never want to see another movie any other way.

I also plan on taking advantage of more concerts since it seems like everyone comes to London to play. The Simian Mobile Disco gig was fabulous, and totally different from the more intimate gig in Osaka. I'm going to see Protest the Hero at the end of the month for a little bit of Canadiana, metal-style! Other than that, I should be saving as I've just purchased my ticket to visit Osaka over Christmas. Due to lack of fundage, my European adventures may be limited for a time, but someday France, I shall invade you!

And with that, I shall leave you all for now. Until next time...