Back to School

Hey everyone! I don't have much to write about today. I woke up this morning to do some emailing, journaling, and organizing. Then, I headed to theatre class. We discussed our play from last night. It was a really great show and most people had good reactions to it. After theatre, the people in Sociology sat around and did crossword puzzles. It's our new favorite pastime. In Soc class today, we finished watching Breaking and Entering, which we deemed quite unrealistic. Then, we seriously talked for the 50th time about bridges and walls and what divides us. It was very repetitive. We got good news, though, that we don't have class on Thursday. That pretty much means a 4.5 day weekend for me starting on Thursday - crazy! After class, I came back and cooked some rice for dinner. I also successfully made chicken for the second time. It was even better this time, if I do say so myself. I was so proud! Now, I am just getting ready to do some work. I hope you all have a good evening!

"What I like about fish is...chips!"

Today was quite a day! I had another practicum day today and it was a bit crazy. I knew it was going to be an insane day when I got to class and Emily, the teacher, was feeling very sick. She called for a supply (substitute) teacher even before school started and he came after just about an hour or so. It was interesting because all the troublemakers in the class were absent today but two arrived seconds after Emily left. Ironic, for sure.

So we had a great literacy lesson today on fables, folk tales, etc. I can tell the kids are really going to like the unit - thank goodness! After that, was break where I got to help one student finish some of his work. It surprised me because he is very ill-behaved but great to work with one-on-one. After break was math. That was the start of craziness. Clearly students are worse behaved when a different teacher is in the classroom. And I realized that they cling to adults that they know. Therefore, I got questions up the wazoo! It was great feeling like students wanted me to help them, but it was difficult nonetheless. After maths was lunch, followed by reading groups. I got to lead my own group today due to lack of adults and it was a very interesting experience. My group read about Henry VIII and his many wives. (The word "adultery" appeared in the story and that got my group in a very confusing state.) Apparently, my students really like to read aloud, they just hate writing. I had lots of complaints and not great behavior. I, unfortunately, had to kick into disciplinarian mode, which is tough because I don't quite know the rules of the classroom and don't want to cross any boundaries. However, a couple of the boys in my group did very well, so I was proud of them. After that, I finally saw a Religious Education lesson. It wasn't super interesting and the kids absolutely detest RE. However, they were fairly well-behaved during the lesson, which I am sure was a relief to the supply teacher. After RE, the kids had a bit of time to play a game. They were having a lot of fun until the last two minutes of school. Two of the boys in the class got into a fist fight in the middle of the classroom! They were insulting and cursing and being awfully rude. It was atrocious! The teacher had to pull one student off the other and I had to take the other one into the hallway. It was quite an incident and not a great way to end the day.

The practicum day, on a whole, was pretty ok, though. The supply teacher was really cool. He was fairly young and from South Africa. He is going back to South Africa in like 4 days because his London work visa expires. He was very nice and we definitely had quite a day together with 5T. Also, a couple of my kids were really cute today. One girl asked if it was my last day and, even though it wasn't, asked me why I had to leave and if I could come back always. It was so sweet. My second story involves one of the little boys that got into the fight. Pre-fight, I was helping him with some work. I was wearing a long heart necklace and he starts playing with it, trying to open it like a locket. I was confused until he asked me, with a little devilish grin, "Who gave this to you? Was it your huuuusband?" I told him no and changed the subject quite quickly - as is evident from reading groups, romance and fifth years just doesn't work.

After practicum, we had education seminar. It was cool today because we had a guest speaker who talked with us about creative writing. We wrote some fun poems and got some ideas for great lessons. The title of my blog comes from this lesson. The speaker told us about a five year old who was asked what his favorite food was. He responded with "fish." The man asked him what he liked about fish and the little boy said "chips." I thought it was the cutest story! It turned into a great poem, too, so that was very fun.

After seminar, a few of us got dinner and then headed to another play. This time it was Pitmen Painters and I really enjoyed it. The message was about the meaning of art and changing the world through art. I liked it a lot!

Anywho, that was a long re-cap of my long day. I'm quite exhausted, so I'm off to bed. Hope you all have a great night!

End of Break

Today I woke up earlyish to take Katherine to the airport. It was really sad to see her leave. I kind of realized how much I am missing my suitemates at school. It's ok, though. I'll be back in the States sooner than I'll realize.

After that, I spent the day doing odd tasks like grocery shopping and homework. I also emailed up a storm and looked at my schedule for next semester. In addition, I uploaded bunches of pictures to Facebook, so feel free to look if you so choose. (I hope you enjoy this picture of the Eiffel Tower from our trip to Paris.) Tomorrow I go back to a normal schedule, starting with practicum. I hope I have more interesting stories for you tomorrow!

Another Busy Day in London

Today was Katherine's last full day in London, so we had to make the most of it! We started the morning kind of early and headed to Westmister Abbey. It was absolutely incredible. We had a little audio tour and we learned so much about the church. I was amazed by all the tombs of important people housed there. All in all, it was such a beautiful place with such amazing history. I'm so glad we went! We then headed to St. Paul's to take a peek in. It was absolutely beautiful, as well, but we didn't do a whole tour of it. After that, we planned on going to Petticoat Lane to do some shopping at the market. Unfortunately, the guide book and things we read were incorrect and it wasn't open! Huge bummer. Then, we tried Spitalfields Market and it, too, was closed. A second bummer. By this time, the weather was also going crazy. After raining in the morning, then turning sunny, the weather turned to hail. Ah! It was so strange. After that, we headed over to Tower Bridge and climbed to the top. We saw a pretty cool exhibit and the views from the bridge were pretty cool. After that, we stopped in Piccadilly Circus and then headed back to the flats to change before heading to dinner and a show. We went to a pub-esque place for dinner so Katherine could order fish and chips. I tried some and it was very fishy but, hey, at least I can say I tried it. After that, we went to see Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre. I was very impressed with the sets and costumes, though the show itself wasn't extremely wonderful. It was good, but not great. I'm glad we went, though, since Phantom is such a great story. After the show, we decided to go see some of the major sights at night. We saw Parliament and the London Eye and they were very cool. It was freezing, though, so we didn't stay out long. Now we're back and sadly getting ready for Katherine to leave in the morning.

