Day 2

It was Monday, our third day here in California! We expected to head to schools right away, but Peggy informed us that we had to meet Sarah, the coordinator from Gevirtz Graduate School of Education (GGSE), for a briefing first. We first woke up to a hearty breakfast prepared by Lynn, Pei Jin and Mark!

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Thereafter Peggy kindly drove us down to UCSB campus where we had an hour to explore the campus and pay the bills to West Cottages.

Some pretty locations around UCSB:

At Storke Towers, the landmark campanile of UCSB

Tempted to feed ducks at the pond!

Group selfie at the front of the University Center, where we bought Tacos and fries and drinks!

The briefing with Sarah was held in the seminar room at GGSE, where we introduced ourselves and told her what we were excited and nervous about for this journey at Santa Barbara. She was extremely open to all feedback and encouraged us to ask more questions and take more risks in class to learn more about their education system and so they can learn more from us as well. As it was predicted that there will be a storm tomorrow, Sarah and Peggy kindly arranged transport for us out of West Cottages to our schools and back! We were so grateful :)

We then headed over to our schools to meet our CTs and Supervisors, who introduced us to several important people around the school and helped us settle in. 

Pei Jin and Lynn outside Ellwood Elementary

The bus journey from Ellwood Elementary to Camino Real Marketplace, where they bought unlimited bus ride tickets for a month (for $52USD). A one way ticket trip on the bus costs $1.75USD; and they found out that the 'stop' bell can be rung by pulling the cord that runs across the windows of the bus! Students who were cycling around campus (they have dedicated bike roads and 'traffic' lanes there) can also attach their bikes to the front of the bus when they board. 

Thats all for today's entry :)