Road to London 2012

Around the beginning of the year I was riding on the Tube and noticed a new advertisement that had gone up in the train. It talked about needing people to volunteer sign up to be a Gamesmaker for the London 2012 Olympics. “Gamesmaker” was the term they gave to the individuals in the volunteer force that is so vital to staging a successful games. I thought of how amazing an opportunity it would be to actually be involved in the operations of the Olympics and sent in an application as soon as I could.

Many of you have been well informed of the progress of this application since then. I heard nothing for so long and then was, out of the blue, selected to be a part of the basketball test event held in August. As a member of the Press Operations team I manned the tribune area where reporters and writers sit to watch the games take place and type articles or make notes. It was a pretty easy gig and I had the chance to watch all 15 basketball games. A tough job but, you know, somebody has to do it.

After getting a lot of good feedback from the management team regarding my job I was hotly anticipating an interview for Gamesmaker very soon. Around mid-October I received that chance. I travelled over to the ExCel Centre in London’s east end pier area to begin my journey to the actual Olympics themselves. Well…I first had to begin the journey BACK to my house to retrieve my forgotten passport, but THEN I was on the journey to the actual Olympics themselves!

The set up was pretty legit. I went through a few admin processes and had my picture taken then went to watch a short “pump up” video with the other people there for interviews. Once I actually sat down with my interviewer it was a very informal conversation. She kept asking me to explain moments that I overcame adversity or was really proud of something or how I’ve worked with a team, blah blah blah. She wrote a lot of what I was saying down but I think the kicker was when I mentioned I had already worked for the Press team at a test event. Her average words per minute speed must have quadrupled because her pen was flying across the page when I mentioned that. I felt my chances were good.

After concluding the interview they send you on your way (where you are forced to walk through an Olympic shop….) and you can sign a board. There are multiple boards signed by every one of the 200 000 people who have applied and gone through an interview process. That’s kind of a lot….just saying.

Just one of the many walls of messages from interviewees

It was a beauty day out when I left and strolled for a bit. I managed to capture some great photos of the waterfront. Yeah, I live here…it’s awesome.

Riding the DLR in the front...who's driving this thing??

After a beer and some greasy noodles (what?) I headed back home. They told me it wouldn’t be until around December when I would hear back whether I was successful or not. I received an e-mail 6 days later telling me I was being offered a Gamesmaker position. Nice. My official role is “Mixed Zone Team Member” for the Basketball Arena (I think the test event experience may have played a part in this). The mixed zone is the tunnel where reporters and media can talk to the athletes and get quotes or interviews. Players are not required to speak to the press here but many of them do. My job is to make sure everything runs smoothly in this process. This means I will hopefully catch a glimpse of some big name players as they stroll through the tunnel to the locker rooms…awesome!

Updates on teaching and travelling to come!

Cheers and love,

Erik

The Merchant of BUSY!

Over the course of this week I have been in a wonderful production of The Merchant of Venice at the South London Theatre. This is my third show at SLT and is one of the most enjoyable (although I do say that, each show I’ve been in has been very different with a variety of people and thus a unique and wonderful experience in and of themselves). For a brief synopsis of the show you can click here to be directed towards the SLT website.

In this version of the show I play Launcelot Gobbo, a clown character who is a servant of Shylock and becomes a servant of Bassanio. Launcelot has a famous speech (used for comedic auditions) involving an odd conversation. He explains to the audience that he wishes to leave the servitude of Shylock but does not know whether to run or stay. He has an angel and a devil on his shoulders directing him either way and reports the conversation he had with them to the audience. The staging of this speech always proves to be a little bit difficult but also very unique every time. Our director decided to portray this scene as an argument between myself and two sock puppets I wear on my arms. I’ve put a lot of physical acting into the roll to really embody the clown-like qualities of the character himself and having the ability to speak directly to the audience makes it even more enjoyable. The entire run of Launcelot throughout the show is quite funny (comedic relief during the whole “pound of flesh” thing) and it’s been going really well thus far in the run.

I’ve also done something in this show I’ve never done on stage before…sing. I’m in a song and dance number to begin the second half and I have to admit…I was a little apprehensive at first about how that was all going to go. After a lot of rehearsal and work I am very proud of how the song ended up. So much so that I am considering auditioning for a theatre company in Sutton called the Lyric Players. They have auditions coming up next month for a Spring production of “The Producers”. This is one of my favourite and funniest musicals and I would love to be involved in it. Although it may not happen, playing the part of Leopold Bloom (Matthew Broderick) would be one heck of a fun time.

I’m still mulling it over, but I’ll let you all know how it ends up in the end.

The Observasion Situation

It’s a special time of year for teachers all over England at the moment. The dreaded observation season. After a month of teaching it is time for formal observations and assessments of our own teaching practices to be scrutinized by the administration of the school. Obviously it’s a common practice and not exclusive to England but it’s still as nerve racking for a new teacher as it is for someone who has been performing the job for a decade. It has its uses, mainly to ensure that teachers are following good practice and students are gaining a worthy learning experience. I have my observation on Friday of this week.

Although I probably should be…I’m surprisingly not that nervous. I’ve seen so many people running around making sure this and that is completed and I’m not stressing out a bit. This is a little disconcerting, however; I think the reason behind it is in my confidence. Although I am a little stressed about making sure all of the proper paperwork is in order (lesson plans, learning objectives, differentiation, and the like) the actual teaching itself does not throw me for a loop. I know my observation is on Friday but I do not know which class they will be coming into. Side note: “they” refers to the Assistant Headteacher who oversees Drama and the Head of Drama. I am at a bit of an advantage because of the five classes I teach that day, one of them is a team taught exam class (not an option to observe) and another is cancelled because of a charity event. Therefore I can confidently narrow it down and only prepare for one of three potential classes: a Year 9, Year 7, or Year 8.

I am very confident in my abilities to teach Key Stage 3 and Year 9 so I think that’s why I’m not too worried. Once I get the lesson up and running I pretty much just lose myself in the material and have as much fun as possible and ensure that the students do to. Enough that I tend to even forget that I am being observed. Luckily too, the students tend to behave better when they see two members of the administration sitting in the room just watching.