Oxford

So two posts in one day - I hope you're not sick of me yet! This entry will be much shorter than Paris', I promise. Just a quick re-cap of our more relaxing day in Oxford.

The day started with a bit of panic, unfortunately. We were planning to take a train from Paddington to Heathrow and needed to validate online tickets. Unfortunately, the machine didn't read my credit card and we had to wait in line - with 6 minutes until our train left. We were cutting it close. We somehow managed to get tickets and dash to our platform, getting on the train just in time. I was amazed! We then had a short ride to Oxford. When we got there, we decided to walk around and get some info and pamphlets first. We first went into this enclosed market that had some very fun stores and food vendors. It was a neat little find. After that, the second stop was Christ Church. It was incredible! We were sad that we couldn't see the dining hall (where scenes from Harry Potter were filmed), but everything else was so gorgeous. We got to walk around a meadow and canal by the church, which was so pretty since the daffodils just bloomed. After that, we did more walking and got to Blackwell's Bookstore. What a great bookstore! We could have been there for hours. We also explored different parts of Oxford University (which is broken up into 39 separate schools) and the city itself. I bet it's even more beautiful when everything is in full bloom. We saw a couple different schools, all very quaint and pretty. Unfortunately, most places began to close after that, so we headed to an Italian placed called Zizzi for an early dinner. Then, we headed to the train station to see if we could change our tickets for slightly earlier ones. It wasn't allowed, so we spent a bit of time at this magazine/book/convenience store. We found some very fun things to read and amused ourselves greatly just reading exerpts from books. After that, we headed on a train back to London.

After coming back, Katherine and I headed to our little neighborhood pub, Warwick Castle. We just hung around and talked for a while. It was nice. Now, I am just finishing up blogging so we can head to sleep and have a crazy last day in London tomorrow. It should be fun!

Deux Mademoiselles en Paris

Get ready – this blog is going to be LONG. You all know how verbose I can be, so expect paragraphs and paragraphs. I hope you have a while!

Day 1
On Tuesday, Katherine and I took the Heathrow Express to the airport to leave for Paris. The flight went smoothly and we got from the airport to our hotel’s neighborhood with no problem. We navigated a few tricky streets and eventually got to our hotel (Hotel Les Jardins de Paris) in Montmartre. It was a cute, simple place kind of tucked away on a street. Our room was very small and simple, but it had what we needed and we were happy with it. All the people that worked at the hotel were also very nice to us. We left the hotel afterwards and headed to the Eiffel Tower. We decided just to walk down the park leading up to it and take some pictures during daylight. It was absolutely beautiful, though it is kind of a strange structure in itself. After that preliminary viewing, we went on a river cruise down the Seine (we fortunately got free tickets from our hotel). It was so cool seeing all the main sights and just getting oriented with the gorgeous city. After that, we decided to climb to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. That would be 680 steps on the way up, for the record. Needless to say, our legs killed after that. Regardless, it was absolutely worth it. The views of the city were wonderful and we met a couple Moroccan guys who were fascinated with the fact that we were from America. After spending some time there, we decided to get a picnic and eat back in front of the tower. We felt very French with our cuisine of strawberries, cheese, and a baguette. What a delicious dinner! Luckily, we were able to sit on a bench with our meal and watch as the tower lit up. So pretty! After that, we headed back to the hotel for a night of rest before our next big day.

Day 2
Talk about a marathon day! We started our day by getting breakfast from a patisserie (bakery) and little fruit market by our hotel. Apples and chocolate croissants – yum! We took our food on the Metro and headed down to the Louvre. We ate in some bushes by the museum and had a little flock of birds (and by little I mean many birds) join us because I dropped crumbs all over the place. That was fun. Next, we spent quite a while at the Louvre. It is kind of overwhelming with there being so much art and so many people, but we picked our must-see places and enjoyed every minute of it. We saw the “Mona Lisa” and other classics. I think some of my favorite rooms were Napoleon’s Apartments. The rooms were gorgeous! The architecture of the museum itself was absolutely beautiful. All in all, it was a great way to spend the morning. After that, we walked through the Tuileries and took a little break. Unfortunately, nothing was in bloom yet, but it is such a nice little area. After that, we continued down the stretch to the Place de la Concorde to see the Obelisk. Next, we ventured to see the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, both of which were beautiful. We didn’t get to go into either, but were impressed with both nonetheless. After that, we branched off our main path and walked to the Musee de L’Armee. We peeked into the church where Napoleon’s tomb is located. We also passed some protestors along the way – two separate groups. Very interesting. After that, we took a nice walk down the Champs Elysees. That street had some very nice stores and restaurants, but it wasn’t nearly as quaint as other parts of the city. We walked down to see the Arc de Triomphe, but decided to walk down Victor Hugo Street to a park instead of climbing it right away. The park was a bit of a hike and we were a bit tired/cranky, but it gave us a place to rest for a tiny bit. After we exhausted the park, we went to walk around the Latin Quarter, which we both loved! Talk about a fun area! We ate dinner at the cutest little place. I am proud to say that I tried French onion soup and cheese for dessert (though the latter was accidental). It was a great dinner with a good atmosphere in the restaurant. After that, we both got Nutella crepes from the nicest vender across the street. He was impressed that Katherine ordered in French and told me that I needed to practice. After being officially stuffed, we decided to head back to the Arc de Triomphe and climb to the top so we could get a view of the city. Oh my goodness, was it ever gorgeous! The city is so beautiful and we had clear views of so many different sights. The best, I think, was around 10:00 when the Eiffel Tower started glittering. It was beautiful. After that, I think we could say we thoroughly saw the Eiffel Tower in every way possible – in the day, at night, from the ground, from the river, climbing it, lit up, and sparkling. Way to go, us! After that fantastic day, we finally headed back to Montmartre for a shower and sleep.

