At the HMS Victory

Apparently, people who work in museums have this stereotype that everyone who is under the age of 19 will soon be causing significant damage and heartache.  Because several times already this trip, I’ve received notices like “YOU WILL KEEP YOUR STUDENTS UNDER CONTROL AT ALL TIMES” when we enter museums around here.  I feel like Mad Eye Moody.  CONSTANT VIGILANCE.

Sigh.  By and large, the students and adults of the ISCA program are incredibly well behaved.  Much better behaved, to be honest, than the people working at the London Eye the other day and at the Royal Naval Museum today.  Adults can drive me nuts, sometimes.  Give kids some credit, they can do amazing things if you let them have the chance.

Well, that said, this adult (yours truly) cannot operate an elevator.  I’m pushing the button, why aren’t these doors closing?  I gave up.  And tried to walk away looking non-chalant and all that.  But my students didn’t quite get the hint.  They stayed in the elevator, laughing and making a scene.  And the glare from the security guard was pretty fierce.

Commanding attention at the Naval Museum

We experienced the HMS Victory today, as well as the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth.  The HMS Victory was Admiral Nelson’s ship in the Battle of Trafalgar, and is still an active vessel (well, it’s in dry dock, really, but it is on the active roster) in the British Royal Navy.  Over 200 years old, the tour showed us life on boat a sailing vessel in the 1800′s.  Amazing.   We took in the huge guns, the tiny hammocks and a true understanding of “mind your head” when walking down the stairs.

After touring the Victory, I attempted to take our group into a section of the museum where several figureheads from British vessels were on display.  They may not remember much of the figureheads, but they will remember the overzealous security guard and the elevator that just wouldn’t go up.

Arundel Castle

A short coach ride later, we found ourselves at the home of the Duke of Norfolk, Arundel Castle.  The castle was founded in 1067 by William the Conquerer, although much of it was rebuilt in the 1870′s.  The tour of the Castle included the armory, the private chapel, the bedroom furnished for Queen Victoria and the original 11th Century Keep.

The wind today continued to howl.  These high sustained winds are unusual for England, especially in the summer.  The temperature was a bit warmer today, and the sun was out at times, but the wind kept us all huddling under jackets and cover.  As I write this (midnight local time), the winds have subsided.  Thankfully, better weather awaits us tomorrow into London, or so the forecasters say.

I’ve added another teacher’s website to our blog list.  The Woodward Academy group is also blogging, check out their blog here.

The rains left during lunch and the sun came out to make it a much more enjoyable afternoon. The winds did not, steady high winds lasted throughout the day.

On the on-campus days, the students learn about and play English sports including cricket, rugby and hockey.  I’ve put up several photos from the day, check them out by clicking on the England Photos link on the right.

Tomorrow it’s off to Portsmouth and Arundel, to visit the HMS Victory and Arundel Castle.  The weather is supposed to take a turn for the dryer and warmer, let’s hope that proves true!

A bit soaked after the downpour

While waiting in the queue for the London Eye, it started raining.  And by raining, I mean pouring.  We were approaching the sheltered area of the queue (line), and, of course, once we get to it, the rain stops and the sun comes out.  You couldn’t have planned the timing better. Such is the way of things.  And, as usual with middle schoolers, when I said in the morning, “bring your rain coats, it’s supposed to rain today,” my students must have thought that I was talking to someone else.

On the Prime Meridian

Despite the drenching, it was a great day.  Our morning started at the “beginning” of time — The Royal Observatory in Greenwich.  Standing at the Prime Meridian, you can stand with one foot in each of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.  Charles II appointed the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, in 1675 and the Observatory was built for him to study the heavens in order to improve ship navigation.   In addition to seeing the conditions in which Flamsteed lived, visitors are treated with displays on John Harrison‘s ground-breaking development of a portable timepiece that would allow precise timekeeping at sea.  Harrison’s H1 through H4 are quite impressive pieces of machinery.

After exploring Greenwich, we hopped on board a boat to travel up the River Thames through the City of London and to the City of Westminster–home of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.  The rain mostly held off during the river cruise, as we passed by Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and several other landmarks.  Our destination was at the foot of the Parliament building, where we walked across Westminster Bridge and boarded the London Eye for a towering view over London.

