Well...

I arrived home yesterday, during an incredibly stressful travel day. First, my flight to Halifax got diverted to Moncton, and returned to Halifax. Next, as a result of the first note, I missed my flight to Calgary. After I get to Calgary Airport, I find out that Air Canada lost my luggage. I got it back at 12:30 PM today, but it still pissed me off big time. At any rate, things are going good. I have a job interview with WestJet later this month, and have at least two or three other places I'm waiting on for calls.

I'm glad to be home, but I miss the hell out of everyone.

The Homestretch...

So I'm less than a week away from my return home. The past two weeks have been tons of fun for our cluster. We went to the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland to visit L'anse Aux Meadows two weeks ago and had a mock prom last Thursday.

This week has been fun, if a little short. We were on our 72 hours off from Friday night-Monday, and work up until this Friday, after which we empty out the house and leave for our final debriefing. Today was amazing, the Town of Deer Lake (the employer of three participants myself included) treated all of the Katimavik participants in Deer Lake to an appreciation lunch at the local Pizza Delight. It was a very kind gesture, and contained many sincere thanks from town council, our supervisor, and humourous words from our co-workers. I know I'm going to miss Deer Lake, but I plan to return to the town soon enough.

I'll be posting again in almost a week (which is no surprise in and of itself), because I'll be killer busy for the next 6-5 days. Talk to you guys soon.

Volunteering in Corner Brook

We volunteered at the Corner Brook Triathlon yesterday, which was a lot of fun. The group was on Security/Traffic Control, but was still able to enjoy the event. Afterwards we took in the post-race celebration at Marble Mountain (roughly 3/4 of the way to Corner Brook).

I have withdrawn my previous statements about the food, as they have since been resolved. Myself and the girl mentioned (now the only 2 meat eaters) finally got our complaint across. Life can be difficult, so I'm not overly worried about it.

Fun Times

Inventory and cleaning aside, there are fun times ahead for my group. We have 72 hours off the first weekend of August, and our trip to the Northern Peninsula next weekend.

I haven't been posting because I've been busy (somewhat lazy too), and can't find stuff to write about.

The Countdown Begins Again...

As of this week, I officially have six weeks left until I return home from my whirlwind Katimavik experience. My group is spending it the best way possible, that being... Busy as hell.

We have an excursion practically every weekend for the next little while, we just did a camping trip in Gros Morne National Park.

Nothing but good times ahead it seems.

P.S. HUGE Apology for not posting in nearly a month.

Newfie Night

We had a newfie night with the Corner Brook group tonight. Had a really good meal, and got screeched in using Purity Syrup in place of Newfoundland Screech (Purity being a brand of Newfoundland food products). Photos of that will follow on the photo page soon.

Going to Stephenville on Sunday, should be fun.

Always on The Go...

Katimavik is always go, go, go. This time it's not Katimavik that's keeping me on my toes though. It's the fact that the program is over in approximately two months, and I have all sorts of affairs to attend to before my return. Getting a job is coming together in my favour, as I've been offered an interview with one of Canada's top airlines, and I have some other companies in mind should that fall through. Getting an apartment is also panning out, as I should be able to move in about two weeks after the end of the program.

On the program front, we get to go to the Northern Peninsula soon, and we go billeting in almost a week now, then it's one month to the end.

Will post again soon, stay tuned.

Looking Ahead-In A Positive Way

I just received word today that my group got cleared for 72 hours off, which is really cool. What made it interesting is that the Regional Director for the Atlantic was impressed with the letter.

Billeting comes up at the end of the month, which will be awesome. I have had nothing but positive experience with billeting thus far, and am looking forward to this much needed break from the group.

Fun Stuff...

We went on an excursion to Gros Morne National Park on Sunday, which was fantastic. I would have posted pictures to my photo album, but technical problems did not allow my photos to save, although I did transfer them. It had no problem letting me delete all the pictures though >_<

On an unrelated note, this is post #60, and the one-year anniversiary of my Katimavik Blog! You can look through the archives on the right hand side of the screen. I also encourage you to visit the links in that bar as well. The profile at the top of the bar has some links to my other blogs too.

Have fun, stay decent.

Bug Bites And Dreaming Big...

Looking back on my first week in Newfoundland, I can say that it has been interesting thus far.

