St Benedict's School Visit

Today was the fourth day of our visit to the United Kingdom. We had breakfast at the travel lodge and proceeded on to St. Benedict's Catholic High in Stratford for our school exchange. The excitement was tangible in the bus and everyone was looking forward to meeting the students. As we turned into the school's car park, we were briefed by Miss Edwards on how we should conduct ourselves. After many minutes of waiting, we finally entered the school building.

Upon entering, we were greeted by a group of students with faces lit up with wide grins. It was a welcoming sight and we immediately felt at home! We "buddy-ed up" and the students then brought us on a tour of the school compounds. When we had first arrived, the school seemed small because we only saw the front building. This viewed changed dramatically after we were brought on the tour as we realised their school was much bigger than we had first thought. Because of the vast land space that they have, their school is built over a large area of land, unlike our school in Singapore which is built on a small area of land due to land constraints. Thus, their classrooms, laboratories and halls were all on ground level.

After our tour, we split up and followed our individual hosts to attend their lessons. Their lessons are each an hour long, with five lessons and two breaks in each day. School dismisses at twenty past three and they do not have after-school activities like we do. The lessons we attended today were ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and Biology. Laptops with headphones and microphones were used in their ICT lesson and they used programs such as Audacity to record audio clips. The students were efficient and they completed their task by the end of the period. They worked well with each other and did not get distracted even with the computer in hand. This is something I feel that we really can learn from. Later, after a twenty minute break, we proceeded for our Biology lesson. As the teacher went through their science paper, all the students, ALL, paid close attention and asked sensible questions throughout the one hour. They were very attentive and we could really tell that they took their studies very seriously. This is another aspect in which the students in St. Benedict's High take the cake. Their lesson was carried out with minimal noise and fooling-around. All in all, they were very good students.


The bell rang at 12.20pm, signaling the time for break. This was our last hour with them and we really cherished it. Our hosts brought us to explore their school field, which was massive, and we took a final group photo before saying our good-byes. Hugging farewell, all of us yearned to stay for awhile longer. However, we left with smiling faces and the good memories, coupled with the new friends we made, it is an experience that we would definitely not forget.

It was a very pleasant experience and we would all like to thank St Benedict's Catholic High for their hospitality!

Day 4: Stratford Upon Avon

This is Day 4, and our next stop is Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's Birthplace. When we stepped into the street, we were immediately transported to another retro world adorned with very very unique stores we hardly see in Singapore. There were cute cafes with petite chairs outside and chalkboards depicting their menus. There is also a Shakespeare Gift shop, selling many Shakespeare goodies, and we could not wait to get hands on them! For example, Shakespearean insults and quotations printed on badges and stationery. Imagine our friend's faces when we used these quotations to insult them! :D Even though they were expensive, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We attended a workshop that enriched our knowledge on The Bard, Shakespeare. It was interesting to know more about him including this facts:
1. He got married to his wife, Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 because he got her pregnant. Guess Shakespeare was naughty despite his intellectual impression!
2. He wrote a sonnet to make her fall in love with him. So sweet right:)
3. He probably died because of common diseases e.g typhoid fever. ugh ><
4.He died on the same day he was born 23 April, though a different year. Isn't that cool in a weird way?!

So after those details on the Bard's life, we went to tour around the well-preserved Shakespeare museum that was supposed to be his birthplace. It seemed to primitive to us, as we were used to advanced technology. We then proceeded to the garden. It was a sweet place with a huge assortment of flowers, roses especially. We were envious of him and his family that they managed to own such a luxurious garden! We took many photos as memories to bring back to share with our loved ones.

In the garden, there was a small tree residing in a circle in a small part of the garden where there were 2 actresses dressed in Victorian dresses performing snippets of different scenes of plays by Shakespeare including scenes from Julius Caesar, Macbeth and a few sonnets. We were definitely impressed by the acts as it seemed amazing to us that they could actually memorised so many scenes and sonnets! :D

We ended the day with a fulfilling dinner at Edward Moon where the waiter is extremely friendly and welcoming. Some of them entertained us with local ghost stories that chilled us to the bone. We then retreated back to the hotel Travelodge for a good night's rest.

