Loving London

This week the realization that my time in London is officially running out has sunk in. This was one of my last weeks and weekends without an absolute agenda. As soon as March arrives, time is really going to fly! It’s really bittersweet as I have so much to look forward to the rest of the semester, but also hate the realization that my time here is running out. Sadly I’m not going to have enough time or money to visit all of the places I intended. However, I did find out today that my grandparents have finally made a decision to come visit with my mom and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my best friend Amy decides to tag along too! I miss her a lot, it’s been hard not being able to just call her up whenever I want to, but she is doing quite well! Her and her team just made nationals for basketball; she scored her 1,000^th college career point, earned All American Honors, and turns 21 this week! She pretty much rocks! This is why I really want her to treat herself to LONDON! Speaking of sports, this past week I had some of the most fun playing football (soccer) with Abby and some of her London friends. We traveled to Watford to play which is located in far outside the center. Abby calls it suburbia and it took us at least a good 45 minutes on the tube to make it there. Once we arrived, we met up with her friend Tim who organizes football. Tim also drove us to the fields, this was also quite the experience for me because other than the shuttle to the hotel and the buses we take on class trips I had never rode in a “London car” before. It was definitely different sitting on the other side and it took some getting used to. I also began to feel a little car sick on the way home for who knows what reason, but it was all probably just in my head. Playing soccer was a blast though! It was good to actually play something that was competitive again. I even managed to score two goals! It was even raining it, so it was that much more fun!

Also this week we booked several trips including our spring break trip! We found a seven day Mediterranean Cruise that goes to seven different countries including Italy, Africa, Barcelona, and a few others of course! I can’t remember all of them off the top of my head, but I will have to post the link so that everyone can be very jealous! J The best part about that trip is everything is included and there is a total of 16 of us from our program going so it is going to be a blast! I can’t wait! I hope that the weather is decently warm, because I miss the sun badly. We also booked trips to Paris and Amsterdam for next weekend and the week following spring break! I am very glad we booked them ahead of time, but now I feel extremely broke. This coming week is also very exciting for me because my best friend Ashley who also attends Central College is coming to London to visit us! She is studying abroad in Spain and has the whole week off so she decided she would come see us for a few days! I am very excited because I miss her and have not seen her since New Years.

This weekend I had the opportunity to attended Hilsong Church with several other students in my program. It was such an awesome experience and close to one of the best things I have done since being here! It was so much fun, and I felt so involved! I loved singing the songs and dancing too. It didn’t really feel like I was at church, but more so a concert. I was having so much fun that I didn’t even notice the sermon lasted two hours. We even made friends at the church, got invited to lunch, and asked to come to the young adult group on Wednesday! I am so glad we got to go to Hillsong, but am sad that may be one of our only times as the traveling begins to pick up! I also received a very cool Bible from the church. It is unlike any Bible I have ever had. It’s like a magazine with lots of pictures, quotes, stories that help you relate to each passage. I really hope to take my grandparents here when they come. I think they will find it so interesting! In other news the countdown begins till my boyfriend Jack comes he will be here a week from Saturday and I am so excited! The whole month of March is going to be filled with fun and loved ones as Tessa’s parents come this week as well as Ashley. Our boyfriends come the following week. Lindsey’s friend the following and then before we know it spring break will be here! The time needs to slow down! Can’t wait to write about all our upcoming adventures!

BES Assignment Three: Interview with George Camm

Interview Assignment

George Camm, originally from Nuneaton, Warwickshire (Shakespeare's County) moved to London in 2010 to study Philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London.

Family:

My family is very close, I'm the youngest, I have two sisters 23 and 25, parents both in their fifties. My sisters lives in Manchester and I live in London and although we are all far apart we are still a real close family.  My attitudes towards marriage and divorce are, I consider marriage to be very important and the strongest form of love you could show for anyone, fortunately I haven't had to be a part of a family breakup with divorce it affects more than the couple, but the children and the whole structure of marriage.

Faith:
Religion means different things to different people in Britain as the country is so diverse Britain’s religious identity is changing but it is still important, with HM Elizabeth II being head of the church of England faith it’s very important. Although, church numbers are getting smaller, people still live in a 'Christian way' I consider myself a Christian in the church of England domination, I rarely go to church but I hold many Christian values.

Identity:

 English- I consider myself to be English over British, this is the same for people from Wales being Welsh people from Scotland being Scottish... but people often don't think that people from England won't consider them to be English. British characteristics very stereotypical to some extent are true. The UK's strengths are NHS, quality of schools, housing, public transport, Olympics London 2012. Weaknesses are decline in the British Empire and the commonwealth.

US/UK relations are strong but I feel the UK was bullied by Bush but Blair did a brilliant job. Currently I don't rate Cameron and Clegg (UK) but got to deal with it and Obama started off brightly but hasn't done anything very big from a UK view apart from he travels more than the Queen!

Politics:

Issues facing UK today is unemployment, finical crisis, and drink/drug problems of the UK. I don't like the current government but the opposition Labour Party has gotten really poor and their leader Ed Milliband is nowhere near as good as Blair but because there is a coalition government in the UK it suits the current political situation of the UK right now but not for the long term

Interest:

I am very English so cricket, football (soccer) haha, going out with my friends and Mallory Sturtz! and watching films/tv

BES Assignment Two: The Museum of London

BES

Assignment Two

The Museum of London

There are over 240 museums in the city of London. Each of these museums is unique in their own way, as they contribute to the diversity and magnificence London has to offer. Perhaps one of the most interesting museums is The Museum of London itself. The museum is located in the residential and cultural centre of the Barbican. It is a few minutes’ walk north of the glorious St. Paul Cathedral. The museum was opened in 1976 as part of the Barbican Estate. The museum contains collections previously held by the Corporation at the Guildhall and also items from other collections, including the London Museums. The Museum of London features nine galleries all free of charge. The galleries explore London from prehistoric times to present day. Some of the galleries featured include; London before London, Roman London, Medieval London, War, Plague, and fire, and more.

