I brought in the new year with my brother, Nathaniel, and Nathaniel's sister Anastasia on Westminster Bridge right in front of Big Ben and the London Eye. The fireworks show was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! I kid you not, they shot fireworks out of the London Eye. Epic. Was it worth the 5 hour wait? Mostly. We brought blankets, which was smart, but forgot little things like a deck of cards or warm drinks. So we all busted out our Lutheran Camp Counselor Skills (mostly courtesy of Nathaniel) and played 1 minute mysteries, 20 questions, and ninjas for 5 hours. Yup. I'm pretty impressed myself. Nonetheless, I will never again attempt a big city new years eve, it was so incredibly crowded and getting home was a nightmare! But a definite London must :)
I haven't spent that much time in the schools this month. Our first week back was an administration week to get the schools up and running again, followed by one week of teaching which was followed this week by a conference in Wales with my fellow YAGMs! My students were pretty excited to come back, and I got two new students at my schools so it's been fun to get to know them. One is a fourth year who is very talkative and very sweet, and another is a little boy from Vietnam who can't remember my name yet but is also very sweet. My favorite part of the lessons? The hugs I get (sometimes) at the end. Health and Safety is a big deal in this country, and England is pretty protective of its children. Very protective. So if a student wants a hug, it needs to be very clear that the student is the one that initiates the hug and not the teacher. If you know me, you know that this is hard for me, because I love hugs! One of my students loves them too and will run up to me in the hallways to hug me (which I love) but I always have to make sure the hug is brief and that I never approach her for a hug. If not, I could get into major trouble.
Wales was absolutely fantastic. We were literally in the middle of the country, in the middle of nowhere, with no internet or cell phone reception. A much needed break from the excitement and busy life in London. I got up at 6:30 each morning to hike the hills with some friends and watch the sun rise over the hill tops. Absolutely stunning! Of course there were sheep everywhere because, well, it's Wales, but they made the walks more fun and provided inspiration for many jokes and stories. Catching up with the YAGMs was a much needed relief and rejuvenating experience. It also provided a chance to have some quality prayer time. I've changed how I pray after realizing that praying in my head turns me into Doug from the movie Up: I get distracted by anything. Squirrel! Yup. So now, I write down my prayers. This idea was inspired by reading the book The Help that my mom gave me (which, incidentally, is a GREAT read. I highly recommend it). I am able to get all my thoughts down and am much less distracted. Thank goodness.
Now, here are a few pictures from my new year's resolution: I am going to explore all of the parks in London. For the past 2 weeks (this week doesn't count, I was in Wales) I've been walking through Hyde Park and Kensington Garens. SO. BEAUTIFUL. If you come to visit me, we're walking through these parks.
Peace, love, and I miss you all!
Erin
Peter Pan statue, Kensington Gardens
The Moon, Wales, 6:30 AM
YAGMs reunited!!
No comments:
Post a Comment