Well, while I have all the time in the world to kill, I might as well update everyone on what has been going on over the past three weeks… it has been a while. Sorry, guys. It’s been hard trying to find loads of time to spend to write down the stuff I’ve done – homework gets in the way of everything, unfortunately. But, since the others won't be back from Wicked for the next several hours and my feet are DEAD tired (I've been walking since 8:30 this morning – it is now 6:30 pm) and I don’t want to go anywhere else tonight, I want to give you the low down hoe down.
(FYI: I typed this in Word before I stuck it online. If I double-spaced it, it would be 8 pages long. But, if you want to find out what life has been like for me over the past three weeks/month-ish, keep reading. You won’t want to miss it. But it’s long, so just bear with me, k? Thank you for your time, and mind the gap)
Ok, so after the first week, we went up to the highlands for the weekend. We left on Friday, came back Sunday, yeah, yeah. There is NO way I can remember every town we stopped in. I couldn’t remember most of them by the time we got back. But, basically, this is how it went. We got on the bus at 9 am and drove. We drove past Stirling Castle, past many hills, many lochs, through many little towns. Occasionally, we would stop at some pretty places to take pictures and move on our way. But the first real place we stopped at was Loch Lomond. It was about 10:30 in the morning and it was gorgeous. A little overcast at that point, but eventually, the sun peeked its little head out of the clouds to bid us fair journey through the hills and mountains. Oh man, I got some really goods pics. I’ll have to show them off when I get back home. We got back on the bus and drove to Oben, a cute little harbour town with some awesome little shops and restaurants. I ate at an AMAZING fish and chips place with Emilee Wood and her dad. I had chicken and chips. Wow – if I could remember the name of the place, I’d ship stuff if I could. A DEFINITE must-eat. After lunch, we continued on our way, passing the Monty Python Castle eventually on our way. Then we stopped at this little kirk on the side of the road and got pictures of it. I went up a forbidden spiral staircase that was too skinny. Two people could barely fit at the top. But it was cool. Does the name Robert the Bruce ring a bell? Well, that kirk had a bone of his buried with the statue they had of him. I thought it was pretty neat. Went out back and got pictures of the lake behind it and then continued more on our way. Eventually, we stopped in a little town beside a river for a good night’s rest. The hotel was really cute and the bed were comfortable. And the view? Spectacular! I fell more in love with Scotland during this trip than I ever thought possible. As a group, we watched the first half of Braveheart. It was pretty good, though, quite historically inaccurate, unfortunately. But you can't make everyone happy. After that was bed. And we all slept well.
The next morning, the alarm didn’t go off on time so I was a little behind the times. But, in no time, I was all set and ready to go, full of breakfast and ready to start a new day. We made a few less stops this time, but we eventually made it to our next destination – Loch Ness. Wahoo! Going to be friends with Nessie! Loch Ness is a HUGE loch. In fact, it’s the biggest in Scotland – 26 miles long and OOH SOO deep – up to 1000 feet! That’s right 1 THOUSAND feet in depth. That’s a lot of room for a sea monster to hide. So, we get into St. Augustine, make friends with a bagpiper, and shop for a bit before our boat tour of the Loch. It was quite chilly and I had forgotten my jacket, but all was well. I lived through it. Woot. The loch tour was pretty good. It took an hour and there was radar that let you see down into the loch to see what the bottom looked like and how small we were compared to what was actually down there. I felt like a needle-point on a hundred miles worth of cross-stitch. Oh, yes, the loch is THAT big. I never would have imagined… Anyway, that was an adventure. I didn’t see the wee monster (or perhaps, not so wee), but there will be other times to look. After that we ate dinner and headed off to our hotel in Drumnadrochit. Isn’t that just the COOLEST name!? And it sits right on the Loch, which was really awesome to see. We did the Loch Ness Experience right there next to the hotel that’s supposed to tell you about the realities of the Loch Ness Monster, but all it did was ask more questions than it gave answers for. So, basically, you have to make up your own mind about whether you think Nessie is real or not – something that I could have told anyone before I saw the exhibit. I think Nessie is real – there are too many eye-witness accounts for me to ignore. Several thousand, actually. Although I didn’t see anything, sonar equipment has caught something down there, but no one is quite sure what it is. But, I think everyone agrees that there is most definitely SOMETHING in the water – whether it is actually a monster or not, time will tell. Maybe I’ll ask God when I see Him… Yeah, He would know. So, did that (I would not suggest it at all) and then we watched the second half of Braveheart. It was SO sad! Still very historically inaccurate, but pretty good none-the-less. I’d use it for less historical purposes if I ever bought it. It might happen if I needed it. Anyway, got to sleep that night and was prepared to go home the next day.
Sunday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and continued on our way. We stopped at Urquhart Castle right on the Loch. That was pretty cool – it even had a trebuchet! Yay for throwing things at the oncoming enemy in a closed Loch! … Yay for the Scots ☺ They were awesome people. We got back in the bus, stopped to take pictures of the Highland Coos and the cows. They were all cute, and smelly… I'd prefer to remember them as really cute, okay? Okay. We got back to Carronvale House, had church, and then hung out or went to bed. It was a fun weekend.
Then school happened the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next. I saw teachers yell at kids, I saw kids moved from classroom to classroom, I saw kids entering into the wrong classrooms (this was the start of their new timetable – they have three weeks of new lessons in their new grades before summer holiday), and others who were signing out of school forever (you can do that at 16 here if you want to). So yeah, a good week. That and I had my first lesson to prepare for – which took me the better part of the weekend and I still wasn’t prepared for it. Oh well. That’s later on. After that week, we had a weekend at Carronvale of which we could do whatever we wanted pretty much. Friday, we went to Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument. That was pretty awesome. I clambored on top of cannons, took pictures of myself, and had a pretty cool time. Then, the Wallace Monument – oh my goodness. That was cool, too. Something like 246 steps to the top – a single spiral staircase up to the top with the most gorgeous view of Stirling and the surrounding area. I LOVE Scotland in a pretty day! It has to be one of the most gorgeous countries I have seen with blue skies, so I took quite a few pictures of the sky and the sun on those blue days. I have a thing for that… Got done with that and had to hurry and catch the bus back to Larbert. Most everyone went to Glasgow on Saturday. I and another girl stayed because we had work to do for our lessons – I had research to do about the American Revolution and the beginnings of the American government and a PowerPoint to put together. I barely got all that finished by the time I had to teach my lesson on Tuesday. I had been up working on the lesson for a few hours when both Danielle and I were asked by some Scottish friends of ours if we wanted a tour of the surrounding area. We both said sure, so we went. It was pretty cool, actually. They took us to Linlithgow and showed us the palace there and we got pictures and I made friends with a massive swan and climbed a stump for pictures as well as a few other things around the palace. Mary, Queen of Scots, I believe, was born and raised in Linlithgow Palace. It was pretty and so was the lake. Then we went into town and saw a little parade. A bagpiper, a band from Texas, football players (a.k.a. Soccer players), and the council of Linlithgow. It was cute. Then, the Fairgrieves bought us Chinese food (which was really nice of them to do) and took us back to their house where we ate, watched football, and also the sunset behind the mountains that are out of the back windows overlooking the valley. Completely picturesque! After the sun went down, we went up to the little Wallace Monument at the top of their hill where the Battle of Falkirk was fought (and lost) by the Scots and the last battle that William Wallace was in before he was tortured and killed. And that was at the very top of their hill, which gave a many-mile overview of the valley and the Firth. *sigh* Good times. We stayed with them until 11 that night (it was STILL daylight, btw) before we got back. The next day, we went to church with the Fairgrieves had Chinese food in Stirling. It was a buffet – a pretty new concept in the UK and one that is catching on. It was fantastic! It was also the first time in a long time I had eaten Chinese with silverware… they didn’t have chopsticks. Going back, we almost missed the bus back to Larbert – I wound up running in high heels and a skirt through the streets of Stirling, which had to have been a sight. But we caught the bus in time and all was well. I went back and started working feverishly on my lesson and that was about it for the rest of the night.
