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!