Friday!

It has been a busy week.  I adore teaching but it is hard work and keeps me busy.  I have been staying late at school to get my lesson plans done and prepare for the next day.  The space at work is better than the space at home.   I also focus better at school.  

Tuesday evening my house group had dinner and drinks at the Head of House's house.  It was really quite nice.  A long way away from home though.... about an hour.  Thus it was a late night.  I am really appreciating TGIF so I can catch up on some sleep.

I'm not sure what tomorrow's adventure will be.  It will depend on the weather.  It has rained all day today.

Have a great Friday and enjoy your Labour Day weekend.  No holiday for me.

Chris

Last Sunday I went to FIKA (yes I know a Swedish word) which is coffee and pastries.  I met my friend at the Liljohmen station and we walk to Grondal.  We went to a lovely bakery and sat outside to enjoy our treats and talk.  They were exquisite.   Then we walked around a small inland lake and back to the station.  It was a great outing.  I didn't take any pictures but will have to the next time.

Saturday’s Adventure

My quest for today:  walk a minimum of 10,000 steps and find some work clothes.  

So I headed to Stockholm City.  This is the 4^th time I have gotten off a train at T-Centralen (Stockholm city) and the forth different exit I have used.

You see, all three subways and a train all stop at T-Centralen, but at varying different levels.  Today I somehow ended up walking up through the various different trains and finding art.

The Stockholm subway system is known as the largest art gallery in the world since many of their subway stations have works of art on the walls and/or ceiling.  The only one I had seen before today was a series of the same picture painted 6 or 8 times down the wall.  The only difference in the pictures represented the amount of sunlight.  The first was dawn and the last was dusk with the day throughout the middle.  It was really kind of cool. 

Today I found more on my adventure.

This one made you feel like you were in the mine that was painted.  The lighting was dimmed and the walls were rough and pointy like in a mine. I thought it was very cool and was impressed.

 This one was done in small tiles and I enjoyed it with all its geometrical patters

These were on the other side of the same station. Not a fan.  

And yes I know I look like a geeky tourist taking pictures of subway walls.  But I don't care.  I find it fascinating.  Mind you I saw some while I was on a train today and I am not sure how anyone could call it art.  I didn't get a picture of it.  Maybe next time.

Well back to my quest.  I walked all over Stockholm city and went into over 7,000 steps of stores and all I found was a pair of black pants.  Which by the way were on sale for a steal…..75% off.  There are escalator entrances to many store which go either up to the second floor or down to the lower level.  ESPRIT has three elevator up.  I guess that is how you cram more stores into a small space.  All I can say is I’m glad I don’t have young children anymore. Every time Lucas saw an escalator he wanted to ride it…and later run up the wrong way.  

So back to the Subway I went and actually didn’t have to ask anyone for directions.  And I hopped onto a train that was a flashback to the 1980’s. A real antique will brown seats and speckled walls and limited grabbing on places.  The new trains have blue seats, no speckles and lots of things to hold onto.

Yes of course I took a picture.

I got off at Gammla Stan and wandered around there looking for work cloths but there were none to be found.  5,000 steps later I went home.  Where I now sit telling you my story.

Steps are currently 14,388.

I hope all of you have a terrific Saturday.

The Royal Palace in Stockholm

The Royal Palace is located in Gammla Stan and was built between 1697 and 1754, on the same spot where the medieval castle Tre Kronor was built. The Tre Kronor castle burned down in May 1697 but they quickly built a new castle. The Royal Palace has more than 600 rooms and counts 7 floors. It is one of the largest palaces in Europe and is larger than Buckingham Palace in England. The Royal Palace is the official residence of His Majesty the King of Sweden.

 

I went with a group of friends of a lovely summer Saturday.  It is absolutely gorgeous with high painted ceilings and perfectly resorted antique armors, desks and other furniture.  The plaster work and sculptures are amazing.  There are large tapestries rugs hanging in many of the rooms that also have been restored and are absolutely beautiful.

This is the entryway into the palace with the guard standing duty.

  

Here are a few pictures from the day.  This is the Royal Chapel.

 The ceiling in the Chapel

The pipe organ is beautiful

Entering the palace now, here is a throne.

Theses are examples of the clothing worn in the day.

    

I particularly liked this Armour with all the intricate detail.  There were many others in the palace.

This is the palace courtyard.

We were late for the changing of the guard and it was very crowded so we didn't see much of it but this is the procession out of the yard after the guards had changed.  There was a huge military presence for it, making sure everyone was contained where they out to be.  I hope to go another day when I can see it all.  

Guards and military on crowd control

  

Well that is my day at the palace.  Hope you enjoyed it....I did.

Picture Day

Picture Day

Today was so exciting……. It was Picture Day!  My first picture with my class.  I can hardly wait to see the pictures.  I am sure all the students will look adorable.

