Remember I said that last week was the mid term break, and I had the whole week off? Well, after I posted that little entry, I got two phone calls- one asking me if I wanted to work at an ACS International school out in Egham (out on the road to the infamous township of Slough, would you believe- my Oyster card didn't even work on the buses out there!) on Thursday and Friday, and another call from my teaching agency saying that a head mistress from a prestigious boys school in Sloan Square had got a hold of my CV, and wondered if I'd come in for an interview on Wednesday afternoon.
Now, the first time I heard of Sloan Square was when Caitlin first came back from Europe in July 2006 and kept imitating the voice-over at the Sloan Square tube station (extra posh). The second time I heard of Sloan Square, was when I purchased Tina Brown's book Diana. I went and bought this book after I read an review for it in the Herald Sun sometime in 2007, and to be honest, I didn't enjoy it. It really was badly written, overblown and over-hyped, and although I'm a bit ashamed to say so, there was too much detail and information (which was largely inaccurate anyway, bordering on fictional), and not enough dirt!
There, I said it.
However, I did manage to chew through the chapter that detailed Diana's time as a Sloan Ranger, and was somewhat informed about the general culture and people that came from that part of London- and hung out, in and around- Sloan Square: royals, socialites, actors and other 'It' people. Regardless of all this, I decided to give the job a shot, and show up for the interview.
I caught the 319 bus from the street over from Cabul road, and it took very little time to make it over to Sloan Square, only about twenty minutes, and I had some time to look around; swish buildings, a Pret a Manger (best coffee in London, by far), beautifully groomed people, Tiffany and Cartier, even a M!Mco... but the best thing there on that overcast Wednesday afternoon, was the choir of about twenty women in matching black t-shirts 'signing' to Abba's greatest hits, being blasted out on two huge amps in the middle of the Square. Grand! I picked up a coffee from Pret, watched the women signing and singing away, bit my fingernails, and prayed that I wouldn't mess up the interview.
Of course I arrived a bit early, and got even more nervous when I saw the building, and had to buzz in at the security door. Very swank indeed, and I felt totally out of my league. Annabel, the assistant-principal equivalent, buzzed me in, and came down in the lift to meet me in the lobby of the school. She shook my hand, and led me up a few flights of stairs to meet Lucy, the headmistress. I was immediately taken aback by her- zany and off-beat, but utterly brilliant, and a totally unique character! Not at all what I had been expecting, I guess. She gave me the spiel about the school, and how everything ran, and then asked me some questions about my previous teaching experience. Lucy asked me what my strengths were, and I told the truth (which I kept going over in my brain later that night, neurotically dissecting the things I remembered saying, and decided that would probably have been the end of me right there) and what I liked to do in my spare time...I can't even remember what I said, I just kept trying to hold it together.
The interview took about twenty minutes, and as they let me out the front doors, I really thought I had snow-flakes chance of getting semi-permanent work at that school. Lucy and Annabel told me they'd let my agency know what their decision was the next day, because the job started on Monday, and needed to let the successful applicant know a-sap. But, I was grateful for the experience, and shot at the interview (my first here in London), and left my fate in the hands of God himself.
That night I was a bit feverish (lingering swine flu I suspect), and had a dream that Rachel, the girl from my teaching agency, called me to give me some "feedback" about the interview. In the dream, Rachel told me that I did very well, but when I walked into the school, I didn't ask the school gardener what the balance of the till was, and as a result, had missed out on the position. When I woke up, I was convinced that this position wasn't going to happen. I went off to work out in the International school that day, and checked my phone at 10am, 11am and then at 12 noon, but no calls...and I decided that I probably had a kind rejection letter in my hotmail inbox.
When I took my lunch break a bit after one, I checked my phone again, and there was a missed call from Rachel, and a message on my phone bank saying she wanted to give me some "feedback" on the interview. Hmmm. So I called her back, to hear what I thought was the inevitable.
"Well," Rachel said "You did very well in the interview...and Lucy was wondering if you'd like to start on Monday."
I believe I shrieked down the phone line, poor Rachel. I hope her ear drums are still intact.
