Hi, me again,
I’m cutting it a bit fine this year, aren’t I? I’m not really sure why, except to say life back in the UK feels so much more hectic than it did in the Falklands. Hopefully you had a Merry Christmas, and if not merry, at least a peaceful one. It’s been an interesting year and as we come to its end, I am starting to feel surer of what the future will hopefully hold. Anyway, enough of the vaguery, let me tell you about my 2024 — it was an interesting one!
As you may recall from last year’s letter, I spent Christmas and New Year travelling round South America with Mum and her partner, then brought them back to the Falklands for a couple of weeks so they could experience them too. Christmas Day 2023 was spent on Lake Titicaca in Peru, with our Christmas Dinner consisting of chicken, cold chips and some salad in a prefabricated shed on a floating island made of reeds, lit by our phone torches. Not one to forget in a hurry. New Year was spent in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the sunset behind the red rocks will also stick with me — thanks to the power of Instagram. The rest of the trip went by, we hit Argentina (Iguazu Falls and Ushuaia — which as a Falklands resident at the time was really unpleasant to see the strength of Argentina’s conviction the islands belong to them which, for the record, they certainly do not) and Chilean Patagonia in a slight retread of where I went at the beginning of 2023, before heading back to the Falkland Islands. I really enjoyed getting to show them a slice of the real Falklands — surprisingly, it’s not just penguins. I know they particularly enjoyed their time on West Falkland where they had some excellent guides in fellow teachers Sunny and Sammy, so thank you ladies for showing them around.
Anyway, back to me. Once they had left by the end of January, I was so happy to be reunited with Jen, who for some reason thought the Seychelles would be better than Falklands. Oh, my sweet, summer child, of course a tropical paradise can’t beat the cold, windy, and oftentimes bleak beauty of a remote set of Islands in the South Atlantic. At any rate, I was very happy she was back and this time we were a true team, sharing the teaching across two wonderful and welcoming farms. It meant we never really saw each other, but that wouldn’t stop our multi-hour WhatsApp calls.
As the school year went on, and as I knew I was leaving, I started to get a bit restless. I’ll be the first to admit that whilst I still ensured the children had everything they needed and I was the best teacher I could be, I felt myself getting more disillusioned with the teaching profession. I didn’t know if I could keep doing it, especially once I returned to the UK and was thrown into a full class of 30 (which was 10 times the amount of kids I was currently responsible for), and all the additional expectations that come with working in a British school. I decided to hold off on applying for permanent roles for the new school year, and join up to a supply agency who will phone (or text) you about various schools needing short term or emergency supply teachers due to the main teachers being out sick or on a course etc.
Look at me, I’m jumping ahead! The rest of the school year up to August went by mostly uneventfully. I took a brief trip to Rio de Janeiro in the Easter holidays which was just what I needed. The winter arrived by June, and we had some lovely snow, which was beautiful, and ice which was less fun due to the amount of driving I did. Luckily, I had my trusty pick-up truck with winter tires. When it came to leaving the islands in August, I was all set to for the nearly 24-hour trip including the 16-hour flight with a stop halfway on Ascension Island, and then in true Falklands fashion, it was delayed 24 hours. And then cancelled. So, in the end, myself and fellow attempted leavers Steph, Sue and Keith booked into the Malvina hotel and treated ourselves to a mini staycation down the road and generally tried to keep ourselves entertained for an extra four days. One of the upsides was that on my last trip down to the beach to see the penguins I was treated to a spectacular show as they came in from a day’s fishing, guest starring a sea lion patrolling the shore and some dolphins playing in the surf. What a place. Leaving the Falklands was bittersweet, but I think that means it was the right time. I hadn’t soured on them, and I am grateful for all the wonderful experiences I had and the people I met, but I was also ready to come home, see family and friends, and have some reasonable internet!
So, eventually, I arrive home to an extremely embarrassing welcome committee at the Brize Norton visitor’s gate. It was great to be back. The trees were a beautiful sight, the sheer number of cars less so. I forgot how busy it all felt — not what I was used to at all. I quickly settled back into everyday life as I got used to the rhythms of supply teaching. It took a while, but now I’ve been doing it a few months I actually love it. Seeing lots of different schools, teaching all ages from 4-year-olds one day to 11-year-olds the next is just really fun and exciting. It’s keeping me on my toes. I get to do the part of teaching all teachers want to do, which is teach, without having to worry about the all the extra obligations that come with it. Sure, sometimes there’s a class that are a nightmare, don’t listen or have extreme behaviours and those days are tough, but it’s a simple fix — I just won’t go back to that class or school. As a wise woman once said, you get the Best of Both Worlds.
Supply teaching has helped me fall back in love with teaching again, and I know I’ve got a good few years left in me before I’ll want to pack it in again. It has also shown me that teaching in a mainstream UK school is going to cut this renewed passion down very quickly, so I will most likely be looking to go abroad again, and hopefully find a job with reduced teaching time to allow for different responsibilities — maybe librarian or a houseparent role in a boarding school. Anyway, we will see. I guess you’ll have to come back next year for the 10th, yes 10th, letter to see if it happens. And if it doesn’t, I give you permission to berate me for it.
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Lastly, if I’ve not managed to get in touch with you since I’ve been back, please do, I would love to catch up! I truly hope you all have a Happy New Year and a super fun and wild 2025. Favourites to follow.
And now, the bit you’ve all undoubtedly been waiting for. A selection of favourites for 2024:
Favourite Films: Civil War, Challengers, Wicked, and That Christmas. For my choice of a classic that I’ve somehow never seen before this year: Stand By Me.
Favourite TV shows: The Bear, Agatha All Along, Slow Horses (consistently amazing), The Traitors, Black Doves, Abbott Elementary. I’m not going to lie; I’ve not seen a bunch of the supposedly good stuff this year.
Favourite Book: I think I’ve probably only read about 5 books this year, and the one that stuck with me the most was They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, and to be honest, not even sure if that was this year.
Favourite Colour: say it with me… Green!
Favourite food I had missed in the Falklands: Thai and Five Guys.
Favourite allergy: I’m allergic to soya now, apparently.
Favourite album: Epic by Jorge Rivera Herrans, which he’s just finished, is a concept album of a musical about Homer’s Oddysey. Think Hamilton, but with less rapping and more Greek mythology.
