Last Day

Yesterday was my last day with the children at CPIMS and today was my last day at work. We had a final class party with an 'American' theme. The children all dressed up, the parents brought the most wonderful 'American' food and we had a great time. Some of the children were upset when it was time to leave, I told them we have had a fantastic year together and I will remember each and every one of them for the rest of my life. The Fulbright exchange is all about being a teacher in another country and without doubt, I have enjoyed every moment of my teaching experience. As Dr Seuss said, Don't cry because it's over, smile because it's happened. Hopefully the children in my class will always remember their eccentric British teacher and will continue to call the garbage can a bin and the closet a cupboard for many years to come. Seriously though, I hope I have broadened their horizons and touched their lives, as they have mine! In 2 sleeps we fly back to the UK. We are packed and ready, in more ways than one. We have had a wonderful, terrible, extraordinary year. But now it is time to go home.

New York City - St Patrick's Day

The weather was unbelievable. Hot. Hot enough to make you wish you had left your coat at home. And not a drop of snow anywhere. The Parade itself was a washout! There were SO many people thronging the area, most of them under 21 and very, very drunk! After standing on my tiptoes to take the top picture we escaped via the subway to Greenwich Village and our favourite Irish Pub in NYC. What a fantastic move! We sat outside in the sunshine to enjoy our lunch. Ron had Fish and Chips and Sian had Bangers and Mash. I had a less interesting Vegeburger as I continue to try to slim back to normal European size! After the Parade had finished we ventured back to Midtown and went to Madame Tussauds. That was great fun. It was wonderful being in a busy, vibrant city and feeling the sun on us! As a postscript to this blog I must mention how interesting I find it that so many Americans class themselves as Irish when the connection goes back to a great great relative! My grandfather was Welsh and my great grandmother Irish but I am very definitely ENGLISH! Ron's dad was Italian but he sees himself as ENGLISH. It must be a cultural thing!

Visit From The Boss.

This past week I was lucky enough to host a visit from my Headteacher, Mrs Cathy Byrne. Mrs Byrne had applied for funding from Fulbright's Head Teacher Study Visit.

Mrs Byrne arrived via Amtrak at Schenectady Station on Friday night. We spent Saturday touring the delights of Schenectady *muffles snort*. Mrs Byrne agreed with me, that it is so strange to be 'downtown' in a city centre and for it to be so quiet and empty. We strolled up to Schenectady Museum and took in the exhibits there, mainly it seemed to be a collection of 'Washing Machines Through The Ages' plus we had to PAY!!! As I recall, all museums in Hull are free (for the moment!). We then walked round my favourite area of Schenectady, The Stockade. These are the oldest houses in the area and some have been there since the Dutch colonised the area. It reminds me very much of The Avenues in Hull. We stopped in The Van Dyke for a beverage and to avoid a snowstorm!

Sunday started with a visit to St Anthony's Church where we experienced a Catholic Mass in Spanish with my friend and teaching assistant Mercedes. This was lovely and the people there were so welcoming, it didn't matter that I didn't understand much. There was some lovely singing. We then took Mrs Byrne shopping at Walmart. Oh the fun never ends round here! The day finished with dinner at The Brudos's. Fantastic beef from their own cows and i tried beetroot for the first time EVER! It was OK really!

The reason for the visit, of course, was for Mrs Byrne to see the US Education system and Dan had set up a fantastic schedule for the week. Visits to other local schools, the High School and even lunch with the Superintendent of Schenectady! The week passed so quickly. Mrs Byrne reiterated our opinion that people here are so warm and friendly. Before she left on Friday, we held a British Tea Party for children and parents in my class. It was fantastic. I even bakes scones. (Yes Mum, second time baking this week!) It was fabulous seeing the class decorated with Union Jacks and everyone sipping tea from dainty cups and nibbling cucumber sandwiches over the strains of God Save The Queen. We shared out the Dairy Milk my Mum had sent across and the children LOVED it! I have had an excellent week and it has been great fun showing Schenectady and the school off to Mrs Byrne.

