Blue Skies and Sunshine

This past week was our term break from school. It was absolutely amazing! We went to London and saw things that before those few days only existed in movies to me. We were TOTAL tourists...it was fantastic! We rode in the London eye, went to evensong at Westminster Abbey, saw Big Ben,  Parliament, the London Bridge, Tower bridge, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the Globe, visited museums, went to London's M&M world, saw the Olympic countdown, watched the Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theater, took pictures in the well known red phone booths, stood on both sides of the prime meridian, walked miles and miles, and somehow managed to only get rained on once.

Upon our return very late Wednesday night we spent a few wonderful hours in our beds before being whisked away the next morning with Karen (the teacher I am working with) to see York. There we went shopping in the shambles, explored the York Minster, walked around the remains of the wall that once protected the keep, visited the Jorvik museum, and FINALLY had some good old American pizza at Pizza hut (you laugh but you really have no idea how much you miss ridiculous things like that).

Many of these old places just made my hands itch for art supplies. Interestingly enough what fascinates me most about these huge, pillared buildings isn't the massive and ornate stained glass windows, it isn't the intricately carved moldings or fixtures, it isn't even really the history (I think I just heard my family gasp all the way from home)...what fascinates me the most in all these old buildings is the shadows. I thought about it while we were in the Minster and actually had a chance to sit down and draw (not that I got a lot done...I had trouble deciding where to start). There are varying degrees of shadow...so dark your eyes can search forever and never see an outline to the kind of shadow almost overpowered by the light but still managing to exist. What you find with the power of shadows is that light emerges. You only see the brilliance of the light when shadows are present. The Minster's shadowed pillars, nooks and crannies just made the beautiful well lit open worship space and stained glass windows that much more beautiful. One without the other is impossible...there is no balance or appreciation.

It's the kind of lesson that can be applied to the rain. Something I never noticed before. I probably only realized this because it rains so much here...otherwise my brain would have never made the connection with the Minster's shadows. You see I love rain. I love storms and thunder and lightening. To me, they are the equivalent to shadows. While sitting there drawing in the Minster I realized that the light and openness was like a blue sky with sunshine. Blue skies and sunshine are not necessarily something I appreciated all that much...not until being here (with lots of grey skies and rain) and I realized just how beautiful that is. When we have the rare day without rain where the sky is actually clear enough to see the blue sky you just have to stare and smile. It is so lovely! I have lots of days like that at home...lots of those beautiful days with blue skies and sunshine.

It makes you think...the beauty that you miss everyday because you are so used to seeing it. I have probably said a million times since being here, "Do these people realize how lucky they are?"...but a better question was "Do I know how lucky I am to be from where I'm from?"...because you see for every old wall, castle, or cathedral there is an old one room school house, barn or country church at home...for every museum, statue, or landmark we have someone that can tell you the history of our area, show you something left behind by the Indians or point you towards obscure but unique anythings in your own town...for every ambling hill, scenic walk, or rainy day we have beautiful flat land that allows you to see for miles, people to walk with who have known your family for generations....and sunshine....Blue skies and sunshine.

Say What?

I have mentioned the Yorkshire accent before in my posts and I know I've talked to people about it here and there, but it is really hard to understand unless you hear it. I was informed today that there are some really wonderful poems, web site and videos on the internet that I could share with you all so I chose a few things to highlight what I'm talking about. Enjoy :)

The words below are just some examples...

GLOSSARY: A
Yorkshire term	Definition
allus	always
'appen	maybe, possibly e.g. "I'll 'appen that's it" for "that's possibly true"
aye	yes

GLOSSARY: B
Yorkshire term	Definition
backend	Autumn
bad 'un	no good
badly	not in a good state of health, i.e.'How's Martha?', 'She's badly.'
baggin	packed lunch
bagsey	childhood term, i.e. 'bagsey my turn!'
bairn	child
bait/ bait box	snack/ packed lunch
bap	bread bun
bazzerking	relaxing/ telling off (?)
beck	brook
beefin(g), blubberin(g)	crying
be reight	it'll be alright
berg	mountain
best y' do	see that you do
black bright, black as't face o' spades	very dirty
bog	toilet
bonce	head
bonny	pretty
brant	steep e.g. "'tis a brant hill"
bracken	ferns
bray/braying	beating e.g. "you'll get a good braying" or "I'll bray you"
breadcake	bread roll or bap
butty	sandwich