Day 3: Haworth

Raindrops fell from the gloomy, grey sky one by one, greeting our sleepy selves as we began our third day in the United Kingdom. The temperature was a freezing nine degrees celsius, forcing layers of clothing upon us. It was extremely chilly and windy.

We headed off to the nearby MacDonald's for our breakfast and began our one hour bus ride to Haworth after breakfast. The rain got slightly heavier during the bus ride, causing the temperature to further drop. Thankfully, the weather let up as we approached Haworth.

We arrived in a town with cobbled-stone paths- Haworth. The greyness of the ground blended with the grey sky, giving off a cold feeling. However, our spirits were not dampened at all by the gloominess of things. We headed off to attend a lecture about the world famous writers who were from Haworth- the Bronte sisters. The history of the Bronte family was revealed during the session. The father of the Bronte sisters, Patrick Bronte had six children, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily Jane and lastly, Anne. His wife had passed away when the children were still young. All of his children with the exception of Branwell and Charlotte, had all passed away due to the vicious disease, tuberculosis. The well-known Bronte sisters consisted of Charlotte, Emily and Anne. The three of them wrote remarkable novels during their teenage years, a great feat according to their age and capability. Charlotte wrote the ever romantic novel, Jane Eyre. Emily wrote the well-known story, Wuthering Heights. And lastly, Anne wrote Agnes Grey. They had written other books during their time but these books listed were the prime novels known throughout the world and there probably would have more books written by them had they not passed away at a tender age.

After gaining more insights of the Bronte family and how their lives used to be, we visited the Bronte Parsonage Museum. There, we saw the preserved home of the Bronte family. There was the living room, the dining room, Patrick's studies etc. The home of the Bronte's simply the stereotypical 1800's home with the exception of a rather tragic history. One has to be there to fully grasp the feeling and atmosphere of what the Bronte's family home gives off.

After touring the Bronte Parsonage Museum, we had our lunch at a nearby restaurant. Our lunch was the long-awaited dish...... FISH & CHIPS. The dish did indeed live up to our expectations. A typical British lunch. After our sumptuous lunch, we headed off to explore the rest of the town of Haworth. There were dozens of quaint little shophouses located along the roads of the town. The appearances of the shophouses are a far cry from what we would normally see in Singapore. These shops sell many many different types of items ranging from hot chocolate, to old-fashioned candies, to old musical records. There was much to see within a fairly limited time. One great difference that we witnessed in the United Kingdom during our current stay is that there seems to all sorts of dogs everywhere and to make it sound even better, these dogs were absolutely well-trained and tamed. Not once have we seen a dog poop along the roads this magnificent country.

After a rushed shopping trip round Haworth, we headed off back to our coach to travel to Stratford-Upon-Avon. The trip was a long four hours ride. However, most of us did not sleep during the long ride. Instead, most of us spent our time talking and playing around in the bus. Our teachers' explanation to this was due to way too much sugar intake. Hence, we have been momentarily banned  from consuming sugar during this trip.

After the long long ride in the bus, we have finally arrived in Stratford-Upon-Avon. We made our way to the Blue Boar Inn for our dinner. The meals there were definitely worth our money spent. It was a good dinner.

After dinner, we proceeded to check-in to our abode for the night- Stratford-Upon-Avon Travelodge. We headed off to our respective rooms to catch up on our rest, waiting with much anticipation to create more memories in the United Kingdom the very next day. (:

Day 1 & 2: Lake District and Pendle

DAY 1: LAKE DISTRICT

After arriving at Manchester Airport, we made our way to Lake District. It was mesmerizing with big, clear blue skies and with the sunlight shining on the clear gleaming lake. It is nothing we have seen in Singapore. Inspired by the beautiful scenery, we (were forced to) write/wrote poems. It was really fun, as we could see all the ducks and swans swimming gaily past us in the pond!! Duckies! Anyway, after the short poetry session beside the lake, we boarded a cruise to go to the other side of the lake! The wind was messing with our hair but it's kinda exciting because we hardly do that in Singapore:D As we hit shore, we went for lunch! We were all ravenous and anticipating our first English food there! There were 3 kinds of meat, gammon (a.k.a ham), roast beef and turkey with all the vegetables you can eat. There's much to be jealous of because we also had free flow of ICE CREAM! :) The food was really awesome! It's was a brand new experience for many of us. (Don't be jealous!! :D)
After lunch, we headed to Rydal Mount, William Wordsworth's second residence where he stayed for the last 37 years of his life. We then took a short tour around the house, which was very charming, but also very small. In fact, if you stood in the dining room, you could hear the ceiling creak as other people walked on the second level! It's true, we heard it for ourselves! When we came out of the house, we were immediately greeted by 4 1/2 acres of land that was covered in beautiful flowers. We had a ball of a time wandering around the garden, taking pictures of the flowers and posing for the pictures! Did you know: Rydal Mount is currently owned by Wordsworth's descendants! We can't imagine staying in the house where William Wordsworth died in! It's so creepy. However, photography was not allowed because the flash from the cameras might damage the  pictures. D: Aw!
We stayed there for an hour or so before making our way back to the hostel (YHA) and getting assigned to our rooms. The room, though, had no ventilation, other than a small opening at the window. We slept with the sun up even though it was 10pm, because in summer, the sun rises really early, at about 5am, and the sun sets really late, at about 9pm. Maybe even earlier/later! But our rooms faced the lake, and we could wake up to see the lake glistening in the sunlight!


DAY 2: LAKE DISTRICT - PENDLE

Many of us woke up earlier to sit beside the lake and feel the cool breeze against our face, which was really fun. The swans from the other side of the lake swam towards us, too! After breakfast, we made our way to Dove Cottage, William Wordsworth's first residence, where we learnt a few interesting things, such as:
1) At one point, there were 14 people staying in the cramp house. We couldn't imagine such a predicament!
2) William Wordsworth's friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge "fancied" William's sister-in-law, Sara Hutchinson, who stayed with them in Dove Cottage, even though he was married with children! He tried to woo her, but Sara rejected him, causing him to fall into depression and resulted him to write a poem called Dejection
3) The childrens' room was covered in newspaper! Guess why? That's because they had rafters for a ceiling and a stream directly below them, so it was really cold and so they covered the room in newspaper in hopes that it would keep the heat in.
After Dove Cottage, we took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Pendle. Along the way, some of us started counting sheep. By the end of the 2 1/2 hours, we managed to count 634 sheep on one side of the bus! We're pretty sure we won't be seeing sheep appearing on the World Wildlife Fund's list of endangered animals anytime soon!
We drove to Pendle Hill where we met this most amazing guide, Simon Entwistle. He had the most fantastic voice and we were immediately attracted to his warm personality. He looked like a person who had walked out of Sherlock Holmes' stories! He led us through a semi-scary trail through Pendle Hill and Clithroe. We're sure you would want to listen to those entrancing and hair-raising stories! Our guide had a flair in storytelling as we were listening attentively to his stories! The Pendle Hill story brought us memories of The Crucible as there were many similarities of the 2 stories:) We dined at Swan and Royal, where Simon told us a chilling story where a heartbroken woman ended her life after which many strange occurrences happened, including taps and lights turning on and off. Also, a crying baby, where no one could trace the sound from, except until workers uncovered the skeleton of a foetus wrapped in newspaper in the attic of the Swan and Royal Hotel! imagine our paranoia when we were eating there! We parted with our awesome guide unwillingly. Many of us were definitely sad to see him go!
Finally, after a long day, we checked into Burnley Travelodge and settled down for a well-deserved rest.

Hello!

Hey everyone! Vanessa here. Some of you may realise that we've changed the blog from Tumblr to Blogger. That's because I have no idea how to use Tumblr. Haha. Okay, so I've added everyone to the blog, let me know if you have yet to recieve that email notification. :) Oh yes, please do a pre-trip reflection! Thank you!

Are we packing yet?

Hi everyone, our blog is up and running!!! Thanks to Vanessa and her team of IT savvy peeps :)

I am going to post the very first blog!!! YAY... So I am semi-packed and working my way to completion soon... I hope!!! I take it you guys are busy packing too.

Now your first task before we embark on our ever-so-exciting trip will be to log into this blog and update me on your packing status. So that I can check if everyone is on board!

Till then happy packing troopers....


Miss Edward Veronica Elias