Less than 4 weeks now and I'll be jetting back---wow! School finally let out for summer holidays this past Friday. True to elementary school form, the class watched a movie, played games and had a party--going out with a bang. That was a really nice day, but also a sad one. Saying goodbye to kids for what will likely be forever, wow. Clearly much harder for me than for them. They don't really understand not seeing someone again. sigh... I've been saying all year that I'm only here for one year, but just the other day, one of my students came up to me and casually asked if I was going to work with their class the next year. And I had to explain that no, I was going back to America. She then asked when I would be back, as if I was just going to America on holiday for a month or so. That was a painful conversation for sure. I have really gotten to be quite fond of some of the kids I work with, and some of the staff. But I also am a bit glad to be done; there have been some really awful problems with some of the boys in my class, being incredibly naughty, getting violent with property and teachers. yikes. The teachers have been upset about how it was handled...it's not been a very happy work place for the past few weeks. So it goes, I guess.
Another youth work thing came to an end today; Matt and I did our last round leading the children's service at Great Horton Methodist. It went pretty well. It was a young and small crowd, so we sang some songs like "This Little Light of Mine", did a skit about the parable of the wheat and the weeds growing up together, had a little chat about how God is still there even when times are tough--like it no doubt was for the wheat, and colored some worksheets. A nice one to go out on really.
I will carry on seeing some of the kids I've gotten closest with because the two community partnership run kids clubs will continue through the summer, with trips and so on. There are also about 5 kids that come and visit us, our "waifs and strays" as I like to call them. This has been going on for a couple of months now, at least. One little girl comes over quite frequently, to talk, bake chocolate cake, help me in my garden, play on Matt's guitars, draw pictures, play "gold"fish (go fish) or hide and seek. She's got a pretty sad home life; we suspect she comes over for a bit of caring. I have raised concern about her at school to the learning mentors, and they are considering contacting social services on her behalf. I hope things will get better for her. The rest of the kids are relatively well looked after, and you really can tell. It can be very fun having our little guest, but also very draining. Matt and I are getting a lot better at setting time limits and being firm about when it's OK to visit.
Other things filling up the last few weeks here include, for me, a couple of trips with Sara, my Canadian university student friend. We hope to do some serious walking and hiking on the Isle of Man and also in the Highland region in Scotland. Also "Fiddler on the Roof" is coming to town, so we'll get cheep tickets and watch from the nosebleed section. My little garden is still a'growing and I've been doing more art work lately as well--book making. Reading and baking and going on walks as always. I'm starting to prepare for one last African Women's Circle, which I'll be leading solo, at the beginning of August. Hopefully I'll stay busy up to the last.
Speaking of last; I suspect this will be my last blog update. I don't think I'll carry on when I move to Denver. I hope it's been informative and not too painful to read, or skim... Take care all, and God bless.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
where did May even go?
Hello all,
Unbelievably, I've now been here in England for about 10 months. In another 2 I'll be back in the States, sending off my brother to college and moving to Denver. It's hard not to think about this all the time. I'm both happy to go home and also a bit down about it. On the whole, I feel like I've carved out my life here. I have my friends at school and the churches, connect with the kids pretty well I'd say. It's all feeling very right. Good thing there is still plenty to do here, so there's not too much time to dwell. With the sunnier and warmer (supposedly) turn of the weather, there have been field trips galore. Also, my family came to visit for a fortnight, which was really lovely. I've also been doing some gardening, mostly herbs and a few vegetables; it's just so cool to be able to eat something you grew yourself. And I've been cooking a lot, as always. I'll just comment on the pictures then.
Here are some of my class ( the ones in the lighter blue jumpers) on a field trip to Bolling Hall, a historic house in Bradford, wearing silly helmets. They are on a joint field trip with another primary school with a linking schools project. This is the group I was in charge of; we had to make up a play at one point, and that was really a good time.
Here are my parents and brother in an oddly very empty Bradford street in the nicer old pedestrianized area down town. And the sky was actually blue for them some days! amazing.
