Batten down the hatches, Irene's headed this way!

Oh lordy, there's a hurricane heading up the coast and it is all anyone is talking about although they are a whole lot calmer than I am! Pack outdoor things away, get some water and food supplies, check your 'flash lights' work and that you have a battery powered radio and all should be fine. If it gets really bad, I have the advantage of a basement to hide in. All the same, I'd rather the hurricane miss us! I thought it was windy the other night when it was swirling round the house. Pah! No one batted an eyelid at that..EEK!

Worth another EEK! is the fact that I am now on the road, on the wrong side! It is very disconcerting but I'm managing. Driving an automatic makes it a lot easier as I don't need to do anything other than look both ways and check my speedo! Thankfully Emily, my wondeful mentor, has lent me her GPS so I don't have to worry too much about directions either.

I am already in love with my Subaru Forester, Snicker (It has SN licence plates and so should be easy to find in the 'parking lot') and cannot imagine having to ever drive a small sized car again!

Annie, the vendor and an amazingly helpful friend, has also lent me some CDs, a novelty for me as I was way too lazy to ever have a CD player installed in my Ka. These will be much needed on the 10 minute trip to the 'store' but not on the 1/2 mile commute to work...which I am going to try and walk but it is a pain when carrying 3 bags. I did this the other day and was thouroughly fed up by the time I got to the end of the street. Excuses, excuses...

Cumberland Center is a great little place, very different from what I'm used to. The houses are all really spaced out and are made of wood. They all seem to have slightly different designs but 'mine' has a front porch which is just gorgeous to sit and look out from on sunny mornings.

It is a short walk/cycle/drive to school, the high school (where the swimming pool is), Twin Brooks (recreation area where the woodland trails for running are just wonderful, especially in the early evening when the light turns the trees orange), the post office, the library, to Food Stop (the only shop in town which sells milk and junk but doesn't have one fresh green thing in sight) and, as I discovered this morning whilst on my run, a taxidermist! Otherwise I have to jump in my wagon and head to  Yarmouth, Falmouth or Portland about 10 miles or so away.

I am sharing the house with Sarah and her 5 year old daughter, Sophie, who has just moved in after a 'vacation' (she looked at me dumbstruck when I asked how her holiday was). It is great to have the company and we have shared some yummy meals together. Lots more to come I'm sure!

I met most of my class yesterday and what a group! I love the fact that they are slightly older - Grade 3 are the equivalent of year 4. There are some very enthusiastic readers who love Harry Potter. I hope they are not expecting too much of this British teacher...I wish I was Professor McGonagall! My classroom is just about ready and I can't wait to get started now although doing a 8am-6pm day on Wednesday and a get up at 6am nearly killed me. I was in bed by 10!!

This is my classroom. Very light, very warm and well resourced except for an interactive whiteboard. I've already nabbed a projector and visualiser for the classroom so at least that's something. Note the flag...children will be saying the pledge of allegiance each morning. Luckily it comes over the speaker system so its not down to me!

I got my reward for all that hard work yesterday morning though...A trip to the local (2 miles away) diner with some very friendly, welcoming neighbours. It was a real American experience as you can see from the picture and as for the granola pancakes...what can I say! I could only eat 2 of 3 and that's saying something as my stomach can expand to accommodate lots.

Visitors, be warned, this will be on your itinery!

It's great value as I had no need to eat until dinner time...

By which time, it was our 'wing' meeting at another teacher's house. My contribution was a Hella cake. Clearly a good choice as it disappeared almost as quickly as in the staffroom at Bliss!!!

I'll keep you posted on the progress of Irene. Arrrrgggghhhhhh!

CHEERS!

First things first, this blog is a call for synpathy. I went exploring on my bike today in the local area and ended up wobbling, at some speed, off the road so that my wheel caught in the dip and the bike was thrown from under me. My life flashed before my eyes...well, not quite, but I was very lucky the road was empty as I lay sprawled in a tangled heap, sunglasses metres down the road. I picked myself up and miraculousy escaped with only one graze and a hole in my sock! I do, however, have the sorest left thigh imaginable and feel sorry for myself every time I move. This may be the only time I ever appreciate having chunky thighs as clearly they saved the rest of me. To show them how grateful I was, I called in at Toots for some ice cream medicine. 

I've had another busy few days exploring New England. On Thursday, I went with Theresa (a colleague at school) and her family down to Cape Elizabeth, south of Portland to visit, and of course photograph, the most photographed light house in the world. Ta daaaa....

 

We had a stroll along the coast beofore heading to the 'Lobster shack' for my first taste of lobster in the form of a lobster roll. And what a place to eat...picnic tables overlooking the craggy coast line on a beautiful day. The only downside of the location was the presence of ginormous, hungry seagulls circling ominously overhead, waiting for people to be so distracted by the scenery that they leave their food unattended. A man on the next table fell victim to this scam and his wife, too caught up in her own food to notice at first, had to gawp as the seagull swooped down to collect an enormous mouthful of her husband's fries. Luckily for him, his lobster roll was safe! 

