Felsted – From one extreme to the other!

After finally arriving in Pommy Land, we have come to settle at Felsted, 35 miles from London and conveniently 15mins from Stansted Airport (cheap flights to Europe galour!) First impressions of the school have been unbelievable. With buildings close to 500 years old spread over 80 acres including 2 cricket ovals, 5 or so rugby fields, 2 soccer fields, a shooting range, 2 astroturf hockey pitches, 6 tennis/netball courts, swimming pool, squash courts and gym just to mention a few of the features, this school is not surprisingly amazing to be part of.

Our flat, attached to Stocks’s boarding house is spacious, has a good backyard (with gum tree!) and has a wicked heating system (praise the lord!) Walnut trees line the front with squirrels everywhere. Very exciting.

Admittedly I arrived and thought, ‘This is sweet. Only 7 weeks ‘til a two week half term break, how good is that!’. However………… 5 weeks later, and with only Davo the Crazy chef feeding my amazing hunger to keep me alive (a full time job in itself) I was certain I wouldn’t make it. Have come to the decision that my expectations of working in a boarding school, 6 days a week, finishing some days after 6 (other days by 4.30!!!) and being on duty 3 nights a fortnight, was a little ummmm shall we say inaccurate! My appreciation for working only a 5 day week and sleeping in on Saturdays has skyrocketed and I will never again complain about a meeting that finishes at 4.30!

Highlights so far:

• helicopter arriving at school to take a group of students flying (part of the Combined Combat Forces program)
• going clay pigeon shooting (I seriously suck at shooting – all pigeons are safe when I have gun control!)

Things to look forward to:

• Boarding house excursion to see the musical Wicked (Davo coming too - paid for of course!)
• History of Art trip to Venice, Italy in December
• Trying my hand at both gliding and sailing in Spring

Overall have settled in well and am already counting down the number of days til the next break. Will keep you posted!