So while my family was here, we did some traveling. We went to the Lake district, stayed in Keswick, nearby which is a stone circle. Yup, just hanging out in a field of sheep, your run of the mill neolithic monument! It is apparently very American of me to get so excited about old things, castles, stone circles, etc. Whatever, they are just so cool!
And true to form, here is a picture of a wildflower. In the background is Durent Waters, our nearest lake. Lots of good walking, and lovely cafes.
We made our way up to Edinburgh and stayed a few nights there. This is the castle. It rained on us a lot this day.
We also took some day trips. We went to York--a medieval walled city. Here is the Cathedral: the York Minster.
And here we are in the Bilton's driveway.
Unbelievably, I've now been here in England for about 10 months. In another 2 I'll be back in the States, sending off my brother to college and moving to Denver. It's hard not to think about this all the time. I'm both happy to go home and also a bit down about it. On the whole, I feel like I've carved out my life here. I have my friends at school and the churches, connect with the kids pretty well I'd say. It's all feeling very right. Good thing there is still plenty to do here, so there's not too much time to dwell. With the sunnier and warmer (supposedly) turn of the weather, there have been field trips galore. Also, my family came to visit for a fortnight, which was really lovely. I've also been doing some gardening, mostly herbs and a few vegetables; it's just so cool to be able to eat something you grew yourself. And I've been cooking a lot, as always. I'll just comment on the pictures then.
Here are some of my class ( the ones in the lighter blue jumpers) on a field trip to Bolling Hall, a historic house in Bradford, wearing silly helmets. They are on a joint field trip with another primary school with a linking schools project. This is the group I was in charge of; we had to make up a play at one point, and that was really a good time.
Here are my parents and brother in an oddly very empty Bradford street in the nicer old pedestrianized area down town. And the sky was actually blue for them some days! amazing.
So while my family was here, we did some traveling. We went to the Lake district, stayed in Keswick, nearby which is a stone circle. Yup, just hanging out in a field of sheep, your run of the mill neolithic monument! It is apparently very American of me to get so excited about old things, castles, stone circles, etc. Whatever, they are just so cool!
And true to form, here is a picture of a wildflower. In the background is Durent Waters, our nearest lake. Lots of good walking, and lovely cafes.
We made our way up to Edinburgh and stayed a few nights there. This is the castle. It rained on us a lot this day.
We also took some day trips. We went to York--a medieval walled city. Here is the Cathedral: the York Minster.
And here we are in the Bilton's driveway.Friday, April 11, 2008
It's April!
Many things have come and gone in the space between this post and the last. Valentine's Day and related crafts, all of Lent, Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, a visit from my Goshen room-mate and pal Emily, a trip to London, visiting the London Mennonite Centre, two weeks of Easter Break from working in the primary school, a day out with the African Women's Circle to Hull and the aquarium there in, a trip to an indoor water park with the kids from the after school club, another meeting of the African Women's Circle, completely planned and led by yours truly, a retreat to Corrymela in Northern Ireland with some of the other Mennonite Mission Network workers in the UK, a terrible bout of stomach flu, and attending the Diocesan Day of Bradford, Matthew's 21st birthday, and being burgled, just to list a few stand out points. There would have been pictures from some of these with comments, but, as they were only saved on the unit computer, which was one of the things stolen, that's got to be canceled. While we were eating out for Matt's birthday just yesterday with the Biltons, his flat was broken into. We're both fine, and we are insured, so we can get replacements of everything that was taken, except, of course the photos and other personal files on the computer. That's really the worst of it. We are getting better locks put on the flats tomorrow, so hopefully, this won't happen again. Sure, it's a bit jarring, a bit depressing, but I don't feel like spending the rest of this blog entry dwelling on it. One thing I have thought about is that these guys who took the stuff (I'm not making gender stereotypes there, as we are basically 100 percent sure who did it) were once primary school kids, sat in someone's classroom. I wonder where the kids I work with are heading, and I suspect that unless there is serious intervention, several of the lads will get to the point where they don't see what's wrong with breaking into someone's house and ripping their stuff off. There, that's my rant. Now, what I'd like to spend a bit of concentration on is this last African Women's Circle meeting, and leading children's worship last week with Matthew.
