Well today we had Halloween! Because Halloween is on a Sunday this year, they decided to observe the occasion the day before. It is kind of refreshing and nice that they keep Sunday to be observed as a religious day.
Having Halloween here has definitely put Amanda, Greg and I into culture shock. First off, all the kids go out, and when I say all I mean ALL, even the babies. The adults even go trick or treating. So I don't think we will have enough candy. Greg, Amanda and I have come together to combine our candy, but I still think we will be short.
It is fun seeing the kids come dressed up in their costumes. We have had so many people already. The biggest culture shock to us is that the kids don't even knock when they trick or treat. You turn around and all of a sudden their are people in your house. While Greg goes to the door to give out candy, all Amanda and I can do is laugh, hysterically. It is just something we are not used to.
We have banned Amanda from handing out candy. She gives to much candy out! We wouldn't have enough candy for everyone. Although she probably is giving them what they want. Greg is giving them two candies each and they look at him and give him a look saying "that's it?"
It has been a very interesting experience, with a little culture shock! Well we better get back to handing out candy, and we are playing Wii Sports Resort!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Let It Snow Part 2
Well, we thought it was crazy yesterday when we woke up and it was snowing. However, this morning was even more surprising. When we walked out of the house today we walked into a Winter Wonderland. Welcome to our October Winter Wonderland!!! 
Our house is the third one back.
Our house is the third one back.Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
Greg and I woke up to quite a surprise this morning. When we walked out of the house this morning we discovered it was SNOWING. Although, it has snowed up here already, today was different. Before today the snow had been a mix of rain and snow. Today, however, it was legit SNOW, all on its own!
I always love the first snow fall, but I do eventually get annoyed with it. It snowed all day and didn't stop once. It was a constant stream of snow. It did not accumulate to much, in some areas there was more snow than others. I thought I would just share in our little surprise today.
Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDPA HOTSON!!!!
This is a picture of Greg and I in our backyard with a little bit of snow. It is still snowing in this picture, but you can clearly not tell, it was light.
I always love the first snow fall, but I do eventually get annoyed with it. It snowed all day and didn't stop once. It was a constant stream of snow. It did not accumulate to much, in some areas there was more snow than others. I thought I would just share in our little surprise today.
Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDPA HOTSON!!!!
This is a picture of Greg and I in our backyard with a little bit of snow. It is still snowing in this picture, but you can clearly not tell, it was light.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Gone Fishin'
This week, on Wednesday, we had the opportunity to go with a local teacher and her husband to check their fishing nets. After school we went with Vicky to her house. Her husband met us and off we went. They were surprised that I didn't have a sweater or coat, but I reassured them that I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants (I hadn't changed into shorts yet since we went immediately after school).
The boat ride was approx. 20 minutes to their nets. Deer Lake is not one large round body of water. Instead, it has countless islets, bays, rivers and streams that make it one of the large lakes in Northern Ontario. When we finally reach the nets, the waves had become quite large, creating whitecaps and rocking the boat. Since we were already there, they decided to check the nets anyways. They told us that normally with waves that high and rough they wouldn't have gone out.
They have two nets, both 50 feet in length. The nets begin from shore and are tied down 100 feet of shore by a pile of rocks. All in all there were 4 types of fish caught in the nets: walleye, suckerfish, tulapi (or something like that) and jackfish. At one point Claire asked what type of bait they put in their nets. They both looked at her like she had two faces. Vicky informed her that they don't use baits, instead the fish get caught in the nets and cannot get out.
This is a picture of the Nursing Station from the boat, the blue buidling weight a red top and roof.
Claire sitting in the boat.
Of the four species of fish, they only the walleye. They try to give their dog the other 3 types, but even he won't eat it sometimes.
The boat ride was approx. 20 minutes to their nets. Deer Lake is not one large round body of water. Instead, it has countless islets, bays, rivers and streams that make it one of the large lakes in Northern Ontario. When we finally reach the nets, the waves had become quite large, creating whitecaps and rocking the boat. Since we were already there, they decided to check the nets anyways. They told us that normally with waves that high and rough they wouldn't have gone out.
They have two nets, both 50 feet in length. The nets begin from shore and are tied down 100 feet of shore by a pile of rocks. All in all there were 4 types of fish caught in the nets: walleye, suckerfish, tulapi (or something like that) and jackfish. At one point Claire asked what type of bait they put in their nets. They both looked at her like she had two faces. Vicky informed her that they don't use baits, instead the fish get caught in the nets and cannot get out.
This is a picture of the Nursing Station from the boat, the blue buidling weight a red top and roof.
Claire sitting in the boat.
