(This is Big Ben. I had the chance to see this yesterday).
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
So today I was a bit exhausted but I helped to transport some kids in taxis early this morning to the bus station so that they could return to Calais and Brussels. Then I returned to my apartment and slept for a few hours before heading back to Bournemouth Square to buy some cleaning supplies and to meet the kids and other Group Leaders for the tour. After the tour I returned home and I slept after I quickly cleaned my room a bit. Allegra and I led the tour as Wietske, Marion, and Nieves were in the back making sure the students were going in the right direction. Even though the tour wasn't very long there was this girl Lynne who seemed a bit confused about her bus and since she looked a little nervous all of us group leaders gathered together and we tried to help her understand where she was supposed to be going. This week is going to be the busiest week for all of us as we have even more kids than we did the week before for the English language program and everything.
(This is a picture of a stone that I took today by my apartment at Arts-University section of Bournemouth University residence) :)
Monday, July 11th, 2011
We had the students do beach games today which was nice because the weather finally shaped up for us. It is a lot easier to have five group leaders instead of three or four this week even though three or four would have been enough as well. The kids really enjoyed the water and they were playing with beach balls and making sand castles and just running around with each other. I think everyone had a good time. Tonight was Nieves and my night to cook dinner and we did so by making beef burritoes with a lot of tasty vegetables. Nieves tried to make a Spanish omlet but it didn't turn out because of the potatoes so we are going to cook it tomorrow for dinner instead. All in all it was a pretty good day packed with much adventure and sunshine.
(The students made this cool looking sand castle today).
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
The students went to Christchurch today with us and we also had the chance to ride in small sail boats together. It was a lot of fun, even though two boys kept trying to run their boats into each other and be obnoxious. At Christchurch we were able to get some good photos of the students racing around and also all in front of Christchurch ruins area where there are some ancient ruins that have been standing for about a couple of hundred years. They ended up enjoying it thoroughly even though it was educational. :)
(This is the group that went to Christchurch this week. There were a lot more of them than my first week here in Bournemouth).
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Laser games were fun today with the kids and I think that they really enjoyed it. Since there were five grop leaders and I have already had the chance to play laser games, I decided that I wanted to sit with the purses and coats instead. Even though we didn't get the chance to take pictures today it was a great opportunity for the students to get in some team spirit.
Later tonight I went with the staff and group leaders from Capital School for English, and I met a lot of great people there. I was the only staff member invited from Langues Vivantes, but being there was a wonderful experience because there were diverse people from diverse backgrounds. The food was also excellent as it was fresh sea food and we took a ferry to get to the restaurant. I loved it!! :) Being an intern usually I only get sandwiches on the go or maybe a Group Leader dinner at the house with the other GLs :)
(This is a picture that I saw about a week ago in London on a billboard. I really wish I could go to a concert or a music festival)
Thursday, July 14th, 2011
Tomorrow the Harry Potter movie comes out and everyone is gearing up for it. Some of the schools have already booked going to the movie in advance. Today we are going to Compton Acres and to Bowling but I don't think that a lot of students that went last week will be going this week because they prefer to party with all of their friends before leaving, which is understandable. It makes me sad sometimes when some students leave and the next ones come in because there are those which were so curious abour learning. On the otherhand there are a few which seemed less excited about learning and more about partying but our group has been quite nice for the most part I think.
We had a good attendance for Compton Acres today and for Bowling as well. The only problems that I have been having are involved with my camera as it flashes at me when I take pictures which is really annoying. Tomorrow there isn't any evening activity so we can all have the chance to relax and take it easy later on in the day after Splashdown. Everything is happening so quickly that I am not sure what else to say right now. Lately I haven't had as much time to reflect or have time to myself but maybe someday all of this will end up making sense.
(These are all of the kids paying attention all at the same time of course :) They had to try to be an animal in this photo to get a laugh out of them. They have been taking pictures for a long time now, especially the students from last week :)
Friday, July 15th, 2011
We are going to Splashdown today and this weekend some students are leaving to go back to their hometowns. It has been difficult to get ggood pictures because my camera has been having issues and I am not sure why. I am hoping that it isn't because it got sand in it at the beach on Monday. My fifth week in Europe is officially almost completed and I have five more weeks before I head back to the United States. It is weird to think about going home when there has been so much which has happened here already. Today will be a long bus ride and I am not sure that everyone would like to go to the water park but I think that the students who do show up will be quite happy.
