On My First Day At SVC

I can't type much right now, as I am rather strapped for time. Today was my first day as an official teacher at SVC, though it wasn't a class day. Instead, it was a staff meeting day, where we talked over where we want to go in the coming year. To sum up my day, I felt overwhelmed for the majority of the day. Everyone around me was British, and it was clear they all had a thorough grasp of the education system here. Me, on the other hand, sat listening with growing concern over my prepardness. With everything they said, I felt myself growing smaller and smaller. I honestly was on the verge of tears at one point, totally scared shitless about what I had gotten myself into. It must have been fairly obvious that I was in distress, because Lesley (the head) quickly stopped to ask me if I was alright.
I gulped out that I was "okay", and that I was merely "trying to absorb all the information". Inside I felt like I was overflowing with a jumble of words, all of which made little sense to me. Towards the end of the afternoon, we were allowed to go to our classrooms and get settled.

I had gotten my laptop previously, and wandered into my room. It needs decorating (Mom, send me those things ASAP!). I turned on the laptop, and played around with the projector. After about 5 mintutes, and error message popped up. I clicked "Yes" on it, to make it go away...and it popped up again. And again. And again. I felt my eyes tingle, as I felt the tears start to well up again. However, determined not to cry, I packed it up and took it down to IT.

The school employs two full time IT people, whose job it is to look after all the computers in the school. Clearly they were busy, with many other laptops sitting on a table. I walked in, handed the fellow mine, and explained my problem.
"You've got a virus, love" he told me, matter of factly. "I'll add it to the pile and get to it when I can..."
I thanked him, and assured him I had my own laptop to use, so he could prioritize mine accordingly.
He nodded briskly at me, and I scurried out of the room.
Just another blip in my horrid day, I thought.

I headed back upstairs, and was met by Louise, whose classes I am taking over (she's heavily pregnant). She took me into her room, and walked through some of the year 11 coursework with me. This eased my fears a little, since I had NOTHING prepared for that class yet. I'm feeling slightly better, and hope to have it sorted out soon enough. She was also very friendly, offereing me her schemes of work, and told me to pester her as much as I wanted. Everyone in the department was equally nice, offering to share their resources, and telling me to come to them at any time for help. It's a huge relief to know I have such good support. They clearly want me to succeed, which is nice.

I also met the other new English staff member, a girl my age named Rachel. It is her second year teaching, her first at the school. WE also found out she just moved to St. Ives with her boyfriend, so we're going to carpool together! YAY! A ride!

Anyways, I would love to add more, but I have so much work to do! I will write brief little bits throughout the week!

Cheers