Hello and welcome to my latest update. It has been one whole week since I finished my self isolation and so much has happened!
On Saturday I took a trip up to Camden to visit the Camden Market and Camden Lock. Emerging from the Underground I was greeted by hordes of people. People begging, people marketing, people yelling religious stuff, all sorts of people. I was immediately struck by how busy & loud it was. Camden is known for its market and its funky buildings. There are some buildings with really cool "attachments" (for lack of a better word) on the outside. Shoes for example.
When you get to the bridge you can see the Locks, one on either side of the bridge. No boats in action but still cool to see. There is a train overpass with the name Camden Lock on the side just so you know where you are.
I started by entering the market at one side, which turned out to be a big foodie area. There would have to have been 30 different food stalls selling a huge variety of cooked food and drinks. The smell was amazing! Lucky I had lunch before I went!!
A majority of the shops in the rest of the market are closed as only food shops can open. It was interesting wandering the walkways, seeing the variety of passages. One has massive old fashioned semi circle wooden doors, another had a canopy of bright pink, yellow and red umbrellas.
I stumbled upon a shop called Hans & Gretel, which is a lolly shop. A 30 minute line up outside the store and I finally got in. There is a huge wall of pick n mix lollies and a big selection of desserts. I ended up getting a bubble waffle, which was topped with lollies, strawberry chocolate sauce and Nutella. DELICIOUS!!! Perfect way to end my trip to the market.
On Sunday I took an Uber to my new place. The area I have moved to is called Acton. It is in the west and a residential area, close to 2 train stations. Turns out the house is very old and in pretty poor condition. In fact, it is actually sinking! Downstairs, we have a kitchen, toilet (under the stairs!), lounge & dining room. Upstairs we have 3 bedrooms, bathroom and toilet. My room is the tiniest in the house and just fits a double bed and portable clothes stand. Unfortunately, the house is absolutely freezing and the heating does little to warm it up. My new doona (or duvet as they call them here) keeps me toasty warm, and my housemate doesn't get home until after 8pm so I head to bed early to stay warm.
On Monday, I started a contract teaching food tech at a girls school. Terrified was an understatement of how I was feeling. The Citymapper app that everyone uses to plan their public transport journeys said it would take 50 minutes. Hmmmm, I arrived in 25 minutes! School reception isn't open at 7.20am! Due to covid, the school has adopted a staggered timetable. Yr 7/9 are 8.15am-2.35pm, yr 9 are 8.25am-2.45pm and yr 10/11 are 8.35am-3pm & they also have lunch at a different time to the other year levels. All done to reduce the amount of students in the common areas at the same time. Diagonally across the road is the boys school. They have classes 7-10 for boys and they also have coed sixth form. The school is newly rebuilt and is amazing. They have 4 stories and a roof top terrace and rooftop basketball court for students. I have been at the girls school for 3 days now and the staff are all fantastic. I met another Aussie teacher yesterday, a PE teacher from Tassie. Masks are mandatory at all times on the school property so at least your face is kept warm. Lucky for me, all the work for all the classes has been planned by the teacher so I don't have to do any planning. The girls have all ben great too, which ease my anxiety over the possible behaviour I have heard about with London students. I will be at this school until 31st March when the Easter holidays start. It is a nice day for me, I arrive around 8am, start class at 9am and leave at 2.30pm. Home by 3.30pm at the latest which is great.
This weekend I hope to hit up a market in the area and maybe head to a park for a walk.
Stay tuned for more updates next week!