Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Another Busy Day
Tuesdays are my big class days, so I started out with my GST and Theatre class. It was my turn to help lead discussion about Mrs. Affleck, the play we saw last night. I think it went really well and I am relieved to be done with it. After class, I came straight back to the flat and have been doing work all day. I did take a wonderful break around 5:30 though. Sean Boyle, the man who has been so great to the Elon kids and taken us on all of our tours, offered a Jack the Ripper tour to us. I almost didn't go because I had so much to do, but I knew that Sean would do a fabulous job, so I didn't want to miss this opportunity. I really enjoyed the tour.. it was interesting to hear how he presented the information. I was thrilled to find out that he was actually a history teacher, so he focused more on the historical side of the stories. He is such a wonderful storyteller and he is able to be quite theatrical. It was chilling to be on the trail of Jack the Ripper and see where people actually found his victims. It always seemed so mythical hearing about it because it was so brutal, but actually being there and seeing these places is just mind-blowing. Sean did tell us who he thought Jack the Ripper actually was, and it really makes sense from the evidence, but everyone has their own theory. I think that it is interesting how the media of 1888 played up these tragic events so and even gave him that name. Apparently, Kosminski was commited to an insane asylum soon after the last murder where he stayed for the next 30 years. Everything fits the timeline and the personality, but there is no sure way to know who the real Jack the Ripper was. Sean did a wonderful job with the tour and afterwards, I went back to the flats to work on even more things. Tomorrow is going to be another packed day. We are waking up to get Mamma Mia tickets, going to Art History at the Tate Modern Museum, and then going to see Over There for theatre. I definitely won't be getting in til fairly late, but it should be a good day!
Monday, March 9, 2009
My Parisian Adventures (Sorry for the Long Blog!)
I’m actually having a hard time believing that I just spent a weekend in Paris.. it was that incredible. I was so amazed that I could wake up in London on Friday morning and fall asleep in Paris, France. We, which included Katie P, Katie M, Chelsey, Sam, and me, woke up very early on Friday to get to the Eurostar to go to Paris. It is pretty neat to say that I have traveled through the Chunnel and the trip only took about 2 hours. The first thing that we did was go on a 3 hour coach ride through Paris where we could see the major sights and get our bearings. We stopped midway for lunch and we went to this amazing little crepery. The man did all the cooking and didn’t speak good English, but we communicated well enough to get out first real, French crepes. They were amazing, but way rich. After the coach tour, we went to the Hotel Ibis to drop our things off and revamp before our first walking tour with our tour manager, Gary.
The first walking tour had a theme of the Latin Quarter and the Historic Heart of Medieval Paris. All three walking tours were optional, but we only did the first 2. Gary gave us the Paris Underground Metro 101, which came in handy for the rest of the weekend. Some of the things that we saw on this tour were St. Sulpice Church (where the Rose Line is), St. Severin church (9th century church), and Roman remains of a bath. We walked through the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens (most popular park in Paris)… I would LOVE to take Dad there one day! We walked through the student district, which was in and around the Latin Quarters. It was simply amazing just to walk through the streets because the buildings were all so magnificent. The city is centralized around the river Seine, so we were able to see it and it’s great bridges around sunset towards the end of the tour. The tour actually ended at Notre Dame. I have heard so much about this church throughout my life that I still can’t believe that I was standing right outside it (we went in on the next day). It was so breathtaking. Actually, the entire trip could be summed up with that word. Breathtaking.
After the tour, we went to the Louvre. On Fridays after 5pm, you can get in free if you are under 26. Luckily the museum was open until 10, so that worked out perfectly. Some of the great things that I saw there was the Mona Lisa, Napoleon III’s Apartments, the Crowned Jewels, and the Code of Hammurabi. I actually cried in the Louvre when I found out that the Code was there. Incredible. And yes, I have a picture beside it! After the Louvre, we went back to the Latin Quarters to get dessert and I had crème brulee. ☺ Finally, after an exhausting day, we went back to the hotel.
