not so stereotypical canada

We left the house around 9:30. We all loaded up the 12 seater (which is actually the van of Parksville) and headed out of Cumberland on our first and only excursion of the trimester. We wanted an early start because we werent sure if the weather would old up for us.

With a Subway stop in Port Alberni we had finally made it through the 'near blizzard' weather. We arrived at our 'hostel' called the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful and VERY vacant place. The couple that owned it were very nice as well. It had a comfy 'cabin' feel to it.

We checked out the ocean that evening and determined that surfing wouldnt be too bad that weekend. The next morning we went for a little stroll through the rainforest and ended at a really cool beach and played some ultimate frisbee in the sand. It was actually really fun considering we all got soaked from the rain and the tide coming in. With sand up our asses we had back to the gardens to warm up.

Sunday morning I woke up full of energy and excitement. We packed up our things and started the morning with a little yoga/meditation session. Lead by Catherine, we were all in the state of mind to hit some waves. After this we went to a little cafe called Tuff...something and grabbed some brunch. I had the Tuff breakfast. Excellent hashbrowns. We hit up some shops around town and cruised the art gallery. I bought a tuque and some mitts from a place called Eco-Everything.

By 1:00 we were on the beach shore in our wetsuits checking out the waves that we were about hit. The beach was called North Chesterman. Our instructors were two girls from the Surf Sister Surfing School. The weather seemed pretty nice considering it was December 28th. The sun would poke through now and then between the patches of constant rain. At one point during instruction it started hailing.

As soon as i got in the water i had the ambition to succeed the waves. I road the 9 foot board on my stomach for a few waves just to get the feel. The first time i stood up it was such a sweet feeling. It came so natural to me. I was now trying to go for every wave i could. One instructor said the waves we were riding were about 6 or 7 feet. Some of them further back got to 10 or 12.

By the end of the day i felt a great sense of accomplishment. I didnt really want to get out of the water. I wasnt really that cold. The wetsuit helped so much. I was infact tired. I didnt think surfing could take that much out of me. Taking hte suit off was the worst part. It was freezing outside. I could see my breath with snow on the ground all around.

We headed home straight from the beach. The van had died while we were surfing so we had to get a jump from the surf sister van. Luckily we had cables. On the way back we stopped in Parksville, the weather was awful and thought we might have to stay the night but it cleared up and were able to make it home.

Katma-xmas

Christmas in the Katimavik house really isn't anything too special. We decided to open our gifts on Christmas eve because we would be leaving early to go and volunteer the next morning.

We arrived at the Dinner and began to help out with packaging up bags for people take home containing different types of pastries. After this was finished the organizer asked some volunteers to go home because there really was way too many people helping out. So we decided that minus the 11 of us it would cut back on the confusion. We came back to enjoy some of the food they had prepared. Not too bad i suppose. It was a dish made up of turkey,ham,potatos,stuffing,corn,sprouts and cranberry sauce. Typical Christmas dinner. We finished off our volunteer work for the day by putting away all of the chairs and tables. I guess every little bit counts. We headed home to start getting ready for a big next few days. Off to Tofino in the morning.

3 months today

chrstmas eve. Im glad it definitly feels like christmas. We got some snow last night and a little bit more throughout the day. But its warming up a bit so i wouldnt be surprised if the snow is gone within the next week or two. It doesnt feel like christmas in this house. Just seems like any normal day.

Krissy left the house yesterday morning at about 530 in the morning to go home. Unfortunately she got stranded in Nanaimo because of the weather. Poor girl. She was put in a hotel for two nights and now has to travel on christmas day. Hopefully she will get home christmas evening to get back to her family. We'll miss ya kriss.

i got beef with the public transit here in comox valley. couple days ago i transferred from the #1 to the #2 at the mall. but the #2 had left before the #1 got there. MEANING i had to wait another hour or so for the next bus to come. I was so cold when I got home and definitly not very happy.
Im not in the christmas spirit this year... bahumbug

feels apathetic

No tofino last week :( kind of a bummer. The excursion protocol wasnt sent in enough time before leaving. But chances are we can go in an upcoming weekend....if the weather is nice to us. speaking of which.

BLIZZARD TODAY... Lots of snow. I was really surprised to see this much snow on the island. Quite possibly could be more than in Manitoba. Only 4 people went to work today, the rest stayed home. As house manager I dont enjoy it too much. People tend to get in the way. Since they stay home I assign them to jobs. Makes things fair.

Yesterday, Andrew, Catherine and myself found a hiking trail near the house in the nearby mountains. Being all uphill, it made things tough. My boots suck. They gave me big blisters on my heels. I also had kraft dinner stuck in my throat which really hurt - As strange it sounds.

A private yoga instructor came to the house last night which was really cool.
The meals Andrew and I are making this week are Canneloni, Risotto, Minestrone, Mac N Cheese, Steak and Eggplant Parmesan, Gnocchi, and Spanish Tortilla.

