I will finish writing about my adventures in London and Edinburgh, but right now I'm onto something different. Today is my last day here in Bognor Regis. I made it back safely and have packed up my room successfully. If the scale is correct, both of my bags come in right around 23kg which is about 50lbs. This is how much they need to weigh in order for me to not have to pay astronomically to get my things home. I am confused as to whether or not I am going to have to pay for my baggage though. It seems as though I will be able to take 1 bag for free (since I purchased my ticket before the 9th of July, or something like that) but the it says online that my second checked bag that weighs 23kg will cost me $25. Which honestly, isn't that big of a deal, but I would rather not have to pay anything for it! When I flew from Philly to Gatwick I didn't have to pay an extra cent. Not sure as to why the British system is different. Maybe it's because they don't want to be like the Americans ;)
Yesterday when I got back to Bognor I literally was dragging my suitcase from the train station. That morning in the tube station I decided that I didn't want to carry my suitcase down three stairs and at the time thought it would be okay to drag it down. Not so. I lost the wheel in the process, which was the second part of the suitcase I lost on my journeys this past week. I lost the part that helps it stand up before, on the same side in which the wheel fell off. Anyhow, no wheel = no good. I'm just hoping that it won't be a huge hassle to get it onto the train tomorrow after Julia, the coordinator of our program, drops me off and then get the things from the train into the South Terminal. Luckily the South Terminal is the closest one to the train when it drops you off at Gatwick, so that I can be glad for!
This morning I woke up, without an alarm. That is pure joy :) Yet I believe I was awoken due to the woman, Brenda who cleans our lovely Pent House... I call it the Pent House because it's on the top floor (4th) and it's more like an attic then a Pent House in all honesty. I live in the West Wing, which for all I know could be the North Wing, but again, I think it sounds nice! I am glad I was woken up by Brenda though because I was then able to eat breakfast in our kitchen with Daphne and catch up with her. Daphne and I walked in the freezing cold to Hatters, our restaurant of choice for the most part and got lunch. I had a paninni, nothing very English about my last lunch here. I'm sooo glad that I came back to Bognor before going home. It's weird in a sense because so many people are gone, yet it's been nice to see the people who are still here and just hang out, without having to worry about writing lesson plans, etc. After spending Sunday by myself in London I was ready for some company. It's also nice to be in the dorm during the day. I've never spent time in the dorm during the normal day hours since I've always been in school. I feel like I'm actually a student here as opposed to just a resident. Tonight I will eat my LAST meal in the canteen. I'm sure it will be just wonderful and filling as all the meals our. As I've said before, I really don't mind the meals here, but I am going to be glad to have a good American hamburger or Dim Sum when I get home. I've been eating much more then I would eat at home normally, but I think that's because I don't serve myself. It's like the first summer that I worked at Cardigan and gained a good deal of weight. I just couldn't help taking a lot of food when it had been prepared for me and was just there, staring at me. It's much easier to eat less when you have to make it. I'm excited to get back to Penn State and move into Dara and my new apartment, but I'm not super excited about making food.
Spending the past day and a half here in Bognor has given me time to really think back on my whole experience here. I was also looking at pictures, updating them online, and I realized that I have accomplished a GREAT deal over the past 3 months. I have seen so many wonderful things, learned more then I ever could have imagined learning, met a lot of people from all over the world and made some really good friends as well as grown closer to old ones! I'm glad that I chose to come here to do my student teaching. I feel that teaching in England has opened a lot of doors for me, more personal ones above anything else. For that I am very thankful! Being able to teach made me feel that I had an extremely unique experience abroad. Everyday I was immersed in the culture. I was in a school filled with British students and British teachers. I was the only American... I think this allowed me to grow to a greater extent. It was not as though I was going to class with all my American peers, but instead I was teaching kids who did not have the same background as me, mainly they were not American. I loved my kids (and still LOVE them) and at the end, all in all, I loved my school. There were most definitely ups and downs. I am happy with how everything turned out though. I am looking forward to coming home but I'm sure I'll be missing Bognor Regis.
Things that I am looking forward to:
-Paying the face value price (aka, not having to convert from pounds to dollars!)
-Being able to say dollars and not have to correct myself by saying pounds instead
-Eating a good American meal... a hamburger per-chance
-Sleeping in my own bed (that no one else has slept in, aka hostel beds, and that does not have springs poking me in the night (aka Longbrook bed!))
-Making Christmas cookies in a kitchen that has proper cooking utensil
-Seeing my house decorated for Christmas, especially the wonderful Christmas tree
-Having snow when it's cold enough for the atmosphere to produce snow
-Seeing and wearing clothes that I have not worn since last winter (it will be like I have a whole new wardrobe)
-Seeing Mom, Dad, Sushi, Austen and all my friends
-Being able to send text messages and make phone calls on my phone (without the help of Skype)
-Being in the same time zone as everyone (for the most part at least)
-Not having a running nose all of the time... I'm really hoping this is due to the English weather
-Watching TV
-Drinking lots and lots of milk
-Showering without flip flops
-Having a comforter, blanket, fitted AND top sheet on my bed
Things that I will miss:
-Having hallmates
-Going down two doors to talk to Ashley
-Eating in the canteen as a big American family (plus our Swedish and Belgian friends!)
-Only being able to get juice at meals (oh wait, I'm glad that I can have milk at home)
-Riding the bus to and from school everyday
-Being able to rely on public transportation in order to get me from point A to point B
-Meals and drinks at Hatters
-Being American in a foreign country and still being proud to be an American
-My 27 students with cute uniforms and British accents
-Having Internet in my room (Mom and Dad, you haven't gotten wireless yet at home, have you?)
-Being offered chips at EVERY meal on campus
-Having the option to go to a pub, on campus (I think I only went about a handful of times though)
-Getting to travel to new places each weekend
-Being able to jet-set to other countries easily (if the bank account allowed of course)
-Penn State pretzels, the American recipe
-Biscuits (cookies)
-Saying...
...toilet instead of bathroom
...bin instead of trash can
...lovely in a non-sarcastic manner
What a ride! I'll check in and write more once I'm back in the good 'ol US of A!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
No more tube rides, meals in pubs or (war) museums please
It's been such a long time since I last wrote. Honestly, I forgot that I even had this blog! Anyhow, I just finished traveling for 9 days. Nicholas came over to the U.K. last Saturday and we were lucky enough to have enjoy an entire week together, in England and Scotland with glitch-free traveling. We did so much over the span of 7 days and currently I am still in London even though Nicholas is back at home, safely I presume. I will be headed back to Bognor Regis, to the University where all my belongings await me to be packed and taken home on Wednesday. I'm super excited to be home and glad that tonight will be my last night in London and sleeping in a hostel bed.
To begin, Nicholas and I met up at the tube station by our hostel last weekend. It worked out very well. What an accomplishment! We hung out for awhile, waiting to check in. I most definitely talked his ear off which probably did not help with the jet-lag, etc. Anyhow, we then walked right down the street to the Natural History Museum. The building itself was much more impressive them the things inside. I felt that way about man of the museums that we saw over the week. The thing with the NHM is that it has so much in it that there is no way you could possibly see it all. Honestly, I wouldn't WANT to see it all anyhow. I've seen a lot of the things before as well, in various museums that I've visited in my lifetime, thus the reason it was less impressive. The only thing that was extra-exciting was that it was in London and I was there with my brother. We got sandwiches at the local grocery store and ate them at our hostel. We were in bed early, which occurred often this week because quite honestly, once the museums close and you finish dinner and don't want to go out to a pub for example, there is not much to do. I am obviously not opposed to sleeping since I am pretty much a pro at it :)
On Saturday we were up and at 'em... it's now slipping away from me as to where we went. Oh, yes now I do recall. We walked around Hyde Park and then went to see the Changing of the Guards. Dad had told Nicholas that this was awesome and a must see. I had seen it at Windsor and let me tell you, it was much more 'spectacular' if you will there. Seeing the COG at Buckingham Palace was a disappointment and a waste of time, yet we can say we did it and that's half the battle when traveling, doing things to say you did them! After we went to Churchill's Cabinet Rooms and Museum. This was both Nicholas and my favorite thing we saw over the week, exhibit/museum wise. It was very interesting to see what the rooms looked like during the war, especially since they had been left as they were when the war ended. I liked being underground and peering into the rooms. It felt as though we had been transported back in time. I think I also enjoyed it because I knew that Nicholas was loving it. I'm always a happier traveler when I know my fellow travelers are happy. After, we continued with the war theme and went to the Imperial War Museum. Best part, it was FREE!
Monday was another big day, thank goodness we went to sleep early. Nicholas and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is impressive to say the least. I enjoyed looking around and just soaking in the sights of the architecture and design. We were able to climb up to the second dome of the cathedral and see the city from outside. This is the site of one of our TWO pictures together. We weren't able to go all the way to the top, I think it's called the Golden something or other because they were doing construction, go figure. Our second stop of the day, after eating sandwiches on a bench outside while our hands shook vigorously due to the cold weather conditions, was the Tower of London. I was interested in seeing the Tower because of King Henry and his 6 wives and all the wonderful things I had heard about other's experiences there, yet again the Tower was filled with too many war exhibits and artifacts! We were able to get a tour, given by one of the beef eaters, who I called a meat eater later when talking about it with Nicholas, in which I was made fun of for, go figure. Having personal tours are always great. I was getting so tired of those silly audio tours after taking quite a few in my travels before and luckily there was only 1 audio tour given in the Churchill Cabinet Rooms exhibit.
