The London Buffet

When we signed up to do London Study Abroad we were thrilled that we would have seven weeks "to do all we wanted to do." Hmmmmm. There is no way in the world we can do 1/3 of all we wanted to do here. We are staring at a mouth-watering buffet of options that we'd love to sample, even gorge ourselves with, but have only the energy and time for assorted appetizers and desserts. Partaking of the main course would be like Thanksgiving, where you have to lay down for a while to digest even though you want to eat more. That is London.

In this photo we are in front of the Globe Theater, yes the very one, where we saw As You Like It on Monday night.

We have been here nearly two weeks and we have done an amazing amount of things. We have five weeks left to see the plays we want to see, sample all the ethnic food, and visit more museums, cathedrals, abbeys and palaces. We live next to Hyde Park, but if you go in every direction there is more, more, more. In the evenings we walk past cafes that we promise to come back and sample. Logistically, there is no way. But we hope.

We have walked miles and miles around and my feet hurt, despite the pains I took to get the perfect walking shoe (see earlier email.) I soak them at night. But I can't think of spending even a day resting and recouping because I don't want to miss out on a summer day in London. The heat has been stifling, the hottest summer in years, but we are in London, and we are in London.

Darren has the added stress of having to actually work here when he wants to be out and about doing all. I know, there is no pity for the poor Americans who only have the summer for London. But I tell you, consuming London to it's fullest takes a lifetime, a veritable lifetime, one in which you will never cross the threshold to satisfaction.

And then there's Bath, Stourhead, Cambridge, Canterbury, Dover, Portsmouth and Edinburgh OUTSIDE London that are on the schhhhhedule (as Londoners pronouce it).

This summer we are eating one just one strawberry (and British strawberries are oh, so luvley) off the fruit platter that is London.

So Much To See

This is our illustrious second-born daughter, Sam, pretending to fall out the window from our fourth floor kitchen window. I love this photo because you can see my view while I do dishes.





We are resting our weary feet in the water fountain at Trafalgar Square. I didn't know London had such
beautiful blue skies.






Can you believe we saw this exquisite Leonardo da Vinci painting at the National Gallery? It was breathtakingly beautiful, but I know this poor photo does not do it justice. But I feel so blessed to have seen his work up close, not a copy, but his work. I could have looked at it for hours.






A lion at Trafalgar Square. There is a reason I am taking the pictures and not up there with the family. It was quite high.

Life at 27 Palace Court, London

Hawkins Family current conditions:

Jet lag: Over, as in done with, finished, bye-bye, phew! Killer.

Lost luggage: Arrived yesterday, enormous relief.

Flat: Old-fashioned tiles, woodwork and moldings, huge windows, shelves and shelves of books, mustard yellow carpet with funky patterns in it! Up four flights of stairs at the very top. Double killer, especially with groceries!

Weather: Sunny and 70s, with a lovely breeze blowing. Usually not this nice, say the Londoners. Stays light until 10 pm and then never gets that dark. Sun starts rising again at 4 am, due to how far north we are.

Neighborhood: Eclectic, urban, exciting, multi-cultural, cool European cars, great ethnic food, shops of all kinds and theaters.

Kensington Palace and Gardens: Five minutes away, with a lovely Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground, people playing soccer, jogging, biking and hanging out.

Adrie: Moved into the dorms with all the other students who arrived today. Seems happy to have 35 new girl friends and five potential boy friends. Sammie a bit sad to see her go, but is going to hang out with them sometimes, she says.

British Museum: Mind-boggling. Spent two hours there and saw a small fraction of the collection. The beauty is we can go back another time for another few hours and not feel like we have to cram it all in one day. Marvelous mummies and ancient jewelry.

Londoners: Exceedingly polite and courteous, but drive WAY TOO FAST! Sheesh! And on the wrong side of the road.

Arcadia: West End play we're seeing tomorrow. Don't know a thing about it.

Food: Expensive, expensive, expensive. Super-creamy yogurt and yummy dairy products. Tiny paper towels and no such thing as paper plates. Napkins come in packs of 50! We can use 50 in one day. We need to cut down on our consumption of napkins, we are such glutinous Americans.

Diet Coke: Weak, funny aftertaste, tiny cans. A Big Gulp would last a Londoner for weeks! No such thing as caffeine-free, poor Ellen, just has to drink the real stuff. Boo hoo, cry, cry, cry.

