Kelowna means grizzly?

We've had our first EAD, educational activity day. It was history themed and ran by Yuchan and Nancy. The entire day was focused on learning about Kelowna's history. We did various activities, including quizzes, timelines, and tours. It was well ran and although it was a lot to take in, we learned quite a bit.

Today, I worked at the food bank. I still got that same satisfying feeling from giving people (single mothers today) food. Especially desserts again! Because they're 1 or 2 day expired, we had to get rid of them; therefore, I was giving out like 3, 4, or 5 boxes of donuts, ecclairs, muffins, cakes, cupcakes, croissants, pies and other desserts. I also learned how to seperate incoming food in the warehouse and sort it. So it was an easy day. I talked to my friend today back home. I'm a little home sick and am missing them a lot. But luckily, they're going to visit in November, so I'm excited. I'll get to show them my new friends and host family, unlike what I would have in Katimavik.

An now, because I have time, photos! They're also on my facebook.

...AND THERE WAS BLOOD EVERYWHERE!!!

Yes, there was blood. But let me start from the beginning.

Okay, not quite the BEGINNING, but yeah, whatever.

So things have settled down a bit. We're no longer in our community orientation week (lol, the COW) We have started our first day of work today. Most of us. Some didn't work for various reasons. My first job; the food bank. I got all dressed up nice, ready to make good impressions. And I did. Wendy, Felix, Jack and I worked there for the morning. Felix and Jack had to work at another placement in the afternoon. For the morning, Felix and I worked on a sort of assembly line. There were various food products or items, like vegetables, fruits, or toothpaste, garbage bags, salt, desserts, etc. Darwin, our "boss" started the assembly for people and Felix and I would finish it. Different people, from homeless people, handicapped, to those with financial problems came in. They were just people to me. And I was giving them food, but never accepting cash. And it felt real good to do that. I was happy back home when I worked the good food box and I got to give some boxes extra food, acting as the "Good Food Box Fairy!" I had that feeling most of the day. And nowhere did I think, I hate this job. My legs were sore from standing all day though, but that's not that bad. It was great to see how generous the food bank was by how much they gave away, but also how everyone else is by how much they receive in the warehouse! There are SO many things back there, including non-food items, like a shipment of sandals and Crocs, which some employees were taking some home. I think as volunteers, speaking on all volunteers behalf, I think it's fairly reasonable to have small thank-yous like that. I didnt' take a pair, because I hate those sandals. And they make the employees and volunteers lunch, and from what I over heard, breakfast too! Amazing people. They let us off early, but I used my spare time well I think. I donated blood today (there it is!) I've wanted to for a long time, but never had the chance as Hazelton doesn't have those facilities. The nurses there gave me a little insight into the blood business. I was surprised to find not only is BC the lowest blood donating province, it's contributions are actually decreasing! So the nurses seemed very proud of me that I came in. They got that big needle in me and bled me good. An average bag takes about 10-15 minutes to fill, but they were quite surprised that I filled mine in 6 minutes and felt perfectly fine after. It's happy blood! So I did a few good deeds today. I'm gonna try to convince my group to donate blood. It's probably a good idea as well, since we're going out of the country soon.

"Insert rod A into slot B"

So we're no longer in the cow. Yes, I said it. The Community Orientation Week, the COW is over. I've been gone for two weeks. Can you feel the difference? I can't.

