Visiting the Sea

Guess what?  Tomorrow is March 1st, and since we are six hours ahead of Illinois, it will actually be March here before it is technically March at home.  Isn't that wild??

If you look at the map of England from my very first post, you will notice that England is surrounded by water.  I learned today that you could fit 3 Englands inside of Texas!  Well, if you look at the town where I am staying, Eastbourne, you will notice that it is a coastal town.  Yesterday, we did some exploring along the seafront.

This is the pier.

This is the English Channel!

This is the whole pier and part of the beach.

Eastbourne is known for its beaches--it is called "The Sunshine Coast" (although every day we have been here, it has been cloudy!)  The pier is a very popular spot, especially in the summer.  They have free concerts there and people go swimming.  There are some very huge cliffs off behind this pier along the shore which we plan to visit.  Last night, my roommate and the girls next door decided to go down to see the lights at the pier. 

Isn't it pretty?

There I am--just so you know I'm really in England!

Tomorrow I'll show you some interesting pictures of their food and other things that are common over here.  Have a great day!

Hello from England!

Good evening, fourth graders! It is 5:00 p.m. here as I am writing to you, which means it is 11:00 a.m. where you are.  One short math question about elapsed time:  how many hours ahead of you am I right now?

Gordon!

This is a picture of Gordon, my dear friend the Social Studies goat.  He has stolen my travel guide and is seeking out great places for us to visit.

My flights were wonderful.  I was on two planes--one was much bigger than the other!  The first plane took me from Bloomington to Atlanta (which is in what state?), and there my friend, Jenny, and I had a four hour layover!  But we found things to keep us busy before our next flight took off.  This one landed at London's Gatwick Airport, which is a smaller airport than Heathrow (London's version of O'Hare) at 7:00 a.m.  Using what you learned above, what time was it in Illinois when I landed?

From the airport we caught a train.  They take the train everywhere here, not just to the city.  That will be our primary mode of transportation.  At the train station in Eastbourne, we hailed a taxi, which took us straight to the homes where we will be staying. 

My bedroom

 

 

 

This is my bedroom while I am here.  It is a lovely little room (kind of small, but cozy) and it even has...

A FIREPLACE!

 

 

Yes, a fireplace!  But it doesn't work anymore--as you can see, there are flowers in it!

I am going to try and post again tomorrow, but my computer and the internet here are not being friends at the moment.  I hope you have a lovely day at school!

Hello, Fourth Graders! (or should I say "goodbye?")

This is not what my suitcase looks like. 
And I will not be wearing that travelling suit (even though I think it is beautiful!).

Well, the time is coming!  On Friday morning, I will go to the airport and get on a plane for my very first flight!  I am kind of nervous, but very excited.  I am going to miss you all while I am gone!  But this blog will allow me to check in with you, show you pictures of what I have seen, and tell you about the amazing things I have learned.

First, let me show you where I am going.

                                                  
That blue arrow points to Eastbourne, England, which is where I will be staying.  While I am there, I will be teaching English children and travelling to lots of places across the continent.  We know from our Social Studies lessons that the United States has a lot of different landforms.  England is all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, so there are many different kinds of landforms there, too.  Even though they speak English, they have different words for things than we do.  I will tell you all about those phrases and words. 

Secondly, I want to tell you about Gordon.  Gordon is a goat--a Social Studies goat.  He is a good friend of mine and will be taking the trip with me.  I will be taking pictures of him in a lot of interesting places because he loves to travel.  He cannot wait to meet you all when we return, but he could not come today because he has some packing to do.



(This is not Gordon.)

 I will check in with you later, but the next time you hear from me, I will be across "the pond" (what some people call the Atlantic Ocean).

Bon voyage!