Sunday 28th January 2007

Hello everyone,

Well, school is busy as usual, we’ve got four weeks to prepare and put on a concert, which involves a huge amount of work, so naturally on top of marking and the usual class prep, (including making viking boats using nothing but card, straws, toothpicks, scissors and glue)  I’m now spending my evenings making paper snowflakes (which, according to my anally-retentive fellow teacher, must have 6 points, not 4, because all snowflakes apparently do!!).

In case you didn’t know, it’s UNBELIEVABLY hard to make 6-pointed paper snowflakes, but I am gradually becoming a master. I only need enough to cover a 6-meter squared wall space, so you know, fun fun fun!!

Anyhoo, in amongst work, work and more work, I have been applying for various positions for next year, as Madame has asked us all to tell her whether we’re re-signing or not, and my answer was a definite and resounding NO.

I have decided that I want to do something a bit different, as while I love travelling, and want to carry on living and working abroad for a while, I want to try and move my “career”, if you can call it that, away from teaching. I still want to work with children, but I’ve been teaching for almost three years now and I don’t think it’s something I want to do forever.

Soooo, instead of teaching very rich and privileged children for lots of money, I’m going to hopefully help children who have almost nothing for no money.  So, I looked into a few options, applied to a few places, and have been accepted onto a ten-month volunteer program in a Nepalese orphanage.

I’ll be finishing in Kuwait in mid-June, coming home for about six weeks to sort out my visa and paper work etc, have a bit of a rest, and will then be going to Nepal at the beginning of August.

Of course, in the mean time, I have to raise almost £4000 in order to go, so I will almost certainly be hitting you all up for money!! I’m going to set up a website through justgiving.com where the charity (ICYE) will receive gift aid tax-relief for donations, so when that’s all sorted out, feel free to donate at will!!

Anyway, that’s about all the time I have right now, as the snowflakes are calling me, I have a lot of paper to fold and cut, and sometime in the next few days I have to construct a 5-6 foot snowman out of flipchart paper and cotton wool.
Yay.
(Although I can now make my own play-dough from scratch!! I’m so proud of that it’s sooo going on my CV!!)

Hope you’re all well,
lots of love and kisses and happy karmic vibes etc,

blue-peter-eat-your-heart-out-Maya
xxx