The Sun Sets on the British Blog

I'm out of England and in the States for the summer. Although I'll be returning to London for a few more months in September, I'm shutting down the blog. Maybe another blog will surface, but I've said just about all I can about teaching in England. It was an interesting experiment and I enjoyed putting up all the pictures. Thank you for the great comments.

Canada Day in London

Yes, every year Trafalgar Square in central London is home to a crowd of Canadians (and curious onlookers) having a great time.



Not all that dissimilar from an Ottawa Canada Day, people dress up in red and white, bring a few drinks and balloons, and enjoy the sun.



As London is currently going through a heatwave, this gentleman's patriotism was particularly notable. Temperatures got to a little over 30C -- not the best weather for a long-sleeved shirt.




Of course it wouldn't be Canada Day without, er, curly fries...



...or encouraging sandwiches...



...and meat products that most Canadians have never tried.



But the greatest fun was watching the ball hockey tournament put on by Canadian banks and businesses. Watery-beer magnate John Sleeman dropped the "puck" for a game of ex-NHLers vs Canadian comics.

Hampstead Heath

The other Saturday the airplanes were busy playing tic tac toe in the sky and I headed over to Hampstead Heath -- a 7-minute walk from my flat.



"The Heath" is 790 acres of forests, ponds and playgrounds. It was set aside as a park somewhere around 986 AD. It's a popular spot for picnics, jogging, reading, suntanning, and basically any outdoor activity. I've even seen people practicing with a bo staff.



There are huge trees around and, occasionally, people meditating under them.



I heard a father tell his 3-year-old son that this tree was the "Robin Hood" tree. The opening was big enough that a child could comfortably crawl inside. Not sure about a full-grown outlaw. Also, Robin Hood wasn't around London.



One fantastic thing about the Heath is the huge open spaces. They say London is a green city and when you're in one of the city's great parks you really believe it.



There are about 25 ponds in the Heath, many with ducks. Dog-walking is a popular activity and so, of course, the dogs scramble in the water and terrify anything nearby.



Benches are strategically placed in busy and private locations.



All and all, it's a great place for a run, have a picnic, or just walk through.

Usually, It's One Class Each Day...

...then there are the days like today. Al the teachers in the school had these 45-minute-long meetings about their classes. I was shuttled around to each class as the meetings ended. The times on this piece of paper were wildly off the mark.

Since it takes time for supply teachers to build a relationship with their students -- say, 45 minutes -- days like this are difficult.

(It actually went fine. But I like the post-it note all the same.)

Camden Market

As I usually do on Saturdays I went for a walk and ended up in Camden Market, only about 30 minutes from my flat.




















This street is a short walk from the beginnings of Camden Town in North London. It's long been a popular place for artists and musicians.



The areas bordering Camden are both wealthy and, er, far from wealthy.




The area is, as Wikipedia puts it, "well-known for its markets, liberal attitude and associations with popular culture."



Camden Market is a collection of several markets. This is the Camden Lock Market, established in 1974. It sells food, clothes, jewelery, games, toys, and a lot more. There isn't very much mass-produced stuff. Many stall owners make whatever they sell.




The canal runs right to the market.



The canal goes from the market to Regent's Park and walking along it is a great way to spend an hour or so.





The food on hand is awesome. Huge bubbling plates of curries, thin-crust pizza made by Italians, Caribbean stew, Polish perogies, sushi, and more.




Camden Stables Market is attached to Camden Lock Market. Stables is a mix of indoor and outdoor stalls, with a heavy dose of Goth-subculture present throughout.




Part of the market used to be a Horse Hospital that cared for horses injured pulling canal barges.








The market's back alleys are packed with all sorts of shops.






















Now it's just a pretty good place to walk around and buy an antique piano, or ironic t-shirt.










In all Camden's market areas, the idea seems to be to keep control in the hands of the community artists/traders and away from big businesses.

The Recession Hits Everyone

Poor London policemen. First they wouldn't let them have guns. Now they took away their cars.

Stop-gap Posting

I keep on teaching and the kids keep on kid-ing. There's not much new to report. I'm thinking about just posting a lot more pictures from around London. In the spirit of that idea, I will make sure to take more pictures. Also, I'll post a few right now as a temporary measure.




Really? This was the best name they could think of for a church youth group?




The entrance to the Tate Gallery. I didn't go in, but just hung around. I was stalking the guy who drew Pink Floyd's album covers. Eventually I met and interviewed him.





My flatmate had me over to his uncle's house for lunch. A retired French special forces soldier, the man's "art" is displayed throughout the backyard.




I asked him "What's this?" He looked at me as if I was a little slow and said "It's an axe."





He also suggested I buy this house because, hey, that's what the sign suggests.

Imperial War Museum

I have a week off due to the schooling system here. To be honest, I'd rather work, but a vacation is a vacation. As I'm trying to save money I'm hitting all the free things London has to offer. One such attraction is the Imperial War Museum. In fact, most of London's museums are free. At least the best ones are. Go figure.

(please remember all pictures can be clicked on for larger versions)



It would take a better man than me to explain everything in this museum. I can say that there was a huge amount of authentic items from V2 rockets to colonial kitsch.











These guys are representations of the world's major powers in WW1.








It goes without saying (though I'll say it anyway) that everything behind these glass windows is authentic. Reminds me of a sketch show I just saw. Two Nazis are sitting around in a bunker and one says to the other:







"Fritz? You think we might be on the wrong side?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well it's our hats."
"Our hats? What about them?"
"Well, it's just that...they have skulls on them."
"Right."
"Well, aren't skulls for the bad guys?"
"Hmmmmm..."



(see, that's what I'm talking about)





A real Enigma machine. Basically, the Germans had this machine which would send and receive coded messages that seemed impossible to decipher. Eventually, through extreme effort on the part of the British, the codes were cracked and the Enigma was defeated. There's a movie about it, simply named Enigma. Also Mick Jagger is said to own one of the machines, so if you happen to see him you might be able to have a look.




OK, I really should have spent more time on this one. First of all, it's a real Molotov cocktail. But that just means a glass bottle filled with gas that's lit on fire. Why didn't this one explode? Secondly, it says that it's Finnish. What were the Fins up to? What section was this in? Bah, this shouldn't be here.







I'll just keep quiet about this one.



















As the Japanese conquered locations in WW2 they began to issue their own currency.





Old-school Mahjong pieces.





There was a small section on Indonesia's role in WW2.






There are hobbies, and then...



















This particular model was really interesting because of that thing on his chest. I'm really interested to know if anyone has any idea what it might be. Looks like a radio but I'm not sure.




















Finished up the day with a walk over the Thames and through the general Westminster area. Ended up in Chinatown/Soho and walked back home. Took about two hours but was fun to see how the city changed from busy downtown to the suburbs.

Of course, there was a pub on nearly every corner.