I FINALLY got my suitcase!

Well due to the jet lag and adjusting to the time difference we didn’t go to bed until 2:00 am last night. However, this morning was not too terribly bad waking up.

FIRST DAY AT THE SCHOOLS:

Today was our first day at our schools. I am at a school called Rainbow Forge Primary School with a year three class: which is the equivalent of a second grade class back in the states….

            So at 9:00 am we met downstairs to meet Andrew (the man in charge of this journey). Then we walked to the tram stop. We rode the tram to the schools. The tram takes you through the countryside, which is sooo BEAUTIFUL!!  We passed a few castels on the way… no big deal!! Ha! We finally get off at our stop. Then we had to walk on the pavement (sidewalk) on this through the woods path to get to our school. Its about a ten minute walk from the tram stop to the school. We finally see this small building and there we were, at our school. We met the head teacher and had coffee as she explained the “normal” school day to us. Next we were off to tour the school. It was so small compared to our elementary schools back home. Rainbow Forge has about ten classrooms max. with no more than two classrooms per grade level. The school is soo welcoming and colorful. They have a whole field and paved area for their yard (playground). I cannot wait to meet my students tomorrow! After touring our school and meeting our teachers we were finished at the school for the day. We walked back to the tram and finally arrived back at our apartments.

MEETING THE LORD MAYOR:

             After we “smartened up a bit” we walked to town hall to meet the Lord Mayor. Who is the Lord Mayor? The Lord Mayor is the highest official political position in this area next to the queen. She wears a gold necklace that weighs 2 lbs. Wow! Her robe (used for official meetings and ceremonies) was black with gold sewn into it. She said it is also very heavy.  It was quite an honor to be able to meet her. We then entered the Lord Mayor’s Parlor and had tea with her. The proper etiquette says that you do not sit until after the Lord Mayor sits… so we stood the whole time.  The Lord Mayor gave us a good history lesson on Sheffield and the political positions of England. She also told us many interesting facts….. Did you know that ACDC and Def Leopard are natives of Sheffield and still live here!! Also Sheffield is the 4^th largest city in England. Sheffield also has the largest indoor sporting arena in England. They are well known for their world class divers, as well as footballers. The official rules of football (soccer) began in Sheffield. Just a few quick facts about this cute little town. After meeting the Lord Mayor we walked through “Winter garden” which is an indoor garden type area with small shops and different art displays.

OVERVIEW OF OUR EVENING:

            We returned to our apartments and I checked to see if my luggage had been delivered and of course it had not! We then quickly undressed and put on some more comfortable clothes. We attempted to cook supper, but the stove blew up! We sure are paying a lot of moolah for this place for everything to fall apart on us!! *The dryer doesn’t work. *The stove blew up. * The sink leaks water. WOW.. but they are supposedly coming to fix it all tomorrow. After blowing up the stove, we got ready to go out to eat. In the middle of this process the door phone rings and a picture of this creepy guy shows up… and my luggage was delivered. Ha this scared everyone to death because he was staring into the camera thingy and we didn’t know exactly who he was! But I was so excited that my suitcase had finally arrived after three days without it!!!

            So we then went to supper at a pub called “The Frog and Parrott.” It was really good and cheap. I had Lasagna, salad, bread, and a drink for about 6 pounds, which equals out to about 9 dollars. Not too shabby. This pub also played “American” music, such as, Sweet Home Alabama and Pretty Woman. Haha. After eating we slowly walked back to our apartments. And now we are all blogging about our day!

-       The weather here is still cold!!!!

-       You walk soo much here. I don’t think I have done this much walking in a long time!

Cheers!!

KM