"Ape Lay Onwards"

The End (Part One)

2010-06-26T22:58:00.003-04:00

So it feels like yesterday that I started this blog, yet here I am nine months later after living in three different provinces with 9 other friends. I can`t say I don`t want to go home but I definitely do not want to leave. Katimavik has been part of my life for a while now and I don`t know what it will be like once I get back to the real world. I know I still have three days left in the program but the rest of it will be spent in seclusion on an island. I will not have internet access again until I reach Toronto International Airport (or that is my assumption). Anyways I thought that posting a slideshow (diaporama in French) would be a nice way to unofficially end my Katimavik adventure.

I will write one more post upon returning to London and then I guess my blogging days in Katimavik are over. Hope you enjoyed everything :)

...just when you thought I could not get any manlier

2010-06-25T23:23:00.017-04:00

It is Friday night here in Alma and the Katimavik house is practically empty. There is basically no furniture and I am using a sleeping bag (to sleep obv) because today was moving day! Seeing the house in this state is kind of eerie and has really hammered down the fact that Katimavik will soon be history...which has made me quite sad. That is why in this blog post I want to remember a time when we actually had a table to eat off of. A night where we became submersed in a story of lies, deceit and murder.

The time, early in the morning in 1921, the place a traveling circus...so I guess you can pick the place, but the crime was the murder of Francesco Mulini. He was the circus` head honcho dude. He was murdered and his body dumped in the lion`s cages only to be found when he did not show up for the mornings meeting. The circus was losing money yet he was still floating in oodles cash so there was plenty of motive to kill but who murdered Francesco.

Shoshana: (The Bearded Woman; Barbarella Joly)

It was well known that this bearded woman she spent all her time alone in her trailer, but that us because she liked to write...when she found out that Francesco published one of her manuscripts under his name for profit, was that enough to push her over the edge and commit such a terrible crime?

Emilie: (The Janitor; Gaston Samson)

Always living in the shadow of others and picking up everyones trash, this janitor had aspirations to become a huge success on the main stage of the circus. Francesco however crushed his dreams and told him he had no hope of ever becoming famous. Did this reality check make him snap?

Tony: (The Lion Keeper; Roger Frayant)

Grieving the loss of one of his Siberian tigers, Roger, was on a mission to find out who stole his most prized possession. When he found out that Francesco let his tiger be slaughtered and its fur sold on the black market, did Roger give Francesco a taste of his own cruel medicine?

Fred: (The Mysterious Horse Trainer; Nadia Petrowzky)

The new woman around town, Nadia is very quite and controlled. No one knows anything about her except that she was seen arguing with Francesco the night he was murdered. Was it their secret love and lack of commitment from Francesco that drove her insane.

Jordan: (The Sexy Assistant; Marguerite Labonté)

This sexy female gets more then enough attention around the campus. Although she is married to the magician and assistant director Clovis, she has faithfully served Francesco, but could she have seen something that turned her against her lifetime friend. She does have keys to his office and more than enough alone time with the director to get the job down.

Mik: (The Juggler; Émile Laronde) *he did not dress up so a small cartoon caricature will have to be sufficient*

This old timer at the circus is on the way out. Even though he was one of the founding fathers, his act was becoming sloppy and boring. Francesco was debating whether or not to keep him on the payroll so if Émile found out his fate would he be willing to kill if the decision did not go in his favour?

Jessica: (The Magician; Clovis Choquette)

The assistant director to the circus has had enough. Francesco is hiding something big from him and he cannot pit point what it is. On top of that Francesco seems to be keeping more than his share of the profits. His wife also seems to be spending a lot of time with Francesco, so was it jealousy that pushed him over the edge?

Andréanne: (The World's strongest Woman; Raymonde Petit)

This strong minded woman has enough brute strength to end the life of Francesco with her own bare hands, so did Francesco anger her in someway by making a jab at being ladylike?

Tom: (The Snake Charmer; Abul Amith)

Abul Amith is on the run from the police, and Francesco has just found out his true identity. To save his own hide did Abul, or Trevor for that fact, commit another crime just so he could get a second chance at life.

L.A: (The Clown; Rosalie Jetté)

Roasalie is in a slump and many people have noticed her depressing mood. She has been single for a very long time and is looking for someone to love. Was Francesco`s rejection to hard for her to handle?

Any ideas of who could be so cruel and end the life of Francesco just as he was reaching his prime? It was quite the whirl wind story and I still can`t believe what happened...

The Beach and Beach Boys

2010-06-19T08:13:00.015-04:00

Time in Katimavik is flying. I barely have enough time to register that maybe I should write a blog about something, before it is becomes ancient history. In this post I thought I would give you a run down of everything that happened while my katima-family (and me) spent the weekend in Chicoutimi.

Friday:

We woke up bright and early and made our way down to Saint-Honoré to help set up for their annual kite and air festival. I spent a good part of my day hammering stakes into the ground, which was brutal, seeing that I have no muscle mass. Nevertheless, even in the most brutal of conditions, there is always time for a photo shoot.

Once our tour of duty at the airport was finished, we made our way into Chicoutimi to attend the collective project of another Katimavik group in the region. For their project they held a traditional french dance for cancer.

Jillian:(Girl from the Chicoutimi group) So what are you guys doing for your collective project?
Me: Oh a Bottle Drive for La Moisson(the food bank)
Jillian: That`s cool! We did a bottle drive to raise money for our project.

....this conversation made me feel really good about myself!

Saturday:

The following morning came and my groups mood was slightly depressing. We were all super tired and grouchy. Luckily there was a hockey team holding a car wash outside Le Patro (the place where we slept)and our car was in desperate need of a wash. Therefore we took our huge Katimavik van through the wash and got half a dozen buff hockey players to scrub and rinse down the van while Nelly Furtado`s Maneater played in the background. The groups mood improved incredibly.

The rest of our day consisted of going to the Fjord Museum, sitting in on a children`s magic show (which wads actually really good...L.A and Shoshana go his autograph), watching a glass blowing demonstration which was epic and then finally BEACH BOYS!

It was an excellent show. The Mockingbirds opened for the Beach Boys and they were quite the band as well. The lead singer had a Spider tattoo on his inner arm. I personally think it would be cool to get a tattooed somewhere but honestly I don`t think I have the courage to get it done. I would turnout like that guy in the Taxi movie who tried to get DANGER tattoo on his body but just ended up with DAN. The Beach Boys concert was also was the first time I was legally able to purchase beer at a public event and I took advantage of that fact even if the beer was RIDICULOUSLY expensive.

Another memorable moment was this crazy lady, in her late forties or early fifties, who had a terrible wardrobe malfunction. Her first problem was that her skirt was so short it made waitresses at Moxy's look like they are fully clothed. Add on top of everything else she was completely wasted. To make a long story short she had toilet paper trailing out of her....well Shoshana photographed the evidence...

...she was removed by security shortly after this picture was taken!

Here are another few pictures from the concert:

Emilie our beautiful and wise Project Leader <3

Shoshana enjoying her alcohol :)

Shoshana and me looking damn fine!

Jessica...the alcoholic in our group:P Actually L.A tanked it at the concert drinking more than all of us put together...and on an empty stomach too.

..and last but not least THE BEACH BOYS!!!!!!

Sunday:

After two full days of non-stop work, Sunday was meant just for relaxing. In my mind there is no better way to relax than to lay on a beach and tan (even if I am pasty white) so I was able to convince most of the others in my group to drive out to Pointe de Taillon and soak up the sun. We are all extremely responsible individuals so we all wore sunscreen. Tony made sure my back was covered...

Overall I think it was one of the more memorable weekends I've had here in Quebec. It was packed with a little bit of everything for everyone. Seeing that we only have 11 more days left in Katimavik it looks like we are going to try and make the most of it all!

...some of us in enjoying the water!

This crazy woman statue near the beach. Whenever I look at her all I can think of is legs...

KaTiMaViK, QuEbEc, KaTiMaViK! (I am talking about Katimavik)

2010-06-18T16:17:00.005-04:00

I have twelve minutes to write this blog post because my group is getting ready to go to Quebec City for the weekend. I was in the process of writing a more substantial blog post but I ran out of time so I will finish it while on route to Quebec City. The only problem with that plan is that I don't know when I will have internet to post it....well i guess thats life :/

So I wanted to get two things across in this post. One when I search for my blog using katimavik keywords, my blog does not show up enough and I think It is because I do not use the word Katimavik enough. So to change this I plan to write Katimavik one hundred times consecutively.

Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik
Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik Katimavik...

I lost count but I think it is close enough to one hundred. Anyways if this does not higher me on the Katimavik blog list...then I might cry. The second thing I want to say I say is that I have less than two weeks left and I miss my friends and family like crazy. Can't wait to see everyone.

Cheers

The Stabbing of Leigh-Amber

2010-06-15T23:56:00.002-04:00

So for those of my readers who kept up with my blog (thank you Shohsana, and mom), last night I left you with the promise of a video which would reveal the person covered in dollarama balloons. Well I am a man of my word so enjoy the video. The title is quite self explanatory. *Note No Leigh-Ambers were hurt in the making of this video....except when she fell down the stairs walking out side*

Cooking, Cleaning and Promiscuity

2010-06-15T00:00:00.007-04:00

So I have just finished being house manager for the VERY LAST TIME IN KATIMAVIK and I think it went quite well. I mean we did not put dates in spaghetti, salmon bones in tagine or make a yam and avocado purée so I think it is safe to say that we have eaten much worse. I always enjoyed house manging but there are somethings that I not going to miss. Never again will I have to pretend like I cleaned the bathroom or act like I cared when we ran out of soy milk. Anyways,this past week I got the honour to house manage with L.A, meaning I successfully house managed with all of girls in my group. Now this usually it wouldn't mean anything to me but recently I have gotten the rap as the promiscuous gentleman in my Katimavik group and I do not believe it is entirely warranted. It is true that I have slept in all of the girls beds here in Alma (including my PL's), that more often then not I will strip tease to Olivia Newton John's Physical and it yes I can sometimes be found in outfits that put Adam Lambert to shame but other then that my slate is clean. I don't think that it isn't so much that I am promiscuous but rather the fact that the other guys in my group are so un-promiscuous. So to make a long story short I am not in the wrong it is just everyone else around me.

The thing I am going to miss most about house management is grocery shopping. Something about buying food for 10 people brings out the best in people. Back in Newmarket, Shoshana and I went to the grocery store decked in matching outfits, which consisted of pink spandex and a jean shirt, so going shopping is always a fun filled experience. This past week with L.A was no exception. We went to the usual Maxi (le panier le moins cher) and we got right down to business by attracting the attention of everyone around us by being as loud and obnoxious as possible. We had one old guy come up to us a condone us for being English saying "YOU ARE IN QUEBEC" and a second creepy old man who told our PL Emilie that she looked far to young to have children of our age.

Another part of our House Management duties was picking a theme dinner and we had a grape night. We made everyone cover themselves in balloons before the could eat.

It turned out pretty well....

Can you guess who this is? Well If you don't know you will have to come back to my blog tomorrow and find out. The mystery person will be revealed in a 6 minute home video which includes, yes the balloons, a knife and a skateboard!

Cheers to a Poorly Written Blog Post....

2010-06-10T23:23:00.007-04:00

It has been a while since I wrote a sappy blog post and I am quite tempted to write one just because it is 11:29PM and seeing that I have very little to talk about it might make for a good blog post but I think I will refrain and tell you about my week and other random things instead.

