Monday 9 February 2009

Another short conversation

Child: What's a stick insect?

Teacher: It's an insect that looks just like a stick. And, (realising this description isn't helping), it has antennae sticking out of its head.

Child: Why?

Teacher: A stick insect uses them to feel and explore the world around it.

Child: Really? I bet it can see really far away too. I wish I had ten eyes sticking out of MY head.


Saturday 7 February 2009

A facebook note

25 Facts about me

1. When I was 16, I was in a sketch with Ant & Dec and Blue on SM:TV Live, doing exercises in a 'gym' sketch.

2. I used to go the cinema solely for the purpose of buying 'Toffee Crisp Popcorn' until eventually they sold out and stopped selling them.

3. Whenever I have a task or challenge to complete, I like to pretend I'm on 'The Krypton Factor'.

4. On two separate occasions, I've been completely and utterly lost in a foreign country on a bus with a driver who spoke no English.

5. One of these places was Rome- my favourite city in the world.

6. My favourite meal is the 'half pizza, half pasta' meal at Joe Rigatoni's in Durham. Nothing else can quite compare.

7. I'm in the Salvation Army, which is a huge part of my life.

8. I LOVE musicals- my current favourite is Hairspray.

9. I am three eighths Filipino, one eighth American, and half English.

10. I occasionally suffer from sleep paralysis, which means that I wake up completely unable to move. Sometimes this lasts for a few seconds, sometimes up to 2 minutes.

11. Last year, I found a two foot long orange snake in my washing basket. After three hours, we realised it had escaped from our next door neighbour's (semi-detached) house!

12. During a sponsored skip in Year 6, I managed 125 skips in one minute. I've never been able to do it since...

13. I have been known to drive a fifteen minute journey to Tesco Pitsea in order to buy one Krispy Kreme doughnut.

14. I once got stung by a bee when I tried to do a cartwheel on the grass and didn't look where I was placing my hands.

15. On a flight to the Philippines, I once received a free upgrade from Economy to First Class. That will never happen again in my life, but I can safely say it was the best 18 hours I've ever spent in the air.

16. When I was younger, I had two gerbils called Bubble and Squeak. They had to be separated when they started to fight, but consequently both died of loneliness. A sad, sad tale.

17. I am lucky to be surrounded by people who are able to make me cry with laughter on a regular basis. Especially Heather, with whom I've developed a strange and unique sense of humour...

18. I've been on some unusual day trips to countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

19. My first year at Durham Uni was one of the best years of my life- independence, great friends and not a care in the world.

20. I get really annoyed when people confuse 'your' and 'you're'.

21. Once, on a romantic Christmas trip to London, I suddenly got hit by a virus and was violently sick in the middle of a packed out Leicester Square.

22. I've tried to give up chocolate for Lent for the past three years, but have never quite managed it...

23. I still believe that half birthdays should be acknowledged and celebrated.

24. I'm not sporty, artistic or musically gifted. But I am excellent at writing limericks.

25. When I was little, my ambition was to be the girl who dressed up as Tinkerbell and got to 'fly' to the top of the castle to light the Illuminations Fireworks at Disneyland. It still is, if I'm honest...

Thursday 5 February 2009

A short conversation

Year 2 pupil: Miss Allen, look at my new book. Are you a parent?

Me: No

Year 2 pupil: Are you married?

Me: Erm, no.

Year 2 pupil: Oh, that's alright then. This book says 'Adults: KEEP OUT' so when you're an adult, you won't be allowed to look at it anymore.

Tuesday 3 February 2009

A bit of spontaneity

I'm not a spontaneous person. I need to know exactly what I'm doing, usually months in advance. But tonight, as I was looking through old family photos, I realised that I really missed my relatives in the Philippines. And then I did something about it. Suddenly, instead of spending the first part of April in a rainy cabin with forty Year 6 children on the Isle of Wight, I'm gonna be spending Easter weekend here:



My family had already planned their Easter break, and asked if it was ok if I tagged along to Mayon Volcano (which is an active volcano- I'm not sure how I feel about that) and the hot springs and waterfalls surrounding it...

It was a difficult decision, but they managed to twist my arm! So it's all worked out rather well.

In other news...

-I'm currently in the middle of 'The Shack' by William Young. I know I'm a little late jumping on the bandwagon, but if you haven't read it- do! It's excellent.

-When bowling at the weekend, I was amazed that the 'chuck and wish' technique I've used since I was seven finally paid off- first strike ever! (This doesn't count Wii bowling and bowling with the barriers up- I've scored many strikes on these occasions...)

-I thought I had more to say, but it turns out I don't.

Katie Allen's Facebook profile