I was in charge of running the most recent African Women's Circle by myself, deciding what we'd make for lunch, doing the finance stuff, making sure everything ran smoothly. This had not happened before, generally I'm more of an assistant. So, naturally I was rather nervous about this, knowing that I would need to really be top form in terms of being conversational, in French as well as English, which in and of it self can be pressure enough. Also, I'm younger than all of these women, and that feels odd, especially knowing that most African societies put much more value on age. Well, I decided to make Kusherie, an Egyptian lentil dish in More with Less, something I've made quite a few times. I wanted to do a vegetarian meal with protein, red lentils cooked in with the rice, and also pretty easy and cheap to make. It was a good choice, as it turned out; many of them had not heard of lentils or known how to prepare them, and seemed quite keen on them afterwards. Anyway, that went really well. I was able to be really conversational when needed, welcoming, and I think the cooking went well, people all helping out with the chopping and stuff, and clean up. It felt like being a real sort of teacher, conducting a cooking course. I was amazed at how confident I felt once we actually got going. It's nice when you can rise to the occasion, and have fun doing so.
The same sort of thing happened with children's worship. I'm not sure if I've explained how it works at Great Horton Methodist. You see, there is no Sunday school time like I'm accustomed to in the States. So what happens is that everyone starts the service together, and after opening hymns, a corporate prayer or two, and the reading, the children and the teachers go upstairs to the classrooms/playrooms upstairs where we split off into the crèche and the class, the dividing line seeming to be at around 4 years old. Matthew and I are part of a rotation that leads the class part about once a month. It's a bit crazy to plan for because you never know if you'll get two or twelve, middle school aged or early elementary. This time we had the full gamut, about ten all together ages 4 to 18. And it went really well. We're both learning how to be in front of kids confidently and effectively and enjoy it. We were looking at some text about the early church in Acts, and there is mention of the people eating together, every meal was a celebration, pooling resources to support eachother. We started off all sitting around a table with our table cloth from home, a few candles, and some cinnamon orange bread I made the other day. We asked what the kids do when they're going to eat a meal with their families, do they thank God in any way? A few said that their families say a blessing, but none of them sang their prayers. So Matt and I sang them a few songs, Johnny Appleseed, Hands Hands Hands, and God is Great. They were spell bound. I don't think they are at all accustomed to being sang to like that. We all sang Hands Hands Hands together with the motions, and ate the bread. Then we made a collage poster of little drawings of our "resources," some of my favorites that showed up were a whole gang of red stick figures, a kid climbing a tree, and bubble letters saying "Fashion for LIFE." It's just really good to see that we can do this, that they enjoy it, and just possibly get something out of it. And it's reassuring that even though I get a bit nervous about leading, I really do okay.
I would have to say, then, that I'm feeling really positive about the work here right now. I'm certainly learning, and building some good relationships. It's been 8 months now, incredibly; time has really flown since Christmas. I don't know if I've said on the blog, but I'm moving to Denver next year with some friends from Goshen. So thinking about that is become more necessary. Right then, take care everyone. Peace
I was in charge of running the most recent African Women's Circle by myself, deciding what we'd make for lunch, doing the finance stuff, making sure everything ran smoothly. This had not happened before, generally I'm more of an assistant. So, naturally I was rather nervous about this, knowing that I would need to really be top form in terms of being conversational, in French as well as English, which in and of it self can be pressure enough. Also, I'm younger than all of these women, and that feels odd, especially knowing that most African societies put much more value on age. Well, I decided to make Kusherie, an Egyptian lentil dish in More with Less, something I've made quite a few times. I wanted to do a vegetarian meal with protein, red lentils cooked in with the rice, and also pretty easy and cheap to make. It was a good choice, as it turned out; many of them had not heard of lentils or known how to prepare them, and seemed quite keen on them afterwards. Anyway, that went really well. I was able to be really conversational when needed, welcoming, and I think the cooking went well, people all helping out with the chopping and stuff, and clean up. It felt like being a real sort of teacher, conducting a cooking course. I was amazed at how confident I felt once we actually got going. It's nice when you can rise to the occasion, and have fun doing so.
