Imagine living and studying in this great capital surrounded by famous landmarks such as Big Ben, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Buckingham Palace.
This is a trip that takes you to one of the most diverse cities in the world as well as arguably the world's most renowned university.
So our trip is coming to an end, and the kids have finished their Final exam today.
For the last few days there has been a lot of free time for the students to study, so nothing to exciting has really gone on, since we wanted them to focus on doing well. Classes in the morning then time to do whatever they wanted.
They have been playing a lot of football, during their free time, maybe they have a bit of World Cup fever still, but boys and girls have been organizing their own games against each other. Some have even tried sports like basketball, while 12 others even ventured across the field to the swimming pool with Mr. George. Those who haven’t been active either playing sports or in the shopping world have spent time either playing Xbox 360 or studying. The group has really come together and is starting to look out for each other. It really is amazing to see the transformation since day one at the airport; they came in their own groups (big and small) but now are more like a large family. Over the weekend some of them went to the movie "Inception".
On the last day of class there was the final excursion, Blenheim palace. The kids loved it and some of girls want to come here and get married, in the distant future, we hope. The weather was amazing, and some students say this was their favourite trip of the month.
One of the days while the students were playing/studying the 2 female teachers and I ventured into the city to sight see, and ran into ‘the Sex Pistols’. This really has be a trip filled with loads of excitement. From watching and playing sports, to theatre events, to movies, to magical stones, to brushing shoulders with celebrities it really has been a great experience for the children.
I’m in the process of planning a farewell dinner for the children, since tomorrow is their last day here. All in all the trip has been pretty amazing, and even with all the studying/ hard work I’m sure the kids have had a fantastic time here in England.
On Friday we visited Stonehenge as an optional excursion. When we first arrived we walked around and scouted out the available sights. There were hills of great history and a field of goats just lingering about. Then we visited the actual stones
of Stonehenge. People see these pieces of history and think that they are just rocks set up in weird positions. What they do not realise is the spiritual meaning of the stones and what really happened with the rock formations hundreds of years
ago. Our lovely tour guide proved to us that the ancient rocks had magnetic forces releasing off of them in different sections of the stone. She proved this by holding a copper rod attached to a handle and slowly moving it up the rock. When the
rod reached a magnetic section on the rock, the rod would repel away from the rock right before our eyes. AMAZING!! We clearly had an exciting time visiting Stonehenge and taking in the spectacular mysteries of the historical location.
We arrived at Warwick Castle early on Saturday morning and took a step back back in time - Disney style. Our first stop was a visit with an archer demonstrating his skill with a bow and arrow. Next the teachers dressed up in fancy old fashioned
clothes in order to attend a weekend party with the Prince of Wales. Our tour of the castle preparing for was reminded us about the colourful history associated with the castle. The climb up 530 tiny, steep steps to reach the turret was
exhausting but the views were woth the effort. We loved the peacocks wandering the grounds and the Rose Garden. Several students bought swords in order to reenact a traditional sword fight.
Our next stop was Stratford where we got to experience a really amazing and beautiful city. Not only were the streets filled with people and charisma but they also were filled with quaint shops. There were a multitude of street preformers and so many different shops to look around in. The walk along the water to Shakespeares grave was so scenic, not to mention the fun filled tours through Shakespeares life.
It seems amazing to me that we are entering our last week of classes. We are all starting to wonder where the time has gone. Studnets are working diligently on their various assignments and will soon start to prepare for the final exam.
Today was our excursion to Bath. The weather was warm and sunny and everyone enjoyed exploring the beautiful little town of Bath. We began our visit with a tour of the Roman Baths where we all gained some insight into life in a Roman village in Britain. We then turned our energies to exploring the more modern aspects of Bath. The cobblestone streets lead you to a wide variety of stores as well as interesting architecture. We met back at the bus at 4pm but agreed that we really could
have spent much longer in this charming town. Back at the campus we had dinner and then settled down to work on assignments.
We welcomed the principal of Mentor College, one of the sponsoring schools, for a visit this evening and tomorrow we will head off to experience punting assuming that the weather holds. I have asked studnets to give some thought to any last excursios they would be interested in here in Oxford. Friday is our trip to Blenheim Palace and we will need to study for the exam this weekend.
Kathy
Warwick Castle
The excursion to Warwick castle was yet another successful one. The grounds were beautiful and we had a chance to see the lavishly decorated interior of the castle. In order to get a bird’s eye view, we climbed up 500 steep winding stairs in a dark tower. It was well worth it, as we got fabulous snapshots of the gardens and endless green fields. The girls, unfortunately, did not get the chance to be princesses, as the Princess Tower had an age limit. We strolled in the rose garden and peacock garden, where the castle’s peacock family roamed around among the shrubberies. Sadly, the jousting was closed and the trebuchet show was later in the day. Although the activities at the castle were geared towards children, we had a great time watching the Birds of Prey Show. Being a castle with such rich history, it is a must-see.
Katrina
Stratford
When we went to Stratford we got to experience a really amazing and beautiful city. Not were the streets filled with people and charisma but they also were filled with quaint shops. Their were a multitude of street preformers and so many different shops to look around in. The walk along the water to Shakespeares grave was so scenic, not to mention the fun filled tours through Shakespeares life.
Class was on as pre usual, but once it was done we took the group to the British museum, which was a short walk from College Hall. This museum is actually really interesting as you can touch real money from centuries ago, see the Rosetta stone – which unlocked language, and tons of other things dating all the way back to 1.8 million years ago.
July 10
Today was an optional day for the students; they could venture off in groups and go wherever they wanted. Some of them slept in, while other caught up with work while others came with their teachers to Portobello market, not sure if it is because we are fun/cool, or if it just made it easier for them to just follow us. But they did the most shopping there and got some great deals. It was another great day, and sign in continues to be going well.
July 11
For some strange reason we were up on a Sunday early, to run a 10K, it was crazy how many people were there, over 20,000 people. The race was complete with horse ambulance and a canon start, for many in our group it was our first and potentially last race but we all actually really enjoy it, and finished in less than 1.5 hours. We hadn’t even started the race, and the person, who won, was just about to cross the finish line, and there were still 1000’s of people behind us. On the walk home we ran into part of the cast of ‘Priscilla’ which was pretty entertaining for those in the group. That afternoon I met up with my family before heading to Shakespeare for dinner and the final, most of the group came. We watched Spain defeat the Netherlands in overtime first at Shakespeare's Head and then at a small cafe. We then returned to College Hall.
July 12
Midterms were this morning and so where a few final ISU presentations, and then one final walk around the city of London before we waited for the bus to Oxford. I guess some of the students miss home because two of them went out and bought a used X360 for the rest of their time here. After a short drive, we were at Oxford. While, rooms were being figured out by the other teachers, I took the kids on a walk of the small community we were staying it. We settled into our new accommodation and headed to the dining hall for the best meal of the trip do far. The grounds at St Edwards are lovely and some of us stayed up late and chatted.
July 13
Classes were on; in the much nicer classrooms here at St. Edwards. Unfortunately, it was also our first day of rain, while we were on the walking tour, but we got to see a lot of the town and get an understanding of Oxford. The kids were given so free time, after dinner and decided to watch a movie in the common room, it was amazing to see most of them getting along so well.
July 14
In was Mrs. Young’s birthday today, and we got her a card, gift and cake.
After another amazing meal and class we headed into town for a Scavenger hunt, which sent the kids all over the city looking for clues, and finally bringing them back to the teachers. The students really seemed to enjoy doing this, and all were very safe in their groups. While the students were off in their groups, Mrs. Young and I went to look for a picture of my uncle with Malcolm X in the student union (aka the debating society), and were able to find it. Along with pictures of the Dalai Lama, the Queen, a few prime ministers and many other famous people. It was great to be in this building, I tried to bring the students there that were interested later that day, but it was locked. Maybe another day we will try, we split up into groups some students that were interested in fishing came with me, and looked into getting rods. But, we could only afford this fish rod known as a ‘whip’ and would only catch probably catch small fish, but fishing is fun for us so we bought them. After dinner a game of soccer broke out in which the Canadians’ (boys and girls) were playing against France (just boys) in their own World Cup, we took home the first international win of what should be a fantastic tournament. After the game I decided to try out this fishing whip, and was actually able to catch a fish even though tiny. But it was way too stressful for me so I left after putting one on the board.