I am going to leave it at this for now because I am currently in an extremely noisy and hostile environment, aka the Internet cafe at the hostel I am staying at. I will write more when I get back to Bognor since I'm sure I'll have time to kill. I presume it won't take me 1.5 days to pack my things up. Tata for now!
To begin, Nicholas and I met up at the tube station by our hostel last weekend. It worked out very well. What an accomplishment! We hung out for awhile, waiting to check in. I most definitely talked his ear off which probably did not help with the jet-lag, etc. Anyhow, we then walked right down the street to the Natural History Museum. The building itself was much more impressive them the things inside. I felt that way about man of the museums that we saw over the week. The thing with the NHM is that it has so much in it that there is no way you could possibly see it all. Honestly, I wouldn't WANT to see it all anyhow. I've seen a lot of the things before as well, in various museums that I've visited in my lifetime, thus the reason it was less impressive. The only thing that was extra-exciting was that it was in London and I was there with my brother. We got sandwiches at the local grocery store and ate them at our hostel. We were in bed early, which occurred often this week because quite honestly, once the museums close and you finish dinner and don't want to go out to a pub for example, there is not much to do. I am obviously not opposed to sleeping since I am pretty much a pro at it :)
On Saturday we were up and at 'em... it's now slipping away from me as to where we went. Oh, yes now I do recall. We walked around Hyde Park and then went to see the Changing of the Guards. Dad had told Nicholas that this was awesome and a must see. I had seen it at Windsor and let me tell you, it was much more 'spectacular' if you will there. Seeing the COG at Buckingham Palace was a disappointment and a waste of time, yet we can say we did it and that's half the battle when traveling, doing things to say you did them! After we went to Churchill's Cabinet Rooms and Museum. This was both Nicholas and my favorite thing we saw over the week, exhibit/museum wise. It was very interesting to see what the rooms looked like during the war, especially since they had been left as they were when the war ended. I liked being underground and peering into the rooms. It felt as though we had been transported back in time. I think I also enjoyed it because I knew that Nicholas was loving it. I'm always a happier traveler when I know my fellow travelers are happy. After, we continued with the war theme and went to the Imperial War Museum. Best part, it was FREE!
Monday was another big day, thank goodness we went to sleep early. Nicholas and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is impressive to say the least. I enjoyed looking around and just soaking in the sights of the architecture and design. We were able to climb up to the second dome of the cathedral and see the city from outside. This is the site of one of our TWO pictures together. We weren't able to go all the way to the top, I think it's called the Golden something or other because they were doing construction, go figure. Our second stop of the day, after eating sandwiches on a bench outside while our hands shook vigorously due to the cold weather conditions, was the Tower of London. I was interested in seeing the Tower because of King Henry and his 6 wives and all the wonderful things I had heard about other's experiences there, yet again the Tower was filled with too many war exhibits and artifacts! We were able to get a tour, given by one of the beef eaters, who I called a meat eater later when talking about it with Nicholas, in which I was made fun of for, go figure. Having personal tours are always great. I was getting so tired of those silly audio tours after taking quite a few in my travels before and luckily there was only 1 audio tour given in the Churchill Cabinet Rooms exhibit.
I am going to leave it at this for now because I am currently in an extremely noisy and hostile environment, aka the Internet cafe at the hostel I am staying at. I will write more when I get back to Bognor since I'm sure I'll have time to kill. I presume it won't take me 1.5 days to pack my things up. Tata for now!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Life as a Teacher in England
I had a fabulous weekend! My Friday consisted of a lot of talking to various people at Kingsham and at the University of Chichester about my mentor teacher and how things had still not improved since the last time I had talked with them. I think things have been sorted out because my teacher sent me quite a few e-mails this weekend, asked a great deal for my input and offered to read over and comment on my lesson plan tomorrow (which I took him up on). Anyhow, things are hopefully on the upswing at school for these last 3 weeks. Hard to believe there are only 3 weeks left with my 27 British children! I had a great Friday as well because 1- my teacher was not in, 2-the kids were not my responsibility until the afternoon and only for 1 lesson 3- I got to help the kids do printmaking! 4- I taught a Circle Time lesson about friendship/teamwork and it went pretty well. I love Circle Time!!! I think that's one of the things my teacher doesn't enjoy, so I'm glad that I can take that over for him :)
On Saturday Dara, Kaitlin, Ashley and I went to London. We split up when were got there... different agendas. Dara and I saw the Globe Theater (which is super tiny), but I'm not sure what I was expecting. Unfortunately they were re-thatching the roof so there was scaffolding all around the Globe. The tour was okay, but I really enjoyed the museum part. There was a lot to read about London's history and how Shakespeare played a role in the history. We then went one door down to the Tate Modern (free!) and looked around for awhile. I saw some Dali... Dara saw so Picasso, but I missed him, there is just so much to look at. After that we looked for a tube station that was actually operating and finally made it to Madame Tussuad's, the wax museum. It was such a great place! I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was glad I had a camera to take pictures with all the celebrities. There was also a amusement ride that I was not expecting where you ride taxis through a display of old London. All in all it was a great experience and worth the price. Dara and I got a buy 1 get 1 deal with our rail tickets. There are so many good deals that you can find if you just look. I don't think you ever have to pay the full price.
I'm going to be late for school if I don't leave now! Cheers.
On Saturday Dara, Kaitlin, Ashley and I went to London. We split up when were got there... different agendas. Dara and I saw the Globe Theater (which is super tiny), but I'm not sure what I was expecting. Unfortunately they were re-thatching the roof so there was scaffolding all around the Globe. The tour was okay, but I really enjoyed the museum part. There was a lot to read about London's history and how Shakespeare played a role in the history. We then went one door down to the Tate Modern (free!) and looked around for awhile. I saw some Dali... Dara saw so Picasso, but I missed him, there is just so much to look at. After that we looked for a tube station that was actually operating and finally made it to Madame Tussuad's, the wax museum. It was such a great place! I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was glad I had a camera to take pictures with all the celebrities. There was also a amusement ride that I was not expecting where you ride taxis through a display of old London. All in all it was a great experience and worth the price. Dara and I got a buy 1 get 1 deal with our rail tickets. There are so many good deals that you can find if you just look. I don't think you ever have to pay the full price.
I'm going to be late for school if I don't leave now! Cheers.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
And the Retelling Continues
Florence was a quaint city. I guess it's not that small, but it felt very close, which is okay with me. Of all the places we traveled, Florence was my least favorite. This could be because we didn't actually see much of Florence from the inside. We didn't end up doing anything very touristy, aka standing in line for hours to see the David or going into the Duomo which is this beautiful church that is in the center of time. Instead of spending our money on these attractions we decided to spend a few hours in the market. If you didn't know already, Florence is famous for their leather. Now, I'm not sure if it's really "their" leather, but they sell a lot of leather here and I may have touched every piece of it.
We arrived at our hostel before noon and were able to check in. Sometimes you are not able to check into hostels until later in the afternoon (like a hotel), but they'll allow you to store you luggage in a large closet. We were fortunate enough to be able to get into our room which was SUPER nice. It was like staying in a hotel but for a tenth of the price. The hostel was right in town, about a 10-15 minute walk from the center of the city where the Duomo is located. If you're interested, we stayed at Plus Florence. They give you your own key card, which is a very big deal to have at a hostel. On this key card there is also a chip so you can put money on it when you get there to use at the bar and cafeteria. You can't buy even a soda at the bar without putting money on, which honestly kept me from buying anything at the hostel. We stayed in a 8 bed mixed dorm. Since at this point in the journey there were only 5 of us, we had 3 other roommates that we did not know. The beds in this hostel were the nicest that I slept on all week. Above all the beds there were individual lights and there was also a switch that turns out the overhead light at the headboard of everyones bed. Super convenient. There was also a toilet and shower in the room. When you're traveling from hostel to hostel and haven't showered in awhile, this is a wonderful thing. I'm not sure how people can travel for weeks or even months on end and deal with the bathing conditions. I guess that's why you book nice hostels like the Plus Florence. The people there were extremely friendly! Paul helped us book a wine tour in Tuscany. I had to tell Ashley a few times that Tuscany is like a district, such as Delaware Country and that it is not a city or a place even. She kept asking when we were going to Tuscany. We were actually already there, but unfortunately we weren't under the Tuscan sun since the weather was overcast and raining for the 2 days we were there.
After checking in we got situated and got ready to head out to the market to spend our euros. While waiting for the group I was talking to a guy from Miami that had been in Florence for awhile. He was providing me and the others with tips about being a smart tourist, especially when going into the market since there are a lot of pit pocketers. I think he was just trying to psych us out though. Why, I'm not sure. The whole time I traveled I had my passport, credit/debit, student ID cards, phone, ipod and camera on me. I just felt safer knowing that it was all with me. I think I'm a pretty smart person when it comes to being aware of my surroundings so I wasn't worried about someone stealing my things. I know that there are some crazy stories, such as gypsies who drop fake babies into your arms naturally since you don't want a baby to fall on the ground and as you are catching the baby they'll cut off your purse/bag and be off. I did not see any gypsies or anyone that looked like they were going to steal myself. All the cities we traveled to felt very safe. Yes, I had to be smart about everything I was doing and always wore my bag in front of me, holding onto it more tightly at times, but I wasn't constantly having to think about it.
