Satisfactory

It doesn't sound great - it's not 'stunning', or 'mind-blowing'. But when the only other option is 'unsatisfactory', suddenly it starts to sound much better. I got my file signed off yesterday, and I've officially passed placement. Makes going in for the rest of the week seem a bit pointless. I'd love to have the next 3 days off - I'm going to Sweden on Monday, and I'll only get a week's break when I'm there.
But yeah, it feels nice to pass - especially since I got a 'poor' on my observation sheet last Thursday, when I was doing a lesson involving making rice crispie cakes. There were two main things wrong with my teaching that the teacher wrote down. One was 'You didn't have a TA' (yeah, it's my poor teaching that she had instructed the TA to leave), and the other was 'The chocolate didn't melt quickly enough.' Seriously. It was a poor lesson on my part, because chocolate melts too slowly.

Well, anyway, I've not got much more to say for the time being. I'm quite tired after a bit of a mad weekend - went back to Catford on Friday, then to the Fox, then to Greenwich park on Saturday, then to a party in London, then back to Newham to sleep, then went back to Catford for a few hours on Sunday evening, to go to the Fox to see what an acoustic night is like. Clare Portman was there, so it was nice to finally meet her, and she played an acoustic set which was also a pleasant surprise. Only thing was, I had to end my busy weekend by leaving after 3 of her songs, to get back to Newham at 10:30. Still, I'm playing at the Fox on Sunday, which I'm really excited about. I'm hoping it'll be good fun; I've invited an awful lot of people, so it should be a nice little farewell dealy.

Being in London has been excellent, largely because I've been able to see Tamsin at least twice a week (though not for very long periods), and I've also got to see a lot of good people who I literally haven't seen for years. So I'm hoping I'll get to see people a lot in the summer as well. Had a horrible summer in 2006, so I hope I can have a good one.
Ha, it must seem mental thinking about the summer, when it's been snowing a little these last 2 days.

Good times

Yes, that's right, times are good. Tesco are now selling full-fat goat's milk, so breakfast is now a hugely enjoyable meal. Speaking of food, I passed a kebab shop on the way back from school today called 'Kebabish'. I thought it was delightfully uncertain. I went in there, and said "Do you sell kebabs?" And they said "Kinda..."
There are a lot of kebab shops around; it's a very Asian area. Lots of the mums at school wear those things on their heads that cover their whole face, except the eyes. After actually seeing someone wearing it up close (rather than on TV), I've pinpointed why it makes me (and others) a bit uneasy. And I think it's probably because it's the sort of thing a criminal would wear. A black mask, concealing the whole face, is what someone would wear if they were about to rob you, or injure you in some way. It's quite, quite, disconcerting.

But anyway, school today - it was good fun. I taught my first lesson, and it went really well. I was pretty worried beforehand, but the teacher was full of praise. I'm starting to get a handle on the children's names now as well; one kid seems to be named after a place from Lord of the Rings, and he is mad. On the first day, the teacher said:
"OK, today we're going to talk about houses. Who has any questions about houses?"
*hands go up*
Teacher: "Yes, you."
Student 1: "Erm..."
Teacher: "OK, how about you?
Student 2: "Umm...."
Teacher: "OK, how about you?"
LotR Kid: "Houses!"

And today, the teacher asked what everyone did during half term:
Teacher: "So what did you do at half-term, LotR?"
LotR: "I saw Charlotte's Web, then... I... weeeennnt, toooooo, TTHHHHEEEEEE!!!!!!........ ummm......." *starts tapping head* "Ting ting ting. Ting ting ting, ting ting ting."
Teacher: "Yes, LotR, where did you go?"
LotR: "Ting, ting ting... it had... FIRE AND BUBBLES."

Turns out he was talking about the science museum.

Placement (still not in Sweden...)

So here I am, still not in Sweden. But I've moved into the Newham accommodation, and started placement, where I'll be for the next 6 or 7 weeks. I've been incredibly ill recently though, so nothing has been fun; I've not even been able to read through the paaaaages of handouts bestowed upon us by Canterbury, to find out what I'm meant to do.
I feel a bit disadvantaged, because us Newham people had to start on Tuesday instead of Monday. And my teacher was observing all day Tuesday, so really I started on Wednesday (today). Although today, she was being observed herself, and told me she'd talk to me tomorrow morning about what I need to do; and I was feeling so ill and tired, that I left after lunch. I just needed a good long nap. Which I just had :).
It's nice living with new people; E said that a child in her school yesterday, said to another child "You have AIDS in your head.

Anyway, I need to go phone my Tam; I hope this post has been educational.