Ice cubes: Rare, nearly non-existent. A definite luxury. Most Europeans drink their drinks semi-cold or warm. Or hot.

Tube: (subway) Convenient, cleaner than New York's, but no less crazy. Officials had to stop one of the lines today to investigate a person who was down in the tracks.

We are: Happy, relieved to finally be here after thinking about it for over a year, excited for the fun days ahead, pinching ourselves that we are all here together in this fabulous city.

Loving 'Lanta

Hi y'all. We've made a little stop in Atlanta, or "Lanta" where the weather is like an Amazon sauna with nary a breeze in sight. When we asked the shuttle driver if it was always this hot (knowing full well the answer) he said, "Yeah, that's just summer in Lanta."

The heat wraps around you like boa constrictor, making you drip like a leaky faucet all over the clothes that you have to wear again tomorrow because all your stuff is on a plane to London.

Why are we in Atlanta, Ga, home of peaches, the Braves and Jimmy Carter? Well, we opted to get bumped off of a very delayed, overbooked flight last night in order to get $600 Delta vouchers for each of us and first class the next day to London. That meant we didn't get to the airport Marriott until 1 am. That we didn't go to bed until nearly 2 am, but also that we got to sleep in a bit and chill this morning.

We are the only white folks (and are we white!) for miles around. This is good for my Utah County suburban kids who see a person of color about once every few years.

We are hoping our luggage made it to London last night, and that they have it tucked away waiting for us. I am not holding my breath, because that would be just too good to be true, icing on our British tea and cakes.

We had a huge lunch on Delta airlines and since it too hot to really do anything we will head back over to the airport soon.

I'm thinking Hawaii in February with those vouchers! Anyone know anyone cousin's sister's Dad who has a condo there?

Almost to London, by way of a toasted fried flounder sandwich and some ice col' lemonade!

Bye y'all.

Down to the Wire

We leave for London in less than 48 hours. I have known about this trip for over a year now, but it's never really real until the clock is ticking away and there's lots of things left to do and I appear to be the only one in the house who is taking it seriously. My big issues getting ready for this trip have been the following:

1. It's too cold and rainy to go to the pool. What? This is Utah. I know. I wanted a day to bask in the sun before I hit cold and rainy GB. Oh well. It's better for the skin. You don't see Londoners with wrinkly, leathery skin. There' a reason for that: clouds. And maybe lack of outdoor pools. I'll take milky and creamy over leathery any day, but the sun still feels like good therapy to me. The kid's Seven Peaks passes are sitting here for Aunt Amy to use for her kids when she comes to stay because they expire before we get back. Have fun Greg and Matt!

2. Shoes. I have been on a quest to outfit the family with good walking shoes. This has involved multiple trips to multiple stores. I now know fully every store in this valley. Some I would have preferred not to ever know, but in a quest to find a "deal" I about killed myself and my family in the process.

Forcing teenagers to think about good-quality walking shoes has been a huge burden. Their idea of good walking shoes is flip flops, or white athletic shoes. OK, flip flops are against the study abroad rules for obvious reasons. But athletic shoes, for all I have read, just sort of brands a person as "HELLO, I AM AN AMERICAN TOURIST. I BET YOU DID NOT KNOW THAT. I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT I AM FROM AMERICA, THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE, THE BEST COUNTRY ON THE WHOLE DANG PLANET. JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T. BET I FOOLED YOU. HEY, CAN YA TAKE MY PICTURE, DON'T FORGET TO GET MY SPIFFY NEW TENNIES IN THE SHOT!"

My girls aren't like that (sorry girls, just feeling a weeee bit of pressure right now!) But I finally got them sulking and teenagering into one store, and that was the best I could do. They got what they got, and if their feet hurt it ain't my fault. I tried my hardest and I really don't care if their feet hurt in London or in the future.

Yes, I am done with the shoes problem. Darren has yet to think about his own feet, and I'll be damn-waggled (geez, now I'm thinking up new ways to swear!) if I'm gonna tell him he needs new shoes when he clearly says he doesn't. Been down that road before, and that's a Pandora's box in which I will deadbolt.

