My super boring journal

Dearly Departed

gentlesue — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:08:00 GMT

The jornal has finally given up the ghost due to a lack of interesting things to tell you all about. What I will miss the most is comments from strangers telling me it is boring. Get ready for mass emails everyone.

Ridin on the Marrakech Express.

gentlesue — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Hello! I have just come back from Marrakesh. It was very fun. It was super hot a lot of the time. One day it was 43 degrees. That was awesome. I was reminded of home. There were a lot of cool things about Marrakech so I will mention them first. There were a lot of gardens. In these gardens there are cacti and palm trees. One garden was made by Yves St Laurent as a present to the city. It has a lot of blue.

There were stray kittens all over the place. They were super cute and also a bit mangy so you didn’t want them to ever touch you but appreciated their presence. There were also loads of pigeons. They were gross though. They would stand at the edge of the pool and groom. Yuk yuk yuk!

There were a couple of museums/galleries that were pretty cool. The best thing about them was the architecture. All of the buildings were very ornate. They had a honeycomb façade on the outside that is really intricate. There was an old Islamic school that was really nicely decorated. You went into the students rooms and they were all really small but quite nice.

People drove crazy. And the local people would just weave through six lanes of traffic. I thought on many occasions that I would die.

The markets were extensive and contained a vast range of different things. The funnest part was to go through the meat market where they had half cows strung up, unrefrigerated on the street. There were organs hung up in this one shop and I saw intestines, kidneys, a liver an oesophagus and a range of indistinguishable bits.

There was this fountain at the entrance to the park that had bits of rubbish floating in it. On a really hot day there were kids swimming in it. I took a picture.

The hotel took two bottles of water off me because I had purchased them offsite. I was incensed. Actually I got away with bringing loads of food in the hotel, but I was angry for about 3 days.

We mainly ate at places that were recommended in the guidebook BUT, there was this place just up the road from the hotel that smelled really nice when we went passed. It was really local. We decided to go there on the last day. We were the only females there and no one spoke English and there were no menus and everyone looked at us. I got feet meat. I don’t know what animal it can from but it was black bits of skin handing off bone a claws. It stank. We payed and left and went to get a sandwich.

The worst thing about Marrakech was being a spectacle. Everywhere you were looked at and talked to. The markets were terrible. You got hassled everywhere. I got a bit paranoid. I started just ignoring EVERYONE. I felt terribly rude but it really was not worth the bother.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying themselves. School starts on Monday. But just for teachers. On Wednesday the kids come back which is my birthday.

Lesley and Dan's journal entry

gentlesue — Sun, 5 Aug 2007 11:37:00 GMT

Well, we chose to visit Britain during its wettest summer on record! The south of England has flooded twice, and the Thames River has burst its banks in Oxford. We were in Paris when that happened, and fortunately had only one day of rain when we were there. That was the day that Susan and Dan decided to go to Euro-Disney! As I write this, the rain is bucketing down. This weather is a major contrast with my last sojourn to Britain in the summer of 1976, when there was a record drought, with fairly constant temperatures of about 35 degrees, and all the grass was the colour of straw.

We have had no major disasters, and I hope it continues that way, since we fly back to Australia tomorrow (Sunday 29^th). I left the mobile phone I bought in Edinburg on the Sandown Bay bus here in the Isle of Wight, and although I reported it within 20 minutes, it was never found. Also, we lost all our photos of Paris due to a faulty memory card in the camera. I am definitely not a fan of high technology.

These have been the highlights of our trip for me:

Shanklin. We are about 10 metres from the beach. There is a great British holiday atmosphere here on the Esplanade (despite the weather). It is very relaxed. Everything is close and the scenery is very pretty.

- The Isle of Wight as a whole is at least as pretty as anywhere else we visited in Britain/Ireland.

- Hong Kong. We stayed 3 nights there on our way to Britain. Very noisy, busy and safe. Everyone is occupied and has a good standard of living thanks to government policies. The harbour lights looked like fairyland when we landed at night.