Anyhow, the market was a lot of fun. I finally decided to buy a nice leather wallet because you're only in Italy so often and I felt as though I needed some genuine Italian leather in my life. Also, Ellen (who I worked with at Cardigan) had gone to Italy a few years ago and gotten a really nice leather wallet which I pined over 2 summers ago. I had to get one so I would no longer pine. Others spent quite a bit on "designer" bags and they all enjoyed bargaining with the sellers. Mitzi was great at it. I don't have the courage to ask them to reduce their price. Everything there is really cheap anyhow, it's hard to ask for it to be sold at a cheaper price when it's already very affordable. The wallet I bought was about 16 euros, so $20 about, depending on the day and the exchange rate.
We got lunch at this cute little panini place. Gosh, I had the BEST panini. It had some sort of cheese with pears. Yumm. Who would have thought pears would taste good in a sandwich? Not me! We walked around and instead of seeing the real David, found the 2 fake ones that are in the city. Honestly, I can't really remember where the 1st one was or if I actually even saw it, but I do recall seeing the second one which is prominently placed on the top of this hill or mountain I guess you could say that overlooks the city. You can see out across the river and it's absolutely stunning. We went up there at night and my pictures just don't do it justice. Do pictures ever do anything justice though?
And that was day 1 in Florence. The only day we spent there because the following day we went on a wine tour with the hostel...
We arrived at our hostel before noon and were able to check in. Sometimes you are not able to check into hostels until later in the afternoon (like a hotel), but they'll allow you to store you luggage in a large closet. We were fortunate enough to be able to get into our room which was SUPER nice. It was like staying in a hotel but for a tenth of the price. The hostel was right in town, about a 10-15 minute walk from the center of the city where the Duomo is located. If you're interested, we stayed at Plus Florence. They give you your own key card, which is a very big deal to have at a hostel. On this key card there is also a chip so you can put money on it when you get there to use at the bar and cafeteria. You can't buy even a soda at the bar without putting money on, which honestly kept me from buying anything at the hostel. We stayed in a 8 bed mixed dorm. Since at this point in the journey there were only 5 of us, we had 3 other roommates that we did not know. The beds in this hostel were the nicest that I slept on all week. Above all the beds there were individual lights and there was also a switch that turns out the overhead light at the headboard of everyones bed. Super convenient. There was also a toilet and shower in the room. When you're traveling from hostel to hostel and haven't showered in awhile, this is a wonderful thing. I'm not sure how people can travel for weeks or even months on end and deal with the bathing conditions. I guess that's why you book nice hostels like the Plus Florence. The people there were extremely friendly! Paul helped us book a wine tour in Tuscany. I had to tell Ashley a few times that Tuscany is like a district, such as Delaware Country and that it is not a city or a place even. She kept asking when we were going to Tuscany. We were actually already there, but unfortunately we weren't under the Tuscan sun since the weather was overcast and raining for the 2 days we were there.
After checking in we got situated and got ready to head out to the market to spend our euros. While waiting for the group I was talking to a guy from Miami that had been in Florence for awhile. He was providing me and the others with tips about being a smart tourist, especially when going into the market since there are a lot of pit pocketers. I think he was just trying to psych us out though. Why, I'm not sure. The whole time I traveled I had my passport, credit/debit, student ID cards, phone, ipod and camera on me. I just felt safer knowing that it was all with me. I think I'm a pretty smart person when it comes to being aware of my surroundings so I wasn't worried about someone stealing my things. I know that there are some crazy stories, such as gypsies who drop fake babies into your arms naturally since you don't want a baby to fall on the ground and as you are catching the baby they'll cut off your purse/bag and be off. I did not see any gypsies or anyone that looked like they were going to steal myself. All the cities we traveled to felt very safe. Yes, I had to be smart about everything I was doing and always wore my bag in front of me, holding onto it more tightly at times, but I wasn't constantly having to think about it.
Anyhow, the market was a lot of fun. I finally decided to buy a nice leather wallet because you're only in Italy so often and I felt as though I needed some genuine Italian leather in my life. Also, Ellen (who I worked with at Cardigan) had gone to Italy a few years ago and gotten a really nice leather wallet which I pined over 2 summers ago. I had to get one so I would no longer pine. Others spent quite a bit on "designer" bags and they all enjoyed bargaining with the sellers. Mitzi was great at it. I don't have the courage to ask them to reduce their price. Everything there is really cheap anyhow, it's hard to ask for it to be sold at a cheaper price when it's already very affordable. The wallet I bought was about 16 euros, so $20 about, depending on the day and the exchange rate.
We got lunch at this cute little panini place. Gosh, I had the BEST panini. It had some sort of cheese with pears. Yumm. Who would have thought pears would taste good in a sandwich? Not me! We walked around and instead of seeing the real David, found the 2 fake ones that are in the city. Honestly, I can't really remember where the 1st one was or if I actually even saw it, but I do recall seeing the second one which is prominently placed on the top of this hill or mountain I guess you could say that overlooks the city. You can see out across the river and it's absolutely stunning. We went up there at night and my pictures just don't do it justice. Do pictures ever do anything justice though?
And that was day 1 in Florence. The only day we spent there because the following day we went on a wine tour with the hostel...
Retelling the Tales of Italy
I wish I were still in Italy! The break was wonderful. It's never a bad thing to have time away from school :) Now that I'm back I'm realizing how it may even be more difficult for teachers to get back into the swing of thins after a break. As a student you just show up, complaining that you have to go back to school after sleeping in and playing with friends. As a teacher you have to plan lessons and then show up, complaining about the same things as the students though!
Our first stop on our Italian journey was in Venice. WOW, there was a lot of water. They aren't lying when they say that it's the city of H2O. We took a taxi to our hostel that was a 10 minute train ride from the city. There was absolutely nothing around us. We tried to find a bar so that we didn't have to sit in our hostel, which was more of a budget accommodation (more about the difference later). Anyhow, we walked around for awhile and finally stumbled upon a bar but then most of us ended up leaving because we wanted to sleep in order to prepare ourselves for a day of exploring.
On Sunday we woke up early and then by the time all the girls were ready to leave it was a bit later, haha. We took the train into Venice and as we pulled into the station we stopped on a bridge. I looked out the window and low and behold water was all around us. It reminded me of watching the Real World Key West intro when they showed the bridge that goes from the mainland to Key West. If you looked out the window right, it seemed as though we were on a boat, not a train.
In Venice we just wandered the streets. I was purposefully trying to get lost, but I'm not sure that was the intention of everyone else. We had our first pizza in Italy and it was quite delicious, but I think I've had pizza of the same quality in the U.S. Let's just say that pizza was not to die for. Although I would be okay with moving to Italy- pizza, pasta, GELATO, yumm (I had that everyday, it's a must when you're there!), good looking people, beautiful cities.
After wandering and taking lots of pictures we got on a water taxi to Murano, one of the 117 islands that make up Venice. Murano is where the famous Venetian glass is made. We got to see glass being made at this one glass blowing shop. The man made a glass horse in honestly 3 minutes... it really couldn't have been much longer. I guess that's why these glass horses are so cheap to buy. We looked around at all the glass shops and by all I pretty much mean all. By the end of the day Ashley commented that she never wanted to see glass again. Unfortunately for her (as well as the rest of us) they have glass at every store in Italy... for the most part at least.
After leaving Murano (once we found the water taxi station to take to the next island) we headed to Burano, where they make lace. It was over a 30 minute ride from Murano to Burano, which we were not expecting. Once we got there it was around 5 and since daylights savings had kicked it it was getting quite dark already :( We decided to stay for 30 minutes. I did not see any lace being made but I did look at some ugly pieces of clothing made out of lace in the about 6 shops they had on this island. In the tour books, etc. they tell you to go to Burano to see the lace as well as the houses. The houses are all painted bright colors, but since it was getting dark the pictures did turn out magnificently. Instead of purchasing lace I finally made a Venetian glass purchase. Kaitlyn had told me that I had to get some type of glass jewelry while in Venice because people always compliment her on hers that she bought over the summer. I gave into the advice because honestly, who doesn't like compliments? After a half hour we caught the water taxi back to the main island of Venice. The taxi must have taken over an hour to get to where we wanted ago. It decided to stop at one station for 10+ minutes without moving and I'm pretty sure that no one was getting off after 5 minutes!!
We ate dinner at a cute Italian restaurant. I think it's safe to say that almost all restaurants in Italy are Italian as well as cute :) The portions were so small and cost around 13 Eros. Since we were 'starving' it really did not do justice like an American Olive Garden meal would have, but it was traditional and delicious all the same. Us Americans are always so greedy! When I'm paying the big bucks for food I want to have A LOT of it even if I can't or don't intend on eating it all. What a terrible mentality. No Italian is overweight even though they eat lots of carbs... most likely due to the small portions. Also, a lot of times you can get tap water and it's more expensive to buy bottled water then it is to buy wine. Most of the time we ordered a bottle of win for the 6 of us instead of getting water. Since I never wanted to pay for water it would be safe to say that I was dehydrated all week long. The joys of traveling on a budget. But no worries, I didn't pass out or anything. If I had felt as though that was going to happen I most definitely would have given in and bought water... I'm not THAT cheap!
