My Trip to Denmark

So as many of you know, I have experienced my first trip out of England. On Saturday, at the ridiculus hour of 4am, my housemate Gill and I left the house for Heathrow airport and a Danish adventure. The following is a description of the amazing trip we had:

October 25, 2008 - Day One

Upon our arrival in Denmark, Gill and I did what any world traveller would after arriving in a new city -- we went to the hotel and had a nap. That's right, the first thing I did was go to sleep. However, after waking up I was revitalized for the nearly 5 hour walk around the city we took. The walk was a self guided tour through all the major sights of Copenhagen. Throughout the entire walk I kept thinking to myself what a beautiful city it was and how I could see myself living there. It just seemed like the kind of city that you could really incorporate yourself into. The buildings where absolutely amazing - old, colourful, and full of character and history. I know that I wrote that I was in love when I first experienced London, but my flity heart has another city in its grasp. WOW!!

My favourite spot was the area called Nyhavn, which was a man made canal that allowed ships to enter Copenhagen's city center. The buildings were all different colours and there were so many people about just enjoying the beautiful day.

After our walk, Gill and I experienced fine dining Danish style and Kobehavn Korner (or Copenhagen Corner) which was a nearly all glass restaurant on the edge of the City Hall Square just minutes away from our hotel. It was an incredible meal which nearly broke my budget for the whole trip. Well worth it though!

October 26, 2008: Day Two

Sunday brought us to Helsingor (Elsinore) to visit the famour Kronborg Castle, or Hamlet's castle. Despite the rainy weather, this is probably a highlight for me, and not just because of the Shakespearean connection.

After exiting the train station, you can immediately see Kronborg looming in the distance. The rain actually made it seem all the more forboding and historical. This is probably the most touristy thing we did all weekend, going all the way and seeing the entire castle and snapping pictures all the while.

When we returned, we got ready for a night out on the town. We dined at the Hard Rock Cafe, I have a t-shirt and glass to prove it, then ventured out to find a jazz club. It was so great there. It was this tiny little place filled with smoke and a variety of people. We spent several hours there listening to great music. The best part may have been the one saxaphone player wearing a SaskPower t-shirt. What a small world!!

October 27, 2008: Day Three

Off to Sweden to see the oldest rennaissance castle in all of Scandanavia. I have to say this was a little bit anti-climatic and, after an hour and half in Malmo, we were back on the train to Copenhagen. Back in Copenhagen we took a canal tour of the city, then, sopping wet and cold, we headed back to the hotel for room service and a movie.

October 28, 2008: Day Four

A relaxed walk through the city and a walk up to the top of the Round Tower to view Copenhagen from above. This was a really perfect way to cap off the trip as I was able to see everwhere I had been over the last few days. All in all it was a marvelous trip and I highly reccomend adding Copenhagen to your travel plans.

Sorry Already

So the problem is that I'm just not that interesting. I don't much here that I wasn't doing at home. You know, eat, sleep, go hang out in London. It's all really becoming mundane...well maybe not the hanging out in London bit.

This last weekend was really great. While you all were celebrating Thanksgiving and filling up on turkey, I was enjoying a beautiful weekend in London - it was about 20 degrees. On Saturday Gill and walked to the Cranham Community Hall for a craft fair, it was a lot like the ones we have - a lot of old ladies selling homemade cards. So, instead of spending too much time there we went to the local pub.

This is me in the pub garden. Believe it or not the cardigan was too warm...how's the weather in Saskatchewan??

Then we went out for lunch at another pub with Gill's nan, and then shopping at Lakeside shopping centre were I spent far too much money.

On Sunday we went to London to watch Matt sing in Convent Garden. Then we went to, you guessed it, a pub for a drink. From there, we walked to the south bank to people watch and, yup, have a drink. Hmmm, there seems to be a theme to my weekend??!!

So here are Matt and I on our way to the south bank. That's the London Eye behind us to the left, and to the right is Big Ben.

And here we have James, Gill, and me sitting outside a theatre on the south bank (I can't remember which one!)

Will write again the next time I something remotely interesting.