Either way you look at it, it is a stressful situation…but a necessary one. I’m looking forward to getting it over and done with and signalling the beginning of the week-end. One that sees the run of Merchant finishing and one (I hope) epic cast party to wrap it all up.

Wish me luck!

Life Update...Looooooooooooooong Overdue

Wow…..it’s kind of been a while since I last updated this blog. A part of me always knew that it would eventually come second to other things in my life. A part of me kind of wished it would. I haven’t been updating this blog because I’ve simply been busy with a lot of other things…and it has been amazing. A little birdie told me that the blogs I post are just a bit too long. People apparently don’t like to read at length, especially on the internet. I have to admit as well, I tend to ramble on a lot; both in speech and in type. Therefore, I will try to make this post as concise as possible. In addition, I’m going to attempt to post a lot more often in brief observations about life in general and what’s been happening as opposed to walking you through every detail. Here goes…

First off, I’ve been on a roller coaster of teaching since I last posted. I finished at Cheam at the end of May and then went through a rough period of getting barely any supply work (just because of the time of year). It got bad, I got pretty down and was beginning to feel really desperate. When I applied for a maternity leave cover job at Cheam and didn’t get an interview it was the last straw. Fortunately, this was also the TSN turning point. They were interviewing for NQTs and had me on a short list for the maternity leave but couldn’t tell me yet. I ended up getting an interview, nailed every portion of it, and am currently working there full time. It was emotionally exhausting but I’m so happy to have finally found my way. Things always seem to have a way of working out.

The first month has been amazing. It’s been a little difficult getting used to being full time with the extra responsibilities and a much more active role in planning, assessment, and the like. I’ve been adjusting to it slowly and there’s a ton of support within the school to help me along the way. The classes I have are just brilliant (bar one or two) and I’m teaching a lot of Drama options (students who chose the subject) so there’s more of a commitment to Drama than the younger kids who have to take it have. Basically, I am as happy as I could possibly be and look forward to the many coming months. I’m sure anecdotes will follow in future posts.

The summer was absolutely brilliant as well. Once I got the whole “I need a full time job” thing out of the way I was able to enjoy it a lot more. Given the financial repercussions of not having a job I needed to find something fast and ended up being employed as a bartender at a local pub in Tooting Bec called “The King’s Head”. It’s actually a beautiful little place with great fellow employees, wonderful regulars, and a great overall atmosphere. Luckily their focus is on sports so I end up getting paid to watch football a lot on the week-ends (not a bad deal). I still work a couple of nights a week just to break the whole school, home, school, home routine. Plus, it’s quite social and can be a laugh sometimes too.

Scott came to visit at the beginning of August for about 12 days of which we had a GREAT time. It was nice seeing a family member from home and it had been a couple of months since Lisa and Matty visited and Jeremy had gone back to Canada. Even though he had come by himself we definitely made the most of the visit. Besides hitting all of the best places in and around Central London to drink and eat we also made a trip to the Great British Beer Festival. We visited Amsterdam and Edinburgh as well and were pretty much exhausted once we were done. There would have been an epic football match between England and Holland in there as well if thousands of people didn’t decide to start burning things and stealing stuff (see London Riots). Even without it though, we had a wonderful time full of beers and cheers…that’s it, that’s all. On a side note, I’ll be home for the Christmas holidays this year starting on December 17^th…just throwing that out there.

I also volunteered over the summer as an Olympics Test Event Volunteer. I was placed into the Press Operations team for the London Invitational Basketball Tournament. I was in the Press Tribune which is basically the area that writers and reporters sit in inside of the venue to watch the games and take notes. It was a blast and I was able to watch all 15 basketball games in the tournament over 6 days. Being in the tribune all I have to do is periodically give out sheets of paper and then stand around and watch the sport. I’ve also been selected for an interview to be an actual London 2012 Gamesmaker volunteer. If I get selected for that I’ll be working for Press Operations during the sports at the actual games. It would crazy to be posted at venues during some of the biggest events (see Men’s 100m Final). We’ll see…

On the theatre side of things I have been in full swing on the production of the Merchant of Venice at South London Theatre (I’m actually currently typing this post out on my laptop at the last dress rehearsal). It’s an amazing production that is so vastly different from the version I was in a couple of years ago at Queen’s. I play Launcelot Gobbo and have a really crazy version of the Angel/Devil speech. I’m really looking forward to opening tomorrow but, combined with teaching and being at the pub, it’s a lot and I think I will also be looking forward to it being over and done with. I’m still mulling over potentially auditioning for a production of The Producers (one of my favourite musicals) in November. It’ll be a game time decision.

As if I couldn’t have any more amazing things going on in my life right now, I have also met someone to share in all of the excitement. Her name is Alexis and we’ve been seeing each other for a good couple of months now. Being a Canadian working as a teacher as well we obviously have a lot in common but yet so many things that make us unique…and yet…work. She’s smart, funny, we can talk about stuff ( :P ), and it’s generally a pleasure being around her. Apart from the fact that she lives in Dartford, outside of London that requires a TRAIN RIDE to get to…okay, it’s only an hour from mine to hers but STILL!

Well now, that’s pretty much the last four months or so in a nutshell (see, told you I’d be concise). Now do you understand why I haven’t blogged recently? That’s what I thought. Things are looking brighter and life is a new adventure every day and I could not be happier about where I am right now in general.

Until next time folks,

Cheers and love

A Teacher Who Acts...

As most of you know (or could garner from my Facebook status updates) I was recently involved in a production at the South London Theatre here in England. The play was called “The Dog in the Manger” and was written by a playwright known as Lope De Vega who lived in Spain in the 17^th century. The play itself is extremely Shakespearian in terms of plot development and characters because De Vega was actually a contemporary of the Bard back in the day. It’s one of those “boy loves girl, girl loves boy, other girl falls in love with boy but can’t be with him because he’s of lower class but leads him on, boy dumps first girl for new girl then gets rejects, boy goes back to first girl and gets rejected, second girl wants boy again, boy gets shut down again, boy becomes a nobleman and gets second girl”…very classic. Either way it was an extremely fun production to be a part of and I am really glad I ended up auditioning for it.