Classes were on for the second day and ran smoothly, while Mrs. Young got a sweet deal on Les Miserables tickets for the children that wanted to go tomorrow. Once back from lunch, the group met up to spilt up for the 1st of many optional excursions: The Windsor Castle. From the sounds of this the students that went had a great time, even though they didn’t get to see the Queen or a Prince. It was a night filled with students doing work, and getting ready for essays or ISU’s.
July 7
I was out of bed early (630am), to get ready for the 10k on Sunday, and went for a run while your children were hard at work in the classroom. After class, the group broke into two; one went to see that Nick Jonas person in ‘Les Miserables’, while the rest of the group got ready for the game. Face paint and hairspray for some, while others bought team flags. We met for dinner at Mr. Wu’s, and I’m sure he wasn’t expecting so much colour or fun to walk through his door. 16 children came with me to watch the game at Shakespeare Head, which was fun even though the game was a snooze fest. The team that played better the game won, and Spain is off to the finals. 12 children went to see ‘Wicked’ for most of the group it was the second play of the day, which I heard they enjoyed. Everyone was back for a late sign in and said they had a great day.
July 8
Classes are continuing to go well. After a mini sightseeing detour we found the globe theatre for an open air event. We watched ‘Henry the VIII’ from the groundlings position, in true Elizabethan fashion, which I must say is fun for about 30-31 minutes. With the sun beating down on our face most of us became tired, having to stand for the duration of the play. It was the 3rd play in 2 days for part of the group. Most went home to prepare for ISU’s presentations while 3 came with me for a quick visit to the TATE. It truly is an interesting museum, that shows the almost anything can be art and is worth a trip to it in the future if you’re in the area. On our way home, since we missed dinner we stopped for fresh fruit and hamburgers while shopping we were pretty sure we saw Justin Bieber (that new young Canadian music star) selling fruit. A girl in my group got super excited as he handed money back to her; unfortunately we found out that it was only his look alike. Once back Mrs. Young and I did a room check to make sure kids were in their room and found most of them either sleeping or working hard on their presentations for tomorrow.
July 9
Classes were mostly presentations, and I decided that I would drop in on a couple before running errands. I could tell from the night before some were excited for them and had put a lot of effort in. Some kids where dressed up like Peter Pan, the Mad Hatter, and one girl even dressed up like a man. The ones I saw were impressive, and we have a tour of the British museum planned for this afternoon, and then a suggested activity of the London Eye in the evening, which I won’t be a part of as I’m not fond of heights.
Posing in front of Andy Warhol's more famous artworks.
I hope she was trying to wear a Peter Pan costume...
I’ve asked a few students to tell me what they think about the trip or at least certain parts, and while continue to ask different students to tell you their side of the story.
Today was really nice. First thing we did after breakfast was see a performance of couple scenes of Othello that were being performed in the park near our residences. The acting was really good, and it actually helped me gain a bit more perspective on the play itself. Later in the day we all split up into different groups. Some went to watch the World Cup, other went to Covent Gardens. I went with a group of people to the see the National Gallery. We saw everything from Gainsborough to Vermeer. The artwork was beautiful, and I was SO happy we went. Then afterward we made our way through the crowds of people who were there for Pride (which looked incredibly fun), to make our way to Covent Gardens to shop a bit. The weather was amazing, and walking up and down to shops was great as well. London is beautiful, and I know everyone seems really happy that it feels like we've accomplished seeing so much in so little time.
Mickey
Hi Parents! It’s been a fun-filled two days. After 8 hours in motion the children were starving! We got to the University and headed out for food. Once the students finished we fixed the phone situation and headed off for a walking tour of London, where we had the privilege of seeing a magic man shove a very large sward down his throat. We then returned for dinner and a meeting. After we were allowed free time and advised to be in bed early. While some went to bed others were challenged to stay up late, even though they were aware that we needed to be up and ready at 8:30. After breakfast were allotted time for showers and whatever we please. We headed to see parts of a play, Othello, which we study in the course. After a lovely confusing play where they switched characters without warning we split into 3 groups. We headed to the Bar; Shakespeare’s Head, to watch the German vs. Argentina soccer game. The game was intense and the Bar was packed, Germany won 4-0… Goodbye Argentina!!! We then looked for soccer jerseys and we took a detour and went to the Gay Pride Parade. There were many interesting sights…
It’s been a great 2 days with more to come!!!
