The Latest

I have done something that is potentially very foolhardy . . . I have quit my job here and I have no idea what I will be doing in a month's time! Eek! I didn't get the job in Aberdeen . . . well, at least they have offered it to someone else and they are currently waiting to hear back from that person. I am a bit down about that, but everything always happens for a reason. Anyway, I basically decided that it was still time to move on from here and to move back to Scotland. The plan, as I currently see it is to go back to part-time retail and do some volunteer work to make contacts and get more experience in Scotland. A lot of the jobs I really find interesting require a car, and the reality is that if I keep working at my current job I will not be able to put together enough cash to get a car for some time to come. At my old retail job in Edinburgh I made twice as much as I do now and worked 4 days a week instead of 6. Anyway, while I am still not sure if this is the best decision in the world, I guess time will tell!!!

Annotated pictures from hiking the South West Coast Path

If you'd like to see a selection of annotated pictures from when Ali and I hiked part of England's South West Coast Path - see slide show - then please click here.

Aberdeen

To get to Aberdeen, it took a lot of public transport. First, a bus to the trainstation in Weymouth. From there a train to London. Then a tube journey to another train station in London. Then another train . . . this time to the airport. Then, a shuttle bus to the actual airport. Then a plane to Aberdeen. And finally, a taxi to my hotel. It was a long day on Thursday! I started my journey at 8:30am and ended it at 7:30 pm. I am quite happy it is over!!! But, I have to do the same journey in reverse today . . . gulp. The journey from Weymouth to Aberdeen is only ~594miles! Click here to see a map (A = Weymouth; B = Aberdeen).

I came to Aberdeen for a job interview. It is a job that I would really love, but I am not sure how things went in the interview . . . it's always so hard to judge these things! There were 8 people interviewed and there are actually two positions. My roommate from my current job was also interviewed for the same position! The interview itself involved quite a few things, a written component, a presentation, and then the interview itself (which included having to interpret, i.e. describe, an onion!). I really hope I get it, but I will now just have to wait and see. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the week.

It would be great to be back in Scotland!

Reflections

About 7 months ago, I came to the UK to live and to start my career. While seven months may not seem like such a critical moment to commemorate on a blog, I figured that since I missed my six month anniversary over here, I had better do something to recognize my seven month!

My original goal was to move to Scotland - I wasn't really all that fussed about where in particular in Scotland I wanted to settle - and to pursue my career within environmental education. While I feel I hve moved closer to where I want to be in terms of my career I am abit further from where I want to be in terms of location . . . considering I am on the south coast of Engalnd!

My job is going well enough, but I know that it’s not quite exactly want I want to do in the long term. I love the part of my job that involves teaching kids about science and the environment. I get such a natural high out of having the kids understand a concept that they were having trouble with or having them be excited about finding a sea urchin or a crab in a rockpool! While working within the adventure activity side of things also provides natural highs, for instance when you successfully get a child to overcome their fear of heights somewhat by helping them to extend their own personal boundaries, for me at least, that kind of thrill isn’t quite as rewarding as the educational kind! I hope to eventually move into a job that involves environmental education on a more full time basis. I also enjoy the challenge of creating materials for the students to use during a session and I enjoy the opportunities I have here to work on them, but I hope to have more creative control in a future job. We’ll see what the future will bring!

On a personal note, I lost my grandfather this year, which was something that I found particularly difficult. We were extremely close and he was an important role model for me. I think that is one of the hardest things about moving to a new country – being away from family and friends. While I miss them, I know that, at least for now, this is still the right path for me and I look forward to seeing where this road leads!

France

I got back from the Ardѐche region of France on Friday night. Overall the trip itself was good, although there were certainly some work-related moments of stress!

The Ardѐche is a ruggedly beautiful area. The main highlight in the vicinity is its gorge and the river that runs through it. Many companies offer canoeing and/or kayaking trips along it, and it’s actually the most canoed river in all of Europe! Naturally on one of our days off we decided to attempt to canoe the Ardѐche River. I say attempt, because, well . . . let’s just say we weren’t the best at it. We managed to capsize 5 times which resulted in several mishaps including the loss of one of my favourite flipflops (which effectively meant that I had loss two flipflops, because one is just not as good as two!), the loss of my canoeing mate’s (Tom) water for the day, and the complete and utter drenching of our sandwiches that we were supposed to have for lunch. It also resulted in some of the ugliest bruises I have ever had on my legs in my life! One was longer than the length of my hand and ran up my thigh! I think my favourite tipping incident was when we were trying to canoe to the left, but the current swept us to the right, and we got wedged against a tree with our canoe at just the right angle to allow water to sweep into it! I just remember looking back at Tom and seeing him sitting there looking down as the water rushed into the canoe and him just sitting there laughing . . . not even attempting to bail out the canoe!

Cool species of animals that I saw included geckos (see picture at left, lizards, toads, and scorpions! The towns we visited were also equally amazing. Really cute and really old. I also loved the French way of life - very relaxed with excellent food and wine! Who knows? Maybe I'll buy a villa in France some day!