Welcome Drinks, Royal Gardens Walk, The Mousetrap and the V&A

Have you had a good week? On the social side, we had a great one! We started with the pub on Monday, Gavin & I accompanying a group of around 25 thirsty students to the Adam & Eve, which is located just around the corner from SGI. We sat with a group of girls, and they talked about how to make friends with English girls. They wanted to know how to meet native English speakers in order to improve their listening and speaking skills, and obviously, make English friends… There are so many foreigners in London, it is actually quite hard to meet "real" Londoners! We advised them to take classes, maybe at the gym, or some sort of activity, and to try to meet people there! It's such a big city and there are so many people doing their own things, sometimes it can be difficult…   On Tuesday, Owen and Gavin again went around the London parks and told all the stories connecting the Royal Family to those parks… There are many! To start with Green Park, and the balcony at Buckingham Palace where Charles & Diana, and now Will & Kate had their Royal Kiss! Followed by the Diana Fountain and Kensington Gardens… This week however there was no "extreme ironing"!!             On Wednesday, I took a group to see the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park. The museum seemed really interesting, with all the history of England and its many conquests, but this museum closes at 5pm, so we didn't have enough time to hang around… It's a long way to Greenwich. After the museum, we headed up the hill to the Observatory, and saw the meridian line, but only through the closed entrance gates… This, also, closed at 5pm… Nevermind, we walked around and took in the great views of the city that you can get at the top of the hill, and took lots of pictures!         Owen also made a trip to the theatre on Wednesday night to see the Mousetrap, a classic "murder – who dunnit" story by the great Agatha Christie… There were around 10 students, and they had a great time, for a great price.. Thanks again Owen!           Finally, yesterday, Alex took a tiny little group of 3 girls to the Victoria & Albert Museum. They had a look around, and the most exciting thing was a giant gorilla made out of coat hangers (see picture). As they walked around, they were not very impressed by all the old designs, but the giant gorilla was definitely the highlight. After having a good look around the V&A, and deciding that it "wasn't their cup of tea", they headed to the Natural History Museum, which is just next door, and that's when Alex left them. Hopefully they enjoyed that one better! This weekend, there will be many Halloween parties in the city, but SGI students will have to wait until next week for SGI's own party. Last year was great fun, but we hope to make it even better this year! I hope you join us for our scary week next week, and for the PARTY!!! Have a great weekend!