The first thing I wanted to talk about is Mexicans. Now I am in no way racist but we have a Mexican in our group and in a joking manner me and Shoshana have started making fun of him just because he is Mexican. We didn`t think he cared about the blasphemy and that he realized we were joking but apparently it is getting to him. Now me and Shoshana feel like crap, but here is the kicker, now that we got into the rhythm of horribly insulting Tom we cannot seem to stop. Making fun of Tom is not something that you can quit cold turkey, just like cigarettes or Vogue, so Shoshana decided on the drastic measure of whenever she says a racist comment to Tom that she has to give him 25 cents. I soon may have to follow suit because Tom`s patience seems to be wearing thin. Relations with Tom may also be strained though because about an hour ago Shoshana and I were in my room talking (while Tom was sleeping) and although he never wakes up, once he falls asleep, I guess we were too loud and he woke up. He was not the happiest camper, although Tom does like camping, and I know for a fact that he can`t fall back asleep because he just came up to the computer room scowling....

Anyways moving on, the Glee finale was this week and when that episode finished it felt like the end of and era. I started Katimavik as the only Gleek in my group and I was forced to watch Glee in seclusion with headphones on. Fast forward to today and I successfully converted everyone in my group except for Mik who vehemently hates the award winning show. I guess it is to bad for him because Glee music plays 24/7 and most of us have watched each episode at least twice. This past episode was super cute and I loved the Journey medley that New Directions performed. Watching Glee end on Wednesday, because we have to wait until we can illegally download it, made me think of Katimavik`s journey which is coming to and end and although I will be sad I cannot wait to get back home. It is a weird mixture of sadness, excitement and happiness all mixed up into my confused head. My Alma trimester has been incredible and I am the happiest I`ve been in Katimavik here in Quebec.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was the fact that it is well after midnight and that I have to wake up in less than five hours. We are spending the weekend in Chicoutimi where we will be volunteering, going to meuseums and seeing BEACH BOYS!!!!! Yeah thats right the Beach Boys!!!! I am so pumped that I had to put multiple exclamation marks. This is where I bid my good night and where I tell you that I plan to have a nice blog post about my weekend`s travel come Monday or Tuesday....Wednesday if I am lazy!

P.S Nacho Libre is Terrible!

Photos of the week: House Management Highlights

2010-06-06T09:24:00.016-04:00

So the following pictures appear to nothing in common and are extremely random but the one factor that links them together is house management. Every week we have two house managers and they stay home from work so they can cook and clean. The pictures describe themselves (unless I put a little comment on them which I probably will).

This is quite an old picture actually dating back to the time when my group resided in Newmarket. This is me getting rid of left overs!

Jessica`s famous Chick Pea Soup! She made it when she had the flu so it became taboo. Me and Shoshana, who both had the pleasure of tasting it, went to the extreme lenghts of eathing garlic to prevent us from getting sick.

Anthony cleaning the oven...that duty had been neglected for a few weeks so it was pretty rank (yes I did use the word rank and yes I do know it is no longer 2007)

Mr. Peanut Butter Man. Shoshana wanted to clean the glass of the oven but there was this sticky substance that wasn't coming off. When all else fails turn to peanut butter. It worked like a charm but Shoshana felt the job wouldn;t be complete until the blob of peanut butter was turned into a face.

Over 72 hours we found celery that was wilting. It is said that celery can become once more eatable (is that a word) if it is put in water. SO we tried it but then place the celery on the wrong side of the fridge. OUr fridge has a nasty habit of freezing things.

Once a week we have a theme dinner. Jessica and Andréanne had a rockstar theme and decorated appropriately.

L.A`s and Shoshana`s poutine...with a twist :)

Billeting Part One: Working at the Carwash

2010-06-04T07:39:00.004-04:00

In am a little behind on the times since billeting is already more than half way done, but between working, sleeping and reading the Twilight Saga there is little time left for writing blog posts. Nevertheless I wanted to fill everyone in on what I have been up to during the last week. Last Friday we all commenced the journey known as billeting. For those of you who do not know what billeting is, well basically it is when you get picked up by a random stranger (sometimes strangers) and get taken to their house to live out the next stage of your life. In my case the next stage would last 9 days and my strangers were the Provencher family. Pauline, Albert and Dereck are all super nice and staying with them has been a good workout for my French since none of them speak English. Dereck and I did watch Harry Potter in English last night so that was kinda cool! Dereck is 16 and is basically the cooler version of me. He has mastered the Justin Beiber hair flick to a tee, goes to an arts high school and has cooler clothes than me. Guhh I will not admit that I am jealous. I haven’t been able to spend much time with him though because he is in the middle of exams so he is super stressed and my Twilight reading schedule keeps me super busy.

Anyways a few of the other highlights during the billeting cycle have been spending an afternoon with Dereck`s Grandma (it was actually quite a fun date, we went flower shopping and then I went back to her place for tea), cycling with Pauline (I am so glad I have spandex), Pauline`s cooking (we had Chinese Fondue last night and it was like heaven in my mouth), and working at a car wash. That will be an experience I will not forget. Last Sunday our Katimavik group (minus Fred...she was wind surfing or sick I am not sure which one) volunteered for La Nichée (an organization that helps mothers and their babies through tough times) to wash cars. The day started off quite nicely. The two fire fighters, who came to set up our water stations, were so incredibly good looking that saying they are good looking is an understatement. I was a tad slow in realizing that though because L.A and Jessica had ``dibs dibed`` them both leaving me and Shoshana with nothing but our overly large signs that we were told to put up. That was when the wind picked up. The temperature was around 20 degrees and sunny but this wind was blistering cold and lasted the ENTIRE day. It made washing cars slightly difficult. I still had a fantastic time though. It was the first time I took part in a car wash and I would definitely do it again. I really liked when the drivers would blast music for us as we washed their car, except when it was this mid forty year old creepo who played Nelly Furtado`s Maneater while he sat in his huge Ford 150 and watched us. ICK! All in all it has been a good week of billeting but I miss my group and I am excited to get back to the Katimavik house.

I think they should date....just saying

Thony working his stuff at the car wash!

The Sexy Librarian

2010-05-29T23:03:00.002-04:00

My job placement here in Alma is working at one of the local elementary schools and so far I am having a blast. My duties have been pretty slack. Basically I float from classroom to classroom helping kids with small math problems and chatting with them in my broken French. I like staying in the younger classes though because they are way more forgiving of me when I make a mistake or when I have no idea what they are saying. It is also nice to be with the younger classes because they don’t take jabs at my sexuality thinking that I can’t understand them, unlike some of those premature prepubescent grade four boys. My favourite class though has to be the grade twos just because there is a wall full of compliments many of which lists all the things like about me. They even have a schedule of who gets to hold my hand on the way to music class.

Another project that I have gotten to do is reorganize their library, which was a complete mess. I wasn’t even sure if the books were organized in the first place because they were all over the place, shoved into the small grey IKEA-like shelves. For those of you who are thinking that this blog post is about the extremely attractive school librarian, who is six feet tall (without heels) with bleach blond hair and a fashion sense that is sophisticated but seductive all at the same time (i.e think framed glasses, long sleeved fitted argyle sweater with a mini skirt and black leggings), that is helping me sort the books then I am sorry to disappoint you because this blog post is extremely egoistical and all about me. For the past week and a half I have sat in the musty second floor library and sorted books, only to have them messed up by classes of students who come by and have no regard for the dewey decimal system. Even if it was over thirty degrees in the library during the heat wave because the school has no air conditioning and even if the fan that I found in the janitorial closet was stolen from me by the guidance councillor, I persevered and finally finished on Friday. Every single book is perfectly placed and the place looks pristine ...but I am resigned to the fact that come Monday morning, when the grade fours have library time, my perfectly classed books will be nothing more than a bunch of books waiting to be messed up.

Yoooooooow Kelly Clarkson

2010-05-22T23:37:00.009-04:00

So it is 72 hours here in Alma and I decided to stay at the house with Jessica, L.A and Shoshana to just relax and have fun. We have had a productive weekend so far. Between sleeping, eating, and being on the computer we have managed to find time to spend with each other. Last night, while we were all gathered in the computer room, L.A found hundreds of stickers in the closet. There is not a whole lot you can do with that many stickers but supposedly covering my body in them was a valid use. Being me I couldn't say no so I changed into some spandex and then proceeded to get covered in the bright multi-colored stickers.

The finished product was quite a master piece even if I could hardly move. Nevertheless I figured how to hobble around and I soon mastered this technique. I looked like a modern art exhibit so it was only natural that we decided to go out for a walk in downtown Alma. I was a traffic stopper thats for sure. No, I really was. I was so slow walking across the road that an elderly couple could have easily walked faster than me. After we had our fun talking with people on the street and waving at cars driving by, the time came to take the stickers off. When I first decided to be "stickered", I didn't think much on how the stickers would come off....and in hindsight if I had, it may have deterred me from putting the stickers on in the first place. If you have ever waxed before I am sure you can wallow in my pain because it was surreal.

Tom, (who hadn't left for his camping adventure yet) filmed the horrific experience...

Facelessbook

2010-05-20T00:37:00.000-04:00

So a few of you may have noticed that I have been absent from a little social networking service known as Facebook. On April 20th at 1:33 am I made a pledge to not use Facebook for a whole month. I took such evasive action because I wanted to show others that facebook doesn't rule my life and I can live quite fine without it. Shoshana and Thony soon followed suit, so the three of us set out on our quest for supremacy. It wasn't too hard to stay away from facebook at the beginning but by the time Day 2 came along all three of us were feeling the pressure in a world without facebook and doubts began to creep in on whether we could make in through this extreme month. Disaster struck our group on Day 8 when Thony gave in and we found him updating his status and commenting on pictures of his friends. Shoshana and I were devastated but somehow we found the strength to make it though that obstacle.

If you have ever been addicted to an unhealthy or illegal substance like LSD, cocaine or a Cosmo Subscription, then you know that getting over that addiction is like living hell. Trying to get over facebook was ten times worse. Shoshana and I even got so desperate that we ended up checking out the male personal ads on Craigslist in an attempt to find something to do on the computer. Neither of us were impressed with what the Saguenay region on Craigslist had to offer and this left the void in our hearts larger than ever. In fact when if comes to gentlemen here in Quebec, I think I can speak for both Shoshana and me when I say the best "dibs dibs" so far has be Thony's dad and he is neither from the Saguenay region or on Craigslist.

Anyways going back to the Facebook story, the two of us found ourselves in quite a predicament having two weeks to go and very little will power to carry on. Several times were we caught looking at others who were enjoying the benefits of Facebook and therefore forced out of the room and away from the temptation. After several "Cry on my Shoulder" meetings and breakdowns, where we laid on the floor looking completely dejected, we decided to man up and take this challenge head on. I am happy to inform you that we have both made it to the end of our month and I am looking forward to getting the chance to go on Facebook when the clock strikes 1:33 am tomorrow morning. I would be lying to you if I told you I wouldn't stay awake for this grand affair. It was actually quite an interesting experience being without Facebook because I realized how dependent I was on Facebook and how much time I wasted when I was online. Not having Facebook also gave me way more time to blog. If you ever get a wave of insanity and decide to also try the "Facebook fast" whether it be for a week, or month let me know how it goes because it is way harder than it looks. The "Facebook Fast" is definitely not meant for the weak or weary.

P.S I have written a lot tonight and there have not been too many visuals so here are some pictures even if they are not related to my story.

So a few weeks ago we went to see a Pyramid in Chicoutimi...

...and it was pretty cool...

...well it has to be cool if its name is the Ha! Ha! Pyramid.

...proof just in case you didn't believe me!

