What the heck, one more post!
Here we are, happy, bleary-eyed and sort of ready to come home. Our final AHSTF show was very good and the cast was so supportive as we were their only audience members. They jumped up at the end and gave them a standing ovation of support and were really nice to them after wards at the dorm.
Yesterday, we began the day with a closing ceremony conducted by AHSTF which was very nice. There were speeches by a key player of The Fringe team, leaders of AHSTF and....Shilpa and Aseem. The head of AHSTF called me other other day and asked me to select two students to speak about their experiences - they were the only kids to speak. That was a really neat honor and of course, Shilpa and Aseem (on his 18th birthday!) did us proud. The kids were then ready to PLAY! We left campus at 11:15 am and returned at 11:30pm. In between, we caught lunch on the mile, many of us sitting on the sidewalks enjoying the street performers. At 1pm, we saw a comedy (I selected each genre, if you noticed on our schedule) called Potter Potted. It was a fun, well done, comedy act: all 7 books in 1 hour! Then, the kids had 3 hours to tour the sights, sit in a cafe, shop, or enjoy the street performers. At 5pm,we hooked up again for a wonderful dinner. Mr. Daren and Ms. Snider found an awesome restaurant that was new and eager for clients - the made a fixed menu for us of wonderful selections like risotto and sea bass. And, they also secured four beautiful cakes! We indulged. Then, it was off to Into the Hood - a fabulous hip hop, multimedia retelling of into the woods. We loved it. And our final event? A ghost tour through historical above and below Edinburgh.
Plane is leaving!! See you soon!
Thursday, 23 August 2007
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
The show is over, but not the party!!
Yes, it's true. U'town is now a thing of the past : (
I have to say, I shed a few tears during our last, most excellent performance.
Where did I leave off last? Last night...we saw another AHSTF performance and it was a challenging one...then it was back to the dorm for an hour of free time before 11pm curfew. The kids were tired and luckily, we got to sleep in this morning, which did us all a world of good! Our call was 11am for final warm up, notes, cheers, tears and then off to the theater. We again had over 100 in attendance, which was fantastic. We've seen 3 other AHSTF pieces in Churchill, and no other school has come close to having as many people in the audience as we've had. And today we only had 15 people from another school - all other audience members were just visitors to The Fringe. I met a couple from NY who had missed the show when it played there and decided to come - another director from Scotland and another one from England who also just showed up. And lots more of course. People really were so complimentary afterwards and lingered to find me to offer congrats. It was very cool. At lunch, the chaperones were reflecting on our performances and those we've seen and we toasted to the kids and ourselves for our work at The Fringe. We know it's not a competition, but there is an element of competitiveness here with all the other high schools. And, well, we won. But enough about us...
We came back to the dorm, found lunch and a shower and then headed back on the city bus for another show: The End of the World. I had read a review about it in The Scotsman a few days ago and they called it "the epitome of a Fringe show" and gave it four stars. It was performed in a 25 x 25 foot space with about 75 in the audience, which was in the round, about 15 in the cast. It was indescribable. Wonderful story, incredible use of music and technology...we were all so moved, in different ways. I really have been unbelievably lucky with my choices. Whew! It was such a beautiful afternoon that I snuck my group away from the bus and we walked home...stopping by my favorite chocolate shop on the way ; ) We girls do love our special treats now and then.
Now, we are back at the dorm for dinner and then off to our last AHSTF show at another venue, which should be nice for a change of pace. I'm not sure I'll be able to post tomorrow as we have a really full and fun day. The SUN has now really come out (it was a joke in my earlier email - it went away quickly) and tomorrow it should be - gasp - 70 degrees!!
We have a closing ceremony with the other schools at 10am and the director of the program asked me to pick two of our kids to speak about their experience. Then, we voted to skip lunch at Pollack in favor of getting to town faster for the last day. It works out financially since we had all 3 meals via AHSTF yesterday with the bus trip (we are supposed to get 2). And a stuffed baked potato is only 2 pounds and is a cast favorite! Thanks to Mrs. Mihai for the email - we've done many of those things already in small groups but it's fun to have the whole list again with pictures so that kids can pick what they want to do more carefully. The Giles Cathedral has been a favorite, as well as the ruins at the end of Princes street. We will likely be out from 11am-midnight, shopping, touring, seeing 2 shows, a performance event (secret!) and having our Fringe Fund b-day dinner. At midnight, we will pass out only to awake at 4:30am for our return. That should be fun!
