My Niece Lucy

Clifton and I communicate with family at home using Skype. The Internet is just amazing and really comes in handy when you live as far as Clifton and I do to still feel connected to our families. One of my biggest worries when moving overseas was that I will miss out on so much of my nieces life but Skype allows us to talk almost everyday and experience so much of her life. Lucy now associates the laptop with me and says Jen whenever my sister brings it into the living room which I have to say makes me happy. Though she will be real confused when I go to Austin in March and I am not in the computer.

The video above is one of my favorite things Lucy does now. She like most little girls is obsessed with Dora the Explorer and knows every character. When Lucy wants to watch Dora she hands Jamie the remote and says boots and will repeat that if Jamie does not turn it on. HA! It is pretty funny. So swiper the fox is a character on Dora and his saying is "Oh Man". The video shows her saying his catch phrase. Lucy is growing and learning new words every day and I love that I am still getting to be a part of it even if it is by computer. Thank goodness for technology!

What a Week!! Jan 24-30

I have to say this was one of the best weeks I have had living in Aberdeen. First off, I met three American girls my age with no kids at the American Women's Association newcomer's coffee on Wednesday. Second, I am getting more and more comfortable at the international school and I love being a part of a school again.

New Friends

On Wednesday I went to the American Women's Association newcomer's coffee and met three girls that are in the same situation as myself. We were all so excited to meet each other and discuss how each of us were adjusting to this crazy and exciting life we have all signed up for!

All of the girls husbands are involved in the oil and gas business. Allison will actually be moving in two months to Mumbai, India which is very saddening considering we just met each other and got along great. Amber will be here another year and a half and Lynne will be here indefinitely because her husband is Scottish and from Aberdeen. We all went to coffee then lunch Wednesday, happy hour on Friday and we are going to Cruden Bay on Thursday of this week. Lynne lives in Cruden Bay which is an hour away from Aberdeen. She lives on the beach and is a mile's walk away from Slain Castle so we are hiking through the woods to this beautiful ruin on the cliff. Slain's Castle is said to be the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1795 after he visited the castle. Needless to say I am looking forward to our outing on Thursday.

I am sure most people are thinking why meeting friends classifies this as one of the best weeks ever. Meeting people in a foreign country that you can relate to and have something in common with has been extremely difficult here. I have met many American women already but they all have kids and they all have that in common. You truly feel like being a five year old again when you see girls out having fun together because you just want to walk up and ask will you be my friend. I have to admit I was very desperate for a friend here after three months of not having any of my own and Wednesday was extremely exciting for all three of us to have met each other.

The International School

This was my third week at the international school and yes I am still loving it. I have been substituting a little bit and volunteering the rest of the time. Being around all of these kids who are also in the same situation as me makes me feel more at home in a weird way. They are by no means all American though. The class I am volunteering in has Dutch, Nigerian, Iranian, Pakistani, German, Scottish, English, American, Indian, etc..... That is in just one class. Talk about differentiation! I would say that the majority of the students are oil and gas kids. Meaning their fathers work for the oil and gas companies and they move from place to place. This week they had to write an essay and the prompt was "Is it good to move" Why or why not? It was sad reading some of the students papers because they would say "I just got settled, made friends and then here we go again". Others said you might as well move because all of your friends will leave anyway. Of course, they weren't all sad. Some were very interesting. My favorite was the fifth grader who said he loved moving because he was a "Scholar in culture". Ha! These students are extremely bright and have very high expectations at the international school. I am sure you teachers who read my blog are wondering do they have standardized testing. Heck no!! They actually have the international school test this week but it is not multiple choice but a written test and it is only two days and over by eleven. They do not freak the kids out the way Texas does by cramming them with information all year and giving them test taking strategies. Seriously on Wednesday and Friday they had an hour lesson on the writing and an hour on the math. That's it! I am giving the test on Tuesday and I was asking when the training was for being a proctor and what room will the students be in. How are we collecting the documents and will highlighters be available? The teachers had to calm me down and tell me it wasn't that big of a deal. You will be fine and it is nothing like the testing you are used to in Texas. Why can't testing be like this everywhere. Even the teachers stress out in Texas and they aren't even taking the test. Being able to be a part of the international school has been a very positive thing for me while living here and I am learning new things every day.