3. Suitcases. Wow. We look like the Clampett's (as in Jethro, Jed, Granny and Ellie Mae) before they struck oil. Black gold, that is, Texas tea. I think it's one of the suitcases we purchased at a garage sale back in 1993 before we were on our way to Santiago, Chile, to do research about Chile's transition to democracy from authoritarian rule.

While Darren was busy interviewing former, aged members of Pinochet's Junta (team of power-hungry, memory-challenged government officials) I was sad, lonely and pregnant in a foreign country trying to entertain a very precocious two-year old without blowing my brains out. So, 16 years later we're going to London with the same puke-green hard sided suitcase that doesn't shut so well. I think we've used bungee cords or duct tape in the past.

How you get your things abroad is irrelevant, I know, but I just love to compare our stuff to the Clampett's. (Sp?) House, cars, children, pre-oil bank accounts, etc.

4.House. Aunt Amy and Uncle Adam. I love you to death, but because you are staying in my house with your four kids while I am gone I have had to deep clean it to death. To it's grave. Darren says it's "good for me" to deep clean, and that someone staying in our house is the only motivation I ever have for deep cleaning. Yes, it does feel good to have things really clean, it's just that the process of getting it that way sort of feels like I am walking on nails with my bare feet. Amy, It's OK if you are reading this, but I know you're probably not, because you don't tend to get on email that much, but if you are, I hope you enjoy my nice clean house.

5. Medication. Insurance companies suck. They just do. They make you jump through all kinds of hoops (the kind that have fire burning in them) to get a 90-day supply of medicine. Just when you think you've gone through the last hoop without burning anything, they tell you it's impossible. That I can get 30 days with insurance or 60 days if I pay for it out of pocket. But this is 90 days. Heck no, that's way too long, sorry Mrs. Hawkins, even though your doctor and nurse have both called us to explain what you need, we are still saying no, you can't have 90 days, not even if you drive to Salt Lake to pick it up, not even if you empty out your bank account, not even, not even. No and no. Policy, blah blah, no, sorry, policy, no, blah, blah. Oh yes, have a great time in Europe.

What I love the most is this: After they've told me "NO" five times, and they have me feeling pretty much like a pouting three-year old, they have the audacity (no, not the Audacity to Hope, that's too much) to ask if there is anything else they can help me with. I am much too nice to say," And you think you've helped me? How did telling me I can't have my medication help me?" But I sure thought it. And now I'm blogging about it so I feel marginally better.

Check back frequently over the next few months! I'm gonna be posting. Promise.

Pinky swear and cross my heart, hope to die.

Funny joke:

I Left My Heart in San Francisco (and maybe some other things too!)

What a great city. San Francisco is friendly and beautiful, and sooooo welcome after Utah's very ambivalent spring. Apparently 10 inches of snow fell in Utah while we were gone, downing various branches around the city. Glad I missed the whole thing.

We had a blast and wore ourselves out doing it.

Our first stop was the Jelly Belly Factory. Free tours and jelly bellies, and food shaped like jelly beans. So fun for everyone.

San Francisco's Exploratorium was more cool hands on things than any two hands or 12 hands in our case could ever have time to explore.

China Town was the real deal. We didn't find such great bargains as we'd hoped, but then we didn't have time to dig too far into the non-touristy areas. We had Dim Sum at a authentic little place, and liked most of it.

The most interesting and gripping place we visited was Alcatraz. Touring the prison with old inmates narrating the experience was a little scary at times, but Leah held up. The highlight was meeting Darwin Coon, a prisoner there in the late sixties, who was signing his memoir book. Learning about the escapes, the food and punishment was enough to want to keep us all crime-free.

Pier 39 was very fun and touristy, but by far the highlight was was the sea lions camped out on their own thrones (floating piers) and their antics. They were hilarious to watch. We probably watched them for an hour. They played king of the hill, and the older ones told off the younger ones when they got too rambunctious. Apparently they are there year round since the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.

Oh yeah. There was an aquarium thrown in there as well. Small and doable in less than an hour. Great since our feet were killing us.

The Mechanical Museum was a hit. It was so fun we ran out of cash and nickels. The kids had a blast playing all the turn of the century games (our equivalent would be an arcade of pin ball-type machines). We managed to avoid the peep show girls and the sex-0-meters, but had fun with arm wrestling, horse racing and fortune telling.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was way more than your average theme park in my opinion. This was the activity that I was least looking forward too, but ending up really enjoying. My kids will tell you they rode the best roller coasters, ever. I will say I rode just one of the many there, and that was plenty enough to last a a good long while. Whew! Our favorite family ride was the river rafting, where we all had a wet, wild ride.