NOTE: ALL COSTUMES/PROPS MUST BE RETURNED TO THE BLACKFORD THEATER MONDAY BETWEEN 3:30-5:30PM. Please contact Mr. Larsen directly with any questions.
I'll try to post again in London on our layover. Thanks to all the parents for their support and nurturing of their kids on this huge adventure. A special hello to my Mom, Pauline and a HUGE thank you to my family - Arne, Cecilia, Madeline and Ellie for making major sacrifices so that I could be here with my 'other' kids. You guys are the best and I can’t wait to see you!
See you all soon!
Laura
I have to say, I shed a few tears during our last, most excellent performance.
Where did I leave off last? Last night...we saw another AHSTF performance and it was a challenging one...then it was back to the dorm for an hour of free time before 11pm curfew. The kids were tired and luckily, we got to sleep in this morning, which did us all a world of good! Our call was 11am for final warm up, notes, cheers, tears and then off to the theater. We again had over 100 in attendance, which was fantastic. We've seen 3 other AHSTF pieces in Churchill, and no other school has come close to having as many people in the audience as we've had. And today we only had 15 people from another school - all other audience members were just visitors to The Fringe. I met a couple from NY who had missed the show when it played there and decided to come - another director from Scotland and another one from England who also just showed up. And lots more of course. People really were so complimentary afterwards and lingered to find me to offer congrats. It was very cool. At lunch, the chaperones were reflecting on our performances and those we've seen and we toasted to the kids and ourselves for our work at The Fringe. We know it's not a competition, but there is an element of competitiveness here with all the other high schools. And, well, we won. But enough about us...
We came back to the dorm, found lunch and a shower and then headed back on the city bus for another show: The End of the World. I had read a review about it in The Scotsman a few days ago and they called it "the epitome of a Fringe show" and gave it four stars. It was performed in a 25 x 25 foot space with about 75 in the audience, which was in the round, about 15 in the cast. It was indescribable. Wonderful story, incredible use of music and technology...we were all so moved, in different ways. I really have been unbelievably lucky with my choices. Whew! It was such a beautiful afternoon that I snuck my group away from the bus and we walked home...stopping by my favorite chocolate shop on the way ; ) We girls do love our special treats now and then.
Now, we are back at the dorm for dinner and then off to our last AHSTF show at another venue, which should be nice for a change of pace. I'm not sure I'll be able to post tomorrow as we have a really full and fun day. The SUN has now really come out (it was a joke in my earlier email - it went away quickly) and tomorrow it should be - gasp - 70 degrees!!
We have a closing ceremony with the other schools at 10am and the director of the program asked me to pick two of our kids to speak about their experience. Then, we voted to skip lunch at Pollack in favor of getting to town faster for the last day. It works out financially since we had all 3 meals via AHSTF yesterday with the bus trip (we are supposed to get 2). And a stuffed baked potato is only 2 pounds and is a cast favorite! Thanks to Mrs. Mihai for the email - we've done many of those things already in small groups but it's fun to have the whole list again with pictures so that kids can pick what they want to do more carefully. The Giles Cathedral has been a favorite, as well as the ruins at the end of Princes street. We will likely be out from 11am-midnight, shopping, touring, seeing 2 shows, a performance event (secret!) and having our Fringe Fund b-day dinner. At midnight, we will pass out only to awake at 4:30am for our return. That should be fun!
NOTE: ALL COSTUMES/PROPS MUST BE RETURNED TO THE BLACKFORD THEATER MONDAY BETWEEN 3:30-5:30PM. Please contact Mr. Larsen directly with any questions.
I'll try to post again in London on our layover. Thanks to all the parents for their support and nurturing of their kids on this huge adventure. A special hello to my Mom, Pauline and a HUGE thank you to my family - Arne, Cecilia, Madeline and Ellie for making major sacrifices so that I could be here with my 'other' kids. You guys are the best and I can’t wait to see you!
See you all soon!
Laura
New Photos
A brave few; Mr.V, Alex U., Kit, Allison, Alex C., Scott & Ms. Lang-Ree took the plunge and slide down a ZIP line in the Highlands of Scotland.Last photo, you make up the caption. :)
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
The latest!
