Merrymaking in Meltham

I've just returned from a very nice Christmas in Meltham if I may say so myself. The extreme flooding my house suffered almost a week ago has left no damage or mouldy stink, to my surprise, so Christmas wasn't ruined after all. Also, I'm amazed how much wine I consumed, and how little it affected me, during these last few days; perhaps I'm not as underprepared for New Year's Eve in Belfast as I originally thought.

But, New Year's Eve is still yet to come.

The village was treated with a modest snowfall (much of which I shovelled off the roads so Sarah and Tim and the dogs could get through when they arrived), which made for some very pleasing photography and some light trudging through Meltham's countryside.

Countdown to Crimbo

Yesterday was the first snowfall of winter here in Leeds, and it really set off the Christmas vibe for the next three weeks. I'm finished school until January 4th, with a full time teaching position at Airedale High School & Arts College. Set in the olde English mining town of Castleford, Airedale High boasts a pleasing backdrop of rolling Yorkshire hills, quaint brick houses and cobblestoned roads, and a gigantic power station that spews billowing clouds of steam across the modest landscape.

I've got plenty to do this break. Tomorrow is my friends' sixth annual Christmas party in Vancouver (I will be attending via webcam like I did in South Korea, although unfortunately this year I'll have to start drinking at 8am), and I've got Christmas in Meltham and New Year's Eve in Belfast to look forward to.

Additional: Angie from Calgary was lovely enough to send me a hand-knitted festive scarf and Vancouver 2010 mittens! Look at me in all my Christmas splendour. It's the clothing equivalent of mince pies.

You may have noticed I'm holding a giant icicle in my hands. The untouched natural beauty of it is pictured below, before I snapped it off that drainpipe.

Christkindelmarkt!

Leeds has a German Christmas market. I went there with some actual Germans and they told me it was exactly like home, so well done Leeds.

Highlights of this magical kingdom included:

1. Bratwurst. The real deal. A huge greasy sausage, folded in half, unceremoniously shoved into a bun and slathered with German mustard and sauerkraut. Christmas indeed had come early, I thought, as I crammed it greedily into my face.

2. Piping hot wine. I released a large quantity of snot after repeated attempts to take a sip of this stuff without the pungent fumes making me snort like a rhinoceros. My stomach liked it but my mouth reluctantly let it pass, so essentially it affected me in exactly the opposite way that eating an entire bag of Cheetos would.

3. A carousel. Germans take things to the extreme. This thing rotated at 250% the speed of an average merry-go-round. It was nevertheless delightful, although I wouldn't recommend eating bratwurst while riding it.

Among these treasures, there were plenty of opportunities to drink German beer, which is actually quite good, that is, if you're used to drinking refrigerated urine. My friend Jade argued that it was better than English beer because it was fizzy, which I quickly rebutted with the fact that urine also fizzes when it's fresh. Speaking of beer, my favourites thus far are John Smith's and Tetley's. Cheap stouts. Guinness really isn't all that special after all.

Guy Fawkes Night

This was my first Bonfire Night. I've snagged some of my friend's photos to stick on here because I didn't bring my camera. The highlight was definitely receiving a text message from my aunt, exactly as the fireworks drew to a finale, exclaiming that I had a new cousin-once-removed - a girl, still unnamed, and born within minutes of firework displays igniting across the nation.

The teaching has picked up and I'm becoming more confident as both a classroom instructor and disciplinarian. I taught at one of the top schools in Leeds on Friday, and I'm burning with motivation to apply there directly for a Maths position and get my career going. Next day off will be spent tweaking my CV and perhaps buying a new tie if I'm feeling sassy enough.

Not a lesson goes by where a voice doesn't ask "Sir, are you American?" as I take attendance.

I've been teaching at a variety of schools. The worst one had a double fence around the perimeter of the school grounds, police officers patrol the corridors during class hours, and the school goes on lockdown at lunchtime. There are security doors at the end of each corridor and mandatory bag searches as students enter the building.

I went to London again over the half-term break and stayed with my friend Naz from university. Then I met up with Beljen in Coventry and spent the day with her and her family. Apparently the Urbas family can't bowl because I ended up with one of the highest scores.

It's come to my attention that this blog sucks. I'm considering neglecting it until something more interesting happens.

London

I've been to London before, but only on family vacations. Which probably explains why it was SO much better this time.

Angie, the girl I met in the Calgary airport, had made it back to England after backpacking Europe, so I decided to go down to London and spend the day with her. We powered through London and got to every major tourist attraction that we both wanted to see that day.. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. The London Eye held some incredible views of London, and I'm just glad it was such good weather, and also glad that my crippling fear of heights wasn't too obvious. The crown jewels completely floored me at the almost obscene extravagance of it all. Bonus attractions of the day included the Millenium Bridge, which I instantly recognised from Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (it's the metal footbridge that gets ripped apart in a ruthless Muggle killing by Voldemort.. just so you know) and a glimpse of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Angie was sad that the performances had ended only two days ago. I was sad that I'd neglected to take a photo of Henry VII's enormous armoured codpiece.

After London I set off for Adrian and Kat's place in Oxford. At this point my legs had become made entirely of sawdust after a day of striding around London with a backpack for seven hours. Three greasy train rides later, I was greeted by a jovial man with a patchy ginger monstrosity on his face who I soon realised to be my brother and his alleged "thesis beard". I stayed over and had dinner with Adrian and Kat, but I didn't have much time over at Oxford because I had to take a train back to Leeds early the next morning.

My criminal record check has finally come through, which means I can teach soon! I have an orientation meeting for a potential job as a Freelance Induction Facilitator for FilmClub in two days! Sheer optimism floods me.

Back in the Motherland

As you know, I recently moved to England.

The journey was pretty standard. I made friends with an actress from Calgary as we waited for our flight in the airport. On the plane I sat next to some really friendly people my age: a dairy farmer who had never left his town before, and a girl who works at a ski shop in Calgary. Both were English. The farmer remarked to us how large the engine of the plane was compared to the houses down below. We got a great view of the Northern Lights as we flew over Greenland. I watched most of 17 Again, which ended up being not actually all that unfunny.

After spending some time in Meltham with my aunt and uncle and grandparents I have finally arrived at my permanent living destination. From what I've seen of Leeds, it seems like a very attractive city, with about the same level of traffic congestion as Vancouver and roughly the same climate. So really, there's nothing much different here. The only catch is that I'm going to have to learn how to speak Goblin.

Many of the locals here are only able to communicate through a series of heated, rapid, gummy mumblings that I've come to realise is the Northern equivalent of English. Through body language and polite noises of feigned comprehension, I can convince many of them that I have in fact understood what they've said to me. In time, I hope to be accepted as one of their own.

My house is great. It's narrow, but there are four storeys, and we each get a floor to ourselves. I have a huge room in the basement and I have my own bathroom. I tested the shower; it wasn't even on full blast when the propulsive force of the showerhead sprayed everything in the bathroom.

In a nutshell, nothing interesting has happened so far. If anything funny happens I'll be sure to write about it. Once the teaching starts, I have a feeling I'll have more material. Here are some photos of Meltham, Leeds, and my house: