10 Week Terms are LONG

Ok, I know this is not going to gain me any sympathy amongst my non-teaching friends, who think I am constantly on holiday. Which, I get it, we have a lot of holidays compared to normal working people. I’m not going to apologize for that, or try to defend it by saying "but we work  SO HARD the rest of the year that we need these holidays to recharge”. Teachers do work hard, but so do lots of people in other jobs. The long holidays are just one of the perks of teaching, sort of like the insane bonuses some of my friends get who work in the private sector, or the ability to put things on an expense account. I will never have those things, but it’s ok! I’m not bitter! I’m happy with my lower pay and more holiday time, not to mention that I (mostly) love my job.

But anyway. I digress. It is currently week four of the third term here in Australia. The school year is split into four terms here, each 9-10 weeks long. In between each we get a two week break, or three weeks in between terms three and four. So yes, I’m in the fourth week of work after having had three weeks off, which we spent in England and Spain. Boo hoo. Poor me. It’s just that, after working in the UK for so long, where there are three terms that are split into half-terms, so the most you ever work is six or seven weeks in a row before there is a week or two break. (And you will not believe how moany teachers get when we are in a seven week term. It is the worst.) So now, four weeks into term, I’m thinking, I would be more than half way through by now if I was in the UK. But I still have six and a half LONG weeks to go!

Ok. I’ll shut up now. It’s not that bad. Really.

What probably does not help things at this time of year is that it is winter, and dark, and cold. Yes, cold. I moved to Australia hoping for some better weather and yesterday it was 2 DEGREES in the morning! 2 degrees! Freezing! My colleagues always look at me like I’m crazy when I say I’m cold, like because I’m from Canada I shouldn’t get cold. I should just be used to walking around in the cold all the time, and enjoy it!  So yesterday was the coldest it has been in 16 years apparently, and by the afternoon it was about 14 degrees and sunny and actually quite a beautiful day. However London seems to be having the best summer EVER, and in Toronto summer is pretty much always nice, so it’s fairly annoying to go on Facebook and see everyone enjoying the nice warm weather, and of course all my teacher friends are on holiday and jetting around Europe, and I am here stuck in this LONG 10 week term.

Poor me.