Planning, Sick and Planning Some More!

Well it has been a good weekend, but like always it goes way to fast. Friday night was awesome, it was so nice to get off school and know that we don't have to go back tomorrow. It is nice having a day off. Greg and I had a "date night" on Friday. We watched a movie and splurged on pop and chips. It was so nice.

Yesterday we spent the day planning. We went to the school for a good chunk of the day and then spent more time working hard at home. There is just so much to do all the time and when you think you are done there is more to do.

Today Greg has went back to the school. The school has a little work out gym for teachers so Greg has went to work out, and spend more time planning. I am working from home today. Although it has been a good weekend I have been fighting a cold all weekend. It has not been fun and I feel like a truck rolled over me. I think Greg thinks I have the plague because he won't come near me or give me a hug. Mom, I miss your hugs when I am sick. I need you to come and take care of me (possibly make me some tea). I am such a baby when I am sick. I am hoping to feel better by tomorrow for school. I am praying I get better.

Our Week

Hello everyone,

It is has been a week since I last posted and it has been a busy week. We had a fairly good school week. I had one rough morning with my students. They did not want to do anything for me they wouldn't talk, answer any of my questions, or read from their books. I tried talking to them about why they weren't doing any work. The one student answered "I don't want to". So I told them if you are going to waste time in class, then you are going to lose your phys. ed. Unfortunately, I did have to take away their phys. ed. period, but they worked better in the afternoon while they were missing their phys. ed. period. I think they are still testing me a little bit to see what they can get away with.

Greg's week was good I can't say that he had any complaints. He was really excited to watch the first NFL game on Thursday night and is looking forward to tomorrows game also (he does not know who plays though). Out of the three of us I think Amanda had the toughest week. I hope that for her sake it gets better for her.

On Friday's the Native Language teacher takes one grade out and away from school to do some kind of Native activity. Each grade (4-9) takes turns on Friday afternoons going to participate. Yesterday the grade 9's went and because I teach them in the afternoon I went with them to chaperone. We were supposed to go to the rapids and go fishing but because it was raining (by the way when it rains here it pours, and it pours ALL DAY). So we stayed back and learned to make bead jewlery. The technique we learned was called bead looming. It was so much fun. The whole bracelet I was making is made from beads. Anyone who knows me, knows I love arts and crafts so clearly I was totally enjoying myself in this class. I also think it was good for me to sit with the students and be a "student" myself. It showed them that I still am learning too.

Today Greg and I are heading back to the school to plan a good chunk of our week. Hope all is well at home.

EXCITEMENT

I just feel like I need to share my excitement over the fact that we got a.... MOP!!!!!!!!!! Our apartment has all tile floors and they have been quite dirty. We track in a lot of sand and dirt. I try my best to keep things swept up all the time, but it just wasn't cutting it. Today, all that changed. We got a mop and now I have washed my floors. I think it helped a little bit with the dirt, however I think I will have to keep up with it in order to make the stains come off. That was the excitement of my Sunday.

We haven't done much today. We went for a walk and I have lesson planned a little bit. Greg has played Madden and Super Mario and he has also done a fantasy sport hockey and football draft. So it has been a very laid back day, which is nice. Tomorrow we have to work really hard on lesson planning in order to get ready for our week.

Anyways I better go and start getting dinner ready. We are having a roast tonight. What a classic Sunday night meal!

Deer Lake Excursion!

Today the principal, Julia, took us around Deer Lake and showed us some nice places. She wanted to be sure that we knew of places that we could go just to get away for a bit. Places were we might not feel so trapped. Here are few photos from our ride around town today.

This is the local television station. On all the t.v.'s it is channel 19. They do all kinds of stuff on this channel. They have auctions, they play t.v. bingo, they have singers, on Sundays people read from the bible. They even post announcements. It is really quite a neat channel to watch, especially if you want to keep up with what is going on in the community.

This is the penecostal church. I think this one we could possibly walk to, however it would be a long walk. Amanda, Greg and I are still trying to find out more information about how we will get to church and what times they start at.

This is Amanda and I at the beach. It is beautiful here and is a nice walk.

Greg and I at the beach.

The beach. It is beautiful, and is a nice place to get away from things.

This is another nice place we can come to unwind. There is a bench to sit on and read a book in this area. From this spot you can see the beach, it is just across the lake a bit. However, this picture was taken facing the other way.

This is the Hydro Station, it is at Shoulder Blade Falls. It is quite aways from town.

These are the rapids by the Hydro Station. They are natural rapids. This is also a beautiful place we can go to unwind.

This is the airport.