After dinner we took the water taxi back to the train station and hopped on the train (public transportation is so easy, LOVED IT!) Once back at the hostel I was in bed sleeping and awaiting our next adventure... Next stop Florence!!!!
Our first stop on our Italian journey was in Venice. WOW, there was a lot of water. They aren't lying when they say that it's the city of H2O. We took a taxi to our hostel that was a 10 minute train ride from the city. There was absolutely nothing around us. We tried to find a bar so that we didn't have to sit in our hostel, which was more of a budget accommodation (more about the difference later). Anyhow, we walked around for awhile and finally stumbled upon a bar but then most of us ended up leaving because we wanted to sleep in order to prepare ourselves for a day of exploring.
On Sunday we woke up early and then by the time all the girls were ready to leave it was a bit later, haha. We took the train into Venice and as we pulled into the station we stopped on a bridge. I looked out the window and low and behold water was all around us. It reminded me of watching the Real World Key West intro when they showed the bridge that goes from the mainland to Key West. If you looked out the window right, it seemed as though we were on a boat, not a train.
In Venice we just wandered the streets. I was purposefully trying to get lost, but I'm not sure that was the intention of everyone else. We had our first pizza in Italy and it was quite delicious, but I think I've had pizza of the same quality in the U.S. Let's just say that pizza was not to die for. Although I would be okay with moving to Italy- pizza, pasta, GELATO, yumm (I had that everyday, it's a must when you're there!), good looking people, beautiful cities.
After wandering and taking lots of pictures we got on a water taxi to Murano, one of the 117 islands that make up Venice. Murano is where the famous Venetian glass is made. We got to see glass being made at this one glass blowing shop. The man made a glass horse in honestly 3 minutes... it really couldn't have been much longer. I guess that's why these glass horses are so cheap to buy. We looked around at all the glass shops and by all I pretty much mean all. By the end of the day Ashley commented that she never wanted to see glass again. Unfortunately for her (as well as the rest of us) they have glass at every store in Italy... for the most part at least.
After leaving Murano (once we found the water taxi station to take to the next island) we headed to Burano, where they make lace. It was over a 30 minute ride from Murano to Burano, which we were not expecting. Once we got there it was around 5 and since daylights savings had kicked it it was getting quite dark already :( We decided to stay for 30 minutes. I did not see any lace being made but I did look at some ugly pieces of clothing made out of lace in the about 6 shops they had on this island. In the tour books, etc. they tell you to go to Burano to see the lace as well as the houses. The houses are all painted bright colors, but since it was getting dark the pictures did turn out magnificently. Instead of purchasing lace I finally made a Venetian glass purchase. Kaitlyn had told me that I had to get some type of glass jewelry while in Venice because people always compliment her on hers that she bought over the summer. I gave into the advice because honestly, who doesn't like compliments? After a half hour we caught the water taxi back to the main island of Venice. The taxi must have taken over an hour to get to where we wanted ago. It decided to stop at one station for 10+ minutes without moving and I'm pretty sure that no one was getting off after 5 minutes!!
We ate dinner at a cute Italian restaurant. I think it's safe to say that almost all restaurants in Italy are Italian as well as cute :) The portions were so small and cost around 13 Eros. Since we were 'starving' it really did not do justice like an American Olive Garden meal would have, but it was traditional and delicious all the same. Us Americans are always so greedy! When I'm paying the big bucks for food I want to have A LOT of it even if I can't or don't intend on eating it all. What a terrible mentality. No Italian is overweight even though they eat lots of carbs... most likely due to the small portions. Also, a lot of times you can get tap water and it's more expensive to buy bottled water then it is to buy wine. Most of the time we ordered a bottle of win for the 6 of us instead of getting water. Since I never wanted to pay for water it would be safe to say that I was dehydrated all week long. The joys of traveling on a budget. But no worries, I didn't pass out or anything. If I had felt as though that was going to happen I most definitely would have given in and bought water... I'm not THAT cheap!
After dinner we took the water taxi back to the train station and hopped on the train (public transportation is so easy, LOVED IT!) Once back at the hostel I was in bed sleeping and awaiting our next adventure... Next stop Florence!!!!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Holiday is here!
As of today I am on 1/2 term break. No, it's not just us student teachers who get a break but in fact all of the teachers and students at our schools. The English school system is set up as 3 terms- Autumn, Spring and Summer. Since the kids, etc. don't get out for their summer holiday until the last week in July, they have week long breaks during the other terms. Basically, they go to school what seems like a good deal more then us Americans, yet I think it's only another 2 weeks when you work out the number of days students attend school here to the number at home. Anyhow, it doesn't really matter why I have a break, I just do and we can all work on accepting that fact.
I enjoyed my day off in Southern England today. Ashely, Skye (who is from Sweden, the town where IKEA was founded to be exact) and I all went to Chichester (where I teach) and shopped... I got a new dress of Italy on sale at H&M :) Then we saw High School Musical 3 where Ashely and I talked through a whole lot of it. That was until we were told by the British lady next to us to "Please not talk through the film." Ugh, that's the problem with kid movies, parents trying to control you. Okay, yes, I was seeing High School Musical, I guess I can't really make passing judgments on others.
I am almost all packed for my trip to Italy. I can't believe that almost 2 months have passed since I've seen U.S. currency or heard country music on the radio... the country music I don't miss so much though. I've found it really odd over here to think about U.S. currency. I know this may seem like a weird thing to think about, but when you've used one type of currency for 21 years and then all of a sudden start using another and get used to that it's hard to image the other. This is quite a confusing thought process. I think I'm just going to stop while I'm ahead!
I can't wait to update you all on Italy. Don't worry, I'll take lots of photos! Another piece of exciting news is that my brother is coming to visit at the end of the program for a week :) I am super excited and can't wait to start planning out adventures once I get back from my Italy adventure. Ciao. Hopefully I learn some more Italian over the next week and be able to wow you all once I get back.
I enjoyed my day off in Southern England today. Ashely, Skye (who is from Sweden, the town where IKEA was founded to be exact) and I all went to Chichester (where I teach) and shopped... I got a new dress of Italy on sale at H&M :) Then we saw High School Musical 3 where Ashely and I talked through a whole lot of it. That was until we were told by the British lady next to us to "Please not talk through the film." Ugh, that's the problem with kid movies, parents trying to control you. Okay, yes, I was seeing High School Musical, I guess I can't really make passing judgments on others.
I am almost all packed for my trip to Italy. I can't believe that almost 2 months have passed since I've seen U.S. currency or heard country music on the radio... the country music I don't miss so much though. I've found it really odd over here to think about U.S. currency. I know this may seem like a weird thing to think about, but when you've used one type of currency for 21 years and then all of a sudden start using another and get used to that it's hard to image the other. This is quite a confusing thought process. I think I'm just going to stop while I'm ahead!
I can't wait to update you all on Italy. Don't worry, I'll take lots of photos! Another piece of exciting news is that my brother is coming to visit at the end of the program for a week :) I am super excited and can't wait to start planning out adventures once I get back from my Italy adventure. Ciao. Hopefully I learn some more Italian over the next week and be able to wow you all once I get back.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The last Thursday to bring about the weekend
Today is the last day before mid term break. I can't believe mid term break is already here! Today I believe there will be a supply teacher in my classroom (a sub), but yet again my teacher is never provides me with too many details or lets say lesson plans so the teacher and I will just wing it I suppose. I'm actually hoping that I don't have to do too much. When my teacher is not in it can be extremely stressful because when you're not given the plans and there is specific lessons that need to be taught but I have no been informed how they are to be taught makes for poor presentation to the students. Poor presentation to the students means bad behavior. Bad behavior means lots of noise. Lots of noise means Miss Kendus has a headache!
Needless to say, I'm glad that tomorrow I won't have to go into the school. I plan on sleeping in (a bit), getting some work done for after 1/2 term since I'll be teach 75% of the time. Now, this is assuming that my teacher provides me with the topics/subjects that he wants me to teach today when we hopefully meet after school. Goodness, I can't wait to have my own classroom and do things on my own terms! The next unit we're doing is chocolate. How great is that? I'm going to start doing morning messages and surveys for the students when they come into the classroom as well as try to incorporate read alouds more often. My teacher supported these ideas, so I'm going to run with them. I'm also thinking of doing a tree of knowledge that looks like a cocoa tree where the students have to place an 'exit slip' on the tree at the end of the day saying something they learned. Now, that may be a bit difficult to work out, but I think I could have the students design and make the tree eventually. So it may not be a long shot after all. Dream big, right?
Tomorrow Ashely and I are going to see High School Musical 3. I forget that all the kids were going to be off because of an inset (in service day), so I will most likely see a lot of my students at the movie theater. I'm willing to do that in order to see the movie though :) I also need to start packing for Italy! We don't leave until 6:40pm on Saturday, but I've already figured out my laundry schedule (since things take forever to air dry here since it's so damp.) Let's just hope I can find a washer this afternoon once I get back from school, otherwise my whole plan is in the bin.