The same sort of thing happened with children's worship. I'm not sure if I've explained how it works at Great Horton Methodist. You see, there is no Sunday school time like I'm accustomed to in the States. So what happens is that everyone starts the service together, and after opening hymns, a corporate prayer or two, and the reading, the children and the teachers go upstairs to the classrooms/playrooms upstairs where we split off into the crèche and the class, the dividing line seeming to be at around 4 years old. Matthew and I are part of a rotation that leads the class part about once a month. It's a bit crazy to plan for because you never know if you'll get two or twelve, middle school aged or early elementary. This time we had the full gamut, about ten all together ages 4 to 18. And it went really well. We're both learning how to be in front of kids confidently and effectively and enjoy it. We were looking at some text about the early church in Acts, and there is mention of the people eating together, every meal was a celebration, pooling resources to support eachother. We started off all sitting around a table with our table cloth from home, a few candles, and some cinnamon orange bread I made the other day. We asked what the kids do when they're going to eat a meal with their families, do they thank God in any way? A few said that their families say a blessing, but none of them sang their prayers. So Matt and I sang them a few songs, Johnny Appleseed, Hands Hands Hands, and God is Great. They were spell bound. I don't think they are at all accustomed to being sang to like that. We all sang Hands Hands Hands together with the motions, and ate the bread. Then we made a collage poster of little drawings of our "resources," some of my favorites that showed up were a whole gang of red stick figures, a kid climbing a tree, and bubble letters saying "Fashion for LIFE." It's just really good to see that we can do this, that they enjoy it, and just possibly get something out of it. And it's reassuring that even though I get a bit nervous about leading, I really do okay.
I would have to say, then, that I'm feeling really positive about the work here right now. I'm certainly learning, and building some good relationships. It's been 8 months now, incredibly; time has really flown since Christmas. I don't know if I've said on the blog, but I'm moving to Denver next year with some friends from Goshen. So thinking about that is become more necessary. Right then, take care everyone. Peace
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
thoughts on the kids and so on
The halfway point in this year of service is nearly upon us, so it seemed proper to do a bit more reflecting. On top of which, two Americans from Mennonite Mission Network have just visited this far flung unit and a lot of conversation about the project as a whole has taken place. So here I am, living in Bradford. Most of the time, that fact doesn't strike me as anything amazing--I've gotten used to it and formed my routines; it feels normal. Just the other day though, while I was walking to the local store, I was a bit overwhelmed by how many differences there are! So many terms and phrases, the whole way people talk and what they talk about--driving on the wrong side--the way houses are set up, thinking in pounds (there is no quarter equivalent--I occasionally give 20 pence pieces thinking that they are really 25 p--oops!), the demographics, the shops, tea, public transport, the way the government works. By the way, watching the Brits watch American politics is really interesting! But, like I said, for the most part, these things don't pop out at me. They slip by in the flow of life.
I'm more focused on the behaviour of the kids I work with on a regular basis--the ones that live in my neighbourhood, are in my class, and go to the after school clubs at which I work. As probably all of you who would read this know, I have never worked with kids before this year. Thus the learning curve has been steep indeed. How was I to know that I would become so personally involved? There are a few kids in particular, with really convoluted home structures that sometimes behave pretty well--are smart and creative, and other times just are terrors. I am so proud of them when they do well! but on the reverse, so down when they don't live up to their potential. If I were ever to become a teacher, I'm sure it would be necessary to not take the bad behaviour personally. Sigh... I had a chat with the two learning mentors at the primary school the other week (they work one on one with the kids with behavioural problems and home issues, and also run the breakfast club and arts club after school that I help out with regularly--I've gotten to know them pretty well). Many of the kids with whom I'm the closest meet with these two women at school--meaning they really do have some serious issues. These two women are doing some really good work, and it was good to talk with them about it. One thing they made clear was how important it is for them not to get their hopes too high for "fixing" these children. Rather, they need to celebrate all of the small things--even that one of their pupils didn't get expelled that year. What sobering goals! Before that chat, I had been despairing at the lack of effect that we seem to be making in our work here. I mean, what does having two extra adults care about them really do? Will they still get into crime like some of their older brothers? Will they become abusive boyfriends and fathers like they have been exposed to? The whole scope of this project is to make a small difference over the long run, and it wasn't until that conversation that I realized how worthy that is. This MVS stuff is really so far from the glamorous "saving the world" ideal. So much of it just seems to be about being a decent and caring person--trying to be aware of issues and doing what you can.
