Visit with Sue

Hello again. I spent the last two days on the south coast of England with my former youth pastor and friend, Sue. I arrived in Chichester on Thursday just before lunch, and we dropped in at her work nearby and then had jacket potatoes for lunch. The restaurant provided us with baked potatoes plus a buffet of potato toppings for 4.95 each. After lunch, we walked around Chichester Cathedral, which had an interesting Anne Frank exhibit on display. From the Cathedral, we walked around town for a bit, and then drove to Bosham, where Sue lives, about a 10 or 15-minute drive away.

Seeing Sue's home was a neat experience. I saw a side of Sue that I largely missed when I was a youth and she was my youth pastor. It was immediately obvious that she loves giraffes as soon as I walked in the door. Her travels throughout Africa were also apparent from the photos on the wall, the print hanging over her dining room table, the elephants carved out of wood lining the window sill, and other figurines and decorations...even the leopard print fleece blankets on the couch and the warm brown paint seemed to evoke the Savannah or a safari. The guest room where I stayed, was a mixture of African and Canadian momentoes. We had fun playing various games like Dutch Blitz, and a new dice game that Howie and Myrna taught her on a recent trip back to Canada. I also found out that Sue actually spent 19 years in Canada, so when she came back to Britain four years ago, she had many of the same questions/confusion as I about British culture and vocabulary.

The baseball glove chair in the furniture exhibition at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.
Standing in front of a palm tree in Brighton.
Looking back at the coast from Brighton pier.
Sue, with the Brighton Pier in the background.On Friday morning, we took the train from Bosham into Brighton for the day, where we walked along the beach, ate a delicious take away Chinese meal (two boxes jammed full for only 4 quid) along the water, and meandered around the Brighton Pier, which contains an arcade, amusement park, and shops selling candy, ice cream, and Belgian waffles, all on the pier. From the carousel, you could look down into the water below. Neat. Then we climbed back up into the centre of town again (Brighton really slopes down to the water) where we visited the Royal Pavilion, which was the temporary residence of the Royals during the Victorian period when it was considered beneficial to get out of London and take in the sea air for one's health. The Pavilion had several exhibits on display, including one of old and contemporary furniture ( see baseball glove chair above), and a very interesting one about the Women's Land Army, which operated during WWII, and which apparently was about getting women to take over the farming jobs. Besides that, we did a bit of shopping, including a 2 for 1 water bottle deal. We got identical 1L bottles for just 9.99 altogether. After a long day in Brighton, we came back home and ordered take away fish and chips--my first of this traditional dish since arriving, though I've snacked on other people's chips here and there a few times.

I had a super trip, and a fun time with Sue. Back to Barking again today so I can get to a farewell at the Mennonite church for a fellow Canadian tomorrow. JKN

Day Trip Number Two

Warwick Castle
The house where William Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Cotswolds: Cots=sheep, wold=pen. English cottage country.
One of the 31 colleges that form Oxford University.
The main library at Oxford University.
Now for the trip to Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Oxford. Again, we (my Evan Evans tour group) left London at 9 am, this time heading northwest to Warwick Castle. To orient ourselves, the first trip was mostly west, and a bit south. The second trip was directly northwest of London. We arrived at Warwick Castle about 11 am and our guide took us on a tour for about half an hour, after which we had 45 minutes to explore on our own. The original castle was a wooden motte-and-bailey structure built in the 11th century by the Normans, while the stone castle was built in the 13th century. I enjoyed seeing the wax figures in each room depicting the activities and dress of people living in the castle in the 18th (I think) century. There were lots of suits of armour ( including armour for the horses) on display, all gauded up with "cobwebs" and green lights for Hallowe'en. I took lots of pictures at this attraction, keeping in mind that I will be teaching Medieval Times units in the future, and it will be so much easier and more interesting for the kids if I have pictures of a real castle and authentic costumes in hand. Speaking of children, there were lots of those (and their parents too) there since it was the half-term break for all schools across England this week.

From Warwick, it was about a 20-minute drive southwest to Stratford-upon-Avon, the original home of William Shakespeare. I enjoyed seeing his home, with the limewashed timber walls (to keep the bugs out) and a beautiful garden out back. I loved the Tudor architecture visible in most of the houses in Stratford, and I zipped into a little tea shop for an afternoon snack 20 minutes before our bus was scheduled to depart. From this trip, Stratford was the highlight.