Here's to one more day in the schools and 12 days off :)
Needless to say, I'm glad that tomorrow I won't have to go into the school. I plan on sleeping in (a bit), getting some work done for after 1/2 term since I'll be teach 75% of the time. Now, this is assuming that my teacher provides me with the topics/subjects that he wants me to teach today when we hopefully meet after school. Goodness, I can't wait to have my own classroom and do things on my own terms! The next unit we're doing is chocolate. How great is that? I'm going to start doing morning messages and surveys for the students when they come into the classroom as well as try to incorporate read alouds more often. My teacher supported these ideas, so I'm going to run with them. I'm also thinking of doing a tree of knowledge that looks like a cocoa tree where the students have to place an 'exit slip' on the tree at the end of the day saying something they learned. Now, that may be a bit difficult to work out, but I think I could have the students design and make the tree eventually. So it may not be a long shot after all. Dream big, right?
Tomorrow Ashely and I are going to see High School Musical 3. I forget that all the kids were going to be off because of an inset (in service day), so I will most likely see a lot of my students at the movie theater. I'm willing to do that in order to see the movie though :) I also need to start packing for Italy! We don't leave until 6:40pm on Saturday, but I've already figured out my laundry schedule (since things take forever to air dry here since it's so damp.) Let's just hope I can find a washer this afternoon once I get back from school, otherwise my whole plan is in the bin.
Here's to one more day in the schools and 12 days off :)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Morning looks like night
Good morning! I am looking forward to daylight savings because the sun has not been rising until about 7:30 which makes it feel like you're waking up in the middle of the night to begin your day. Although some people thought there was no daylight savings here, there is. It happens next Saturday I believe (while I'm traveling to Italy) and it changes at 12am, not 2am. Not that it makes a big difference when it happens.
I walked to the bus station in the rain for the FIRST time this term. I had stayed after for a staff meeting and it had started around 4. It was not pouring by any means, but it's so windy here when it rains, so I got wet from the rain blowing all over. Also, umbrellas really don't do well when it's windy... I actually thought my LLBean umbrella broke. At one point I needed to put the umbrella down and I couldn't close it completely, so I was walking under the umbrella while it was party open. I'm sure this was quite interesting to see. I ended up using the umbrella more as a shield. Resourceful, right?
Mom had asked about what I eat here... YES I know what I'm going to have every morning for breakfast Monday-Sunday. Brunch here is possibly worse then going to the cubard at home. You would think that brunch implies more food, but really there is less. Monday-Friday there is ALWAYS bacon (but it's not American bacon), I haven't actually tried it. Eggs that are runny and Megan has to drain them every morning. I'm painting a beautiful picture, right? Baked beans or something of that sort... possibly stewed tomatoes depending on the day. Fried toast... delicious but must clog the arteries. English muffins with butter already melted on them. Croissants (which I usually eat with strawberry jam, extremely sweet, just how I like it!), chocolate croissants, canned fruit (I like the madnrin oranges, they remind me of my childhood and the peaches are sometimes thrown in there to spice it up). There is yogurt, cereal (extremely bland looking thought). And there is always fruit... but one of the ugliest collection of fruit I've seen, haha. Also, you can eat as MUCH toast as you want. I've been opting for that a few times recently... not the all you can eat, just one or two pieces.
Speaking of breakfast, I must jet! Otherwise it takes so long to cross the street to get my bus that I could possibly miss it. Ciao!
I walked to the bus station in the rain for the FIRST time this term. I had stayed after for a staff meeting and it had started around 4. It was not pouring by any means, but it's so windy here when it rains, so I got wet from the rain blowing all over. Also, umbrellas really don't do well when it's windy... I actually thought my LLBean umbrella broke. At one point I needed to put the umbrella down and I couldn't close it completely, so I was walking under the umbrella while it was party open. I'm sure this was quite interesting to see. I ended up using the umbrella more as a shield. Resourceful, right?
Mom had asked about what I eat here... YES I know what I'm going to have every morning for breakfast Monday-Sunday. Brunch here is possibly worse then going to the cubard at home. You would think that brunch implies more food, but really there is less. Monday-Friday there is ALWAYS bacon (but it's not American bacon), I haven't actually tried it. Eggs that are runny and Megan has to drain them every morning. I'm painting a beautiful picture, right? Baked beans or something of that sort... possibly stewed tomatoes depending on the day. Fried toast... delicious but must clog the arteries. English muffins with butter already melted on them. Croissants (which I usually eat with strawberry jam, extremely sweet, just how I like it!), chocolate croissants, canned fruit (I like the madnrin oranges, they remind me of my childhood and the peaches are sometimes thrown in there to spice it up). There is yogurt, cereal (extremely bland looking thought). And there is always fruit... but one of the ugliest collection of fruit I've seen, haha. Also, you can eat as MUCH toast as you want. I've been opting for that a few times recently... not the all you can eat, just one or two pieces.
Speaking of breakfast, I must jet! Otherwise it takes so long to cross the street to get my bus that I could possibly miss it. Ciao!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Thursday is the new Friday... for now
I just got ready for school and it only took 15 minutes to make my bed, brush my teeth, wash my face, pick out my outfit and get dressed. Since it never takes me that long and I have no e-mail, etc. to deal with I thought I'd write.
This week felt longer then the last. It was not necessarily a bad thing, but after the school day ended on Monday I felt like it should really be the end of Tuesday. Luckily for me, I am only in the schools Monday-Thursday since seminars are on Friday. Tomorrow is our last seminar and next Friday we are on mid-term break. In our student books it says that we should be going into the schools full time next week, but many people's mentors have told them to take the day off. I had planned on going in next Friday to plan lessons, etc. for after half term because the teachers have an in-service. It may be beneficial to do my planning in the school since I am expected to teach 75% of the time once I get back from break on November 3rd.
It's hard to believe that I have almost been here for 7 weeks I believe it is this coming Monday! It feels so natural to wake up in the pitch black, eat breakfast and get on a bus under a sky that looks like it is going to pour on you any second. Funny thing is that it doesn't rain often here. Yesterday morning was the first time I walked to school while it was raining and actually, it was only drizzling a bit. There was no need for an umbrella BUT my hair did look awful once I got into my classroom!!
I was talking to a few England natives about the weather, asking them why everyone thinks it rains so much here. I had told them that since I've been here the rain has not been an issue. One of the men said that England, or maybe it's more particularly Southern England, has droughts often. Another... or maybe this was the same man said that the British just like to talk about weather. I can believe that, but I think everyone likes to talk about the weather because it's a topic that people can talk about safely. I have decided that whenever Americans come to England on holiday that it must always rain when they're here for only a week or two. These Americans then come home and tell everyone in the U.S. that England has horrible weather, that it rains all of the time and that they better pack appropriately before traveling there. Obviously, it's all propaganda.
I'm off to breakfast with Dara and Megan. I wonder what we'll have today? Oh wait, I forgot, I can tell you the menu and what everyone had without even going to breakfast!
Cheers!
This week felt longer then the last. It was not necessarily a bad thing, but after the school day ended on Monday I felt like it should really be the end of Tuesday. Luckily for me, I am only in the schools Monday-Thursday since seminars are on Friday. Tomorrow is our last seminar and next Friday we are on mid-term break. In our student books it says that we should be going into the schools full time next week, but many people's mentors have told them to take the day off. I had planned on going in next Friday to plan lessons, etc. for after half term because the teachers have an in-service. It may be beneficial to do my planning in the school since I am expected to teach 75% of the time once I get back from break on November 3rd.
It's hard to believe that I have almost been here for 7 weeks I believe it is this coming Monday! It feels so natural to wake up in the pitch black, eat breakfast and get on a bus under a sky that looks like it is going to pour on you any second. Funny thing is that it doesn't rain often here. Yesterday morning was the first time I walked to school while it was raining and actually, it was only drizzling a bit. There was no need for an umbrella BUT my hair did look awful once I got into my classroom!!
I was talking to a few England natives about the weather, asking them why everyone thinks it rains so much here. I had told them that since I've been here the rain has not been an issue. One of the men said that England, or maybe it's more particularly Southern England, has droughts often. Another... or maybe this was the same man said that the British just like to talk about weather. I can believe that, but I think everyone likes to talk about the weather because it's a topic that people can talk about safely. I have decided that whenever Americans come to England on holiday that it must always rain when they're here for only a week or two. These Americans then come home and tell everyone in the U.S. that England has horrible weather, that it rains all of the time and that they better pack appropriately before traveling there. Obviously, it's all propaganda.
I'm off to breakfast with Dara and Megan. I wonder what we'll have today? Oh wait, I forgot, I can tell you the menu and what everyone had without even going to breakfast!