I was placed with the town parks department, where I have been doing a lot of grounds maintenance, especially garbage clean-up. As a result, I have a bone to pick with both Tim Horton's and KFC.

It was cloudy and raining for much of the week, but we had a really good day during the week, in which I had to get my neck sunburnt (just the back, but it still hurts).

Myself & the rest of my group started weeding what will be our garden, which allowed me to use a weed-whacker. I took much pleasure in bringing weeds to their violent demise. However, during the gardening, bugs were abundant, and everyone got some bites. Some of mine were conveniently right on top of the sunburnt part of my neck, which made it hurt even more.

We had a workshop with the rest of the cluster called "Dream Big" today. It was about making a plan for our future. The workshop was designed as "A Life Lesson With Tiger Woods," so naturally Tiger was all over the course material. It was a good workshop, but there was way too much Tiger all over it.

The Beginning Of The End...

I arrived in Newfoundland five days ago, and I start work tomorrow, as while I write this it is the Victoria Day long weekend. I'm kind of shocked because I did not expect the time to be passing as fast as it has.

It started when I arrived in Wawa, and it's carried ever since. Sometimes it feels like an eternity, sometimes it passes in the blink of an eye. I intend to get as much as possible out of my last three months in the program, because it'll be over before you know it.

I found out where I'll be working for this rotation, for the first month I will work for the town, and for the last two months I will work with the local supported employment agency.

Our calendar is fully loaded already, and we've only been here as I said before, five days.

I'll post again soon. I also intend to get more pictures up on the site soon, so stay tuned for both.

ARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's happened again.

This morning another member of my group left. Complications here forced the move. He will be greatly missed, as he was by far the most popular, and for sure the party animal/clown of the group.

Our computer is broken (again). Some think that it's just the video isn't working, but I think it's far worse (Hard Drive Crash). Just goes to show that it's probably best to have different accounts for each person, as ours had only one that could do most anything.

On a happier note, I turn 18 on Sunday! I'm really looking forward to it, since we have free time, I will be able to go out with some people to the bar, or I might just hang out at the house. It's up to me.

I go to Newfoundland on Wednesday, so don't count on a new post for about 1-2 weeks.

À Bientôt!

>_<

Well, this is perfect.

The group has determined that we are not to have free time on Sunday night, which would have been nice, seeing as how it will be my 18th birthday. We will otherwise have a group activity, which I am not overly amused about, but mainly for the above mentioned reason.

I thought that during Katimavik I would be able to take advantage of the multiple windows of opportunity that have been open to me. However all but two of them were slammed shut with my fingers in them. I often wonder why I'm still in the program, but if I made it this far, I must be here for a reason. If only I knew what it was...

Packing again...

Well, I have two weeks until I go to Newfoundland for my third and final rotation on Katimavik. I've had fun in Trois-Rivières, and I've learned more than I ever imagined I would. I'll likely post again before the end of the rotation, but don't count on anything yet.

Feel free to keep in touch. You can post a comment, or you can send email (there's a link through my full profile, check on the right side of the screen.

After The Weekend

What a whirlwind! We did so much this weekend that it would be impossible to list it all here, but here's a summary.

On the first day in Québec City, we went to Old Québec (spent a lot of time in that part of town), and we had lunch on the Plains of Abraham, one of the many ancient battlefields in the area, which I found out is a world heritage site. Other than that, we went to Chute de Montmorency, which is a waterfall that is taller than Niagra Falls. On day two, there was a big celebration for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics near L'Assemblée Nationale, as the 2006 Canadian National Olympic Congress was there, so there was a free concert as part of the Star Academie (French version of Canadian Idol) tour, and afterwards found the group from Saint Élie, and we all went to Galleries De La Capital for Mega Salon de L'Été. It was a huge festival in the amusement park at the mall (it's a Québec version of West Edmonton Mall almost). One of the booths was for a boating school that was there to promote awareness of the "Pleasure Craft Operator's Card" which is basically a drivers licence for speedboats (now mandatory for operating a speedboat or other motorized pleasure craft in Canada). They were doing testing there, so I went in and did the test, and passed (narrowly, one more wrong question and I would've failed), so now all I have to do is pay the $40 issuing fee, and I am a licensed pleasure craft operator.

Myself and the other group members have tons of pictures, so I will be posting to my photo album site soon, watch for them!

WEEKEND!!!