Splashdown was a pretty good experience for the students as they all enjoyed the water and they got to say good-bye (at least the ones that are leaving) to us Group Leaders. A part of me is a bit sad that some of the students are leaving as I will miss them dearly. Another part of me knows that time is short, and I hope that they enjoyed their stay here. Tomorrow I have to wake up early in the morning to get the students together for Oxford. The group seems to be pretty well behaved in general so I am not anticipating any problems. There will only be twelve students that I will be in charge of for a few hours after the Oxford tour. I am rather excited so I hope that I can take pictures of the students and everything if my camera is working.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
This morning I woke up early to catch the bus to ETC so that I could take some students with another group leader to Oxford. It was a lot of fun going to Oxford and even though we lost one girl in our group who was 18, she eventually found her way back (much to my amazement.) It was a long bus ride (two hours one way back to Bournemouth) but the students were all on time to the meeting point and they were very well-behaved as well. On the bus I finally had the chance to journal about life and think about my family and friends who have helped me to be here now. It is to them that I am truly grateful along with all of the hard work that I have put into this to be here now.
Sunday, July 17th, 2011
We did a tour of Bournemouth today and it was my fourth tour here with the students. It is funny to be one of the Group Leaders helping to guide the tour now as if I were an expert. All of us Group Leaders also helped to take care of some students that were at the house this weekend. There wre three girls who we spent some time with as they needed help with getting to their host families. Inge and I went shopping for some food at the small place near by ecause ASDA was closed after 5 pm on Sunday. I cleaned up the kitchen area and washed dishes and put salad in a bowl while Inge diced the vegetables, boiled pasta, and put meat in the pan to fry. It was a pretty good dinner and afterwards all of us Group Leaders went to a pub and had the chance to bond over drinks and interestng converstaions.
Monday, July 18th, 2011
If only my camera would start working again. It has been a week and no luck with the camera situation. Oh well.
The era of Harry Potter which started over 10 years ago when I was about 9-years-old has ended. I remember I was in the 4th grade (maybe 5th) when the first book came out and we were still living in California. Mom wouldn't let me read it, and I was so mad at her because the book was extremely popular. Even this usmmer though when one of my friends gave me the first (and easiest/shorest) book to read I still couldn't get into it all that much. Maybe it is a matter of preference, but Harry Potter just isn't my taste. At the same time I am excited to go with the students and the other Group Leaders to the movie today because it really is neat to go see this epic movie...
We went and had the kids do name game activities and also play the game telephone to get them all to talk with each other and to know each other. It helped us Group Leaders to get to know their names as well by having all of us go around in a circle. After that we did mini golf with the kids and later in the evening we went to play bowling with them. Surprisingly in the second round of bowling I ended up winning the game out of all of us Group Leaders. It is weird to think that this is already the sixth week of my internship.
(Inge, Allegra, Me, and Lorens at mini golf)
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
Today we did laser games with the students. It was a blast as all of them enjoyed the game :) Time is flying by here quicker than I thought that it would when I first began this internship. Going to two different countries for this internship along with working on different projects for the company has taught me a lot about learning a foreign language. Each day I am reminded the trials and tribulations of high school when I see the students struggle with some of the same things I did at their age.
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
We went ice skating with the students today and it has been seven years since I have been ice skating. The rink was rather small but all of the students seemed to enjoy it. Even though it was raining on our short walk over from the Tourist Information Center, the afternoon was quite enjoyable. All of the students helped each other on the ice and we got some great picture memories on various cameras. For our evening activity we had the kids go to Lava Ignite. After Lava Ignite we went to a place called Yates for drinks and then back to Lava Ignite after the 18 and under kids had left. For some reason the security guys at the door kept asking for my ID and no one elses'. It is funny because here the drinking age is 18 so they must have thought that I was 17 or something. My coworkers and I have had a wonderful week so far and it has been filled with many great memories so far.
(Inge, me, and Allegra at ice skating)
Friday, July 22nd. 2011
We are doing a photo scavenger hunt today with the students and they are going to be given prizes afterwards for what pictures they take. We will probably give the winning team candy or ice-cream and the rest of the students simply candy or something. We are saving money this week by not having the students take the bus and keeping them close to town. If the weather faired better we would be able to take the kids to the beach, mais C'est la vie! :D Maybe we can do that when I return a week or so later!
So the activitiy was really fun as the kids actually tried pretty hard to take good photos according to the clues on the Langues Vivantes sheets. We gave them extra points for creativity when grading the photos and we also gave them extra points for bonus questions. The prizes were non-alcoholic drinks and two bags of candy each for the winning team. We gave two bags of candy each to the second place team, and one bag of candy each to everyone. Some kids are leaving soon which is always a bit sad but it seems that they all had a good time here :)
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011
The first four weeks in Bournemouth have come to a close. We have all had a wonderful time here and now I must go back to Brussels for one week of office work. There are only four more weeks left before I return home. It is amazing that this much time has passed. This past week we had the chance to do bowling, ice skating, laser games, name games, mini golf, and a photo scavenger hunt. There was also an excursion to London but two ther group leaders went this time around.
(Me at 60 Million Postcards I think :) Sometime earlier this week or last week)
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