Spring Break Part 2: Florence, Italy

On Sunday, I spent much of the day traveling by train, first from Cannes to Ventimiglia, then Ventimiglia to Milan, and finally Milan to Firenze. Each leg of the trip was vastly different, but I have to say that the first two were my favorites of my whole trip. From Cannes to Ventimiglia, I chose a seat on the top level of the train, settling in next to a window that faced the south. We rode along the beautiful coast of France, by far my favorite scenery from my journey. The trip to Milan was my other favorite because of the actual train. I walked onto the train and discovered that it was made up of compartments stretching off a long corridor. Each compartment held 6 seats in two rows facing each other. Being the nerd that I am, I realized that this was my first ever trip on a train in the style of the Hogwarts Express. Even though no one came through with a trolley of sweets, I had a wonderful time on the ride.

I arrived at the Santa Maria Novella train station just as dusk began to fell and was glad that my hostel was just a few blocks away. I found my way there in just minutes, dragging my small suitcase behind me. There, I met up with a group of students on my program, some of whom had forgotten that I would be joining them for a short part of the break. They greeted me enthusiastically, and after dropping my bag in the room where I'd stay, I sat with Mila, Katie, Clare, Amy and Bella outside in the cool night air. We sat up talking until it got late, laughing and joking loudly.

The next morning, we took advantage of the free breakfast at the hostel before setting out for the Piazza Michelangelo, the highest point in the city. Along the way, we paused briefly at the covered market to pick up some fruit, which would be the perfect snack that afternoon. We walked past the Santa Croce, where Galileo is buried (among others). We crossed the canal and walked down a few small side streets until we came to the base of the stairs leading up to the Piazza. Halfway up the climb, we paused to explore a sculpture garden before finishing the journey. The view from the top was worth every step, and we roamed around of a bit. We were glad to have left our jackets back in the hostel as the warm sun shone down, illuminating tulips already fully in bloom.

I split off from the group, descending the stairs and walking back over the canal toward the palazzo vecchio, where I met up with Elizabeth for lunch. One of my favorite parts of visiting with other people who are abroad is that they tend to show you their favorite places off the beaten track, and in Elizabeth's case, a deli and a gelato shop were in order for the day. We grabbed paninis and caught up on our semesters so far. Our stories grew toward more distant pasts as we realized how long it had been since we had last seen one another - just over a year by our calculations - and we brought our gelatos along as she showed me the Palazzo Republica, famous for its arches and the carousel that has been erected in its center. After, we made our way back to the palazzo, where we sat until it was time for Elizabeth to head to class.

I met back up with the group at the Ponte Vecchio, the city's most famous bridge. We found a cafe (they hadn't yet eaten lunch) where we sat for a bit, happy to be off our feet after a long morning of walking. After our break, we walked back over the bridge to the Duomo. The cathedral rose before us, and we waited in line for just a few minutes before being admitted to explore. I marveled at the ceiling, high above us, painted so clearly that the details were clear, even from the ground.

We returned to the hotel for the afternoon, sitting out on the porch and breaking into the morning's fruit.We relaxed for much of the rest of the day, venturing out only to get dinner and gelato. I was glad to have a chance to catch up with some of the people on the trip, realizing that even with Oxford, there were so many people I simply never got a chance to talk with. I said goodbye to them that night, as they would be leaving early the next morning to continue their journey through Italy to Roma.

The next morning, I met up with Olivia. I dropped my suitcase in her room so that I wouldn't have to drag it to lunch and such. I had my first taste of Italian pasta for lunch, and then we sat in a park near her apartment until I had to go to the train station and she had to go to class. I loved getting to see her and catch up - we had last spent time together a year and a half earlier - and I was sad to have to go. At the same time, I was excited to see what the next stops on my break would bring.

Spring Break Part 1: Cannes, France

I had initially thought about writing one massive blog post for my spring break, but I have far too much to write in each one for that, so I've decided to separate the different cities. The result will be 5 shorter blog posts instead of one exceptionally long one.

The first part of my spring break brought me to Cannes, France. I arrived at my hotel late Friday evening, where I checked in and grabbed a bite to eat before settling in for the night. The next morning, I set out for the Hotel Martinez, where my sister Stephanie and her husband Jeff were staying.

