Paris :) and more

Wednesday June 13, 2012

First official day of school

Today was my first official day of school! We leave the house at 8 and arrive at our school around 9:00-9:10. The school is a religious school so the students are in assembly every morning until around 9:30. When they are released the students walk through the halls to their classes without any teacher observation and are not required to walk in a line. We did science all day. I found this odd because they did not have a set time for reading, writing and the other subjects. Well apparently the teachers chose to do a thematic unit of science for a few days because they did not want the students to forget the information over multiple days. I went outside for the students 20 minute play break and the teacher tea break in which students of all ages are playing together anywhere. I asked my teacher about this because in the states they do not play like this at all. Instead there are the separate playgrounds for separate age groups. Also most of the playground equipment they use is deemed unsafe. The teachers also get an hour lunch break. Another fact I found out about the school is that the lunch meals are made fresh daily using the ingredients from their garden and a snack is provided for a student and is normally an apple. A few of the unique names of the students that I have learned are Poppy, Eleanor, and Oliver.

We also had a meet and greet at a local college (well it took us about 30 minutes to walk there). My teacher attended and it was really more of a meet and greet for our instructors and interning teachers. I was hoping for some hot food but that didn’t happen!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Headed off to Paris!

Today at school the students were busy busy busy! They began with a science lesson on habitats and discussed how different organisms live in habitats and what not. Then we were off to swimming! The students more learn how to build up stamina and swim safely. As soon as we got back to the school we had about 25 minutes left for lunch. After lunch the school had organized an end or beginning version of the Olympic ceremony where the students went out front and three students from each year ran a relay and passed hand-made torches to each other. Then everyone gathered around the new flag pole as they watched a new flag raised by the principal. This was all scheduled last minute and all of the teachers just dropped what they were doing. As you can tell there was not a lot of teaching going on in my classroom.

The students also have golden time which is part of the discipline system in which the whole school participates in. This is when my teacher and I were able to sit down and plan a bit. I will be teaching two small group lessons and co-teaching a lesson with my teacher next week. Hopefully I will also be able to do a bit more but that is just what we have scheduled.

Well we found a decent deal to get to Paris and back. It leaves in about 40 minutes, luckily its leaving from a bus stop literally a 2 minute walk away. Somehow the boat goes over the channel and to Paris by tomorrow morning around 7. Then we will be taking the chunnel back Sunday night! Can you say busy!?!

Anyways you can read all about it Monday night-ish :)

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Oh Paris...

What an interesting city Paris was. Our transportation over was um... odd? We took a bus to a bus station in London, I think it was Victoria station where we lost track of time (like always) and ran to get our actual tickets and somehow got on the bus in time. Then we had to get off the bus at like midnight to go through customs, then back on the bus to drive onto the ferry, then off the bus to board the ferry, where we slept with ours heads on tables and bags close by. We somehow made it to Paris by bus the next morning and bought two day metro passes for 15 euros. We were also met with the lovely urine smell upon entering the metro of Paris and that made frequent visits throughout our trip. We immediately headed off to find our hotel, going to two wrong ones before finding ours. After throwing our stuff down we headed off to see the Eiffel Tower! This is when I first saw it, the view from our hotel balcony/window. 

And then when we were close and rounded a corner and it was so big!

I honestly was not up to going up it, all the stairs here in Europe are not fairing well with my knees and none of the other people seemed to be interested in going up so we just enjoyed taking pictures of it.

We then wandered because we were trying to find Notre Dame or the metro I think and came across the Pont Alexandre III

After walking across this and taking tons of photos we saw a few museums and made our way by the hidden metro to Notre Dame!

It was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous and so gothic looking. This is my favorite part of visiting all of these places, the architecture. We also saw a bride and groom taking pictures outside of the Notre Dame.

While we were searching for a Metro to take back to our hotel I spotted a bookstore Brittany had been looking for the entire time, Shakespeare and Company. They were also having a live reading.

So we went back to our hotel to nap because 4 cranky girls in a city that speaks little English is not a good mix. We woke up around 9 and decided to go out and look at the Eiffel Tower lit up! It was gorgeous and we ate dinner where we could see it sparkle (which it does every hour for 5 minutes).

