Easter Break

We are currently on our 2 week Easter break. Yes, we have 2 weeks off!  We have been spending our days lazing at the beach as well as shopping and experiencing life in St. Vincent.  One of the parents at Sugar Mill Academy has kindly offered us a free stay at their Inn on Bequia Island.  We are leaving Saturday and coming back Tuesday.  This is where we will be staying and we are VERY excited!!
http://www.theoldfort.com/index.htm

We have also booked a schooner tour on the Friendship Rose.  The ship will take us around several of the Grenadine Islands.  I still can't get over the beauty of the Caribbean.   I'm sure we will have plenty of pictures to share when we get back and hopefully no one will get sea sick during the tour (ahem, me!).

Kelly, Eleni and Caleigh

Holly and Janna’s Travel Tips Continued... Dance, Drugs and Chicken Suits

101. Rick King has nothing on Queen Holly.
102. Apparently while under a tsunami warning do not run for the hills. This may lead to you falling down a mine shaft which may cause you to need the water to swim your way out. Best option, get in the boat.
103. Going down under also makes you dyslexic, for example; Rick King is really Ken Ring... I blame the automatic bug spray.
104. Don’t let the students know about your bug phobia as they will catch them to place on your things to see you scream.
105. When in New Zealand, you may find yourself in talks about the benefits of marijuana use with the other teachers.
106. When you are attempting to steal your students dog, it is always polite to ask permission from their mothers. “Hello, Mrs. Connor’s Mom”
107. When sliding down the walls in the classrooms, beware of carpet burn.
108. Bulky students are not allowed to be hippies.
109. When you breed a shih tzu with a bull dog, you get “a bulls**t.”
110. When traveling with Janna you will come to realize very quickly that it’s normal for her to trip over her own shadow, or anything really.
111. Kiwi Teaching Tip: When Sue (the English teacher) is wanting to see if her students are paying attention, causally wonder out loud what’s on the other side of the truck that has naked backsides on the side you can see.
112. Don’t be surprised when the students who look like the wolves from Twilight start talking about how much they love Twilight.
113. When trying to convince the students to perform their dance piece, singing Lester the Lobster, complete with actions, can only help them realize they will not be the ones who will be making fools of themselves.
114. Don’t be surprised to find the garbage man going through your garbage before he picks it up. Yes, he made the sausages.
115. It will take you about 3 weeks to get the secretaries little girl to talk to you and when she finally does, don’t be surprised that it’s in Maori.
116. Yes folks, Pauly D lookalikes exist even in New Zealand.
117. When you’re warned that there are hills in Auckland. Take that warning seriously.
118. Don’t go to the rugby store to ask for information about cricket, they don’t know anything about it either.
119. Even the birds in New Zealand like to join you for a cup a coffee in Starbucks. Don’t worry they only go after your left overs.
120. In New Zealand there is assigned seating at the movie theaters. Don’t take too long picking your seats though or you may find yourself getting very familiar with the ticketing process as it will reset on you after about 5 seconds.
121. Late nights in Auckland bring out the people wearing chicken suits while early mornings brings out the giant plugs.
122. Don’t expect to sit down and eat at Pizza Hut as it’s nothing more then a whole in the wall. If you’re really tired of walking the hill though you may find yourself in the corner eating in the takeaway Pizza Hut.
123. Even all the way down under, your ex boyfriends come back to haunt you.
124. If you have flat feel like Holly, go to Kelly Tarltons to find shoes, the penguins have a wide selection.
125. Allowing strangers to take your picture at the Sky Tower may result in multiple chins and a close up of your nose hair.
126. The people in New Zealand are so nice that they will offer to lend you a car while you’re here. If you have trouble walking however for the safety of yourself and others, politely decline.
127. Don’t be surprised when the teachers start fighting over who gets to take you where. This is what happens when you become a communities entertainment.
128. Students will enjoy suggesting things for you to see and do. Beware, accents may distort suggestions making you believe you can go bowling in the zoo.
129. Who knew our students also shared our love of impromptu dance parties. As well as teaching you new moves to use for entertaining people in the park. That’s what happens when we co-teach a class.
130. You know you’re apart of the town when the locals start referring to you as the teacher at the Manaia School... We’ve already been initiated into the community, why leave?

Living Vicariously!

Well, once again I find myself smiling as I write this brief entry. New Zealand! France! China! Cannot wait to hear more from SVG, Kenya, and Sweden! Please make sure to include as much as you can in your record of teaching. Your reflections and pictures and impressions and experiences will provide so much for those who follow you next year. Bail money! Very funny! John

Week 2 over and bail money is still in tact...

The time seems to be flying by here and we’re looking for any possible reason to stay. If nothing else I’m sure we could stay here as the Manaia School’s entertainment. Between our funny sounding accents and apparent lack of knowledge using simple technology we’ve been giving everyone from students to teachers a good laugh.

Our week started off with getting our assignment from “Charlie” (complete with “Good Morning, Angels) which was mainly staying with the years 9-13 English and Science classes. Me helping out in a high school science class would normally be strictly for entertainment value but apparently they’re serious...

There were two main highlights from the week, the years 12-13 field trip to New Chums Beach, Ferry Landing and other interesting landmarks and meeting Schnitzel. Oh Schnitz, he’s choice. I’m sure you’re all highly interested in the Schnitz but you’ll just have to wait.

The English field trip was one of the most fun experiences of our lives. These kids have such a carefree and fun attitude you couldn’t help but catch it. We were jumping over/running away from waves, quoting movies and singing ridiculous songs right along with them.

