Boo.

Oh, it's our last day. It's all just so sad. I need to go pack, so I won't make this long, but here's a recap of today.
We had a brief class in the morning where we wrapped up everything and then had the rest of the day to do as we pleased. We had lunch at Nando's which I am seriously going to miss. We even saw Jose and Raul there! They love that place. From there we went to Sainsbury to load up on British food to bring home. After some work at the flat, aka watching Made in Chelsea, we went to run some last minute gift errands. We went to the wonderful Harrods and got some sweets and checked out M&M World which was pretty cool. We then met up with the big group to have dinner at this super small and quaint Italian restaurant. The owners were super friendly and gave us free food. And the food was delicious. If I can find out what the name is, I would spread it because it's great.
I have not packed a thing, so I need to do that. I'm guessing there won't be much sleep happening in this apartment. Oh well. It's our last night. Boo.

It's the Final Countdown

The last day of work has arrived and as I dutifully got up and made my walk to the school, I was expecting some administrative tasks with a bit in the library perhaps. This was not the case, however. When I arrived, there simply wasn’t anything for me to do, so I was told that I was not needed. So yeah. For my last day, I got a free day. They did tell me to come in on Friday or Monday and they would have some work for me but I quickly set them straight. I have really enjoyed working here and am super glad I was placed at this school. I would divulge and go into all my positives and negatives, but I don’t really want to. We did have to write a summary paper, so there is a chance I will post that on this blog as a final recap of the internship.

So, since I had the day to myself, I washed my hair, which needed to happen, and became addicted to a show called Made in Chelsea which is like The Hills for London. I’m obsessed. It’s insane. I may or may not have watched three or four episodes. Whatever. Hate all you want to. Once the roomies got off work we hung around for a bit before going to Giraffe to celebrate Lindsay’s birthday. We had a great time with some delicious food.

Somehow we managed to flip the switch thing on the breaker box for the living room and kitchen. Before we realized that we had access to the breaker box, we were living in the dark for a bit. Even though the sun sets super late here, when it does set its obviously dark and we had work to do for class the next day. We had a lovely adventure of standing precariously on the backs of chairs attempting to flip switches. And we were successful!

I have pretty much decided that I am not leaving London. I just love it a little too much here and am a big city girl. I’m not used to driving, so I think that will be a bit weird though I will be glad not to be using the tube with all its dusty dirty air. I feel as though my lungs are coated with gunk. I’m gonna really appreciate some fresh air, preferably salty ocean air. I have already made plans that I will be having Chick-fil-A for dinner in the airport no matter how little time I have. (Have I already mentioned this?) It’s a must. I’m gonna be so glad! And I get to see my puppy and family. And I get to sleep. Those are all the positives about going home. There are a bunch of negatives. Hence why I am staying. Sorry I’m not sorry. I mean, who am I going to root for in the Olympics?! USA or the UK? It’s a tough decision I don’t want to make. I’m rambling. One more day. Eek.

Week Six: Day Three: Internship 16

The Library

If I had even considered being a librarian, I can officially over that contemplation. Reception had no need for me so I was sent to the library to see if anyone needed my help. The library was a mess, so it was my job to tidy up. I don't mind doing that at all. Picking up papers and all the misplaced books are what my duties consisted of. The librarian and I also rocked out to some Ed Sheeran and Michael Jackson. Though I don’t mind doing these tasks, picking up everything that all the students have left was kinda gross. After that, we went to the back room to sort the fiction books. I was told to alphabetize from the start of the alphabet and she would start from the back. At least, that’s what I did. She sped through her half and caught up with me around G. My section was beautifully alphabetized and such, and when I went to put a book in her half, I realized hers wasn’t in order. The authors with last names of the same letter were together, but that was about it. I was in a bit of a state of shock. I’ll admit, a little bit of OCD kicked in. I just wanted to stay in the back room and alphabetize her part. I did get a pretty good arm workout lifting all those books and moving rows of them down and such.
She declared she was taking a tea break and wanted to know how I took my tea. Um…I don’t know. I just make it up until it tastes good. I told her something that I thought sounded accurate, a little milk and three sugars, and it turned out pretty good! While we drank our tea, we were able to chat for a bit, which was nice. She told me she wanted to go to the US to be able to understand all the jokes on television shows. Please let me tell you what she wanted to experience in the states.


She wanted to eat a ho-ho. Like the twinkie thing? I suppose. I regrettably had to inform her that Hostess went broke, so that dream may never come true. She was actually disappointed!


Two: She wanted to go to a Seven Eleven, like the convenient store. I quickly told her that people who aren’t hoodlums don’t hang out there. She thought they were corner cafes. No. It’s a gas station with some snacks and lottery tickets.


A grocery store was the third item on the list. She wanted to go to one of our massive supermarkets.
This woman was also super excited that I had shot a gun before and wanted to know all about it. It was so weird. She thought it was the coolest thing! Crazy Brits. Afterwards we worked a bit more on the library. We moved on to the nonfiction section which were organized by a number system. After discovering that this section had no true organization, I just began placing books in the general area where they should be located. It was pointless to try its correct spot, because it didn’t have a spot. The books were simply thrown on the shelf. I can’t even handle that. After all that sorting, I was of no use and sent on my way.


With some time on my hands I did a bit of shopping before coming back to the flat to prepare for dinner. A group of us were celebrating Emily D. and Lindsay’s birthdays. We started with dinner at Wahaca which was an immensely delicious Mexican restaurant. I wish we would have found that gem a bit earlier. It was the girls’ 21^st so we needed to celebrate! From dinner, we went to a bar called B@1 that was recommended to us and it was great! The bartenders were so nice and friendly, and cute I may add. And they had drinks that I recognized! So exciting. They even had alcoholic milkshakes which were amazing. It was a lot of fun to hang out and meet people, and we just had a really good time. We even got them to play some American music, including Baby Got Back. We spent a while there before heading back to the flat. We had to work the next morning, so there was no hardcore partying for us. Boo.

