Did I lock the door?

I’m walking round at the moment with a constant ‘did I turn the gas off’ feeling, as with only four days to go I vacillate between excitement and apprehension.  I suppose I’d feel the same if I was preparing for a new job or new school in the UK so nothing different there.  That’s what I try to convince myself anyway.

I must admit I’ll be glad when I get there now.  I’m looking forward to getting involved but not looking forward to 12 hours on planes and seven hours on buses. Mind you a night in a Yotel at Schiphol airport will be a new experience.  I don’t think it is quite like the Japanese filing cabinets that you see people sleeping in, but from the pictures compact is an understatement.  It should be fun.

A bit of a quandary as far as home is concerned.  Do I try to make sure that all the jobs that need doing are done and that everything will run totally smoothly or do I set booby traps so that I can feel useful as I’m ‘skyped’ so that my expertise (?) can be called upon.  I think I’m kidding myself.

Mind you I also wonder sometimes about my teaching skills or more particularly my ability to remember pupils.  I went to have my hair cut today and the man who was just ahead of me greeted me as he was ‘brushed down’ by the barber after his cut.  I looked a bit nonplussed and made a guess and said, “Pontefract Boys School?” to which he replied, “Yes”, whilst I apologised that faces change so much between school and adulthood.  I didn’t have an answer though when he pointed to the fact that he only had one arm and said, “I thought you might have remembered this though”.