Wednesday 19 January 2011

New Year

Well, the storytelling at the Christmas Market went well. Despite the organisers not expecting me on the first day and  people continuing to chat over coffee while I was trying to entertain them on the second, I also got some lovely feedback from complete strangers. 

I was so, SO delighted that friends came to support me, too. To look around the room and see familiar faces made me feel so much more comfortable.

The Storytelling continues. I have now told at Monkey's playschool and have plans for a friend's primary school class. There are also some story cafĂ© events coming up - so I'll be there too. 

I have also added a new string to my bow. I am now the proud holder of a TEFL Certificate! I am certified to teach English as a Foreign Language. The course, at Kingston University, was a very intensive and fun-filled three days. It included skills which will cross over into my storytelling - I need to develop some school workshops to support the stories. 

With Mouse turning 3 in just over a year (already!!!) I have to build up some kind of earning potential... I am hoping that the Storytelling, Book Selling and English teaching together will allow me a decent income doing work that's flexible enough to work around Monkey & Mouse while at the same time not relying on me learning Finnish well enough to work in Finnish! 

My Finnish language lessons are ongoing... I do feel like I'm learning and I do get fairly good exam results but I am not practising and with a primarily english speaking social circle I don't really have to.

I used to be a person who watched with scorn TV programmes about families relocating abroad without learning the language. Now I have become an immigrant who can't communicate with the locals.. oh dear... note to self... must try harder. Hmmm sounds familiar ;D