I can't say I was overwhelmed by the taste of lobster but it is another item tiicked off of my to-do list.

As was Friday's trip to Boston with Sarah.  Another glorious day allowed us to stroll round the city, following the Freedom trail and learning all about the revolution and the Boston Tea Party. People look slightly apologetic when talking to me about this period of history. The British don't come off too well. I wonder why we don't learn about this at school...?

We had a great talk in Fanueil Hall, a major meeting place in the 1800s for people to debate key issues of the day. It was the place where the words "Taxation without representation is tyranny" (words known by all Americans) were spoken, where sufragettes made their case and where people debated slavery.

Again, I had to be a cheesy tourist. The 'Cheers' bar called but sadly Frasier was absent from the bar. He must still be in Seattle.

We also headed over to Cambridge to see the Harvard campus. This allowed me to pay homage to that most brilliant of films, Legally Blond. Our day in Boston ended with us sheltering from a thunder storm in Cambridge library, another place that looked like a set from a film. A great day of exploring but Boston definitely requires another trip!

This is the end of my tourist capers for a while. Work really does beckon this week. I have an induction on Monday, a geeky IT session so I can learn to set up my own class website on Wednesday and then meeting my new class and their parents at 'Cubbie night'. I'm planning to start by introducing them all to the joy that is marmite!!

The world is my lobster!

Sallie has now departed and my house mate, Sarah, has moved in with her beautiful beagle Betty. We went out to a chowder house in Portland on Monday night to celebrate. Sadly, I couldn’t try the chowder as it had bacon in, although I was assured by the waiter that it was “only a little bit”. Not sure he quite grasped the concept of not eating meat!

I’ve been settling myself in to my upstairs living space, buying myself some colourful items to make the place my own and make me smile. I am also very proud of my first yard sale bargain – a lovely, white wicker mirror for a mere $5! Parents and staff ahave also been great at donating items for the year. Some fab seaside crockery and a down duvet which I'm not sure I could survive the winter without... Have you noticed how obsessed I am about the snow and ice to come? 

Currently, I’m still in semi-denial about having to teach, although had a great day in school today with my mentor Emily and the panic I've been desperately trying to ignore has subsided slightly.  

The panic is not, however, stopping me from acting the tourist...

On Friday, Sallie’s friend Lisa took me out to her family’s lake house on Little Sebago lake. I took along my swimming kit with some scepticism about the temperature of the water, however, when I tested with my toe I was pleasantly surprised. In we leapt and off we swam in warm, silky, beautiful water. No wet suit needed – Box end this was not!

Beautiful Little Sebago Lake, Maine

Proof!

Sarah, Christopher and the Lucky Catch

Yesterday, I went on another adventure, this time with Sarah, a teacher on my wing at school, and her son, Christopher. We went lobstering on the ‘Lucky Catch’. There is no escaping that Maine is the lobster state – lobsters appear everywhere…on menus, on license plates and on much tourist tat. Sarah’s husband is a proper lobsterman who works incredibly hard and puts in really long hours. In Stephen Fry’s ‘America’, he describes proper lobstering in Maine and is full of admiration for the people who do it for a living.  As you can see from the following photos, I didn’t endure much hardship today as a lobster-woman (unless you count having to wear the orange apron) but I was still put to work…


 

We had to prepare the bait for the traps first with 8 fish in each bag.

Then the traps were hauled up.

They are each left for 3 days before they are checked and reset.

If lobsters have been caught, they then have to be measured from just below the eye to the bottom of their back. Lobsters that aren’t as long as the measuring stick escape the pot and are put back. Those that measure-up go into the tank to later have their claws held together with elastic bands. These can then be sold to eventually be boiled alive…brutal stuff!

Once the lobsters have been measured, new bags of bait need to be put into the traps...

and then the traps pushed back into the sea for another 3 days. 

We also got to watch seals digesting their lunch and some were frolicking in the water (just for us, obviously!) It was a fantastic couple of hours out on the waters of Casco Bay, Portland.

I have to say that I like Portland. It’s a small city but the down town area is full of independent, individual shops and the lobster quays (and the faint whiff of fish) give the area a working feel too.

Downtown Portland

Can I come home? I've just done a temperature conversion...

People here have been chuckling about winter time in Maine since I arrived, sharing knowing looks with each other and talking about ice storms and temperatures falling below 0. Now you have to understand that 0 here means 0 degrees Farenheit which I have just converted into Celsius...MINUS EIGHTEEN!!!!!!! WHAT? I had no idea that it would be that cold. I may choose to hibernate and/or become the michelin woman unrecognisable under all of my clothes.

Now on a positive note, I was shown another running route today in a different direction. It involved a little ride across a small lake on a leaky canoe (where they ice fish in winter...a little clue about the cold) and then running back the other side. When we got back into town, we spotted 2 fawns grazing behind the church with their mother. They were beautiful.

