It’s over a week since I settled into my house here in Milton Keynes. All but one of my roommates have moved in and, to be honest, we get on really well! Though they’re guys, and can be a bit sloppy, I find them more of a stress release than anything. They taught me how to play cricket and I managed to teach them how to play ultimate—I might drag them to practice next Tuesday (I know they’ll be hurting by the end, and probably hating me for it, but I figured it’s completely worth it).
Before I get into the massive paragraph about Walton High, I figured I’d just write down some other aspects of my new-found life. Running, for example, has brought me to a place of serenity and relaxation. As I said before, MK has a massive bike path that spans the perimeter. I have found a path that is utterly incredible—I mean mind boggling. Imagine this: you’re running, and after about five minutes of roadways and bridges, you find yourself at this field with nothing but trees and the English country side on either side. Looking out to the east you find these almost sublime trees that seem to watch over the area, followed by at least 3 dozen sheep (haha I found this so amusing today!). Running into one of the near by villages, you turn left and you’re now running behind these trees with a waterway on your right. The rout is absolutely astounding. I know of another path, a fork in the road where I always bear left, that I’m determined to take either tomorrow or Sunday. It seems to lead to more country-side, though I can’t be too sure. I feel like I’m in my own little world when I’m running and I can pretty much forget about everything.
I’ve been having very strange dreams these past few nights, mostly due to the horrible mattress they provided for me (I’m calling the mattress company come tomorrow). Dreams ranging from trying to burn my mother’s house down (WHAT?!) to running into my ex, Jeff, whom I haven’t seen or spoken to in a year (what made me think of him is beyond me) are only the beginning. I find myself waking up in cold sweats, which is highly unlike me. To be frank, it’s bizarre.
Now for the Walton High update: I just went through two days of orientation (Tuesday and Wednesday) where they managed to throw enough information at us to make all of our heads spin. Thank G-d for my diligent note taking skills, otherwise I would have NEVER remembered any of it (some of my colleagues figured this out and I've noticed that a few of them time to time will glance over at what I'm writing lol). The education system here is just completely different in so many ways. First, and fore most, I've never ever ever been told (unlike at Towson where they practically ingrained this into our skulls) that "It's now ALL about the Students." Their mission statement and code of conduct is that, EVERYONE (including teachers) are entitled to attending classes and participating in the learning that goes on at Walton High. So this means, during my time off, I can sit in on a class, lets say Math, and not only listen to observe different methods and styles of teaching, but also to learn something( Maybe one of my Math colleagues will figure out how to get something more complex than 2 times 2 through this thick scull of mine). We also, every Wednesday, have short courses. Students end classes after lunch and then participate in random "classes" run by administrators and staff alike. Yoga, baseball, drawing, learning a language, ultimate frisbee (10 guesses who'll be running that one ;) ), and so much more are just a few examples of what we're doing. Ok here's the best part--we have houses--yes houses--just like Harry Potter. The head of my house wanted to call them by the Harry Potter names, but none of the teachers wanted to be Hufflepuff (understandably). We have fierce competition among the houses, especially during Sports Day where all have people representing their houses in various sports activities. Students pile out into the massive fields we have in the back (these things are ginormouse lol) with colored banners, face paint and pom pom--they spend the day coming up with cheers and making these banners and such. The school has an extremely high expectation for academics. Students have been given everything from a massive computer room that can sit 6 classes at once (about 120 students), white boards, interactive white boards, new labs for science, TVs and projectors in every room and so much more. There is a strict STRICT no gum chewing policy and no backpack rule during school and, because of this, the entire building looks BRAND NEW. They are building a brand new theatre facility where all the plays and assemblies will eventually take place (right now the hall cannot fit the entire school so we go in two groups). Our school is called a Business and Enterprise school--Tony Blair and Gordon Brown visited the school because of this. We are enforced to some how relate our lessons to something related to business and enterprise--I suppose business writing will be mine (uhg...). Their motto in this area is that, they do not want to create a student who is only going to be talking about breaking even, stock market, making money etc. etc. (all though that would be nice haha), but someone who can go into the work force and some how offer their potential employers something that will make them more desirable than their competition. There is a STRICT uniform policy--to the point that girls MUST have their hair up at all times, NO jewelry (unless it's two tiny posts in each lobe of their ears), no makeup and no nail polish! HAHA it's awesome...I can't wait to enforce that. Cell phone and iPods are a no no and can be confiscated at any time and put into a room where a parent must them come in and pick them up.
I'm heading to Manchester for the weekend with my friend John to meet up with some old RHUL friends. One of our mutual friends is having a weekend long birthday bash that I'm very excited about. My final weekend of freedom ;) Pictures of the house and other random things are up on facebook so check them out. More are definitely to come.
Last night I held my first 'party'; A Thanksgiving meal to be exact, and what a time it was! 15 people in total, mostly from the English department along with my housemate Mel, Jason and a few significant others (of those in the English department). A 20 pound turkey, heaps of stuffing, green bean casserol, two types of mash, rolls, a vegetarian dish, three types of pudding (thats another word for pie for those of you reading this from the USA) and other yummy food were all included in last night's festivities. (To the right is Lucy checking up on her 'other baby...')