This original audition happened way back in January of this year and I had planned on auditioning for different roles other than the one I was cast in. I really wanted to try and break into different, more comedic roles while over here but my strengths ultimately prevailed and I was cast as the male romantic lead. I know what you’re probably thinking “What the hell’s he complaining about? He got cast as the lead!” I get that…but I rarely ever play comedic roles when I’m in performances and I was hoping to get the opportunity here. However, it was not to be and I accepted the role of ‘Teodoro’ the witty, slightly dumb, and arrogant secretary. 

Rehearsals didn’t begin for some time after the auditions were completed but I had a lot of time to print off and start going over my script in order to prepare for when they did. The first thing that struck was the sheer amount of lines that I needed to memorize for the performance. Seeing as this was a Shakespearian play there were a LOT of soliloquies (more than was really necessary I think) and I spent a lot of time on stage by myself contemplating. Apparently that was sort of Teodoro’s thing and so I worked on memorizing those speeches first. The rest of the dialogue came through more in the rehearsal process. As an actor I prefer to work on memorizing lines by coordinating them with blocking and scene motivation. This way I’m not blankly learning lines without any sort of response back at me or movement. It becomes a real conversation where I simply know how to react or respond when another character says a specific line or makes a particular movement. It’s a bit complicated to explain but it works for me and I suppose that’s what matters.

The rehearsals themselves were a ton of fun and I couldn’t be happier with the group of people that the directors Mark and Charlotte had put together. Everyone took their role and commitment very seriously (which can be tricky to get from people in an amateur production) but not too seriously that we couldn’t have a fun time. There were lots of comings and goings because only those who were called for specific scenes were there but I had the chance to get to know everybody at some level, which is great to sink my teeth into this theatre and for forthcoming productions. I almost always acted alongside two people: Michael, who played my servant/lackey Tristan, and Victoria, who played my romantic opposite Diana. Both of these actors had a tremendous amount of experience and training and drama and it was a growing experience learning from their own techniques and preparation methods. We also spent a lot of time with Mark and Charlotte in character development. Not only who we were as people in this world, but what our relationships were with each other. As a result of this extensive time and emphasis on characters and relationships I feel like we produced a very realistic world and everyone truly embodied their characters on stage.

Once the dress rehearsals and performances began it brought everyone involved in the show back together and it was a wonderful experience. We all spent one evening at Charlotte’s house for a big dinner before the show began and shared many laughs. That night strengthened the bonds that had begun from the start of the rehearsal process. The performances themselves went very well and I was pleased. There were some slip-ups here and there (as to be expected) but we recovered very well and almost nobody in the audience even knew something went wrong, which is always the mark of a successful recovery. The run was only five shows and before we knew it, it was all over. From the feedback I received and heard everyone who came to see it seemed to enjoy it very much. Most of the criticism was about the text being too long and nobody really nit-picked the acting which was nice. I can’t thank my friends enough for coming to see the show and supporting me (some from very long distances). It was great to have familiar faces in the crowd and be able to talk to them about it after over a pint.

Once the show was over it was time to put everything away and celebrate! The cast party afterwards was a ton of fun and a little tearful as some gifts were given out to the production team and the unsung heroes in the world of theatre. When all was said and done it was to bed with me (at approx. 5am) and The Dog in the Manger was over. A wonderful experience and a great one to start my time at the South London Theatre with.

But just because that show’s over doesn’t mean that I’m finished! My next production begins this Sunday with a read through and rehearsals begin the following night. I am in a production of Present Laughter by Noel Coward. A much more updated piece (1940s…but more recent than the 17^th century) and it’s written in a completely different style. I play a much more minor role in this show (which is welcome given the amount of rehearsal I had for the first show) but I can really stretch my acting muscles out. I play the character of Roland Maule who is a young aspiring playwright who becomes obsessed (some would say stalker levels of obsession) with the main character Garry, who is a 40+ popular actor in London having a mid-life crisis. Although I don’t say much in this show a lot of what makes the character of Roland so funny is in body language and physical comedy. I am very happy to be playing an outrageously funny, comedic character and I really look forward to begin development on him. I’ll update more than this as rehearsals begin. Until then…

Cheers and Love

Erik

Royal Wedding Pics

This is just a quick entry for those of you whom I know but do not have Facebook to see the pictures I took from the Royal Wedding last week. Enjoy!

Kate driving by on her way to Westminster Abbey.

William and Kate in the procession after the ceremony.

Followed by Prince Harry with Pageboys and Bridesmaids.

The carriage behind that held The Queen and Prince Philip.

A handful of the many Household Guards on duty that day.

The immediate families on the Palace balcony.

Will and Kate giving the crowd what they wanted.

Fly-over of two Typhoon and two Tornado Fighter Jets.

Final fly-over of World War II era fighters: one Spitfire, one Hurricane, and a Lancaster Bomber.

Two Down, One To Go...

Well, seeing as I am about to begin my last term in the first year of teaching here in England; I figured now would be as good a time as ever to reflect on the term gone by (seeing as how I didn’t really update you guys that much over it). It was a very good term overall although there were difficulties here and there (to be expected). I am still extremely happy to be at Cheam and to be a teacher there. The staff is absolutely amazing and I have fit in and been included very easily by the other teachers. The students are great (for the most part) and are a true pleasure to teach. Although I am not a Drama teacher in the school I am trying my best to enjoy every lesson that I teach and approach it from an interesting and engaging way in order to keep the student’s attentions and make it fun for them. Religious Studies is not exactly the most popular subject at this school and many of the Year 7’s and 8’s do not understand why they have to take the course (especially if they are not particularly religious). This is where a lot of the problems stem from because the students are more inclined to misbehave or be distracted if they have a lack of interest in the subject. I try my best to keep them engaged but it’s a two way street in the classroom and I can only do so much while expecting participation, proper behaviour, and positive working habits from them to create a successful classroom environment (of course I have a large part to play in encouraging this positive demeanor). Although a large part of me wishes I was teaching Drama right now I am content with where I am and I am much better off in terms of sanity from the supply teaching I was doing previously.

