Middle School Musical

It's on! The musical of the century has begun. I am directing Bugsy Malone. I have never heard of this show before but it is catchy. It is a child mobster movie set in prohibition era New York. This musical is pretty much all I think about day and night. I think about every detail of it from how I can gather props, costumes, tap shoes and all the rest of it. I am learning to do a bit of tap dancing which is quite exciting. It is the most basic form of tap though I can assure you. I have white heels for tap shoes and I love it. I have been really enjoying coaching dancing this year. It is really not my strong suit but I have learned a lot. This is the busiest time of year for me and also my favourite time of year. Standardized tests have finished and there is a generally much more relaxed air about the place. We just got off half term break which was spent sitting around doing nothing in gorgeous sunny weather. Now there is 7 weeks left until the end of term. My school has just realized that my working visa has essentially run out of working time on it so I have been given the day off tomorrow to go to the embassy to straighten things out. They have gotten my letter of sponsorship sorted out but not the visa itself. So they believe I will have to make a quick trip home to sort things out. Ridiculous. I haven't the time or money to be doing something like that! I would love a visit home in the summer but not right now. Hopefully they will have good news for me tomorrow. Anyways, Caroline has the day off too so we will get to hang out in the city for no reason. I was supposed to go on a school trip on Friday that I didn't really feel like going on so this is a much nicer turn of events. I am getting a lot of satisfaction out of my job these days which is a change from a month or so ago. I am starting our Autumn recruitment campaign to get more kids into music lessons at school. Also we are having our summer music evening soon which I am looking forward to.

Hilary Clinton

Although I am not sure if I have mentioned it, I recently obtained a hamster. Now for those of you familiar with my ferret incident, not to worry. I like this creature and have been promised they only live for about a year. Her name is Hilary Clinton and she lives in an elaborate pink enclosure with many tubes and apartment levels for her to wander about in. She also has a hamster ball which she enjoys quite a bit.

Voting

It's absolute madness but I am allowed to vote here! I received a voters card for the European election that was held today. My name was spelled as Areil (like the little mermaid but a little different) instead of April but I was still registered. I went to Caroline's place after work though so I thought I wouldn't be able to vote. Here is the crazy part: two of her house mates weren't home for it so I used one of their cards and went down and voted with her and it was just fine! Apparently you just have to have a card and turn up at the designated area. All they asked me was my name. Not my address or to see any ID. It was mental. I shouldn't be allowed to vote here! There were 15 parties on the ballot too! I had no idea who to choose so I went with the party that was closest to what I would have voted for at home.

Other than that, life is as per usual. We are having a record number of warm sunny days which is putting everyone in a great mood. I didn't think they got weather like this here. I am planning a few days away to the seaside. I haven't gone anywhere for a long time so I am really looking forward to getting out of the city. I always say that though and recently I can't motivate myself to go to far from home. I am so tired from the work week that I just want to rest. Now that the weather has changed though I think that will change as well. Hope all is well with everyone. Speak to you soon :o)