Then, there was school again for the next 4 days for us. I taught my lesson on Tuesday. I know I could have done much better if I had been prepared better. I got lost a couple of times in my lecture and PowerPoint decided not to cooperate, but that was to be expected. I was told things to work on and things that were good, etc. Yay for constructive criticism! I was bound and determined to do better the next time. I taught for 50 minutes. Woot! There was a lot of stuff packed into that lecture, but don’t make me give it again when I get home. You can read my notes if you really want to. So, the week went on, I found a favorite teacher, and a least favorite teacher (as is to be expected) and one that I generally just enjoyed watching teach. I had great role models – for what to definitely do, and what definitely NOT to do. Awesome learning experience, boy I tell ya.
That weekend (our last in Scotland) was our St. Andrew’s and Peterhead weekend. This weekend was just completely awesome. We left on Friday (of course) and drove to St. Andrews. We stayed at the University there. We got there about 3, checked in to our hotel/dorm rooms (which were REALLY nice) and were free for the rest of the evening. I got ready to hit the town. I put my things away and was ready for the awesomeness that is St. Andrews. In case you didn’t know, St. Andrews is the home of Golf. Apparently, the Old Course is THE course to play on if you’re into golf. If you play the Old Course, it’s about $300 to play - £150. Too much for poor college kids like us to afford. So that night we all went out on the town. I saw the seat of the Roman See’s old Cathedral in ruins and saw, for the first time, the North Sea. It was a BEAUTIFUL shade of blue, I just couldn’t get over it. I took quite a few pictures and then proceeded to find a way to get down to the beach, which I eventually did. Remember, it’s not the warmest of days and by this time, I was coming down with a cold. So, being cold was not an option. Ha! Well, forget that. Throwing away the old “need to take meds and stay warm” rule, I went down to the beach, rolled up my jeans and stepped into the water. What an awesome experience! I got my feet wet, climbed on the rocks, posed for some pictures, got my pants really wet cause the waves were a little bigger than I had anticipated – was wet up to my thighs almost. After about 10 minutes, I couldn’t feel my feet anymore. But I didn’t care. I’ve suffered worse and it was totally worth it! I picked up a rock from the North Sea so I could remember my romp in its waters, put on my flip-flops, and continued shopping. Eventually, after dinner, I headed back because everything was closed or closing (it was only 6ish). I got back to the room and tried to find something to watch on TV. The only problem was that I had GERMAN cable, which doesn’t help if I can't speak it. There were few programs to watch. I eventually landed on a German tightrope walker. I couldn’t understand hardly anything they were saying, but it was fun to watch this pro guy jumping and doing all kinds of fun things on the tightrope, many I had never seen done on a tightrope before and it scared me. Later on, I learned that one of the girls had American cable in her room, so Emilee Wood, who had come to visit me (she’s a cool kid) and I went to watch America’s Got Talent. It was two seasons behind, but oh, well. It was still good. Then I went to bed cause I was tired.
The next morning (Saturday), we got up, ate breakfast, spent the morning in St. Andrews. I shopped a little, went back down to the beach, almost stepped on jellyfish (lots of jellyfish), decided I didn’t want to maze my way through all those stranded on the beach and just walked in the dry sand. Then I went back, got lunch, ate it, fed some ravens my bread, and met the group at the golf course museum. A couple of the group had played a St. Andrew’s course that morning and they had a lot of fun (not the old course, but the cheap one. But it’s neat to be able to say they’ve played there). Then, we went on our way to Peterhead. We left at 1 and got into Peterhead about 5, ate at McDonald’s for a lite dinner, and went to the church for evening services (they have Saturday evening services instead of Sunday because of the fishermen). Then, we were split up into different church member’s houses and sent on our way. I had heard a lot about Peterhead from my old (and awesome) roomie, Emily Venable, who had gone the previous summer. She had stayed at the preacher’s house with the lighthouse out of his front door and RIGHT on the coast of the North Sea. I was told to stay with them if at all possible. Well, we were split up. I almost went in the first group they needed, but I waited until last and I’m so thankful cause I stayed at the preacher’s house! We (myself, Megan Venable, and Jacqueline Dillion) got to the house and were completely amazed. The North Sea is (no joke) about 100 feet from their front door. The lighthouse was very prominent and they were SUCH hospitable people. They served us dinner and let us explore the area. We went to the lighthouse and took pictures, then we went down the harbour and saw the seals (yep, SEALS!) and took more pictures. It was SOO cool! Then we went to bed. We got up for church the next morning, were served breakfast and took the short ride to the building. After church, we (as a group) changed clothes and went back to the lighthouse. Mr. Wood had talked a lot about it and it bummed almost every out that they didn’t get to stay there, so Megan asked if they could stop by the lighthouse on the way back (since it was enroute). He agreed, which was good. Everyone liked the lighthouse. I went down to the harbour again and took pictures of the cute seals and the roaring North Sea waters and got splashed with a wave. It was awesome. Then we went back, got a short little tour of the lighthouse because Mr. Wood is good like that at getting things done, played with Lennox the HUGE German Shepherd, and left. Yay! It was such an encouraging weekend and the people were SOO nice. That and waking up to the North Sea spray right outside of your window has got to be the highlight of the trip (except the trip to London of course). We got back safe and sound and got ready for another week and I for another (and last) lesson on Wednesday. This time, it was one that I had heard twice before on the changing population of Scotland during the 1800’s. So, I felt way more prepared for this one than the other one – and I got to use the SmartBoard! Yay for glorified PowerPoint screen! That was pretty much the most exciting thing that week. The next day (Thursday) was my last day and it was kinda sad. I’m going to miss the school, the teachers, and the students. They were all wonderful and I really, really enjoyed my time there. I learned so much!
The next day (Friday, yesterday) was one I had been waiting for for a long time – we were leaving for LONDON! We caught the train at 9:15 to Edinburgh, caught a train straight from there to London King’s Cross/St. Pancras Station. That took 4 hours. I almost cried when I saw London for the first time in 6 months. As soon as we arrived, I took a couple of the girls to Platform 9¾ and then we checked into our hostel. It’s not far from the train/tube station, but was good cause we were lugging all of our luggage with us and it was heavy. As soon as we had put everything in our rooms, got our keys, go the run-down of the weekend, we were free to go. I booked it out of the hostel because I had things to do. Since I knew where I wanted to go and am one of those people who doesn’t like window shopping or stopping constantly to see things that I've seen before (unless I want to see them), I went by myself. It was probably better because I doubt anyone would have been able to keep up with me I was walking so fast. I took the Tube to Oxford Circus, walked down Oxford Street again so I could say I went again. I walked into the bookstore and that was about it, besides a souvenier shop where I bought stuff. Woot! Then I walked from there to Holborn station (past my old flat on Great Russell Street, past the British Museum where I finally got my picture of the Rosetta Stone, and past Jacqueline’s house). That in itself is a 30 minute walk and I was moving. Vroom, vroom on the toes. Took the tube to Charing Cross where Trafalgar Square is, peeked at that for a second (not much to see because they were striking a concert set), and went to the Texas Embassy for dinner. I got a HUGE hamburger and a refillable Coke and enjoyed that to the fullest. Then I went back to Charing Cross station, took the tube to Hyde Park Corner and made a stop at the Hard Rock Café Shop because I could. I almost went to Buckingham Palace, but I decided to walk down Piccadilly instead. I had forgotten where it led. When I came upon Piccadilly Circus (the Times Square of London) I knew exactly where I was. From there, I took the tube back to the hostel because I wanted to chill. Got back, did the online thing, and went to bed. The next day (today) was completely awesome! Ready, ready?!
