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