Rain Poncho's are a Glorious Thing

2010-05-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

...so I have very little to update on in Katimavik life but I am sitting in the computer room beside Shoshana and she is blogging so I felt obliged to update my own. My week has mainly consisted of reading Twilight and updating my Itunes so all my songs have album artwork. Believe me this is a hard task when someone who goes by the name of Shoshana has over 5000 songs most of which have no artwork or that of a shirtless cowboy. I am dividing this task by letters and I am doing a letter a day. I am on B. It isn't terrible though because the next section I am working on is Britney Spears entire discography. Another thing we did this week was a Rock Star theme supper. My outfit was something else. I have come to the sad realization that a lot of theme suppers have ended in me wearing scandalous outfits (or lack thereof an outfit) where I feel WAY to over exposed. In this past weeks supper I looked as if I would be the child of Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert...if she could ride his disco stick.) Lady Gaga might want to enlist the help of Rihanna's Rude Boy if she wants that to happen. Anyways I was wearing spandex and little mirrors from a disco ball all over my body....the pictures will never make their way to the interweb so you will just half to imagine that unpleasant combo.

Hope you enjoyed my little update...I must get started on reading Shoshana's HUGE blog post since she has been working on it for three hours. I think I should give her the courtesy of reading it. They are actually incredible, I don't know why you are wasting time on my Katimavik blog. Check out her blog! If I was smart enough to post a link I would...but I can't. I think you can find it on my dash board.

Oh and I think Rain Poncho's are pretty incredible! I wore one to the zoo last week and it was like I was in my own little bubble.

La Zoo Sauvage and the Monkey Pit

2010-05-12T23:23:00.000-04:00

I am going to start of my blog off tonight with a question. (Well I guess I started with a statement but that is beside the point!) Have you ever had one of those ideas that are really amazing in principal but then actually turn out to be extremely stupid! Things that come to mind are eating pickles and ice cream together or wearing vertical and horizontal stripes in the same outfit. Well if you said yes to that question I hope you can relate to the story I am about to blog about.

This past weekend my group went to the zoo with another Katimavik group. The whole weekend was all quite fine and dandy minus the fact that it was below freezing and there was a bit of snow, but it was fantastic. The Zoo was very nice and there was even had a section on animals from Asia.(They also had a Mongolian section which was kind of redundant because Mongolia is in Asia but I guess I am not on the board of directors for the zoo so my opinion doesn't matter.)In this section they had two Amur Tigers, some crazy looking birds that went by the name of Red Crown Cranes and these really funky monkeys (the Japanese Macaque) that had cool red faces. Anyways there was this interactive course kids could do on the boardwalk that coincided with what it was like to be a monkey. One of the obstacles was a monkey pit which I assumed you had to jump over. I attempted this and the result was so extremely horrible that I can't really explain it, so I guess you will have to watch it instead....

.... As I was running up to the pit I thought it looked kind of long to jump over but I was already committed so I thought I might as well give it a try. If I was not incompetent and if I read the sign, I would have realize that you were suppose to jump into the pit and jump out to see what it is like for a monkey to jump vertically. As the result of my foolishness I got a nasty bruise above my knee cap and I lost a bit of my dignity but on the bright side it gave me something to blog about!

Photo of the Week: Sky Bound

2010-05-11T16:08:00.000-04:00

This picture was taken a few weeks ago (i.e when I still had hair) but I feel it is epic enough to make it my photo of the week. I am sorry I don't have more time to write some stuff, but a more substantial post is on the way!

Chicken Hearts, Facial Hair and Taylor Lautner...

2010-05-08T00:32:00.000-04:00

What do those three things have in common? Well they are all subjects in this weeks video blog! What is this blog post be about then? Even I can't fully answer that question! It was extremely late (I was tired) and I tried to do a video blog. I am putting this up against my better judgement. I am doing this because I don't want all my "hard work" go to waste, so please be nice and don't make too much fun of me...

13 Audition

2010-05-04T16:38:00.000-04:00

I have decided to audition of the musical 13 which is being presented by the Noisy Mime theatre company. The quality is not the best but it gets the main point across. The song is from the musical.

...I will come back on later tonight and write some commentary about this blog but I must go make supper so it has to wait for now.

Rase-a-Thon

2010-05-03T00:24:00.000-04:00

A long long time ago B.K (before Katimavik), I once asked my friend Erika SchramWOWsky about what my coolest attribute was. I don't even know if she remembers this conversation but the answer she gave me was one I wouldn't forget! She told me that it was my hair which made me who I was and said it was always perfectly placed. Hair is something so materialistic and shallow that it couldn't be what made me cool, does no one care about my caring personality, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made.

I had friends in High School but it wasn't until near the end of grade 10 that my real social life actually started. What was the drastic change that gave me more self confidence to actually make friends and then hang out with them. Well it could have been the years of therapy I went through to feel more empowered about who I am but it is probably more accurate to say that the change coincided when I started to get decent hair cuts instead of the dreaded buzz or bowl cut I got from my lovely mother. There is nothing wrong with getting a family member of friend to cut your hair, infact in Katimavik it is an common occurrence. It is easier on the pocket book and it can even be a good bonding experience for both people. High School is a different world however where looks mean everything. People will judge you in an instant and dismiss you like last years fashion if you are not on your game. When I started getting nice haircuts I all of a sudden didn't feel like people were watching or judging me so I was way more free to just be myself. It may be stupid and petty reasoning but sometimes it is the little things that make the difference.

Anyways let us fast forward to present time. I like to think the hair plays an important role in who I am. I mean I have dyed it twice in the last six months and once again I have changed my look. This time however I decided to completely shave of all my hair. My Katimavik group went to go volunteer at a head shaving fundraiser for cancer. Ten years ago Marie-Helene Cote started this fundraiser with the help of her friends and family. At the time she was battling cancer and she was only in her late teens. She wanted to raise money for people in her situation to get an opportunity to travel and visit remote and beautiful places in the world. A physical experience to motivate individuals battling cancer and give them the extra boost they need in life. Marie-Helene herself went to Kenya with the foundation "On the Tip of the Toes" and got to climb one of the tallest mountains in the region. Marie-Helene unfortunately passed away the following year but her memory lives on. The "Rase-a-thon" has now raised over 1 million dollars for the foundation which has brought numerous smiles to individuals and families navigating through troubling times. It was a no brainer to shed my materialistic guard and help out for a good cause.

...I may have potentially just ruined the one thing that made me decently cool in my life, but hair will grow back and I might find the whole egg head look kind of cool....

A Week of Sand Castles and House Forts

2010-05-01T08:07:00.000-04:00

In my last blog post I wrote about the fact that we had no internet due since we were downloading way too much and we had hit our limit. I found it way more time consuming trying to run around the house and find a wireless signal, so I let bygones and bygones and I just waited until May 1st to get back to blog writing. If I was thinking ahead I would have just written something in a Word document and just stored it until I could post it but that would have been to logical. Either way I am here on a Saturday morning, listening to Adam Lambert play on iTunes, trying to figure out what to write about.

It has been a great so far in Alma. I haven't even been here for two weeks but I have already found my groove and feel extremely comfortable here in Quebec. I work at an elementary school called École Maria where I am basically a teachers assistant helping out where I am needed, which so far have been in the music and art classes. Speaking in French has actually been working out fairly well. I find the younger the kids are the more brutally honest they are especially about my grammatical mistakes. There was even this one kid in grade one who inquired if all xylophones spoke French like me. I could not help but smile thinking, sure I can't say "seahorse" in French but at least I know the difference between a language and an instrument.

The warmer weather is coming and I am pretty sure my whole group is excited about the change in temperature. I even ran home from work the other day in shorts (well spandex) and a T-shirt and I wasn't even cold. The school is 15.2 kilometers away but the run along the river is well worth it. Our group is has already gone to the beach twice where we have built sand castles, found treasure and buried me and fellow Katimaviker Anthony in massive sand holes. I know it is only May first but if we think summery thoughts maybe it will come sooner.

Anyways my we are heading into Chicoutimi, home of our former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (I think), today for a fun filled day of museums and and glass blowing demonstration so I better go and get ready. I am quite content to be here right now (but miss everyone very much) I am going to make the most of my time here since my whole Katimavik adventure will come to end in two months and I will never get an experience quite like this ever again.

P.S Shoshana, Fred, Émilie and me turned our common room into a giant fort made of cushions, couches and blankets!...that was kinda fly. (I realized it was in my title so I had to write about.)

Fred, Andréanne and Shoshana at the beach :)

My head...

We started digging when we found the start of a chain...and it kept going!!!

The Myspace Effect

2010-04-25T22:28:00.000-04:00

First of all I need to apologize for not posting a video blog this week but we had some technical difficulties. I now have my laptop, thanks to a my aunts in Guelph and I was ready to start blogging but unfortunately in my first week here our group maxed out are downloading capacity that our internet provider (damn you BELL) allows. People were playing too may games and watching too many films so our internet has been cut until the first of May. Thus I find myself in Jessica's and Shoshana's room on the right side of the couch (because the signal is weaker on the left side) trying to steal an wireless internet connection from our neighbor. A video blog is in the works and will be up shortly.

Anyways onto the picture of the week. On Thursday our house managers decided to have a theme dinner. I suggested (half jokingly) that we have a tribal dinner and the idea stuck. Shoshana and Fred decorated our eating room with snakes, trees and a colorful jungle-esque background. Our job was to come up with our costumes. My costume consisted of body paint,sting, home made paper and saran wrap.....that is all! I couldn't just pick one picture so I selected a few for this weeks viewing. Enjoy :)

This was the centerpiece to our madness!

Group shot one (Not everyone was in the picture...or looking the right way)

Group shot two! The whole gang in action!

If you were wondering why I called this blog the Myspace effect well I feel that pictures become more epic if they are take from an above angle....even if it means one can see my extremely skinny arms, random air vent and our bathroom floor that desperately needs some attention...

P.S Today is our 200th day in the program! I made a Chocolate cake with my Project Leadr Émilie...it was kinda special!

Chip & Dale

2010-04-21T20:01:00.000-04:00

C'est la première fois que j'essaie d'écrire un blog en français donc soyez patients. Si vous ne pouvez pas comprendre.........APPRENEZ COMMENT LIRE LE FRANÇAIS. Néanmoins, aujourd'hui j'ai envie de parler d’une famille qui est proche de notre cœur, ici dans notre maison Katimavik. À Vanderhoof, nous avons rencontré Denver. Sans parents et tout seul, nous l’avons accepté dans notre maison et nos vies comme un membre de notre famille. Nous ne l’avons pas jugé quand il nous avons dit qu'il était asexuel ni quand ses deux pères sont arrivés à notre porte à Newmarket. Comme Denver, Chip et Dale étaient l’fun et gentils. C’était mignon de voir Chip et Dale vraiment en amour, mais c'était un peu étrange d’entendre les sons qu’ils faisaient quand ils étaient ensemble.

Récemment, j'ai passé du temps seul avec Dale quand j'ai pris un congé du programme. Il est venu avec moi à London pour visiter ma famille et il a voyagé avec moi à Québec. Quand la femme de la sécurité a pris mon sac pour être sûre que je n’avais pas de choses illégales, Dale n’a pas pu rester silencieux et il a crié. (C'était la première fois que Dale voyageait en avion donc il était excité). La femme était étonnée parce que ce n’est pas tous les jours qu’un sac crie. Avec précaution, elle a ouvert mon sac et Dale était là, en pleine face. La femme n’a pas trouvé ça aussi drôle que moi parce qu’elle a tout vidé mon sac à dos. Mon voyage s’est bien passé et Chip, Dale et Denver sont tous réunis et heureux.

*Note: For all you anglophones this blog post was basically about a family of stuffed dinosaurs we have at our house here in Alma. Chip and Dale are the two dads of Denver, an asexual Dinosaur from Vanderhoof. (Ellen DeGeneres was their surrogate mother but that is another story.)*

The Terry Fox Experience

2010-04-20T01:45:00.000-04:00

The time is 1:45am EST and I obviously cannot sleep because I am writing this blog post from Alma Quebec in our totally crazy computer room, which is painted pink (Carmine Pink if we want to be specific) and grey. So much stuff has happened over the past few days in my life from an extremely scary interview at The Four Seasons hotel in downtown Toronto, to being mocked at an airport for having a purple dinosaur in my bag, to arriving in the town I reside in now.

