Wednesday, December 26, 2007

I think the radio is annoying in all languages!




I had my first day of work yesterday, today being my second. The fact that I'm updating my blog goes to show you how much I'm doing right now.

The first day wasn't that exciting. The 15 minute drive to work was more of an adrenaline rush (seriously, I kid you not! NEVER BIKE IN BEIJING!) Gary's colleagues all welcomed him back and were excited to see the little scared Canadian teenager following him around. He introduced me to everyone, I'd say what little mandarin hellos I knew, you kinda get the picture. He said I could check my email, and like a frightened boy seeking his thumb to suck, I embraced the technological comfort that allowed me to go back home, talk to my friends. Irony blows! Stupid time difference meant very few family members were online. Gary informed me there was little to do until after the New Year's, which meant it would be boring. So the computer was solice. In the afternoon, we went for lunch in another building. Luckily, most government work places in China give free lunches. I found out they also get a 2 hour lunch period, which, with the later time, they spend playing cards. By the end of this program, I'll know how to play that fucking game and beat all their asses! More so in the afternoon, Gary and I went to the mall. Remember, we had nothing to do. There he showed me a mall, we looked around a bit at shoes, watches, etc. We also bought a map of the Chongwen district and a chinese dictionary. By that, I mean the chinese words come first, and then you find out what they mean, not the other way around. Oh well, it's still useful. I thought Canada was consumeristic? China's just as bad! It's all about brand names, and who endorses what. Everything tries to be so bright and colorful and "advertizistic." I'm sure we're not the only two countries plagued by this. We also picked up some juice and water that Gary's workplace gets for ordering the newspaper. He had to go get a bike for it, but thank god, we walked it back. Uncle Li drove me home, and we cooked dinner. I'm sure even by the end of the program, I won't know half of what I ate. I just eat it. After, he helped me find my friends on my map that I bought. I was so excited to find out where my friends were. But I think they're further away then they seem. Afterwards I phoned Lyndsay. She was online briefly at work, and was freaking out, desperatly seeking Canadian company. Sadly, she was not home. I got ahold of Leah, who seemed to be having a tough time as well. I think we're all a little AUGH right now, although I'm sure Jamie is just loving it, as he knows the most mandarin. Bastard. I get by though. But I can feel my stress is high. It's a culmination of things; settling in, not knowing what the hell my host dad is saying half the time, missing my group, having a severe disability in my skills. I can't really go out, can't go shopping by myself too much, can't do a lot it seems. I want a calling card to call home. I miss everyone. But I keep telling myself to stick it out. I did Katimavik which was longer, I survived Quebec. And it will really prepare me for my bike trip across Canada I think. It's making me appreciate everything back home and even things here. Like, I respect how hard the Chinese try to save water, from washing dishes, to their "showers" However, I do miss food at home. I made Li shushu french toast today. I thought that would be a real treat, to share some Canadian food, and he could use the maple syrup Gary bought him. But he didn't seem all that interested, so I was kinda sad. But familiar food in my belly made me happy. It's all part of the experience.

Breath in....breath out....breath in.....and cough








I'm still getting used to Beijing. It's an experience, it's new, it's scaring the crap out of me, I miss my friends, I want to go home! *deep breaths. It's not that bad, but the culture shock has come hard.

There we were, having Christmas in Beijing, partying and having a few beers with the Director of Foreign Affairs of the Chongwen District, singing karaoke, Stephane and I trying to pick up the Chinese waitress with our poor Mandarin and it was like BLAMO! We were thrown from our cozy group into host families, the which almost none spoke english, and almost all of our counterparts living elsewhere. Most of the families didn't want a Chinese stranger living in their house. I find that ironic, because would a foreign stranger be much better? Also, many of the family homes weren't large enough to accomodate extra room mates. So we bussed to a new hotel to meet our new host families and work leaders and have dinner with them. I don't know about the other participants, but my dinner was quite quiet. I was just tired from the previous night and worrying about having broken my glasses and not knowing the man beside me that I would be staying with for 3 months. Casual conversation didn't flow like I was accustomed to. But I have been in situations where it takes awhile for that to happen, with or without a language barrier. We went to his home afterwards, with barely a chance to say goodbye to my friends. But I think we were all a bit rushed and confused. I found myself looking out the window of the car at the strange new world. Strange signs, odd faces, and a shit load of bikes! I found myself saying holy crap every ten minutes after someone almost getting hit. We brought my bags in and soon went shopping with Gary. Uncle Li, or Li shushu, took us to a store to buy bedding and some food. It was strange, being in a grocery store, where I'd usually be accustomed to. There were new products, some familiar ones with different names. Like coke. Oh my god they love coke! We had it for every meal at the resort in 2.5 litre bottles. Li shushu is going to buy me a bed tomorrow. However, it will be in the living room as space is limited. I understand, but think it will still hard for me to find my privacy. Showering is completely different here as well. No tub, no shower curtain! Just the tap and the shower head. I actually suggested the tub to stand in to Li shushu. You have warming lamps above so you don't freeze, and you just mop the floor after. Every time. They're big on saving water, which I can also understand. It just takes some getting used to. I think my showering habits might still take a turn though. And as we've been warned, even described to in the CWY guide book, my appetite has taken a turn. I'm very tired lately, trying to understand the people, language and everything. I went to bed probably the most early I've ever went, last night. 8pm! It didn't seem like I needed sleep while we were at the hotel, but now I really do. I'm gonna give this time.

Friday, December 21, 2007

So apparently, there's more Chinese people here in Beijing than Vancouver...go figure!

Yes ladies and gents, I have gone abroad. I am now in Beijing. And I must say, it's .... odd. Not different, not bad, just different. But let's recap as to how I came here.

Our host families all dropped us off in front of the Friendship center that Tuesday. We loaded our bags onto the crowded bus, filled with the Vernon group. We drove to Vancouver, sharing anxieties, fears, excitements and other feelings to eachother about the new part of our adventure. We arrived at the YWCA hotel in Vancouver and quickly settled in with a brief meeting about expected behavior, the relaxed schedule and just what would happen. Right after, the Canadians in my group went out and about, braving the Vancouver rain to find something to eat for supper. We couldn't agree, so a few of us went to a shwarma place, Jamies favorite kind of food. After a brief stop back at the hotel, a lot of us, mostly Canadians again, went out to a pub with our Canadians supervisors. I believe most of the Chinese were, what else, shopping! But it was good. Maxime and Becky are cool to hang out with casually and they don't hold onto their supervisor roles too tightly when they don't need to. There was quite a large group of us, from the Vernon group as well. We all tried new and exotic beers, sipping from everyones, trying them all out. I didn't like a lot of them, but was content with sharing my micro brewed cream soda. After a $250 bar tab (between a large group of people though) we wandered a bit. It's always fun in a large group! We hung out in our hotel rooms, just chilling, sharing thoughts about Beijing and recent going-ons.

The next morning, a small group of us (mixed this time) went to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was quite the rainy morning, so we were very wet after walking, taking the bus, walking some more. Worse then the weather was the fact that when we arrived at our destination, we discovered that we were at the Aquatic Center, a pool!!! Not the flipping aquarium! Boy did I feel like a shitty tour guide. But no one minded. Good I think, cuz no one pointed out that mistake beforehand either! We took the "scenic route" along the shore towards Stanley Park. We actually made good time, walking fairly fast. We made it to the aquarium before lunch. After we went in, we split up and enjoyed all the fishies and whatnot by ourselves or in small groups. When we were finished, Ian from the Vernon group and I walked to a Mongolian restaurant where it was cooked on this round flat grill. Interesting was that they charged either a bowl, or all you can eat, but they charged for uneaten food, which I kind of agree with. After working in the Food Bank, I kind of don't like to waste food. So we caught the bus after and came back. I went out with my group to exchange some money. I had planned to visit a friend after that, but she could't come, so I walked across the bridge to MEC, my new favorite store. I bought a dry bag and dry/compression bag for my sleeping bag, so to make more space. Which we needed when we weighed our bags that night to make sure everything was under 50lbs. It was good, because our counterparts needed extra space to bring home souvenirs, mostly chocolate. Oh, the chocolate. But we all made it . Right after, I went out to dinner with some more people. We went to Red Robin's where had a fairly cheap, but delicious dinner. One of the last few burgers I would probably enjoy for 3 months. We were pretty tired after that, but the girls still came to chill in our hotel room. I really like hanging out with our group, very casually, with no restrictions or structure.