- Visit to Littlehampton (where I was born). I was able to meet up with some of my relatives and my mother’s best friend’s daughter and her family. I also retraced my steps in Littlehampton and Wick (the suburb where I lived) and took photos of everything. Some areas are a bit run-down and overgrown with weeds, and the central shopping area appears smaller. The alleyways around the back of our old house were black gravel when I was growing up; in 1976 they had been bitumenised over; now they are pale grey rubble. We had a lovely welcome at the comfortable and cosy Victoria Hotel in New Road where we stayed.

- Boat trip around the Thames in London. Although London is greatly over-rated and quite ugly, as monstrosities of buildings have been allowed to be built next to historical ones, the boat trip was good because of all the historical scenery and the commentary by the cockney guide.

- Edinburg is an attractive and friendly city with unspoilt Georgian (I think) architecture, and a magnificent view from the hill. It was COLD!

- The Welsh Countryside. We did not spend long in Wales, but I would like to go there again. The Welsh accent is my favourite.

- Paris is very pretty and well-organised, but you have to be young and fit to live there, which most Parisians seem to be, probably from all the steps they have to climb up and down in the Metro stations. They also like you to speak French, which also gives you mental exercise.

- Places I could live: Shanklin, Edinburg (with central heating), Belfast, Cherbourg.

A couple of comments: Nearly everywhere in Britain the homes are within walking distance of shops and community areas, reducing the need for cars. There are very few large shopping centres as we know them in Perth. In Perth we are spoilt for shopping. However, shops here are often open until late in the evening. Unfortunately, I must also say that I felt safer walking out at night everywhere we visited than I would walking down Stafford Road, Kenwick at night. Now it is Dan’s turn to comment:

Hi every body there might be a few speeling mistakes that’s because its midnight I am sopostto tell yall aboot disnepworldland now I start with a statement it was bliss I went on thr33 rollercoasters and there did backflips and loop d loops and they were soooo fast but all the picures gfot deleated so,me how and they had a parade it was awesome.

OK!! Well that seems to be it from us for now.

The BEST journal ever!

gentlesue — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:20:00 GMT

Helen I am so sorry I didn't put any journal up. I went a bit crazy this week with lazy. But the lazy has lifted and I am back rareing? to go. For anyone who missed it Helen had some exciting news. She has purchased a home. 3 brd, 1 bath in Armadale. A bit of a fixer-upper but I think that will suit her just fine. Congratulations Helen.

Since my last journal I went on holidays to France and have recieved special visitors. In France I went to Normandy and traveld around to a lot of the sights from the war. It was very interesting. It was awesome to be in country France aswell. Everything looked very French and peaceful. Paris is a bit dirty and busy and cold... but I will give Paris one more chance...We caught the Ferry to Caen. That was pretty cool. A bit like a cruise. And I ate Fois Gras and bought lots of CHEAP wine. A good trip all round.

I have had mum and Dan here but they are on their tour at the minute. Mum LOVES the island just as I had predicted she would. Daniel is very tall. They are good house guests. They keep tidy and mum cooked a few times. We went to Godshill which is a very quaint village here. We had a traditional roast lunch, played in a hedge maze and visited the model village. The model village was awesome (particulary as we had watched 'Hot Fuzz' the night before). You could see the model of my house except there was no house it was just the area when my house would be built. Mum and Dan wil be guest journallers next time.

Steve and Steph had their baby. He is called Sebastien and he is very cute. I caught the bus and walked in the rain to visit him on Sunday. I have sea monkeys in my classroom now. We hatched them from eggs. They are AWESOME.

I have new classes now. I like the two I have had so far. They year 9's have become year 10's and the year 10's have become year 11's. And I just got my new contract. I get a pay rise and get paid over the summer which are the two things I wanted. It is good. England has had it's wettest day since records began... it rained quite a bit.

Love to you all. It wil be less than one month before I put my next journal up... i promise... for definately.

