Coping with London so far...

Hi all,

I don't have any pictures to share with you from the last couple of days because it has been raining like crazy. The forecast for the next few days, however, are for sunshine so I'll try to get some pics in of the Tube, Michael Palin Centre, etc.

Latest news in London:

(1) The Church of England is in the stages of approving females to become Bishops. This is causing a lot of controversy and is all over the news here, because about 1300 employees (I would assume this would be local pastors) want the Church's synod to approve a motion that excuses them from having to work for a female Bishop.

(2) The topic of "knife culture" is still a hot one. All the papers have stories about the people who've been killed in stabbings the last couple of weeks and what it means for their society. They are especially concerned because the Olympics will be hosted here in 2012 and want the city to be perceived as safe.

(3) The National Trust conducted a survey of school children, asking them if they knew things like the difference between a bee and a wasp, or could identify a magpie. They also asked if kids could tell them who Dr. Who's enemies are. Dr. Who is the #1 television program here in the UK - if you like science fiction, it's the show for you (you can catch it on BBC1 on cable in the US). Guess what? Only 50% of kids could tell the difference between a bee and a wasp but 90% could name at least 2 of Dr. Who's enemies. All the adults are in a wad about this because there is such a culture of the outdoors here. Speaking of this culture, this morning when I turned on the BBC's version of the Today show, the first shot I saw on the screen was of a HUGE cow's butt -- they were doing a remote location from the Yorkshire Agricultural Show. It was kind of an alarming scene to wake up to, Ha.

Yesterday was my first day to go to the Michael Palin Centre, which is in an area of London called Islington. I have to take the Tube from Paddington station to Farringdon station, then walk about 10 minutes to the Centre. It was a terrible-horrible-no good-very bad travel day. First, I had difficulty buying my tube ticket because the automatic ticket machine wouldn't read my debit card. Luckily, I had some cash on me. Then, my worst fear -- getting completely lost -- unfortunately came true. I got off at the right Tube stop in Islington, but I couldn't figure out the street map to get to the Centre so ended up walking around through neighborhoods for almost an hour. It was pouring rain and I was wearing a dress and heels. Not good. I had no idea how far I'd have to walk from the Farringdon station to the clinic -- I was told it was close -- so I didn't think my choice of footwear would be such a big deal. WRONG. By the time I got to the MPC, I was almost in tears.

The rest of the day went well, though, because I got to observe a follow-up day from last summer's school-age intensive program (which is what will be starting for me next week). The parents and children who all participated in the 2-week experience last summer return on a fairly regular basis in the year ensuing, and yesterday was the last follow-up because these families had hit the one year mark. I met the kids and worked with them a little bit, but spent most of my time observing the parent group. One mom was very concerned about her son's transition to a new school so the group worked on a problem-solving exercise with her and it was really cool to watch.

I also had a chance to ask Jane Fry, one of the MPC therapists, some general "How do I live in London" questions, such as what are the names of the grocery stores here, where can I do laundry, etc. etc. Turns out that Paddington station has several small markets in it that are much cheaper and have a lot more variety than do the small convenience stores I'd been passing here in the neighborhood. And given that this is where I start and end my travel day, it's super easy for me to pick up what I need there.

Today at the MPC was even better than yesterday; I participated in a staff meeting this morning to plan the intensive course for next week, then sat in on an evaluation for a teenager this afternoon. Tomorrow will be primarily clinic observation, then Thursday and Friday I'm enrolled in a workshop to learn how to do Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. I've already had a chance to observe some aspects of this therapy and think it has tremendous potential for the work we do at FSU, so I'm really excited to be able to get this training.

I am loving working with the MPC clinicians -- it's SO cool to be around so many smart, talented people with such an in depth knowledge of stuttering. I feel like I'm going to be such a better clinician, teacher, and supervisor when I leave here.

Ok, you know me -- I have to include some random observations, so here they are for today's blog:

-- the term "maths" is used instead of talking about algebra, geometry, calculus. I think that's a hard word to say.

-- Moms here all walk their little ones to their "nursery" (daycare) and most of the little ones wear uniforms. All of the school-age kids I've seen have uniforms (typically a neutral pant with blazer and tie for the boys, and skirts with white shirts and/or blazers for girls), but it's really cute to see little tiny kids as young as 2 or 3 in similar dress.

-- I've found that if I use a term that is U.S. specific (e.g., crap-ton), no one will ask what it means. The Brits are very polite, almost to an extreme, so they won't ask for clarification unless they know you well.

-- Speaking of terms, cookies are "biscuits" and the slang for them is "bickies." "These are some very tasty bickies!"

-- I see "Full English breakfast" advertised in different restaurants and finally found out what it means. It's eggs, bacon (which comes in round slices rather than strips), sausage, BAKED BEANS, and toast. Baked beans for breakfast? Are you kidding me? Aaaaack.

-- I had imagined that the pubs here would be similar to our bars in terms of size. They aren't -- most are pretty small. They are lots of fun though -- crowded, noisy, and random people will sit together at tables vs. sitting alone at the bar. They usually have sports on tv -- btw, the Wimbledon tournament was a HUGE deal here -- and most have an outdoor area as well. Pubs are everywhere -- almost 1 per block in my neighborhood.

-- My new favorite phrase of the day: "When things go pear-shaped." This is the equivalent to our "when things fall apart," or "when things go south." The first time I heard Willie (one of the clinicians) say this today, I thought she was talking about someone's body shape - it took me a bit to figure out what she meant although I did know that my interpretation was incredibly wrong. I just couldn't figure out what it meant for a bit.

Ok, enough for now, especially with no pictures.

Missing all of you!

Lisa