GLOSSARY: C
Yorkshire term	Definition
cack-handed	left-handed, clumsy
carr	marsh
chat	fir cone
chelpin'	talking
childer	children
chippy, chip 'ole	fish and chip shop
chuckin(g) your guts up	being sick
chuddy	chewing gum
chuffed	pleased, excited
clarty	dirty, muddy, sticky
clemmy	stone (of a size you might throw)
clout	cloth or slap
cludger	toilet (in Knaresborough)
coal 'ole, coyle oyle	coal cellar
coit/cooat	coat
croggy	riding on the cross-bar of a bicycle

Top Ten

Ways you know you've assimilated to English culture:

1. When someone says football you don't automatically think of that game with the oblong ball.
2. You no longer have to think twice about which way the traffic is coming from (even if you still don't like crossing the road).
3. When someone says something that sounds made up, you no longer think to yourself that they are speaking jibberish...even if you still have to ask them what the word means (the 'Yorkshire accent' is a whole different story).
4. You begin explaining where you come from by picking a geographic area because you know no one knows where your state is....for example Ohio is by the great lakes.
5. You finally understand the currency and can tell the difference between the massive amount of coins they use (1 penny, 2 p, 5 p, 10 p, 20 p, 50 p, 1 pound, 2 pounds --yep all coins).
6. You start incorporating words into everyday use that you would never normally use such as Lovely, brilliant and wellies (along with that whole list of words I've been keeping track of in my English as a Second Language section)
7. You know where to find eggs in the store (hint - not anywhere near the refrigerated section).
8. You never assume you know what the weather is like by looking our your window....and you never assume the weather will be the same as the day progresses.
9. You are more surprised to see a blue sky than a cloudy one.
10. When someone asks if you are alright you don't wonder exactly what it is that could be wrong and instead cheerfully reply, "Yes and how are you?"

Ways you know you haven't quite gotten there yet:

1. Someone still finds something to tell you that is so different from what you expect that it shocks you...such as the fact that there are no outlets in bathrooms here. Something I didn't notice until it was pointed out to me.
2. You can find the eggs but some other groceries you still have trouble with (could be because some of them don't exist here).
3. You still feel like you are living in a Jane Austin novel or a fairytale.
4. You still chuckle to yourself when someone says something is far away and it's only an hour drive.
5. You watch t.v. buuuut you are usually watching American shows.
6. You still aren't sure how to react when someone says 'I love Americans'....do you say thank you? do you ask why? do you just nod, smile, and continue on?
7. When someone asks you if you would like to try some sort of food that you have absolutely no idea what it is, you debate in your head whether to take a chance that it will be something you recognize or if you should ask what is in it (like in the case of black pudding -- pig's blood, yummy *said while trying not to make too much of a face and not succeeding. It's a good thing Paul and Ruth are so nice and tolerate my squeamish stomach).
8. You still find it amusing to sit in the front passenger seat of cars here and not be driving.
9. Some poor child asks you for something at school and you have no idea what they are saying...for all you know they could be speaking a different language...that is until they ask the teacher and she knows exactly what they want....sigh, more words for my English as a Second Language section.
10. You still aren't quite sure how people come up with some of these Proper Nouns for places and have to occasionally scratch your head in wonder.

Taking a break from walking with Angie

Picture Perfect

Diocesan Day with the Anglicans (kind of like conference) - A picture moment I found by accident

At Saltaire - Climbing a statue we probably weren't supposed to - We just wanted to see Titus Salt up close!

Lots of rain means lots of rainbows :)

Rock climbing with some students

Hold on a second!...Where are all the merry men?

