Whoops........

My sincerest apologies for neglecting my blog these past few months. I will admit I have written a number of things however I was just not sure they were post-worthy.

Life these days includes becoming accustomed to substitute teaching which, while rather frustrating in terms of waiting and wondering, is magically wonderful. I love getting to see so many students in different classroom environments and to experience the many different ways that teachers approach their craft. I am learning so many lessons every day. Having spent a marvelous week with a grade 2 class I learnt just how high energy lower elementary is and how amazingly adorable the creative imaginations of 7 year olds can be. I even had one cutie a few months back who wished to be called 'sweetie' instead of his real name, because he felt like it would make him work harder (How much cuter can you get). I guess my biggest realization to date is that it feels right. Something just 'clicks' when I walk in a classroom. :)

Stay tuned for more lessons learned and observations.....

All Done.....Literally!

I didn't mean to fall off the face of the blogging universe but once I left for Stockholm I got distracted, (that's what happens when an ENTIRE SWEDISH HOCKEY TEAM is in the same airport lounge as me :), dreams really do come true sometimes). Alas I have arrived back home in Canada and have been in a relaxed state ever since (minus the random freakouts over having to figure out my life and all that jazz). I arrived home on April 29th after 28 hrs of travel, 5 airports and countless delays. I was picked up in Halifax by my exhausted but amazing family. We arrived home in Washabuck at exactly 7am, just in time to watch Will & Kate walk down the aisle. (sleep truly is overrated).

The fun hasn't stopped as this past weekend I graduated from UPEI with my Bachelor of Education degree, specialization in International Education. It was amazing to see so many friends again and to hear of their tales from abroad. It was bittersweet to leave them all behind but there are many promises of visits to come. My peers, now colleagues are people I will never forget and will always be fondly remembered for their roles in my development as an educator.

However, grad day had to come to a quick end as we had a very important event to return home for. We jumped on the ferry only to be met with a wonderful surprise. Former NS Premier, the Honorable John Buchanan was on board. He was one of my grandfather Joe's best friends and dad thought that on my graduation day, nothing would make Grandma Dolena happier than a picture with someone who around our home is a legend the likes of Gretzky and Orr. He was an amazing man, spending the rest of the ride telling us stories about my grandfather and his Tory antics as well as many stories about how politics were done in the good old days and tales of the tories coming out on top. Let's just say that Grandma's mother's day was extra special when she saw the pictures. :)

That big event we had to get home for was none other than the 1st birthday party of my absolutely amazing and fantastic and handsome godson Mr. Thomas Malcolm. (Little Malcie, as uncle Kevin calls him). The little man was in his glory clapping along to Happy Birthday (not so impressed when the song ended) and of course diving into the cake (which he wasn't supposed to eat). We did placate him with chocolate icing and vanilla ice cream. He was quite impressed with his collection of new toys and stylish clothes (that is, as impressed as a 1 year old can get).

I will finish off with some photos and a promise to get around to writing a blog about the end of my trip and Stockholm shortly! Until then, I leave you with the words of our convocation speaker, former NFLD Premier Danny Williams who gave an amazing address ending with (in latin, so as to not offend anyone) "Don't let the B*****ds get you down!"

 Janna, Holly & I

 BEd class of 2011

 With mom & dad

 Craig & Angie

 A collection of international girls! Holly, Lyd, me, Janna, Kelly & Katie

Dad, myself and the Hon. John Buchanan

2 weeks left, only 2 days of which are for teaching :)

It's officially Easter Break here in Sweden. 1.5 weeks off. Currently watching the Big Bang theory and relaxing for the night after a very busy week.

Recent Highlights:
- A day snowmobiling and dog sledding.
- A trip to the famous ice hotel including the more famous Absolut Vodka ice bar and an impressive ice chapel. Also discovered Brown's Bear's long lost cousin (see below).
- My first time down-hill skiing on the Swedish Alps, not bad. Kabdalis is the home of the Swedish National Ski team.
- Got Neon pink Nike's.
- Flew kites (but didn't have the supplies to make our own, Swedish kites are inferior)

Kite flying in Jokkmokk

Dogsledding

two of the dogs

The Absolut Ice Bar

The Ice Chapel

Brown's Bears long lost cousin at the ice hotel

The Ice Hotel

Kabdalis Ski Hill

Easter Break Plan
   On Sunday, I leave for Stockholm to spend the week exploring the capital. Should be interesting and I will post a blog when I return.

Looking forward to getting home in two weeks!

Week 4 down

Some more observations.....

- Sweden is VERY laid back, almost too laid back. I have never seen so much down time in a school day.

- Elementary kids are adorable.

- Old MacDonald and Twinkle Twinkle are universal.