Week Six: Day Two: Internship 15

The Last Monday

The countdown to the flight home begins this week. It’s coming so soon, and in a few short days, I will have Chick-fil-A in my possession. Even though that’s all so wonderful, as I’m sure I have said multiple times, I don’t want to leave. I am all accustomed to big city life. As it is nearing the end of the program, we only have three more days of work. Because my students, as well as the teachers, have left for summer break, I am working in the office completing administrative tasks. I went into work at the normal time, but found that they lady with my assignments didn’t come in until 10. So I sat for a bit until we got in contact with her. Remember all the school report cards that I had to copy last week? Well, it’s a good thing I put them neatly and in orderly form because my task today was to file them all. So, for a good hour and a half or so I filed these reports. The file system at this school is a bit unorganized. There are a ton of files, one for each student of course, precariously hanging in filing cabinets. Some of these children’s folders are like five or six inches thick. I mean, seriously, what can the file have in it? Filing is a mundane task but I don’t mind it. After a while though all the names began to run together and I kept feeling like I had put report after report in one student’s folder and none in the rest. The names just sounded so familiar. Probably the most confusing parts were the names. Some kids had names on their report that were different than the file. So, that was fun to find. Also, there are a ton of students with the name Al (fill in the blank). So, I have no idea how to pronounce or spell their last names, but I had to sift through all the Al (fill in the blank) names to match up the letters on the file with the one on the report. Goodness goodness. But I can’t complain.

After all that filing, I took a break and went to Starbucks, which is just so conveniently close and I got a muffin. Yummy. I sat for a bit and read the school newsletters. Today was very slow, and I got to leave early which was nice. After work, I decided that I could go shopping. I mean, why not? Even though it’s a mad house, I went back to Oxford Street to go in some stores I hadn’t gone in yet. I found some really cute items! I met up with Emily and the shopping continued and then we met up with Lindsay, and we kept going. We hadn’t experienced Selfridges yet, so that was on the agenda. In Selfridges, which is a massive department store, that is decorated really cute, they have two notable stores. The Big British Store and The Yellow Store. The first is what is sounds like and the second carried only yellow merchandise. I must say, I was a bit disappointed.  The Yellow Store was nowhere near as big as I was expecting and all the British items were super expensive and not that British-y. So, overall, it was kinda a letdown. After shopping all day, we were exhausted so we just made our way back to the flat and picked up dinner at Sainsbury.

I’m so sad it’s just all coming to a close. I’m excited to go home, but I know I’m really going to miss London.

Week Six: Day One: Internship 14

Afternoon Tea and Pimms

To celebrate Emily D and Lindsay's birthdays, a group of us planned to go to The Chelsea Teapot for afternoon tea. This wasn’t any regular tea. It was a fancier tea than what we have had. We had tea at 1:30, so it basically served as our lunch. Even though we have declared not to waste a single moment, we decided to sleep in this morning. I think the exhaustion of this entire trip has begun to catch up with me. I can’t wait to sleep for hours upon hours. Since this tea was fancy, all three of us in the flat needed to shower and get ready. Two showers, one hairdryer, and two straighteners. It gets a bit complicated. We also wore sundresses and heels to mark the occasion. Lindsay did not know this was for her birthday, so we had to work around that, although there were several times where we almost gave it away. So we get all dressed up, with newly clean hair and wedges and we go to the tube station. And people are looking like something big is happening. Seriously people. It’s just a dress. I can’t win with my outfits in this city. We make it to Chelsea and now all we have to do is find the place. Little did we know that it was a 30 minute walk! Thirty freaking minutes. In wedges. My feet are still in pain. It was so far away.

Despite the damage I did to my feet, who may never recover, The Chelsea Teapot is a lovely place. It’s decorated all springy with purples and greens. We had our own private room downstairs with a beautiful table set up. Each person had their own unique tea cup and saucer. It was precious. When you ordered your tea, you got your own tea pot as well. So adorable. I got the Earl Grey tea, and it was delicious. For our meal, we started off with tea sandwiches. There was a cucumber and cream cheese, a salmon, and an egg one. They were quite delicious and there were enough that everyone could try one of each. Our next course consisted of scones and clotted cream, which is the best thing ever. Mom start looking for clotted cream and scones, because I’m addicted. I will also need tea. I would buy a tea cup, but I don’t know how to bring that back. But I kinda want one. Thoughts? This course also came with little fruit tarts and strawberries. Delicious. Each of our little courses came out on three tiered porcelain stands, which were so precious. The last course was something sweet, of course. To celebrate the birthdays we had cupcakes!! There were two kinds to choose from: chocolate or vanilla. The birthday girls had fondant decorations on theirs as well. I had a vanilla one with pink icing. And the icing had glitter in it. Let me tell you, it may have been one of the best cupcakes I have ever eaten. Better than Gigis. I know. I said it. It was such a wonderful time, and it was also a way to celebrate the end of our trip. I’m addicted to tea now. It’s great.

We were not about to walk all the way back to the tube station, which was 30 minutes away, so we hopped a bus. We haven’t taken a bus here before, so that was a new experience. We were all a bit giddy and didn’t know how to signal the driver to let him know when we needed to get off. It was great fun. We rode the bus to the tube station then hopped that to return to the flat. When we were on the tube, there was a family, who looked like they had had a super long day and the two kids were sound asleep in the seats. The girl had her face pressed up again her mom’s shoulder and the boy had his knees up at his chest under his sweatshirt. The mom and dad even closed their eyes at some point. When the little girl woke up she had a huge red mark on half of her face from the mom’s sweater. It looked like half of her face had tire tracks on it. And you could tell her eye was having some problems adjusting to the open position. They made it to their stop before we reached ours so they had to wake up the boy. It took a few moments to get him up, but when they did and attempted to hop off the tube, it was clear his legs had fallen asleep. He essentially had lost all feeling in his legs and they were of no use to him. He looked like a baby giraffe who didn’t know how to use his legs. Thankfully, his dad was quick enough to catch him to try and steady him. Well, he didn’t have use of his legs for the next five minutes. They were going everywhere and eventually his dad had to pick him up and carry him. It was too funny. I’m still laughing.