This little adventure of mine began on the 14th of April 2010 when I bid my group farewell for a mini break from the program. I got the leave due to an interview I had in Toronto for a scholarship opportunity. The Terry Fox Humanitartian Award is an award given to approximately 20 applicants per year. I was given the opportunity to have an interview with some of the members from the selection committee and basically advocate why I would be a good choice for this award. I felt the interview went pretty well. There were three interviewees there. The one lady was a past Katimavik Project Leader so it was great to have someone know about the program I am in. The gentleman to her right actually lives five minutes from my soon to be apartment on Coombs street in London and the fine lady to her left was an avid runner who just competed in the marathon I hope to compete in next year (which is the Around the Bay race in Hamilton). I was as charming and genuine as can be so the rest of my fate is now in their hands. If I win the award or not it does not matter to me. This was a great experience and made me realize that all the things that I've done in the past few years have really made a difference.

This interview experience has also opened my eyes to what an icon Terry Fox is in Canadian society. Sure we all know his story because it is told to us by our parents and we read about it in our history books, but when I stop to think about it Terry Fox was an adult hardly older than me. His life obstacles were horrendous and living with cancer at that age would be demoralizing. Nevertheless Terry Fox did not fail to run a complete marathon every single day for months on end. That perseverance and determination is hard to find in this day and age. It is fact that Terry never made it across Canada, having to stop in Thunder Bay and then succumbing to Cancer later that year, but to me and other Canadians reaching his physical goal wasn't important. The legacy he left and the hope he gave to others meant so much more. His attitude and ideals were extremely contagious and effected every aspect of life.

Well, it is well past 2:00am now and I did have aspirations to talk about my travel day to Alma so I will have to fill everyone in tomorrow with a special blog post. All I have to say is that I am glad I got the chance to interview for this award. I need to thank Marion and Donna (my incredible aunts) for taking me in for a few days along with Eric and Jackie who helped me after my interview and made sure I got to the airport on time.

Rockets and Krakatoa

2010-04-16T12:40:00.001-04:00

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I picked this picture for two reasons. First of all it shows me and Anthony eating the delicious little candies known as rockets and yes we had a competition to see who could eat 100 rockets the fastest. I also chose it because you can see the commencement of Krakatoa. Krakatoa was the pimple on my forehead which inspired a fine piece of artwork by Shoshana. It still hangs above my bed in the Newmarket Katimavik house. I am very disappointed for forgetting it, so if in anyway possible if could find its way to Alma, I might just cry tears of joy.

Video Blog Literally about Nothing

2010-04-16T12:11:00.000-04:00

....so here is my first real attempt at a video blog but I don't really talk about anything significant for a whole 1 minute and 54 seconds so I wont be offended if you don't watch it. Katimavik is about developing new skills so hey why not try to make an epic blog, instead of the one I try to update every few weeks. You never know, I might become incredible at blogging and rival some of the greats such as Perez Hilton and Shoshana Okano. No I can never be Asian or nearly as flaming as Perez but I pledge to make my gosh darn-it blog as interesting as heavenly possible!

Maybe someone could give me some tips on how to ameliorate my video blogs in the future....

Second Trimester is a Wrap

2010-04-16T10:24:00.001-04:00

So once again I fell off the band wagon when if came to updating my blog. What is different about this time is that I have come up with a new system to keep me motivated as I move to Quebec. I pledge to:

1. Write one blog in English (Mondays)
2. Write one small blog in French (Wednesday)
3. One Video Blog in either language (Friday)
4. Upload a Picture of the week (Sunday)

Jeez this is a ton of stuff to do but hey I have less than 11 weeks in the program so why not give it a try. Katimavik is a great program and I want to make sure I don't let it fly by without accomplishing what I want to do :)

....I guess I will be back later today with a video blog! So in the mean time here is a music video three girls in our group spearheaded, for our final presentation, which I think is fantastic!

Firecrotch, Sugarbush and Maple Fudge

2010-03-21T11:39:00.001-04:00

Lately our group has felt like we don’t do too much here in Newmarket. So one day at work when I was compiling a spreadsheet of all the maple sugar festivals in Ontario, I came up with the idea that I should go to Wendy’s for lunch. I decided that making the nine minute walk for a Home-style Chicken strip combo was worth it so I left the office and walked through the forest which led to the fast food place known to me as heaven. While I was sitting there eating my upgraded combo sized fries, I came up with the idea that I should go to the convenience store for a pack of gum. Once I got to the store, I picked up my pack of Stride Gum and began to wait in line. It was there that I saw a bunch of cute beaver and moose key chains and then I had my epiphany. Why buy one pack of Stride gum for 1.19 when I could get five packs of excel gum for 4.49. I now have a lot of gum at my office along with Doritos, Mimi-eggs and Betty Crocker cupcake mix. Anyways upon returning to the office I got right back to work, which was to finish the list of maple syrup festivals in southern Ontario. Even though I was at work I couldn’t help but thinking about our groups’ dilemma of having nothing to do this, weekend. Near the end of the day my boss called me down to her office and we talked about my maple syrup festival spread sheet. We discussed how fun it would be to go and how it is the perfect way to spend a Saturday Afternoon. I think my boss is great. She always has so many great ideas and is someone who is super active and in tune with events happening in our community. I bid everyone at the office farewell and returned to the Katimavik house for a quiet evening of Loup-Garou and relaxing. Oh someone came up with a great idea to go to a Maple Sugar festival that weekend. It was really random. We went to the sugarbush, made a fire with this wilderness lady, Shoshana stood over the fire giving her the name firecrotch, and I bought some maple fudge which was way better anything Wendy’s could make…other than their baconator.

Katimavik and their Regional Offices

2010-03-21T09:25:00.000-04:00

I really wanted to write a blog post about how the Regional Office of Ontario works within Katimavik, but since childhood I was raised with the rule "if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all...” so this blog post will be quite short. In Ontario we have 10 people working at regional trying to make my Katimavik experience a success. This does not include our PC, PSL or PL. Out of those ten people, never have I come in contact with any of them except for one lady who called me a girl through an email just because I like theatre. Katimavik needs to focus more on the quality of service to which they are trying to provide and less on quantity. Quantity usually outlasts quality because in the business world the bigger numbers or return in the quarterly report usually means that the funders are happy. But what is the point of this if a good chunk of your participants drop out of the program before third trimester starts. Katimavik is at a crossroads. Their funding has been severely cut by Heritage Canada and now they must decide where to make cuts. This is the perfect time for them to restructure. Downsize; get back to their grass roots--to help the participants grow through challenging youth service programs and helping Canadian youth "GET A LIFE".

A Nice YRT Bus Driver?

2010-03-05T12:04:00.000-05:00

The York Region Transit system (and VIVA) is an organization which needs a lot of help. Not only are their buses inconsistent and almost always late but their drivers are more often than not just as sour. I have multiple stories where a driver has left me with a strong feeling in my stomach, a feeling that usually includes rage and disgust. My all time “favourite” bus story was the ride back from an evening Leigh-Amber, Jessica and I decided to spend in Toronto. It had been a fantastic night. The three of us had decided to go into Toronto after work to see Jersey Boys. It was an incredible show if anyone was interested and I would recommend it in a heartbeat. It was approximately 11:15 pm and we realize that our bus was supposed to leave in one minute. We quickly validated our tickets and entered the bus which was in the loading zone, open, with its sign lit up and the inside lights on. We were the only ones on the bus but about 20 seconds later the driver runs on cursing and screaming saying that we are not allowed getting on the bus while she was on break! She kicks us off, turns off her lights; drives to the other side of the parking lot, waits for a good five minutes and then returns to let us back on and start her route five minutes late (go figures). She was at fault because she failed to lock her bus and put up the “Not in Service” sign in the window, which all the other drivers had done. After all the three are not from Toronto and know very little about the whole system. If she had just stated that facts instead of being a wretched lady, I would not have had the slightest problem with her.

Anyways the roles were reversed the other day on my way to work. I was late getting to the bus and the bus was on time. I had to watch in agony as it passed me from across the street. I was fully expecting to be late for work and I began to wait for the next bus which came in 35 minutes. Miraculously the 54 Bayview returned two minutes later and I was able to get on. Supposedly the driver remembered me and saw me from across the street so she went around the block to pick me up. Her nice gesture seemed somewhat odd to me because I was on a York Region Transit bus, but nevertheless I was grateful for her good deed. It was unfortunately short lived. The transfer I half to take with six other people also was on time that day, and because the driver returned for me we missed our transfer. The world is a cruel, cruel place where the nicest intentions can turn out to be futile. When you try to be nice to one person, you might get another six people who become furious with your actions.

My Doors are Always Open

2010-03-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

I am well into the billeting cycle of the Newmarket rotation and this trimester I got placed with a family of four, two of which are teenage girls. Now I don’t mind in the slightest that I have to once again share a bathroom with girls, but after having to live with six “young ladies” in the Katima-house it would have been nice to get a house which was a bit quieter. I want to be clear that I am not complaining, I am just stating my feelings. My billet family is great so I don’t have anything to complain about, which is odd seeing that whining is one of my natural gifts. I am now closer to Toronto than I was before; in fact my new family lives in a beautiful old house right off of Yonge Street in Richmond Hill.

One thing I have realized about all old houses in general is that because of the passing of time, the wood expands or something to that fact and most of the doors don’t close anymore. This stands true for both my work and billet house. At the house neither my bedroom nor bathroom doors close so I am forced to wedge a sock between the door and the frame in a hope that it will hold shut while I am changing, showering or going to the washroom. At work I am on the third floor of this historic house built in 1922 by the Sheppard family, so basically where the servants use to live, and although I like the office I am in, it is right at the top of the stairs so everyone going by seems to distract me from my work. The other thing I don’t like about not being able to close my door is that I am also forced to be sneaky when I want to check my facebook at work!

Anyways in a roundabout way of saying something, I am having a good time here North of Toronto, whether it is in Richmond Hill, Aurora or Newmarket but I do dearly miss everyone so do not be hesitate to email, facebook, text (as soon as I get a phone that works) or post a comment on my blog wall (hint hint) because my doors will always be open whether it is figurative or literal, like my present day situations.

Home Again :)

2010-02-12T11:50:00.000-05:00

It is 11 52am right now and I am on lunch at Windfall. All morning as I have been working on my spread sheets and contact list for Judy but my mind keeps slipping back to London. I left 128 days ago and although I am not even half way done Katimavik, I am extremely excited to see my friends and family! Just to be able to spend one weekend with everyone and to see how things have changed over the four months, that in itself will make my trip home worth while. I remember when I first saw that I was going to be posted in Newmarket I was annoyed and not too happy about it because it meant that I was not going to be "away" for the full nine months. I realize now that without this reprise from the program I would have gone crazy. I am trying to see as many people as possible this weekend but if you don't get a chance to catch up with me, do not worry because come summertime I will back and I can spend more than a weekend in the place I call home.

Lost in Suburbia

2010-02-11T12:21:00.000-05:00

Newmarket is a town of 90 000 people. Coming from London, which is closer to 400 000 people, I did not think I would find it terribly difficult to find my way around this place. I even snickered (my word of the day) at the other members of my group who were scared of moving to the "big city". Then again I guess when you come from St. Louis de Kent, which is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't even have a McDonalds, moving to Newmarket is a big deal. I however found getting around Newmarket to be extremely difficult! Who knew that the buses don't run every half and hour. The 54 Bayview, for example, only runs every 43 minutes! I found this out the hard way. When I missed my bus for work, I thought I would just catch the next one. After 40 minutes I asked a the gentlemen if he knew when it came. He told me that it was only a rush hour bus service so I crossed the street to catch another route to work. I missed that bus (the driver even saw me) and then I got to watch the Bayview bus drive by me because I was on the other side of the street! That gentleman who gave me the so ever helpful advice did manage to get on the bus that was supposedly only a rush hour service. It took me 2 hours and 41 minutes to finally get to work. After missing the Bayview for the second time, my bus troubles had barely begun. That subject is still touchy for me so I will leave the rest of that story to your imaginations.

