"She was done before it was done..."

This post will serve as part 2 of yesterday's adventure and my first day of student teaching...

Yesterday was a blast!! We went back to London to take in more of the British life. We started the morning  walking across the London Tower Bridge... which has become my favorite monument I think. Lit up, it is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. Then we hopped on the tour bus and headed to Westminster Abbey... The sight of William and Kate's wedding! So naturally we took tons of pictures. We even contemplated going inside, but since it was Sunday there were actual services. Next stop on our visit was Buckingham Palace to see the Queen! And lucky for us, we made it just in time to see the Changing of the Guard... So incredible. We found ourselves staring at the Palace just in awe of the fact so many historical figures walked the very roads we were standing on. We then ventured to Kensington Gardens. I felt like I was walking around Central Park with the greenery and open fields... I will say that I am staying partial to Central Park, because nothing beats a gorgeous green park surrounded by some of the tallest skyscrapers! The Park had Princess Diana's monument and the Peter Pan statue... The Peter Pan statue was actually less thrilling than I thought it would be though, so that was kinda sad. However, it was still a great  statue to see! We ended the day at a quaint little pub inside the city of London! I am becoming quite the fan of fish 'n chips =) That was the extent of our London tour... but I am not done yet! I want to go back to Harrod's, Notting Hill and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Another trip, another weekend, another adventure!

For todays adventure... student teaching... I'm sure his students will embrace the lively change of an energetic red headed student teacher from Oklahoma! haha I believe these students will embrace the things I want to do, it will just take time and work. Which is fine by me! It will keep me busy... I can tell the difference between these students and States students. There are not the problems of typical teens here. No student is coming from a hard background of "raising themself" or just trying to get by. I think that diminishes the so obviously issues within the US school system. However, these kids do have the typical tendency to talk and get off track. I discussed with him my requirements I must meet according to OSU, so our semester will be fun and interesting to say the least. Well, Marie Whitehead, our pseudo mom here has cooked us a homemade dinner... pulled pork, beans, rolls and heath bar cake! So it is family dinner time =) I hope all of you are doing well, and I miss you guys!

"... and he bought the wrong bridge"

Day 1 of the Tour of London...

Wow. That is about the only word that comes to my mind at first... The amount of history within that city alone dwarfs anything imaginable in the US. And me being the history lover that I am, it was nothing short of amazing.

The day started EARLY... we were up and on our way by 7, and headed on the bus towards London by 8. We made it there by 10 and started at the Tower of London. With our tickets we got a free "Beefeater" tour... and no, I do not know how they got their name. Neither do they... But, they are some of the most entertaining fellows to listen to. They live and work at the Tower. And they have to serve a certain number of years in the British military to be able to apply to work at the Tower. They are appointed by the Queen and once they attain that position, they stay there for life. So pretty much, it is the greatest position to have. We equate it to living in Cinderella's Castle and walking out the door and your life is on one of the major tourist attraction of the world. We saw the Bloody Tower, Traitor's Gate (which Callie was sentenced to, she likes to cause problems...) Crown Jewels, Armory, and the greens where all of the beheadings took place. We were walking on cobblestone roads that have been there for centuries... it was incredible. Simply breathe taking. And that wasn't even taking into account the FRIGID weather! Haha it was easily the coldest yet. Oh, I would like to put a "disclaimer" on any and ALL pics tagged of me on facebook... NO i have NOT gained 30 pounds in the 4 days of being here. Due to the thorough nature of pick pocketers... My purse is under my THREE jackets. So again, mom, family, and friends, do not be alarmed... i'm still of normal proportional size.

We left the Tower and purchased an On/Off double decker red bus pass to tour the city. Since it was freezing, and we had never seen London before, we decided to ride the whole time and get a lay of the land. I'll spare the little details of what we saw... Basically just the highlights and big stuff! However, we DID see some intense action. Witnessed "history" if you will... Idk if any of you have kept up with the student riots in London. But after today, they have a new meaning. As we were traveling down Picadilly Road a HUGE mob of students began to take over the streets. So large were the crowds that our bus, and all other traffic was stopped for about 10 minutes. Police was called in and of all places they were protecting... they chose the Top Shop. Haha shows the priority of British police. The students were walking through the streets with signs and whenever the police tried to disperse the crowd, students were running down the sidewalks. Not only were the streets covered with police, there were helicopters flying overhead. Obviously, this was my favorite part of the day!

After the extended bus tour adventure... we ventured back to the Tower for dinner. And we found ourself in our first Pub! We absolutely loved it and the food was delicious... I believe we will find ourselves there again tomorrow. We are going back tomorrow to hit the highlights and the shopping!!

Fancy a wander?

Today was a blast... First off, I was able to sleep in. And anyone who knows me, knows that is instantly going to mean a "better" day. Haha so Merideth, Emily and I decided to brave the chilly weather and run on the base. It was more to take an adventure than anything else. We ran to the very edge of the base that overlooks the outside world... I would equate it to Finding Nemo when the little fishies go to the reef to touch "the butt." The grass is a gorgeous green... I can't even describe it. I've never seen grass this green! After we got back we decided to stop into the community center that is adjacent to our dorm building. We were informed that it is imperative to gain the good graces of the attendant on duty. Because they are the controllers of the not-all-the-time-fabulous internet we have. So of course we put in some good face time and chatted it up with the English woman that resembled a character from Harry Potter. She was kind enough to direct us towards the nearest town for fish 'n chips! however, she said we were crazy for walking... unless we "fancied a wander..." Oh English vocabulary, I could get use to this!

