There is an exceptional, warm feeling to be had when finding out the book you've been waiting for has come into print and is 40% off. The newest of a series I've been following for the better part of the decade is now my weekend project, which has made this day so much better. For those who have been following this H1N1 thing, Antigonish has been one of the hardest hit areas in Canada. Go figure. A few of our group have contracted the disease and are feeling "fluish". I still don't unerstand the hype. According to one of our members more people die from toaster related incidents, I kinda want to see those studies. Meeting today, about half of us were in quarantine, and a couple of us have just left, myself among them. I am pretty sure this was just a bad head cold, otherwise this has been blow way out of proportion, but I was still unhappy for a couple days trying to gain some body and mental stability. But the foggy veil has lifted, I'm not chilled, and I'm getting better at not dropping my swing partner, though she may now be infected, sorry about that.
Swing may be dropped from this shows set list as we are still working on choreography and we have less than a week to learn. The individual moves we can do, but putting them in a sequence that will shock and amaze is proving more difficult than I'd anticipated. But we both want to learn so when we get to Indonesia, we can pass it off as "traditional canadian dance". It was invented in N. America, so it's close.
On wed. Hendri and I finally did our presentations on our homes. His had more media than mine, taken from a tourist advertisment and covered all of Indonesia whereas mine is a little more scoially focused, going into Native concerns and global warming. The classes seemed to like them both, although my first presentation was to a gr. 11 class that was not into the whole school idea and I got a lot of blank faces. The gr. 5's just wanted to hear ghost stories from the Nahanni, so I'll have to look up more of those. I like working at the school, despite the longer day. It's interesting and helps me work on my presentation skills which have come along way in the last year. We go back on monday.
Hopefully, people will be better for tomorrow, because we have a halloween party planned if we aren't still infected. I'm not sure what I'm going as, but I'm healthier so I want to get out.
Happy Halloween
Friday, October 30, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Well it's been a long while since I've posted something, sorry I've just let it slide with everything else that's been going on.
So far we've, or at least some of us, have been working on our fundraiser. We've been making some decent progress, we have the menu planned, a place to do it, tickets printed, letters being sent out for donations, a set list for the entertainment and we are working on the songs and dances we have to memorize. It's fairly mutable at this point, a lot can change with little notice, but at this point I am doing songs in 2 medleys and a dance that the whole group is involved in. The dance I have down, the songs not so much. Not only are they not in english, they aren't in Bahasa. The medleys were designed to represent the whole of Indonesian culture, and like canada, it's fairluy varied. Unlike canada, each province has it's own dialect that is almost incomprehensible to the others, and while they all had to learn the words in their 2 week intro course to the program, they don't know what they're singing.
Most of the acts are Indonesian in nature, with a couple english and a french act interspersed throughout the show. Over midproject we were attempting to have a dance party, and for some reason I decided to teach some people a little of the swing dance I learned at Mt A. Apparently I learned more than I thought, and people were impressed, and suddenly it was in the show. Originally we had 6 people, 2 Indonesians. Since then, people have either not been comfortable, gotten hurt or both so it's down to Anna and myself. We have covered quite a few cool moves and now we need to work on some choreography because we need to look good for the cameras.
Somehow, Hendri spoke to a national news program in Indonesia, and they asked if we could film it for their broadcast. So, apparently we're going to be on national tv in different country. THIS is how viral videos start.
Midproject, already more than a week ago, was pretty fun. I felt we spent a lot of time talking when we could have been enjoying the weekend off. Some extraordinary luck found us at the Sisters of St. Martha retreat, a very scenic spot a little up the coast, quiet and secluded and plenty of space for us to cook, party(ish), and have "lively" group sessions. Most of our time was spent discussing different aspects of everyones life. Most of it was repeated sveral times, and the sit in a circle and talk style of learning has never been my forte, but we suffered through it and somehow somethings were resolved and, if not that, people could vent. I just don't like that everyone feels compelled to speak when they don't want to, and many things either don't need to be said, or have already been said. We're still working on our communication skills
It's starting to get cold here. Somehow I got frostbite on my ears, and today we were removing plastic from some of the fields, and with all the rain my fingers were wet and numb for most of the morning. I'm trying to stay on the side of healthy (insert swine flu worry here) and slowly losing that battle. The cold does not help the immune system. I'm wondering what my body will do when we go to Indonesia. It should be around -5 in late Nov. and 25 in Java. A bit of a difference, should be fun to see the reaction.