Another problem I have here is getting to our gym. In the four times that I have gone, twice has it ended in utter confusion. Last night on my way home from the gym, Tom and I ended up taking a scenic root that brought us back to Fit City twice. Feeling deflated I was forced to buy a whole pizza at Little Ceasers and pack on all the calories I lost and the gym and then some. A walk that is suppose to take 20 minutes took us well over an hour. Newmarket is urban sprawl at its finest. You can virtually get nowhere by foot. You are either in a subdivision or in a shopping center. Being a commuter city its streets are congested between 820am and 920am and then between 430pm and 600pm. It is virtually dead the rest of the time. Being the incredible individual that I am, it is my goal that by the time this trimester is finished, I will have figured out a system that does not involve me getting lost and confused every few days.

A Week in Hell (....or close to it)

2010-02-08T14:33:00.001-05:00

It has taken me one week to get over the ordeal that was house management! I was forced into being house manager with this really annoying girl whose name shall be, for the purpose of this post, Anahsohs. (I can't have Shoshana find out I am talking crap about her in my blog!) Well anyways being house manager with her was so bad because Anahsohs made me wash and dry the dishes so many times during the week that I needed both hands to count all the times that I was forced to do them. On top of it all we had discussed, before our week started, that she would wash the washrooms all three times during our week but nevertheless I found myself having to do it ONCE! It was an outrage. I still can't get the smell of Clorox out of my skin. Does she not even care for my well being? Anyways I got some relief in the arrival of my friends but even then I was forced into a matching outfit with her which consisted of Salmon (not pink) tights and a nineties Jean shirt (the horror I know!). I have lived through her cruel and unusual punishments before but the embarrassment I encountered with my friends will take a lifetime to get over! If she just once thought about someone other than herself, maybe she would see what kind of horrible wench she is! I finished my week of house management with only my dignity lost, but never again will I put myself in a position where I can be so horribly abused. Anahsohs, shame on you for being so terrible.

My insanely buff legs!....yes I wore these tights out in public! I didn't have a choice

Anahsohs, and the magazine she used to beat me!

Earl, a potato that looks like a shark or dinosaur! (I swear I didn't mean to peel him that way)

6 Diva's, 3 Dudes.....and Me

2010-02-05T16:33:00.000-05:00

*WARNING: THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN UNAPPROPRIATED SUBJECT MATTER. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED*

Last Night I was not in the best of moods. I was still sulking over the fact that now only one friend was coming home to London with me next weekend, even if Elliot Lake (Northern Ontario) is way cooler than Southern Ontario.I was also bumbed out because I wanted to see Jersey Boys on the Friday of my free time but the logistics of getting back to London after the show was turning into a problem. Being the overly emotional mess that I am I decided to barricade myself in my room and fall asleep though it was only 8pm.

I had barely gotten 10 minutes of peace and quiet to myself when Tom and Jessica came into my room and woke me up by turning on the lights. They came to remind me that we had a KCC (Katimavik Coronation Council) planning meeting tonight for second languages. Grudgingly I agreed to roll over in my bed and listen to them talk. The meeting wasn't terrible long,thankfully,and it was about to finish when my whole group entered and decided to have a full house meeting in my room.The fact that I was only in my long johns matter little to them. What was on the agenda you ask? Well there was the matter of who was using twice the amount of detergent for their clothes but more importantly the showcasing of a new purchase was the more important part. There in front of Nicole, our Project Leader, were 5 little pink boxes. Inside of them were little items that had been a common topic in our household for the past week. It was something called Diva cup. For those of you who do not know what a Diva cup is, a quick description is that it is a system for women who are experiencing their "time of the month" and it is a system that is reusable and environmental. Here in my room were six girls talking openly about how it was made in Canada, came with a carrying bag and a memorable pin which declared them official Divas.

That meeting really showed me that my group is reaching a new level of closeness. If someone asked me three months ago what I would be talking about my group with,the topic of Diva cups would not even have been on my radar. I may have been in a bad mood that night and I am sure more of my mood swings are on the horizon but nevertheless my group never fails to show off their annoying quirks which in the end force me to really really really like them.(I mean I could say love but I am not sure if our relationship has reached that level yet!)

Shopping Overload

2010-02-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

Newmarket has been a complete change from Vanderhoof. Although I loved Vanderhoof and its beautiful scenery, Newmarket has one clear advantage over Vanderhoof. Newmarket has something called a mall. This revolutionary idea is when a bunch of stores decide that they should put all their stores side by side in the giant building for the convenience of the shopper. I am sure that the residence of Vanderhoof have thought of this idea before but they need more than a dozen stores before they can even dream of creating a successful mall. It was nice spending three and a half months in Northern BC, where the best place to buy stuff was at Fields (a smaller version of Zellers for all of us Ontarians) because my money didn't seem to disappear meaning I could spend my money more wisely on such great items such as an over priced bag of Crispers at 7/11.However upon arriving in Newmarket I found out that the Upper Canada Mall was located not too far from our new Katima-house.

For those of you who don't know the Upper Canada Mall, it is gigantic. Not as big as the Eaton's Center in Toronto, but still at least twice the size of Masonville mall in London. In the two weeks I have been in Newmarket, I have already erased all the katimavik money which I saved up in Northern BC and literally I have had to have friends forbid me to buy anything (thanks Anda and Jessica). It is like all of the time I lost shopping in BC now needs to be caught up, now that I am back in Ontario. Well I guess I am not perfect and I don't have a problem admitting that. I will keep you guys (my readers, or I guess mostly my mom)updated on my problem and I should have everyone know that writing this blog post is a good because the first step in fixing a problem is admitting that a problem exists.

The Key To Riverside

2010-02-03T12:46:00.000-05:00

I have now been in Ontario for two weeks but I have been so busy, or in other words lazy (parraseux for you frenchies), only now have I found the time to write about my favorite place in Vanderhoof, Riverside Place. Helping out at the Assisted living facility was one of the most fulfilling experiences ever. From the tenants to Pam, Barb and Helen I had a blast. If any of them are reading this I would love to get an email because I realized I never got any of your emails before I left! Anyways back to the story. My final day at Riverside was on January 15th! I cannot believe three weeks have already passed but that day was super special. There was a nice little party for me where most of the tenants came down to see me off and to show their appreciation for all of the work that I did there (that statement makes me sound conceded but I swear I am not). The party had gotten off to a great start.

At the farewell party everyone was super talkative and Helen even bought a cake for the occasion. Now this was not any normal cake. It was a cake from Woody`s bakery, only the most amazing bakery in the world. After enjoying the wonderful cake, there was a cute little presentation by Helen where she gave me a few small mementos. They included the do`s and don`ts of of knitting, something about a crochet (whatever that word means :p) a beautiful card, a painting and the Key to Riverside. Over the trimester I had only lost my keys about a dozen times so it was fitting that I should receive a big version of them so I would be sure not to loose them. I will have everyone know that the key and card are on my dresser, against my mirror, and all of the other mementos have been sent home for safe keeping. It makes me feel good to wake up and see them every morning. Leaving was quite hard. My brief three months at Riverside were not long enough for sure. Coincidently, after saying my goodbyes and walking out the door I had to return one last time because I had forgot to return my keys. Thank you for everything, and may the future be bright for Riverside Place.

Lucky Number Thirteen

2010-01-26T23:54:00.000-05:00

Last week our Katimavik group got the chance to see an Omenica Ice hockey game at the local Vanderhoof Arena. It was a playoff game against the Huston Luckies and it was their final home game. Anthony’s work partner (I guess mine too but they didn’t really like me to much since I wanted to do more than scrub the arena windows) gave him the go ahead to use a key and sneak in the back Zamboni door to see the game free of charge. It was their way to thank us for all of our hard work, but in a lapse of communication it was not told to the security people, for the game, that we were invited by the arena manager and we were forced to pay a whole six dollars fee. For a playoff game it was extremely dead. There was maybe one hundred people in the crowd and that was including the Katimavik group. Puzzled we waited for the people to arrive and the start of the game. The game started but still only a few dozen others had joined us to cheer on our local hockey team.
Forty-three seconds into the first period the Huston Luckies scored a goal. It was at this point that another fan leant over to me and informed me that in the last three games the Omineca Ice had been outscored twenty-eight to six. After hearing that statement I prayed for a miracle which would never come. For the next two hours I wanted a hockey team get out played, out smarted and demolished. Half of the Ice’s players were either suspended for misconduct or they were at a wedding in the Dominican. They were at a clear disadvantage from the beginning. It was so bad that the head coach, for the Ice, found himself in the Beer Gardens instead of on the bench, with his players, during the third period. When it was all said and done they had been slaughtered thirteen to one. For someone who is not a fan of the sport this does not do much to help its cause. My future with this sport is grim. I may watch the gold medal hockey game for the Olympics on the T.V...but that is only if I am forced.

17 to 71

2010-01-25T23:46:00.000-05:00

In Vanderhoof I got the chance to join a pick up badminton league. My partner there, for most of my games, was an amazing woman and her name was Ann. She was British and her love for the sport was incredible. Although she never told me her age, and I should not speculate on it, she is extremely full of wisdom because she was already travelling and living on her own by 1950. She taught me that badminton is a sport for the ageless. Everyone has their limitations but badminton allows growth for everyone at all stages of life. Even though it is a surprisingly strenuous sport, Ann was able to move around the court with great ease. Her sense of humor was also quite infectious. We shared some great laughs and it proved that friendships can cross generations. Thank you Ann for all that you taught me. Whether it was on the badminton court or off the court and related to life situations, you left a great impression on me.

Saying my Goodbyes

2010-01-25T23:42:00.000-05:00

It has been nine days since my last blog post but relocating to Newmarket Ontario has been crazy and not to mention extremely busy. Nevertheless lots of stuff happened in Vanderhoof, before I left, which is blog material, so for the next seven days I will post an entry about my various goodbye stories to all of the people in the small town of Vanderhoof BC.

A Taste of India

2010-01-17T01:56:00.000-05:00

This past week I have been saying my various goodbye's to all of the people to whom I have met here in Vanderhoof. Yesterday it was saying goodbye to my billets Zoe and Davy Dhillon. For 10 days in November and December they graciously took my into their home and let me stay with them as our project leader took his time off and "skied it up" in Jasper. Spending time with them was fantastic. They led a very active in healthy lifestyle, a lifestyle I would like to live when I become older and have family of my own. They way they talked to each other and communicated even through all the stresses of life was incredible. They have a dog that is barely a year old, named Teeka, and a gorgeous baby girl, Anya, who is only seven months. On top of it all Anya began teething while I was staying with them. They were super nice, easy going and fantastic to talk to. Anyways, the Dhillon's left yesterday, with their seven month old baby, to New Delhi India for a month long trip in the East-Asian country.

I am super jealous of the trip which they have planned. India looks like an amazing place to visit. I would love seeing a country where development is everywhere and seeing old traditions integrate with the twenty first century ideology. The other reason I would like to go there is because of the food which is unbelievable. In London the only Indian cuisine is a restaurant called Curry's and although it is pretty good I rarely got there. A plus, while staying with Zoe and Davy was that I got tons of Indian cuisine. I did try to replicate one of their dishes called chennas, a chick pea dish with spices,back at the katimavik house after billeting but I failed miserably because I didn't let the chick peas soak enough and then added ten times the amount of Coriander seed to the dish. It was so terrible that even Tom, known for eating anything, had to make a trip to A&W. In closing this couple left an amazing impression on me and I wish them all the best of luck not only on their twenty four hour flight but on their amazing journey which will take them half way around the world.

