Friday July 25th

Its the last day today - quite sad as I have met so many nice people and I have made so many connections - quite exciting really what is in store for us this year....
And i am really looking forward to coming back next year !

We are off to Adobe H Q this morning then lunch in a doggy bag and off to the airport....

The BART was really interesting ! All new experiences all over again

The trip on the tube was very noisy but very fast - it cost $5.35 to go from the middle of SF to the International Airport


There was a bit of a wait till the checkin was open so played on the computer and killed time by looking round the airport.. came to the conclusion that their duty free shopping experience is very bad !!! not much at all -- more eateries than shopping shops !


BACK IN NZ
And its Monday and I am at technolgy typing this up
The flight back was good - watched 4 movies and couldnt get to sleep very well - hence I am very tired today !
back at school and did an MVTV show this morning - really its a matter of getting back into the routine again but right now .....
I want to sleep !!!!! 'spose they call it jet lag !!!!
I will hang out until tonight and go to bed early - this may take a couple of days !

Thanks for following the blog while I was away. I have some fantastic memories and made lots of contacts with fellow Adobe Education leaders and we are going to have lots more during the year as we video conference, share work and collaborate on different projects.

Thanks again and go and look at www.marianv.school.nz under MVTV to find out more what we are doing at school.

Thursday July 24th San Fran

Another fine day today here in the big smoke and we are on line again - the free wireless in Union Square beats the $14.95 a day they charge in the hotel !
We had 1 hour workshops all day today - from E-learning on line, 2nd Life, Cross curricula solutions, Video Conferencing using Connect - and a crash course in InDesign - a bit like publisher but industry standard stuff....
An excellent day and very mind numbing by this time of the day but very cool !!!!
We are off for tea on a boat tonight - special treat they tell me so should be interesting ! I will take the video and still camera.....




Some of the stuff in 2nd Life is actually very good - they have lots of interactive stuff we can access - like going on an airplane to see inside the eye of a storm - going to visit the aquarium, lots of stuff - I have downloaded the software so will get an account so I can go to the AEL Island where some of the other AEL people are - should be good !
After all its all about experiences !!!!
And I have had lots of those this week !!!!!
LAST DAY TOMORROW !!!!!

We went on a nice big boat for a trip around the Bay and it went really close to Alcatrez - seemed a rather bleek and scarey, eerie place......


And the boat was a very LARGE ONE !!!! We had a beautiful meal on board and then the boat went UNDER the Golden Gate Bridge.. I took a whole series of stills that i will put together later so here is a few to look at




We are back at Adobe Headquarters tomorrow and we finish at 12:00 - grab a doggy bag and are off to the airport !!!!
I will try to get access tomorrow at Adobe to update Fridays before we fly out so this may be the last blog in the U S of A
See you back in NZ

San Francisco Wednesday July 23

GOOD MORNING NEW ZEALAND !
The day here is going to be fine and sunny - this is the first day that I have not seen cloud covering the building tops early in the morning !
We are off to the University today and I am booked into workshops all day - inside - while its nice and sunny outside......
And its now 9:00 and I am sitting in a computer room at the San Francisco State University - using Apple computers - nice ide screens and I will be learning all about Adobe Acrobat 9 and E portfolios so off we go.....
nice to have access to the "net" again

10 minute break and we are in "brain overload" trying to learn 2 programmes in a crash session - some I know but I need time to digest and work it all out
We are doing Connect and Presenter this arvo so great possibilities !!!!

Will post pictures of the labs etc tonight when i get back to the hotel... they have blocked the USB port here so no good !!!!! maybe we should do that at school ????
The day was a long one and the workshops were great - my head is about to explode with stuff - i need a week to digest this lot
But I can take stuff back to school to use immediately and some of it will help us work faster and smarter as well
Mitch - one of the AEL's wants us to do a video conference with his kids as a project so thats another project for us to do... some exciting stuff ahead for the next 12 months !!!!
I hope the MVTV show went well - if the children are reading this blog - please email me to let me know - use my school email - I can pick it up today or tomorrow at the university !!!!
We are off to tea at a restaurant on a roof tonight so I will take pictures and show you... have a great day and remember its thursday here - 2 days to go yet !!!!!

