Weather or not to ski

Yes. This definitely the weather to ski! -2 degrees this morning with a high of 5 today. I keep trying to explain to Canadians that that's about as cold as it gets back home, but they just laugh."That's not even cold," they say "and besides, it's a dry cold. Not like that nasty English wetness that gets into your bones." They can only know about our damp and grismal conditions from Coronation Street and Eastenders. I'd like to tell them they're wrong, but they aren't. Scraping off the snow and ice this morning I was quite warm enough in my sleeveless down 'vest.' (They mean bodywarmer.) Rather than deathly freezing it feels more brisk and nippy. Quite refreshing, which is good, because we have another 40 degrees to go till we really hit winter temperatures.

When we get a glimpse of the Rockies from time to time on clear days they seem to be covered in snow. Hurrah. Having now acquired skis (me) and a snowboard (Vic) we are waiting for the hills at Lake Louise to open in less than 2 weeks. Bring it on!

Next posting: Halloween! We have to enjoy it to compensate for not getting a bonfire night.
R

The agony of defeat

We lost. 1-0. An unlucky bounce got past our goalie on a uneven pitch coming right out of the low winter sun. The girls were in bits.
I have had an absolute riot this season, and have come to understand the game of football and the passion fans have for it much more. I have never been as involved as a spectator as I have been watching these 16 girls in orange conquer and triumph, win lose and draw. I have never felt my heart in my throat with every poor call from the ref, every injured player, every break-away that looks certain to score. It has been, above all things, so very very real. Thanks girls, for bringing me along on your gloroius rollercoaster.



R

Just a small one

Last night, after eating some cracking meatballs on our weekly date night, Vic and I tried our hands (or should that be feet) at ice skating. We went to the Oval on the University of Calgary campus, the speed skating rink built for the '88 Olympics. It's a truly awesome venue and felt quite special to be bumbling round this world class facility like new-born giraffes. We weren't very good, but we'll persevere as an ability to move around on frozen water with a pair of knives glued to ski-boots seems to be a national requirement.
While we were there we watched the Chines women's team play an exhibition game of ice-hockey against a local 'midgets' girls team. It's the term used for the 14-15 year old league, not a cruel international form of dwarf Baiting the Chinese were touring. The Chinese were over here getting coaching and training from Canadian experts prior to hosting next year's world cup and were kind enough to only beat the girls 3-0. Even watching young women play it still looked like a fast and aggressive game, but very entertaining. I can almost see why weekend tickets to see the Flames (Calgary's NHL team) play a big rival from the States or Canada go for $300 or more. We will content ourselves with watching the Hitmen, the top amateur team in Calgary, many of whom have been signed to the Flames for next season.

The downside of all this wintriness is that the girls soccer final was cancelled yesterday due there being 2 inches of snow on the pitch. Not being able to see either the white balls or any of the white lines on the pitch is bound to hinder play somewhat, so I guess it was a fair call, so the girls have to get back in game spirit to day. Go Browns!

Off to class for me now. Hope all you teachers back home are enjoying half term. No such break here. This my 9th consecutive week of class and I have 8 more to go. This is now the longest I have ever worked in a stint. I still feel perky, but Christmas seems a long way off. I'll keep you updated and i promise not to moan about holidays for all you non teachers. I understand that we have a sweet deal. Over here the average holiday is 2 weeks per year. Total. I don't know how they do it.

Ciao for now, and please comment. it's always uplifting to know someone really reads this.

R

Morning musings; 's no joke!

My first proper snowy morning occurred today. I walked to the bus-stop through a couple of inches of snow. Delightful! I didn't half get some funny looks when I got off the bus one stop early to walk the last part to school in the dark and snap some pics of the pristine urban scene. Those glorious Autumn moments of golden hues in the warm light of sunrise only seem like last week... hang on; they WERE only last week. How quickly winter comes here.
It quite got me in the mood for a lush Canadian winter; brim-filled with skiing a-plenty. We'll be at the ski sale this weekend in Calgary looking for some bargain skis to go on my new second-hand ski-boots.

