Thursday, May 27, 2010

Unexpectedly helpful

Well, I came home to a nice surprise today. The passport office had replied to my email in reasonable time (only a day!) and they not only fixed the name on some forms they had asked me to get my dad to fill out, but they also suggested that seeing as my brother had to get them done when he applied for his passport that they might (possibly, not getting too excited yet) just be able to use his, and I won't need to do them at all. That would be really nifty. They want to know all sorts of things that I'm pretty sure he won't know/remember the answers to. Seriously, they want to know all sorts of things about where you've lived and when and property you've owned, and the dates and so on and so on... it's actually quite intense. So, hopefully, fingers crossed, we won't be needing to do that.

In other news, I can't possibly articulate how excited I am about heading to summer. It's basically rained non-stop for three days or so here......... ta da flooding! It was sleeting between me getting up this morning and getting to work. Luckily it stopped for the few minutes between me leaving the house and my bus turning up, but it started again when I was on the bus! I so don't like the cold....... why am I going to the UK again?! I mean I know it's an immediate fix, going from summer to winter, but really, so far as I can tell, even spring and autumn aren't that great there. I think I will just tell myself that I'll be working for a family who prefer their holiday home in St Tropez or south of Spain or something. Lots of them do really. Anyway, I bet they will at least have better heating.... it can't possibly be worse than here unless they live in a castle or something.

Time to go do some baking or something, I need to become warm somehow, and a hot oven seems as good way as any other.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

An unexpected hiccup...

So I was anticipating extra paperwork with my British passport because my parents didn't get married until well after I was born. They've called up to say they would like that paperwork completed please, and said they will email it to me (three days later I have nothing...). However what I didn't expect was an objection to my countersignature. On the notes that accompany the forms they ask for someone who is a "British citizen or other British national, or a commonwealth citizen who is... [insert appropriate professions etc]". It also says that you need to have known them for at least two years. So I got my friend A, a British citizen who I've known for about five years to sign it for me. I, and my friend who has an MA in English both read it as being someone who is either a British citizen, OR a commonwealth citizen with certain professions, even with the obvious alternative being raised. Now they're saying (it would seem) that they need to be a citizen of any commonwealth country (UK or NZ irrelevant), AND a professional of some type, who (she said on the phone) you've known for five years.
This of course rules out A, as he is a student. Now I need to somehow get my friend in Wellington to be a countersignature (as I don't have any professional friends down here... it IS a student town after all!), which the lady on the phone was fine with. Which is interesting as I didn't think one could legally verify a photo without actually physically being in the same room as them at the time. So yeah. They're being difficult about the whole thing, which is really annoying.

On the plus side I guess I could spend more time with my parents before I leave, I'm sure they would like that. Heavens knows I'll need it if I'm going to get them up to speed with the internet before I go ;) *love you Mum* I'm sure you'll read this one day!

So currently unsure about a leaving date. Theoretically the 6th of July, but I may have to delay it if I have huge trouble with passports. I'm pretty sure I can't easily go without my British one. I wouldn't even know what kind of visa to apply for with my NZ one..... an ancestry visa? Lol. Yeah.

I'm a bit scared of the amount of stuff I need to do in the next... three weeks. Oh......... flatmates, furniture, looks like I'll have full time work till then (and I need the money so I'll do it too), got a party crammed in there somewhere. At least it seems that my pack is capable of holding everything I want to put in it without the slightest issue, and has space to spare. I do love it, and it was half price too! Yay for Kathmandu.

Okay I think thats enough rambling for now... time for more lemon cake. I just made a lemon cake. I didn't use a recipe, and the lemons from the supermarket were all exceptionally unripe (still green for goodness sake!) and so utterly lacking in juice for making the syrup to go top of it. But it still tastes okay, probably would have liked a touch more sugar, but otherwise it's good. Definitely a cake.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

In the beginning

In the beginning there was a curious Sam...
This Sam was so curious about the world that she handed in her resignation to her kind and accepting employers, and bought herself a one-way ticket to London. With this ticket she hoped to reach the far shores of a distant land, and begin a new life of adventure and travel. Instead of staying in one place caring for thirty young children, she will be caring for only a few children, in their own home, where she will stay with them while their parents are out. She will take them everywhere, to the park, to school, the beach, even on holidays. These children will grow fond of their curious Sam, and learn to speak in her own language, while she learns theirs. It will be a wonderful time of learning and growing, and when the children are grown, perhaps their curious Sam will be a little less curious, and a little more fluent in their language.

Well thats more or less the plan anyway.
In case you hadn't gathered, I'm Sam, and I'm a bit curious about pretty much everything. Much more ambitiously curious than currently looks viable, but hopefully that will change in the next month or two.

In July I will be flying to London, where I will look for work as a nanny. I'm particularly looking at warmer locations in Europe, as I'm really a bit of a sissy about the cold, but on the flip side, Russia sounds really interesting. And they certainly believe in heating and insulation much more than we do here, so it shouldn't be so bad.

After three months of Early Childhood Teaching I'm pretty much over it. Even though I knew I wasn't getting in to teaching as a long-term career, I really under-estimated the dedication it takes for even the short term! It's really hard work! I also find looking after children under the age of six months for over eight hours a day, five days a week really depressing. They're too small, it's a stressful environment for a grown up to be in, I can't imagine what it would be like for someone who can't even roll over on their own.

Anyway. London. Two months. This is where I'll keep you all updated!