The other night, Matt and I gave a bit of a talk about what we're doing here to a church organization in a nearby, very white town. They wanted to know what is going on in multi-cultural Bradford. One woman asked us what we are enjoying--what we are going to take back. The question was a bit more than I could nicely answer at the moment--said whatever came to mind the quickest, but later I got to thinking more about it. Something I've realized I really enjoy is having fun with the kids, entertaining them, making funny faces to make them smile. Several weeks ago, one of my little boys at the after school club was crying because one of the bigger lads had hit him. After asking him whether he was actually hurt, or just upset, and ascertaining that it was the latter, I thought it best to try to cheer him up by distraction. So I made up a wild story about a little boy who loved to skip (true of the crying boy of course), but he had lost his skipping rope! He tries to find a good substitute in a muffin, a rubber band and a scissors (gasp!). After healing up in the hospital, he finally gets another rope and all is well. It was so cool to watch this boy go from crying to laughing and smiling and suggesting silly twists in the story. That was possibly one of my favourite things that has happened since being here--one of my most positive interactions with children--though I am still loving helping with this after school arts club. I need to bring my camera along to all of these things and share a bit more.
I've gotten back to the fair trade cafe again this last week, and that made me really happy too. It's a good connection; I like working with food and the people there--though I find running the cash register stressful. I've noticed that they do story telling for children, and offer training for story tellers--I think that would probably fit me really well. I need to get on it and really look into it.
One other good thing in my life here is my friendship with a Canadian student named Sara. She is a fellow Jane Austen fan in a big way, and we both love walking in the countryside and baking. So just about every Saturday we get together to do something nice, be that going on an organized walk, or visiting a town nearby and exploring, or baking muffins and watching a Jane Austen (or similar time period---We just watched Jane Eyre) adapted film. And knitting! We are both very ambitiously trying to make sweaters at the moment--ha!
There is so much more going on in my life here. I'll have to really be good and update again soon.
Now some pictures*:
Sara is in front of Bolling Hall--the oldest house in Bradford--dating back to I think the 1400s.
Within which was the creepiest room I have ever seen! It was just so red and shiny!
I'm more focused on the behaviour of the kids I work with on a regular basis--the ones that live in my neighbourhood, are in my class, and go to the after school clubs at which I work. As probably all of you who would read this know, I have never worked with kids before this year. Thus the learning curve has been steep indeed. How was I to know that I would become so personally involved? There are a few kids in particular, with really convoluted home structures that sometimes behave pretty well--are smart and creative, and other times just are terrors. I am so proud of them when they do well! but on the reverse, so down when they don't live up to their potential. If I were ever to become a teacher, I'm sure it would be necessary to not take the bad behaviour personally. Sigh... I had a chat with the two learning mentors at the primary school the other week (they work one on one with the kids with behavioural problems and home issues, and also run the breakfast club and arts club after school that I help out with regularly--I've gotten to know them pretty well). Many of the kids with whom I'm the closest meet with these two women at school--meaning they really do have some serious issues. These two women are doing some really good work, and it was good to talk with them about it. One thing they made clear was how important it is for them not to get their hopes too high for "fixing" these children. Rather, they need to celebrate all of the small things--even that one of their pupils didn't get expelled that year. What sobering goals! Before that chat, I had been despairing at the lack of effect that we seem to be making in our work here. I mean, what does having two extra adults care about them really do? Will they still get into crime like some of their older brothers? Will they become abusive boyfriends and fathers like they have been exposed to? The whole scope of this project is to make a small difference over the long run, and it wasn't until that conversation that I realized how worthy that is. This MVS stuff is really so far from the glamorous "saving the world" ideal. So much of it just seems to be about being a decent and caring person--trying to be aware of issues and doing what you can.
