So here we are again. It’s Friday and a beautiful day for early December.
I was racking my brains on my journey to work today thinking about what I might write about and came up with nothing! What normally happens when I have writers block is that a chance conversation or something comes across my path and sparks an idea. Lo and behold, I get an email from a colleague reminding me that this week marked Saint Andrew's day and that it would be nice to mark the occasion for our colleagues (I am highly aware that I personally do not mark such occasions and that we should also mark the other Saint's days). So... Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and rather than go into great detail of why Saint Andrew is important to our Scottish colleagues, I thought I would talk about something else linked to Scottish tradition instead; the Ceilidh. Way back in approximately 1998, I was bridesmaid at a very good friend's wedding. Her wedding very much had a Celtic theme and we bridesmaids wore maroon crushed velvet dresses decorated with Celtic embroidery (not necessarily a normal August wedding choice) and in the evening was a Ceilidh. I had been to harvest festival barn dances in the past, and enjoyed line dancing (to a degree, bearing in mind this was the era of Steps). However, this was my first experience of a full-blown version of a (English) ceilidh. From my perspective, the overriding theme of a Ceilidh is just to have fun. Back in my early teens, I did participate in Scottish country dancing as part of my Girls' Brigade experience and really quite enjoyed it. So there were various dances that were not entirely alien to me and I enjoyed joining in. I think I may have achieved the Celidh’s goal.
I am not a natural dancer, nor am I naturally gregarious or like performing in front of crowds. Truly public dancing hasn’t ever been my thing either, possibly stemming from a time when I was very young and I went to ballet lessons with a very old friend of mine. I have never been described as 'graceful' and that's something I am now able to laugh about. However, I was always a large child and I still remember choosing a costume for our ballet show. There were two options - one red and one bright blue. I was advised on the blue because I was told that red made me look even fatter and draw more attention to me. I was around 6 years old. Ballet and I didn’t continue our relationship for much longer after that. The teacher’s comments regarding my affinity with ballet were damning to say the least...
Last night, as I was waiting for a late parent post ECA, I was still in the reception area when some of our parents came in to see an end of term snapshot of what their BISS Lions School of Dance students had been learning. I managed to speak to one parent whose daughters both thoroughly enjoy their Irish dancing with our very own Mr Riley. We got talking about many things, including the incredible opportunities available to our children and how this person's daughter had said she wanted to learn ballet 'late on' (I think she said aged 12) and how great is it that she had the opportunity to learn, she did learn and still is learning. She loves it. How great is it to have such passion for something!
This got me thinking about enjoyment and passion and the freedom to be passionate about something. I watched the PN children on their trip today in pure, unadulterated bliss playing in the sand. Some were with parents, others with their friends and peers, playing and interacting and just having fun in the sunshine.
I say it regularly and I will never stop saying that I have the best job in the world and I feel so grateful that I found it. I almost left teaching when I had been teaching for 4 years, and then nearly left again not long after that. I had lost my 'mojo' and I hated it. I dreaded going to work in the morning and I just didn’t want to do it anymore. Teaching is amazing but if it’s not what drives you, I think it’s one of the worst jobs in the world. I’m so grateful that one conversation changed my life and not just my career. A 'sliding doors' moment if you will. I don’t know why, I just know that sometimes, most of the time, things work out for the best and that’s just what we have to hope for.
So here's to having fun and here's to the festive season.
No music today I'm afraid. Just the traffic noise from Jinguang Lu.
I'm off now to see Sinterklaas at the Novotel.
Happy Friday everyone, and I may see you at the Fair tomorrow.
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