A few pics from the weekend

Leaving Notting Hill Gate area towards Holland Park Avenue

I didn't know London had so many trees.
I loved these because they were so big and obviously so old.


Westbourne Grove Church,
where I've attended services this week and last week.

Simply amazing people,
who couldn't have been nicer or more welcoming to me.

I found Wal-Mart

Well, although I am in one of the largest cities in the world with a million and one things to do on a Friday night, I did not do anything exciting today after work. I went to ASDA, which is the Wal-Mart of the UK. The one I went to was very close to Wembley Stadium and pretty convenient on my way home.

I only picked up some mugs and a tall kitchen trash bin- but that was enough since I had to carry it on the tube. The trash bin wasn't heavy-- just awkward, as the box was about 3 feet tall (holds 13 litres, but I don't know what the US equivalent is). At least I wasn't the only one with a large box on the tube; some guy had what looked like to be a flat screen TV.

I felt very much at home, since this was the biggest discount store I've been in here. I guess it's just nice to know that if I want to pick from a larger selection of something like hand soap, there is a place to go nearby. The coolest thing there was the escalators: they aren't stairs, they're sort of like a conveyor belt which allows you to take your "trolley" (shopping cart) upstairs!

Elizabeth-Anne and I have needed a trash bin, so I wanted to get have one before she came home from Dallas tomorrow. But after I got home from that shopping trip, I had to leave again to go to Tesco, another of the small groceries nearby, to get some food. So after that, I was too tired for much else. I guess I have many more Friday nights ahead of me for more "glamorous" nights out.

Oh, and I need to make 2 "corrections" on something I said in my last post. First, I stated that as a speech and language therapist, I use the English Phonetic Alphabet, but for some reason I was thinking about that today and remembered from undergrad that it's not the English Phonetic Alphabet, it's the International Phonetic Alphabet. Second, I also realized today that I had said the difference was mainly vowel sounds when comparing British English and American English, but a conversation at work today made me think of other differences. One of the speech and language therapists I work with, who is from Boston, started talking about teaching the /t/ sound in the middle of words to younger students. This made her realize how in American English we usually say a /d/ sound for words like "butter", "motto", "lighting" instead of a /t/, whereas in British English they usually say a crisp /t/ or a glottal stop, which is too difficult to describe here. She was having to teach the child how he was used to hearing it. Not that anyone cares, but I wanted to change that :)

I've almost completed my 2nd week in London

I haven't had too much to write about, and I wanted to include some pictures when I did, so I had to wait until I had a chance to charge my camera...so all of these pictures were taken today :)

Baker Street Tube Station

This is the station where I change from the Circle Line to the

Metropolitan Line in the mornings to go to the London Borough of Harrow

This week of work has been great. I had my first day "by myself" at my main high school on Monday and met 3 amazing students. And to anyone who previously asked, "How are you going to do speech and language therapy with students with British accents??", I heard your voices in my head when I was working with 2 of the students. We actually were working on speech production. But remember: we both speak the English Phonetic Alphabet (which means that all the sounds are actually the same, except for the different way we produce vowels, like "tomaytoe" vs. "tomawtoe"). Anyway- it's very comforting to know that all in all, teenagers are quite alike no matter where they grow up. All of them have been a lot fun and love to say, "You're from America, aren't you?"

The Speech & Language Base office at my main high school

This week I've also been able to go to 3 other schools (2 of them will be mine) with other speech and language therapists, which has been very helpful. Everyone has taken care of me, always willing to answer questions. Next week is Half Term, kind of like a week of Fall Break, where the students have time off, but it will be a good time for me to get more acquainted with the new paperwork and the way things are done.

So far this week I haven't gotten lost and I'm getting pretty good at figuring out what side of the street I need to be on if I have to take the bus somewhere (to go in the right direction). One almost-problem happened when I was the last one to get off at the hospital where I work: the bus terminated there, so the driver stopped and everyone got out. I knew I had more time, so I was gathering my things and when I tried to get out, the door would not open even though I was pushing the button. Finally it opened, but shut quickly and closed on my bag! It closed so hard that I couldn't open the doors and I was just standing there with my bag halfway in and halfway out of the bus. The driver had to come open the door for me. I think when he turns off the bus, the doors sort of lock so that no one can get on in the back without paying...but I was just glad that he wasn't about to drive off because I guess I would have had to said good-bye to all of my stuff!

