Just some things

I want to start by saying that a few things in my last post didn't come off too well, and it was not my intention to hurt people. However, I did. These people know who they are, and we have talked, leading to my apology. I would now like to make a public apology to them. We all now can move past this, move on and continue having fun.

So, now let's just put it behind us and get on with the blog.

I've started doing some teaching. It was a little scary, but it's getting easier. I started with working with small groups and transitioned to bigger groups. I think I'm pretty much taking over RE. Religion was my focus area and, I won't lie, finding out we're doing Hinduism excited me. Hinduism is a fascinating religion to me, so I'm enjoying sharing my knowledge of it to the students, who really don't know much about it at all. I just have to watch myself, since my knowledge goes beyond what they need to know. But I guess that's the same for many subjects when you're teaching at a primary level.

I did math this morning, and it went well. I like to think I could have done better, but my teacher said I did fine, pointed out some flaws, and all was well. Like last time, most of my flaws include pacing, keeping watch to make sure everyone's paying attention (which is NOT easy at all!), little things like that. So my goal for Wednesday's lesson is to keep up the pacing.

In non-school news, we have some fun trips coming up: Glasgow this weekend, Dublin the first weekend of November and Paris the 20th of November. Should be some good times.

I also found a bar that will give me coffee in my own Tim's mug if I ask. Awesome.

I think that's all for now. Time to do some RE lesson planning.

Until next time,

Amy

Differences

Is there anything wrong with being different? Some people think different is weird and generally not good. There are differences in the British school system and the Canadian school system. Does that mean one is better than the other? Here, everyone wears a uniform. Of course there are varying debates on that issue, but I'm not getting into it right now. The students do a lot of group work, which is very interesting. The schools are very family orientated, with parents coming to meet their students outside the classroom door. These are just a few examples. But what about me? Is it ok with me being different?

I've always been slightly different than others, though not always knowing how or why. Sometimes, it's just a feeling inside that says "know what? You're not like the rest of these people. It's not bad, you're just different." I see it now in my ways, in my interests, in how I like to spend my time. I'm not the most social of creatures. I'd rather read or listen to music, watch television, then go out shopping for shoes and clothing just because. It's not enough for me to just "look" at things. I want to know all the details and get to the nitty gritty. My taste in music is pretty different than a lot of my friends. In general, all of this seems fine.

But when you're stuck for four months with others who aren't like you...well, there can be some lonely times. Some times you're just thinking, "can't we do something that I want to do? Why must I be the one left out?". I know deep down it's ok that I'm not like the others, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be left alone all the time. Maybe I should take a listen to Nick Carter some more. I'm closing with excerpts with his song "Not Like You".

I don't care about the summer breaks

Don't know much about love

And I don't care about the look of my hair

Cause I'm not like you

My TV set gives me tenderness

The cab driver guy is my friend

I look around me and all I can see

Is that I'm not like you

Don't tell me it's hard to believe

there's something out there

Cause no matter how much I believe it ain't true

I'm not like you

Day in London

Yesterday was an amazing day in London. After a night of dancing in a club (so we're doing all this on maybe 4 hours of sleep), we wake up bright and early for a day-long trip to London. We leave at 8 am and grab the bus to the Harlow Bus Station. Then we took another bus to Epping, a small town where there happens to be a tube station, which links up to the rest of the London Underground. We board and we're on our way.

We come up at the Holburn station, close to Covent Gardens. After a few minutes of wandering, we eventually coming to a market square. We decide to get some breakfast, since it was 10:30. Everything was great, eating outdoors watching other tourists run around until we actually got the food and discovered that the eggs were...well, not too good. They were a weird pink-orange colour and probably not cooked. The salmon I had was quite delicious, on the other hand. I just did not eat the eggs.

We do a little exploring in the open market and I found the Disney Store. My inner child woke up and I had to go inside. It made me a little sad though, since if Michele was alive, I'd have to get her something. Though what, I have no idea. She'd want pretty much all of it. I did manage to get a cute top for going out. It's slit down the side though, so I'll need to make a trip out to Primark (it's a cheap clothing store, not far from the bus market) to pick one up. Maybe a few more tops too, while I'm there.