We started off going to New Chums Beach. You can only drive so far when you come to a beach, but apparently this is not the right beach. To get to New Chums Beach we had to walk through water on the first beach, scale rocks to find a path, walk through what can only be described as a jungle going up a mountain and then finally back down to what looks like paradise. I’m not sure how we made the journey to the beach in one piece, the rocks are much more slippery then they are on PEI and neither of us expected a jungle. At one point they even had a rope tied up to help you scale the steep hill but we made it through unscathed and only one incident where I thought there was a bug in my hair and made people stop to check and make sure it wasn’t anything gross. Turns out it was only a leaf, now we know why they stayed on Gilligan’s Island. The students obviously got to the beach much quicker then we did and were probably grateful they didn’t get stuck helping us along. After Waka Ama I’m sure they will never volunteer to help again. The students immediately went swimming but not before being told to at least try to make mental notes about the things around them. They made many notes about how high the waves were and what happens when someone face-plants into the sand (just so you know, they get a big gash in their head) They did eventually get back together on land to discuss some of the things around them but they were having so much fun that Sue (their teacher) let them go back and play around in the sand and water a bit more before we had to move on. This would be when one of the students thought it would be funny to get buried in the sand, and the other boys thought it would be funny to make a penis out of him. Eventually he was turned into a mermaid and tormented before he managed to get free. The walk back through the jungle wasn’t as bad at the walk there, but the rocks still gave some trouble. I imagine myself slipping on them one of these days and it’s not going to be pretty.

After New Chums beach, we headed out to Ferry Landing to get some lunch and take the passenger ferry across the water to hike another mountain. No wonder everyone is so fit here. Holly and I venture out ourselves for lunch and got directions to the park we had to meet everyone at in 20 minutes. Surprisingly we made it to the park very easily. We were sitting there, I had my ipod out and we were dancing along to the music entertaining those watching on their boats when Holly checks her watch. It’s past the time we were supposed to meet them. We weren’t overly worried because New Zealand is a very laid back kind of place where time doesn’t really seem to mean a whole lot so we thought maybe they were late. We did find it odd that everyone was late though but we continued to enjoy the day and rock out to the music. Thankfully Holly was paying attention because as we’re in the middle of our dancing, she notices people on the other side of the water area that look like the people we are supposed to be with. Turns out we were in the wrong park, we should have known it was too easy to find the place, good thing we were early...

We get to the ferry and it’s just this little boat which takes us from one side of the water to the other. The mountain was just on the other side. We had to be careful though because some of the path can be very steep and people have nearly fallen off. Great, that means I’m falling off a mountain today. Not sure how but no one fell off any mountains although when we got to the top a few of them wanted to jump off the rock into the water below. Once Holly got to the top however, she decided she wasn’t moving. There was no way anyone was going to convince her to make her way down the steep rock to see the view. No one except for 4 boys who are much bigger then her and promised to catch her if she were to fall. I still don’t know how they persuaded her because she was not budging. We get some good shots of the scenery, saw a shadow of a sting ray, and had some good laughs and then made our way back down the mountain to go to another beach. This next beach wasn’t quite so nice, or as the boys said, “Whaea, this beach sucks!” that is, until they found the dead possum. They then proceeded to pose the possum for the next people who were lucky enough to visit.

We left the possum and made our way to our last destination for the day, another beach. A person could really get used to New Zealand English classes. This beach was much nicer then the dead possum beach. Everyone was starting to get a little tired so some of the students just relaxed while others took advantage of the water yet again. It was here that I noticed just how burnt I was, not pretty but not nearly as bad as originally thought, it only hurt for a day or two after. We made our way back across the ferry to the van after the last beach for our ride back to the other side of the mountain. Everyone was getting tired but not tired enough for ice cream. The boys convinced Sue to stop off at this place that makes the biggest ice cream you have ever seen. 1 scoop is more like 2-3 scoops. One of the boys got what’s called a “killer” ice cream which had 5-7 scoops of ice cream on it. It was something to see, he ate most of it but didn’t manage to finish.

By the time we made it back in town Holly and I could barely keep our eyes open and it was only about 6pm. Needless to say, we had a great sleep that night, burn and all. This field trip is just one more reason to lose our passports at some point so that we never have to leave.

Now for the Schnitz. Schnitzel is obviously not his real name but we’ll just keep it this way to protect the guilty, plus that’s just how we’ve always referred to him. He’s our substitute bus driver and we were lucky enough to meet him as he was learning the bus route. We swear this guy has no memory and less of an attention span. When he drives the bus we hang on for dear life as we’re sure we’re going over the mountain on the way to or from school one of these days.

We show up at our bus stop early the first day Schnitz is driving the bus on his own, good thing we did because he was also early. This wouldn’t be so bad except he starts driving and none of the kids are out at their stops yet because he’s a good 5-10 minutes early with his route. We get to the first stop and he just keeps going, all Holly and I hear him say is “Oh, no kids” in his thick German accent. Holly and I kept trying to tell him that it was because he was really early but he didn’t seem to understand. We get to the end of the route, with only Holly and I on the bus when he finally turns around to ask if maybe there is a reason there are no kids on the bus that day. We finally convince him to turn around and go back to get some of the kids he left behind. By the time the kids get on the bus, they start ragging on him, “You missed this kid or that kid or STOP!” “Have you ever had a license before?” “Do you want me to drive?” Holly and I were doing all we could not to completely lose it. The next day he was a little later coming to get us so he didn’t miss nearly as many kids but they were still relentless, especially when he would stop at stops that didn’t exist or drive too slow or fast or anything really. When the main bus driver finally came back, he told the kids they gave poor Schnitz a mental breakdown. We just hoped it wasn’t that back because we were hoping to see Schnitz again before we leave.

We’ll end it here as this post is ridiculously long and I’m sure most people never make it to the end of these but for those who do, we hope you enjoy. There are still lots to come.
To Be Continued...

Varberg

Hi all,

Lauren and I have been living in Varberg since last Friday. Our host, Monica, lives about 15-20 mins outside of the city and our school is now only a few minutes from our new place. We spent most of the weekend relaxing and catching up on sleep. I walked around and took some pictures as some parts reminded me of home and the boardwalk by Victoria Park in Ch'town. It was nice to smell the sea air and be in the sunshine, even if it was pretty cold out! It's starting to look more like spring though. I was going to upload some photos, but it isn't working for me :(

Twice a week I help out with a grade 4 class teaching English. So far I have been teaching them some songs and playing games with them - they are ADORABLE and so smart! They start learning English here in grade 3 and already the students in grade 4 can translate texts between Swedish and English. It blows my mind.

