Seeking Free Legal Advice about UK Visas

Today, we waited at a drop-in session for free legal advice about Darrick's visa. We were directed there by the Citizens Advice Bureau the day before. We walked two miles through the 'East LA of Leeds' to an unassuming brick building across from the Grill Inn and the Salon Fryjerski. We waited fourth in line behind individuals and groups of asylum seekers and immigrants facing deportation. We waited and waited, sweating together with 12 other uneasy people squeezed together in a room the size of a closet with windows stubbornly painted shut. We listened to a woman continuously answering the phone - asking for interpretors, sharing pieces of stories we all wondered if we should be hearing. At least three distinct languages were spoken closely within the confines of our jam packed limbo. Our worries about Darrick getting deported three weeks before planned seemed trivial as we were surrounding by the mounting tension and stifling heat of the waiting room. Everyone kept their eyes focused on their phones or their hands crossed in their laps as they waited for their names to be called...once in a while, we shuffled around the limited space to allow room for yet another person awaiting free legal advice... the movement helped keep the ants from climbing inside our shoes. I doubt I will ever see any of those people again, but I hope they all got what they needed - especially the man with the walker and the saddest eyes I have ever met with a passing glance.

We were given no concrete advice or words of encouragement before we left, but the level of worry wrinkled into each person's brow in that waiting room sent us off with a new perspective on our own minor visa problem.

Working, Traveling and Stumbling Upon Castles

I haven’t written in a while…. mostly, because I scheduled the end of three projects at three different schools around the same time, so I was working on three exhibitions in three different cities for the same week. Note to self: Never do that again ;-) Definitely living and learning over here in Leeds. I have two more Exhibitions to go in the next few weeks (which is much better than three at once).

Darrick and I just got back from the most amazing exploration of Scotland this past weekend. Scotland is breath-taking at every turn. The landscape is striking and varied, and so are the people. We began our adventures in Glasgow straight up from a Newcastle work trip. While in the Newcastle area, we stayed in Cramlington (a small, secluded town known for a sculpture of a woman in farmland). We heard about a Glaswegian biting off a man’s ear in Newcastle when we were exploring downtown, and we began to question our next move up to Glasgow. But we went for it!

We weren’t in Glasgow long, and we had a strange experience of the city. First of all, we stayed in a cheap hotel across the street from a strip club, which kind of set the tone for the visit. We saw a man collapsed on the street and loaded into an ambulance, and we turned the corner to avoid getting in the way, only to see a crowd gathered around a car with police officers. We were pretty relieved to get on a train to Oban the next day, and we felt better and better about the journey as we basically kept our eyes and camera glued to the train windows for three hours. The highlands of Scotland after heavy snow are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. On the news, we’ve heard about them because of the deadly avalanches that have been crushing hikers, but from the train, they looked so majestic and peaceful. Our train journey ended at Oban, a coastal town known as the gateway to the Scottish Isles. We went on a walk in the evening and discovered a castle at sunset, and the whole time we were there was pretty much like that. There was beauty and surprises everywhere.

At one point, I was speed-walking to the boat docks in the morning (mainly because it was below freezing, and it’s hard for me not to walk fast or run everywhere at these temperatures). A man waiting to pick someone up in a taxi said out his window laughing, “Wuh meen eh nuh miss he un.” He laughed and said it again and again when I smiled back with a confused look. I finally deciphered what he said to be “woman on a mission” when I made my way to pick up boat tickets to explore the Scottish Isles that day (cheaper to hop on a boat than taking a bus in Scotland.. pretty rad). I tried to walk more slowly back to our hotel to relax and take life a little more slowly (as slow as possible while rubbing my hands together to keep warm).  This year and this job are an interesting combination of a crazy-busy schedule mixed in with fun, care-free traveling adventures.  Sometimes, I forget to switch gears. One day, I was meeting a new group of school leaders and teachers and leading a critique session in front of a group of 11^th graders I just met, a professor of education, a principal and a group of teachers…. and the next day, I was hanging over the side of a boat taking pictures of a lighthouse on an island off of Scotland. Both days were so very outside of my comfort zone… but I didn’t start panicking while presenting in front of a big group that I didn’t know and I didn’t get seasick.  I hope I’m getting braver and stronger, although I’m still a nervous Nelly and apparently a “woman on a mission” even when I’m on vacation. It’s definitely getting brighter here, now that the time has changed. It’s no longer pitch black when I get home after work, and that makes my heart smile.

