Well, this will be my final Katimavik newsletter. I'm heading back home tomorrow! My first flight departs from Chisasibi on August 18 at 14:35 and arrives in Montreal at 18:35. Then I take an express bus to Gared’autocar de Montreal, where I travel with Coach Canada, departing from Montreal at 00:15, August 19, and arrive in Kingston at 3:25. Then I depart from Kingston at 3:45 and arrive in Toronto at 6:20. I then switch to Greyhound and leave Toronto at 7:00 and arrive in
Guelph at 8:15.
A lot of people are being sent home by bus, not just in my group but throughout the cluster. It's the first time they've done it to any of us. I think it's because now that we're done with the program, they don't care about us. Or, Grandma has offered that they aren't concerned with taking time out of the program, now that we're done.
In the last couple weeks, we managed to fit in some cool stuff. This will probably be my craziest post. Don't worry, though. You just go with the flow, and when the flow is sane, you get sane. When the going gets crazy... you get a little crazy. I'll be okay when I get back. Promise.
There's this Native ritual, where they all go into a small, tent-like structure with hot coals at the centre that they throw water on, called a "sweat". A group back on Prince Edward Island did it, and the girl I spoke to told me that of their eight members, only two made it to the end. She also told me that it's like "A taste of Hell". We came to this Cree village, and out Project Leader said that of her first
group of eleven, only two made it to the end, and she wasn't one of them. She said that it was like "A trip to Hell."
Well, we just did it. And guess what? Of our nine, seven made it to the end. And I'm one of them, baby!
Before going in, I talked to a man outside about why they do the sweats. See, there are four aspects of the human: the body, the mind, the emotional, and the spirit. You need to feed each aspect of the human to be healthy, and a sweat is food for the spirit.
While I was in there, and beginning to panic, his words came to me. I thought, "If I'm in pain, that's the body, so forget that. If I'm scared, that's the emotional, so forget that. If I worry I'm losing my mind, that's the mind, so forget that."
So, if you take away all those aspects, what do you have left?
You have your spirit. If you can find your spirit, which is being nourished, it will not be a painful experience for you.
It's pitch black in there. The people who go in all have the aspect of warriors about them. But in the sweat, all of your internal sufferiengs and miseries are brought to the surface and let out. Grown men weep in there all the time. And because of the darkness, it is completely anonymous.
They chant, they drum, and people scream and cry. Their emotional outlet is a contribution to the song. The person I sat next to for the first three rounds wept the loudest. We were all squashed together so tight, I felt his convulsions and his breath.
It's like, when you drink alcohol, you feel warm inside, but that's really because your core body heat is moving to your nerves as it leaves your body. It's the same way for your inner sufferings in the sweat. You feel them more acidically, but only because they're moving out, toward the more sensitive part of your being, as they leave you.
I felt great! I could see myself doing that kind of thing again!
I want to do the more intense version, where you fast for four days, and then have piercings ripped out of your shoulders, back, and nipples, while doing a sweat!
I also want to get in on the chanting, but I don't know Cree and I can't hit their pitches... When everyone got excited at one point, roaring and hooting like mad, I threw in a roar. I wasn't comfortable doing much more than that, though.
When we first went in there, our fire-master introduced himself by his spirit name "Too Hard Bear."
TOO HARD BEAR! Is that really the guy you want to lead you to Hell?
It was held on the site they do the Sun Dance every year, and they tried to summon the spirit of a 14-year-old girl who comitted suicide three years ago, but who's spirit never moved on, and tried to put her to rest.
Turns out, not only I, but two other people in the group felt really cold twice during the sweat. And some of the Natives saw the ghost of the girl... Maybe we sensed it's presence?
We had a Shaking Tent Ceremony, where you summon the spirits of the ancestors, and learn all kinds of cool stuff. It's powerful, too. There's a small, one-person-sized tent at the centre of a giant teepee, and an elder goes in there and acts as a medium for the spirits. They warned us not to go inside the spirit tent, because if
you do, THE SPIRITS CAN KILL YOU! There was some negative interference, and it beat the tar out of the elder inside. It might be because the ceremony was botched and it upset the spirits and also, apparently there were Northern Lights something fierce, which is considered dangerous around here. The elder had to fight off the evil presence while answering our questions. I... don't think we got real answers. I think he needed to give us answers, but he wasn't really picking up on anything because of the interference.
Because I refuse to believe that my spirit name is "Fox-Man"! I am not going to introduce myself to the spirits as "Fox-Man"!
We met this guy who's lived out in the woods for eleven years, has an epic beard, and raises wolves. He looked at my beard, shouted "MY BROTHER!" and hugged me. He taught us how to harvest mushrooms. At the end of the day he gave me a magic staff. He'll shelter and feed anyone for a month, and if you want, you don't have to do anything. It can be like a vacation, or it can be like a work experience. And he offered to help me get a job in Chisasibi if I stayed.
You guys came THIS close to losing me to Epic Beard Man. I love that guy so much, I baked him a loaf of bread and volunteered to wash his dishes. My PL convinced me that I should get my life in order and wait until I have something confirmed for my future and have some leeway time. Apparently, he's got connections with all the truckers across Canada, and will provide free transportation via truckers to get to
his place.
In Katimavik, I have played one video game, read three books, and watched 39 movies! Maybe not something to brag about...
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Arriving in Chisasibi
Before I start things off, I want to give you guys a look at my beard. Here's a video of Cole from my group doing an interpretive dance representing the life of a butterfly while we were camping at Quetico Park with the Alberton Katimavik group. I'm in the background (the one with a beard): http://www.youtube.com/user/arxyn17#p/a/u/0/XgHcQiTI0pU
Also, I want to point out my newfound Katima-fame. If you Google-search "Katimavik Thunder Bay" the fourth hit is my original blog, and if you Google image-search "Katimavik competencies" the first hit is a picture of me! To a lesser extent, I plugged Pierre's pet rabbit Whisky's video on my Katimavik blog, and his view count doubled. It went from 14 to 28. That's not bad.
Anyway, our PL gave us a real good send-off from Thunder Bay. She got us all to select nine beads from a bead store called Jangles, one representing each member of the group, with an explanation for why we chose them, and string them onto a bracelet. I wore my bracelet every day until we were doing a dreamcatcher-making workshop in Chisasibi, and our new PL suggested we use them to decorate our dreamcatcher. I thought it seemed like a good idea, because I'll probably only wear a Katima-bracelet outside of Katimavik for a couple weeks, but I'll probably use a dreamcatcher for years. I lost Pierre's bead, and Clay's wouldn't fit, so I wound up with no dreamcatcher, and no bracelet, and now I'm scared that all of the things I learned from Pierre will disappear from my mind because I lost his sacred bead! NO! I learned so much from him!
She also gave us each a little gift package. A rock from Mt. McKay, an animal representing us, and a note with an explanation as to why. I got the rooster, because of my affinity with birds, because birds are capable of picking up on things that other creatures aren't, like I can, and because it is a symbol of my growing initiative. She has a toy goat which she carries everywhere. I'm doing the same with my rooster.
I have to plug this song in memory of my T-Bay PL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBmlyfWd5GQ
(I really hope that's the right video, since I can't watch them myself on this slow computer)
Our group decided to all do seperate Final Presentations, because we couldn't find one we all wanted to do. I did a presentation on my hat. I made a poster of all the pins I got in T-Bay and told the story behind each.
I completed my hat in T-Bay, too. Filled the entire rim with pins. I first finished it when we were camping at Quetico, and a girl from Alberton gave me a Drumheller, Alberta pin, but I managed to reorganize them so that I could fit more on. There's absolutely no more space, now. The finishing pin turned out to be a Chisasibi, Cree Nation pin which I got for volunteering at a cultural camping trip called Mamouidow.
When we left, we stopped over in Montreal for six hours before taking another flight from a smaller airline to Chisasibi. Me, Clay, Pierre and Rachel missed the flight and our punishment was a free day in Montreal!
...Well, our real punishment was missing seeing eleven bears, which Devon, Cole and Marie got to see by chance on their first day.
Em got a special leave to go to her sister's wedding, so we all arrived in pieces. When I first found out that it was only Devon, Cole and Marie to get on our third flight, I felt like this was like elimination rounds, and only one person would actually make it to Chisasibi.
Anyway, the people in Chisasibi are really friendly. Unfortunately, I have not gotten to experience culture shock or racism. In Montreal, everyone spoke English, and in Chisasibi, everyone speaks English, too.
Around here, Katimavik are like celebrities. I remember our PL turned on the radio, and we heard the last Katimavik crew introduce themselves between songs. Everyone knows who we are.
In Summerside, we did less work than in Thunder Bay, but got more acknowledgement. In Chisasibi, we do less work than we did in Summerside, but get more acknowledgement.
Actually, there's a lot of similarities between Summerside and Chisasibi. People in Chisasibi prefer Pepsi to Coke, and say dinner instead of lunch, and supper instead of dinner, just like in Summerside!
But on the flip side of all the positivity, we've been here for less than two weeks, and there's already been:
-one murder
-two rapings
-one plane crash
-one suicide
That's significant for a community of 3000 people. Every time something like this happens, it rocks the community, because everyone knows each other, at least on an extended level.