In the classroom I can say that it has been successful for me. I have found out last week that the teacher I am covering will most likely not be returning this school year. She has already been out of the school since November of last year and to try and return to her classes this term would almost seem counter-productive given how much work they’ve covered this year and how much she’s missed. It would be easier for her to just return in September with a fresh start, which means that I will most likely be staying at her post until the end of this school year (although it has not been made official just yet). This amount of consistency in the classroom has reflected positively on the students and most of them have reacted very well to my continued presence (not all of them but hey, you can’t win them all). A lot of kids ask me when/if their teacher will be returning this year and every time I answer that she will mostly likely not they respond by saying that they’re glad I’m going to be sticking around for the rest of the year, which is always a very positive boost to the ego. I still mainly teach Key Stage 3 which means Years 7 and 8. This is equivalent to our Grades 6 and 7 so the students are between 11 and 13 years old. I continue to forget this whenever I am in the classroom. I suppose a part of me enjoys teaching older students more ergo I begin to expect too much from the younger students. This applies the most to the Year 7 classes I teach. These students are very young and have a very Primary School mentality and behave as such. This is understandable and I sometimes forget that. This actually works out great in the classroom because it allows me to have a lot more fun with the students and they laugh a lot more at my corny jokes. Once the students hit Year 8 they immediately start to become “too cool” for a lot of activities in the classroom and it becomes harder to figure out ways to engage them in the lessons. I’m determined this term to have a lot more fun with the students (like I did early on in the time at Cheam) to end the year on a high note and steer away from the disruptive nature of some of the classes. It’s very strange but the amount of strictness I employ in the classroom is very inversely proportional to the misbehavior of the students. They need to be given a certain amount of freedom (within limits) or they will explode with the pent up energy they have. This combined with the nice weather outside it’s difficult to get them to stay in their seats and so I want to try and have a lot more fun with them this go around.

In terms of my social life at Cheam things could not be better. I am still becoming closer and closer with the other teachers in the Drama department as well as more teachers in other departments (mainly Humanities which is what Religious Studies falls under). I still go to the Drama office every morning and lunchtime and spend break chatting with them as well. We’ve become very close and a couple of them even attended my recent performance at the South London Theatre. It’s nice to have become such great friends but it makes leaving Cheam at the end of the year very difficult for me. I know that I will still remain friends with them after this school year and Alexis (the Head of Drama) even proposed meeting regularly every month or so to catch up. In the Humanities department I’ve developed two “bro” friendships with a couple of the male teachers. One of them organizes our football every week and so we have much to talk about. The other actually grew up in California and is a huge baseball and American football fan so we chat about those sports every morning. It’s really cool having somebody at the school to discuss these things with and almost makes me feel like I am teaching in a school back home.

I am still playing football with a bunch of the other male students every Friday and we’ve played a couple of competitive matches against another school as well as the Year 11’s at Cheam. We drew the first and won the latter match. I’m definitely becoming much better at the sport, which I think stems from playing amongst guys who are very good, and I can’t wait to continue my tutelage in its ways. I think I have found my natural position in defense which was reflected very well in my play against the other school. I also played a half as Keeper against the Year 11’s and made some really good stops against them, enough that the other teachers were really impressed by them. We have a bunch more matches to come within the next month against the two Sixth Form years, the Tennis Scholarship program students, and potentially two other schools in the area. It’s a nice fitness boost to be playing every week and I really look forward to it, especially with the wonderful weather we’ve been having of late.

Looking ahead I’m starting to think of where I could be in September of this year. I want nothing more than a full time job teaching Drama at a school close enough to where I live now that I don’t have to move. This is asking a lot but my time teaching other subjects through cover positions compared to the three weeks I spent as a Drama teacher at Cheam have only reaffirmed my thoughts that I am a Drama teacher above all else. This is the subject I have a passion for, the one I am continuing to participate in myself, and the one I want to teach as a career. I’ve applied to a few jobs so far but none of them have gone passed the application phase. I’ve gotten letters back thanking me for applying but they’ve “received an overwhelming amount of qualified applications and unfortunately could not offer me an interview at this time”. Which is fine, I just need to continue to persevere in this aspect and hope that my hard work will pay off. I take the rejected applications as constructively as a I can and see where I could tweak my future applications to hopefully bring some success. Plus rejection just gives me a drive to continue to search and work harder…whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?

Until I find something new I continue to do the best job that I can at Cheam and the situation I currently have. The guarantee of work every Monday-Friday is a comforting notion and the consistent flow of income keeps me from being worried too much. I’ll continue to update everyone on how school is and whether my job search will eventually be fruitful. Until then…

Cheers and Love

Erik

Dublin for St. Patrick's Day

Well…Dublin…I realize it’s been a month since I visited the Emerald Isle but I’m finally here recanting my story to you fine people. Now that I’m on holiday for Easter I have the opportunity to sit down and bang this and some other posts out. The trip to Dublin itself was definitely a spontaneous decision when Chengbo and Jeremy talked about meeting up there for St. Patrick’s Day in March. I obviously needed to jump at the opportunity to spend an authentic St. Patrick’s Day in the capital of Ireland and so off I went!

I ended up having to take a couple of days off work because St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Thursday this year. I left Wednesday morning super excited to be heading to Ireland for the first time and spent the hour and a half Tube ride to Heathrow anticipating the days ahead. I would only be spending the two days in Dublin itself so it was a very short trip but it was all we needed to see what we wanted to see. I ended up having a delayed flight to actually head over the Irish Sea and so began my day with a solid Full English Breakfast complete with a pint of Guinness to kick start things off on the right foot. I was planning on only drinking Guinness over the next couple of days when we went out to the bars (when in Rome right?). I finally got to board the flight and before I knew it I was in the air.