Aberdeen

The picture above shows that it snowed yet again. I am so tired of it. It is very difficult to walk in and the snow ruins your shoes. I have salt stains on the majority of my boots but I am buying wellies on Wednesday. So excited about that! Wellies are galoshes or rubber boots. :) I tried to buy them yesterday but I was so ready to get out of the crazy grocery store. The grocery stores are like battle zones here with your cart. Clifton has to steer the cart because I will seriously ram someone. I have no patience in the grocery stores. There are too many people and everyone is out for themselves or their food I guess you should say. They will hit you with their cart, get in front of you while you are looking for something and block you in aisles and don't care at all. There is no common courtesy in a grocery store. I am telling you shopping at Target on a Saturday afternoon in Texas is nothing compared to this. Multiply that by 20 with rude Scots! You have to get your mind right and have a game plan when you go in to Sainsbury's or Asda! I have not even tried to go big grocery shopping by myself. Clifton and I work together when grocery shopping.

This next week is of course full of work and then my outing with the girls on Thursday so I am sure I will have much more to add to the blog next week!

The New Year In Aberdeen

Since Clifton and I got back from our trip we haven't really done much. For two weeks after we were back it snowed and the weather just made you want to stay indoors. Then when it finally warmed up a little, and when I say warmed up I mean to 5 degrees Celsius which is 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the snow started to melt and then it was complete ice on the sidewalks. The roads were fine to drive on but when you rely on your feet to get everywhere like I do it became quite the challenge to get to the gym or grocery store. I almost bit it a few times and at one point I decided it was too dangerous to walk any further and called a cab. Now the snow and ice are all gone and it is back to dreary overcast drizzle every day. Though last Sunday Clifton and I went out for a walk and it was the first day that I did not have to wear gloves or a hat to keep warm outside and believe it or not the sun was actually out all day! AMAZING.

This last week was my first full week of work. I got a job as a substitute at the International School in Aberdeen. This week I was a substitute for the athletic director in the PE department. I went in on Tuesday to follow him for a day to figure out what it was I would be doing all week with the kiddies. To my surprise they had just started their circus unit. It is amazing the equipment this school has available to the kids. The students were learning how to unicycle, walk on stilts, juggle, balance on a balance board, hula hoop, and ride on pedalo's. It wasn't like they just had a couple of things of equipment. They had enough of everything for each student. I think they had 30 or so unicycles. They start this unit in 6th grade and do it every year so some of the kids who have been there a long time can ride a unicycle while juggling or playing basketball. I was extremely impressed!

While I was working on the circus unit with the students the other PE teacher was taking 3 or 4 kids to the climbing wall and teaching them those skills. Yes they have an actual climbing wall in their gym facility along with a spin and yoga room, two full size courts, and upstairs they have bikes, elliptic, treadmills, weights etc..... They are fully stocked with everything you would need for a great PE department. All in all I had a great week at work. This week I get to substitute in the 5th grade classroom. There is a possibility I will become a full time teacher at the International School but I won't know for a couple of months and I have to figure out if the teaching position is what I really want. So we shall see! The teachers that I get to work with though are extremely cultured and have chosen this international school teaching as a life. Many of them have traveled all over the world and go from international school to international school teaching. There are many perks to work at an international school. One being they pay for your housing on top of your salary. Last week the sophomore class I had to sub for was very small because half of the kids were on a field trip to Paris (Eurodisney) for math. I started laughing and said wow our kids got to go to Six Flags which they thought was pretty cool. Here is a link to their website if you want to check out the International School. http://www.isa.aberdeen.sch.uk/

Clifton is doing great with work. He loves it and is of course kicking butt. He got very ill right when we got back from our trip but I nursed him back to health. Just kidding! I just bought him orange juice and soup and I tried to be as sensitive and nurturing as I could be which is pretty hard for me. :)

We are looking forward to some warmer weather and every day the sun stays out just a little bit longer. Right now it comes up at 9 o'clock and goes down by 4 and really you never see the sun because it is overcast every day but by April it should get a lot better!

