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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.