Day 3
Our third day in Paris was also absolutely wonderful. We got breakfast from the same nice baker and market. We ate it on a bridge overlooking the Siene. We began the morning by visiting the Musee D’Orsay to see some Impressionist works. The museum itself is awesome, having been converted into a museum after being a train station. Then, the collections themselves are really fun and comprehensive. I was impressed. After that, we headed over to Notre Dame Cathedral. We climbed to the top and got a nice view of the city. It was a little gray and cold out, but it was still nice nonetheless. We also got to see the famous bell, which was so cool. After that, we intended to go see St. Chapelle church, but there was a huge line so we bypassed it and headed to the Centre Pompidou. There, we saw modern art. I was so excited to see works of artists I just learned about in art class – Duchamp, Pollock, Rothko, Picasso, etc. The building is so neat, with the elevators and whatnot on the outside. Very cool, but also very exhausting. After that very intellectual morning, we were drifting a bit. We needed a pick-me-up, so we headed to a little crepe stand. Katherine tried a banana and sugar crepe, while I accidentally ordered a coconut and sugar one. Not as good as the night before, but still a nice snack. After that, we decided to head back to Montmartre. We got off the Metro to take pictures of the Moulin Rouge and then walked to Sacre Coeur, which was on top of a hill. We climbed more steps (man, were our muscles tired) and got to take a quick look around the church. From the hill, you get an incredible view of Paris. It was raining by this point, but it was still nice to be able to see everything. After that, we sadly had to go back to our favorite little hotel for our bags. We then began our adventure to the airport. After having our credit cards not work at the ticket machine, meeting a ticket seller who loved Obama, being told to get on the wrong RER train to the airport, trying to back track and having to take a bus, and then having to nearly sneak through the turnstile, we finally made it to Charles de Gaulle! We were very early for our flight, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Anywho, we made it back to London and the flats safe and sound.

All in all, it was an amazing trip to Paris! Two lessons learned: granola bars are your best friends when traveling and French people are so nice. Well, at least to Katherine and me. Everyone was very helpful and liked us a lot – it was so nice! We had an amazing, amazing time!

Conquering Cardiff

Today's blog is going to be another short re-cap because Katherine and I, again, had a full day and are quite tired. Here's a brief run-down of our day:

We woke up this morning and headed to the Victoria Coach Station to get on a bus heading to Cardiff, Wales. The bus ride took over 3 hours, but it was fine. When we got there, we first headed to Cardiff Castle. Both Katherine and I found the place to be really neat and pretty, but extremely confusing! It was really eclectic in terms of architectural styles and the uses of the castle. All in all, kind of weird, but lots of fun. The people there were very, very nice and we ran into lots of school children - they were cute. After the castle, we walked about 30 minutes down to Cardiff Bay. It was a bit windy and cold, but the bay was cute nonetheless. We saw lots of other strange buildings (including a visitor's center that was shaped like a tube) and determined that the bay is probably an ideal place to be in the warmer seasons. We found a light boat, carousel, Milennium theatre, Mermaid's Quay, and a few other shopping areas. We ate a lunch/dinner meal at a restaurant that looked over the water. We spent the rest of our time exploring some very cute little shops and getting coffee for the bus ride back.

We got back into London a little after 9:00 and have been getting ready for Paris ever since. We are both very excited to get there!!

Spring Break Day #2

Katherine and I had another jam-packed day today! We're both exhausted and getting ready for Wales tomorrow, but here's a brief re-cap of the day:

We woke up and ate breakfast out of a houseboat on the canal at Little Venice. Very cute! Then, we walked to Paddington and went on the tube to Green Park. It was covered in daffodils - absolutely gorgeous. Then, we saw Buckingham Palace, but unfortunately no horse guard or changing of the guard. Next was Hyde Park (also covered in daffodils) where we saw Speaker's Corner, the Peter Pan statue, Princess Diana's children's playground, and the Prince Albert Memorial. We also saw lots of rollerbladers doing amazing tricks and people boating on the Serpentine water. All of it was super fun and beautiful. Next we went to Harrod's and didn't get past much beyond the enormous food court/grocery store. We did get free perfume samples, which was nice. Harrod's is incredible. After that was a trip to the Victoria & Albert museum. We saw fashion, jewelry, art, and a very cool theatre/production exhibit. Shakespeare's First Folio was there!! Next, we went back to Piccadilly Circus for dinner at a Mexican place where our food came extremely quickly (before we even got our drinks) and to see Duplicity at the movie theatre. It was a fun movie, for sure.

Now, we just finished planning our day in Cardiff tomorrow. It should be fun!

And We're Walking...

So today I feel like I actually started break! I woke up early to get Katherine from Heathrow. It was so good to see her!!

After that, we came back to the flat, walked around Little Venice, did some errands, and headed out for the day. We didn't have anything planned to do, so we did a little walking tour around the city. We started in Piccadilly Circus and moved down to Trafalgar Square. Then, we walked on over to Big Ben and Parliament. It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to take a nice, long walk along the Thames. We saw the London Eye, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, and the river. We got sandwiches and ate them along the river, which was nice. Then, we headed back to Piccadilly Circus to see the huge toy store and go to my favorite store, Octopus. Then, we went to Oxford Circus and walked down Oxford Street. I am currently looking for a new purse because mine is ripping, so we stopped in some fun stores. Unfortuntely, in the quest to find Primark, I managed to get us lost. Eventually we found the store, though we didn't purchase anything.

After that, we came back to the flat and cooked dinner. Now, we are planning out our week! it should be fun - though there is so much to do and not enough time.

I also want to thank my lovely suite for the nice presents they sent with Katherine! You guys are SO SWEET and I miss you bunches!

TGIF

Today I woke up to a very quiet flat, since everyone except Casey and me are away on break. I decided to have a productive day and go spend another day in practicum. It was actually a really great day, so I'm extremely glad I went.

So the first thing that happened this morning was that Emily's full-time assistant wasn't there. It was kind of a blessing in disguise for me because I got to do some of the tasks she usually did. I spent the first part of the morning cutting paper on the "guillotine" (aka large paper cutter). Then, during maths, I got to help a lot of different students. I worked with a kid who has autism and more advanced level students, in addition to my usual little group. It was great comparing what each of the students did and what helped them learn or not learn. After maths, was break. I spent the break talking to one of my students about her hamster. It was very cute. After that, I got to witness a history lesson. Today, the class learned about Ancient Greek ampitheatres. I again got to work with a bunch of different students. It made me happy that the students felt comfortable asking for my help. History was shortened today to allow time for the students to make mother's day cards. Some of them got extremely creative with their cards - I was quite impressed.