Since being in London I have had the opportunity to visit a variety of museums. The Museum of London is one of my favorites because it is so unique as compared to other museums. Not only are the contents within the museums distinctive so is the building. The building seemed more contemporary as compared to many of the other museums. It fit in well with the architecture within the area. As we approached the museum there hung an enormous sign with the name ‘The Museum of London’. We entered the museum through a lower entrance and then proceed to take an escalator to the upper level. Once on the top level we walked around a brick roundabout and into the upper entrance of the museum. Upon entering the museum was a cute café as well as a gift shop. I was surprised by the amount of people at the museum on a Sunday afternoon. There were many people enjoying tea at the museum’s café, as well as many people within the galleries. The atmosphere at the museum was very inviting, and informational.  One thing I really enjoyed about the museum of London was the layout. The galleries are featured in chronological order making going through the exhibits easy to understand. The contents and artifacts within the galleries are also clearly labeled with descriptive easy to understand markers.

My favorite galleries throughout the Museum of London were the War, Plague, Fire, and World City’s to Present Day galleries. The War, Plague, Fire gallery tells the story of London from Elizabeth times. After the great fire of 1666 a significant part of London was destroyed. There are many theories as to how the fire originally started. One of the more popular theories is that the fire started in Pudding Lane in a baker’s shop. After the devastation it took close to 50 years to rebuild the city. During this period, London expanded beyond the bounds of the city wall and began its great transformation into the world class city it is today. I really enjoyed this gallery as I find this particular event in history interesting. It is hard to believe how much of the city was destroyed from a single fire, and yet restore to the city it is today. My favorite part of the Fire gallery was the mini movie that was showing. It gave insight into the disaster and brought out the rest of the artifacts and contents within the gallery. I also really enjoyed the modern day gallery as it was interesting to see how the city began to transform throughout the gallery. It was also interesting to learn about London as a city today. They also had a special section dedicated to the summer Olympics which was neat to see. I learned that they Olympics have been in London twice before. It was cool to see how many counties have joined then games since they first originated, as well as the sports played and dress worn. Overall I enjoyed my experience at the Museum of London. I thought it was a fun and interesting way to learn about London. It is definitely a great museum to begin any London experience at in order to get the ultimate feel for the city.

BES Assignment One: Street Life

BES

Assignment One

Street Life

Because London is a city with such a vibrant and fascinating street life, it only makes sense that it includes many extraordinary markets. The markets of London are some the best places to go a get real feel for the diversity amongst the city. Not only are the markets an excellent place to experience the culture of London, they also contain great purchases and for excellent prices. During my time in London I have been to various markets including Borough, Portobello, and Camden. There is also Brixton and Columbia Road Markets that I plan on visiting at some point. There are smaller markets throughout the city as well; the ones I have listed are the larger, well known markets.

Portobello Market is best known for its antiques and collections. It is located in West London and one of the most famous street markets in the world! The market takes up most of what is known as Portobello Road stretching around two miles. I ventured to Portobello one afternoon with Lucy, Tess, and Lindsey. We all really enjoyed the experience, made some great deals, and walked away with lots of shopping bags! Out of the three markets I have visited, Portobello is my favorite thus far. The atmosphere at Portobello was very inviting and full of various cultures. Many of the items found in the Market included jewelry, food, antiques, and some clothing. The jewelry was really appealing to me especially. Although, there were countless jewelry stands, each was unique and had something to offer that the previous one did not. There was very expensive jewelry from Italy and there was inexpensive jewelry. Tess and Lindsey were able to bargain with one vendor in order to get six friendship bracelets for a total of eight pounds. We also found great shoes, but had to convince ourselves to walk away. We are still kicking ourselves for that decision, so we plan on going back next week. They had great food shops along the road as well. Lindsey and Lucy got cupcakes and Gelato and for lunch the girls tried out some delicious pizza. The market was fairly full and a little crowded when we went, but I felt it was organized well enough I hardly noticed. We walked the whole market and back which was quite the amount of walking, especially towards the end when the shopping bags kept magically accumulating. I had a great time at this market and really hope that when my mom and grandparents come to visit they will enjoy Portobello Market too.

Camden Market or Camden Town is also a favorite of mine. It is unlike any of the other markets. It is well known for its trendy pop culture, variety of colorful markets, shops, restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, and theaters. Camden Town definitely attracts enormous crowds of Londoners and tourist alike, however it is most appealing to the youth of London.  Before experiencing Camden Town, I was told it was the place in London where Amy Whinehouse called home. After experiencing Camden Town I would agree that Amy Whinehouse is an accurate description of Camden Town. Upon visiting Camden for the first time I was a little sketched out. It was a whole other culture that reminded me a lot of the Hot Topic shops back home. As we walked around I became more familiar with the area I came to really enjoy the atmosphere and the many shops it had to offer. The atmosphere was fun, exciting, colorful, and full of life. There always seemed to be something new just around the next corner. The majority of Camden seemed to be clothing, jewelry, and food. The most interesting shop we stumbled upon was Cyber Dog. It is full of clothing that Lady Gaga would love to wear. It also reminded me a lot of the clothing worn on Disney’s Zenon Girl of the 21^st Century. I didn’t purchase anything at Cyber Dog, but it was definitely cool to get browse. My favorite thing about Camden Town was the many stands by the water area. They have lots of jewelry, bags, watches, and other fun odds and ends to offer. The best part is they are extremely easy to bargain with. I purchased a bracelet that was originally two pounds, but with a little help from my bargaining partner Lindsey, I was able to get it for just 46p. I felt pretty proud! Since then I have been able to bargain my way down on all sorts of things. I really enjoy Camden and have been there three or so times and I plan on returning this week when my best friend Ashley comes and again when my boyfriend Jack comes.