After getting changed, we made our way back out to go shopping. I don’t know why I always go back to Oxford Street. It’s always insane and there are always a million people and yet I keep going back. We just had a few stores we needed to pop into to complete some shopping. I got a British Pandora charm! It’s so great. For the Olympics they have a special British collection with double decker buses and royal coaches, etc. I’m in love. I got a double decker bus with and enamel union jack on the top. I’m in love. I added it to my British bracelet, which also contains a tea pot and tea cup. How appropriate! We also went to Forever 21. Yes, I know we have those in America, but this one was three stories. I got a few cute things. Since we got a late start, the rest of the stores we wanted to go to were closed. Places close so freaking early here! For dinner, we continued the American theme and had some good ole McDonalds. Lauren also met up with us, so we had a great flat-mate dinner. Oh, but the adventure doesn’t end there. We were all waiting for the tube, giggling and in a good mood, when Lauren’s scarf is blown off her neck and goes onto the tube tracks! What were we supposed to do?! A train was coming in one minute, so we didn’t want to risk our lives. We waited and missed that train. After it had gone by, Lauren got on the ground and leaned in and got it. The scarf was saved but did suffer some battle wounds. We wanted to see if we could get tickets to see Rock of Ages tomorrow, but sadly the box office was closed. Soho is another area that I dislike, yet somehow we always end up over there. I suppose because that’s where all the theaters are located.

Our night continued with a stop in The Green Man pub. A very traditional British drink is Pimms and we had not experienced this yet. It’s some type of liqueur with soda water and fruit in it. Kelsey met up with us, as this was on her bucket list as well, and we shared a pitcher. It was good, but not the best drink I’ve had. We stuck with the traditional Pimms that had strawberries, oranges, and limes in it. It was good experience, but I’ll stick to my cider. It was a really fun and busy day, and we plan to pack in more things tomorrow after work. I’m so gonna miss it here.

Week Five: Day Seven: BLC 25

Portobello Market

There is no time to rest here in London town. There’s a list a mile long that needs to be accomplished. We woke up early to go to Portobello Market. A few of the girls have already been there, so Emily and I explored on our own. We did run into Kelsey and Anna on the tube, who were going to have a full English breakfast. (That includes baked beans for breakfast.) Emily and I found our way to the market. Basically this market runs down an entire street for several blocks and it’s just filled with shops and vendors, lining both sides. This market is famous because in the movie Notting Hill, Hugh Grant is seen walking through the market. It’s also something that has been on the London bucket list for a while now.  It rained off and on, and although that was super annoying, we pushed through. Now, markets stress me out. There are a ton of people in crowded spaces with a lot of things to look at. And the owners of the stalls keep calling out to you and try and pressure you to buy things. It’s stressful. Portobello wasn’t as bad as Spitalfields, but still. I was a bit overwhelmed.

Portobello Market

Our tactic was to walk down the center, avoiding umbrellas and such, and look into shops. If something looked interesting, we took a closer look. Things that generally caught our eyes were scarves, teapots, food, and jewelry. We found a really cute place that had a lot of precious teacups that dated back to the 1870s. They were beautiful. I kinda wanted one to put in my room, but resisted. But teacups are so cool. In a stall close to this one, I found a really cute ring. It was simple and small, but I really liked it. So I did purchase that. I’ve decided it will be a piece of jewelry that I wear always, much like my Pandora. Speaking of Pandora, they have a British line of charms here. I’m so tempted. I want one. Badly. After walking the entire market, we decided to head back the other way to get food and to skim the vendors again. A lot of the places have the same stuff, and even though we saw several cute pieces of clothing, it didn’t make sense to buy anything if we can’t try anything on. And British sizes are so complicated. We did find a tent that had scarves for £1. How can I pass up a deal like that?! I found a very cute floral one. So happy. We made our way back to the food portion of the market. Emily had a delicious pesto, cheese, and sundried tomato sandwich on an herb bread. I have been craving paella for a while now, and heard they have some great paella here. When I go to Spain later in life, paella is on the list of dishes to eat there.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t have it here. Paella consists of rice, beans, vegetables, chicken or seafood, and spices. They cook it in these massive skillets that make portions enough to feel 50 people. This booth had chicken and seafood. I got chicken because the in the seafood paella had shrimp in it, and the shrimp weren’t headed or peeled. I can’t handle that. The chicken had while pieces of chicken, which kinda grossed me out. Actually it grossed me out a lot, so I mainly stuck to the rice and such. Overall, it was delicious. Seriously. It was raining pretty hard, so Emily was a saint and held the umbrella over me while I ate. You also got a huge portion. I’m addicted, but I would like some chicken not on the bone please. We also passed a dessert tent and couldn’t pass that up. I had a massive sprinkle doughnut which I engulfed. By that time, it had begun to rain some more and the number of people there was getting a bit overwhelming, so we left. By the time we made it back to our area of town, we were wet and freezing. A few of us had had plans to go to Cambridge and go punting, but with this rain, it was out of the question. Punting is where you get on a big row boat and one person rows at a time. Kinda like a gondola.  We would have been miserable on the water in the rain.

Delicious Paella

Side note: I seriously do not understand why people feel like it’s okay to make-out on public transportation. This is not Paris, the supposed "City of Love." This is London. The underground system is not a turn on. It’s dirty and loud and you are surrounded by 50 of random people. But people just feel the need to kiss and touch and oh my goodness please stop! It’s gross.

We spent some time relaxing at the flat, trying to regain feeling back in our feet. If I never see another flight of steps, I will be so happy. It takes three to get to our apartment. Emily and I decided to go to Chinatown to go buy some cheap scarves that they had there. They were three for £5. That’s such an amazing deal! I went a little crazy, but every know I adore scarves and I wear them all the time. And they were good quality. Because it had been raining like all day, we broke out the rain gear. Did it rain while we went on these errands? Not one drop. We also wanted to look for fascinators at TK Maxx. TK Maxx is basically TJ Maxx. We thought we knew where we were going. Wrong. We ended up in Soho. Scream and run. Soho is a completely different world. Eventually we made it. Thank goodness. Seriously. We didn’t find any fascinators though. I picked up some dinner at Pret and took it back to the apartment. I am so exhausted. Not ready to leave London, but ready to be home and sleep. Sleep all the time. I really love just hanging out at the flat with the roomies. We have the funniest conversations. Today we talked about giving birth. You know the pregnancy pact movie on Lifetime? Well we’re going to make a pact to never have children. Also, like just now, we had some roomie fun. This is hot off the press news. We are all sitting here, blogging, etc, when we hear all this yelling outside. We look out the window and there is an old man talking to a man with pink hair. And they were talking very close to one another and the old man was tapping the other on the chest. So, we didn’t know if they were gonna fight or what. Then the old man tried to fist bump pink hair guy, but he didn’t understand. So then they depart, no fight, and the old man is just standing there yelling after him. Well then a woman is walking by and he goes up to her and is trying to talk to her. We were like “RUN!!” He kept going up to people and trying to talk to them and yelling. We kept trying to predict who his next victim would be and of course narrating the events taking place. So fun, and yet so randomly weird. And now we are talking about scary movies. Heck no. I don’t do this conversation.