I was completely shocked. Still, I managed to accept the position, or at least ask Rachel to do it on my behalf, and am now employed at Eaton House Belgravia until the end of the school year!
I had my first day today, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I am hoping to do a really good job so that they might consider having me back after the summer break.
Fingers and toes, peeps, fingers and toes.
Now, the first time I heard of Sloan Square was when Caitlin first came back from Europe in July 2006 and kept imitating the voice-over at the Sloan Square tube station (extra posh). The second time I heard of Sloan Square, was when I purchased Tina Brown's book Diana. I went and bought this book after I read an review for it in the Herald Sun sometime in 2007, and to be honest, I didn't enjoy it. It really was badly written, overblown and over-hyped, and although I'm a bit ashamed to say so, there was too much detail and information (which was largely inaccurate anyway, bordering on fictional), and not enough dirt!
There, I said it.
However, I did manage to chew through the chapter that detailed Diana's time as a Sloan Ranger, and was somewhat informed about the general culture and people that came from that part of London- and hung out, in and around- Sloan Square: royals, socialites, actors and other 'It' people. Regardless of all this, I decided to give the job a shot, and show up for the interview.
I caught the 319 bus from the street over from Cabul road, and it took very little time to make it over to Sloan Square, only about twenty minutes, and I had some time to look around; swish buildings, a Pret a Manger (best coffee in London, by far), beautifully groomed people, Tiffany and Cartier, even a M!Mco... but the best thing there on that overcast Wednesday afternoon, was the choir of about twenty women in matching black t-shirts 'signing' to Abba's greatest hits, being blasted out on two huge amps in the middle of the Square. Grand! I picked up a coffee from Pret, watched the women signing and singing away, bit my fingernails, and prayed that I wouldn't mess up the interview.
Of course I arrived a bit early, and got even more nervous when I saw the building, and had to buzz in at the security door. Very swank indeed, and I felt totally out of my league. Annabel, the assistant-principal equivalent, buzzed me in, and came down in the lift to meet me in the lobby of the school. She shook my hand, and led me up a few flights of stairs to meet Lucy, the headmistress. I was immediately taken aback by her- zany and off-beat, but utterly brilliant, and a totally unique character! Not at all what I had been expecting, I guess. She gave me the spiel about the school, and how everything ran, and then asked me some questions about my previous teaching experience. Lucy asked me what my strengths were, and I told the truth (which I kept going over in my brain later that night, neurotically dissecting the things I remembered saying, and decided that would probably have been the end of me right there) and what I liked to do in my spare time...I can't even remember what I said, I just kept trying to hold it together.
The interview took about twenty minutes, and as they let me out the front doors, I really thought I had snow-flakes chance of getting semi-permanent work at that school. Lucy and Annabel told me they'd let my agency know what their decision was the next day, because the job started on Monday, and needed to let the successful applicant know a-sap. But, I was grateful for the experience, and shot at the interview (my first here in London), and left my fate in the hands of God himself.
That night I was a bit feverish (lingering swine flu I suspect), and had a dream that Rachel, the girl from my teaching agency, called me to give me some "feedback" about the interview. In the dream, Rachel told me that I did very well, but when I walked into the school, I didn't ask the school gardener what the balance of the till was, and as a result, had missed out on the position. When I woke up, I was convinced that this position wasn't going to happen. I went off to work out in the International school that day, and checked my phone at 10am, 11am and then at 12 noon, but no calls...and I decided that I probably had a kind rejection letter in my hotmail inbox.
When I took my lunch break a bit after one, I checked my phone again, and there was a missed call from Rachel, and a message on my phone bank saying she wanted to give me some "feedback" on the interview. Hmmm. So I called her back, to hear what I thought was the inevitable.
"Well," Rachel said "You did very well in the interview...and Lucy was wondering if you'd like to start on Monday."
I believe I shrieked down the phone line, poor Rachel. I hope her ear drums are still intact.
I was completely shocked. Still, I managed to accept the position, or at least ask Rachel to do it on my behalf, and am now employed at Eaton House Belgravia until the end of the school year!
I had my first day today, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I am hoping to do a really good job so that they might consider having me back after the summer break.
Fingers and toes, peeps, fingers and toes.
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