Christmas Abroad

One of the things about being overseas is that you end up spending holidays away from family. This was one of those years for me. Thanksgiving is a given as very few international schools have it off and if they do, it would only be for a few days or a week. But the Christmas holiday is one that is generally long enough to fly home for.

This year on the I am applying for my UK citizenship and because of that I didn't know until October if I would have my passport or not. Turns out that I do have it, but it was too late to even bother with looking at ticket prices! So I planned on spending Christmas here in England with my UK family. Well I call them that since I practically moved myself into their house when I arrived in the UK!

Christmas this year consisted of dinner at Jenny's house on Christmas day with nearly all of the good friends that I have in Southampton. We had the typical English Christmas foods turkey, roasted potatoes, roasted veggies, Yorkshire Puddings, and Christmas Pudding. I added my favorite dish with a sweet potato casserole, complete with proper Jet Puffed marshmallows that arrived a few days before! (Thanks, Mom!) Jenny sets an amazing table complete with the Christmas Crackers that are part of the tradition.

Boxing Day, which is a holiday here in England, was spent at Alex and Claire's. Alex purchased the most amazing piece of beef which was huge but yummy! Again all of the traditional items were around the table, and again I added my sweet potatoes casserole. I think I might have converted a few people to it!

I have to say that for the few times that I have spent Christmas away from my family, I have always been very lucky to be invited to someone else's house or celebration. In 2001 it was Jenny's house for my first Christmas abroad. In 2005 & 2006 it was to a small Thai rice farming village in Thailand to spend it with Caroline making Christmas cookies with the village kids. In 2007 it was back to Jenny's! 2008 was Inka and Gianni in Florence at the amazing Ristorante Accademia, and twice since 2009 when I moved to the UK.

I would have loved to have been able to be home for Christmas but if I couldn't be I have to say this a great way to celebrate Christmas! Thank you to all of my friends who have hosted me during the Holidays, I have truly appreciated it.

Italia Estate 2015

So this summer has been busy. I went home for three weeks then back to England for the New Forest Horse Show. On the Monday before the horse show I finally bought my tickets to visit Sardegna. 

It took me forever to decide because I didn't know if I felt up to another trip this summer, but I am glad I came.  

I come to stay with a friend who I met when I lived in La Maddalena, Italy. I flew in on Monday morning after coughing up the money for a taxi ride straight to Gatwick. 

When I landed it was straight to Ristorante Barbagia for some tomate fruge. This is sliced tomatoes with a tradition cheese made by one man in the town of Ortueri, let me tell you it is yummy, supper creamy cheese that melts in your mouth. 

Then we headed to Tempio in the mountains to my friend's house. 

I have mostly spent the days relaxing and doing not a lot which is good.  

As Tempio is in the mountains I have only had one beach day which is fine by me but have had some pool time!

Even recieved a lovely beach towel set from another friend, for helping her do some work on her website for her shop, Piccole Cose Home, in Baia Sardegna. Please visit her site as she has some super cute kids clothes and amazing items for the home.  

We were going to try to go to Corsica but because of it being so close to the 15th of August, which is a big festival time, they ferry company couldn't guarantee that we could get a spot back! We decided to go have a great lunch of Spaghetti Vongole.

Today I am hanging inside for most of the day because there have been some summer storms, but I did get about an hour in the sun!

Back to the real world on Thursday!

Amsterdam - Day 1

We arrived last night after an easy flight from London.  Our hotel is right across from the Centraal station so it is very convenient!  We had a very yummy meal at the hotel then hit the sack for an early start tomorrow.

We got up early and headed back to the airport to catch the bus to Keukenhof Gardens.  It was already crowded by 10:30 when we got there but Sue and I were able to get lots of pictures! It was set up more like a botanic garden whine I wasn't expecting. It was very nice but I think that I was expecting fields with rows. They had some amazing displays of tulips, daffodils, and other bulbs.  Then they also,had beds of all of the same type, and in one colour then the next bed would me another colour. 

We then came back and had a bit of a break before we headed to catch one of the hop on hop off boats. It was a great way to see around the city without walking!  The buildings along the river are all very similar. Very interesting with cool steep roofs. 

Munich-Getting Here!

Well I made it that is the important part but the getting here was a bit stressful!

Yesterday I woke up to a normal day. Got to school, remembered that I was principal for the day, so I went to pick up the radio and get my breakfast.  That is about where it all fell apart! 