By the way, I ate crepes for breakfast, dinner and breakfast. I also shared a ham and cheese sandwich on a bagette with a friend :)

This morning we had to wake up early and check out and go to the Gare Du Nord because somehow we ended up with tickets going from London to Paris and needed tickets from Paris to London. Luckily they were nice enough to refund us our money and book us new ones. Therefore we only had 3 hours to explore the rest of Paris. We ate again and I tried my friends french onion soup which I thought was really good, surprisingly! Then wandered our way over to the Louvre but didn’t have enough time to go in :(

I am a little disappointed in our Paris trip because I wasn’t able to do anywhere near the amount of things I wanted to do in basically the day and a half we had. This obviously makes me nervous about my next two weekend trips but hopefully we will be able to organize/ plan these much better now that we have a general idea of our traveling abilities.

Here are a bunch of pictures and I need to go over a few lessons that I will be teaching this upcoming week! Wish me luck :)

June 11-12, 2012

June 11, 2012

GO ENGLAND!

My traditional English breakfast today was served with eggs, bacon (which is a small piece of bacon connected to a small piece of ham), half a tomato and sausage. Then we can choose from tons of other things and eat whatever we want. There is a fresh fruit salad, Activia, granola, fruit/nut mixes, cereal, orange juice, apple juice, coffee, milk, toast, and croissant. We have a very healthy selection here :) Also, breakfast is served from 7-8:15, this isn’t the normal hours for breakfast but we are the only ones staying in this bed and breakfast so they are nice enough to accommodate our needs.

After breakfast we had a seminar which we received emergency contact cards and our bus passes for almost the remaining time we are here. (They are only good for four weeks so the last two days of our interning is not covered but we get some “milk money” to cover those two days.)

Afterwards we went to a nearby convenient store and bought a few snacks for our rooms, and I found Kinder Eggs!

I am also going to try several new chocolate candies I found.

 After returning our groceries to our rooms we continued exploring and found a mall, in the middle of a building… it is so conspicuous.

After we all did a little shopping we decided to come back to where we are staying and relax, which turned into everyone hanging out in our room, listening to music, and me braiding everyone’s hair! You know I loved that and I learned the new waterfall braid :)

June 12, 2012

This will be the best experience of my life!

Today was my first day of school and we (the other two girls at my school and I) navigated our way on the bus to our stop then walked about a mile through the community to our school. Upon entering we were greeted by several receptionists and were asked to sign in and then we met the principle. One quirky descriptor is that she has a purple pixie cut. She explained our classes to us that there are two classes for each year that work together and they believe in full inclusion. We then met our teachers, who proceeded to show us around the school and introduce us to everyone. My teacher seems awesome and she was very welcoming and approachable. I am in a fourth year class which in the US is considered third grade. She introduced me to the class telling them I was from Florida; however I am not sure how many of them knew where that was because later they didn’t know I lived in North America. The teacher also explained to me a lot about what the students are currently working on a project to be presented on Thursday to other students who are coming from other schools. Their projects focus on North and South America as well as the Olympics. I was asked to help a few students on researching their topic, which happened to be pop music. They chose to research Justin Beiber, Hannah Montana and I later told them that was a stage name when she was younger and her real name was Miley Cyrus, and Shakira. Other students chose to research: basketball, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Native Americans, baseball, volleyball, American Football, the culture, and the food. I am not sure if the students researched this or made assumptions because they told me Canadians love maple syrup and bacon, Americans love PB&J’s and Mexicans love burritos. The students also could choose to display their information in any style or format and were asked to get creative. I also noticed before the students begin their work the teacher writes on the only section of white board they have the focus of the lesson and reminders to achieve the focus. And yes I did observe all of this within an hour.

All of the teachers also have their own aid and students who have special needs are assigned their own aid. So there are 30 students and now 4 adults in the room.

I feel so in awe of what I think I am going to be able to learn in this internship. I see myself exceeding my own expectations and the students. I think teaching is also going to be completely different because the students are ahead of the students back in the states. The students are expected to begin school at age 4 (called reception) and then at age 5 they are in Year 1, which we call kindergarten. My friend is in Year 1 and her students write and read cursive, work on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing (of course nothing to complex), and are learning about the Greek culture. The expectations of the students here are much higher than the schools I have seen.

After interning today a few of us were back so we decided to go exploring so I took a few pictures for you to see what I live around.

This is Parkers Piece which is right across from where we are staying, there are always people out here lounging or playing some sort of sport (thus far I have seen soccer, rugby and cricket).

This is a really tall church just to the left upper corner of Parkers Piece

And then some things we saw while exploring and I bought a few chocolates from a chocolate shop. I have had one and it was yummy!

^^^ 9 pounds but such a delicious dinner! I will definitely be going back for a cheaper lunch!

