Teacher Jodie goes on a romantic half term holiday with her girlfriend. Just one problem – her pupil’s there too…
Half term has finally arrived! That one week in October where you don't have to see, hear or listen to any very stroppy teenagers. Well, thats how it’s supposed to work in theory. However, living 15 minutes away from school I happen to pass a student every other step! So to combat this unfortunate problem, me and my girlfriend booked a week away to Lloret De Mar in Spain. One week of all-inclusive bliss with sand, sea, free alcohol on tap and all the food we could eat!
On the last Friday on term, I skipped out of work knowing bags were packed and in 12ish hours I would be away from 900 children. No one would care who I was or what I did and I could forget about the stress of the past six weeks. Saturday came and off we were on a nice three hour plane journey. We landed in Barcelona airport where a private car was waiting. We checked in, dropped our cases in the room and went to “sample” the all inclusive free bar. It was fair to say we may of had a few too many Malibu and Fantas. Waking up the next morning, I was the reincarnation of death and my girlfriend hadn't fared much better.
After a few hours spent feeling very sorry for ourselves, we decided to go for a walk. On the agenda that afternoon was the good old British game of bingo, and on walking into the bar I was met with a sight I'd been hoping to get away from. There in the corner was a child from one of my classes with her family. I guess my heart sank a little. This week was supposed to be a chance for me and my girlfriend to be together, to kiss and hold hands very openly. Now it felt like all that had to be toned down, so that the ramifications that would surely ensue would be somewhat dampened.
At this point I has two choices: 1) pretend that my girlfriend wasn't my girlfriend or 2) carry on with the holiday as we were and deal with all the questions when I got back. For the first four days, I literally kept my girlfriend at arm's length whenever I saw the family. I didn't drink too much and I tried not to do anything that was un-teacher-like. However, after a mid-week trip into the centre of Barcelona, I realised how much of the holiday I was missing out on. I had missed holding my GF’s hand, kissing her when I wanted to and just all the usual holiday stuff that couples do.
Once back off our day trip we headed for the hotel bar and there, with the family a mere two tables away, I kissed her. I realised that on this holiday I was just a normal twenty-something who should be enjoying her holiday, not worrying about what one student and her family thought of me. I had decided I would deal with the fallout, or the million and one questions I was bound to get, on our return to school.
I think there was an important lesson learnt in this little place and the only way to describe it is a quote from one of my favourite characters in BBC’s Holby City, Major Bernie Wolfe: “I’m not ashamed of who I am, but I often wonder how wonderful life would be if only I was brave enough”. 35 weeks to go!
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