Week 4 - Scotland

Wednesday, 23 June, 2009 12:14PM Bus to Helensburgh, Scotland

Wow, so it’s been a week already. I am amazed that I still haven’t been able to get this on the internet, I have contacted some people through phone and email, but not near as many as I had hoped. I don’t feel as busy, but I feel really tired, I haven’t been getting enough sleep because I am trying to spend time on the computer or phone when I have free time.

I went to Saltcoats, it’s beautiful there. It was just a one night stay, unfortunately. My host family lived next to the water, and had a springer spaniel dog. It was nice, because she reminded me of my old dog. The boys really liked her as well. They aren’t used to having a dog as a pet, so they usually back up at first so we just have to explain that they wont eat us. The family I was with is going to Canada for a vacation in 3 weeks, and spending 3 days in Vancouver. They asked me to give them a list of places to go. They already had a book telling them to see Stanley Park and Granville Island, I also suggested the Capilano Suspension Bridge. They had a younger daughter who likes to shop so I told her about Robson Street and Metrotown, she was quite excited. The dad was really into talking about food, so I told them to stop by Red Robin if they get a chance.

I’ve been getting really travel sick being on the bus. It seems to be getting worse. I have travel bands and pills but they don’t seem to help at all. I know I won’t throw up, but I really feel like it, or like I’m going to faint. Like I said before, we’ve got a few kids who do get sick, my neighbor is one, she asked me for a bag so I’m hoping she wont need to use it, but I sure feel like I might need to. I’m only 15 minutes into the hour drive too. We are stopping half way to have lunch, but I don’t know if that will be a bad idea.

I’m now leaving Largs, a 3 night stay. I was originally going to have 5 boys, and some were a bit rowdy, so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too bad, but last minute it got changed to just 3. I chose who the 3 would be, and I chose wrong. It wasn’t horrible, but the one boy brought out the misbehaved side of the other 2 that I had had before and were quite well behaved. My family was really nice, they were an older couple, the dad was really funny.

We took the children to a famous ice cream shop called Nardini’s. They really enjoyed it, but I think they enjoyed watching the ferry boats even more. They seem to be fascinated by boats, they could spend hours watching them. I had really good food at this host family, a chicken stir fry and then an alfredo pasta dish. It was a really nice day yesterday so we took the boys to the beach. They had a blast. Then some boats were going in the water so they spent the next hour staring at them.

Tomorrow is my 2nd day off, I’m not sure what I will do, I’d like to go somewhere, and also maybe find some wireless internet somewhere so I can get this out there.

I feel terribly sick now, I’ve been typing very quickly so I can close this, the air from the window isn’t really helping.

My bus partner (her name is Nompie) is sleeping, so hopefully she won’t wake up until we stop :)

Thursday, 25 June, 2009 4:44PM Helensburgh, Scotland

It’s my day off, yippee! It’s really nice outside as well.

My host took me for a drive along the coast and showed me the marine base, there’s an incredible view, my camera battery is dead and my charger is on the bus. It’s got a special battery with its own charger.

I did a bit of shopping for the children, got some cute pajamas and shirts. I also got an ice cream.

Saturday, 27 June, 2009 12:25PM Kirkintilloch, Scotland

On the bus again... seems like I can get this done then, otherwise I’m sleeping. It feels like morning to me because we got to sleep in this morning. We just had a one night stay. It seems that my one night stays are really nice host families, and I don’t like having to leave them so quickly.

We are on our way to Aberfeldy for a 4 night stay. I’m really really excited. We don’t usually get 4 night stays, 3 is the most. So this is a treat. The way it works most weeks is Sunday night we have a concert (but not always) and stay 3 nights, Monday is school, Tuesday is school and Wednesday we have school in the morning and then leave in the afternoon for the next venue where we will stay 2 nights. We sometimes have a concert Wednesday night, and then Thursday is rehearsals, so I’m off that day because I’m not musically involved. Sometimes Tuesday will be rehearsal and Thursday will be school. Then we leave Friday for the next Venue for a concert that evening and a one night stay, and Saturday is the same. We pretty much always have a concert Friday and Saturday night. That’s my week for the most part.

I like 4 night stays because you can really get to know the host family and the town. We also get more time to do fun things with the kids.

Aberfeldy is about 2.5 hours from me, or that’s what I heard. The children are watching Aladdin right now, it’s a treat for them. They aren’t allowed to watch TV in host families (we don’t want them to lose their creative minds and there can be some really bad things on nowadays.)

The lady from the host family I was with last night is going to Vancouver for work, so I told her a few places to go and told her I would write them down, and I totally forgot, I feel really bad. I left her my email address in her guest book, so maybe she will email me and I can tell her. They invited me to stay with them if I’m ever back in Scotland.

It’s cloudy out today, but still warm. The weather was really great the last few days.