Karen + Taylor
After one of the most grueling travel days of my life, we finally arrived in London, got some much needed rest, and began our first, full day. Needless to say, my first hour at the Topshop will be one of many and watching a production of Othello preformed by a group of university students was a great way to introduce the story to us before we began studying it. To top it off, a group of my friends went to Covent Gardens and browsed the many stores and shops along the way. With an awesome new pair of shirts under my arm, I reluctantly say goodnight.
Connor
This morning we woke up and were excited to go on our big bus tour. Once we got to Trafalgar Square we boarded our busses and road around the city of London getting on and off at stops when we wanted. We got to see all the major sights like Big Ben, Buckingham palace, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and we even got to see the changing of the guards. After this long day of sight-seeing we went on our Ghost by Gas light walking tour which was full of goodtime. At the end of the tour it was around 8:30 and the kids went off to have dinner and walk home and a group of five students ended up meeting the celebrity Nick Jonas! It was a great day with fun filled memories and most importantly we all got home safely.
Jeff
I can honestly say I’ve been excited to journey to all the places and do all the activities with Georgia Hardy in England. Even if the activity wasn’t my favourite one, because the teachers and the people are awesome, because let’s face it the War Museum, doesn’t get one riled up for riveting adventure. But I was pleasantly surprised with the Blitz and Trench Experiences in the museum because they felt like real life situations and I have to admit… I was a little teeny bit on the jumpy side. AND, the submarine second was my favourite, we got to smell things. It was awesome. Especially because I had a lemonade popsicle after we were done with being historically enlightened.
Emma
Our group slowly arrived at the airport; parents nervously letting their children go on what was for most the longest trip away from each other. They were going to see their child grow up and get ready for university, in a month: Making new friends, experiencing new sights and sounds, all while having a great, safe time. The flight went smooth, and we found our luggage rather quickly and we loaded on the bus to College Hall in no time. The weather was amazing, so before dinner I, Mr. George, lead the group on a walking tour before dinner to try to get an understanding of their surroundings. We walked all the way to the Thames River, crossing through sites like Russell Square, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Then back for dinner and a relaxing evening at the residence, what shocked me most was that some kids were already locking themselves in their rooms and doing work, on the first night.
Some of the students and teachers got up for an early morning run; I’m very impressed by this as I just stayed in bed. The teachers had noticed a free Othello play in this pocket park, so we decide it was time to make a change to the schedule, the first of many to come I’m sure. We walked to this play, and we given a few clips of the book the student would later be studying. It was amazing to be sitting on blankets, listening to Shakespeare in the park with the sun beating down on your face, what a great start to the day. The day only got better from here, we broke into 3 groups by their interest. Mr. Gouveia travelled to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square with 10 students and they had a great day looking at pictures. Miss Maynard and Mrs. Young took 10 of the students to Covent Garden for some shopping and relaxation. I, Mr. George, took the football (soccer) fans to watch the game in a pub, don’t worry we weren’t drinking just the best place to watch the game and I knew a few people that were going to be there. Germany versus Argentina our group was 11 strong with more cheering Germany to a 4- 0 victory. All the students told me that is was a great experience, and that they want to do it again for the semis and finals as well. On the walk home, Mr. George heard some music and took a detour with his group and walked through the end of the pride parade. It was a real eye opener for some, and they all thought it was a great ending to the day. After dinner some went out to grab a few items at stores while others were in there rooms doing the ISU’s.
The running seems to be a hit as a few students did it again, before our Big Bus tour on day 3. The group slowly broke into smaller numbers, nothing smaller than 3 but they went to where they were interested, some saw the Crown Jewels, while others saw the Changing of the Guards, as the teachers floated down the Thames in a boat looking at the sights of London. It was perfect day weather wise, the kids are loving it here laughing and smiles can be seen on everyone’s face. We were in for our first scary of the trip as the group went on a ghost tour of London learning about some of the ghosts that wander London. Sign in was at 10am as classes start the tomorrow. More students are staying in to work, while others whom had finished their work were out for enjoying a nice sit down dinner. Some of the boys while touring London ran into someone famous, the youngest Jonas brother.
The day begins with breakfast to fuel their brains and then into the classroom to start the classroom learning. Kids seem ready for the challenges ahead, and are eagerly waiting in the lobby for class to start. Today ended with a tube (subway) trip to the War museum were they will get a firsthand understanding of the novel "The Wars" they are studying and for some their first time many have been on a subway.