Our last stop before catching our train back to Leeds was stopping off at Balloch (outside of Glasgow) for Easter night. Again, we stumbled on another surprise castle while out on a walk (so awesome!). We stayed in a really friendly family’s home/ bed&breakfast and then caught a train “home” to Leeds, the next morning. It’s crazy that Leeds is “home” now, for another four months. I think the longer light shining on each day will make this whole experience feel lighter from now on… and apparently, next week, we may get to lows above freezing… wahoo!

P.S- British television is AMAZING! The weather is really, genuinely interesting every day (unlike San Diego, whose weather I sincerely miss) – Carol is my favorite weather lady by far on BBC breakfast. I enjoy our time together before I head to work and she really seems to take responsibility and apologize profusely for bad weather. You can watch an Agatha Christie mystery, at least three shows about British history, an episode of The Big Bang Theory/ How I Met Your Mother/ Top Gear/ Myth Busters at any given time on any day. Tonight, we watched Hagrid driving on B-roads (not the main A highways here) and talking about harvesting asparagus, watching stunt women on airplanes, visiting a Frisbee golf course, checking out the Cambridge tiddely-winks society (seriously), etc…. so great!

The Beauty of Yorkshire

Click here if you would like to see a Yorkshire Hikes slideshow.

I have fallen in love with Yorkshire (don't get me wrong.. I still can't wait to come back to San Diego), but I have been convinced that Yorkshire is the heart and soul of England. I know that many people feel that way about London, but not if you're living in the North. The past two weekends, Darrick and I have explored the countryside and heard many of the stories that go along with every dale, moor, castle, abbey and pub we have gotten to see. I'm starting to think that in order to live in Yorkshire, you must be an amazing story-teller, because everyone I've met in this area seems to have that gift. 

Last weekend, Darrick and I got to stay with Ali's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Kevin at their home in Blacktoft, a few miles from Goole. There is a bus to Gilberdyke, the next town over, but it only runs twice a week. There's a single pub in the town, which is the only business in the area. Sitting by their fireplace hearing stories made me feel like I had been transported into another world. More stories were served up with their homemade, delicious Indian food and with a Yorkshire breakfast, the next morning. This was after a day out to Whitby with Clare and David Price to climb the stairs on the rugged coastline where Dracula was set... a few miles away from where we had fish and chips at Robin Hood's Bay. I don't know how Darrick and I got so lucky to be taken in by such wonderful people while in Yorkshire. The contrast of the carefree weekends with the crazy heaps of work and long commutes of the week are a bit jarring (on Mondays), but also really refreshing (on Saturday and Sunday).

This weekend, Chris came to visit Leeds and we had two full days of sun along with two full days of hiking in the Yorkshire moors in Ilkley and the dales in Malham. That still expanse of nature seemed so far away this morning as I was sprinting from one train station to a bus station, trying to make my connection to Goole after a landslide knocked out part of the track for at least eight weeks in Doncaster. A journey that was already over an hour has gotten much longer and more complicated on Mondays, but I can't feel stressed out about anything when I'm looking at pictures of hiking through Yorkshire. I can't wait to go back! As I'm planning and teaching a project about SuperHeroes in Bradford, a project about transforming the Goole Docks that kicks off next Tuesday with a fieldtrip, designing signs for a new school in Atherton with 6th graders and helping to change the structure of year 7 in Sheffield, my head is spinning, at times. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity, but also really overwhelmed by it. All of our exhibitions are coming together around the same time, and that inevitable nervousness and uncertainty that builds up towards an exhibition has been amplified and multiplied with so many different schools, communities, teachers and students involved. In the end of this first block of schools (right after Spring Break), we will (hopefully) be publishing two books, manufacturing signs and hanging two projects in a school and two in community centres (I'm trying to get used to switching around the r and the e and adding a u to words like favourite...otherwise my students call me out). I think it will all come together - at least I hope it will - pieces of it will come together - maybe not all of it... too bad we can't all just go hiking in the dales together when it gets overwhelming. Hiking through the Yorkshire Dales feels like you're walking through books of Mary Oliver's poetry. So peaceful and beautiful.