A few notes: I have been singing Billy Elliot all day and am so obsessed. I want to see it again. Also, I feel like a true Londoner these days. We were on the tube today and there were a ton of student groups and I just wanted to get where I needed to be and can’t handle people who don’t know where they are going. I’m sure people were annoyed with me when I first got here, but I have evolved.

Week Five: Day Six: BLC 24

Olympia

As our time comes to a sorrowful end, the lists of things we must do and see seems to be increasing in length. So, it’s only natural that we jam pack every moment of every day with stuff. We had class in the morning and we had an assignment due. We paired up and were given trivia questions to answer about London people, places, etc. Kelsey and I had one about death. Morbid, but interesting. After learning all this trivia, we found there was just so much more that we needed to do. We needed to explore the random places and learn the interesting events that took place there.

After class, we wanted to go see the Olympic site, because it would have been a waste to come to London and not see where the Olympics were being held. It’s a 40 minute tube ride, so we stopped in at Pret A Manger to get some lunch to eat on the way there. Eating on the tube isn’t the easiest thing so we held off until we made it to our destination. The first thing we came across was the Westfield Mall, so we set off in hopes of finding a food court where we could sit and eat. This is a massive mall, like three or four stories with a ton of stores. We had heard about a store called John Lewis, which looks out over the entire Olympic site. We didn’t think you could go into the site, because it’s still under construction, so seeing an overheard view was great for us. This John Lewis store is fantastic. They have everything and a ton of really cute British items, such as tea and biscuits. At the top, where you look over the Olympic site, they have a huge Olympic store with tons of official merchandise. So we went to work. We skimmed every crevice looking for great merchandise to take back home. The more we spent in that store, the more I found that I needed to purchase. So, don’t be surprised if you end up with Olympic memorabilia for a present. They have a massive look-out at the back of the store where you can look at a map while looking at the Olympic village. We saw the stadium and basically the entire venue. We also saw a monument called “The Orbit” which is an artsy looking tower that was recently built. I read in the paper that this is supposed to be the next big London monument, so it was interesting to see. I wonder if it will become extremely popular as predicted. We also went back downstairs at John Lewis and got some British items. Since we were in a mall, we decided to continue our shopping expedition. They have a Primark there! It was crowded but nowhere near the same level as the one on Oxford. One could actually try on items in the dressing room without waiting 45 minutes in a line. And of course, everything is very cheap. Naturally I got a few items and a few presents. I mean, I can actually try on clothing, so why not take advantage of that?! The shopping has officially begun people. I seriously am going to need another suitcase to fit everything.

Olympic Stadium

More of the stadium with The Orbit

After dropping our many purchases back at the flat, we met up with everyone else and had dinner at the Real Food Market. I have been there before, and mentioned this in a previous blog, but it’s a natural food market with food from all over the world. This time I had a burger. The two guys working the stand were super handsome and nice to talk to. They worked on a farm/ranch in Wales and came to London to sell burgers. Gotta love cute British guys. And the burger was delicious and very healthy tasting! I also had a brownie, but who can blame me? We walked around for a bit afterwards and made our way to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament because we wanted to see them at night when they are all lit up. We got there a bit too early, and it was raining, so we went to the tube and headed to Harrods, because it is also lit up at night. It was quite amazing to see! Though it was still raining pretty hard, Emily, Lindsay, and I made our way back to Big Ben to see the lights. It was so worth it. These monuments are beautiful during the day, but they reach a new level at night. We took tons of pictures. We also needed to see Tower Bridge all light up. That was even more spectacular and we got to see the Olympic rings. This was all occurring at like 11:30 and the tube closes at 12, so we were pressed for time, but we made it back in just enough time. Thank goodness.

Harrods at Night

The London Eye

Big Ben

Tower Bridge

When we finally got back to the apartment, we were absolutely exhausted and went to bed pretty quickly. It was another great day in London and I’m going to miss it so.

Week Five: Day Five: BLC 23

Greenwich

The day began with class at 10am. During our orientation sessions earlier in the year in Athens, we gave a presentation on a place in London that we were most looking forward to visiting. I did my presentation on The Tower of London. The second part of this assignment was to actually visit the place and give a second presentation on our visit. Class time was spent watching everyone’s presentations. They were all really interesting and with only a week left, I kept finding more that I wanted to do and had not done yet. You could seriously spend a month here and not finish everything. There are a million awesome things to do here, not to mention all the day trips that are available. I could have made a brand new list of things to do. After class, we had some time for lunch before our class took a day trip to Greenwich. A group of us ate a market that sets up behind the university. It’s so delicious! Everything is fresh and homemade with natural ingredients. I feel like a true Londoner eating at markets. I had a delicious burger and some great ice cream. We then made our way to Greenwich. It was quite beautiful and on the Thames. We had Sean as our tour guide and he showed us the city as well as the notable areas. Several movies have been shot in Greenwich including Pirates of the Caribbean 4, and The Duchess. Greenwich was also a royal palace at one point, then a hospital for naval soldiers, and finally a naval college. We went into the chapel, which was simply beautiful. We also saw the Painted Hall which, as it sounds, was painted with beautiful pictures all over. Quite spectacular. Johnny Depp filmed a scene in there for Pirates of the Caribbean.  Greenwich is also the host of three Olympic events, and while we were there, the construction of these sites was happening. These people need to get a move on; there was hardly anything there. We did see where the equestrian event is taking place, which was interesting. Greenwich is also home to the meridian, aka where time begins. I was really looking forward to being able to see this, but because of all of the construction, we weren’t able to.

Greenwich

The ceiling of the Painted Hall

Site of the equestrian events in the Olympics

There was also a little market there, so after our tour we took a look around. There were some really interesting items. We made a few British friends, I suppose but they laughed at us because we only bought one spoon for £2, when the whole set was for sale for the same price. Whatever, I just need one. After leaving Greenwich, Emily, Lindsay, and I went to Oxford Street for a bit of shopping. Once again, it was completely insane, but we stopped in a few stores to see what we could find. Although I didn’t find anything great to buy, it’s always an experience going there. For dinner, we returned to Nando’s for one last meal there before we leave. It’s so sad that we are leaving so soon, and I simply don’t feel like I have done everything I want to. I’m not ready to leave!

