Chamonix

ninajenkinson — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:24:01 +0000

ninajenkinson — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:18:10 +0000

Having been out here since December I am overdue to return home to Staffordshire. The reconstruction of my knee was successful and I have now begun walking without crutches nor leg brace. It’s seems to have taken forever to get to this stager but I am now reassured that recovery will speed up more and more and I am over the worst- Phew!!

I have many great pictures of the valley here in Chamonix and many Pictures and videos of skiing, not me obviously but friends.

I’m looking forward to catching up with all the staff and children back at Cheadle and will see you all on the 8th May. Bye for now.

Operation completed

ninajenkinson — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 14:19:57 +0000

Well after my operation on the 7th march i left hospital on the 11th after the surgeon and physio werte satisfied with my knee’s progress so far. The operation was fine since io was heavily drugged despite staying awake. the following day was a different matter- i’ve never experienced pain like it!! I have now a full leg brace on that i am not alllowed to go anywahere without nor my crutches. As i’m sure many of you can imagine how frustrated i am already not being able to exercise! Also it is terrible having to rely on other to get about and do dundane jobs which prove quite a challenege on crutches!! Here i have some delightful photos of my operation – i’m sure they’ll make you squuirm! Roll on 2 months then at least i’ll be able to walk about. I hope all is well at school and i look forward to returning.

ninajenkinson — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:29:13 +0000

Hi again, it’s been gorgeous today the sun is shining but obviously the snow is also melting fast!!! Many of the children are off skiing with families today as it is half term for many Scottish schools, where most are children are from.

This map shows you where i am in more detail:

Here is a web site where you will find out more about Les Houches and it’s history: http://www.leshouches.com/uk/leshouches.htm

One of the boys is from Latvia and is writing his ski diary up in Latvian- looks all double dutch to me. Here’s some info for you:

Latvia

Physical
Latvia is located in Northeastern Europe, bordering Estonia to the north, Russia to the east, Lithuania to the south, and the Baltic Sea to the west. It covers an area slightly larger than West Virginia. The climate is maritime with wet, moderate winters. A low plain runs across much of the land to form the Latvian terrain. Natural resources are minimal and include amber, peat, limestone, and dolomite.

People
More than 2.3 million people live in Latvia. The official language is Lettish, while Russian, Lithuanian, and other languages are also spoken. Ethnically, the population is composed of Latvians (57%), Russians (30%), Belorussians (4%), Ukrainians (3%), Polish (3%), and other (3%). The major religious groups in Latvia include Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Russian Orthodox.

Government
The country is officially known as the Republic of Latvia or Latvijas Republika to local inhabitants and consists of 26 counties and 7 municipalities (totaling 33 administrative divisions). Its capital, Riga, is located in the central region of the country about 10 miles off the Gulf of Riga coastline. On November 18, 1991, the Soviet Union recognized Latvia‘s independence. A member of the United Nations, Latvia is a parliamentary democracy with a president elected by parliament to a four-year term. The prime minister is appointed to office by the president.

Economy
Latvia’s transitional economy recovered from the 1998 Russian financial crisis, largely due to the Skele government’s budget stringency and a gradual reorientation of exports toward EU countries, lessening Latvia’s trade dependency on Russia. The majority of companies, banks, and real estate have been privatized. Latvia officially joined the World Trade Organization in February 1999. Preparing for EU membership over the next few years continues as a top foreign policy goal. The high current account and internal government deficits remain major concerns. The gross domestic product (GDP) is comprised of: agriculture (5%), industry (26%), and services (70%).

Areas of Concern
Pollution of the Gulf of Riga and the Daugave River, and contamination of soil and groundwater at military bases are the nation’s primary environmental concerns.

ninajenkinson — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 15:02:58 +0000

Here is another entry from one of the primary girls here at British Ski Academy. I hope you enjoyed reading about’s Jody’s time out here. He is due to return back to UK on Tuesday but Claudia is staying for the whole season.

Hello my name is Claudia Black and I live in Scotland near Edinburgh you might have heard of it. I love to ski it’s so fun, we don’t have much snow here but a big storm is going to come soon (I hope) we ski in the morning and then we do lots of work in the afternoon ,we sometimes work up till half 6. Nina (Miss Jenkinson) is so fun she is really good at maths , she is like a calculator . Please reply to me and tell me about your school in Cheadle, Nina says it’s great.

ninajenkinson — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 14:47:11 +0000

In the mornings when we go skiing,we normally work on something as a group like skiing on one foot or skiing with no poles. After that every one practises individual things to help them with their personal skiing.I, at the moment am working on staying central in my boots and pole planting.If every one does that right we then free ski around the slopes.

Jody Baxter age 11.

ninajenkinson — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 14:14:18 +0000

Hi, well after us receiving a dump of snow, nearly a foot, the temperature has risen again. Yesterday was like a spring day- quite scarey really- the temperature was 10 degrees Centigrade!! If this isn’t a result from global warming then i don’t what is? I actually went to see the gore environmental documentary the other evening, horrific when you see it spelt out so clearly- i definately recommend everyone to see it.

It’s obviously been half term week so whilst some of you are relaxing others are working through!!!This is obviously a very popular week for the children, well parents, to send their children out as they aren’t missing school.

The primary children have been researching mountain environments on the internet today and are creating fact files and projects on the mountains here in the french alps.

I’ll try send then to Cheadle for my Year 6′s to see once they are finished.

Chamonix Christmas 2006

ninajenkinson — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 13:08:07 +0000

I’m taking the ferry from Dover to Calais on the 22nd December, then i have an 8 hour drive across France to Chamonix, which is on the Eastern side.

28th January

Happy New Year everyone

Well i’ve been having quite an adventure out here, not quite the adventure i’d anticipated though. Christmas was great, some snow around, festives tunes and ambience in the air. My sister and a couple of friends enjoyed 4 days of skiing here in the Chamonix valley, before i glided at great speed across a sheet of ice- ending up in severe pain!!! I manged to have a spectacular fall ending up having to get rescued off the mountain by two very accomodating french men!!! As we descended to the ambulance even the rescue guys sliipped and fell on the ice- quite amusing as i was fastened onto a stretcher descending backwards!!!!

My knee is on the mend but it’s a slow process: sprained exterior ligament, compressed meniscus and partially ruptured anterior ligament- Ouch ouch ouch!

I’m now able to walk about, cycle on a stationary bike and a little snow shoeing!!( this is walking with big racket-like things attached to your feet to prevent you from sinking or slipping in the snow).

more to come soon

Thursday 1st February

Wowh where does the time go??

I have taken the primary children here out on a few afternoon trips to learn about Chamonix and the history of the valley. The Chamonix museum is great displaying many artefacts from 100′s of years ago. The children looked at the changes in equipment designs over the years for skiing, climbing and many other winter sporting equipment. I have made a display of the information leaflets they created from another trip which we went on to the ‘Mer de Glace’ (this literally means the sea of ice).

Our secondary maths teacher has had to leave due to illness and so i have had to cover for her whilst a replacement is found. Good experience but the younger children are far more enjoyable- hopefully be back in primary next week, where i belong.

There temperature here has lowered a lot over the last week- it’s been between -6 and -11 most mornings, quite chilly!!!Scraping the car each morning is getting a daily chore for my blue fingers!!!

Anyway look forward to hearing from some of you and the adventures of Cheadle.