Merry Christmas!

The tree, right before being attacked by the kids!

We wanted to take a moment to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We appreciate everyone's well-wishes and look forward to seeing you all again in 2012!

Will with his new Everton strip.

We should have had a caption-writing contest for this one.

A little bit of play time with Lego's and Moshi Monsters before our dinner of "Toad in the hole". You'll have to Google it.

Life at St. Columba's: The Holidays

Today was the last day of the first term, and a minimum day schedule at St. Columba’s. From an academic standpoint- we're amazingly at the half-way mark. Holiday time at any school is typically filled with an extra level of excitement (and sugar intake) among the students, and usually an increased amount of stress with the teachers. All the kids really want to do is watch movies all week, and the students can’t believe that you have any intention of trying to teach them anything. In fact, I had a student walk into my class yesterday and say “my eyes are sore, I’ve been watching videos in all my classes and I’m feeling a bit dizzy”. Generally the students have been excited about the two-week break and have been in good spirits,. Of course I also had a student yell at me yesterday- “ I hope you have a terrible Christmas!” on the way out the door after being asked to clean up her desk area and push her chair in. Teaching can be up-and-down like that sometimes, no matter what country you’re in. I must admit though, that Christmas comment was a first (and hopefully the last) of its kind. 

The school tree with some potential prizes at the Christmas Concert.

There have been a number of festive activities here at St. Columba’s during the month of December, ranging from class (year-level) parties, Christmas shows, a Wii Mario Kart Competition, student Candy Cane deliveries, and the big Christmas Mass/Assembly sendoff this afternoon (followed by the staff luncheon!). The school brought in a tree for the foyer a few weeks back, and decorations have been hung throughout the main building. The school has had a nice holiday feel throughout the past few weeks, and staff/students alike have had a spring in their step. 

Will and Ainsley have been readying themselves for their class nativity plays this week at school, in addition to class parties. Religion in school is a tricky subject back home, but not during our stay in Scotland. Seeing as I teach at a Catholic school, this is expected, however at Will and Ainsley's public primary school they’ve also been working on nativity plays for their seasonal performances, and nobody seems to think twice about it. From our our experiences here in Scotland, religion is simply a part of life, intertwined so much with the nation's history and culture. It's such an ingrained part of the school's holiday tradition that one dad I spoke to at football training said "I think people would complain if there wasn't a nativity play every December".

Tuesday night was the school Christmas Concert, with performances from a variety of student groups. There was a Junior Choir (1st/2nd years), a multi-school percussion group, Glee Club, Expressive Arts, St. Columba's Pipe Band, Wind Ensemble, String Ensemble, and of course- the Staff Singers. My choir days are long behind me, but I joined in this season and helped sing Barbershop Blues (including a kazoo duet), and a more serious selection of Still Still Still. Attending the show reminded me how fun it is to see the students doing activities outside of class, learning more about their interests and talents. I think the students also enjoy seeing another side of their teachers and are quite keen to share the stage. There are not as many extra-curricular activities outside of the school day as back home, so most all practices take part during the students lunch time. The performances were very impressive, and you could tell that the kids had put in a lot of hours preparing for the show. 

Today I also took part in the Christmas Assembly for St. Columba’s, reading a passage about the Wise Men following a star on the way to Bethlehem, and making the connection to stars that are placed on Christmas trees around the world. The Headmaster even read a sweet poem about someone who travels to California for Christmas, appreciating the meaning of the holiday even though they're far from their home and familiar traditions. The St. Columba’s play was a modern take on the Nativity story, followed by a rousing sing-a-long of Christmas songs. Swaying back and forth, belting out White Christmas, Winter Wonderland, and Rudolph the Red Nosed with 500-ish students was quite a fun and touching way to kick off the holiday break. 

Seven Stories

Newcastle has a lovely children's literature museum called Seven Stories that focuses on modern and contemporary works.  The seven story building offers rotating exhibitions of British children's authors.  During our visit, there were exhibitions on Anthony Browne and Jacqueline Wilson.  The exhibitions were very engaging with rooms decorated like scenes from their various stories.  As you worked your way through the rooms you were able to view original artwork and manuscripts, view the process of writing from the earliest drafts to "dummy books", read about the author and illustrator's process, motivation and inspiration and sit down and enjoy a nice selection of books.  The museum also offers learning programs, crafts, story time and a great bookshop!

Will, reading one of Anthony Browne's books.

Ainsley enjoying the set of one of Anthony Browne's books.  Anthony Browne writes a lot of very imaginative stories about a monkey named Willy.

Newcastle 0 Swansea City 0

For an early Christmas present, Christa gave me a pair of tickets to see Newcastle United against Swansea City. This was my first chance to see an English Premier League game, and of course I took Will along to share the experience. Not having grown up playing football (soccer), it really wasn't until 1994 that I started to follow the sport. My friend Scott Caulk and I saw a World Cup game in Washington DC (Italy 1 Mexico 1), and I couldn't get over the passion of the fans and the excitement of the game. Over the years I have become a fan, and going to an EPL game has been high on my list of "must-do's" while we're in the UK. Newcastle is only about two hours south of Dunfermline, so we all took the train down and made a day of it. 

