Little Village = Little Adventures

I wrote this blog earlier in the week, but I haven't had a chance to post it until now . . . enjoy!

I have been in Northern Ireland for almost a week now and I like it so far. I haven’t settled in yet though, as all my stuff is still in boxes and shoved, rather precariously, into a closet in the house I am sharing. There’s no point in unpacking it yet really as I am moving again in a week or two to a private flat. I can’t wait to move, not only so I can unpack and start to make this place feel a bit more like home, but also so I can find my phone charger . . . my battery is definitely going to die at any moment and then I will truly be cut off from the world . . . not that I can get much phone signal here anyway! ;-)

I survived my first day of teaching. It went alright, all things considered. I was flying blind because I hadn’t had the opportunity to observe the session I was teaching in advance, so it was a steep learning curve. I am glad it’s out of the way though!

My most recent adventure in the village involved visiting the local shop to see what they stocked on their shelves. Answer: not much, but it’ll do for staples like milk and bread. The shop lady looked up when I came to the till, and seemed quite disappointed when she didn’t recognise me (she’d called everyone else by name who had been ahead of me in the queue!). I am not sure what was required of me, in terms of social etiquette; in that situation . . . should I have introduced myself, telling her who I was? That seemed a bit much, as there were a few people waiting behind me. I decided to leave it for the time being. It won’t be long now until she finds out who I am on her own, I suppose.

My upcoming adventure is as follows: On Saturday, I plan on travelling into the nearest town (pop. 10,000) by bus to do a bit of shopping and nosing around. The only annoying part of my plan is that once I arrive in the town, I am then stuck there for about 9.5 hours before there will be another bus to take me back home. Oh, the joys of small town living!

Those city lights are calling!