The last week(ish) has been wonderful! where to start, where to start...

School is as good a place as any. I love my school....I mean I don't love it in the way that I have any aspirations of becoming a teacher kind of love, but I really do enjoy the time I get to spend there. My teacher and students are wonderful and I have so much fun. One thing I am grateful for is the fact that my teacher uses me quite a bit. I do a lot of the normal things one would expect like fetching copies, cutting things apart, sitting with groups of children to keep them on track...I am lucky though because I am given the opportunity to do so much more. On several occasions I've gotten to take small math, reading and phonics groups out to work with individually. I've also gotten to decorate some boards, am currently designing and working on a target board, join in for gym, and go on field trips. I have learned many things at school such as...

1. How to throw, catch, and run with a rugby ball
2. there is a worship session for every child of every faith offered once a week. Even atheist children have a program set up for them.
3. Lunch is pretty much going to be a surprise every day even though I signed up for it in the morning. American English is not England English especially where food is involved.
4. I am absolutely not qualified at all to help with any sort of spelling lessons....ever. There are just too many funky letters stuck into random words.
5. I hadn't realized it until after the lesson was finished, but I am not exactly qualified for helping with phonics here either...I mean seriously, the way they pronounce things is just plain odd sometimes.
6. The kids are hilarious...I have to try really really hard not to laugh or smile when they do something funny but are in trouble with Ms. Bennett for doing so. Ahhh the joys of being in a classroom and not being the authoritarian.
7. They are actually excited when they are placed in a group with me which in turn makes me excited to teach them things...or them teach me....whichever way it happens. (plus they call me Miss which is way more cool than I had expected)
8. The teachers lounge is indeed the magical place we all thought it was while we were in school and not allowed to enter.
9. My classroom faces the street I walk along to get to the school, which I did not discover until just last Wednesday. The only reason I probably even know this is because it is lined by this huge graveyard. If there had been houses I probably still wouldn't have a clue...that is how disoriented this school and its maze of hallways makes me.
10. I have no hope of ever learning the Pakistani language even though my pupils have tried in vain to teach me some useful phrases including but not limited to...I am fine. Yes, I would like some tea. No, I do not like coffee. Goodbye.

Wednesday was just this completely and unexpectedly amazing day. First, we were scheduled to go on a mini field trip to Morrison's and the Range (a grocery store and an everything else store) to buy materials for their enterprise projects (I know, you are right, that is totally cool!) and research logos, slogans and advertising gimmicks. It is very tricky and stressful to keep track of 7 11 year olds with cameras who just want to scamper everywhere. Still fun though because they are funny and for some reason seem to like me. If that wasn't cool enough as it was I found out upon arriving at school that morning that a last minute trip had been added to the day's schedule. There was a festival in the town square (huge square I must add) called Positive Bradford which I gather was a celebration of some sort to celebrate their diversity and community and pretty much everything. A last minute call had been made asking for students to come and sing at the event...my lucky class was chosen. So we went to this event and just had a really great time. I along with the teachers and students stood in front of the stage and sang If You're Happy and You Know It. It is possible we ended up in either the local newspaper, tv news, or radio station...I have no idea though because I don't yet know where to find any of those things. I suppose it will remain a mystery. We split the children into their houses (it is kinda Harry Potterish which amuses me) and I went with the children of Capella to explore the different tents and activities. I am pretty sure they collected enough free pens and pencils to supply a small office for a year. They had so much fun! It was great seeing them smile and giggle and run all around even if it was a nightmare to keep track of 8 of them in the crowded square. One boy told me on the way back to school that this was the best day of school ever!

Definitely the funniest part of the day occurred when we met some of the local Rugby players who were signing schedules. One of them brought me a business card from their boss or coach or someone (hard to tell...trying to understand people with accents in loud places is impossible) and explained that they were available to do fundraisers of different sorts in schools and such. After he walked away a couple of the girls of the group just sorta looked at me before one asked, "did he just ask you on a date?" I laughed pretty hard and assured her that no he had not asked me on a date to which she replied, "Well, he just gave you a number didn't he?" I tried explaining that it wasn't that kind of number...they didn't seem too convinced.