Love and miss ya,

Heather

Birthday Celebrations

For those of you who read the title and thought, "Oh crap, I completely forgot Heather's birthday!!" don't worry, my birthday's not until March (13th) so you all have lots of time to buy gifts and ship them out here...:) Actually, it was my housemate Gillian's 30th birthday on the 25th, so we did some celebrating. I got to meet more people, and get to know some others better. On Thursday, Gill's actual birthday, Ben (housemate) and I threw her a dinner party. It was a lot of fun and I've included a couple of pictures so that now you can put faces to these names.




So, here we have Gill, the birthday girl, Ben in the middle, and Matt.

And Gill's brother Steve and his wife Sharon.

Then, on Saturday we ventured into London for a matinee showing of Hairspray which was absolutely phenomenal, supper and drinks. This is us on our way to the theatre.

It was a really fun weekend full of great new friends, but don't worry I still miss you all tons!!

Lots of love

Heather

Homework

Not much to write about today, but I did want to share a little piece of writing on the subject of homework that hangs in our faculty room. Before you ask, yes this was written by one of my students, but not for me. It was written last year. Here goes, as best as I can remember it:

"...teachers shouldn't assign so much homework cause we'll just forget about it and then our parents will get mad...I understand that homework helps build up our brains, but that's not really the point of it, it's just to keep us busy."

Hmmm!! Seems to me this one could stand with a little more brain building. Funny how she hit it on the nose and didn't even realize it.

Love you all, miss you lots, feel free to drop me a line,

Heather

FINE

So, my apologies for not writing so often, but the thing is I'm really not that interesting. I truly belieive that I'm doing you all a favour by not writing down every little detail of my rather mundane and boring days. I don't have any funny stories this time - sorry - and I haven't gone on any adventures lately - too tired, feet hurt, trains are a mess, lots of work, etc., etc. So once again, I apologize. But quickly ask yourself this...are you bored yet?? I thought so.

For those of you who haven't googled something more interesting yet, here's what I've been up to in the last week:

1) Weekend - My housemate Gill had a friend and her daughter over. I made quick friends with a six year old (a really great kid!) and went blackberry picking in the park, during which I was introduced to England's famous stinging knettles. Awesome! Oh, I had some really good Indian - Chanty, have you ever had the coconut naan bread? YUM.

2) Monday - I realized that world dominance is a lot harder than I thought. That's right my housemates took it upon themselves to teach me how to play risk. I took over Europe...rather fitting I think!!

3) Tuesday - longest day in the history of the world. Emerson Park School had their open house, an event where parents in the borough come to visit the school, check out all the displays the departments put on and we try to convince them that Emerson Park is the best choice for their child's education. It ended at 9:30pm!

4)Wednesday - Inset Day, no students, ahhhh!

5) Thursday - Pretty good day, not much happened. I confiscated some football cards. That was exciting.

6) Tomorrow - well, you'll just have to wait and find out won't you.

For those of you that have been nagging me to update this I hope you're happy and not too bored.

A Little Quiz

So, my first full week is over and so far things are going well. The students are starting to settle down, I've only had to dole out a few detentions. For the most part though, they're really just like any other kids. They even make marking interesting. See if you can complete this analogy:
eyes :: sight as nose : ____________?
Any quesses?? Chances are that you probably got this one right. Well, I had one boy in my class answer this with pick!! That's right, eyes are to sight as nose is to pick. I'm not sure if he was "havin' a laugh" (as they say it over here), or if he really thought that was the answer!? Either way, pretty funny and worth a good laugh in the faculty room.

Other than that not too much exciting this week. I'll probably go to London tomorrow, though my feet are kind of sore and blistered - I walk about 1.5 miles to school and back every day - and I'm really looking forward to sleeping in one day, and Sunday seems so far a way. Good news is I have lots of time for that.

Talk to you all again soon and sorry Chanty that this update took so long. I'll try to do better in the future.

Heather

Apparently I really do have an accent!

Sorry it has taken me so long to write again. I've been quite busy with school and socializing...but mostly with school. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the new curriculum and structure of the school system. So far I feel like I'm doing fairly well, and in now time will have it all figured out comfortably. My first three days of school went well, though, in good ol'Heather fashion I do have a coulple of stories.