We finished our week with something special: guest speakers on STI's (STD's) and HIV/AIDS and another on healthy eating. Pretty neat, huh? Actually, the HIV speakers were good. It was an older woman and a cute, younger girl. They knew what they were talking about quite well, and were very mature about their topic, even when discussing more adult questions. It wasn't that boring either, with a few minor games, including the sex in a cup game and a quiz. Althought it was late and the healthy eating/activity speaker didn't have much time for her presentation, it was good as well. Probably better for the Chinese, to explain Canadian views on health. It was a nice day. Some people went out for dinner, and all of us joined up to go to the bar; sort of a celebration. It was a bad start of a night, as I waited for half an hour for everyone. And two people supposedly went to a bar already and we wanted to include an under age girl. We were standing around for a long time before we decided to hit up a local pub. But it was more than just her. The Chinese didn't have their ID, and not even their passports! So in the end, we decided to go to the park and hang. It was alright. I just wanted to do SOMETHING! It was a chilly night. I ended up learning two new phrases in mandarin, bring my total knowledge of mandarin up just a bit. I learned one of the more important phrases I'll learn (or pronounce wrong) : I don't know. Bu jer dao. Don't even ask about spelling. But I had no one to worry about me coming home late. Brenda, my host family, is out with her boyfriend and kids at some hot springs for the weekend. It's a family tradition for them I guess. So Gary and I are home alone. Which, for today, allowed for ample personal time. I woke up and grabbed a bike and tried out the trails along Mission Creek. It was a beautiful trail system. I was very impressed. After a great long ride, I taught Gary how to make grilled cheese sandwiches. I went treasure hunting after. If no ones heard of geocaches, then they're missing out. http://www.geocaching.com/. Kelowna's full of geocaches, and I found two simple ones today, without using a GPS! I was so stoked. It only required a lot of walking. I want to turn this into an activity for the group! It would be sweet! And so, in case I don't update beforehand,

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Nope, it did

So to continue with the dramatic turn of events from the days before;

My description of what happened were fairly accurate. To respect their governments wishes, the Chinese participants can't openly invite publicism of the "Stand Up Against Poverty" event or be apart of it. They can't actually participate in any publicity activities, unless asked directly upon. I don't really understand it still. I mean, we are promoting good things here. What's wrong with calling a journalist to tell them. This goes for all our projects here in Kelowna. I wanted to question it further, but didn't believe it would make a difference at that point. I still don't understand why. However, I must insist, the Chinese participants were very friendly about this and stressed they didn't want to strain our friendships and that although the subjects were sensitive, they were glad we were respecting them and that didn't mean they were completely untalkable-about. So that's that I guess.

We were given our jobs finally. We did a similar fashion of voting. We would write down the jobs we wanted, #1 wanted the most, #2 the second most, etc. Our supervisor pointed out that people who didn't get their first choice in counterparts or host families would likely be given preference. I can understand. I got my first choice counterpart and second host family, so my vote meant nil. I wanted to work at the mayor's youth forum, where participants would discuss issues around Kelowna with teenagers. It really sounds like something I would do. I also wanted to work at a science center that would go around with displays and fairs for different schools. But instead I was given the jobs of working one day with handicapped people at the Parkinson Recreation Center and moving canned food for people at the Food Bank. I don't mind those jobs. However, I do feel uncomfortable working with handicapped people. I was very nervous and out of my comfort zone when we went to Community Living Algoma in Katimavik. But the interviewers agreed, it takes a certain kind of person to work with them. I thought maybe, one day a week wouldn't be bad. Plus I get to play games and activities with them. I like doing that. And FYI, half the people I play the energetic games I play act retarded anyway (I'm so going to hell) After that, we set up committees. There are a LOT of committees. Energizers committee, CAD (community activity day) mid-point reflection, clean up committee, time committee, movie club, FIGHT club!!!! I signed up for most of them. I tend to do that. I've always been like that though. It felt a bit overwhelming though, whether I signed up for a bunch or not. Usually I'd build up that bubble of paranoia I tend to do, but I convinced myself it's all a matter of getting used to the system we're thrown into, getting used to it. It's like that everywhere; new school, new town, new people, new jobs, etc. Katimavik was like that, and we faired great! I think it will be good. And everyone was very energetic and joined lots of committees as well. I'd much rather them join too many then too few. I think it will be good.

Bah?

