「小曦老師終於重回老師身份了，可喜可賀、可喜可賀啊。」
回頭看過去這一週下來自己做的事、上的課，我真的是百感交集地這麼想的。
4月30日正式離開 Breitling 後，我馬不停蹄地做了好些事。
和好友兼學生 Jessica 電話、視訊了幾次，更新彼此在職涯規劃上的進展。
和好友 Isa 相約吃午餐，catch up 數個月沒見面的近況。
5月4日勞動節一早（正好也是英國 Bank Holiday），開啟了我當時只在幾個 YMS 群組中低調宣傳的《小曦讀英語 in the sky》直播，以「固定時間公開共讀」的方式，強迫自己保持工作節奏、在創業過程中訓練自律。
有關「公開共讀」這個對我而言可謂一魚好幾吃的想法，我會在這幾天完成專文、和大家分享。
當天直播結束後，我中午出門、直奔倫敦，和遠從日本來到英國出差的 Shan 見面。在我抵達她的旅館，按了房門門鈴，房門打開、見到彼此的那一刻，我們握住了彼此的雙手、開心地小聲尖叫，簡直興奮到不行。
我們上一次在東京見面，是 2024 年 9 月的事了。分隔地球兩端，要碰上一面真的不易，這回託她隨著公司出差法國和英國的福，我們才有機會相約。
這趟我倆也「面交」了不少東西給對方（笑），包含我早在 2025 就託她在日本幫忙收件的 5 罐 DHC 男性身體噴霧，還有她這趟出發來英國前幫我在日本 hmv 下單的 ayu 作品們。當中包含了 2024-2025 跨年演唱會藍光、我想入手許久的 MY STORY 黑膠唱片，以及她在 2023 年發行，我卻始終沒機會入手實體唱片的 Remember you 專輯。
至於我呢，則幫 Shan 和她的家人在英國國會的週邊商品官網，訂了四顆大笨鐘造型玩偶，按下塔尖按鈕會發出「噹噹噹噹」的鐘聲！
我們在飯店附近吃午餐、到 Picadilly Circus 逛街，開心地聊了許多工作與生活，也約好之後要再在東京見面。
倫敦行的隔天一早，我直奔牛津，和去年認識的 YMS 新朋友 Anna 碰頭，一起搭火車前往約克。
這趟小旅行是為了實現「和在英國北部的 YMS 同學們聚會」的約定。感謝 Sylvia 在我們 2024 年的聖誕聚餐過後，始終記得我說過要在北部聚會的計畫。
說來我和約克的緣分還真不淺——英國那麼多城市，偏就這裡，我在 10 年間來了 3 次，甚至還有以前在補習班教書的學生，現在就在約克念寄宿中學。
這趟除了 Anna 和 Sylvia，還見到了從曼徹斯特搭火車來和我們相聚的思涵和 Lisa。好巧不巧，這趟旅行的第二天是 5 月 6 日，我們正好在 York Museum Gardens 碰上皇家砲兵第 4 團 (4RA) 為查爾斯國王就職三週年紀念舉行的 21 響禮砲儀式。
趁著這趟約克小旅行，我也收集了不少英語教學素材。週三晚上回到家後，我在星期四早上進行了第二次的線上英語共讀。不得不說，在開播前的臨時號召下，都還是會有數位同學一起上線參與，真的讓我滿開心的。
結束早上共讀後，中午正式開始了我和 Jessica 的第一堂 Office English 課程，發現原定的一小時根本不夠用，要講完一個單元得花上兩小時！（笑）
好在有 Jessica 協助我的 pilot run（計畫、課程試辦的意思），讓我能更精準地調整這個主題的教學時程。
使用在真實生活與工作環境中的語言學習，終究還是不能速成，而是該定期定量地融入生活，讓自己能浸淫其中、進而受用，成為日常的一部分吧。
除了上課，星期四、五兩天，我也備課、發文、設計了付款通知 (invoice) 的格式，甚至一鼓作氣和 HMRC 註冊了 self-employed/assessment（自雇稅務登記），也跟 HSBC 申請了 small business bank account（商用銀行帳號）。
星期六早上，迎來了我的第 13 場英國 YMS 講座——久違的全女生場次！（笑）
在講座過程中，我順勢發佈了接下來要開辦的 Real Easy English 課程，比我想像中還快地得到了迴響，準備開出第二張 invoice 了！🎉
講座忙完後，我和開始放假的老公一起去鎮上散步、玩皮克敏，最後去了兩間 pub 小酌。回家途中覺得時間晚了，於是我們放棄煮飯，外帶了兩顆達美樂披薩回家，完全是 guilty pleasure！
英國時間 5 月 10 號星期天下午，認真寫下這篇近況之後，我發現，原來自己每天隨手在 Apple Journal 寫下的一兩句當日紀錄，配上手機裡的照片、筆電裡的文件，都見證了我過去這一週為自己熱愛的事物付出心力、得到收穫的過程⋯⋯而我是開心的、滿足的。
以小曦老師之姿創業的第二週，願我能繼續維持生產力囉！！
Founder’s Log of Aurora in England: Week 1
“Miss Aurora is finally back in her element. What a journey it’s been!”