8 Days till Christmas.Not going home for christmas.

back to my roots

Its been a while, Ive been busy with all sorts of stuff such as work and other activities.
I visited my birthplace of Victoria for the first time since i left. What an incredible weekend. Andrew and I stayed at the HI Victoria Hostel. It was right near the Inner Harbour and within walking distance of the Royal BC Museum and the parliament buildings which look beautiful all lite up at night.

Andrew and I spent a good 3 hours looking through all of the displays in the museum. We also took in an Imax feature called Extreme which was all about extreme sports such as surfing, climbing, snowboarding etc. I would love to try windsurfing sometime in the future. My favorite exhibit in the museum would probabaly have to have been the first nations with all of the native art. The masks were especially pretty neat. I have a new fascination for Haida Art.

Speaking of Haida, on the way down to Victoria we stopped at a restraunt in Chemainus called the Haida Way. I had a trucker burger which consisted of a beef patty, a hot dog, a fried egg, and all veggies on top.

While in Victoria i got all of my christmas shopping done which contributes to all of the excess cash i spent. But I guess i dont mind, ill just have to be picky when spending my money now.

On Tuesday of this week we invited all of our friends as well as neighbors in the comox valley to our home for an open house so they can check out our new pad. Great turnout i think. Met some new people... possibly some future katimavikers.

The valley Links christmas party was last night as well. All of katimavik and most of canada world youth came out for the event. It was a great chance for us to all meet eachother and mingle. We played games, guitar hero, and dance dance revolution. Some just hung out on the computers. Lots of fun was had by all!

I was really excited to hear that the Crocus Varsity girls won the provincial volleyball championchip on monday. WAY TO GO! Wish i could have been there to see it though.

Hopefully our group goes to Tofino this weekend coming up. Excursions have a tendancy to not go through. Ill be disapointed if nothing happens.

early december

Back to work Monday morning we have to new volunteers here at ValleyLinks. Both are my age and a part of the Canada World Youth Program. Emma is from Edmonton and Den is from the Ukraine. Pretty cool people you could say.

So i now have to take a bus to work every morning, meaning i have to wake up at 745. Such a drag! Another hour added on to my day. I also come home at about 530. make that another 2 hours. Public transit suckLots of excitement in Canadian Politics. The majority 3 parties have signed a coalition to take over Stephen Harper and his conservatives. Being such a douche harper is, he has now decided to prorogue parliament until late January. He needs to go , we need some fresh feet in the house of commons. If the coaltion was successfully to take over parliament, Dion would be in charge only for a little while until a new liberal leader is decided. Which i hope will be Dominic Leblanc.
Ive learned so much this week which is increasing my fascination for canadian politics.

Christmas is coming and with that, our group gets to take a little break and go off and do our own thing for 48 hours. Back to my birthplace of Victoria i go.

Overdue

Ahhh
Crazy week last week! And im glad its over so things are back to normal!
So i was the house manager from Monday to Sunday which means that i stay home from work and do all of the cooking and cleaning and that sort of stuff. Krissy and me did an excellent job! The crazy part was that we had to get ready to move into a new house for Thursday!

So we found out on Monday that we were moving Thursday! This made things real fun for Krissy and myself, we did alot of preparing to move before the rest of the group had days off for the actual haul of everything.

By Thursday night we were sleeping in a new house, in a new bedroom, in a new village! The village of Cumberland is beautiful. Im really glad i get to live there for the next month.
So Friday everybody went to the old house and cleaned it up making it suitable for the next person to rent it. I stayed back at the new house and finished with putting things away etc.

All day Saturday we were volunteering at the Cumberland Winter Fair FEATURING Krissy Hoskin. Krissy was invited to play some guitar for 40 minutes and put on a stellar show which landed some possible upcoming gigs. Way to go Kriss!
Sunday Morning we raked leaves.... ending in blisters :( which still hurt
But ended the day with a beutiful hike through Mount Washington. We got to have a snowball fight. I missed the snow!

ugly day in the valley

I suppose you could call it an eventful day. I woke up and it was raining, which means the bike ride to work would completely suck. Luckily the wind hadnt picked up too much while i was coming here. The winds are crazy today! The radio was saying that gusts can reach up to 100km/h. I wont be surprised if the power goes out any time soon.

So its just Tyler and me in the office today, everybody else is away at meetings etc. We didn't want to go outside into the horrible weather for lunch so we decided to order a pizza. It should be on its way.

The video in the right column I discovered today. Pretty exciting! A huge meteor flew by the prairies yesterday evening, I wish i was there to see it. The video looks like transformers are coming to land, I had a good laugh about it.

I leave my billeting family on Sunday and return back to the house where i get to stay for the next while meaning this is my last day at work for a week as I am house manager with Krissy!

washed up salmon?

I guess frost will be the closest thing I can find to resemble a Manitoba winter. This morning on my bicycle ride to work, I was lucky to not slip on the glistened pavement. Ive also decided it might be time for me to get a tuque and some mittens.