The next morning, we all caught the bus to the airport. We did the plane thing; wait in line, check your luggage, blah blah blah. After some people bought some duty free goods, we bought our last canadian meal in the food court. A & W never tasted so good! Fuck you McDonalds! We boarded our Air China plane for a grueling 12 hour flight. Damn't all that my freakin' DS would die early. I read a bit, watched 2 movies and slept. To me, it went by fairly fast, for being 12 hours. The tv/computers they had on the plane were sweet! You could play games on them! So, we touched down through grey smog, or what looked like thick grey fog. Yes, I'm saying it. The pollution people. You aren't coughing and gagging when you get off, but you can't see far into the city! Like 2 or 3 blocks become hidden in clouds. We were told this is exaggerated by the cold winter weather, but we'll see tomorrow. I was quite quiet on the bus ride to our hotel, as I tried to process what was going on; I was in another country. I kept waiting for it to kick in. I saw foreign words, I saw asian people, but it just didn't FEEL like I was in another country, let another content. I was not home. I'm pretty damn sure no one here has heard of Hazelton. Shit, in Vancouver, I even ran into a friend from Smithers!!! I'm going from one of the smallest towns in Canada to one of the largest cities in the world!!! It gradually caught up to me. It wasn't a big shock though. Just small things. We brought our stuff into the hotel, which incidentally is like a goddam amusement park! Seriously! They have rides and gyms and a spa downstairs! AND A TRAIN that connects them all! It's unbelievable! But we'll discover more of that tomorrow. We were hosted to a dinner in a fancy restaurant where we got to try out our chop stick skills. We tried some "authentic" Chinese food. Ifound it tastes similar to the food the Chinese participants made for us in Kelowna. But don't tell them that! So far, I don't like soft chicken bones. But it's just day one. Even touching down on the plane, I found ourselves mocking the Beijing pollution and just other things. I didn't want to, but that's how were coming to terms with where we are I guess. When we don't know about something, we usually treat it with fear, questioning it, poking it, sometimes attacking it. We fear what we don't understand. I didn't want to feel that way, but I will try to change that attitude. I want to appreciate it. It will take some time. It just seems like another city right now with a language barrier. We've been given our host families and work placements already! It was decided with no prior knowledge or meeting. We knew about it, but we just don't know about them. So I think we're all scared. Not because where we are, but what we don't know will happen. However, I do like the fact that my host family has a 21 year old daughter. See? Things are picking up already!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Hand cramp...must...stop...

Seriously, between writing 18 pages in my journal and updating the blog and then the freakin website, my hand is gonna be fucked! So I'll try to keep it brief, not like I ever do.

Our debriefing continued on Thursday. We discussed specific, real scenarios that basically, pissed people off, without using names though. We talked about these and resolved most of them. Then Emma, our previous guest, an alumni from the Beijing program as well, talked with the Canadians about culture shock. It was really helpful, just hearing her stories, how she felt, how she dealt with things there. She gave us good advice on relationships, communication and Chinese norms, culture, behaviors, etc. The meeting went late, which combined with more fiascos with the busses caused me to be late getting home. First, the busses. I had to get get off the 97 express for whatever reason, but it was okay! I didn't even have to wait because there was another one right in front of me. Surely it wouldn't drive away as I walked towards it. Oh! Yeah, it did!!! Fucker barely left the curb but the bus driver wouldn't let me on! So I had to wait for the 11 South Rutland bus. I got on and began reading, and they kicked us off, because it was turning into the number 7! I was pissed. After getting home, I started baking cookies for the next days farewell party. I was up pretty late baking delicious cookies. Brenda was very helpful in getting ingredients last minute.

So, we dropped off our baking and pre-made supper the next morning, because we were going skating! It was most of the Chinese participants first time going skating as well! We rented our own private round rink for this! Practically all the Canadians knew how to skate and therefore taught all the Chinese. They picked it up alright, for a short afternoon. They just needed more practice is all. It was quite fun, spinning, falling down, sliding on the chairs, chasing eachother. We returned to the Friendship Center and began to set up tables, chairs, and heating up or cooking our dishes for our very own farewell party. The guests included our host families, friends, and work partners. We ate a fantastic dinner (ahem) and watched a short but great slide show put together by Anthony. Then the participant counterparts went up and shared stories about their host families with the crowd. Gary and I shared scaring Brenda when I hid in the leaves, Gary getting attacked by the cat, the great marshmallow fight, and even how we met. Lots of great stories were shared. After cleaning up, we expected most of the group to go to Flashbacks, a popular bar. But that list dwindled down to 6 participants, 2 host parents, one of their friends, and a partridge in a pair tree! It was a rocking night though. It was a big bar Christmas party as all the snow hoes and naughty elves were out and about, minus their shirt. Call me crazy, but I didn't think it got that cold at the north pole. Brenda even came, to party with me one last time. Flashbacks was her old stomping ground she told me. The girls had fun chasing after guys to buy them drinks and we all just danced the night away. We walked home with one of the fire fighters who gave us a tour at the fire hall! And also some woman named Tina. You meet the greatest people walking in the snow at like 2:30 in the morning! We all slept at Leah's house, just exhausted. The next morning, Leah's host mom took us out for breakfast at Denny's! It was delicious!

Saturday I should have packed. I tried hard to get my to do list done. Didn't really happen. I wanted to spend some time with my host brother, so we ended up going to I Am Legend. Quite the movie I should say. I was dropped off at Felix and Anothony's house where there was another party! We played some good rounds of Sociables. I walked Lilly home, describing in-depth my work history and thoughts.

Even thought I got home around 1:30 am, that didn't stop me from going snowboarding with my host sister at Big White. It was quite daunting thought, and expensive! I spent like $120 to go for one day! That includes bus ride, pass and rental! Holy shit eh! I guess the Aussies there have never heard of cash. You needed a credit card to rent! But I was able to put a $200 deposit on my equipment, even though they don't often do that. Still, I just wanted to get out there and board! There was lots of powder, especially with all the fog and wind and snow blowing everywhere! At some points, we couldnt' even see in front of us. But I'm crazy. That didn't stop me from going fast. And apparently, neither did ditches, which I thought were dips, causing me to come to a complete stop after shoulder bashing it. Good fun! I just got up and laughed it off. We took some good jumps, a few spills. Nothing amazing, but I did get to try a new ski hill. It was very nice. Although with that price tag, it made me miss Smithers. And now, I'm home, finishing up my last minute chores which included my journal entries, blog update, burning photos onto cds, and such. Tomorrow I have to go print photos at Wal-Mart, send home some things and put together a scrap book for Brenda. And now, Gary has so much stuff he's bought for family, friends, co-workers, etc, that he has to put a lot in my bags and we don't know if we can manage to get it all in. I did warn him though not to buy too much. But we'll see tomorrow during my last day in Kelowna!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Marshmallow fights prove to be the ultimate conflict resolution activity!

Yes. Ho ho ho, the snows got nothing against marshmallowy goodness to the face!!! POW!!! My host family didn't see it coming!

So this week has REALLY zoomed by. I'm so freakin far behind in my journals and we're leaving in like a week!

The sweat lodge was great. It was a nice cold day, so before we got all sweaty, we went onto the ice and basked in our canadian ways. Sliding, spinning, just having fun the way you should in the winter. Except the sweating part. That was kind of odd. Although, we found it a bit daunting that we had to practically beg the Chinese to come out onto the ice and play. We had to put them on a bit of a guilt trip, saying this is one of the most Canadian things you can do. They came. And they loved it! Makes us wonder why it's so freakin hard to get them to do other things. They complained it was too cold before, which I found ironic because we would be outside in our underwear practically for a short time before sweating the cold away. We went into a short dome, covered in layers of blankets, furnished with a floor of pine needle branches. Hot rocks, or "grandfathers" were placed in the center. The door was closed, leaving us in pitch black. We would say prayers, listen to a beating drum and song or be in total silence, while hot water was put on the rocks, enveloping us in steam. We had 4 "rounds" the first three being longer and hotter then the last, but the last one was short and the most hot! The hosts were very respectable and explained things to us clearly. After each round, we could go outside for a few minutes to cool off, which was great. Cold was not even an issue, as you were steaming so much, you didn't even notice it. Cold was welcomed at that point! It was not a point of seeing who could stand the most heat either, it was participating and, as I saw it, relaxing and reflecting, which so many of us find so hard to do. I didn't find it as spiritually cleansing as I thought it would be, but it was my first one and I did feel good nevertheless. It was a potluck as well, so everyone brought food. We found out it was their custom that we couldn't leave until ALL the food was gone. We ate great soup, fruit, donuts, muffins, and drank lots of water. However, I had to leave early because a man giving me a ride had to leave early. He assured us we would all sleep so well that night. I wasn't too sure, just cause I wasn't really paying attention. It was also the night of our Super Bad party. In case you haven't watched it, I suggest it. Even the Chinese loved it! Some were, sigh, imitating the language. Even my counterpart, Gary, whipped out some wine to join in the party. It was quite the party night. Most everyone slept over and Brenda was so gracious enough to help me make breakfast, which I think everyone enjoyed.