To say the Hotel Martinez was a step up from the places I stayed during my break would be an understatement (perks of being on a college student's budget). The hotel, which sits along the beautiful Cannes boardwalk, caters to the stars during the famous Cannes Film Festival. I entered the ornate lobby and rode the elevator up to the seventh floor (which Jeff liked to refer to as the penthouse, as it was the top floor of the building).

We went down to breakfast together, indulging in the hot and cold buffet. We then decided to take a walk along the boardwalk toward the harbor. I relished the warmth of the day, which contrasted starkly to the rain we had endured in England leading up to my departure. We strode casually from the harbor through a local craft market before walking along the streets just inland. There, we found a bakery selling fresh macaroons and picked up a box to have as a snack later in the day. We found a cafe and sat down for lunch before doing a bit of shopping for the early afternoon.

In the middle of the afternoon, we returned to their hotel and opened the macaroons on their rooftop terrace. I have to say, the view from the terrace was magnificent. Definitely something to which I could have grown accustomed. After a short period on the terrace, we returned to the lobby for happy hour and then walked back along the boardwalk to find something to eat for dinner. I was sad to say good night at the end of the evening, but took comfort in the knowledge that while their trip was coming to an end, mine was only beginning.

St. Andrew's Visit 6: Lesson Planning

Focus: Lesson Planning

Because of the upcoming holidays, my latest day was a bit...different. The day started out the same; Mr. Barry called the role and announced the special day (it was W's turn) while the students finished work they had started the day before or continued with more challenging maths. At about 9:20, however, however, the class had to grab their coats and line up. Aside from the foundation stage students, the whole school (about 150 students total) walked to the church a few blocks away, where they held a two-hour rehearsal of the Easter service happening on that Thursday afternoon.

Two hours is a long time for kids to sit without a break, so we anticipated at least a few disciplinary problems over the course of the rehearsal. For the first hour or so, they were ok. They sat quietly and paid attention, listening to their head teacher. However, as the rehearsal progressed, the students slowly lost focus. I was in charge of the class by this point (Mr. Barry had returned to the school to get R, who had arrived late), so it was up to me to keep them quiet. I had to separate a few of the chattier students after warnings, but for the most part, they listened to me when I asked for quiet. Though I had been particularly concerned about some of the more energetic boys, many of them really surprised us with their good behavior. X in particular sat quietly through the whole rehearsal, for which he earned an extra house point when Mr. Barry was informed.

When the rehearsal finally ended, we walked back to the school just in time for lunch. I took the time to put together my first co-curricular lesson, supplementing their current science unit on food chains and predator-prey relationships. The class changed for PE quickly after they returned from lunch, and off we went to the hall.

Because it had been so successful previously, I started with the brain dance once again in order to establish a regular routine for them. Once they had warmed up, I narrated a prey story followed by a predator story in order to help them embody each one. They then paired off to create interactive predator and prey poses. To cool down, we moved from the biggest predator down to the smallest prey, working our way down the food chain.

After my dance lesson, the class returned to our classroom for a brief maths lesson, continuing what they were learning about number lines. Because they had already started the unit, Mr. Barry assigned additional questions so that he could assess which students fully understood the concepts and which ones needed further explanation or additional practice.

Other lessons I've observed in Year 4 have generally started with the students sitting on the carpet for the introductory instructions. This may also include examples of questions and solutions or other prompts. After the students have received their introduction to the material, they return to their seats to work individually, in pairs with their neighbors, or in small groups at their tables. As this occurs, Mr. Barry circles the room to provide additional assistance or pulls a chair up to a student who he knows does not understand. Later, he'll mark their books, commenting on the work they had done, and return those that need corrections. 

Blenheim Palace

Friday morning one last Oxford breakfast, we piled our cases back onto the coach to head back to Bath. On our way back, we stopped for a short day trip to Blenheim Palace, just outside of the city where we had stayed for a week.

Blenheim Palace is the only palace in the UK that was not built by royalty. Queen Anne rewarded John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, with the land and money to build his estate after he won a decisive battle in Germany against the French during the War of Spanish Succession. His wife oversaw the process, which took 28 years from start to finish, while he was away with the military.