Please, come visit! I'll take you there :-) 

You Know You've Been Living in Leeds for a Month When...

I got so excited this morning when the weather lady on BBC 1 Breakfast said it was going to be a high of 4 degrees. Wahoo! Over 0 means that my nose and ears don't have that sensation of being frozen onto my head. I actually managed a celebratory fist pump with my left hand while drinking coffee out of the mug in my right hand, before that same wicked weather lady added, "Though, due to the winds, it will feel more like -2 or below." My celebratory fist pump quickly transitioned to shaking my fist at the weather map showing more snow flurries coming in from the east.

When I first arrived, my morning walks made me feel a little sad as everyone walked freakishly fast with their heads down, double hoods pulled over their ears and not even a brief look up as they passed. I have now joined the ranks of those who have memorized every step of their morning commute and I too can speed walk without looking up (besides the occasional crosswalk, where I still try to provoke a smile out of someone huddling around the stoplight waiting for our green man). It's hard to get people to smile back in the morning, but I've snagged at least one smile on every morning commute (and I rarely have to double back to get one ;-)

This is, by far, my favorite morning train ride. It's ridiculously long, with over two hours on the train, each way. But it's all worth it on the train ride between Manchester Victoria and Atherton. There is a center for training guide dogs en route, and I make sure to sit in the guide dog car, which is always the middle car of the train. In doing so, I get to be surrounded by labs on the final leg of my train journey. Most of them are all business, dedicated to their people, sitting loyally upright beside them. But this one black lab, my new best friend on Wednesday mornings, is not as business-like. He enjoys a good petting - he just can't help himself. Two Wednesdays in a row, he and his person have taken the seat beside me, and while all of the dogs stand in disciplined attention, my new best friend oozes down my leg and offers his chin and head for a good, thorough petting. It's as if he's swallowed all of the love and warmth in the world and he lets me feel it in exchange for a good head rub. The stop before Atherton, he perks up and joins the ranks of dedicated, disciplined guide dogs. I can almost feel the other dogs rolling their eyes at his indiscretions... and I know his person is well aware of what he's doing.. but it's our shared little secret and I do so look forward to it. It makes me think of Gracie and how she is most likely snoring peacefully beside my parents' bed as I am on a train to Atherton... and I hope she can feel me petting her lovingly in her dreams. 

Catching Up

I haven't been able to post for a while as I've been swept up in the business of planning and facilitating projects, going on local and traveling adventures and trying to adjust to a new pace and lifestyle. I have also been trying to keep up posting to a professional blog for Innovation Unit where I have to filter out some of my doubts and frustrations. It's funny how those frustrations melt away after a weekend trip to Dublin. Issues about my timesheet and a schedule made by non-teachers who don't fully appreciate that time in the classroom is only the tip of the iceberg of a teacher's work seem insignificant after standing in the Long Library in Trinity College and breathing in the smell of truly old books or inhaling the scent surrounding the unimaginably large vats of Guinness brewing. I couldn't really take my daily struggles too seriously after a tour guide told us about the suffering and executions in the Kilmainham Gael around the time of the Irish rebellions. I bought a copy of The Dubliners by James Joyce for three euros on our way out of town. I can't wait to re-read it after all that I just learned about Irish history!

Today, I was back at Goole High School laughing to myself on my mile walk to school when I was hit by a flying joint (out of one of the hands of a group of teenagers in front of me) and later, I was blown into a light post by the incredibly intense, frigid winds. All I can do is laugh about the weather here, because it's often so ridiculous on my morning and evening commutes. I don't know why so many people smoke here, but when you add in high-speed gusts of wind, it makes walking down crowded streets of smokers a bit frightening.