After Stratford, we travelled south again to Oxford, where our guide took us on a 30-minute

guided tour around campus. We saw about a dozen of the 31 colleges associated with Oxford University. Due to time crunch, we did not get down to Christchurch College at the end of town (the "Harry Potter" college). Oxford started with a few students studying informally with monks in Oxford just before the turn of the 11th century, which became formalized in the mid-11th century. The first students would have studied theology, astrology, and philosophy. Today, it offers programs in the sciences and humanities (including medicine) and law in addition to theology. From Oxford, we travelled most of two hours southeast back to London.

So all in all, I'm glad I went. There was a lot to take in in a short period of time, and I've forgotten a lot of what the tour guides said, but I have pictures to remember the things I saw, and I picked up brochures in the places I want to return to. As well, I also picked up a children's encyclopedia of British history, and spent much of our travelling time on the bus (when we were travelling 401-equivalent roads, and not through interesting towns or other vistas) reading that to put together some of the bits and pieces of knowledge that I've acquired through bits and pieces and never really put together). It's quite interesting, though I get confused between all the different Edwards and Henrys and James' that were once kings. 'Til next post...

Julie

First Day Trip around England

Outside the Roman Baths.

The Great Bath, inside the Roman Baths.Stonehenge.

I love all these arches! Salisbury Cathedral.
Workings of the oldest functioning mechanical clock in the world at Salisbury Cathedral.
Well, hello. It's been a busy couple of days since I last wrote. I write about Saturday first. We left London at 9 am, and drove about an hour-and-a-half southwest of London to Salisbury Cathedral. Unfortunately, it rained pretty hard through the morning, so I didn't get many outdoor pictures there, but I enjoyed the visit nevertheless. I've said it before, but I'll say it again...coming from a country where 200 years is very old for a building, it is just amazing to walk into buildings that have stood for 1000 years or more. the clock pictured above has no face, and it only strikes the hours--around since 1396. I'm gaining an appreciation for the sense of majesty and transendence of God that one felss when looking up at these high, arched stone ceilings in very old cathedrals. Salisbury Cathedral is also the home of the best one of four original copies of the Magna Carta, a document that the barons forced King John to sign in 1215. It essentially levelled the playing field between the monarch and his subjects, by laying out laws that the king had to follow (he could no longer act with impunity however he saw fit) and guaranteeing the rights of the people (well, at least the men). It was to serve as the foundation and model for hundreds of years later, shaping the American Declaration of Independence; as well, nine of its chapters remain on the British statute book to this day.

From Salisbury, we travelled almost due north to Stonehenge. I always thought Stonehenge was constructed at one time, but it was actually constructed in three phases. In 3050 BC(E), a circular ditch and bank were dug--this is what a henge is. Around 2600 BC(E), a wooden structure was constructed at the centre. Then around 2500-1500 BC(E), the stone monument which is famous today was constructed, arranged and re-arranged over almost 1000 years. It seems to have been a significant worship/burial site, as well as having a calendar-keeping function. There were at one time 12 complete trilithons (two upright stones with one laid across the top create one trilithon), and depending on which trilithon the sun through, one could determine which month of the year you were in. There were a variety of burial mounds there too, known as barrows (single occupancy) or long barrows (entire families buried). The smaller Bluestones arranged in the middle of the circle were brought from the Preseli Mountains in Wales (385 km away), while the larger Sarsen (also called slaughter stones because of the red hue they turned from the iron's exposure to rain) stones (up to 15 tons in weight), were used to build the trilithons and were brought 30 km from the Marlborough Downs. Makes you wonder how they managed all that moving and chiseling of rocks without trucks or cranes or any of the modern tools we have.

From Stonehenge, we travelled northwest to Bath. Bath is the site of the UK's only natural hot springs, which the Romans first exploited when they arrived in the first century AD (CE). I spent about an hour wandering about the old Roman Baths seeing the caldarium (sauna) and frigidarium (cold plunge) as well as the Great Bath (which in Roman times did not have algae growing in it :) and the elaborate network of tunnels which carried the water around the baths. Then I checked out Bath Abbey too, and enjoyed the lovely dyptichs (two paired pieces of art, one showing a scripture verse in ornate text, some with neumes (Medieval music notation) and then its pair, showing a picture/design illustrating the text using textile materials. Bath itself was constructed almost entirely in limestone, and they've gone to a lot of work to clean the limestone recently. I also saw some examples of windows being bricked over. In 1696, William of Orange decided to tax people if they had more than 6 windows in their house, so many people chose to cover up their windows rather than pay the tax. All in all, I enjoyed Bath, and would certainly like to return. The downside to such tours is that they don't provide much time to see places (we didn't stay at any one place longer than 90 minutes). On the plus side, they give you an overview and help you decide what's worth coming back to see again. I picked up information about Bath at the local tourism office, and would like to come back and take in the spa sometime. I'll tackle trip number 2 after supper.