Today my girls will play in the Final of the Calgary High School Soccer Championship (weather permitting). I have no doubt they will be crowned champions, they are just that good. Next year they'll be ready to go on to glory in Division 1. It has been a real treat to help coach the team, although I have been more involved with moral support and cheering than anything else. It's always a joy to get involved with kids outside the classroom and get to know them as individuals, and a as a real bonus I have come to understand the Magnificent Game a lot better; not just the off-side rule, but the shape of play and so on. I've also kind of enjoyed being put to use as a linesman. Having made one or two iffy calls and taken a fair amount of abuse for both good and bad calls alike I have a lot more sympathy with the plight of the humble referee and will in future try to moderate any abuse.
Any-hoo; good luck girls. Play hard!

Any Browns in the house?-Right Here! Right Here!

Alrighty then, time for class. Another test is returned to my treasures today; simplifying radicals. Some will be overjoyed, some disappointed. The concepts are hard, recently we have been simplifying and working with surds (radicals over here). I have never had to deal with kids failing who are working so hard. My heart goes out to them. Lets see what we can do to help today...

R


PS, please checkout this blog: http://mustachesofthenineteenthcentury.blogspot.com/
I assure you it's quite delightful.

Red Sea

Mrs. Annette Loykowski worked in our textbook rental here at school. I met her very early on in my sojourn at St Francis, taking my classes down to pick up their text books for the year. She was very stern with the students, telling them to make sure their names went in the books and don't lose them; they're $80 each! As soon as the students were on the way back up she left her gruff exterior and started chatting with me. Sh loved my accent and wanted to bring in a Harry Potter book for me to read from. We were laughing and joking in no time at all, this woman I had just met. She was very open and welcoming with this new boy and really helped me settle in.

She had a picture of a young man in uniform on her desk. I asked if it was her son. It was, she said, and he is in Kandahar, Southern Afghanistan at the moment. Not an easy place to be for a son or a parent; every week it seems we hear of Canadian boys making the long trip home in a coffin. As stressful as it must have been for her, she had nothing but pride for the handsome man in the picture and was glad he was doing his bit. She told me about the new tradition of wearing red on Fridays to show support for the troops serving abroad. Not as a support of the war or a blessing on the politics and politicians involved, but an acknowledgement that these young men are over their on our behalf and deserve this small show of public support.

Annette always wore red on Fridays, and some of the rest of us here did too.

Annette died last Friday night, very suddenly from a massive heart attack. Most likely the stress of dealing with her son being in Combat was a factor, but we'll never know.
The school grieves for a lost colleague. Annette was a good friend to many and had been here eight years. I can only imagine the impact she must have had, but in the small glimpse I had of her I can see why she will be missed.

The school has been asked to wear red today, as a sign of respect and support and it is pleasing to see so many of our students have done so. I think Annette would have been proud to be part of so caring a community, and not at all surprised.

Farewell, Annette.

Salvation and voting

I have found the English Pantry, a shop down the road from school.

They have Yorkshire Tea, Vimto, Fry's Chocolate Cream, Hartley's Jam and Lemoncurd, Pot Noodle, Bisto, Marmite and a veritable host of Good Olde Englishe Foodstuffs. Hurrah.

Vicky is very happy with her Branston Pickle.
Carmen is confused by Vicky's delight at this seemingly wierd/nasty savoury treat.
Only the Brits witll really get it, I suppose.

Each to their own. I just wish the place had a licence to inport kegs of good beer.


This week saw the Calgary Municipal elections. They were blessed with good weather (19 degrees and blue skis, no wind). This lead to a massive voter turnout improvement over last time 3 years ago.





30% of the eligible folk of Calgary bothered to get to a polling station before 8pm.

A significant but lamentable step up from last time's 20%.

At 9PM our ward was being dominated by one aldermanic candidate with 100% of the vote.


That's the Vote.Singular.

I know the basic principle of democracy is "One man, one vote" but this is probably not what the Athenians had in mind.

Poor show Calgary. Poor show indeed.

We are each other...

Vicky and I bough identical cards for our anniversay last week. From a large selection.

This is what happens after 5 years together.

What will be the effects of 10, or even 30 years together?

Will I finally give in and love 'Dirty Dancing'?
Will Vicky go on and on about cars she can't afford?
Will I start eating fruit?
Will Vicky start drinking beer?
Will Vicky catch me looking wistfully at Andy Roddick?
Will I wake in the night to find Vicky has snuck downstairs for a cup of tea and a good read when she can't sleep?

No, no, no, no, no and no.

Phew.

I think, on balance, that there are still plenty of fundamental differences.