Okay, so in Quebec there is this brand of beer called Griffon. It comes as a red ale and a blonde ale. Obviously, I want to try it, since it has my namesake, but we're in a dry community. That means that we aren't allowed to consume alcohol! But it's only a dry community for Katimavik, not for the village! (Did you know I'm in a Cree Aboriginal village in Quebec?) And if we're caught, we don't get a verbal warning, or a CTI, or even a Final Warning. We get kicked out! And the village is small enough that everything comes back to this PL!
Here are some reviews of Griffon beer:
http://www.united-nations-of-beer.com/griffon-rousse.html
http://www.united-nations-of-beer.com/griffon-extra-pale-ale.html
If it were just a Final Warning, I'd think, "They're not going to kick me out in the last month of the program, and I've made five months with a clean slate". But an automatic kick out in the last month of the program?! You HAVE to respect that!
When we first came to the new house, we were assigned a task. We each chose a random balloon, popped it, and found a slip of paper inside. The slip of paper had an animal on it, and whatever animal you drew, you would have to ask around the community to learn more about. I drew rabbit. This means that, between rooster and rabbit, I got the smallest animal of everyone in my group both times, which is funny because I'm the largest person.
I haven't learned a ton, and I've been asking around. I've learned that rabbit in Cree is wopsh, that their fur is used for blankets and children's coats, that these are warm in winter but cool in the other seasons, and that you can make good dumplings out of them.
I think the new house has an impractical setup. It has two common areas, but they're not large enough for everyone to chill in at once. It like, forces the group to divide. It's the first house I've felt myself hanging out in my room. I think that's the mark of a bad Katima-house. Our Summerside one had only one common area, but it was large, so everyone hung out in the same area, promoting unity. Thunder Bay had two large common areas, so people could or could not divide. I think it's better motivation if people are forced to be together through the bad times, but it's still better than a house that forces the group to divide.
It does, however, have a dishwashing machine, and we're actually ALLOWED TO USE IT! Thunder Bay had a television and dishwasher which we weren't allowed to use.
I feel like the group has gone full cycle. At Summerside we all acted like we did at home. In Thunder Bay, it seemed like we all demonstrated new aspects of positive personal development which we learned through Katimavik. In Chisasibi, we all act like we did at the beginning of the program! In the end, we didn't learn anything! I told this to Cole, and we both burst out laughing. I'm glad he laughed, because if he cried, I just might have as well.
Final rotation battle for chairperson. This time, I matched off against Pierre. Like last time, it was real bloody. Both of us were betrayed by someone we were great friends with, and it came out a draw. I won on a coin flip. I felt bad. I wouldn't have competed against him, but I was nominated. I tried to give him the position, but he wouldn't take it. So I get chariperson, two terms in a row, and for the entire last half of the program.
We saw the Northern Lights. The local don't like them. They believe they're dangerous and they can kill you. There are ritual behaviours they act out in order to ward them off.
We went camping for a week with the Cree. Turned down bacon, ham, spare ribs, beans because they were bacon-baked, marshmallows because they have geletin, but ate tarmigan, caribou, goose, beaver and bear. I'm sorry, Katima-vegis!
There are seven people who turned vegetarian inside Katimavik, to my knowledge. In the two clusters I've been in, there were only a total of four original vegetarians. That's four to eleven!
The cluster vegetarians forgave me pretty quick, but the two in my group are kind of leary. I upset them pretty bad, but they're coming around...
Also, I want to point out my newfound Katima-fame. If you Google-search "Katimavik Thunder Bay" the fourth hit is my original blog, and if you Google image-search "Katimavik competencies" the first hit is a picture of me! To a lesser extent, I plugged Pierre's pet rabbit Whisky's video on my Katimavik blog, and his view count doubled. It went from 14 to 28. That's not bad.
Anyway, our PL gave us a real good send-off from Thunder Bay. She got us all to select nine beads from a bead store called Jangles, one representing each member of the group, with an explanation for why we chose them, and string them onto a bracelet. I wore my bracelet every day until we were doing a dreamcatcher-making workshop in Chisasibi, and our new PL suggested we use them to decorate our dreamcatcher. I thought it seemed like a good idea, because I'll probably only wear a Katima-bracelet outside of Katimavik for a couple weeks, but I'll probably use a dreamcatcher for years. I lost Pierre's bead, and Clay's wouldn't fit, so I wound up with no dreamcatcher, and no bracelet, and now I'm scared that all of the things I learned from Pierre will disappear from my mind because I lost his sacred bead! NO! I learned so much from him!
She also gave us each a little gift package. A rock from Mt. McKay, an animal representing us, and a note with an explanation as to why. I got the rooster, because of my affinity with birds, because birds are capable of picking up on things that other creatures aren't, like I can, and because it is a symbol of my growing initiative. She has a toy goat which she carries everywhere. I'm doing the same with my rooster.
I have to plug this song in memory of my T-Bay PL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBmlyfWd5GQ
(I really hope that's the right video, since I can't watch them myself on this slow computer)
Our group decided to all do seperate Final Presentations, because we couldn't find one we all wanted to do. I did a presentation on my hat. I made a poster of all the pins I got in T-Bay and told the story behind each.
I completed my hat in T-Bay, too. Filled the entire rim with pins. I first finished it when we were camping at Quetico, and a girl from Alberton gave me a Drumheller, Alberta pin, but I managed to reorganize them so that I could fit more on. There's absolutely no more space, now. The finishing pin turned out to be a Chisasibi, Cree Nation pin which I got for volunteering at a cultural camping trip called Mamouidow.
When we left, we stopped over in Montreal for six hours before taking another flight from a smaller airline to Chisasibi. Me, Clay, Pierre and Rachel missed the flight and our punishment was a free day in Montreal!
...Well, our real punishment was missing seeing eleven bears, which Devon, Cole and Marie got to see by chance on their first day.
Em got a special leave to go to her sister's wedding, so we all arrived in pieces. When I first found out that it was only Devon, Cole and Marie to get on our third flight, I felt like this was like elimination rounds, and only one person would actually make it to Chisasibi.
Anyway, the people in Chisasibi are really friendly. Unfortunately, I have not gotten to experience culture shock or racism. In Montreal, everyone spoke English, and in Chisasibi, everyone speaks English, too.
Around here, Katimavik are like celebrities. I remember our PL turned on the radio, and we heard the last Katimavik crew introduce themselves between songs. Everyone knows who we are.
In Summerside, we did less work than in Thunder Bay, but got more acknowledgement. In Chisasibi, we do less work than we did in Summerside, but get more acknowledgement.
Actually, there's a lot of similarities between Summerside and Chisasibi. People in Chisasibi prefer Pepsi to Coke, and say dinner instead of lunch, and supper instead of dinner, just like in Summerside!
But on the flip side of all the positivity, we've been here for less than two weeks, and there's already been:
-one murder
-two rapings
-one plane crash
-one suicide
That's significant for a community of 3000 people. Every time something like this happens, it rocks the community, because everyone knows each other, at least on an extended level.
Okay, so in Quebec there is this brand of beer called Griffon. It comes as a red ale and a blonde ale. Obviously, I want to try it, since it has my namesake, but we're in a dry community. That means that we aren't allowed to consume alcohol! But it's only a dry community for Katimavik, not for the village! (Did you know I'm in a Cree Aboriginal village in Quebec?) And if we're caught, we don't get a verbal warning, or a CTI, or even a Final Warning. We get kicked out! And the village is small enough that everything comes back to this PL!
Here are some reviews of Griffon beer:
http://www.united-nations-of-beer.com/griffon-rousse.html
http://www.united-nations-of-beer.com/griffon-extra-pale-ale.html
If it were just a Final Warning, I'd think, "They're not going to kick me out in the last month of the program, and I've made five months with a clean slate". But an automatic kick out in the last month of the program?! You HAVE to respect that!
When we first came to the new house, we were assigned a task. We each chose a random balloon, popped it, and found a slip of paper inside. The slip of paper had an animal on it, and whatever animal you drew, you would have to ask around the community to learn more about. I drew rabbit. This means that, between rooster and rabbit, I got the smallest animal of everyone in my group both times, which is funny because I'm the largest person.
I haven't learned a ton, and I've been asking around. I've learned that rabbit in Cree is wopsh, that their fur is used for blankets and children's coats, that these are warm in winter but cool in the other seasons, and that you can make good dumplings out of them.
I think the new house has an impractical setup. It has two common areas, but they're not large enough for everyone to chill in at once. It like, forces the group to divide. It's the first house I've felt myself hanging out in my room. I think that's the mark of a bad Katima-house. Our Summerside one had only one common area, but it was large, so everyone hung out in the same area, promoting unity. Thunder Bay had two large common areas, so people could or could not divide. I think it's better motivation if people are forced to be together through the bad times, but it's still better than a house that forces the group to divide.
It does, however, have a dishwashing machine, and we're actually ALLOWED TO USE IT! Thunder Bay had a television and dishwasher which we weren't allowed to use.