Following card making was lunch, where I talked to a different student a bit about his card and how mother's day is celebrated in May in America. He thought it was the craziest thing! Then, I went downstairs and talked to a couple more students from my class about The Tempest and things in America. They really only wanted to know about celebrities and how close I lived to Obama. They were quite sweet. One girl even got disappointed that I wasn't staying to teach at Wilberforce. She thought I was coming to the school to train and then work there. How nice!

After lunch was P.E. Students have to walk to a nearby recreation center to do P.E. and today's lesson was absolutely great. They learned a bit about rugby and every child in the class had a smile on their face. It made me so happy! I spend the P.E. time talking to a classroom assistant (she was very friendly) and watching the kids. Unfortunately, I witnessed lots of fighting on the walk back to school and lots of poor behavior (with lots of cussing).

The day finished with an afternoon assembly. Each teacher in Key Stage 2 (grades 3-6) picked a couple students to recognize with Gold Awards. The teacher would go to the front of the assembly room, talk a bit about the student, and the students would be recognized. I didn't realize how connected I was to my class until a couple students got gold awards. I was so proud!

Now, I am in for evening. I'm going to do some work and maybe something fun? Tomorrow I get to see Katherine, which is very exciting!!

First Day of Break

Today was my first full day of break! I did a lot of domestic things today just to get caught up. I woke up early than I wanted and did my Sociology journal. Then, I emailed a bit and played on my computer. Next, I headed up to Tesco (grocery store) and Boots (drug store) to buy a few miscellaneous items. Then I came back and did multiple loads of laundry. Super exciting! After lunch, I played a game on my computer forever. I never play computer games, but Mich was next to me and we played some kind of word game. Gradually, all the people in the room joined in and played. We went so far - we felt really smart! After that, I decided to treat myself to a couple new shirts from Primark. I went to a less crowded one than the one I had been to before. I bought a cute white and blue shirt (sailor-esque), a pack of boys undershirts, and a long necklace with a heart on the end. All for 9 pounds! I was impressed. It was fun to get out of the flat and walk around a bit. When I came back, I did more odd tasks until Chelsey, Jordan, and I made delicious quesadillas for dinner. Now we are all sitting here and vegging a bit. I will probably work on my art journal for a bit and maybe paint my nails? Who knows? I hope you all have a great night!

Mamma Mia...Here I Go Again!

What a great day today! It started off only ok since I couldn’t sleep so well and woke up early. I spent the morning studying for my art midterm. When heading to the exam, our train was delayed quite a bit, so most of the class was late. The exam wasn’t horrible, but I don’t know how wonderfully I did. I am finished with it, though, so I am happy!

After the exam, we headed back to the flat and hung out for a little bit. Then, Kinsey, Chelsey, Jordan, Amanda, and I headed out to the Mamma Mia theatre to get tickets and go out to dinner before our show. We went to a great Mexican place for dinner with a waitress who was a tiny bit clueless. It was a fun atmosphere and the food was tasty. After dinner, we went to see the show! It was kind of hilarious because there were a couple mishaps. First, the microphones were kind of off. It made me sad because my favorite songs were song on the bad mics. Oh well! Second mishap was during the middle of one of the songs with the three older lady friends. In the middle of the song, the main lady says something like “Sorry. We are going to have to stop for a minute. Technical difficulties” and walks off stage! We thought she was joking until stage hands came on stage and started moving things around. It was crazy!! After that, they fixed the problem (broken keyboard or something?) and continued on with the show.

I have to say, I found the cast of the show very ok and the singing also very ok. However, the acting was good and some of the supporting people were hilarious. On a whole, I laughed a whole lot and really enjoyed it. My favorite part was the end where they sang three additional songs (Mamma Mia again, Dancing Queen again, and Waterloo). The audience was standing and dancing – it was fantastic! I loved it!

After the show, we went to get Hagen Daas ice cream and then headed back to the flat. Everyone is getting ready to leave tomorrow for break, so everyone is busy, busy. It has been a great day today! What fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hey all! I hope you are all wearing green and preparing to drink resposibly if you so choose tonight!

My day has been fairly uneventful today. I woke up, did some work, ate lunch, and headed off to theatre class. We discussed that crazy play we saw last week. I watched Rebecca doodle Shamrocks in her notebook and that was probably the highlight of class. After class, I walked outside to go to the post office. It was GORGEOUS out and there were bunches of people sitting in the parks outside. I bought a Diet Coke (in a can..not nearly as good as fountain) and headed back to school. I did a crossword with Chelsey and Sam and then Sociology started. Our teacher was actually really nice today and we just watched half of a movie. It was called Breaking and Entering and it was really good. She let us out like 45 minutes early, which was great.

Now I am here, preparing for an uneventful St. Patrick's Day. I have an art midterm tomorrow, so I'm going to eat dinner, make flashcards, and study up a storm. I will celebrate the holiday with some ice cream. Not super fun, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Have some fun for me please!

School Daze

The day started today with a journey to Wilberforce for practicum day #4. Angela, the headteacher, started with an assembly about the importance of imagination. She actually began with "We are all human-beings. And the best thing about being a human being is having an imagination." Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. All the teachers were snickering. Anyways, after the little lecture, Angela gave out awards and my class won Wilberta, the girl bear who indicates the best attendance from the week before. I was proud of 5T - they needed a little pick-me-up.

After that, Emily led a phenomenal literacy lesson. The kids were so responsive and actually enjoyed the activity. I was super impressed! They blew me away with their answers. Maths went well, too. I got to work with one table and this one student for most of the time. He really seemed to benefit from individualized attention and it made me happy when his behavior improved, he focused more, and actually got it. Yay!!

I spent lunch with Jordan in the staff room after helping the same student with some homework.

After lunch came the more stressful part of the day. Year 5 was split into two groups - students who had been on god behavior got to go with the other teacher to do a special activity. Students who had performed improperly stayed in Emily's classroom to do more literacy. Oh my goodness gracious - a room full of 20 misbehaving boys and 2 pretty good girls was a handful! I worked with one table and, while two boys were surprisingly wonderful, the other two were ridiculously bad. They tried to convince me that they couldn't read and that they were incapable of doing work. I had to use my teacher voice and my "look." It was effective most of the time, which made me feel good.