Amazing hospitality, Incredible Percy Pigs and Hungry Mosquitoes

I have arrived in Maine and so far so good! Sallie flew back with me so we would have more time to discuss our teaching assignments and she would have more time to pack. It has been great getting to meet all her friends and famiy. They have given me a brilliant start to my year in Maine.
Saturday morning saw me ticking off item 1 on my to do list...proper American pancakes with maple syrup! Yum, yum, yum.

Breakfast with Sallie's family. Blueberry pancakes and Maine's very own maple syrup.

We then went to the beach for the afternoon and, when taking an evening stroll in the waves, stumbled upon an illumination evening in Orchard Park. Members of the community were lighting candles on the beach with a prayer for peace. It looked beautiful...what a moment to not have the camera on me. The town's people were all out and about and had lights all over their houses and in their front 'yards' (check out my American lingo). There were even bagpipers parading the main street! As well as all this, there was an AMAZING ice cream shop open for business. For those of you who share my ice cream obsession, I had 'moose tracks', a delicious combination of vanilla, fudge swirls and peanut butter cups!! Yum Yum Yum again!!

There's also this amazing ice cream shop close by called 'Toots' where I have also been a customer.

Luckily for my waist line, it closes in the winter and I have been shown the best place to run in town by Sallie's son Andrew. There are some fantastic cross country trails through the woods and around football fields. A slight reminder of my beloved Abington Park.

On Sunday I felt a little homesick - thank goodness for bringing a bag of Percy Pigs with me and being able to listen to the Archers omnibus...sad I know. A world away from the looting. If Anbridge comes under attack, I'll know the world has gone completely and utterly crazy. I soon snapped out of it though as I had a party to go to. I met lots of Sallie's friends in the local community (who had all arranged play dates with me) and teachers from school. They have told me to think of my wing in the building as Bliss - this should help to make it feel less huge. Another fantastic welcome!

I have visited my new classroom and think I'm going to like it there even without an interactive whiteboard! Heaps to learn and get my head round before school starts. I'm currently in denial as I'm enjoying being a tourist too much. I was taken to see "Edward Hopper's Maine" at Bowdoin college in Brunswick. He spent some time painting in Maine during WWI and did some incredible landscapes in oils and watercolours. Here is one of my favourites...



The Dories, Oguquit

I've also been trying to get to grips with car buying over here. I have found it hilarious as my idea of a small car does not match up with an American view of a small car. Ford Kas just don't exist out here. I think i've got something sorted so will post a picture of me with my monster machine. Test driving on the other side of the road has been fun - a white knuckle ride for those willing to jump into the passenger seat. I only forgot to look the other way when turning left once, forgetting about the need to cross a lane of traffic first. Whoopsy daisy! Luckily there was nothing coming...

Whilst I did survive the driving, I have been eaten alive by mosquitoes. A note for anyone coming to visit, bring the repellent. I honestly have about 40 bites on my ankles, legs, back, arms and even on places it would be undignified to mention. Banish them to room 101 please!

xxx

The beginning of my Fulbright 'journey'

I feel like a contestant on Strictly as only there have I heard the word 'journey' mentioned more than here today! My 'journey' in the literal sense was a long one. Delays at Heathrow, lightning storms meant a detour into Dulles (they also meant turbulence which had me squeaking and trying not to grab the person next to me so nervous fliers would have been opting for the parachute option!) and then resulted in us sitting on the tarmac for ages once we'd landed. Then we had a British style transport mishap in that the train to the baggage terminal broke down (the first time in 20 years apparently) but hey, every cloud has a silver lining - the queues at immigration weren't too long! We eventually made it to the hotel (on American school bus style buses but sadly black not yellow) at midnight and then had to decide which bed to sleep in - an amazing room with 2 double beds. Perhaps I'll try the other one tonight.

This morning I went down to breakfast feeling nervous and that quickly disappeared as Sallie leapt up to greet me. I don't think we stopped talking for 12 hours. It has been great! It's just sad that she will be going to Bliss and won't be staying with me!


After some funny discussions about cultures this morning, we were taken on a bus tour of Washington. It was fab but I now need to be really geeky and swot up on the American presisents and the political system. I have no idea! First stop was 'the hill' with the house of representatives and the senate. I'm still not clear on the difference - can anyone give me an idiot's guide? Then on to the war memorials. The Korean memorial is speactacularly moving - 18 life size statues of soldiers in the field looking completely worn out. So too is the Vietnam memorial. It is covered in names but people also visit and leave items related to the dead under their names such as dog tags, letters, army boots and even wedding rings and ashes. Last stop was the White House but sadly Obama didn't come out and invite me in for tea. Maybe tomorrow...

The Korean conflict memorial

The Vietnam memorial - Designed so you can see yourself alongside those who sacrificed their lives. There are 59,000 names on the wall.

The White House!!!!