Week Five: Day Four: BLC 22

Saying Good-bye

No, my internship is not over, but my students go on summer break on Friday, so I had to say good-bye to them. As I had said before, the majority of students are away on work experience or camping, so I haven't even seen all my kids this week. That makes me so sad. They have been so sweet. And I didn't even get to say good-bye. I miss them already.

For first period, I went to the room where lessons were being held. The number of students is still decreasing, maybe seven or eight per class. We had the younger ones again for first period. I still don't know what year they were, but it's all boys. I sat in on the economics lesson, which was taught by the American teacher I had met a few weeks ago. This group is extremely roudy, so class consisted of the teacher yelling over the students talking, as if they weren't talking. Seriously woman. Take control of the classroom! They just laughed and mouthed off and talked while she was talking! That would not pass at SCPS. Like, sit down and be quiet. I was seriously glad when that class period ended and resolved to find my beloved year 9 class. I cannot handle all the yelling. I talked to the teacher for a bit about how pointless these final classes are and how they could change this. Thankfully they came in next. I sat and talked with a boy, who turns out is an aspiring actor. His father is currently performing on the West End in Abigail's Party. He told me to come see the show and come say "hi" backstage. I'm tempted, but I have so many shows I need to see. This boy is also the voice of a animated character on a television show and he is in a Mr. Bean movie! How cool is that?! In a few weeks he is going to Edinburgh to do a comedy show. He gave me a flyer, and I'm so sad I will miss it. We sat and talked about theater, Disney, and movies. I loved talking to him. The rest of the year 9 came in, and I must say there were decreased in number. My head boy wasn't there. How sad! I ended talking to one of the girls, who was so sweet. She just wanted to know all about me and my life and told me all about herself and her boyfriend. She was one of the girls who had asked me a few days ago why someone would come to a random person (a counselor) and tell them their problems. Well, I don't know but she went ahead and opened up to me like it was no problem. I even was told why her best friend was mad at her. Maybe I'll make a good counselor because this age group will open up to me, who knows?


Class started and they were assigned to come up with an imaginary product and sell it to us, the audience. The boys took off at lightning speed while the girls were struggling. Because the girls had already established a relationship with me, they wanted me to come help them. I ended up being in their advertisement skit, which was actually a lot of fun. The girls invented a time machine necklace while the boys made a pencil that you could chew on the end and flavoring would come out. The next period, they were in the same room, thankfully, so I sat and talked with the girls during the break. Well, the break turned into class time and a teacher never came. I essentially ended up supervising them for the third period. There were only six or seven of them so I just let them chill out and we talked. I had to explain the whole counselor thing a few times and just spent time bonding. One boy, who is bent on telling me why Britain is so great and telling me things about America. Once again, they don't know where Georgia is. Sheesh. This boy tried to tell me that 75% of Americans believe there were three world wars. What? I don't even know.


The girls really wanted me to come and sit with them at lunch and go to the playground with them after. I had plans to laminate after lunch, but then found out I was needed in the upper school to help with some administration. Lunch was good. I got to sit and chat, and sadly had to say good-bye to my new friends. I'm going to miss those girls. And all the kids in general. On my way to the upper school, I stopped by Starbucks and got a mocha cookie crumble. Yum. The administration staff was working on the students report cards. My first duty was to make copies of all of their reports. Each report has about 10 pages in it, so it was a lot of copying. I then stuffed packets with newsletters and such that were going to be sent to parents. I love getting packets of information, and I've decided that making these packets are almost as great! Also, not to toot my own horn, but TOOT. I am a beast at administrative work. I got stuff done. Next week I will be doing solely administrative duties, and although I will miss my kids, but I am kinda looking forward to it. I'm weird and like to do these tasks and just be in my own bubble and think.


I also had to say goodbye to my favorite teacher. She is going back home to Romania on Friday and therefore wouldn't be coming into work next week. It was so very sad. We decided we would definitely skype and keep in touch. I am seriously so blessed to have known her. She has been a lifesaver. And I will seriously miss her dearly.

I made dinner tonight, and we had Praline Chicken (like the dish from the Last Resort.) It was delicious and we also made cookie and ice cream sundaes.

Week Five: Day Three: Internship 13

Lamination

Today at work was chill, must like yesterday. I found out where classes were held and after talking to D. for a while I went to my first class. Since the schedules are messed up due to trips and low attendance, I get to pick which classes I want to attend. During this week, there are only the students who didn’t go on the trip left behind, and as the week progresses the number of students decreases. Yesterday, the classes that were going on were broken down by year, but today there were two groups. That’s a significant drop in numbers. Since there were two groups, there were two classrooms to pick from. So, I chose one and made my way there.

Period One I had a group of younger students. I had never met any of them before, so I don’t know what year they were. They were learning about debating. Since it isn’t normal lessons, they weren’t graded. The topic was whether violent video games should be banned. I took one group of boys into another room to use the computer for some “research” and then we all came back together to have the students debate. They did well, but of course a class of adolescent boys is not really in favor of banning video games.  I thought I would have the same students for the next period, but turns out my year 9 group from yesterday had that classroom. I decided that rather than going around with one class, I would just stick in one classroom. So in come the year 9 students, with the American boy and head boy. They had an English lesson where we read a short story and then watched an old black and white mystery movie. It was chill. The third class of the day I had was also English-y. I’m pretty sure for this final week; the school just places teachers with groups regardless of what they teach. This teacher really likes to yell. Like a lot. And he was a bit scary, though the kids just seemed to laugh it off. We started with giving our initials and birthdays to the teacher. He wrote them down. When we got to mine, I told them. Then of course we had to figure out how old I was. 21. Yep. And then we came to this terrifying conclusion: I am seven years older than the students in the class. That’s the weirdest thing ever. After collecting all this data, we used the initials and numbers to pick out words from a book and then write a poem. Once again, some silly busy work.

After lunch I was employed by D. to help her with some laminating. So for the next two hours I sat and laminated some signs that would be useful when teaching English next year. It sounds boring, but it was really great. We got to chat and listen to music. She’s also seen The Last Song, which was filmed in Savannah. So crazy! I shared some of my favorite songs with her and she shared some Romanian songs with me. And we got a lot of work done. I didn’t finish it all. There was a lot of paper that needed to be laminated and that machine takes forever to do one piece, so I will continue tomorrow.