Sunday, although not a hangover, is a blur.

Monday, however, was the best part of the program yet! I went SNOWBOARDING!!! I was so excited to go, as I haven't at all this season and almost cried every time I saw a snowboarding commercial. It really meant a lot that we went, because I love it so much and even worked on a ski hill back home. It was most of the Chinese' first time skiing, which was great for them. Another Canadian activity. It was cheaper to get a beginner package, so four of us who went boarding, Felix, Jamie, Heather and I, pretended to not be great snowboarders. We pretended to have backgrounds in surfing or skating or wakeboarding. Just fucking around on our boards on level snow, I think the trainers knew we weren't THAT bad. They sped us through our "beginner" lesson fast, especially after our second run where I said screw it, and just went. When we got on our own, it felt amazing. There was this rolling hill which was phenomenal! I got fast enough and got like 20 feet of air, although only like a foot off the ground! I refused to go inside for lunch as time went by too fast to waste on food. Speed and adrenaline kept me going all day. No, really. Even when we were done boarding, I ate very quickly and then went tubing where I was practically running up the hill. I think I amazed people and my energy. Maxime paid for a round of tubing for all of us, which was great too. Lots of speed, and they measured how fast we went too! They even gave us a few free runs! What a bunch of great guys up on Silver Star. And I get to do it all again this Sunday!!! This time on Big White with my host sister.

Despite being so close to leaving, we had one more CAD. It was a field trip of a water waste recycling plant and a fire station. Simple tours, but informative nonetheless. We were so freakin lost in the morning though. There were a lot of gellatly roads and it took us a long time just to find the wrong one! But we made it. The tour was neat actually, as I said when I took a picture of the shit (literally) collected from sewage. And the fire station was cool too. But there's no more fire poles :( They were very hospitable, showing us their equipment and letting us take lots of pictures. They even turned on the siren! Yay :p

And then there was today! It was the first day of our debriefing of our Canadian phase, which lasts 6 more days. We started with a circle check to which most people expressed their soreness but excitement from snowboarding or skiing (ie me) We also expressed how we felt about the olympic situation that happened last week when everyone got very tense and defensive about it. But we brought that up in order to get past that issue, learn and grow stronger, which is what this program is about; cultural differences and learning! We also wrote down problems we've seen with group dynamic under different categories and discussed them. We were quite behind on time, as Maxime had rightfully predicted. But there was no hostility today, which was great. Respect seemed to be the operative word. But there's plenty more reflecting for tomorrow. After so much reflecting, I went shopping with some of the girls and bought some gifts for my new host family as well as my current one. Upon getting home, I brought everyone together and unleashed hell in a frenzied fury of marshmallowy pain!!! Lots of head shots, matrix style dodging, a marshmallow down the butt, some *ahem* biting, and it all ended (kinda) after an ornament broke. I think I brought my family a bit of my family from home. They won't soon be forgetting that anytime soon! Merry Christmas! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Tis the season to have fights, fa la la la la, la la la crap!

Don't take the title with a bah humbug attitude. It's with good intentions in mind. It's been very busy and a bit stressful for us down here. Partially because we're getting ready to leave, problems with our host families and yes, problems with our group. But we're a trying group and have made great efforts to get beyond this.

Monday was a good day off. I worked on my Educational Activity Day, ironing out the scheduling and phoning more guests. One of those good, "get a lot done" hours. And I rewarded myself with SHOPPING! I went shopping around town, looking at more bike stuff and also some things for my host mom and my new host family. Christmas is around the corner you know!

We had two guest speakers on our CAD. A politician type man who knew a lot about the West Bank issue and he explained it very thorougly, results, descrepancies, situations, etc. It was another intelligent politics learning day/thingy. Our next guest was an RCMP officer. She gave us the down low about what they do, things she's done, issues the RCMP deal with. Kind of like a job fair, but more conversations. A good guest. During the day, and after we finished watching An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, some sensitive subjects were brought up. Some were the idea of larger, more powerful countries telling the lesser, more developing countries that they can't use polluting methods of becoming industrialized and more developed. As a technically developing country, the Chinese participants felt hurt when a few of us thought this was a good idea. I mean, I tried to use examples to compare. One I found was, a little brother looking at his way older brother, how cool he is, how much he looks up to him. But the older brother tells his younger sibling, "Don't do what I did" He left home, he did drugs, he was homeless for awhile, but he cleaned up his acts after a long time and now has a wife and kids. The point is, his methods did great damage, and shouldn't justify where he is. He wants his little brother to grow up healthy, smart and doing the right things. You have to ratify polluting the world in efforts to become part of a the higher up countries. Anyway, another button we pushed was the Olympics in Beijing. The Canadians were very surprised to hear that none of the Chinese, all 1.3 billion of them, that none of them oppose the Olympics there. We tried to explain how the Vancouver olympics had some groups that opposed them, as it wipes out entire blocks of homeless people, and from what we've heard, ships them East! This doesn't happen in China. People are compensated for their homes for more then they're worth. And because China has never had the olympics, its important for EVERYONE. It's a great pride thing. It was a sensitive afternoon, even with our circle check. Some participants felt that the circle check wasn't working, that we weren't discussing these sensitive issues that we were having and SUPPOSED to be talking about, that it was all about the little things; what we ate, some small activity we did, not how we feel about the group dynamic. Almost all of us talked about this with our counterparts that night or the night after.

We shared our feelings about this during mine and Gary's EAD on Thursday. It was a good break through for us, as were are breaking down those personal barriers and becoming a group. It's a good thing. I hope it gets better though. I'm glad to be apart of a mature group that discusses these problems (even if it takes awhile to) It was a good start to our EAD. Part of our presentation was community; what it was, what it meant to be apart of it, and how ideal communities are hard to produce. We had everyone come up with the perfect community and we explained how this was extremely hard to maintain. After, we sent everyone out with a questionnaire to ask people about volunteering, issues in the area, etc. The results were good, which we shared with our guests: representitives from organizations of community gardens, Kiwanis, poverty, community resources, etc. We had some good discussions about more issues around Kelowna. And for a final bit, we discussed just what we've learned here, how we've learned these things and what we hope to expect from Beijing. I gave everyone puzzle pieces and had them write down what they brought to the program, feelings, passions, interests, skills, etc. What "piece" did they fill of the CWY puzzle. It was a good reflective activity I think. It was a real good EAD I believe. We cleaned up and left for the Friendship Center, where our Mandarin teacher had prepared a Chinese feast for us. It was great. Rolls, hot pot, curry pork, sweet beef, lots of food! I will admit, I beginning to get used to Chinese food. But it's gonna be a full menu soon, so that may be a problem. But the night was good nonetheless.

It was an early wake up day Friday. We met the Mayor of Kelowna, Sharon Sheppard, at 8am. It was a brief, but very warm visit. She's very open and intuitive with the youth, despite being an older woman herself. We shared who we were, where we were from, where we worked, and just some general thoughts of Kelowna. One large thing was our partial dissatisfaction with the bus system. Face it, it sucks. Although we did appreciate that they had bike racks. She was glad to hear our comments. Friday was also the final day of work for most of us. And boy, did they put me to work at the Food Bank. I unloaded two trucks of food, moved boxes in the warehouse, sorted for a little bit. It was very crowded in the Food Bank, a rare sight! There was a tour of little kids, and a Korean group from a college, bar coding. I'm still kind of mad that Wendy, my work counterpart, left after like 2 hours, leaving me to continue working, because she doesn't like the work in the back. Whatever. I'm gonna pull that stunt in China! After work, I went straight to Parkinson Recreation Center where I helped the group make dinner. It was a large banquet for handicapped volunteers and their friends. We helped in the kitchen, set up tables, clean up a bit. I had to leave around 7:30 to go to my work staff party down town. I wanted to say goodbye to everyone. So some of the staff were there, just having a fun dinner in good 'ol Kelly O'Briens. There a small band that came in, collecting donations for, what else, the food bank! I don't know if they were hired through the food bank or someone else, but it was funny. I said my goodbyes after some dinner and a root beer, and returned home, late. It's been like that for the last couple of days. Leave in the morning, get home late at night. And today will be similar. We're going to a sweat lodge and having a Super Bad party after! We're not supposed to drink before going to the sweat lodge, so we're gonna make up for that tonight likely!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Ni practique wode francais yode putang huoi!