Paris Pictures and Video

This is the video right before the clock struck twelve in Paris. No fireworks just a light show but everyone else started setting off fireworks right in the middle of the crowd. We had two big ones go off right next to us.

Paris (New Years 09)

BONJOUR!

Clifton and I celebrated the New Year in Paris, France. We arrived on December 28th and stayed till January 2nd. We took the Eurostar from London to Paris which is a very stress free travel experience. It was a two hour train ride and we went through the chunnel and then we had views of France for the last hour we were on the train. Great way to travel!

When Clifton and I arrived we were completely overwhelmed by the beautiful architecture and sights of Paris. Of course the fascination with the city was interrupted a few times on the Taxi ride to the hotel because of the whiplash we received and the buzzing by of scooters that have no rules on the road in Paris. Seriously the people who drive the scooters have no fear and are crazy. In London the driving was safe, crosswalks were safe, and Paris not so much! Clifton and I definitely looked and acted like tourists in the taxis, immediately fastening our seat belts and then at the cross walks screeching as we ran across praying we weren't going to be killed by a taxi or scooter. Other than the fear of death by Taxi or scooter Paris was amazing. We stayed at a hotel right next to the Eiffel Tower and had a view of it from our window. Every morning we went to get breakfast at a brasserie. We would usually get cafe' a la creme (coffee with cream), a croissant, eggs, and orange juice. I will say there was not a lot of selection in the food. Every brasserie served pretty much the same stuff but I am not complaining because it was always good and cheap. That was one other thing we loved about Paris. The food is very affordable unlike London. Though there coffee was expensive but once you taste it you understand why. It is the best coffee I have ever had and everywhere the coffee was amazing not just one place. I have no clue what makes it so good but I would pay 4.50 euros every day to have that coffee. I loved the fact that people would just go sit outside at the brasserie and drink coffee, wine and eat baguettes even when it was 5 degrees Celsius. Paris was also very dog friendly. It was not unusual to see dogs sitting right next to their owners in chairs at the brasseries outside. They also have their dogs very trained. Almost every dog I saw did not have a leash and would follow behind the owners and on busy streets that were extremely crowded with people. It was amazing. A dislike both Clifton and I had about Paris was that they have very aggressive beggar's. They would come right up to you and beg for money and walk with you until you had to be rude to get them away from you. Definitely some con artists in that city. We have a few stories just about the beggar's. Clifton and I also got in a habit of going in the afternoon to a Patisserie (a French bakery) and getting an eclair and a coffee. We would just laugh about how many people would walk in and buy 3-5 baguettes and then leave. I am guessing it is very customary after work to stop in to the local bakery buy your baguettes for dinner and go home and you would see tons of people munching on their baguettes on the way home. So of course I had to do the same one night and yes I ate the whole thing by myself. Love those dang baguettes!

So onto the actual sightseeing of monuments and enough about Paris life that I noticed. Clifton and I actually went in Notre Dame and The Louvre. The lines in Paris are insane. We waited for 45 minutes at Notre Dame and that was just to go inside not to go up to the top which was a whole separate line. We waited for 45 minutes to go to the Louvre which is actually good because we got there 30 minutes before it opened. We tried to go up the Eiffel Tower a few times but every time we went by there was a two and a half hour wait and just to go to the second floor not to the top. Clifton and I felt it wasn't worth it. The Louvre was incredible though and would be worth the wait for anyone to see the amazing pieces of art they have. We were told you could actually spend two whole days going through The Louvre. It is huge and Clifton and I did not even see every wing. The ceilings, sculptures, and art was incredible and breathtaking. Notre Dame was also amazing. The architecture and detail of these buildings is a masterpiece. We are guessing due to the popular story of the hunchback of Notre Dame that was why there were so many disabled and disfigured beggars there. It was very disturbing the beggars we saw walking around the line begging for money and showing you their deformities. There was a disabled beggar at every entrance and exit. Crazy! We saw many other beautiful monuments, churches, and museums but didn't have the pleasure of going in each one but of course we took tons of pictures.