The other night, Matt and I gave a bit of a talk about what we're doing here to a church organization in a nearby, very white town. They wanted to know what is going on in multi-cultural Bradford. One woman asked us what we are enjoying--what we are going to take back. The question was a bit more than I could nicely answer at the moment--said whatever came to mind the quickest, but later I got to thinking more about it. Something I've realized I really enjoy is having fun with the kids, entertaining them, making funny faces to make them smile. Several weeks ago, one of my little boys at the after school club was crying because one of the bigger lads had hit him. After asking him whether he was actually hurt, or just upset, and ascertaining that it was the latter, I thought it best to try to cheer him up by distraction. So I made up a wild story about a little boy who loved to skip (true of the crying boy of course), but he had lost his skipping rope! He tries to find a good substitute in a muffin, a rubber band and a scissors (gasp!). After healing up in the hospital, he finally gets another rope and all is well. It was so cool to watch this boy go from crying to laughing and smiling and suggesting silly twists in the story. That was possibly one of my favourite things that has happened since being here--one of my most positive interactions with children--though I am still loving helping with this after school arts club. I need to bring my camera along to all of these things and share a bit more.
I've gotten back to the fair trade cafe again this last week, and that made me really happy too. It's a good connection; I like working with food and the people there--though I find running the cash register stressful. I've noticed that they do story telling for children, and offer training for story tellers--I think that would probably fit me really well. I need to get on it and really look into it.
One other good thing in my life here is my friendship with a Canadian student named Sara. She is a fellow Jane Austen fan in a big way, and we both love walking in the countryside and baking. So just about every Saturday we get together to do something nice, be that going on an organized walk, or visiting a town nearby and exploring, or baking muffins and watching a Jane Austen (or similar time period---We just watched Jane Eyre) adapted film. And knitting! We are both very ambitiously trying to make sweaters at the moment--ha!
There is so much more going on in my life here. I'll have to really be good and update again soon.
Now some pictures*:
Sara is in front of Bolling Hall--the oldest house in Bradford--dating back to I think the 1400s.
Within which was the creepiest room I have ever seen! It was just so red and shiny!
So Sara and I took the train to Hebdon Bridge (this lovely little town in a valley) on a miraculously snowy Saturday, and walked up a hill to Hebdonstall. Our wanders brought us to this gorgeous old church ruin.
This is the "new church"
Spin off of a Victoria Sponge Cake, a very popular cake here. This cake has for alternating layers of white and chocolate sponge, each with spreading of a sour cream frosting and raspberry preserves, with icing sugar and dollops of each on top.
a tea party!
This is the "new church"
Spin off of a Victoria Sponge Cake, a very popular cake here. This cake has for alternating layers of white and chocolate sponge, each with spreading of a sour cream frosting and raspberry preserves, with icing sugar and dollops of each on top. 
a tea party!*Don't trust my pictures to give you an accurate portrayal of the weather here. It's only snowed twice in Bradford--neither time amounting to more than an inch and staying less than a day. I also only seem apt to take out my camera when it's sunny out. Really, it is quite gray and rainy here
Saturday, January 5, 2008
tying up a few loose ends--those Britishisms
It was brought to my attention that i never did give the answers to my little Britishisms quiz.
enjoy
jacket potato: a baked potato
cotton on: to catch on, to understand, to start doing something (cotton on to recycling!)
in nick: in prison
cling film: Saran wrap
pudding: desert of every kind. what we call pudding is custard. who knew?
oh sod off: go away/cut it out/knock it off
cheers: thanks/there you go/pardon me/nice talking to you/have a good day/bye
ta: a word to follow cheers--or on it's own to mean pretty much exactly the same thing as cheers
alright? what's up?/how are you doing? (to which the general reply is "yeah. you?")
