Lancaster, England UK

Here are a few shots of Lancaster, a beautiful and historic town in the north of England. Hilly and scenic with the Cumbrian Mountains in the background, this location is known for its rainy weather. Yet, still the locals are talking about the unusually rainy string of days we are having!

Our studies are based at Lancaster University, just a few miles outside of the heart of the town. The last photo is taken on campus in the rain.

Goodbye to Lancaster

We just finished our last day of studies here in Lancaster and here are a few images of our good-bye party.







Tomorrow we're off to London. I can hardly believe that I'll be there for my birthday on Saturday!

I have a feeling I'll be back in the states before I have a chance to open up my laptop again.
Can't wait to see you all again! Cheers!

College Life

Here are some pictures of my dorm room in Bowland Hall here at Lancaster University. It doesn't even compare to the countryside outside the room and that would be why we are spending as little time here as possible. We're also trying to do as little cooking as possible!

This one shows me standing outside our group lounge where we held our 4th of July picnic/party. The sign on the door says, "Mature Students Only" or something to that effect. Click on the picture to enlarge it. See? I guess that means I've arrived!

Off I go to Scotland for the weekend. I'll check in when I get back. Cheers!

Students At Work

This school week started straight away on a zippy note (am I sounding British yet?) with a school visit to Lancaster Girls Grammar School and seminars on campus and homework and research. Even though we're not actually attending a regular class each day, we still have much work to do of both group and individual nature.

We have thoroughly enjoyed two informative and well-presented seminars by Don Passey, a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University. One session was on the educational system and the other on information and communication technology in the United Kingdom. Even though his presentations were two and a half hours long each, we decided we could have listened to him talk just as long as he wanted to talk.

And of course we also have a new system to negotiate. Just finding our way to the meeting rooms was a challenge last week and this week we have some more refined tasks. For instance, today it took me twenty minutes to figure out how to set up a print budget at the university library so I could print out three pages!

Even though tomorrow is the 4th of July, it truly is just another Wednesday here. We are visiting Dolphinholme School in the morning and Our Lady's Catholic College in the afternoon. But then we're throwing our own Independence Day potluck! And we'll be thinking of you all as you enjoy the fireworks -- well, maybe we won't be thinking of you right then since it will be about 3 a.m. here as you enjoy the fireworks there!

A Rainy Sunday Too

We're starting to feel like locals because somehow it doesn't even matter anymore that it rains for at least part of just about every day. In fact, we expect it. We just take our umbrellas with us everyday everywhere we go. And we go a lot of places.

Ms. S uncovered a 5k Race for Life which is the UK equivalent of Race for the Cure to raise money for cancer research, a cause dear to many of our hearts. So a few of us made our way this morning to the Lancaster sports centre to participate. The truly remarkable Ms. S got herself registered (not an easy task as there were no race-day registrations) and ran her race valiantly. Others of us asked to serve as volunteers and the organizers were thrilled. And that's how I became lucky enough to hand out medals to 1,500 finishers! We got to know the race director, the volunteer coordinator, the other volunteers, and some of the runners. It was a satisfyingly wonderful experience of a very local nature and we stayed from start to finish.


And then the Irish lass and I continued with our Sunday by walking a mile or perhaps two to a seaside town called Morecambe which we'd never been to and didn't actually know how to get to but had heard was quite nice. We were feeling brave and decided to go on foot rather than on a bus or in a cab. The most challenging part was crossing the streets at the round-abouts since it was all we could do to figure out which direction the traffic would be coming from (you were so right, mcneighbor)! Of course it started raining before we got there, but the sky waited to completely open up until we arrived at the sea. Wouldn't you know that the nearest spot to duck into was a very local pub. Well hey we were hungry for chips (no, not crisps) too!

A Rainy Saturday

A rainy (not at all an unusual weather condition here and our umbrellas are getting a good workout) Saturday brought a tour of 1,000 year-old Lancaster Castle. This ancient building has served as Her Majesty's crown court and prison for 800 years. As we toured its depths and dungeons our tour guide regaled us with chilling stories that proved "how merry merry olde England wasn't."




Streets of Lancaster near the castle:

And a group photo of my "mates" as we enjoyed some glorious sunshine at a bus stop earlier this week. We are all fine yet mindful of troubling world events that have transpired over the past few days very near us in London and Glasgow.

Charming, Charming

How'd it get to be Thursday already?! We're already making plans for the weekend, which begins later tonight -- yay! But first we're whizzing off straight away to visit another university. :)

Yesterday morning we visited one of the more charming and picturesque schools I’ve ever seen. Nestled in the hilly countryside outside of Lancaster, Quernmore School is affiliated with the Church of England. With 5 teachers and fewer than 100 pupils, the pastoral setting just outside its windows enriches their topic based hands-on curriculum. Pupils in this school take field trips to locations such as the Isle of Man!

Photos

Okay here we are! Here's the Irish lass enjoying a pint with me during our first evening in Lancaster.





And to prove that we reallly are visiting schools, here we are at Moorside Primary School today.