After the ok literacy lesson, Emily took the students who were behaving well to ICT (or computers/technology). Surprisingly, after a bit of yelling/hitting/fighting, the kids worked really hard and became very polite. They asked for my help a lot and then said thank you! I was uber impressed!

I talked to Emily after school and she seemed exhausted. I am going to start doing some one-on-one work with the students and work with reading groups in my next couple sessions. I also am going to go to school on Friday, for the fun of it.

After school, we got coffee and headed off to seminar. We were doing presentations and got to learn about other people's schools. I wasn't feeling too hot by this point in the day, so I was a bit irritable. I hate being irritable =( Anyways, now I'm off to do some work and maybe get to bed early? I hope to talk to you all soon!

A Sunny Day!

I woke up this morning and didn't set an alarm - it was wonderful! Unfortunately, I woke up still feeling a bit tired. I think I am coming down with a cold (yuck). I have already declined offers for tea, but I have been eating oranges, so I'm good! I'll be better once all my work is turned it. Promise!

So anyways, I woke up and did some work. I actually have just been working on my Theatre paper all day. We have all been frustrated with this paper because we can only write 1000 words on a very broad topic - ah! Anyways, I worked on that a bit and then a bunch of us went out to some St. Patrick's Day festival in Trafalgar Square. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a let-down. There was some live music, but mostly just beer and crowds. I wasn't feeling so well, so I wasn't too upset when we left early. I was sad to come out of the sunshine, though. It was SO NICE out. We didn't need to wear jackets =)

When I came back, I ate some ice cream and went back to work on the paper. As of right now, it is finished - though it is about twice as long as it's supposed to be. Shh, don't tell my teacher. I cooked dinner afterwards and made chicken for the first time ever. I am quite proud of myself! It didn't taste half bad, though it was covered in ketchup. Anyways, now I'm eating cookies lovingly baked by Chelsey and her mom and waiting to work with my group on our education project.

Have a great night, all, and happy birthday Katherine!

My Day as a Girly Girl

Today I spent a fantastic day doing girly things with Kinsey! We started the day looking for a post office so Kinsey could pick up some concert tickets. We actually went to the wrong post office first, but it was all good because it was sunny out and we got to explore a bit in Maida Vale.

After that, we took the tube out to Piccadilly Circus and got lunch. We ate at a Pizza Hut, which is quite a bit different over here than back home. It is more of a sit-down restaurant, though the prices are still great. Afterwards, we went to find Hamleys Toy Store. It was absolutely incredible! There were 6 floors of all kinds of toys - even one floor dedicated to girls and another to just boys. People demonstrated toys all over the place and Kinsey and I watched at least three demonstrations. My favorite was this girl who demonstrated these nail polish paint pens. She did my nails on one hand while explaining the product. I am so stylish at the moment with flowers, curlicues, tiger prints, and dots all over my fingers! Kinsey went back to another demo of the same product so she could get hers done, too. We also saw color-changing markers and a cool dry-erase type drawing board. Kinsey bought the board for her little neice's birthday. We stayed in the store for a good two hours taking pictures and trying out toys. I was quite bummed that my camera died at the start of the visit (right as I was taking a picture of a shelf full of High School Musical toys, too). It's ok, though, since we had so much fun and laughed a lot!

Next on our list was more exploring around Piccadilly. We stopped down a little alley street and found my favorite store in London (Octopus) and I bought a little something. We also went into a make-up stores and the lady did face make-up for both of us. Kinsey's looked really pretty! And I was impressed by how soft my face was. Unfortunately, the products were really expensive, but we are on the look-out for alternatives! Then, we wandered into this mall area and looked in lots of little clothing boutique stores. It was an adorable little area. After that, we wandered into Burberry and were a bit disappointed by the clothing itself (though the window displays are amazing) and also into the National Geographic store.

Now, we are back at the flats, getting ready to make dinner and spend the evening doing school work. It was nice to have a girly day, though, filled with toys, shopping, and make-up. It was great!

My First British Cinematic Experience

Hey all! Today I had a very productive day - yay me! I woke up before my alarm and got out to the grocery store quite early. I got some food for the week, which is exciting because I only had one can of corn and some peanut butter left when I headed out this morning. After that, I did lots of work on my education project, our next theatre play Pitmen Painters, and the trip to Paris. I was very proud of myself. After eating lunch I did more work. This time it was planning a paper and working on my art journal. I also talked to Caroline for a bit, which was nice! I worked on that for the rest of the day, or actually until Kinsey, Amanda, Michael and I left for the movies. We went to see He's Just Not That Into You at a theatre near Piccadilly Circus. The theatre itself was huge and we walked in to a curtain-covered screen with color-changing lights. It was ridiculously cool! I really liked the movie - it was very cute. We got some ice cream afterwards and then headed back to the flats. I worked on my art journal a tiny bit more, but decided I was tired and that I should just write a blog and go to bed.

Work, Work, Hindu Temple, Work

As always, I woke up early today to do work. Unfortunately, I was not nearly as productive as I had hoped to me. I pretty much wrote my Sociology journal and looked stuff up for Paris. Eventually I will get this work done!

I left with Sam and Chelsey around 2:45 to go to Sociology at a Hindu temple. It was absolutely incredible! Check out this link: http://www.mandir.org/. The temple took three years to finish and it was completed on August 20 (my birthday!) in 1995. The stone and wood for the temple were carved in India and volunteers in London reassembled the whole thing. It was amazing. The three of us got there earlier than the rest of the class, so our professor told us to go ahead and walk through. We went to the mandir first, where people were praying and statues of the Hindu dieties were displayed. It was one of the most gorgeous rooms I have ever seen. After spending time in there, which was a bit uncomfortable at first since we did not know proper protocol, we went downstairs and walked through an exhibit explaining Hinduism. The exhibit was incredibly well-done and I learned so much. I was extremely impressed with the temple overall and how welcoming the people were to visitors. The place gave off a vibe of wanting people to learn and be educated, but it was in no way pushy. I really enjoyed the experience.