Looking back on everything I’ve done and all the classes I’ve taught over the past week, that’s genuinely how I feel. Emotional, grateful, and a little overwhelmed in the best way.
—
After officially leaving Breitling on 30th April, I immediately threw myself into a number of things.
I had several phone and video calls with my friend, and now also my student, Jessica, catching up on each other’s career plans and next steps.
I then met up with my friend Isa for lunch on Saturday. It was a long overdue catch-up after not seeing each other for months.
—
On the morning of 4th May, Labour Day in Taiwan and coincidentally also a Bank Holiday here in the UK, I launched an open session of Aurora reads English in the Sky, a livestream club that I quietly promoted only within a few YMS groups at the time.
The idea was simple: by creating a fixed public study session, I could force myself to stay disciplined, maintain momentum, and build consistency during the early stages of starting my own business.
I’ll probably write a separate post soon about the idea of “public co-working/co-studying”. Honestly, it has turned out to be beneficial in far more ways than I expected.
—
After the livestream ended, I headed straight into London to meet my friend Shan, who had travelled from Japan to the UK for a business trip.
The moment I arrived at her hotel room and the door opened, we immediately grabbed each other’s hands and let out tiny excited squeals. We were genuinely so happy to see each other.
The last time we met was in Tokyo back in September 2024. Living on opposite sides of the world makes meeting up incredibly difficult, so this reunion only happened thanks to her work trip to France and the UK.
We also did a very satisfying exchange of goodies. That included five bottles of DHC body spray for my husband Jack that I’d asked her to receive and hold for me in Japan back in 2025. Plus a haul of Ayumi Hamasaki releases she helped me order from HMV Japan before coming to the UK. This included the 2024–2025 countdown live Blu-ray, the reissued MY STORY vinyl that I’d wanted for ages, and a copy of her 13th album Remember you, which I somehow never managed to buy when it was first released in 2023.
As for me, I helped Shan and her family order four Big Ben plush toys from the UK Parliament gift shop website – the kind where pressing the top of the tower makes the iconic bell sound.
We had lunch near the hotel, wandered around Piccadilly Circus, talked endlessly about work and life, and promised to meet again in Tokyo someday.
—
The morning after my London trip, I rushed to Oxford to meet Anna, a YMS friend I met last year, and together we took the train to York.
This trip was meant to fulfil a promise I’d made to meet up with YMS friends living in the north of England. I’m especially grateful that Sylvia remembered my idea of organising a northern gathering after our Christmas meetup back in 2024.
Interestingly, I seem to have quite a special connection with York. Out of all the cities in the UK, I’ve somehow visited this one three times over the past decade, and one of my former students from my cram school teaching days in Taiwan, is now studying at a boarding school there.
Alongside Anna and Sylvia, we also met Sihan and Lisa, who travelled from Manchester to join us.
As luck would have it, the second day of our trip happened to be 6th May, and we unexpectedly witnessed a 21-gun salute ceremony held by the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery at York Museum Gardens to mark the third anniversary of King Charles’ accession.
—
During the York trip, I also gathered plenty of English teaching material.
After returning home on Wednesday evening, I hosted another livestream English study session on Thursday morning. Even with such last-minute announcements in the group chat before going live, having several people still join the session made me incredibly happy.
Later that afternoon, Jessica and I officially began the very first Office English lesson.
We quickly realised that the original one-hour plan was nowhere near enough – finishing just one unit took almost two hours instead. (To be fair, I should have seen that coming.)
Thankfully, Jessica’s help with this pilot run has allowed me to fine-tune both the pacing and structure of the course much more accurately.
Language learning for real-life work and communication really can’t be rushed. It’s something that needs to become part of everyday life, something you consistently immerse yourself in until it naturally becomes your own.
—
Apart from teaching, I also spent Thursday and Friday preparing lessons, writing posts, designing invoice templates, registering as self-employed with HMRC, and applying for a small business bank account with HSBC.
Then on Saturday morning came my 13th UK YMS webinar. Surprisingly, an all-female session for the first time in a while.
During the webinar, I also announced my upcoming Real Easy English course, and the response came much faster than I expected.
Looks like I’ll be sending out my second invoice very soon. 🎉
After the webinar, me and my husband Jack, who had just started his holiday, went for a walk around town, played Pikmin, and ended up stopping by two pubs for drinks.
By the time we headed home, it was already late, so we gave up on cooking and picked up two Domino’s pizzas instead.
A proper guilty pleasure!
—
Now, as I sit here on Sunday afternoon, 10th May, writing this post and reflecting on everything that’s happened recently, I’ve realised something.
The little one- or two-line notes I casually write each day in Apple Journal, together with the photos on my phone and the files on my laptop, have quietly documented an entire week of pouring energy into the things I’m passionate about.
And I’ve been content.
Genuinely happy.
Here’s to keeping this momentum going as I head into week two of building my brand as Miss Aurora.
探索更多來自 小曦老師 Aurora’s Journal 的內容
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