Tea Time in an Astin Martin, A Year in London, England.: Fist Post About Life in London

Intro

Hey fellow blogg readerzzz!!! Welcome to the TTB blog a.k.a. Tea Time With Bond! This blog consists of two authors, Dardan and of course me, Are! We are a group of Norwegians and we will be spending a year abroad in the great UK, more specifically London, England. I, myself am a Norwegian Canadian and I live in Oslo, Norway. Iv visited the England once before (loved it) and I’m ready to learn more with my year abroad at Paddington Academy located in central west London. Joining me is of course is Notsobad Dardan from Norway/Albania who also lives in Oslo, Norway. Together we will write about all we learn of the English culture and society. But first let me tell about where we are going to live and Paddington academy.

A new Home and a new Family

We have been setup to live the Thompson family whom live at Sloane Avenue, city area Chelsea (also home to the worlds greatest team, Chelsea FC). This area of town is very central and we love how all the big things to see in London are just 20 minutes away. The Thompson seem like a great family and we have lived with them for about 3 weeks. They have the characteristics of true Englishmen. Let me introduce you to them :D. Father- David Thomson is a hard working man and owns a pub in Chelsea London close to Stamford Bridge! (Coolest Thing ever). The mother, Marie Thompson is a hair Stylist who often works on British fashion shows. Their son Alexander Thompson a.k.a. Alex attends the same school as us and is the same age as us. He introduced us to his friends at Paddington and really made us feel welcome. We take the subway from Sloane Avenue to a stop not so far from Hyde Park. The second day of school we actually walked home, it was a great walk. We passed the American embassy while walking troughed Hyde Park. Walking also showed us how close we are to the center of the city, it seems Buckingham palace is only a few blocks away.

Paddington Academy

Now, a little more about our school Paddington academy. In 2011 it was ranked the 5 best school in England and ranked the 2 best school in progress. Alex told us that the school is relatively new, it opened in 2007 after replacing North Wesminster Community School. This Wesminster School was apparently failing immensely in its curriculum and only about 25 % of students there where getting grades above a C, or in Norway a 4. Paddington specializes in Media and Performing Arts and Business and Enterprises. Alex told us that since its opening it has gotten grades above C from 25% to 94%. This is why it has gotten a lot of recognizing in the last 2-3 years. Now another thing to know about Paddington and most schools in the UK is the difference between public and state schools. I wasn’t aware there was a difference before Alex and his parents explained it to us at dinner one day. Public schools are actually independent schools or as i know it, private schools. While state schools are run by the government and open to all. Public schools are not open to all and families must pay large fees to send their kids to these schools. Now the name public makes me think its open to all but this is not true so me and Dardan asked why they would make such a fuss of the names. I was surprised how much the Thompsons knew about this but maybe most Englishmen do know this. They told us that independent schools where fist established in England in the 1400 hundreds for lower class children to be able to attend a school. At this time these schools would be called Public schools, i guess the Britt’s never changed the names. Later in the 1800-1900 hundreds it became desirable for upper class people to send their children to these schools and today about 10 percent of English pupils attend these independent schools. Alex, Dardan and I attend a state school. Paddington Academy is open for all and one does not have to pay any fees to attend the school. About 90 percent of English pupils attend state schools. It’s called a state school because the state controls the school and creates its curriculum. What is also very different from Norwegian schools is the strictness and politeness required to be respected in an English school. We must call the teachers by their last name and must call them Mr or Mrs. There is no eating in class and people are very polite, all this is very new for me and Dardan. In Norway we call our teachers by their first names and sometimes eat in class or at least bring a water bottle. Living in London and attending Paddington is already in its early stages turning out to be a great experience.