American Experience- Greetings from Your Director

Aloha and Hello to Everyone!

Thank you for being patient with our BLOG!!!! We will post pictures and updates each day from now on and we await your responses and comments!
The students all arrived safely to the Boston airport from France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Hungary and Venezuela. Our staff member from France, Jennifer did a great job getting them here with everything they needed. Our Italian students were very patient waiting 24 hours for their luggage to arrive from Air France! After we were settled into our housing at Suffolk University, we spent time getting to know the city and each other.
The first night we went to a Shakespeare Play, " A Comedy of Errors," put on by teenagers from an inner city high school here in Boston. It was very humorous and entertaining and the actors and actresses were pleased and appreciative to know that the Abbey Road students were there to watch in the audience.
Our next day we took an excursion by bus to the beautiful seaside town of Salem where we visited the visitors center and watched a film about the early settlers and their experiences with the Native Americans, which was truly the beginning of the American Melting Pot! We also went to the Peabody Essex Museum to see exhibits including one on the ancient Maoris of New Zealand, art and painting from India and China, and an exhibit about the Arctic and Antarctica. We had a walk through the town of Salem and some of us went to the Salem Witch Museum, some played sports in the park, and we all visited a multicultural fair in where we saw performances of Russian Folkdancing, Jamaican Reggae, and Japanese Taiko Drumming. You will see some pictures of the students learning a traditional Japanese Obon dance. It was a day of seeing the mixture of cultures through art, dance and music, that make up the many ethnic cultures of our great country of the USA.
Sunday we took the subway to visit the Museum of Science, which covers three floors and has hundreds of "hands on" exhibits. Our staff Jeremy and Jennika created a page of questions where they were to go throughout the museum to find the answers. It was fun seeing them search for the answers, ask guards where they might find the exhibit and help each other. It was also a day of scientific exploration and learning about new discoveries.
Class has started and the students are divided into two groups. They will also be able to have individual conversation and instruction from each staff member as they improve their english skills. They have time each night to work on homework and we encourage them to keep a daily journal of their experiences and reflections. Today we are talking a famous walking tour called the "Freedom Walk" which leads them through many historical monuments including " The Old State House", " The Burial Ground" where Ben Franklin, Mother Goose and Samuel Adams are buried, and the Massachusetts State House.
Our evenings have been filled with fun activities, including a scavenger hunt on Newberry Street, interactive games, making homemade facials,playing and singing music, speaking about their different lives, watching a movie and taking walks to see the city in lights at night. Last night we all enjoyed a dance party in our cafeteria with music of all kinds and teaching each other different dance steps!They are eager to learn and participate in everything!
We are excited to go to see a classical concert this week performed outside by the river, by a well know orchestra here in Boston. We will be listening to Stravinsky, " The Rite of Spring," which is one of the most important pieces in musical history! On Thursday evening we will go to another outdoor concert that will feature the well known blues singer "Jeff Pritchard." Hopefully our choices of activities will help enrich your students cultural awareness and open their eyes to new experiences.
The students have been coming together with many conversations as we get to know each other and learn about our similarities and differences, especially in our morning group meetings. The staff has commented how respectful they are and how much we enjoy their humor, motivation, enthusiasm and energy. Be assured they are all eating well, sleeping well and keeping us on our toes.Thank you for sending them to us!!!
We will post new pictures each day and comments to the Blog and please email us or let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Ms. Patricia ( Tracy) Campbell
and staff
Jeremy, Jennika and Jennifer