On Saturday, we woke up and enjoyed a long and wonderful European breakfast… I love how well they eat! We went from breakfast straight to the Eiffel Tower. I never realized how ornate and large it actually was… I don’t think that you could ever take in its magnificence until you are standing right beside it. We climbed the 668 stairs to the 2nd level. I didn’t go to the 3rd, but you could still see everything from the 2nd, so I was happy. It is such a beautiful city… I really understand why it is called the City of Love. After the Eiffel Tower, we went by the Hotel des Invalides, which has a huge gold dome and it houses a war museum and Napoleon’s tomb. Because of the time issue, we didn’t go in. Afterwards, we grabbed lunch and went to eat it in front of Notre Dame. Haha yes, we just sat in front of that glorious cathedral and ate our paninis. The gypsies are really bad in Paris and try to steal and scam you, so that was our only issue there. We went through Notre Dame, which is even more beautiful inside. I can’t wait to show you my pictures.
After we were done, we went to meet for our Walking Tour 2. The theme of this one was the Creative and Historic Hearts of Paris. We began at the famous Moulin Rouge and worked our way through the village of Montemartre. I saw where Van Gogh and his brother worked and lived and even a place that he enjoyed eating at. There are still 2 windmills on the hill overlooking the city, so that was great. Some other things to note were Paris’ only vineyard and Place du Terte (a gathering place for artists). It was really interesting to see the artistic side of Paris, which it is so well known for because I know that it would have been difficult to get to that part of the city if we were doing this trip on our own. The tour ended at Sacre Coeur Church, which is at the top of the highest point in Paris. It was so gorgeous and inside was a massive mosaic of Jesus’ open arms welcoming you into the church. The view from the hill was incredible.
After the tour, we went to go find dinner and decided to go all out. We went to this nice little place across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower and we all got real French Onion Soup…or Onion Soup as they call it in France haha. I must say… for those who have been to Pepper’s in Boone…they definitely rival each other. After dinner, we walked down the river towards the Eiffel Tower to see its show on the hour. On every hour from 7 to 12, the tower glitters for 5 minutes. It is AMAZING! We all got videos of it, so I will have to show you. We continued down and got dessert. This time I had a chocolate and banana crepe. Delicious. We were SO tired by this point that we just had to go back to the room and get a good nights rest.
Sunday started out with another great breakfast. It was raining, but we still ventured on with our plans. We went down to the Tuilleries, just right in front of the Louvre. From there, we walked up Champs Elysees, one of the most well known roads in the world filled with very pricy stores, towards the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc was built by Napoleon and was so incredible. If the weather would have been better, we may have climbed it, but because it was so gross we kept going. We stopped at a store on the way to the river to get on our boat tour to get bread, cheese, and chocolate. We went on our amazing boat tour with our authentic French picnic and it was wonderful. By this time, the weather was clearing up and we actually saw blue skies. It was really neat to see the city from the river… such a different perspective. And I got a lot of great shots of Notre Dame. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to wait for the coach to take us back to the train station and then we would leave for London. I was actually excited to go back to London!
Overall, this past weekend was absolutely incredible. I didn’t know any French before going, but as long as you learn some polite words, you can get around fine. It was definitely an adventure. French food will be something that I will crave for the rest of my life and the French people seemed extremely nice and helpful. I definitely can’t wait to go back.
And for today… I went to my school for my 3rd day of observation. It went so well. It was the first day that I really feel good about the school. I am going back on Friday to see it on a different type of school day. Tonight was another play. We went to see Mrs. Affleck, which is a modern adaption of Ibsen’s Little Eyolf. I’m not exactly sure how I felt about the play at this point. It definitely left me feeling pretty sad. But, I’m sorry for the extremely long blog. I hope you enjoyed it!
