September 7, 2010 (Day 3)
Today started out as any other day does... The alarm jarring me from a slumberous dream of home, me tiredly walking barefooted down the hall to the bathroom for a hot shower. Spending the majority of my hour of getting ready time in the shower, I managed to be out the door at 8:25 to catch our ride to the CDC where we asked to simply observe in the three classrooms for the first hour or so of the day. Got to see the one year old room, two year old room and the preschool room, which, in all, has about 24 kids. Met some adorable little ones (Erin and I are fighting to work in the one year old room with the little tikes and the best teacher at the CDC). There's this one little baby in the one year old room whose name is Christian. He has dark brown eyes and hair with the biggest and most adorable dimples in his cheeks and the cutest little voice saying, "puppy" over and over again. Already he brings me a book and sits in my lap every time I enter the classroom.
After our initial observations, Erin and I were whisked off to an office on post to get our military ID cards, a process that would take us the next three and a half hours. After an hours wait just to be helped, I was taken back to be asked a slew of questions varying from my height to my weight to my blood type to whether or not I was a blood donor. I then had my picture taken and my finger prints (it was kind of like a game trying to get my finger positioned correctly on the finger print reader with the right amount of pressure, so that the computer would register my prints). And then I was done... With the first ID card. When that ID card initially came out of the printer, it did not laminate correctly and half my face was missing. I appreciated the fact that this was not acceptable to them (I quite like having my face whole), I was then asked to come back with a different guy to help me at attempt number two. This time around, the guy had to re-do my picture and photograph, which, in the midst of waiting, he managed to give me his phone number (Ummm, dude, I don't even know your name and I'm not really available either... The paper was promptly thrown away in the trash bin outside his office) and tell me that I looked like "a sheet" (what exactly does a person who looks like a sheet look like?????), which he thought was nicer than saying I looked "ghastly." Really?!? Then, blessedly, the ID card printed and I was saved from any more awkward conversation... Or so I thought. This time the ID card printed correctly, but the magnetized portion did not give me the clearance I needed to enter the commissary and other privileges on base. So, the second guy had to call in a replacement who gave him his ID card to override my card... However, to log in with his ID card, the creepy guy who we shall call guy 1 needed the replacement guy's who we shall call guy 2 finger. Guy 2 said something along the lines of, "Do you need my finger?" to which guy 1 said he didn't know how to answer and then said, "No homo. It's don't ask don't tell." AWKWARD.... So, long story short, I had to have my fingerprints and picture taken ONE more time and everything over a 2 hour chunk of time finally worked out the third time around.
With my ID card processed, it was then Erin's turn, which only took about 25 minutes to process. Grr.. Though she did get lost at the airport, so it really was my turn for some bad luck. ha ha
Finally finished with the office, we walked back to the CDC where we were given an hour break for lunch. Sallie, the MFLAC lady who works at our center and, ironically, worked with Erin in Germany, went with us to the bowling alley for lunch (I know.. The bowling alley, right? Who goes to a bowling alley for lunch?) and then we headed back to work for a few hours of painful training, which is not only redundant, but a downright diss to mine and Erin's intelligence level considering we're both LICENSED teachers! We then spent the majority of the afternoon reading packets, taking quizzes, doing scavenger hunts of the primary and secondary fire escapes and doing observations in the classrooms... Erin and I, not wanting to over burden the other two classrooms who already had a new employee shadowing them, decided to go together to the one room that didn't have any children, but, in the end, we ended up getting told rudely by our boss that we didn't need to be in the same room together. Whoops.. My bad???
After work, Erin and I got dropped off at the commissary where we spent 90 bucks on groceries and had to carry all of it across the parking lot and to our building, which was quite hilarious considering the sheer amount of weight in cans and liquids we bought. We put away all of our groceries and then headed for the library, which, like everything on this base, closes early, so we scoped out a picnic table under the covered area outside the library, which is one of the few places we get internet on base. Being a fairly mild day weather-wise for England, we were good until it got to be like 7, which just shows us that we'll be freezing our little buns off to have any semblance of communication with our loved ones back home.
Getting home around 8:30 when base is pitch black and virtually deserted, we made some cheese ravioli and alfredo sauce and tried to open our jar of pickles for probably 15 minutes before we FINALLY got it off... (Picture of one said attempt to be uploaded soon). Then, to top of this very interesting journey so far, Erin went to the bathroom and now our toilet doesn't flush!!!! For now, we're just peeing and throwing our toilet paper away, but hopefully we can remedy this problem soon...
Watched about half of The Holiday and said we were going to bed, but ended up talking about relationships and boys for about an hour before we finally closed the doors. But, now it is certainly time for bed. Gotta work early! Blgh!
Things I learned today:
1. Sperm donors in England get approximately 25 pounds per ejaculation.
2. British law has limited the number of women who can receive sperm from one donor in a given area in order to decrease the likelihood of half-siblings later procreating. WOW!
3. Apparently, Erin and I bring the thunder because it was only after meeting our staff trainer that she interrupted our training to make us listen to the thunder and told us that in all the time she's been in England, she has never heard thunder.
4. Erin is crazy and sees perfect circles on windowpanes.
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