Yes, yes I do. It's been getting tense down here, what with Christmas approaching, as is our leave date and the squeezing of activities into our wintery calendar.

One of those activities was a surprise birthday party for one of my favorite french men (there's only like 5) Stephane, and Lilly. It was held at Stephanes house, and EVEN though he was in the house, he didn't hear the other people sneak in the door and prepare a room. It was a good party. We drank a bit, played Settlers of Catan ( I don't like our board games that much) some cards and had a good ol' time. Felix showed us off to his family, his REAL family, that was visiting from Quebec. Some of us got to practice our french skills more so. I flirted with his cute sister too, avec le langue du coeur. *wink wink. However, it had been mentioned earlier this week that some host families think the participants are staying at other participants houses too much. From what I understand, that is an exaggeration. Which also hindered the party a bit I think because only three people stayed the night. I was saddened by this. Upon arriving home early the next day, I helped Brenda put up Christmas lights outside. And the earnest reward? Two tickets to a Kelowna Rockets game! I almost had to drag Gary to go. He's in Canada, and he hasn't and didn't want to see a hockey game! I was disappointed! He's not trying to be as culturally excepting as I'd hoped. I kinda hoped he'd be more excited to do things. But Brenda did convince him to go. I learned he didn't know the rules, which I still found a silly reason not to go. But he did have a good time I think. It was a good game and there were lots of freebies and giveaways, despite us not getting any. I was THIS close to grabbing a free ticket dropped by a small remote control blimp. But it was great.

Today we were supposed to have a lunch/hike up Knox Mountain at our Mandarin teachers house/our Chinese supervisors host families house (too many slashes) The luncheon outing was cancelled due to *scoff SNOW. I'm sorry, but we are in Canada. It IS winter. So what if the drive way is a little slippery? I consider that an adventure, not an excuse to cancel and indoor lunch. But there could have been reasons. I was just looking forward to going I guess. I was planning to go to Parkinson Recreation Center to volunteer at the Little Elves Craft workshop, and to visit a cute girl volunteering there, but the buses SERIOUSLY suck. Two buses were late for me! I said screw it and went shopping, bought some more bike equipment, including a camelback water back pack, a bike tool, gloves and lock. I'm happy. And the Christmas spirit continues. Gary and I put up the Christmas tree for Brenda who thinks it looks mah-ve-lous. Which is great, cuz if she didn't, well, too bad, she can take it down and decorate it herself, lol. Oh, fa la la la la la!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

My sarcasm is through the roof these days...

Lordy, lordy, lordy. It's been....well, not entirely BUSY. Although after todays cramming of events into the calendar, I may be surprised to have rest, which I could really go for.
Sunday was quite the day. I went to Heathers house with some others to watch the Grey Cup. I don't usually watch sports, but I just wanted to hang out. It was fun though. Everyone got in it, rooting for Saskatchewan, all except Heather, a true Winnipegger. Boy was she pissed when Rough Riders won! We were hooting and hollering. It was a great game. We stayed for supper and played a board game after.

So I didn't work on Monday, AGAIN. Monday's are just weird I tells ya! I went to work and it was if they never met me before. My would-be boss wasn't there right away. I talked to her over the phone and she thought that because we hadn't shown up for four weeks, that we didn't like the job the first time we were there. Wrong! It's just been shitty scheduling; Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Mid-Project camp, and last week, they just didn't have work for us! They had no work for me that day either. I read the newspaper, cutting out articles about the "arts" and I moved two boxes. After that, I kinda called it quits. They had nothing else. I squandered the afternoon, waiting for Heather to return my bike after getting a ride from her host dad. I never found her and went home. Turns out, her counterpart, Jack, got into an accident. He fell off his bike and broke his wrist. But things are getting better. He's getting surgery tomorrow and we'll be seeing him in a few days. We're all pretty worried and sending him cards and such. Such a caring group.

Tuesday was pretty relaxed. We had a guest speaker, a girl from last year's Beijing program. She told us stories of when she was in the program, described some forms of culture shock to us and prepared us for living there. It was an important guest speaker. Because we're going through some segregation issues, she talked to the Chinese and Canadians and was a sort of mediator for the two. You see, we split up so naturally, just casually sitting next to our own people. It's not really a concious thought, it's just "oh, look, all Canadians" But it's been happening a lot lately. It's a bit of cultural differences and a bit of personal issues, yet to be dealt with. Emma, the past participant, stressed how important our counterparts are going to be and how the culture shock will still be hitting them, even though they're returning home. However, they're are still technically in the program, despite some of their work places possibly thinking they're home and should just go back to work. Work is extremely important to them it seems, so it will be quite the rumble when we got to China. We're trying to deal with this, but it will be during an extreme circle check. Sooooo, aside from that happening in the morning, we went to Parkinson Recreation Center for a good ol game of basketball and soccer. The games were pretty intense. Lots of sweat and fun. And I forgot about my love for indoor soccer, bouncing off the walls. I did this cool slide kick and double spin on my side. Looked pretty bitchin! Me and some girls hit the steam room and hot tub after, just chatting. I was so tired that night. But the good kind of tired.

Wednesday was busy at the food bank, as per usual. They need volunteers like all the time. There's always something to do. And there's Devon, out of the blue! It was the first time walking there in a while, because we got snow and have been advised against biking. Sigh. I miss biking already. I need my speed. GOD I want to go snowboarding. Oh, right, work. Yeah, it was work. Sort this, move that. They love me. Only like 3 or 4 days of work left! That is unless I decide to go on Mondays as well. But I need Monday next week to work on my EAD on community.

Thurday (or today I guess) It was Stephane and Andy's EAD on Social Services. And once again, the Friendship Center (ironic name) screwed us over again! A group of Guatamalean's stayed the night in our board room, despite Maxime warning the center we needed that room, kinda like how we've been using it every Tuesday and/or Thursday! So they let us in their main building for the morning. The EAD was pretty standard I found. Well done, but the info was kind of what I expected. Although 3 guest speakers were a nice touch. We had our classic Thursday night dinner at Mad Mango Cafe before going to our Mandarin lesson. It went by fairly fast. I was pretty tired and out of it though. I need some sleep. But the internet duties call! This blog being one of them. Monday's gonna be a day "off" for me!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

JAPAN! JAPAN! The apparent powerhouse of Risk.