I would be meeting Jeremy in the centre of Dublin on O’Connell Street so I jumped on an airport transit bus to the main city centre. Jeremy took a bus down from Belfast with Chengbo as he was visiting earlier in the week. Once we met up we took the short walk over to the flat that we were staying in. Because we decided to do the trip so late it was very difficult to secure any sort of decent hostel or hotel accommodation in the city for a decent price. Everything was either booked up or it was very expensive given the days we were going to be there for. Luckily one of Jeremy’s friends from Belfast is actually from Dublin and his parent’s own a flat there on Mountjoy Square. Since neither himself nor his parents were going to be there over the St. Patrick’s Day festivities they allowed Jer and I to stay there for the two nights. An incredibly kind gesture that saved us a lot of money on accommodation. The flat itself was absolutely gorgeous; it looked like something out of an old 1950’s Hollywood flick. It wasn’t very big area wise but the ceilings were gigantic and the décor was unbelievable. I have a picture of it in my album of Dublin on Facebook if you’re interested in what it looked like. Once we got in and dumped our stuff it was time to head right back into the city. We got a bit of a late jump given the fact that my flight was delayed but it was a beautiful cloudless sunny day outside and we wanted to make the most of it. From the flat we headed straight for the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. It was actually a very nice walk and the buildings in this area of Dublin were very similar to any High Street that you might hit in London. We passed a lot of shops and then went through a smaller industrial area to come to the Distillery. Inside the building was very nice with Jameson branded stuff everywhere and a really nice bar located just on your right when you first walk in. We managed to secure a ticket for the tour of the distillery but it wasn’t for over an hour from that point. Instead of kicking around there we decided to head over into the actual centre of Dublin surrounding the Liffey River. After walking down the river path for a bit we stopped into a pub for some food and the first Guinness of Ireland! The pub itself was nothing spectacular but I had a really great steak sandwich there called “The Dubliner”.

Once we headed back to the distillery it was time for the tour. It’s basically a microcosm of how the distillation process occurs when making the whiskey but they don’t actually distil it in Dublin anymore, it’s made in Cork. To be honest, once you’ve been on one distillery tour you’ve kind of been on them all so we went through the motions and got our free sample at the end (the way it’s meant to be enjoyed…neat). Afterwards we schlepped down to the bar on the main floor and enjoyed a delicious Irish coffee that my Dad told me was the best in the world. I have to say that I definitely agreed with him because it was out of this world when I tried it too.

After the Irish coffee we headed into the area of Dublin south of the Liffey in order to do a bit of sightseeing. Mainly this involved the Temple Bar area of Dublin which is the nightlife hotspot of the city. This area of Dublin was absolutely beautiful, very old and with so much character to it. The streets through Temple Bar were rough and cobble stone at points with different churches juxtaposed oddly with bars and pubs. Plus, there were people EVERYWHERE! This is truly tourist central but also full of students (and probably faculty) from the nearby Trinity College as well as Dubliners themselves. We ended up sneaking into the Porterhouse (which is the Dublin side of the duo of pubs, the other being in Covent Garden) and had our only non-Guinness beer of the entire trip. It was still a stout mind you but they only serve the beers they brew at the Porterhouse so we didn’t really have a choice. Once we got into contact with Chengbo, Jer and I walked back up O’Connell Street to meet with him for dinner. We ended up going to a pub just off of O’Connell Street for grub and Guinness and chatted about what we had been up to since we last saw each other. Afterwards we went to a different pub which was a Drinking Emporium (there aren’t enough emporiums these days) for some more Guinness while making plans for the evening. We decided to head over to the hostel Chengbo was staying in with about 1500 other Commerce exchange students to have some beer before going out to Temple Bar for the night.

I’m not going to lie…it was a little strange standing in the giant hostel room and meeting people. Especially with Chengbo starting every introduction with “This is Erik and Jeremy…they’re alum”….thanks Chengbo. Either way the people we met were pretty cool and we ended up rolling out to get to Temple Bar fairly quickly after arriving at the hostel. We decided to brave the masses and go to The Temple Bar in Temple Bar. This is an extremely popular bar within this area and it gets packed very quickly. We found that out when we got in there, although there are many different rooms and areas in the bar each one made you feel like a sardine. We literally pushed through the crowds to get to the bar in the back to order some drinks. Once I got up to the bar I did not want to give up that prime real estate and ended up holding my ground while chatting to some ladies visiting from Texas A&M University, a long way from home for sure. Once we had decided enough was enough Jer and I headed back up to Mountjoy Square to catch some shut-eye before the big day to come.

Once I was up in the morning I took a shower and got dressed and ready to go for a wicked St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin! It was another sunny, warm day out (we really lucked out on weather) and we ended up getting going fairly early so we stopped into a small café on O’Connell Street for breakfast. Afterwards we walked across the Liffey again to do some of the sightseeing that we did not accomplish the day before but wanted to fit in before the parade began. We hit Dublin Castle first which we toured around and inside a bit. There’s a really nice chapel inside that we saw plus a beautiful gardens in the back (pictures on Facebook). From there we headed over towards Trinity College through did not have the time to venture through the campus there. Once we made our way back to Temple Bar we decided to slip into a pub for a Guinness and then outside to stake an area for the parade. It took a long time for the parade to actually make its way to us because we were pretty far down the parade route. Once they finally got there we understood why…they were moving at an absolute crawl. For what purpose I couldn’t tell you but it was almost torture watching them slowly creep by. The parade itself started out pretty well with a guy dressed up like St. Patrick and a few pipe bands and marching bands. Once the individual counties had their entries though things got a little weird. The floats and costumes looked like some surreal mix between cabaret and a circus side show. It kind of weirded us out and became really boring after a bit so we headed back into the pub for another beer to watch the end of the parade on the television there. Once it was completed we plotted our next move to the Guinness Storehouse.

Heading to the Storehouse was the part of the trip that I was most looking forward to. It was a bit of a walk from where we were but when we got in there it was definitely worth it. The tour itself is completely self guided (which I really loved) and you get a sample halfway through. The building itself goes up about five or six floors and there’s different bars and venues on each floor plus a continuation of the tour. On one floor we had the chance to pull our own Guinness and then went into a hall to watch an Irish Ceilidh complete with band and Irish dancers. The show itself was very well done and I even had the chance to participate in a couple of the group dances that taught later on in the show. We completed our tour at the very top of the building in a bar that gives you an almost 360 degree view of Dublin and beyond…really good photo op. From that point we made our way down to a different bar on a lower floor to listen to some live music and have Guinness and capped our time off in the original venue which now had a really good 80s cover band playing (apparently the best 80s cover band in Europe). All in all we killed the entire afternoon at the Storehouse and polished off a few Guinness before heading back into the city centre.