Ok, so, I got up this morning, ate breakfast at 8:30 and got on the tube with some others to go to Portobello Market. I had been to this before, but I didn’t remember I had until I saw the signs for it. It is only open on Saturday and is full of 2000 shops and kiosks. SOO cool! So, I went with them, led the group there, and we split up. Megan Venable and I decided to go together since I knew my way around and everything I wanted to see she did, too. So, we spent the next almost 4 hours at the market browsing, buying, and trying on guard uniforms. That was fun. After that, we took the tube to Charing Cross because Megan wanted to see Trafalgar Square. So we did that, took some pictures and walked down Whitehall towards Westminster. We passed the Guards, got pictures with them on their horses and then with a lone guard who decided to stand in the middle of the sidewalk for no seemingly apparent reason. Then we continued on to Westminster. Megan almost cried when she saw Big Ben for the first time in full glory. I have to admit, I teared up a little, too. It’s just so magnificent! We got pictures of that, of course, and walked across Westminster Bridge to get pictures of Parliament from across the Thames. Then we headed on over towards the London Eye for our 3:00 appointment. We had a little time to kill, so we walked through all the street performers. Some of them were really good. Many of them were there when I visited during October/November. It was nice to see some old faces. ☺ Then, we waited in line for an hour to get onto the Eye. Did the eye, kissed Big Ben (yes!), and then Megan and I booked it over to St. Paul’s. I wanted to go to a play at the Globe so I went over to get a ticket. Unfortunately, they were sold out, but I did finally get my Groundling T-shirt that I had forgotten to get last time. Oh, well. It was still nice to go back. Then we visited St. Paul’s (which is MASSIVE, btw), got dinner (mmm, Burger King), and headed back to King’s Cross/St. Pancras. Now, I’m sitting here while everyone else is at Wicked glad to have some down time to update everyone on the happenings of my life during the past month. I hope you have enjoyed this little saga. I’ll try and let you know what happens during my last day in the UK (tomorrow) tomorrow after I get finished with everything. It should be fun and I’m planning on having some extra time to hang out at Tower and London Bridges. No time to do the Tower of London, which is a bummer, but I can always come back. In fact, I plan on it definitely being a come-back spot. If anyone is ever up for a trip to London, hit me up. I will almost always say yes (unless I'm too poor).
So, yeah. Life has been good until now. I get back in the States on Monday and I’m pretty excited. I’m hoping and planning that the rest of the summer is just as amazing as my trip to the UK, simply because I have awesome friends back home who I can spend time with. It’s been hard being without them, but I will see them soon. My family, too. I’m excited to sleep in my own bed again, finally. I miss the loveliness of my own room.
See you guys in the States on Monday!
Cheers!
Aimee
6.05.2008
The end of Week 1
A whole week has gone by in the schools. Almost unreal. Time goes by fast in the "real world" as Mr. Wood calls it.
Honestly, today was not very exciting. It was activities day on campus today. Most of the activities were off campus, which was sad because those were all the things that I would have wanted to do. Oh well. So, our day started off with breakfast as usual. Mr. Wood drove us to school again and we got there in good time this time. We were not late. WaHoO! Kurt and I went to the games gym because we were going to observe. What we thought would be a semi-enjoyable day turned into a nightmare. Well, not really, but it was a situation that was not handled in a suitable way. Here's how it went:
Kurt and I got to the gym at about 8:40 when the students were supposed to be in their activities locations. We stood outside with the kids (they were all boys... go figure I'd pick the group with all boys, lol) until almost 9:30 when the supervising teacher arrived. Both Kurt and I were pretty peeved that the teacher had the nerve to show up late. Then they had to set up everything, which was supposed to have been done by 8:30 that morning. Then, to make things worse for the poor children who were getting pretty restless, they only let in boys two-by-two that also had game systems and let them set them up. That took another 15 minutes. It was almost 10:00 by the time everyone was in there. Let me tell ya, that was frustrating as all get out. Both Kurt and I felt it could have been handled better and in a more efficient way than it was. From 10 until about 11:15, we walked around the gym and kept an eye on the guys playing and got quite distracted by the Guitar Hero expert playing kid. He's played Guitar Hero so much, he would play sections on expert with his eyes closed, backwards, and other forms of not looking at the screen... I decided that these kids have too much time on their hands and not enough homework. I can help fix that :-)
Kurt and I went on break and decided to find some thing else to go watch. About the only other thing we could find was Cinema - just movie watching. That was fine with the both of us. I took a detour to the history department to see if they needed me for something and I walked out with textbooks and ideas for my lesson. Woot! Got something accomplished today!
After that, I made my way through the maze of confusing corridors to the Drama room for the movie. They were watching Click. I have never seen it, but now I know how it ends. ... Not sure I need to see the rest of it. That was about the extent of the day. We got lunch and were out of there on the bus. Yeah...
Monday will be an adventure because all the high school kids will be back on campus and I get to really start my job. I can't tell you how excited I am about it! I have 3 weeks left and SOO much to do! I can make it. I can make it. :-)
We are going to the highlands this weekend and to Loch Ness Lake. You know, the one with the monster in it? Yeah. Totally get to see it! GAH!!! I will tell you all about it when I can. I don't know if I will have internet access this weekend, but I will try to keep you guys up to date as much as possible.
Oh, and just in case you didn't know, I miss everyone back in the States. Oh, I LOVE being here. The people are SOO sweet and I feel quite at home here. It's wonderful. I'm getting used to the language and how these people talk, but it's still hard to understand them sometimes. I have to listen really hard, and even when I do that, I might have to ask them to repeat themselves... 5 or 6 times... Nah. Not that many, but I'm sure they think I have a hearing impediment because Americans talk slow, and therefore listen slow. Psh... stereotypes. Oh, well. You get labeled everywhere you go. I'm quite used to it.
Until next time my loves!
Cheers and Cheerio! (not Cheerios...)
Aimee
Honestly, today was not very exciting. It was activities day on campus today. Most of the activities were off campus, which was sad because those were all the things that I would have wanted to do. Oh well. So, our day started off with breakfast as usual. Mr. Wood drove us to school again and we got there in good time this time. We were not late. WaHoO! Kurt and I went to the games gym because we were going to observe. What we thought would be a semi-enjoyable day turned into a nightmare. Well, not really, but it was a situation that was not handled in a suitable way. Here's how it went:
Kurt and I got to the gym at about 8:40 when the students were supposed to be in their activities locations. We stood outside with the kids (they were all boys... go figure I'd pick the group with all boys, lol) until almost 9:30 when the supervising teacher arrived. Both Kurt and I were pretty peeved that the teacher had the nerve to show up late. Then they had to set up everything, which was supposed to have been done by 8:30 that morning. Then, to make things worse for the poor children who were getting pretty restless, they only let in boys two-by-two that also had game systems and let them set them up. That took another 15 minutes. It was almost 10:00 by the time everyone was in there. Let me tell ya, that was frustrating as all get out. Both Kurt and I felt it could have been handled better and in a more efficient way than it was. From 10 until about 11:15, we walked around the gym and kept an eye on the guys playing and got quite distracted by the Guitar Hero expert playing kid. He's played Guitar Hero so much, he would play sections on expert with his eyes closed, backwards, and other forms of not looking at the screen... I decided that these kids have too much time on their hands and not enough homework. I can help fix that :-)
Kurt and I went on break and decided to find some thing else to go watch. About the only other thing we could find was Cinema - just movie watching. That was fine with the both of us. I took a detour to the history department to see if they needed me for something and I walked out with textbooks and ideas for my lesson. Woot! Got something accomplished today!
After that, I made my way through the maze of confusing corridors to the Drama room for the movie. They were watching Click. I have never seen it, but now I know how it ends. ... Not sure I need to see the rest of it. That was about the extent of the day. We got lunch and were out of there on the bus. Yeah...
Monday will be an adventure because all the high school kids will be back on campus and I get to really start my job. I can't tell you how excited I am about it! I have 3 weeks left and SOO much to do! I can make it. I can make it. :-)
We are going to the highlands this weekend and to Loch Ness Lake. You know, the one with the monster in it? Yeah. Totally get to see it! GAH!!! I will tell you all about it when I can. I don't know if I will have internet access this weekend, but I will try to keep you guys up to date as much as possible.
Oh, and just in case you didn't know, I miss everyone back in the States. Oh, I LOVE being here. The people are SOO sweet and I feel quite at home here. It's wonderful. I'm getting used to the language and how these people talk, but it's still hard to understand them sometimes. I have to listen really hard, and even when I do that, I might have to ask them to repeat themselves... 5 or 6 times... Nah. Not that many, but I'm sure they think I have a hearing impediment because Americans talk slow, and therefore listen slow. Psh... stereotypes. Oh, well. You get labeled everywhere you go. I'm quite used to it.
Until next time my loves!
Cheers and Cheerio! (not Cheerios...)