My Class Fivers

Here is the link to our Newletter! Class Five (My Class) was featured last week! Click on the link to see what we have been up to!

http://www.cameronhouseschool.org/downloads/class-5-spring-newsletter-feb-2012.pdf

Weekley Internship

Internship

Cameron House School

February 20^th and 21^st

This week I started off my Internship in Reception at Cameron House. Reception is very similar to pre-school. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Not only do you have to teach the children, you have to cater to all their little needs like helping each one with their coats, shoe, helping them wipe their mouths, dress for swimming, etc. I have a lot of respect for Diane and Vanessa (the two teachers who are with reception) because they certainly have their hands full! On this particular Monday morning, Vanessa had an appointment so Diane was left with 18+ little ones. Luci asked if I would be willing to leave my original class (class 5) to help her out so of course I agreed! I was only there until lunch, but that was enough time to learn just how exhausting they were! While in reception we worked on counting money. Diane and I divided up play money into three different categories based on the children’s learning abilities, also known as differentiated instruction. This is a technique used in education designed to cater to all learning abilities. I have noticed that differentiated instruction is used constantly in every classroom at Cameron House. The children are all split up into animal categories within their classes. It is very clever, as the students do not know the difference between the animal groups and everyone is able to learn at their ability level.  After working with money the children had French with Yolanda (French Teacher) the children worked on their numbers and colors. They know numbers 1-10 and quite a few colors. I have no prior knowledge of French, as I took four years of Spanish in high school and a year in college, so it was fun to learn since I was at the exact same level as the preschoolers! After lunch I went back to class 5 they were busy working on props for the big play coming up so I basically helped out Mary Ann with grading papers and booklets as she was behind from holiday.

Tuesday I was back in class 5 once again, and Mary Ann told me that I would get to be with her and class 5 for the remainder of the semester unless anyone else needed my assistance on a particular day. This made me very glad because class 5 is my favorite and Mary Ann is my favorite teacher to work with! She is so kind! She takes the time to listen to the children even if there is absolutely no point to the story. I really admire her patience and passion towards teaching. She has also made my abroad experience that much more enjoyable! She makes me feel welcome and always talks to me about my trips, weekends, and everything else. I am learning a lot from her and I cannot wait to apply what I have learned to my future experiences back home. On this particular day in class 5 we learned about time. We split into two groups in order to give the students more one on one attention. This technique is called parallel or co teaching. I like co teaching as we planned a whole unit with a partner using this technique for our final back home. Mary Ann took the higher ability learners, while I helped out the others. I had the students make clocks out of paper plates so they would be able to have a visual. We wrote in all aspects to the clock including minuets, seconds, and even sayings like ten till, half past, etc. On the outside of our clocks we printed the 24 hour clock. This is one form of time that is often used here in London. Surprisingly the 24 clock was what my group had the hardest time with. They could not seem to keep it straight so along with the clocks we decided to make flash cards. For example we would write 6 on one side of the card and then 18 on other to show that they represented to the same thing. This seemed to help a lot! Time is difficult for many children to grasp, especially when it is expressed through an analog clock! However, once it clicks they will never forget it. We also had sport today where the girls had a hockey match against another school called Knights Bridge! They were all very excited about it. They started off losing, two to zero. It was so cute; they girls would come over and rant off so many excuses as to why they were losing. They told me they were older, the wind was on their side, they were tripping them, they had an excuse for everything and it reminded me of my club soccer team when we were in elementary school. We always won, but when we would occasionally lose we could think of every possible excuse. The good news is the girls did end up winning 3-2 and they were very excited on the bus ride home! This week was a lot of fun at Cameron House I got the opportunity to be hands on with the children and to actually teach. Mary Ann wants to do group work every week now, so I am really looking forward to getting to spend more time actually instructing the students!

York York York

This week I did not have my internship at Cameron House. Because the students at Cameron House attend school year round, every 3-4 weeks they have a week off also known as “holiday.” During this time many of the students and teachers travel places with their families. One of my students was traveling to Switzerland, while one teacher was headed to Jordan. It was nice to have a break in order to get caught up on homework, cleaning, laundry, etc. however, time off really made me appreciate my internship and the opportunities it has to offer. I also had Tuesday off. Because I used Monday to get caught up on things, I used Tuesday to experience London by myself, walk around the park, and just relax. Tuesday also happened to be Valentine’s Day! Although I was unable to spend it with my family or boyfriend I was not forgotten. On Monday I received a huge care package from my family! It was full of all of my favorite things such as granola bars, chocolate, cookies, and GUM! Pretty sure I am set on gum for the rest of the semester and if I finish it, which might happen, I have a problem. They also included cards and a beautiful Valentine charm for my bracelet with pearl hearts.