I got the package from Fort Simpson (thanks Mum and Dad), and found some interesting souvenirs I can give out. Not sure who thought ordering dehcho first nations "bandannas" would be a good idea, or why the colour scheme is black and red tie-dye, but they're a cool gag gift. Whoever put the M&M's in wins my undying love, I enjoyed those, thanks for everything.
With that I say goodbye. I'll work on more regular updates.
Justin
So far we've, or at least some of us, have been working on our fundraiser. We've been making some decent progress, we have the menu planned, a place to do it, tickets printed, letters being sent out for donations, a set list for the entertainment and we are working on the songs and dances we have to memorize. It's fairly mutable at this point, a lot can change with little notice, but at this point I am doing songs in 2 medleys and a dance that the whole group is involved in. The dance I have down, the songs not so much. Not only are they not in english, they aren't in Bahasa. The medleys were designed to represent the whole of Indonesian culture, and like canada, it's fairluy varied. Unlike canada, each province has it's own dialect that is almost incomprehensible to the others, and while they all had to learn the words in their 2 week intro course to the program, they don't know what they're singing.
Most of the acts are Indonesian in nature, with a couple english and a french act interspersed throughout the show. Over midproject we were attempting to have a dance party, and for some reason I decided to teach some people a little of the swing dance I learned at Mt A. Apparently I learned more than I thought, and people were impressed, and suddenly it was in the show. Originally we had 6 people, 2 Indonesians. Since then, people have either not been comfortable, gotten hurt or both so it's down to Anna and myself. We have covered quite a few cool moves and now we need to work on some choreography because we need to look good for the cameras.
Somehow, Hendri spoke to a national news program in Indonesia, and they asked if we could film it for their broadcast. So, apparently we're going to be on national tv in different country. THIS is how viral videos start.
Midproject, already more than a week ago, was pretty fun. I felt we spent a lot of time talking when we could have been enjoying the weekend off. Some extraordinary luck found us at the Sisters of St. Martha retreat, a very scenic spot a little up the coast, quiet and secluded and plenty of space for us to cook, party(ish), and have "lively" group sessions. Most of our time was spent discussing different aspects of everyones life. Most of it was repeated sveral times, and the sit in a circle and talk style of learning has never been my forte, but we suffered through it and somehow somethings were resolved and, if not that, people could vent. I just don't like that everyone feels compelled to speak when they don't want to, and many things either don't need to be said, or have already been said. We're still working on our communication skills
It's starting to get cold here. Somehow I got frostbite on my ears, and today we were removing plastic from some of the fields, and with all the rain my fingers were wet and numb for most of the morning. I'm trying to stay on the side of healthy (insert swine flu worry here) and slowly losing that battle. The cold does not help the immune system. I'm wondering what my body will do when we go to Indonesia. It should be around -5 in late Nov. and 25 in Java. A bit of a difference, should be fun to see the reaction.
I got the package from Fort Simpson (thanks Mum and Dad), and found some interesting souvenirs I can give out. Not sure who thought ordering dehcho first nations "bandannas" would be a good idea, or why the colour scheme is black and red tie-dye, but they're a cool gag gift. Whoever put the M&M's in wins my undying love, I enjoyed those, thanks for everything.
With that I say goodbye. I'll work on more regular updates.
Justin
Monday, October 12, 2009
Most of my entries are pretty bare bones, mostly cause I try to sum up a week in a few paragraphs and there is actually a lot going on. On Friday a few people in the group went to taekwondo class, which I wasn't really thrilled about but since Hendri seemed psyched, I went along. There were about 8 of us, organized by another member of the group. I had planned to stay for a couple minutes than use the track outside to go for a run. But once everone was there and we got into it, we had a good time. I haven't had a chance to do much exercise oriented towards martial arts in awhile and being back in that environment was a good reminder of that. We all broke a sweat, and I got a few compliments on my form, which was kind of cheating as I didn't mention my experience. I have been running most days, even started doing sprints, but the sensei(?) worked us hard and all our bodies were aching afterward.