Anyways, after getting slightly lost, we're in Trafalgar Square, which has some beautiful views, by the way. Behind there, there's a stand where you can get discount West End show tickets. Original, the girls wanted to see The Lion King. Not my first choice, but I figured "ok, it's supposedly a good show. I'll check it out." It's sold out. We agree on seeing We Will Rock You, a jukebox musical based on the music of Queen. Sounds great to me. So we pay £33 and off we go. It's only around 12 now and the show's not until 2:30. Knowing we want to see the London Eye as well, we decided to make our way to the theatre, because it'll probably take longer to see the Eye.

So we're walking along, making our way to the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road. We stop prior to this for a bathroom break at McDonald's (where I had a banana milkshake! Banana! I'm loving this country more and more...) and we saw this giant guy in a bear suit walking around. I get my picture taken with him. Oh yes. I'm a dork.

It only takes us about 30-40 minutes to make it to the theatre from Leicester Square (it's probably shorter, but we stopped to look at things, take pictures, consult the map etc). We're way too early for the show, but learned that the British National Museum was only up the road. We hike up there and split into two groups for a quick 45 minute look around. If you haven't been, put it on the bucket list! I was so disappointed when my camera battery died just as we were getting there. It was so fantastic, amazing, historical. I could feel something inside me well up and I partly wanted to cry at everything I saw. I don't know why. Maybe because I was looking at things that were so old, and I wondered so many questions; what the story was behind the objects; who used them and what were they like; what happened to make this Goddess statue break; what sort of people thumbed through this book; what did that pharaoh do? It was so overwhelming, and we only saw a small fraction of what was there. We need to go back and spend a day or more there.

Around 2, we made our way back to the theatre. Again, we were split up into two groups, a group of 2 sitting in row J, a group of 5 in row....A! Oh yes. I was in the first row. Right at the end, but I was in row A nonetheless. Sure you could see the actors spit as he was enunciation his words and see up the dancers skirt, but it was front row at West End! I will say this: it's a little cheesy, but I think it has to be to connect all the songs. Basically, it takes place about 300 years in the future where everyone has learned to be clones and consumerism as it at's best. All music is made on computer and musical instruments (particularly rock and roll) are banned. A young man rebels and gives himself the name Galileo Figaro. He meets a girl (who has no name) and he calls her Scaramouche. Galileo hears things in his head (which are song lyrics) and they're considered part of an ancient sacred text. They meet other rebels called Bohemians (who have names based on other musicians, which changes based on the music of the moment...and it's pretty funny) and he learns what rock and roll is. They're fighting the evil corporation in charge (we don't really know what they do...they're just "the man" I guess), who's leader is....Killer Queen. Cute. A prophecy, that the rebels believe was given to them by other rebels from a band called Queen, from long ago, says that there'd be a time in peril and only the heir of the "Hairy One" (not sure if it's Freddy or another member) can bring it back by going to the land of the living rock (i.e. Live Rock, which in London means Wembley Stadium) and finding the instrument, playing it to destroy the Killer Queen.

I won't comment on the ending of the play but it was great. Despite it's cheesiness, it makes you believe in the power of rock and roll. Awesome. The cast was great too. At the very end, after the final bows, across the screen comes "Do you want Bohemian Rhapsody?" (since that wasn't played). The audience screams and the screen says "Oh. Alright then." Then the cast comes out to sing. Then, the most amazing thing of life happens. Oh of the front of the stage, in a cloud of smoke, rising from below is Brian May. THE Brian May, lead guitarist of Queen. Oh. My. God. He did the solo for Bohemian Rhapsody and the cameras were out flying, snapping all sorts of pictures, even though picture taking is not allowed. Brian apparently only comes to play for special occasions, such as an anniversary. In this case, it was a casting change. But, I paid £33 to sit in the front row and watch Brian May play Bohemian Rhapsody. That's priceless. What the amazing odds.