In The Bleak Mid-Winter....

I've not been updating much recently as not much has been going on!! January / February are always a quiet time but throw in massive amounts of snow and I feel like I am hibernating! There have been a few interesting moments though..

• President Obama visited Schenectady to give a talk at General Electric as they are making some kind of eco energy. I was teaching all day but it was still exciting for the kids. The Principal got a special invitation to meet him when her got off Air Force One, with a couple of the older kids from the school. That must have been amazing.



• Me and Ron have gone on a diet. The food situation had become ridiculous, it's not as if there is any American food that we even really like. We were being slowly brainwashed by the fast food adverts that are constantly on tv. Why bother stuffing your food that doesn't actually taste good?? Hopefully we can lose loads and return to the UK nice and slim and ready to east our own bodyweight in fish and chips, Cadbury's chocolate, nice cheese (Halloumi cheese doesn't seem to exist in NY state!) So far we are both down a good 10 pounds each. RESULT!!



• Frog update - the frogs, millipedes and crabs from my classroom have been rehoused, with 3 of the frogs coming to live with us! Just don't ask me what I'm going to do with them when we go back to the UK!!



• The Hull Daily Mail asked me to write 200 words on my stay so far and send them a picture of me "teaching". I sent off the above photo so keep your eye out for it in the paper. They have interviewed Meredith as well.
  

The boss is coming to stay on Friday so that should be the catalyst for us crawling out of our hibernation cave! Unless it is still snowing. In which case I shall crawl back in and stay there till April.

Snow Day

I could not believe it before Christmas when schools in the UK were closed for 'Snow Days'. In all my 35 years of being either a student, parent or teacher this has NEVER happened to me. I missed out on 3 days off and have to admit I was gutted. Since we arrived in NY State in August people have been warning us about how cold it will get and how much snow there will be. Up till today there have been 2 occasions when we possibly could have had a snow day but one was in the holidays and one was a Saturday. Today FINALLY it has happened. And it was wonderful. I was night-before-Christmas excited last night and kept waking in the night to check the weather and dreaming there was no snow. At 5 am I couldn't wait any longer and turned on YNN (Your News Now!). There it was across the bottom of the screen, Schenectady School District....CLOSED. I went straight back to sleep. Today has been spent playing in the snow with Sian, snoozing, watching Law and Order SVU, cleaning and generally being ecstatic with happiness. This cozy little condo is a lovely place to be when it is cold outside! The decision to close schools rests with the Superintendent of the school district. I can't think of an equivalent person in Hull but I am sure whoever it was would find it very difficult to make a decision like that,which would close every Primary and Secondary in Hull. In England when bad weather causes schools to close people complain like crazy. Over here it seems to be understood that schools are there to EDUCATE children not to babysit them while the parents are at work / in the pub. Why should anyone, child or teacher, put their life at risk to travel somewhere when it is not essential? Snow days are built in to the school year so no learning is missed. Such a sensible way to go on.

Fame At Last!!

Schenectady School District shot this video at the end of last year. It will be posted on the main school district homepage and also will be featured on public access tv. I think they have done an excellent job, it is a great video and will be a lovely reminder of my time here. I have had a great week this week. Nothing new or different has happened but I have had a couple of moments this week where i felt....it's difficult to explain. Normal. Relaxed. At home. None of these cover it but they all come close. I think I am finally 'settling down'. One of the problems I found when I got here was the huge expectations I had of the US. Whoever does their PR should get a big raise!! I think I am now letting go of my expectations and starting to enjoy the 'real' America.

