Hey all......Its me! Jer. Trying to blog for the first time! Hope it works...am trying to post a video as well. I am attaching the message I sent to all my fellow workers at Leyden....I do not want to type it all again, so just skip the parts you dont want to read!


Well Guys and Gals,>>It is hard to tell you everything in one go, so I will tell you some...

>>School....UTTER CHAOS!!!! I kid you not! Let me start by saying that I teach 8 different preps, each various times during the day and various days of the week. I change classrooms each period of each day, never staying in the same classroom for more than one period at a time! To look at my schedule (called a timetable here) you would think a blind, drunk, and very stupid person put it together! It has been over two weeks and I still cannot get my head around it. Even the two classes I meet with four times a week are not in the same classroom with the same desk arrangements! (Oh yeah...they don.t have desks here, just tables and chairs! Cant wait for test time!)

The building itself is very old and is just a compilation of additions over the years! In many cases, you have to go up a flight of stairs and then down another just to get to a room on the same floor you started on! There are no passing periods per se, when a bell rings to end one lesson (period), the kids are just suppose to get right to their next class! This would be ok provided that a). You yourself didn't have to collect all your stuff and move also, and b).(more importantly,) that the kids ACTUALLY WANTED to get to their next class! And that is the good part of this school! I wont bore you with all of the details of the behavior here, let me just say these few things:

I long for the Kieth Wolharts and Randy Wedricks (of the famous pop tart story) Those of you who know these guys please fill in the others!
I have found out that our school is basically a dumping ground for the burrough of London where I live and work. All the kids who get rejected or kicked out of the other schools in the burrough come here! ( London is like New York in that it is divided up into burroughs.) I have many kids who actually celebrate 9/11 .

And the kicker.... I met a dude from North Carolina a couple of weeks before we started. Nice guy named Matt..he was in his 30's and we hit it off pretty well...went out for some pints, etc. He had been teaching in NC for about 8 or 9 years. So it was pretty cool! Well he did not make it to period 2 on the very first day! He quit during his 1st period class! That about says it all!

Well I dont want to sound too awful... On the bright side, all of our kids are having really wonderful experiences here. Keely loves her Sixth form classes...here 16-18 year olds are really treated as if they are in Jr. College! She has met lots of kids and likes them very much! Owen, poor guy, just started school this week! The wheels here turn very slowly...But Owen is unflappable and has a great time seeing alot of cool stuff here in England. Shayna is our little social butterfly and has been over to a couple of kids homes to play and even was invited to a BBQ! (which she went to and said it was Awesome!) Even Mason, the only one who did not want to come is having a grand time at school as well! He has two buddies whom he has had over to our flat and has been to their place loads! I am glad he is now happy! Bev is still amazed at how things work (or do not work here) she>spends her time when not writing, buying the kids uniforms for school....I have great pics of the kids in their uniforms!, and rolling our smaller rolling siutcases about two miles to the cheap grocery store, filling one or two of them after checkout, and rolling them home! Sounds like fun!! I keep asking her when she is going to don a big jar on her head and go down to the Thames for drinking water!!

Well sorry I went on soooo long, I will write more later! I do miss you guys alot!
We did this move so the kids would get a bigger perspective on life, and that end is being accomplished in spades! They are really having a great life experience and it is well worth it, I will tell you about the sites and places we have seen next time! Please write back as I really do miss you guys alot!!!

CHEERS!!! Jer
(p.s. waited forever for the video to post only to get an error message. Will try another time.)