First, the kids are really all very nice. They started off chatty, obviously trying to so how much they could get away with in the Canadian teacher's class. Well, one girl found out just how far she could go and I handed out my first detention - not just in England, but ever. She just wouldn't quit talking and start paying attention when I was trying to instruct the class. So now she and I will spend a lovely half and hour together on Monday:) Kids really need to realise that we don't want to give out detentions because that's my time that's being used up too! And, I just don't like it when kids make me punish them.

My other story is a little more embarassing, and the subject of many laughs this weekend. I'm sure you can all appreciate it. In my year ten class (Gr. 9 in Canada), I was going over their required couresework for the year. One of the assignments is an original piece of narrative writing, which had several subtopics. As I read through these I finally got their full, undivided attention when I read the topic, "A Personal Horror." All the faces in the room looked at me with shock. One girl raised her hand and said, "Excuse me Miss, what did you say?" I instantly realized that my accent had let me down in a rather unfortunate time and place. We Canadians, it seems, tend to be a little sloppy with our pronunciation, and the last syllable of the word 'horror' blends in with the rest of the word. I'm hoping that you all have realised what I told my students I wanted them to write a story about!! That's right, they heard me tell them to write about their very own "Personal Whore!" Just imagine my embarassment. We all had a good laugh and I was taught to say it properly - horr-ah, horr-ah (English accent remember.) I'm sure there will be many more of these in the future. I'll keep you all posted.

Fortunately, after my day of misspeaking and detention giving, I went into London to attend a fundraiser one of my housemates friends was throwing at a pub in Soho. I can't believe it, I actually partied in Soho. It was a really fun time. The people there were really friendly, and the pubs were absoluely packed - more than any place I've ever been to back home. So much fun!!

The rest of my weekend has been consumed with prepping for school next week. I'm actually procrastinating right now, and should really get some work done. Just a few more emails and I'll buckle down.

Talk to you again soon,
Heather

First Day of School

Today was my official induction into the British School System and I have to admit I'm a little overwhelmed right now. There were no students today, thankfully as I would have had no idea what to do with them!

The school is huge compared to Osler Elementary with its two hallways; there are several different buildings on the school grounds and, once again thankfully, the English department is in the main building, straight off the main enterance. Phew!!

The staff seem really nice, though I only really met a handful of them. There are eight of us in the English Department and all of them are really accomodating and helpful. One even offered to give me a ride to and from school for the next little bit until I get the transit system more figured out. Though one must ask, how do you figure out the transit system when you're constantly getting a ride? Apparantly secondhand cars are pretty cheap over here and when you consider that a month transit pass will cost 100 quid (that's about $200 Canadian) a month, a car is about 250 ($500 Cad.), so I might consider that option.

For those of you who are interested I'm teaching 3 year 7 classes; 2 year 8s; 1 year 9; and 1 year 10 which is a big year as they have a really big test to write that determines what classes they can take to get into university later (I think, I'm still trying to figure most of this out.)

Tomorrow is the first day with the students. I will let you all know how it goes. I only have one class tomorrow, and it's the last one of the day; so, I lucked out there. Lots of time to prepare. I might even be able to fit in a game of risk tonight!!

Later,
H

I Believe I've fallen in love

Before I left on this big adventure most people at some point made the comment, "You're going to go over their and fall in love!" Well folks, it's happened, and a lot quicker than I anticipated. Now, he's quite a bit older than I am, but extremely cultured and able to entertain people of all walks and interests. That's right, I've have fallen in love with London!! Today was my first excursion into one of the world's largest metropolises. I felt true independence today as I rode the hopper bus, the train, and the tube, all by myself without getting lost!

My first impression of London - aside from love - was pure awe at the history of the place. The buildings are so old that you can't help but stop in amazement that people hundreds of years ago walked the same path! The architecture was beautiful, and many of the streets are so small that they have been turned into pedestrian paths.

My first stop was Covent Garden where I had to meet with Smart Teachers to finalize some of my paperwork. Then I walked around the area and checked out the famous Covent Garden Market.






Next I made my way to Trafalgar Square where I joined many others who were experiencing London with fresh and wondrous eyes. All around was a cacophone of foriegn languages and the swoosh of digital cameras. I sat on the steps in front of the fountain and let the wave of awe pass over me. "I'm actually sitting in Trafalgar Square!!"