Hi all!
We have had the most wonderful couple of days. Our show Saturday night was awesome, maybe one of our favorites as the audience totally ‘got’ all the inside jokes as well as the obvious ones. It continued to pour rain Saturday (think January in California) and yet we still had over 110 in attendance, which is amazing, as the Scots don’t come out in the rain, according to the theater operator. Sunday we got to sleep in a bit and then met to see another AHSTF show – but not before we sang happy b-day to Alex! We like going to see shows at Churchill because they have an awesome café. So, everybody got something yummy (I bought Alex a birthday drink of his choice – Earl Grey was his choice!) and then we found a corner where I could give notes from our show the night prior.
After watching the other show (we gave it mixed reviews), we headed back to the dorms for an after noon of split activities. A group went to a seaside village with Mr. Daren (Siobhan, Cailin, Aseem, Julia, Nina and Kit) and Aseem has a very funny story about trying to get a ‘cheese’ sandwich in that town -it amounted to the chef tossing cold grated cheese into a hamburger bun. I told him that we all have to ‘suffer for our art’. They enjoyed beautiful sights and some awesome local fish and chips. I took a group to the University gym where Ali and Scott worked out in the gym, I swam laps, and Emma, Kendra and Kriti told me they were treading water and talking but I just saw a whole lot of laughing going on!! Then, we went out for a wee bit of shopping. Mr. Vallerga took Ben, Josh and I think David to the National Scottish Museum, and the rest of the kids went touring the two big shopping areas with Mr. Larsen and Ms. Snider.
We came back and had a slow evening eating at the dorm and then the kids excitedly got ready for the Ceilidh (Scottish country dancing). Now, I was only in the girls dorm, but the energy was big! The girls went all out getting dolled up for the evening and the boys looked great. We met several other schools in the great hall and were treated to part demonstration, part participation, part dance and it was a HUGE highlight! We all loved dancing Scottish country dance. I had to pull the kids away at 10:45pm (actually, I relented and let them dance one more dance until 11pm), as we were up bright and early for our 10am show. This was, by far, our smallest audience with only 60 in attendance, but that’s to be expected at 10am. The kids were great and the audience was appreciative. Back at the dorm, we relaxed again with most of the kids taking long showers and having a big lunch. Mr. Daren went to buy tickets for the last of the show that I picked out and took Siobhan, Julia, Scott, Aseem, Ali and Kendra with him to ‘sell’ our show on the mile one last time. They said it was great fun and as a treat, they got more time to browse the cute Mile shopping district. I took Cailin (carefully), Lauren, Shelby, Kit, Alex, Josh, Shilpa and Nina up the easy side of Arthur’s Seat and then we made the climb up the Lion (or, what we fondly call “the Lion’s butt”). It was an amazing view and we had a great workout! An hour an a half later, we made it back to the dorm just in time for a shower. Notes, the final notes for U’town the musical, were given (!) and then we all hit the public bus for a ride into town for the show Tap Ole! It was so great! 2 unbelievable tappers and 2 on Spanish guitar. They were so talented and had so much charisma. It was a huge hit with us. Then, it was off to dinner in our chaperone groups. My group – Shelby, Shilpa, Siobhan, Julia, Emma and Melinda, choose Thai food. The same Thai food restaurant that Ms. Snider’s group told endless stories about the week prior as it took over an hour to get the meal (they had to take it to go or they would have missed a show) and the waiter was madly in love with Ananya– but we didn’t listen. We wanted Thai food! Yes, the service was again that slow, but alas, the waiter didn’t fall in love with any of us.
We have lots of stories like that so be sure to ask your kids when they get home….check in with Lauren and the 11 year old boy that followed us down the mile yelling “Can I touch your bum?!?!” when she was in costume (I’m not kidding…), or the nice boy from another high school that took a liking to Shilpa and threw her far to high on the dance floor during the Ceildh! Not to worry, we took care of Shilpa and the group takes care of each other - always on the look out for trouble ; ) Honestly, the Scots have been great and the town has been very safe and friendly. But we do have a few good stories!