After that, we got to leave early since we finished what we needed to do. Now, we are cooking dinner (Chelsey's mom is here, so she's actually out to dinner) and doing, you guessed it, more work. Tomorrow I have a free day to get caught up - yay!

My Artsy Day

Hello all! I had a great day today. I woke up this morning and did a bit of homework. A few of us (Chelsey, Kinsey, Amanda, Jordan, and I) then went to the Mamma Mia theatre to see if we could get tickets. The man was helpful and we have decided to go see the show a week from tonight. I am SO excited!! Next, we went to the Phantom theatre and I bought tickets to see Phantom of the Opera for when Katherine comes. Yay! After that, four of us went to STA travel to ask a little about Paris and things. I'm a bit stressed trying to plan our trip to Paris, but eventually everything will be ok. The lady at STA was extremely helpful, though, and we were all glad we talked to her. After STA, we walked to Trafalgar Square to eat the lunches we had packed for ourselves. It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to eat outside. After that, we had plenty of time before we had to be at art class, so we decided to walk down to see Big Ben and then walk along the Thames River. It was so nice! Big Ben was incredible and it was fun to see the London Eye and all the fun things along the river. I saw this sphinx statue that had been slightly damaged by bombs from WWI. There were indents and things where shrapnel had hit it. It was really cool. We walked down the river all the way to Millennium Bridge, where we crossed to get to Tate Modern (an art gallery).

Our art class today was held at Tate Modern. We talked about contemporary art and saw all sorts of crazy, fun things. My favorite was this exhibition of photographs of a tavern. The tavern was real but the artist had reconstructed some of the rooms entirely out of paper. Then, he photographed the rooms. They looked so realistic! It was awesome. Some of the pieces we saw in the gallery were absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion. On a whole, though, I thought the Tate Modern had a great collection of artwork and I'm so glad we went there.

After art, Kinsey, Amanda, Jordan, and I got dinner at a place called Pizza Express. It was reminiscent of California Pizza Kitchen, but a bit more Italian. It was so good! We had a very smiley waiter who didn't speak much English. We all treated ourselves to gelato for dessert. It was delicious and it was fun eating in a restaurant looking out on the Thames.

After dinner, we had to hurry to play #2 of the week, Over There. It was a shorter play about two twins reunited after the Berlin Wall came down. Our teacher warned us that the director liked to shock his audiences and there were many surprises. It was definitely an interesting show. I thought it was extremely creative and the messages were good. It wasn't at all what I expected, though.

We headed back on the tube after the show and got off at Paddington. We walked from that station to our flats. It was a nice little walk because the night wasn't too cold and there was some funky laser light show out in the distance. Very fun! Now, I just finished making some hot chocolate and I'm going to start my mountains of school work (ew). Wish me luck!

My Academic Day

Hey, hey! Not much to write about today. I spent the day waking up early to do work, going to class, and coming back to the flat to do more work. I feel swamped with all these journals that I have to write (seriously, they haunt me). I also planned some things for Spring Break and booked tickets for day trips to Cardiff, Wales and Oxford. I can't wait!! I hope my day tomorrow is a bit more exciting. Have a great night everyone!

Practicum and a Play

Ok, here's a nice treat: blog #2 of the day!

In the morning, I woke up and went to practicum with Stephenie. My kids were doing drama again today because they have their performance of The Tempest tomorrow. I was really, really impressed with some of the acting I saw. Unfortunately, I was unimpressed by the behavior of both 5th year classes. Their teachers and teaching assistants were so angry at them. Needless to say, there was lots of yelling, tensions, and bad behaviors today. Not the best of days, though I got to see a dress rehearsal and I was quite happy. I got to help with some costuming and props, which was fun. The highlight of my day, though, was when a girl in my class gave me a hand-made invitation to come see the show. She also left a little drawing for me of me as a blonde girl with an "I Love USA" t-shirt and bag that said "Thanks for helping year 5 with our show!" It was adorable and it made me smile.

After practicum, we didn't have seminar so I came back to the flat. I cooked spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner and then headed to a play called Mrs. Affleck. I can't say I loved the play. It got kind of long at the end and I didn't quite like all of the actors. On a whole, it was very ok. I did like the sets, though.

All in all, a very ok day. I'm still tired from Ireland this weekend, so I hope to catch up on sleep soon. I hope all is well with everyone back home!

Red, Pink, Blue, Purple...Zebra!

Oh man – this blog is going to be a long one. Read on if you dare! Our weekend was what I like to call a weekend of misadventures. Everything turned out wonderfully and we had a great time despite all the mishaps. (P.S. the title of this blog refers to the colors of all our bags. Guess which one mine was...)

This past Thursday, I left with Amanda, Casey, Kaitlin, and Megan to go to Ireland for the weekend. We took a coach to Heathrow Airport and had a flight that left around 5:00. The flight was very short and I talked to a nice man for a good chunk of the way. He lives in Dublin and we talked a bit about Ireland and places I should travel in Europe. After the flight, we took a bus to our hotel. This particular hotel was mishap #1. Our plan was to try to fit 5 people into one room, even though hotels don’t like to book more than 2 to a room. When we tried to bring the 3 extra people in, the man at the desk was really mean and got very suspicious. I felt horrible at doing something sneaky like that – my conscious was horrible. Regardless, we left for dinner at Apache pizza (so good!) and had to sneak back in. It was immensely stressful and I can’t say any of us had the nicest of nights. Leaving the hotel the next morning, the three of us had to sneak out. Let’s just say we ended up in a parking garage with gates closed. Eventually we got out, though, and were ready to start our day out in Dublin.

