Another busy week at the SGI! We had lots of people joining in the Social Programme again this week, the outings are popular!! 
On Monday, we replaced the usual drinks with a dinner at a local pub. Where to eat English food? Not in restaurants: There aren't really any English restaurants, but, you'll find the best food in the old pubs… Charlie & I took around 25 students to the Newman Arms, a few minutes walk away from the school, and had some lovely pies: Beef & Guinness, Steak & Kidney, Chicken & Broccoli with Pepper Sauce, Lamb & Rosemary… It was all delicious – although some students found the idea of a savoury pie a little strange – but in England it's one dish that will definitely warm you up in winter, served with mash potatoes and season vegetables… Yum! 
On Tuesday, Owen worked wonders again, and got students tickets to see Thriller, Live! This is the Michael Jackson Musical. Not really a story of his life, but more a tribute to his great talent: There are 4 or 5 different actors playing Michael, with amazing voices and dancing. The songs go from the oldest (Jackson 5 times) to the most recent hits (And the actors go from very dark skin to very white skin too!!) It was a great show, for a great price! 
On Wednesday we had two events, one slightly more popular than the other, but they both still got a good crowd involved. Owen and Julia took 34 students for a walk through Soho, which is always an "interesting" place to walk around in, but with Owen's stories and historical facts on top of that, it makes it even better! Owen's not only a teacher, but also a professional tour guide, so he knows it all! The second event Wednesday was Alex taking about 15 people to the Tate Modern – The best Modern Art gallery in… the world! Located on the South Bank in an old power station, it has one of the biggest collection of paintings to sculptures, to photographs and also videos (some VERY strange). The group took the tube to St Paul's Cathedral (a magnificent sight in itself) then walked south across the Millennium Bridge (or for us Londoners: the Wobbly Bridge) to get to the Museum. They had a good look around, trying to understand the ideas behind the strange items on display (not easy sometimes!!) and enjoyed themselves, although some students expected a guided tour (like Owen's tours): Just to clarify: most of our teachers are simply teachers! We enjoy taking you around but unfortunately, do not have the knowledge to give detailed information about the whole of London!! We're trying though! 
Finally yesterday, Amy and Hannah took a group of around 25 to the British Museum. Now that is one place not to miss on your visit to London. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city (top 5) and it has an extensive collections of … well, everything, from every country you can think of! Some argue that the artefacts should be returned to their countries of origin, others argue that if they did, they would get lost of bought by private art collectors… So I'll let you decide… But if you want to see something amazing like the Rosetta Stone, or learn about mummies, like Hannah did, discovering that during the mummification process, the embaulmers have to extract the brain of the dead by pulling it out of their nose with a big hook… yuk! Well the British Museum is the place to go! Today is Friday and I hope everyone has enjoyed what was on offer, you can join us next week for lots of other great visits, foods, and fun! Have a great weekend!
Oh, and you've heard about Jess, Owen's Loyal Poodle: She has kind of become the school's mascot… and here she is, giving a cuddle to Neil: 