some bonus words:
brill: cool
ace: really cool
burk--a foolish jerk. naive, gullible meanie.
buddy--a sandwich
done and done.
enjoy
jacket potato: a baked potato
cotton on: to catch on, to understand, to start doing something (cotton on to recycling!)
in nick: in prison
cling film: Saran wrap
pudding: desert of every kind. what we call pudding is custard. who knew?
oh sod off: go away/cut it out/knock it off
cheers: thanks/there you go/pardon me/nice talking to you/have a good day/bye
ta: a word to follow cheers--or on it's own to mean pretty much exactly the same thing as cheers
alright? what's up?/how are you doing? (to which the general reply is "yeah. you?")
some bonus words:
brill: cool
ace: really cool
burk--a foolish jerk. naive, gullible meanie.
buddy--a sandwich
done and done.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Yup--I'm still alive. Sorry about the total lack of updates for the last month or so. I've gotten so overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to catch up that I kept putting it off, thus living in a terrible self perpetuating vicious cycle. So, as catching up at this point seems more than futile, I thought best to just jump in again. Hit the ground running as it were. By the way, the bloke in the first two pictures is Matthew, my fellow MVSer.
Christmas events have dominated my life in Bradford of late--in a lovely way. Full Christmas dinner with the staff at the elementary school--complete with Christmas pudding--molassesy and full of fruits. Went with the after school club to the pantomime (very boisterous, audience involving, slapstick plays always put on for the holiday season) Peter Pan. That was a really good time! We sat at the very top of a beautiful old theater with about 15 7-10 year-olds in tow. Unfortunately, not bathrooms up that high--so we made lots of mad dashes up and down the stairs during the event. And all of the breaking of the forth wall was brilliant. Lots of yelling "He's behind you!" and booing Captain Hook whenever he came in sight. At one point they handed out dozens of foam cubes that represented rocks that we were all to chuck at Captain Hook. I clearly had just as much fun as the kiddos--several of whom I saw the next day at school. One boy stated his enthusiasm in typical Bradfordian "It were well good, were last night!" Other Christmas meetings and ge-togethers, two concerts with that women's choir I'm in.
Pretty much all of our jobs have stopped off for Christmas--schools out, thus is after school club, even the organic cafe is closed. So I'm looking forward to a nice couple of weeks of non conformity to the routine that I've developed here. There are some treats to look forward to: carolling and midnight mass with the Methodists on Christmas Eve--Christmas morning service with the Anglicans and the rest of the day spent with the Biltons' (Paul and Ruth and family--Anglican) with various characters stopping during the day. And who can say what adventures my first true Boxing Day (the 26th) will bring. Hopefully I'll let you all know in a more timely fashion than last time. Love to you all; Merry Christmas; plenty of good will and Holiday cheer!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
no pictures this time...
Thought I should start off by letting people know that the little girl who went for surgery came out and is doing fine as far as I know. Making cards for her has been a popular activity in both the school and the after school club.
I've started working (volunteering) at a fair trade cafe adjacent to the university campus a couple times a week. I really had to work up to calling to ask about it, but I am so glad I did! On the basic level of filling up more of my free time, it's been very helpful. It's amazing how much better I feel as a human being when I'm a bit busier. It has also been nice to be around people my own age. I feel like I'm finally starting to make some friends. Just in time, because I had realized about a week ago that I was starting to feel more comfortable around small children and middle aged folks than my peer group--frightening how adaptable we humans are. So sometimes I do the washing up (the dishes), sometimes I get to cook (today I made chili and a cous cous salad), sometimes I work the til and make drinks. I definitely can work with pounds and pence now--but the first day was a bit sketchy--I'm still not sure if I gave everyone the correct change...
Another new involvement is the art club at school--which meets after school on Tuesdays for an hour. It makes me really happy. Last week I taught them about tessellations--interlocking and repeating shapes, and showed them how to make their own. One kid made an Elvis shape, there was also a ghost, a cowboy, and a rhinoceros/mouse, among other things.