Tonight we also went and saw Billy Elliot. This is the first play we have seen that I have not already seen or have already memorized the soundtrack. I had no knowledge, except for a rough idea of the plot, and was so excited to fully experience it for the first time. We began the show and there was a 5 year old in it who was beyond precious. The boy who played Billy Elliot was the most precious thing and he could dance like a professional! I was thoroughly impressed. About 30 minutes it, a stage manager came on stage. I thought this was part of the show, but he told us there were technically difficulties and they needed to pause the show. It was weird. So we waited and soon, it came back. I seriously loved this show. I laughed so hard and cried some too. I would recommend this show to everyone. Like, if this show comes back to the Fox, I’m going. I love love love Billy Elliot.

Week Five: Day Two: Internship 12

End of Term

This week is the last week I will have my students, as their summer break begins on Friday. The majority of students were on a school wide camping trip which is an end of the year bonding experience. Of course, there were a few students who decided not to go. These students had regular lessons, though they were far more relaxed. The end of term is always a bit crazy, so the schedules are all messed up. Many students and teachers are slacking a bit as it is the end of the term. Apparently some kids do not come to school all together. Today, I kinda had to make up my own schedule for today. I had options of what lessons I wanted to attend and simply picked.

I decided to start off the day with drama as I had only been in that class once, and it was with the year 9 students, some who I had in my homeroom. (There was no homeroom today, so I didn’t get to see all my boys.) In drama, they were put into groups and had to make up a “whodoneit” piece and perform it for the class. Then the class had to guess who the murderer was. These kids can come up with some interesting story lines. They had the most random things happening. I mean, for being given 20 minutes to think of the whole thing, they did a good job. And they were so funny. Head boy was there. He’s too precious. Seriously.

I was going to go to another year group just to get a feel for everything, but the year 9 students began asking if I was with them all day, I figured I would stay with them. I like them. We sat around in the hallway with them between classes and simply got the chance to sit and talk with some. We talked about America and school, etc. The head boy is seriously a favorite, and I will miss him. I also met another student from New York. He likes the way I say ‘Savannah.’ Haha. Too cute. Many thought I was going to be a teacher and even a teacher at this school next year. As usual, they don’t understand the role of a counselor in a school. The next class we went to was chemistry I suppose. There the students watched videos on how plastic was made. So, not that interesting. We did watch one on how bubblegum is made. Ps there is plastic in bubblegum. That video was a bit more fun to watch.

The next lesson was in the room right next door, so once again I stood out in the hall with them and talked to them. I really like being able to build relationships with them. And it’s crazy but I just love this age group. I learned about public schools in the area from another teacher and apparently they are a completely different world. As I had been told before, the majority of these students come from wealthy backgrounds. Period three for the year 9 kids was another science class. I had not met any of the teachers I worked with today, because I have not been doing any science. For the lesson they just cut our atom molecules and pasted them together. Not difficult at all. So, I joined on it and cut some stuff out. Really chill.

After lunch, the students had P.E. for the last two periods and I was of no use for that, and didn’t really want to go outside in the rain and do sports. So, I looked for some work and made myself available in the library for hire.

It’s hard to believe this is coming to a close and I will have to leave my students and teachers who I have befriended, but I know all of them are going to enjoy their summer breaks.

Week Five: Day One: Internship 11

Au Revoir Paris

As quickly as we arrived in Paris, we had to leave again. Though we only spent a few days there, I think we accomplished a good amount. There are still a few things on my bucket list, but I’m sure I’ll come back to Europe. Our final day was not solely spent on a train, no. We made the most of our final day. We had breakfast at the bakery down from us, Bechu, and I had a sugary, funnel cake like pastry for breakfast. I realize that isn’t very healthy, but when in Paris, one is meant to eat all the pastries one can get their hands on. So that’s exactly what I did. From there we went to see Sacre Coeur, which is a beautiful church on a hill more towards the outskirts on the city. When we rode the ferris wheel we could see it all lit up in the distance, which was beautiful. We took the metro all the way there and found our way to the church. It’s spectacular. Its architecture is not like any other churches I have seen in London or Paris. It almost looks Russian or Indian.  As I mentioned, it’s on top of a hill so you have to climb a ton of steps to get to the actual church. You walk up several steps and there are different lookout levels, each with an increasingly spectacular view of Paris. I really like bird’s eye views of cities. After climbing up tons of stairs, we made it to the front of the church.  Mass didn’t start until 11 so we were able to go inside, which was so beautiful. Inside the domes in the roof were beautiful murals. Quite overwhelming. No pictures inside though.

One thing I noticed here was the abundance of street peddlers and beggars. I had been expecting beggars/gypsies at Notre Dame but not here. There were men trying to sell you things and talk to you. I felt as though I had to guard my purse all the time. There were also people asking for money outside. Like you would be trying to take a picture and sense someone was getting closer to you and your purse. Ah! Go away! It was a bit sketchy and disrespectful of the church. I was glad we got to see this place though.

We popped in a few shops before heading back to the hotel. On the metro we came across another gypsy/beggar woman who was walking through all the cars singing and asking for money.  Walking back to the hotel, we made our final stop at Bechu. We still had one more French food we needed to try. We needed macaroons. I had a caramel one and Emily had chocolate. We also got giant ferrero roches with edible gold flakes on them. That’s right. Edible. Gold. We saved these treats for the train. After, we packed our things and checked out of the hotel. So sad. We took a cab to the train station, but this cab was far different. Our driver was extremely nice, though I don’t think he knew much English, and drove calmly like a normal person. He was so nice and even pulled over a few times to let us take a picture or two. We requested that he drive down – so that we could see all the high end stores. The most impressive must have been the Louis Vuitton store that was three stories tall. Once again at the train station, there were people heckling us for money. It was so bad our cab driver had to tell them off. The train station in Paris is nowhere near as nice as the one in London. We really had no idea where to go, but followed a bunch of people and eventually found departures. We had to wait in a super long line in order to get through security. It was a good thing we got there super early. By the time we made it through border control and all that mess, (I got another stamp!) we had barely enough time to pick up a quick sandwich and get on the train. We ate our lunch and desserts on the train as well. Sadly our sweets had been a bit destroyed during our travels, but no worries, because they tasted just as tasty. For the majority of the ride, I wrote out my blog posts about my Parisian weekend. When we were getting off our train in London, we noticed that some girl had apparently been arrested at some point during our journey. She was handcuffed with no shoes on and no bags. She really didn’t seem all that concerned and was smiling a bit. Crazy.