Well lordy, I'm falling behind here! Got some catch up to do. Nay, a lot of catch up. Just need some hot dog buns OOOOOOOOOH SNAP! No? Nothing? Damn. So, we had a EAD on religion two Thursdays ago, hosted by Lyndsay and Lilly. It was very well prepared. They had a guest speaker, a christian pastor. Although we did learn about other religions around the Kelowna area, we learned a lot of christianity, because it is the largest religion. He was very open about discussing other religions. Even though he was very young, he was very mature and presented himself openly. I was impressed. Although I'm not very religious, he did make some good points that added some questions on my already large list about religion. We dreaded the Mandarin test we had that night. Our teacher, Anna, had us write down the pinyin letters, phrases and such. It was a throw back to high school, splitting everyone to write the test. We were all pretty stressed, but it wasn't that bad and we didn't do as bad as we thought. It was mainly a review. The weekend was pretty boring as far as I can remember. I did not work AGAIN, on Monday. Wendy arrived before me and told me our supervisor said there wasn't much to do, to just take a day off. So we did. But because I had to go to a city council meeting in the afternoon, I gave some hours to the food bank anyway. The council meeting was alright. Sharon Sheppard, the mayor, met us and talked with us a tiny bit. Mainly, when participants go, we just take notes about what was discussed, so we can share with our group later that week. It keeps us involved with the community, what's going, being part of politics, etc. Some of the topics are pretty boring, but some were kinda interesting. But it does get tiresome sitting down so much. On Tuesday, we had a guest speaker on AIDS and the political controversy the disease can have on people. It was an eye opener. Although I personally think the speaker was a little biased due to his close experience with this disease, he made some very good points and opened up a lot of external forms of thought around this disease that I’m sure not many of us had considered before. After lunch, we sat down and planned our last Canadian phase calendar, squeezing events into the little crevasses of time we have left. The two months have gone by so fast. I’m sure the last one will too, before we head off to Beijing. Expected events include our final other language lessons, skating, a powwow, a hopeful sweat lodge attending, and party party party! And for a final activity for Tuesday, as part of our movie committee, (we do, indeed, have committees for like everything!) we watched Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, An Inconvienient Truth. As with most documentaries, it was to be taken with a grain of salt, but quite the eye opener. I personally, found it quite easy to understand and follow, for the part that I was awake for. Wednesday, work at the Food Bank. I went back to giving food out at the front line that day. Good ol' dessert time! Still like making people happy! Thursdays EAD (reminder, educational activity day) was from Felix and Anthony, getting back from a trip to Calgary with their host family. Guess they had a lot of time on their hands in the car. The power point presentation helped. I especially like the Warner Bros. and Star Wars style intros. Very classy. It was helpful to be reminded about the long and tenuous system that is democracy and how it works. We also discussed a heat topic down here, the possible amalgamation or seperation of West Bank into it's own city. There's ups and downs, so it'll be intriguing to see how it turns out. Our Mandarin lesson that night was another review mainly. Reminder: don't snicker when your teacher says she thinks you've improved. It only leads to you standing in front. However, I have retained more, so it wasn't uber embarrasing. Expect me to be using common phrases when I get back home, such as ni hao, di buqi, meiguanxi, and xie xie. I won't translate just yet. Friday was an ODD day. Not a bad day, necessarily. Just an odd day. One of those days you could just feel it. I forgot my glove in the morning, but took the bus. It was on time. THAT was unusual in itself! Time was just stretched. Things took longer. Things at the Food Bank were the same. Everyone seemed just a little off. One guy was kinda sick, my supervisor kept forgetting to put dairy and meat into bags for people, and I had to remind an old volunteer to write down the boxes he finished. Also, I spilled another one of those ever loathsome spaghetti boxes. I'm sure people at the front could hear me swearing. I hate those things! I refused to touch them for awhile. But even another guy spilled one! I got over this and just began to be VERY, very careful. Despite it seeming like time was going by slow, we got a lot of boxes done. And I saw that cat that hides in the warehouse. It had this weird Cheshire cat look to it, looking at me, then at this other woman, and back at me. The weather is colder, and there was a bunch of broken ice near the fountain, which had frozen over, even though I couldn't see any broken spots. But it may have been in the back, behind the clock. But still, weird! And the clincher was a phone call from a friend who was mad at me. I finished the day off on a good note; drinking and playing Risk at another participants house. Note: Always have a french guy playing Risk. It just adds a fun element. This afternoon was great! We got to see the Vernon group, whom we haven't seen for a good two months! We attended a native powwoww. It was a good atmosphere for our energetic group. It was all, "Omg! How's your group? Where do you work? How's your Mandarin?" Lots of smiles. There was also lots of dancing! They even acknowledge our presence there, and we introduced ourselves. The powwoww held a honor dance for us, which we were really...well...honored by! And we danced! It seemed to short a powwoww. But luckily we get to see everyone in Vancouver again. So it was great seeing them again. Phew. And THAT'S what I've been up to.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Crash, flash, bash and ....stash? Mash? Bah, damn clever titles are hard

So it's been a very simple week. Not one of stress or extreme schedules. Well, there was stress; personal and group.

Sunday morn, Gary, Brenda and I went to the Remembrance Day ceremony down town. I had a lot on my mind and being silent out of respect gave me a lot of focus. Plus, I wanted to pay my respects. One hour out of a year is nothing. Afterwards, Brenda, Gary and Dylan searched for a geocache I gave them the location of. Heather and I were late getting there, so they already found it. But we couldn't! I had to phone Brenda, who was then home, thinking they took it or whatever. Turns out the geocache was just extremely well hidden. Just clever. My friends, Dylan, Anthony and myself went to lazer tag! It was pretty extreme. Real relaxed on the rules, so we ran and jump and screamed. There was so much fog and lights, it was like I was on acid. So many black lights making the neon room spin; boggled the freakin' mind, man! And my friends cheated the last round! But it was fun. I went to the Mandarin study session on Monday with the Canadians. I need to try to crack down more on that. It's still somewhat difficult. The words aren't like French, where I find so many of them like synonyms to English words. They are completely new. But the way they list things, like the months, colors, or days are easy. We got distracted and started screwing around, jumping on everyone and just chatting. It really opened up our side of the group and brought out some very important issues that may rear their ugly heads later on in the future. It was an eye opening afternoon. I was quite tired upon returning home. And Tuesday, we had our own participant made CAD. It was a photo scavenger hunt, where we brought items and got to be a bit creative. It was a sunny, but cold day, so it was nice to get out and see downtown again. After lunch, we volunteered at the Food Bank, so to thank them for donating food for our mid-project camp. It was an intense 2 and a half hours. There was a lot of "Devon! Where does this go?" or "Devon, I need a job" or "Devon, what the heck is this?" or "Devon, this is leaking!" I handled it alright, but I can't handle that many people that well. "In that bin," "go do that," "thats pie filling," "take that to the kitchen." But we got so much done. I was very impressed. We did so much work, I don't have to go tomorrow! HA! I WISH! (Oh, how I wish) We went back to the Friendship Center and watched a Chinese movie called Shower. It was about a son visiting his father and handicapped son who ran a bath house. Quite good. And surprisingly, no nudity, thankfully. I came home to be whisked away to volleyball with Brenda. And immediately after, I went bowling with my friends. I saw them off tonight. Going to miss them. Things are gonna be different now. But I still have 4 months here to go!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Paranoia of happiness? Yeah, sounds like me...







So yes, a bit of my old self popping up this week....damn't.

We were at our mid-project camp this week. That means we are half way done this term, or semester, or phase or whatever. MEANING we are 1/4 done the program. I have no doubts in my mind that the last 3/4 are going to fly by. It was a quick jump into "camp" mode. First, I forgot to pick up the frozen meat from the Food Bank on Friday, and because it was being handed out that day, we got frozen Spam. Just thought I'd throw that little tid bit out there. We were gone for 4 days at Camp Owaissi, about a 15 minute up West Bank. Not quite in the wilderness, but you felt away. We first started the week with a little game. Two actually, we worked well together. The first was called Gotcha. It's all about stealth! You are assigned a person you have to "get" You "get" this person by putting your hand on said person's shoulder and saying "gotcha" at a regular toned voice. No one else can see or hear you do this. If they do, you are not out, your person merely knows who you are now, making it more difficult to get them. Some people were so good they could still get their victims amidst a crowd, with people talking and being busy. The Chinese participants loved this game I think and a few really got into it. I thought it was great, except for the fact that it made me really paranoid. Having Yuchan being vengeful and helping Andy try to get me never helped. But then again, she was acting like she was on crack most of the week (I swear, it was the tea!!!) The other game was a secret friend game. You were assigned a person, again. Only this time, they were your secret friend. You were assigned to do nice things for them, like give them food, hugs, compliments, notes, poems, etc. but without them knowing. Some of the participants didn't quite understand and just told people they were their special friend, while some were quite clever and/or very creative. Poems were indeed on the list, along with notes and special treats. I myself, wrote my special friends name on the grass in pine cones, until I turned around and there she was. But she appreciated it, as we all did. My secret friend happened to write "Devon rocks!" and "Devon rocks more!" on the flip chart, to which I was yelled at when we found out. And I was given a foot massage when I was sleeping. Hey, you can't knock a good foot massage! So yes, those were the games. But we did a lot of reflection and learning, as per the camp. We also had a workshop on the difference in womens rights between China and Canada, another on body image and the differences in THAT between China and Canada, and a Water EAD. All very enlightening. We were always so tired at the end of the day though! Even though most of what we did was sit, we were exhausted! After the workshops and activities, it was straight to teh kitchen for some to make supper. We had to make and clean up all of our meals. I was in the kitchen almost every meal, helping. Mostly because people needed the help. Who knew my meagre food industry experience, such as dish washing and 3 days at Boston Pizza, would come in so handy? It really did though. The food was good, especially the hot pot dinner we had one night. Very fun and delicious. God we were so tired and full!!! We had a good time at camp I think, even though it went by so fast. Most of us had work on Friday, but that zoomed by for me, being busy and excited for my friends coming to visit. They showed up later that night. I took them downtown to Mad Mangoes, a CWY fav Chinese restaurant now. Then we saw a double feature at the movies. Today we went shopping for some bike equipment. I bought some panniers, a rack and a bike shirt, along with doing some price checking. I'm glad I got to introduce them to my friends whom we ran into when we left the lingerie shop (please, don't ask) And yes, I believe we are now up-to-date. But come on, these blogs and words I type can only explain so much of the story


Sunday, November 4, 2007

GASP! What's that around the corner? The wind!







