Paris!

Hi Brown School!

I have just read through the December Brown Bulletin and I am so impressed with all of the great team sports results, beautiful Olympic Art and wonderful writing by various members of our french and english students! Well done all of you! I certainly wish I could attend our Winter Concert/Festival d'Hiver and I am hoping you'll sing loud enough for me to hear you over here in Canterbury!

I managed to get over to Paris a few weekends ago with some friends. It was brilliant! I saw and did so much in one weekend! I saw King Louis the XV 's crown and the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre, do you know which artist painted her? I visited the incredibly beautiful Sacre Coeur in Montmarte. I enjoyed a boat tour down the Seine River past Notre Dame, posed in front of the L'Arc du Triumphe and saw a fantastic light show at the Eiffel Tower! Can you guess how old the Eiffel Tower is? I wonder who can answer my trivia questions?!

I am starting to get into the holiday spirit with the arrival of December and colder temperatures, I hope you are too! Keep being wonderful Brown! I miss you!

Miss. Hirsch

What's up Brown?!

I hope you all had a really fun Hallowe'en. They don't celebrate it as much over here so I didn't get to dress up in costume but I did get a week's vacation for Half Term Break. My parents came to visit!! We toured around the city of Canterbury visiting museums telling us all about the Romans who lived here many centuries ago, very interesting! We also went to St. Augustine's Abbey, and the seaside town of Whitstable to wander through some art galleries. A really cool place we visited was Dover Castle. It is a real Medieval castle perched on a hill overlooking the sea. The rooms have been decorated similarly to how things would have looked when real kings and queens inhabited it! When we got to London we did a great double decker bus tour, saw the changing of the Horseguards and then saw the musical Billy Elliot which was fabulous! I have included a pic of my school as well, much smaller than Brown, 220 students whereas Brown has closer to 530. Around the middle of October the Canterbury Festival took place here and I was in a parade with my class! We wore costumes that we made and everything! Looking forward to telling you all about my next adventure and hoping it is not getting too chilly in Toronto!

Miss. Hirsch

London!

Hi there!

I hope you are all enjoying your turkey this weekend! I have managed to get into London a few times and have found myself strolling by the Thames, taking in sights like Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, The London Eye and visiting the Tate Modern Art Gallery and St. Paul's Cathedral. I even came across a gentleman creating an entire living room out of sand! Hope you enjoy the pics!

Miss. Hirsch

City Sights

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to post some photos I have taken over the last month in my new home of Canterbury! I have been taking in the different scenery and historic buildings, which is certainly a change from what I see in my neighbourhood back in Toronto! In the last few weeks I have been to a cricket match, meandered through local markets, saw an outdoor Shakespeare performance at Mt. Ephraim Gardens and finally went to an Evensong service in the breath-taking Canterbury Cathedral. An Evensong is an early evening service and it is mostly delivered in song. The Cathedral's Boys Choir is angelic. Listening to them as I admired the architecture, marveled at the incredible detail of the stained glass windows, decorated columns and carved stone statues was a wonderful way to compliment the Cathdedral's beauty.

School is going well and I am in the process of putting together an assembly about Canada with my class where we will teach the rest of the students at St. Peter's a little bit about Canada and Brown School! Enjoy your upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, I will miss eating turkey this year!

Miss. Hirsch

Canterbury Tales!

Hello Everyone!

I have created this blog to keep in touch with Brown School teachers, parents, students and other friends to share my teaching exchange adventures this year in England!

I made it across the Atlantic Ocean safely on Aug. 22nd which gave me a couple of weeks to explore the beautiful and historic city of Canterbury before school started. To begin, I have a magical view of the world famous Canterbury Cathedral from my kitchen window and I get to walk through the West Gate each day on my way to school which is actually part of the original city wall built back in 1375 to surround and protect the city of Canterbury. I have been visiting old castles and churches, learning more about the Canterbury Tales, admiring the narrow streets, quaint shops and picturesque countryside. I have been biking on the Crab and Winkle Trail which leads to the seaside and I enjoyed my first traditional cream tea within the first week. :)

I started teaching at St. Peter's two weeks ago and have been enjoying getting to know my new class of Year 4 students. The staff are all very friendly and supportive. I have been learning how to deliver lessons on the interactive whiteboard in my classroom and I have been teaching my students lots about Canada! Everyone has been so welcoming which is wonderful.

I hope everyone has gotten off to a great start at Brown this September, I think of your smiling faces often!

More news soon!

Miss. Hirsch