Onward – we all then met up for the world famous Military Tattoo that only plays for a few weeks in August in Edinburgh at the castle. You walk up the mile, literally engulfed in a sea of humanity. Then, once inside the stadium, the MC introduces all the countries while those in the audience cheer in response. All the schools from AHSTF were announced too, which was a big thrill. The show didn’t disappoint – truly a highlight and something that’s hard to explain. It’s a show that focuses on and showcases military bands from around the world with narration, history, dance, fireworks, and fun. It’s one of my favorite experiences in the performance world. Deej has the whole thing on tape – ask him. We all decided that Kendra, our b-day girl, had the best birthday treat of all with the Tattoo on her day! The kids were big eyed and exuberant all the way back to the dorm.
Tuesday – Happy Birthday Josh! - today, was our all day bus tour to the highlands of Scotland. We had a great narrator and boy, did he talk! Maybe a wee bit too much. But we learned a lot, loved the parks, the castle and some of us even splurged for a ride through a 1/3 mile long zip line in the Scottish forest – including me! See pictures for details on the trip that Mr. Vallerga, Scott, Ali, Alex, Kit, Alex and I took. The kids were ready for some more historical information as you can only shop so much. They were even asking to go to more historical spots so this was perfect. We are resting now and heading to another AHSTF show at 7:30pm. We are calling an early curfew, 11pm, tonight as we’ve been burning the candle at both ends the last two days.
Tomorrow is our last show, then off to another Fringe show, followed by one last AHSTF show! We’ve seen so many awesome production from around the world and the kids keep asking for more which is so great. I’ve just spend our last fringe-fund dime on two more shows for this week (I’ll end a revised schedule, just for fun). I was at a Director’s meeting earlier this week and was asking around for suggestions as to what to see at the end of this week. I was stunned to learn that out of 5 other directors, only one or two have seen one other show outside of AHSTF. Why? “We don’t have time….” Or “our kids often just want to stick around the dorm…”. I’ve thought about this a lot as it’s struck me as so strange – why come all the way across the country to the world’s largest performance festival and see little or nothing?? My theory is this : We’ve all come together under the Harker umbrella as students and teachers, so to one degree or another, we are all a little ‘type-A’. All of us, teachers and students alike, have been kids-in-a-candy store here, and I can say with total confidence that they have truly seen the world perform on this trip.
More later!
We have had the most wonderful couple of days. Our show Saturday night was awesome, maybe one of our favorites as the audience totally ‘got’ all the inside jokes as well as the obvious ones. It continued to pour rain Saturday (think January in California) and yet we still had over 110 in attendance, which is amazing, as the Scots don’t come out in the rain, according to the theater operator. Sunday we got to sleep in a bit and then met to see another AHSTF show – but not before we sang happy b-day to Alex! We like going to see shows at Churchill because they have an awesome café. So, everybody got something yummy (I bought Alex a birthday drink of his choice – Earl Grey was his choice!) and then we found a corner where I could give notes from our show the night prior.
After watching the other show (we gave it mixed reviews), we headed back to the dorms for an after noon of split activities. A group went to a seaside village with Mr. Daren (Siobhan, Cailin, Aseem, Julia, Nina and Kit) and Aseem has a very funny story about trying to get a ‘cheese’ sandwich in that town -it amounted to the chef tossing cold grated cheese into a hamburger bun. I told him that we all have to ‘suffer for our art’. They enjoyed beautiful sights and some awesome local fish and chips. I took a group to the University gym where Ali and Scott worked out in the gym, I swam laps, and Emma, Kendra and Kriti told me they were treading water and talking but I just saw a whole lot of laughing going on!! Then, we went out for a wee bit of shopping. Mr. Vallerga took Ben, Josh and I think David to the National Scottish Museum, and the rest of the kids went touring the two big shopping areas with Mr. Larsen and Ms. Snider.
