"...the students learn at their own pace in a supportive environment. The school is run democratically, with the students having as much say in how the school is run as the staff. Decisions are made by voting in a weekly school meeting, where matters ranging from what colour the new carpets should be, to the employment of new staff. The school offers a full range of subjects, and attendance to lessons is negotiated, not compulsory. The school also educates students on a larger range than most schools, and gives students choice in what they can learn. Their interests form a large part of what is offered in the curriculum..."
That is a description to Sands School, an independent school which provides alternative education to kids aging 11-18. It sounds ideal to me and I would very much like my future children to go to that kind of school.
Pity there is only one in the UK at the moment. Not sure if there is any similar ones in other countries.
It's time to have a revolution for traditional education for kids, I reckon.
Friday, January 01, 2010
The Nanny State
Both in Australia & here in the UK people talk about living in a nanny state where rules and laws are brought in for the `protection' of the public.
I can't see yet which country is more of a nanny state as they both seem pretty bad, but have different standards.
The most odd thing in the UK though is that you cannot have a power point or a switch in a bathroom so that you don't electrocute yourself! So you either have a pull cord to turn the light on and where the switch is recessed in the ceiling, or you have the switch outside the bathroom. If you want to blow dry your hair in front of the bathroom mirror - then get a long extension cord!
On the flip side, In the UK I see lots of playgrounds with jungle gyms and even long flying foxes - these were banned years ago and would never be allowed in Australia for the safety of the kiddies.
Looks like both sides of the ocean have their own nanny rules.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Salmon Fish
Salmon is one of the few things that are cheaper in the UK than in Australia. The average price is £8.8 per kg. Normally a piece of salmon steak for £2.50 is good enough to feed both of us. Today while doing our normal weekly food shopping, we noticed that they were selling whole salmon fish for half price! That means only £4.4 per kg. The deal is too good to miss, we didn't hesitate and bought a whole salmon straight away. Here it is:
The whole fish is 2.1 kg and cost us about £9.50 - that's about 20 Australia dollars.
After quickly watching a Youtube video of how to chop salmon, Brad dissembled the fish into several pieces - 12 decent salmon steaks plus the head and some other small cuts! That will give us at least 8 meals! What a bargain! We love salmon.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
German Style Christmas Market
Evidently German Style Christmas Markets are very popular in the UK and Europe. One weekend of mid December, we visited one in Winchester , 45 minutes drive from Guildford. The market was set in the Inner Close of the magnificent 1000 years old Gothic Style Cathedral of Winchester and was made of over 90 beautiful wooden chalets selling all sorts of nice gifts and foods.
Despite of the rain and cold, people were in high spirit and the air was filled with the aroma of gluhwein and roasted chestnuts. We certainly had a great time exploring the gifts and the different European foods.
We are planning to explore some more Christmas markets next year, maybe the Hyde Park one, the Leeds one and the Lincoln Christmas market...
Christmas Lunch
Very untraditional, we had Oxtail Stew for Christmas lunch this year. We found a recipe on the Internet and simply followed it. Despite the length of time it took to cook, it was a quite easy recipe. And above all, it was very tasty! Here is photo of our lunch table:
Happy Christmas!
P.S.: Guildford felt like a ghost town today as there were hardly anyone on the streets. The ever crowded High Steet was deserted - giving us a great opportunity to look around properly without having to concentrating dodging people.
It may not look that appealing, but the taste was a 1000 times better than how it looks. The sweet potatoes and parsnips were melt inside the stew and only the potatoes and the oxtail survived the 3.5 hours oven "torture".
For desert, we are going to have Belgian Chocolate Pudding. Too full to have it now, we can only show you the packaging (can't open it yet).
Happy Christmas!
P.S.: Guildford felt like a ghost town today as there were hardly anyone on the streets. The ever crowded High Steet was deserted - giving us a great opportunity to look around properly without having to concentrating dodging people.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Our Shared Basement Cat - Tommy
Tommy is a shared cat in our neibourghhood. His other names are "Jack", "Shadow" and more... He used to belong to some students living around the corner, but was left alone when those students moved out. He was called Jack by those students and also by the lady across the road who often feeds him.
"Shadow" is another affectionate name given by the people living in this neighborhood as Tommy simply loves chasing people and walks with them like a shadow as far as possible.
We didn't know Tommy's other names when we discovered him not long after we moved in. He always walks up to us as soon as he spots us, with his tail up high in the air, he says hello. He enjoys a good rub and returns with "purrrrr".
Tommy doesn't belong to anyone now; he is a shared cat in our neibourghhood. Lots of his admirers (including Brad) feeds him and he sleeps with the lady and her family across the road in cold nights.
Tommy likes to sit on our car where the engine is straight after Brad pulls in from a trip. He sits there until the engine goes cold. I'm tempted to buy a big superman coat for Tommy as his Christmas present - mainly to keep him warm in such cold days. But Brad doesn't think he'll appreciate it. Maybe we'll just feed him some chicken instead..
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
James Bond goes Green
James Bond's signature car the Aston Martin has gone green with a low CO2 output, 2 door city car.
The Cygnet is the size of a Smart Car For2 and is based on the Toyota iQ platform, but with some very Aston stylings.
With just 72kW output, the little 1.3l engine is not likely to help Bond outrun the bad guys, but at least he'll find a parking spot when he has to visit M.
At least it is closer the price range I can dream about :)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wey River, Guildford in Winter
The snow fell again on Saturday night and with very cold conditions all day Sunday created very icy roads & footpaths.
Ying & I planned on driving to hills for a walk, but after getting petrol up the road decided on going home and walking to the river.
It's a good thing that we did because the icy was really bad, we had to hold on to each other and anything else we could going down the hill to High street because of the ice. Once on High street it was pretty fine.
The river was very still, small amounts of ice & snow remained on the grass and foot paths but the grass was still a vibrant green nd pushed its way through the snow.
We walked along the river a little way and then just stood for a few minutes in the glory of the sun, warming us up and feeling lovely on the face.
On the way back we came across a Porche that had skidded on the ice into the gutter and couldn't get out, there were already three people pushing, so I jumped in to help try and push it up the hill a little so that it could turn & get back on the road. The ice was amazing and afforded absolutely no traction to car or shoe. Eventually we pushed (slid) the front end around to point down the street ( I took a slide at one point) - part of the winter fun.
Here is the river Wey at Guildford in winter - taken with my Nokia N95:
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Guildford Snow Part 2
We awoke yesterday morning to a blanket of snow on the ground and cars.
After a nice warming bowl of porridge we decided to have a quick walk before work on the Surrey Hills area near us of Newlands Corner to see what it looks like in the winter snow compared to the usual lush green that we are accustomed to.
As we drove up to Newlands Corner we marvelled at the snow on the roads, the fences, the cars and houses. Once we were there we breathed in the morning crispness and were amazed at the difference between the white wash we saw and the usual green.
It was beautifully cold and crisp with that freshness about the air that only snow can bring.
Here is the view from the hill:
Ying decided a snow ball fight was in order:
Here are some more pics - fingers crossed for a white Christmas.
The bottom few pics are from sILENT pOND.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
