Category Archives: Libby’s English Experience

Where Libby ventures to England for a semester

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Today was my last day at school. I will be forever grateful for everyone’s guidance here. It is still hard to believe that now I am a fully qualified art teacher. I remember struggling to figure out where my life was headed at Xavier and disgruntled because I thought everyone else had theirs figured out. Looking back I would not change my criss crossed path through majors and career options for anything; each has better prepared me. I am sad to leave but anxious to start a classroom of my own and to meet my next group of students.

Ask An American!

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In several Personal and Social Education classes I have been a guest speaker. I usually refer to the topic of the classes as Ask An American. The students after writing down their questions are able to ask me questions about being an American and in a futile attempt I try to dispel their stereotypes and clear up misconceptions. The students then made presentation posters about American life. I was pretty proud of my class discussions about America. Here’s a bit of what the students learned, in their own words:
“Thursday the 23rd of November is a special day for those in America. This day is called THANKSGIVING! You can guess what they do on this day.”
“Thanksgiving started in the 1600s when two pilgrims set off in a boat called the Mayflower. They got to America in 165 days. Sadly the ship got wrecked and only 50 pilgrims survived. They caught site of the land and were welcomed. They had a huge meal and they thought about the good things that happened that day.”
“At Thanksgiving you let people in your houses even strangers for dinner.”
“People say that all Americans eat is junk, fatty foods, but that isn’t necessarily true. Because most Americans drink 2 litres of water a day so their body don’t dehydrate.”
“America is a very famous place for fast food. They super size all their food and that’s why most of America’s people are obese.
Thanksgiving is basically the American version of Christmas and is a big celebration to all across the USA. America is a very big place for celebrating.”
“American food sizes are different to ours, because we have small, medium, large but they have an extra large as well which is huge.”
Well, I think my job as an American Ambassador here is done! I have dispelled the media myths about my culture. I’m off to drink a coke.

On the Road Again

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This weekend we travelled over to the Norfolk Coast. Our first stop was Sandriam, the winter home of the Queen Mum. We drank tea at the tea room and set out to see the grand estate. But being that the Queen Mum herself was there we could not see the house or any of the grounds except for the gift shop. Outside of the giftshop was a lawn full of lollipop trees. I felt like Alice intruding in on the Queen of Heart’s garden and hoped to see someone painting the flowers red but no such luck.
Our next stop was at the lavender fields with rows of lavender and a shop full of everything possible made from lavender: beer, liquor, tea, scones, flour, soap…
From there we stopped along several different villages to shop and site see. There were surfers all along the beach. Since there were no waves the surfers used giant kites to pull them along the water. Lunch time concluded at a small pub for, of course, fish and chips. I was also tricked into eating a small complete fish that had been fried. (I ate bones, eyeballs the whole deal.)
Several towns later we stopped at friends for dinner and ate a gorgeous English dinner while jamming out to Queen.
Cheers!

Cheers!

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Cheers has become my new favorite expression although I am still trying to find the appropriate times to use it. It seems to be an all inclusive hi, how are you?, I’m fine, thanks in one word! Now that I think I have that mastered this week I’m going to figure out the meaning of cheeky, a word no one has been able to define except that it deals with mischievous behavior.
My highlight of the week came in overhearing a student tell a friend as I walked past that I was her favorite teacher. It is nice when students are appreciative!
Everything is continuing fine here. It’s the first of December and as the days get darker the excitement for the holiday season has been mounting. I am anxious to be home but trying not to think about it because I know my time here is very limited.
So, to everyone reading this, I miss you and will see you soon!!
Cheers!

Travelin’ Giant

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On Friday I rushed out of school to go to Peterbourgh, the next closest town to see the new James Bond movie with my host sister. Although I was not impressed with the movie, there is nothing better than seeing it in an old English movie theatre and knowing that you’re going to London the next day.
I joined the coach bus trip to London bright and early the next morning. While everyone was disappointed that it was raining it did not seem fitting to me to visit London when it’s not raining. I was lucky to have my host family with me so we could maximize our site seeing destinations. Not to bore with details so here’s a laundry list of the sites we managed to visit: Liberty’s of London (posh department store), Hamley’s Toy Store, Carnaby Street, Regents Street, Picadilly Circus (which is not a circus but a statue, mildly disappointing), Trapalgar Square, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, The Mall, Buckingham Palace (and the Queen was there although I didn’t see her), Westminister Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and Number 10 Downing Street where Tony Blair lives (I didn’t see him either).
We returned late the night and deciding that there is much more of England to see we woke up the next morning and travelled to the city of Ely. We saw the beautiful Ely Cathedral; it is amazing and took a tour of the Stained Glass Museum. Mid-afternoon we had cream tea which included scones with clotted cream and jam and tea, a tradition here. I of course had sugar in my tea which is not a tradition, instead it is laughable but what can I say, I am still an American.
(I apologize for any spelling or grammatical mistakes, my editors have brought this to my attention, I will try harder, thanks mom. 🙂 )

Dinner

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I decided to share some American culture with my host family. We had a Thanksgiving Dinner last night! The other art teacher and her partner joined. I made ridiculous paper Pilgrim hats and Native American headdresses for everyone to wear. (I promised them that we actually do this in the US). At dinner I read the Thanksgiving story, we made our own mad lib story version while passing around a paper hand turkey and writing down what we were thankful for. If it wasn’t for the plate of stinky cheeses, the rice pudding, bread pudding and port it would have looked like any other house in the states. Dinner lasted for several hours and at 1:30 am we decided to call it and head to bed.
It was great to share a part of my culture with my host family. We talked about American football, pumpkin pies, Converse all-stars, the Wonder Years and PB & J sandwichs, things that seemed so foriegn to them. Like the Thanksgiving spent in New Mexico, this past Thanksgiving will be special. Two different cultures talking and laughing over food, the true idea of the holiday. Cheers!