We came back and had a slow evening eating at the dorm and then the kids excitedly got ready for the Ceilidh (Scottish country dancing). Now, I was only in the girls dorm, but the energy was big! The girls went all out getting dolled up for the evening and the boys looked great. We met several other schools in the great hall and were treated to part demonstration, part participation, part dance and it was a HUGE highlight! We all loved dancing Scottish country dance. I had to pull the kids away at 10:45pm (actually, I relented and let them dance one more dance until 11pm), as we were up bright and early for our 10am show. This was, by far, our smallest audience with only 60 in attendance, but that’s to be expected at 10am. The kids were great and the audience was appreciative. Back at the dorm, we relaxed again with most of the kids taking long showers and having a big lunch. Mr. Daren went to buy tickets for the last of the show that I picked out and took Siobhan, Julia, Scott, Aseem, Ali and Kendra with him to ‘sell’ our show on the mile one last time. They said it was great fun and as a treat, they got more time to browse the cute Mile shopping district. I took Cailin (carefully), Lauren, Shelby, Kit, Alex, Josh, Shilpa and Nina up the easy side of Arthur’s Seat and then we made the climb up the Lion (or, what we fondly call “the Lion’s butt”). It was an amazing view and we had a great workout! An hour an a half later, we made it back to the dorm just in time for a shower. Notes, the final notes for U’town the musical, were given (!) and then we all hit the public bus for a ride into town for the show Tap Ole! It was so great! 2 unbelievable tappers and 2 on Spanish guitar. They were so talented and had so much charisma. It was a huge hit with us. Then, it was off to dinner in our chaperone groups. My group – Shelby, Shilpa, Siobhan, Julia, Emma and Melinda, choose Thai food. The same Thai food restaurant that Ms. Snider’s group told endless stories about the week prior as it took over an hour to get the meal (they had to take it to go or they would have missed a show) and the waiter was madly in love with Ananya– but we didn’t listen. We wanted Thai food! Yes, the service was again that slow, but alas, the waiter didn’t fall in love with any of us.
We have lots of stories like that so be sure to ask your kids when they get home….check in with Lauren and the 11 year old boy that followed us down the mile yelling “Can I touch your bum?!?!” when she was in costume (I’m not kidding…), or the nice boy from another high school that took a liking to Shilpa and threw her far to high on the dance floor during the Ceildh! Not to worry, we took care of Shilpa and the group takes care of each other - always on the look out for trouble ; ) Honestly, the Scots have been great and the town has been very safe and friendly. But we do have a few good stories!
Onward – we all then met up for the world famous Military Tattoo that only plays for a few weeks in August in Edinburgh at the castle. You walk up the mile, literally engulfed in a sea of humanity. Then, once inside the stadium, the MC introduces all the countries while those in the audience cheer in response. All the schools from AHSTF were announced too, which was a big thrill. The show didn’t disappoint – truly a highlight and something that’s hard to explain. It’s a show that focuses on and showcases military bands from around the world with narration, history, dance, fireworks, and fun. It’s one of my favorite experiences in the performance world. Deej has the whole thing on tape – ask him. We all decided that Kendra, our b-day girl, had the best birthday treat of all with the Tattoo on her day! The kids were big eyed and exuberant all the way back to the dorm.
Tuesday – Happy Birthday Josh! - today, was our all day bus tour to the highlands of Scotland. We had a great narrator and boy, did he talk! Maybe a wee bit too much. But we learned a lot, loved the parks, the castle and some of us even splurged for a ride through a 1/3 mile long zip line in the Scottish forest – including me! See pictures for details on the trip that Mr. Vallerga, Scott, Ali, Alex, Kit, Alex and I took. The kids were ready for some more historical information as you can only shop so much. They were even asking to go to more historical spots so this was perfect. We are resting now and heading to another AHSTF show at 7:30pm. We are calling an early curfew, 11pm, tonight as we’ve been burning the candle at both ends the last two days.
Tomorrow is our last show, then off to another Fringe show, followed by one last AHSTF show! We’ve seen so many awesome production from around the world and the kids keep asking for more which is so great. I’ve just spend our last fringe-fund dime on two more shows for this week (I’ll end a revised schedule, just for fun). I was at a Director’s meeting earlier this week and was asking around for suggestions as to what to see at the end of this week. I was stunned to learn that out of 5 other directors, only one or two have seen one other show outside of AHSTF. Why? “We don’t have time….” Or “our kids often just want to stick around the dorm…”. I’ve thought about this a lot as it’s struck me as so strange – why come all the way across the country to the world’s largest performance festival and see little or nothing?? My theory is this : We’ve all come together under the Harker umbrella as students and teachers, so to one degree or another, we are all a little ‘type-A’. All of us, teachers and students alike, have been kids-in-a-candy store here, and I can say with total confidence that they have truly seen the world perform on this trip.
