Home!

This will be my last post to this blog because....we are home!  Seven of the ten students were on my flight back to Charlotte Saturday. One student stayed behind to travel a bit more, another student flew out of Heathrow and a third student stayed over one more night. We had to leave very early to make sure we were at the airport in plenty of time.  I was picked up by cab at Middle Mill at 4:55 AM and taken over to Seething Wells to meet the bus to the airport. We headed to airport around 5:30, got checked in and then had some time to kill before our flight was scheduled to leave.  We actually took off on time, had a very pleasant flight and arrived in Charlotte ON TIME.  Imagine that! 

Thanks to everyone at Kingston  University and UNCC that made this trip possible!  It was fantastic!

Loading the bus!

Exams, London and "Leaving Party"

Thursday turned out to be a very busy day!  We finished up the British Culture Class in the morning with lectures on British film and music.  Then Dr. Woods gave the students until 2:00pm to study for their final.  I headed back to my room intending to read student papers...when my flat mate, Cathy knocked on my door with a brilliant idea - one more trip into London.  We would have to be back in time for the party at 7:00 but we could fit in one more adventure.  So we headed out for one last train and tube ride to the British Museum of Natural History and Covent Gardens.  The museum was outstanding. The exhibits were great but the architecture of the building itself was unique enough just to see!  There was quite a focus on Darwin, as you could imagine with much of his work and specimens on display.  There were dinosaurs, fossils, etc. - so much to see!

We realized our time was getting short so we headed for the tube to go to Covent Gardens.  Covent Gardens is the home of the Royal Opera House along with many shops, markets, cafes and restaurants.  Street performers are numerous and the whole experience is quite entertaining.
Realizing we better head back to make the party on time, we left for the train station.  We barely made it back in time to change clothes and head to the party.

And what a party it was!!  The food was delicious.  The wine was great and everyone seemed to have a super time.  We enjoyed a nice buffet meal and the awards for the "Photo frenzy" competition from the first day.  Then the DJ cranked up and everyone started dancing.  My friend Cathy and I left around midnight and they were still going strong!  Hopefully everyone will get their papers to me by noon today.....hmmm. (They have known about the assignment since day 1!)  Anyway it was a great party and send-off for everyone.

Tomorrow is travel day and I'm being picked up by a cab at 5:00am to meet the bus at Seething Wells to go to the airport.  Seven of the ten students are on my flight which leaves at 9:40 nonstop to Charlotte by 1:36 pm. Hopefully that will be smooth with NO delays this time.  I will try to take one or two last pictures as we leave tomorrow. 

Bye for now. I have to go print my boarding pass, grade papers and pack!  Enjoy the pics from yesterday and last night!

That's me with Charles Darwin!
Pictures from the museum

Pics from the Party!

Kingston Police Station and Student Presentations

Hi everyone.  We had a busy day today with our guided tour of the Kingston Police Department and student presentations.  We were all pleasantly surprised at the access we were given to the various areas of the police facility.  We began our morning with a presentation by the Department Supervisor.  Everyone was very welcoming and we felt comfortable being there.  We toured the transportation enforcement division in an annex across the street from the main building. Their main task and duties involved keeping the bus system safe. The bus system is the main form of transportation here, not car travel.  We viewed a DVD that they show to new and incoming college students regarding safe travel around the area - particularly the unsafe non-registered cabs.  It was quite graphic and we could see how it would make an impact on students. 

We then went back to the main department and into the detention area (jail and holding cells).  We were able to see inside the cells, their new fingerprinting identification technology and their VERY small medical office where they collect blood samples, DNA or other evidence that involves the body of the accused.  We then also went into their communications area where they field 999 (our 911) calls.  All 999 calls actually go to London to the main dispatch office and then are sent to the appropriate borough departmental office.  We also were able to to see some of their vehicles.  I believe the students thought their version of the "paddy wagon" was especially interesting. They typically do not transport suspects in their cars.  They send the transport van instead.  The police here depend on the numerous CCTV cameras to help them solve crimes and identify potential problem areas.  Another interesting fact is that the typical cop on the beat does not carry a gun. They carry a form of pepper spray and a baton.  Their justification is that no one is allowed to carry firearms so the police do not need to either. "When you roll around on the ground with a drunk, you don't want him to take your weapon and shoot you...so you don't carry!"  You must be specially trained to carry a weapon and some circumstances do merit it.

We decided we would go ahead and do the presentations if everyone was ready so Friday would not be so busy as we prepared to leave.  So after the tour, we went back to the classroom and listened to the presentations.

GOOD JOB EVERYBODY!

Maggie and Brie presented a comparison of Juvenile Crime in the US and UK.