One Hundred Days of Katimavik

2010-01-16T05:02:00.001-05:00

As of Thursday, I had spent one hundred days in the Katimavik program! It does not feel like it was one hundred days ago that I was in the airport, past security, crying for my mother. So much has changed and I feel like I have learnt so much from my project leader, my work placements and my fellow participants. I realize that I missed posting a blog about "one hundred days on Katimavik" on the actual anniversary, but life is not perfect and neither am I so here I am on the morning of day one hundred and two writing about two days ago. This has been an experience like no other and although there are things which I wish went differently I could not have asked for a better group. As we end our trimester in Vanderhoof I am slightly nervous. Newmarket will bring new opportunities but also new problems to overcome. I can not lie, there are definitely people I want to see as a I return to Ontario. I miss many friends and family dearly and not to see them would be a unbearable. I am hoping that seeing them will give me a boost of energy I need to “keep on truckin” though this program. Newmarket here I come and all I can say is I hope you don’t disappoint.

Smithers (Part Two)

2010-01-12T23:37:00.000-05:00

When I left my blog last night I had written about my Cross country ski adventure. Cross country skiing is an amazing sport and I have a new found respect for the sport. I think the next step that I should take is trying and mastering biathlon because me with a gun and on skies would be the perfect combination. Any how back to my trip, after recovering (slightly) from the ski workout we all packed into the van and went to the movie store (to get films for the night) and to eat at Masayama, an authentic Japanese restaurant! Well almost authentic. The food was delicious but the only Asian person in the whole building was Shoshana, and she is part of our Katimavik group. Hundreds of pictures were take at the restaurant for no particular reason (most of them hideous) and one included an epic shot of Jessica fighting with me over the last Tempura (deep fried vegetables). My nose looks like a hundred times bigger than it actually is and my neck is freakishly long. Upon returning to St. Joseph's (our sleeping facility) we had a quiet night of watching movies and laying on virtually non existent mattresses as "beds".

The following morning we woke up bright and early, with aching bodies, to go on a hike. The trail was called Malkow Lookout and it was suppose to take two hours round trip. Unfortunately we read the signs wrong and ended up walking half way up the mountain and then we took a path which gradually brought us back to base. Determined to reach a good lookout point, half of our group decided to ``rough it out`` and make our own trail which went vertically up. Getting up the trail was not terrible. Pictures were taken and we even got on my camera a shot of Bigfoot. Unfortunately our sighting turned out to be a girl in our group who had strayed from the path (...oops). Coming down that ridge was not as fun. Gravity did not help us out at all and we hurtled down the side of this `trail`. Over all it was a great trip. On our ride home we stopped in Huston for a photo shoot with the World's longest fishing pole and we made it the whole way home with out any bathroom breaks, which takes skill!

Jessica and me fighting over the last bit of deep fried vegetables!

Jessica and Me looking very fine ;)

Bigfoot sighting!!!!! (it turned out to be Jessica...wow she is very popular in this story)

The World`s biggest fishing rod!

Half of my Katima-fam on our ``off the trail`` lookout :)

Smithers (Part One)

2010-01-12T00:40:00.000-05:00

This past weekend our Katimavik group got the opportunity to travel to Smithers BC (after a grueling excursion protocol procedure) to see some of the beautiful mountains which Northern BC has to offer, seeing that Vanderhoof is the "Geographical center of BC" and has no mountains. We set out before sunrise on Saturday and arrived in Smithers, without incident, around eleven am. Our sleeping facility was an elementary catholic school that would have had a beautiful view of the main ski hill, if there weren't so many clouds. It was so dreary that seeing the base of the mountain was hard. Nevertheless we unpacked our van and headed off to the Bulkley Valley Nordic Center to go cross country skiing.

The temperature was about minus two degrees and lightly snowing so the conditions were perfect. We started on a trail called Pooch Paradise. It wasn't until half way through the trail that I realized that they named the trail Pooch Paradise because dogs were aloud to run along side their masters. After breezing through the four and a half kilometer trail, half of our group moved on to Pine creek trail which was ten kilometers. Cross country skiing is much harder than it looks. I spent the whole time trying to keep up with my Project Leader who had a serious advantage of me because he is over six feet tall and his strides are ridiculously big. Nevertheless I finished the trail with him and then skied a little more through the pain. All in all Tristan and I skied for eighteen kilometers. I felt really good mentally but I was so sweaty and disgusting that I was thankful for the down time we had back at the school. Our trip back did hold some excitement as we saw the first of the four moose we would see on the trip. Part two in my Smithers story will include eating almost Japanese food and climbing a mountain, but I am extremely tired and still hurting from my ski/outdoor adventures that I must get some much needed rest.

Andreanne and me getting ready to ski!

Jessica and I ready to take on "Pooch Paradise"

What is the plural of Moose; Mooses or Meeses??

In Memory of a Fine Lady; Spotted Love

2010-01-08T15:05:00.001-05:00

Working at Riverside has been an experience like no other. Both workers and tenants are fantastic to spend time with. The only unfortunate part about Riverside is that since most of the tenants are older the chance of someone passing on is quite high. That is what happened on Tuesday night to one of my favourite tenants. She was a lady who was extremely nice, who was always out of her room socializing and brightening everyone’s day. About a month ago while she was walking down to one of the music nights, which is put on here at Riverside, she fell and broke her hip. She is known to be a very determined lady, since she has already recovered from two strokes, so recovering from this should have been a breeze. It was not to be.

After a successful surgery mid December, she was transferred back to the Vanderhoof to start physiotherapy. Her mood was pretty good and upon visiting her, I felt her road to recovery would have been tough but well within her ability. She was surrounded by flowers and cards, one which included a huge Dalmatian pop out card. This was not a new card by any means because it had been given to her while her husband was still alive. Inside a simple hand written note which said “...from the moment I spotted you I was in love....” when I asked her about the card she said it gave her strength to carry on a fight go get better. That visit was unfortunately the last time I would be able to see her. Slightly after Christmas her body could not take the strain and began to shut down. She passed away on January seventh days before her ninetieth birthday. I take comfort in knowing that she had a long and prosperous life and that she has a loving partner waiting for her on the other side.

A Night of Fine Cuisine (11:11)

2010-01-07T20:48:00.000-05:00

I love pancakes period. It is on that notion that I came up with the idea that making pancakes as a midnight snack was a must. Seeing that cooking by myself can be lonely I decided in convincing Shoshana that making Pancakes at eleven eleven (for no particular reason) was an amazing idea. She, being extremely gullible and persuadable (just joking :)), agreed and when the clock struck eleven eleven we began our work.

Our first problem, that we encountered, was the fact that there was only two eggs. Lost in a frenzy we could not abandon ship and not cook anything because we had been looking forward to this all day so we set about making our own creation. Twenty minutes later our delicious concoction, which included pasta sauce, molasses, Parmesan cheese, jam, cranberries, wasabi, chopped bologna, sardines and basil, was simmering on the stove. Having this mixture over pasta would be good but not great, so it was decided by my amazing partner in crime to add popcorn and M and M's on top. Surprisingly it turned out relatively well and it didn't taste like vomit. We shared our creation over a candle lit dinner together where we professed our fake undying lover for eachother while Handel's Messaish played in the back ground. So all it all it was a pretty uneventful night at the Katimavik house but nevertheless I thought it was blog worthy.

Our cooking masterpiece :)!!!!!

My Poor Lonely Blue Mittens

2010-01-05T23:22:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite presents that I got this Christmas was a pair of blue hand-knitted mittens from my billet family. I don't need the big expensive presents to make me feel good. If a present has meaning behind it, the value can be way greater than the hundred and fifty dollar IPod from Walmart! That is exactly how I felt about these gloves. I had wanted a pair, for running, ever since I got to Vanderhoof and Zoe who sometimes runs with me took note and found the perfect pair. My time with these mittens was almost cut short the other day and the heroic story of how I saved them is the topic of todays blog post.

It all started the day after New Years when I was called to duty to help clean the hall at which we "partied" the night before. I wore my mittens and a funky elf hat to the hall and put both of them in my coat pocket. Karina, a really nice girl from the Prince George, thought it would be funny to take them and hide them in the Christmas tree at the hall as a joke. That wasn't the funny part. That came when she forgot to tell me she hid them and then left. Upon discovering that they were missing I frantically began to look for them but to no avail. I returned to the Katimavik house crushed only to have Karina remember her prank and let me in on the "joke". The hall was closed for the weekend so I knew they were safe so I decided to ask Sarah my boss at the arena for the number on Monday so I could retrieve my mittens.

I arrived pronto on Monday (actually I was twenty minutes late but that is a different story) to get the number only to find that she had decided to take the day off. Desperate measures needed to be made so I was forced to sneak into her office to find the number, which was a success. Therefore I made a date with Art, the owner of the hall to pick them up, although upon arrival I was horrified to see that volunteers had taken down Christmas decorations and along with it my mittens. After that "spackle" a round of phone tag commenced.

After calling four different people I found out that the tree was moved to a storage yard where somebody found the gloves and then gave them to a friend who gave them to her daughter in Fraser Lake which is over an hour away. I honestly did not think that I would see them again but then Maggie, the girl who had them, said she had an identical pair and that she was coming into Vanderhoof anyways the following day so at 1:15 pm we met up at the Co-op and I was once again reunited with my woolen mittens. They are now safely in my house......somewhere!

Have I told you I want to be a Ginger!

2010-01-03T04:13:00.000-05:00

I need to tell people that even though I am only seventeen I have already started a bucket list! It does not mean that I am planning to die any time soon but from my point of view half of the things I want to do before I ‘pass away’ are way too strenuous or bizarre for an older aged version of me to attempt. I have the regular things on my list such as running a marathon, eating seal and buying my way into space but none of these things can be accomplished while on Katimavik. Therefore I decided I wanted to accomplish another point on my list which was to dye my hair red.

Now I feel like I needed a reason to make such a drastic change to my hair colour but I could not seem to find a single valid reason in support of this endeavour. However on Wednesday I got an opportunity which was too good to give up. The whole Katimavik district came up to Vanderhoof for the New Year’s weekend and one of the planned activities was a Talent Show. Call me crazy if you must but we (as in my Katimavik group) thought it would be funny (maybe incredibly inappropriate) for me to sing a straight faced version of Springtime for Hitler from the Musical Comedy “The Producers”. If you are unsure of what the song is, it is basically a song about Hitler and the regime which mocks them through actions so if you take away the actions you are left with an incredibly racist song. We needed to make my musical number legitimate therefore going all out and bleaching my hair was a necessity. I was totally expecting it to look horrible but I was pleasantly surprised to see that my hair wasn’t a disaster and that it turned out reasonably well. It might look strange and actually kind of funny, but it is all in the name of Musical Theatre and hopefully my number will get a few laughs (after the fact of course). So to make a long story short I did not accomplish one thing on my bucket list but it was still an event in my life which was worth blogging about

The Skies and the Trees

2010-01-01T23:00:00.000-05:00

It was a crisp Wednesday morning at the Katima-house. The sun had yet to rise but everyone was up. The mood was maybe a bit moody but it was only seven in the morning. Nevertheless by seven thirty all eleven of us had piled into our Katima-van to make the hour long trek to the Murray Ridge Ski hill.

