I have sorely neglected this blog and have been feeling a bit guilty about it. However in some ways I suspect it is a good thing. Our lives at the moment are extremely busy with barely a minute to spare.
We are still waiting to hear about our residency application and I am getting more than a little bit impatient with the whole process but hopefully we will hear something positive this coming week. J and A both had a great half term and we filled it by seeing the local sights and had some great days out with friends enjoying the winter sunshine.
Last week I had a job interview for the first time in about ten years. I have been desperately trying to get back to work having had a career break. When they rang on Thursday saying could I come in for an interview the following day it was a bit of a shock to the system.
I have been at home with the girls now for almost four years and in that time we have lived in three different countries. Its not as though I haven't been busy in that time but its not quite the same as being in the world of work. Your skills at wiping noses, changing nappies or dealing with toddler tantrums are not called upon in most places of work and I am still not entirely sure I can even remember what it is I used to do!
I agreed to go to the interview the following day and from the moment I put the phone down butterflies appeared to take up permanent residence in my stomach and I could feel a major headache creeping up behind my eyes. I think I went into panic mode. It wasn't until my other half came home in the evening and the kids were in bed that I finally managed to think logically and calmly about the whole thing.
I may have mentioned before in this blog but in (what feels like) the dim and distant past I was a teacher, so I have been trying to get back into teaching in New Zealand. This is not as easy as you may think. You have to get all your previous qualifications assessed by the New Zealand Qualification Authority who will require all you certificates and Academic Transcripts to be sent to them. Then you have to register with the Teachers Council who again need all your qualifications and police certificates from every country you have lived in. You then have to work in a school for a year to get full registration in New Zealand. It is not an easy task. So now I have to persuade a school over here that it is worth taking me on and mentoring me through my first year of teaching in this country.
My interview seemed to go okay but I am not sure if they are going to take me on. I keep reminding myself it is all good experience. It was a fantastic job and the school felt exactly like the one I used to work in back in the UK. I had to stop myself getting down on my knees and begging them to give me the job. Luckily I managed to hold myself back! I am not sure a desperate pleading English woman is quite what they were after!
Anyway here's me, keeping my fingers crossed that I get some good news on either the job front or residency next week.
On the swings at Plimmerton.
A wintery, windy beach.
Hungry, cheeky goats.