Cheers!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Live in Bognor, Teach in Chichester, Play in Windsor
Yet again, I have gone awhile without writing. I’ve found it difficult to find time to write because when I get home from school I have gotten into a routine of writing a lesson plan and/or an evaluation for the lesson that I taught that day at school. Needless to say, once I’m finished writing the lesson/evaluation and checking my e-mail, etc. I feel my eyes turning into goop from looking at the screen. Enough with the excuses! I’m not entirely sure where I left off last since I am unable to connect to the internet right now for some odd reason, so I’m trying this in Word. I taught a few more lessons last week and quite honestly, off the top of my head, I don’t recall anything that newsworthy to write about pertaining to what I taught.
Over the weekend, a group traveled to
Sunday I prepared my lessons, etc. for the week. On Monday I was observed by my link-tutor (she’s someone from the university that is in charge of observing me 3 times, completing 2 evaluations with me and my teacher, as well as the connection between the university and my school in case there were any concerns/problems I had). Thankfully, there are no problems in which my link-tutor needs to be informed about. I’m still unsure about some of the things my teacher does or the way he presents the material, but I like that we communicate well and that he takes my ideas and suggestions into great consideration and backs me on my plans. My observation was a great success. It was probably the best lesson I taught this semester, which is good because I was being observed!
Today I was began teaching a maths lesson (yes, math with an s, that is not a typo) and then 10 or so minutes into two women from a learning something or other company knocked on the door. It just so happens that my teacher forgot that they were coming to do an interactive literacy activity with the students. How frustrating!! Needless to say, I’m teaching the lesson tomorrow, from the beginning since the kids were not behaving well and could benefit from hearing the beginning of the lesson again. I don’t know what it is, but some days only a few are off, others all of them are off… must be that English weather. Speaking of weather, I have yet to use my umbrella on my walk to/from school. We all know that means that it’s going to pour tomorrow morning. Today was typical English weather. Damp and cold. Bleck. I’ve been spoiled with a whole lot of sun these past few weeks and am not ready for rain and cold. Today I also got to observe another year four class. I really liked her lesson and her kids are angels. It was nice to see another teacher teaching the same material and compare/contrast teaching styles. I had fun working with different students as well and giving them a chance to get to know me better. I hope I can work with them more as the semester goes on, just as a change of pace. I think I can also learn a great deal from their teacher, Kate. She’s the type of teacher I want to be and can see myself becoming.
That’s it for now. I’ll write once I get back from
And right as I finished this, the internet came back to life. Good timing.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
It's Official, British Children are Adorable!
I spent my first full week in the schools. It won't be until November that we actually spend 5 days a week in school. M-Th we are in the school all day and then on Fridays we have a seminar on campus from 9-11am and then are off for the rest of the day! I must say that I am absolutely exhausted. I realized today that my teacher and I spent (only) about 5 hours with the kids every day since the students and us get an hour lunch break. They split their day in two- everything before 12pm is morning school and everything after 1pm is afternoon school. Anyhow, the 5 hours spent with the kids is extremely tiring, even if I'm not constantly working with them. I can just be standing and observing or listening to my teacher tell directions and by the end of the day when I'm riding the bus back to Bognor Regis I have to try very hard to stay awake. I've started reading a book on my bus ride in the morning and afternoon. I think if I continue to do this, I could read quite a few books this semester, which is exciting.
*NOTE* I left off here over the weekend and then lost internet connection in my room for a few days. I am just getting around to writing more now. It is Tuesday evening, so I've already been in the schools for 2 days already.
Last week I taught three lessons and have been kept quite busy this week with lessons. On Monday my teacher and I met and he just started to throw lessons my way. I'm not going to turn down any opportunities to teach, so I kindly said I would accept everything that he threw my way. Up until tonight, I had not been using my agenda book, but realized I need to start writing down what I'm expected to do and when I need to have it done by in order to keep myself organized. While my teacher has a timetable for each day, I find it very vague and confusing at times, so it's best that I keep track of everything I am expected to do in a separate area. When I taught my lessons last week, they went pretty well. I was pleased, yet I am going to have to work on various classroom management techniques since my 27 students are quite chatty. My teacher does very little in regards to classroom management, which is good and bad. Good because when I teach I can implement my own ideas and not be stepping on his toes. Bad because they have no clear expectations set out for them to follow on a daily basis. No structure in the classroom is quite tricky.
Next week, on Monday I am teaching my first Maths lesson EVER! (They don't call it math here, but maths, with an s. A little odd and I'm not sure why they do this...) My link tutor, the woman who grades me, will be observing. Luckily I have a good amount of time to prepare and am not going away for a long weekend, so can be well rested and ready to put on my best teacher act Monday morning.
Tomorrow I have 2 lessons. One is about kennings poems and the other is drawing a scarecrow. I'm not sure why they are drawing a scarecrow, but someone somewhere in the school thinks scarecrows relate to eco week I presume. If I were to ask my teacher about the reason as to why this lesson exists, he probably would respond by saying he's not sure either... one would think the teacher would know what's going on, but a lot of things are planned throughout the school or by another teacher. Personally, if I did not see a purpose, I would be asking the person in charge or who planned the timetable WHY this is appropriate.
Anyhow, enough about lessons. All in all everything is going swimmingly. I feel very active in the classroom as well as a useful resource and aide. I have had a few kids inquire about when I would be teaching full time, haha. On the second day that I taught, the kids had just come in from play and Andrew asked if I was teaching, in which I responded, "Oh no, not me again!" He then replied by saying that he thought I was better then the classroom teacher. Another girl today while we were outside asked when I would be teaching full time. I told her not until November and she seemed very disappointed. I'm glad that the students like when I teach, but it's all concerning that they don't find their teacher engaging.
On Saturday a group of us touch a day trip to Stonehenge. We all really enjoyed ourselves, although I'm certain that the others on the train on the ride home wished we would disappear, or talk more quietly and laugh less. We left Bognor around 9am, catching the bus to Salisbury. We had to change trains twice and then we picked up a tour bus at the train station in Salisbury. The tour bus was not worth it, but it was the only way to get to Stonehenge. There are no other modes of transportation there other then walking the 12 some miles. We got to the Henge around 1 or so. Unfortunately there is a fence around the premises, so you have to pay to get in. When you bay the 4 pounds ($7.75ish) to get in, there are ropes around the stones. We listened to audio tours, but I could not follow the auido at all. I mean, there's not that much you can really say about a lot of rocks, especially when no one knows for sure what the purpose of them are. I realized that personalized tours are so much better and that while I'm here in the UK and traveling around Europe I need to seek these out in order to learn and get the most out of my experience. The one thing I did learn and remember is that henge means hanging, thus Stonehenge means hanging rocks. Now it all makes sense! Luckily we went on a beautiful day and were able to enjoy the blue skies, sun and rocks on the grass :) Ashely has about 75 pictures of the rocks, half of them have her in them. I was her photographer for the day and we thoroughly enjoyed the photo shoot. If you ever have the opportunity to see Stonehenge, I would go. Don't go out of your way to see it though.
This weekend a bunch of the group is going to Scottland. I am not though and sticking back with a few. I want to go to London or see Windsor Castle. There is so much to do around here and if it's good weather taking day trips is right up my ally!
I booked my plane ticket over the weekend for our fall break. We are flying into Venice, staying there 2 nights, going to Florance for 3 nights and possibly doing a day trip to Pisa (for the pictures with the tower of course!) and then checking out Tuscany before heading to Rome for 3 nights. Who knows what else will pop up on that adventure. We still need to book hostels, but have a good idea of the one we want to stay in while in Florance.
Life is good. I made the right decision coming here this semester and doing my student teaching. I would not be anywhere else in the world right now!
*NOTE* I left off here over the weekend and then lost internet connection in my room for a few days. I am just getting around to writing more now. It is Tuesday evening, so I've already been in the schools for 2 days already.
Last week I taught three lessons and have been kept quite busy this week with lessons. On Monday my teacher and I met and he just started to throw lessons my way. I'm not going to turn down any opportunities to teach, so I kindly said I would accept everything that he threw my way. Up until tonight, I had not been using my agenda book, but realized I need to start writing down what I'm expected to do and when I need to have it done by in order to keep myself organized. While my teacher has a timetable for each day, I find it very vague and confusing at times, so it's best that I keep track of everything I am expected to do in a separate area. When I taught my lessons last week, they went pretty well. I was pleased, yet I am going to have to work on various classroom management techniques since my 27 students are quite chatty. My teacher does very little in regards to classroom management, which is good and bad. Good because when I teach I can implement my own ideas and not be stepping on his toes. Bad because they have no clear expectations set out for them to follow on a daily basis. No structure in the classroom is quite tricky.
Next week, on Monday I am teaching my first Maths lesson EVER! (They don't call it math here, but maths, with an s. A little odd and I'm not sure why they do this...) My link tutor, the woman who grades me, will be observing. Luckily I have a good amount of time to prepare and am not going away for a long weekend, so can be well rested and ready to put on my best teacher act Monday morning.
Tomorrow I have 2 lessons. One is about kennings poems and the other is drawing a scarecrow. I'm not sure why they are drawing a scarecrow, but someone somewhere in the school thinks scarecrows relate to eco week I presume. If I were to ask my teacher about the reason as to why this lesson exists, he probably would respond by saying he's not sure either... one would think the teacher would know what's going on, but a lot of things are planned throughout the school or by another teacher. Personally, if I did not see a purpose, I would be asking the person in charge or who planned the timetable WHY this is appropriate.