Aimee
6.04.2008
Day 3 of Operation Intimidation
Today was much less intense than the previous two days. But I did get to see some of the background work that goes into planning materials and lessons. So, here was my day. My semi-short day :-)
My roomie woke up at 6:30 to an alarm. I had no idea she was awake (totally oblivious to the whole world) until she poked me at 7 and told me it was time to get up for breakfast. Groaning, I got up and took a shower. Then headed down to breakfast. Quickly ate a croissant and left for school. I got there as the bell rang and headed to the Geography Base because that's where I was told to be. So I went. There was no one there when I arrived, so I put my stuff down, and walked down the hall, down the stairs, and found no one. So I went back to the base and waited because I figured my co-op teacher would know where to find me. After about 5 minutes, he walked in the door and took me downstairs to Aileen's classroom where she was preparing her History unit on America. She started sorting papers and we talked about teaching. I asked her questions about schools in Scotland in general and ones about Larbert. She showed me a couple of things on the computer, like the student's portfolio's. Every student has one - and it's a WONDERFUL idea! Every teacher can see when a student was called out and what for, every homework assignment they've missed turning in, things like that. It's great. After that, Fiona, a first-year teacher (the baby of the department) came in holding The Pianist. Amazing movie! But I'm a history nerd, so I would think so, of course. She told me to come watch it with her in her S1 class (7th grade), so I did. Mostly to observe the students at that age to see how they acted during a movie. They were good for the most part... after about 15 minutes into the movie. After that, they were really good. And the movie was fantab. Awesome stuff! After that class, we went to tea and I talked politics with the history teachers there. New experience for me! But they seemed to respect my opinion and I appreciated that.
After tea, I went back to Aileen's room with Fiona, Craig, and Leslie (I don't know ANY of their last names) and we had a staff meeting about who was going to teach what and when during the next Timetable year. It was really confusing for me because I have NO idea how their timetable works or what all the letters and numbers mean on the schedule. Plus they talk really fast and I was having a hard time trying to keep up. But I got most of it... the words anyway. Not that I actually comprehended what went on or anything since, again, I have no idea how their school is set up (they've not explained it to me yet). After that, I went with Fiona again and watched her as she gave a group of S1's a completion assignment. They had been learning about what it was like living in Scotland from 1959-1969 and had just finished a unit on the hippies. Their assignment? They had to take magazines, cut out someone famous, and hippi-tize them. It was awesome! And because it was the last day of school, it was just something to keep them busy until the end of the day. I met one of the kids. Apparently he was a trouble-maker, but was being very good during that assignment. I would never have guessed it. He was sweet.
At 12:25, I went to lunch and Kurt and I waited for Mr. Wood to get there to pick us up. When we got back to school, we had about an hour before class because Aubrey was on a field trip and didn't get back until almost 3. We had class at 3:30 and it was a really good class. Mr. Wood shared stories of students past, we had good cries (we're all excited about teaching!), and good discussions. Then we had dinner and cake (it's Danielle's birthday and Mr. Wood's Anniversary) and some of the group went up to Falkirk. Kurt and I didn't go. He went walking and I was going to start my homework assignment. As of right now, I still haven't started... it's about 11:20 p.m. Go me and my wonderful procrastination techniques! We did a bible study and then had more cake and ICE CREAM, compliments of Adam and Melanie from the Cumbernauld CofC. They're awesome!
So, that was my day. Not much of one. I observed, yes, but there wasn't much to see. I have noticed that teachers like to yell at their students because they think it helps. I know it doesn't... *sigh* Oh well. Tomorrow, I get to play the Wii for activities day. Yay! Maybe I can wear jeans to school... cause I don't want to box and bowl in dress shoes. I would break something... like my NECK! Tomorrow should be fun. I will fill everyone in on the occurances of the day tomorrow.
Until then, bedtime/paper time.
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
My roomie woke up at 6:30 to an alarm. I had no idea she was awake (totally oblivious to the whole world) until she poked me at 7 and told me it was time to get up for breakfast. Groaning, I got up and took a shower. Then headed down to breakfast. Quickly ate a croissant and left for school. I got there as the bell rang and headed to the Geography Base because that's where I was told to be. So I went. There was no one there when I arrived, so I put my stuff down, and walked down the hall, down the stairs, and found no one. So I went back to the base and waited because I figured my co-op teacher would know where to find me. After about 5 minutes, he walked in the door and took me downstairs to Aileen's classroom where she was preparing her History unit on America. She started sorting papers and we talked about teaching. I asked her questions about schools in Scotland in general and ones about Larbert. She showed me a couple of things on the computer, like the student's portfolio's. Every student has one - and it's a WONDERFUL idea! Every teacher can see when a student was called out and what for, every homework assignment they've missed turning in, things like that. It's great. After that, Fiona, a first-year teacher (the baby of the department) came in holding The Pianist. Amazing movie! But I'm a history nerd, so I would think so, of course. She told me to come watch it with her in her S1 class (7th grade), so I did. Mostly to observe the students at that age to see how they acted during a movie. They were good for the most part... after about 15 minutes into the movie. After that, they were really good. And the movie was fantab. Awesome stuff! After that class, we went to tea and I talked politics with the history teachers there. New experience for me! But they seemed to respect my opinion and I appreciated that.
After tea, I went back to Aileen's room with Fiona, Craig, and Leslie (I don't know ANY of their last names) and we had a staff meeting about who was going to teach what and when during the next Timetable year. It was really confusing for me because I have NO idea how their timetable works or what all the letters and numbers mean on the schedule. Plus they talk really fast and I was having a hard time trying to keep up. But I got most of it... the words anyway. Not that I actually comprehended what went on or anything since, again, I have no idea how their school is set up (they've not explained it to me yet). After that, I went with Fiona again and watched her as she gave a group of S1's a completion assignment. They had been learning about what it was like living in Scotland from 1959-1969 and had just finished a unit on the hippies. Their assignment? They had to take magazines, cut out someone famous, and hippi-tize them. It was awesome! And because it was the last day of school, it was just something to keep them busy until the end of the day. I met one of the kids. Apparently he was a trouble-maker, but was being very good during that assignment. I would never have guessed it. He was sweet.
At 12:25, I went to lunch and Kurt and I waited for Mr. Wood to get there to pick us up. When we got back to school, we had about an hour before class because Aubrey was on a field trip and didn't get back until almost 3. We had class at 3:30 and it was a really good class. Mr. Wood shared stories of students past, we had good cries (we're all excited about teaching!), and good discussions. Then we had dinner and cake (it's Danielle's birthday and Mr. Wood's Anniversary) and some of the group went up to Falkirk. Kurt and I didn't go. He went walking and I was going to start my homework assignment. As of right now, I still haven't started... it's about 11:20 p.m. Go me and my wonderful procrastination techniques! We did a bible study and then had more cake and ICE CREAM, compliments of Adam and Melanie from the Cumbernauld CofC. They're awesome!
So, that was my day. Not much of one. I observed, yes, but there wasn't much to see. I have noticed that teachers like to yell at their students because they think it helps. I know it doesn't... *sigh* Oh well. Tomorrow, I get to play the Wii for activities day. Yay! Maybe I can wear jeans to school... cause I don't want to box and bowl in dress shoes. I would break something... like my NECK! Tomorrow should be fun. I will fill everyone in on the occurances of the day tomorrow.
Until then, bedtime/paper time.
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
6.03.2008
Second day, second years
Another eventful day has passed at Larbert and also here at the house. Let me start at the beginning (a very good place to start).
We all woke up this morning and ate breakfast at 8. 8:30 was our designated History of the Reformation Movement class. It was, again, very interesting. Class was over about 10:00 and Kurt and I didn't have to be at our school until 1:15. So I messed around on Facebook among other things while we waited for lunch. Emilee Wood and I had some cool bonding time. She's a cool kid. We ate lunch and then all departed for our schools. When Kurt and I arrived, we went to the Geography Base room where we were going to meet Mr. Martindale, my cooperating teacher. When we had talked about what the plans were for the afternoon, we got started. We walked around to several different classes as Mr. Martindale checked up on the teachers who were explaining the procedures for the student's Activities Day on Thursday. Then we met Mr. Pinnock, Kurt's cooperating teacher in English, and he took us to a classroom where teachers were preparing a group of students to go to Italy on Thursday for 5 days. There was so much energy in the room and the students (S3) were very rowdy. But everything was passed out and explained, after much shushing and rolling of eyes and teenage boys showing off. It made me thank my lucky stars that I was NOT a middle school education major. From there, we proceeded to our own observation classrooms. I was sent to *Mrs. McClurg's class - an S2 History class. These students were in about our 8th grade, so very rowdy, talkative, and disruptive natures because it's just that awkward stage of life. Third time I thanked those stars in two days. I introduced myself and as soon as I opened my mouth, all the kids started staring at me with their mouths open and smiling. I tell, ya, mesmeration works every time. I sat at the back of the class and just watched and listened. I actually learned stuff that I had never known before, or had forgotten if I had ever been told. Keep in mind, this history was taught from a Scottish point of view. Anyway, I watched and observed the teacher. I didn't like her teaching style - I think she wasted too much time being silent when she could have been passing on more information. It was interesting, but not very informative. But the kids were nice, and I could definitely tell who the trouble-makers were because Mrs. McClurg was the sternest with them. But they knew their place in the classroom. She had the power. Woot!