We made it back to the apartment and were able to rest for a bit before going to top up our phones and go to dinner. We settled on eating at The Green Man, which is the pub we tend to go to. I had the Walker’s chicken, which was basically, chicken with bacon on it with a tomato basil sauce and barbeque sauce poured on it. It was really good. I also had a cider, of course. We then send Mrs. Morgan off to her hotel and relaxed a bit before going to sleep at like 10pm.

As promised, here are my observations of French people and Paris in general:

• Paris isn't as pretty or unique as London, though I may be biased
• Like I said before, people smoke A LOT. That must be one reason they are all so skinny. But seriously, it's like 24/7
• They have more cafes in Paris and people love to eat outside
• Once again, they smell awful. Seriously.
• They are quite environmentally friendly, with all their motion sensored lights and such. I don't know if this is for the environment or what, but we had to ask to have a napkin at restaurants.
• The food comes so fast! Like under 10 minutes. I was really impressed.
• The majority of people that we met spoke English, which made me feel so uncultured. It was also very helpful.
• I saw a lot of men carrying thier wives purses.
• I was expecting to see loads of people making out, but I only saw one person. In London, it's everywhere.
• I saw so many dogs here, and they were typically little froo froo dogs, though I did see one or two golden retrievers.
• People like the cheat the metro system by jumping the barriers

So that was Paris! I am already started my list of things to do when I go back someday, but for now, I think I accomplished a lot for four days.  And I managed not to get anything stolen!

Week Four: Day Seven: BLC 21

Versailles

On Saturday, the plan was to go to Versailles. We had bought tickets in advance and took the RER (which I’m guessing is like the overground rail service) there. We asked for directions at our hotel and set off in the designated direction. It’s a good thing we left early because the directions were wrong. Completely wrong. There was no RER station in the general area where we ended up. We asked a passing woman who gave us some correct directions and made our way there. Once on the train, which had two stories, we met an American family. We tend to meet a lot of Americans in France, which I think is quite interesting. On the ride, a band got on the train and played for us then came around asking for money. Then a woman passed out some flyers (which were in French) and then she asked for money! There are so many peddlers in Paris! They are everywhere. We finally made it to Versailles and walked up to the palace. Versailles is an old palace that the kings of France, Louis XIV, XV, XVI, resided. Marie Antoinette also lived there. After the French Revolution, I believe Napoleon lived there as well. The place as a whole is huge. There are several buildings apart from the main palace and so much land. We had to wait in a massive line to even get in. There were some issues with our tickets, but eventually, after we got through security, we made it into the palace.  There were a ton of rooms to go through so we started and saw lots of beautiful things. A lot of the furniture had been auctioned off during the French Revolution, so that was a shame. It was also a lot like Hampton Court. It was a castle that old kings and queens lived in.  Once again, the ceilings were quite notable. There were so many people there (kinda a tourist trap), and I’m not a fan of crowds, but it was nice. I don’t know anything about French history, but the whole experience did make me want to learn more. We also got to see the Hall of Mirrors which has huge windows on one side and mirrors on the other and from the ceiling are roughly two dozen crystal chandeliers which make the room spectacular. They at some artist’s big modern sculpture works on display in different rooms and it ruined the place some. It was hard to look at the historical rooms with her tacky artwork sitting there. I almost want to write them a letter about how tacky that was.

The Hall of Mirrors

We then explored the gardens which were beautiful, but it did begin to rain some. The main palace was only the beginning, so we took a little golf cart train to the remaining parts. There were two more places, the Grand Triannon and the Petite Triannon, each with their own rooms and gardens. Those were beautiful as well and we saw where Marie Antoinette stayed. Most of the rooms were so matchy matchy with the curtain and chairs and bed all being made from the same fabric. It was a bit excessive. The whole place was exhausting and took a while. We did stop for lunch and I had another ham and cheese sandwich. The bread in Paris is simply amazing. We made our way back to the main city of Paris where we decided to have dinner. Our hotel is own a main street so we decided it was only proper that we eat near there. Before that though, we needed to check out the Royal Opera House. We got off one metro station and were about to transfer when we saw a monument of a gold flame. It was on our way to the station so we stopped to have a look. It was a replica of the flame that the Statue of Liberty is holding. But, we noticed something else. There were flowers around the monument and pictures of Diana. We had come across the place where Diana’s car had crashed. People still leave flowers and have written all over the walls of the underpass. I’m so glad we saw that. The opera house was also amazing. It was so beautiful! One day, I want to see something there.

Flowers for Diana

The tunnel where her car crashed.

For dinner, we found a place called Les Débats which looked pretty good. Inside it looked like it would be a hopping place at night. I had the white pizza but it was nothing like the ones in America. Basically, it was some fancy pizza crust with greens, tomatoes, and mozzarella on top sprinkled with an oil like thing. It was weird and like a salad on some dough, but I ate it and it was good. After dinner we decided to walk around the area, as it was our last night. We also ran across a Haagen Dazs store and stopped in for some ice cream. Delicious! I had the cookie crumble sundae. Afterwards we chilled in the business center of the hotel to get some work done and plan our final day!

Week Five: Day Six: BLC 20

Notre Dame and the Louvre

Still can’t believe I’m in Paris, France, and that when I return I’ll be headed to London again to live two more weeks in that wonderful city. Today, we slept in a bit in order to recuperate. Paris is an hour ahead of London so we lost an hour. By sleeping in, I mean until 8am. We had brunch at a place down from our hotel called Bechu. (I can't find a website for this either!) We had noticed it on our walk to the Eiffel Tower and decided to go back and try it out. For brunch I had a ham and cheese sandwich, and I think it had butter on it. Apparently ham and cheese sandwiches are very French. One cannot pass up the delicious pastries that this place has, so we got something for dessert. I had an éclair that was on my list of items to eat in Paris. The Morgans got a chocolate filled pastry thing. I did see the waitress scratch her head with the same hand that a piece of bread was in and I almost lost my appetite. That’s gross.