Today I played a game with them called Around the World. I had 26 cards with each letter of the alphabet, and I would show 2 students a card and they would have to shout out a word that began with that letter. Whoever came up with a correct word first got to move from their seat to stand beside the next competitor. The kids loved it! They were leaning over their desks trying to see the letters so they could think of something in their heads quickly.

On Friday, the teacher I am working with in grade 4 is taking Lauren and I with her daughter to ride horses. We are super excited as neither one of us has been on a horse before. I think next weekend we are going to take the train to Copenhagen to explore and probably do some more shopping, then the weekend after that we are home! Can't believe 4 weeks is almost up already....

Yumi

Yumi = corn in Chinese

So this past Saturday we made our way to Penglai. It's about an hour's drive north of our city, along the coast of China. Here's the majority of us in the van with Steve (our mentor - unfortunately he did not come with us).



We left campus at 8am and headed by van to our first destination: Penglai Aquarium. It's the biggest aquarium in China and there were tons of species of fish, seals, huskies (I don't know why they were there...), dolphins, crocodiles, etc. It was a very nice spot and yet again, we were at times more of an attraction than the fish themselves..







We saw a dolphin and seal show while we were there as well. The signs that were translated into English were pretty funny. It's a common occurrence for us to read anything that is in English because it's usually hilarious. They also do not really understand when/where to put spaces in sentences.

Here's one example:

(Explore polar, strangetrip of whale!) .. whaa??





We then grabbed lunch and went to Penglai Pavilion. It's a super pretty park with lots of Chinese architecture and great scenic views. We spent most of the afternoon there, but you could easily stay there for a full day. It would be great to see it during the summer when it's in full bloom.






There were lots of walking trails in the park and paths along the water. It was a great day and it was nice to get out and see some of the beautiful sights that China has to offer.










Well, that's our weekend in a nutshell! We look forward to having lunch with Linyuan tomorrow and having her sit in our classes throughout the week!

Keep enjoying yourselves!

PARIS!!

Hey everyone,

Paris was awesome, and I had so much fun. The weekend kind of started out bad because as soom as we left Lille we ended up with a flat tire, but we got it fixed and we were on our way. We started off with Disney Land on Friday evening, and it was so much fun. I went on Space Mountain (roller coaster) and it was awesome.

Saturday, we started with the Eifel Tower. We went to the very top, and I've never experienced anything like that before (amazing). We then went to the Arc de Triomphe. We were on our way to have lunch when we say some street dancers, so we stopped and watched them for a bit. They were really good. We had lunch, but then it started to rain, but we walked in the rain for a while, and it was fun. We were going to go to the Louvre, but we didn't have enough time. We could there on Sunday. The woman I'm staying with had heard of this cafe that sells pastries, but also does tattoos, so we checked it out. When we first walked in we didn't see anything that showed that they did tattoos and it was really nice inside. We stayed and I had a drink, then I had to go to the restroom (downstairs), and what do I see? I see a guy who does tattoos. It was interesting. I didn't get any tattoos though.

Saturday, I went to mass in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, it was awesome. I was going to go up to the towers, but you should have seen the line up, it was rediculous. So, we went to the Royal Palace and Prison with a Chapel beside it. The place is gorgeous. We then went to the Louvre. There is so much to see there, but I saw what I wanted to see (the famous ones). I had an awesome weekend and experienced so much.

Melissa

Fresh Fruit!

How well I remember the fresh fruit in Kenya and China - particularly the pineapple on a stick! It is going to be so wonderful to see all of the pictures that you have!

Keep sending pictures! I am up early each day looking for them and your blogs!

John

Better update from K

So our last update was kinda lame - we had to post for the Farmer's helping Farmer's blog and to be completely honest, I just copied and pasted. So here is our more entertaining update.

1. We have answered the age old question of how many people can you fit on a motorbike.
Answer: 2 Adults and 2 goats (one on top of the other, between the two adults)
2. The rains in Africa truely are blessed. Dancing in the rain at 9:00 at night is a better time than the globe!
3. There is never enough salt on anything, so make sure you have salt around the house!
4. The nuns will fold your laundry (and we are talking all your laundry) if you leave in on the line, which is awesome!
5. Garam Masala is the best spice in the world, and no one uses it quite as well as Belton.
6. Guacamole, Guacamole, Guacamole. Need I say it again. yes! Guacamole!
7. Walking in the mud is not like walking in normal mud. It is actually like having cement blocks on your shoes when you walk.
8. Erin is in love with the watermelons - she may marry one before she comes home. And no, watermelon is not a nickname for a person here. She is in love with the fruit!
9. Tusker - looking good!
10. Whoever would have thought that the girls (Erin, Nicole, Lydia, Katie) would walk 1.5 hours to school and actually love it!

Illegal Blogging

Hello one and all!

So I noticed it's been a while since the China group has posted in this blog! It has been quite difficult to use any form of online social networking because it is banned/illegal here. We have indeed found a way around it (obviously), but our internet connection is not the greatest and often cuts in and out.

We are certainly enjoying ourselves and reading the English translations of slogans and sayings on various forms of clothing and signs. Here are some examples:

- It takes two to stupid
- Love is kiss. If you have a dream...duff.
- Nobody gives a love.
- Clot. I love you.
- My home steak

We're not quite sure what those expressions mean to say, but they're pretty funny!

The food here is quite good and we're getting accustomed to ordering with the intention of sharing all the food, rather than having individual dishes. We made that mistake once and our table was literally filled with large dishes; the people working there thought it was pretty funny.

The language barrier here is phenomenal. Very very very very few people speak English so we are gesturing and pointing constantly; that would have to be the biggest culture shock for us. In a city of 6 million people, there are only a handful of foreigners kicking around so when we spot one we eagerly wave and ask where they're from. We take the bus wherever we want to go; the bus system is pretty good and it costs 1 Juan ( ~$0.15 Canadian) one-way. Depending on the time of day we are either literally squished in the bus like sardines or we all have a seat.