Now my skiing experience has been extremely limited seeing that in London we only have an excuse of a mountain known as the Bolar Bump. Therefore upon arriving and getting our proper equipment at the ski hill we all decided to start off on the bunny hill. I thought that I would have been terrible seeing that I have not “legitimately” skied before but I felt extremely comfortable skiing down the gentle slope of the bunny hill so therefore I decided, with Andréanne, to go to the very top of the mountain. It only seemed logical that if I could ski the on the bunny hill that I would be able to tackle the whole mountain. Our first obstacle unfortunately came right at the bottom of the hill. Murray Ridge does not have a ski lift, but rather a contraption known as a T-Bar. It took more than ten minutes of uncomfortable balancing and nervous screaming to reach the top of the mountain and what we experienced was only the easy part of our day.

The view was extremely beautiful but also very high. I was quite unprepared to the fact that I was going to half to ski for a full five six minutes just to reach the bottom. We picked the ‘easiest’ trail to try and accomplish but it was still way to difficult for my level of skiing. It only took me only 500 meters to experience my first fall and it was pretty harsh. I had forgotten the importance of turning so I went straight off the trail into a small tree. I hit pretty hard and it was enough to open a cut on my head. I was fairly displeased with myself but then realized that scrapes and bruises are all part of the sport and I got right back up and slowly went down the hill with Andréanne falling every few hundred meters until I reached the bottom of the mountain twenty minutes later.

I am a very determined person so I continued to go to the top and struggle through the ski runs. Other falls include one where my bindings got twisted forcing me to walk half of the mountain (worst experience ever) and doing multiple face plants in the snow. Overall it was a great day. And my final run of the day I reached the bottom of the mountain without one fall. It was a perfect day to ski and I got some amazing pictures. My body might now be sore all over but it was definitely worth every wipe out.

Happy New Years

2010-01-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that it is 2010! Time is flying by so quickly that before I know it I will be back in London for the Summer. Our plans at the Katimavik house, during New Years, were and are still extremely crazy. We decided to invite the whole cluster up to Vanderhoof for a New Years Eve Party. That means thirty three other people arrived yesterday to our house to ring in the New Year and stay for a few days.Last night we went altogether (as a group of forty four) to the New Years dance where a hypnotist preceded the dance. I volunteered at this 'show' and got the opportunity to prance around the stage as a bunny rabbit at easter. All in all I am having a great (but hectic time) this New Years but I cannot lie, come January third having the house to just the eleven of us will be an amazing blessing.

Happy New Years!!!! Hope everyone had a fantastic time last night as they rang in 2010 :)

The Knitting Wars

2009-12-29T06:30:00.001-05:00

Earlier this month I began the long process which was learning how to knit. The day before Goldie and Frank (elders at Riverside) began to teach me, my thunder was stolen by Shoshana Okano. She not only one upped me learning how to knit merely hours before I learnt, but she also got training on how to pearl. This news was devastating to me because I am not use to having to settle for second place. Therefore we found ourselves on opposing sides of the battlefield and the knitting wars had begun.

It has been more than a month and I can clearly state that in this competition I was crushed beyond belief. I don't often declare when I lose but I was so pathetic against her naturally gifted knitting hands. Whereas her stitches were nice, loose but perfectly balanced, mine were freakishly tight and I kept missing stitches left right and center. I had barely created a small square in pink yarn and she was already knitting a hat. In my defense her billet mom was a crazy knitter and at the Nechako Manor she was able to get amazing tips from the "In north China we do....." nurse who turned out to be a pro knitter. The playing field was stacked against me from the start and the better she got the lazier I became. Nevertheless I have an appointment tomorrow with Catherine (another Riverside resident) and I am going to give pearling another try. I am really looking forward to that but my true secret weapon is that Frank has promised me (if I get better) that he would teach me how to make these amazingly ugly but awesome slippers. So until then Shoshana you are the goddess of knitting but ugly slippers can change the perspective of everything.

Merry (Belated) Christmas

2009-12-27T19:51:00.000-05:00

I have fallen of the band wagon when it came to updating my blog but I am back to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I promise to stay more in sync with my blog and its posts because I have lots to write about but unfortunately from time to time I become slightly lazy. I will update again soon!

The Records of History

2009-12-05T20:59:00.000-05:00

The Residents of Riverside have yet to stop impressing me. I love going there in the mornings because everything is so low key. I go there to talk, spend time and to just brighten the day of anyone who so asks. Not only are they usually friendly they also have some of the most interesting stories and things to share. On Thursday I spent some time with this gentleman named Bob. He is in the process of digging out all of his old records and restoring them to their previous state. He began telling me about his first record player when he was a kid a 75 rpm (or something) record player and how the first records held only one or two songs and used only the one side. He pointed to an unopened box and said that they were records that had belonged to his mother. We spent the next half hour going through them and cleaning them up with these cool brushes.
I loved reading the labels, learning about artists I had never heard of and just finding out when and where they came from. One of the last records that I pulled out was a Christmas record. I could not believe my eyes when I read that it was released on December 3rd 1909. It was exactly 100 years to the day (well it was December 4th but close enough) that this record had been released amid Christmas cheer in New York City. How it made it into the hands of Bob’s mother he did not know but it really made me think of how our technology has changed in 100 short years. The change is incredible and I felt like I was holding a piece of history. We take for granted all of the things we have and we forget that not very long ago something as simple as a record was treasured beyond belief. For me this made me realize how quickly our lives change and that in no time at all our present will be history.

A Runaway Puppy!

2009-12-01T02:27:00.001-05:00

One of the more memorable moments that happened this week was that I found a four or five month old puppy that had broken into Riverside. It all started at about 9 am when Patrick, one of the residents, interrupted a meeting which Helen, my boss, and I were having. He had sworn that he had just seen a rat with a pink sweater run down the hallways. Helen thanked him for his input but soon forgot about his declaration when he left. Helen had a lot of administration work to do so I got to lead the morning walking group with Isabel and Hilda, two of the nicest residents in the facility. We were coming the the end of our second hallway when this so called rat came running down the hallway on a collision course with Hilda.
After some quick thinking, on my part, I was able to divert the small creature away from Hilda and attempt to catch it. It was then that I saw it was a puppy. It skirted past me and ran into the kitchen. I finally cornered her and picked her up. She was so petrified that she began to pee everywhere. Here I was with this puppy, holding her as far away as possible, as she peed and made a mess. I put her in one of our back rooms and got her some water. We were at a loss of what to do because it certainly was not a dog of one of the tenants and she had no collar.
I felt terrible for the poor creature. She was so scared and I did not want to call SPCA because a dog pound is not a place to be if you are a puppy. Thankfully at about 1 pm a woman came to Riverside looking for a dog in a pink sweater. Supposedly Isabel had taken a scooter ride downtown and saw this lady frantically looking for her puppy. When I brought the dog out to her, she burst into tears of gratitude. The dogs name was Teeka and what had happened was that she had just gotten a new collar, but the collar was still a bit big for Teeka so when she was tied up outside she slipped out of it and went for a stroll. Seeing the dog reunited with her owner made my week. The bond between dog and owner is incredible and it brought a whole new meaning to ‘man’s best friend’.

Teeka is a cross between a pug and boxer.

Drifting to Prince George

2009-11-26T00:47:00.000-05:00

It was a regular Tuesday morning. I had woken up at 7:15 am per usual so I could get into the shower first and use most of the hot water. I was anticipating a boring day at the district office seeing that my boss, Sarah, had told me that they needed help from the three arena volunteers to fold five thousand copies of the Vanderhoof Updater. However when Jessica, Thony and I arrived at the offices, we were told that parts of the Updater had not been approved by council so it could not be sent to print. I was slightly cheesed off by that because Sarah had promised us three dozen donuts from Woody’s bakery, which would have been shared between the four of us, and these donuts are to die for. This also meant that we had no set structure for the day. Sarah was forced to think of something for us to do, and she came up with the brilliant idea of going Christmas shopping in Prince George for our Christmas Party/ Picture with Santa event which is being put on at the arena.
I was all for this idea because there are only a few stores in Vanderhoof and I have not been to a mall since I started Katimavik. It was a beautiful day and the road conditions were not bad at all. We were having quite a pleasant drive when I experienced one of the scariest moments in my life. We came up behind this red ford with a trailer on the back which was only going 70 km/h so Sarah decided to pass the truck. As she accelerated her four wheel drive cut out and the entire back end swung out and hit the car that we were passing. Sarah tried to pull away but her car then stalled and we started drifting on black ice. We completely spun around and the proceeded to once again hit the car but this time on the side. If we had not smacked into that car for a second time we would have continued gliding. That is a scary thought for me because the ditch to the one side of us was more than a 20 foot drop.
I am just thankful that everyone is okay. The severity of the crash could have way worse and it helped that the people in the other car were calm and collected. Sarah’s car had to get towed because there was a horrible clicking noise when she tried to drive it again, maybe the axels, and we did not think it was safe to drive. It sure was an eventful day and an experience that really made me grateful for the life that I have.

The Case of the Disappearing Photographs

2009-11-22T06:59:00.001-05:00

A huge part of the Katimavik program in my mind is to take as many pictures as possible and then have some of them put up on facebook for all of my friends and family to see. I was following these 'rules' quite faithfully along with most of the other people in my group, even to the point when tagging people in photos became a daily ritual, when I started noticing that I would get fewer and fewer pictures every time I uploaded them to my computer. I could have sworn that I had taken dozens of pictures that particular day but unfortunately only twenty or so pictures would upload. When it happened for the first time I thought I could have accidently erased them, but when it happened a second, third and fourth time I started to become suspicious that someone was erasing my photos for a reason I could not comprehend.

I began to keep my camera with me everywhere I went and when I wasn’t using it I hid it in my room so the ‘picture thief’ could not have his or her chance to erase my photos. Today tragedy struck again. I was volunteering at a radio auction today (totally cool btw) with my friend Shoshana, when I got the idea to have a photo shoot about our day at the auction. I was taking an epic photo of Shoshana showcasing the display board, in a funky Vanna White style, when my camera self destructed in my hand! All of the photos which I had taken from that previous week had vanished into thin air. My own camera was the enemy which I was trying to find. In light of these new developments I am now forced to upload my pictures as frequently as possible living in constant fear that they could disappear at any moment. A horrible reality is what I am now living and if my parents are reading this, potentially a new camera would be a nice idea for that special holiday which is quickly approaching.

The Zamboni and the Arena

2009-11-20T03:18:00.000-05:00

Some people have asked me to put up pictures of me on the Zamboni. Their wish is my command so I finally got around to taking a picture while I was driving the big blue machine named Sally. I am not sure if that name is going to stick but I can tell you that Steve (a suggested name) or for that fact any other guys name is out of the question because some of the guys had a problem with those names saying that they did not want to continuously have to "ride a man" day after day. Everyone at the arena is looking for input so if you have an idea for the name let us know.

(The Gate that Separates the Zamboni and the Ice!!!)

(Smiling and Driving at the Same Time)

House Prisoners

2009-11-15T04:33:00.000-05:00

I must start off my blog by saying that I had been looking forward to the week that has just pasted, since the beginning of time (or since I moved to Vanderhoof). This week I got to be a house manager with Andréanne. This meant that we got a week off work and we got to cook the food that we wanted to and keep the house spotlessly clean. Our menu was set; we had planned extraordinary meals which ranged from Spanakopitas, Salmon with baked fries to Steak Kebabs. We were just getting ready for a relaxing week where we would be able to lounge around the house doing what we please when reality set in! I for one did not know that dehydrating Spinach would take over an hour and a half, squeezing by hand, to get every single last drop of water out of them, that perogies would take over five hours of hard labour to produce, or that the fried onions and green peppers on the kebabs were perfectly sized for a funny (but annoying) food fight at the dinner table. Andréanne and I worked extremely well together, we are "the babies" of the group seeing that we are both still seventeen, but we are still the best damn cooks the katimahouse will ever see! We had to be innovative in what we chose to make, people get bored if they eat the same things over and over again, but we bit off a fair amount (when it comes to cooking) and were left chewing (cooking) for hours on end.
Before Katimavik I had minimal experience in the kitchen, seeing that my mom was always a great cook and fed me whatever I desired. Cooking and cleaning is much more difficult that I thought, especially here in the katimahouse. Whenever we would clean something up, a new mess would magically appear somewhere else, and putting things away seemed to become more of a nuisance for some people. It was like we were cleaning up space for people to mess up. My mentality by the end of the week was to throw a bunch of noodles in a pot, feed it to the wolves and stick a citrus scented febreeze in the washroom. Don't get me wrong, all of my roommates here are fantastic, but all I am saying is that little help with the dishes after supper would always be appreciated. All of my mom’s grumbling about cleaning up after yourself suddenly makes sense to me, and I am legitimately going to make an effort to keep my things in order and out of the way, well most of the time....I have to torture the next house managers just a little bit.