Dublin was the type of big city that I can totally enjoy. The sidewalks were big and the people were SO friendly and helpful. We took a bus tour for the first part of the day and got to see the basics of Dublin. After that, our first stop was Trinity College. A few people went in to see the Book of Kells but I opted out. Instead, I ventured around the gift shop with Casey, looking at pictures and learning some Irish history. Casey was our little Irish tour guide – she planned and informed us about so much! Trinity College in itself was pretty cool. It was a bit rainy and cloudy, so the college probably wasn’t up to its full beauty. After the college, we went to get some lunch at a convenience store type place. We ate lunch at a cute little park with lots of plants and a statue of Oscar Wilde. The statue was quite smarmy looking and we had fun just hanging out there. After the park, we headed on to Christ Church. Christ Church had some really cool architecture and I enjoyed learning through the little guide they provided us. My favorite part of the church was seeing this mummified cat and rat that had gotten caught in an organ. It was so cool! Once we were done at the church, Amanda and I headed over to a modern art museum. I have to say, it wasn’t quite as modern as I had expected. There were a couple modern art pieces, but mostly I can’t say the pieces were super up-and-coming. I enjoyed the museum, though, even though it was a bit stark in some places. After that, we were supposed to meet the other three in our group for dinner. We ended up having some miscommunications (mishap #2) and not meeting until way after our planned time. Therefore, we had to grab sandwiches for dinner and head to the bus station. We had a train to Galway at about 8, putting us in Galway around midnight. We got to our second hotel and our 5-in-one room scheme worked a lot better. We had a peaceful night and a decent night’s sleep before going to meet our tour in the morning.

We joined a Paddywagon tour on Saturday morning. Paddywagon tours, contrary to our beliefs, were actually legitimate and, despite the bright green buses, were totally cool. We drove out of Galway at about 10 and mishap #3 happened on the way to our first destination. Our week-old bus ignited flames under the driver’s seat! We had to wait on the bus until we could get a replacement. Soon enough, we got one and headed off to lunch. I tried Shepherd’s Pie, which was delicious, and I was happy to eat some vegetables (shocking, I know!). We definitely ate well at that lunch. Following that, we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher. Unfortunately, it was so foggy and wet, we could barely see the cliffs. When the clouds cleared, though, the sight was beautiful!! I also should add that it was SO windy up there. We were blowing all over the place and our faces were so red by the end. It was hilarious! Once we left the cliffs, we stopped at a cute, little well where people leave wishes and good thoughts for loved ones. Then, we made a stop at a town called Lahinch. Now, we all think this stop was not really planned because (mishap #4) our replacement bus had another problem! This time it was tire-related and it took an hour to fix. So, we spent some time just wandering and shopping. After that, we drove some more and stopped at another little place. It was also really cute, with some little shops. My favorite part of this stop was meeting this group of 10 year old kids. We were climbing a hill and their ball came rolling down it. We caught it for them and, when we returned it, they asked “Americans?” and started chatting. They tried to pronounce North Carolina, which was hilarious. We actually passed them and then had to turn back around, at which point they jokingly made fun of us some more. It made me laugh. After that stop, we took a ferry over to Killarney. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we got in at night. We stopped at our hostel (not bad, but only one bathroom for 14 people – it was rough for some) and then went out to dinner. It was delicious! Then, we went to a popular local pub and had a blast listening to some Irish music and meet some Irish people. Very fun!

In the morning, we sadly had to leave Killarney. Before we left altogether, we took a horse and carriage ride through Killarney National Park. We almost thought we couldn’t go on it because it was pouring rain and then hailing (mishap #5?). It cleared up a bit and we ended up going. The ride was fabulous! Our guide was hilarious and he cussed up a storm – he seriously was like a stand-up comedian. It was a very cold ride and it did rain on and off, but the views were gorgeous and the mountains were beautiful. It was probably my favorite part of the trip. After the horse ride, we headed to Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney stone. Now, this whole kissing the stone thing was fun stuff. You had to lay backwards while someone held your legs and hold bars so you could kiss the stone upside down. Oh man – it was great! The castle was pretty, too, if not a little dangerous/slippery because of the water on stone castle dilemma. We went to a great little place called Kopi Café for lunch with nice owners. After our day in lovely Blarney, we had to head back to Dublin. The coolest part was that we saw a rainbow from the bus! When we got back to the city, we had to rush a bit to get to the airport. We got through security and such, only to find that our plane was delayed (mishap #7, I think). That gave us more time to get dinner and such, which was nice, though it was cutting it close with taking the tube back to the flats. We actually made it all the way to one stop away only to find out that our station was closed (final mishap). We had to walk back, which wasn’t bad, except that we got stuck in a gated park and had to backtrack most of our journey (ok that was the final mishap). Eventually, we got home safe and sound!

All in all, I really liked Ireland. I thought the people were super, super friendly and the landscape was beautiful. I would love to go back someday – maybe when it’s a bit warmer? It was a great weekend!

Defyyyyyying Gravity

This blog will be a bit short because I am a bit tired and don't have too, too much to write.

This morning we woke up early to stand in line and buy tickets for Wicked. We, luckily, got tickets all together in the first couple rows of the balcony. They were pretty darn good seats for a pretty darn good price. I was pleased! We met a German man in line and he told us how he flew into London for the day to see a couple shows. He told us that it was cheaper to fly into the city and see two shows in London than to see one show in Germany.

After that, I came back, had lunch, did a bit of work, and headed off to art class. We had a somewhat average class. We looked at slides and took notes for three hours - nothing special.

After class, I got dinner with some friends and went to see Wicked. Oh my goodness, the show was amazing!!! I'd seen it before and had forgotten so many intricacies of the plot and performance. I was so glad to see it again. The cast was talented and Elphaba was fantastic. Her voice blew me away. The dancing and costumes were also extremely good. I just loved all of it. I started crying my little eyes out at the song "For Good" and just kept on crying through the end. Ahhh, I thought it was great. Everyone should see it!

I'm heading off to bed in a bit since I'm leaving for Ireland tomorrow!! I'll be gone until Sunday evening, so you'll be blog-deprived for a few days. Don't miss me too much =)

Traces

Today I woke up early to get work done. I wasn't as productive as I hoped, but I got some things done. I packed a lunch and left a bit early for class to put money on my Oyster card (for the tube) and go to the post office. After my errands, I went to theatre class. We had a pretty good discussion on the play we saw last week. After theatre, I played a bit on my laptop and prepared myself for sociology. Sociology was especially not good today. I didn't understand what the teacher was talking about and she kept talking in circles. Ah! I don't understand how a class can have such good content but be taught so poorly.