Tuesday July 22

This is the view from the bedroom window - we are on the 4th floor facing Union Square - 7:00 this morning the clouds were low and covered the top of the building opposite...

Today was "MIND BLOWING !" We went on a bus to the Adobe headquarters and spent the day there.

They took us through their vision, showed us whats coming up and this afternoon we talked with the product managers - the guys in charge of each product - they wanted our feedback on what we wanted in the different products and then they showed us some more cool stuff.
The day was full on to the point where we grabbed lunch and then went back in to the lecture theatre and did more stuff while gulping down lunch before the 1:30 workshop. We went through till 5:30 before we were released for tea.

After some fun and games we were bused back to the hotel where I found out about a FREE Wireless access point and here I sit writing this...
Its 9:01 here at night and only early over in NZ so if the children in my class are reading this ...
its been greaat to talk to you guys but when you rang it was midnight and then 2:00 in the morning so please research time zones - San Fran is 19 hours behind NZ so as Mr Oldham would say " You do the math! Its another FULL on day tomorrow and I have learnt so much today - I am beginning to wonder when my head will explode !!!
I have got some cool contacts to do projects with - one from the UK and 2 from here in the US of A.....
Now I know I can get on again I will process the pictures from today and try to post those tonight before I go to bed !!

To the guys doing the show tomorrow - GOOD LUCK ! - this is truely a test for you - I know you have the knowledge and capapbility - Go FOR IT !

I have a quote for you - which suits this well....
GO BEYOND YOUR FEARS
GO BEYOND YOUR LIMITS
GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS !!!

And something else to remember ...
Not all heroes wear capes !

Mr G signing off for tonight !

Monday July 21st

Monday and its all go !!!!!
A new experience at the Laundromat first thing this morning too – run by a Chinese man and they had Kiwi, Arabic, Swiss and French customers – all tourists ! – I heard a small child grizzle to its mother in Swiss – all sounds the same no matter what language….

Got the soap $0.75 cents and $2.75 for the wash – 27 minutes then 16 minutes in the dryer for $0.50 and after 1 hour of twiddling my thumbs I was out of there back to the hotel.
I found the Laundry Service for the hotel - - a shirt will cost $7.50 – undies (each) are $2.25 so now I know why I went up the road – a 5 minute walk to do all of mine – at a quick calculation it would have been over $100 to do all of my laundry today at the hotel !!!!

Went back into the “metropolis” for a walk around till lunchtime…… then I spent some of the afternoon “playing” on the computer….

My roomy arrived and we talked for a while before going down to the lobby to meet and greet the rest of the Adobe Crew.
Spent some time there then went out to tea with the “Brits” to get to know them.
Came back to the hotel and off to bed – it was actually good to have a day that I didn’t play tourist – the walking and the people
Very frustrating not having the internet though but I am not paying $19.95 a day for it !!!!!!

Sunday July 20th

NO I HAVENT FALLEN OFF THE PLANET - I WONT PAY $19.95 A DAY TO DO THIS BLOG - SO i AM AT ADOBE DOING THIS NOW

TEXT ONLY AT THE MOMENT AS I AM IN A BREAK... MORE LATER

Today was a good day – had new experiences – some out of the comfort zone but learnt that if you ask someone then they may be able to help.
Left the other hotel and went to the Westin St Francis where the Adobe Education Leaders Summit is being held. Just going into the lobby showed this place was going to be great. When I checked in they said the room was already available so off I went to find it – 4th floor room 425 sir said the guy at the desk – take the elevators past the clocks and turn left… sounded easy but he worked here… after a while I had to ask a porter - see I asked for directions…. And found the right elevastor. This place is so big you have to take the right elevators or you end up in the wrong part of the hotel !!!!
The room is great and I have a view of Union Square – I will go out Monday and take a photo to show where my room is ! Unpacked and decided where to go !
Figured that the trip to Saulsalito would be best done on the bus so caught the right bus eventually and ended up in the right place. It was a nice little “town” by the sea – very quiet too. It was there that you realised how NOISY the city was – but you get use to it - a lot less people in Saulsalito tho !
After a look around it was time to get back to the “City” !!!! The ferry ride was great – a bit bumpy tho and they took us right past Alcatrez –
looked a very scarey place. Then it was back to the wharf and a short walk back to Union Square – with a map in hand, the right street was found and off we trecked.


