Miss. Hirsch's Exchange

April Ash Cloud and May Madness!!!

2010-06-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hello Brown School!!

I can't believe you are in your last month of school before the summer holidays! You must all be very excited. :) It sounds like you have all been enjoying celebrating as well with both the 100th Birthday of Brown School and Garden Fete! I have had an incredibly busy couple of months too here in Canterbury and beyond! In April I had a two and a half week break so I went down to Spain with three of my friends to hike a very famous trail called the Camino de Santiago. It is an ancient pilgrimage and I did the part of it that goes from Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre. It was a challenging hike but we were rewarded with fantastic views, beaches and a satisfying workout. We hiked 20-30km a day for 5 days. I was pretty beat by the end of it but felt great for accomplishing such a task! I then went on to meet up with another friend in Portugal. We had a super time seeing the city sights in Lisbon. The old parts of the city were my favourite as they were narrow and winding and filled with interesting tiled buildings. I loved our trip to The Palace of Pena which was situated on a hill in Sintra. I felt like I was visiting a princess palace and the views were incredible! Another highlight was going to a National Football Game (soccer) between Benfica and Sporting. there were 60,000 fans there and the singing and chanting were quite the spectacle! It was neat to be a part of it. We saw the beaches and did some biking in Lagos which was nice because then we then got stranded in Portugal due to the crazy volcanic ash cloud that lingered over Europe for quite some time! The good thing about being stuck was that with some extra time and ground to cover we went to Madrid and toured the biggest cathedral in the world and I got to see the tomb of Christopher Columbus there. Making our way back without air travel felt kind of like the Amazing Race as we traveled by train, bus and ferry to get back to jolly old England!

May has been a busy month for my class and I as we have been involved in dance competitions, gardening festivals and this week we have an all school art week with amazing workshops. In between all of that I have managed to meet the Mayor of Canterbury and enjoy all the amazing colours of blossoms and flowers out this time of year in Canterbury.

I turned 34 in the middle of the month and felt very spoiled with all the celebrating we did! My brother and sister in law visited just a couple of weeks ago and we had a fabulous time touring around Canterbury. The weather was beautiful and they were a big support to me as a cheering section when I ran the Canterbury Half Marathon on the 23rd!

I just got back from a half term break where I went to Paris with friends and then the southwest of France. (I don't think I know how to sit still these days!) I really enjoyed the Bordeaux region of France but especially loved Cap Ferret near the ocean where I was able to relax, enjoy the scenery and see some incredible sand dunes! I hope you enjoy the pics.

I am wishing you all a great end to the school year. Good Luck with Graduation Grade 6's! I can't believe you are all so grown up and are moving onto Secondary School! I will be thinking of you. :)

Miss. Hirsch

The Queen, Cambridge and Ireland Again!

2010-03-28T02:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Brown School!

I hope you all had a fun and relaxing March Break. I have heard that Toronto has been having some interesting weather, not sure if it wants to be winter, spring or semi-tropical?! Temperatures have been climbing here in Canterbury as well and spring is definitely in the air. Daffodils are out and baby lambs are playing in the pastures so it is quite scenic to go for a country drive! I have been keeping busy over the last month and on Commonwealth Day I attended a service of celebration at Westminster Abbey. It is a beautiful and very historic church in the heart of London and in attendance at this event was Prince Charles and ...wait for it... The Queen!!! When she entered the Abbey we all stood and sang 'God Save The Queen' to her. I have to say, it was a very British moment for me. :)

I also went back to Ireland this month to attend a conference for teachers on exchange. This time I was in Northern Ireland staying in Belfast. I must be in favour with the Irish because we got 4 days of sun! Which was super for the sightseeing we did up to the Giant's Causeway. Legend has it that the Irish giant, Finn MacCool, used this outcropping of land to walk across the ocean to Scotland. It was quite spectacular to see the rugged and picturesque coast of Northern Ireland. It was very close to St. Patrick's Day when I was there so I tried to disguise myself as a leprechaun at one point. Do you think it worked? :)

I also managed a visit to Cambridge to see some university friends of mine. Cambridge is a really pretty city with lots to see. Cambridge University is one of the world's oldest and most renowned. It has 31 colleges and they are all beautiful boasting of some very famous students who attended them, including Sir Isaac Newton. We went for a punt on the river and had some gorgeous views of Trinity, St. John's and King's Colleges.

As we move into April I have a 2 week holiday and I am traveling to Spain and Portugal with friends! I will be sure to give an update when I return. Take Care!

Miss. Hirsch

Ireland!

2010-02-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hello Brown!

I hope you have all had a great start to 2010. Where does the time go? I can't believe that the month of March is fast approaching and that I am at the half way point of my exchange year! I have been keeping up with all of the exciting things you are doing through the Brown Bulletin, especially the Dance-a-thon where your thoughtfulness and generosity is going to help so many people affected by the tragic events in Haiti. Even though I cannot be there to boogie with you I have forwarded a donation on my behalf.

The highlight for my students over here in England this term was having the incredible opportunity to perform a play about the Life and Death of Thomas Becket in the Canterbury Cathedral itself! Thomas Becket lived in the 1100's and was a famous Archbishop of Canterbury. He was killed by knights of King Henry II for defending the church. Pilgrimages have been made to the site of his tomb for hundreds of years as miracles are reported to have happened here. My class also really enjoyed meeting their penpals via webcams and a flashpoint meeting and look forward to speaking with the grade 4 students at Brown again soon! We've been following the Olympics over here as well (Go Canada!) and my students were fascinated by the Olympic torch relay videos and all the different ways we carried the torch across the country.

I ran my first race here in January, the Canterbury 10 mile, which was cold but sunny! I look forward to running the Canterbury half marathon in May when my brother and sister-in-law will be here to cheer me on!

Last week was my February half term break. I spent the week with friends from Canada starting in London where we saw the final performance of Cirque du Soleil, Varekai. It was breath-taking, colourful and full of amazing acrobatics! Then it was off to Ireland for 5 days! We spent our time between Dublin and Cork seeing lots of beautiful countryside and picturesque seaside towns. We visited the touristy sites, I got to kiss the Blarney Stone and I even got my picture taken with a lucky leprechaun! Enjoy the pics. I'll catch up with you soon!

Miss. Hirsch

Happy New Year!

2010-01-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010!!

I hope you all managed to find fun ways to celebrate ringing in the new decade! I had such a great month in December with my students as there was so

much going on in the way of holiday celebrations. The primary students at St. Peter's performed a Nativity play, we had a "teacher's serve the students X-mas lunch", parties with cookie baking and decorating, and the teacher's performed a pantomime of Snow White for the entire school. Guess who was Snow White...me! I had a good time and it ended up snowing just before the break to make it feel even more festive! I flew home to Nova Scotia for a week to see my family and friends for Christmas which was fabulous but flew by way too quickly. I was back in London for New Year's Eve and spent the night of the 31st with friends at a boat party on the Thames! I got to see all the sights along the river lit up and then we stopped by the London Eye and Big Ben to watch the fireworks which were fantastic!! It was all very magical. I have settled back into the routines of school again and we are doing a fun all school unit on Space. I hope you all had a terrific break and are enjoying the first weeks of 2010! Have I told you about the views of beautiful sunrises I get from my kitchen window? I've included a pic of the pink morning sky!

Miss. Hirsch

Paris!

2009-12-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-10-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

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