It was also Friday of the first full week of classes and I am still smiling.  And I got off at 2:30 pm.  I usually work until 4:00-4:30 but Thursday I get off at 1:30 pm and Fridays 2:30.  Hello WEEKEND!  Tomorrow I am going wandering, possibly with a friend and Sunday I am having Fika (coffee) with a different friend. 

The Amazing Race 2.0

The Amazing Race 2.0

We have Houses at the school and all staff is assigned evenly to the various houses.  My House is Myrdal and its colour is red.  It is named after Alva Myrdal who was a diplomat, former cabinet minister and a writer.  She won the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on promoting peace and reducing the use of violence in her book  Disarmament, Technology and the Growth in Violence.

So the staff had to do a scavenger hunt around Arsta.  Using the clues we had to find various locations and then take a picture of the team at them.  It was a lot of fun.  As a reward for our hard work we then went on a lunch boat cruise from Arsta to Stockholm City. 

Here is our boat and the staff standing around on the peer.  The locals like to decorate the peer with beer caps covering the bolts.

This is the royal residence where the King and Queen live when not at the palace it is called Drottningholm Palace. 

Here are some random scenery shots from the boat.

 Here is an amusement park.

The best part of the cruise was learning that out team had won the amazing race.  The prize was a lovely cup, bragging rights of course and a bottle of champagne.

It was a great day and then we went out for drinks afterwards.

My New School

Internationella Engelska Skolan Arsta which means International English School in Arsta (the part of Stockholm it is in) 

 This is the frount entrance.  

And below is the street view of the building.

  

You cans see the apartments which they have built over the school.  I wonder if the people in them are bothered by all the noise the students make on the play ground?

The play ground is smallish but well designed with a forested area behind it which the students can wander through.  There is a small fenced in soccer pitch and also a basketball court.  They remind me of dog runs with the high fences running around them.

 The raised are behind the swing, under the roof has a large turf area for them to play on and houses a Foosball table

The school itself is three stories and lovely inside.  All shiny and new since this is only the second school year.  My classes are on the third floor, the staff room is on the middle floor and the lunchroom is on the bottom floor..... so I am getting lots of steps each day.

They serve breakfast and lunch each day.  This is very good on the food budget.  The food is usually pretty good.  There is salad bar and then a meat dish, a fish dish and a vegetarian dish to choose from each day.  I frequently take the fish.  There is also plenty of breads, fresh fruit and beverages.  Often I take my fruit to my work area to eat mid afternoon.

What amazed me though is that with all of Sweden’s superior technology, they don’t have smart boards.  They do however have projectors in each room to cast from. And they do give all their staff a chrome book and a cell phone.  We are using G-Suite (google docs, slides etc., google drive, google classroom etc.  All of which was new to me, but I am catching on quickly and getting things done.  Staff is required to carry their phone at all times since information is posted on it.  They rarely use the PA system.... no morning announcements....everything is electronic.

The first two weeks was training which ended in the Amazing Race 2.0 (which I will tell you about in another post) followed by the students arriving August 15^th.    

I have a grade 4 home room which I co-mentor with another teacher who speaks Swedish.  About ½ to 1/3 of the grade 4’s don’t speak English… yet.  We are actually only with the mentor students two mornings per week for about 30 minutes.  

I also teach two grade 4 and two grade 5 classes math.  By myself…with no Swedish.  However I always have eager beaver who will happily help me translate to Swedish so all can learn.  Everything is going well.  The students are great for the most part.   I am loving teaching …… finally.   Some days I have to pinch myself to make sure I am awake.    

Gamla Stan

This is my gateway to adventure:

Gamla Stan

So the first touristy thing I did was go to Gamla Stan which is old town Stockholm.  It dates back to the 13^th century  and consists of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets and archaic architecture.   The architecture is exquisite.

 

Stortorget is the name of the scenic large square in the centre of Gamla Stan, which is surrounded by old merchants' houses including the Stockholm Stock Exchange Building. The square was the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath, where Swedish noblemen were massacred by the Danish King Christian II in November, 1520. The following revolt and civil war led to the dissolution of the Kalmar Union and the subsequent election of King Gustav I.

 

As well as being home to the Stockholm Cathedral, the Nobel Museum, and the Riddarholm church, Gamla stan also boasts Kungliga slottet, Sweden's baroque Royal Palace, built in the 18th century after the previous palace Tre Kronor burned down. The House of Nobility(Riddarhuset) is on the north-western corner of Gamla stan.

Well enough history… it is a lovely place to wander through the crowded streets, listen to street musicians, sit on a patio or find tourist souvenirs to take home.  If you want a bit of quiet you can wander down to the water.  There is a ferry boat to take you to other islands which is actually part of the transit system.  I will have to ride it one day. 

I toured the Riddarholm church, which is absolutely beautiful from the outside, thinking it was a church, - history was not one of my best subjects – but it is the burial church of the Swedish monarchs.  Although it wasn’t what I expected, it was very interesting and a true history lesson.

But the best part of Gamla stan was the lemon ice cream.  It was just the right amount of sweet and sour and very refreshing on a very hot day.

See you soon.

Chris