Our walk was not a little trip down the street. It was a trek around 2 or more miles away. Here is the adventure: Our base use to have a second exit gate, but it closed that down so they are resorted to one gate. The closed gate was conveniently located right next to our desired town. But, with its closing, the other gate is our only option AND on the complete opposite side of the base/town we wanted to go to! Let me just tell you, this was one heck of a walk. Nearly 3/4 of a mile walk from our dorm to the outside of the gate alone. And then ANOTHER mile or a little more to the actual town. Oh, my gosh... and it was rather brisk, to say the least. But we were hungry, and wanted to check out a cute English town. And a side note, the English don't believe in having a shoulder on the road. We were definitely tip toeing the road and dodging oncoming traffic. The fish 'n chips was sooooo worth it though! We made the trek back and admired all of the beautiful green fields... I've never seen anything like it!

This is where we dined for lunch time fish 'n chips...

We saw this gorgeous side street and I had to take a picture! Isn't it incredible...

All in all the day was a complete success! Tomorrow we are going off to London for the weekend =) We are seeing the Tower and Crown jewels... and I'm sure when the Queen hear we've arrived, we'll be ushered right in. Until then, we will adventure with the commoners and hope to have a Mary Kate and Ashley type of day... BYL (blog ya later)

The Beginning of an Adventure

Well, we have been here for a little over a day... and it's already been an adventure!

 Just a recap: The plane ride from Washington DC to London was by far the greatest flight of my life. The plane was nearly empty in the "commoners" section as we called it. So we moved around and all had our own rows to lay out on and we right by each other! The airport was an experience in and of itself... haha I think we walked over 2 miles to get to the bus stop. And we came to the conclusion that we were going the wrong way because... picture this... all of us had our 3 or 4+ bags on shopping carts going UP HILL to get to where we were going. Needless to say, we had a workout. Then we arrived yesterday (Wednesday) at about 1 p.m. London time to the main base, Lakenheath. We had an interesting "welcome." OSU is suppose to send over a staff member to set us up... but she is very ill and was not able to come. So they sent us over on our own to meet up with faculty at the schools we are at. These faculty seemed extremely frazzled and overwhelmed with our arrival. So that made it difficult for us since we were exhausted, semi home sick and a little in shock. They took us around and were getting us set up with IDs and into our rooms. They were helpful, but again, seemed overwhelmed and like they just wanted to get stuff done and go home. We did get set up and unpacked... and finally got to bed. Like mom told me, "everything will be better in the morning after some sleep." I was still a little apprehensive before going to bed and laid awake for 15/20 minutes. So I decided to put the Joyce Meyer series "The Joy of the Lord" on my iPod and listened to it while going to bed. God is good, and I think I fell asleep in 5 minutes.

Here is a run down of the area I am in...

There are 3 bases, Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell. Lakenheath is the ultimate base... like a small town- bowling alley, theater, skating rink, BX (mix between target, belks and the mall... weird mix, i know) Mildenhall has a golf course and some things on base, and it is close to Lakenheath. Now Feltwell... where I am staying... is ISOLATED to say the least. We have compared it to Big Brother meets Survivor. We are stranded out here with no transportation because there aren't shuttles going in between each base. So we are completely dependent on our teachers for rides. Haha it will be an experience, for sure. But there is a small town about 2 or 3 miles away that we will most likely venture to for some escape!

So today...

Haha all I can do is laugh because it was so awful. The school that I am teaching on is at the Lakenheath base. So to get there we have to ride a bus... with the school kids. That's not the awful part, the awful part is that it picks us up at 7 AM!!!! Haha it was insane. and dark. Just picture 4 girls wandering... in the dark... completely LOST trying to find this bus. We wandered in the cold for about 5ish minutes, then ran inside a school on our Feltwell base for someone to help us. We were then led around the base by a very kind teacher to the bus stop area. The bus drove up and... it was a charter bus!! haha these kids ride in style, to say the least. Super comfy and warm... things were looking up! We got to the school and met the principal, which he is really great. We told him we would volunteer for the school dance next Friday! We are counting down, obviously. Then we went off to meet our teachers. It's a new experience so I prayed this morning for God to give me patience and favor. Because like Joyce's message said... the devil tries to steal our joy, because it makes us weak. And so I was determined to laugh at anything that was unusual or not work out the way I wanted. I wasn't going to let the devil win... I'm in England! This is amazing! Then i met Jackie and Pam. They are married to two airmen on base. They are working for the school in the AVID program, and they help tutor the students. They are amazing!! Soooooo nice... Story: He wanted to know when the Standridge family had moved there. Uh, I have no idea... so I made something up. Then he went off on this story about how his family has lived there since before Indian Removal (1820s) and that his great great great great etc grandpa is the first person buried somewhere? haha idk... it was weird. Anyways, Jackie and Pam spoke up and said they needed to do some things for AVID and asked me if I wanted to come along... and worded it in a way that he agreed. As soon as I walked out, Jackie kinda shot me a smirk and I asked her what was up... she looked back at Pam, then at me and said, "We just rescued you." Hahaha I laughed so hard and thanked them a ton. We then discussed their stay on the base/advice about him and stuff... They are amazing. They gave me their phone numbers and said to call them any time I need to get off Feltwell and go shop or anything. And they said they will be in my class every day! I'm soooo relieved. Both of their husbands have been sent off and they are neighbors, so I thought it would be fun to invite them on a weekend trip to London or Cambridge with us! As our morning was ending, I was struggling. Intense jet lag I think because I had a head ache, but we ate and I am doing better. We were told not to sleep until 9 or we will make it work. And man, that is rough. Because I could pass out right now. Oh well... We are watching Beauty and the Beast right now and just sitting around. I think we are all tired. But that is pretty much all the updates I have right now. I'm sure I'll write more later if something happens. I love you all and miss you guys!