From here it was but a few steps to one of those experiences I've been dreaming of ever since my trip to the Netherlands six years ago. A gallery! But not just any gallery, the National Gallery. It was an incredible time. I spent hours walking through room after room admiring the talent, genius, and passion of the artwork. As a looked at the paintings I couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to live in a time when people were so impassioned and inspired. The depictions of historical figures, Biblical references, and scenery were really quite mind-blowing when they're not on a page in book (which I still bought, to remind me of the experience.) I saw works by Boticelli, Van Gogh, Michealangelo, and Da Vinci. I really can't put into words the feeling of looking at something so beautiful that has been able to survive for hundreds of years, and not just in its physical form, but in the way it can still affect its audience. Some things really do transcend time.

From here I went to the Tower of London. Again, it was mind-blowing to walk wear the famous and infamous have tread. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and was unable to do the tour...lots of time for that though. I do have pictures of the outside.





Next, my favourite anachronism of the day. A man in 16th century dress (I think) filling up a water balloon. Kind shoots a hole in living history impressions.






Favourite Moments:
1) Riding the trains all by myself - I feel so grown up.
2) Viewing the original of Da Vinci's "The Virgin of the Rocks"
3) Viewing the original of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers"
4) Eating an apple while sitting by the Thames
5) Talking my shoes off after a long day of walking

Just wanted to add a few pictures to my blog. I'm attaching pictures of the house I'm leaving in. It's a little different than the homes back in Canada and I love it. I went for a walk throughout the neighborhood today and everything is really nice: people drive really nice cars here, and they are all clean; there is no garbage anywhere, the people are so friendly and helpful, I'm really starting to feel comfortable here. And, I have to mention this, people keep looking at me when I talk with that 'I wonder where she's from' look on their facees, and when I answer the phone people get a little confused and then ask if this is the Canadian? I love it. My roommates/flatmates are really nice and extremely helpful. Gill (Jill in Canada) took me to get my phone today so now you can call me if you like...just don't forget about the time difference. Just add seven hours onto your time and that's the time in England! Here's the number for my mobile: 07931785085. Don't forget the international call number, I think it's 044, but you might want to double check that.


Now, on with the pictures.




This is the sign that tells me I have to go down this way to get home:)

This is the back yard. Look at all the apples. I haven't had one yet, but they look delicious.









This is the front of my new house. The door is open because there are no doorknobs!! you just use your keys to open the latch, and I left my keys inside when I went to take this, so best I don't lock myself out. That would be embarassing.








So, it takes too long to download pictures to this, but if you'd like to see more you can check them out at facebook.

Later,

Heather

Online Poll

With regards to my second blog - the one about me forgetting my passport - I need to clarify a few things. First, I have nothing but the highest regard for my brother-in-law, Pete. Afterall, he is willing to look after my sister for a full year for me:) Secondly, I take full responsibility for leaving my passport behind, eventhough it was safely packed in my 'passport wallet' prior to Pete's suggestion/demand. So, for those of you who are interested in adding your two cents, Pete has asked my to do an online poll:

If you were leaving on a one year holiday/work, knowing that England is a civilized country with stores, what is the one thing that you would double check for when you left the house for the airport? (Note that this is word for word the question Pete wanted me to ask!)

Please feel free to add your comments - remember I am very far away and miss you all a lot - and I will be sure to let Pete know how this turns out.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

Heather

ps. I did remeber lots of Brittish pounds for all those stores Pete mentioned!!

Well I'm here -- Now what?

Well, I'm going to keep this one short. Just wanted to let you all know that I made it here safe and sound, though a little bit tired. Who am I kidding - I am exhausted. I've basically been awake since 8:30am Wednesday morning and, correct me if I'm wrong, it is now 10:30am Friday (it's 5:30pm in England.) So, in the last 50 hours I've run an emotional marathon, gotten a total of 5 hours sleep, and moved to a foreign country. Now what? I can't sleep (I did have a nap though, which took up 3 of those 5 hours), and I don't really know the area, nor do I feel much like venturing out just yet. Lots of time for that. I may go into London on Sunday, definitely on Monday. And, I promise to get my act together and start taking some pictures and posting them up here. Everything is just so beautiful, I can't even begin to explain it.

