CELTA in Solihull... The Final Stretch!

CELTA in Solihull is almost complete and I think I am on track to pass the course and receive my certificate... I think.

I have one more assignment due on Saturday that I need to finish off this week on what I have learned from observing other qualified teachers and CELTA trainees like myself over the past few months. I am not expecting any problems with that.

I also have to go to the college tomorrow morning and observe a qualififed teacher doing her thing in the classroom as you need to have observed a total of 6 hours. I only have 3.5 hours under my belt.

And then I have only one more teaching session consisting of one hour on Monday. Other than that, I am on a serious downhill slope.

I cannot wait to have my Saturdays back... And not having to go on the other 2 nights will be a plus too i guess...

What's next?

Well, if the VA comes through for me I will be attending The University of Birmingham in the Fall. The G.I. Bill does indeed kick ass.

Ohhh, and the weather lately kicks ass too....

Why is sledding dangerous for Brits??

I wrote a few days ago about how most of the UK has been receiving the most snow in 20 years and the complications and ramifications have been down right funny and sometimes completely weird.

From an idiot burglar in the northeast of England to Bobbies having snowball fights with passers-by on the beat to an unusual amount of people getting injured while sledding. One even dying.

By no means do I intend to insinuate that these things do not or could not happen in other countries but it seems to be BIG news here in the UK. From my experience Americans are the most atentive to the weather forecast but Brits are not that far behind them. The major difference is that Brits tend to expect their weather to be terrible as it usually is.

But the past week's weather has taken some people by surprise because of the way the collective British society sort of threw in the towel. The Brits are a people that pride themselves on their stiff upper lip and being persistent through adverse conditions but there has been satirical news that the Nazis were going to create a snow machine to defeat the Brits that summed up the occasion perfectly.

I do not ever recall in the past 3 winters that I have been here seeing any sleds for sale at any stores here in Birmingham. And I am sure that it is purely an economical decision not to sell them as there has never been anywhere near enough snow to actually go sledding. But perhaps not having traditional sleds available to purchase led to this girl's death. Her and her friends decided to use a makeshift sled out of a car's hood and crashed through a barbed wire fence going down the hill at an estimated speed of 40 MPH.

There have also been numerous articles in the news similar to this one where people sledding have had to go the hospital. Now I have been sledding probably since before I could walk. Seriously. It is something everyone does in the northeast, as we tend to get quite a bit of snow and there are plenty of hills. But in all that time growing up I do not recall once hearing of someone dying from sledding or being injured because of it.

Maybe Brits really do need all these Health and Safety regulations that they hate so much.

And on a serious note. Why do they call it "sledging"?

Calm between the 2 'storms'...

Certain areas of the UK are having major issues. They are not really accustomed to that much snow in most parts of England so when they get the smallest amount of say 3" or 10cm they lose their marbles. It is a similar problem to what southern states in America have to deal with. Every once in a while they get hit with a snow storm and have no capabilities to remove the snow.

Here in Birmingham we received about 3" of snow but in some other areas of the southeast they got up to about 18". Imagine that with no plows or the proper rock salt to aid in dissolving the iced sidewalks. I saw on the news they said that they emergency services have received a 40% increase in 999 calls. Apparently many an old person is walking to the corner store to buy some milk and a newspaper and slipping in the sidewalks and breaking various bones.



Even though it was snowing all day Monday the kids had school but then the Birmingham City Council took the unusual step of issuing a blanket closure for all city schools for Tuesday. And then we had no snow at all... To be fair to them the sidewalks were very dangerous though.

Apparently we are supposed to get another storm tomorrow and then again on Friday. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. A lot of parents are upset that the schools were closed because they had to stay home from work. The news said 1 in 5 workers stayed home....