Thompson Kids go to British Schools

September 6, 2007

The kids have now been to British schools for three days. The first day was a bit overwhelming but each day has gotten better. They were so brave marching in where they new no one and none of the system – but I was the only one who cried. I just kept reminding myself that many folks back home were praying for them and God had gone before them placing them in whatever situation they needed to be in.

The girls started their day at St. Bees first in the boarding house - Bega House – “base” for girls their age. Julieanne is at a great advantage because everyone is new in her grade so they all start out on equal footing. She’s taking Latin, French, English, Maths as they call it, art, music, religious education, chemistry, physics, biology (they separate the class into three individual classes) and PE and games. Oh and guitar lessons.

Anna Catherine is taking the basics as well English, English Lit, physics, chemistry, biology, religious education, PE, music –(which includes history, performance, technique, composition,etc.) She said her teacher for that class looks like Einstein. She’s also taking Spanish 2, US History, maths, and I can’t remember what else. Oh yes, cello lessons.

The girls have been introduced to very formal uniforms and field hockey. Many of their peers board at the school year round or just for the week. Most of the kids are from the northern part of England. There are also kids from several countries but they are certainly “rare” being Americans. Someone asked Julieanne if she knew Orlando Bloom.

Nathan’s teacher, Mrs. Agnew, was described by her principal (head master) as “exceptional”. He is at Jericho Primary School. Mrs. Agnew is about my age, very spunky, uses a Smartboard and seems genuinely interested in understanding Nathan and helping him make a good transition. He’s sticking to a few boys, one in particular named Ben. I will meet with her tomorrow to assess how the week went. We’ve been driving Na to school. 8:45-3:30 is his day. Today it was so pretty, I walked to pick him up. It took 12 minutes. All of the kids are from the neighborhood surrounding the school so parents and grandparents crowd the school yard taking while they wait for their student to be released. I just observed.

We still don’t have internet in the house- we are definitely still transitioning. The days are busy taking the kids to and from school, figuring out what to cook without recipes, daily chores and looking for items to help organize or decorate the house. Today I drove (scary thought isn’t it) to a town 12 miles away to the nursery so I could start making some nice pots and window type boxes to go on our fence. I like flowers. They are especially pretty here at the end of the summer – flower containers and baskets abound. They don’t fry like my poor plants in Augusta did.

Today when I passed a window washer I enquired about having our windows washed. (they seem especially dirty) He said he couldn’t fit me in because he cleaned 200 houses regularly. Bewildered, I asked how often people had their windows cleaned to which he replied, “every three weeks.” Appalled, I said, “are you kidding? I only wash my windows once a year back home.” Of course he was floored. Just one more thing that is “different”


We miss y’all
Julie