There are countless vendors along the streets and we have found the most glorious food/snack ever: Pineapple on a Stick. It is exactly that: a large chunk of pineapple on a stick for 2 Juan. It's a great snack or dessert after a meal!


We went to a zoo this past weekend and they actually had a poodle and a chihuahua in cages. The living conditions for these animals were...different than at home to say the least. We watched a sea lion show and we were more of an attraction than the sea lions themselves. That seems to be the norm when we go anywhere; people stare us down and little children tug on their parent's sleeve and point at us. We just smile and say one of the 5 words we know how to say in Chinese: Ni hao (hello)!

The teaching portion of our trip is going very well. The 2 classes that Sheileagh and I have are very nice students (2nd & 3rd year university) and very eager to learn. Those who are teaching the English classes are enjoying themselves and getting their pictures taken with the students. The boys are quite popular with the Chinese female students who all think they're very handsome and are not shy to tell them either. We've realized that very few students, even at the university age, have left the country. They may have traveled to various provinces within China, but not anywhere else.


We are not too sure what today will bring for us. We're looking forward to the weekend!



Glad to hear that all is well with everyone! Have a great day!

March 23

Oh, my! What great pictures!

John

Feeding reindeer in Sweden

Sam, Stacy and I just had a great opportunity to feed and pet one of the teacher's at the school's reindeer! Very wonderful experience! They were very hungry and very friendly, and eagerly ate from our hands.

March 22

Thanks so much for the pictures and the comments! I so look forward to hearing from you. Such unqiue experiences! It is good finally to see the ground - so much snow and generally unpleasant weather. It will not be too long before the snow goes away, thankfully.

Keep those blogs and pictues coming!

Best wishes to all!

John

Stockholm, field trips and CANDY!

Hey all,

Lauren and I have been having an awesome time in Sweden. Last week I went on a field trip with the grade 8 class to the local nuclear power plant. We didn't get to see much of the plant (probably a good thing, considering...) but we got to dress up in the protective gear and had a competition along with some other activities. It was fun, although most of it was in Swedish. I did
chat with two of the employees of the information centre at the end though.






On the weekend Lauren and I drove to Stockholm with our host Monica, her husband and one of her sons. It's a 5 hour drive from Varberg, then they were going up to Uppsala which is another hour north. We had an awesome weekend, I definitely loved the city and all the islands and archipelagos. There were lots of boats around and the architecture was amazing. We went to a few museums, visited the Ericsson Globe for the Skyview and of course ate at McDonald's and went shopping :) Loving the shopping here a little too much I think. We walked around the city a fair bit on Sunday as it was nice and sunny out. We ended up taking the train to Uppsala to meet Monica and her family after they watched a bandy match along with 20,000 other people. (Bandy is a super popular sport here, like hockey only with a ball instead of a puck.) On the drive home, which was supposed to take about 6 hours, I was kind of sleeping and all of a sudden we pulled over on the highway. I had no idea what was going on, then Lauren tells me that the headlights went out. So.... that was fun. We sat there for a while as Monica's husband tried to figure out what was wrong, seeing if he could fix them and whatnot. We were still 3 hours from home and it was around 9:30pm so it was pretty dark. After some debating and a phone call, we decide to try driving home with the brights on. I think we must have went a bit slower so we didn't get too close behind anyone. Anyway, we ended up getting home safe and sound around 2 in the morning. Needless to say, we were tired on Monday!















A few pictures we snapped in Stockholm, I thought the sushi place was interesting....











Also, we have discovered and are in love with the candy sections at every grocery store and 7-11 that we've come across. It's all priced per kg and there are sour candies, gummies, hard candies and lots of chocolate. SO GOOD.

This weekend we are moving into our apt in the city, since Monica lives about 15-20 mins outside of Varberg. I'm excited for the change in scenery and to spend some time wandering around the city and investigating the shops and restaurants. Can't believe we are almost halfway!

Hope everyone has a great week :)

I have been uploading photos to my flikr account if anyone wants to check them out! - http://www.flickr.com/photos/60253269@N05/.

not having a car sucks when you are in a foreign country. we were taking a taxi, but it costs $40-$60 EC's (caribbean dollars) each trip. there are buses, but there is no schedule and only 3 buses. the only other option are the vans. the vans are owned by the locals. they are pimped out with a name on the front and blast caribbean music. they are similar to 15 passenger vans but smaller and believe me, they will squeeze as many people as possible into them. the road into town is all turns and the two lanes are narrow. throw in the fact there are no speed limits here and people drive like madmen. we've been putting off taking the vans, but decided enough was enough. if we are living in a country, we want to experience the culture...so we decided to start taking the vans. the best ride so far was yesterday. the driver was crazy...passing cars and driving at crazy speeds. imagine my horror when some goats stepped onto the road. i thought for sure they would be road kill. thankfully, all vehicles stopped for them to cross.

my classmate and i could not stop laughing as she cursed the driver in greek. a few passengers were also smirking at us laughing. it is really quite an experience. the girls and i are amazed at some of the things we see, but all in all, it's been a wonderful experience so far.

Young Island = Heaven!

We have been spending a lot of time at Young Island.  When you see the pics, you will know why.  It's is absolutely gorgeous and the food is divine! Expenisive, but divine! We got a chance to go snorkling last weekend.  One of our student's has a parent that works at the resort on Young Island, so besides snorkling, we also got a tour of the island and access to the pool.  Teaching does have it's perks!

Us!

 

Young Island

Update from the Arctic Circle

Hey all,

We're on our second week here. Things are going well although there was definatly some adjustment required for the slow paced, relaxed environment here. (Sarah says small, small, small village living - aka a small collection of houses in the middle of nowhere.....she has become slightly dramatic since arrival). We spent 6 hours on a bus round trip this weekend to get a burger.....no MacDonalds (thanks Lauren for rubbing that in) but we did discover MAX, a fantastic Swedish burger chain.