Happy New Year

We celebrated New Year's Eve with a night in, just the 3 of us (OK I admit it, we had a big fat ZERO invitations for alternative ways to spent the evening!) Anyway we did not let that spoil the fun and tried to celebrate BOTH New Years Eve's so had one at 7pm (UK midnight) and the American one at actual midnight! Having seen the big sparkly ball being prepared in Times Square a few days before I was interested to see the drop but DISASTER! After spending an hour watching Ryan Seacrest present the NYE show, midnight came and there were shots of fireworks and people kissing but NO BALL DROP!!!! Very weird, I wonder why it wasn't televised. Happy New Year everyone. May 2011 bring you all your heart desires!

All Good Things To Those Who Wait.

Sian got mainly $$$ for Christmas and we planned to go down to NYC so she could get some clothes from Topshop which has only one branch in the whole of USA. We were due to travel down with a local coach company who were doing 'buy-one-get-one-half-price' deals. Of course you will have guessed by now that New York was hit -the night before we were due to go- with the worst snow so far this winter. The next morning the local news channel was telling everyone to stay at home if they could and that people should not try to travel on the thruway (the motorway to NYC). So i decided we should stay at home, I actually presumed the company would cancel the trip - but this was not the case. Sian was so good about it but I was devastated! This exchange experience brings fabulous opportunities but obviously not EVERY day! From Christmas day until New Years day we were very much left to our own devices and although we had a lovely Christmas together I missed all the Christmas drinks and parties we would have been enjoying with our friends and family in the UK. I really was excited about NYC as it was something fabulous that I couldn't have possibly done had we not have come to the US. Anyway after much crying and many phone calls we managed to get another trip organised (for another payment) 2 days later. The snow in New York had been cleared from the streets and by snow ploughs and deposited in HUGE piles on the pavement. This made crossing the road perilous! We had a fantastic and magical day, Sian spent a good couple of hours in Topshop, we visited Times Square and saw the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. I REALLY am a city girl and do miss living in a city so much! As a happy postscript to this blog, the travel company have offered vouchers to make up for the double payment. I bet the original trip didn't get even halfway to NY in all the snow! No trips planned till February now so I need to start saving up!

Boxing Day

Day After Christmas. NOOOOOOOO. Someone has stolen Boxing Day.

Bright Lights, Big Cities.

One of the reasons I am so lucky to be here in Upstate New York is that it is relatively easy to get to 2 of the best (in my opinion) cities in the USA, New York and Boston. I very much prefer city life to country life and have visited both these cities twice each already, with more visits planned in the future!






Boston has a very European feel to it. It is a city on a harbour (like Hull!) and has a classy and refined air. The main tourist area is Quincey Market, a huge foot court where you can get literally anything your heart desires to eat. Last time we were there was for breakfast, I had a fry up and Sian had Clam Chowder in a bread bowl (yes - for breakfast!) Quincey market is surrounded by the usual American clothes shops, Americal Eagle Outfitters, Loft, The Gap, Aeropostal etc. There is a lovely big park in the centre of Boston called Boston Common and more upscale shops on Newbury Street like Chanel (great for window shopping but not much else!)
Top 3 Boston Moments

• Taking a 'Duck Boat' Tour around Boston, learning all about the history of the American Revolution and ending with a big splash down in Boston Harbour!
• Having a cold pint 'Where everybody knows your name..' Yes, Cheers bar! I was a huge fan of Cheers when I was a girl watching on Channel 4 every Friday night and never once thinking I would one day visit myself.
• Going to a FONDUE restaurant. "What would you like for dinner Sarah?" "A big pot of melted cheese please." "No problem at all!"