Later that night I had a few phone calls from the children back in NZ. Great to catch up – here thenews and talk to them but I think we need to tell them about time zones as their evening times is VERY LATE here…. The thing is don’t call me after 3 o’clock NZ time !!!!!!
Looking forward to tomorrow as we start the AEL part.. this trip has been fantastic, seen a loty of things, gone to places I would not dream about ! A good day !

Colin for President !

Random people have been asking for my autograph - now I know why !
Press bottom left hand corner arrow to play

San Francisco July 19

Today was a great day - we talked a policeman into an advert for MVTV

and then got a homeless guy to do an advert for road patrollers... and who said life was boring as a tourist !
Even went for a ride in the cable car and went 52 stories up to look at the view from the Bank of America Building.

Let's start from the beginning now we have your attention !

The idea was for today was to go for a ride on the cable car so off down the road to find the cable car. We ended up at the end of the line at the top of the hills and took a ride back down past Union Square to the bottom where they stop, turn round the cable car and head back to the top again.

That's where 2 policeman were spotted and asked if they could do an advert for us for MVTV. One of them was very shy but the other was very good. We will use the footage on MVTV but you will have to wait until I get back to school and ther kids edit it out.

Chinatown was the next stop and had a good look at the shops - heaps of people as its a Saturday here - so many sometimes that you STOP in the middle of the footpath as there are too many people - sardines is a good description !

A wedding was taking place in the church across the road - it was one that was re constructed after the 1906 earthquake....and while I was in there filming - Allanah was talking to a homeless guy - an ex navy vet - rather articulate and very nice. I told him who I was and what I wanted him to do.... he was very obliging and did an advert about road patrollers - that too you will have to wait until I return.....

During the conference next week I plan to acost some of the other Adobe Eduacation Leaders to help me with adverts and the like so some exciting stuff ahead next week

After that it was a very long walk and ended back at the hotel - diod soem downloading of the video and still pix - had a rest and headed back to the centre of the city to go up the Bank of America Building as they had a great view from the top -really obvious !

The photo below shows how the fog rolls in from the sea late afternoon and if you look carefully you can see the Golden Gate Bridge to the top left....

Thats the video I have posted...

This is the other bridge - The Bay Bridge

Back into the city for tea and then back to the hotel to download the video and do this posting....

I'm off to the Westin St Francis tomorrow so another experience is awaiting me !

San Francisco July 18

Each day its time to do something different - go to a new place and do new things...
today was no different and it started with a bagel.. but I spilled my hot chocolate and had to go back to the hotel to change.. white shirt and drink doesn't work !!!!

Went back down to Union Square and took this photo - this is of the hotel where all the AEL's will be staying from Sunday - the bus driver said its the best hotel in San Francisco and its where most of the dignatories choose to stay so I am looking forward to being one of those and to chill out with the other dignatories as well....
Caught the bus and got off at Fishermans Wharf.. There is so much to do there - so much to see that you could spend all day there.


I am not the shopping type but did get some goodies - but by the afternoon it was over and I was over shopping !!! Bit of a "guy shop" attitude - been there - done that !!!
Remember Forest Gump - remember the shrimp ????? Look at the picture carefully !
So as you do you start down one side of the street and then headed for Pier 39 - thats where the seals are so I videoed them and headed for the end of Pier 39. These are the shrimp and crab boats that go out to get the "goodies"From there we could see the bridge and Alcatrez... even looked to see when the next trip was but it was Sunday and thats too late anyway.... but you can see Alcatrez in the background.
Found some cool shops - lots of touristy stuff - very interesting - unusual bits - s'pose it seems more interesting as we don't know the place.... this was a chocolate shop with a bear outside with an apron saying "Give me some chocolate and nobody will get hurt !!!
Headed for the bus stop and began to wonder if they were going to pick us up... but it did come and finally got back to Union Square by about 4.
Time to head for the food hall in the Westfield Centre - this time I got there fairly rapidly - yesterday we got a little lost and wandered off the beaten track and saw lots of homeless people.. bit disconcerting really...
After tea it was time to head back to hotel and chill.. and ate a cookie with fruit tea..