Shotty WIFI

Sorry that I haven't been able to post a lot but I have not had a decent WIFI connection up until now. But here's everything :) Also with being so busy I haven't had time to download my pictures but once I do expect to see them here!

June 9, 2012

Our chance to see everything left on the list!

Out list consisted of Trafalger Square, Shakespeare Globe Theater, British Museum, Covent Garden, Kensington Garden, Hyde Park, Harrods, & Leceister Square…. However, we ended up doing Leceister Square, Trafalger Square, The National Gallery, Covent Garden (we ate lunch near here), St. Paul’s Cathedral, Millenium Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe, PUB!, Bourough Market, Harrods, and then Caligula (an Opera) 

In the last two days, we have seen and done so much! I honestly cannot leave London thinking there was something that I REALLY wanted to see and didn’t get to see it. This is why we made a list of things we wanted to see before we left Sunday. 

We started out our day going to Leceister Square and went to the TKTS booth because they have discounted show tickets. We knew it was a good deal when we saw a long line. We ended up getting Opera tickets (oh just wait ‘til you here this) for about 20 pounds each. There was a gorgeous fountain and statue in the center. Then we wandered on over towards Trafalger Square. It was beautiful! We got a picture in front of the lions and also went inside the National Gallery. However, the National Gallery was so big we were only able to see a few rooms of artwork. We did get to see pieces by Monet and Van Gogh. Then we went to Covent Garden to meet up with a few locals one of my friends knew and they took us to this great Italian restaurant and answered so many of our questions. They then took us on a wonderful walk towards St. Paul’s Cathedral; we went part of the way in and saw amazing architecture and details everywhere. Then we headed towards Millenium Bridge and walked across that to Shakespeare’s Globe. It looked cool and interesting but instead of going in we went to a nearby pub to have a drink and plan where we wanted to go next. We chose Harrods! On the way we passed through Bourough market but it was shutting down and looked really cool. The food there smelled delicious and I would recommend at least trying it or wandering over there for lunch or a meal. We finally arrived at Harrod’s which they appeared to still be in the Queens Jubilee mode and there were gorgeous crowns made out of cake, food, sprinkles, chocolate and more. Harrod’s was huge! You could absolutely get lost and then spend all day in there! Afterwards we headed to the Opera… Oh the opera. I thought this would be a cool experience because I have never been to any type of show like this, Broadway, opera, nothing.  But it was weird… haha.

                  A funny piece of art we saw on our way from Leicester Square to Trafalger Square

                                                                  Trafalger Square

                                                      The market within Covent Garden

                                                                St. Paul's Cathedral

                                                           More of St. Paul's Cathedral

                                     Shakespeare's Globe in the distance from Millenium Bridge

                                                  Millenium Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral

                                         A delicious cider in a pub near Shakespeare's Globe

                                            A memorial for Princess Diana inside of Harrods

                                                                   Inside the Opera

So to avoid lugging those 50 lb suitcases back up and down multiple flights of stairs, we found an awesome route to King’s Cross Station, which has a lift (elevator). We are really hoping this works out a lot better than when we arrived in London.

June 10, 2012

We have arrived…

 

We woke up and had our American/English buffet breakfast. I find this funny because tomorrow we will be having a traditional English breakfast at the Warkworth house and I am expecting it to be completely different. We made our way to King’s Cross by cab, we were talking to a bell man at the hotel and he suggested a cab instead of the underground and said it would be much. This man saved our sanity! All 5 of us paid 20 pounds so this was by far the easiest mode of transport (especially with 9 suitcases). We arrived at King’s Cross and bought our tickets and you get a better deal for 4 people so we paid like 13 pounds each rather than 23 pounds. Then we headed straight over for a great photo opportunity!

Once we arrived in Cambridge we had about a mile walk from the train station to the Warkworth house… it was so long. But we finally arrived! A few others were heading out to grab a bite to eat so we quickly went with them and found this cute little pub down an ally. We had Sunday roast which two other girls and I split and am so glad we did, it was so much! But delicious. Then we had a bit to unpack and settle into our rooms and everyone met for pizza at a local restaurant in which we were then given a scavenger hunt. A few of the things we looked for were where DNA was first announced, a punting boat, King’s College, a football jersey and a bunch of other things. It was a lot of fun and great way for us to start to meet the locals and explore. The ending point was the free press pub (a place I’m sure we will be seeing a lot of) where we had the option of staying or finding something else to do. I chose to go with two others to a local Irish pub and watch the Ireland and Croatia game. I drank a cider but it just made me super tired.