Kick-off was at 3:00, but we had to get here a little early to soak up the atmosphere. It was fun to see everyone decked out in their Newcastle gear, singing songs as they walked up to the stadium. We also needed to check out the shop, which sold every Newcastle-related item you could imagine.

It was quite a maze of turnstiles and staircases, but we eventually made it inside. Program in hand, we finally found our seats and settled in for the game. Temperatures were in the the 30's, but the skies were clear and it was a beautiful afternoon.

The teams lining up before kick-off- Swansea in orange and Newcastle in black.

Here's a crowd shot from our seats. The atmosphere did not disappoint, as the fans were constantly singing, chanting, and cheering throughout. The announced attendance was around 52,000 people, and I couldn't wait for Newcastle to score a goal, so I could hear the place erupt. The only little problem was, yup, no scoring. Quite a few close calls, but nothing for all 52,000 of us to go crazy about. Now I know many Americans can't stand the idea of low-scoring, or no-scoring games, not to mention the travesty of a tie- which I can understand. In fact as the game was coming to a close, I kept thinking about this Simpson's classic clip:

However, you really need to be there to appreciate the game, and the level of crowd intensity. Just trust me on this. We had a great time, irregardless of the final score, and I was thrilled with my Christmas journey to Newcastle.

Game action (still 0-0)

Saturday Snow

Saturday morning Ainsley looked outside the window and let us know "IT SNOWED!". We spent the morning outside building snowmen (and women), having snowball fights, and even a bit of football. I don't think I've ever gone to sleep without any snow outside, only to wake up and find fresh snow as far as the eye can see. It was a fantastic way to start to the weekend, although by Sunday night it had all melted away. Now if we can just put in an order for the same thing on Christmas morning.

Perfect snow for making angels.

Time to work on the snow fortress

 

Ainsley was going for a Pippi Longstocking look

Wind day?!

We've heard of school closures due to fog, snow, and even flooding, but today school was canceled due to wind! A storm is currently battering Scotland with reported winds up to 100mph in certain areas. Both the kids and I had our school day cut in half, with a lunch time dismissal.  Seeing as Thursday is my most difficult day, this was an early holiday gift from Mother Nature! The wind is howling as we speak, but we're sitting around the table listening to holiday music and drawing Christmas pictures. Not a bad way to spend a wild and windy evening.

Will: "Me and dad were outside playing with a piece of tarp that would fill up with air without escaping. I dropped it and had to run after it until it practically ran into the street. I dove at the last second and just got it under my hand. Once I dropped it and it was 40 feet away before I took a step, and now its lost. Me and dad were putting in a lot of effort to even stand up"

Ainsley: "It was super windy and we could barely shut the door"

News report about the storm

Edinburgh Winter Wonderland

 

The Edinburgh Winter Wonderland consists of German and Highland Christmas Markets, an outdoor ice arena, kids amusement rides, and a whole lot of people. Prior to the Cinderella show we had intended to make our way through the entire area, but that was not to be. We ended up saving most of our visit for the following morning, when we could theoretically beat the crowds. Edinburgh was cold but beautiful, with decorations up throughout the city. We have come to love Edinburgh, as we never seem to run out of interesting things to do, and the city is beautiful. Being here around the holidays makes it even more special.

Ainsley likes the picture of the Sir Walter Scott monument and the ferris wheel

Looking up towards the Royal Mile with the National Gallery to the right.

Part of the German market with Princes Street in the background.

The pretzels tasted great, we would have bought one this big if we could.

Looking down towards the rides and ice rink.

Ainsley decided she wanted to go on the "hamster wheel" ride. Here she is running to the finish line!

Sunday morning we discovered the first snow of the season. We were all pretty excited, but ask us again in March how exciting the snow is.

There are many stalls throughout the market which sell ornaments, artwork, chocolates, toys, jewelry, and candy. Ainsley got to work on her pretzel while I checked out the Santa nesting dolls.

Part of the German Market

Will and Ainsley go for a quick spin.

A restaurant called The Dome. We hear great things, but have yet to eat here. The holiday decorations on the inside and out were fantastic though.

On the way back to the car we found a Highland Tintin.

Our evening with Baroness McSquirell

This past weekend we attended our first "panto". Similar to a melodrama back home, a panto is a combination of Broadway musical and holiday play. A Christmas tradition here in the UK, there is plenty of audience participation ("she's in the cellar!!!) and the show is filled with comedy and music. We all thought the show was fantastic, but I'm sure it would have been even better if we could have understood all the jokes. Something sad about hearing the crowd erupt in laughter and you have no idea what's funny. This first panto was Cinderella at the Kings Theater in Edinburgh, but we're also planning on seeing Aladdin, Peter Pan, and Sgt. Crackers Christmas Quest. (picture credits go to Jennifer Hannah who snapped a few shots before being caught!)

The Kings Theater, Edinburgh

When a couple arrived late to the show, the cast suddenly broke out in a new song and musically scolded them.

Grant Stott (Edinburgh DJ) as ugly sister Gobina McPhlem, and her twin sister Hocktoo.

Cinderella about to arrive at the ball.

I mentioned in the previous picture that the ugly sister (boo!!!) was played by local DJ Grant Stott. He has written a song parody called "That's Fife" which is performed at the end of the panto. Its filled with lines about The Kingdom of Fife, the county in which we live. Here is a youtube video of the song.