WICKED the musical. The primary school. High Tea at the Palace.

I thought signing up with an education agency would be like signing my life away. I assumed once committed to substitute teaching ("supply teaching") I would be called daily for work or booked well in advance. And so Wednesday was my "LAST DAY OFF" and I thought I had better live it up.

Jenny was free Wednesday, too, and she suggested we see a musical. We walked around Leicester Square and searched the 1/2 price ticket booths for the best possible price. Two-for-the-price-of-one? Student Discount? Matinee reduced price? We decided we would take any deal, but not at the expense of sitting behind a giant pole, tucked in a corner, or next to the release of a giant fog machine. We found a deal for tickets to see Wicked the musical. It was AWESOME. If you're unfamiliar with the story, it's basically "the untold story of the witches of Oz." It was an incredible script, but on top of that, the music, set, and actors were fabulous. I highly, highly recommend this musical for all ages, theatre go-ers or not. (www.wickedthemusical.co.uk)

Thursday I began my life as "Ash, Teacher Assistant" at a Primary School in West Hampstead. The school consisted of adorable brick buildings that enclosed a courtyard (the playground) in the middle. At the office I signed in and found out I was replacing T.A. Jack for the day. Jack was off auditioning for a musical. Later, in the teachers' lounge I found out that many London actors lead a double life as a teacher's assistant. Apparently it's very common. The T.A. is flexible and a good source of income, but in their spare time they pursue their true passion of acting and theatre.

The classroom I was placed in was a Year 2, similar to our grade 2 in the States, but a bit younger. Most of the children were 6 and turning 7 very soon. I was assigned to Thomas*, who suffered from severe ADHD, for most of the morning. In the afternoon I split my time between three classrooms, working with special needs students. Finally at the end of the day I assisted the "Bramble" class with their assembly to the rest of the school. They acted out the story of the Gingerbread man and held up pictures/stories they had created.

I was exhausted by the end of the day. Overall, the school was chaotic. I guess that's to be expected in a school where 85% of the students consider English their second language. I did crafts with Nadirah and Erza who wore scarves around their heads. They told me they loved my eyes (blue), and as I looked around the different classrooms I realized I was the only blonde-haired, blue-eyed person. As I sat at a table covered in glue and scissors and colored paper the children began asking me where I was from. "America," I said. "Ooooh," they all replied, "But where are your parents from?" I said, "Ur, America." They looked slightly confused. Pablo said his parents were from Ecuador. Shekinah was from South Africa. Yohona was from Kosovo. Patrick from Northern Ireland. Talk about diversity.

Despite the obvious differences between the British and American educational systems, they really are very similar. The teachers' lounge is still the hub of gossip and complaining. Children still cry over trivial events on the playground. Glue is still used with the idea that more is definitely better.

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Friday Jenny and I spent an hour and a half watching the famous Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. It was cool to see such a traditional ceremony first-hand. I will say that it was a little overrated, or maybe just a bit too touristy. I think it has lost some of the authenticity when they tried to make it more appealing to a crowd of hungry tourists waving their cameras over their heads. Nonetheless, I saw the Changing of the Guards and it was memorable and another thing to check off of my ever-growing list of "things to do before I leave London."

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Saturday I had High Tea (formal tea) at Kensington Palace/Kensington Gardens with three of my good friends. Yes, the former residence of Princess Diana. Tea was awesome. I wish we had a tradition like this is the States. The "tea" started off with our very own teapot consisting of a tea of our choice. Traditional English sandwiches came out next, followed by huge scones stuffed with clotted cream (sounds healthy, huh?) and jelly. The last "course" of the tea was a piece of orange cake - - - the signature dessert of the building we were in, which is referred to as the "Orangery." The story goes that when Queen Anne lived in Kensington Palace (sometime in the 1700s) she had a large greenhouse building that housed citrus trees, The Orangery. And that, my friends, is where I had tea on Saturday. Queen Anne's old greenhouse. It sounds so much cooler when I call it Princess Di's greenhouse.


Well thanks for keeping up with me. I'll have pictures up on my shutterfly page from these events by Wed. 23 Jan.
Cheers