A case of the Mondays

I had a terrible case of the Mondays yesterday. I was back teaching at Ryde and I was trying a second method of getting there that was sure to be cheaper. My hope for the day was that it would also be quicker and hopefully the same level of easiness as my first route.

WRONGGGGGGG. Well it was cheaper. But wait till you hear about my day.

So I needed to catch the high speed ferry from the Southampton docks at 6:45. It's about a twenty minute walk from my flat so I left around 6:10 just to be safe. It turns out there was no line and I easily bought the tickets but better to be safe than sorry. The ferry left right on time at 6:45 and I arrived in West Cowes on the Isle of Wight at 7:10. The problem is I really needed to be in East Cowes. The only thing that separates West and East Cowes is the tiny little dinky River Medina. So I ran through the streets of West Cowes using my phone GPS and trying to find what they call "the floating bridge." After about a 7 minute walk I found it. It's like a ferry except really its more like a long floating platform that keeps going back from side to side of the tiny little crossing that you could honestly swim across in a few minutes. You can walk on it for free and it holds about four cars at once. I got to it around 7:20, knowing that once I crossed, I had only a few minutes to catch my bus on the other side which came at 7:30. Unfortunately when I got there, the ferry was on the other side so I had to wait for it to unload, come back, load us up and take us over. I ran off the ferry in East Cowes at 7:32. So I knew I had likely missed the bus. My other problem was that I didn't exactly know where the bus stop even was. I just knew the name of the street it was on. Again using my phone GPS, I set out through the streets until I managed to find the bus stop. And of course I had missed the bus. I started feeling panic. I was stranded in East Cowes a place I had never been to before, about 7 miles outside of Ryde and school starts at 8:30am. Please imagine my panic. It wasn't a simple matter of waiting for the next bus because my plans had indicated that I would need two buses to get to Ryde so my connection might be all off as well.

At the stop I found signage that indicated when the next bus would come. I didn't really have a choice but to take it and hope for the best. After about fifteen minutes I got on the number 5 bus and it was my very first time on the UK public transit system as well. It turns out you have to buy tickets/transfers from the driver. So I told him I was going to Ryde and he laughed and said "Oh i don't go anywhere NEAR there." My lip started quivering and I said "But the travel planner told me to take this bus. I think I need a connection somewhere." And he said "Oh ya I think you can take the 9 somewhere. That'll be 3.50 then." So I paid him and sat down and looked up on my phone and it said I needed to get off at a stop called Binfield to make the transfer. Well it turns out that buses here aren't like the buses back home. They do not announce the next stop or indicate anywhere the names of the stops. So the bus keeps driving and making stops but meanwhile I have no idea when I'm supposed to get off or if we've even past Binfield. Awesome. Trying not to cry I went back up to the driver and asked him when I needed to get off to catch the 9 and if he knew the Binfield stop. He said "Oh hmmm ya I think its the stop after the traffic circle. Just get after we go through a traffic circle." I asked him if he could give me a time estimate as to when that would be but he just said "just look for the traffic circle." Awesome. So I sat there staring out the window praying it would be easy to find. Eventually we came to one and I ran back up to the front of the bus and the bus driver confirmed that I should get off. Unfortunately the connecting bus I needed there was coming to the station on the other side of the road but it was basically a highway that I got off one so I had a lot of trouble crossing the street. Literally as I was crossing the number 9 bus came. This bus driver was verrrry mean. I didn't know if I would have to pay again so I asked him and showed my transfer on the other bus and he just looked at me scornfully and said "it doesn't appear so does it?" Like ok... thanks?? So I sat on this bus which again did not announce bus stops and watched my watch as we got closer to Ryde. I had wanted to get to the school at 8:10 but it looked like missing the bus in Cowes set me back about 15 minutes. If I could get to the school for 8:25 it wouldnt be thaaat bad. I looked around the bus and saw some students wearing Ryde uniforms. There were three in the back and one beside me. I thought that I was lucky because I would know to get off the bus when they got off. The bus turned onto Queen Street at one point which I thought was my stop but the boy beside me made no movement so I stayed seated thinking that the Ryde kids must know a better way of getting to the school. But the bus just kept going and going and I was pretty sure we were getting farther from the school. When I looked at the back of the bus again I noticed that all the kids from Ryde were gone!! They had gotten off at that stop. I scrutinized the boy beside me again and realized his uniform was slightly different. He was going to a different school!!! I ran to the driver and asked him if I could get off and he said that I had to wait till the next stop. And we were stuck in a traffic jam. At this point it's 8:25. I had left my house at 6:10. I'm way past the school and it starts in 5 minutes. I finally got off the bus but had no idea where I was so I had to pull out the GPS on my phone again and try and direct myself to the school. I RAN. When I finally got there it was 8:37 and I was soooo sweaty. The only lucky thing is that the Ryde students have assembly until 8:45 so luckily it wasn't like my students were waiting for me. I ran to the English building and apologized profusely but they were so understanding. They all think its INSANE that I commute from Southampton.

