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
6.03.2008
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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