Can’t believe it’s been 2 weeks since my last update…the CELTA course has turned my life a bit upside down. The experience so far has been wildly alternating from “I got this” to “how to f*ck am I gonna do this?”. the sheer volume of information that has poured forth is seriously intimidating, especially as I lack confidence in my ability to handle any sort of technical grammar query or even to teach a class! Well, tomorrow night is when I find out how I cope with the latter one – it’s my first class! It may not sound like much here but the preparation work that goes into it is a small mountain in its own right – this is what’s known as the lesson plan. In the LP you have to detail every step you are going to take down to the questions you’re going to ask and even attempting to predict what the students will struggle with and how to deal with it. On top of that there is a specific structure that needs to be followed and on top of that the tutors are pouring tons and tons of information on how to create LP’s and sometimes, how not to…it’s a monster!
But, what’s making it enjoyable are the tutors and mostly, my peers – they’re a really good bunch and an interesting mix. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better experience with a group of people in such an environment, so feeling privileged in that regard.
Otherwise – on the bike side of things, it’s quietened down a bit but I have secured a few bits of kit in the last few weeks like a footprint for my tent, a very good sleeping matt, an Alpkit Rig3.5 tarp and guy line (which I need to experiment with), a new sleeping bag, a replacement handlebar bag (I went from 6l to 8.5l), replacement rear panniers – I sold the back roller classics and got the back roller classic plus model which has a stronger fabric, and complimented it with a 21l rack pack, which completes a set with the back rollers (they all clip together when on the bike), and lastly, I got a 50mm lens for my SLR. I’ve sold a ton of my own stuff too – 2 sets of rear panniers, the bar bag and my old sleeping mat. I still need to sell my Tamron 70-300mm lens and maybe my 28mm lens too, still undecided.
Last weekend we had a bit of sun so I took my tent out into the garden to set it up for the first time and it was really, really easy to do. Also, the difference in temperature in the tent with and without the flysheet is noticeable so I reckon there’ll be moments where I won’t use it. As mentioned above I have a tarp too but I wasn’t able to get it setup as I didn’t have the guys lines yet – but there’ll be times where it’s just the tarp and a bivvy bag. Check the tent out:
