London Transport Museum

Hi again. This past week has been gorgeous: cold, but sunshine and clear blue skies every day--a very welcome reprieve from weeks on end of grey, overcast skies from my point of view. Teaching went pretty well last week too. Monday I arrived at my designated school to find the boilers were off, so they sent all the kids home. They still had to pay me for showing up, so I changed a large bulletin board and then went home around noon. Tuesday I didn't get called in, so I went to a bookstore in Ilford (a community just north of Barking) where I bought myself a number of budget Europe travel guides for a big trip I'm hoping to make with a friend from back home this summer. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I was in yr 3 classes each day, and amazingly, some pretty well-behaved kids. I really like that age group. They're old enough to be a bit more independent, have a bit more self-control than the really young kids, yet not old enough to be self-conscious or hormonal yet. They're a really creative bunch, and most of them still idolize their teachers.

On Friday night, Kim and I went to see the opening of Alice in Wonderland. It has been a long time since I read the books, but I mostly enjoyed it. Since I had never seen Avatar, it was my first 3-D movie. They combined Alice and the Looking Glass with Carroll's poem, The Jabberwocky, including the "vorpal sword." I had sung a song based on the poem in choir at Nipissing last spring, so I had the song going through my head a few times.

Saturday I went to the London Transport Museum. It's very well done, a very interactive exhibit in which you can board old buses, trams, trains, etc and see what they were like.

various vintage models of London buses

Lots of history, from the British-style rickshaws that used to be used to the mini ominbuses which replaced horse-drawn carriages as a mode of transport, to the high-speed rail options available to Londoners today


Yesterday, I went to St. Paul's Cathedral for their choral Eucharist before going to the Menno church in London for 3 pm. I had a nice visit over drinks and chips (with mayonnaise, the Belgian/Dutch way...) with some friends at a local pub after church. A good weekend...