@indigomoth - It's a shame they didn't tell you about this at school, although if you had gone high enough in the science classes, you would have learned it eventually. They do have some really good documentaries with metallic bonding animations if you want to check those out.
One of the things I think is pretty cool that I remember my teacher brought back to this, was the fact that some metals, like gold, can be stretched to the point where they are basically like tissue paper and they still hold together, because of metallic bonding.
There are actually kids in India who spend their days hammering out gold until it is this thin, so that they can use the gold to coat a pill which is supposed to make it a better medicine. I don't think that actually works, and of course it's cruel that the kids have to do it, but it's still a fascinating practice.