New York City. Iconic. Two of my most favourite things are SATC tv programme and Woody Allen films. NYC did not let me down. It is unlike any other city I have visited. Whereas Boston is great for shopping, New York is for wandering roung gawping and screaming OMG every time you round a corner and stumble on another major landmark, The Empire State Building, The Rockerfeller Centre, Times Square..... If I was single, childless and rich I would move there in a heartbeat. And lucky me, for the next 6 months it is a 2 hour train ride away. Sian and I are returning during the Christmas holidays to spend her Christmas money and I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Top 3 NYC Moments

• Strolling round Greenwich Village on a perfect, sunny Sunday morning and recreating the infamous 'Freewheeling Bob Dylan' album cover with Dad and Ron
• Crossing the Brooklyn bridge at night on the top of a double decker bus and seeing Manhattan in all its illuminated glory.
• Top of the Empire State Building with Mum and Sian - an ambition achieved for all 3 generations!

Writer's Block

My early New Years Resolution is to post at least once a week. It is all too easy to feel 'can't be bothered' about writing my blog, especially as I'm also keeping a personal diary everyday. But writing helps me realise what an amazing opportunity we are all having here, something it is easy forget when my alarm clock is going off at 5:50 every morning! Also, when I was going through the Fulbright application process and then waiting to start the exchange, I really enjoyed reading blogs from past Fulbrighter's and found them really helpful in relation to my expectations of the exchange. So there we are, whether you like it or not, I'm going for quantity over quality for the next few months!

Happy Turkey Day!

My Thanksgiving post is a little different to the others as I am including a letter I wrote to the children back at The Parks about my experiences.

Dear Children,

I am writing to tell you how I spent my first ever Thanksgiving. In the morning I woke up and Sian came and snuggled up on the settee with me and we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade from New York City. I was very impressed with all the balloons and floats. My favorite part was when Kanye West sang and when Father Christmas came at the end. One year I would love to go to watch the parade but I doubt I ever will because in England I have to work every Thanksgiving.

We all got dressed up in smart clothes and waited until it was time to go to Mr and Mrs Bernadt’s. We were very excited and very hungry as we wanted to be able to eat lots of dinner. When we got there a fire roaring in the grate greeted us and lots of nice dips and bread to eat. Ms Bernadt’s sister was there and her husband and we called Ms Bernadt on Skype for about an hour. Ms Bernadt was at my parents’ house in England having Thanksgiving dinner with them!

We sat down for the main course, the Americans call them the ‘entrees’. There was so much delicious food. Turkey and mashed potato, sweet potato with marshmallows on top, green been casserole, fruit jelly, stuffing and gravy. It was all very delicious. There were also LOADS of deserts. Chocolate pie was Sian’s favorite! We said “Thank You” to the Bernadts and went home very full and happy and very thankful that we have met such friendly and welcoming people in the United States. Ronnie, Sian and I decided that we will have a ‘Thanksgiving Dinner’ every year when we are back in the UK to remember our American adventure.
Lots of love,
Ms Davies xxxx

Mom's Apple Pie

Last weekend Sian and I took part in a huge Fall tradition, we went apple picking. I was amazed to see how many people - of all ages - take part in this extremely wholesome pastime. There were even groups of teenagers there! The Orchard we visited had almost been picked clean, in fact we only just made it in time as the next day they announced they were no apples left on the trees. As well as the apple picking there were baby farm animals, pumpkins for sale and hot cider and donuts. (Unfortunately cider in the US is non alcoholic!) The apples we picked were delicious and so far I have made a very successful apple pie and 2 batches of applesauce. Maybe I'm finally becoming domesticated.

You say tomato....

With the daily routine of 'get up, work, tea, bed' firmly in place I can sometimes forget I am in a different country, on a different continent! One thing that gives me an instant reminder is the pronunciation of some words. My favourite at the moment is telling the kids to say tomato (they pronounce the middle a 'ay' as in 'say'.) They think it's hilarious as well and enjoy taking me off asking for some yogurt (they say Yo-gurt with the stress on YO rather than YOG. They have been confused recently in Maths as we study data handling (they call it dar-ta!!)

One pronunciation that annoys me though comes from the TV. There is a Hyundai advert which specifically explains how to pronounce the word "Hyundai like Sunday"!! Surely this isn't right? Can any Koreans reading please let me know!!