Thursday (22) we went to a small gathering at the Methodist church to socialize and wrap boxes for Operation Christmas Child. The boxes from here go to Europe and Africa. Friday (23) we went walking with Angie and Nelly in the Moors....all I have to say from the walk is beautiful! Malcolm met us at a dog friendly pub later for 'American' portioned food. We had a chance to chat with the pub owner who actually remembered Angie, Malcolm and the Mennonites from the past year (we are referred to as the Mennonites pretty much wherever we go). Sunday (25) we had the opportunity to worship with the Anglican church for the first time...not only is the building this ancient piece of art made of stone and pillars and huge stained glass windows, but the service and rituals of the Anglicans are actually quite lovely (lovely hehe...I'm picking up on commonly used English words here). Sunday afternoon there was a meet and greet with tea at the Methodist church for people from both churches to meet and get to know us. We sang several hymns with them and even had a chance to teach them one (oddly enough it is the same hymn the girls from the past year picked for this same event). Sunday evening I spent watching Rugby with Barry and Val (I escaped Titanic and tears with Rachel and Kaihle--no offense you two but that is so not my thing). Barry is hilarious and Val is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. They will be leaving soon to spent time with family in America for 7 weeks...we are happy for them to see family, but sad to see them go. Monday (26) evening we went to our first choir practice (yes I know right! me in a choir...it is kinda funny...it will be even funnier when we actually have a show). Wednesday (28) evening we went to Compline (some part of Anglican worship I will have to explain when I understand better) and then to the Vicarage where Paul and Ruth served us and Alex (another Anglican minister) the first of many meals we will have together on Wednesday evenings. Paul and Ruth are so clever! They are feeding us by giving us a tour around the world. Wednesday night was Asian food (what we would probably refer to as Middle Eastern). We had yummy chicken curry and eggplant something or other...we also learned that words like eggplant and cucumber for example are not words used in the UK. Thursday (29) we had our first day of Footloose and Fancy Free...this is a group of older church members who show up every other Thursday to play games and have tea...turns out I'm the bomb-diggity at jigsaw puzzles. Being in the middle of an unexpected heat wave and probably the last few warm days of the season, Angie took us to the coast on Friday (30). We went to this place called Robin Hood's Bay...it is a town so old there is no vehicle access to most of it because the 'streets' are so tiny. They are also impossibly twisty, turney and confusing so instead of naming them, each house was given a name. How cool is that?! After church on Sunday (2) with the Methodists, a family from the church took us out to eat and then for a nice walk to a nearby Abbey as old as the hills...it lay in ruins, but was absolutely gorgeous and brimming with life.

This country is so beautiful - both the countryside and the people. We have so many wonderful people looking out for and wondering after us. I am loving my time here for so many reasons. I love living with Rachel and Kaihle...I love Angie making sure we see all the beauty of her country...I love my students and the amazing teacher I've been paired with...I love being able to walk places...I love the mystery of finding out what some oddly named food is (it's really fun if it turns out to be something you recognize)...I love that Barry uses 'soccer' instead of 'football' when he talks to me and always keeps me up to date on everything soccer going on...I love how sweet Val is...I love that Paul answers my millions of questions without second thought (good thing because I have toooons of questions. My dad would tell you I've had them from birth)...I love that Ruth makes such wonderful food and is always so nice when we visit...I love the people from both churches who ask how we are getting on and if there is anything they can do for us as well as inviting us out to enjoy the day with them...I love the kindness and interest of random strangers we come into contact with...I even kinda love the idea of trying something new like the choir...I just love Bradford...I also love all of you who I know are praying for me, reading my blog or asking my family for news. As I look back on the three weeks I've been here and remember all the wonderful experiences I've had and people I've gotten to meet in this short time, I know that you and God are the reason I am able to be here.  :)

The Moors

My class getting ready to sing

Robin Hood's Bay

Bolton Abbey