I feel like the group has gone full cycle. At Summerside we all acted like we did at home. In Thunder Bay, it seemed like we all demonstrated new aspects of positive personal development which we learned through Katimavik. In Chisasibi, we all act like we did at the beginning of the program! In the end, we didn't learn anything! I told this to Cole, and we both burst out laughing. I'm glad he laughed, because if he cried, I just might have as well.
Final rotation battle for chairperson. This time, I matched off against Pierre. Like last time, it was real bloody. Both of us were betrayed by someone we were great friends with, and it came out a draw. I won on a coin flip. I felt bad. I wouldn't have competed against him, but I was nominated. I tried to give him the position, but he wouldn't take it. So I get chariperson, two terms in a row, and for the entire last half of the program.
We saw the Northern Lights. The local don't like them. They believe they're dangerous and they can kill you. There are ritual behaviours they act out in order to ward them off.
We went camping for a week with the Cree. Turned down bacon, ham, spare ribs, beans because they were bacon-baked, marshmallows because they have geletin, but ate tarmigan, caribou, goose, beaver and bear. I'm sorry, Katima-vegis!
There are seven people who turned vegetarian inside Katimavik, to my knowledge. In the two clusters I've been in, there were only a total of four original vegetarians. That's four to eleven!
The cluster vegetarians forgave me pretty quick, but the two in my group are kind of leary. I upset them pretty bad, but they're coming around...
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Feedback Workshop, Vegetarianism
Hi,
So semi-recently we did a feedback workshop, where everyone in the group gave everyone else feedback, stating three positives, and one or two constructive points. We practiced how to give and receive feedback, so that nobody takes offense. Despite their being more positive points than constructive, I feel that the positive points, and the phrasing practice, were safety measures to make a workshop focused on criticism survivable, since we all mainly knew our strong points, since they aren't the ones people are afraid of speaking their minds on. It was intense, and lasted five and a half hours. Since I'm so well-liked in the group, I thought I was going to be let off easy, and people would give me a bunch of cop-out criticisms. But I actually got hit pretty hard. Want to hear my negative qualities? Okay, here's what people told me:
I overanalyse things, I lack initiative, I have power issues, I'm self-centred, I embellish stories, and I get away with things other's can't because of my charm.
YOW! That's harsh! I'm actually glad to have such honesty, and I've been working on these points for a couple weeks. I asked around about my improvement, and got positive feedback.
Want to hear my positive points? Here's what I got:
I'm funny, smart, specifically meaning I'm good at combining ideas and perspectives, and I'm introspective. I'm energetic, nerdy, I put people at ease, I'm the most open to try new things, I'm a genuinely good person, I have a positive attitude, I always keep my cool, I'm a good story teller, I'm honest, and I'm super-original.
There was also a very special one that I'm not going to share here.
Hey, how can I both embellish stories and be honest? Huh.
Recently, me and Pierre decided to take on a vegetarian challenge, where me and him don't eat meat until at least the end of Katimavik. I've learned a lot about vegetarianism, specifically that you're always hungry, tired, and people treat you like crap. Telling our work supervisors was tough, and I feel like there's some parallel to how it would feel if I were revealing something.... else.
"There's something I need to tell you about myself, and I know how you feel about people who follow this lifestyle, and that you don't approve, but I want you to know that this is a decision I made, and I'm still the same person. I know you know Pierre. He's a good person, and I know you've wondered about what kind of relationship we have... There's no easy way to say this... The truth is that the two of us are... vegetarians!"
Working at a farm for three days was tough, too. I was billeting with Devon, the original vegetarian, and she had already broken the news that she was a vegetarian, and when it came time for me to say it, I made it halfway and couldn't finish my sentence beyond a lot of awkward sentence fragments, and when she tried to intervene and say it, she couldn't bring herself to either, and told me to eat meat twice before the word finally got out. It's so much more awkward with me for some reason. They hosted a barbecue, and there were all these burly, bearded pig farmers, and here I am, standing in front of the line, all 6'3", 300 pounds, with a big bushy beard and fitting in perfect, in front of me is barcued steak, chicken, salmon, and pork, and I walk right by it all to get to the salad in front of everyone.
I did manage to flip it around by talking about how my manly love meat was so strong that being a vegetarian was the ultimate test of strength, and my refusal to go back on my word even when I could not be caught was a matter of pride and honour. That got them all being like, "YEAH! I could probably be a vegetarian! I'm tough!" and I was in the clear after that.
Okay, I gotta go now. Gotta fry up some fish. I'm the House Manager, and even though I'm vegetarian, I still need to prepare meat meals.
So semi-recently we did a feedback workshop, where everyone in the group gave everyone else feedback, stating three positives, and one or two constructive points. We practiced how to give and receive feedback, so that nobody takes offense. Despite their being more positive points than constructive, I feel that the positive points, and the phrasing practice, were safety measures to make a workshop focused on criticism survivable, since we all mainly knew our strong points, since they aren't the ones people are afraid of speaking their minds on. It was intense, and lasted five and a half hours. Since I'm so well-liked in the group, I thought I was going to be let off easy, and people would give me a bunch of cop-out criticisms. But I actually got hit pretty hard. Want to hear my negative qualities? Okay, here's what people told me:
I overanalyse things, I lack initiative, I have power issues, I'm self-centred, I embellish stories, and I get away with things other's can't because of my charm.
YOW! That's harsh! I'm actually glad to have such honesty, and I've been working on these points for a couple weeks. I asked around about my improvement, and got positive feedback.
Want to hear my positive points? Here's what I got:
I'm funny, smart, specifically meaning I'm good at combining ideas and perspectives, and I'm introspective. I'm energetic, nerdy, I put people at ease, I'm the most open to try new things, I'm a genuinely good person, I have a positive attitude, I always keep my cool, I'm a good story teller, I'm honest, and I'm super-original.
There was also a very special one that I'm not going to share here.
Hey, how can I both embellish stories and be honest? Huh.
Recently, me and Pierre decided to take on a vegetarian challenge, where me and him don't eat meat until at least the end of Katimavik. I've learned a lot about vegetarianism, specifically that you're always hungry, tired, and people treat you like crap. Telling our work supervisors was tough, and I feel like there's some parallel to how it would feel if I were revealing something.... else.
"There's something I need to tell you about myself, and I know how you feel about people who follow this lifestyle, and that you don't approve, but I want you to know that this is a decision I made, and I'm still the same person. I know you know Pierre. He's a good person, and I know you've wondered about what kind of relationship we have... There's no easy way to say this... The truth is that the two of us are... vegetarians!"
Working at a farm for three days was tough, too. I was billeting with Devon, the original vegetarian, and she had already broken the news that she was a vegetarian, and when it came time for me to say it, I made it halfway and couldn't finish my sentence beyond a lot of awkward sentence fragments, and when she tried to intervene and say it, she couldn't bring herself to either, and told me to eat meat twice before the word finally got out. It's so much more awkward with me for some reason. They hosted a barbecue, and there were all these burly, bearded pig farmers, and here I am, standing in front of the line, all 6'3", 300 pounds, with a big bushy beard and fitting in perfect, in front of me is barcued steak, chicken, salmon, and pork, and I walk right by it all to get to the salad in front of everyone.
I did manage to flip it around by talking about how my manly love meat was so strong that being a vegetarian was the ultimate test of strength, and my refusal to go back on my word even when I could not be caught was a matter of pride and honour. That got them all being like, "YEAH! I could probably be a vegetarian! I'm tough!" and I was in the clear after that.
Okay, I gotta go now. Gotta fry up some fish. I'm the House Manager, and even though I'm vegetarian, I still need to prepare meat meals.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Thunder Bay
Hi everybody! I'm posting this from THUNDER BAYYYY!!!! It's been five weeks, or maybe a bit more since I last updated? NOT COOL! There's probably a lot of Summerside stuff I should update about, but I'll stick with Thunder Bay, since that's what I know is new right now, and I've got my other blog to update after this, and people to respond to.
Okay, so my new work placement is at the RFDA, which stands for the Regional Food Distribution Association. Basically, it's the food bank for food banks. Since I already had two years volunteering regularly at Guelph Food Bank, my resume actually looked pretty impressive to them, and when they got me they said I was "the perfect man for the job" and likened me working with them as a promotion, since they're bigger than any singular food bank.
I get all the free food I can eat and a full lunch HOUR (Community Connections only gave me a half-hour).
Last weekend, we had the first food drive in Ontario (food drive sounds like a common word, but it was at least the first something in Ontario), and I was the one that prepared every single box for it. Even if it was grunt work, it was nice to be a part of a pivotal task in a somewhat historic moment. I doubt people will remember "the box-maker of Ontario's first food drive" but whatever.
I'm the new chairperson at the Katima-house! I ousted my best friend and greatest teacher for the position over here. I challenged him at the last moment and was voted in 4-1. The chairperson is kind of like the most authoritative position a participant can have.
I spent all the money I was given for Katimavik... So now the other participants can know me as I am in my usual financial position. Oh well, I guess we all have to learn these kinds of life lessons.
And... my luggage was lost coming over the plane to Thunder Bay. I get $100 because it's been over 48 hours, and if it's over 91 days, they'll reimburse me for what was in the luggage.
