In Search of Harry

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."  Albus Dumbledore

                   US/UK covers of Deathly Hallows

The world of Harry Potter holds a special place for many teachers.  We want to teach at a school like Hogwarts. We want to work for someone like Dumbledore.  We want students like Harry, Ron and Hermione.  We want to be like Professor McGonagall (maybe even like Professor Snape some days!).  In short, we want to create magic for our students.

Which leads us to this week's favorite thing: scenes from Harry Potter.  For fans of J.K Rowlings' incredible series of books, being in England is like walking on a movie set.  You can't help but think "this is just like....." and you fill in the blank with some scene from one of the books.  Abbie and I have already seen a number of places that were used in the filming of the series.  We started our day in Oxford with a walking tour, where we got the inside scoop from the guide about places where they had filmed.  Here's a few that we visited:

         
               Bodleian Library - Hogwart's hospital wing

Cloisters at New College - Draco is transformed into a ferret by Madeye Moody

Christ Church stairwell - McGonagall tells the first-years about the sorting hat

             The ceiling is beautiful!

         
                Stairwell - Christ Church

      The Hall - Christ Church - Hogwart's Dining Hall

And we also found famous Harry Potter scenery at the London Zoo!

Burmese Python enclosure - Harry speaks parseltongue for the first time

And, if we use our imagination, even our village of Nether Heyford has elements of Harry's world: the Bliss Charity 1880's vaulted, timbered ceilings and architecture are reminiscent of Hogwarts, the 13th century St. Peter and St. Paul church up the street could easily be the one in Godric's Hollow, and the spider I killed in Abbie's room last night was surely an acromantula!

We'll continue to look for signs of Harry Potter as we live our magical year in the UK!

 Hogwart's Express - a steam train we saw north of York

"Hogsmeade Station" - Goathland Railway Station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, built in 1865  

Family tree at Warwick Castle - reminds me of Sirius Black's family tree in The Order of the Phoenix

Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland - the Hogwart's Express is seen crossing traversing this in three of the movies

Grand Union Canal

One of my favorite places to walk in town is along the tow path of the Grand Union Canal, which goes right through Nether Heyford on its way from Birmingham to London.  Colorful narrow boats cruise up and down the canal, beautifully decorated with plants along the top and artful designs painted on the hull and doorways.  If I travel up the river I go into the town of Weedon, and down river is Bugbrooke.

        Painted panels on the back hatch of a narrow boat.

 Detail from a painting.  The pictures often feature castles and flowers.

The tow path slopes off on either side with farm fields.  Often sheep will be grazing near the fence by the  path.  Moorhens, coots, mallards and swans all populate the canal and there are some late summer babies that still look like little black puff-balls!

                 Swans swimming lazily in the canal.

This was an area settled by the Romans, and up one hillside is a current excavation site of a Roman villa.  Abbie and I went up yesterday and had a guided tour by one of the archaeologists on the dig site.  It was amazing to see the tile floor of a 270 AD house!

Folks in the narrow boats seem to be having a great time.  They have their dogs (and I've even seen a boat cat!), deckchairs, music - all the comforts of home to cruise up and down the waterways.  A goal for this year will be to get on the water!

                 The co-pilot on the "Passing Through".

                        Grand Union Canal Link

Beaver Cottage

It seems that every house in England has a name, and our new house is "Beaver Cottage" - this week's favorite thing.  We arrived at our new home and the Bliss staff had already worked their magic to make us feel welcome.  They made sure we had some basic things in place so that we could move right in and feel at home.  And many of the staff and neighbors have stopped by to say "hello" or dropped cards in the "letterbox" (we have a mail slot in our door!).

 
Here's a view from in front of the house, complete with classic red phone booth!  I always envied that family down on Pine Point with the English phone booth in their yard.....now I have one of my own! The area you see behind is The Green.  Nether Heyford has one of the largest Village Greens in the country.

 The Village War Memorial is also in front of our house.

           
               The back terrace at Beaver Cottage.

Our new home wouldn't be complete without a new "Wall of Magnitude"!  I can't wait to see what this looks like by next summer.  The gorilla magnet is from the London Zoo.  Abbie and I visited there this week and had a wonderful time.

Also decorating the kitchen is a beautiful drawing done by Abbie's dear friend Maya.  Although we miss our friends at home, we are beginning to settle into Beaver Cottage and we're enjoying meeting our new English friends.

Here are some other names of houses we've seen:    Ivy Cottage, Drake Lodge, Whittington Cottage, Thistle Down, Heyford Lodge, Shanri-La, The Springs, Badger Cottage, Westview, Simon's Cottage, White Hall, Ash Tree Cottage, and Orchard View.   What would you name your house?

The Maine Thing

           Breakfast with The Bertolones

If you could share the best parts of your state with someone from overseas, what would be on your list? That was the question I found myself asking this week as I introduced my wonderful state of Maine to Liv.

The clear answer was this week's favorite thing: blueberry pancakes with Maine maple syrup! My family, the Bertolone Clan, had all come up to Maine to send me off.  My sister Sue and her friends flew in from Utah, along with my niece Amy and her friend.  My brother Mike and his partner Maureen arrived from New Hampshire with their dogs - it was wonderfully chaotic!  And we started checking things off Liv's Maine "to do" list, starting with the delicious pancakes.  We took a long walk on the beach.  Local wildlife showed up as if on cue.  A buck crossed the road while we drove into town and a flock of wild turkeys (complete with baby chicks!) were making their way across a field.  Next week Liv is scheduled to go lobstering and see a lighthouse or two.  It doesn't get more Maine than that!

As wonderful as blueberry pancakes are, they cannot compare to my "favorite thing" of all time - my family and friends!  They have all been incredibly supportive of this adventure and so welcoming to Liv.
When you come from such a warm and caring nest it's easy to venture forth.

Ian, Andrew, Abbie and I explore Rome on a previous adventure....I'm looking forward to new adventures this year when the boys come to visit!

Meeting Liv in DC!

After months of email exchanges and Skype calls I've finally met my exchange partner, Liv Thompson!  We are in Washington, DC for a week-long Fulbright orientation and having an incredible time.  The week has been full of great conversation, wonderful speakers, meeting people from all over the US and the world, touring around DC, excellent food, and lots of fun.  Even though Liv and I have just met I feel as though I've known her for a long time.   I think our exchange is off to a phenomenal start! And MSAD 51 is fortunate to be hosting such an accomplished teacher.

One of my favorite things from the week was the Farewell Dinner and Culture Fair.  Each country group   did a presentation sharing aspects of their culture.  Participants highlighted traditional clothing, songs, and dances.  There were powerpoint presentations that showed the beautiful countryside and tourist sites from all over Europe and Mexico.  I've met some incredible people this week! After months of preparation, I can't believe our adventure is starting!

 Liv and I stop by to say "Hi!" to the Obama Family

With our flags!