Class got out at 3:30 and Kurt found his way to the Geography Base to collect his things and he and I went out to the front to meet Mr. Wood... except, he wasn't there. At least, we didn't see him. So, we walked back to Carronvale House. It took us 25 minutes to walk. Good exercise, but I had other things to do. Oh well. We got back to the House and Mr. Wood was sitting in the foyer. He told us he had been waiting for us at the visitor's entrance, then went around to try and find us and never could. He tried twice and gave up. I don't know how me missed us, but Kurt and I had good bonding time anyway. I sat and caught up on Facebook before dinner. Ate sausage rolls and chips (yum!) and then went to games night with kids from Cumbernauld CofC. It was SOO much fun! We played a tripped out game of freeze. One side of the court was port, the other was starboard and we had to play like we were on a ship. The captain would call out a command like PORT!, STARBOARD!, Captain's coming!, Captain's wife is coming!, Up a Gum Tree!, Cannonball!, etc. It was AWESOME! I was the first person out because I couldn't understand what the Captain was saying. Oh well, it was SOO much fun to watch! We also played a game called Squishy Ball. Everyone was split up into two teams and given a number. Everyone had a number correspondent on the other team and there was a koosh ball in the middle. The narrator (for lack of a better term) would call out a number and both of the people with that number would get up, get the koosh ball and try and get it back to their spot on their team's side while the other player tried to do the same and take the ball away. It was a blast! I was on the floor a lot (and I have the bruises and cuts to prove it) but I think I would definitely play it again. Yeah, we had a good evening.
And that's been it for today, ladies and gentlemen.
Tomorrow is another day. I can't wait to see what it will bring!
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
*Names changed to protect the innocent
We all woke up this morning and ate breakfast at 8. 8:30 was our designated History of the Reformation Movement class. It was, again, very interesting. Class was over about 10:00 and Kurt and I didn't have to be at our school until 1:15. So I messed around on Facebook among other things while we waited for lunch. Emilee Wood and I had some cool bonding time. She's a cool kid. We ate lunch and then all departed for our schools. When Kurt and I arrived, we went to the Geography Base room where we were going to meet Mr. Martindale, my cooperating teacher. When we had talked about what the plans were for the afternoon, we got started. We walked around to several different classes as Mr. Martindale checked up on the teachers who were explaining the procedures for the student's Activities Day on Thursday. Then we met Mr. Pinnock, Kurt's cooperating teacher in English, and he took us to a classroom where teachers were preparing a group of students to go to Italy on Thursday for 5 days. There was so much energy in the room and the students (S3) were very rowdy. But everything was passed out and explained, after much shushing and rolling of eyes and teenage boys showing off. It made me thank my lucky stars that I was NOT a middle school education major. From there, we proceeded to our own observation classrooms. I was sent to *Mrs. McClurg's class - an S2 History class. These students were in about our 8th grade, so very rowdy, talkative, and disruptive natures because it's just that awkward stage of life. Third time I thanked those stars in two days. I introduced myself and as soon as I opened my mouth, all the kids started staring at me with their mouths open and smiling. I tell, ya, mesmeration works every time. I sat at the back of the class and just watched and listened. I actually learned stuff that I had never known before, or had forgotten if I had ever been told. Keep in mind, this history was taught from a Scottish point of view. Anyway, I watched and observed the teacher. I didn't like her teaching style - I think she wasted too much time being silent when she could have been passing on more information. It was interesting, but not very informative. But the kids were nice, and I could definitely tell who the trouble-makers were because Mrs. McClurg was the sternest with them. But they knew their place in the classroom. She had the power. Woot!
Class got out at 3:30 and Kurt found his way to the Geography Base to collect his things and he and I went out to the front to meet Mr. Wood... except, he wasn't there. At least, we didn't see him. So, we walked back to Carronvale House. It took us 25 minutes to walk. Good exercise, but I had other things to do. Oh well. We got back to the House and Mr. Wood was sitting in the foyer. He told us he had been waiting for us at the visitor's entrance, then went around to try and find us and never could. He tried twice and gave up. I don't know how me missed us, but Kurt and I had good bonding time anyway. I sat and caught up on Facebook before dinner. Ate sausage rolls and chips (yum!) and then went to games night with kids from Cumbernauld CofC. It was SOO much fun! We played a tripped out game of freeze. One side of the court was port, the other was starboard and we had to play like we were on a ship. The captain would call out a command like PORT!, STARBOARD!, Captain's coming!, Captain's wife is coming!, Up a Gum Tree!, Cannonball!, etc. It was AWESOME! I was the first person out because I couldn't understand what the Captain was saying. Oh well, it was SOO much fun to watch! We also played a game called Squishy Ball. Everyone was split up into two teams and given a number. Everyone had a number correspondent on the other team and there was a koosh ball in the middle. The narrator (for lack of a better term) would call out a number and both of the people with that number would get up, get the koosh ball and try and get it back to their spot on their team's side while the other player tried to do the same and take the ball away. It was a blast! I was on the floor a lot (and I have the bruises and cuts to prove it) but I think I would definitely play it again. Yeah, we had a good evening.
And that's been it for today, ladies and gentlemen.
Tomorrow is another day. I can't wait to see what it will bring!
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
*Names changed to protect the innocent
6.02.2008
My first day at school!
Wow. So I really enjoyed today, but my feet are very glad to be without shoes at the moment. Quite an eventful day. Let me de-brief you if you so desire.
After a very short breakfast, Kurt and I (the other HU student at the High School) were met by my cooperating teacher, Mr. Martindale, at the front door of Carronvale House. He took us to school (Larbert High School) this morning to show us around, which was very nice of him to do. We got there, signed in, got security passes which basically gives us free reign of the grounds while we are here, and took a tour around the school. It's HUGE. It is in the shape of the letter "P" and is the second largest high school in all of Scotland. It has around 1850 students from ages 11 - 18. They call this age S1 to S5, so basically grades 6-12. I was completely amazed at the number of different programs that are offered here. I know many of the programs I saw there either are not offered in most public schools, or I just don't hear about them. They have wood work, culinary arts, a morning "Breakfast Club" that offers a 7:30 aerobics class with free breakfast, dance classes, table tennis classes, music classes and tutors of all kinds ranging from piano to oboe to harp, etc., a fairly extensive language arts program offering French, Spanish, German, and hopefully Mandarin Chinese in the near future. There are more but I just can't remember them all at the moment... there was so much to see and learn!
I met about a hundred people today, or so it felt like. I only remember 2 people's names, but I will get better as time goes on and I learn my way about the school. The Humanities department is very large and offers History, Geography, and Religion and Moral Studies (History RMS). There are (I'm guessing) about 20 or so teachers in this department alone and about 150 on the campus itself. Everyone I met was very friendly and courteous. Several were pretty amused that Americans were there as "baby teachers" to get a feel for what life would be like in the school. Others were very excited, since next week after testing and the short holiday are over, the history department will start a unit on United States History, and they want to use me as reference. Yay! Our "quick" tour took about an hour and a half and I almost could never figure out where I was. It all looked the same to me. But I'll get it eventually. At least, I hope I do.
After our "quick" tour and a tea break, Kurt and I headed to the assembly that was going on. A group of Masai Warriors from Kenya had traveled to do a demonstration for the students. Since the location the students were in was very small, each grade had a time that they were designated to attend it, unless you were in isolation. Then you didn't get to go at all. Anyway, the group that just so happened to be there were the S2's (13-14 year olds). After watching them for about 5 minutes, I was SO very glad that I was not a middle school teacher. I honestly don't think I could handle students as rowdy and disrespectful as they were. However, the problem here in the UK is that there are so many rules about how you can and cannot discipline children, even as a parent. There is a law that says that a parent is forbidden to spank their child after age 3. Most children don't need spanking until they're almost 5 (at least in cases I've been a part of), therefore, it serves no benefit to the child. Many of them grow up wrecks and stay that way, making them a nightmare for teachers to handle. Society here does not discipline the growing child and it is such a shame to see the state that the kids are in today here. A lot of them could use a good licking and community service.
