Meet Ian. Ian has taught here for the last eight years and is still only 21 years old (?!).
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING HERE AT IH BELFAST?
5 minutes after a very tasty lunch. Hmmmm, about 8 years. Could it really be so long?
Tell us something your mum doesn’t know about you?
Where I live.
What’s the most interesting discovery you’ve made in Belfast
Fiver in my trousers once.
Which building would you most like to be locked in overnight?
Don’t you mean which pub.
Celebrity crush?
Gollum- mesmerising eyes.
What movie most closely resembles your life story and why?
Shrek 2 – I hate Mondays.
What is your favourite lesson to teach?
Speaking: when everyone gets involved.
What is the best thing about being a teacher?
When it all clicks and you see the expression which says ‘Ahhh…, now I understand’.
What possession you could not do without in the classroom?
Tolstoys’ War and Peace. Seriously… motivated learners. They are the only material necessary to teach.
If you could rid the world of one thing – what would it be?
Mosquitos- Whats’ the point?
When are you happiest?
On my motorcycle, wind in the face and nobody in the world knows where I am.
What is your earliest memory?
Up to my eyeballs in snow after sleighing down a field at Christmas. Also reminds me of my childhood nickname ‘Snowball’
Property aside, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?
Motorcycles.
What is your most treasured possession?
Motorcycles or my books hmmmm not sure.
What makes you unhappy?
The stairs when my classroom is on the top floor of IH Belfast.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Not being able to find my face behind my beard.
What is your favourite smell?
Petrol exploding inside a v-twin engine.
What is your most unappealing habit?
Picking my nose in the rear view mirror while driving
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
An adult.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Stout and then another stout.
What do you owe your parents?
At least a few grand, maybe more.
To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
The guy in the pub last night. I thought it was my pint. Hmmm… tastier than mine
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What?
What is the worst job you’ve done?
Hanging chickens in chicken factory.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
It wasn’t my pint.
When did you last cry, and why?
Cutting onions for my pizza last night. Come on, big boys don’t cry, well only sometimes….
What is the closest you’ve come to death?
Too many times and every time makes you feel more alive and appreciative.
What is your greatest fear?
Being hit from behind on my slowest motorcycle.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
One of the two grumpy old men up in the balcony in the intro of the Muppet Show.
Which book changed your life and why?
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman: Who is guilty? How would I behave in that situation?
What does love feel like?
The alarm going off at 5o’clock on a Saturday morning. Rolling over to switch of the alarm and going back to sleep.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
My Grandmas’ house where the door was always open and she smiled to her last day.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Getting here this morning.
What keeps you awake at night?
Sleeplessness.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Star Wars: The Imperial March
What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
That’s my pint.
What is top of your bucket list?
Round the world on my bike.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Not travelling so far to work.
Where would you most like to be right now?
A place that didn’t ask so many questions.
What is your favourite word?
Quman- what my mother calls humans.
What is the greatest love of your life?
The rumble of two wheels tunnelling down an open road.