It's kind of freeing not to be tied down to material possessions. Everyone thinks I'm stupid for saying that. I am upset, but like, I have six shirts, two sweaters, two pairs of pants, a bathing suit, six pairs of underwear, and six pairs of socks, and I haven't had to spend a penny out of pocket. I have to spend $55 by the end of this week even, because my $100 reimbursement is on a timeline. Point is, I'll have luggage to spare.
A Katimavik group from Yellow Knife came up. We had them assess mine and Pierre's beards, and they said mine was longer and coarser, but his was more full. I'll take that! It's better than losing in every category. I guess beard growing IS something you can make up for after you start to lose.
The Thunder Bay house is way larger than the Summerside one. It's got two living rooms and THREE BATHROOMS! That puts the person-to-bathroom ratio three-to-one. That's like back home! A lot better than Summerside's nine-to-one.
Summerside felt like it didn't have a lot of city life, and not a lot of natural life either. Thunder Bay has both. I barely miss the ocean even, because we have LAKE SUPERIOR, which has it's own tide!
And, unlike Summerside, the people around here are rude, just like people are supposed to be!
...That last bit was a joke. I'll miss the people of Summerside.
We didn't have any summer in Summerside. I wonder if we'll have any thunder storms in Thunder Bay.
Okay, so my new work placement is at the RFDA, which stands for the Regional Food Distribution Association. Basically, it's the food bank for food banks. Since I already had two years volunteering regularly at Guelph Food Bank, my resume actually looked pretty impressive to them, and when they got me they said I was "the perfect man for the job" and likened me working with them as a promotion, since they're bigger than any singular food bank.
I get all the free food I can eat and a full lunch HOUR (Community Connections only gave me a half-hour).
Last weekend, we had the first food drive in Ontario (food drive sounds like a common word, but it was at least the first something in Ontario), and I was the one that prepared every single box for it. Even if it was grunt work, it was nice to be a part of a pivotal task in a somewhat historic moment. I doubt people will remember "the box-maker of Ontario's first food drive" but whatever.
I'm the new chairperson at the Katima-house! I ousted my best friend and greatest teacher for the position over here. I challenged him at the last moment and was voted in 4-1. The chairperson is kind of like the most authoritative position a participant can have.
I spent all the money I was given for Katimavik... So now the other participants can know me as I am in my usual financial position. Oh well, I guess we all have to learn these kinds of life lessons.
And... my luggage was lost coming over the plane to Thunder Bay. I get $100 because it's been over 48 hours, and if it's over 91 days, they'll reimburse me for what was in the luggage.
It's kind of freeing not to be tied down to material possessions. Everyone thinks I'm stupid for saying that. I am upset, but like, I have six shirts, two sweaters, two pairs of pants, a bathing suit, six pairs of underwear, and six pairs of socks, and I haven't had to spend a penny out of pocket. I have to spend $55 by the end of this week even, because my $100 reimbursement is on a timeline. Point is, I'll have luggage to spare.
A Katimavik group from Yellow Knife came up. We had them assess mine and Pierre's beards, and they said mine was longer and coarser, but his was more full. I'll take that! It's better than losing in every category. I guess beard growing IS something you can make up for after you start to lose.
The Thunder Bay house is way larger than the Summerside one. It's got two living rooms and THREE BATHROOMS! That puts the person-to-bathroom ratio three-to-one. That's like back home! A lot better than Summerside's nine-to-one.
Summerside felt like it didn't have a lot of city life, and not a lot of natural life either. Thunder Bay has both. I barely miss the ocean even, because we have LAKE SUPERIOR, which has it's own tide!
And, unlike Summerside, the people around here are rude, just like people are supposed to be!
...That last bit was a joke. I'll miss the people of Summerside.
We didn't have any summer in Summerside. I wonder if we'll have any thunder storms in Thunder Bay.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Billeting, Program Reservations, Body Language
So far, these are the differences I perceive between Summerside and Guelph:
-They call lunch dinner and dinner supper
-They say "bet" instead of "beat" and "youse" instead of "you"
-They prefer Pepsi to Coke
-There are a shockingly high number of Toronto Maple Leafs fans
Anyway, I'm back from billeting. The house was tiny. The photographer of our group took pictures of me standing in the bathroom, one with my head bent and my shoulders touching the ceiling, one with the showerhead coming up to my chest, and one in my bedroom, with my feet sticking off the mattress. It's an old house, built for when people were smaller. It was still a huge improvement from the Katima-house. I was allowed to take a shower longer than ten minutes (that's our shower time cap) and my mattress was more comfortable than the stiff, squeeky thing Katimavik provided me.
It had no Internet, though, which is why I couldn't update the blogs. The house was just down the street from Katima-house, so the walk to work was barely any different, and I could see Pierre's billet house from my billet house's window. That, coupled with the fact that Rachel's billet family is close-knit with mine had me, Pierre and Rachel hanging out every day. The concept of experiencing a different part of Summerside, and getting away from the group, was totally lost on me.
It was pretty neat to know that we would get together voluntarily, and not out of obligation, though, and it just being the three of us really changed group dynamic, which was an interesting experience.
I feel like my host family really wasn't that into being a billet. They weren't rude but we were kind of quiet with each other. I did get a good taste of their extended family while I was there, though. I met their children, neices, sisters, in-laws, grandchildren, and step-children. What was interesting was that they all shared a kind of unity and appreciation for each other that I've only ever really seen in one other extended family dynamic in my life. I mean, I know a lot of family members who get along with each other, but for such an extensive family to ALL get along genuinely... That's rare.
Anyway, it was sort of stated that Rachel's billet was expected to do some things with me, and they did. Her host sister even nicknamed me "Gryph-Gryph" which was a plus, I guess.
We volunteered at the Women's Expo, us three. There was also someone else from our group, another from our group visited, and a number of extended Katimavik participants from the PEI cluster were there.
I sold raffle tickets, and helped take down everything afterward. In total, I sold 39 tickets and worked nine hours straight. They bought me pizza and Sprite afterward. It was cool to know that, not only would my Katima-friends come together voluntarily, but that we'd voluntarily volunteer. There was no program prerequisite saying we had to do this.
While I was there, I got a sparkly purple butterfly painted on my forehead. Some Katimavik girls from another group offered me a free temporary tattoo. All the options, of course, were extremely femenine. I could have gotten a fairy posing seductively and retained my manliness, but I felt that that would be kind of missing the point. I asked a little girl what she thought I should get, and she said the purple butterfly. I asked where I should put it, and she said my forehead. They asked if I wanted sparkles and she said I did.
I don't know how to upload pictures to Blogger on our house computer, but here's a link to my Facebook page. Even if you don't have Facebook, you'll still see my profile picture which, as of this posting, is me with my sparkly purple butterfly and my beard two weeks into the competition: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=617280867
I realized that my hat looks vulgar and touristy. Nobody in Summerside would whear a Summerside pin, and the Katimavik slogan is "Get A Life"! Oh well, I'll still wear it.
I took my vitamin supplements every day during billetting. Back at home, I was taking B12 and D supplements, and if I fell off my pattern, then got back on it, the difference would be immense. I haven't been doing the supplements hardly at all since getting in Katimavik, but getting back on hardly made a difference. Maybe it's because my dietary patterns have changed so much.
I regret only doing the six month program. If you can do six months and not drop out, you can do nine, I think, and if you're not going to drop out, you want those extra three months. And because it's not Katimavik that decides the activities, but rather the group, that means the differences between the six-month program's contents don't really show. Also, I think we were kind of guinea pigs when it comes to working out the six-month programs. This is the first time they've tried these, and they're making all their mistakes with us. Next time around, they're doing it so that you spend two places for three months instead of going to one place for three months, one for two, and one for one. They're also getting rid of the Community Involvement Project. I approve of both these decisions.
But it's not like I could have necessarily gotten into the six-month program. By the time I managed to submit my application, the nine-month was already full. Nine-month program for next year is already full.
Everyone I spoke to in the cluster was under the same impression as me, that we'd spend two months at each location. Also, we were supposed to get one Urban, one Rural, and one French community, but my group got two places inbetween Rural and Urban, and our French community speaks Cree primarily, and it's second language is English. Also, the gender and geographic balancing they said they made their selections by was not honoured in my cluster at all.
There's actually a rumour going around that the reason for this is because PEI got all the late applicants, so it was kind of a last-come-last-serve thing.
I've got a lot of strange body mannerisms that I never knew I had, and that nobody ever told me about before I got into this program. I shake my head every time I sit down, I bob my head back and forth randomly, I raise my eyebrows before I'm about to say anything interesting, I swing my hips and tap my right foot while I'm trying to stand still, and I cradle my left arm with my right hand behind my back while I'm walking. Could this be a.... new development?
I'm going to Charlottetown for my 48 hours off with some people from my group and we're getting together with some cluster members while we're over, so don't try to contact me over the weekend.