Worst Journal Ever

gentlesue — Wed, 9 May 2007 21:20:00 GMT

Hello, It made me smile that Mrs James was correcting Simons grammar. Particularily because I didn’t understand and had to read Simons comment twice to pick it up. My journals would fail anyones grammar test.

I have been very busy without actually doing much this past little while. I have been planning for mum and Dans impending visit. I was feeling quite proud until I realized I was stupid with dates. It will be fixed.

Since my last journal the weather has been absolutely beautiful and I have gone to a barbeque each weekend. It reminds me of home… You can buy disposable barbeques that look like a roasting tray with coals in it. You light it and cook on a tray on top. I thought it was interesting. Everyone thought I was being strange. If you tip the coals on the beach you can step on them when they are still glowing hot. It doesn’t hurt. But if you get little ones caught in the lines of your feet then it burns. Best not to show off.

I have put some pictures up. They are pictures that other people have taken around the place. As I have not gone anywhere I figured these would be good pictures. The people are those from work or other foreign teachers on the island. Jon Paul is in one of them. He is gone now though. Ebony, Helen and Melissa met some of the people. They are my friends.

The English do absolutely spectacular lifestyle programs. There is relocation/relocation where people want a country house and a city house and they go buy them. It is awesome. They came to the Isle of Wight once… they moved to Sandown. There is Grand Designs where people build funny houses. One was a giant houseboat and one was really small and had a bathtub under the bed! There is A place in the sun, where people buy foreign houses. Usually in Spain or France. It is funny when they go to Bulgaria though. Bulgaria doesn’t seem like the most happening place in the world. My favorite at the moment is It’s not easy being green where a guy travels around and makes people more environmental. They reuse lots of things. I like it.

England also has MILLIONS of celebrity chefs. I watched a show tonight all about desserts. It was weaker than many others.

This is officially the worst journal ever. I feel inferior. I have run out of things to say. Congratulations to Simon and Tim on there new abode.

Easter was yesterday... I have failed!

gentlesue — Mon, 9 Apr 2007 16:30:00 GMT

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a truly spectacular easter. At this point I am still yet to have eaten any easter eggs so I am very proud of myself. Thank you to Melissa for sending you kind gift. It was very thoughtful.

I am on holidays. Hurrah! So far I have watched a lot of tv and movies over the internet. Everyone should check out ‘The Departed’. I thought it was good.

Here is what has been happening to me. A couple of weeks back I caught the bus up to Cowes to meet up with some friends that still live there. That was fine. It started getting late so I decided to head home. I sat and waited quietly at the bus stop watching thousands of teenage hooligans ransack this quaint little town. The police drive passed. Who do they decide is more of a threat to the public, the teenage gang, or me, a lone woman sitting at the bus stop. Of course they choose me. A policeman gets out and starts asking me questions where I’ve been, what I’m doing… And takes my name and address. I was quite put out. But also, a little bit glad. It gives me something to write about.

I spend a couple of days this week in London. I saw Taryn, Neil and Ezra and I stayed with Kellee who Ebony and Helen will remember from Ireland. The crowds were absolutely incredible! I spent a good 15 minutes trying to push through the turnstiles at the tube station. The crowds and the fact that I was staying in a shared household with 7 other people made me quite glad that I came to the Isle of Wight rather that London. It was good to visit though. I went shopping and I went to the Tate Modern. The tate Modern was really cool. It was school holidays so there was a big line up for all of the slides so I didn’t go down them. Besides, It is a bit lame to wait in line for a slide by yourself. My favorite room was the surrealists. They had even arranged the pieces all higgledy piggledy to add to the atmosphere.

I went to the west end and saw a show. I saw Equus with Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths. It was very good. Daniel Radcliffe was naked in the last scene. Not something you see everyday.

On my way back home I caught the ferry to Ryde and waited for a train. I waited and waited and waited and waited… for about 45minutes until finally someone came up to me and said there were taxis waiting outside to take people to where they needed to go. I got in the taxi and asked the driver why the trains weren’t running. He said someone had thrown a bicycle on the tracks. Is it just me or would it not be simpler to pick the bicycle up off the tracks and keep the train going than to stop everything and to pay for people to be ferried about by taxi. I got home in the end anyway.