On Tuesday I received the prettiest bouquet of white roses and chocolates from my boyfriend Jack. I’m stilling trying to figure out how he pulled it off, since my chocolates were from Marks and Spencer’s (a local grocery store in London), but he’s not talking and neither are my sneaky roommates. Nonetheless he is the absolute best and I can’t wait for him to visit in March! Tuesday night the girls, Abby, Lucy, Lindsey, Tess, Kirsten, and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day by going to the cinemas. We went to see the vow staring Channing Tatum and Rachael Mc Adams. It was very good and the perfect movie for Valentine’s Day. We all cried, including me, which came to a surprise since my favorite types of movies are action, suspense, and of course scary.

Wednesday I received yet another package! This time from my Grandma and Grandpa Horstmann. Of course it was filled with lots of Gum and an adorable Valentine’s Day card. My Grandparents have talked about visiting towards the end of the semester and I really hope they do! My Grandpa is originally from Germany and moved to America when he was a young boy. If they do plan on coming we would definitely travel to Germany to visit our family. I would love more than anything to have that experience. For Art class on Wednesday we traveled to the Wallace collection. It has been my favorite gallery thus far. I learned that it was originally a house owned by a wealthy family who began collecting paintings early on and soon the collections grew and grew. The collection is comprised of mainly French and Dutch work. The gallery is also very unique from the others we have visited as it is a closed collection, meaning no work can be added or taken away from the collection. I really enjoyed the paintings, bright colorful rooms, and cozy atmosphere. It was more relaxed and comforting than the enormous museums we had previously visited. My favorite part of the Wallace collection was the armor collection. The collection featured hundred of knights’ armor, weapons, shields, guns, and more. Looking through the collection really made me miss my brothers. They absolutely love that kind of stuff! It reminded me of the show Deadliest Warrior. This show features ancient warriors and their weapons. The show compares and contrasts the pros and cons to each warrior and their weapon in order to figure out who would win a battle if they were to go head to head.

This weekend we decided to team up with the boys and head to York and Scarborough. I am almost certain that we are the very first students in the history of Central’s Study Abroad Program to travel to York and Scarborough, but I am so glad we did! Although our trip started off a little stressful, it worked itself out and we had a blast and I can honestly say this was my favorite trip! To begin when booking our tickets the three boys took the last three seats on the 8 o clock train… no big deal right? Tess, Lindsey, and I got three tickets for the 8:30 train. We woke up early and left with the boys since we still needed to print off our tickets, get cash, etc. We arrived at the train station and had everything ready and printed off by 7:30. We saw the boys off and had plenty of time to sit, read, and hangout before our train arrived. We checked our tickets they said 8:30, but when we went to check the board could only find a 8:40, so we went with the board. As time got closer Lindsey went to look at the board and could not find out train anywhere. She came back and confirmed with us the exact time. We told her 8:30; we looked at each other, looked at the clock… 8:29, looked at each other grabbed our stuff and ran! We reach our gate were we actually had the privilege of watching our train pull away… Worst feeling ever. So we went to the information and explained our situation. I felt sick to my stomach and totally embarrassed that we missed our train when we were there a full hour in advance. I don’t know what happened, but God was definitely on our side that day, as the man at information handed us 3 new tickets free of charge for the next train which was leaving in ten minutes. We were so thankful and overcome with emotions that we sprinted to our gate only to find that it was the wrong gate. By the time we got to the right one we were just in time to again watch our train pull away. I was almost ready to give up and just go back to Vandon when we decide we had spent way too much money and effort to call it quits, so we went back to information explained our situation and once again were granted with three new tickets free of charge and this time we made the train!! I don’t think I have ever experience such a rollercoaster of emotions in my entire life. First so excited, then sad, then excited, then sad, and finally excited and off to York for the Viking festival!

Before arriving in York us girls made an executive decision not to tell the boys about any of this else we would never hear the end of it! When we arrived in York we met up with the boys and attended the strong man Viking festival which was quite the experience to say the least! This is similar to a strong man competition. There were approximately 10-12 Viking warriors who competed in several events. The warriors were awarded a certain amount of points based on how well they completed each task. There was also a Viking King and Queen who stood as the official judges. The first even we saw was similar to “build the mountain” there were three large logs at one end. The Vikings were instructed to run each log to the other end without dropping it. The Viking to get all three logs to the other side in the fastest time wins. We also saw combat which was interesting. Each Viking got to select their weapon of choice and then they “fought” one another and earned points through certain moves. Of course the weapons were dull and they weren’t really trying to “kill” one another, but it still was fun to watch!  They had a few other challenges that we missed, but in the end the biggest Viking named Jorfen or something similar to that won the whole competition. After the strong man competition we had time to kill before the big boat burning festival! So we walked around York, went to a few shops, and even got to dress up like Vikings (which was my favorite part!) Although I am not a huge of snakes, because I was the only girl to dress up I had to be the Viking Snake Charmer, which I suppose I was okay with J We got a bunch of neat photos that I will be sure to post! After dressing up we decided to try and find the boat burning festival! Long story short, we literally traveled all over York in search of this place for a total of two hours and it was pretty cold to say the least. Finally after asking numerous people we came across a couple who also happened to be attending so we followed them. It was freezing during the festival so I did not get many pictures of the actual burning because I could not bring myself to take my gloves off or even reach into my purse to grab my camera, but they boys got some pretty good ones! I think I spent the majority of my money that evening on hot chocolate just trying to stay warm. After the festival we had to catch a train to Scarborough. Because of the festival there were no rooms available in York. However, this time we found the train station and successfully made the train the first time! When we arrived in Scarborough the search began once again. We had reservations to stay at a Bed and Breakfast that we spent at least an hour looking for. Finally we found it, after figuring out we circled the town twice and walked right by it at least once, but I am so glad we did find it because it was adorable! We were greeted by an old man and his family and their house was beautiful! They showed us to our rooms and told us that they would make us breakfast in the morning! The rooms were adorable as well and themed too! I guess we grabbed the wrong key because the boys ended up staying in the purple floral room, while we got the yellow sailboat room. However, it didn’t matter as they both were very pleasant. In the morning we were served a full English breakfast, which was 100 times better than the fried toast we got at the YMCA the weekend before. We spent the day tour the city of Scarborough which was gorgeous! We went to the beach and saw the ocean! This is the first time I have even been to the ocean wearing boots and gloves, but it was still awesome and made me want warm weather that much more! We also went up into the hills and visited the castles of Scarborough we took lots of amazing pictures that I cannot wait to share! We took a bus followed by a train and got home around 11:30. Although we were only away for the weekend with all the cold weather, trains, and walking it was exhausting and I was ready for bed! Can’t wait to see what next week brings as the fun continues!