Still, nobody puts baby in the corner.

Digestibles part 2

Food we miss from home and don't see here...

Good Beer.

Curry.

Fish n Chips.

Tea. Not Iced or Fruity.

Pasatta. I just can't find it.

Squash (eg Robinsons etc). None here at all.

Vimto. It gets a mention all to itself cos its ace.

Cottage cheese (so says V)

Marmite.

Bovril.

Fry's Chocolate creme.

Cadbury's Twirl.

Fairtrade anything. And we thought Canadians cared.

Digestibles part 1

Food we've enjoyed so far that we don't get at home...

Root beer

Chocolate milk. No one thinks it odd for grown-ups to drink it!

Fruit bars (3 portions of compressed fruit in one bar, and I love em!)

Gelato. Like ice-cream SHOULD be.

Beef jerky. At the gas station. great road snack.

Pumpkin pie.

Frozen Yogurt (sic). Low fat too!!

AAA Alberta beef. Literally the best meat I have ever put in me.

Bacon, on a farm. Cooked by the guy who butchered the pig who killed the pig who raised the pig. Nice work Jim.

Cinnamon Gum

Maple Syrup.

Ice cream sandwiches

High quality smokies. (they're like hot dogs, but with meat)

Corn dogs.

Sushi.

Pink Lemonade. From Frozen. In the fridge. With bits.


Good coffee everywhere

Eggs Benedict.

Waffles n Pancakes.

Timbits. President Tim Horton's fave.

Bran Muffins.

hobo horn help

I have the horn. Specifically, a bright red one Carmen bought for me at my first Stampeders game (football, with the pointy ball, the armour and the frequent breaks). On the way out from the game on Thanksgiving Monday (at which we SUCKED! Poor d-fence.) a busking hobo was playing his sax. He heard my pathetic attemps to blow the horn, which have been likened to a dying, mating moose- both at the same time!- and gave me tips which improved my blowing no end. If you're interested; git yer lips good n tight and don't blow so hard.

Thanksgiving

We just spent a lovely weekend with the whole Van De Laak family for thanksgiving, a very traditional affair consisting of turkey, Cranberry Jelly, mashed potatoes, cheesy leeks, ham and even pumpkin pie! We stayed with Katie, Russel, Noah(1 ish) and Caden (3 ish). It was a real eye opener to see a married couple with young kids at close quarters for the first time, and made us realise how much we'll be missing of Becca and Steve's adventures with Baby Besford over this year. The boys seemed to be a real blessing to the whole family and lit up the house around them, but they sure are hard work. They demand total attention and become your number one
priority (or they should if you're doing it right). I always knew this, but seeing in action just how happy and complete they make a family, as well as how much sacrifice they need has given me a fresh point of view on parenthood. Overall, I think I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to be a part of little BB's life.

Beer night was fun on Friday night at the Tin Palace AKA Lance and Paula's House. Lance is a man on a mission to convert the heathen. To Beer! We gathered for a blind tasting of different local and imported beer, rendering judgment on taste free of the shackles of brand image or expectation. An interesting exercise in which we dismissed Coors Light and Kokanee as weak, thin, fizzy pop (no surprise there) and also Dos Equis, which we suspected of being alcohol free! I always order this in Mexican Restaurants and I thought I liked it. Turns out to be gnats p***. SHOCKER! Corona for me next time. I found some Black Sheep to take and was unsurprised to see Yorkshires finest streaks ahead of the competition even in an international field including Hoegarden and Innis and Gunn. Well done those fine boys in Masham!

School continues well. Students here still seem to be polite and friendly, hardworking and responsible. They are trusted to work hard and succeed on their own merits and tend to rise to the challenge. Most take part in extra curricular activities, many in more than one. The sports teams practice for an hour or two every day. The serious commitment the pupils, their parents and the staff bring to this has impressed me no end. Still, the fact that I have the same lessons everyday is a little wearing. I used to look forward to Thursday as much as I disliked Wednesday, but now I barely know what day it is! Just part of school culture for me to adapt to.


Oh, and I sank a 70 foot putt on the golf course this Saturday! If only I could play off the fairway! Thanks for the game, Roger and Leyton. We'll do it again when the course reopens in Spring.

Calgary weather- ooooh; forboding...

