one of the last ships to go through the Suez Canal for some time due to the 1966 war in the Middle East.
On the last leg of the journey, we sailed the Mediterranean Sea to Barcelona, Spain. We went through the Straits of Gibraltar to Lisbon, Portugal, north along the west coast of France and across the English Channel into Southampton. We collected our luggage from the ship and said farewell to the Iberia, our home away from home for seven weeks .
In London we stayed at a bed and breakfast. Time went by quickly with sight-seeing and whatever else two naïve, novice travellers can experience in only four days in the great city of London.
At last, Lynda and I boarded the bus that would take us to Nuneaton, England, where I would be teaching second form students for the next ten months while their former teacher would teach my grade 2 class at Suncrest School in Burnaby. Lynda would pass two academic admission tests and would be studying at Nuneaton Grammar High School for girls.
My students and I got along just fine, but I could not quite understand their accents. I occasionally met their mothers and fared no better. One day a child from another class appeared at my classroom door asking, “May I have the book it, please, miss?” The little lad tried to communicate what he wanted three times, but still I could not understand what he needed, so I showed him in and said, “Please help yourself.” He picked up a bucket and left. As time went on, the whole situation improved greatly, and we managed to communicate rather well.
The Royal Tea at Buckingham Palace Gardens was exciting and grand. Princess Alexandra, the youngest granddaughter of King George V and Queen Mary, was a gracious hostess as she greeted some 50 exchange teachers from the different Commonwealth countries. She made us feel welcome. What a great pleasure and honour to have been so lucky to attend such a lovely event. I looked nice in my new blue silk dress and matching coat, pearls, and white gloves, the wardrobe that was specially tailored for me in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, children were not invited to the Royal Tea, so Lynda could not attend the event.
During the course of the year, Lynda and I traveled extensively through Europe. We attended a wedding in Scotland, invited by the Canadian brother of the bride to take his place because he could not attend. For fall break, we went to Madrid, Spain and learned that people have a siesta at noon, dinner at 8 or 9 p.m., and then party into the wee hours. In Worchester we went shopping for china, and attended festivals and concerts. On most Sundays, we attended church services in Coventry.
During Christmas break in 1966, I was fortunate to join the Student’s Union Club and travel to Russia. My roommate was from Australia, and she was excited to see snow for the first time in her life. The sights and sounds of Russia were intriguing and interesting. Language was not a problem for me being of Ukrainian descent, and I thought I was able to converse easily in Russian. One evening, however, my ability to communicate proved to be unsuccessful. A group of 14 students and I took the underground metro to a Philharmonic concert on the other side of Moscow, and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. On the way back to our hotel, we stuck together for safety reasons, standing on the subway platform not quite knowing which train to board. Since I was the oldest and the only one knowledgeable, I thought, in the Russian language, I approached a comrade standing on the platform and, in Ukrainian, asked him whether we were on the right train track to get back to our hotel. He looked at me in dismay and exclaimed “ nyet, nyet, nyet ”, looking at me over his shoulder as he hurried away. When I came back to my group to explain what had transpired, my Australian mate laughed and said: “You never know: perhaps he thought Mrs. Kotelko was inviting him back to her hotel!”
During the two-week Easter Spring school break,
On the last leg of the journey, we sailed the Mediterranean Sea to Barcelona, Spain. We went through the Straits of Gibraltar to Lisbon, Portugal, north along the west coast of France and across the English Channel into Southampton. We collected our luggage from the ship and said farewell to the Iberia, our home away from home for seven weeks .
In London we stayed at a bed and breakfast. Time went by quickly with sight-seeing and whatever else two naïve, novice travellers can experience in only four days in the great city of London.
At last, Lynda and I boarded the bus that would take us to Nuneaton, England, where I would be teaching second form students for the next ten months while their former teacher would teach my grade 2 class at Suncrest School in Burnaby. Lynda would pass two academic admission tests and would be studying at Nuneaton Grammar High School for girls.
My students and I got along just fine, but I could not quite understand their accents. I occasionally met their mothers and fared no better. One day a child from another class appeared at my classroom door asking, “May I have the book it, please, miss?” The little lad tried to communicate what he wanted three times, but still I could not understand what he needed, so I showed him in and said, “Please help yourself.” He picked up a bucket and left. As time went on, the whole situation improved greatly, and we managed to communicate rather well.
The Royal Tea at Buckingham Palace Gardens was exciting and grand. Princess Alexandra, the youngest granddaughter of King George V and Queen Mary, was a gracious hostess as she greeted some 50 exchange teachers from the different Commonwealth countries. She made us feel welcome. What a great pleasure and honour to have been so lucky to attend such a lovely event. I looked nice in my new blue silk dress and matching coat, pearls, and white gloves, the wardrobe that was specially tailored for me in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, children were not invited to the Royal Tea, so Lynda could not attend the event.
During the course of the year, Lynda and I traveled extensively through Europe. We attended a wedding in Scotland, invited by the Canadian brother of the bride to take his place because he could not attend. For fall break, we went to Madrid, Spain and learned that people have a siesta at noon, dinner at 8 or 9 p.m., and then party into the wee hours. In Worchester we went shopping for china, and attended festivals and concerts. On most Sundays, we attended church services in Coventry.
During Christmas break in 1966, I was fortunate to join the Student’s Union Club and travel to Russia. My roommate was from Australia, and she was excited to see snow for the first time in her life. The sights and sounds of Russia were intriguing and interesting. Language was not a problem for me being of Ukrainian descent, and I thought I was able to converse easily in Russian. One evening, however, my ability to communicate proved to be unsuccessful. A group of 14 students and I took the underground metro to a Philharmonic concert on the other side of Moscow, and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. On the way back to our hotel, we stuck together for safety reasons, standing on the subway platform not quite knowing which train to board. Since I was the oldest and the only one knowledgeable, I thought, in the Russian language, I approached a comrade standing on the platform and, in Ukrainian, asked him whether we were on the right train track to get back to our hotel. He looked at me in dismay and exclaimed “ nyet, nyet, nyet ”, looking at me over his shoulder as he hurried away. When I came back to my group to explain what had transpired, my Australian mate laughed and said: “You never know: perhaps he thought Mrs. Kotelko was inviting him back to her hotel!”
During the two-week Easter Spring school break,
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