A Historical Week plus Internship

February 6-12^th

It is crazy to think that another week has gone by and we have been here for a full month now! At first time seemed to be going by slow, but lately with all the traveling time has been going too fast. To start off the week I once again began at Cameron House and had a wonderful time working in classes 5 and 6 learning about the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, Latin, and much more. To read more in depth about my Cameron House experience this past week, check out my week 3 internship posts, we had a blast!

This week many of us are beginning to come down with colds. It surprisingly snowed this week and the weather is beginning to act a lot like Iowa’s. Freezing one day followed by a nice one. So we didn’t do too terribly much towards the beginning of the week.

Wednesday we had art class. This week we went to the British Museum. It was an enormous museum that would take you weeks or even months to see everything. We were there for a short three hours and only got through a total of 2 exhibitions. We first visited the Grayson Perry exhibition, followed by Greek mythology rock carvings representing many gods and goddesses called marbles that told a story. My favorite however, was the Grayson Perry exhibition. I really enjoyed this exhibition because it was unique, creative, and very contemporary. It made you think outside of the box and it was easy to relate with today’s society.   We learned that Grayson Perry became famous after attending an evening art class where he learned to make coil pots. He has since become very well known for his contemporary style and expression that he exhibits throughout his artwork. We also learned that much of his artwork is centered on his most prized childhood possession, Alan Measles. Alan Measles is a teddy bear in which Perry found comfort and strength in during the duration of his difficult childhood. The exhibition not only included work by Perry, but also a wide range of collections from other artists as well. When Perry selected other pieces of artwork to include in his exhibition he did not necessarily chose the most important, famous, or historical piece, rather the most, fitting, significant and meaningful to him and his artwork. It seemed that all of the artwork throughout the exhibition connected quite well as if it told a story. There was the perfect combination of the past, present, and future. My favorite piece in the exhibition was a sculpture remade by Perry called, “Our Mother and Our Father.” It was remade from iron and other industrial archeology materials. The new mother and father represented the weight of many different cultures and conflicts. They represented all of us today also those from somewhere else.

On Thursday we had our British Seminar classes where we learned more about the UK and the countries comprising it. We took a closer look at Scotland and the controversy regarding it becoming independent from the UK. It is an issue that is still currently heavily debated as there are many pros and cons, but far more cons I am afraid. Approximately only 30% are in favor of Scotland’s independence as it would require many changes. It will be interesting to learn more as this issue continues. That evening we all went to the London Eye, as we finally got to ride it! It was a neat experience that allowed us to see London from yet a different perspective. It took about 20-30 minutes to complete out flight. We went around 7:00 pm when everything was lit up so it was pretty to see all of the lights. We took lots of photos that I will be sure to put up.

Friday we took off for our weekend excursion to Bath and Lacock Village.  It was a full weekend of new experiences, sightseeing, and fun! We began our excursion at Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English country of Wiltshire. It is one of the most famous sites in the world! Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks. It is believed the ionic stones monument was constructed anywhere from 3000BC to 2000BC. It was really neat to actually see and be a part of such a historical monument! Following Stonehenge we were taken to Bath, where we toured the Roman Baths. This was also a very neat historical experience that only happens once in a lifetime! The Roman Baths is a site of much historical interest. It is located in the English city of Bath. Here we were able to tour the museum as well as the actual baths. The Roman Baths themselves are below the modern street level. The first shrine at the site of the hot springs was built by the Celts, and was dedicated to the goddess Sulis. It is still hard for me to grasp the idea that I physically experienced some of the most historical sites with some much history behind them!

On Saturday we attended our first rugby match, featuring The New Castle Falcons vs. Bath. Bath has one of the best Rugby teams and since we were in Bath it only seemed fair to cheer for them. They ended up winning 30-22.  Although I did not know all the rules it was still a great time and a fun atmosphere. It reminded me a lot of football in many ways, and it definitely made me miss going to the weekend football games at Central. I was really amazed at how big and strong the rugby players were, and especially how physical they were. I was surprised at how few injuries there were since they do not wear any protective gear. It was a great time and I wouldn’t mind going to another one someday J

On Sunday we packed up from Bath and finished our weekend excursion in the village of Lacock. Lacock is a very historical village set in rural Wiltshire. It is famous for its picturesque streets, historical buildings, and more recently as a TV and film location such as Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice. We also visited the Abbey, which is located in the heart of the village. It is a cute country house of various architectural styles, built upon the foundation of a former nunnery. The village of Lacock, was cute and quaint as my friend Nick would put it, but it was definitely worth visiting!