This is the other church by the Northern. It is alittle to far for us to walk. This is the Mennonite church. Apparently there is a strong Mennonite influence in this community. Hopefully we will be able to make it to chuch at some point.

A house. Not all houses look like this.

This is an old teacherage. Some of the first nations people now live in the old teacherages. Houses here kind of have to get passed down to you. Housing is not easy to come by at all. The old teacherages were on the lake. To bad ours weren't still on the lake, it is beautiful.

These are the nurses homes. They are REALLY nice. These are like mansions here. They are better then our house (although ours is nice too).

The view the nursing station and the nurses homes have.

The back side of the nursing station. I am standing on a dock used by water planes.

Today was a big eye opener. This is really a beautiful place and it was great to see things.

Moose and Bannock

Here are a few more pictures from our adventures.

This is a picture of Greg and I on our first day of school. There was no one here to take a picture of us so that is why it is a worms eye view photo.

Tonight we had some of our co-workers over, and they brought some food for us to try. Actually there was a memorial today and it was left overs. Here, Amanda and I are about to try Bannock. It is really good. This bannock was baked and it was much like a biscuit. Bannock is also often fried. When my jam gets here (thanks mom and grandma) I will really enjoy bannock with jam.

Greg and Amanda are trying moose meat. I was to nervous to try it, maybe next time. They said it was really good and tested very similar to beef. I am such a pansy.

The moose had to be salted first.

Tomorrow we are going out for another adventure. We are being shown more of the area so I am sure I will have more pictures and stories.

First Day

Today was our first offical day as teachers (and we got our first paycheck). It was a very interesting and eye opening day. I am teaching the grade 8's who for the most part are really well behaved and a pleasure to have. Today I focused on getting to know one another and looked at our educational and life goals. At first it was really difficult to get them to give some input on things, such as class rules, but as the morning went on things got better. At lunch Greg and I discussed are mornings and I was telling him what a wonderful morning I had. Greg's on the other hand was not so great. He is teaching the grade 9's and they are quite a mixed group. Some kids really want to succeed and do something with their lives, while others don't care and would rather be doing anything outside of school.

After hearing how Greg's morning was I was uneasy about my afternoon with the grade 9's. For the first part of the afternoon the students were fabulous. We were laughing and getting along great. I wasn't really sure what Greg was talking about. Then all of a sudden things changed. The students just stopped wanting to work. They got up and wandered around and just wouldn't concentrate. It is like they hit a brick wall. Needless to say the latter part of the afternoon was challenging and we are tired. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and the students were just testing us and they will listen better tomorrow.

This evening we had a staff pot luck. There was so much food there. It was really funny because all of a sudden there was a ton of people there, we said grace, they ate and they were gone. Just like that. Oh and they all took huge plates of leftovers. It was awesome. The staff here are also really friendly. I am really liking it here. If things get a little better with the students then things will be perfect.

Keep praying for us :)

Deer Lake

Here are a few more pictures of Deer Lake. We are apparently being shown more of Deer Lake on Saturday. All we have learned so far is that Deer Lake is broken up into two parts "Duck Lake" (we live in the outskirts of here) and "downtown" this is where the Northern is.


This is the view of the school from the back field.

View of the students school yard. Imagine having a lake in your school yard. The school yard also has a playground, a ball diamond and a soccer field.

Greg and I by the lake in the school yard.

I thought we were in Deer Lake!!!!! The first time we saw this sign, we thought it was so funny. Someone took a lot of time and effort to make those letters and climb up and put them there.

The Northern, and the post office and KFC. When we walked in we couldn't believe we smelled grease, we quickly found out that there is a little KFC in this store. The store is full of food, clothes, appliances, etc. It has everything. We were also excited to find out that a loaf of bread is only $3.19 not $6.00 (Greg is really excited about this).

MOM, this picture is for you!!!!! This is the emergency room. Although the sign on the door says use other door. I never did see the enterance because all the doors have signs saying use the other door. This building is actually quite large and it is on the edge of a lake.

A view of the vehicle we share with the other fly in teachers/principal. It is such a beat up thing. You do not need to wear seatbelts and there are no license plates. This vehicle has also lost its power stearing. Needless to say, Greg got a good workout.

This is Amanda McCall. She is the other fly in teacher, from Orillia. Here Amanda is showing everyone the back window of the vehicle we drive around.

The back of the vehicle. This is quite a ride. The roads are quite bumpy and has lots of pot holes so it is a fun ride.

The front view of the beater vehicle!!

Pray for us tommorrow as students start back to school. We are excited and of course I am nervous (Greg says he's not). We have met some of the students and talked to the T.A.'s about what to expect and I think we are definitely in for some challenges.