And the insanity "vortex" as it were, continues. Yes, Erika, I'm stealing your word! The weekend was a welcomed calm one. Well, more Sunday than Saturday. But lets rewind for a second.

Bloop. That's the rewind sound. We were right back at Summerhill, sitting in that same Sailish hut, this time discussing the first nations, as part of Heather and Jack's EAD. It was very standard, but very well put together as well, might I add. One of the best EAD's planned. We got out late though, and hence, along with the shitty bus system, got home quite late. Another early night, but good sleep for work the next day. Naturally I biked, cuz, come on! And I'm training for my bike trip still. I still like working at the food bank, believe it or not. I was moving stuff around all morning. I was surprised to see there were actually a lot of volunteers that Friday! However, most of them still left in the afternoon. But by that point, I had a mission! It was my job to gather donated food from the food bank for our mid-project camp this week. Snacks, meat, chick peas, oatmeal, noodles, a lot! Our project supervisors practically shat themselves when they saw how much food we had donated. They thought I was awesome and did an amazing job and were really impressed. I found that funny because I didn't do anything. I just put the food together, the food bank donated it. What I didn't gather, I helped Maxime and Heather buy at the grocery store the next day. Man, we are gonna have a lot of food! Speaking of food, there was a big ass lunch when I pedaled my...um.....ass home. Gary and EVERY other chinese participant were busy in the kitchen making a late lunch of like, EVERY chinese dish (capitals are fun!) From what I understood, they were thanking Brenda for hosting his birthday party and me for planning it. Gary also felt bad that during his birthday party, we didn't get to try any of the chinese food that was prepared. They made a feast. And then they stayed, played poker and we rocked the house with ping pong. When everyone left, Brenda and I went to Saw 4. It was good to have a fellow movie buff whom I could have a good conversation with. We even snuck into We Are The Night (SHHHH! Don't tell!!!) Both were alright. I was tired at the end of the night, as I usually am. Sunday was a day of .....um....sun? Bah, being clever is hard! No, just a good day in which I got some things done. Brenda and I went to Bear Creek trail, took some pictures along the creek and had a lovely old time while Gary napped at home. I found out my friends are visiting THIS weekend, so I'm in a panic just to arrange times, dates, etc. But we're all very excited. I really want them to meet my CWY friends. Then they'll realize "Ohhh...these are the weirdoes Devon gets it from"

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

I am ninja, hear me roar! Actually, you hear nothing, CUZ I AM NINJA!!!







So the busy days continue, but Maxime still thinks we're not doing enough. Sorry if we miss so many dinners at our host families and are late because many of us are tired. Geez.

So Saturdays business. I found myself at the Farmer's Market once again, only this time with group members. We had homework, that is, to find ingredients for a salmon / salad dish. We were split into 4 groups; two were at the Farmer's Market finding ingredients either local or local and organic, and the other two groups were at Safeway finding the same, all groups finding the cheapest. After, a few of us went to Parkinson Rec Center to volunteer and help set up for a little kids Halloween Howl event. Met a girl with an interesting name: Bogey, short for Boglarka. Cute. We got dressed for Leah and Kassie's halloween party after. I went as the ever-stealthy Canadian ninja (I say Canadian because, well, I AM, and I wore my black long johns) Gary went as the fearful Chinese pirate. His ARGH could use some work though. The party was sweet! Great food, good costumes. The Chinese participants got right into it. It was a party, so a few of us were drinking. It was so much fun, lots of us, all of the Canadians as well, decided to stay the night. We stayed up late, watched Candyman; it was one big spoon fest in that tiny basement. So, in my opinion, a good night! Some of us went for breakfast the next morning. I returned home to find the damage from my host sisters halloween party. Apparently some; stolen shoes, mysterious water damage to xbox, lost cell phone. But I felt way better after I made an after-party mondo burger! Sunday was just recharging. No, I was not hungover. Monday, I started my new volunteer job at the Rotary Center for the Arts. Wendy and I helped put together straight wreaths for a very posh Christmas party of sorts that we haven't heard much about. I spray painted Christmas decorations gold for the morning and then helped assemble the wreaths. It was a pretty basic day. Very little excitement, but nice people. The hour lunch wasn't bad either. And then there's today. We went to a Bed and Breakfast run by a communist organic farmer. His views on todays farming methods and forms of selling produce were a little pessimistic, but seemed very accurate as far as I thought and believe myself. But he wasn't our CAD. Actually, his B & B was just the hosting place for a small discussion from a woman. We brought up our two homework assignments (the other one being to stand in a room and list absolutely every object we could see: book, alarm clock, deodorant, table, MP3, everything!) We listed that and the ingredients and we discussed how we really don't need all of those things. We labelled them as necessary, useful but not necessary, making us happy or comfortable, or useless. We found a good few necessary, most useful but not necessary and lots for comfort, but could label next to none useless. We discussed the reasoning for this, exceptions, and just how society dictates and provides the situation for us to call these things useful or necessary or just for comfort. It was a very enlightening conversation. Although I'm sure none of us will just give up our consumeristic lifestyle like that, it was an eye opener just doing the excercise. It was a good bike ride back to the Friendship Center where we watched Beijing Bicycle, a good movie about 4 lives interconnected through a bike. Those asian bike gangs sure can deliver one hell of a beat down, but that's nothing that a good ol' brick to the back of the head won't fix! They sure love their bikes! Worth renting. And by a series of misevents, I missed volleyball. Damn't. I love volleyball! Ugh. Tomorrow's another EAD, at Summerhill Winery again actually. So that means getting up early. Another pillow on the bus. Sigh.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Irony...we meet again....have at thee! En guarde!

Stupid irony. So, if you haven't read the last post, I suggest it to find the irony of this one. Gary was being late, as usual. He told me what time we should leave by: 8:15. There I am, yelling at the bottom of the stairs for him to get his down there. But he had to check his email and shave and tie his shoes. He SAID he would be out by 8:12. Guess not! I didn't think we were gonna make the 97 bus, so he suggested we take the South Rutland bus, which would come earlier, but would make it to down town at the same time. So we took that one. And waited...and waited. It was 5 minutes late. I had been told previously that it's prone to be late, having to pick up disabled people and almost everyone at bus stops. I was quite pissed. Not only at Gary, but just because of the fact that that morning I was going to tell my group how I felt about them being late for meeting for lunch for Tuesday's Community Activity Day. Hows that gonna make me look, showing up late and then giving them shit? So I was seething on the bus. I hauled ass as soon as we got off the bus. We were a few minutes late, but most everyone was there. Jamie told me to do a lap around the building. I gave him the finger and was about to, but he was joking. I just wasn't in the mood. So, during the circle check, I brought up my issue AND pointed out that I was well aware of the irony of my being late in accordance with the issue at hand. Maxime agreed with me, saying he did put me in charge. No one else really said anything. It hasn't been brought up again. I don't know if people just didn't think it was important or were really reflecting on it. Either way, I did my part. So, for Thursdays Environment EAD, hosted by Jamie and Jonathon, we did a few discussion in the morning about environment impacts and issues, and watched a movie on companies responses to these issues. So far, it seemed a little disappointing. Disappointing in that the worlds going to hell in a hand basket and it's seriously seeming like it's a losing battle, despite so many efforts. Don't consider this as depressing as it sounds. We went to Mission Creek Park (ironically waiting for the South Rutland bus, that JUST happened to be late as well.) So we were given a small tour around the forest, went on a small scavenger hunt and returned to center. Afterwards, most of us showed up at Value Village to find Halloween costumes for Leah's party on Saturday night. I decided to go as a ninja or robber, just so I could dress in all black (and it was cheap) I AM trying to save money for my bike trip. And most of those costumes were like 30 or 40$! I don't think so! Not at Value Village! The bastards! Today I got off work, yay! I'm on the mid-project retreat committee, so I, along with some others went with Maxime in his tiny car to the Owaissi Camp on West Bank to check out a camp for our...um....mid-project retreat. Not much to say. It was a nice camp. Standard. Right by the water. We'll take it! When we returned, Felix, Heather, Kassie and I discussed and planned a menu and the ingredients to buy and hopefully get donated from the Food Bank. And then, I'm back home, listening to the ramblings and muffled yells of young tweens downstairs for Dylan (my host brothers) Halloween party. We just finished doing the whole hand-in-spaghetti thing, grabbing plastic eyeballs. The kids were right into it. So into it, it was almost like they were about to start throwing spaghetti at eachother. Little monsters! I don't even remember what I was like at that age. As Brenda pointed out, one of the kids is like a mini-Devon, hyper and incoherently babbling. I suppose that's KIND of like me. But I don't know. My past is still just flashes. I should read through my old journals again.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Impact over intent...