Of the four species of fish, they only the walleye. They try to give their dog the other 3 types, but even he won't eat it sometimes.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Doe a Deer
After our seminar, which ended on Thursday, we went sight seeing around Thunder Bay. Our first stop was the Terry Fox Memorial, which is about 15 minutes outside of Thunder Bay. The memorial was quite something, as it allowed an opportunity to also view the city and an expanse view of Lake Superior. 
A sign indicating the memorial is up ahead. Apparently, Claire decided the light post was also important enough to make it the centre of attention. Really, it was quite a challenge as there are few light posts that line the highway. This must have been the third one we saw over a stretch of 10 km, so to get it at this point was quite a feat.
A nice view of the pathway leading to the memorial. The scenery reminded us more of Thanksgiving down south. Currently in Deer Lake we are waiting for snow as all, or most, of the leaves have already fallen. We really like this picture.
Along with the memorial, was a vista that allowed you to see the city of Thunder Bay and Lake Superior. This picture is of the Sleeping Giant Park, more on this later.
The memorial.
A view of the memorial as we are driving away. Luckily there are no light posts on this stretch of highway.
After the memorial we drove to Kakabeka Falls. This picture is us in front of the falls.
Down below.
A nice view of the boardwalk to one of the scenic lookouts.
This is the car we rented for the week, a Nissan Versa 2010. A very nice car, that we grew to love during the week. It had everything that we weren't used to: air conditioning, power locks, keyless entry, power windows and best of all, a radio. There are no radio stations in Deer Lake, so it was nice to drive while listening to music.
The next day, we went for a drive, with no clear final destination in sight (it was a week of firsts). We made our way down to the lake and found a conservation area next to the lake. This picture is of the Sleeping Giant. Claire had this fascination with this park, trying to get a picture at any opportunity. While at the conservation area we went for a walk on the beach and through the woods. There was a Cub Pack there, which was pretty neat to see.
Claire, gazing at the Sleeping Giant Park, again.
On the way, or drive, we passed this back road and I thought I saw what looked to be a deer. We stopped at the next road and noticed that there were two deer eating grass at the side of the road. We drove slowly up and the deer held their ground. The next sight was surprising, as we found out there were 10-12 deer around this house between these two roads. These deer would walk right up to your window, as the second picture will attest. Talking to another driver, who must have been from the area, we found out that the deer are sort of an attraction in the area. They are fed, although discouraged to do so, by visitors.
A sign indicating the memorial is up ahead. Apparently, Claire decided the light post was also important enough to make it the centre of attention. Really, it was quite a challenge as there are few light posts that line the highway. This must have been the third one we saw over a stretch of 10 km, so to get it at this point was quite a feat.
A nice view of the pathway leading to the memorial. The scenery reminded us more of Thanksgiving down south. Currently in Deer Lake we are waiting for snow as all, or most, of the leaves have already fallen. We really like this picture. 
Along with the memorial, was a vista that allowed you to see the city of Thunder Bay and Lake Superior. This picture is of the Sleeping Giant Park, more on this later.
The memorial.
A view of the memorial as we are driving away. Luckily there are no light posts on this stretch of highway.
After the memorial we drove to Kakabeka Falls. This picture is us in front of the falls.
Down below.
A nice view of the boardwalk to one of the scenic lookouts.
This is the car we rented for the week, a Nissan Versa 2010. A very nice car, that we grew to love during the week. It had everything that we weren't used to: air conditioning, power locks, keyless entry, power windows and best of all, a radio. There are no radio stations in Deer Lake, so it was nice to drive while listening to music.
The next day, we went for a drive, with no clear final destination in sight (it was a week of firsts). We made our way down to the lake and found a conservation area next to the lake. This picture is of the Sleeping Giant. Claire had this fascination with this park, trying to get a picture at any opportunity. While at the conservation area we went for a walk on the beach and through the woods. There was a Cub Pack there, which was pretty neat to see.
Claire, gazing at the Sleeping Giant Park, again.On the way, or drive, we passed this back road and I thought I saw what looked to be a deer. We stopped at the next road and noticed that there were two deer eating grass at the side of the road. We drove slowly up and the deer held their ground. The next sight was surprising, as we found out there were 10-12 deer around this house between these two roads. These deer would walk right up to your window, as the second picture will attest. Talking to another driver, who must have been from the area, we found out that the deer are sort of an attraction in the area. They are fed, although discouraged to do so, by visitors.
This deer was so close his head was inside our car. Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, we saw that it had a huge gash under its chin. Disgusting!
Plane Pictures
Here are the pictures that should have been posted with the last post.