A few weeks back, the women's singing group gave a concert for the 20th anniversary of Network--a Methodist women's organization that works with tough issues like the sex trade and battered women and children. That was a wonderful event. I was easily the youngest woman in the packed out room--quite a sea of permed white hair. All of these elderly women, a bit proper, but definitely not prim. I kept thinking that these are the daughters of the original suffragettes; they know how to get things done. They were so appreciative of our singing too, which was probably mediocre at best, and they kept refering to us as girls. I'm still pretty used to that, but most of the women in the group are in their 40s and got a kick out of that. All in all, it was a life giving evening.
In other news, I'm reading Harry Potter again, British version--just the same but with all the lovely British slang and common phrases I've come to know and love. I admit--it makes me feel pretty cool knowing what they mean. Try your hand at these: jacket potato; cotton on; in nick; cling film; pudding; oh sod off; cheers; ta; alright?. Look for translations in the next post--I welcome any guesses.
Some people have asked about how world news differs here. Well, at least where I am, so close to the university and connected to socially aware people, it seems that people are quite informed on issues. I've asked some family/friends in the States what they've heard about the Burma atrocities, and it seems so minimal compared to here. There are a lot of protests and stuff in the newspapers. I checked NPR's website, and their coverage didn't even seem comparable to the Guardian's--the liberal news here. If anyone wants a good alternative to American news coverage--I think the Guardian's website is quite good. It's http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Guess that's it for now. Take care all.
I've started working (volunteering) at a fair trade cafe adjacent to the university campus a couple times a week. I really had to work up to calling to ask about it, but I am so glad I did! On the basic level of filling up more of my free time, it's been very helpful. It's amazing how much better I feel as a human being when I'm a bit busier. It has also been nice to be around people my own age. I feel like I'm finally starting to make some friends. Just in time, because I had realized about a week ago that I was starting to feel more comfortable around small children and middle aged folks than my peer group--frightening how adaptable we humans are. So sometimes I do the washing up (the dishes), sometimes I get to cook (today I made chili and a cous cous salad), sometimes I work the til and make drinks. I definitely can work with pounds and pence now--but the first day was a bit sketchy--I'm still not sure if I gave everyone the correct change...
Another new involvement is the art club at school--which meets after school on Tuesdays for an hour. It makes me really happy. Last week I taught them about tessellations--interlocking and repeating shapes, and showed them how to make their own. One kid made an Elvis shape, there was also a ghost, a cowboy, and a rhinoceros/mouse, among other things.
A few weeks back, the women's singing group gave a concert for the 20th anniversary of Network--a Methodist women's organization that works with tough issues like the sex trade and battered women and children. That was a wonderful event. I was easily the youngest woman in the packed out room--quite a sea of permed white hair. All of these elderly women, a bit proper, but definitely not prim. I kept thinking that these are the daughters of the original suffragettes; they know how to get things done. They were so appreciative of our singing too, which was probably mediocre at best, and they kept refering to us as girls. I'm still pretty used to that, but most of the women in the group are in their 40s and got a kick out of that. All in all, it was a life giving evening.
In other news, I'm reading Harry Potter again, British version--just the same but with all the lovely British slang and common phrases I've come to know and love. I admit--it makes me feel pretty cool knowing what they mean. Try your hand at these: jacket potato; cotton on; in nick; cling film; pudding; oh sod off; cheers; ta; alright?. Look for translations in the next post--I welcome any guesses.
Some people have asked about how world news differs here. Well, at least where I am, so close to the university and connected to socially aware people, it seems that people are quite informed on issues. I've asked some family/friends in the States what they've heard about the Burma atrocities, and it seems so minimal compared to here. There are a lot of protests and stuff in the newspapers. I checked NPR's website, and their coverage didn't even seem comparable to the Guardian's--the liberal news here. If anyone wants a good alternative to American news coverage--I think the Guardian's website is quite good. It's http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Guess that's it for now. Take care all.
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