-They call lunch dinner and dinner supper
-They say "bet" instead of "beat" and "youse" instead of "you"
-They prefer Pepsi to Coke
-There are a shockingly high number of Toronto Maple Leafs fans
Anyway, I'm back from billeting. The house was tiny. The photographer of our group took pictures of me standing in the bathroom, one with my head bent and my shoulders touching the ceiling, one with the showerhead coming up to my chest, and one in my bedroom, with my feet sticking off the mattress. It's an old house, built for when people were smaller. It was still a huge improvement from the Katima-house. I was allowed to take a shower longer than ten minutes (that's our shower time cap) and my mattress was more comfortable than the stiff, squeeky thing Katimavik provided me.
It had no Internet, though, which is why I couldn't update the blogs. The house was just down the street from Katima-house, so the walk to work was barely any different, and I could see Pierre's billet house from my billet house's window. That, coupled with the fact that Rachel's billet family is close-knit with mine had me, Pierre and Rachel hanging out every day. The concept of experiencing a different part of Summerside, and getting away from the group, was totally lost on me.
It was pretty neat to know that we would get together voluntarily, and not out of obligation, though, and it just being the three of us really changed group dynamic, which was an interesting experience.
I feel like my host family really wasn't that into being a billet. They weren't rude but we were kind of quiet with each other. I did get a good taste of their extended family while I was there, though. I met their children, neices, sisters, in-laws, grandchildren, and step-children. What was interesting was that they all shared a kind of unity and appreciation for each other that I've only ever really seen in one other extended family dynamic in my life. I mean, I know a lot of family members who get along with each other, but for such an extensive family to ALL get along genuinely... That's rare.
Anyway, it was sort of stated that Rachel's billet was expected to do some things with me, and they did. Her host sister even nicknamed me "Gryph-Gryph" which was a plus, I guess.
We volunteered at the Women's Expo, us three. There was also someone else from our group, another from our group visited, and a number of extended Katimavik participants from the PEI cluster were there.
I sold raffle tickets, and helped take down everything afterward. In total, I sold 39 tickets and worked nine hours straight. They bought me pizza and Sprite afterward. It was cool to know that, not only would my Katima-friends come together voluntarily, but that we'd voluntarily volunteer. There was no program prerequisite saying we had to do this.
While I was there, I got a sparkly purple butterfly painted on my forehead. Some Katimavik girls from another group offered me a free temporary tattoo. All the options, of course, were extremely femenine. I could have gotten a fairy posing seductively and retained my manliness, but I felt that that would be kind of missing the point. I asked a little girl what she thought I should get, and she said the purple butterfly. I asked where I should put it, and she said my forehead. They asked if I wanted sparkles and she said I did.
I don't know how to upload pictures to Blogger on our house computer, but here's a link to my Facebook page. Even if you don't have Facebook, you'll still see my profile picture which, as of this posting, is me with my sparkly purple butterfly and my beard two weeks into the competition: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=617280867
I realized that my hat looks vulgar and touristy. Nobody in Summerside would whear a Summerside pin, and the Katimavik slogan is "Get A Life"! Oh well, I'll still wear it.
I took my vitamin supplements every day during billetting. Back at home, I was taking B12 and D supplements, and if I fell off my pattern, then got back on it, the difference would be immense. I haven't been doing the supplements hardly at all since getting in Katimavik, but getting back on hardly made a difference. Maybe it's because my dietary patterns have changed so much.
I regret only doing the six month program. If you can do six months and not drop out, you can do nine, I think, and if you're not going to drop out, you want those extra three months. And because it's not Katimavik that decides the activities, but rather the group, that means the differences between the six-month program's contents don't really show. Also, I think we were kind of guinea pigs when it comes to working out the six-month programs. This is the first time they've tried these, and they're making all their mistakes with us. Next time around, they're doing it so that you spend two places for three months instead of going to one place for three months, one for two, and one for one. They're also getting rid of the Community Involvement Project. I approve of both these decisions.
But it's not like I could have necessarily gotten into the six-month program. By the time I managed to submit my application, the nine-month was already full. Nine-month program for next year is already full.
Everyone I spoke to in the cluster was under the same impression as me, that we'd spend two months at each location. Also, we were supposed to get one Urban, one Rural, and one French community, but my group got two places inbetween Rural and Urban, and our French community speaks Cree primarily, and it's second language is English. Also, the gender and geographic balancing they said they made their selections by was not honoured in my cluster at all.
There's actually a rumour going around that the reason for this is because PEI got all the late applicants, so it was kind of a last-come-last-serve thing.
I've got a lot of strange body mannerisms that I never knew I had, and that nobody ever told me about before I got into this program. I shake my head every time I sit down, I bob my head back and forth randomly, I raise my eyebrows before I'm about to say anything interesting, I swing my hips and tap my right foot while I'm trying to stand still, and I cradle my left arm with my right hand behind my back while I'm walking. Could this be a.... new development?
I'm going to Charlottetown for my 48 hours off with some people from my group and we're getting together with some cluster members while we're over, so don't try to contact me over the weekend.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Billeting, Hat, Beard
Hi gang,
Billeting starts next week, which means that we'll be living with a local family for a week. We'll all be living with different families. I'm going to be with the aunt of a former participant who is associated with our group. First I was going to be living with another participants' boss at the Salvation Army, but someone else in our group's family backed out, and he got switched to my family, which meant that I got put with a local farmer, but another Katimavik group in PEI didn't have enough families around where they lived, so they stuck a deal with my PL to get him put with my farmer, so I got switched to this former participants' aunt. I'm a little worried that, because she only entered at the last minute, and someone associated with the group has blood connections with her, that she just got begged into it, and doesn't really want to do it. At least I'm the closest to the house.
Otherwise, I'll describe my hat. It's a black tuque. For my non-Canadian readers, that's like... a knitted winter hat. Here's the Wikipedia on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuque
A French Canadian guy over here taught me the right way to wear a tuque. With the rim rolled up and pushed back on your head so a ruff of hair shows and it doesn't keep your head warm. I'm getting pins and putting them on the rolled up rim of the hat. So far, I've got a Katimavik pin and a Summerside pin.
We got Katimavik T-shirts now. I like wearing them because I feel like a man in uniform.
The beard competition is coming along disappointingly. It's been just over a week and I feel like I should have more. Oh well, the beard-growing instructions I read said that it usually takes at least four weeks to grow a beard. If I can do it in half that time, I'll still feel good about my testosterone levels. As far as my competition goes, some people in the house say it's really close, but that he might be a little bit in the lead, and some people say that it's too close to call. I call that me losing. I don't know if a competition like this is something you can make up for once you start losing. There are a few tricks. Like sleeping for large periods at a time, drinking lots of caffein, and exfoliating your skin early in the competition. I think he did a better job of exfoliating his skin near the beginning. Yeah, that must be it...
I'm finally not sick anymore! YAHOOOO!!!!
Billeting starts next week, which means that we'll be living with a local family for a week. We'll all be living with different families. I'm going to be with the aunt of a former participant who is associated with our group. First I was going to be living with another participants' boss at the Salvation Army, but someone else in our group's family backed out, and he got switched to my family, which meant that I got put with a local farmer, but another Katimavik group in PEI didn't have enough families around where they lived, so they stuck a deal with my PL to get him put with my farmer, so I got switched to this former participants' aunt. I'm a little worried that, because she only entered at the last minute, and someone associated with the group has blood connections with her, that she just got begged into it, and doesn't really want to do it. At least I'm the closest to the house.
Otherwise, I'll describe my hat. It's a black tuque. For my non-Canadian readers, that's like... a knitted winter hat. Here's the Wikipedia on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuque
A French Canadian guy over here taught me the right way to wear a tuque. With the rim rolled up and pushed back on your head so a ruff of hair shows and it doesn't keep your head warm. I'm getting pins and putting them on the rolled up rim of the hat. So far, I've got a Katimavik pin and a Summerside pin.
We got Katimavik T-shirts now. I like wearing them because I feel like a man in uniform.
The beard competition is coming along disappointingly. It's been just over a week and I feel like I should have more. Oh well, the beard-growing instructions I read said that it usually takes at least four weeks to grow a beard. If I can do it in half that time, I'll still feel good about my testosterone levels. As far as my competition goes, some people in the house say it's really close, but that he might be a little bit in the lead, and some people say that it's too close to call. I call that me losing. I don't know if a competition like this is something you can make up for once you start losing. There are a few tricks. Like sleeping for large periods at a time, drinking lots of caffein, and exfoliating your skin early in the competition. I think he did a better job of exfoliating his skin near the beginning. Yeah, that must be it...
I'm finally not sick anymore! YAHOOOO!!!!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
House Management Complete, Katima-lympics, Group Blog
I managed it. I managed to provide for a family of nine, eight of whom aged 18-20, for a week. Okay, I didn't do it alone, and my partner wasn't a slouch, either. But still!
Today was the Katima-lympics, which included three of the four cluster groups. We got smashed, just like we got smashed at every team-based competition back at the orientation. The other two teams tied for first, and our team... didn't. Oh, well. Look how much better we got at floor hockey, after only one game! Our team may start off bad, but we have unlimited potential!
We did win a caber tossing-like competition, and the tug of war. The tug of war was cool, because everyone attributed the win to me. People from other teams were high fiving me, clapping me on the back, hugging me, saying I was amazing, a beast, a legendary creature, telling stories about how they'd be pulling as hard as they could, I'd look them in the eye, smile, pull, and they'd go flying. I got a picture taken, where I got to hold the "rope" (a sheet) and my partners are pointing at me.