Thanksgiving

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(This is me as a Scottish astronaut!!)

Being so far away from my family and friends has definitely made me appricate everyone to a different degree. Not that I take people for granted but I have realized how hard it is not to be able to meet up at the movies, grab a coffee and hang out and relax. It’s a different kind of stress being here; my guard is always on. I am at all times the visitor, in the school and in an English home, the American. I am afraid to make a mistake or relax because I feel judged. In everything that I do stereotypes are underlying the way that people see me. I can’t even count the number of times students and adults have said “well, isn’t this better in America?” I have to reply everytime “it’s not better, it’s different.” It is different. I guess it’s human tendency to compare, no one knows this better than me but I still do not understand it. There is not a better twin, Emily and I are different and there is not a better country. Each are “smashing” in their own right.

So this all started with thinking about Thanksgiving and what I am thankful for and here it goes: I am thankful that you cared enough to read my blog, for my family and friends that make me feel at home even when I am far away

I am thankful for questions that my students ask because they make me laugh:

(can you talk normal? I mean have you ever tried to talk normally? , If you do something bad in the US and there’s a police officier will he shoot you? , Do you carry a gun? , What celebrities are you friends with? , Are you famous?)

along the same lines I am thankful for the funny things my students say without realizing it:

(Miss, it’s all wonkie, my drawing is rubbish!!, Wow, that’s wicked, Do you have a partner that you fancy?)

I am thankful for all the people that have gone out of their way for me since I’ve been in England!

Edinbourgh

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I decided to go to Edinbourgh to visit my friend Beth. We met at Xavier and she went to the Edinbourgh School of Art and Design. (She’s an awesome artist www.bethshortt.com).
I was at the train station on my way to Edinbourgh very proud that I had the train system down and knew where I was headed when I overhead someone asking for directions. While overhearing the conversation I realized that he had been given wrong directions. When he walked away I told him that I was going to Edinbourgh, which leaves from Platform 5 and changes trains at York. Noticing my American accent he asked where I was from. It turns out he was not just from Indiana but also Fort Wayne. On the train ride our conversation continued and we found out the I went to school with his cousin Brad and he went to school with my cousin Charlie… small world.
As soon as I arrived in Edinbourgh I had just enough time to put my bags in Beth’s apartment before we were off to salsa dancing lessons with her two friends. My new Fort Wayne friend joined us. After dancing we stopped in a restaurant to get some food; our choices included: fried fish, fried sausage, fried pudding or french fries. So I had fried fish with vinegar and brown sauce. I’ll have to agree with the stereotype that the Scottish are not known for their food.
The next day was full of sightseeing as we had our own personal Scotsman, Robert, one of Beth’s good friends. Highlights included the Crags, Arthur’s Seat (both hills), The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinbourgh Castle, Royal Mile, the Fourth Brige and (the Kingdom of) Fife and the National Museum of Scotland. At the Museum of Scotland I saw Dolly the cloned sheep!!!!wheww.. it was a bit of a hectic trip.
I did eat hagus! but the only way I would try it was if it was on pizza so we did order a hagus pizza. Interestingly enough the Scottish do wear kilts it’s not just a stereotype and throughout the trip I could bagpipes playing from different buildings and parks.

Cultural Experiences

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My host family has been great about teaching me true English culture. After dinner we usually spend two hours talking. My brothers will be excited to know that in order to introduce me to English culture my host family has me watching Monty Python. This is also helpful in understanding inside jokes in the faculty lounge.
My family had me watch the movie Calendar Girls about a group of middle aged woman, belonging to the Women’s League, who pose nude but behind objects for a calender in order to raise charity funds. (Like the scenes in Austin Powers). Apparently the movie was a big hit and the idea of posing nude behind objects caught on to different companies. There were even schools in which the faculty made a similar calender. I don’t think that would ever fly in a US school!!
I have joined the town running club which has been great. It gets dark here around 3:45pm so the large group of us run around town in the dark. At school I have been helping out with the table tennis club. There is nothing better than beating a 13 year old who has given you grief during the day in a ping pong match. On Tuesdays during lunch I have started a basketball club. The first club meeting had a large turn out; it’s a great break during the day.
My favorite English adjectives:
wonky, fancy, saucy, lovely, smashing, crackling, posh

Minibusing

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On Saturday several teachers took the school minibus to Cambridge to look around the colleges and shops (..and pubs). Cambridge is actually made up of several very old, beautiful schools. The town has many quaint English shops. I learned who David Essex is and got to witness the teachers singing to You’re Going to Be A Star, a definite highlight of the trip.
Sunday my host family and I went to the market in town then several of the family’s friends came over for a several hour lunch, it was great!
A special postcard for anyone who can explain the following foods that I ate this past week:
1. Bubble and squeak
2. Toads in a hole
3. Crackling
4. Bangers and mash
5. Triffle
(people of English nationality are excluded from the contest, sorry Samantha I’ll send you a postcard anyway!)