Hi! there.
SEPTEMBER 2019: Three years on and I’m loving life. Retirement has suited me. I’m enjoying developments and achievements as well as the well-earned relaxation.My blog too has developed to include not only personal stories but also comments on current affairs.I’m looking at some body reconstruction in the next year: 2 knee replacements. Hopefully I’ll have less pain and more mobility.
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SEPTEMBER 2016: The first day of retirement after almost 40 years of teaching. In this blog I hope to reflect on matters past and present. I’ve lots of memories – disjointed but important – so I’ll include them in my ramblings. I might comment on some interesting articles I read or include some poems I like. Who knows? I will try to add regular posts and hope that there might be an odd comment now and then?
Some big life changes: staying in bed later in the morning, swimming a few days a week, meeting friends for lunch, gardening, being busy doing nothing sometimes…. but there’s also been continuity: family, neighbours, old friends, history, crosswords, reading (my KINDLE is among my most important possessions) only now I have more time.
I plan to continue being a DOLPHIN: One of the first courses I did as a Principal called on us to adjudge how we face challenges. A small group of us were deemed to be DOLPHINS – people who would stay in the water no matter how rough with an ability to rise above the waves.
I’m sure I’ll go on COLLECTING: No matter where I went — the supermarket, holidays, wherever- I was always on the lookout for “treasure” – things I could use to make learning more exciting. I brought back Chinese scrolls from Beijing, I brought Viking memorabilia from Norway, I peeked in school windows in Russia, I joined a school tour in Denver. I hope to continue some involvement in education.
I’ll carry amazing memories of my career. I have forty years of teaching memories, of the children I worked with, of amazing colleagues and friends.WILL I MISS TEACHING? I DON’T KNOW YET…..
But I know I’ve made the right decision in retiring and I’m really looking forward to this new journey.