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I have withdrawn my previous statements about the food, as they have since been resolved.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.