More later!
Sunday, 19 August 2007
More Photos from Chris (Captions Below)
Top to Bottom:
Ariel in the early morning, on her way to reception to get another key after locking herself out for the second time.
Shelby enjoying her daily breakfast. There is plenty of food and choices for all the students to eat healthy meals while here at Pollack Halls.
Josh arriving at Church Hill Theater for the performance.
Nurse Moss arriving to perform. (and of course rip her stalkings)
UGC "selling" their show on the Royal Mile.
Saturday, 18 August 2007
Performance Time!
What an exciting couple of days we've had! We had a wonderful day of shows after I last wrote - actually, everything we've seen has been really interesting and/or fabulous. After the shows, we spent time on "The Mile" advertising the show with our postcards and water bottles (huge hit). "The Mile" is a pedestrian-only cobble stone street where performers advertise their shows and visitors have coffee or shop. We love The Mile! We've been able to find lots of affordable places to eat but the kids are pretty surprised by the high cost of the shopping.
Yesterday, we attended another show from AHSTF which was very good, came back and rehearsed, ate and got into costume and make-up for our first show. They really do run the theater as a professional space and they expect a lot from the kids. Cathy said that she felt like she was in a scene from Mission Impossible as we got into the theater and put together our set, props, drum kit, all in under 10 minutes. But we did it and as I raced down to the lobby to say we were ready to open the house, I was stunned to see a fully lobby. I had told the kids to expect 5 in the audience (there are over 2000 shows here!) and we had 146 in attendance (200 is a full house). The kids were awesome - so charged up and full of energy. And, they got a standing ovation at the end! We still had plenty to do today in terms of fixes as the performance (although very good) was also our first and rather frentic. After the show, we didn't have time to change before we were heading to Sweeny Todd so we went to another part of town and 'sold the show' in costume, grabbed dinner and headed to the show! Great fun.
After a long nights sleep and a relaxed morning, we again donned costumes and headed for The Mile for our time on the stage, promoting the show (see Chris's pictures). I really didn't know what to expect but I was delighted to see that the cast drew very large crowds all 3 times that they did their 'performance'. They were really adorable as they did a bit from the beginning of the show and then a bit from Run Freedom. DJ and Lauren really got the crowd into it, doing their opening dialogue from the show! After, they all yelled out the show name, venue and times and then handed out our stuff in character. Very successful! The kids changed and then we ate lunch, some shopped, some had hot chocolate (VERY rainy day!) and some went to a show. Now, we are back at the dorm with over 2 hours of DOWN TIME - amazing for us. Then, costumes/make-up and we have the Saturday night 8pm slot at Churchill. I'll be very interested to see how many people we get today after yesterday's show buzz. Word of mouth is the biggest way that a house fills.
Tomorrow we see another AHSTF show (we really like seeing what other high schools are up to) and then we have an open afternoon. We are considering abandoning our plans and letting the kids hang at the dorms, swim in the indoor pool, workout, play cards...we have been moving SO fast that an after noon off might be a good thing. At night we are being treated to a Ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance)! Should be fun.
The kids are doing great - nobody seems homesick and the LOVE Scotland. We've had a few allergy attacks - I think from the smoking which is so prevalent here. Other than that - we are great!
More when I can
Laura
Yesterday, we attended another show from AHSTF which was very good, came back and rehearsed, ate and got into costume and make-up for our first show. They really do run the theater as a professional space and they expect a lot from the kids. Cathy said that she felt like she was in a scene from Mission Impossible as we got into the theater and put together our set, props, drum kit, all in under 10 minutes. But we did it and as I raced down to the lobby to say we were ready to open the house, I was stunned to see a fully lobby. I had told the kids to expect 5 in the audience (there are over 2000 shows here!) and we had 146 in attendance (200 is a full house). The kids were awesome - so charged up and full of energy. And, they got a standing ovation at the end! We still had plenty to do today in terms of fixes as the performance (although very good) was also our first and rather frentic. After the show, we didn't have time to change before we were heading to Sweeny Todd so we went to another part of town and 'sold the show' in costume, grabbed dinner and headed to the show! Great fun.
