Housewarming . . .

Lovely evening last night. Had a housewarming party with the English department, and it was a brilliant evening. I had no lessons the last two hours of the day, so I left at 12:15 and headed to the shops and then home to start cooking. I made antipasto platters; asparagus/parm/prosciutto appetizers (you roll the prosciutto around parm and asparagus, then bake); GF pepperoni pizzas; GF pasta salad with roasted red peppers, olives, basil, orange cherry tomatoes; lots of wine; and chocolate-mints and candy-coated almonds for 'afters.' Everyone arrived at 7 bearing gifts (including flowering plants and several bottles of champagne and wine) . . . and one was kind enough to tote plastic garden chairs (still not much furniture!)

Today (Saturday) I went shopping in Milton Keynes with one of the English department; bought a couple of new outfits, and a sofa at IKEA (to be delivered tomorrow). I'll have to start taking pics of the flat and posting them here; the sofa was the last step, so now it's fully furnished.

Fantastic, great, wonderful, lovely . . .

Bluewave called to see how things were going. I felt like a broken record: "How's the teaching going?" "Fantastic." "How's the department?" "Great." "How's the school?" "Wonderful." "How's the town?" "Love it." "How's your flat?" "Lovely -- you should all come visit!" Had a great chat with Vicky, who was in my 'neck-of-the-woods' on her honeymoon a few weeks ago (they drove the 'Route 66' -- cool plan, huh?), and loved it all.

My life is good right now . . . I'm content, at peace, and settling in well.

(Watch me get hit by a bus tomorrow.)

The school schedule . . . quite definitely different here!

Here in England, we're on a schedule which repeats every two weeks, and their are five one-hour lessons each day -- and that's about as 'scheduled' as it gets!

To begin with, the first twenty-five minutes each day (8:30 to 8:55) is an extra 'class' called tutor time. We meet with a group, about 5 from each year group, and we take attendance ('registration'), check uniforms, do slips to sign them out later in the day if they have to go anywhere, check their homework planners, and just in general help them with anything they need -- just getting their day off on the right foot. We also do a short activity, game, word puzzle, something.

For the rest of the school day, a typical class sees their teacher six or seven times in every two-week period (a 'fortnight'), but at varying times on varying days. And sometimes, due to the scheduling conflicts, you don't even teach all seven of their classes, but only five or six -- another teacher takes over the extra class (or two) that doesn't fit into your schedule (and as you'd guess, you also take over odd classes for other teachers). When you share a class, you don't follow along with their unit of work -- you start something entirely different. Perhaps you pick up some poems that need to be studied . . . Back to the schedule, at present my total teaching time is 21 of the 25 lesson periods each week -- not too bad, really. The remaining time is used for lesson planning, marking, etc. Classes range in size from 25-31 students to a class (although I do have one class of 22 struggling learners).

For those who know the American education system, it's quite a difference, isn't it?

Finances -- a top concern for all of us . . .

Airfare: One-way ticket from America: $700 . . . Extra piece of luggage: $110 . . . One overweight piece of luggage: $25 . . . Hired car (through Bluewave) taking exhausted me from Gatwick to my flat: priceless.

Accommodations: First month's rent, £550; deposit, £550 -- so just over $2000 to get in the door). More on utilities below . . .

If you don't have a flat before arriving, some B&B's or hotels offer monthly contracts. Unless you're in London, you can get a cheap hotel for about £40 per night, so if there's any way you can arrange a flat before arriving, do so. If it's not perfect, you can move later.

Food: I spend about £15-20 a week on groceries. The farmers' market is great -- I loaded up bags of fresh fruits and veggies last weekend for a total of about £5, then got the remaining items at the supermarket.

Getting-settled: I brought a few things from home (my good flatware set, a few kitchen towels, potholders, a large bath towel, a sheet, pillowcases, and my goose-down duvet). Upon arrival, I went to Sainsbury's for a skillet, a pot, a teakettle, a large oven pan, a pillow, an iron and ironing board, alarm clock, a hair dryer (about £100 for all that).

For the rest, the local charity shops are fantastic -- gorgeous antique dining room set for £40, desk for £25, small stand for £10, and a (complete) like-new bed for £70 (if it bothers you to buy a slightly used bed, do as I did and bring one of those anti-allergy mattress-covers in your luggage -- the ones that are created to keep even microscopic dustmites and the like in their place? You then have a fresh, clean bed at a low price.)

Laundry: A friend told me recently it's £3 to wash, and £3 more to dry. My flat has a brand-new washer, and I bought a huge 'aluminium' (and they pronounce is 'al-yoo-MIN-ee-um') drying rack for £10. Since my water is set at a fixed rate (no meter), it really doesn't cost me extra to do the laundry there, with the exception of a small amoun t of electricity.

Utilities: You hook these up with just a phone call. My water account is set at £30. Gas will vary, as will my electric, and all three are billed quarterly. Nice to not see any bills for the first few months, whilst I recover from the moving expenses. None of those pesky connection fees we are always charged in the U.S. (Updated later: First quarter of electric was £55, and first three months of gas was £79.)

Internet/cable/telephone: I have a 4 MB Internet connection for £15 a month, and the phone plan I chose is £17 a month (which gives me calls to America on weekends at just 2 p. per minute). Again, no connection fees -- they'll just do direct debit and begin billing one month after connection. I used NTL (tel: 0800 052 0665). They have various packages -- some as low as £30 a month for Internet, cable, and phone. (I didn't bother with cable -- not that big a fan of telly.)

Council tax: Make a call to your local council within 21 days of moving into your new home, or face a fine. Council tax is based on two adults per household, so get the 25% discount if you live alone. You can pay council tax monthly through direct debit -- mine is £65 a month for a 2-BR flat.

TV licence: If there's a television in your home, you need a licence. It's £131 a year for colour TV, and £45 for black and white. The fine for owning a TV without a licence is £1,000, and don't try to convince them that you aren't watching it, cable isn't connected yet, etc -- they don't care (on their web page, they do have a riotous list of excuses they've heard!). Call 0870 850 1202, or go to their website and purchase your licence online.

Bus fare: I buy the monthly pass for £36, unlimited use. (You can go online to find the right company, the routes and schedules, and even buy the pass online before you arrive.)

Bank account: This was simple as well. Bring your letter of introduction from Bluewave, your passport/visa, work permit, contract, lease . . . whatever you've got with your address on it, and presto -- you have a bank account! Ask for a line of overdraft protection -- at HSBC, I got £800 initially (interest on overdraft amount is 1.67%). Also, you don't have to make a deposit initially when you set-up the account (unlike America).

NIN: The one we were all stressing over. Pick up that mobile phone that Bluewave has put into your welcome packet, and order the NIN form the first day (it tells you how in your packet). When it arrives, fill it out and take it to your school on the very first day. They only have to fill in 4 little boxes on part D, stamp it, make some photo copies of your passport, visa, etc., and send it off to the proper authorities (the address is included, so post it yourself if you want -- I did). And why is NIN is listed in this finance-related post? "Because . . . (all together now, boys and girls) . . . without that, you'll be taxed at a very high rate and end up living in a van, down by the river" (for all the S.N.L. and Chris Farley fans reading this).

What have I left out?? Just leave a comment and I'll answer it . . .