Today at one of the schools I went to they were celebrating Diwali, the Indian Festival of Light, which was something entirely new to me. One of the classes put on a puppet show that taught the history of Diwali, and they had a Bollywood producer and choreographer who taught one of his latest songs/dances. I had seen this poster throughout the Underground, but didn't even know what it was for until today:

This was the last place I went today on my way home, which is actually something like 100 yds from our front door. Marks & Spencer is my favorite grocery. It's kind of weird to only buy bread, milk, and bananas instead of loading up my SUV with bags, but now I have to only buy what I can carry. This one is a "Simply Food", so it only has a smaller selection of foods and wine. I love the big M&S because it's really like a nice SuperTarget.

I made my way across the pond!!

On 10/12/2008, I landed at Heathrow Airport and my new flatmate, Elizabeth-Anne, met me to help me navigate my way through my new home. She grabbed 2 of my suitcases and I pulled 2, and we took the Heathrow Express train to Victoria Station, and then we took a cab to the flat. It soon became clear that I would not have been able to do this on my own. I was so thankful for her help. The fact that I hadn't slept the entire 8-hour flight didn't seem to matter. Before I had left my friend, Sara, had recommended that I try to "take it all in" when I landed so that I'd remember it forever, and that's what I was trying to do.

After some settling in, we left to go walk around and grabbed breakfast for a late lunch/early dinner (we both love a late breakfast). What a beautiful day we were given! We were even able to sit outside. Later, my friend, Rosie who moved here a year and ago from Dallas, met us for coffee.

When we got back home, Elizabeth-Anne helped me make my bed and I unpacked some more. Then I took a shower and we worked on getting wireless internet set up. I had shipped over a wireless router from home, and we were so proud of ourselves when it started working...however we soon realized that we were no longer connected to the internet and we had blown the router! Guess it wasn't meant to be used in the UK :(

On Sunday, I set out on my own and rode the tube (subway) to the hospital I'm working at: Northwick Park. It took me about an hour, with a few hiccups, which I thought was pretty good for my first try! I also went to PC World and bought another wireless router, a hairdryer, and a power strip. It was another unseasonably warm day.

My first day of work in London was really great! The jet lag wasn't too bad, and I made it to the hospital by 9:00am. I know I am going to love all the girls I work with. This picture was taken at the end of the long day...so it may look like the jet lag caught up with me after all ;)

Wednesday was my first day it rained in London...and the first time I got sort-of lost. I thought I was getting off on Locket Road, and I had even asked the bus driver if the bus stopped at Locket Road (which he confirmed!), however the stop I was supposed to have gotten off at was a cross-street on Locket and therefore Locket was never mentioned. Locket was the street we were travelling on---arrggh. I ended up riding that bus for 2 hours and finally finding the school where I was meeting a colleague. And to top it off, that's not even one of my schools-- but now i know where it is! On the way home I bought a pumpkin. I left the sticker on it when I took the picture b/c it made me laugh. The sticker says, "Large Pumpkin"! I thought our flat needed a little holiday decoration.

The rest of the week went really great. On Thursday I went to one of the high schools I'll be working in (I'll be in 6 total), and it was SO GOOD to be back into the classroom with the students. It was comforting to know that not too much is different here than it is at home. The staff was also amazing, and I love the fact that having tea is a central part of the day.

On Friday I was with my line manager at my main high school, where they have a speech and language base. It will be great to have her nearby to ask questions b/c she knows the school inside and out since she helped develop the program for the last 2 years. She's a brand-new auntie, so we have that in common too.

Yesterday I returned the favor to Elizabeth-Anne and helped her take 2 suitcases to Victoria Station and sent her off to Heathrow for a week's holiday in Dallas. Since then it has been a little weird to be in London by myself. I did something WAY out of my comfort zone, though. My sister's friend, Colleen, who I met in Puerto Rico, a cousin here and she gave me his email. He invited me to a late lunch he was having for friends at his house. I figured out the way and went alone. I didn't know anyone- but they couldn't have been nicer. It was lovely! One guy told me that an English tradition was to lie down and touch your face to the floor upon entering someone's house...at least I knew he was kidding. The menu consisted of game/pheasant pie, venison pie, and rabbit pie (all which I was having for the first time), mash (mashed potatoes), boiled cabbage, and green beans. Good thing I wasn't a vegetarian. It was all delicious and there were rumors Hugh has plans to open a restaurant some day.

Today was another full day. I found a little church online last night and found it after a little of walking around. As I was walking in, they were singing a song I was very familiar with, so that seemed to be a good sign. It was VERY SMALL, only about 50-60 people in attendance, which is very different. But I think I will try it again next week. I also trekked out to IKEA in Wembley to get a duvet cover, some hangers, some food storage containers, and some under-the-bed boxes.

I'm hoping to keep up with this as often as I can, so hopefully from now on the entries will not be written 8 days after they've happened. But we'll see! Lots to do :)
Cheers!