We had drinks up the Calgary Tower today with Dave, a new Calgary friend. It's like the CN tower in Toronto, but smaller. Several of the new oil money skyscrapers have overtaken it. Still, it was nice, and the glass floor is definitely scary. Dave showed us the many flat sights of Calgary.

Afterwards in the cool revolving restaurant we ate buffalo, venison and such as part of a meaty platter (just a starter, we were in a rush, but it was good so we'll definitely go back) and I had a Manhattan, continuing the tradition when on top of large Canadian towers.

We left the observation deck on a chilly bu bright sunny fall (autumn)
day. 5 minutes later the car was covered in what you'd either call soft hail or huge lumpy snow, and it was sticking.

On October 3rd!!


We think UK weather is changeable, boy do we have it easy! Vicky is starting to get a little worried about the winter; she's already wearing her Down filled parka. Thank God for Chinooks . They are the warm dry wind that comes down off the Rockies and melts the snow every few days in winter. Hence the name, which is Blackfoot for 'snow-eater.'

Late now- early where you are. Off to bed. Looking forward to tomorrow; it's treat day in my TA (home room / form group) and CB is bringing homemade cup-cakes. YAY!

Ciao for now,
R

By the way, hair change colour

Attention; thought required -rsvp!

It has been 16 days since my last blog. Forgive me, readers, for I have not blogged.

I am sat in tutorial at the mo. Three times a week I have to turn up early for pupils to come and get help if they are stuck on their homework or have any questions about the math(s). This is just like what we started to offer at Horbury last year. In the UK, I had one or two pupils show up about five times, mostly top set year 11s for homework. Here I have 5-10 pupils (or even more) every day it's available and they come knocking on days when it's not scheduled too! Just one more piece in the puzzle building a picture of responsibility. I'll pick up this thread in a minute...

We had a great weekend last week hanging out in Pincher Creek with the Australian Exchangees. There are loads of them. Both Canada and Oz seem to take much wider advantage of the exchange program. Lots of schools are supportive of it and many teachers have done 2 or 3 exchanges. I have met 2 principals who have done it and lots of families who take their kids. I am in awe of anyone manging this with little ones on tow, but if you can manage it it gives them such a rounded global experience early in life they seem bound to benefit, judging from the ones I have met. We visited the Frank Slide, where a whole town was buried under a billion tonne rock fall from an unstable limestone mountain in 1903 (google it, it's eerie), Waterton Park (where the mountains really do meet the prairie), an All-Canadian-Barn-Dance (Cowboy-a-go-go, linedanceapolooza!) and the world heritage site at Head-Smash-In Buffalo Jump (does what it says on the tin). This last was amazing; a real site where for over 5000 years the Blackfoot Indians would band together to stampede Buffalo off a cliff to slaughter them and use the meat and by-products to survive.

While on the trip one Ozzie related a story of how an Albertan teacher on exchange down under got in trouble with her blog. She made the subjective (but probably true) claim that Alberta AAA beef is the best in the world and, as good as the Oz reared local stuff was it couldn't quite compete with the medium-rare juicy delight from the wide open spaces of her home and native land. Several people complained to her for making sweeping generalisations in a public forum. I suppose I see their point, even though the Alberta beef is SOOOOOOO good, if Carlsberg made beef they'd do it here, not in Denmark. (for non-brit readers, Carlsberg claim to make 'probably the best lager in the world). I disagree however. The blog is EXACTLY the right forum for personal opinion and subjective points of view, as everyone has right-of-reply. So here's my disclaimer...


I will write whatever I think on a given subject. I promise 100% grade A truth in terms of that.
If you disagree with me, so much the better. Please post a comment and we'll debate! We can all move forwards together that way.

In fact, please post a comment either way. It's hard to write stuff and send it out into cyberworld and not know if anyone's reading it.

Anyway, back to education.
It strikes me that somehow the pupils here take more responsibility for their own learning than our students on the UK. I don't know why but I have my suspicions. I have worked in 7 schools back in Blighty and only one here, so take this in the speculative manner in which it is meant, but I think we spoon feed to much, we have low expectations of parental involvement, make our lessons too interesting (did I really say that?!) and other stuff too. I really want to get to the bottom of this during the year so we can implement changes, because this responsible attitude is refreshing. These kids are managing their own learning and are well on the way to being successful adults. What can we do to get there? Post, and let me know...