Great news...

I spent the entire week in a nursery class at Gascoigne. While I went in with some trepidation, not having any nursery experience (though I did practice teach in a kindergarten class in Waterloo) I enjoyed the week immensely, and learned a lot--though not all 78 names of the two classes (morning and afternoon). The nurses were really helpful, and as the week went on, I grew more accustomed to all the routines and songs they do every day. The nurses and I were able to complete a thorough tidy of the room by 3:30 and head out on our (one week) half-term vacation. And the best news of all came when I got home. I got an email saying that Gascoigne has booked me until Christmas. This means that I will be an extra available to them to cover any teachers who are away, so I won't be in the same class all the time, but I know which school I'm going to, and from the past three weeks I've learned that they do like to keep the same supply in a classroom for the duration of a teacher's absence. I have found the staff at Gascoigne friendlier than staffs at many schools I've visited, and I have had brief conversations several times with both Mr. Garten, the head teacher (principal) and Mrs. Babs, the deupty head teacher.

I look forward now to some time to relax and travel around England for the week. I will be taking a few day trips around, as well as a few days to visit a former youth pastor now living in Chichester. More info to follow in a few days as I have travels to report.

Until then,

Julie

York, Part 2

Here are a few more pictures. I was having trouble attaching pictures yesterday, so here are some extras I didn't get in. these two pictures are both taken just after we got off the wall at the bridge gate. The first one here shows a former guards house that is now a sandwich bar, situated on the bridge over the Ouse River. The round building in the foreground of the second photo is now a pub, if I recall correctly.
I said goodbye to Laurena and Sarah at the train station on Sunday morning and then went back to St. Michael Le Belfry (the Guy Fawkes church) where I experienced an Anglican service unlike any I've ever attended before. It was a congregation with a large population of young people, many of whom were active in the praise band which led the music for the morning. After some initial singing and prayers, and a presentation by a family that did some short-term missions in Uganda this summer, the congregation took a fifteen minute break for tea and coffee right in the sanctuary. Everyone queued up to the front, got their snack, and returned to their seats for the remainder of the service. I met a friendly woman named Saffron who explained that the Church of England (still predominant here) comes in various shapes and forms, some more high-church, and some lower-church.

I was back to Gascoigne today, but ended up in a nursery class. Since the nursery nurses knew the routines and the kids much better than I, they took the lead with activities, and I was able to observe and be another adult to supervise playtime, hand out milk at snacktime, etc.

Have a good week, all.

J

Gascoigne Part 2, and York Part 1

Hello again. It's been a full week here. I was at Gascoigne in the same Yr. 2 class as last week all of this week. It turns out their teacher has swine flu and can't come back yet, so I'm booked there until the end of this coming week. It is nice to be going back to the same school/kids, particularly since the school is so close to my house. We've been busy preparing for the Year 2 Harvest Assembly this coming Wednesday, so I have been rehearsing several songs and a poem with my class.

Then on Friday evening, I took a train from King's Cross to York for a visit with Laurena and Sarah. We spent all of Saturday exploring around town. A good portion of the day we spent at the York Minster Cathedral, where we walked up the 275 very narrow winding stairs of the tower for a wonderful view of the city. We also went down into the crypt where we saw the old Norman foundations of the church, and then the more recent and larger Medieval foundations. We wandered around the narrow cobbled streets (one of which was called "The Shambles") around lunchtime. We spent some time looking at a variety of other churches in the area, including a Franciscan (I believe) abbey. Then we visited the art gallery, of whose collection my favourite item was a holographic photo of Queen Elizabeth composed of 10 000 photos superimposed upon one another so that it really looked very 3D. We returned to York Minster for the 5:15 Choral Evensong. We discovered the Chapter House, a very resonant chamber within York Minster, in which we enjoyed humming some snippets of chant and listening to the echo. We had a lovely dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant, and then headed back to our swanky hotel for the evening.
Sarah and Laurena in a typical alleyway with miniature shops on either side.
The 275 stairs up the tower were very narrow and steeply sloped around a central column. Single-file only!