One thing I do really like about Larbert (because I don't know if this is the standard for schools all across the UK) is that they do not have Behavioral or Learning Disabilities centers. They are called Learning Support centers, and Behavioral Support centers. Students aren't labeled as a negative when they walk in the door. They are there to get help, yes, but under a more positive atmosphere than someone saying "You have a learning/behavioral disability." Maybe it's just me, but I like the more optimistic approach of the "Support Centers" than the "Disability Centers". It makes it much more likely that a student will walk in the door because they are not seen as a problem that cannot be fixed, rather as a learner who needs a little boost in their educative juices.
After the awesome assembly, we were able to get lunch and then it was time to leave. We had two classes of our own to attend back at Carronvale House and had to be back by 2. Since Mr. Wood was at the school with us for some of the day, he drove us back, but not before we picked up 4 more passengers in a car that only holds 4. Put 3 and 4 together and you have 7 people in one car for 4... we had one ride in the trunk and another laying across laps. We're pretty sure that's against the law... Oh, well. Fun times!
I really enjoyed our History of the Restoration Movement. Yes, it's a Bible class, but it's a HISTORICAL bible class. Yay history! AND it's taught by a Scottish man, Mr. Ferrie. He's pretty awesome. I can't wait until class tomorrow morning!
So far, that's been all the excitement of the day. Tomorrow I will get to be in a classroom, but since the actual high school students are gone out of the country for after-testing holiday, there won't be many classes to attend. But that's ok. It's better to start slow, I suppose.
Now, off to go play Mafia with the gang.
More updates coming later!!
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
After a very short breakfast, Kurt and I (the other HU student at the High School) were met by my cooperating teacher, Mr. Martindale, at the front door of Carronvale House. He took us to school (Larbert High School) this morning to show us around, which was very nice of him to do. We got there, signed in, got security passes which basically gives us free reign of the grounds while we are here, and took a tour around the school. It's HUGE. It is in the shape of the letter "P" and is the second largest high school in all of Scotland. It has around 1850 students from ages 11 - 18. They call this age S1 to S5, so basically grades 6-12. I was completely amazed at the number of different programs that are offered here. I know many of the programs I saw there either are not offered in most public schools, or I just don't hear about them. They have wood work, culinary arts, a morning "Breakfast Club" that offers a 7:30 aerobics class with free breakfast, dance classes, table tennis classes, music classes and tutors of all kinds ranging from piano to oboe to harp, etc., a fairly extensive language arts program offering French, Spanish, German, and hopefully Mandarin Chinese in the near future. There are more but I just can't remember them all at the moment... there was so much to see and learn!
I met about a hundred people today, or so it felt like. I only remember 2 people's names, but I will get better as time goes on and I learn my way about the school. The Humanities department is very large and offers History, Geography, and Religion and Moral Studies (History RMS). There are (I'm guessing) about 20 or so teachers in this department alone and about 150 on the campus itself. Everyone I met was very friendly and courteous. Several were pretty amused that Americans were there as "baby teachers" to get a feel for what life would be like in the school. Others were very excited, since next week after testing and the short holiday are over, the history department will start a unit on United States History, and they want to use me as reference. Yay! Our "quick" tour took about an hour and a half and I almost could never figure out where I was. It all looked the same to me. But I'll get it eventually. At least, I hope I do.
After our "quick" tour and a tea break, Kurt and I headed to the assembly that was going on. A group of Masai Warriors from Kenya had traveled to do a demonstration for the students. Since the location the students were in was very small, each grade had a time that they were designated to attend it, unless you were in isolation. Then you didn't get to go at all. Anyway, the group that just so happened to be there were the S2's (13-14 year olds). After watching them for about 5 minutes, I was SO very glad that I was not a middle school teacher. I honestly don't think I could handle students as rowdy and disrespectful as they were. However, the problem here in the UK is that there are so many rules about how you can and cannot discipline children, even as a parent. There is a law that says that a parent is forbidden to spank their child after age 3. Most children don't need spanking until they're almost 5 (at least in cases I've been a part of), therefore, it serves no benefit to the child. Many of them grow up wrecks and stay that way, making them a nightmare for teachers to handle. Society here does not discipline the growing child and it is such a shame to see the state that the kids are in today here. A lot of them could use a good licking and community service.
One thing I do really like about Larbert (because I don't know if this is the standard for schools all across the UK) is that they do not have Behavioral or Learning Disabilities centers. They are called Learning Support centers, and Behavioral Support centers. Students aren't labeled as a negative when they walk in the door. They are there to get help, yes, but under a more positive atmosphere than someone saying "You have a learning/behavioral disability." Maybe it's just me, but I like the more optimistic approach of the "Support Centers" than the "Disability Centers". It makes it much more likely that a student will walk in the door because they are not seen as a problem that cannot be fixed, rather as a learner who needs a little boost in their educative juices.
After the awesome assembly, we were able to get lunch and then it was time to leave. We had two classes of our own to attend back at Carronvale House and had to be back by 2. Since Mr. Wood was at the school with us for some of the day, he drove us back, but not before we picked up 4 more passengers in a car that only holds 4. Put 3 and 4 together and you have 7 people in one car for 4... we had one ride in the trunk and another laying across laps. We're pretty sure that's against the law... Oh, well. Fun times!
I really enjoyed our History of the Restoration Movement. Yes, it's a Bible class, but it's a HISTORICAL bible class. Yay history! AND it's taught by a Scottish man, Mr. Ferrie. He's pretty awesome. I can't wait until class tomorrow morning!
So far, that's been all the excitement of the day. Tomorrow I will get to be in a classroom, but since the actual high school students are gone out of the country for after-testing holiday, there won't be many classes to attend. But that's ok. It's better to start slow, I suppose.
Now, off to go play Mafia with the gang.
More updates coming later!!
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
6.01.2008
Once again I'm overseas. Yay!
Well, I suppose it's time to catch you all up with everything I've been up to since I've been in Scotland. Sorry, but I won't be able to finish with Fall semester before I start this one, so I will just have to complete it another time. More to look forward to, I suppose.
Alright! Onwards and forwards through my 5 weeks in Scotland! Woot!
26 May 2008: Departure Day
Well, this was the day that I had been waiting for for quite a while. I was ready to leave for Scotland to pre-student teach. What an opportunity! My dad and grandmother brought me to the airport and dropped me off. I went through security and sat down at the gate and waited for the plane to arrive. That took two hours, but I was okay with that because it was some good quiet time with my Assessment textbook. I finally got on the plane. I had a seat next to the window, which I was excited about! Found my seat at the back of the plane only to discover that my "window" was covered up with hard plastic. I was not happy. It terrified me because I couldn't see where I was going. Landed in Detroit and I met up with the rest of my group. Well... almost all of them. Mr. Mike Wood, his daughter Emilee, and Josh Mills. They were stuck in Little Rock because of bad weather. The plane they caught to Detroit landed about 10 minutes after we had left Detroit. So, the 7 of us that were there left together for Amsterdam while the stuck 3 had to arrive later.
We boarded the plane to Amsterdam and I settled in for an 8 hour plane ride, certain that I would not get any sleep. Oh, well. At least the food was decent. I watched Juno (for the first time. It was good) and most of AI: Artificial Intelligence. Then I played games on the little TV screen in front of my face. I had to keep myself entertained for a long time... give me a break.
*Look! A sunrise! ...The sun never actually set. It was always light. It was weird
When we landed the next morning (27 May 2008), we were all exhausted. We had to wait two hours for our connecting flight to Edinburgh, so we found our gate and sat and waited. Then onto another plane for Scotland! I sat next to this really nice Dutch man who spoke really good English. They even fed us food on an hour and a half flight. I love Europe :-)
When we landed, we found Jacqueline Dillion, who was one of my teachers last Fall in London. She lives in London and does whatever the Harding International Office tells her to do. So she met us and we got a bus from the airport to our new home for the next month. It was a nice drive. When we had finally unloaded all of our stuff, we took it up to our rooms. I got a shower, then took a nap. At 6 we had dinner and as soon as dinner was over and I had informed people I had made it safely to Scotland, I went to bed. It was about 8:30. I slept like a baby that night. It was so good!
