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