So it's still kinda busy and gonna get even more busy. Every day I get a couple of emails, about upcoming Educational Activity Days or Community Activity Days or volunteer opportunities. Much more busy than Katimavik. But it also seems like I don't have time to catch up mentally. I can do a lot of these activities, but when it comes to planning, I'm just gonna be "...ughhhhhhhh....huh?" Hopefully it won't be like that.

I can't remember what happened on Saturday. Oh wait, yes I can. Haha, I suck. I went to the Farmers Market with Yuchan. She had been to larger ones in Montreal, but this still seemed like a treat for her. Too bad no one else went. Oh well. I bought her a candied apple as she had never had one before. We checked out all the little shops of food or knick knacks being sold. It was a fun afternoon. Then we went to Leah's and caught up with Stephane who came with us to buy groceries for a hot pot we later cooked at Leah's house with and for about 4 other people. It was a really good hot pot, and I made tempura! Delicious. Some people drank a bit and it got kind of zany. Not bad zany, energetic, dancing, taking-off-your-shirt-in-a-funny-matter zany. But I wasn't having that good of a time later and left early. Imagine, me not having a good time when clothes are being taken off. Weird, huh? And no, I wasn't the first to take off my shirt. Again, weird. Maybe pants next time. ANYWAY!

So that was Saturday. Sunday we went for a hike with half the group up to the Kettle Valley Trestles. It was quite cold, and even snowed a faint bit up there. I had been on big trestles before, and personally, these weren't amazing. But they did have some history to them and the hike up in the mountains was appreciated, along with just hanging out with the group. Plus we got to see a big tunnel!

Monday, I spent most of the day on the computer. Believe it or not, I can actually get a lot of work done on the computer I'll have you know. I spent the morning (after emails and such) finding new work placements for Wendy and myself as the Parkinson Recreation Center didn't work for reasons I'm too lazy to describe. There was a great website with lots of places. I chose those with decent interest and phoned, left messages, or emailed about becoming a volunteer there. I had a few responses, one being Maxime. I directed calls to him as well and he was quite impressed on how busy and productive I was. He somewhat chose on our behalf for us to work at the Rotary Center for the Arts, a theatre or sorts. I'm happy about that! After the morning phone calls, I cleaned that bathroom. Brenda has this way of making me say things and then going AHA! GOTCHA! As it turns out, she got me to clean the bathroom. But I think I might as well do more then do dishes (which I do often and do a good job, I'll have you know!)

Today was a great sunny day, actually a rare sight, even though it shouldn't be. Figures. We volunteered at a community garden today. Two actually. This was right up my alley and brought back memories of working at the community garden back home. I think because of that, Maxime made me in charge of everyone. Even though there were two women there directing us, I was to direct my group. The work went well; we moved compost, bagged weeds, stringed up sun flower and corn stalks and put in a grass guard. Half of us biked to the Orchard Park Mall while the rest of us bussed. It's a good city to bike in! Biking, I found, is way the hell faster then the stupid bus! Plus, I can use some training. I had everyone go for half an hour lunch (half the people had started eating at the first garden anyway) We would meet in the front of Future Shop at 12:30. Only 3 people were on time! Most of the rest of the group were about 20 minutes late. Let me put this into perspective: Future Shop was across the street from the mall! I was not impressed. And two hadn't heard correct and were waiting for us at the second garden (which I chalk up to miscommunication; shit happens) But still. I even told people we could eat lunch at the garden as well. When I mentioned that it was kind of unnacceptable to be that late, people kind of pawned it off, not caring much about it. This may not seem like much to some people, but it struck a cord with me; I consider myself to have leadership issues. Some people consider me one, and then there's people like today. Again, some of you may only see this as, "Oh Devon, they were just busy trying to get food, get over it." I see it as, "...I tried to be as straight about this as I could, but not too bossy, and people didn't respect me. I don't appreciate this." It's not something I plan to pout about, but I strongly feel it's not something I should let slide. People should know that even something that simple, as being late, is disrespectful. We, as a group, should know that. Especially considering how hard it is to organize a group this size to begin with. So next circle check, I'm going to respectfully bring this up. But getting past that, after helping out at the second garden, we watched Sicko, by Michael Moore. As most of his movies, a bit of an eye opener, but one to be taken with a grain of salt. We had to volunteer at the casino, as per contracted by the French Cultural Center (don't ask) but only Sadie and I went! I got lost biking there, given directions to the wrong casino. I showed up just on time to do nothing. There was a guy helping us write down bingo calls. Sadie did most of the writing, to which I really appreciated. I freeze when I hear multiple numbers and couldn't write things like that without freaking out. I basically followed Sadie and that guy around. Never did get his name. But he did have a lot of stories about losing his arm, hardships of the work force and whatnot. Some were definitely worth a listen. So although they didn't even really need us, I think I lent some company tonight which was better than not showing up. Plus, the bike ride home was good.

But now I'm tired. And tomorrow, at the Food Bank, I have to give out potatoes that I picked today from the community garden. Haha, irony :P

Friday, October 19, 2007

Yeah, my sarcasms is gonna get me in trouble one day






The crazyness has toned down a bit.....AHAHA! Don't be silly! It never tones down with me around! The last two days have been good, but a rest, I think, is well deserved. Which, surprisingly enough, means I can catch up on other Devon projects, such as re-writing the english/mandarin labels around the house, updating my blog (ahem) catching up on my journals (ugh, not tonight either I don't think) looking into pawn shops to sell some DS games, looking into bike shops and writing the list of bike equipment I need to buy for my bike trip when I go shopping with the girls when they come and visit me. Always something to do.

Thursday was quite exuberant (it seems like that word would fit, but I don't know) It was the economy EAD, led by Leah and Kassie. We started off getting up REALLY early, like 6am, and having Brenda, my host mom, drive Gary and I to the bus stop because he has this insessant need to shave every two days. I keep telling him he has to shave in a month, I have to shave in a week, MOVE YOUR CHINESE ASS, or something to that effect. I brought my pillow with good reason that day; It was intended for a pillow fight at a night club that I was going to later that night. I didn't know if I would return home, so I brought it then. Turns out, I used it on the bus, sleeping on the heads of other tired CWY participants. The silly bus driver thought we got off and didn't see us, and didn't tell us when our stop was. How the bloody fuck do you miss 15 CWY participants on a bus for 40 minutes!!!! Amazingly, we were barely late still for our tour at the Summer Hill Winery, the largest organic winery with a pyramid no less! http://www.summerhill.bc.ca/ We did the circle check in a Seylish (spelling) replica hut, or home, or something in the ground. We spent most of our day there. We were given a tour by a CWY AND Katimavik alumni (rare breed they are) The tour was pretty cool. We got to try some grapes, but not the wine. I didn't want to anyway. I asked about some purple stuff on the roof. It surprised me when Nathan, the guide, told me it was actually was an explosion, as I imagined! The hoses blew, whilst the president of the company was there, in front of the media! Man, that must have been hilarious. It was almost a year ago, but he said they couldn't get it any cleaner and the rest of the goo was stuck up there. Now THAT'S a work story! We wrapped up the EAD with some activities, debriefing, etc. Afterwards, we ate supper down town and had our language lessons. I'm actually picking Mandarin up fairly fast I'd say. I just have to apply myself I think. More then I did for French in Katimavik anyway. But also, Mandarin does seem easier. Not so many exceptions to rules, like some language I won't mention (collis!) We all are picking it up. I can almost understand when people talk to me! After our lesson, I went to Gotcha's where they had the pillow fight. Turns out it was an attempt to break a world record for the largest pillow fight, in addition to a Coors Light Mansion party promotions. Free pillow and beer with registration. It took a long time to start up though, because they needed a certain amount of people. So no records were broken, but I did get to have pillow-pound some lovely Coors girls dressed in maid and cop uniforms. So yeah, I don't think the night was a total waste. I'd much rather have went there with my friends, but everyone was tired and I can't miss these things just because I'm going alone!

