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	St. Ursulas School, in England, is an elementary school where a friend of mine teaches. She suggested that I correspond with the children. This page contains the messages that I have exchanged with the children.
	TABLE OF CONTENTS Introductory letter to all of the children

	Class Orange	Class Purple
	Victoria	Red Table
	Maria	Blue Table
	Alexandra	Yellow Table
	Molly	Purple Table
	Spencer
	Frankie
	Katie
	Darren

	Table of Contents To: All the children at St. Ursulas From: Gaby Date: February 27, 2000 Hi kids! I am a friend of one of your teachers, Mrs. Sellars. I live in Pennsylvania in the USA. Bekki, Mrs. Sellar's daughter, lived with me for a school year several years ago. I have since visited her in Romford and have even been given a tour of your lovely school. I thought it would be nice to send you an email to introduce myself, and send a few pictures of my dogs and Bekki when she was here. I hope you enjoy them. If you want to see more, you can click on my personal web site: http://www.enter.net/~whittigc/. There you can browse and find out quite a bit about me. I have just begun to learn how to write a web site of my own, and it is not yet finished. If you like, you can check it every once in a while to see if I've added anything. I would like to hear from you in return. Did you get this message? What did you think of the pictures and the web site? I also would like to know a little bit about you. What are your names and ages? What do you like to do? What are you learning in school? Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Class Orange Date: March 2, 2000 Photo of Class Orange - May 16, 2000 (Click on the picture to make it bigger and see the children's names.) Dear Gaby, How are you? We liked your web site very much. We liked the pictures of the dogs. We would like to see a picture of thge basement because we don't have a base in our houses. Are you having a nice time reading our message? WE loved the pictures of the students. Do you like having them to stay with you? Have you got any students with you this year?Murphy was our favourite dog but we also liked the other two as well. We have just planted some pea seeds to see what will happen and we have got some frogspawn which we are watching very carefully to see what will happen. It is now hometime so we must stop writing now. WE will write again. Please send us another message. Love from class orange. (We are 6 and 7 years old) To: Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 2, 2000 Dear class Orange, How wonderful to hear from you! There are pictures of the basement on the web site. In Bekki and Agnes' album the picture of Christmas and the pictures of Agnes' birthday party are all taken in the basement. It is difficult to see the difference between a room and the basement and any other room. The ceiling is a little bit lower. Also, if you look at the picture of Agnes with Nelson at her party, you can see the window, which is at the top of the wall. This is because the rest of the room is underground. In fact, the only way to have windows in the basement, is to dig a hole on the outside of the house to make what is called a "window well". I don't have any students with me this year. I decided several years ago that I had enough kids to keep track of. You see, I get very close to all of these kids, and try to keep in contact with all of them. So, I have put a stop to having kids stay with me for a whole year. Murphy is sitting here with me as I type this message to you. He says thank you for making him your favorite dog. He likes you also. I remember watching frogspawn when I was a child. But in the US we call frogspawn "Tadpoles". I think it is very interesting to see the differences between English English and American English. Don't you? Someone once said that Great Britain and America are 2 countries divided by a common language! I hope to hear from you soon. --Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Victoria, Class Orange Date: March 8, 2000 Dear Gabby, I hope you are well. My name is Victoria. I am seven years old. I will be eight in October. I have a sister called Annie she is five years old. I have two pets, a cat and a hamster. The cats name is Tigger. She is a toroiseshell and the hamster's name is Bart. He is a Chinese hamster. I liked the pictures of your dogs. My favourite dog was Murphy. love from Victoria. To: Victoria, Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 8, 2000 Dear Victoria, How nice to hear from you! You write very well for seven years old. Your pets sound very nice. I used to have cats, and I still love them very much. I would like to have another, but Murphy just won't hear of it! Thank you for answering my message. Love from Gaby in the USA Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Maria, Class Orange Date: March 9, 2000 Dear Gabriele I like the dogs my mum said if we had a dog, we would call it Fluffy. Because it would have nice fluffy fur. Your dogs have nice fluffy fur as well. My mum said we might be able to get a dog. When you get this message, will you say that I like the dogs very much. My friend Phillippa would like to say hello to everyone. Love Maria. To: Maria, Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 9, 2000 Dear Maria, Thank you for your message. I told the dogs that you like them very much. I think that Fluffy would be a good name for a dog. I will put it on the list of possible names for my next dog. Nelson has very fluffy hair. He sheds a lot. I keep telling him that he is falling apart, because I find his hair all over the house. Murphy's hair is very short and smooth. Fluffy would not be a good name for him. Tell Phillippa that I said Hi for her. Love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Alexandra, Class Orange Date: March 9, 2000 Dear Gabby I hope you are having a lovely time. Where you living?. From Alexandra. To: Alexandra, Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 9, 2000 Dear Alexandra, Yes, I am having a lovely time. I am