A picture of the plane that took us from Deer Lake to Thunder Bay. All in all there were 6 stops, making for a long day and a mild headache. The plane held 13 passengers and could not have been wider than the average car. The one advantage was that the longest flight was only 30 minutes.
A view of Thunder Bay from the sky. We flew into Thunder Bay at 3:20 pm.
This picture and the one that follows is trying to show how close we were to the Airport, but they do not give it any justice. Our hotel, Travelodge on the Airlane, should have been renamed to Travelodge on the Runway. Throughout the day the airplanes would fly overhead, shaking the windows to the brink of shattering. According to Thunder Bay's Airport website, there are 75 planes flying into Thunder Bay on any given day. This number is vastly underestimated, as there must have been over 100 flights just during the day.
A picture of the plane that took us from Deer Lake to Thunder Bay. All in all there were 6 stops, making for a long day and a mild headache. The plane held 13 passengers and could not have been wider than the average car. The one advantage was that the longest flight was only 30 minutes.
A view of Thunder Bay from the sky. We flew into Thunder Bay at 3:20 pm.
This picture and the one that follows is trying to show how close we were to the Airport, but they do not give it any justice. Our hotel, Travelodge on the Airlane, should have been renamed to Travelodge on the Runway. Throughout the day the airplanes would fly overhead, shaking the windows to the brink of shattering. According to Thunder Bay's Airport website, there are 75 planes flying into Thunder Bay on any given day. This number is vastly underestimated, as there must have been over 100 flights just during the day.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thunder Bay
On Monday October 4, Greg and I flew out of Deer Lake for a First Nations Education Conference. We were really excited to fly out (not because we want to leave Deer Lake) because we were going on an adventure and doing things we had never done before. We took a Wasaya plane that seated 16 people. Although this plane sat more people than our Northway flight (what we took to get to Deer Lake) it was far more squishy. However, this was a very exciting flight. We were among the first picked up so we had to travel to multiple other reserves to pick others up. We got to see Sandy Lake, Keewaywin, Pikangikum, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and then finally we made it to Thunder Bay. It was a lot of up and down, and although the up and down part is my favourite part of flying, it was alittle much by the end.
We got off our plane and got all our gear together (which successfully made it to TBay, I guess they lose things sometimes). Greg and I then rented our first car (talk about expensive), we are currently driving a little Nissan Versa around. It is so nice to have a car that we can use anytime we want, to go anywhere.
Our conference was good, we met a lot of people and made a few connections, and the food they served was GREAT! Most of the seminars we attended over the 3 days were good, however there were a few dry ones. We definitely have learned a lot.
Our conference ended yesterday and now we are resting and "vacationing" in Thunder Bay. We have a bit of shopping we want to get down and we need to get groceries. We have so far purchased rubber boats and snow pants, so I think we are Deer Lake ready now. We have also enjoyed eating out and experiencing greasy food again (not that, that is a good thing).
We have 2 full days left here now and we may go see some sights. We do miss Deer Lake though. We really enjoy living there and the way life is. Our first day in TBay we walked into a Walmart and we had to walk out. It was way to busy and there was way to much selection. It is funny how we have only been in Deer Lake for 7 weeks and we feel this way already. It is kinda refreshing to get away from the hectic way of life in Southern Ontario.
We got off our plane and got all our gear together (which successfully made it to TBay, I guess they lose things sometimes). Greg and I then rented our first car (talk about expensive), we are currently driving a little Nissan Versa around. It is so nice to have a car that we can use anytime we want, to go anywhere.
Our conference was good, we met a lot of people and made a few connections, and the food they served was GREAT! Most of the seminars we attended over the 3 days were good, however there were a few dry ones. We definitely have learned a lot.
Our conference ended yesterday and now we are resting and "vacationing" in Thunder Bay. We have a bit of shopping we want to get down and we need to get groceries. We have so far purchased rubber boats and snow pants, so I think we are Deer Lake ready now. We have also enjoyed eating out and experiencing greasy food again (not that, that is a good thing).
We have 2 full days left here now and we may go see some sights. We do miss Deer Lake though. We really enjoy living there and the way life is. Our first day in TBay we walked into a Walmart and we had to walk out. It was way to busy and there was way to much selection. It is funny how we have only been in Deer Lake for 7 weeks and we feel this way already. It is kinda refreshing to get away from the hectic way of life in Southern Ontario.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Fundraising Auction
On Saturday the Grade 8s and 9s held an auction on our local television. The students brought anything they could donate to the station. Claire was the chauffeur, driving the sold items to the peope who won. I was the fortunate person stuck in front of the camera all afternoon. We had a table in front, selling three items at a time. Typically the auction round would last 10 minutes. For three hours I was wealing and dealing, broadcast live to over 800 people.