28 May 2008: About the town
I woke up for breakfast (that's right, BREAKFAST!) and was still really tired. Mike and the others still hadn't arrived yet. We all decided to go to Falkirk, which is the town right next to Larbert, where we are. It has a High Street (basically, like Poplar is for Memphis or Race Street is for Searcy) and grocery store. Jacqueline thought it would be nice if we were able to wait on the rest to arrive and then go for lunch and hang out around Falkirk. So we did. The rest of the group arrived soon after breakfast, we loaded up and walked to the bus stop at 11. Ate lunch at The Comma (which was superb, and cheap) and hung out in Falkirk. Funny thing about it though, there's nothing else to do in Falkirk. High Street isn't that long and I'm NOT much of a shopper. So after exploring the high street, I explored a little more of the town. I couldn't leave soon enough. I was ready to get back and get to bed. At 3, we all met up and took the bus back to Carronvale, where I proceeded to take a nap. It was fantastic. For not ever really being a good napper, I was impressed that I could sleep that much during the day time. Dinner that night was good. I got to meet the teacher I will be in the classroom with for the next month. He's really cool. I like him and we had a good get-to-know-ya session. I stayed up a little later that night, about 10, before I crashed again. It's so good to get lots of sleep, especially if you're trying to adjust to a different time zone. Ahh, sleep. I can never get enough of it.
29 May 2008: High rise water ride
This was our first field trip day. Everyone woke up early and had breakfast (it's good every morning) and we left soon after for Falkirk. Caught a bus in Falkirk city center for the Falkirk Wheel. It's this ingenious device that replaces the lock by taking a boat, rotating it on a wheel and either bringing it up or down to the next canal. It's the only one on the world. It took 1000 men to build it. 17.5 million British Pounds were poured into its funding, and 14,868 bolts were used to hold everything together. It was truly fascinating. And it only takes 4 minutes to get to the top, which is about 130 feet in the air. It's also VERY quiet, too. I almost didn't know we were moving. And the view was spectacular! It would have been much better had the metal fence not been so high in the stall, but it was pretty, none-the-less.
After the Wheel, we caught a bus back to Falkirk where I and another proceeded to exchange money and do a little shopping at ASDA (Britain's Wal-Mart. It's the same company). It didn't take us very long. We got back just in time for dinner. Ate dinner and then stayed up entirely too late on the internet. Me and my addictions.... I finally went to bed around 1 in the morning.
30 May 2008: Hunting Royalty
This Friday was one that I had been waiting for since I left Scotland the last time. We were going to Edinburgh! And this time, we were going on a Scavenger Hunt. It was really cool! It took place on the Royal Mile and I walked it about 4 times, up and down, up and down. I was so tired by the end of the day that I fell asleep on the train home. I saw the Elephant House again, I found the Greyfriar's Bobby statue that I had somehow missed the last time, I bought stuff and had a grand time in the rain. We did Edinburgh Castle. It was good to actually have all the time I wanted to explore the castle. It was great! I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 9. *sigh* I had another good nights sleep before another busy day back in Edinburgh.
(Break for dinner)
31 May 2008: Climb every mountain
This was day 2 of 2 in Edinburgh and it started out with a train ride into the Burgh. From the train station, we walked to the Sevens arena. The Sevens are Scotland's Rugby team and we went to a tournament thing there. We saw several teams play from around Europe and other countries. It was quite spectacular. They played short games - 7 minutes each, with 11 instead of 15 players on the field - and a few of the teams were outstanding. Some were surprising in the last few seconds of the game. If there was a tie, it stayed a tie. Good times. I bought a Scotland Rugby jersey to add to my grand collection of 2 rugby jerseys, the other from England. P.S. The Sevens are really very good. They played the Aussies and won! Yay! After we had tired of the 5 or 6 games we watched, we got lunch and proceeded to Princes Street, which I had already traversed the day before. I wanted to go back to the Royal Mile for pending purchases and also to see and climb Arthur's Seat, the mountain-thing that overlooks Edinburgh. I got separated from the group shortly after lunch and continued on my own through Edinburgh. It was actually really nice to be by myself. I could take whatever time I wanted and go anywhere I wanted at my own pace (which is quite a bit faster than everyone else here, unfortunately). It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky, which guaranteed that there would be no rain. So, I walked down the Royal Mile towards Holyroodhouse and Arthur's Seat, bought a couple of things on the way, and generally enjoyed the sunshine. Then I made my way past Holyrood Park and up to the foot of Arthur's Seat. This time, I was going to take the easy way up. Last time I climbed it, Liz and I made the mistake of going the hard way that takes almost an hour and you walk around THE WHOLE mountain before you can get up to the top. And it was steep. So, I opted to take the chicken way up, which was a lot harder than I remembered... probably because I had only ever come DOWN the easy way, not up. But it was harder than I thought, but the breeze was welcoming as the sweat started pouring down my back because it was so hot. But I finally made it to the top. It was pretty :-) I saw the North Sea bay area that Edinburgh sits in, birds-eye pictures of Holyroodhouse (which, if you didn't know, is the house the Queen and any other royalty stay in when they're in town) and the modern but ugly Parliament building. Got a couple more pictures of Edinburgh Castle along with some of myself on the very windy mountain. *sigh* Hard work always pays off in the end.
I finally decided that I should leave the mountain since it was close to closing time for several shops. I walked back up the Royal Mile and stopped at a Starbucks because I was in the mood for coffee (Starbucks moods don't happen very often). I got the new Dulce du Leche frappachino. It was FANTASTIC!! I wanted to go back to the Elephant house and get a T-shirt, but I forgot... so now I don't have one and it kind of makes me sad. If I get a chance to go back to Edinburgh for whatever reason, I'll make it a point to stop and get one. Oh well. Can't do everything I suppose.
I caught the train back and was the first one of the group. Then I got online and the rest of my evening was spent catching up with friends and family back home. Oh, and then I played Taboo with Courtney, Kelly, Kurt, Megan, Aubrey, Camille, and Josh. Oh, we had so much fun! Then we did Taboo-ish Charades... but you had to act everything out with a partner. It was a hoot! There were things like milking a cow, playing the piano, drinking poison, the long jump, speed dating, and having a baby on the list. Oh, good times and GREAT bonding moments! I definitely think that would be an awesome ice breaker one day in my classroom. Totally awkward, but SOO much fun!
1 June 2008: First Sunday in Scotland
Not much has happened today. We went to Cumbernauld Church of Christ which is about a 30 minute drive away. It's VERY small, but the people are really nice. I actually enjoyed the sermon today. We ate at the Beefeater pub. Um... YUM! It took forever, but I guess that's okay. I got back around 4 and started checking stuff online and starting this post. Then we had dinner of Mac'N'cheese and chips and pork chops and peas. The food here is awesome! We are DEFINITELY NOT starving people. They take such good care of us. Now, I just have supper to look forward to. Yay tea!
Well, that is successfully everything I've done thus far. Tomorrow we spend the first day at school with our teacher. I'm kind of nervous, but also very excited! I will keep you updated about the goings-on here in Scotland. Miss you all! See you when I see you.
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
P.S. I'll put pictures up when the internet starts working properly again... sorry about that. Some of them are on facebook, though. Check them out if you haven't already!
Alright! Onwards and forwards through my 5 weeks in Scotland! Woot!
26 May 2008: Departure Day
Well, this was the day that I had been waiting for for quite a while. I was ready to leave for Scotland to pre-student teach. What an opportunity! My dad and grandmother brought me to the airport and dropped me off. I went through security and sat down at the gate and waited for the plane to arrive. That took two hours, but I was okay with that because it was some good quiet time with my Assessment textbook. I finally got on the plane. I had a seat next to the window, which I was excited about! Found my seat at the back of the plane only to discover that my "window" was covered up with hard plastic. I was not happy. It terrified me because I couldn't see where I was going. Landed in Detroit and I met up with the rest of my group. Well... almost all of them. Mr. Mike Wood, his daughter Emilee, and Josh Mills. They were stuck in Little Rock because of bad weather. The plane they caught to Detroit landed about 10 minutes after we had left Detroit. So, the 7 of us that were there left together for Amsterdam while the stuck 3 had to arrive later.
