London Town & Student Teaching

Hello!

I usually wait until Wednesday's to blog, but I wanted to share a sweet story that happened during my student teaching day...

 First of all, I love the school that I am teaching in! It is a short 15-minute bus ride from my apartment, and the building itself is brand new and in amazing condition. You can tell that the school's staff is proud of it, too. They make the kids take off their shoes when they enter the building! This is no joke. I walked into my 5th year class (4th grade to us) and all of the students were either in socks or plushy slippers. It was one of the weirder things I have seen while here, but the school was so immaculate that I guess it makes sense! The kids were so sweet to me and were very interested in hearing me talk and listen to what I had to say about my life in the US. The girls were fighting over who would get to read to me first, and instead of bringing their math questions to the teacher, they brought them to me. (Sorry, parents)!! But in all, it was a great day. The kids are so well behaved - their accents and little yellow, black and grey uniforms are to die for. (They're school mascot is the Wasp). My favorite part though was in the very beginning of the day during their morning prayer and thanks. One of the boys in the class looked over at me and then looked at his teacher and reminded her that it was the "twin tower anniversary" and that we should include those who passed in our prayers today. I thought that was so touching and so sweet! I can't wait to go back to school and take on more responsibilities and get to know the kids better. They even asked me to put together a little slideshow about my life in Boston and some things that make our schools different than theirs. So I can't wait to do that!

Anyway...last Saturday I went to London for the day and it was SO great! The train ride to London from Bath is just over an hour and pretty cheap too. When we arrived at Trafalgar Square, the first thing we did was go to The London Eye! It really is very cool and I recommend doing it if you ever get the chance. You can see every inch of the city! It was also about 80 degrees that day so the AC was awesome too : )



View from the London Eye. Sorry about the reflection! Big Ben is right ahead



Emily, Melissa, Sarah, Amy, Me, Nora on the London Eye

 After the London Eye, we went to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately we missed the tour hour for the Abbey so we just got to walk around it. I'll save the tour for my Mom and Dad's trip ; ) We then made our way to Buckingham Palace. It was such a beautiful day out that it was hard to get a decent picture of it with all of the people around!

Westminster Abbey



In front of Buckingham Palace

We also got to visit the British Museum, and I especially enjoyed the Olympic exhibit. Even though the Olympics are over, there are still London 2012 flags everywhere and Paralympics posters are plastered all around the city. Another thing that I really loved about London were the underground trains! They are so efficient, fast, and cheap that it is really easy to see so much even in just one day. There's still so much I want to do in London and I can't wait to go back with my parents : )

Well I think that is it for now! My program leaves for Oxford on Saturday for the week. Our classes will continue as normal, but I'm excited to explore a new city! ( I only have classes Wednesday's and Thursday's anways ; ) My friends and I also just booked our tickets to Italy and Barcelona for Fall Break! Lots to look forward to, and I will keep you updated!

Cheers! xx

Sara

Beautiful London!

The clubs in Bath aren't bad either : )

My study trip to Dyrham Park. The cows were everywhere. The scenery reminds me of VT!