Need less to say, I will not be attempting a future career in broadcasting. My debut featured some mishaps, which several people would not let me forget. I was in charge of informing the viewers of the current prices, as well as answering the phone when more than one person was calling. One common mistake was the pronounciation of several names. In one particular case I was calling one person Gorba. Over live T.V., I was asking for a Gorba to phone, indicating where she wanted her purchase dropped off. It wasn't until some of the students, who were enjoying my mistake a little too much, noted that the person was actually called Forba. Honest mistake. Another mishap involved my countdown. When the round was finishing, I started my countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 1, SOLD! A viewer soon phoned in, asking if I was really a teacher at the school. The student who answered the phone, without missing a beat, exclaimed, "he is my math teacher too! "
A photo of me in front of the desk. This is just the beginning, but you can sense the fear in my eyes.
Jack of All Trades. Who says a man can't multi-task?
This pretty much sums up the afternoon, me stuck in a room trying to do everything at once. Is that Forba on the phone?
Finally some help has arrived. Taylor (middle) saved me by answering the phones.
Need less to say, I will not be attempting a future career in broadcasting. My debut featured some mishaps, which several people would not let me forget. I was in charge of informing the viewers of the current prices, as well as answering the phone when more than one person was calling. One common mistake was the pronounciation of several names. In one particular case I was calling one person Gorba. Over live T.V., I was asking for a Gorba to phone, indicating where she wanted her purchase dropped off. It wasn't until some of the students, who were enjoying my mistake a little too much, noted that the person was actually called Forba. Honest mistake. Another mishap involved my countdown. When the round was finishing, I started my countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 1, SOLD! A viewer soon phoned in, asking if I was really a teacher at the school. The student who answered the phone, without missing a beat, exclaimed, "he is my math teacher too! "
A photo of me in front of the desk. This is just the beginning, but you can sense the fear in my eyes.
Jack of All Trades. Who says a man can't multi-task?
This pretty much sums up the afternoon, me stuck in a room trying to do everything at once. Is that Forba on the phone?
Finally some help has arrived. Taylor (middle) saved me by answering the phones.
Altogether, we made $672 at the auction. Our fundraising total is already $3000. Pretty amazing since last year at the same time they had raised only $300.
Baseball!
Yesterday, Greg and I decided to get our classes together and play a game of baseball. We have both been focussing on baseball in Phys. Ed., and we thought it would be fun for the classes to play one another. Last year, the grade 8's (then grade 7's) proudly beat the grade 8's (now grade 9's). When we played against each other 2 weeks ago the grade 8's were sure they would beat the grade 9's. Unfortunately, they lost and the grade 9's came out victorious. Due to this bad loss the grade 8's wanted a chance to redeem themselves.
So we tried again. The game started off great and the grade 8's were beating the grade 9's and then all of a sudden the game turned around. The grade 9's began to win. Sadly, the grade 9's came out on top again and won an embarrassing score of 40-20. We had a great game though and the students love playing together. Below are a few pictures of our afternoon!
This is Keesha (grade 9), when Greg began the baseball unit with the grade 9's she couldn't hit the ball and now she hits great. The first time she made contact with the ball, she did so well that the ball came back and hit the pitcher!
Nathan (grade 8) up to bat!
A few of the grade 9's Left to Right - Shadoe, Antonia, Lyndon, Kasenda, Miranda and Keesha. Bertina is in the background.
Miranda and Keesha (grade 9)
Graham (grade 8) up to bat and in mid swing
Huntter(on the left in grade 9) and Joseph on base (grade 8). The school only has one helmet and Joseph likes to wear it (not to protect himself, but just to be cool).
Miranda (grade 9) up to bat.
So we tried again. The game started off great and the grade 8's were beating the grade 9's and then all of a sudden the game turned around. The grade 9's began to win. Sadly, the grade 9's came out on top again and won an embarrassing score of 40-20. We had a great game though and the students love playing together. Below are a few pictures of our afternoon!
This is Keesha (grade 9), when Greg began the baseball unit with the grade 9's she couldn't hit the ball and now she hits great. The first time she made contact with the ball, she did so well that the ball came back and hit the pitcher!
Nathan (grade 8) up to bat!
A few of the grade 9's Left to Right - Shadoe, Antonia, Lyndon, Kasenda, Miranda and Keesha. Bertina is in the background.
Miranda and Keesha (grade 9)
Graham (grade 8) up to bat and in mid swing
Huntter(on the left in grade 9) and Joseph on base (grade 8). The school only has one helmet and Joseph likes to wear it (not to protect himself, but just to be cool).
Miranda (grade 9) up to bat.
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