Ashley, Samantha and David discussed Policing of  Juveniles in the UK and US

Lisa and Maria covered Juvenile Courts in the US and UK

Grace, Spencer and Cherelle presented their current events for their independent study

Winding down - sort of

Well, we are now in our last week.  Today, Sunday was a bit of a lazy day except for our trip into Richmond this afternoon.  It is a lovely town on the banks of the Thames with shops, cafes and parks everywhere.  We took the 65 bus (thanks Charisse for the tip) all the way from Kingston straight into Richmond and then just began walking by the Thames. We actually were looking for Mick Jagger but no luck.  He does have a home here.  Anyway we scoped out a place for a late lunch called the "Pitcher and Piano"  where I finally had my fish and chips (fried fish and french fries in the US) right on the river.  We walked around the town a bit but shops, etc. close here by 5 on Sunday so we headed back toward Kingston so we would have time to stop by the grocery before it closed. 

Tomorrow we will probably head to the Kingston Monday market just to poke around and then get prepped for the last few days of class.  Tuesday is the British Culture class, Wednesday my group goes to the Kingston Police Station for a tour, Thursday is the British Culture class, final exam and going away dinner and then Friday is our last day of class where the students will present their projects. Apparently we will have to leave VERY early for the airport Saturday morning.  So with that schedule next week, I'm not sure how much more I'll blog.  But keep checking - you never know!

CHEERS! (They really do say that!)
Pics of Richmond

Friday and Saturday

Two great days! Friday we went into London to see if we could get theatre tickets.  We really wanted to see Richard III with Kevin Spacey, but of course that was sold out.  We could have hung around the box office for a while, probably a long while, to see if anyone turned in their tickets.  But we decided not to chance it and went over to the National Theatre where we were able to get those "day of the performance" front row seats for a huge discount. After being successful with those plans, we decided to spend some time at the Tate Modern Museum.  It is a huge art museum with very interesting exhibits.  Several Picasso's in fact are housed there.  After that we walked to a great place for dinner that overlooked the Thames and then onto the theatre.  We saw "Emperor and Gailiean".  This was a huge epic drama set in Greece and the Middle East in 351 AD.  It is the story of Julian the Apostate who was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman empire and his struggle with Christianity.

View of the Thames from our restaurant

My birthday cards

Saturday morning we went back into London to the Portobello Market.  It was huge market that went on and on for miles with food, clothing, souveniers, and antiques.  It is located in Nottinghill - no luck spotting Hugh Grant however we did see where George Orwell lived!

Here are some pics of that area.

Southall Sikh Gurdwara

Today was very interesting as we explored a multi-cultural aspect of Britain with the British Culture class.  Apparently Britain prides itself as being very multi-cultural.  However our instructor stated that Britain has not always welcomed its diversity.   However there is now a huge contingency of Asian culture here.  Asian here does not mean Japanese or Chinese.  It means Indian, Pakistani and Bangledeshi.  The temple we visited today is the largest and newest Sikh (prounced "seek") temple outside India.  The town of Southall is often described as 'Little India'.  We were welcomed to the temple with much hospitality and we conformed to their religious rituals by removing our shoes and covering our heads before entering.  We were given a guided tour of their temple and it was very impressive.  Sikhism is a progressive, monotheistic religion founded over 500 years ago.  It ranks fifth among the main religions of the world.  They believe in one God, hope, optimism and respect for all living beings.  It encourages normal family life, equal status for women and denounces idol worship, fasting and the caste system.

At the end of our tour, we were invited in for lunch where they feed about 2000-3000 people a day.  It is the largest single religious outreach on a daily basis.  We all sampled the food but were not certain as to what exactly we were eating!  Definitely some melon (honeydew perhaps) and yogurt, something that was similar to rice pudding, and a vegetable with a lot of curry.  They are vegetarians. We all commented that it was good....but there were some tummy rumblings later in class!

A few students are headed for Paris tomorrow for the weekend.  I'm not sure what I'll be doing but I'm sure something will come up.  Going out to dinner tonight for my birthday with my flatmates to a Thai place down the street.  There are worse places to celebrate a birthday!!  Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes.  It has been a good day!

Here are some pics from the temple. Everyone has their heads covered with scarves.

MY STUDENTS ARE THE BEST!!!

OK, let me set up this scenario.  Got in late last night...so am dragging into class a little later than my usual 8:40...slid my ID in the security slot...but the door was partially open???  I stepped into the classroom and SURPISE!!!  My students had planned and perfectly implemented a surprise birthday party for me this morning!!!! My birthday is actually tomorrow so I was completely thrown off.  They were all blowing noisemakers and yelling AARGH at the same time. (I'll explain that in a minute).  I was so surprised and pleased that they went to so much trouble just for my silly old person's birthday.  There was cake and sparkling cider (non-alcoholic for the school rule followers), flowers, fairy princess napkins and plates, a beautiful card, cheesecake for later and washcloths  (private joke: Brits don't believe in washcloths)  and pirate eye patches.  They constantly amaze me with their thoughtfulness!  I think they have been taking care of me more than I have been taking care of them!   Oh and back to the pirate accessories... apparently there was some disagreement as to what the party theme should be:  Fairy Princesses or Pirates....so they did both! AWESOME!  I love you guys!  Thank you so much!!!