Postcard from Canada – Buffalos, dinosaurs and dragons!
Wow, October already and the 20,000 kms, eight week camping holiday of a life time is already slipping into the vault of treasured memories and we are coasting along to the finish line of our year here in Canada. We managed to see so much and didn’t try to kill each other once, which is always a bonus, I think.
If you are interested in the Teacher Exchange Program, go to the intranet site for more information.
Everything has gone unbelievably well especially our boys (14 & 10) who have fitted right in at school, in sport and the rarefied atmosphere of the exchange teachers' club which has been very supportive. I attribute this (apart from having a fantastic mother, oh, alright and a great dad too!) to those two indefinable Aussie characteristics of flexibility and independence – they fitted in and just got on with it like all the other Aussie teachers and their families. No ‘princess behaviour’, just, ‘This is what’s happening and I’m up for it.’ They have thrown themselves into being Canadian so much that we have had to tell them to pull their heads in and not correct the locals “Well actually, they aren’t buffalo – genus bulabus arnee and only found in SE Asia, they are bison, genus Bison, bison, bison found only in North America and were named in error by the early settlers”. My older boy has been offered a room in his funky young music teacher's flat if he stays here and plays first trumpet in her band to the end of the year! I actually contacted her to check that this was not just wishful thinking on his part! We have agreed that she can come and stay in our spare room in Aus as a compromise.
We now know, first hand why it’s called ‘Fall’ here! Everything is falling. We have been blessed with fabulous weather – some years the leaves just get blown off the trees with no colour show – however we have been lucky and had a magnificent display. We did our last overnight hike – oops, bush walk, last weekend after it had snowed for 27 hours straight and I have to say we were warm in our tent even if we had to wear long underwear, tracksuits and hats inside our Arctic sleeping bags. This was a fragile environment national park where only 25 people are allowed in at a time as it is a wildlife corridor for migrating animals. Everything must be carried in and out of this primitive campsite and it is always interesting to see what some people regard as essential. Still as we sat around the campfire watching the ‘corn-snow’ settle on people’s heads, the bottle of Drambuie was very well received. The view of Lake O’Hara was well worth the climb.
I have also been allowed to indulge my passion for world class show jumping at Spruce Meadows in Calgary and I think I could easily take up residence there. Even in the depths of winter! They have 4 or 5 interconnecting indoor arenas with indoor wash-bays (hot water, naturally!) and infra-red drying bays where the horses enjoy what looks like a mini-sauna! And what fantastic horses – I’d like to smuggle a couple home if only we didn’t already have such a lot of luggage.
My students at Norquest are incredibly rewarding. Unlike Mt Druitt, where I work in Australia, most of them have been in Canada for less than a year and due to the difference in welfare funding here, most of them are already working their allowed 20 hours per week as well as studying 25 hours. The majority are very keen to re-establish their professional careers. Most are tertiary educated and very motivated. Consequently they expect and produce enormous amounts of homework which makes for a mountain of marking for me. I imagine it is a bit like teaching a Gifted and Talented class and it certainly keeps me on my toes as I am expected to give the definitive answer on the most obscure points of grammar at the drop of a hat.
This
semester I have a preponderance of Chinese students in both of my classes
and they have a very definite way of approaching learning. Yesterday in my
reading class we came across the word ‘extinction’. “You
know, like the dinosaur,” I said. “Yes and the dragon,” came
a Chinese response. Several moments passed while my eastern Europeans (the
other dominant group) checked that the word meant what they thought it meant & then
gave me knowing smiles – “What are they on about, they clearly don’t understand
the word, whatever they say.” So I said “Well, no, dinosaurs
became extinct, dragons never existed.” “But the dragon is the
symbol of China!” “Yes I know that, but it is a mythical creature.
It didn’t live on earth. It was invented.” I could feel this
ripple running around my Chinese students "what would this gweilo (white
person) know about China and the Chinese dragons that lived there?" So
now when I give an absolute ruling on transient verbs or split infinitives,
I am sure they go and consult a Chinese authority! Which is maybe no bad
thing on reflection!
Til next time,
Lots of love
Marguerite