Brighton and more :)

This week was the first FULL week of my student teaching! Woo-hoo! No snow interruptions, crazy fluke accidents, or anything. That being said, this week was crazy! I am exhausted every day I come home at 5:30, and all I can think about is heading to bed!

On Thursday, I got to shadow a particular student around for a day, to observe him with other teachers as well as watch how other teacher manage their classrooms. Joshua is a cute little kid in Year 7, and observing him was  really interesting. I got to see spanish, math, art, chemistry, health, french (yes, all students take 2 foreign languages!) and geography. The most special time of the day however was when Josh said he likes to practice piano during the first break of school. I said I would come watch, thinking I would hear some cute piano playing. Turns out, Josh has been playing piano since he was 5, and the school thinks he will be professional piano player in the near future. Josh played The Prelude by Bach for me, as well as playing his favorite style of piano music: Blues. He was breathtaking and I couldn't stop watching him play. This 11-year old boy has more talent in him than I have ever since in a person, it was beautiful to watch. Josh is a kind boy, and it was amazing to see a glimpse of his daily life.

Friday was also a great day. After school, I caught a train to Heathers (the girl who lives about 2 towns away who is also student teaching) house where she kindly invited me to spend the night. We ate a glorious "American" meal including of chicago pizza, real chips (doritos) and PEPSI (I haven't been able to find pepsi so I was more than excited that she found it!) It was awesome! Don't get me wrong, some of their food is amazing, such as the French Bread, Fries (chips) and soup, but the British do eat a little odd. They put baked beans on everything, and I really mean everything. If you order a baked potato, you have to say no baked beans, or else it comes all over the potatoes. For breakfast: eggs, sausage, and baked beans... It's weird... Anyways, we had a great night, and I was really happy to get a normal day with a friend.

Saturday we headed out in the butt crack of dawn for Brighton. Brighton is located on the bottom tip of England, the closest you can get to France. It is a beach resort, facing the English Channel which goes out to the Atlantic Ocean (yes guys, one of the other Oceans!) We arrived in Brighton, and without much direction headed towards the water! We ran into St. Nicholas Church, the oldest building in Brighton, serving them for over 9 centuries. Here it is:

In England, it is very common for priests to be buried alongside their church, so there are several gravestones all along the churches. We were able to sneak a look inside as well!

It was so pretty inside. This piece in the middle is the oldest object in Brighton, having served some of the Roman Baths that are located further North.

We kept walking, and ran into another beautiful church called St. Paul's church, but it wasn't open.

I was still pretty excited to see it though :)

We kept walking, until finally we came across the beach! These pictures really don't do the justice this town deserves, it was so beautiful!

My first sight of the English Channel!

We decided to walk out onto the beach! It wasn't sand, but the stones were still lovely. The weather was great too, not too cold!

Side Note: I had to carry this backpack around all day, because I stayed at Heathers but was heading home after Brighton. You all would be impressed, we tackled miles of walking on stones, up hills, and everything in between! My legs are also impressed this morning, and laughing as I cringe every time I walk. Looks like someone is getting into shape this trip!

How awesome is this?!?

So Pretty. I was telling Heather is reminded me of The Truman Show, because the water and sky just melted into each other and it looked like a painting!

So then, Heather and I wanted to touch the water to remember the moment. Heather successfully touched it, and as I was stepping towards the water, a huge wave came and :

Well, this happened :)

A great pier Heather and I walked out on. It was full of games, food, and birds.

After the beach, we settled down for an amazing meal! I got a BLT with chips. I found out that the bacon was ham, but it was still delicious! We then went to the main attraction in Brighton, the Royal Pavilion. George the IV, who was the Prince of Wales, moved to Brighton around 1785. Queen Victoria sold the pavilion to the town of Brighton in 1850. The Prince wanted a Oriental themed palace, and spent many years building it.

Here is George!

And here is his palace!

The builder, John Nash, adopted the Hindu style of architecture.

It was very elegant, and very different from the other buildings we have been seeing lately.

Along with the Royal Pavilion, Heather and I saw out first mall (they seem to call shopping centres 'arcades' here)! It even had an H&M! We went into some local shops, and found some great deals on dresses. I found my favorite shop in Brighton:

The HA! HA! Bar and Kitchen. How can you say that without laughing?

Overall, it was an amazing day! Brighton is small and cozy, and I felt extremely at home there. It may be on the top of my list for favorite towns in England!!

Hello from Brighton, and the English Channel!

(Maybe if you squint, you can see France?!)