Today was a bit different though, and no early wake up, which was nice. We went to a conference about why there's homeless people in Kelowna. It was a small, but very intellectual conference held by one woman. People asked very good questions and she made strong points, offering knowledge I'd never thought of relating the reasons of homelessness. I guess I have it a bit figured out when she said "Bang on! That's my presentation right there (referring to me after commenting that homelessness seems to be a cycle that's very difficult to break out of) But I'm sure I'm missing a lot more then that. Big problems call for big solutions which are never easy and never fast. When that was done, we had a small pumpkin carving contest between the Canadians and the Chinese. It's hard to feel pride when you know the other team has never carved a pumpkin before. But both were good. Ours was a CWY symbol/jack'o'lantern, while theirs was a typical face. Most of us returned to work for the afternoon, as did I. But I came with troops. Anthony, Sadie, Jamie, Nancy and Wendy came with me this time and we were put to work, boxing cereal, then rice chips, then throwing away bread, and other small things. T'was an easy afternoon and I got to show my friends where I work. But I still have to look for another job on Monday, but I have no time to phone volunteer placements (another job on my 'to-do' list. See, always busy!) Tonight I had some "me" time, and by "me" time, I mean, I went to the movies with a few people. 30 Days of Night was a lot better then I thought. Go people, go!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

My feet are KILLING ME!





Man, this whole freakin week has been busy. Maybe this is that whole being "active" part of these damn volunteer programs. So updates haven been hard to do. But I'll try. My journals gonna have to wait.

Gary's birthday was great! I didn't have to go to work for complicated reasons, so I got to stay at home and set up for it. Tis was good. Everyone showed up periodically and the party got jumping. It was quite energetic, for me anyway. People were yelling my name every 10 minutes, if they could use this pot to cook that, where should they put the chips, where can they leave their shoes, when was the cake was coming out, etc. But it settled well. I had planned for everyone to go mini-golfing, but so many people were tired at the end of the night, it dwindled down to like 3 people wanting to go. We said screw it and just watched Knocked Up. Easy end to the night. The next day we all bussed out to a nut farm. Yes, a nut farm! And trust me, I hit every nut joke I could there. It was on West Bank, and was very scenic. The tour was pretty simple and not that exhilarating, but worth it still. Some walnuts had some super spiny shells which were fun to throw. That day, everyone got their bikes from a bike-repaired work place thingy that handicap people fix bikes at. I already had one, from my billet family. But everyone else was happy as peaches. This Sunday, we're going to a tressle for a picnic and bike ride. Today was pretty hectic. I was on my feet all day, which is why they are hurtin' so bad. It was really busy at the food bank. I kept up pretty well. But I found out I was giving some people food they weren't supposed to be getting and not giving food to some people who were supposed to get it. Whoops. My bad. Next time! Heather showed up, so we put her to work and we put together more hampers. We ran out of a few bags! The food bank was nice enough to give us some semi-expired desserts to sell at our bake sale we were holding at the Stand Up For Poverty/Make Poverty History event held at the libary today. More standing, yay! The rain put a small damper on it though. But I might be in the newspaper, which is cool. I'll try to look for it for you guys. I chatted with one of the planners, a young girl, for awhile and got her phone number. In case of those days where I just want to hang with someone new who isn't in my group. It happens. But for now, I have to go to bed early and catch up!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Gotta keep busy! Gotta keep busy! OH GOD!








Yeah, I wanna be out and about. Today was good for that though. This weekend................meh. Actually, it was good. Friday I worked at the good ol' food bank where I gave single mothers some lots of goodies. I mean LOTS. They wanted me to give out like 3 or 4 at a time! We don't only feed hungry people, we make em fat! After work, I came home, but didn't want to stay home. I met Stephane and we hung out with a few people at Lyndsay's boyfriends house. The next day, we went to the garbage pick up as invited by the cute girl. It was slow going at first, but everyone there was getting ready and set up. There was a BIG group of people, like 200-300, all ready and rarin' to go. The plan was to pick up garbage, litter, wash windows, clean corners of buildings (grass buildup and whatnot) clean graffitti and have a BBQ for the homeless down there. About half the group showed up and we did a good job for an hour and a half. We took a small break, which ended up being the end of our job. However, it wasn't without result! We breaked, because going up the street were other volunteers coming back from cleaning up! From what we saw, every alley way and street had garbage picked up from the designated area. They were still washing windows and cleaning grass, but still! The effort was amazing! I really was surprised. It really made me see the result of "many hands making light work!" It showed that if everyone did a little bit, everyone would only HAVE to do a little bit. And with that, we decided to finish our rest in the park. Although I wanted to do a bit more, my group was done, and I still think that we contributed. After the chinese participants left, it was Felix, Heather, Jamie and I. Some Christian teenagers came over and gave us fake million dollar bills. Before I could say "HAHA! I'M A MILLIONAIRE! I CAN BUY YOUR SORRY FRENCH ASS FELIX!" the guy explained the "million dollar question" He was selling Jesus, but none of us were buying. He gave his speech, we poked a few holes in it, he said that's okay. None of us seemed that religious and we sorta agreed to disagree. By the way, did you know it's considered adultery to even THINK of those naughty thoughts of the opposite sex? I am SO going to hell. But I will be grinning. When they left, we did too, to Heather's house in West Bank, along with Jonathon and Jack. We just chilled for awhile, watched a bit of television (something you take for granted in Katimavik I'll tell you that!) and then made PEROGIES!!! Home made! From scratch! Apparently, Heather and Jamie, both supposed experts, had different views. But everyones turned out awesome! Especially Jonathons. Damn Chinese sure know how to deep fry! They were good. It was late, but Jamies host-sister, Kelsea, was nice enough to give Felix and I a ride to Queensway station. Quite a night.






And today wasn't half bad either. We received an email a few days ago from Maxime, our supervisor, asking us what we should do for Gary's birthday. He's my counterpart by the way.



We haven't done much in planning. With Brenda's ideas, I shot some suggestions to everyone over email, but talking to Maxime on msn, he was saying I should get on it, poking how I had mentioned in my interview I'm a go-getter, and should get going. It really hit my personal pride. I like to think I am, but I guess he took it another way. I've been a little wavering in my leadership department; kind of pondering my own, others, and just the idea of it. My Project Leader in Katimavik once tried to explain her point of view of my leadership, that I'm one from the shadows. I appear when needed it seemed. I don't want to be like that. It's just pleasing everyone. I'm the kind of leader who asks everyone what they think, what we should do, trying to get their opinions and hence form my own after hearing views from everyone. Especially because I have this tendency to be wrong, of have the wrong idea, misconstrued. I'm eager, but not prepared. Needless to say, it irked me. So I cranked the adrenergy tunes (that's what I call the music that gets you all pumped) and I went at it preparing Gary's birthday party. It was an intense....hour and a half. I'm fast! I emailed everyone details from what bus to take to our house, to bring a potluck dinner, what time, that we'd go mini-golfing after, how much, for how long. And after, I phoned them all to confirm, because although almost all of us have internet, it doesn't seem to be the best form of communication. Everyone accepted it. I think having something actually planned and ready to go was good for most people, so they accepted it. Maxime agreed, it works best with this style of group. Waiting around doesn't work. You really have to step up and take it upon yourself to say, "this is gonna happen!" I'm really out of my comfort zone here. But I think it's something I'll be working on for the duration of the program. I was still in that mindset afterwards, so I decided to go geocache hunting. I grabbed my bike and rode, rode, rode. I found THREE today! I was quite proud of myself. Got to be out and about on a gorgeous sunny Sunday afternoon. I was happy. I'm just gonna keep searching. But soon, I'm really gonna need a GPS. But until then, WOO!