Fun on The Trains

Good morning everyone!!!

So, an update on my week....BUSY may I say first of all....which is always good:) I did not get work on Monday, in which I got my tree that day....which...is NOW DECORATED!!!! Only took me a week! So Tuesday....oh Tuesday.....

Got a call for work Monday night....AWESOME! I had a feeling that a fellow Canadian teacher would also be going too, so contacted him, and sure enough same school as well! Sweet!! Anyhow, we get to our tube stop at 73o0 am to go to school....little did we know we were in for three hours of travel together that morning alone....

So, get to the trains, on the right train...all is running very smoothly....perfect:) We then realize that at the first stop....like 100 people get on the train at 730 am....we thought something was wrong but did not even think twice so cool.....next stop.....those same 100 people get off...empty train again! NICE!!

Well we both knew the name of the first stop and of the route in general bc my collegue had done this journey a billion times and I had done it once or twice...So we get to a stop called New Eltham....and instantly KNEW something was not right because we knew we got on the right train.....So, take a look at the map...turns out the train had totally rerouted on us without warning.....we were three lines down from where we should have been, leaving us with the only option to go all the way to a stop called Dartford, to catch a connecting train to get us slightly back on track back towards London Bridge area...sweet....

Call our agency as it is now hitting 830 am and we are NOT EVEN CLOSE to our school. The representative answers and says to us...Oh dear, are you guys on the FATALITY train???? UMMM WHAT??? Anyhow, sure we thought so then because it was so incredibly rerouted....Anyhow, thank godness all of the school had already been contacted because of an incident that had occurred on the one line shutting the WHOLE line down and rerouting the whole Southeastern part of the train services in London...information we were not aware of until we got into Dartford, where we were informed on the incident. Okay, so the employees at the station were actually quite helpful as they told us what had happened and what train we now needed to get on and to transfer in order to get where we needed to go....all is well..... WE THINK...we then notice that the time for our next train keeps getting pushed back and back.....Okay, what next....

Call our agency again to update them, try another train to go back to Lewisham now, and attempt the DLR to our desination....as we were told THIS WORKS!!! its now almost 9 20 am:)
Get on the train then and all the screen is now saying is listen for announcements for updates....man that sounds soo promising....Thank goodness we are both very calm and collected individuals...could not stress about it....it was a situation that was just completely out of our control so we really made the best of our extra two hours together! And of course made a few jokes here and there.....

Lewisham...ok now what--go to the DLR and take a gander at the map....Woolwich Dockyard, our destination, is not even listed:) Fabulous! Woolwich Arsenal, which was kind of close was at the stop near the very END of the map....okay cool...so still calm and collected, and just thankful Im not on my own at this point because I would have given up...we go to the information desk, and they tell us to get off at Grennwich...we are not sure why at the moment but okay.....So, looking at the map...it is starting to look a wee bit hopeless, but we keep smiling and stay detemined....somehow....:P So, we ask the one worker and she tells us to get on and get off at a stop like ten away, and then transfer for another like ten stops....oh goodness. We then realize that Grennwich is three stops away AND has a national rail connnection....guessing why that is where we were told to get off to transfer. Instead of going in a total loop about 2o stops later, we decided to give the national rail a try again....which was originally diverted this morning...but what could we loose...

Great news!! Get to the platform and our train is listed! Destination and all!! If we got it we were golden!!! FINALLY!! So, about two minutes before its scheduled to arrive, it is called...which is good....we think.....then not even A MINUTE before scheduled arrival.....ALL TRAINS CANCELLED!! OMG Well...here we go again!!! Now this is just getting fun AND adventurous....its almost 10 am now....and our only option left at this point is bussing it....Okay, off to find the bus stop....

First one, shut down, had to walk down the street to catch the bus...oh boy....

Finally, almost 3 hours after we left home, we are now on the correct bus, on our way to our school....WOW what an adventure!!! Arrived at the school at 1030 in time for tea time/break....my goodness....

The journey home...alittle disappointing (joking:))....just not nearly as adventurous or eventful (thank goodness). It took us just under an hour to get home...which is the normal amount of time! Oh what a great day....finished off the day with grocery shopping and going out with a few fellow Canadian teachers to get some fabulous burritos just down the road!! That...my friends...was my Tuesday...December 15th!

Cheers!!~