Some things that are different in England

Mrs. Argabright asked me what words are different in England and since we got here my mom and I have been trying to keep a list of words that are different than in the US.  These are some of them:

US                                           England

hot lunch                               school dinner
garbage                                 rubbish
sled                                       sledge
my dear, honey, sweetie       my love
sweets or treats                     sweeties
snowplow/sand truck           gritters
erasers                                  rubbers
tennis shoes/sneakers           trainers
head to toe                            top to toe
trash can                               bin
bye                                       cheers
jello                                      jelly
jelly/jam                               jam
cream/half & half          clotted cream
mom, mommy                     mum
roundtrip ticket                    return trip
one way ticket                     single trip


I also have a weekly spelling test every Tuesday and have to spell things differently like

color    is    colour
favorite is   favourite
analyze is   analyse

And here they use feet and inches, but they also sometimes use the metric system like meters, cm, mm.  They use miles/hour though and not km/hour.  They use centigrade instead of fahrenheit for temperature.

And they drive on the opposite side of the road.  And the driver sits where our front passenger sits.

We went swimming yesterday and got to drive there in a really fancy bus.  I had to do a test to show how I swim and I got put in the higher level.  Which was hard because I had to learn to swim with my face in the water and then just lift my face to take a breath.  And I got to wear my new pink swim cap, but not my goggles, since they don't allow that.

Last night I joined a drama club and guess what!?  We get to study/practice our play each week at Magdalen College (the fancy college of Oxford University that I want to go to).  We are going to put on Shakespeare's As You Like It in ten weeks of practice.  Last night I got to be Rosaline and had to pretend I was in love with this ten year old boy.  It was embarrassing and fun.  I'm the only one with an American accent.

I'll try to think of more things that are different, and when I get a new camera I'll take more pictures again and put them on my blog.

Have a great week!

Love, Naya

Thinking about college

(I didn't take this one--this is a picture of Magdalen College of Oxford University)

I was thinking about which college I want to go to again today when I was walking past Christ Church.  So, I decided again that I really want to come here for college.  I've seen some other colleges and they seem a little junky compared to Oxford.  I really want some of my friends to come to Oxford too because the buildings are like fairy castles and because we could probably get a job anywhere in the world after and because you get to eat in fancy dining halls every night, not in a cafeteria, and because people come here from all different places of the world, and because we'd get really smart.  You might think I'm a little cuckoo in the head because I'm only 9 but I've made up my mind, I'm going to Oxford one day and I want to know who else is going to come with me?  P.S.  Maybe we should try to get into other colleges too but Oxford is going to be first choice for me.

Kisses across the ocean,
Naya

Broken camera...pause in my photo documentary until further notice

My day of independence

self-portrait

(w/ added effect)

My day was like none before as I was very brave and on my own in Oxford.  I awoke to a bit of a sore throat and so we opted that I should take a day off since the kids were going to the pool for swim class and getting wet and cold seemed ill-advised.  However, my mum had some key meetings that she couldn't miss...so I had to decide to go with her or stay at home all alone.  I chose to stay home because that meant pajamas, warm blankets, and unlimited computer time.  My mum showed me how to Skype her cell phone, and off she went for an hour.  Meanwhile I played on the kids' BBC, took pictures of myself on the laptop, and called my mum two times.

By lunchtime my throat felt better, my mum was home again, and we ate lunch together.  Then she went again for an hour to an orientation to the Oxford Union Society and I got to talk to my Oma (grandma) on video Skype and I called my mum twice.  Then she was back again.  Then my mum had to go to a fancy dinner wearing a ball gown and so I went over to my friend Freya's &, lucky me, was invited to spend the night.  So there I sleep top-to-toe (as they say) in Freya's bed next to her (even though it's a school night), while my mum kicks off her heels and types about my day on this blog.

England is brilliant!

My new swimcap

Part of the Bodleian library behind me (they have 11 million books on 117 miles of shelving).  My mom gets her membership to "the Bod" this Wednesday!

My news for the day:  Yesterday I got a new pink swimcap because I get to go swimming with my class every Monday and we have to wear caps but we can't wear goggles without a doctor's permission.  The swimcap at first smelled really bad like plastic but I washed it off and then I wore it while I was reading a book.  Today I found a toystore and it has what we call Calico Critters in it but they have way more than we do and they call them Sylvanian Families.  They have penguins, wolves, persian cats, scottie dogs, cows, panda bears...  I played with Freya again, this time at her house and she has a hundred Sylvanian Families.  Freya has a big sister named Lula.

I'm going to bed now, but you are just done eating lunch...have a good day!

Theatre & the sunset in Oxford

Freya & Naya, 10am

walking to the bus stop--the X3 or X13 to town centre, return

going to the theatre & lunch

after, walking down Abingdon Rd. to our house--naya's photo of the day

walking down Sunningwell Rd. toward Wytham St.--Naya's second photo of the day

4:44 sunset--Naya's third photo for today

sorry, forgot to take a picture today, so here's one I took the other day on our 3 mile walk

My Friday:  School was a go today!  I had a great day and am becoming good friends with Freya.  I asked her if she'd go to the theatre with me tomorrow to Jack & the Beanstalk and she said yes.  I have an extra ticket to go from my Opa.  Then she ran home after school before my mom could get her number.  But she and her mom showed up at our door a few minutes later (they live one block away) & we get to take Freya with us on the bus and to the play.  Everyone is so nice here.  I miss my friends at home but I don't feel homesick.  I wish you all could just come  here.

(Note from the mum:  And afterschool while Naya was getting her things together in the cloak room, the majority of the children either tapped Naya on the back and said, "Bye, have a good weekend." or called out "Bye Naya!"  They are very very nice here, and the manners are grand even among 8 and 9 year olds.  It seems they are all friends in a large cohesive group and not nearly so into pairing off.  I'm liking it so much for Naya.  Everything about Oxford so far has been a pleasant surprise.)