- In the time it takes to put clothes in a washer and walk outside, it can go from sunny and 10 degrees to snowing heavily and freezing cold.

- Teenagers everywhere are the same, they all can recite the lyrics to every Lady gaga, Katy Perry and Beyonce song on cue.

- What is the biggest English resource in Sweden? Family Guy with subtitles. Only problem is, the vocabulary is awful.

- Pizza in Sweden has paper thin crust.

- Having Skype dates with a 5 year old in Canada while you are in another country is highly entertaining. Try explaining why you can't come have kraft dinner with him right away. :) My favorite was trying to explain where Sweden was by relating it to where the elephants live in Africa.

- Junior High kids will prove their excellent language skills by reciting every curse word they have ever heard, their teacher will just look on and be thrilled because they are finally speaking English in English class.

- Living in residence that is not like StFX, will make you miss StFX explicitly.

- 1 week to go!

some more notes about Sweden...........

Hello again, 

A few more notes to add after week 3:

- The roads are still very slippy, (yes it's a word) and they will wake you up at 6am with the incessant noise of the ice breaking machines that tear up layers of ice on the road and then make giant piles with it along the sidewalk. 

- Sunsets come in many color combinations, I don't believe I had ever seen a truly purple sunset until the other night. 

- We ate reindeer this week, I haven't quite recovered from the thought of consuming Rudolph and am still considering calling PETA. PLUS.....they don't burn their meat here which means there is too much blood, definatly not the way we do things in Washabuck. 

- We have discovered that once you tell elementary children you are from Canada and that yes you know who Justin Bieber is, they will love you forever and hugs will soon follow. Bonus points if you play Baby on your ipod and sing along. Double bonus points if you also happen to have the Hannah Montana playlist (disclaimer: I have a lot of younger cousins okay). 

- Teaching is interesting. We always have random lessons ready because we never are sure when exactly we might teach. It's rather random. Most of our lessons have to do with speaking English because we keep getting told they need to work on pronunciation even though we feel their English skills are top caliber. 

- If a teacher here is sick (or wants to go skiing for a week), they don't get a sub, they cancel class. They also reserve the right to uncancel class and have the Canadians teach it. :P

- Being referred to as 'The Canadians', kind of grows on you. 

- Getting mail from home is the best thing in the world. (Thanks aunt Murdell)

- If you feel homesick, turn on the tv. 9/10 times the Simpsons or Family Guy are on. (Swedish Favorites)

- You know you're far north when a school field trip depends on whether or not the location has already melted. 

Just a few observations, more to come in the next few weeks. 

A few favorite pictures

 The London Eye

 14 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. The birthplace of Alexander Graham Bell

 The Mona Lisa herself

 The Eiffel Tower

 Westminster Abbey

Jokkmokk, Sweden

Update from the Arctic Circle

Hey all,

We're on our second week here. Things are going well although there was definatly some adjustment required for the slow paced, relaxed environment here. (Sarah says small, small, small village living - aka a small collection of houses in the middle of nowhere.....she has become slightly dramatic since arrival). We spent 6 hours on a bus round trip this weekend to get a burger.....no MacDonalds (thanks Lauren for rubbing that in) but we did discover MAX, a fantastic Swedish burger chain.

Our school is neat, our advisors are awesome. We participate in 3 classes (English A; B & C). We spend Friday's going to various elementary schools in the area. Eva, one of our teachers spent the day laughing with us (we've corrupted her and she now wants to spend the summer in Canada) and planning some trips....she promised Stacy that she would see reindeer up close and that she could drive a snowmobile, (I think Stacy and motor vechicles may not be the safest thing and was quite upset and offended when the girls told Eva that I was the most likely to be injured when we head to the ski hill); they are also taking us to the ice hotel in early April. Still no signs of the northern lights but we are hopeful.

We've only been called Americans once, which we quickly corrected.  We also got quite a few chuckles during our presentation on Canada, in which I displayed a big picture of Sidney Crosby celebrating Canada's gold medal win; no hostility so we're still allowed to stay.


I have to thank my darling brother for my random knowledge of motocross and video games, it has been quite beneficial when trying to get 16 year olds to relax and participate. The grocery store is less stressful now that we figured out a few key words but Stacy still isn't allowed to be in charge of maps, that leads to disaster. Oh and for the record, the drinking age in Sweden is 18 in restaurants and 20 at the liquor store, don't believe your students when they say its 12.


Oh and ice is slippy......pulled groin muscle is proof enough. 

Slut! (our students taught us that this means the end in Swedish so no judgements)

Arrived in Jokkmokk

Well i'm here! Arrived in Stockholm at noon and had no problem being registered and through security in 5 minutes. They didn't even ask for any id, which I thought was strange. My luggage is beat up but here so that's a bonus. The bus to Jokkmokk was an adventure, the driver didn't speak much English and the stops are kinda sketchy. I arrived and found Stacy wandering down to meet me which was good. First mission was food, let's just say milk is not easy to locate in the store so I have to look again tomorrow.