Anyhow, enough about lessons. All in all everything is going swimmingly. I feel very active in the classroom as well as a useful resource and aide. I have had a few kids inquire about when I would be teaching full time, haha. On the second day that I taught, the kids had just come in from play and Andrew asked if I was teaching, in which I responded, "Oh no, not me again!" He then replied by saying that he thought I was better then the classroom teacher. Another girl today while we were outside asked when I would be teaching full time. I told her not until November and she seemed very disappointed. I'm glad that the students like when I teach, but it's all concerning that they don't find their teacher engaging.
On Saturday a group of us touch a day trip to Stonehenge. We all really enjoyed ourselves, although I'm certain that the others on the train on the ride home wished we would disappear, or talk more quietly and laugh less. We left Bognor around 9am, catching the bus to Salisbury. We had to change trains twice and then we picked up a tour bus at the train station in Salisbury. The tour bus was not worth it, but it was the only way to get to Stonehenge. There are no other modes of transportation there other then walking the 12 some miles. We got to the Henge around 1 or so. Unfortunately there is a fence around the premises, so you have to pay to get in. When you bay the 4 pounds ($7.75ish) to get in, there are ropes around the stones. We listened to audio tours, but I could not follow the auido at all. I mean, there's not that much you can really say about a lot of rocks, especially when no one knows for sure what the purpose of them are. I realized that personalized tours are so much better and that while I'm here in the UK and traveling around Europe I need to seek these out in order to learn and get the most out of my experience. The one thing I did learn and remember is that henge means hanging, thus Stonehenge means hanging rocks. Now it all makes sense! Luckily we went on a beautiful day and were able to enjoy the blue skies, sun and rocks on the grass :) Ashely has about 75 pictures of the rocks, half of them have her in them. I was her photographer for the day and we thoroughly enjoyed the photo shoot. If you ever have the opportunity to see Stonehenge, I would go. Don't go out of your way to see it though.
This weekend a bunch of the group is going to Scottland. I am not though and sticking back with a few. I want to go to London or see Windsor Castle. There is so much to do around here and if it's good weather taking day trips is right up my ally!
I booked my plane ticket over the weekend for our fall break. We are flying into Venice, staying there 2 nights, going to Florance for 3 nights and possibly doing a day trip to Pisa (for the pictures with the tower of course!) and then checking out Tuscany before heading to Rome for 3 nights. Who knows what else will pop up on that adventure. We still need to book hostels, but have a good idea of the one we want to stay in while in Florance.
Life is good. I made the right decision coming here this semester and doing my student teaching. I would not be anywhere else in the world right now!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Who knew you had to hail the bus??
I know it's been awhile since I last wrote. I want to keep a good record of my time spent here in England, but sometimes it's hard to get myself to sit down in front of my computer and write. Let's see... where did I leave off? Friday was my first day in the schools. I am at a primary school, aka an elementary school which is private, which really means it's public. This means that public means private here in the UK. I am in a 4th year class, which is 3rd grade in the US. The kids here actually start school when they're 4, meaning they are about a year ahead of the US. There are 27 kids in my class, 18 of which are boys! I've never seen so many boys in one class, except for at Cardigan :) The kids all wear uniforms- black or gray pants/skirts, white collard shirts/blouses and maroon sweatshirts/sweaters. My teachers name is Mr. Gayle. I was surprised to see a large number of men teaching at this school. There must be 5 or so for a student body of 300. Looking back on my elementary years, I can only remember 2 male teachers.
I take the bus, also known as public transportation, to school. Sometimes I even get to ride the double decker ones :) Little did Ashely and I know on our first day that we needed to hail the bus and we were shocked when it just drove by. Of course I want to get on the bus, why else would I be standing at the bus stop!?! Well, today Ashely pointed out a notice posted about bus etiquette. Here it tells you that if you would like the bus to stop that you must hail it. Now I know, as do all of you if you happen to even be in England wishing to ride the bus. My school is a 15 minute ride from the Bognor Regis campus. 30 minutes when you factor in morning traffic, 45 minutes during bad rush hour traffic. I am beginning to despise the round abouts!!! If I had to blame something for the traffic jams, it would be the round abouts. Once I get to the Chichester bus station, I have a 15 minute walk to my school. On the first day I had vague directions to the school and I may have followed a little boy and his brother to school.
Here's what an average day is looking like for me:
6:30 wake up
7:10 breakfast with Ashely
7:30 head to the bus stop, on the LEFT side of the road
7:36 (or whenever it feels like showing up because the buses are NOT on time) get the bus
8:15 arrive at the Chichester bus station
8:30 arrive at school
8:40 first bell
8:50 kids arrive in the room
8:50-12:00pm I mold the minds of the young British kids
12:00-1:00 lunch
1:00-3:05 more learning
3:05-??? talk to Mr. Gayle; plan lessons, etc.
Today I did not leave school until 4:30. I was planning for the bus to arrive at 4:46 so I walked very fast and got to the bus station around 4:41 to find NO bus. The bus got there around 5 or so and I was home and in the dining hall by 5:40.
Tomorrow I am teaching my FIRST lesson of the semester. We are doing an Olympics unit and I am in charge of planning a literacy lesson. I even had to write an example of a persuasive essay. Let me tell you, it's difficult to write like you're 8 years old. I told Mr. G that he'll have to look over my writing and give me some pointers on writing like a 4th year!
This weekend we traveled to London for the day. It was fantastic! I definitely enjoyed myself. The weather was nice and the skies cleared in the afternoon. We were able to see Buckingham Palace and possible the changing of the guards? I'm not sure if it really happened or not to be honest. Not as exciting as one would think. We saw Big Ben, or course, yet no London Bridge was to be found. Granted, I did not look hard. Next time, I will venture to it. There was a festival on the Thames River which some of the group went to, but instead I went with a group to Westminster Abbey. What a beautiful place. It was grand. Words can't describe it. All I can say is it was worth going to just to see even though we did not have time to complete the entire tour. Just walking around London and seeing things in person after seeing what seems like thousands of pictures in books, etc. all my life was surreal. I will need to take a trip back during my time here. Hopefully I can see a show!
Sunday we all slept in. It was MUCH needed sleep! I went to the grocery store. Carrying the two smallish bags back from town was not thrilling. My arm hurts a bit today, not going to lie. Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL. I told Danielle that it was like a New England day! I organized myself a bit and hung out... took a nap and talked on Skype. 8 of us watched P.S. I Love you in Kate's room last night. I feel more like a freshmen now then I did when I was a freshman, haha.
The exciting news is that we booked a flight to Dublin for the first weekend in October. We got a good deal on it, paying no taxes for the departing flight.
This weekend I'm hoping to do some local traveling, especially since I have an unlimited bus pass provided to me from the University since I have to take the bus to my school. I believe all the students that go to the University will be arriving this weekend. There are some students here, but not the freshies yet. We've been told to go to some of the new student events. I'm sure we'll check some of them out.
Things are great. I'm loving the experience. I can't believe that I'm getting credit to be here in England as well as fulfilling my student teaching requirements. I'm learning so much more then I could have imagined and having fun doing it. Yay education!!!
I take the bus, also known as public transportation, to school. Sometimes I even get to ride the double decker ones :) Little did Ashely and I know on our first day that we needed to hail the bus and we were shocked when it just drove by. Of course I want to get on the bus, why else would I be standing at the bus stop!?! Well, today Ashely pointed out a notice posted about bus etiquette. Here it tells you that if you would like the bus to stop that you must hail it. Now I know, as do all of you if you happen to even be in England wishing to ride the bus. My school is a 15 minute ride from the Bognor Regis campus. 30 minutes when you factor in morning traffic, 45 minutes during bad rush hour traffic. I am beginning to despise the round abouts!!! If I had to blame something for the traffic jams, it would be the round abouts. Once I get to the Chichester bus station, I have a 15 minute walk to my school. On the first day I had vague directions to the school and I may have followed a little boy and his brother to school.
Here's what an average day is looking like for me:
6:30 wake up
7:10 breakfast with Ashely
7:30 head to the bus stop, on the LEFT side of the road
7:36 (or whenever it feels like showing up because the buses are NOT on time) get the bus
8:15 arrive at the Chichester bus station
8:30 arrive at school
8:40 first bell
8:50 kids arrive in the room
8:50-12:00pm I mold the minds of the young British kids
12:00-1:00 lunch
1:00-3:05 more learning
3:05-??? talk to Mr. Gayle; plan lessons, etc.
Today I did not leave school until 4:30. I was planning for the bus to arrive at 4:46 so I walked very fast and got to the bus station around 4:41 to find NO bus. The bus got there around 5 or so and I was home and in the dining hall by 5:40.
Tomorrow I am teaching my FIRST lesson of the semester. We are doing an Olympics unit and I am in charge of planning a literacy lesson. I even had to write an example of a persuasive essay. Let me tell you, it's difficult to write like you're 8 years old. I told Mr. G that he'll have to look over my writing and give me some pointers on writing like a 4th year!