After we're still being blown away (I'm still in disbelief!), we took a tube and found the London Eye. It was almost 6 when we get there, and just after 6 when we get our ticket. The line-up seems to go forever, both getting the ticket and getting on. We got on about 20 after 6, so that wasn't too bad. The view was amazing! You could see pretty much the entire city and it was beautiful. I was little scared because you're over the Thames, and I hate being over water. It's about half an hour long and at 7, we're looking for some supper. We decide to go to TGIFridays, since we don't have one and the commercials make it look good. Unfortunately, everyone else in London decided to go too. We were waiting probably half an hour for a table, but when we got there, the food was so good (oh, and we split up again...4 and 3, since they couldn't do a table for 7). The burger could barely fit in my mouth! A bit pricey though. The price in pounds wasn't too far off what we'd pay in dollars for it. Good food though.

After we're done, it's close to 9:30. So, we board a tube and make our way back to Harlow. We got back about 10:15. Not too late for buses, we figure. Nope. We just missed one and another one wasn't coming for another hour. For some reasons, a lot of buses don't run past, 7 or 8. I really don't know why. People still go places, or maybe that's just a North American thing. So we're waiting an hour and then we get the bus, just at 11. We get to the bus station, and we're waiting....still waiting. It's almost 11:30, and we're waiting for a bus to take us home. It's just about midnight when we finally see our route...which drives right past us. Noooo! We have no idea what to do now! We tried calling a cab but one wasn't available for another hour. Just then, a cab that can hold 8 people (and we were 7) pull up down the road. We ran for it. Two of the girls ran faster and luckily managed to convince the cabby to drive us home. Usually, they won't do it like that. You have to have the cab already hired and can't just hail one. But, really, we look tired, we're all disheveled, we don't sound/smell/look drunk...we're obviously not British! He took pity on us and luckily drove us home.

So that was the day in London. Hopefully, there'll be more to come. We're going to Glasgow at the end of the month and Dublin in November. So look for updates for there too. In the meanwhile, it's almost bed time. Back in the classroom tomorrow.

Amy

First Days of School

I've been a little slack on updating the blog, and for that I apologize. However, I'm also not sorry because me not on the computer means I'm out doing other things. With real people. A little scary, but it's ok.

Us here in Harlow have been doing things like shopping, going to the pubs, watching cheesy romantic comedies and planning trips. We're going to London this weekend which should be good. We're also going to Dublin in November for a weekend. That should be a good time. They have a Tim's there!

The school system in England is...well, very different. At least here in Harlow it is. I'm in a very posh school that has high expectations. At the staff meeting yesterday, I was tempted to just leave and run home back to Canada. There's just so much to comprehend and grasp. But I've been reading the manual and things are getting clearer. In general, there are some similarities: the students are the most important, help those who need it while finding extra for those who are advance, etc. One of the biggest things is how behaviour is dealt with. Remember Harry Potter and how everyone's in Houses? Well, this school is like that. Everyone's in they're own grade but within that grade and the school, the students are separated into four houses. Good and exceptional behaviour is given a token, to be given at the teachers discretion. At the end of the week, the house with the most gets special prizes, in both the classroom and school as a whole. Bad behaviour is a bit more complicated. There are different coloured cards and they mean different things. I guess it's like soccer/football.

The head teacher (think principal) is a little strict/nice but overall a nice person. The teachers are all really nice to me, and I'm liking my teacher. She's sweet but the students know she's in charge. The students are very nice too, at least in my classroom. They'd say things to me like how they liked my accent and ask me questions about Canada and Newfoundland.

Two weird things: the parents wait for the children outside and most of them walk. There are also short assemblies every day. I guess it's an equivalent to announcements, but more general.

Well, the girls want to watch a movie, so I'm keeping this short. I'll give more details later.

Live from England,

Amy

Made It

So, we've made it! I didn't have internet for a bit, so I wrote a blog to copy and paste. It's in two parts. Here we go:

Part 1:

Well, I’ve made it to London, and thus Harlow, Essex, England. I’m writing this at 3:26pm local time, on Sunday, August 29^th using Microsoft Word, rather than using the actual blog. I won’t have internet access in my room until Tuesday, which sucks but what can you do. I do have a computer account in the computer room (of two computers, using Windows XP and Internet Explorer of all things. It’s not even the new Internet Explorer. I’m cringing here until Tuesday!) so I will be able to check my e-mail and Facebook, but that’s about it. There are six of us living here, and two more will be joining us in a week from Political Science. Even though I’m in a single room, I have two beds. I’m tempted to push them together to form a big bed, but it’s unlike I’ll do that as I’m lazy.