The first walking tour had a theme of the Latin Quarter and the Historic Heart of Medieval Paris. All three walking tours were optional, but we only did the first 2. Gary gave us the Paris Underground Metro 101, which came in handy for the rest of the weekend. Some of the things that we saw on this tour were St. Sulpice Church (where the Rose Line is), St. Severin church (9th century church), and Roman remains of a bath. We walked through the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens (most popular park in Paris)… I would LOVE to take Dad there one day! We walked through the student district, which was in and around the Latin Quarters. It was simply amazing just to walk through the streets because the buildings were all so magnificent. The city is centralized around the river Seine, so we were able to see it and it’s great bridges around sunset towards the end of the tour. The tour actually ended at Notre Dame. I have heard so much about this church throughout my life that I still can’t believe that I was standing right outside it (we went in on the next day). It was so breathtaking. Actually, the entire trip could be summed up with that word. Breathtaking.
After the tour, we went to the Louvre. On Fridays after 5pm, you can get in free if you are under 26. Luckily the museum was open until 10, so that worked out perfectly. Some of the great things that I saw there was the Mona Lisa, Napoleon III’s Apartments, the Crowned Jewels, and the Code of Hammurabi. I actually cried in the Louvre when I found out that the Code was there. Incredible. And yes, I have a picture beside it! After the Louvre, we went back to the Latin Quarters to get dessert and I had crème brulee. ☺ Finally, after an exhausting day, we went back to the hotel.
On Saturday, we woke up and enjoyed a long and wonderful European breakfast… I love how well they eat! We went from breakfast straight to the Eiffel Tower. I never realized how ornate and large it actually was… I don’t think that you could ever take in its magnificence until you are standing right beside it. We climbed the 668 stairs to the 2nd level. I didn’t go to the 3rd, but you could still see everything from the 2nd, so I was happy. It is such a beautiful city… I really understand why it is called the City of Love. After the Eiffel Tower, we went by the Hotel des Invalides, which has a huge gold dome and it houses a war museum and Napoleon’s tomb. Because of the time issue, we didn’t go in. Afterwards, we grabbed lunch and went to eat it in front of Notre Dame. Haha yes, we just sat in front of that glorious cathedral and ate our paninis. The gypsies are really bad in Paris and try to steal and scam you, so that was our only issue there. We went through Notre Dame, which is even more beautiful inside. I can’t wait to show you my pictures.
After we were done, we went to meet for our Walking Tour 2. The theme of this one was the Creative and Historic Hearts of Paris. We began at the famous Moulin Rouge and worked our way through the village of Montemartre. I saw where Van Gogh and his brother worked and lived and even a place that he enjoyed eating at. There are still 2 windmills on the hill overlooking the city, so that was great. Some other things to note were Paris’ only vineyard and Place du Terte (a gathering place for artists). It was really interesting to see the artistic side of Paris, which it is so well known for because I know that it would have been difficult to get to that part of the city if we were doing this trip on our own. The tour ended at Sacre Coeur Church, which is at the top of the highest point in Paris. It was so gorgeous and inside was a massive mosaic of Jesus’ open arms welcoming you into the church. The view from the hill was incredible.
After the tour, we went to go find dinner and decided to go all out. We went to this nice little place across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower and we all got real French Onion Soup…or Onion Soup as they call it in France haha. I must say… for those who have been to Pepper’s in Boone…they definitely rival each other. After dinner, we walked down the river towards the Eiffel Tower to see its show on the hour. On every hour from 7 to 12, the tower glitters for 5 minutes. It is AMAZING! We all got videos of it, so I will have to show you. We continued down and got dessert. This time I had a chocolate and banana crepe. Delicious. We were SO tired by this point that we just had to go back to the room and get a good nights rest.
Sunday started out with another great breakfast. It was raining, but we still ventured on with our plans. We went down to the Tuilleries, just right in front of the Louvre. From there, we walked up Champs Elysees, one of the most well known roads in the world filled with very pricy stores, towards the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc was built by Napoleon and was so incredible. If the weather would have been better, we may have climbed it, but because it was so gross we kept going. We stopped at a store on the way to the river to get on our boat tour to get bread, cheese, and chocolate. We went on our amazing boat tour with our authentic French picnic and it was wonderful. By this time, the weather was clearing up and we actually saw blue skies. It was really neat to see the city from the river… such a different perspective. And I got a lot of great shots of Notre Dame. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to wait for the coach to take us back to the train station and then we would leave for London. I was actually excited to go back to London!