As we pulled up, the imposing building stood before us. We piled off the coach and wove through school groups, also there on a field trip, to start our tour. The guide took us through the ornate east wing of the house (the family still lives in the west wing), which houses the former state rooms and a large dining hall that can seat over 40 people around its table. The space is used once a year for the Duke's annual Christmas dinner because it is the only room in the estate that can hold all of the invited guests.

Our tour dropped us at the long library. From there, we explored the Winston Churchill exhibit. In addition to being the cousin of one of the Dukes, he was born prematurely when his mother and father attended a banquet at Blenheim. Churchill spent quite a bit of time at the estate growing up and considered it a second home.

Having completed our exploration of the palace, we grabbed a quick bite at the cafe and then set off to traverse the grounds. Megan, Emily, Rachel and I began with a single goal: to find the tree from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The flashback scene of James, Sirius and Severus was filmed beside a lake on the property, so we scoured the banks, searching for a clue as to where it may have been. Sarah and Jessica joined us in our quest, and we finally found it just across a small bridge. We flocked there, photographing our discovery with joy.

For the remainder of the afternoon, we explored the grounds, reveling in their beauty until we noticed clouds begin to roll in. Knowing the change in the weather that would follow, we began to walk back to the coach, quickening our pace as the sky continued to darken. Though the six of us stepped on in time to avoid the rain, others got caught in the downpour, which quickly turned to hail in typical English fashion. By the time we had driven a few minutes from the site, however, the sky had cleared again, which was how it remained for our return to our home, Bath.

"I broke Oxford"

For the record, I didn't actually break Oxford. And don't worry, I'll include the story of this title in this blog post.

For one week every semester, the students of ASE move to University "Univ" College in Oxford. The residency started this year on Saturday morning, when the coach pulled up outside of Nunes House. We loaded our cases under the bus and hopped on board, prepared for the hour and a half the ride would take. We rode through the English countryside for most of the time, eventually reaching our destination. When we pulled up outside of the College, we had to quickly unload the bus and clear the sidewalk, so everyone just grabbed any case and brought it into the main quad, where we redistributed all of them to their rightful owners. The staff picked up our keys and directed us to our rooms, where we had time to unpack and get settled.

Once we found our rooms, the process of settling in was quick, so many of us began to wander back out to the courtyard looking to find where others would be staying for the week. I met up with Megan, Katie, Heather, Chelsea and Tory among others. We wandered to Megan and Heather's suite, which had a large common room between the two bedrooms, and found seats on the various chairs and couches. Katie slid behind the massive desk and began to play with the drawers, at which point one of the knobs fell off. We were able to screw it back in, but only after she announced to the room that she had broken Oxford, hence the title of this blog :)

Our next stop was Tory's room for M & M's (no one had eaten since breakfast early that morning) and then we were off to the JCR (Junior Common Room). The JCR was ASE's "headquarters" for the week, where we could grab a cup of coffee or tea, use the computers or printers, and gather when we weren't in class. Once everyone arrived, the ASE staff reviewed various rules for our stay and distributed academic timetables so we could find our classes. Luckily, they completed all of this quickly and released us to lunch.

During my week in Oxford, despite all the other things that were going on, I found that breakfast and lunch were my favorite parts of the day. Because we didn't have access to any cooking facilities aside from the small kitchenette in the JCR, we were provided with two meals a day in the Buttery (the dining hall). We ate in Univ's beautiful dining hall, sitting on benches pulled up to long tables. For the first time since we arrived, the whole program could spend time together. I had the opportunity to interact with people I don't usually see, and for that I was incredibly grateful.

After lunch on our first day, we attended a lecture by one of the Univ fellows, who provided a formal welcome to the college. Subtle jokes wove through his speech, unheard by all but a few of us, whose laughter rang out regardless of our peers' inattention. The lecture was followed by a tour of the library (which I'm sad to say I didn't take as full advantage of as I could have), the college grounds (where we learned quickly to keep off the grass) and the town of Oxford. We had a bit of time remaining, so Amy, Chelsi and I took a trip to the Eagle and Child, where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein used to meet. On our way back into town, we stopped into Blackwell's to explore the huge bookstore. We grabbed dinner at a pub just around the corner before heading back to Univ for the night. The day ended with a small party in the campus bar, which I actually attended for once. I spent most of the night on the dance floor until it was time for bed.