Never thought anything like this would happen. It was a slow morning. Gary slept in a bit, so I had to make his lunch and some breakfast. I'm wasn't angry or nothing, but I did tell Gary a bit about preparation and making sure you manage your time well, for making breakfast and lunch. We're still early though. We tried a new bus schedule today, but it didn't work out that well; we were 15 minutes late. We did the circle share thingy again. After, we were given a scavenger hunt to search for different things. I explained to Gary what a scavenger hunt was and how it was fun and sometimes there were ways around walking to each place. ie, cheating. Not really so much. We talked to people walking by, asked business, used the phone book. We still got a good look around down town, where a few things are. Learning more and more every day. After, we started to talk about EAD's, educational activity days. Gary and I chose Community. Mainly, I chose it, because Gary was almost asleep and didn't want to move. When that was dealt with, we went to another Beanachinos to meet some organizers to discuss some things for a cause we're helping with. It's the "Make Poverty History" or "Stand Up Against Poverty" When we finally found a venue to sit at and talk, there seemed to be another problem. *Note that this is with discretion how I explain and is to the best of my detail. I believe, Jing, our Chinese project supervisor, wasn't fully explained to what this event was about. However, it seemed like to her, and to the Chinese participants that it was almost a protest, and most of them are public servants (their jobs are) they couldn't dishonor their state and the promise that they made that they wouldn't participate in any activities, such as protest. Our Canadian supervisor tried to convince them it was hardly a protest, but raising awareness of a global issue. This was all in front of the organizers and must have been very embarrasing for both parties. Our discussion was cut short and will talk about it tomorrow. I hope it doesn't have more serious repercussions though.

Mmmmm....beanachino

Dun dun dun dun! We now have our headquarters! But it wasn't without danger. We weren't sure if it was at the Friendship Center where we had our potluck with our billets or across the street from them. We bought a lot of food yesterday and didn't want to wait a half hour amongst homeless people to find out. It would have been really awkward to decline so many when we have so much food, right there, in bags! But when everyone arrived, we moved into our new building! It was like a hidden sort of office with lots of desks and shelves and a small business room. There was quite a bit of junk, leftover projects, small tools, and such. But there was also 3 punching bags, a pool table, 2 couches and a dismantled fooseball table! After circle time, where we told everyone about our first weekend with our host family (everyone had a good story) we spent all morning cleaning up our new space, moving furniture and making it our own. It's like a club house now! Most of the Chinese participants helped prepare and cook food, as October 1st is a celebration of the day China became a nation. After we set up furniture, we moved the food into the Friendship center and cooked more food, set up tables and after what seemed like a long time of waiting, we ate delicious chinese food, about 10 different dishes! It was very good, but we would have eaten anything at that point. It was our supper actually! Afterwards, most of us walked down town, grabbed some beanachinos and walked down to the waterfront. It was a great time, just laughing, being ourselves. It was different then before, so to speak. We were a much more relaxed group, and I think just over the weekend, the Chinese participants have improved their English very much. They understand almost everything we say, slang and jokes and all. We caught the buses, learning more about where everything is, how the buses run, what times. Just learning where we are and where we're going.

It was a fairly easy day today. Nothing big, no big plans. We got to sleep in, which was a big bonus. I packed a lunch for Gary and I and we went out on the town, seeking fame, fortune and adventure. It's hard finding those when you take the bus. We planned on going to the Orchard Park Mall, to do a bit of shopping, learn the bus system and get our bearings as to where everything is. Gary had never rode this style of bus system, and me? Well, public transit is a feasable challenge. I took him to some book stores, clothing stores, electronic stores. There was a large booth for the 2010 Vancouver olympics, which I thought might have something about the 2008 Beijing olympics, to make Gary feel more at home. Sadly, they did not. But one girl did give Gary some pins to take home, we played a snowboarding game for the Wii and there was a gymnast signing cards. I told Gary to ask her for her phone number (out loud) but she said she had a boyfriend. Now, usually I'd be used to his. But Gary asked me some questions that got me thinking; he wanted to know if he could ask beautiful girls, like that one, if he could be there friends. I felt kind of bad when I told him it's not that easy, that most of us have to talk to them to learn more about them, and that sometimes it happens naturally. It's a shame too, because shouldn't it BE that easy? You don't have to be their girlfriend or boyfriend obviously, but just a friend. He was a bit paranoid about causing sexual harassment, which I totally understood, being from a different set of customs that may include how you talk to the opposite sex. Not even a week with my counterpart and I'm questioning my culture.