Our school is neat, our advisors are awesome. We spend Friday's going to various elementary schools in the area. Eva, one of our teachers spent the day laughing with us (we've corrupted her and she now wants to spend the summer in Canada) and planning some trips....she promised Stacy that she would see reindeer up close and that she could drive a snowmobile, (Sam thinks Stacy and motor vechicles may not be the safest thing and was quite upset and offended when the girls told Eva that she was the most likely to be injured when we head to the ski hill); they are also taking us to the ice hotel in early April. Still no signs of the northern lights but we are hopeful.

We've only been called Americans once, which we quickly corrected.  We also got quite a few chuckles during our presentation on Canada, in which Sam displayed a big picture of Sidney Crosby celebrating Canada's gold medal win; no hostility so we're still allowed to stay.

The coffee machine in our staffroom meets the needs of Sarah and Stacy quite well, the pre-departure warning of crappy caffeine was false. The grocery store is less stressful now that we figured out a few key words but Stacy still isn't allowed to be in charge of maps, that leads to disaster. Oh and for the record, the drinking age in Sweden is 18 in restaurants and 20 at the liquor store, don't believe your students when they say its 12.

Slut! (our students taught us that this means the end in Swedish so no judgements)

Sarah, Stacy and Sam

Our update from kenya

We have had a great week getting to know our students better and falling into a comfortable routine both in school and out of school. Our students seem to be opening up more to us as they get to spend more time with us and get to know us better. All three schools have had a school-wide game day which gives us a great opportunity to interact with the students in a more natural setting rather than the classroom. Our students are all phenomenal athletes and we are continuously astonished at what they are able to accomplish with the resources that they have or don’t have.

We had a very eventful weekend with Martin from FHF. He took us to Meru town on Saturday where we grabbed a bite to eat at Sherlock’s Den. We were all craving a burger and fries and the restaurant definitely fit the bill. Then we went and visited a local shop where we found some great gifts to bring back to our families and also as souvenirs for ourselves. It is a very cute shop close to the Nakumatt which is owned by two brothers, and their father does much of the wood carving. Then we completed some grocery shopping and headed home.

When we got home, our amazing friend and cook, Belton, was there to help us learn how to make samosas. Lisa worked side by side with him and realized that making samosas without Belton is going to be very hard when she gets home. However, the samosas were AMAZING! That night we had the hardest rain many of us have ever seen and celebrated the experience by dancing in it.

Sunday we met back up with Martin who took some of us to a church service at Naari Girls Secondary School. This service was very beautiful and moving. The girls had beautiful voices which made the service that much more memorable. Then we attended church with Martin at his home church. The service was performed in Kimeru but we were told that while there was a language barrier, God spoke all languages. Then we visited the school which abuts the church. This was a great learning experience because this school is ranked the number one primary school in the district.

We were then happy to meet with Janet and Jennifer back at Jennifer’s place where we had a traditional Kenyan meal, including potatoes mashed with bananas, which is a delicacy in Kenya. We all were very impressed with the mashed potatoes and look forward to making them at home. On the drive back to St. Theresa’s we were pleasantly surprised to see our first elephant in the forest separating Meru Town and Kiirua. We got out and took some photos and then returned home for a peaceful night’s rest.

March 21

Here it is, early in the morning and I am checking the blog - still laughing re: some of the comments from New Zealand! All is well here.

I look forward to hearing from each country - just a brief update.

Best wishes to everyone ... enjoy each day to the fullest!

John

Holly and Janna’s Travel Tips Continued... Yes, we ate the sausage.

81. Birds in New Zealand hop and walk a lot, probably because it’s too hot to fly.
82. Don’t be surprised if you see turkeys running along the side of the road. If you can catch one, it’s dinner.
83. When names are hard to pronounce or do not seem appropriate for the person, give them a new one.
84. Turns out, Lady’s name really is Lady.
85. When Schnitzel is driving the bus you may end up with no kids on the bus that day.
86. Who needs Dr. Phil for love/life advice when you’ve got Schnitz. That guy’s deep.
87. Make sure you understand the seasons in the country you’re in before you ask stupid questions... “You have a pumpkin festival in April?!” -Janna, insert hysterical laughing from students...
88. In any situation, Charlie Sheen will be brought up... “So, what does everyone think of Charlie Sheen?... Yeah, I said it.” - student
89. Celine Dion and Shania Twain seem to be New Zealand icons as the Kiwi’s know more about them then the Canadians. Apparently Shania Twain has a house here.
90. Plan to listen to reggae music the entire time you’re in New Zealand, unless it’s Beauty and the Beast by Celine Dion.
91. When a student asks if your camera is flat, they are not talking about the physical appearance of the camera.
92. When you are rocking out in the park waiting for the rest of the class to show up, make sure you’re in the right park.
93. When Kiwi’s hear about a tsunami warning, they call each other to tell them “Surf’s up!”
94. Touch is one of the many different types of Rugby. Trying to keep all the different kinds straight will drive you crazy. “Does the World Cup go with the... All Blacks?”
95. In New Zealand, Hokey Pokey isn’t just a dance.
96. Canada is not apart of the USA or England.
97. Make sure you know who the current prime minister (Stephan Harper) and governor general (David Lloyd Johnston) are so you can clarify that Obama is indeed not our president.
98. Disregard tip number 84, Lady’s name may not be Lady, we’re not sure...
99. When being polite, you may need to eat sausage made by the garbage man.
100. Check that bail money is still in shoe because you don’t wear them in New Zealand, not even hiking.

Tuesday, March 15

When you have a bit of time, post some pictures! It is wonderful to see these photographs. I agree with Linyuan, some of the blog posts are far funnier than the Comedy channel! There appears to be much interest in SIE for the coming year. I have every reason to believe that the exceptional work done by SIE 2011 accounts for much of this interest.

Continue to enjoy and learn from each day's experiences! I hope that some of you will contact CBC (see my last email)!

John

Football aka Soccer

Tonight I went to a soccer practice with one of the teachers at our school. I had told Monica about being interested in sports and she had suggested I do some training with this colleague of hers and her soccer team. I haven't really played soccer in something like 10 years, but I thought hey, it will be good exercise and then I can say I did it when I get home. The teacher I went with told me it would be mostly running.... she was not joking.