I want to visit one other place in England before the holidays finish. Just for the day probably. I have yet to decide where though. Only one more week of holidays left. Grrrr!

I didn't take any pictures this trip. The one at the top was from the first time I went to London.

If only i could think of a funny title...

gentlesue — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:28:00 GMT

Hello everybody!

I have moved my location on the Isle of Wight since the last you heard from me. I have moved from sunny Cowes to sunny Shanklin. It does not lend it self as well to parodies of its name as well as Cowes did. And yet it is sufficient. It is actually very pretty and I live right across from the beach. It’s a good beach too. A sandy one not a shingle one. I am sitting in my front room now watching some guy on a jet ski. The down side is that most of my friends live in Cowes so I have been spending a fair bit of time on the bus going between the two.

Jon Paul left on Sunday. I was very sad. I was actually quite sad packing on Friday night ready to leave our flat. It was a nice place to live and I liked living with Jon Paul. Now I am in a much smaller 1 bed flat by myself. The upside is that when mum and Daniel come to visit the crazy of the Faheys can be contained and does not have to be subjected to anyone else.

Other new developments include the discovery of ‘facebook’ which I guess is like a more grown up version of bebo and myspace. It is apparently much bigger in North America than Australia because Jon Paul has found heaps of his school friends and I have not found any… maybe it is just that I have no friends… all my friends on ‘facebook’ are Canadian. You should all join facebook. I promise it’s not nerdy at all…

Umm… My phone doesn’t really work here. I have to get another number. I will do it eventually. Also, please email me if you want my new address. Please discontinue the old one. I have also no landline phone so it may be tricky to talk to people for a while. I have been getting on the Skype quite often lately and yet there is no one there. I will be on Sunday morning around 10.00am which will be 7.00pm Sunday night your time. You should do it. My free tv box doesn’t work here either…. I will miss all my favorite shows. Oh well!

Ooh. The Head teacher of my school has been suspended by the governers. Apparently it has to do with Health and Safety issues resulting from a high number of violent incidents against staff and other students. On Thursday afternoon my class came running in asking what had happened and I hadn’t heard anything yet and thought they were lying.

The picture is the view from my window......

Have a good St Patrick’s day everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Si hay un problema con la vuelta de Tejas alrededor y asperje el mar.

gentlesue — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 21:27:00 GMT

Hola,

Mel and I have returned form Espanol! It was a super great trip and we had a great time (I did anyway).

Spain is very beautiful. There are many beautiful buildings. The Gaudi buildings are particularly beautiful. You can see some pictures in the ‘Barcelona’ section. In Spain not many people spoke English which was a bit difficult but was also kind of cool because we could work it out without too much trouble. Our beds at the hostel were very short. I think this is because the Spanish people tend to be shorter.

The weather was lovely. It was 20+ degrees everyday (except for the day we left when it rained).

We went to the Picasso museum which had a lot of his early paintings. The things he did when he was 15 were seriously good. I was very impressed.

We ate Spanish food. Paella and seafood. We also drank Sangria which was awesome. It reminded me of Lou Reed.

We also had Japanese while we were there which was cool because there was a real Spanish spin to it.

Along ‘La Rambilas’ which is the main shopping street in Barcelona there were billions of Pet shops. These were outdoor stalls that sold all sorts of animals. The best animals were turtles and tortoises and ducks and giant snails. I loved them all and would have spent all day there had Mel not rightly gotten sick of it.

We went to ‘Guell Park’ and ‘Segrada Familia’ which are Gaudi constructions. Segrada Familia is a temple that has been under construction since 1904. It is amazing. There are lots of mosaics and curved angles.

Guell Park was a very beautiful Park that had lots of really unique features. The most famous bit is the mosaic lizard which the guy was fixing while we were there so we couldn’t see it. But we sat and listened to a guy play the mandolin(I think it was a mandolin) in a magical park in Spain.

