Driving Test

I failed.

Non-School-Uniform-Days

My old primary school had a non-school-uniform day for me today and they managed to raise a whopping: 

£227!!!

So I am very VERY grateful to them all! And next week I'm going in on Tuesday and Thursday to help them out with hand washing some socks to raise some more money! As well as an assembly on Wednesday...

In other news: I have my driving test tomorrow. ARGH! Actually no, I think I should be OK as long as I don't let nerves get the better of me and make a stupid mistake. I took Sarah with me for me lesson on Wednesday because I reckoned she would be more distracting than the instructor could be. I'll also hopefully be more focused with the examiner! I'm fairly confident, I think I've achieved a nice balance between being too cocky and over ambitious, but I'm confident that I can pass. (It will be horrifically awkward if I have to post on here that I fail!). But I'm also hoping that something happens at the very beginning of the test that makes me think I've failed: the theory being that if I do the majority of the test thinking there's no hope, I'll be much more relaxed and therefore less likely to make any mistakes! I have managed to convince myself it doesn't matter if I fail so there's less pressure, and actually it doesn't matter so much. I really hope I can pass first time so that I'll be able to drive in SA which will make me much more independent and less reliant on other people, but I've already spent a year out there unable to drive so it's not so much of a big deal!

You might be able to tell I'm still trying to convince myself!

Teaching Debrief!

The teaching was...OK!

My laptop wouldn't connect to the projector so I had to use the teacher's computer. That meant in one class, one of the videos didn't play and the other class didn't have a computer I could connect to so the teacher just held up my laptop to play the video.

I'm doing another 2 lessons on Wednesday so I've pre-loaded the images and videos onto the school's drive so they can be accessed by any computer in the school AND I've checked everything works and can be seen on the school's computers just in case! So hopefully all will go well on Wednesday!

Then I've also been asked to do a whole school assembly the Wednesday after and show them what life was like as a volunteer instead of about the kids, and that week they're going to do a non-school-uniform day and I think they might even be having a 'wash your own' week where the kids get sponsored to wash their own socks!

I bought my insurance today for the whole of my trip and that was the last thing I had to 'buy' or was on my list of needs money-wise that didn't include day-to-day spends, so in theory everything is planned!

Well, apart from my visa. I'm hoping it will all be OK. But I'm really nervous there will be a problem with it. I can phone up on Wednesday to find out whether my application has been approved/the visa has been granted and if it hasn't then if it's because of my pitifully poor form writing skills, then it will take 5 working days to process a fresh application which has to be over the counter aaaand the only embassy is in London. So here's hoping it goes smoothly because as much as I would love to go back to London, I really don't want to go back!

Argh...the stress!

Teaching

I'm teaching my first lesson tomorrow. It's at my old primary school to years 3 and 4, then next week I'll be teaching years 5 and 6. I am absolutely terrified. I can't help but think: "don't worry, they won't bite!" which is funny, because they do! Sometimes. My plan is to teach them the prayer my kids say before every meal:   

Op ma stoeltjie sit ek nou,

met my handjies saam gevou,

lief vir jesus oor my dank,

vir my voedsel en my drank.

Then I'm going to have them wash their own socks by hand! And if there's time I'd like them to write some letters to my kids to start the pen-friend/twin process!

And then I'm headed to LONDON! Yay! Going to go to the Brunel Museum and Wapping tube station to see the arches in the tunnel!

One Heck of a Day!

Today has been unbelievably surreal.

As soon as I got up, I initiated the passport search. Both my parents and myself had been looking for it since Monday but not to the level of today's search! I emptied out all the cupboards and drawers around the area where I'd last remembered having it on the thought that if Granny was involved she would have put it somewhere local (probably). Nothing but spiders...

I had already emptied the paper recycling bin...just in case! But it wasn't in there. I was seriously considering ordering a new one, my only holder-backer (because I can't think of the proper word) was that it costs over £100 and sods law dictates that as soon as I'd ordered the new one, I would find my old one.

Anyway, Dad found it under a chair cushion in Granny's room. I must have put it in a hoodie pocket and it fell out when I was Granny sitting. Yes, I know I'm an idiot!