Golden Gate Bridge was beautiful. We walked half way across, enjoying the views of everything, occasionally looking straight down to the rocky water below. It was unbelievable when a helicopter flew over the bridge with a big banner. We were so excited to see what the banner said. Another Geiko ad!!!! At the Golden Gate Bridge! Now for sure I will never call to save 15% in 15 minutes, cause they spoiled my maybe one and only experience standing on the bridge.

Watching the San Francisco Giants was amazing. The view of the bay made it hard to concentrate on the game, as our eyes would wander out to a passing ship or sailboat. We hoped someone would hit a home run into the bay, but that only happens 45 times a year, and it wasn't our night.

Whew!! Loved all the family memories. Thanks to Aunt Georgia and Uncle Dave for allowing us to intrude upon them in their home in Walnut Creek for four nights. This is our last trip before Adrienne graduates next month. It was everything we had hoped it would be before she moves on to college.

Test Me, I'm Yours

Just as springs breaks through a bit and students start thinking the school year's mostly over, it's the time for teachers to reflect on what their students have learned over the past eight months or so.

I suppose "reflect' is a far too gentle word for the pressure that teachers feel right now. They must determine if their students have met their goals for the year. They have to try to keep them focused and working, a full time job in and of itself.

For kids in regular ed, they do that by administering standardized tests. They don't just measure student performance. Everything is measured from these tests--student performance, teacher performance, principal performance, school performance, district performance, statewide performance, and nationwide performance. There is a lot on the line when students are filling in the bubbles with their freshly sharpened No. 2 pencils.

If a state is following curriculum mandated by the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) there is even more pressure for teachers to adequately prepare students for these exams. Poor student performance could mean a teacher's job is on the line.

When parents are deciding where to buy a house, they often look at the test scores of the neighboring schools. This is often more important than numbers of rooms or bathrooms or whether there is a garage. It is inevitable that more affluent neighborhoods produce higher test scores. This is a sad fact of life that isn't fair for those who go to schools with lower scores, but it has always been this way.

If I had my way in this world (which I don't, I've been told)I would narrow the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots." I would ensure that every kid could be a "have" when it comes to education. Socio-economic status would affect home life, not school life.

For students in special education, there is even more red tape that teachers have to cut their way through. They come up for air for just enough time to dive in again to the sea of forms, forms and more forms. "I would go into special ed," one friend told me, "if it weren't for the paperwork." How sad. My sister who is a special ed teacher claims most of her job is filling out forms.

I have been working in a special ed classroom this school year. It is discouraging to see how some students actually worsen both academically and behaviorally from August to April.

It is frustrating for teachers to watch special ed students flub the test when 10 minutes before they knew the material. With special ed kids, you never know what's going to set them off to keep them from performing their best. For autistic kids, it can be a strange smell or a piece of string on the floor! Just because they knew it once is no guarantee that they'll remember it when it counts.

For example, in my class this year, there is a student who is very low-functioning. We have been working on letters and numbers all year. In September he could sign all his numbers from one to ten. Toward the middle of the year he added 10-20 to his repertoire. Now that it's time for an evaluation, he acts as if it is all new material. He looks at us as if we've asked him to repeat the pledge of allegiance when we ask him to count. (Big deal since he doesn't speak!)

At the end of the school year he as lazy as a lump. He doesn't care at all. He just wants to suck his thumb and eat lunch and avoid moving around. It is as if the desire to learn has been completely extinguished. He makes me want to tear my hair out daily.

Another student has gone from hardly speaking at all, to swearing up a storm and whining nearly all day. He has gone from being able to follow simple commands to crying and screaming about everything. No amount of reward or punishment changes this behavior. I don't know if I can take the whining another year if I return to this classroom.

Then there's the little boy who had me wanting to quit after the first day of school. His middle name is stubborn. He ran away from me and would repeatedly bang his hands on the desk. He fought me over writing with markers. He fought me over everything. He is still fighting and he is still a pain, but one day out of this stubborn boy came a few words.

His little voice is the sweetest sound I have heard all year.