I have quite the weekend lined up. Tonight we have free time, then tomorrow we leave during the morning to go on an overnight trip to Québec City. We have lots of great plans like visiting the Plains of Abraham, and seeing the Chateau Frontenac. I'll try to post pictures on my photo album as soon as I can.

You Know You're A Katima-Victim When... Updated Edition

You Know You're A Katima-Victim When... Updated Edition It's an old favourite, with holes filled in, and some items added. All credit goes to the original author, as I only added four entries to make the list amount to 210.

Three Weeks to Newfoundland

As of today (April 24), my group has about three weeks until we travel to Newfoundland for our final rotation for Katimavik.

I for one am filled with a sensation of surprise and excitement. I'm surprised that I have survived thus far, and we have only about three months left at this point. I'm excited as well by the fact that the program is almost over, and I will be able to return to my hometown and see my friends and family again.

Will try to post again later, but I can't promise anything, as Blogger has an outage scheduled later tonight, so I won't be able to get in to add any posts for a while.

Billeting Finishes

Billeting was fun, my family this time was really cool. My first night with them, they sent me to a Cabane À Sucre with the kids, which was really fun, ate a lot of food, all served with maple syrup (not that stuff that my family gets out west, the real stuff). I tried my hand at curling for the first time in two years. I failed miserably (at least in my opinion).

We did a lot of activities together, like game nights, and going out for walks, or travelling to town. It was definately a highlight of the rotation.

72 Hours-1 Objective

We started our 72 hours off last night, and for most of the group, we kicked it off by seeing Les Cowboys Fringants live here in Trois-Rivières. They are amazing live, if I get the chance to see them again, I would take it. But otherwise, the objective is to do as little as possible on our 72 hours off (around the house at least).

Since we are responsible for our own food, me and another participant went off shopping, and of course returned with as much processed food as possible, since that type of food is, by the standards of a Katima-Victim, a luxury item around the house. I myself plan to get a long overdue tune-up done on the house computer. It runs really slow sometimes, so with everyone out for the weekend, I should be able to have it fixed for when they come back.

I will post an update on billeting right away.

Cool... I Think...

Well, Billeting is almost over. I had a lot of fun with my family, going to cabane à sucre and just playing games at the house. But I also realized that there is but one rotation left in Katimavik for me. I'm amazed that I have made it this far, and I look forward to the end of the program (somewhat). It's not that this is a bad program, but it could sometimes drive one to insanity.

Bon Matin!

Allo tout le monde!

Hébergement pour les groupes dans mon triade (Trois-Rivières, Shawinigan et St. Élie) commencer ce soir. Apres travail, les participants et participantes obtenir a pris par leurs familles, et éxperience la vie avec leurs familles. Je suis excité!

Dernier Cours de Français

Le dernier cours de Français pour mon groupe est ce soir. Mon Français est mieux que avant Katimavik. Hébergement commencer Vendredi soir, donc même mieux!

Aujourd'hui, j'avais le meilleur jour à travail! Je pense c'est parce que le printemps est ici, mais je sais pas.

In english now...

The last French course for my group is tonight. My French is better than before Katimavik. Billeting starts Friday night, so even better!

Today, I had the best day at work! I think it's because spring is here, but I don't know.

Good News!

First off, my problem with Piczo was only temporary, and the site is running as normal.

Second, I start billeting at the end of the week. I'm unsure about my computer access, but I will attempt to post.

I'm going to a Les Cowboys Fringants concert at the start of my 72 hours, which begins the last night of billeting. They're a Québec band, and happen to be one of my favorites right now.

Website issues

I'll have to apologize if you can't view some of my pictures, Piczo is really bad for handling photos. In the meantime, you can view what's there, and I am going to be working on finding a better host for my photos.

This Really Sucks...

I can't say I didn't see this coming, but I never actually expected it to happen. It turns out that another member of the group is leaving us. She talked about it every now and then, but no one really paid any mind to her talk, we were expecting her to be one of the few that actually complete the program. But the deed is done, we can't change her mind now.

On the not so heavy side, we go billeting in two weeks. I find it really funny because I appear to have gotten the only really bilingual family of the bunch. I'm looking forward to billeting and getting a taste of Quebecois culture, as the Quebecois are the people of Canada that I've never really been able to understand. That and Newfoundland people, but I'll come to that soon enough.