Oh, just to keep up with the plane fiasco, forgetting my passport (with the help of Pete) wasn't my only hiccup. When I arrived for the 9:25am flight, an hour early with passport in hand, the plane happened to have a maintanence problem (something about they weren't able to connect the tow rope??) so they had to manually push the plane back far enough so that is could turn around and depart. So, at around 10:00am we all walk out onto the tarmack and load the plane and head for Calgary. The flight to London was much less eventful.

I'll write again when I'm a little more exciting. I'm just to tireeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz;)

heather

Sincere Apologies

Well, it is the day of my departure. However, I had anticipated being in Calgary right now trying to figure out what to do with 7 hours to kill. Problem solved!! I decided to pass the time in Saskatoon!!! That's right, I'm still in Saskatoon. So, before I tell you all my story I would like to send out the sincerest of apologies to my good friends Robyn and Kevin who woke up early this morning to say farewell at the airport. You could have slept in;)

So, here's my story:

I have been organizing my packing for several days now - those of you who know me will not be the least bit suprised by that - and last night I finally zippered up all my bags despite the fact that they were obesely overweight (I know, that's a little redundant). Well, Robyn, Chanty, and Candice came over for some good-bye drinks and chatting, later joined by Lisa and Pete. We were at there home after all. Then, as was bound to happen, the night drew to a close and I said goodbye to the dearest, most special friends a person could ask for, so understandably I was a little distracted, not to mention the looming good-byes I had to make to my family in the morning. So in this distracted state Pete asked me if I had made photocopies of my passport and visa. "I left the numbers with my address and a copy of my health insurance on the kitchen table."
Pete, being the good, protective, brotherly type, convinced me that it was better to scan them and email them to him so that I had a hard copy of some sort back in Canada. So, to appease his worrisome side I obliged. In fact, I did him one better and left my passport in the scanner as I made my way out the door at 5:00am this morning.
Now you may be asking yourself, "Heather, when did you realize this horrific mistake?!" Well friends, fate has it's ways. Being the paranoid that I am, when they asked to see photo id along with my boarding pass I grabbed my wallet with my driver's license and was ready to go. But, everyone else had there passports, so I figured I might as well use that too. That was when my fondness for my brother-in-law was put to its biggest test. However, he rushed to the airport, passport in hand, only moments too late. The funny thing is that if I had used my driver's license I would not have realized the mistake until Calgary. Can you say "SOL."
So I went and had breakfast with dad, and will finally board the plan in about 30min.
Hopefully this will be the only glitch, and, if anything, I will always remember to double check for my passport in all future travels.

I'll write when I get to London,

Lots of love and I miss you already,

Heather

First Blog Ever - bear with me

Okay, so it's actually kind of my second blog since I inadvertantly erased the first one. Ooops. Maybe this is just "too hard for me" (Lisa, you're the only one that's going to get that).

Well, do to popular demand (and a supreme distaste for mass, impersonal emails), I have decided to become a blogger as I set off to do a little globetrotting over the next year. Hopefully I will be a little more faithful with this than I was with facebook so that those of you who are interested can check out what I'll be up to.

For those of you who don't know the details, I'll be moving to England on Thursday, August 28th to spend a year teaching and travelling. I'll be living and teaching in an area of Greater London - teaching in Hornchurch, living in Upminster. I'll put my address below so that those of you who are more inclined to doing things old school can send me a letter or some Kraft Dinner (apparantly they don't have it over there!!!!!) However, I understand if you prefer to email, facebook, etc. I don't have a phone number yet, but as soon as I do I'll let you know...just don't forget that I'll be living seven hours into the future so if you call me at 6:30pm I'll probably be sleeping. So, as promised here's my address:
41 Limerick Gardens
Cranham, Upminster, Essex
RM14 1HZ England

Well, I'm rather overwhelmed right now both with the speed with which everything happened, to the great emotion I feel both in terms of sadness for leaving family and friends whom I love dearly, and exitement towards this new endeavor. As my departure date draws nearer and nearer, I find that this all becomes more and more real and though I am sure I'm doing the right thing for me, I sure am sad about all I'll miss here in Canada. So, for those of you who are taking the time to read this and future posts please let me know what's going on here at home.

Well, that's getting too emotional for me right now...So, stay tuned for future posts. Hopefully I'll be exciting enough not to get cancelled within the first few months:)

Blog to you soon,
Lots of Love,
Heather