To wrap our weekend we arrived back in London around 5:00pm. Mark had told us the Baftas were being hosted not too far from where we lived, so a few of us decided to check it out. The Baftas stands for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. We were able to get fairly close, but unfortunately didn’t get to see anyone too famous. It was also raining so they wanted to hurry everyone inside. Although we didn’t see anyone we wanted to Lindsey and I did manage to take a picture with a movie producer. He wasn’t very important, but he had a tux on and I’m sure we made him feel important and good about himself so that should count for something. It was a neat experience and now I can officially say I have been to a “Red Carpet Affair”

Internship Week Three

February 6-7

Week 3

It seems hard to believe that yet another week has come and gone! This week at Cameron School I had the privilege of working with class six. Class six consisted of ten students; eight girls and two boys. I have to say that I really enjoy working in smaller classes as it gives me a chance to really get to know the children, especially when you only get to work with them two days out of the week. My mentor teacher this week was Alisa. Alisa is also from the United States, specifically the Chicago area, so it was nice to learn from her. She was very insightful, as she was able to compare and contrast her experiences in teaching both in London and the United States. She has been teaching in London for six years now and she absolutely loves it. She told me that teaching at Cameron house can best be described as “unrealistic” as the students are incredibly bright and well behaved. Needless to say, I picked up on this the very first day. The first day in class six I helped out Alisa by checking, grading, and entering the students test scores from the previous week. Last week the students took standardized tests; they were very tough and tested many areas that we also test children on such as math and reading. However, they were also tested on areas such as logic, verbal reasoning, and non verbal reasoning, which dealt with shapes and the unscrambling of words and codes. It was very interesting and all the students did extremely well! Over half of the students tested 99+ and rank in the top percent of the students their age (10-11) in all of London. I was very nervous grading many of the test, as they are very important regarding the students’ futures! I did not want to be the one to screw it up, but I double checked my work and Alisa did too and all looked good, so I was relieved!

This week also happened to be the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee representing 60 years on the thrown! Alisa told me that the children are extremely interested in the royal family, especially since the royal wedding last spring. In order to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, Alisa and I prepared a mini lesson with articles and video clips about the queen throughout her life! The children loved it and had so many questions! I loved helping Alisa with these tasks as they were very fun and they helped me to develop more confidence, especially dealing with something that I was not totally familiar with!

This week we also talked a lot about the summer Olympics! The children are so excited about them being held in London, they have a mini countdown chain. Coming up in the beginning of March the students have their spring fair. This is similar to a school carnival or open house back in the states, where parents and other family and friends are welcome to come and learn about what the children are learning! Of course there are games, food, and other festivities that will be going on as well! The children are looking forward to it very much as it is right around the corner. This year’s theme is the Olympics! We are working hard on decorating the whole school for this special event, so Tuesday we made giant Olympic medals and torches to hang. I helped Mary Ann and class 5 with this particular activity.  We handed out giant metallic cardboard metals along with other crafty supplies so that the children could decorate them however they pleased! Mary Ann and I looked up and posted Olympic icons and past symbols that many of the children chose to use. Once we hang up all the medals, I will be sure to take pictures to share with everyone. After we made medals we made giant torches with colorful paper for flames. The children had a blast cutting out the paper and designing their torches. I loved helping out with this task because I am very crafty myself and enjoy doing this type of activity. It was also nice for the students to get a break from their school work and show off their creative side, they really enjoyed it as well!

This week for sport I got to help out Hugh with cross country running! The courts were a little iced over from the snow we received so ironically enough we could not play hockey since the children simply wear their trainers to play in so Hugh decided we would run instead. I like to run so I was excited, but also a bit nervous because I had never been a cross country runner before. We divided the teachers among the children and took off! I ran in the middle with a couple of the girls, they were a lot of fun and they kept me entertained throughout the run with their cute comments and stories. We all pushed each other and made it through the course in one piece. All the children, except for a few really enjoyed it and surprising all the teachers did too! I was surprised to find that many of the children hardly run unless it is during sport. I told them that when I was their age we always had to time the mile run at school. They thought that did not seem like a lot of fun, but were also interested in the differences between London and the United States physical educations so I told them a bit about it! Many of the girls are dying to learn more about volleyball so in a couple weeks we might give it a go J

I had a great time this week at Cameron House and next week I will be off since the students and teachers will all be on Holiday, but the following week I will be back with Mary Ann and class 5 which is my favorite so far so I can’t wait!  

Internship Journals. BES Class

January 23-24
Week One

Today was my first day at Cameron House! It was all very exciting, but I was a little nervous as well! I am interning in level 3 classroom which consist of 18 adorable children between the ages of 7-8. This semester I will be helping out Suzanne and Huge. They are both teachers that work in the level 3 classroom. Suzanne is very bubbly and has a great personality. She is wonderful with the children and they all respect her very much. Teaching under her is going to be a blast! Hugh is wonderful as well! He helps out in level 3 and is also the head of sports. He is very energetic and the children love him. He brings a positive atmosphere to the class and is always encouraging. The schedule is very different compared to the state schools I am used to assisting in. They don’t start school till around 8:30ish-9:00 and go to almost 4:00 in the afternoon. The children begin the day with house meetings which reminds me a lot of Harry Potter, but is very similar to a student council. Both the teachers and children have different ways of teaching and learning than what I am used too. For example, the students participate in regular French, reasoning, logic, geography, and “challenge time.” Each day is also different which is also unique.

The rooms are very small, it makes moving around the room almost impossible, but on the flip side makes for a close community of learners.  I have already learned all 18 of my students’ names by heart and have begun the next task of conquering their personalities. I will talk about at least two of them each week. First I will introduce Malu. Malu is a sweetheart with little brown curls, bright blue eyes, and an accent to die for. She has a kind heart, and a mind of her own. She is very intelligent and needs little assistance as she is very independent. She is very athletic and loves participating in Uni-hoc, which is a sport similar to hockey, but for smaller children. She enjoys being a striker and scoring on all the boys. Then there is Trey. Trey has blonde curling hair and big blues eyes. He is from America as well, North Carolina to be exact, so he and I are buddies. Trey’s Birthday was Tuesday and he turned the big 8! He brought treats for the class and even remembered one for me. Trey has the biggest smile that just melts your heart. He cares about all the boys and girls in his class and goes out of his way to put his classmates first. Trey is also very humble, which is why I believe he is admired by all his classmates. He is very intelligent and also excels in all his studies. I am super excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to keep everyone updated!  

January 30-31

Week Two 

This week was yet again full of new experiences and excitement! Once again, I started off the week at my Internship However; this week instead of level 3 I had the wonderful opportunity of working with level 5 children. I loved them to say the least! I had a wonderful time in level 3, but an even better time in level 5. Level 5 had consisted of children around the ages of 9 -10 and they were a blast! I have come to find that I really enjoy this age group. They are old enough to understand what is going on, but yet still admire you and need guidance. They begin to develop their own identities, which is my favorite part. It’s so fun to see their strength and weaknesses shine through as they begin to fit into their personalities. Because, I simply cannot share it all (I wish) I will share bits and pieces about my favorite parts of school this week! My absolute favorite part this week was watching drama practice. The level 5 and 6 students are putting on the Musical Annie in March. I cannot wait! They are working so hard, and they have only been practicing for a week! It is amazing how many of them have already memorized their lines. They all sing so well too, I have never seen so many talented children. I love them all! I wish that everyone had the opportunity to see them perform!

This week, I also got to experience swimming practice and sport! Swimming was really neat, since it is something that does not typically take place during the school day within the states. We walked to the local pool were the students were met by their profession swim coach. They worked specifically on the butterfly (a move I never mastered in swim lessons), but they all did quite well at it. They also had sport this week, where they played hockey. It was great fun, but also very cold! The boys loved it, but many of the girls complained about their hands being cold. The goalies had to wear large helmets and protective gear. It reminded me a lot of when my parents made me play hockey.

During this week I had several tasks that included both organization and instruction. I helped my teacher Mary Ann design and organize several math folders for the children. I cut out over a couple hundred math problems and then organized them into separate categories based on the featured area.  I did not mind carrying out this task, helping others out no matter what it is seems to be something I really enjoy. It did not take much prior preparation to complete this task. Although, it was tedious and took awhile I was able to complete it in the time allotted. So far the experience at Cameron House has been tremendous! One of my favorite parts of the day is getting to talk with the students and teachers. It is interesting hearing their views on things, as everyone comes from different backgrounds. For example, many of my mentoring teachers are from various places around the world such as South Africa, France, and even Chicago. I have come to find that many of the children at Cameron House are the same way. Many are from other countries or have mixed backgrounds. Several have Scottish and French, while others are from America, Ireland, and even Argentina. It is so interesting to see all of their background and personalities mix. They even enjoy learning about America and the American children love that I add to the American tally we have going in our classroom. We are up to four now! Overall I am absolutely loving the experience and cannot wait to continue this experience.

Internship Assignments

Internship Assignment A

February 9, 2012

I.       Goal/Skill: To gain confidence in the classroom.

A.    Objective:  I will become more confident by working in a new environment.

B.      Objective: I will gain confidence by instructing a class full of new faces and stepping out of my comfort area to try new things.

II.    Goal/Skill: To become more assertive.

A.    Objective: I will become more assertive by telling rather than asking.

III.  Goal/Skill: To learn more about myself as an individual and make the most out of every opportunity.

A.    Objective: I will learn about myself through interaction with my students and colleagues.

B.     Objectives: I will learn about myself through self reflection and journaling about my experiences.

Internship Assignment 2

February 9, 2012

Organization/Company Profile:

a.    What are your internship organizations’s stated purposes and policies? If a mission statement exists, please list it.

·         We Promote Exploration:

Cameron House School offers a unique education that helps children to grow in maturity, instilling a firm sense of self, a passion for exploration and a freedom to express creativity, balanced by good manners, kindness and an active interest in others.

b.    How is it organized and administered to carry out its purposes and policies? Is the structure pyramidal or is the chain of command less formal?

·         Because I am working at a private school command is present. However, in the “business world” it would be classified as less formal. At Cameron House School Luci Moore is the head mistress whose job is to oversee all teachers and students. Her position is equivalent to that of a principal.

c.    How are new policies formed? Who has input into these decisions? Who are the main individuals who influence decisions (names, titles)?

·         The staff of Cameron House School meets every Monday after school. It is there where they enforce policies and propose additional ones. Luci has the final say on any and all policies, but they are thought of collectively.

d.   Who is the competition? What effect does that have on strategy and policy?