It's beautiful here, snow covered but sunny. Surprisingly they are having a mild winter and have less snow than when I left PEI. Currently Stacy and I are in the lounge helping translate English PS3 video games for our new Swedish friend Nicholas ----I knew having a younger brother would someday come in handy. :)

Scotland......Finally

Day 5 & 6:

For those of you who have known me for any amount of time you have undoubtedly heard me discuss Scotland and my desire to visit. You've also likely heard me ramble some random facts from my Celtic Studies background or most definitely a Gaelic phrase. So to say that this adventure was a dream come true is an understatement, even if I didn't make it to the highlands......yet!

Scotland is a dream. The train ride was about 5 hours from London to Edinburgh. I was highly tempted to stay on board and continue on to Glasgow and see if I could stumble upon Goven, Grammie MacDonald's home (not grammie Rose but Grampy's mother).

I got off the train and was greeted by the sounds of a piper, very fitting. He was playing you are my sunshine and I felt so at home. I walked down the street and checked into my hotel before taking a tour around the city. I saw so much in such a little time and was most impressed when the tour mentioned a school that has been around forever with one of its most prominent pupils being none other than Alexander Graham Bell (for those of you that don't know, Mr. Bell and I have a deep history as I have spent the better part of 4 years sharing his story at the AGB museum in Baddeck).

After the tour I had a chance to explore Edinburgh Castle, the home of much of the history I have explored and the home of many greats in Scottish history. Perhaps the most breathtaking part was the Scottish crown jewels and the stories of how they were hidden at various points over time to keep them safe from the likes of the English who were hell bent on destroying them. Unfortunately there was no photography there so I couldn't take pictures. Also in there was the Stone of Destiny on which all British royals are coronated on. It's fascinating to see up close and to realize that within this lifetime it will once again return to Westminster to crown another King. It was neat to see the city from such a vantage point and to feel the history seep from the old stone walls.

Next up was Holyrood Palace, the Queen's Palace in Edinburgh. With it's winding stairs and in tact rooms it is a magnificant site. The chamber of Mary Queen of Scots was most interesting as it is home to many of the remnants of the Stuart dynasty. I even snuck some pictures before finding out camera's weren't allowed (in my defense I had my flash off and I didn't see any signs).

Day 2 was my Bell day. I walked the streets looking at monuments before finding my target. 14 South Charlotte Street, the birthplace of Alexander Graham Bell. His family must have had pull in Scottish society with the location of the home. It has a stone plaque on the outside of the building announcing it's importance but other than that you would walk by and never know the importance of the place. Right around the corner was the Alexander Graham Bell restaurant. A busy, popular place with locals, it boasts a full bar and is open 7am-1am. The menu was vast with many traditional dishes and more modern ones. My favorite was tea and dessert. I had fun there messaging people from AGB and of course my mom. Go figure, in honor of Bell it has free wi-fi, one of the only places in Britain I might add. The walls were full of pictures but I soon realized few of them were of Bell but of other Scottish greats. I asked a waiter about their memorabilia, he went to check with the manager (having no idea himself) and the reply was that head office sent it. I was disappointed and when he asked why I wanted to know I explained having worked at the museum, he got all excited and showed me around so I could take photos of the few bell related things, all the while asking the most random questions that he gets from visitors but didn't know the answers too.

The rest of day two was spent wandering town and checking things out from stores to book shops and in between. An amazing first visit but definitely a first visit and not an only one.

Off to London again where I will fly to Sweden in the morning.

Slainte!

J'adore Paris!

Day 4: Paris

Well an early morning journey well worth the effort. A 3 hour train ride to Paris followed by a tour of the city, a cruise on the river siene, lunch at the Eiffel tower and a stop at the Louvre to see Mona Lisa herself, not to mention the Venus de Milo. Simply amazing.

The city layout gave me a headache and the traffic movement a few minor heartattacks but overall it was an amazing experience. Our lovely guide Charlotte pointed out things that were amazing to see in person. One notable thing for me was the sight of Princess Di's car crash. I admit I was a bit of a royal addict at the time of her death and seeing these places was surprisingly emotional. Just off to the side of the tunnel is a monument that has been there for decades however at the time of Di's death it became an unofficial memorial tribute to her and to this day is still a site where people lay flowers daily in her memory. She had quite an impact on the world.

Up next was the centre of town, and it wouldn't be Europe if beheadings weren't discussed. Right below an Egyptian statue is the location where Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded along with 2000 others.

Notre Dame was beautiful although next time I would like to go inside. We saw it from the river and it was simply gorgeous.