Getting to the airport last night wasn’t much rush or trouble at all. I’m a little surprised by that. My checked baggage only came to 44lbs, which is great as now I’ll have room to take some things with me. I stay with Mom, Andrew, Poppa and Aunt Grace (Poppa’s sister who’s visiting from Ontario for a few weeks) at the Tim Horton’s as I drink my last Tim’s for four months. I even got decaf so I wouldn’t stay awake on the plane. We said our goodbye’s at the gate, Mom bawling, of course, and I went through security. Surprisingly, my ankle didn’t set off the metal detectors. I was surprised by this, but I didn’t make a deal about it because that looks suspicious.

I met Alyson, Wendy and Sara at the gate and we’re just hanging out, talking until Madison shows up. Madison’s been there a while, she was just away from us. We were supposed to board the plane around 9:15pm. 9:10pm comes around and we hadn’t heard from Candice or Tiffany. We’re getting a little worried, but they show up. They were at the airport, just around. For some reason, maybe it’s luck of the draw, but the other 6 girls were sitting nearby each other on the plane, while I was up in the front. See, not even off the continent and I’m already being isolated :P. I also noticed that I only had one checked baggage and two carry-ons while the others had two checked and one carry-on. A difference of packing? Some overpackers or underpackers? I’m guessing time will tell.

So we board the plane. I’m in the middle of the row next to a woman from Amsterdam who had a wedding in Montreal and then one today in London and a woman from Austria who was vacationing. They were both really nice, though the woman from Amsterdam slept the entire way. I tried to sleep but failed. Instead, I watched Shrek Forever After. I also tried to watch something else, but couldn’t stay focused.

The flight was bumpy, particularly at first. I was getting a little panicked because frankly, I don’t want to die. But, I was assured that the bumpiness was normal. We hit turbulence as well and I was not a happy camper. Finally, we landed. Yay!

Heathrow airport is….well, insane. If you’ve never been, please don’t go alone. Go with someone who has been there before. We just followed the guy to safety. Before we even got to our bags, we had to get our passports checked and go through the UK Border Agency. For some reason, they took our fingerprints. They just like tough security, I’m sure. The lady I had to talk to was kind of a bitch. She asked me how long I was staying and purpose of visit, like I expected. Then she asked me for the letter saying I was allowed to come. I was taken really off-guard by this. We weren’t told we needed a letter. That’s what the Visa was for, wasn’t it? She stamped me anywhere and warned me that I better have everything with me the next time I travel. Scary.

Next, we make our way to baggage claim, securing four trollies to manage all our stuff. Everyone got all their luggage and we managed to wheel our way out to the main area. I kind of felt like a cow going through a display, with people picking out who was theirs. A lot of people had signs and we eventually found the guy with ours. We followed him through the maze that is Heathrow Airport and finally made it to the car park (or parking lot). We piled everything and everyone into the taxi and we were off.

We were each given Welcome Binders describing our school, important dates and forms we have to sign. I should get on those soon. After a couple of minutes, the majority of the ride was silent. I don’t know if the other girls were sleeping or if they were watching the scenery like I was. As I gazed out the window, only one word came to me: verdant. Everything was so green and there was so much farmland! I watched some of the cars go by: Mercedes, Jaguar, Maserati, and of course there were some Mr. Bean-like cars. I tried to understand different highway signs, but I don’t think I did so well.

Finally, we made to Harlow. Our house is so quaint! The outside door is so small we weren’t sure if we were going to fit in. But we did! Right away, there’s a staircase. On the left, there’s the common room and what looks like a bit of a study. On the left is the kitchen, the cutest dining room in the world and the computer room beyond that. Two bedrooms are downstairs but we’re all up here, except for Madison who’s in the more modern house across the way since she’s staying with her best friend in Political Science. Pictures will be posted on Facebook and probably somewhere else where those readers who don’t have Facebook can see them. Once we got our luggage to our respective rooms, every single one of us clonked out. It was probably about 10am before I fell asleep. I woke up again around 1:30. Soon, everyone else was awake and we started to put our luggage away. Now, people are trying to decide what to do, clean-up, shower, etc. I know I’m hungry, but we might try to go to the supermarket to buy some food.