I had hoped that my brother would have come up this weekend but he's apparently gone camping. I haven't had a chance to see Antigonish after dark all that often, as we need supervisor approved drivers before we can go anywhere and I don't want to ask my host parents to drive me much past 10. However, I did get a visit from some family yesterday, my aunts Ann Marie, and Mary, along with my Grampie came up and took Hendri and I to lunch in town. The visit was very good, I think Hendri enjoyed meeting them and we got a chance to talk about a few things before I leave. They also brought up my computer which will ease some of the burden placed on the home comp. THey have high speed wireless and I don't have to feel to guilty about being on it often and facebook and skype seem to be additions for all the Indonesians. We can pretty much guarantee someone is on FB when we stop anywhere.
Tomrrow I have my second EAD, I am providing native oriented games, so I'll be bringing out some of the more accessible games from AWGs.
Today is Thanksgiving, so in the spirit, I am thankful for family and friends, old and new, who have helped me get here and remind me of home.
Love to everyone
Justin
X
I had hoped that my brother would have come up this weekend but he's apparently gone camping. I haven't had a chance to see Antigonish after dark all that often, as we need supervisor approved drivers before we can go anywhere and I don't want to ask my host parents to drive me much past 10. However, I did get a visit from some family yesterday, my aunts Ann Marie, and Mary, along with my Grampie came up and took Hendri and I to lunch in town. The visit was very good, I think Hendri enjoyed meeting them and we got a chance to talk about a few things before I leave. They also brought up my computer which will ease some of the burden placed on the home comp. THey have high speed wireless and I don't have to feel to guilty about being on it often and facebook and skype seem to be additions for all the Indonesians. We can pretty much guarantee someone is on FB when we stop anywhere.
Tomrrow I have my second EAD, I am providing native oriented games, so I'll be bringing out some of the more accessible games from AWGs.
Today is Thanksgiving, so in the spirit, I am thankful for family and friends, old and new, who have helped me get here and remind me of home.
Love to everyone
Justin
X
Thursday, October 8, 2009
So we're still working on communication, but getting better at geting together. With everyone living so far away, it takes a bit of organization.
On tues. I did my first EAD on organic farming. Hendri, John, Danar and I all did it, and asked our work placement boss did a talk. We had it out in Bayfield where we work, which meant we didn't have to get into town. it also meant that we would be near our house so we deided to combine it with a potluck/bonfire thing. Lots of fun we went swimmming which was pretty cold, but even the Indoneasians went in. I'm sure pictures will make it to fb. Everyone brought a bunch of food, with a heavy focus on indonesian dishes, so spicy. Getting use to the spice though, which will benefit me when we get across the ocean.
On that note, probably a good idea to mention the earthquakes. Of the 3 only one was on the island where we will be going, Java, and most of the damage should be repaired by the time we get there. The quake on Sulawesi caused much more damage and killed a couple thousand people, it caused a lot more stir in the group. One our members is from the island but herr family is ok. A member of the Amherst group is from Padang, the center of the quake. His family is ok, but people are still dying. We are planning on putting together a fundraiser for the victims, a dinner of indonesian food coupled wih some cultural dances from both Antigonish and Indonesia. Not sure how much we'll raise but it makes a difference, hopefully.
Otherwise things have been going well here. Hard to believe that next week is Midproject, we'll be leaving town as a group for a couple days. This weekend is thanksgiving, I know we'll be having people here for dinner, but I'm hoping to see some family.
On tues. I did my first EAD on organic farming. Hendri, John, Danar and I all did it, and asked our work placement boss did a talk. We had it out in Bayfield where we work, which meant we didn't have to get into town. it also meant that we would be near our house so we deided to combine it with a potluck/bonfire thing. Lots of fun we went swimmming which was pretty cold, but even the Indoneasians went in. I'm sure pictures will make it to fb. Everyone brought a bunch of food, with a heavy focus on indonesian dishes, so spicy. Getting use to the spice though, which will benefit me when we get across the ocean.
On that note, probably a good idea to mention the earthquakes. Of the 3 only one was on the island where we will be going, Java, and most of the damage should be repaired by the time we get there. The quake on Sulawesi caused much more damage and killed a couple thousand people, it caused a lot more stir in the group. One our members is from the island but herr family is ok. A member of the Amherst group is from Padang, the center of the quake. His family is ok, but people are still dying. We are planning on putting together a fundraiser for the victims, a dinner of indonesian food coupled wih some cultural dances from both Antigonish and Indonesia. Not sure how much we'll raise but it makes a difference, hopefully.
Otherwise things have been going well here. Hard to believe that next week is Midproject, we'll be leaving town as a group for a couple days. This weekend is thanksgiving, I know we'll be having people here for dinner, but I'm hoping to see some family.
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