Overall, this past weekend was absolutely incredible. I didn’t know any French before going, but as long as you learn some polite words, you can get around fine. It was definitely an adventure. French food will be something that I will crave for the rest of my life and the French people seemed extremely nice and helpful. I definitely can’t wait to go back.
And for today… I went to my school for my 3rd day of observation. It went so well. It was the first day that I really feel good about the school. I am going back on Friday to see it on a different type of school day. Tonight was another play. We went to see Mrs. Affleck, which is a modern adaption of Ibsen’s Little Eyolf. I’m not exactly sure how I felt about the play at this point. It definitely left me feeling pretty sad. But, I’m sorry for the extremely long blog. I hope you enjoyed it!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
A Wonderful and Exhausting Weekend
Paris was AMAZING! I am blown away by how incredible one city could possibly be. We saw so many great places and ate wonderful food, but that means that I am beyond tired now and we have our education practicum tomorrow, so I am just going to bed. I can't wait to tell you all about Paris, hopefully tomorrow. It was a great weekend, but I am actually glad to be back in London since I have become so comfortable here now!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
What a Wickedly Awesome Day
Sorry for not posting yesterday, but it was a busy day. After buying our AMAZING Wicked tickets at 10, I decided to wander around before Art History. I went to Westminster Abbey.. and I was awed about how gorgeous it was and how much history is in it. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside, but it was great. I went at my own pace and was even allowed to go in a special area that was a Shine for St. Edward the Confessor for prayer that is closed to general tours. All of the monarchs and important writers are buried in the Abbey. It was simply breathtaking. Afterwards, I went to wander some more and then went to Art History. After Art, I went to get a quick bite and then went to see Wicked. I cannot describe how great this musical was. I came to tears several times throughout the show and at the end, I was bawling because I was so blown away. Luckily, Natalie was just as emotional, so I don't feel quite so dumb haha.
Today was a pretty good day, but it included A LOT of walking. We had a walking tour for GST around the docklands and afterwards ate at the Prospect of Whitby historic pub. Then our group went out and completed the Thames walks, so that is relieving. Once I got back, Sam and I booked our plane tickets.. so we are going to Italy! We fly into Rome and fly out of Venice and are planning to see 6 different cities, but we are going to finish the plans after we get back from PARIS! I can't believe I'm leaving for Paris in the morning.. it is still so surreal! But as for my blog, I am not taking my computer or anything, so I will update it on Sunday or Monday. I can't wait!!
Today was a pretty good day, but it included A LOT of walking. We had a walking tour for GST around the docklands and afterwards ate at the Prospect of Whitby historic pub. Then our group went out and completed the Thames walks, so that is relieving. Once I got back, Sam and I booked our plane tickets.. so we are going to Italy! We fly into Rome and fly out of Venice and are planning to see 6 different cities, but we are going to finish the plans after we get back from PARIS! I can't believe I'm leaving for Paris in the morning.. it is still so surreal! But as for my blog, I am not taking my computer or anything, so I will update it on Sunday or Monday. I can't wait!!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Crazy Things on Poles!
Today was a very full, but great day. I had 2 classes this morning, but afterwards, I was went to lunch with Katie, Casey, and our GST teacher. I tried Thai for the first time and it was so good!! After lunch, I came back to the flats and worked on my Art Journal some more until we left at 6:30 to go see Traces. This was an acrobatic dance show that included other talents such as playing music on the piano and guitar and singing. I was mesmorized by how talented the group of 5 were. There were two poles on the stage and they could get up them in the most incredible way and do all sorts of flips and such. I loved it, plus the music was excellent. I guess it can kind of be compared to Cirque du Soleil. Tomorrow should be great as long as everything works out.. we are going to the box office early tomorrow morning to try and get Wicked tickets for tomorrow night. Afterwards, I plan on going to Westminster Abbey until my class at 2:30. I am so excited!
