The Beginning...

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog, where I will be documenting my adventure teaching in Bermuda. I will try my best to summarize my working experience, and social adjustments. I will tell you all about the exciting twists and turns that I encounter. Hopefully, I will give you some insight into the culture, education, and lifestyle here in Bermuda.

I arrived in Bermuda five days ago. I travelled first class on a direct flight from Toronto. I had the banana french toast for breakfast which was quite good. I watched half of a not so good movie called the new grad or something along those lines. The flight was quick only two hours in the air. Once we landed I went through customs and I had to pay for every electronic item that I own. After I was interviewed, I was attained and had to wait for my work permit to arrive. Twenty some minutes later the principal arrived with the paperwork that I needed. So then I was able to get my things and enter the country. No one searched me or my things which is quite weird I think.

So the principal and another advisor took me to a restaurant for lunch after that. We went to a place called Rustico. This place is a Mediterranean/Italian spot with a nice outdoor "heated" deck. The food was alright, and the patio was packed on a Sunday. I had a cranberry/ginger beer which has become my favourite drink of choice. I think I will be sober the entire time I am here. Which means i'll have to make up for it when I get home. :P

The weather hasn't been all that appealing. Cold and rainy mostly, but it's a lot better than snow. I have yet to use the pool at the hotel, but the place is clean and I'm on the second floor or two so it's pretty quiet. Except for the mornings, there is this type of yellow bird that is absolutely annoying with it's a.m. squacking.

The first two days of school I spent planning, and frantically preparing for classes. On the monday, a handful of ladies invited me out to dinner with them. We went to a place called The Specialty Inn that looked like a diner. I had homemade extra large meatballs with rice and coleslaw. This was served with a sweet and sour sauce on top. The meal was quick good, and the pizza that they served there looked pretty tasty. Dinner was around $17 with my pop, but the nice teachers paid for my dinner.

The school is an interesting place, the students feel entitled. Most of the teachers are Canadian, and that's the neat part. During lunch I've been having conversations about home, and the teacher's lounge is gossip central regardless of what country you're in.

Yesterday was my first day of teaching. I met a gentleman on my way to work from England. He is here for a three months stay to work for a telephone company. We had a chit chat while walking into town. He was quite nice probably in his 50s. Everyone in this country says hello when you walk by, and they all make eye contact. It's very intrusive at first, but now i'm starting to initiate it. Even the homeless people say hello. There is more poverty here than I have ever seen before. I think that is because they don't have a place to go, they are stuck on the island. There are no options for them, and it is very sad...

Back to my first day at school. I thought that it went fairly well, and the way my schedule works I have a spare that is about 1.5 hours. This is unheard of anywhere else in the world, and you pay would normally be based on hours of teaching, but apparently not here. So I feel pretty comfortable teaching, but the two classes of grade 9s will definitely test me repeatedly.

As for the apartment hunt; I have seen three now and I still don't have a place to live. The first place was about a ten minute drive from the school. The apartment was a two bedroom unfurnished, without any utilities. Negative--- The second was an apartment share in the middle of the island. This is near a not so great part of town, and although I thought the apartment was the right price, and had all the things I am looking for.... I don't feel comfortable. The bus only goes through that area of town once an hour. The woman who I would be living with is very nice. She is an English woman in her late 40s, who is recently divorced and just looking for company. She seemed harmless, but I think I should live alone. $1600/mo. -- includes everything.

Today I went to go see an apartment that is literally on the side of the road. The place was about the size of my hotel room. The bathroom was the size of my closet at home. It only came with a sink, stove and fridge that are all against the same wall as the door. It is an unfurnished place, that is fully tiled. Nothing was included with rent, and it was about a 10 minute walk to work. So no real need for transportation. That was at $1800/mo.

Class today was a breeze. I had a new group of grade nines and I had to be quite firm with them. The girls thought they could talk through my class, and I quickly put them in their place. I think the other teachers are walkovers. I had a great class with 5 students who are taking the multimedia class. They seem excited to create things so that is good. We had a fire drill today and we all went to the public park near by. Next week will be a lockdown practice and then the week after a rain/firedrill. We all go to the church. I guess this is a learning process.

I definitely need to catch up on my sleep. So I hope this gives everyone an idea of what I am doing. Hope all is well at home.

Good Day,
Miss B