72 Hours Could Mean Something

We just got our computer back, so I'm going to do a little update now.

We went on an excursion to Montreal on Saturday. It was pretty cool, we went and saw the Bîodome nature museum, the Planetarium, the Old Port, and had lunch at Mont Royal. I'll have pictures up on my photo album as soon as I can get a hold of them.

Our group is working to get an extension on our time off during the easter weekend. I've sent off our request and am expecting a reply on it soon. If it does get approved, then that means that I'll have a chance to spend two nights away from the house, which I'm planning to do in town, just away from the Katimavik house.

Anyhow, I'll be back to my whenever-I-feel-like-it updates over the next little while, so stay tuned.

Compy Troubles...

Please be patient if you don't see many posts soon, our computer got sent to Montreal for repairs, so I won't be posting as often.

Til then...

Super Canadian

 

Went to watch a hockey game in Shawinigan last night. Group stopped at Tim's on the way. That's a summary of the picture.

The hockey game was fun, Shawinigan won 9-6. Afterwards we went home and I baked until 2:45 AM. Have a workshop later today with the rest of the cluster. They're all really cool people, which is good, because that means the next two rotations will actually be fun. Not that my last cluster wasn't cool, but we seldom did things together, partially due to our lack-of-PLness.

Revenge In A Plastic Container

 

Flatulence is serious business. Aside from being rather disgusting, it's entertainment value is usually nil. But I'm gonna enjoy this. Beans, Jalapeno peppers, rice and chicken. Beans were deliberately added.

To be honest, this is really more of a joke post than anything. I have been getting mildly annoyed by my group of late during my term as house manager, and they have to put up with the aftermath of this concoction. Hence, my revenge. 

My Favourite Task...

Oh, how I come to hate being house manager by midweek. First off, the group (with the exception of a couple people) acts like a bunch of slobs. Second, they raid things that are budgeted to have two at supper, for example (talking about juice). Our house right now has a fridge that's for house manager/PL use only, and they go in that all the time.

I can't wait until monday, when I'm back to work.

My Project Moves Forward...

The Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone has just opened registration, and I am working to have Katimavik be involved in the event in the Trois-Rivières area. I have registered a team for Katimavik, and am also going to have us possibly volunteer at the event, and have a recruitment booth at the event. This all happens May 7. If you like, you may pledge me here.

Wow

Pardon the lateness of this post. I've been rather busy over the last couple weeks with work and other Katima-life related stuff.

We lost another participant on Feb.27. She was well liked in the group, so she'll be missed.

We went to a special journee de cabane a sucre at a local park on the weekend, and it was the first time I've tried maple syrup on snow (it's really good, if you get a chance to try it, do so).

Work has been going well thus far, with me being at the above mentioned park this week, as one of my work placements is closed for March break, and the other doesn't really require me this week (maybe it's because I'm an anglophone, but I'm not sure).

If you want to get in touch, email me at calvin@katimavik33030.cjb.net.

Till next time, Croque la vie!

Travail commencer Lundi Matin

Hello everyone,

Just thought I'd post to let you all know how the placement interviews went. Everyone did surprisingly well, as there are a couple people that still have very little french. I ended up getting chosen for two work placements, as I was the only person to want those placements. I will work at one four days a week, and at the other on Fridays.

We arrive in Quebec...

We arrived in Trois-Rivieres about 2 days ago. All I can say is "so far, so good." Luckily I have a decent grasp of the language, so I haven't had any real mishaps of yet. However, interviews for work are today, so that leaves some room for me to mess up.

While I was travelling, I ended up with a five hour wait in the Montreal airport before I was able to get on the bus to come here. As a result of rotation, I lost approximately 24 hours of sleep. Oh well, such is life in Katimavik.

Last Day of Billetting... And Work...

Today was both my last day of billetting, and my last day of work for this rotation. Billetting was really fun, and work was too. Today when I got to work, I was told by my supervisor that he was taking me to town hall at 3 PM. When he wouldn't tell me why, I started getting worried that I was in trouble. When the time came however, it turned out that the staff at town hall had organized a farewell get together for me. It was a really nice gesture, and I'll miss all the people I worked with there. Now, I'm house manager once again, and otherwise I have rotation camp approaching in close to one week. Anyways, I look forward to telling you all about goings on over the next little while. Talk to you all soon!