TOGA TOGA TOGA

2009-11-15T03:35:00.001-05:00

We had a toga night this past week and I though sharing these pictures would be useful in showing everyone what Katimavik is all about!

A Month Gone By in the Life of a Katima-Victim

2009-11-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

It is incredible to imagine that it has been over a month since I travelled to BC and left my many friends and family back in Ontario. Although Katimavik has been such a unique and incredible experience to date, I cannot deny the fact that I miss everyone terribly in London. Going on Katimavik would not have been nearly as hard if I did not get the privilege to work with some of the most talented people in the city this past summer. I got to spend time with fun, caring and charismatic theatre kids when I took part in my fourth and last High School Project Grease at the Grand Theatre.
Never in my life did I feel so motivated, included and most importantly happy. Everybody in the cast and crew brought something special our group and added to our chemistry on and off stage. The eleven week process went by way too quickly and I wish I could have stayed in that utopia forever. The Grand Theatre was like a second home to me, a sort a refuge where I could become myself and always feel welcome. The Grand Theatre will forever be a part of who I am.
I left London three days after our show ended and although many thought it was too soon, I left on a high point and felt ready to take on an entirely new challenge. I do not want to sound cheesy but Katimavik is like a roller coaster, there are so many emotions swirling around the house and the atmosphere can change in an instant. Katimavik is helping me grow as a team member and as an individual. I love that Katimavik is showing me how I can include my musical talents in my daily life, from performing at my local church and the Cozy Corner to starting a Glee Club at the seniors facility. Theatre is a huge part of my life but I have been unsure of whether to pursue it later in life. Hopefully I can gain a better perspective through Katimavik. I am in a good place right now, surrounded by great people (even if they are not theatre people) and my positive outlook on life is only growing here in Northern BC. Leaving London has made me realize how sweet a life was, from my friends at school, work and of course the theatre. My life almost feels surreal to me right now and I have never been so excited to just live.

To trick and not to treat

2009-11-02T01:43:00.001-05:00

Halloween at the Katima-house was crazy. Vanderhoof puts on a special event for Halloween called the Pumpkin walk and we were summoned to volunteer for the event. It is a community event where local businesses set up booths to give away candy while people walk through the forest which is lined with over 500pumpkins. Our job was to collect, (thanks Jazmin and L.A), place and then light all of the pumpkins. It would have been an enjoyable experience except that as soon as we began moving the pumpkins a huge wind/ rain storm came out of nowhere and made us all miserable. The storm passed quickly enough and by the time we began lighting the pumpkins our spirits had been lifted slightly, only to be squashed by cold wins and cruddy lighters.
In an attempt to turn the tone of the house around some of the group, which turned into many of us, which turned into everyone except Tom decided to dress up and go trick or treating. I had gotten into my costume (pink pyjamas and a purple shower cap) and retrieved my pillow case super early and was therefore forced to wait for everyone else. For some odd reason I came up with the brilliant idea to hide under the big rubber dingy sitting in our living room (I will explain why we have one at a later date), and to scare everyone when they came into the room. It seemed like a great idea at the time and I waited in much anticipation for my trick. After I waited for minutes I started to get slightly annoyed but I continued to wait, and wait and wait. I could finally wait no longer and I decided to come out of my boat to see where everyone was at and I found that everyone had already left for Trick or Treating (minus Tom) without me.
I was quite disappointed but I went with Tom to the pumpkin walk, found the rest of the candy loaded group and watched the fabulous firework display, which was provided by the district. I cannot say that freezing my buns off lighting pumpkins and getting completely forgotten about can make for the best Halloween ever but it was sure one to remember.

Toilet Paper Rolls, Chicken Fajitas and Acne

2009-10-27T02:00:00.000-04:00

It was an extremely eventful weekend in Vanderhoof. I went to church, we had our first 'real' snowfall and I got my first punishment in Katimavik. It all started when I wanted to go to the washroom in our newly painted bathroom. I was about to use the facilities when I realized that we were out of toilet paper! Disgusted, I ran down stairs ranting that someone had forgot to change the toilet paper. I made someone else change the roll and then proceeded to use the washroom downstairs. A few minutes later I was at the kitchen table muttering to myself how inconsiderate a person must be to not change the roll when Jessica came into the room and announced that I myself had not changed it in the downstairs bathroom. I will admit that I was slightly embarrassed with myself and in the Katimahouse not changing the roll is a Class-A felony, so I was forced to pick a consequence out of the dreaded jar.
Before I get to my punishment I was not the first to get one of these cruel and unnatural punishments. Tristan, who forgot to turn the computer off at night, was forced to wear a dress for the day and Shoshana, who left her razor in the shower, had the unfortunate experience of having to take a freezing cold shower. The punishment that I picked out was that during supper my hands were to be tied behind my back and I was forced to eat our delicious Chicken Fajitas and Greek Salad (thanks Mik and Fred) with only my mouth. Let me tell you it is not one of the most pleasant experiences. There I was chomping down on my Fajitas with my face right in the middle of my plate and then having to slurp up my water in a bowl like a dog. I thought the worst of my punishment was over until later that night Fred told that the acidity in the salsa and tomatoes would give me acne. I scrubbed my face down as a precaution before I went to bed but low and behold when I woke up the next morning I had three pimples on my chin and cheek. The morale of my story I guess is to not be so critical of others because sooner or later you are bound to screw up and your judgement day may end up being well harsh, mushy and extremely funny.

Cannot believe that it's Ashley's Baby!!!!!!!

2009-10-25T02:58:00.001-04:00

Friday brought about the end of our first work week here in Vanderhoof and it finished on a high note. I spent a good chunk of my day calling all the tenants at Riverside trying to introduce myself personally but gave up half way when I realized most of them could not understand me over the phone. One lady even told me she didn't like telemarketers and hung up the phone!!! So instead I began to knock on all of the doors to set up little one on one rendezvous. One of my visits was with Isabel, the painter at Riverside. The first thing a noticed when I walked into her room was a huge photograph of her and her husband in their twenties. The two of them could have easily past as an amazing Hollywood couple. I really wanted to ask her for a copy but I did not want to come across as a creepy visitor. We started to look through my landscape photos (four of which she chose for her sketch book) when we were interrupted by a two o'clock phenomenon called the Young and the Restless.
The Young and the Restless, for those who do not know, is a soap opera of which even my mother is a fan. I have not had the real pleasure of watching the show before, so when Isabel offered me juice and cookies I could not resist. Y and R is a wretched show but for more than half an hour I could not tear my eyes away from the drama. How can Sharon not know that the baby isn't hers, and how cold is Ashley to divorce Victor!!!!!!!! Reluctantly I had to leave Isabel and her soap around quarter to three because I had to set up for Shuffleboard and tea time but she has promised to fill me in :P
Tea time was just as eventful. Helen, also in her nineties is a very fierce competitor when it came to shuffleboard and destroyed me 15-7, 16-1, 15-8. It is not that I am bad but she would just not miss a shot. I am really enjoying my time at Riverside. In my time here I will be running the exercise groups and starting an actor’s group for the residence. Oh how this trimester will fly by.

Landscape pictures I took for Joan and Isabel.

2009-10-25T02:14:00.000-04:00

I cannot wait to see the finished product which they will create!

My job at Riverside

2009-10-23T10:54:00.000-04:00

Seeing that the Arena/District of Vanderhoof job is only part time I was also placed at the assisted living facility here in Vanderhoof called Riverside Place to help out and plan events for the tenants. There are 32 people living there and the majority of them are 85 plus. Every day is different and full of surprises as many of the tenants have amazing talents. One elderly lady is an amazing painter so I took her out today to get landscape portraits of the area. We took almost 100 pictures and we are going to pick our favourites tomorrow. When she first told me she was an artist I was quite sceptical due to the fact that she is 92 years old and very shaky but when she got a pencil in her hand her skill was impeccable. Another man is a knitter and he has promised me slippers!
Another big hit at Riverside is my piano and vocal skills. They already have a list of songs which they want me to learn which include Blue Moon and Love Letters in the Sand. Although the like hearing me play, they are not so fond for my practicing habits. Coincidently the minister of the United Church here in town was visiting Riverside and told me that I could use their Yamaha piano as long as I attend their Sunday service and help out with music. The minister is quite a character. She is what I would call a “in your face Christian” extremely nice but very prominent in her views. It is sure to be an experience and the bonus is that I will get a chance to use and maintain my musical skills.

First Day of Work at the Arena.

2009-10-20T00:41:00.000-04:00

It has been another busy day at the Katima-house here in Vanderhoof. Monday morning meant the first day of work for most of us. For Jessica and I it meant trekking the whole two minutes to the local arena (actually we got a ride most of the way there but that is beside the point.) We arrived pronto at quarter to nine and were instantly given master keys to the rink along with keys for the Zamboni :P. We spent the morning familiarizing ourselves with the premise and I was taught how to use the skate sharpener. Supposedly it is one of the most dreaded jobs at the arena but I kind of liked it. (Then again I'm not six feet tall and I don't have to bend my back while working the machine). Three hours later the machine had lost some of its initial grandeur, but then again it beats trying to put up the new time clock in the freezing cold (hahahaha Jessica).
Our afternoon was spent working for Sarrah and the District of Vanderhoof. Our job description is to help plan events and represent Vanderhoof in the area. Our first task is to design and build the Vanderhoof’s float which is to be used in this year’s Christmas Parade of Lights. The task sounds fun but it is going to be laborious and difficult. (On the bright side we will get to drive into Prince George to buy supplies!!). Overall it was quite a nice first day although I wish I could say that about the atmosphere here back at the house :(. I am looking forward to going to work tomorrow and to making sure I make the most of each day here in Northern BC.

On the eve before I start work!!!!!

2009-10-19T01:05:00.001-04:00

Wow what a blast Katimavik has been so far. I have only been here a little more than a week but I have already learnt so much (like not to put 15 cups of rice into a cooker for only 12 people). This experience is going to be AMAZING and I am so glad I get to spend it with ten other people that I really like. Sure were going to fight and it will be over the stupidest of things (cough taking showers cough) but arguing is how we grow. I once had a friend, and I considered her one of my best friends but we never argued. Now that I look back on our relationship I see that having everything kept up simmering inside might have been detrimental to our friendship. Nevertheless I still think she is a great person and hope she gets what she wants in life.
That is the past and I have my whole future ahead of me so basically I am starting a blog so all my friends and family can stay up to date with my travels and katimafirsts (when I do something completely new). I miss everyone like crazy but Katimavik is too good of an opportunity to pass up. I hope everyone is doing well and I will be sure to update everyone about my work placements (the Hockey Arena and Riverside Place) tomorrow!!!
Cya later
Jordan

P.S I have just notice that you can put Katima infront of any word and it sounds good!!!!......Katimacouch, katimatravels, katimacatching,katimaawesome...... its katimacrazy :P
....nm Good night :)

I have decided to get a blog :)

2009-10-18T02:43:00.000-04:00

Testing one two three this is my first post!!!!!!