After a quick dinner back at the flat we ventured out into Temple Bar again to meet up with Steph (whom we knew from Queen’s) and her friend. Steph’s in Belfast on exchange for this term so it was nice to catch up with her as well while we were in the same part of the world. We ended up meeting at O’Neill’s in Temple Bar and the place was still extremely packed (like The Temple Bar the previous evening) but we managed to secure a great spot in front of the live music that was playing there that night. It was just a guy and girl playing acoustic guitars and they were jamming out traditional Irish folk songs as well as many songs that you wouldn’t expect to hear on acoustic guitar (like AC/DC). It was a really fun evening that went into the wee hours of the morning before we finally headed back to the flat for the night.

There was no reason for an early rise the next day as we both had late leaving transportation. After breakfast we waited for the bus to show up for me to take me to the airport and I bid farewell to Jer once more as we parted ways. I ended up getting to the airport nice and early so I had a bite to eat and my last Guinness in Ireland before heading onto the plane and back to London. It was an incredible trip and Dublin is an absolutely beautiful city. Although I spent a short amount of time there the fact that it was over St. Patrick’s Day made up for it. The place was covered in Green, Orange, and White and people from all over the world were there to celebrate. I had the opportunity to see most of the things that I wanted to plus people that I hadn’t seen in a while which was very nice. If I ever get the opportunity to go back to Dublin I definitely will be going. The atmosphere there alone makes it worth the trip.

There now I’ve FINALLY updated you all on that trip. Since then I’ve just been getting through things normally around here. The next couple of posts will be updating how school’s been going this past term as well as the social and theatrical aspects of my life. Until then…

Cheers and love

Erik

Save The Wales!

Well, after a good amount of time away from this blog I feel like I need to commit a little bit more. Mind you, it has been hectically busy around here. I’ve made a couple of fantastic trips out to Wales and Ireland over the past couple of weeks. Combine this with rehearsals and script work for Dog in the Manger (DIM) and teaching responsibilities and it gets pretty exhausting after a little while…but in a good way. This post is going to be dedicated to my trip to Wales followed swiftly by a description of my time in Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day and then a general update on the goings on over here. I really want to get back to some of the commentary work that I had been doing before, especially with a lot going on in the realms of education, theatre, and a certain wedding next month. All in good time though, first Wales!

If you don’t remember from a post way back in November, I had one a trip through Protocol at the Christmas Dinner Social I attended. I had to choose between three different trips and decided to travel to Wales, as I had never been, on a trip that culminated in a three hour horseback riding session, of which I had never done. It was a perfect combination of new experiences and I had to jump at the chance. We left London extremely early (well, 7:30am….it was a Saturday!) on a little bus/van thing. There were only 16 of us on the trip but it was great because everybody (except me) were college exchange students from the U.S. I was afraid I might end up on a trip with a bunch of older people and was excited to find out that it would be a very chill group. I got on right away with one group of people specifically here from U of Maryland. Of course, as fate would have it I sat on the bus beside the guy taking a degree on theatre performance and that kicked off conversation right away. Even in a group of Americans I’m still a token novelty being from Canada. Combine that with being a teacher and not a student and all of the ingredients were there to solidify my reputation as “Mr. Smith” with a group of very fun people. Our first stop on this trip was to Chepstow Castle.

The ride to Wales itself was pretty uneventful. Most people slept along the way and I took the opportunity to finish a book (a book on Wikileaks by writers from The Guardian, great read!) and then get through my Saturday newspaper. Once we finally reached the bridge over into Wales the trip really kicked off. Our tour guide, Mike, was extremely knowledgeable about the country and even lived there for a period of time. He speaks Welsh and was able to give us a phonetics lesson of how words on signs were pronounced and what letter combinations gave what sound. It is a very complicated and strange language to be honest but it sounds very cool at the same time. We drove for a little while through Wales until we reached the small village of Chepstow. Now, I will definitely be saying “small village” a lot in this post because, unless you are travelling to Cardiff or Swansea, this country is entirely made up of small villages. It gives it a very quaint and homey feel and you learn to appreciate the scenery more due to the lack of industrialization. It seemed like we were much farther away from London than we actually were! Anyways, Chepstow is a small village just inside the border of England and Wales. The village really revolves around this castle that exists from the times of the English conquests over the Welsh. It was a very unique castle experience because it seems to be endless. There were constant twists, turns, nooks, and crannies to peer into. The tour around is completely independent so we just explored on our own for a certain period of time. I took a bunch of pictures (including one of me posing with a crossbow) on my Facebook album. Once our castle experience was finished we walked up into the village centre to have a poke around and get a bit of lunch before boarding the bus and heading out into the Welsh countryside.

Our next stop was to a little village called Hay. Officially it was called Hay-On-Wye because of it’s location on the Wye river. Apparently this village as a really huge book festival every summer and is considered of the central book areas in the world. Walking around the village I realized that this was definitely true. There were bookstores EVERYWHERE! Most likely the highest bookstore per capita anywhere you could possibly imagine. We popped into a couple of them and managed to sneak around into a few other stores (including a puzzle shop with a 32 000 piece puzzle!!!) before everything closed up. It was a charming little place but we didn’t spend much time there before we had to head back to the bus and move on to our lodgings for the evening.

When we reached the hotel/hostel I was not expecting what I saw. It was basically an old English country house that is apparently from a Sherlock Holmes story (The Baskerville Hound), the name of the place was Baskerville House. When you walk inside there was a grand staircase with a piano on top the broke into two smaller staircases heading up but in the opposite direction. The place looked like it was straight out of a murder mystery and we all thought that one person was definitely going to die through the night and we’d have to figure out who the killer was. We got settled into our rooms which were hostel style with four bunk beds in each room. All of the guys shared a room and since there were four of us and four beds we each got a top bunk (no fighting!) and two pillows each with one from the bed below. A pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

After exploring the building for a while and eating some food we made an ill-fated attempt at an alcohol run. Of course, everything in small village Wales closed before 7 o’clock so we were a little SOL. Luckily there was a bar in the hotel and we were the only group there apart from a bunch of guys having a rather low key stag party. We ended up getting some wine and playing a hilarious game of Kings in the bar while the bartender just laughed at us. We heard there was a club around the back that opens at 11 o’clock and headed over there eventually. It was bizarre…it was literally a big city style club inside but attached to the back of this building and from the outside looked very derelict. We stayed there for a little while but the combination of really sketchy old dudes and extremely young girls created a cocktail of creepiness that we started to feel really uncomfortable with.

