2 Months

We are not quite sure where the last 4 weeks have gone!!

We received our sea shipment and minus a couple missing boxes, that we think accidentally got put in storage, ALL of our things arrived safely and without any damage. We also FINALLY got our place organized and took some pictures for everyone (see post below which exhibits Chris' skills with the video maker)!

Our update...

Chris-A few weeks ago he had a terrible reaction to some kind of bug bite which ended up shutting down his immune system and he ended up having his first doctor visit here. It was pretty bad, as Chris doesn't go to the doctor that willingly. He was on an antibiotic and anti-histamine for 7 days and he's feeling tons better and the reaction has cleared up. I know you are thinking, did he have to miss work? Of course not, even though he could barely pick his head up as soon as he got home from work, he still did his best to make it to the office all day...such a trooper!! Speaking of work, he is still working 12-14 hour days and at times comes home a bit frazzled! The only good thing about his hours is that he isn't really affected by rush hour traffic. He's taking off Monday and Tuesday next week and I know he's really looking forward to it!!

Since my last update on us, Chris has been introduced to some British words too:

*doctor appt. is called "surgery"
*lady bugs are called "lady birds"
*calendar is called "diary"
*q-tips are called "cotton buds"

Lisa-I have been working almost every day this past month. I have worked in 5 different schools so far and have been in every primary age classroom from Reception (Kindergarten) to Y6 (which is pretty close to the age of our 6th grade students). In comparison to the US, the schools here are alike (the curriculum) but yet so different (the way the students learn and the way the educational materials are taught to them). It's a bit of adjustment, but I am very fortunate for this experience.

I am still learning LOTS of British words:

*lunch is called "school dinner"
*gymnasium is called "hall"
*attendance sheet is called "register"
*daily schedule is called "timetable"
*candy is called either "sweets, chocolates, or celebrations"

these 2 are my favorite...
*quotation marks are called "speech marks"
*a period at the end of a sentence is called "full stop"

AND not only am I still learning new words, but there are so many different ethnic groups throughout London, that no matter what school I am at I'm faced with a class list that includes first names, such as:

Ogooluwa
Gurjeevan
Malachi
Akshay
Abhinav
Yashani
Afzaal
Yaquib
Tafik
Sumaya
Hiba
Suhkpreet
Palvinder

(as you can imagine these are not so easy to pronounce and the students are VERY quick to correct you, as I imagine I would if somebody couldn't say Lisa)

Each and every day is full of so many new things and of course, at times it is all a bit entertaining!! All the London schools are on 1/2 term break all next week and I'm planning to meet up with some of my new teacher friends!!

Last of our update is that we are heading to Paris on Saturday thru Tuesday to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary!! Our first European adventure and we are super excited!! We are taking the Euro-star and it's about a 2 1/2 hour train ride. We'll be posting pictures (and maybe some more videos) as soon as we get back!!!