My Bike

And my flat in deBeauvoir Town. It is December and there are new blooms on the rose bush outside - imagine that!

My Creative House

Since I am surrounded by so many artistic folk I thought I would share / plug their projects. I live with 3 others who are artists/designers/artsy in some manner with their career and who have introduced me to their like minded friends.

The reason I am living in this house is because of Lothair Hamann who is a self taught industrial designer. I met him while buying one of his lamps: http://www.lothair.net/index.html

Erato is a spunky, funky, fun fest and she splits her time between her freelance web design and photography projects, her d.j.-ing nights, making good eats at the Lemon Monkey cafe: http://www.lemon-monkey.co.uk/, and being in charge of the video production for this non-profit: http://www.essexdance.co.uk/pages/front_page.html

Caroline, the third flatmate, is an associate producer for a non-profit company that makes documentaries for the BBC. She is currently working on a documentary and when it airs I will try to share.

Caroline has a best friend from Belgium who is an artist with works ranging from painting to social experimentation. Her work can be found here: http://www.marenkagabeler.net/. Marenka was the first to find the flat I am in many years ago and is often found in our kitchen on weekend mornings.

Ed and Clementine are friends of Caroline and Marenka and they started a story reading company which you can enjoy by clicking on this:
http://www.spokenink.co.uk/

And since my housemates are creative and like to have fun they often can be found somewhere in the house performing, well mostly you will find Lo and Erato who love to sing, dance and play various musical instruments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0iNbtNL1GU

Susan does not like blogging...

I must give credit to those who keep their blogs up to date. I have come to realize that I would rather be outside or, if inside reading a book.

A street in Napoli.

I finished the school year the middle of July and was away for most of my summer holiday. Mom and Leanne visited and we rented a car which took us to Wales. Then I spent some time in Italy whose pictures I have not yet organized - I take too many and get antsy while in front of the computer.

The view of Owasco Lake from the new Ferrari homestead.

I made it home the end of the summer which was lovely.

Three lovely little ones.

Two boys who just stopped crying. One VERY happy now, the other one almost so.

I am now running the nursery for the school I work for. I have 74 children from all different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds who are three and four years old as well as two nursery nurses who help me. My little ones are absolutely lovely.

One happy man on the balcony of our posh hotel.

Rest

Someone not following the directions again.

A sister's favorite childhood meal.

A boyfriend's favorite building in Chartres.

A girlfriend's favorite picture.

Mark came to visit during my mid-term holiday and we spent a couple of nights in Paris. Yes, one can spend a couple of nights (or just one if they want) in Paris, or Rome, or Brussels, or really, anywhere else in Europe. I love it.

Two crazy kooks who are now both recovering from the first colds of the season.

Halloween was fun and I am sure it will come back and kick us in the ass.

My bike and my man enjoying what he loves best, well maybe not best but it is up there.

While Mark was here I purchased a bicycle. I live in an area of London which is lively and full of buses, trains, and tubes, as well as things within walking distance, yet having a bike comes in handy.

I learn something new every day. It turns out the Brits do not pronounce tomato and potato the same way. Rather they say, tamAHtAH and potato. Are you as confused as I am? And the new word of the week is "moreish", which means something which one can not get enough of - you can eat more and more...

I have more photos of Paris and Italy but haven't uploaded them to a web album yet. When I do I will be sure to share.

Finally, on the home front, Emily and Louis had their twin girls last week. Mom is home but the girls are still in the hospital. Send good thoughts their way for it has been a long and trying pregnancy.

Food!

Borough Market, Southwark (pronounced "Suffwick")

It's true that the Brits have a thing for "bad" food. The cafes (or "cafs" as they are pronounced here) have an interesting take on how to serve a good greasy spoon breakfast or decent sandwich. Forget about finding a good cup of coffee from these neighborhood places. It's really the foreigners who know how to feed you and good food a plenty can be found in the right places. Below are some of the coffee shops and eateries I have recently found. Plus the Borough Market - while a bit of a tourist trap, is perfect for your lunches for the upcoming week...

Walpoles Cafe (Soho?)


Market Coffee House, Spitalfields


A. Gold, Spitalfields


Root Master, Shoreditch


Story Deli, Shoreditch


Story Deli, Shoreditch


Mmmm...fresh take on pizza.
Story Deli, Shoreditch

For those of you who were worried...

...that I might get run over by a Brit whilst walking the streets of London, you shall not worry.

King Henry VIII...

...was the man.

We are back...

Time slips by quickly, especially when you are off on holiday and have a job which knocks you off your feet at the end of the day.

Updates: My lovelies are doing well and making progress with their reading and writing skills. This is no small feat since when I arrived some of them could do neither (not sure what their last teacher was doing with them but...) All of them began school in November and while some had gone to school before, they missed at least 6 months to a year prior to November due to various problems in their homes. Only one of my students has been in school regularly since Nursery and he is my behavior problem kid...hhmmm. My students are 5 going on 6 so missing that much school is not a good thing. It is even worse when they are thrown into a Year One class which is essentially at the same learning level as our First Grade in the States even though their ages correspond more closely with our Kindergarten students. Recepetion is taught like our Kindergarten but the students are more like our Nursery School kids and so on. I am trying to teach my students how to write in cursive!

Photos will be posted soon, I promise.

Also, I have moved to a new house. The first house was beautiful in terms of a house but not in terms of a home. My housemates proved to not be ones in which I would choose to surround myself with and my friend Sarah was in a similar situation at her house. We decided to move in together and have moved in with two other women - it is now a lovely home. Sarah is from the south island of New Zealand. Helen is from Christ Church, New Zealand which is in the middle of the country, and Susan is from Washington D.C. Susan is great and Helen is great and everyone is happy. We cook for each other and enjoy one another's company which is a nice change. The house is not as nice but is more conveniently located to anything you might need - there is a 24/6 Jewish Bakery down the street - brilliant!

Has anyone ever met a kiwi? Since meeting them I have been viewing the world in a whole new light. To us and everyone else in the world, a skyscraper is a very tall building. To them it is the mark a plane makes as it "scrapes the sky".

If you want my new address and telephone number send me a message either here or to my gmail account.

Now! I have been doing some traveling! See below for all the lovely details...