After a long nights sleep and a relaxed morning, we again donned costumes and headed for The Mile for our time on the stage, promoting the show (see Chris's pictures). I really didn't know what to expect but I was delighted to see that the cast drew very large crowds all 3 times that they did their 'performance'. They were really adorable as they did a bit from the beginning of the show and then a bit from Run Freedom. DJ and Lauren really got the crowd into it, doing their opening dialogue from the show! After, they all yelled out the show name, venue and times and then handed out our stuff in character. Very successful! The kids changed and then we ate lunch, some shopped, some had hot chocolate (VERY rainy day!) and some went to a show. Now, we are back at the dorm with over 2 hours of DOWN TIME - amazing for us. Then, costumes/make-up and we have the Saturday night 8pm slot at Churchill. I'll be very interested to see how many people we get today after yesterday's show buzz. Word of mouth is the biggest way that a house fills.
Tomorrow we see another AHSTF show (we really like seeing what other high schools are up to) and then we have an open afternoon. We are considering abandoning our plans and letting the kids hang at the dorms, swim in the indoor pool, workout, play cards...we have been moving SO fast that an after noon off might be a good thing. At night we are being treated to a Ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance)! Should be fun.
The kids are doing great - nobody seems homesick and the LOVE Scotland. We've had a few allergy attacks - I think from the smoking which is so prevalent here. Other than that - we are great!
More when I can
Laura
Photos to Enjoy!
Top to Bottom:
1. Area directly behind our lodging.
2. "Lion" that some of us have climbed.
3. Scene from 1st performance.
4. After 1st show, being congratulated by another cast from AHSTF.
5. Our area and time to "sell" on the "MILE".
Thoughts & Photos from Chris
Hi all-
What a fun adventure so far! Early mornings, late nights, England, Scotland, no Haggis for me and the great students and LLR, CS, PV, BL have made this excursion fantastic. It is great to travel with many students that I do not teach or interact with on a regular basis.
Enjoy the photos, I will post more as time permits.
(Top) Scene from 1st Performance (Btm) Selling the show
Thursday, 16 August 2007
London, day 3, Scotland!
Dear friends and family,
Greetings from bonnie Scotland! I’m sorry that I have not written in a few days – life is so fun and SO hectic! Internet access is sparse and I have to not only find myself with free time to write, but I have to be in the right darn building. So frustrating!!! Chris Daren and I have spent the last couple hours trying to get our blog to function…Please bear with us as we make this blog ‘pretty’ – when we have time, we’ll fix it up!
When last I wrote, we were heading off to dinner on the banks of the Thames river and then off to The Globe theater. Did anybody look up ‘groundlings’?? My daughters did…the first thing they asked me was, “did you throw tomatoes??” We didn’t, but one of our students threw up on the floor! It was sad, but she’s totally fine. We’ve had a few students with the throw-ups and I think it’s just from the travel -- or the small boy who threw up on the airplane aisle in our section ; ) But those that had tummy-trouble were fine after the initial incident.
So, the next morning was brutal with a capital B, but the kids were awesome!! We woke up at 4:30am and a million kids then headed down the stairs of the dorm with their luggage and loaded the buses – you can imagine the chaos! 5pm breakfast and 6:30am train ride. We went to King’s Cross station, for you Harry Potter fans, and we were giddy with excitement as we went down the platform thinking of what was filmed there! The kids were so good on the train, settling down for the 6 hour ride with ‘killer-hearts’ games and poker (we played for ‘servitude-time’ – you ‘owed’ the winners time to do whatever) and reading. I have to say, the other student cars were obnoxious compared to ours – kids all over the floors made it impossible to go to the eating car, garbage and stuff everywhere. Ah, Harker kids….After we arrived (it was pouring all day) we had a few hour coach tour of Scotland and got to walk around a few sites. By 5pm, we were unloading bags and heading for dinner and an early bedtime. It’s been really nice to settle in a Pollock Halls and unpack. It had been a very fun but exhausting time in London. And the dorms are much nicer in Scotland (food too).
