The Beatles at New Hinksey

Today we had "Singing" at school, which is what they say instead of going to "Music" (like we do with Ms. Hashley.  We worked on a Beatles song to help us learn how to work out problems with our friends.  My mum and I just found the song and video on youtube if you want to see what the Beatles looked like & sound like.  They were really famous and from England.  We like this video because they are laughing a lot, especially Paul McCartney (my mum told me his name), the cute one.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59NNupminV8 

Do you fancy Naya?

In England at my school if somebody has a crush on you they call it 'a fancy' instead of 'a crush.'  So, yesterday when I walked into school there were about five boys singing, "Connor fancies Naya!  Connor fancies Naya!"  I am a little embarrassed to write this for all of you, but it is very cute when your friend says to you in his British accent when we were doing art, "Naya, do you fancy Connor?"  Even though I really do like Connor and think he's smart and nice (and cute) I didn't want them to sing songs about me so I said, "No, I don't fancy Connor."  But I do.  And I'll just be nice to him and be his friend and hope that they stop teasing soon.

Now, I'm going to watch an episode of Charlie & Lola before school because I woke up way too early today since my mom was up reading with the light on in our room.

Bye,
Naya

Going to build a telescope in the History of Science Museum today

I get to go learn about Galileo today in a big, fancy museum that has some of Einstein's work in it, and many other scientists.  We are going to build our own telescope during a Saturday workshop for 9 year olds.  My mum and I just looked up Galileo and found this:

Galileo was born in Italy in 1564 and helped the world understand and finally believe that the earth moved around the sun and not the other way around (Copernicus' theory) with his own telescopes that let him see Venus, and also Jupiter's moons.

This is the building I'll be in.  It is right next to the Bodleian library, and also next to our favorite bookstore in Oxford, Blackwell's, that has a winding staircase and goes up four floors.  The children's section is on the ground floor and has lots of books that the Whitefish bookstore has and lots of books that it doesn't.  We'll probably get some cocoa there and an almond croissant after my workshop.

This is a picture of Einstein's blackboard from a lecture he gave in Oxford in 1931.

I hope you have a fun Saturday too.

Love, Naya

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!