enjoying hearing from each of you and writing back. I live in a small city in Pennsylvania. It is called Bethlehem....just like the city where Jesus was born. It was named Bethlehem by the Moravians who settled here. They named it Bethlehem on Christmas Eve in the 1700's. Love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Molly, Class Orange Date: March 9, 2000 To Gabby I think Nelson was the best dog but I liked the other dogs as well. I have a dog which is a High Westie, and he is called Hamish. My nanny calls him Shamish. I am 6 years old, and I am 7 on the May the 8th. I am not aloowed a cat because my dad is allergic. My sister is 1 year old. She is very cheeky, so we call her Mo Mo, her real name is Maisie. We call her Mo Mo because she likes Monkeys and she eats bananas. I liked the pictures that you sent to us. I hope you are enjoying my message, do you have any other animals. I hope you send a message back, Love Molly.xxx To: Molly, Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 9, 2000 Dear Molly, Thank you for your lovely message. I told Nelson that you liked him best. He was so happy! Westies are nice dogs. I have a friend who has a Westie. A lot of people are allergic to cats and dogs. You are lucky that your dad is not allergic to dogs as well as cats. I don't have any other animals. The dogs are enough for me to take care of. I am glad you liked the pictures. Love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Spencer - Class Orange Date: March 10, 2000 To Gabby, how are your dogs today?, I would to know if you had a favourite one. I hope you are well to. Yesterday after school I practised tap exam, when I arrived home , I had my dinner it was very nice! After my dinner I had an ice cream cone which was made of strawberries and ice cream. After this I went on the computer and typed you a message! I am looking forward to reading your reply at school in the next day or so. From Spencer. To: Spencer - Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 10, 2000 Dear Spencer, It is very early in the morning. Today I am going on a day trip to New York. So, I am getting all my computer work done before I leave. The dogs are fine. It has been a beautiful week here and they have been having fun running in the back yard. It is hard to pick a favorite dog. Humphrey, the poodle, was my first and will always have a special place in my heart. Murphy is a very difficult dog to train, and he is very strong. But he also has a very loving nature. Nelson is just so cute, it is hard not to love him. So, no I can't say that I have a favorite dog. I love them all. I hope you have a nice day. --Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Frankie - Class Orange Date: March 10, 2000 Dear Gabby Thankyou for the pictures. I hhhope you are having a nice time. From Frankie. To: Frankie - Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 10, 2000 Dear Frankie, I'm glad you liked the pictures. I am going to have a wonderful day today in New York with friends. --Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Katie - Class Orange Date: March 10, 2000 To Gabby, How are you doing? My name is Katie my sister is called Sarah. I like your dog called Murphy. I would like a dog, I can look after your Murphy. love Katie To: Katie - Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 10, 2000 Dear Katie, Thank you for offering to look after Murphy. He is a very difficult dog to look after. He is very strong and hard-headed. He has a will of his own, and thinks that he is the master of this house. Love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Darren - Class Orange Date: March 10, 2000 To Gabby, I hope you are having a nice time. What does your basement look like? Are you having any students next year? Have you got a brother or sister? I have a brother and a sister they are called Georgina and Toby. Who are your friends and who are the students that you have had round? love Darren To: Darren - Class Orange From: Gaby Date: March 10, 2000 Dear Darren, My basement consists of 3 rooms. There is a very large room which has a small kitchen on one end. It has a table and chairs, some comfortable places to sit, a TV, and a small area behind some bookcases with a bed and dresser for someone to stay while they visit me. There is also a small loo. On the other side of the staircase there is a large room which I use for storage. It is a real mess! Some day I will have to clean it out! I have had 7 students over the last few years. You can see them all on my web site. I don't plan on having any more. I keep in touch with all of them, and that is a big job. I also go and visit them in Europe. It is a long way from here to Europe. I don't have any brothers or sisters. But I do have many friends. Some of my friends are Joan, Doris, Brucie, Pat and Helen. I also have 4 God children. My life is very full and busy. Love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Red Table - Class Purple Date: March 14, 2000 Hello Gaby, How are you? We are in Class Purple and it is 2.0clock in the afternoon. Today we have been learning 'definitions' and dictionary words. We would like to ask some questions. 1. How old are your children? 2. What is your job? 3. Do you like working on the computer? 4. when Mrs Sellars was cyounger was she naughty? Hope you can return our letter love Red Table To: Red Table - Class Purple From: Gaby Date: March 14, 2000 Dear Red Table-Class Purple, You are certainly a colorful group! I am fine. It is almost 11 o'clock in the morning here. I just got back from the dentist and shopping. It was nice finding a message from you. I will try to answer your questions. 