One of my other favorite things about Paris were the parks. They have beautiful fountains and statues and all of these lawn chairs to just sit in and enjoy the scenery. Most of the people who live in Paris do not have yards so this is where they come to enjoy the outdoors. There were tons of people reading books, playing with dogs, playing chess, eating lunch, and just kicking back.

On New Years Clifton and I celebrated under the Eiffel Tower. Every year they have a gigantic fireworks display but the one year Clifton and I get to celebrate in a major city Paris decided to go GREEN. Yes Green! They did not have fireworks and failed to tell anyone so everyone is waiting after the countdown for the fireworks and they just had a light show on the Eiffel tower that just lit up in different colors. HA! We had already seen it because they had been doing it late at night and we could see it from our hotel room. So it was a pretty big let down but the experience was still great to be under the Eiffel tower when the clock struck twelve.

After an 11 day vacation Clifton and I were very ready to get back home but we enjoyed every second of our wonderful European Vacation. Next trip is to Edinburgh, Scotland in February, I go back to Dallas for three weeks in March and then for my birthday Clifton and I are going to Amsterdam! WOOHOO!

Christmas in London 2009

Clifton and I had quite a stressful travel to London after they displayed our flight on the screen as already gone when we had waited for two hours to board and then found out it was delayed by an hour and the screen just had a typo. Then we arrive at Heathrow airport and wait for our luggage for 45 minutes at the baggage claim. After we get our luggage we take a 45 minute train ride to the hotel which decided to close for three days and failed to inform us. By this time it is 1:30am and we are exhausted but find out that our hotel that decided to close over Christmas is sending us to a five star hotel to stay for our entire trip. We also got upgraded to a King deluxe room. Let's just say there is no way Clifton and I could have afforded this room had the Radisson not had a slight oversight. Yeah for us! London started out with a bang.





Our first day in London was spent doing a little shopping, going to see Wicked the musical in the West End, and then of course Pub hopping. The streets were beautifully decorated for Christmas and there was so much to see. Clifton and I both loved Wicked. Yes Clifton loved the musical but I don't know if he really wanted me to put that statement in the blog. :) The Pubs in London are exactly the kind of atmosphere Clifton and I love. They all had great food, beer selections, and laid back environment that made you want to stay all day and night! That night we walked through Hyde Park where they were having a Winter Festival with rides, food, craft booths and much more. We of course fell in love with the Bailey's and hot chocolate drink on a cold Christmas Eve night that they were serving at the festival. On Christmas day we decided since everything was closed we would just do a walking tour of the whole city. We walked all over seeing Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square etc.... I would say we walked 10 miles that day. That is the best way to see the city. We also went to mass on Christmas day at St. Pauls Cathedral. It was very surreal and an amazing experience for both Clifton and I. On December 26th we walked through Hyde Park and stopped to feed a few squirrels some peanuts and then continued on to Notting Hill. Notting Hill was a very cute area and they had a massive street market on Portabella street. That night we went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour through the streets of London. Fascinating story about Jack the Ripper but would not recommend it to someone during December because it lasted two hours and we were frozen by the time we were through with it. Our tour guide was this adorable old man who seriously knew everything there is to know about all history not just London's. We seriously thought we were on the wrong tour for the first thirty minutes because of the tangents he went off on about London's history that had nothing to do with Jack the Ripper. Regardless, we did learn a lot about London history. The next day we went on a tour through the Tower of London and that night we ate dinner at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant MAZE. By the way the food and service stunk. Extremely disappointed and expected a lot more from Hell's Kitchen's chef.





All in all we fell in love with London and had an amazing Christmas. We definitely missed our families but we were kept busy with all the new sights to see.

December in Aberdeen

December in Aberdeen was very cold and Clifton and I were extremely anxious to go on our London and Paris Christmas trip. Here are a few pics in Aberdeen to show you how much it snowed. Now it is very hard snow that is not fun to walk in because it is super slippery.