I am now seriously exhausted, sore and a little nauseous - I may have overdone it!

We started with passing drills, then some running drills, footwork stuff, more running, then finally we got to scrimmage. I thought that would end the practice, and I was most certainly wrong. We then did bench jumps (I know the word bench in Swedish now very well), push ups, sit ups and burpees. I managed to keep up with most of it but had to sit out for a few minutes here and there to get my breath back and make sure I wasn't going to die and/or pass out.

The girls are all very fit! They range from age 15 to 30+ and they train in the spring and play all summer in tournaments. They talked a little bit in English so I could understand, mostly the teacher I was with translated for me, and also the coach told me I did a good job :)

Anyway it was definitely an experience! I might think about going again in a couple weeks, if I can walk tomorrow. Not sure about that right now!

Hello all, Happy 2nd Week!

Thanks for sharing the wonderful stories and photos. Your posts are not only educational and reflective, but very entertaining too. I'll come here first before I turn to Comedy channel on TV:)

Hope your teaching are going smoothly this week with lots of new discoveries.

Linyuan

Assumptions gone awry

Okay, so we have lost our minds aka we have a lot of free time and have been inspired by Team New Zealand and Team Africa so here it is from the great minds of Team Northern Sweden some random assumptions and learning discoveries:

1- Luggage does not carry through from Stockholm to Lulea easily/at all no matter what the airport guys tell you. Also Luggage is not guaranteed to be in same condition as you left it in at Stockholm checkin.

2- Cans with dog pictures on them are not dog meat - first thing teachers point out to us.

3- It takes Sam 2 trips to the store to get milk and 3 to find potatoes. I think we need a dictionary. PS: Pictures are awesome.

4 - Contrary to popular belief, it is tanning season in northern sweden. Stacy has yet to come off the roof.

5 - Cool Runnings has nothing on this place, minus of course their impressive accents.

6 - Swedish prices cause many heart issues for Canadian travellors, Stacy needs a calculator ALL OF THE TIME. Sam tries to figure it all out.

7 - There are NO REINDEER - yet.

8 - We came for the lights, they are non existant----- :(

9 - The bus system kicks acadian lines ass.

10 - Drivers like to fishtail and do donuts when taking sharp turns. Possibly due to excessive speed and seriously horrible icy roads. Stacy will be hit yet.

11 - We are not allowed to break bones because the ambulance is usually too far away.

12 - Stacy can't read Swedish, or pronounce it. But she tries, much to the dismay of our Swedish roomates.

13 - Our Swedish roommates have found us useful for deciphering vocabulary in English video games.

14 - The coffee is good......and Sarah is happy.

15 - Turns out running up snowbanks is fun, its the getting down without breaking bones that is hard.

16 - Lack of sleep is hilarious, or really bad depending.

17 - Stacy and Sarah have kitchens, Sam has internet, who won this round??

18 - Ice Cream rocks, just saying.

19 - Turns out, when someone CAN'T speak english, it doesn't mean they CAN speak french. Ask Stacy!

20 - GTL Baby! (Sam is confused, Jersey Shore lingo is too much)

Til next time, or til we get bored again.

S3

Our update!

1. It’s awesome, we like our students!
2. It’s hot, we are all some shade of red or spotted red.
3. Pineapples are 50c and avocadoes are the size of footballs and only 20c
4. We have yet to see an elephant, but Lisa and Amy saw camels that were about a kilometer away.
5. Amy is getting everyone addicted to Glee
6. We are all going to learn how to make samosas (Belton is going to teach us).
7. People randomly give us fresh eggs and fresh meat.
8. The market on Sunday is insane but you can buy pretty much ANYTHING for cheap.

Tournai, Belgium

Hey everyone,

I'm doing great here in France. I went to Tournai the other day with my host family, and while they were in a meeting I went exploring. It's quite a small city, but lots to see. I've seen the Cathedral of Notre-Dame (Not the one in the movie though. That one is in Paris.). It was gorgeous, but didn't get a chance to go inside. It is a city that you can't get lost because you just have to look for the top of the Cathedral. It's easy to get around the streets. Anyways, here's a picture of a great view.

Holly and Janna’s Travel Tips Continued... What to do during a Tsunami Warning and other useful information

61. In New Zealand, you may find your shoes on the feet of others.
62. Doing aerobics with the students is encouraged. So is making a fool of yourself while you do it.
63. Make sure you have proper shoes when walking through the beach mud, the proper shoes being none at all unless you want to lose them.
64. When in outrigger canoes don’t lean to the right, unless you want to tip the canoe.
65. You don’t need to shower before Waka Ama, the paddle of the person in front of you, behind you and yourself will give you a complete shower.
66. When you want a person to jump out of the canoe, don’t claim to see a black shadow (stingray).
67. When heading back to shore from the canoe, send a student first to find the rocks and holes and watch out for black shadows.
68. When coming back from Waka Ama make sure you shower right away, the time you’re covered in mud is when the whole town wants to meet you.
69. Advice given from one student to another: When you find that time is going slow, stop looking at the clock.
70. When you can’t find a flashlight, fashion a torch out of sticks and rags, holding a pitchfork is not necessary but encouraged.
71. When a tsunami warning is in effect, reading about tsunamis will only make you panic more.
72. Warning: When there is a tsunami warning in effect, every car that comes down the road will turn in your driveway making you think someone is coming to rescue you... They’re not.
73. Getting mad at the town for being at the pub when there is a tsunami warning doesn’t help anyone.
74. Warning: When you have a bouncy bed, it may you believe the ground is starting to shake and a tsunami is headed straight for you.
75. Warning: Do not turn on kettle when a tsunami warning is in effect, it may make roommates believe a tsunami is headed straight for you.
76. When a tsunami is threatening the place you live, get in the boat.
77. When in Coromandel, make sure Stoney gives you a ride in his boat. If he doesn’t offer the rest of the town will for him.
78. It’s not ok to date your first cousins, but second cousins are ok.
79. When you see a cockroach on its back, gently place piece of paper towel on said cockroach and then place a very large book upon the paper towel and push. Leave for a few minutes to make sure it’s completely dead. Leave outside as a warning for other cockroaches.
80. Warning: Tights make male legs look like chicken legs.