During the Easter egg hunt, I managed to fall in some mud, and in a river (I got some eggs out of it, though). I was the roughest-looking guy by the end of the day.
We did another Easter egg hunt through Summerside, just with our team. In this one, there were fewer eggs, and each one included a hint to find the next. Our group was split into two teams, and my team lost.
I took part in a campaign for Katimavik at the farmer's market. That was kind of boring.
Looks like there IS going to be a blog for our group. I didn't think it got very good reception when I first brought it up, and since it wasn't really my original idea, I kind of dropped it. But there's been some renewed interest in it, and no objections. However, nobody's got any suggestions or offered help, either, so I'll basically be in charge of it. I plan to keep updating this blog, too.
I'm going to format it like a weekly newsletter. I need a name for it, though, and I can't think of anything. Our group number is 15133. Not particularly catchy. There was an idea that it could be translated into it's letter equivalent. Isiee. Also that it could be based on a newspaper name, and that whatever is chosen could have "Katima-" put in front of it. Also that something with "Summerside" could be implemented, since it's how the groups are defined right now and it will be the station we spend the most time in. We tried cramming our names together, but that's a minimum eight-syllable word... I'm still working on this.
I finally started taking medicine for my cough. Buckley's cough syrup. I think this is the first time I've ever used it. It's known for tasting incredibly bad, but I find it barely tastes like anything. Kind of disappointing.
I don't think we're getting any replacements. You can get replacements up to five weeks into the program, and we're closing the fifth right now. Arlington and Wellington both got one replacement, and they both lost two members. I think the score is, we've all lost two members, and two groups have gotten one replacement apiece.
Today was the Katima-lympics, which included three of the four cluster groups. We got smashed, just like we got smashed at every team-based competition back at the orientation. The other two teams tied for first, and our team... didn't. Oh, well. Look how much better we got at floor hockey, after only one game! Our team may start off bad, but we have unlimited potential!
We did win a caber tossing-like competition, and the tug of war. The tug of war was cool, because everyone attributed the win to me. People from other teams were high fiving me, clapping me on the back, hugging me, saying I was amazing, a beast, a legendary creature, telling stories about how they'd be pulling as hard as they could, I'd look them in the eye, smile, pull, and they'd go flying. I got a picture taken, where I got to hold the "rope" (a sheet) and my partners are pointing at me.
During the Easter egg hunt, I managed to fall in some mud, and in a river (I got some eggs out of it, though). I was the roughest-looking guy by the end of the day.
We did another Easter egg hunt through Summerside, just with our team. In this one, there were fewer eggs, and each one included a hint to find the next. Our group was split into two teams, and my team lost.
I took part in a campaign for Katimavik at the farmer's market. That was kind of boring.
Looks like there IS going to be a blog for our group. I didn't think it got very good reception when I first brought it up, and since it wasn't really my original idea, I kind of dropped it. But there's been some renewed interest in it, and no objections. However, nobody's got any suggestions or offered help, either, so I'll basically be in charge of it. I plan to keep updating this blog, too.
I'm going to format it like a weekly newsletter. I need a name for it, though, and I can't think of anything. Our group number is 15133. Not particularly catchy. There was an idea that it could be translated into it's letter equivalent. Isiee. Also that it could be based on a newspaper name, and that whatever is chosen could have "Katima-" put in front of it. Also that something with "Summerside" could be implemented, since it's how the groups are defined right now and it will be the station we spend the most time in. We tried cramming our names together, but that's a minimum eight-syllable word... I'm still working on this.
I finally started taking medicine for my cough. Buckley's cough syrup. I think this is the first time I've ever used it. It's known for tasting incredibly bad, but I find it barely tastes like anything. Kind of disappointing.
I don't think we're getting any replacements. You can get replacements up to five weeks into the program, and we're closing the fifth right now. Arlington and Wellington both got one replacement, and they both lost two members. I think the score is, we've all lost two members, and two groups have gotten one replacement apiece.
Monday, March 29, 2010
House Manager
I'm house manager this week. That means I, along with another person in the group, do all the cooking, cleaning and shopping for the house, and I don't go to my regular work placement. Two people act as house manager each week, and this is my first time.
I'm allowed to sleep in until 10:00, but I didn't manage it. I haven't been able to sleep in around here at all, come to think of it, even when there's free time. I'm a little disappointed in myself.
Around here they call lunch dinner and dinner supper, so I'm going to talk like that. Get used to it.
Supper is the most prominent meal that we're responsible for. Our meal plan is as follows:
Monday: chicken curry
Tuesday: pasta
Wednesday: fish & chips
Thursday: roast
Friday: tacos
Saturday: turkey
Sunday: leftovers (turkey a la king made from turkey dinner leftovers)
We're trying not to do anything that the previous groups have done, just as the other groups have tried, but that's a task that gets successively harder as the options get taken. Pasta was kind of a fallback. Pasta, soup and chili are easy to prepare, easy to make vegetarian, and nobody dislikes them, so several people have already fallen back on those. Other people still have ideas, but they're hoarding them for themselves, for when they become house manager.
We're also responsible for dinner (that's lunch, remember) and two breakfasts. Since only two people come home for dinner, that's not so difficult. I offered to pack people's dinners so they could bring them to work, but of the four remaining people, two of them get fed by their work placement, and there's always enough leftovers for the last two, so nobody requested anything of me. Community Connections does NOT feed me, by the way.
So far today, I've been making homemade bread, looking up recipes, and writing up a shopping list. I should be cleaning right now.
We did a cooking workshop yesterday. I got to rip the heads off some squids, pull out their backbones and stomachs, and chop them up.
I should get back to work. I'm fatigued right now, in the way that you're more tired after a good night's sleep when you've been deprived for a long time.
I'm allowed to sleep in until 10:00, but I didn't manage it. I haven't been able to sleep in around here at all, come to think of it, even when there's free time. I'm a little disappointed in myself.
Around here they call lunch dinner and dinner supper, so I'm going to talk like that. Get used to it.
Supper is the most prominent meal that we're responsible for. Our meal plan is as follows:
Monday: chicken curry
Tuesday: pasta
Wednesday: fish & chips
Thursday: roast
Friday: tacos
Saturday: turkey
Sunday: leftovers (turkey a la king made from turkey dinner leftovers)
We're trying not to do anything that the previous groups have done, just as the other groups have tried, but that's a task that gets successively harder as the options get taken. Pasta was kind of a fallback. Pasta, soup and chili are easy to prepare, easy to make vegetarian, and nobody dislikes them, so several people have already fallen back on those. Other people still have ideas, but they're hoarding them for themselves, for when they become house manager.
We're also responsible for dinner (that's lunch, remember) and two breakfasts. Since only two people come home for dinner, that's not so difficult. I offered to pack people's dinners so they could bring them to work, but of the four remaining people, two of them get fed by their work placement, and there's always enough leftovers for the last two, so nobody requested anything of me. Community Connections does NOT feed me, by the way.
So far today, I've been making homemade bread, looking up recipes, and writing up a shopping list. I should be cleaning right now.
We did a cooking workshop yesterday. I got to rip the heads off some squids, pull out their backbones and stomachs, and chop them up.
I should get back to work. I'm fatigued right now, in the way that you're more tired after a good night's sleep when you've been deprived for a long time.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Floor Hockey, Public Speaking, Books, Illness
We matched off against the Special Olympics in floor hockey again, and this time it was called a tie game, 12-12. Some of us really took it seriously. After they destroyed us so thoroughly last time, we decided to pull out all the stops. We came up with positions and strategies, three of our members had gotten practice through their work placements (yeah, I know, that doesn't sound like work...), and all of us were more unified as a team. There was some controversie amongst the group... people saying that we had actually won, but to be honest, if we were going to win, I didn't want it to happen so soon... We play against them every other week, so we're still going to have like, four games against them. Also, we had a foreign Project Leader on our team, one of our members didn't make it, and one of their best players was goalie for our team. I'd rather lose with my team than win with strangers...
The other day we did a public speaking workshop with our sister group, Wellington. Nobody had to participate, but I did. They'd ask you a question and you were supposed to improvise a speach, coming as near to two minutes as possible. I think I did generally well, but I looked at the ceiling and had my arms crossed for the first three quarters of my speach before I remembered I wasn't supposed to do that. I also had a moment with a large pause. However, my finishing time was 1 minute and 59.98 seconds. So close!!! If only it had been 1.59.99!!!
I finished The World According to Garp. The other books I brought were Frankenstein, The Coral Island, The Midwich Cuckoos, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Old Yeller, Ten Little Indians, and Heart of Darkness. I held a vote amongst the group and now I'm reading Frankenstein. I didn't have to bring any books. There's hundreds and hundreds of books in the basement of this house, and there's a library nearby.
I used to do reviews of everything I read, played or watched. I've got two movies and a book I could do that for now, but I haven't been because, if I'm being honest, moreso than lack of access, the real reason I haven't been on the computer that much is because I feel some kind of duty as a member of Katimavik to socialize with my group members as much as possible. So even if there's nothing to do and nothing to say, I'll sit in silence with them longer than I'll spend on the computer.