Monday, March 2, 2009
As You Like It
Sorry for not posting yesterday, it was a very full and fabulous day. We left around 7:30 to begin our day trip to Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon. It was just Natalie, Kaitlin, and me, so it was really nice to have a small group to maneuver. We started out in Warwick, which is about 2 hours from London, so it wasn't a bad ride, especially because we had a luxury coach. I was immediately blown away by how beautiful Warwick
was. I believe that it must rival some of the most beautiful places that I have ever been to. My pictures cannot even represent how amazing it was. The castle was extraordinary.. we walked along the walls and went up into the towers and saw the area that Wi
lliam the Conquerer built in the 11th century.. AMA
ZING! We also got to go into the castle and see the dungeon and the
state rooms, which are where the parties were held. The castle is ran by Madame Toussades, which is the famous wax museum, so there are wax peo
ple throughout the buildings. After we finished exploring the castle and the gorgeous grounds, we went into the town center to have lunch. There was a really neat building that was built in the 14th century and we went into the tea room to have our lunch. It was so great.
After we left Warwick, we went to Stratford-upon-Avon, which is about 20 minutes away. It was so astonishing to see so many houses that have lasted all this time in the midst of such a commercial town. Apparently the shopping is great, but we were there just for Shakespeare yesterday. We went through the home where Shakespeare was born and raised. It was incredible to walk throught the rooms that he did over 400 years ago. We didn't have as much time here as we wanted, so we hurried across the town to see the church were Shakespeare was baptised and later buried. Amazing again. I was just so blown away by yesterday.. I have so much more to say, but so little time!
Today was another day in the school. It started out great and I got to see a couple different classes than last time. I was feeling great about today until I was put in the worst Year 7 and Year 9 classes on purpose to see how bad they actually were. I'm not sure if my teacher was trying to scare me or what, but I was shocked by some of the things that I saw and heard. I don't want to go on about it on here because I am trying to just take it in and be postive and believe that next week will be better. The day really did start out great though.. I had some nice conversations with some of the students and I thought that most of the classes were incredible. It is weird how just a few of the bad things throughout the day blur out all the great things that happened. It is definitely interesting to see this inner-city school function after being in the schools that I have been in throughout my life. I am really trying to take my experiences and learn from them and not complain about having a rough school. I really believe that next week will be better, and if it isn't, at least I'm going to Paris this weekend!!! :)
was. I believe that it must rival some of the most beautiful places that I have ever been to. My pictures cannot even represent how amazing it was. The castle was extraordinary.. we walked along the walls and went up into the towers and saw the area that Wi
lliam the Conquerer built in the 11th century.. AMA
ZING! We also got to go into the castle and see the dungeon and the
state rooms, which are where the parties were held. The castle is ran by Madame Toussades, which is the famous wax museum, so there are wax peo
ple throughout the buildings. After we finished exploring the castle and the gorgeous grounds, we went into the town center to have lunch. There was a really neat building that was built in the 14th century and we went into the tea room to have our lunch. It was so great.After we left Warwick, we went to Stratford-upon-Avon, which is about 20 minutes away. It was so astonishing to see so many houses that have lasted all this time in the midst of such a commercial town. Apparently the shopping is great, but we were there just for Shakespeare yesterday. We went through the home where Shakespeare was born and raised. It was incredible to walk throught the rooms that he did over 400 years ago. We didn't have as much time here as we wanted, so we hurried across the town to see the church were Shakespeare was baptised and later buried. Amazing again. I was just so blown away by yesterday.. I have so much more to say, but so little time!
Today was another day in the school. It started out great and I got to see a couple different classes than last time. I was feeling great about today until I was put in the worst Year 7 and Year 9 classes on purpose to see how bad they actually were. I'm not sure if my teacher was trying to scare me or what, but I was shocked by some of the things that I saw and heard. I don't want to go on about it on here because I am trying to just take it in and be postive and believe that next week will be better. The day really did start out great though.. I had some nice conversations with some of the students and I thought that most of the classes were incredible. It is weird how just a few of the bad things throughout the day blur out all the great things that happened. It is definitely interesting to see this inner-city school function after being in the schools that I have been in throughout my life. I am really trying to take my experiences and learn from them and not complain about having a rough school. I really believe that next week will be better, and if it isn't, at least I'm going to Paris this weekend!!! :)
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