The next morning we headed down for breakfast (lovely full English) and then loaded up our stuff into the bus before heading over to the stables. Eventually we got suited up and were able to mount our horses before heading out. I’ve never ridden a horse before and it was definitely a strange experience. My horse’s name was Stranger and he apparently did not like other horses so we had to stay at the back of the queue during the trip. It didn’t take much to make sure that we stayed in line and the horses were extremely smart and just followed one another. With the beautiful day that it was and being surrounded by mountains and tiny villages while riding a horse…it was a really breathtaking experience. Once we arrived back (after 3 hours!) we dismounted…which was painful and it felt weird to walk…before gathering up our things and heading back to the bus.

After a really great lunch in a tiny local pub (real authentic feel to it) we headed back on our course to London. Of course we were impeded by traffic but eventually made it back to the central city so I could catch a tube back to Colliers Wood.

This was an incredible trip even though it only lasted a couple of days. I met some great people who I plan on meeting up with later on in London and we had a blast. I definitely want to try and get to a lot of other places on day trips like this to see a lot more of the country beyond London. Really worth it in the end. Speaking of trips, next time we’ll be discussing a certain trip to the Emerald Isles for St. Patrick’s Day! Until then…

Cheers and Love

Erik

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Well, I have quite busy over the last few weeks I’m not going to lie. I am going to warn everybody right now however, these posts are going to be less and less frequent over the coming months. As much as I would like to be updating everything on a daily basis there’s just so much going on! My own fault I know, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been getting so involved in different areas and I’m finally going to be getting some travelling done shortly which I’m definitely looking forward to. Combine this with teaching, acting, writing, and a new blog…it gets pretty exhausting. Believe me, I’ll update everyone when I can about what’s been happening on my side of the pond when I can.

I really wish I had new things to talk about when it comes to my teaching. Honestly, it has been very routine and normal on a week to week basis. I suppose this is a really good thing because most of the time when something big happens it’s a bad thing. I’m just very comfortable with where I am and the classes I have. It’s the first week back after half term break so the kids have been pretty rowdy. They must still be in holiday mode and it causes them to be quite mad. On a plus note, the classes so far this week that I’ve had issues with have been a lot better. I guess they’re finally warming up to the fact that I’m going to be around for a little while and might as well accept it. Whatever the reason is, it makes the classes more productive overall which is good for everybody. The school musical has been grinding along and I’ve been trying to participate as much as possible. They’ve been coming along really well and it’s been amazing to see the student’s progress from the beginning to where they are now. There’s still work to do but the show goes up for two days at the end of this month. I have full faith they’ll pull it off and I look forward to seeing it. On another educational note, I’ve also been looking into and applying to various full time Drama openings within London for a September 2011 start. I really want to find something full time so I can be with classes from the get go and I really want to be in a Drama department. I’ll keep everyone updated on how this goes as I hear back from schools (or don’t ha ha ha).

As I mentioned before the half term break was last week. It was a really nice week off that seemed a lot longer than it actually was. I was finally able to get some solid lie-ins and spent some time just lounging around the house getting some writing done. I also attended my fair share of football matches during this time. I ended up attending two FA Cup matches, one at Fulham and the other at West Ham United, at the beginning of the week. Later in the week I was FINALLY able to see Liverpool play live as they took on West Ham. I got my seat from an extra season seat that one of the guys who manages my flat had. I was sitting amongst West Ham fans so opted to show West Ham support but secretly be rooting for the Reds. West Ham ended up with a 3-1 decision which was crushing but I put the smile on and went with it. I’ve been getting to a LOT of matches recently and there’s plenty more to come!

I’m also going to be finally getting some travelling done soon. I ended up winning a trip through Protocol back in November which I’m cashing in this week-end. I’m going to be heading to Wales to do some sight-seeing and go horseback riding (right?) I’ve never ridden a horse before so that should be an interesting experience. It’s only a two day trip over the course of Saturday and Sunday but I will make sure to bring my camera and recount the experience here ASAP when I get back. I’ve also recently booked a flight to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day. This trip should be absolutely EPIC and I’ll be there with Jeremy as well as other friends from Queen’s who are around Europe on exchange this term. I’m really looking forward to being in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day itself, you don’t get many chances to do that! Again…will bring the camera and will recount the tale (what I remember) when I return.

Lastly, my play’s now in full swing at the South London Theatre. Rehearsals began last week and so far they have gone very well. I really like the group of people that the director has assembled and we all get on really well. Everyone is very committed to their roles and done a lot of character work already. We’ve already gotten so far with only the blocking in place but I’m really looking forward to this show and the upcoming rehearsals. This is one of the reasons that I’ll be blogging a little less. Three rehearsals a week combined with a 5 day teaching week is a lot (especially when I get back from rehearsal at 11pm on a school night every time). This combined with the line memorization and work I have to do mean I’m going to be devoting my time elsewhere for a while. Don’t worry, I won’t forget about you!

Look out for a regaling of my trip to Wales very soon! Until then…

Cheers and love,

Erik

Quite a Creative Week...

Last week was a very typical one for me when it came to teaching. I’ve actually had many days throughout the last seven weeks that have been very similar. It’s been really nice having a lot of consistency within the classroom by having the same classes of students every week. The students really seem to like it as well and they’re (seemingly) happy to have me there. I do get asked quite consistently if I’m going to be teaching them for the rest of the year, not because they would be disappointed but because they want that apparently. One Year 12 student in Drama called me “Mr. Wonderful” to another Drama teacher and when asked why she apparently replied “I don’t know, he’s just wonderful!” Obviously it’s nice to feel wanted like that but I don’t want to take away from the teacher whom I’m covering. They are her classes and she deserves to come back and be able to re-establish those relationships she forged earlier in the year. At the same time though, it’s kind of interesting to note that I’ve been teaching these students almost as long as she has this year and for the Year 7’s that’s quite a big deal. The Year 7 students are attending their first year at Cheam so having me for such a long period of time is not a big change because they aren’t used to who is around in the department and who is not just yet. I’ve actually been having a lot of fun teaching the Year 7’s in particular. They’re still so young but they can be very funny and we have a wonderful time together. I finished up a Year 7 Life class today and told them I needed one more thing from them before they left the classroom and proceeded to demand high fives as they walked out the door. The kids ate it up! They beamed with smiles that were nice to see because I’m pretty sure they were expecting me to assign homework.