I went to check on a teacher who I knew might have to do a Mystery Skype by herself in the afternoon to make sure that she was okay. When I got there I found out that one of the grade four teachers was out but there was no sub. So, I went in to cover her class. I was about to get them started on some work when our Librarian came in and said, they're supposed to be in library. So off they went and off I went to find the sub coordinator. After a couple of laps of campus I finally found her subbing a 9th grade math class, boy do I not miss 9th grade math!

She then sent me off to find a sub who was only scheduled for the morning lesson in high school.  I found her, arranged for her to cover the 4th grade class, then went back to cover them for the 20 minutes until she arrived.  All this time I was suppose to be in grade two showing the teachers who to use Google calendars to electronically plan.  

ISN'T BEING PRINCIPAL FOR THE DAY FUN!

So that issue was sorted and I head back to shove some food in my mouth during a 10 minute break before I have to go to the other grade four to do a Mystery Skype. I arrived in time, got everyone set up, made a connection to the teacher. We started the Skype only to have several connection issues and have to abandon it half way through. Thankfully the kids were great and understanding. They were coming up with ways to finish the Skype with the other class, who happened to be a class full of future teachers in Belgium!

So off I go to my three hour Display Screen Accessors meeting. I get there a bit early so take some time to read my emails. We are about to start as the trainer has just walked in when I get an email saying "Your flight to Munich has been cancelled." 

WHAT, oh my gosh you can't cancel my flight I have to present at the ECIS Tech Conference, twice! So I get on the phone to one of the teachers who was to travel with me but wasn't in our training and said, please call and deal with this.  

About half way through the meeting I get an email saying that, he has decided not to go and he wasn't sure what could be done. So after the meeting was over I raced to my room to call the travel agent directly. I got her on the phone and they had been trying to get on the phone to Lufthansa for the last two hours with no luck. She said she would keep trying. I told her I was prepared to fly out tonight if necessary.

So off I go to check on the teacher who was doing the Mystery Skype by herself, thankfully it was in full swing and all was good! 

Then I headed to the IT office to find the teacher who was still traveling with me. I stopped to call the travel agent again and she said that they had been on hold with Lufthansa for the last 20 min which was progress and that Lufthansa had flights at 6:00 and 8:00 that had seats so she thought that we could get out. Also she had talked to the hotel and they had rooms. At this point I have not packed or ironed half of my cloths and they were at the Dorm at Cobham (30 min drive).  

Realizing that I needed to leave, I talked to everyone involved and made sure that the lower school was covered and headed towards the Dorm. I managed to get there get my stuff ironed and packed when I got a call at about 3:00 from Emma at the travel Agent saying "I have a few seats on the 4:45" do you think you can make it.  Well I thought to myself, yep if I get a cab now and he drives like a bat out of h*£@!. So I call a cab, grab my stuff and run up to the guard shack, because Cobham was about to be in full dismissal mode.

The taxi picked me up and once I jumped in I said, "Can you get me to Terminal 2 as fast as you can."  

He said "Ah, this is not the best time for fast."

I said "I know just do your best, this is not our fault."

He did great we even filled in a receipt and I paid him while were on the road. So all I had to do when we go to the terminal was jump out and run for it.  I ran in and up to one of the ladies and said "I am on the 4:45 flight." 

She responded, "Go down this side and say I sent you."

So I get to the desk and this lady says "The computer says you have a paper ticket do you?". I later found out that the travel agent had checked us in, but since my phone was playing up I didn't get that email.

Nope I don't, so she sends me to the Lufthansa counter, the guy there sorts it and I run back to the check in counter. I kind of looked like a ping pong ball at this point! The check in lady told me that I made it by minutes.  Fine, minutes is fine as long as I am on the flight!  So I rushed myself through security and got onto the plane.

That is how yesterday went, but now I am in Munich a day early and am going to go be a tourist while I try to wind down to be ready for my presentation Saturday!

Oman - Part 4

We woke up a bit early so that we could make it to the Grand Mosque.  This was built by the Sultan using the best of everything.  It has one of the biggest hand woven carpets in the world.  It is just a beautiful place to be and stunning to look at. 

    

Iman's Corner

   

 

    

Oman - Part 3

Thursday was just a lazy day.  

Friday is the first day of the weekend so we went on a bit of a road trip!  Our first stop was the Bemmah Sinkhole.  This is a 30m deep sinkhole in the area between the foothills and the beach.  The area is very flat around the sinkhole.  It is an amazing spot.  The water is a beautiful blue green and at 11:00 is still a bit cold!  We swam for about 30 minutes while the little fish gave us pedicures!