We Just Rely On Their Natural Talent and Natural Disasters...

Thursday we started our trek to the athletics competition early. There were 11 students, Holly and I as well as three other chaperones. We took two 12 passenger vans, one which is nice, shiny and new and the other they call the G-Roll. I’m not sure how it stays together when you’re in it. Of course that is the van all the boys want to drive in. We found out the story of the G-Roll the other day. Apparently a student at the schools grandfather said if Martin (the principal) could find a place for his grandson at the school he would give them a van, and the G-Roll arrived. It’s a sight to see, I’ll make sure to get pictures.
The regional track and field athletics day took place in Paeroa, which took us about an hour an a half to get to there. There were probably about 6 or 7 schools participating and each having at least 25 students per school so Manaia school was a little out numbered. When we got there Holly and I were asking if they trained all year for this and we were told that some of the schools did but because of the lack of resources, Manaia school relied on their students raw, natural talent. Last year they had a student who had never even picked up a javelin before he competed in the junior javelin competition and he ended up breaking the record on his first throw, they believed throwing rocks in the water was his training. He went to the next level of competition and won that and then went to the North Island Championships and his nerves seemed to get the best of him so he “only” placed fourth. Pretty good for a guy who had never threw a javelin before in our opinion! Martin was telling us a story about how they helped him train for the North Island Championships, the have a cow field next to the school so they went over there with a javelin they had borrowed and they had one of the kids keep the cows back while the student threw the javelin. Apparently they had a few close calls with the cows.
We can’t get down close to watch the shot-put competition but the other boys came back to tell us that one of our students won the junior competition, the guy who won was so nonchalant about the whole thing he didn’t even tell us. The same student went to compete in the junior javelin competition and ended up beating the student who won last year’s record! Needless to say, he also won that event, you almost felt bad for the other competitors because there was no competition.
The student who had won the junior competition the year before was now in the intermediate level. It was a lot closer competition... Until the end. On his last throw, the student from our school threw it so long, the crowd got quiet and you could just hear a ooooh from the spectators. You knew from the minute it landed, he also won his division. All in all, it was a great day for Manaia school and their lack of resources and natural talent.
Just before the end of the day, we see this truck drive into the athletics area and start setting up tents. Turns out they had the Rugby World Cup with them, of course we venture over and get pictures. I didn’t even know what it was and had to ask if it was actually the world cup that I was getting my picture with. Apparently it was a pretty big deal because one of the chaperones freaked out when it found out with was there and borrowed Holly’s camera to get pictures with it. Then to be sure he was the only one to have pictures, he wouldn’t let the students go see it before we left! He was still bragging about it today! As we were leaving, we also got to see the New Zealand Silver Ferns Netball (not to be confused with nipple) coach doing drills with a team in the Netball court. It was a big day for us seeing New Zealand’s big sports stuff!
We all piled back in the bus and the G-Roll and made our way back home. It was late and we had a feeling we had a bit of sun stroke as we were ready to pass out. That night we found out just how badly and weirdly Holly got burnt, to this day it looks like her ankle is completely bruised but it’s just the pattern in which she was burnt with what looks like second degree burns. Don’t worry though, she took some aloe straight from the aloe plant in a deserted house by the place we were staying, it seemed to do the trick. Right now, it’s sitting in the fridge just in case. The sun here is nothing you’ve ever experienced, you burn so quickly and easily, even with sunscreen on, forget moisturizer in the morning, we’ve switched straight to sunscreen.
Friday started like a normal day, nothing too crazy, we got to spend the afternoon taking pictures of the school and the new buildings that are going up. Some of the staff invited us to the local pub to see a band from Auckland that night and we thought about going, that is until we got back to the cottage only to realize Holly had forgotten her jacket at school which wouldn’t be so bad except that it had the only key to the cottage we had in it. We should have taken that as a sign that it was going to be an interesting weekend. We hiked it back in town to hopefully reach the real estate lady to see if she had a spare and thankfully she did. We were getting super tired so we got some supper in town and made our way back to the cottage to put our stuff away. Once we got back we were too tired to hike it back in town again to see the band so we settled in for the night. This is when we turn on the TV to see the devastation in Japan. We were stunned at the images we were seeing and felt completely horrible for everyone there, little did we know at the time, we should also be worried. All of a sudden, flashing across the TV, it reads, Tsunami Warning for New Zealand. Holly and I just look at each other wondering if we are really seeing what we are seeing. That is when panic starts to set it, it doesn’t get any better when we see the trajectory patterns and it’s headed straight for the Northern part of the North Island. WE PRACTICALLY LIVE ON THE BEACH!! Once we realize this is really real, we decide we should figure out what to do. We wonder if this kind of thing is normal, no one seems to be panicking but as we found out, everyone is at the pub watching rugby and listening to the band so no one is home on a Friday night! We figure Rose, our neighbor, might be home and maybe she would know what to do so maybe we should go ask her. It’s pitch black outside and we don’t even have a light on our deck. We look everywhere for flashlights and of course there aren’t any. We get to the tip of Rose’s driveway and it’s so dark neither of us can bring ourselves to venture down. We then decide to see in Ellen, the neighbor up the hill is home and as we get to her long, dark and twisty driveway that we also can’t bring ourselves to venture up, the water pump on the road beside us makes this weird noise freaking us out and sending us running back to the other side of the road. I get in our gate when Holly yells, “What’s that?!?” and locks me in the yard with whatever it was, thankfully for me, it was only the tire of the boat trailer. We get back inside and start pacing back and forth, all of a sudden Holly says, “I know this might sound crazy, but if this thing is coming, I’m getting in the boat (in our yard).” I look at her and say, “Yeah, you are crazy but I’ll go with you.” She figures it will float so it was probably our best option. Needless to say we don’t get much sleep that night. We kind of sleep in shifts, we’re constantly checking the TV and Civil Defense internet updates. Finally somewhere between 5-6am, they say that it will only be minor land threats and to stay out of the water, off the beaches and no sightseeing. The worst of it will hit the most Northern tip of the North Island and it will only bring in waves about a meter high. We start breathing sighs of relief although we’re still pretty tense, it wasn’t until the finally canceled the Tsunami watch at 5 that evening that we finally start to relax.
We survived our first Tsunami warning and never want to experience anything like that ever again... Ever.
Saturday we went to see a rugby game, my first ever, which some of the teachers and students from the school were playing in. It was pretty neat and we also seen a lot of kids from school while there. As we were walking back we could get these kids yelling something and when they finally got close enough it turns out they were yelling Canada! They wanted to say Hi but could remember our names! We were pretty tired from our crazy night so we the rest of the weekend was spent doing laundry and relaxing. Now hopefully we’ve seen the worst although with Holly and I you just never know!
To Be Continued...