I am rooming with another girl and we get along great, the room is a bit small but what place in England isn’t. Tomorrow we are having a seminar and then are free to explore the town.

Where to start!

This morning we decided to take The Original Bus Tour, our reasons being while it costs more, we learned a lot and we didn't have to worry about the underground like navigating or getting lost or anything!

(also, I chose to wear my brand new rain boots or duck boots as I call them that I purchased only a few days before my trip and did not break in, it was a great choice but break them in) 

The first stop on our tour was Buckingham Palace but it was closed for construction this is the best shot I have of it :( but were all sharing pictures and Brittany got some really good ones! most of mine suck (haha, sorry) Also, the queen was not in!

 While we were walking by we discovered this park (later found our it was St. James Park) and saw this :) It was a lovely walk!

 This was on the other side of the park, I dont remember the name of the street but it was pretty and I think came from Buckingham Palace.

 This gorgeous statue was in front of Buckingham Palace and that's real gold at the top!

We were in time for changing of the guard but because of the rainy and windy weather they did not walk :( so we got on the bus and headed for Westminster Abbey! ( I chose not to go in because I was saving my money for two other attractions later)

 My first meal of fish and chips in England!

 And we saw this and just had to.... so touristy

 I went on the London Eye! Totally worth it and awesome. (once again sucky picture)

 Next we went to the Tower of London, where we saw beefeaters, the torture chamber, the crown jewels, and more!

 My sister will be so proud... we found a Wagamama and it was quite delicious...

More to come later, I only have an hour of internet currently!

Hello from London

I'm here, safe and sound but extremely exhausted ( as are the other 4 girls)! The flight was good other than I was unable to sleep with all of the excitement so I got maybe an hour of sleep. So I have been up since Wednesday morning and it is 8:00 pm Thursday. Let me tell you I was so nervous going though passport control because we are not allowed to call this an internship, it applies that you are getting paid in which you need a visa for and none of us had. Therefore I was questioned about why I was here, what I would be doing, who I would be with, for how long, where and many more. We all were. Then began the adventure of getting from Gatwick to our hotel.

Oh what an adventure! Let me tell you, lugging around a 50 lb bag, 14 lb bag and 13 lb back pack onto the Gatwick Express to go to Victoria Station ( which we paid 2 for 1 by the way, about £10 each) then off and onto the underground (which we went the wrong way several times and went up an down several flights of stairs, oh my poor hands, arms and legs) We also paid £7 for a full day of the underground which is cheaper than what we would have needed to buy. We finally got to our hotel 4 hours after the plane landed! Like I said, Exhausted.

We decided to check out our rooms, find somewhere to get a bite to eat ( we ended up choosing a pub called The Chapel, which was cute, friendly workers and tasted pretty good, a bit over priced though for my budget but I was quite hungry and didn't want to go anywhere else), we also looked for phones, WIFI (super hard to find reliable WIFI). After another one of us arrived we decided to go to Piccadilly Circus. It was gorgeous, old buildings, still decorated from the Queens Jubilee and very crowded. We walked along a few of the streets and saw cozy allies filled with shops, brick pavement, flowers, and dangling lights. Afterwards we decided we had done enough walking for today and worked our way back to the hotel leading us to find this reliable WIFI coffee shop and only need to purchase one thing for two hours. So lovely because Starbucks just wasn't cutting it earlier.

If you are taking anything away from reading this I hope it is that you shouldn't pack giant suitcases full of stuff when you will be traveling through a very crowded underground. Also that WIFI is hard to come by.

Tomorrow we are planning to either go on the double decker bus tour and visit all the famous typical touristy spots, or get the cheap underground day pass again, navigate everywhere on our own and save some money.

I will have to post more pictures sometime tomorrow night because I forgot my camera in the hotel room.

Cheers!

13 Days! So nervous.

I leave in exaclty 13 days to begin a month long journey feel so unprepared for this! This is the most frightening and exciting thing I have ever done. I have never traveled without my family and this is the first time I am planning any type of trip, let alone planning for multiple countries. I have several long lists of things I need to do, pack, carry on, purchase, call... and it continues.

I have a link to the video I made to send to my teacher (when I find our who it is and what grade I have) introducing myself to the students. http://youtu.be/bY3JsWGVC6I

We have our hotel for London booked and I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do when I go to Scotland. The biggest problem I'm having is transportation- it's so expensive! And I dont know if bus, or train, or plane is better. I also havent even started on planning my weekend in Paris (my sister says to just find a hote and wing the rest, which is what im considering doing).

Thoughts going on in my head: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH