My Pictures

I added a link to the right hand side of the blog to my online photo albums. You can go in there and look at all of my pictures from the trip! Just click the link that says "My Photo Albums."

My Last day in Plymouth :(

Hi friends and family. This could possibly be my last post because tomorrow I will be in Paris and it is unknown if I will have Internet access there. If I do I will try to post if I can. I am just getting ready to go to the Year 3 Students Graduation. I found out today that because I took a technology course last fall, combined with the 2 courses I took here in Plymouth I have actually completed my first year of my Master's degree. If I come back for the next two summer's to Plymouth I will be done in two more summers. I was excited to find that out because I thought I was going to have to take one more class to be considered a year 2 next summer, but I was the only one in my study abroad program has earned that status so far. I turned in my final project and I received really good feedback from my instructors on it. I made a podcast about what I have been learning. If you have time, please go to my course blog, look at the post titled "Inquiry 3 Podcast" and click on the link below that says "final podcast." So from here... we have to catch a train to London at 5:40 am. Then transfer trains in London to the underwater tunnel that goes to Paris. We should be arriving in Paris around 3 pm. My flight home will be Wednesday and I get into Detroit at 5 pm. Well I should get going... miss you all and see you soon!!!

Winding Down...

Well I finished my final project today and it feels so nice to complete the course! I have really enjoyed this program here, I can't believe tomorrow is our last day in Plymouth. The last couple of days have not been too eventful, just working on our final projects and going to class. I started packing up my dorm room and now I'm getting ready to go out with some girls from my program and some of the other Master's students. Tomorrow we have a shorter morning class then an afternoon break, and then at 4:30 we have the Year 3 Master's Students Graduation. If I decide to continue on with this program, my Master's graduation would be here in Plymouth as well. I am definitely thinking hard about that option, because I am learning a ton and from the work I have seen from the Year 2 and 3 students I would really benefit a lot from sticking with it. Plus I have met a lot of cool people here who teach all around the world, but will be coming back to Plymouth for one month each summer. Well, I will give you all an update before I leave for Paris on Saturday. The pictures below are from our Awesome 80's party last Friday and the scenic picture was taken from the restaurant we had our party at. Miss y'all and see you in less than a week now!!

Another AWESOME Day in London

The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Westminster Abbey

Notting Hill

Big Ben and Parliament

After our Broadway show at WICKED

Well, wew couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend. It hasn't rained one drop our entire trip to London, and I am so thankful because that is pretty much a miracle for England. We started our morning off by going to Buckingham Palace and watching the changing of the guard. We got there early enough so we got right up front. This ceremony was very cool to see but kind of long. I got some good pictures and videos (Dad I think you would appreciate them the most :) Then we hopped over to Westminster Abbey and took some good photos of the outside. We didn't tour the inside though because we didn't have enough time to enjoy it and it cot about 15 pounds (30 dollars). Next, we took the tube over to Notting Hill to get to the market. Yes, this is the place for the Hollywood film Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. It was a quaint little neighborhood, but then the market on Portobella Road was pretty much what you would expect, very diverse and busy with some common bartering going on between marketmen and customers.

After that we went home to get ready for our Broadway dinner. We bought our Broadway tickets to include dinner, so we went to a pretty fancy restaurant, and then went to the show. We saw "Wicked" and the show was AMAZING! I have fallen in love with Broadway... I was getting chills as I sat in my seat and watched. We had really good seats, only about 10-15 rows away from the orchestra, dead center. Our original tickets were a few more rows back and to the side, but when we got to our seats other people were sitting there... they over booked my seat. So the usher hooked Amy and I up with better seats. So although, we were split up from the other three girls it ended up working out even better for us. I really enjoyed the musical and can't wait to go see another one!! (I don't know when but I will).

After the show, we went down to South Bank to walk along the river and see the city lit up at night. It was really pretty and relaxing. There were a lot of couples around at this time and one musician woman who played some pretty good music that really set the tone for our last night in London sitting on a bench watching the river and the city. We bought her CD as a memento to take home and remember the night.

Now, I've just finished packing to go back to Plymouth, and going to bed because we have to leave on our train at 11:00. I think we are going to try and go to one more site in the morning before we have to be ready to go. i can't believe my weekend in London is already over, it went by way to fast. I didn't get to do everything I wanted, it was pretty much impossible, but I guess now I have an excuse to come back :)

A Packed Day!!

So we headed out to London town this morning at about 10 am. We have pretty much figured out how to use the Tube (the underground railway) here. It's kinda fun and exciting, but it is known for it's pickpockets so we always have to be aware of ourselves and our belongings. I keep my purse across my body and hold onto it right in front of me. I know Grandma's you like to hear what I'm doing to be safe here :) We went and bought tickets to The Original London Bus Tour and took the almost two hour tour around London on top of the double decker bus... it was AWESOME!!! I got some great pictures and video. That was the best way for us to see everything for the first time. Then we walked through a pretty park and grabbed lunch in a little cafe. After lunch, we walked down by the London Eye, bought our tickets, then took a ferry boat down the Thames river. The boat took us right by Parliament and Big Ben, under the Tower Bridge, and down to Greenwich Square. Greenwich is on the Prime Meridian, where time starts! We meant to go to the market here, but realized once we got there the market was closing down. So we walked around a little bit, and found out that this was an extremely diverse part of the city. There were people and restaurants from just about every ethnicity I can think of. The area was also a little more run down and semi-sketchy. We didn't stay long, and found a bus back to the London Eye. Next we took our ride on the London Eye which was really pretty and had an awesome view. Parliament and Big Ben are really amazing sights, it just felt unbelievable that I was actually there. And this might sound kind of cheesy, but when we were on our bus tour going by Buckingham Palace and the palace Green Garden, I almost felt emotional because I was so happy and thankful to be in this amazing place. So that was a touching and memorable moment of myself feeling really lucky I can be here. After the London Eye, we got dinner at a nice restaurant then took the Tube home. Now I'm absolutely exhausted and need to go to bed because we have another jam packed day tomorrow. The plan is to start at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard, then tour Westminster Abbey, and after that head over to the Notting Hill market. Then tomorrow night we have tickets to go see the Broadway show WICKED! We have seats near the orchestra and will get dinner before the show. It was expensive (60 pounds) but I'm hoping will be well worth it. Okey I'm off to bed. Night***

On top of the double decker bus tour!

Going under Tower Bridge (which is way cooler than London Bridge)

On the walking path over the Thames River. Behind me you can see St. Paul's Cathedral to the right (look for the dome) and in front of me, which you can't see, is facing Big Ben and Parliament.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. A little fact: Big Ben is actually the million ton bell inside the clock tower, NOT the clock (a common misconception)

The London Eye which we took our "flight" on right after I took this picture.

I'm in LONDON!

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a couple days, we have been on the go! Friday night we had an Awesome 80's party in Plymouth at a club called Reflex with the other Master's students who are also in Plymouth with us. Pictures are coming soon-- we looked pretty awesome 80's in our neon outfits :) Then bright and early Saturday morning we took a four hour train into London. We are staying at the University of London in Conaught Hall. After we got settled in we walked around for awhile then got ready to go out to London's nightlife. We got our names on the guest list at the Zoo Bar, one of London's most famous clubs. We had a lot of fun, but trying to get home was a lot harder than we expected. We needed to take a cab but there is only one kind of cab that is safe to take. The black London cab. There are millions of "bike taxi's" and "gypsy cabs" but not so many of the black London cab. We walked for about an hour or more back and forth until we finally got one. We were safe though, don't worry! I have a group of five girls who all stick together when we go out. We made it home safe, and now this morning we are on our way out to see the sights! I think the plan for today is to take a double decker bus tour because its a really nice day and go on the London Eye. (Google it if you don't know what I'm talking about) It's basically an hour long ferris wheel ride that shows you a view of the entire city. We might find some markets or just see where the day takes us. Miss you all!!!!

The reason I'm here....

I just thought that if any of you are interested, check out my Study Abroad course blog (on the right hand links) to see my projects I have been working on. There is a digital story on there that I created about the British language in connection to its culture, and also a practice podcast I posted about our field trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Make sure your volume is on so you can hear :)

My Day at Chaucer Primary School

The students working hard on their writing assignment

A view of the classroom.

I'm in the back with the class and I was standing on my very tippy toes to be in the picture because they were as tall as me!!

Hi everyone! Well today was sadly my last day being placed in the schools. I went to a new school today called Chaucer Primary School, I'm assuming named after the English author Geoffrey Chaucer of The Canterbury Tales. I was placed in another fifth year classroom, and I'm really beginning to like this age group. Mrs. Norman, my host teacher, had the students writing questions down in order to prepare for an upcoming question and answer session with me. The students had great questions prepared for me, and as our conversation went on they thought of even more to spiral off of the previous questions. My favorite question was when I was asked if I had ever been on America's Got Talent. I was also asked about what types of holiday's we celebrate in the U.S. When I got to Thanksgiving none of the students knew what it was. I knew that they wouldn't celebrate the holiday but I was very surprised they were unaware even of its existence. I explained that the holiday has a lot to do with their own hometown of Plymouth, when the pilgrims left on the Mayflower and made their voyage to America, the Native Americans greeted them with a huge feast. I then told them that for our holiday of Thanksgiving in November, we have huge feasts with our families to remember this special time. The students thought it was very neat that our country celebrated a national holiday which had so much to do with Plymouth, England. The students were also interested in the weather in America, what types of animals we have, the school systems, our TV programs, and our food including sweets and chocolate. The students then broke into writing groups to work on writing letters to smokers in an effort to get them to quite smoking. During this time I was able to walk around and take photos of the students and answer some more of their questions.

When we got picked up in the cab, I was given a small gift from Kailey. She had a ruler and a note from Widey Court, the school I had been placed in the last two days. One student, Cody gave me her dolphin ruler because she learned that dolphins were my favorite animal. I also received a letter from my host teacher, Mr. Bower. I was unable to say goodbye to him on my last day because he was out of the room when I had to leave. He thanked me for helping in the classroom and offered to email pictures of his class. He also wished me good luck in my future teaching career. I was really touched by these two gestures, feeling like I had made a difference in this small British school in even just two days... Another reminder why I love children and teaching!

For tonight, I am just working on my homework and packing for London! Tomorrow we have class and then an 80's retro party night in Plymouth. We leave for London early Saturday morning and will be there until Tuesday afternoon. I'm getting very very excited to see the big city and fashion capital of the world! I'm not sure if I will be able to blog too much this weekend while we are away, but I will keep y'all updated as much as possible. Miss and love everyone***

Bath and Stonehenge

Today we took a class field trip from Plymouth to Stonehenge to Bath. It was quite the journey considering the shortest point A to point B was an hour and a half and the longest was four hours, but well worth it. Despite the constant pouring down rain we got to see two amazing sites of England, both of which I hope I get another chance to visit.

It's amazing to think about those stones at Stonehenge being erected by people so long ago, and how did they do it? Just standing there on the ground where so much history has occurred felt really brilliant as the English would put it. Then, the city of Bath is very historical as well. The buildings were so old and fascinating. The Bath Abbey was beautiful and we also toured the Roman Baths. I learned a lot about the history of the Roman Baths and their conquer over Britain. I was able to buy some children's books which provide more information on the history and will be a good resource for my future classroom. According to the history, the Romans channeled the natural hot spring water into the huge lead lined bath. People came from all over Europe to this Roman "spa" for cures and healing. You can still go to the spa today of the Roman Baths in Bath, England.

This is me in the pouring rain at Stonehenge!

The Roman Baths

A Roman altar in the museum of the Roman Baths.

The Bath Abbey (Church)

The most beautiful roses for sale on the streets of Bath.

p.s. I got your comments "Harley Man" :) you did it right. Love you guys! xoxo

My Experience in the British Schools

So the past two days I have been placed in a British fifth year classroom at Widey Court Primary School in Plymouth. I found out that Plymouth has 62 primary schools and even more secondary schools. All children are required to wear uniforms to school whether it is private or public. The school systems here are very different and all little more complicated than in the U.S. BUT students never get held back or skip ahead grades (or years as they say), they always stay with their own age group. While I was there on my first day, I had something strange happen in my classroom. Well, it was strange to me but quite normal for the U.K. The children were getting ready to go to their P.E. class and are required to wear proper gym attire in order to participate in the P.E. activities. So the teacher I was observing, Mr. Bower, dismissed the children to get changed. To my surprise all the children grabbed the gym clothes, brought them back into the classroom, and began to undress and change all together in the classroom. Now, imagine me an American visitor, feeling awkward with nine and ten-year-old's down to their underwear with myself and the male teacher in the room. I was absolutely stunned that these kids were able to change in front of each other and with us teachers present as well. This would never happen in the U.S. with such an old classroom. But, in England and other European countries, this is actually quite normal. One the children move on to secondary school in their 6th year, then they separate for changing and P.E. class as well.

The next thing that struck me odd was the curriculum for the children's sex education course. The class is finishing up their unit on sex education in their science classes right now. I remember going through a similar class when I was in fifth grade, but what surprised me, was how much further the students learning goes past the basics we are teaching to fifth grade students in the United States. On my first day in the classroom Mr. Bower told me that in the afternoon the students would be watching a video of a live birth! I was astonished!! I thought that was something I might not of seen until high school, and here these nine and ten-year-old's are watching a video of a baby coming out of a woman. I guarantee such a video would never be shown in any American elementary classroom. When I went back to the same class today, I was able to talk to a few students about what they thought of the video. Most of them thought it was incredibly gross, and made a noises to show me their disgust. One girl told me, "As soon as I saw the woman with her legs open I had to close my eyes!"

I went to this particular school with two other girls in my program, and we were invited by the school liaison, to give a presentation to the school in their daily assembly. We agreed and put together a short power point slide show to introduce ourselves to the school. The schools normally have daily assembly's where the school gets together to sing a song, give out various, awards, and have a prayer. Then we were kind of thrown into that mix as well. The school liaison introduced us and then we were given the chance to talk about ourselves, and where we come from. Then, the students were given the chance to ask us questions they had about us or America. Some of them had pretty cute questions for us. Many of the kids have the misconception that if you are from the U.S. then you know lots of celebrities, I think some were disappointed to find out that none of us had ever met or seen Hannah Montana. We were also asked why our food is so salty, if we like to watch the Simpsons, if our American students have to wear uniforms to school, what type of teachers we would like to be, how hot does it get in Michigan, if our portion sizes are really big, and so on. A lot of students have dreams of being able to visit America one day. They asked me if I have seen Shamu and been to Disney World too.

I almost forgot to add about my gift. We brought our host teachers small gifts from Michigan State as a token of our appreciation for having us come visit. I gave my teacher Mr. Bower a Michigan State tee-shirt and an MSU pen. He was so excited and grateful for what I had given him he scooped me up in a great big hug and kissed me on the cheek! :) I thought it was very nice and it made me feel good to make him so happy!

Tintagel an King Arthur's Castle

On Sunday a small group of us girls learned on our own how to use the trains here in England and found our way to Bodmin Parkway. We then had to take a taxi cab from there into Tintagel. Our cab ride was actually quite funny because we were stopped by a herd of cows. As our cab approached the herd in the road. The herder or farmer halted us to stop so he could lead the cows on around our car and out through the road. The ride was also quite the experience because the roads were so narrow, it made us nervous to pass other cars alongside. Once we reached Tintagel, we took the footpath down to the castle remains. The steps up and down the hills were SUPER steep but very exciting too. I would say that this was my paradise, the most beautiful place I have ever seen with my own eyes. We learned a little about Arthurian legend and Merlon's cave of mystery. Supposedly this was the site of King Arthur's birth and the Knight's of the Round Table. After our extreme hike we found lunch at a little cafe and tea inside a cozy pub.

Let me catch you up to speed...

So Friday night we went to the 4th of July Party and had a really good time. Saturday was spent catching up on sleep and working on homework. Amy and I tried to venture out but it was pouring rain. We even tried to buy umbrellas but they got destroyed by the wind about five minutes after we bought them. If you ever visit England, be prepared for the rain!! It rains once at least almost everyday, and the locals who know we are visitors always apologize for the weather. Sunday me and three other girls went on our own little adventure out to Tintagel, which is the site of King Arthur's Castle, Sir Lancelot, and the Knight's of the Round Table. I will post about that after this post, but basically it was the most beautiful place I have found myself in the world. Then I stayed up all night long last night working on my project which was due this morning. Today I got to go to a little British School and observe in a fifth grade classroom, which in British is the fifth year room. The school is called Widey Court Primary School. I have some funny stories about being there, which I will post about after this one as well. I will be visiting the British school again tomorrow. Then Wednesday our group is going to Bath and Stonehenge. Thursday we will visit one more school then Friday is our 80's night out. That's what has been going on lately, sorry for the delay in postings I have been quite busy!!

Finally the WEEKEND!

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple days it has been pretty busy around here. We have our first big project due on Monday and we have been working a lot on that. We have to make a digital story about some aspect of British culture. I have chosen the topic of language and the disconnect of communication between us the Americans and the British. A preconceived notion I had upon arriving in England, was that I would not have a problem communicating with others here because we all speak English. BUT the British accent is actually much harder to understand than I realized it would be. There is also an entire new set of vocabulary to learn. So, that's the start to my project, when I finish it I will post it on here for you all to take a look at.

Yesterday we had class in the morning then after lunch we went to watch the weekly Plymouth News, which is put on by the Master's students. It's not very serious, it was a video that they made with mostly humor and we got to watch it. Supposedly our group has to put one together for next week.

Last night we went to a 4th of July Party at the pub by our dorms called, "The Fresher and the Professor," which was a pretty good time. Today we might take a train over to the next town and see what they have going on there. And tomorrow we are going to King Arthur's Court. And I have a lot of work to get done this weekend as well. I'll post again soon... miss you all and love ya***

My Day Today

Well right now it is 3 am and I just woke up from a nap I layed down for at 7 pm. My sleep is so off here and it's hard to catch up. I could have slept through the night, but I have some homework to get done and my alarm for the morning was not even set. (I'm glad I woke up at all!)

Today I woke up late because I was up until 3 am the night before trying to figure out my homework. I am trying really hard to get my sleeping back on schedule, I would say that is the most difficult thing I have been experiencing here. Anyway, I finally made it down to breakfast about 15 minutes late, but thankfully Amy waited with me. Then we had class. We watched a video called 49 up! a documentary that has followed several people from England through a series of documentaries every seven years since they were seven years old. So obviously in the one we watched today the people were now 49. I guess that documentary is pretty popular, you may have heard of it. Then after lunch we went to a presentation put on by several teachers across the world to tell us what they are doing in their classrooms. A big side note to our program is to learn about job opportunities outside the U.S. (I know Mom you don't want me to even talk about this), but the opportunities are amazing and endless. Pretty much what I have gathered, is all around the world there is a great need for teachers, and wherever you get a job (the benefits obviously vary) you can be provided with living, transportation, limited taxes, sometimes including your meals, and travel to and from home. The people from the MSU Master's program ahead of us (years 2 and 3) all have different jobs across the world: London, Hong Kong, Mexico, and so on. So anyways, we went to these presentations and I was able to talk to some people about their experiences and also about technology in the classroom. I spent most of my time talking with a teacher from Colorado, about his uses for wikis and blogs in his fifth grade classroom. It was nice because we are learning all of these great things with technology, but I actually was able to see it put into practice.

After we were done for the day, we did a little bit of shopping and then I came home and took a nap till now. Well I should get myself ready for tomorrow and then get back to bed, we have another busy day tomorrow. Love and miss you all....

More Pictures from Day #3 in Plymouth

I really love this picture because it can show you how most of the town is set up. It's all on hills and the angle of view looks so cool when you look across. This was a neighborhood of flats and homes we passed on the way to the train station. One of my favorite pictures!

You can tell I look super exhausted here, but this is my "Antipasto" I ordered at "Pizza and Pasta Bar." I thought it would be a salad but it was mostly stuff I didn't like. BUT I bet most of you are surprised I tried something new :)

This is me at the gate of the old burnt down church in the city of Plymouth. The church was bombed in World War 2 but I believe it's been standing since the 1600's. There actually is not a walkway to get over here, we kind of found our own way to get up close. I'm not sure if we were allowed to get close or not, but no one stopped us. So we got some great pictures here.

This is another one of my favorite pictures. These flats with the businesses down beneath remind of Mary Poppins with the different colors. They are what drew us in to walking down this street. At the very end of the pastel flats is a brown building on the corner, this is the pub where we had our encounter with the pub owner.

Our photography assignment for this day was to capture thoughtful photos in the different settings of our cameras. I took this one of "motion" because this guy was going so fast! I was happy I could capture him, and the picture turned out pretty cool, considering I snapped it at the last minute as I was about to cross the street.

Some Pictures For You

These are two girls from my program. Tina is on the left and Amy on the right. Amy is who I will be traveling to Paris with after our program ends. This picture is taken from a cafe patio in the building we have our classes in. This was during a break on our first day of class. The patio over looks town facing towards the ocean.

This is my teeny tiny room, but I actually really like it because its perfect for what I need it for. The closet and storage space is great. The bathroom is a little small, but that is very common for European bathrooms.

I really liked this curved pathway. This picture was taken on our walking tour through Plymouth down to the pier and harbor.

Beautiful landscape down at the water. There were lots of sailboats out this day because it was nice, sunny, and breezy.

This is the lighthouse we use as a landmark to get our directions. I really like it :)

Getting Into the Swing of Things

Well I only got about four hours of sleep last night, so I was very tired this morning. But, once I get into my daily schedule, my brain picks up and I can get on track. Today we had class this morning from 8-1, then lunch, then had a technology seminar. We split off into groups and I went to a conference about web 2.0, the interactive Internet. Just to give you a little bit of an idea, blogger or myspace/facebook are things that are part of web 2.0 because the user can add, edit, and interact with the web pages. This is just a small fraction of the technology portion I am studying here. We have also started an academic blog that I will link here as well. That blog will have similar things that I write on here, but it is more professional because my instructors will grade it and I can use it in an online portfolio.

Today after our sessions broke we walked downtown to find the train station. The weather was pretty rainy the whole way and we got a little lost, but eventually made it there. Then we walked around town from the train station and found a pizza and pasta restaurant to eat dinner. The owner of the tiny restaurant was the only waiter and he did not want to separate our checks. We all had to pay with cash and put it in one pile of pounds and pence in a little tin dish. Also, it is not very customary to tip waiters, bartenders, street musicians, etc. So we only left about a 4 pound tip on a 43 pound meal.

After dinner I walked around with some girls to work on a photography assignment. One woman at pub we walked by came out very concerned about why we were taking pictures. She thought we were American reporters who were trying to scope out her pub. She seemed really nervous about us being there, like something sketchy might have been going on there that she didn't want us to know about, but then she invited us in for a drink. We felt nervous from her and said no thanks then left. My best advice from home and my instructors was that if it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't. I had some sort of feeling that the pub might have had some sort of background drug trafficking, because we have seen a lot of people discretely doing drugs around town. But, these are just my own hypotheses.

Also after dinner we were walking through town and this group of teenage boys were playing in the rain and a fountain and we started kind of laughing with them as we walked by because they were in the public fountain (they weren't supposed to be) and they started calling after us, "Would you like some sexy? Would you like to shag? What's your numba?" It was kind of funny but they were at the oldest fifteen.

So that was my day today. Tomorrow we have about the same schedule class 8-3 then we are on our own. You can check out my school blog that I will also be updating almost daily if you want to see more about what I'm doing with MSU and why I'm here, and what I'm learning. To get to that blog click here or you can get to it from the link on my sidebar to the right.