So once we found it, I could go ahead and send off for my visa as my police certificate came through today. I filled out the necessary forms as best I could (although I'm not entirely convinced they'll go through as there were 2 bits I had no idea how or what to put!) and packaged everything together and rocked off to my local post office. All going fairly well at this point. The PO closes at 17.30 and it's not 17.00, but all I need to do is get a postal cheque thing and send the thing off! That's what I thought anyway.

As it would turn out, postal orders can only be as much as £250. I needed to pay £635. £600 deposit (returned once I'm back in the UK) and £35 for the application. So I had to make 3 of those. And I needed 2 envelopes: 1 to send to them and 1 so they could send my passport and things back to me. All relatively fine, I'm forming quite a queue behind me but everything seems to be going OK. Until I go to pay. I didn't realise that there's a £250 cash withdrawal limit to debit cards. I do now. I had to pay £250 as a cash withdrawal, then the rest of it in single £100 or less batches because that was the highest amount their tills would take. When I had £250 left to pay my bank decided that such weird amounts being drawn out in such quick succession was unusual so they shut down my card (if it wasn't me using it I would be happy at such a quick response. As it was, it WAS me using it so it was just really irritating! And I don't know if it's permanent or if I'll be able to use my card tomorrow). So I'm in the post office, my parcel has just been sent and I still owe them £250. Obviously I don't have £250 in my wallet (I wish!). Oh and it's 17.21, 9 minutes until closing time. They trust me enough to let me leg it home to grab some cash or my Mum or a combination of the two. By the time I make it home it's 17.26 (I was on my bike) and Mum doesn't enough cash and she's teaching so she can't come with me. LUCKILY Dad arrives home at that exact minute and with irritating calm and not nearly fast enough for me, he drives me back to the post office with a card of his own. We make it back for 17.31 but they've stayed open the extra minute for me (HA)!

In the end I made it. I just hope with all my might that everything will be OK with the application. My Dad's taking me to London next week for a few days so I might see if I can go and check on it then, make sure every thing's present and correct.

Yoh! It's been a mad one!

Funny Story

Once upon a time there was a girl called Damson and just before she needed to apply for her visa she lost her passport.

Actually this is happening to me right now...

I applied for my police clearance certificate on Friday, I had my passport then and I left it on the windowsill of the dining room. AND NOW I CAN'T FIND IT! GAHHHH

We can't work out if my Granny has put it somewhere incredibly safe and helpful (gotta love a helpful alzheimers sufferer) or if I've taken it to my room and forgotten, maybe Mum or Dad put it some place where it would be easily found.

All this wouldn't be so much of an issue if I didn't need it this week to apply for my visa.

RUDE WORDS! 

The Wonders of Child-minding!

I would just like to make the point that I am child-minding this evening and I get to wear this:

But not only do I get to wear this, the children I'm babysitting LOVE the coat and ask me why I'm not wearing it if I don't and the parents also seem pretty chuffed with it!

Organising...

I decided at least a month or more ago that I would have everything ready to send off for my visa well in advance so that there was no panic. Obviously I forgot that plan so here I am, in January...PANICKING!

I've finished at M&S now, I took back my uniform and all my cards and my very special personalised (more than most) name badge today.

All I have to do for the visa is my police clearance form and just assemble the rest, but I'm panicking a little about it.

Ah well, not much can be done now!

New Years Eve

What with me being such a party animal, I thought I'd share my plans for welcoming in 2014:

I was going to have mincepies and custard as a late night snack but I forgot to make the mincepies until this evening so I have decided instead to have mincepies and custard for breakfast instead. I have turned my phone off so nobody can wake me up by text!

The years change on a fairly regular basis, I don't see what all the fuss is about.

(I haven't slept for a very long time, hence the slightly grumpy nature of this post!)

In South African news, I've realised I have to go to London to get the form for my visa which is n awful lot of hassle, and can someone please remind me to send off for my police clearance form?

Brain...

                                               .....melting...

                                                                 ........out.............

                                                                                          .....of.......

                                                                                                                    ...ears.