It was a great trip. I miss you Mel!

Birthdays and Batteries

gentlesue — Tue, 6 Feb 2007 22:47:00 GMT

Hello all,

Firstly, I would like to say happy birthday to Helen! I hope you will enjoy an extended birthday.

I have come down from the giddy excitement of Europe and have settled in once again to the giddy apathy of Ryde High School. The kids are all doing exams. The grade boundries here are weird. To get an A sometimes you only have to get 55% in the exam! A B will be 38%!

They are all doing pretty bad though. I had a 9 out of 100! Probably a C. J

In other news, our car broke down this week. It was Saturday and we were on our way to see that movie about American Football with the Rock in it when the car wouldn’t start. In retrospect it was probably a blessing I didn’t have to sit through 2 hours or societal reform through sports.

Anyway, We didn’t have use of our car. I immediately ran inside the house and rang Dad. He confirmed that the battery had died. Usually he would then come over and fix it for me but he said the trip would be too long! Selfish.

So, I rang my boss who came over and tried to jump start the car. It didn’t work. Our car is diesel and needs a man-sized portion of energy. Then we decided we needed a new battery. We went to a place in Newport who said a new battery would be 74 pounds. That is $184. As the car was free we declined and decided to find a cheap second hand one.

After school today we went to the scrap yard. It was awesome! There was a huge mountain of wires and then a huge mountain of doors, another of bumpers and so on. We were ushered to the battery mountain and shown an old diesel battery that cost 7 pounds. ($17.50) I couldn’t buy it quick enough.

At around 8.00pm my boss popped in to lend us tools to change the batteries over. He was in a rush and didn’t stop to help us. Jon Paul and I changed the battery in the freezing cold dark all by ourselves. It was tricky too because the battery was awkwardly bracketed in. About 30 minutes after entering the cold to tackle the battery we emerged victorious over the machine, elated with our newfound sense of self sufficiency. We did a victory lap around Cowes and freaked out the Chavs.

How exciting my life must be! My car breaking down is the most interesting thing to have happened all week.

If you are bored ask Ebony for a game of FORENSIC DETECTIVE

gentlesue — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 20:29:00 GMT

Hello Everyone,

We have been gone for 2 weeks and have 1 week left or there abouts. The further along in the trip we go the quicker everything seems to whiz by. Amsterdam lasted forever and Rome just whizzed by. SO far we have stayed in Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Venice, Rome and we are in Florence right now. Mine and Eb's favorite has been Berlin. The Berlin wall (part of it at least) was what i refereed to in my last mail. Helen's favorites have been Prague and Rome.

Our contiki group os the quiet sedate one. (Relitively speaking) There are lots of couples and everyone seems to get along quite well. There are 2 Canadians, 2 Americans and 1 New Zealander. The rest are Australians. There are quite a few from Perth though which is a bit strange. Speaking of Perth, if you live in Perth (Or Adelaide] you get in tho the collesium for half price. We are not quite sure why.

We have seen many of the famous things that people see in Europe. I will briefly list my favorite things both famous and not so famous things.

In Amsterdam I really liked the Van Gogh museum. You saw a lot of his paintings coupled with other paintings that were inspired by or inspired them. It was cool.
In Berlin we saw the remaining sections of the Wall and were taken to various sites from World War II. It was very interesting.
When you went in to West Berlin from East there were people who would stamp your passport with the stamp from when the wall stood. This was vey illegal but vey cool.
The flashing man at traffic lights in East Berlin wears a hat.
In Prague we saw a black light puppet show. That was magical.
In Munich we went to the Hofbrauhaus which was the beer hall hitler drank in in before trying to overtake the government in munich. It is also the sight of his assasination attempt. iT IS STILL A VERY POPULAR BEER HALL.
Rome we saw a church that was entirely decorated with the skeletons of deeased monks. That was awesome.

OK. That is all I have the energy for Helen put a comment up for the last entry seconds before I wrote this so check that also.

Seeya.