Frontage of York Minster Cathedral.

Looking up at the YM tower.

This is St. Michael's Le Belfry, situated right beside York Minster. It derives its greatest notoriety from being the church in which Guy Fawkes--the brain behind the Gunpowder Plot of 1605--was baptized.

a week at Gascoigne Primary School

Hello folks. As my parents remarked last night on the phone, my new blogs are coming fewer and farther between as I get to know the area (so there's fewer new things to remark upon) and as I get busier with school. I will try to continue updating at least once a week.

So, this week I was at Gascoigne Primary School for four out of the five days (and St. Peters RC Primary on Thursday). It was really nice to go to Gascoigne because it's only a twenty minute walk from my house and I worked in the same two adjoining Year 2 classes for most of it, so I got to know the kids and the curriculum and projects they are currently working on much better than if I'm just in a place for a day or less. Even better, they called me back in (on Friday) for Monday and Tuesday of this week (the teacher was ill late last week, and doesn't expect to be back yet at the beginning of the week) so I have lesson plans to look at over my leisure over the weekend, rather than diving in cold Monday morning. Currently the kids are preparing Tower of London information pamphlets in preparation for a class trip to the Tower next month, so I am learning some things about the Tower that I never knew before. For example, did you know that:

a) there was at one time a mint in the Tower?

b) two young princes were murdered there, allegedly by their uncle Richard III, in the thirteenth century?

c) in the 17th century, one of the kings (I forget which one) was given a gift of a polar bear, and thereafter they kept a zoo there?

d) the crown jewels are housed there, including the coronation crown?

e) Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess was imprisoned there for four days in 1942?

f) the yeoman warders (who have acted as defenders of the crown jewels, prison guards, and are now tour guides to the many visitors who come each year) are also known as beefeaters? (if anyone knows why, please let me know....)

As I learned about the Tower of London this week, it made me want to go visit it myself to see all the pieces of history stored there. Maybe on my holiday in two weeks I'll make a visit.

Another thing I learned this week was how much difference a few words can make to engage a class. We were doing math, and I was asking children to come up to the board to show the answers, and I could see kids fidgeting and eyes glazing with boredom. Taking a different tack, I said, "Who wants to be the next contestant on my game show?" Suddenly all the eyes lit up and everyone's hand went into the air. "Oh, me! Me! Please miss!" Me!" I tried it with the other class I taught, and it worked like a charm there too. Everyone sitting up, being absolutely silent and watching carefully. Wow....there is a lesson I will not forget.

Yesterday, I went into London again and explored around Portobello Rd Market. There were antiques there, new goods, fresh produce and baked goods, vintage clothing, artwork, and people. Just crawling with people, so much so that if you wanted to walk 5 steps from the middle of the street into one of the shops, you had to maneuver carefully so as not to collide with the 50 people between you and the door. The only place in Canada where I've seen comparable crowds in such small spaces is at Pacific Mall. I found lovely wall hangings there, made by an Indian man. They were made out of different pieces of batik all sewn together like a quilt, and then embroidered and beaded very intricately. Very beautiful, but as I didn't have 20 pounds cash on me, I passed it up this time. I may go back again later. After the market, I walked down Kensington Church St. toward the Whole Food Market (a foodie paradise I visited before) and stopped at Waterstone's the British equivalent of Chapters) on the way, where I picked up a set of Roald Dahl books (they're all the rage here, every classroom teacher reads Dahl to her--or his--students, and I have rediscovered a love for Dahl's quirky, very creative and imaginative stories as well), as well as the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book (in an attempt to educate myself about some of the popular kids books around), and a Europe travel guide. I made it to the Whole Foods Market where I picked up some gourds (for decoration) and a pumpkin pie (for the lunch at the Mennonite church today) and some lovely-looking spinach and blueberries.

Today I'm going to the lunch/service at the Woodgreen Mennonite Church. I look forward to going back and getting to know some of the people there better over food. Tomorrow I work for the day, and then the Canucks in our house are going out for Canadian Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night at The Maple Leaf in Covent Garden. I'll be thinking of you all tomorrow. Have a joyous Thanksgiving!