Thursday, 30 August 2007

Another busy day! The Headmaster (mistress?) called from Emma's new school to make an appointment. We got lost on our way to St. Katherine's (what else is new) and then ended up there finally. What an interesting place! One thing we noticed that is very different from our Canadian schools is that all of the buildings are separate entities, so kids will be walking outside. This makes me happy because of course as a Canadian, we're always worried about Vitamin D intake! Seems in the winter in Edmonton, there are days that we really never set foot outside, except for getting to the car or letting a stubborn cat out.
We had an informative visit with a Head teacher. She basically asked the usual questions--Are you a good kid? That sort of thing.
It is a science school which I'm really excited about. And Emma
is really excited about the canteen which sells 'Bacon Betties' in the morning. I suppose we'll find out that soon enough!
Then, happily, we found the store that sells the uniforms. Emma ended up getting the gear needed,
but we all giggled when we found out that they wear skirts over shorts for gym classes. We kept asking, 'Are you sure about that?'. The salesclerk just kept looking at us as if to say 'Ask me that again and I'll swipe you!' I'll post a picture of the girls when Bonnie gets hers. Emma is too embarrassed at this point, especially because of the big red, black and white socks we bought. When she came outside to ask the neighbor if we'd got the outfit right, his eyes bugged out when he saw the socks. 'Uh, no, I think those socks are for the sports.' Good thing we found out so Emma doesn't get knocked down by someone. Here's a picture on the streets of Portishead, after our shopping excursion.
Well, another day another pound as they say!

Cheers,
beth
PS. Lovely Mousse hasn't run away yet. That's a good sign! The other picture is of a dog named--get this--Ollie!! He is the Headmaster of Dundry's dog, an English Pointer. We had a great evening with her and her husband!

Wednesday, 29 August 2007

Getting to Bristol

Hello everyone! Our journey to England was seemingly fast and extremely furious! An eight hour plane ride during the night is very manageable especially when you fuel up the kids with Gravol! We only had one mishap when arriving at the Gatwick
airport, and that was when a treasured bear of Emma's was left in the overhead compartment. Brian was brave to push his way back through the sea
of swimming passengers and retrieve it at the last moment. One happy little girl was worth that trip!
Arriving late that night was a relief to us all who had been on the road for 16 hours. To greet us were two beautiful and friendly girls--Helen, and her friend. They took us back to Helen's amazing house on Cerney Lane. A lovely brick 2 story townhouse elegantly decorated, yet family friendly. The backyard contains a grassy area, amazing flowers such as passion flower and roses! Then, the cat. I must tell you all that this cat is a sweet treat! As a cat lover, I know that leaving a precious feline for a whole year is a sacrifice, but this cat of Helen's named 'Mousse' is in good hands. She even has her own cat door that is magnetically activated so that we don't have any other furry visitors!
We live in an estate of many other flats linked with tiny beautiful alleyways and pristine gardens. Then, the Avon river runs just metres away! It actually is ocean that fills the Avon Gorge twice a day with the second highest tide in the world! A family that we met actually was fishing on it and caught a big green slimey eel. The dad said that these eels are migrating somewhere at the moment.
We wandered down along the banks the other day to find the local pub called 'The
Lamplighter' and were treated to a few beers from some very friendly locals. They called us the 'Americans' and when we told them we were from Canada, they bought us more ale!! Too much fun!
I start work on Friday, August 31 at Dundry Church of England Primary School. I feel so fortunate to be able to be here! Check out their website at

http://www.dundryprimary.org.uk/

Well, cheers for now!