·         Although Cameron House School is not a business or organization there is still a healthy amount of competition. Cameron House is a private school that strives for educational excellence. It is a very prestigious school that only admits the very best pupils in London. Not only is there competition between other private schools to provide the best education for London’ youth, but there is competition within Cameron House.  For Reception age children there is an informal group assessment in the Spring Term prior to September entry. Children are invited to attend an afternoon in a group of approximately 12 children with three Cameron House staff members. For older children, including 8+ entry, children are placed on the waiting list and invited to attend a morning at school with the class for which they are entered. The children are assessed in Mathematics and English in a classroom setting rather than a formal examination.

e.    How is the organization funded?

·         Private schools, such as Cameron House, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory taxation through public (government) funding, students can get a scholarship into a private school which makes the cost cheaper depending on a talent the student may have e.g. sport scholarship, art scholarship, academic scholarship etc.

f.       Whom does it serve?

·         The youth of London

g.    How many employees are there?

·         There are around 10-15 teachers at Cameron House. This includes classroom instructors, as well as specialty instructors such as music, language, art teachers, etc.

h.    What benefits do the employees receive (excluding salary)? E.g. private health care, number of days paid holiday etc.

·         Teachers at Cameron House receive all health benefits. Because the students at Cameron House attend school year round, both the teachers and students are given brief holidays at half terms and terms. Due to such instances the teachers have paid holidays.

i.      What issues, both positive and negative, are the primary ones facing the organisation?

• At this time I am unaware of the exact issues that my school is facing. However, many positive things are happening at Cameron House. The children are working hard in drama for their upcoming musical performance in March. They will be performing “Annie.” I cannot wait! They are also getting ready for their spring festival where they have begun to create decorations. This year the theme will be the London 2012 Olympics, so it is all quite exciting! I suppose some negative issues relate to the testing that just occurred last week. The students seemed drained by the end of it all, but even that turned out positive as they all scored extremely high as expected

Wales plus Internship

This week was yet again full of new experiences and excitement! Once again, I started off the week at my Internship However; this week instead of level 3 I had the wonderful opportunity of working with level 5 children. I loved them to say the least! I had a wonderful time in level 3, but an even better time in level 5. Level 5 had consisted of children around the ages of 9 -10 and they were a blast! I have come to find that I really enjoy this age group. They are old enough to understand what is going on, but yet still admire you and need guidance. They begin to develop their own identities, which is my favorite part. It’s so fun to see their strength and weaknesses shine through as they begin to fit into their personalities. Because, I simply cannot share it all (I wish) I will share bits and pieces about my favorite parts of school this week! My absolute favorite part this week was watching drama practice. The level 5 and 6 students are putting on the Musical Annie in March. I cannot wait! They are working so hard, and they have only been practicing for a week! It is amazing how many of them have already memorized their lines. They all sing so well too, I have never seen so many talented children. I love them all! I wish that everyone had the opportunity to see them perform! This week, I also got to experience swimming practice and sport! Swimming was really neat, since it is something that does not typically take place during the school day within the states. We walked to the local pool were the students were met by their profession swim coach. They worked specifically on the butterfly (a move I never mastered in swim lessons), but they all did quite well at it. They also had sport this week, where they played hockey. It was great fun, but also very cold! The boys loved it, but many of the girls complained about their hands being cold. The goalies had to wear large helmets and protective gear. It reminded me a lot of when my parents made me play hockey.

Wednesday we had our first field trip for Art class. We went to the National Gallery. It was really neat. We learned a lot about Italian painting and the 15^th century. We learned about Barrack paintings which is a form of dark, spot light painting. We also learned how to pick out attributes within photos which are like symbols describing main characters. It was nice to have our art instructor there to explain the meanings behind each of the photos. It made the experience much more meaningful and I felt like I was able to better understand the painting once I knew where they came from and the artists’ intentions.

Thursday was where our weekend began, as we successfully completed our first trip! Lindsey, Tess, and I traveled to Wales to visit our friends! They had just come to visit us the week before, but with both our busy schedules it just worked out to go this weekend and I am glad we did because we had a blast! We traveled by train and it was so simple. It was really convenient and relaxed. We hope that we are able to plan many more trips by train. We left here at four and arrived in Bangor, Wales around 7 30ish. Nolan met us at the train station and took us to their house. They actually live on campus with other welsh students which was really neat! We got to meet many of their flat mates and even got to go out with them! During our weekend in Wales we walked around and even shopped a bit! It was nice to shop without crowded stores or the business of London (we could actually try stuff on without waiting 30 minutes to do so.)  Saturday we were fortunate enough to tag along on their class excursion to Liverpool! I was the most excited about this because it is one place I have also wanted to visit. Even though it rained the entire day, it was well worth it as we got to go to the Beatles Museum to the ultimate Beatles experience! It was really neat, and the whole time I could not stop thinking about how much my dad would have loved it! My dad loves the Beatles, but I was able to take lots of pictures that I think he will really appreciate! Our last day in Bangor we walked to the end of the pier for their famous scones and they were delicious! It is this little shop that is owned by the most precious elder couple in all of Wales! They were so kind to us; I would definitely go there every day if I lived in Bangor just to see them! We topped off our trip by walking to the isle where Prince William and Kate reside. We went to the local grocery store where Kate is often spotted shopping, but sadly we did not see her. Although we did not see Kate we had another amazing weekend with friends and I look forward to see what this week will bring!