This weekend we traveled to London for the day. It was fantastic! I definitely enjoyed myself. The weather was nice and the skies cleared in the afternoon. We were able to see Buckingham Palace and possible the changing of the guards? I'm not sure if it really happened or not to be honest. Not as exciting as one would think. We saw Big Ben, or course, yet no London Bridge was to be found. Granted, I did not look hard. Next time, I will venture to it. There was a festival on the Thames River which some of the group went to, but instead I went with a group to Westminster Abbey. What a beautiful place. It was grand. Words can't describe it. All I can say is it was worth going to just to see even though we did not have time to complete the entire tour. Just walking around London and seeing things in person after seeing what seems like thousands of pictures in books, etc. all my life was surreal. I will need to take a trip back during my time here. Hopefully I can see a show!
Sunday we all slept in. It was MUCH needed sleep! I went to the grocery store. Carrying the two smallish bags back from town was not thrilling. My arm hurts a bit today, not going to lie. Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL. I told Danielle that it was like a New England day! I organized myself a bit and hung out... took a nap and talked on Skype. 8 of us watched P.S. I Love you in Kate's room last night. I feel more like a freshmen now then I did when I was a freshman, haha.
The exciting news is that we booked a flight to Dublin for the first weekend in October. We got a good deal on it, paying no taxes for the departing flight.
This weekend I'm hoping to do some local traveling, especially since I have an unlimited bus pass provided to me from the University since I have to take the bus to my school. I believe all the students that go to the University will be arriving this weekend. There are some students here, but not the freshies yet. We've been told to go to some of the new student events. I'm sure we'll check some of them out.
Things are great. I'm loving the experience. I can't believe that I'm getting credit to be here in England as well as fulfilling my student teaching requirements. I'm learning so much more then I could have imagined and having fun doing it. Yay education!!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Endless Summer
I haven't gotten run over yet by any cars of coaches, which is a plus. I'm slowly figuring out which way to look when I cross the street, but am amazed that there is so much traffic right outside of the University! To get into Bognor Regis you have to cross a street that has constant traffic as well as a round about (or Rotary, if you're familiar with those in New England), yet this particular round about has no grassy patch int he middle, instead there are arrows painted on the street showing cars where to go... anyhow, it makes it extremely difficult to cross the street. I am realizing that I can no longer walk like I do in State College. I'm definitely not crossing College Ave, that's for sure.
Today we traveled about an hour to the East to the "gay capital" of England, aka
Brighton. Honestly, I did not know this fact about Brighton before visiting, nor would I have given the city this title. Anyhow, we toured King George IV's Royal Pavilion (to the right). I enjoyed walking around the interior, listening to my personal audio tour. The devices were much like portable phones, but after awhile made our arms tired from holding up to our ears. After this tour, I am very interested in traveling to more historical sites in England an in Europe in order to learn, first hand, about the history of England which I am not well versed in. I felt while I was there as though I was on a class field trip since our group went all together and our coordinators took us and felt at times that I should be taking notes or something. It was nice to not have to do that though!
After the tour we walked around for a bit. It can be agonizing to be with 13 or so people walking like slugs around a town. As many of you know, I don't walk slowly and could be found walking in front for the most part. We ate at an little pub again today. I really like the way you order at the pubs here. Instead of having a waiter/waitress, when you're ready to order, you go up to the bar, place your order and pay. Makes it really easy when in a large group and the best part, no tipping left of the table!
The group did end up splitting a bit for an hour or so. Dara and I were on a mission to find a top sheet for her and a blanket for me since our beds only came with comforters. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will need something more once it gets colder. Speaking of it getting colder, the weather has been decent and I've enjoyed the mostly cloudy 60-65 degree weather. (Less chance of sweating!) I did buy a fleece blanket that says England on it. It was on sale already and when I got the register, it was even cheaper. My grandmother would be proud!
It's odd that everyone at Penn State has been in classes for almost three weeks and we have not even started our teaching program. The details of the program thus far are very vague. I'm sticking with the motto- "they'll tell us what we need to know when we need to know it." I will be meeting with people from my school I believe tomorrow night when we have dinner with our cooperating teachers, etc. here at the University. I feel as though I'm still on vacation though especially since we're going to London on Saturday and talking a lot about trips we want to take on other weekends and during our 10 day mid term break at the end of October.
I'm ready for whatever adventures, be it in the school, around Bognor Regis, here on campus, in London, or abroad in Italy, etc. that comes my way.
Here's to the endless summer, which may in fact last until January :)
Today we traveled about an hour to the East to the "gay capital" of England, aka
Brighton. Honestly, I did not know this fact about Brighton before visiting, nor would I have given the city this title. Anyhow, we toured King George IV's Royal Pavilion (to the right). I enjoyed walking around the interior, listening to my personal audio tour. The devices were much like portable phones, but after awhile made our arms tired from holding up to our ears. After this tour, I am very interested in traveling to more historical sites in England an in Europe in order to learn, first hand, about the history of England which I am not well versed in. I felt while I was there as though I was on a class field trip since our group went all together and our coordinators took us and felt at times that I should be taking notes or something. It was nice to not have to do that though!After the tour we walked around for a bit. It can be agonizing to be with 13 or so people walking like slugs around a town. As many of you know, I don't walk slowly and could be found walking in front for the most part. We ate at an little pub again today. I really like the way you order at the pubs here. Instead of having a waiter/waitress, when you're ready to order, you go up to the bar, place your order and pay. Makes it really easy when in a large group and the best part, no tipping left of the table!
The group did end up splitting a bit for an hour or so. Dara and I were on a mission to find a top sheet for her and a blanket for me since our beds only came with comforters. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will need something more once it gets colder. Speaking of it getting colder, the weather has been decent and I've enjoyed the mostly cloudy 60-65 degree weather. (Less chance of sweating!) I did buy a fleece blanket that says England on it. It was on sale already and when I got the register, it was even cheaper. My grandmother would be proud!
It's odd that everyone at Penn State has been in classes for almost three weeks and we have not even started our teaching program. The details of the program thus far are very vague. I'm sticking with the motto- "they'll tell us what we need to know when we need to know it." I will be meeting with people from my school I believe tomorrow night when we have dinner with our cooperating teachers, etc. here at the University. I feel as though I'm still on vacation though especially since we're going to London on Saturday and talking a lot about trips we want to take on other weekends and during our 10 day mid term break at the end of October.
I'm ready for whatever adventures, be it in the school, around Bognor Regis, here on campus, in London, or abroad in Italy, etc. that comes my way.
Here's to the endless summer, which may in fact last until January :)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Bognor Regis, UK
Greetings from the coast of England! I arrived yesterday, mid morning... which for everyone at home was very early morning. I thought the time difference between England and the U.S. was 6 hours. Low and behold, I was incorrect (this being the first of many misconceptions). The time difference in fact is only 5 hours, which honestly, I think makes for more difficult calculations when trying to figure out what time it is at home!
Anyhow, the drive from the airport (Gatwick) to Bognor Regis took about 1 hour. I decided to stay awake and look out the window, in order to enjoy all the beautiful scenery... many others decided to sleep.
The Bognor Regis campus is compact and cute. We are all staying in Longbrook Hall on the top floor which I'm going to call the Pent House. It's actually quite nice. We have a kitchen and sinks in our bedrooms. I'm living in a single and it's very comfortable. My internet worked right away which was a miracle. (I never have luck with setting my computer up!!)
Yesterday we registered with the University, got wonderful ID cards where we all have extremely fuzzy faces. They're great let me tell you. Anyhow, Julia, our coordinator, took us into town where many people bought cell phones. I'm holding out on a UK one for now.
Speaking of the UK, I realized this morning another one of my misconceptions. I just believed that the UK was part of Europe... I have been corrected when listening to the British speak about surrounding areas. The UK and the EU are different. Got it. I also think I've figured out that the UK has various names just as the US has various names and it's only confusing because I'm not familiar with the names.
This week is a transition week. I'll be making my first bus ride journey into my school on Friday to observe the classroom I'll be in for the next 3 months. It's all so exciting, new and interesting. I can't wait to explore this sea side town and beyond in the coming months.
Soon, I will post pictures... so look out for them.
Anyhow, the drive from the airport (Gatwick) to Bognor Regis took about 1 hour. I decided to stay awake and look out the window, in order to enjoy all the beautiful scenery... many others decided to sleep.
The Bognor Regis campus is compact and cute. We are all staying in Longbrook Hall on the top floor which I'm going to call the Pent House. It's actually quite nice. We have a kitchen and sinks in our bedrooms. I'm living in a single and it's very comfortable. My internet worked right away which was a miracle. (I never have luck with setting my computer up!!)
Yesterday we registered with the University, got wonderful ID cards where we all have extremely fuzzy faces. They're great let me tell you. Anyhow, Julia, our coordinator, took us into town where many people bought cell phones. I'm holding out on a UK one for now.
Speaking of the UK, I realized this morning another one of my misconceptions. I just believed that the UK was part of Europe... I have been corrected when listening to the British speak about surrounding areas. The UK and the EU are different. Got it. I also think I've figured out that the UK has various names just as the US has various names and it's only confusing because I'm not familiar with the names.
This week is a transition week. I'll be making my first bus ride journey into my school on Friday to observe the classroom I'll be in for the next 3 months. It's all so exciting, new and interesting. I can't wait to explore this sea side town and beyond in the coming months.
Soon, I will post pictures... so look out for them.
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