Ice Cream and Rats

View of school and scenery from higher up.

The front of the school in Lucerne.

The view from the back of the school in Lucerne overlooking Lake Lucerne. Today-Friday

This morning we had a workshop at the International School of Lucerne with Angela Hollington and Jax Webb. They taught us about the Primary Years Program of inquiry, which is the type of teaching method they use in international schools. It was really neat. Inquiry is focused on the student and encouraging the student to become a learner, not to just accept what they are told at face value. They learn to explore and ask questions and then find the answers for themselves. It's a very neat concept. I hope to incorporate it into my classroom even though I will be teaching in the States.

The school is beautiful. It is in this old chateau that overlooks Lake Lucerne. The pictures do not even do it justice. We were there most of the day for the workshop. They fed us pizza for lunch, which was quite good. Angela and Jax are so sweet--they used their day off today to teach us!

After the workshop we got on the bus and took our books back to the hotel, which is about 5 minutes from the school. Kacy and I took a nap because we stayed up late last night and now I am up late again. lol. This is the only chance I have to write because Alyssa is not using her computer. Nonetheless, I am grateful to be able to use it. Our walking tour started at 4:30 so when we woke up, we rushed down to the bus. We caught the bus to the urban part of Lucerne where we met the rest of our group who were waiting at the train station.

We saw the weirdest thing when we arrrived. A teenage girl was leaning against a concrete wall eating bread and talking to her friends and all of a sudden I saw a rat come our her hood, which was on her head. She started playing with the white rat and letting it eat her bread with her. I was totally freaked out. Then she would put it down her shirt and let it just crawl all over her. Yuck!

Alyssa and me in the city part of Lucerne on the walking tour. This spot overlooks the river.

The walking tour was really neat. We learned a lot of the history of Lucerne and our tour guide took us to some really neat spots around the city. Its a lot to write here, but I will tell about it later or in person. We walked around the city for about 2 hours and then we were free to do what we wanted. Alyssa, Kacy and I walked around and finally found an ATM machine. Then we went to a candy shop where Kacy and I got some ice cream. It was strawberry and vanilla, just like the ice cream we had the night before. After we got ice cream, we went to the supermarket-Coop to get some bread for sandwiches. Then we waited for the bus to take us back to our hotel.

Once back at our hotel, we ate dinner. It was bow tie pasta with chicken, beef, and a nice sauce. Our dessert was strawberries with vanilla bean ice cream and whip cream served in a parfait dish. It was lovely! Then we had a German lesson with one of the hotel owners. After that we hung out in our room and that leaves me where I am now. Gotta go to bed!