I can’t believe I’m here! It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m here. This is going to be awesome. Now to find out what the plan for the evening is. Talk to you later!

Part 2:

Well, here we are to blog number 2 of the day. I’m going to try if I can alter it so that it appears that I’ve written these on the actual day instead of copying and pasting them after.

This afternoon, we decided to do a little bit of exploring. We wanted to find Tesco but knew we’d get lost. We asked these kids and one of the girls said “we ain’t got one”. So rude! However, the boys were more helpful and directed us to Tesco and to the small supermarket. We made it to the small one and found that it’d be open until 10. We decided to go find Tesco again, but realized most of us were way too hungry. There are a few pubs around so we stopped in this one called the Marquis of Granby or something like that. The prices were really good and the food was good. Looks like we’ll be going back there again soon!

After we ate, we continued our trek to Tesco but failed. We learned from other people that that it’s closed today so there was no point, but we just wanted to find it. We never did. It’s probably best that we go look for it when it was opened and see what’s inside then.

Now, people are putting the finishing touches on their rooms. Not really sure what’s going to happen tonight, since some of us are way too tired to go do anything. Still haven’t figured out which cord is my internet cord. Either way, my next quest is to find the thermostat. This room is freezing! Then it’s probably shower time.

Good night all.

Less than 48 hours!

It's t-minus 48 hours until I'm leaving on a jet plane. It's kinda of surreal yet amazing, scary, nerve-wrecking at the same time! I can't believe that I'm actually going to be going to Europe. I've spend my whole life in Newfoundland, except for 4 weeks....once in Parry Sound, a trip to Ottawa and a Pathfinder Camp in New Brunswick. (St-Pierre doesn't count!) Yeah, not a big traveller. Yet, anyways. It's going to be amazing over there. So much like home, yet not like home at the same time. It'll also be the first time I've really been living away from home.

Needless to say, everything's in a mess right now as I've tried to get everything straightened away. Clothes are slowly getting packed as well as washed prior to packing. I don't have anything in my backpack and carry-on yet, so I'm going to pack those as well. I need to manage to stuff in several boxes of Kraft Dinner.

Here's what I have left to do:

- See the doctor to get my prescriptions straightened away

- Change some money

- Finish packing

- Suspend my cell phone account

Packing's going to take the most energy. But it should be ok.

I'm getting quite excited here.....I'm not even sure what to right! I just know that now, in 47 hours, I'll be sitting on a plane, saying a temporary farewell to my life here and starting a 4 month stint in Harlow, England.

It's gonna be good.

We're really getting down there now! In 13 days, I'll be boarding the plane, on my way to England. It's a little unbelievable, but it's actually happening! I'm getting close to having everything ready. I have my universal plug for my laptop so I can use this in England, as well as update during various trips that I'll undoubtedly take. Tomorrow, I have an appointment to get my computer set-up for their wireless system and to make sure everything is up to date (which I'm pretty sure it is).

Some things I have left to do:

- Call my credit card company to let them know I'll be travelling and ask what the rates are for foreign currency. Some companies charge for the conversion.

- Based on that, go to the bank to get some Canadian dollars changed to pounds.

- Call my cell provider and tell them that I'm going to England. Therefore, I want to know if I can keep the number for when I get back.

- Go to the doctor to get enough prescriptions for four months.

- Go over the British curriculum documents so I can have an understanding of what to do there.

- Buy a suitcase.

- Pack.

There are a few other things, like shopping, figure out how batteries work there (can I just buy some?) for my camera, etc, as well as a few other small things. I also have my Backstreet Boys concert, my going away part, seeing various friends for coffee, family things. It's going to be a busy two weeks. Good thing I'm done work now.

Time's getting short! Getting excited now :).

Amy