The Eiffel Tower is what it is, a magnificent structure. We ate a fabulous lunch there (Roast Chicken, Champagne and Chocolate Cheesecake).

The Louvre - well I don't know how to put it into words but I took notes to help the museums back home :P.
1) Put your museum in a HUGE, OLD FORTRESSS/ROYAL PALACE
2) Get some of the worlds greatest masterpieces and put them on display.
3) Put a shopping mall inside the building (no jokes)
4) Put a starbucks inside the museum entrance.
----More on that when I come visit AGB

Mona Lisa - is worth the hype. She is MAGNIFIQUE!
Venus de Milo, is also a treasure.

My sister would also kill me if I didn't mention the mass amounts of designers boutiques I saw today. Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Armani, Jimmy Choo, Dolce & Gabana and many more (I took pictures because I'm that nice of a person Angie). :)

Okay, sleepy time ----- Off to Scotland in the morning.

London Day 2& 3

Okay well its been a busy couple of days on this side of the pond. I'll recap as best I can before heading to bed, as I leave very early tomorrow for Paris!!!! :)

DAY 2: We did a city sight seeing tour that took us all around London. We saw everything from arches to old buildings to the London Tower & London Bridge. We saw Paddington station, the home of Paddington Bear. We saw big Ben, we attended mass at St. Paul's Cathedral and we had a lovely tour of Westminster Abbey. Everywhere you walk they are talking about Princess Di and places that were important to her so we even wandered around Hyde Park and saw her Kensington Palace Home, Wow. As much as you see and hear her name, you see more of Prince William and Kate, their picture is in every store window and even on flags flying around town. It's quite a sight. When we finally returned after a nice dinner (I had steak that was FANTASTIC, cooked to perfection) we realized we were too late to head to a musical so we spent the late evening in a beautiful theatre watching the King's Speech, a fitting tribute to a busy day.

Day 3: Today was all about the countryside as we toured out to Stonehenge. WOW!!! So breathtaking. It was truly stunning. We then topped off our trip by seeing WICKED in the London West End. I was impressed that I even recognized some songs....thanks Glee :). A truly magical adventure in London.

Next up: Paris - including a very early wake up time so i'm off to bed.

Until next time....... Cheers!

Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London

Day 1:

London, England. A BEAUTIFUL CITY! Honestly, words do it no justice. The buildings are old and you just get giddy thinking of the stories those bricks could tell. We haven't been to the big touristy areas yet, that is for tomorrow. Instead we took our time and wandered through the Kensington/Chelsea area.

Natural History Museum: Impressive but as someone who worked in a lot of museums I expected to see more interpretation. It was all panels and videos, I get too easily distracted for that. However, I saw the biggest, most gorgeous diamonds and emeralds on display in a hall they have dedicated to rocks, yes I said rocks....Stuart would be in his glory! AGB guides would be giving tours to liven things up!

General Comments:
- SOOOO MANY ACCENTS! And surprising not all English. I expected a cornonation street type deal but I think I have heard more foreign languages than English thus far.
- The cars are on the wrong side of the road AND the drivers are on the wrong side. I know you read about it and see it on tv but it really makes you stop.
- Most cars are really fancy. Lots of BMWs and Mustangs. Taxi's look cool.
- Prince William and Kate's faces are EVERYWHERE!

Pictures and more comments tomorrow after our busy day at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the rest of London!

Cheers!

Me Nerves, Me Nerves

2 weeks from today and BEd classes are complete! Then it's a mere few days before taking off for Europe. Sitting in a pre-flight session now and starting to feel nervous/anxious/excited. Biggest lesson we keep hearing is be flexible and be prepared.

Job Fair

Nerve-wracking. 2 words. The cause of many headaches. This week is our job fair. 10 school boards from across Canada are coming and we are supposed to, according to our profs, "Smooze them" and get jobs. My concern is with the "smoozing". I feel like jobs as important as ones in the teaching field should be earned on merit, on credentials, on work ethic, on ability and desire to teach. Instead it appears to be a who you know and how well you bs system. Interesting.....

2 Months and Counting.....

2 months from now (tonight) I will be contentedly sleeping on an airplane just after leaving Halifax for London, England. HUGE step for me, as until now the farthest I have been from home is Florida and the longest I have been away from family is the time between holidays at UPEI. (StFX time doesn't count). Starting to get pretty excited.

The gameplan thus far is.....London: March 5-12. Leaving the 12th for Jokkmokk, Sweden; where we will spend 7 weeks teaching above the arctic circle. Found out today that they don't believe in dress clothes either, teachers wear sweats in class (CRAZY considering the amount of lectures I have heard on professionalism in the past 2 years).

So Big Adventure is within sight.


Oh and GO CANADA GO!!!!!