On the Boat to Westminster

After two days of sightseeing, today is an on-campus day.  The students are playing and learning about English sport.  Tomorrow it is off to Portsmouth to see the HMS Victory and Arundel Castle.

There are a few other people writing about our adventures, as I become aware of them, I’ll point them out to you so you can check their sites as well as mine.  First, Matthew Edwards, our main tour guide, maintains the “official” ISCA blog.  He’ll post photos and a summary at the ISCA website.  Jay McEnaney, a teacher from the Summit School in North Carolina, is posting on his classroom webpage.  Also, keep an eye on my Flickr collection, where I’ll add photos, many more photos than I can post here.

Winchester Cathedral

Even the tech guy has issues with web filters when traveling.  My host’s internet service doesn’t allow me to access the MVinEngland website after 9pm, but it does allow me to access this site so I am going to post my MVinEngland blog here.

Today we traveled to Winchester, which by legend is the location of King Arthur’s famed Camelot.  Now, it’s well known as the home of Winchester Cathedral, which dates to the 11th Century.  The Cathedral has the longest nave of any European Gothic cathedral.  Built in part on unstable ground, William “Diver Bill” Walker, a deep sea diver, worked for several years underground shoring up the foundation beginning in 1906.

Winchester School Chapel

After a bit of time exploring High Street, an unusual experience awaited the group.  We had the opportunity to tour Winchester College, which opened in 1394.  Normally, seeing only the exterior wall of these prestigious schools is all we would ever be able to see.  This year, we gained access by  a guided tour from an alumnus, and it was a great treat.  A new experience no previous MV in England attendee has had.

A grand birthday cake and a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday for Anne (happy birthday!) at dinner, some soccer and a movie, and time to call it a night.  Tomorrow it is off to Greenwich and London.

More photos included in this Flickr collection.

Touring Charterhouse

After a ridiculously long line–I mean, “queue”–at immigration, we enjoyed an hour long bus–”coach”– ride to our home away from home, Charterhouse School. At this point, many of us were really only interested in sleep. The east-bound transatlantic flights depart in the evening and arrive in the wee hours of the morning–we landed at 7:40 AM, which is 2:40 AM at home. Sleep on the aircraft is nearly impossible, but you try to get some. Then you stay up all day, even though you want to sleep, because that’s the best way to curtail jetlag.

We toured Charterhouse and visited the local town of Godalming. The walk to Godalming is mostly downhill. Which means the walk home was mostly uphill. Did I mention that we were tired? The time zone change really messes with your mind. Our first meal at Charterhouse, which was lunch, felt like dinner. Or was it breakfast?

Walking to Godalming

There are almost 90 students here this year! A very big year in terms of numbers. My four have already started meeting new people, as have I. For my ISCA veterans reading this blog, back for this year are Matthew (the tour guide) and Michael & Tom in sports–they all say hello!

To end the day, we had a barbeque and then it was a bee-line straight to our comfy beds. Today, it’s off to Winchester to see Winchester Cathedral and more, including King Arthur’s Round Table. Wink, wink.

Admin Note…I’m working with the Charterhouse School’s web filtering right now, it seems to change every day. Yesterday I could not access this blog site, and today I cannot access Flickr, which is why this blog post currently has no photos in it (update: fixed!). Check out my Flickr page for a few photos that I uploaded last night before crashing.

Also, please comment on my blog posts if you’d like to say hi or have a question. Click on the number inside the little shout-out icon at the top of the post to get to the comments.

I’m eager to go, but I’m also sad to leave behind some great friends.   I miss my students–I know they don’t want to be around school in the summer, but it’s sure dull around the place without them around.  It’s good to see some who work at the summer day camp, but I must admit that I really miss seeing my group of sophomores–well, juniors now–every morning.  I hope that you all are having a great summer, catch me on Facebook and say hi, please!

I hope to get a bit better at posting to this blog, not sure anyone really reads it anyway, but it’s nice to have a place to write some things and share some photos.  You’ll see some postings here and at my www.MVinEngland.com site throughout the next three weeks, that’s for sure.