I had a great day at Goole as we planned our fieldtrip to Goole Docks (involving a boat tour, guided office tours and expert speakers). Louise (the awesome teacher I'm working with) and I are going to go to the docks next week, while the kids are on break so we can do the project ourselves before the students start it in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to the calm of this coming weekend after a jam-packed work week. Darrick and I haven't filled up the weekend, yet. Perhaps, we'll make another Costco run (this happens every couple weeks...okay, I hate to admit it, but probably every week) which ends in a mile walk back to our apartment with supplies bungie-ed to a wheeley cart. They have smaller quantities of items at Costco for great prices! We tend to make a scene here with our strange routines- but we're Americans so it's expected and overlooked. We could make a great Costco commercial. 

A couple weekends ago, we went on adventures around Yorkshire, including a great hike in the snowy hills of Hebden Bridge. Snow is such a beautiful, joyous thing when it comes on the weekends - although, I do find that I feel quite differently about it when it comes on my way to and from work.

I am currently in the midst of a project on the Goole Docks, a super-hero project, a project about traveling on a budget (both in a classroom in Sheffield and in my own life), a survival project and a project on developing sign-age for a new school building. My head is spinning with project planning, gathering resources and trying to model planning, tuning projects and facilitating projects with students calmly (while simultaneously trying to cover up the fact that most days I feel completely overwhelmed by the volume and variety of projects I'm juggling). I find myself making posters on trains, stuffing free newspapers in my bag from all my different transfer stations as resources, asking Darrick to make movies of student and teacher footage I’ve gathered, finishing a personal logo mini-cereal box while power-walking down the street and drawing comics and super-heroes in a bus.

The most challenging days of work are Fridays when I facilitate the Super-Hero project with three new teachers for 6-hours with the same group of 7th graders. We are trying to deliver the project and plan it simultaneously (since we only see each other and the students on Fridays without a prep). I’ve been talking with the school leaders about adjusting our schedule so we have more planning time. Each day feels like a day of Intersession, with all the ups and downs and exhaustion that goes with Intersession. The majority of the kids are really engaged and excited about the project - doing a lot of work outside of our Friday project days without being asked. A few of the students seem to enjoy the challenge and attention of disrupting the classroom environment and I find myself taking deep breaths and wishing that we could speed up that transition from resistant, disruptive behavior to that hard-earned mutual respect that eventually comes with a lot of work, listening and getting to know students who walk into class with baggage that sometimes gets thrown in your face before you get a chance to unpack it. It’s harder to get to that better place with students when you only teach a group on Fridays… but we’ll get there, eventually.

This Friday school is really interesting, because they start every two-hour block with a community meeting of 7^th graders that begins with a lecture about rules and ends in the chanting of a mantra of good behavior. It’s a strange sight to see students sitting on the floor silently in rows, dressed in suits and ties and made to chant a mantra before each two-hour block class period… and then from there, they transition to Super-Hero Project work time… no wonder some of them are struggling with this new style of learning, which in some ways contradicts the mantra of staying in line, not questioning authority and following rules they are forced to repeat right before they come back to us. I definitely need some pump-up music and a good stretching session (another practice that leads to strange looks while waiting and stretching on the train platforms) before going into work on Fridays…

The days are starting to get longer – in fact, today was the first day I have come back home in the partial light. It’s still pitch dark up until almost 8 am, though, which makes traveling in the morning feel like you’ve gotten up in the middle of the night. Today, the wind is blowing the cloud cover out as quickly as it arrives – occasionally, I get pelted with freezing sideways rain and sleet, but it’s moved on in minutes (just long enough to freeze me to the core and blow by). Tonight, there are snow flurries in the forecast. I have a much deeper appreciation for San Diego’s weather now, although, I must admit that I’m enjoying the excitement of the crazy weather (knowing that this experience is temporary). Please, forget everything I’ve just written about the weather and please, come visit soon!