I wish I'd brought my tarot cards. I brought a lot of conversation starters, but decided against a few because I was concerned about religious and cultural sensitivites. Nobody else worried about that. Anyway, there was some demand for them last night, since there's so much spare time. I'd forgotten that I'd left them behind. If my family's reading this, that could be something they could send in a care package!
I've been sick ever since like, the first day of my work placement. I infected the whole house, but I think I got it the worst, and I think everyone except me is recovering. Still haven't missed a day of work, though!
I really want to know what I'm allowed to say on here... There's a number of things I kind of choke back, just because I'm not absolutely sure that it's cool, but maybe I could get more relaxed...
The other day we did a public speaking workshop with our sister group, Wellington. Nobody had to participate, but I did. They'd ask you a question and you were supposed to improvise a speach, coming as near to two minutes as possible. I think I did generally well, but I looked at the ceiling and had my arms crossed for the first three quarters of my speach before I remembered I wasn't supposed to do that. I also had a moment with a large pause. However, my finishing time was 1 minute and 59.98 seconds. So close!!! If only it had been 1.59.99!!!
I finished The World According to Garp. The other books I brought were Frankenstein, The Coral Island, The Midwich Cuckoos, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Old Yeller, Ten Little Indians, and Heart of Darkness. I held a vote amongst the group and now I'm reading Frankenstein. I didn't have to bring any books. There's hundreds and hundreds of books in the basement of this house, and there's a library nearby.
I used to do reviews of everything I read, played or watched. I've got two movies and a book I could do that for now, but I haven't been because, if I'm being honest, moreso than lack of access, the real reason I haven't been on the computer that much is because I feel some kind of duty as a member of Katimavik to socialize with my group members as much as possible. So even if there's nothing to do and nothing to say, I'll sit in silence with them longer than I'll spend on the computer.
I wish I'd brought my tarot cards. I brought a lot of conversation starters, but decided against a few because I was concerned about religious and cultural sensitivites. Nobody else worried about that. Anyway, there was some demand for them last night, since there's so much spare time. I'd forgotten that I'd left them behind. If my family's reading this, that could be something they could send in a care package!
I've been sick ever since like, the first day of my work placement. I infected the whole house, but I think I got it the worst, and I think everyone except me is recovering. Still haven't missed a day of work, though!
I really want to know what I'm allowed to say on here... There's a number of things I kind of choke back, just because I'm not absolutely sure that it's cool, but maybe I could get more relaxed...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Member Losses, Work Evaluation, General Events
Well, we lost two members today. So far, among the cluster, we've lost two, Wellington's lost two, and Charlottetown's lost one. I don't think Arlington's lost anyone. We've gone from 40 to 35.
I've survived the three week probation period. We all already got one strike against us, though. We were issued our verbal warning for not being quiet during quiet hours.
I guess I never told you guys who I'm living with. I've got a strict privacy policy, but name and homeland is a standard bit of information we've all gotten used to giving, and the group's been published on Facebook enough that I'm sure it's cool. I'll just include the remaining members.
Clayton: British Columbia
Rachel: Manitoba
Em: Toronto, Ontario
Pierre-Luc: Montreal, Quebec
Marie: Montreal, Quebec
Cole: London, Ontario
Devon: British Columbia
Yeah, the reason I didn't include cities for everyone is because I only remember the Ontario people's, and the Quebec people because all four of them were from Montreal.
I did a self-evaluation at work today. This was the first of three evaluations I'll have done over the course of my placement there. My boss reviewed my evaluation and did her own. Where she made changes, they were only positive. I was marked on a scale of five in seven categories. I gave myself four threes and three fours. She gave me four fives, one four, and two threes.
Otherwise, some general stuff I've done recently is... prepare and serve at a fashion show at the Salvation Army, visit an art gallery, visit an Acadian museum, attend a Haiti Relief presentation at a local high school, and watch some native Quebec films at a local French high school.
Everywhere I go, people still ask me about my life, and what I'm doing with it. I thought I could avoid that scrutiny, at least while I was doing Katimavik. Especially in work placements supporting Katimavik, and especially from Katimavik billet families. At the orientation, one of the Project Coordinator's said that we should always mention we're from Katimavik, because people would give us stuff half-off and things like that, because the organization is so well-respected around here. Well, it's true that almost everyone knows what Katimavik is, but the general attitude toward it seems to be less respectful than I was hoping for.
Oh, and I lost my Katimavik pin.
I've survived the three week probation period. We all already got one strike against us, though. We were issued our verbal warning for not being quiet during quiet hours.
I guess I never told you guys who I'm living with. I've got a strict privacy policy, but name and homeland is a standard bit of information we've all gotten used to giving, and the group's been published on Facebook enough that I'm sure it's cool. I'll just include the remaining members.
Clayton: British Columbia
Rachel: Manitoba
Em: Toronto, Ontario
Pierre-Luc: Montreal, Quebec
Marie: Montreal, Quebec
Cole: London, Ontario
Devon: British Columbia
Yeah, the reason I didn't include cities for everyone is because I only remember the Ontario people's, and the Quebec people because all four of them were from Montreal.
I did a self-evaluation at work today. This was the first of three evaluations I'll have done over the course of my placement there. My boss reviewed my evaluation and did her own. Where she made changes, they were only positive. I was marked on a scale of five in seven categories. I gave myself four threes and three fours. She gave me four fives, one four, and two threes.
Otherwise, some general stuff I've done recently is... prepare and serve at a fashion show at the Salvation Army, visit an art gallery, visit an Acadian museum, attend a Haiti Relief presentation at a local high school, and watch some native Quebec films at a local French high school.
Everywhere I go, people still ask me about my life, and what I'm doing with it. I thought I could avoid that scrutiny, at least while I was doing Katimavik. Especially in work placements supporting Katimavik, and especially from Katimavik billet families. At the orientation, one of the Project Coordinator's said that we should always mention we're from Katimavik, because people would give us stuff half-off and things like that, because the organization is so well-respected around here. Well, it's true that almost everyone knows what Katimavik is, but the general attitude toward it seems to be less respectful than I was hoping for.
Oh, and I lost my Katimavik pin.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Time Perception, Blog, Losing Members, Beard Competition
I forgot to say that the reason I named this blog "Katima-Gryphon" is because of Katimavik's habit of stapling "Katima-" on to the beginning of everything. You've got your Katima-house, Katima-van, Katima-life, Katima-style etc. So I did it, too.
The time is passing really fast here. On my other blog, I spoke about time perception, and how it's memory-based. "Eventlessness has no posts to drape duration on. From nothing to nothing is no time at all" (John Steinbeck, East of Eden). You've also got sayings like "Time flies when you're having a good time", but memory is still based on events. Tedium may feel like a long time in the present, but looking back on it, it will still be only one event, and if there's nothing really to go over, in the future, it will feel like a short time.
But here, once you get into the swing of things, find out how to do all your chores and get into the swing of your work placement, you're not really experiencing new things anymore. On the other hand, there's always so much to do, you're never bored. Without standout points for memory, and without the singular event of tedium which prolongs the present, it feels like time is moving very fast.
I don't think I'll be getting my own official blog. I brought it up with my Project Leader, and she said that there's a lot of harsh rules and regulations, and difficulties in getting one set-up if you want to attach yourself to the official Katimavik website. She offered that we could start a group blog, separate from the website. I did bring that up during a KCC, but if I'm being honest, most of the reason was because I wanted the prestige of thinking myself a public figure, published on the Katimavik website. This could still be pretty cool, though. I'd be "spearheading" it, so it would be nice to feel I was contributing to the team, and it would be a good way of collecting pictures for harvest.
We're losing a member of our group, and it looks like we may be losing a second. I asked if this is usual and it turns out that yes, it is. 50% of Katimavik participants drop out before the end of the program. We may be getting replacements, but we may not. I'm not going to drop out!
On May 3rd, I'm entering a beard-growing competition. I'll try to make pics available. The reason it's at that date is because nobody wants to be growing a beard too near the beginning of a job-placement, or near enough to the end that we'd be starting with a partially-grown beard.
The time is passing really fast here. On my other blog, I spoke about time perception, and how it's memory-based. "Eventlessness has no posts to drape duration on. From nothing to nothing is no time at all" (John Steinbeck, East of Eden). You've also got sayings like "Time flies when you're having a good time", but memory is still based on events. Tedium may feel like a long time in the present, but looking back on it, it will still be only one event, and if there's nothing really to go over, in the future, it will feel like a short time.
But here, once you get into the swing of things, find out how to do all your chores and get into the swing of your work placement, you're not really experiencing new things anymore. On the other hand, there's always so much to do, you're never bored. Without standout points for memory, and without the singular event of tedium which prolongs the present, it feels like time is moving very fast.
I don't think I'll be getting my own official blog. I brought it up with my Project Leader, and she said that there's a lot of harsh rules and regulations, and difficulties in getting one set-up if you want to attach yourself to the official Katimavik website. She offered that we could start a group blog, separate from the website. I did bring that up during a KCC, but if I'm being honest, most of the reason was because I wanted the prestige of thinking myself a public figure, published on the Katimavik website. This could still be pretty cool, though. I'd be "spearheading" it, so it would be nice to feel I was contributing to the team, and it would be a good way of collecting pictures for harvest.
