Lately.

Another week has come and gone! Hard to believe. My days have been very full and there is a lot to catch you up on.
This weekend I decided to stay in London since we have been traveling so much and we will be gone on fall break travels for 10 days this next weekend. On Friday I went to the Imperial War Museum. It is a gorgeous building, with a lobby exploding with airplanes, tanks, and guns. By far my favorite part was the Holocaust Exhibit. It is one of the most powerful museum exhibits I have ever seen and there is no way to leave without a heaviness on your heart and mind. It was so interesting to learn more about the why and how behind the holocaust, rather than just the event itself. But gosh. Those pictures could rip your heart out. It is hard to imagine what goes on inside the mind of a person that treats other humans the way that they did. And to think it was only 80 years ago! History is not as far in the past as we often think...

I also went to Wimbledon this last weekend. It was a pretty dramatic day. I left for the Tennis Club and Museum at 12:45, anticipating about an hour travel time. The last tour of the day (where you see center court!) was at 2:30, so I thought I was leaving with plenty of time to spare. The first of many incidents began when the tube train I was on stopped at Earl's Court and they said that due to service issues, this train wasn't going any further. So i got off and waited over 5 minutes for another one to come. I then crammed myself onto another train, only to hear that there is no service running between Putney Bridge and Southfields (where I was trying to go). So I get to Putnety Bridge exit and am directed to a bus stop down the street. Once there I realize I have no idea which bus goes to Southfields. I ask several people, who have no idea, before I finally ask a man in the blue 'help' vest who tells me to wait at this bus stop. Three buses later, one to Southfields pulls into the bus stop. At this point it is now almost 2. I am beginning to panic a little. The sweet lady sitting next to me is reassuring and helps with directions once we arrive at Southfields. I then wait for another bus that is to take me to the actual Wimbledon Tennis Club and Museum. I'm going along and hear the stop called. I wait for the bus to stop, and the bus driver just keeps on going, so I assume we haven't arrived yet. That is, until I hear the next stop called. I go up to the driver and ask about the museum and he curtly remarks "Oh well that was two stops back!" As if somehow I was supposed to have magically evaporated out of the bus onto the entrance. So I jump off the bus and find myself sprinting back down the same street the busdriver has just driven me. At this point I have become pretty emotional. I realize a few tears have flown behind me as I continue to run the two bus stops back to my destination. By the time I arrive at the security gate, I am out of breath and pretty much sobbing. The security guard didn't know what to do with me. haha! I can only imagine what he thought as this 20 year old girl comes up to the museum in tears and declares "I have just been through Hell to get here!" He was so sweet to me though and told me that the tour group had just left and that he would let me catch up to them once I got a ticket. Still crying like an idiot, I walk into the museum and approach the girls at the counter. I explain again that I just experienced a nightmare trying to get here for the tour, that it's the only day I can visit, that I've spent two hours traveling, that I would really like to go on this tour, apologizing for crying, and that I'm just one person wanting to tag along to the group. The girl was very understanding and about to ring up the ticket when her manager walked out and said that due to health codes, only 43 people could go on the tour and it was full. And she would not budge. So I just stood there at the counter, in the lobby of the museum, crying. Yes it was a traumatic journey to get there, but I think I was crying more because I wanted so badly to do the tour for my parents. They both love tennis, play it, and watch Wimbledon every year. They are the reason I love Wimbledon. I wanted them to see it all vicariously through me and I had failed. So I stood there like a little kid and cried. The girl felt so bad for me that she took me to see center court anyway!

I stood in the stands of the gorgeous arena, still gasping for air and trying to regain my dignity, and the girl just let me stand there for a while and soak it all in. I finally collected myself and thanked her for her kindness. I was still able to see the best part of the tour, and for free! I then stayed and saw the museum which was very neat. By then, however, I was so emotionally and physically drained that I am sure I looked like a complete wreck. Needless to say I did not ask the girl to take a picture of me at center court. :) So yes. There is my Wimbledon story. Frustrating. But had its redemptive moments. Of course there was a local football match in the town of Wimbledon that day so there were hundreds of people trying to get back the same time I was and it took another long trip to get home. I learned a lot through that ordeal. Not the least of which to be flexible and not get so caught up in my plans!

On Monday, I went with a group of girls to Greenwich via boat tour. We went to see the Prime Meridian and I was able to have a foot in the Eastern and Western Hemisphere at the same time. Pretty cool.
We also went and saw Phantom of the Opera that night and it was fantastic! The set was unreal with falling chandeliers and candles emerging from the floor. And of course the wonderful songs sung by wonderful voices. The next day, our whole class had the opportunity to have tea at the Naval and Military Gentleman's Club near St. Jame's Park. It was a lovely old building, with a library, lounges, dining halls, and the like. Professor Graffius (our British professor for 'British Heritage and Culture') is a member there and had a special visit arranged. It was quite fun to feel a bit British as I sat in my nice dress, on a leather chair, drinking tea and eating a scone with clotted cream. :) That night we went to see Hamlet at the National Theatre. This version of the famous Shakespeare play was set in modern dress and I really enjoyed it! It was very long (almost 4 hours!) but the actors kept it interesting. The actor who played Hamlet was phenomenal. No ego whatsoever. The humility partnered with his great talent was really refreshing.

Today was my first day to teach my own lesson at Hornsey! The ESOL (English for Students of Other Languages) teacher asked me to prepare a lesson for this week on irregular verbs. So I came in, ready to meet with her before class to do final touches only to find that she was absent today. I was on my own for the lesson and spent much of the morning getting ready! The class itself was so much fun! The girls listened, participated, and really enjoyed our game of charades at the end. It was so rewarding to watch them understand what I was trying to convey. And I think they enjoyed a change of face and pace from their regular teacher. I need moments like this to remind of why I am doing what I am doing. It is those moments in the classroom - when I am teaching and it all seems to click and, in the midst of it all, I am building relationships with the students - that are the reason I will be a teacher one day. Hopefully there will be many more lessons to teach while I am here!

This week has been a bit of a transition week. The Sandley's have left and the Castle's have arrived which means that our classes have switched. We are doing a kind of two-term semester with certain classes taught the first half and different ones for the second half. So I will start my theater appreciation class with Mr. Castle after fall break! The Castles have two boys and it so fun to have a 13 and 10 year old running around the house. They add a great dynamic to our London family. And I'm pretty jealous of the 10 year old's footie pajamas....

It is Fall Break starting on Friday! Our whole class will leave for Paris at 6am and we will spend the weekend there. Then me and two other girls will head to Salzburg, Austria (Sound of Music land); Bavaria, Germany (please google pictures of this fairytale place!), and end the week in Prague! It is going to be a splendid 10 days. So because of that, it will be a while until I blog again. I will do my best to post about the break as soon as I get back. We will be back in London November 1st, so please keep us all in your prayers as we travel!

Cheers!