I have been having the expected problems with some students in certain classes however. These problems arise from students who have been at the school for more than a year and are a little more resistant to change when a different teacher is standing at the front of the room. I’ve been working with a lot of the other teachers in the department to quell these issues and it hasn’t been so bad within the last couple of weeks. As a supply it can be difficult to come into classrooms when students have a strongly forged relationship with their regular teacher, or are simply resistant to change. Either way, I keep trucking through and I’m learning just as much as they are along the way. I have good days with some students and bad days but the important thing is to not let it get to me, keep putting on a smile, treating them equally, praising their good behaviour to reinforce it, and continuing to work with them for consistency. As I’ve been extended at Cheam until the end of this term (April 8^th) hopefully my continued presence in the school will help.

I had a wonderful week-end just passed and I was actually very productive, from an artistic point of view. I’ve had a lot of ideas and projects that I’ve been putting off for a little while now and recently had an explosive desire to start working on a lot of them. I think beginning work on my script for Dog in the Manger has fueled this fire. I’ve had the kick in the pants to start using my creative side a lot more now that I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’ll be working on a day to day basis.

On Friday evening I decided to take a trip into the city in the evening after finishing work and stopped at Oxford Circus first. I’ve been frequenting Topman a lot recently because I’m really trying to flesh out a new kind of style. I know it sounds a bit weird but part of my experience here in the UK is to do a bit of wardrobe overhaul to kill off the university sense of style (track pants and a jersey) for a more professional looking style. Obviously working in schools has a lot to do with this overhaul but my week-end look is still a combination of professionalism with laid back elements. Topman has been a crazy good foundation for building this with. After stopping in there I tried to get into a couple of my favourite pubs in the West End but on a Friday evening at Happy Hour it’s too much like a sardine tin for my liking. I decided to head to a little tucked away (literally) pub off of Trafalgar Square that was not very busy at all called “The Two Chairmen”. Jeremy and I ended up going there on New Year’s Eve for a pint and it wasn’t busy at all. I settled in for a couple pints of London Pride and started to do some long put off writing.

I have thinking, planning, and putting off writing a play since the summer and finally got inspiration to start. It’s a play about waiting…not the restaurant style mind you but what you do on Christmas Eve in anticipation for the morning. Waiting is something that we do at some point every day for some reason or another. The idea of it first popped into my head over the summer as I was eagerly anticipating my arrival in the UK. It was still months away and I wanted it to be so much sooner. I kept thinking about it more and more and realized just how much of my day I was devoting to waiting for something that would come in due time. From this point I really just started thinking of all different situations in which waiting becomes relevant and jotted them down. The most recent embarrassments of “Frozen Britain” over November and December of this past year in which so many people were stranded in airports across London waiting to get flights out of the country was really the last bit of inspiration I needed. The Times has also just kicked off their annual playwriting contest and submissions are due in about 4 months. My goal is to try and finish the play in order to submit it to this contest. It’s a goal I’ve given myself and I’m not concerned at all with winning anything (there’s a lot of talented writers in England and who participate in this) but I would be very proud to finish and say that I actually entered it into a contest. That’s satisfaction enough for me.

Saturday was another really big and productive day. I began the day quite early and managed to grab a copy of The Times to read while eating breakfast before heading out. The destination was obviously into London but this time to Carnaby Street. I really love being in the central city when I’m writing. It almost becomes a muse for me; I can really feel the energy of the many different kinds of people walking around. You hear so many different conversations, see so many different looks, and get many ideas for characters and situations just by observing. Plus, it’s London! This is the city of Shakespeare, Dickens, and Wilde. It has been the home for many a great writer and I try to channel that when I’m doing it myself.

In a Starbucks I got myself a nice bit Americano and pulled out my laptop to begin working. I had recently decided to start a new blog to go alongside this blog (as mentioned in my previous post) dedicated solely to sports. As most of you know I am a dedicated and hardcore sports fan. Although I go crazy for my teams, I also read a lot about sports including histories, I know a lot of stats, and I have an opinion about different elements of the games. After having many a rant to my family and friends about sports I figured it would be a lot more productive to put it in writing and post it for people to read and comment on at their leisure. I wrote my first piece on the issue of money in sports and how out of control payrolls are getting. You can read it here if you’re interested. I spent more of the day working on this piece combined with a bit of play writing and script work. I managed to squeeze in a couple of pints while watching the Manchester derby in a pub too. Later on in the evening I met up with friends at a pub in Borough to watch a folk band that never materialized so we had some pints there as well as at a pub right on the Thames. It was a nice way to end the day.

On Sunday I went with Nate to meet up with a few others friends to play football in Streatham Common. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly, I PLAYED football. I watch and talk about it enough I figured it would be nice to actually participate in it. There were only six of us and we just played three on three with breaks and switching up the teams. A couple of the guys are pretty good but the talent distribution was good so that I wasn’t just getting the run around by them. It was just a good kick-about and a definite good two hours of running around. Afterwards we grabbed a bit of food and beers to head back to one of the guys’ places to watch the 4:00pm match on Sky Sports. We’re actually going to make it a regular Sunday thing every week, getting together to play and then grabbing beers to watch the afternoon match. I’m really glad about this because I was hoping to get involved in actually playing football and finding a great group of guys who share the passion in the sport to play and watch with has been great!

This week has been going really well so far and I’m really looking forward to the end of Friday because next week is half term! A week off after seven weeks in the classroom in which I’ll be having my first rehearsals and attending a couple of FA Cup matches. It should be great and I’ll make sure to update as the week goes on. Until then…

Cheers and love!

Erik