We're losing a member of our group, and it looks like we may be losing a second. I asked if this is usual and it turns out that yes, it is. 50% of Katimavik participants drop out before the end of the program. We may be getting replacements, but we may not. I'm not going to drop out!
On May 3rd, I'm entering a beard-growing competition. I'll try to make pics available. The reason it's at that date is because nobody wants to be growing a beard too near the beginning of a job-placement, or near enough to the end that we'd be starting with a partially-grown beard.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Work, Mostly
I forgot to mention in my last update that we make most things from scratch. That means things like bread, mayonnaise, ketchup etc. all have to be home-made. We're also only allowed to have four meals a week that contain meat.
I really, really need a camera. I already missed out on taking pictures of the Confederation Bridge and Sir John A. MacDonald's pocketwatch.
I'm enjoying my work, but it's difficult because a lot of it is supervising. That means that you need to correct people if they do the wrong thing, and when you're new, you know less about what's right and wrong than the people you're correcting. And because everyone there has such varied psychologies, everyone needs to be treated as an individual. That means there's no set method on how you're supposed to approach a troubling situation. It's not like the place is relying on me... It had enough staff, all of whom know what they're doing to keep itself afloat before I came along, and they're not going to put me in a situation where people rely on me to understand what I'm doing. But that also means that I feel like I'm kind of sitting by the sidelines, sometimes. I am getting to know them better, and my role has been feeling more active by the day. The staff tell me not to worry about it, and the best way to learn is just to observe.
I went bowling with some people, and I got creamed as bad there as I did at floor hockey. Hey! They have weekly practice, and I haven't played in years! Some of these people, especially the ones that go on these athletic outings, are members of the Special Olympics. You can't expect me to beat an Olympian!
I'm going to be taking them swimming... I hope they don't find some way to destroy my ego with that, too...
We had our first KCC last night (Katimavik Communication Counsel or something like that). I'm on the Activities Committee. That means I'll assist in deciding and organizing our group's outings. We're considering starting some kind of group blog. If we do, I'll send you guys a link.
I really, really need a camera. I already missed out on taking pictures of the Confederation Bridge and Sir John A. MacDonald's pocketwatch.
I'm enjoying my work, but it's difficult because a lot of it is supervising. That means that you need to correct people if they do the wrong thing, and when you're new, you know less about what's right and wrong than the people you're correcting. And because everyone there has such varied psychologies, everyone needs to be treated as an individual. That means there's no set method on how you're supposed to approach a troubling situation. It's not like the place is relying on me... It had enough staff, all of whom know what they're doing to keep itself afloat before I came along, and they're not going to put me in a situation where people rely on me to understand what I'm doing. But that also means that I feel like I'm kind of sitting by the sidelines, sometimes. I am getting to know them better, and my role has been feeling more active by the day. The staff tell me not to worry about it, and the best way to learn is just to observe.
I went bowling with some people, and I got creamed as bad there as I did at floor hockey. Hey! They have weekly practice, and I haven't played in years! Some of these people, especially the ones that go on these athletic outings, are members of the Special Olympics. You can't expect me to beat an Olympian!
I'm going to be taking them swimming... I hope they don't find some way to destroy my ego with that, too...
We had our first KCC last night (Katimavik Communication Counsel or something like that). I'm on the Activities Committee. That means I'll assist in deciding and organizing our group's outings. We're considering starting some kind of group blog. If we do, I'll send you guys a link.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
First Week Overview
Sorry I didn't get around to starting a blog until the end of the first week. I'm going to review what I've said in emails and publish something like it here. If you've read my emails, feel free to skip ahead.
I misread the travel-guide Katimavik sent me. They told me to show up and hour and a half before my flight, 8:45 AM. I took that to mean that that was my flight time, and they wanted me to show up an hour and a half before that. Unfortunately, that was the time that I should show up to be an hour and a half early. So I wound up getting up at 5:15 AM and showing up three hours early. I even tried to board the wrong plane.
Katimavik didn't send me my package with stickers, a pin, a badge, and luggage tags. I managed to get my luggage across, and later on I would get my pin and stickers (plus French versions) but I never got a badge.
I met that Mathew guy the guide said I'd be traveling with. When I showed up in Halifax from Toronto, where I'd catch another plane to Charlottetown, me and Mat met up and traveled with five other people heading to Katimavik.
This was my first plane trip since I was three. The takeoff was cool. You feel the suction from the motion of the plane, it rocks a bit, and the view is pretty cool until you get above cloud level. Once you get above cloud level it steadies, and once you get over the novelty of being above the clouds, you realize all that means is that there's no view anymore.
When I arrived in Charlottetown, we met up with all the members of all the groups stationed in Prince Edward Island. There are four in total, with ten members apiece. These four groups are all taking the Cultural Discovery and Civic Engagement program, and together they are considered a "cluster". That means that, while we would divide into four eventually, these groups would still interact with each other occasionally.
The entire cluster moved into a big house in Charlottetown for a three-day orientation. At this location I saw the ocean for the first time in my life. I think I accidentally saw it the moment I walked in, because there's a pretty good view of it from the main window of the main room, and the Project Coordinator pointed and said the ocean was in that direction. I looked, but didn't recognize it. A more dramatic encounter would happen on the second or third day, when we all hiked out to look at it. It's pretty neat to have nothing obstruct your vision, and wonder exactly how far out you're seeing. That's something I don't think I've ever seen in my life.
We were the only group with a gender imbalance: 4 guys and 6 girls.
I learned that I was wrong about my original assumption that I would spend two months at each location. Instead it's three months in Summerside, two months in Thunder Bay, and one month in Chisasibi. A little disappointing, if I'm being honest.
Turns out the probation period just means that, while there's usually a four-strikes-you're-out policy, in the three week probation, there's only one strike.
After arriving in Summerside, my group would face off against the Special Olympics in a floor hockey competition. They beat us 8-4.
We did job interviews to see where I'd be placed for my 9-5 job, and I got Community Connections, a place for people with mental and physical disabilities. I thought that meant I'd be like a male nurse. Laugh if you want, but that's the position I was angling for. I'm not here to do what I already know. I want to learn and have experiences.
From my first day of work, it looks more like I'm more of a supervisor with a specialty in the woodworking division. Woodworking supervisor sounds so much more manly than nurse.
I misread the travel-guide Katimavik sent me. They told me to show up and hour and a half before my flight, 8:45 AM. I took that to mean that that was my flight time, and they wanted me to show up an hour and a half before that. Unfortunately, that was the time that I should show up to be an hour and a half early. So I wound up getting up at 5:15 AM and showing up three hours early. I even tried to board the wrong plane.
Katimavik didn't send me my package with stickers, a pin, a badge, and luggage tags. I managed to get my luggage across, and later on I would get my pin and stickers (plus French versions) but I never got a badge.
I met that Mathew guy the guide said I'd be traveling with. When I showed up in Halifax from Toronto, where I'd catch another plane to Charlottetown, me and Mat met up and traveled with five other people heading to Katimavik.
This was my first plane trip since I was three. The takeoff was cool. You feel the suction from the motion of the plane, it rocks a bit, and the view is pretty cool until you get above cloud level. Once you get above cloud level it steadies, and once you get over the novelty of being above the clouds, you realize all that means is that there's no view anymore.
When I arrived in Charlottetown, we met up with all the members of all the groups stationed in Prince Edward Island. There are four in total, with ten members apiece. These four groups are all taking the Cultural Discovery and Civic Engagement program, and together they are considered a "cluster". That means that, while we would divide into four eventually, these groups would still interact with each other occasionally.
The entire cluster moved into a big house in Charlottetown for a three-day orientation. At this location I saw the ocean for the first time in my life. I think I accidentally saw it the moment I walked in, because there's a pretty good view of it from the main window of the main room, and the Project Coordinator pointed and said the ocean was in that direction. I looked, but didn't recognize it. A more dramatic encounter would happen on the second or third day, when we all hiked out to look at it. It's pretty neat to have nothing obstruct your vision, and wonder exactly how far out you're seeing. That's something I don't think I've ever seen in my life.
We were the only group with a gender imbalance: 4 guys and 6 girls.
I learned that I was wrong about my original assumption that I would spend two months at each location. Instead it's three months in Summerside, two months in Thunder Bay, and one month in Chisasibi. A little disappointing, if I'm being honest.
Turns out the probation period just means that, while there's usually a four-strikes-you're-out policy, in the three week probation, there's only one strike.
After arriving in Summerside, my group would face off against the Special Olympics in a floor hockey competition. They beat us 8-4.
We did job interviews to see where I'd be placed for my 9-5 job, and I got Community Connections, a place for people with mental and physical disabilities. I thought that meant I'd be like a male nurse. Laugh if you want, but that's the position I was angling for. I'm not here to do what I already know. I want to learn and have experiences.
From my first day of work, it looks more like I'm more of a supervisor with a specialty in the woodworking division. Woodworking supervisor sounds so much more manly than nurse.
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