But as per usual my actual teaching was amazing. I love my students, I love what I'm teaching them. They're just perfect little angels and I have the best days while actually at Ryde.

Unfortunately things did not stay good. Ryde informed me that there had been a mistake and they don't actually need me on Thursdays anymore. So I'm only there every Monday and Friday. Which leaves days during the week where I can be going to random schools. And even though they would all have a better commute than Ryde, its likely the students will be nightmares. At Ryde I'm not really supplying either, I'm TEACHING. Which is so much better. And they also informed me that Allison would not be able to teach there with me after all because they decided to shut down the psychology program. She does have a history contract there in November at least but for the time being I'm flying solo.

The worst part of my day was yet to come. The way home. School finishes at 2:40 and I was out by 2:45. I figured to get home I would just catch a bus on the opposite side of the road as where I got off. I walked out to that street which is about 5 minutes and I could not find a bus stop going back to Cowes ANYWHERE. I walked down that whole street and got quite far away and could not find any bus stops going the opposite direction. So I googled what stop I should take to get home and all it said was "the stop adjacent St. Vincent's". So I looked on a map of the area on my phone and found a street called Saint Vincent's and walked there. There was no stops there. I texted Matthew in Canada and asked him to look it up for me on a proper computer but the place his computer told him to send me ended up being in the middle of nowhere. I literally started crying. I just couldnt help thinking "I'm never going to get off this island." I called Gabel crying and she told me to go back to the school. So I walked back there and at this point it's 3:20. I've been walking aimlessly for 35 minutes. The receptionist told me that I should catch a number 4 bus but couldnt think of where to catch it. I asked another teacher and she had no idea. I asked a third teacher and she told me which street but said she couldnt drive me because she had an appointment. So I walked baaaack out and managed to find the stop. I got there at 3:35 and the 4 bus didn't come until 4:00pm. And of COURSE it started pouring rain. That's England. I did notice though that the 4 had come at 2:54. So if I had known where this stop was I would have been able to get home over an hour quicker. Sigh. Anyways 4:00pm came around and no sign of my bus. 4:05, still no bus. I'm obviously panicking. WILL I EVER GET OFF THIS ISLAND?! Finally at 4:10 the bus showed up and I got on it. There was a ferry back to Southampton at 4:45 and I had wanted to be on it. The 4 went straight to Cowes and I ran to that stupid floating bridge ferry thing and of course it was on the opposite side again. I got off in West Cowes at exactly 4:45. I was at the main ferry terminal at 4:50. I had just missed it. If my bus hadnt been late it wouldnt have been a problem. So I had to wait for the 5:15 ferry back to Southampton. I arrived in southampton at 5:45 and walked the 20 minutes back to my flat. I walked in the door at 6:05pm. A full twelve hours from when I had walked out the door.

That's Monday for you.
Are there any positives? Yes.
Last Friday going to Ryde cost me 48 pounds. This time it only cost 29 pounds.
Also, now that I know how to do it and where the bus stops are I actually think I could manage that route and do it no problem next time. If I had caught that 254 bus I would have been home at my flat at 4:30 which is amazing. It was definitely just the kind of route you needed to practice first. Well I've definitely practiced so it will be MUCH easier next time if I decide to go that way. I still have one way left to try so keep your fingers crossed for me.

I could barely enjoy my time at home that evening because I got a call for more work for Tuesday. But on the mainland!! Stay tuned.