San Francisco July 17

After a good sleep it was time to move off to the days adventures.

Decided to go on the bus tour that takes you round the entire city in 1 hour 45 minutes and over the Golden Gate Bridge as well.
We were taken through different districts within the city - like China Town. This picture was on a building in Little Italy.

It was great going over the Golden Gate Bridge and on the other side the bus stopped for 10 minutes to take photos !!!!
There were lots of people on the tour bus from all over the world.... we were listening to the different languages and heard Italian, Australian, USA, and French.
It was a bit cold and cloudy but became fine later in the day.

On Monday next week a group of AEL's are going to cycle over the bridge - now thats a new experience ! And we will catch the ferry from the other side... a great photo opportunity too !

Afterwards I walked round the city and found a nice place for tea.

After some more retail therapy and ending up at a Westfeild Mall that makes the one in West City, back in Auckland, New Zealand look like a corner dairy, went back to the place we found for tea.

It was like going back in time with lots of baseball pictures and photos - a bit like going into the set of Cheers ( if you can remember that TV programme !)
The wind was still in the city but with all the tall buildings it was going in all directions. Look at these flags on both sides of the same street - they are flying in 2 different directions !
After a long day and a nice walk and by 8 o'clock it was time to walk back to the hotel.

San Francisco July 16

Hi there


This is a record of our trip to San Francisco.


I am here for the Adobe Education Leaders Conference but came a bit earlier so I could see the sights and sounds of this magic city. And besides... I come all this way so I may as well enjoy the sights, sounds and smells and experience the whole new thing of being in a new city and a NEW COUNTRY !


I flew out from NZ to Sydney and that took 3 hours - then had a stop over at the international lounge becuase I got stopped at the border - I was told to "get back" as I was an aliens in a foriegn country... and they didnt want me......



So I had a bit of time to kill before I started on our 13.5 hour trip to San Francisco...



I flew over on a 747 400 series plane

I am back on the morning of the 17th - Thursday ... in NZ you will be asleep now cruising into Friday...and the first thing that struck me was HOW SLOW the internet is here.... its worse than dial up here in the hotel - its faster at school !!!!!! If I type too fast the cursor has to catch up with me.. and I type 2 fingers....

I got to the airport it was so big I had a wander to get out and catch a shuttle to the hotel. It cost $17 but was an enjoyable ride around San Fran as I got to see lots of things.

One of the things I saw was the crookedest street in the world and the driver took us down it... click on the box to play the video...

I finally got to the hotel and checked in... then went for a walk had some tea and finally got back to the hotel at about 8 ish....
I found where I will be staying for the Adobe Conference - turns out a couple of blocks from here so I can walk there - no problems
I have taken lots of video already and lots more photos so will post the highlights later on today.

The weather started to get a bit cooler and we notices the tallest buildings had cloud around them - this one is one of the tallest in SF so it looked quite cool with its head in the clouds.

On our way down Bush Street I noticed this cool church next to the French Embassy -I will try to go inside at some stage to take more pictures - the stained glass windows looked fantastic.




How about this shop - look at the name !

And the trams are brilliant - I will take a ride from the top to the bottom at some stage - right down to fishermans Wharf - and I will poke the camera out the window holding onto the pole - but the guy said to hold ya butt in going round corners as it might get bumped - some of the corners are tight !


And when I went to have dinner at this place that was steeped in history back to 1800's they has little dining booths taht you could book for up to 6 people - I got in just in time before 7:00 and had lots of time to take in the atmoshere !



On the way back up Bush Street I had a look at China Town - lots of bargains - lots of varying prices so you had to look around a couple of shops before you actually bought the item...

I got back to the hotel at about 8 ish and got the internet connection sorted so I could do this blog and do emails....