 

 
After swimming we sat and ate roasted chicken, hummus and pita in one of the gazebos around the park.  Funny think about the park instead of birds or dogs hanging around to beg food they have goats!

Our next stop was Wadi Ash Shab or Wadi Shab. This is a watershed, stream and canyon that you walk up about three quarters of then swim/walk up to the cave at the top.  The walk up isn't hard but it was about 98F/37C and there was little shade in the first part.  There is a part about a third of the way up where people cliff jump but we kept on walking!  You can see in the first picture how tall it is and the second picture what the water looks like just after the cliff jumping section. 






Along the way there is a pipe where they are getting water from the stream.  Farther up though there is a purpose built concrete channel to send the water down the stream.  For this section you can actually walk along the sides of this channel.  We even found frogs at one point.  

The last section is a mix of walking through shallow water and swimming through deeper sections.  It was very nice and you could take your time going through this section if you wanted.  Unfortunatly because of the water I couldn't take my phone so I didn't get pictures of this part. At the farthest end is a cave that you can swim into.  The entrance is a bit tight and you only have a few inches of clearance on each side of your head and you have to dog paddle in because you hit the walls if you use your hands, but you are rewarded with an amazing waterfall and cave.  

It is definately worth the trip to this site!

Oman - Part 2

Had another lazy morning, until Abi came by to pick me up and take me to school with her for the last class.  She works at Al Sahwa School. Her school has two sides, a boys and a girls.  Everything except a few science classes, the library and the IT suites are separated.  Even in the shared spaces the boys or girls are not allowed to cross a certain point. The kindergarten area is the only co-ed area.  Other than the seperation of boys and girls the school was pretty typical in that it is a school!  

After school we went for a walk along the beach front. If the tide is out you can walk for probably five or so miles along the beach in either direction.  We stopped off at the Candle Cafe.  This is where I had my first Lemon Mint drink which is very nice to have after a long hot walk. 

After our walk we had Thai for dinner before quiz night at Feeney's Pub.  We had a great time and I was actually able to help with some of the answers!

Wednesday morning Abi left me the car so that I could go to the Opera House to tour the inside. Unfortunately it was closed due to rehearsals but what I saw as amazing! So I decided to go to the mall and get my toes done!

Driving in Muscat is super easy and the roads are very nice.  I made it back to Abi's school after a few U-turns! We decided to go to Qurum Park for our walk. It is a nice intercity park which is being developed.  There is from the map much more of it towards the ocean than what we walked. 

For dinner we decided to try Kargeen Cafe for some traditional food.  We asked the waitress to help us pick something.  She suggested the bread with dips for starters and a traditional lamb and rice for the main.  They were both very, very good.  The drinks were also amazing!

  

     

Oman February 2014 - Part 1

So I booked tickets to visit Abi in Oman, but had no real idea what to expect when I got there. My only reason for going was to visit her and have a good holiday.  I have been pleasantly surprised!

It started on February 14th with a night flight, which I just loooooove.  We landed at around 8:00 Sunday morning. Which would usually be a school day for Abi but was an inservice so she was able to come and pick me up at the airport which was a bonus!  I went back to her apartment to sleep and she went on to school.  Later she came by and picked me up and took me to the beach near an after school BBQ. It was nice to meet some of the teachers and hang out.  Best part of the day was when we were about the leave and a mounted police patrol walked by!  They were riding grey Arabians which was a bit different!  

So day to started with a late morning!  I then decided to walk over the to small shopping area near Abi's house known as MK. I had lunch at Subway and walked around a bit.  While I was there I looked around the parking lot and with the types of cars you could have been in the SW of the US.  There are loads of pick up trucks, Suburbans, Jeeps, and other American muscle.  It was good to hear! 
 
When Abi came home we drove out to the Muttrah Souk.  It was very interesting especially if you like the whole digging for treasures idea! One of the shops had a container of old money, I could have spent hours looking at it!

The walk up to the Souk along the waterfront was very nice as the area has all be developed since the 70s.  Before then it was basically nothing! My favorite part were the giant jack looking concrete thingys that they were using to protect the road base.  They looked like something out of Gulliver's Travels.  The footpath and the statues were also amazing!

                                     

     

The day ended with a trip to Abi's favorite Sushi restaurant, Wasabi Sushi!