We boarded the plane to Amsterdam and I settled in for an 8 hour plane ride, certain that I would not get any sleep. Oh, well. At least the food was decent. I watched Juno (for the first time. It was good) and most of AI: Artificial Intelligence. Then I played games on the little TV screen in front of my face. I had to keep myself entertained for a long time... give me a break.
*Look! A sunrise! ...The sun never actually set. It was always light. It was weird
When we landed the next morning (27 May 2008), we were all exhausted. We had to wait two hours for our connecting flight to Edinburgh, so we found our gate and sat and waited. Then onto another plane for Scotland! I sat next to this really nice Dutch man who spoke really good English. They even fed us food on an hour and a half flight. I love Europe :-)
When we landed, we found Jacqueline Dillion, who was one of my teachers last Fall in London. She lives in London and does whatever the Harding International Office tells her to do. So she met us and we got a bus from the airport to our new home for the next month. It was a nice drive. When we had finally unloaded all of our stuff, we took it up to our rooms. I got a shower, then took a nap. At 6 we had dinner and as soon as dinner was over and I had informed people I had made it safely to Scotland, I went to bed. It was about 8:30. I slept like a baby that night. It was so good!
28 May 2008: About the town
I woke up for breakfast (that's right, BREAKFAST!) and was still really tired. Mike and the others still hadn't arrived yet. We all decided to go to Falkirk, which is the town right next to Larbert, where we are. It has a High Street (basically, like Poplar is for Memphis or Race Street is for Searcy) and grocery store. Jacqueline thought it would be nice if we were able to wait on the rest to arrive and then go for lunch and hang out around Falkirk. So we did. The rest of the group arrived soon after breakfast, we loaded up and walked to the bus stop at 11. Ate lunch at The Comma (which was superb, and cheap) and hung out in Falkirk. Funny thing about it though, there's nothing else to do in Falkirk. High Street isn't that long and I'm NOT much of a shopper. So after exploring the high street, I explored a little more of the town. I couldn't leave soon enough. I was ready to get back and get to bed. At 3, we all met up and took the bus back to Carronvale, where I proceeded to take a nap. It was fantastic. For not ever really being a good napper, I was impressed that I could sleep that much during the day time. Dinner that night was good. I got to meet the teacher I will be in the classroom with for the next month. He's really cool. I like him and we had a good get-to-know-ya session. I stayed up a little later that night, about 10, before I crashed again. It's so good to get lots of sleep, especially if you're trying to adjust to a different time zone. Ahh, sleep. I can never get enough of it.
29 May 2008: High rise water ride
This was our first field trip day. Everyone woke up early and had breakfast (it's good every morning) and we left soon after for Falkirk. Caught a bus in Falkirk city center for the Falkirk Wheel. It's this ingenious device that replaces the lock by taking a boat, rotating it on a wheel and either bringing it up or down to the next canal. It's the only one on the world. It took 1000 men to build it. 17.5 million British Pounds were poured into its funding, and 14,868 bolts were used to hold everything together. It was truly fascinating. And it only takes 4 minutes to get to the top, which is about 130 feet in the air. It's also VERY quiet, too. I almost didn't know we were moving. And the view was spectacular! It would have been much better had the metal fence not been so high in the stall, but it was pretty, none-the-less.
After the Wheel, we caught a bus back to Falkirk where I and another proceeded to exchange money and do a little shopping at ASDA (Britain's Wal-Mart. It's the same company). It didn't take us very long. We got back just in time for dinner. Ate dinner and then stayed up entirely too late on the internet. Me and my addictions.... I finally went to bed around 1 in the morning.
30 May 2008: Hunting Royalty
This Friday was one that I had been waiting for since I left Scotland the last time. We were going to Edinburgh! And this time, we were going on a Scavenger Hunt. It was really cool! It took place on the Royal Mile and I walked it about 4 times, up and down, up and down. I was so tired by the end of the day that I fell asleep on the train home. I saw the Elephant House again, I found the Greyfriar's Bobby statue that I had somehow missed the last time, I bought stuff and had a grand time in the rain. We did Edinburgh Castle. It was good to actually have all the time I wanted to explore the castle. It was great! I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 9. *sigh* I had another good nights sleep before another busy day back in Edinburgh.
(Break for dinner)
31 May 2008: Climb every mountain
This was day 2 of 2 in Edinburgh and it started out with a train ride into the Burgh. From the train station, we walked to the Sevens arena. The Sevens are Scotland's Rugby team and we went to a tournament thing there. We saw several teams play from around Europe and other countries. It was quite spectacular. They played short games - 7 minutes each, with 11 instead of 15 players on the field - and a few of the teams were outstanding. Some were surprising in the last few seconds of the game. If there was a tie, it stayed a tie. Good times. I bought a Scotland Rugby jersey to add to my grand collection of 2 rugby jerseys, the other from England. P.S. The Sevens are really very good. They played the Aussies and won! Yay! After we had tired of the 5 or 6 games we watched, we got lunch and proceeded to Princes Street, which I had already traversed the day before. I wanted to go back to the Royal Mile for pending purchases and also to see and climb Arthur's Seat, the mountain-thing that overlooks Edinburgh. I got separated from the group shortly after lunch and continued on my own through Edinburgh. It was actually really nice to be by myself. I could take whatever time I wanted and go anywhere I wanted at my own pace (which is quite a bit faster than everyone else here, unfortunately). It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky, which guaranteed that there would be no rain. So, I walked down the Royal Mile towards Holyroodhouse and Arthur's Seat, bought a couple of things on the way, and generally enjoyed the sunshine. Then I made my way past Holyrood Park and up to the foot of Arthur's Seat. This time, I was going to take the easy way up. Last time I climbed it, Liz and I made the mistake of going the hard way that takes almost an hour and you walk around THE WHOLE mountain before you can get up to the top. And it was steep. So, I opted to take the chicken way up, which was a lot harder than I remembered... probably because I had only ever come DOWN the easy way, not up. But it was harder than I thought, but the breeze was welcoming as the sweat started pouring down my back because it was so hot. But I finally made it to the top. It was pretty :-) I saw the North Sea bay area that Edinburgh sits in, birds-eye pictures of Holyroodhouse (which, if you didn't know, is the house the Queen and any other royalty stay in when they're in town) and the modern but ugly Parliament building. Got a couple more pictures of Edinburgh Castle along with some of myself on the very windy mountain. *sigh* Hard work always pays off in the end.
I finally decided that I should leave the mountain since it was close to closing time for several shops. I walked back up the Royal Mile and stopped at a Starbucks because I was in the mood for coffee (Starbucks moods don't happen very often). I got the new Dulce du Leche frappachino. It was FANTASTIC!! I wanted to go back to the Elephant house and get a T-shirt, but I forgot... so now I don't have one and it kind of makes me sad. If I get a chance to go back to Edinburgh for whatever reason, I'll make it a point to stop and get one. Oh well. Can't do everything I suppose.
I caught the train back and was the first one of the group. Then I got online and the rest of my evening was spent catching up with friends and family back home. Oh, and then I played Taboo with Courtney, Kelly, Kurt, Megan, Aubrey, Camille, and Josh. Oh, we had so much fun! Then we did Taboo-ish Charades... but you had to act everything out with a partner. It was a hoot! There were things like milking a cow, playing the piano, drinking poison, the long jump, speed dating, and having a baby on the list. Oh, good times and GREAT bonding moments! I definitely think that would be an awesome ice breaker one day in my classroom. Totally awkward, but SOO much fun!
1 June 2008: First Sunday in Scotland
Not much has happened today. We went to Cumbernauld Church of Christ which is about a 30 minute drive away. It's VERY small, but the people are really nice. I actually enjoyed the sermon today. We ate at the Beefeater pub. Um... YUM! It took forever, but I guess that's okay. I got back around 4 and started checking stuff online and starting this post. Then we had dinner of Mac'N'cheese and chips and pork chops and peas. The food here is awesome! We are DEFINITELY NOT starving people. They take such good care of us. Now, I just have supper to look forward to. Yay tea!
Well, that is successfully everything I've done thus far. Tomorrow we spend the first day at school with our teacher. I'm kind of nervous, but also very excited! I will keep you updated about the goings-on here in Scotland. Miss you all! See you when I see you.
Cheers, everyone!
Aimee
P.S. I'll put pictures up when the internet starts working properly again... sorry about that. Some of them are on facebook, though. Check them out if you haven't already!
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