Another visit to Beantown!

Thursday began with our assembly to the school, something we’d all been getting nervous about following its repeated postponements. Thankfully it was a success, with some of George ‘s comment on the chicken population of England, and the appearance of Matt’s look-a-like - Prince Harry- going down especially well.

Following that, we all boarded the bus to Hamilton train station for another trip into Boston, this time guided by Mr Medvitz through some of the highlights of central Boston. Walking over Beacon Hill we passed the regal and imposing State House, the home of failed presidential candidate John Kerry, and ambled through Boston Public Garden and the Boston Common. This was followed by a trip to Quincey Market from where we dispersed for Lunch.

Lunch for several of us was a trip to the Italian quarter, which for Matt, Alex and myself was 40 minutes walking in a circle before we stopped and asked for directions. Having handed out some of the remaining pizza to a pair of Red Cross volunteers, we all reconvened outside the Market hall before catching the train back to Newbury. Thankfully this time we did not almost miss the stop, though once again, many of us ended up asleep on each other’s shoulders.

Returning to Pingree Matt handed out the remainder of the pizza and we all went down to watch the Frisbee match, once again featuring the future captain of QEGS Frisbee, Jude, and joined this time by Matt and Ollie. Unfortunately defeat was ours once again, though Matt did set up one of Pingree’s points with a spectacular dive and roll – that left him limping off the pitch.
We all gathered at the Cheesecake factory in Northshore mall for dinner, with 20 of us dominating the restaurant and all of us left understanding just why America has the obesity problem that it does!

More pictures from Pingree

Here we are being shown around Mercury Brewing by our genial hosts. Ebe actually added some hops to one of the brews. Then we all tried some unusual soda flavours which are also brewed by the company.

Below are some shots from our time in Boston. The State House is pretty impressive. There are some very wealthy homes and some beautiful streets around the Beacon Hill area.

Below are some shots from Salem Witch Museum. Miss Kendall was interested to discover that it has not been updated in any way since she last visited around fifteen years ago. Definitely time for a re-fresh! Still, the Salem story is a fascinating one and the kids were interested to find out more.

Katie and Miss Kendall

Harvard University

Today was our first experience of city life in Boston. First of all there was an early morning start at Hamilton train station. After taking a few trains to Harvard we finally arrived at our destination Harvard square. Once there we were able to go around the 'Coop' which is the Harvard university book/merchandise store. Next we got our tour around Harvard university campus. This was a nice area and it was really cool to see what one of the world's best universities looked like. The next stop was the Museum of Natural History, which meant we could see lots of different unusual things around the museum.

After a good time in Harvard we headed towards the Italian end of Boston to discover the exquisite tastes of Mike's Pastries. After stocking up on the delicious taste sensations their products provided we eventually headed back to the train station to head home. Following a long day some people nodded off allowing for a perfect picture opportunity. When we finally arrived at Hamilton, we became confused as to which end we should get off the train (most train stations have a raised section to the platform where passengers get on and off the trains). We guessed wrong and the train driver decided to set off before we managed to get to the right door! Luckily the train operator stopped it for us and we could get off safely. this was an interesting end to the day (and didn't seem to suggest that any of us would be getting to Harvard any time soon!) Overall it was a good day with a lot of fun events

Mike

Photos of our time at Pingree!

We all joined in wholeheartedly with African Dance class!

We attended history classes, American literature classes

and even ceramics!

Just in case you thought we were working too hard, you can see that we've had plenty of time for recreation. We visited the Mercury Brewing Company who make Ipswich Ale, Crane Beach, Harvard University and a short visit to Boston, specifically to visit a pastry shop!

Miss Kendall

Our weekend in Boston!

This weekend all of us at some point went to Boston to do some shopping and sightseeing. Some went to see the museum of fine arts which was really interesting for them to see more about American culture.

Ebe and I went to see 'Les Miserables' with our partners which was amazing and was one of Ebe's things to do before he died so we had a great afternoon. On the Saturday evening we all got together with our hosts and experienced what American parties are like; we ordered pizza and just chilled out. We even drank from the red plastic cups you see on movies! A group of us also went to see 'The Hunger Games' together on the Sunday which was such a good film. It was really good to experience American cinemas where you can get chicken strips and curly fries not just popcorn like in England! On Sunday evening some people went out for tea; I know that Beth made her host family some Yorkshire puddings and they had a classic English roast dinner. Ebe and I went to an American homemade ice cream place which was really good! Overall, we had a busy, fun weekend!




























Katie

Every day's a school day!

On Friday we all went to Pingree school and joined in the classes. First, we had a tour around the beautiful campus, then we split into smaller groups and went to some classes; Spanish, US history and 'Math' (as Americans call it!) The next class was African Dance which we all went together, it was so much fun! We've got a video, which we are not uploading, to prove it :) (Are you sure about that? - Miss Kendall) Then we all had lunch in their canteen and tried some typical American cuisine. They gave us what they call peanut butter fluff which was a peanut butter sandwich with melted marshmallow and it was really light and sweet. We had some more classes such as Poetry as Witness, which was all about poetry from Israel and Palestine, Public personae, which was about philosophy and the concept of consciousness and theatre lab, which was lots of fun (Beth and Olivia performed a very strange version of a scene from 'The Importance of Being Earnest'- Miss Kendall) After school, there was a 'Techno' dance so we had to wear white or bright coloured clothes and dance! The boys were pretty worried about that but when we got there we all danced together and learned some American moves as well. We all had a really good night together.

Newbury Port and Northshore Mall

Today we went on a tour round Newbury Port, led by the hilarious Dylan Whack who gave us and enjoyable introduction to the delightful city.

He showed us the historic buildings of the city and the waterfront, told us about the pirates that used to operate there and the fires that the city had suffered. We then were given an hour to further explore Newbury Port and visit some of the shops it had to offer. Once we met up with the rest of the group we went for some lunch at the Angie'a Diner (Katie, Beth and I had been then only ten minutes previously, but were more than happy to go again haha) and we enjoyed some American classics such as pancakes, hamburgers and fries.

Then we headed back to the bus and whilst waiting to get on Ebe cried due to being so cold, but was still enjoying himself! Once all on the bus we were taken to Northshore Mall, where we split into smaller groups and visited the vast variety of shops it had to offer and enjoyed some delectable treats from the likes of Hagen-Daaz and Dunkin' Doughnuts! Once fully satisfied with our purchases of both food and clothes we headed back to Pingree to meet our hosts and head home.

The next post will be coming from Matt Barraclough, because he's off to see some ice hockey tonight!