Atherton - Day 2 and Crazy Travels

The day started out well, yesterday. I made it to Atherton Community School in a record three hours (door to door). I had such a great day at Atherton. They are planning a really exciting project designing all of their signage for their new building (opening next year). I got to present to the students at an assembly about critique and they are really getting into the Kind, Helpful, Specific critique format. I'm starting to fall in love with the students there - especially the rambunctious ones, you know the ones who are easiest to get to know, right away. One boy, in particular, has a really rough home life and is new to the school - you can just tell how badly he wants to be loved and accepted, so he's constantly seeking attention in mischievous ways... but if you can find moments to point out anything positive, his whole being lights up as if no one has ever said anything positive to him, before. It's so fun to shine a light on his strengths, and he is getting good at shining a light on other kid's strengths through critique.

The whole school has posters up about Ron Berger critique in every classroom. It's really exciting to see! And they are getting good at being kind, helpful and specific (their strength is kindness). For their next project, they are using a community resource full of 3-D printers, computers with CAD software, laser cutters and top quality equipment for printing that is about 10-minutes away that will allow students to design and possibly manufacture the signs for their new building. I am working with Ian from Chapel St. (an organization opening "free" schools - our charter school equivalent, I think) to design the project that kicks off next Wednesday with a kid-friendly Stanford Design workshop for the students that will introduce design thinking and the project. I'm excited about helping teachers design web pages for all of these projects kicking off at different schools - I hope they'll swap projects.

So the day started out well, but soon fell apart when I left the school. Atherton is normally about a six hour commute (in total - three hours each way with walks, trains and transfers), but last night was really insane. A train that derailed and caught fire (luckily no one was injured) cancelled all trains between Atherton and Manchester. It took quite a while to find a bus stop (there is no bus station in Atherton) and once I had no train, bus or car ride home in sight, it started to snow, again. After about an hour, I found a bus that took slightly short of forever (I was a bit cranky at this point, so I think my sense of time was off) to get to Manchester Picadilly, and that train station was ridiculously crowded. I ended up squeezing on a train and I definitely got closer (literally and in conversation) with a group crammed together like sardines in the luggage compartment. Getting home was a five hour journey, but I shouldn't complain since it ended with Darrick, pizza and wine...life is good. 

I'm writing this post on my phone while standing in another luggage compartment in a train to Sheffield. Oh trains... I used to love riding you.

Snowy, Train-Chasing Monday

England is totally covered in snow. The whole country is frozen over. I was watching the news this morning, listening for school closures, hoping I could work from home and watch the Inauguration. No such luck. It's amazing how quickly the beautiful white nightfall turns into brown, sock-soaking sludge on the sidewalks. Sadly, my one pair of snow shoes (rubber boots I've had since high school), cracked on their first real test in the snow - too much pressure for one pair of shoes to take on for seven months in England. So, my running shoes and I are working together to try to keep my socks dry, today - neither of us are very well-designed for the challenge - we're definitely the underdogs against the unrelenting, flowing, sludgy sidewalks. I ordered boots on Amazon, yesterday - the cheapest option that looked the most like the ones I see all of the women wearing with their stockings and dresses as they power-walk past me and my soggy socks on the way to work.

The Leeds train station computers were down, this morning, which added much excitement to the morning commute. Usually, the final destination is accompanied on a set of screens by all of the stops along the way. Both of my transfers on trains this morning are stops, rather than final destinations (and I have no idea where my trains end up after I get off on my stop). So, I had to ask a couple conductors (one who sent me astray out of confusion or inability to understand my accent). Eventually, I ended up running across the train station from Platform 1c to Platform 15b. I literally jumped on the train as the doors were closing (the whole time I was running and dodging people, the theme song for Scarecrow and Mrs. King was playing in my mind - which made the whole experience more secret-agent like and fun, rather than stressful). It looks a bit like a blizzard outside my train window, so the walk to Goole High School should be exciting. I think I have almost every piece of clothing I brought on as a layer, right now (you can image how fashionable I look). I better get ready to transfer trains in Brough... since I've never been there before, trying to find the next train to Goole should be an adventure... Happy Inauguration Day!

P.S. - I realize this seems to be a picture of chasing a goose rather than a train, but I had no time to take a picture while chasing the train.