P.S. I made a message board for everyone to check out. Link is on the right.

The End and The Beginning...

My first trimester in Katimavik is drawing to a close in two weeks, and my group appears to be having trouble getting stuff sorted out. Granted, we are still billetting right now, and there's limited time to get stuff done, but it's all getting a little hectic. Our final presentation takes place in a week, and from what I know, everyone else is just starting to get ready now. I've been in the mindset for the past 2 weeks. Anyhow, the end appears to be acting much like the beginning.

Til Next Time.

Little Details...

I've been reviewing my blog archives, and it would appear that I've neglected some details.

The day following our work placement interviews, I found out that I had been placed with the local Township, working in arena maintenance two days a week, in Leisure Services/Tourism another two days a week, and as an administrative clerk at town hall on the remaining day. One thing I really enjoyed about the job is that I was given my own office by the Leisure Service/Tourism department, and have been working out of there for a while now.

We've had three participants leave the group, with two planning to visit us in Quebec.

That's about all I can think of right now. I'll wade through my archives to see if I can find more. You can also view the archives by viewing the archives sidebar on the right of the screen (but that's obvious now isn't it?).

Til Next Time.

Billeting-Week 2

The second and final week of billeting in my first rotation is underway. I've had an interesting week, I found out from one of my work supervisors (I have three. I'll explain later) that I will get to drive the "Olympia" this week. Olympia is an ice resurfacing machine competing with Zamboni. Anyways, my billet family took me to a "fish fry" fundraiser, which had extremely good food. We've also gone on two hikes, one of which I did for the second time, but this time with about 1.5 feet of snow on the trail.

This is also the three week mark before we go to our next stop, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. I'm really excited to go, but I'm really nervous too, because I'm only just getting a grip on the French language. But I'll do fine, if I don't make a fool out of myself first.

Til next time, Don't Get Eliminated!

Billetting Begins...

Everyone started billetting tonight. All I can say right now is so far, so good. My family is pretty cool, their kids are all out of the house, so I get my own room which during Katimavik, is a luxury in and of itself. There's a TV in my room, which is a luxury that can only be experienced during billetting. I'll post later on, as I haven't been here for really long, and I should be getting to bed soon.

Giving 'Er

My group goes up to White River for a dodgeball tournament on Saturday. I'm pretty sure we'll school them, so I don't worry about it. It will be so awesome, and I can't wait! Afterwards, I've heard there will be a dance party, which is really fun. I'll be posting more photos up on the web soon, I'm just having problems with the store I gave them to for developing, but I'm expecting them by next week. Keep looking for them.

On another note, my group is going to Quebec in almost a month. It's really weird, mainly because I still know very little French (I've learned some, but I still won't last in Quebec). I go billetting soon, so I'll be spending two weeks living with a family in the community. I'm hoping I get placed with a bilingual family so I have an opportunity to practice my French. I'll keep you posted.

The Beginning of A New Life

Our house has been re-energized at last. Our new PL arrived on Saturday afternoon, and she's been willing to interact and have fun with the group. We get along (when we have to), and butt heads (when we need to). Otherwise, it's good to have some stability restored in the house.

When 48 Hours Means Something:Part 2

WTF?!? Part 2 now? You may say, but I have good reason. I'm house manager this week, and have had very little opportunity to do much of anything with my blog. Anyways, here's how the 48 hours went.

I slept in until 11 AM on Saturday. Went for a walk, and got to meet our new permanent PL, later went to play pool with another participant. That night, our PL came and played poker with us.

That's my summary of the weekend. I hope to have a better report in my next rotations, so keep looking.

When 48 Hours Means Something

My group goes for their 48 hours off tonight. That means that we're free to do what we would like to do, within reason and the norm of course. I don't plan to do much this time around, but when we all go to Quebec, then I have some big plans. I'll try to post sometime over the weekend to let you know how it's going.

Happy New Year!!!

Well, it's new years day! We went up to White River for a new years party, which was pretty cool. We had a huge fire in the yard, and a dance party inside the house, with board games in the kitchen. They even had a ton of snacks (more than one would think necessary, but we had like 21 people). Everyone really enjoyed themselves, and I even got into a hockey shootout in the basement. By that I mean "break excess Christmas ornaments by shooting hockey pucks at them". Anyways, hope your new year is a good one.