While checking my emails today, which is beginning to seem rather pointless because all i ever get is junk. Junk mail shouldnt be allowed. If only I were the boss of MSN Hotmail. But on the bright side! I did come across an article saying that a business that is responsible for about 1/3 of all junk mail has recently shut down. The article stated that the amount of junk mail will begin to decrease. Ill believe it when i see it.

Well now that Ive gone off track, ranting about junk mail, I also got an email from Ticketmaster Canada telling me that tickets are going on sale for Anberlin with Madina Lake and Between the Trees, Unfortunaetly this show is only in Winnipeg. I think i might tell ticketmaster to stop emailing me. It seems pointless to recieve emails for shows only in Winnipeg. Its taunting me. I just wish i could go home to see that one concert now. Oh well, they'll come back for another tour.

Sarah from work took some beautiful prolific pictures of me a couple weeks and she just sent them to me. Im happy to have a few pictures of myself taken by a pro! Unlike the fuzzy closeups from my shitty digital camera.

Its Day 5 of billeting and everything is going pretty good. Last night Nic and I watched Wall-E. After the first 15 or 20 minutes of the movie I was a little skeptical about this film. I hadn't heard any english. Just little beeps and sound effects plus the repeating robot voice "Waaallee" and "Eeeevaa". I thought all the gadgets he collected were pretty cool though. In the end it turned out to be pretty interesting. I enjoyed the films outlook on a possible futuristic world. I bet the kids loved this one.

Five days left in an area filled with the scent of washedup salmon sitting there for days.
Back to work for another couple of hours.

i watch my yellow cat invade my red cat in the yard

It was about a 15 minute bike ride to work this morning. I enjoyed it aside from the fact I was early and had to wait outside. O well! I guess that means I get to sleep in an extra 15 minutes tomorrow.

Yesterday i didnt really do much. Helped Nic setup a bunkbed. Ate some bannock and played alot of Gears of War 2. As well Alice gave me a phone call, that was nice. The highlight of my day was probably when I made KD. Wow i missed that stuff.

So im working on this coloring book that hopefully be published within the next month or two. (Once Its finished) Its been kind of hard coming up with ideas to expand the scenes, but its coming along slowly.

So this picture to the left is what my coloring book is based on. Each little image is being broken up into single images and then expanded to become one page of a coloring book.

Wish me luck.

Billeting Day 1

I was really skeptical of the family i was going to be with right before i left. Catherine didnt know much about them and had only met them the same day.
Nick picked me up at about 730. Very young, 23, seems like a cool guy on first impression. Not so bad afterall.
He stops at little caesers on the way home to grab some food for the girl friend and the kid.
We get home and i meet the girlfriend, 21, and son Dominic, 3, very young and hip family. They comfort me well. I get the basement to myself, my own back door and they tell me to make myself comfortable.
Nick is a big gamer so there no shortage of consoles in the house. Thats a bonus. They just went grocery shopping and asked me what i like. I told them pasta and meat. seemed pretty easy for them. Its 8 o clock. I think ill go for a run.

TGIF

What a strange week. Working monday, then getting the tuesday off for remembrance day totally screwed up the week. Wednesday felt like monday. But in the end i guess it seemed like a short week.
Tonight the group all goes their separate ways to spend nine days with a local family we have yet to meet. It should be an experience. I just hope the family I'm with will be good to me. Otherwise nine days will be a really long time.

rememberance

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Happy Birthday Granny! I cant remember the last time i missed your birthday, but have a good one.

Today we mourn the losses of all those who have fought and been injured in the line of battle. Not much mourning going on in the katimavik house. We see it as another day off work, which is a little unfortunate. Hopefully most of us will take the time to remember those loved ones we have lost.

Katima-what?

Early in September, everybody i talked to wanted to know what i was going to be doing for the next school season. I told them I wasnt going to school and that I was embarking on a nation wide journey known as Katimavik. The commonly occuring response was "Katima-what?" or "Katima-who?". What a great conversation starter! The first time i had heard the infamous response I knew i needed to come up with some sort of shpeel. And here it went...

Katimavik is a nation-wide volunteer program for youths between the ages of 17-21. We spend 9 months travelling Canada, meeting new people, learning new cultures and volunteering at anything thats thrown at us. Spending three months in three different communities we are placed at different (mostly)not for profit organizations in the community where we volunteer fulltime.

That was how it went. It was rather extent, but thats how it had to be.

So here i am in Courtenay BC, volunteering fulltime at a wonderful place called ValleyLinks.

self welcome

It was either a journal or an online blog. I chose the online blog, mainly because my penmanship is at the level of a 13 year old. I never really applied myself to have neater writing. It didn't seem important to me. So i guess this is my welcome!

All throughout schooling i was never a fan of English assignments (essays, reports, journals etc.) but I've now realized that is such important aspect to life. To have a strength in writing would be such a pleasure IMO. I'm not sure if its because i lose my train of thought, or if its because i don't have the ability to generate constant ideas.
We'll see how this blog goes. I'm excited to see what comes out of it. Hopefully i can convince my mind to generate a few words to share.