After Sociology, Stephenie, Sam, and I went to McDonalds for dinner before the show Traces. I really wanted a fountain Diet Coke and I finally got one! The place was really fun, too, with lime green chairs and geometric designs. After dinner, we talked to the theatre for the show. I have to say, Traces was one of my favorite parts of London. The show was fantastic! It's a multimedia show with pictures, video, dancing, singing, and mostly acrobatics. They did some amazing things with hoops, poles, basketballs, skateboards, and chairs. I was amazed! I can't even express how cool everything was. It was so much fun and a good part of a mediocre day of classes.

Now, I have to do lots of work and laundry and things before we head off to Ireland later this week. I'm going to be up late and tomorrow we are standing in line early to get Wicked tickets. It'll be worth it. Have a good night all!

Second Day of School

Today was our second day of practicum. It was a great learning day for me, though the day was extremely exhausting. My class (5C as they are called in the school) was not on its best behavior and there were lots of behavioral issues today. Plus, I think Emily, the teacher, was very stressed out. That didn't help matters. My day went like this:

1) Assembly with the school. Today's themes were being thankful and the coming of spring. Angela, the headteacher, read a poem thanking the sun and then asked everyone to silently thank whoever they wished for something good in their lives. Good message, for sure.

2) 5C had maths (maths is not a typo..that's what they call it here) first. They did multiplication of longer numbers. I got to help a table that was struggling a bit and by the end they were doing really well. I was pleased!

3) After maths was a short break followed by literacy. I can't say the lesson was too much fun, but I got to help my table again. The kids were being pretty good for me, so I was happy.

4) Lunch came next. I spent lunch in the teacher's lounge eating with Jordan. We had a nice little chat. It's been fun going to practicum with her and Stephenie!

5) After lunch was guided reading time. I got to work with one group for a tiny bit because their teacher was late. Unfortunately, my kids were so talkative and had so much to say (so loudly) that we kind of got in trouble and had to read silently for the rest of time. When their other teacher came, they did some reading and writing. I have to say, though, that I was fairly unimpressed. They could have done so much more with the book and the time allotted for guided reading. I just think the kids had so much to say, why stifle their thoughts by never getting to share them?

6) Next came science. 5C started a new unit on the life cycle of a plant. We didn't get past much more than the introduction, but it should prove to be a fun unit overall.

7) Packing up time came at the end and all the students left. I talked with Emily a bit after class so we could figure out what I will be able to teach or who I will be able to work with while I'm here. I get to sleep on it and come back next week with all kinds of ideas. So fun!

All in all, my day was pretty good, though really tiring. I didn't have too many fun stories with my kids, though a couple asked me if I was an American and told me they could tell by my voice. They had a hard time understanding some of my accent. I also thought it was cute that my table got very tough on themselves with their work. They constantly called their work "rubbish," even when it wasn't. Poor kids. I'm excited to go back next week - they're rehearsing more for The Tempest. I hope you all are having a great start to March!

My Fantastic Shakespearience

Please forgive my corny title of a blog - it makes me chuckle. Today was an absolutely incredible day! Kinsey, Kaitlin, and I headed to the tube station at 7:15 this morning to go on a tour to Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon. We met our driver and our guide at 8:30ish and headed off to Warwick Castle. I must say, Warwick (the town) and the castle were probably some of the prettiest places I’ve ever been. The town is a little old English country town with Tudor style houses and a “you know everyone” vibe. It was adorable! We drove through it to get to the castle. The castle was, for lack of a better word, amazing! The structure itself was beautiful, the lawns were very green, and the views were the best part. We started by walking the high walls around the castle. I must say, the stairs were very, very steep and dark. However, we climbed multiple sets of them and saw wonderful views from the tops of towers. After walking the wall, we ended up in an exhibit owned by Madame Tussaud’s. There were wax figures preparing for a duel or something of the like. The people were SO realistic – I was impressed. The three of us also got to try on helmets. They were heavy and fell right over our faces! It made for a great picture. After that, we saw more wax figures at a Victorian party, Henry VIII and his wives, and lots of armor and knight things. Then, we walked further down around the castle, to the river Avon. Oh my goodness, I fell in love! The views on the river were breathtaking and we saw such quaint little houses. Before we left the castle, we stopped in the rose garden that was just starting to have blooming flowers. So, so nice! All in all, the castle was wonderful and I had a great time.

We decided, after the castle, to go into Warwick and get lunch. We found this place called a hospital. It was intended more for hospitality purposes, not curing ailments. Only the tea room was open and we had a cute little lunch in there. We had a very, very nice waiter – we liked him a lot. We had to rush lunch, though, because we had to be on the bus by 2 and we didn’t get food until 1:45. Luckily, we ate everything and made it back to the bus with one minute to spare. Go us!

After Warwick, we drove about 30 minutes to Stratford-upon-Avon, cute, adorable town #2. I was so excited to get in touch with Shakespeare and, I have to say, the town has gone bard crazy! The shops and restaurants had names with references to his plays and such. So fun! We began by taking a quick driving tour around the town. We saw Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the school where he was supposedly schooled, Harvard House, and many other relatable sights. We really only had like an hour and a half to wander around Stratford (boo), but we sure made the most of it! We started by dashing to the house where Shakespeare was born. We stood in the room where Shakespeare was born!! I thought it was incredible. After touring the house, we ran over to Trinity Church to see his grave. He was buried with his wife, daughter, and other family members. After the church, we ran to see the river Avon. It was so cute. The skies were so blue with gorgeous white clouds. People were hanging out and picnicking - I was jealous! Unfortunately, after that, we had to start heading back to the coach. On the way, we stopped at a little café called As You Like It to get ice cream and cupcakes – yum! We also stopped at a bookstore because I had my heart set on buying a Shakespearean play in Stratford upon Avon. Books were quite expensive, though, so I bought myself a nice little bookmark instead. After Stratford, we started the two-or-so ride back to London.

Before heading back to the flat, we decided to get dinner out. We appropriately ate at Warwick Castle pub in our neighborhood. It was fairly empty and food was so good. We had a great time! Now I’m back, blogging my little heart out and getting myself ready to do work. It was a wonderful day and I want to go back SO BADLY!