Paradise!

We decided to check out Young Island today....wow!!! It was paradise and the food was divine.  Tomorrow is a national holiday, so we will be going back to the island for the afternoon.  I am loving St. Vincent and look forward to exploring the other islands that make up the Grenadines.

Young Island - Paradise

 some of the local cuisine...yummy!!

having a blast!

Jokkmokk

Hey Gang,

Stacy and I are chilling in our lounge watching video games with our new Swedish friend Nicholas and waiting for Sarah to arrive later today. Stacy is going crazy having been here since Friday on her own and having quite the airport adventure. We went to the grocery store and still haven't quite figured out what milk looks like but we did manage to get some food. So far our internet has been on and off (mostly off) so we will try to post soon.

Glad to hear Holly and Janna survived the Tsunami warnings and hope everyone else is great!

Shoes Optional

Tuesday was an observation day for us. We mainly followed the years 12-13 around watching their video conference math class (where I learned that I still do not understand how to do grade 12 math) as well as their English, Science and general class which is like an independent study class where some of them do technology, media studies or work on their math and science. The year 12-13 science class is an independent study type of class where they have a supervisor but they all study different things. We watched one student work on his chemistry experiment while thinking we should probably move to the other side of the room. He taught us that apparently the chemicals can burn your hands and not following directions can result in turning your beaker black.
Wednesday morning we watched the years 1-6. Holly was with the 1-3 and I was with the 4-6 class. They were so cute and it was really interesting to see the different ways of teaching but since it was all in Maori, it was hard to understand what they were doing so I felt like I couldn’t help out very much. For part of the morning, however, a student’s mom came to start an aerobics program so Holly and I decide to join in and make a fool out of ourselves. In pure New Zealand style, we do this on pavement but without any shoes on. They don’t wear shoes very often here, some of the kids come to school without even bringing shoes as they are not allowed to wear them in the classrooms. I love this and fully embrace wearing shoes as little as possible. After we officially made complete fools of ourselves doing aerobics my class was headed out for their run to the swimming hole and asked if I was coming along. This run is on mostly gravel, something I prefer to wear shoes on, and I go looking for my shoes to join them. Turns out my shoes are nowhere to be found. I look everywhere possible and can’t find them. I figured they would show up eventually but asked my teacher if she had seen them where I had left them just to make sure I didn’t leave them somewhere else. She said she had seen them there earlier but was also confident they would show up. Finally at recess I ask Holly if she has seen my shoes as they still haven’t shown up and she tells me that her teacher was wearing them! She thought they were one of the kids shoes and it wasn’t until she had asked the class who’s shoes she was wearing that they told her they were mine. We all had a good laugh about it, I guess that’s what happens when you wear kids shoes.
The afternoon is when the years 9-13 have their gym classes together and from now until the end of term they are doing something called Waka Ama. This is where they go out in outrigger canoes and enjoy the afternoon. They kept asking us if we were going and we weren’t sure at first and originally had no idea what it even was but we were eager if there was room. Thankfully there was and we joined them for some canoeing. I went with the first group to be dropped off near the beach while Holly stayed with the second group. Little did we realize the hike it would take to even get to where the canoes were stowed. Their teacher told one of the older students to make sure he looked after me because this was my first time going out there. I think he was regretting taking on this task as I continually kept falling over fences or landing on my face while jumping over holes in the mountain we seemed to be climbing, he was nice enough to walk back with me as well though so I guess it wasn’t that bad.
The actual canoeing part was insanely fun, they had Holly and I in the same canoe along with three older students who were well versed in this and one other student who was also going out for the first time. They were very patient with us showing us the different strokes and counting out loud so we would know when to switch sides. At one point they made us all paddle the boat by ourselves for 10 strokes, I of course had to go behind Spartan. That’s what the students call him, we found this out after he picked up a log in the water that was in our way, walked away with it and threw it back in the water, he could row the boat as fast if not faster by himself then when we were all rowing. Him and I were in the “power” spots of the boat. It was then I started to apologize for my lack of muscle. While we were canoeing I could hear one of the students behind Holly continuously pointing out fish and things in the water at one point when we had stopped we had seen a whole bunch of jumping fish! The student was also telling Holly about the stingray that apparently live in the water we were in, water they also go swimming in. When we were headed back to shore to give others a turn we had to jump out and walk back but not before giving us a stingray scare, they look like black shadows in the water as we were told and they will go away if you splash around. We didn’t actually see any. We had an interesting walk back to shore, instead of getting shallower, the water seemed to get deeper, there were also many rocks that my toes found and holes we fell over. We made the other student walking back to shore slow down and warn us if any rocks or holes were coming up, we still ran into them all anyway. When we get to shore we find Holly bleeding profusely, leaving a blood trail for the stingrays to follow. She decides the best way to stop the bleeding is to give herself a sand band-aid. Surprisingly, it worked. By the time we make it back home our clothes and legs were covered in mud, which could have been a lot worse considering how unsteady we were walking through it. I have a feeling one or both of us will end up face down in it before the end of term. We’ll be sure to bring a camera next time.
Stay tuned, there is lots more to come.
To Be Continued...