Our plan for the day was the go to Notre Dame because they had the veneration of the crown of thorns. What is that you may ask? From the website: “The relics of the Passion presented at Notre-Dame de Paris include a piece of the Cross, which had been kept in Rome and delivered by Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, a nail of the Passion and the Holy Crown of Thorns.” In order to get there, we decided to take the Metro, which is the underground system. At first the process to get the tickets was very confusing. We had to ask a few people what to do, given that the kiosk was all in French. We finally managed that and took off with the directions we were given by the lady at our hotel. We had to change trains once but managed to find our way with ease. Notre Dame is absolutely beautiful. It’s so tall and commanding with beautiful architecture. And that’s only on the outside. We got there early because we did not know if there would be a line. I mean, this is pretty big deal. There was a massive line going into the church, but it was moving quickly and it was not time to see the crown of thorns. We asked and found out we had to wait until 2 to get in a line to see it. The massive line was leading into the church and people were allowed to walk around inside. So we went ahead and got in that line, because we did want to see the interior. It was just as beautiful as the exterior. I loved it so much. Everything was just beautiful. I don’t really know how to describe it. It was overwhelming with all its beauty. I kept looking for Quasimodo but sadly couldn't find him. After we walked around inside for a while, we came back out to find the line to see the relics. Well, we couldn’t find that so we got back in the long line again, thinking that may be it. It technically wasn’t but once we were inside for a second time, we asked someone and were told to take a seat in the middle. So we did and soon realized this was not an ordinary exhibit. We were going to sit through a ceremony. So we waited for a while since we got there so early and got some pretty good seats near the front. I talked to the guy beside me who was very nice. There were a lot of people there, and a lot of nuns. There was even a priest looking man who also looked like Rasputin. He was scary looking, and for some reason got the hold the pillow with the crown of thorns on it. I don’t really know why he got such special privileges; he didn’t even shower. The ceremony began and was all in French, so I really had no idea what was going on, but the music was quite beautiful and I liked the hymns though they were in French. At the end they brought down the pillow with the crown and people could go up and kiss it and such. It was like communion such that you go up row by row when you are told. Because we had close seats we were able to see it pretty soon after and apparently one was supposed to leave after. The crown is held in a very nice glass and metal ring, with one side only glass so that a person can see in. So, you really just look in there. Many people were kissing it, but I don’t do germs so I didn’t want to. I only got a brief look because they were keeping the line moving, but I’m so glad we went. If that really is the crown of thorns, that’s amazing. Even if it isn’t, it is a great reminder of the price Jesus paid for our sins. Wow. Just wow.

Interior photos

The Gargoyles

The Crown of Thorns

The next thing we wanted to accomplish was The Louvre. Paris is really confusing and the streets aren’t set up like normal and the street names change every so often, which is ridiculous. We managed to walk in the opposite direction and realized this soon after. While we were standing looking at the map, it began to rain. A man came up to us, who was super friendly, and in French-English told us he was going to stand under our umbrella (ella…ella…eh). Oh, hey. I guess that’s fine. I was looking around to see if he had a friend who was going to rob us blind. He walked a good ways with us making small talk, but then he started saying he didn’t have money. Goodbye now strange man. We managed to get rid of him and not two minutes after he left us, he was under another woman’s umbrella. One our walk in the right direction, we came across two notable bridge. The first is the Pont de Arts where lovers put locks on the bridge and throw the key into the Seine. There were so many locks and it was so cool looking. I could have spent a good long while there looking at all the different types of locks. Some people had even put big bicycle locks, but that just looked dumb and ugly. We also walked by Pont Neuf and were able to talk some better pictures than the ones we could on the boat ride. We finally made it to The Louvre, entered through the glass pyramid, and purchased our tickets. We had meant to do some research to see what important works were in there, but we didn’t. Thankfully the map had the highlights.

All the locks

Pont Neuf

People say that it can take a day or so to go through the whole museum and I totally agree, although I don’t know why you would go through and read everything. If you just want to see some highlights and a few other things, that also takes forever and I’ll tell you why. This museum is set up so that everything is completely spread out and on different levels. It was the most confusing thing in the world. That is the sole reason it takes so long. It’s massive and spread out everywhere. We got some exercise, no big deal. We needed to plan out what we wanted to see so we sat down at the café and had a little snack. I had the chocolate filled pastry, which was absolutely delicious. We set off to find the Mona Lisa, which is pretty much the reason people come here, besides people who like museums and art. There were a ton of people crowding around and the actual picture is very small! Who knew? I managed to elbow my way up to the front to take some pictures. We also saw Hammurabi’s Code. We also saw some other notable items. Amongst all this artwork there is a lot of nudity. Good gracious. In the sculptures, which is expected, and also in the paintings! A bit scandalous, if I do say so. In the end it took up roughly three hours to get through what we wanted to see.

The Louvre

The entrance

Mona Lisa

There was a fair next to the front of The Louvre and at the fair was a massive ferris wheel. It was a smaller, less impressive London Eye. From what I had been reading, it looked to be a permanent thing, kinda trying to be the London Eye. We wanted to ride it, but decided the view of the city would be much more lovely at night. We went to a place called L'imperial Rivoli for dinner, which was ride by the fair. It was very nice and we had the nicest waiter ever. We were all a bit smitten with him. For dinner I had beef bourguignon, which is a French dish that Julia Childes perfected. It’s basically a beef stew (heavy on the beef) in a cast iron pot. One also gets mashed potatoes. It was delicious. Simply wonderful, and I felt very French. All day we had wanted to try a crepe, since it’s French and on the list of food we needed to eat in Paris. We resolved to have some after dinner. Emily and I shared the chocolate crepe and the imperial crepe which had chocolate, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. They were good. Not my favorite sweet I have had here in Paris, but good. They had a bit of a weird texture to them. After our lovely dinner we went to the fair. It was a spectacle. They had Disney characters painted on the rides and some sketchy looking rides. We made our way to the ferris wheel and got on it. We rode in little glass boxes with seats and had a great view of the city! We could see the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur. It was a great experience. Afterwards we hopped back on the metro and headed to the hotel. By the way, I am a beast at the metro system. A beast.

Sacre Coeur in the background

That is the end of day two in Paris! Isn’t it all so wonderful?

Week Four: Day Five: BLC 19