On Sunday afternoon, we had our first real adventure of the week: punting. For those who don't know, a punt is a type of boat, similar to a gondola, which is driven by a long pole or "punt". I volunteered to be the first driver of my boat, trusting my ballet training to provide the balance I would need to stand on the flat back of the boat. I pushed us out onto the river, but within minutes, our boat began to turn sidelong and we wedged between a set of docked boats and the river bank. Although we caused a bit of a traffic jam, we eventually escaped with the assistance of a few other boats. I continued to attempt to guide us toward our destination, but it wasn't long before I handed the task over to Hadley.

Though reluctant at first, Hadley turned out to be our most accomplished punter, skillfully navigating us along the next stretch of our route. As we reached the bend in the course, however, our pole became stuck in a muddy patch. Instead of tumbling overboard, Hadley released the pole. We drifted for a few short moments until we were able to paddle our way back. However, just as we reached the pole again, the sky clouded over and down fell rain, quickly turning to hail. Within seconds, we were all cold and drenched. Megan managed to maneuver us around the bend after the current almost dragged us out toward the Thames, after which point she handed the pole to Ashley to have a go. Halfway down the next stretch Ashley turned it over to Tory, who eventually handed it back to Hadley to take us home. After two hours out on the boats, another boat came out to rescue us, taking us back along the last stretch. We emerged, grateful to be back on land, and trudged back up the road to Univ. There, we changed into fresh, dry clothes before heading to Pizza Express for dinner. We made it back in time to catch ASE's showing of "Shadowlands", a movie chronicling CS Lewis's relationship with Joy Gresham.

Classes started up again on Monday, and we each had an individual opportunity to sit down with Chris Pelling, ASE's head of academics, for a few minutes. Megan and I met up with Alyssa, Grace and Emma for dinner at a local Thai restaurant. The evening featured a lecture from another of Univ's fellows, who outlined the history of Oxford and of the college in a talk about "Bloody Oxford". Because we were in Oxford, Tuesday didn't include a visit to our placement schools, so Megan and I spent the morning beginning the Oxford Challenge, which was a competition to see all 38 colleges that make up Oxford University. We started by searching for the furthest colleges and slowly spiraled around, moving steadily inward toward the center of town. We found about half on Tuesday morning and finished the challenge the following day.

Tuesday afternoon, we took a more extensive tour of Christ Church, one of the more famous colleges. We began in the Dean's Gardens, which hosts the original "door to Wonderland". Alice Liddell, who inspired the main character of Lewis Carroll's famous story, was in fact the daughter of the college's Dean, and our guide sprinkled snippets about her life and her father throughout our tour. We next explored the main quad of the campus, which featured a statue of Hermes at its center. Our next stop, the old dining hall, had particular significance for those of us who enjoy the Harry Potter series. As we stepped inside, a wide stairwell confronted us. We instantly recognized it from the first movie, where Harry and his peers first encountered Professor McGonagall. Though it did not open into the Great Hall of the film, the old dining hall at the top of the steps was almost certainly an inspiration for the film set, sharing many of the same architectural features. The last stop on our tour was the beautiful, ornately decorated Christ Church cathedral, one of the best-known aspects of the campus.

That evening, most of ASE gathered for dinner at a local Indian restaurant, which seated us all in a room upstairs. As I mentioned earlier, meals were a fantastic source of socialization, and this evening was no different. I sat among girls I usually wouldn't see, and we spent most of the night laughing and joking around, free from the bonds of academics and relishing in seeing one another. Even though we don't all get the chance to see each other often, or perhaps because of this fact, the moments that we spend together have imprinted on my mind. The rarity with which I interact with some of the others on the program may be regrettable in some ways, but I have come to cherish the moments I'm granted, and I'll remember that evening for a long time.

As incredible as it was, our week in Oxford had to come to an end at some point, and Wednesday and Thursday flew by. Thursday evening, we gathered together once more, dressing smart for a three course meal. Tablecloths, candlesticks and fancy silverware breathed an air of formality into the Buttery as our week came to a close. After dinner, we moved down to the bar for one final evening before we all returned to our rooms to pack our things and get ready to say goodbye to Univ.