Yesterday, we got up slowly and several of us power walked Arthur’s Seat, which was no small power walk as it’s quite strenuous!! It was a gorgeous morning, cool and clear, and the view is amazing. Before we left, I had encouraged the kids to plan workout time to keep us all healthy and sane, and they really love getting out in the mornings and walking or running. You’d be impressed. Then it was off to breakfast with all the other high school kids from around the country. It’s really fun to meet them all and we look forward to seeing their shows. We then headed off to Churchill Theater for our tech! It was really thrilling to be in such a professional theater and to watch the kids tech what we had been working on…..the head of the entire Tech team at AHSTF said to me “you guys are so together!” and “the cast is so bonded, I can’t believe how kind they are to each other!” : ) Of course, that came with lots of coaching and work over the last several months, but it’s really nice to see how the kids have embodied the qualities that we promote. And after they heard us sing for the first time, they enthusiastically clapped, saying ‘wow’! After that, we headed back for some down time in the dorms, which they love, then got dressed up for town. They LOVED being given 2 hours to themselves in small groups as you can imagine, and the chaperones where always on the same streets, nearby. In every group, one child always has a cell, a calling card and of course the number to AHSTF is on their wristband. We met up and had dinner and hit our first show –it was wonderful.
Today we woke of leisurely and had rehearsal with our Scotland drummer (“Andrew” is his name, of course!) and now some of us are about to powerwalk/run Arthur’s Seat, have lunch and then head to town for a couple more shows, some publicity on the streets, dinner and back to the dorms for some chill time.
The kids are being VERY responsible and really living up to our behavioral expectations and are having a ball. They are in great spirits even with this rigorous schedule. That’s all I have time for right now. I have posted some pictures but it’s a laborious task (one at a time…) so more later!
Laura
London, day 2
Hi all!
Just a quick note again today as I only have 45 minutes to nap, change and hit the road again to The Globe Theater for Merchant of Venice tonight. We are 'groundlings' in the audience. Google it...
What a day we've had. The kids literally passed out by 9:30pm last night. We did room check at 9:15pm and Amar, Alex, and David had all passed out (different rooms) with the lights on...we had to get their room key from the front desk to see if they were there! Almost all had a great nights sleep, but most woke up around 4 or 5am. Mr. Daren took a group for a power walk at 7:30am (Deej, Amar, Josh, Scott) and I took a group for a great 45 minutes power walk/jog at 8am (Nina, Shilpa, Lauren - she wants her parents to know that yes she ran! - Kriti, Julia, Cailin - he was careful). I treated them to a Starbucks (I know, starbucks!!) afterwards Then at 10am we left and just got back at 6pm - walking the ENTIRE day! It was perfect weather, warm and breezy, and we first walked to the Tower of London for the tours - walking across the bridge that folks think of as London Bridge, and then caught the tube to the park at Buckingham Palace where we grabbed lunch at the market. Afterwards, 9 kids went with Mr. Vallerga shopping and to the prison museum, and the rest went to the palace which is only open 2 months a year. WOW. What an awesome tour of a working palace! We all had the audio tour which was fascinating. So although we were beat, we were glad we did the tour. Mr. Vallerga, however, is still out shopping with his kids!!
Everybody did great staying together on the tube, and walking and they are having a great time together. I don't think I told you but last night we took a walk over the 'mile' bridge (beautiful, modern) and to St. Peter's Cathedral. It was about 8pm, sunset, cool and breezy and it was so much fun. Everybody was feeling better after getting their dinner at the dorm and we all loved skipping across the bridge and laying on the grass by the church. We ended the night with ice cream, of course.
We are off to Edinburgh at the forsaken hour of 5am tomorrow, then on a coach tour, and at the dorm at 4pm where we will stay for the night - no going out, just unpacking and chilling. I HOPE, but can't promise, to post the pictures on our blog tomorrow.
Cheers!
Laura
London, day 1
Just a quick note to let you know that we arrived safely at our dorm in London about 1 hour ago. There is no wireless so I'm only able to send this quick note on the dorm computer.
Everybody did great and genuinely seems excited - the fatigue is not stopping them one bit. We hopped off the plan and had a FULL afternoon of touring. Dinner is in an hour and then we'll have a quick meeting and then - to bed for all of us.
The power sleeper winners on the plane were Aseem, Shilpa and Cailin - very impressive. The chaperones, Joe, and a few others didn't get a wink so we are ready for bed in our cozy dorms! Everybody is doing great.
More when I have internet access.
Laura
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