Last night I went along to a poetry rehearsal for my mother's old school reunion show. I was welcomed by two lovely old ladies, who proceeded to sing a rather odd version of what I thought was a poem. This was all very funny and amusing, particularly when I got my mobile out and tried to record them so my mother could hear it when I got home. But then I started to take it more seriously as one of the old ladies told me the story of the poem. When she was a small girl in Sri Lanka, she studied at a convent school established by Irish missionaries. They used to sing a song about Ireland and how beautiful it was and how much they missed it. Even as a little girl she understood the strength of their feeling and felt sad for them. Later when she was forced to leave Sri Lanka because of the civil war, she composed her own variant to express her sadness at having no place to call home. Once I realised the real tone of the poem and the longing they both felt to return to where they grow it, things weren't so funny any more. I guess I'll never know what it's like to have to be uprooted from all that you know, but I hope that one day they can go back, or at least they can go somewhere where they feel at home.
The old lady was a teacher and quoted Sir Walter Scott's Native Land word for word, which was lovely and made me feel it even more. In the end I realised I couldn't read that poem or sing with them after all, it wouldn't be right, those words coming from me.
In other news I had to unexpectedly take the bus into school today and thus was 40 minutes late, meaning my tutor group weren't registered and my Head of Department had to cover the start of my lesson 1. A lot of people get quite stressed when they are late, and I do sometimes too, but today was liberating since I knew that I was going to be late and there was nothing I could do about it, so once I had accepted my fate it was lovely. I think it was also because I have just started How to be Free and it mentions letting go of time and unnecessary pressures/obligations and instead just enjoying things (including riding on the top of a bus...if you have to use public transport that is). I also continued my research on WWOOF-ing and have decided I either want to go to Wales or to the South West. And I found this lovely little blog on the Times to do with allotments, or what the author affectionately refers to as her "lottie".
I have been marking lots of exam papers recently. One of my colleagues, who I share a class with, did one exam paper in her lesson with the shared class, but then asked me to mark the papers. I reluctantly said yes, feeling pretty resentful that she had the free lesson but then gave me the work. Later however, when I mentioned my protracted bus journey, she immediately offered to give me a lift and was really lovely and generous, making me think that 1. I shouldn't be so bitter, I should just get on with it 2. when I do good things, good things will come back to me. Plus I gave someone a lift home on Monday so I have been collecting up my good deeds.
My knee keeps popping and clicking, which is discomforting and disconcerting but hopefully it'll stop soon. Last lesson with Y10s tomorrow before a two week work experience break, woo!
The old lady was a teacher and quoted Sir Walter Scott's Native Land word for word, which was lovely and made me feel it even more. In the end I realised I couldn't read that poem or sing with them after all, it wouldn't be right, those words coming from me.
In other news I had to unexpectedly take the bus into school today and thus was 40 minutes late, meaning my tutor group weren't registered and my Head of Department had to cover the start of my lesson 1. A lot of people get quite stressed when they are late, and I do sometimes too, but today was liberating since I knew that I was going to be late and there was nothing I could do about it, so once I had accepted my fate it was lovely. I think it was also because I have just started How to be Free and it mentions letting go of time and unnecessary pressures/obligations and instead just enjoying things (including riding on the top of a bus...if you have to use public transport that is). I also continued my research on WWOOF-ing and have decided I either want to go to Wales or to the South West. And I found this lovely little blog on the Times to do with allotments, or what the author affectionately refers to as her "lottie".
I have been marking lots of exam papers recently. One of my colleagues, who I share a class with, did one exam paper in her lesson with the shared class, but then asked me to mark the papers. I reluctantly said yes, feeling pretty resentful that she had the free lesson but then gave me the work. Later however, when I mentioned my protracted bus journey, she immediately offered to give me a lift and was really lovely and generous, making me think that 1. I shouldn't be so bitter, I should just get on with it 2. when I do good things, good things will come back to me. Plus I gave someone a lift home on Monday so I have been collecting up my good deeds.
My knee keeps popping and clicking, which is discomforting and disconcerting but hopefully it'll stop soon. Last lesson with Y10s tomorrow before a two week work experience break, woo!