1. How old are my children? I don't have any children of my own. But, I do have 4 God-children. The oldest is a girl. Her name is Elizabeth and she is fifteen years old. She lives in Ohio with her parents and 3 sisters and 2 brothers. The next is a boy. His name is Adam and he is nine years old. Adam, his parents and a younger sister live just down the road from me, here in Pennsylvania. Then there is a girl, Julia. She is seven years old and lives in South Carolina with her parents and a younger brother. Finally, there is a boy, Corey. Corey is also seven years old. He lives in Georgia with his mother. I also have 6 foreign exchange students, who are almost like children to me. You can see their pictures on my web site. Stacy and Claude are both 22 years old. Emil is 21. Agnes, Bekki and Hiro are all 20. Laura is 19. 2. What is my job? I recently took early retirement from a job that I had for 23 years. I worked as a legal assistant for a large Chemical Company. Now I do consulting work from home. It is very specialized. I am a legal consultant in Intellectual Property Law. Intellectual Property are things like patents, trademarks, copyrights, and license agreements. It is for large businesses. 3. Do I like working on the computer? Yes. I spend quite a bit of time at my computer, both for my job and for fun. Writing to you is fun! Getting messages from you is even more fun! I also do quite a bit of volunteer work for my church, and help develop and maintain their web-site. If you want to see it, the address is: http://www.trinitybeth.org/index.htm 4. Was Mrs. Sellars naughty when she was younger? I didn't know Mrs. Sellars when she was younger, so I don't know if she was naughty or not. I do know that all children are naughty sometimes. The important thing is that she is such a wonderful person now! I look forward to hearing from you again. Love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Blue Table - Class Purple Date: March 14, 2000 Dear Gaby, Are you having a lovely time in America? What is it like there? I(n school today we have been learning about graphs.we like school Did you Like school when you were little?We hope you can send us a letter Love from Blue Table - Danny,deean,mitchell, cxathewrine ,megan jessica To: Blue Table - Class Purple From: Gaby Date: March 14, 2000 Dear Blue Table - Danny, Deean, Mitchell, Catherine, Megan and Jessica, Thank you for your message. I have lived in America all my life and have a lovely life. I have also traveled a bit to Europe and have spent some time in your beautiful country. Life is very similar here as it is there. Of course, America is a very, very big country and life is different in different parts of the country. You might think of it the same way as Europe. The countries of Europe are about the same size as some of our states. I live in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was settled mostly by the Germans and some people still speak German as a second language. It is very cold here in the winter and very hot in the summer. I don't think that in England you see the extremes in temperature that we do. We also get much more snow in the winter than you do. We do the same things that you do. Children go to school and play. Parents work to earn a living, and relax with their families. We have movies, TV, sports, shopping centers, etc. When I was little I went to school in Indiana, where I was living at the time. I liked school most of the time. Of course nobody likes school all the time. When I was 16 we moved from Indiana to New Jersey. It was difficult making new friends and getting adjusted to a new school. So, I didn't like school as much any more. After high school I went to college. I loved it there! I hope to hear from you again! Love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Yellow Table - Class Purple Date: March 21, 2000 Hello Gaby, How are you today in America?Are you having fun? Do you like it in America and how are your dogs Hiumphrey and Murphy? In Class Purple we have been doing lots of sums. Our names are: Georgie, Stacey,Sydney and Ryan. we hope you can write back to us Love from Yellow Table To: Yellow Table - Class Purple From: Gaby Date: March 21, 2000 Dear Georgie, Stacey, Sydney and Ryan, Thank you for your message. It feels like I am in England today - it is cold and raining! The dogs, Murphy and Nelson are sad because they can't run around a play outside. But, I am sure that the sun will come out again tomorrow. I have been having a nice time with my friends, playing bridge, for the last two days. I am also helping another friend set up his computer and gain access to the world wide web, so that he can do the things that you are doing in cyberspace! We are having a bit of difficulty with the settings on his computer, so I need to spend some more time at his house. I also bought a new car this week, and it is being delivered today. So I am excited about that! I have had to use what I learned when I was learning to do sums a lot this week. So, keep practicing your sums as you will be using them all of your lives! I look forward to hearing from you again! With love, Gaby Table of Contents To: Gaby From: Purple Table - Class Purple Date: March 21, 2000 Dear Gaby, Did you have a nice weekend? Do you like playiong with your dogs?How many children are staying with you? What have you been doing? We have been learning songs for our music festival. we like playing and watching maths videos. We have been learning our spellings for our test on Friday.We hope you can write back to us soon love Oliver, Dalton, Jade,CJ, Kkayley,georgie and Annalllise To: Purple Table - Class Purple From: Gaby Date: March 21, 2000 Dear Oliver, Dalton, Jade, CJ, Kkayley, Georgie and Annalllise, Are there 2 Georgies in your class? I thought he was at table yellow. I had a wonderful weekend. The weather was beautiful, and I went shopping at the Mall with one of my best friends. The dogs and I play together all the time. I like playing with them, but they like it better than I do. I don't have any children staying with me right now. That is why I have time to write to you. I have been busy doing things that I enjoy doing - playing bridge, and helping a friend set up his computer. What songs are you learning for your music festival? I wish that I could hear you sing. Good luck on your spelling test on Friday. I hope to hear from you again, Love, Gaby
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