Week 2 and 3 - Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland

Monday, June 8th, 2009 1:58PM Portadown Base Camp

So as you can see I am getting less diligent with this. I’m really tired now, and just don’t have the energy to get out my laptop and start typing away. I feel like I need a vacation haha. You probably all think I am on one, but I’m not. It’s really stressful, for many reasons.

We had our second concert on Saturday night in Portstewart, where I was last weekend. I got to meet Ray Barnett, he’s a very very nice man. He liked that I was Canadian. This concert was much better than the first.

My host family was very nice. One of the daughters friends told the girls a funny bedtime story, they liked that. My host family lived a block away from where Heather’s sister lives. It’s right next to the ocean, along The Strand. I didn’t take pictures again because I have some from last time. In the morning we went to the beach. It was extremely cold. The girls were collecting seashells. I went close to the water to wash one off and got my shoe filled with water when the tide came in, that wasn’t fun. They didn’t have internet which is why you didn’t hear from me. I went to sleep right after the girls because the mom gave up her bed for the girls so she was sleeping on the couch. It was very sweet of her.

Now we are back at base camp and I’m feeling quite tired.

I know most of the children’s names now. There’s a few boys I get mixed up from time to time, but I’ve pretty much got it.

I have to say that I’m already sick of eating sandwiches. I have bread at almost every meal and my body isn’t handling it very well. I try to avoid it when possible. but it isn’t easy when that’s the only option and you are hungry.

Today we finally started school. It’s weird but it was my favorite part of the day. I’m a tutor for 6 children. Some are at higher levels than others so it may get switched as time goes on. We did classroom rules, they copied it into their notebooks and then we did some literacy (English).

Tuesday, 9 June, 2009 4:27PM Paddy Wagon Limo Bus

I just realized I wrote the date differently. That’s how they do it here, and I have to write it a lot for administration stuff, so I’m just getting used to it. I’m not yet used to the way they say the time. Something like 4:30 would be said “half past 4” where I would say “four thirty.” I don’t even use the terms “quarter to” or “quarter after” I guess that’s why it seems so foreign to me.

Anyway, today we went to Dublin, Ireland to meet the President. We first went to the Dublin Zoo, which was cool. I got some neat pictures. The children were filmed and aired on the afternoon news. The presidents house is connected to the zoo. Part of the land was given to the zoo so they could have more space for the animals.

You may not know the President of Ireland is a female. Her name is Mary McAleese. She’s extremely nice. The choir sang 2 songs for her. They were planning on doing a “pop/soda can dance” but the performance was done on carpet, which doesn’t work for the dance.

They made us fruit platters and juice, and there were some really yummy desserts. We got a group picture so hopefully I will get a copy.

Right now we are on our way back to our base camp in Portadown, Northern Ireland.

I didn’t realize it would be this long that I wouldn’t have communication with anyone. It really really bothered me yesterday. I tried to not let it show, I told Michelle, but I eventually got over it. It still bothers me greatly, but I really don’t have a choice so I just have to deal with it.

We are going to Belfast on Thursday to the Parliament buildings and doing a concert for a Business in the Community event. Friday or Saturday we are heading to Scotland and are there until July 13th. Then we are off to Dubai! I was told we are there for 2 weeks. Our next concert isn’t until August 10th, so we may take a week off and do a fun camp for the kids. I can’t believe how much time has gone by already. I think my time here will be finished before I know it. In ways I’m very happy, but in ways I am sad. I want to enjoy all the time I have with the children. I’m doing this for them, it’s not about me at all.

We are getting going again, and I’m using up my battery power so I’m going for now.

I honestly have no idea when I will even have the possibility of having internet. I’m guessing my next host family or possibly at the next church we perform at, but I don’t know when that is. Probably Friday is Scotland if I had to guess.

Wednesday, 18 June, 2009 11:32PM Motherwell, Scotland

So it’s been a while since I’ve written. I’ve gotten a hold of internet, but not too much. So I have ignored this for a while. It’s late and I’m tired, but I know if I don’t do it tonight, it might not be til next week. We have 3 concerts this weekend so it will keep me quite busy.

Last Friday we did leave for Scotland. I’m here now and there is a big rain storm. I haven’t missed the rain. I talked to my family and so I’m feeling much much better about things. I stayed with a wonderful family in Carstairs. I had 4 boys with me, I was quite nervous, but it ended up being fabulous. I really enjoyed them. They behave much better in host families, so it’s quite easy. The hardest part is getting them in and out of the shower and into bed. They seem to think its play time still. Boys will be boys.

I’ve had internet 3 times, 2 of them were on someone else’s computer which is why you STILL haven’t seen this. I’m a bit mad at myself for not being able to do it when I had the chance, but I was replying to emails instead. They were important. I just feel like this is so outdated, and if i was more diligent you would have more info.

Our first days in Scotland were wonderful. We went to the beach in Ayr, and the children loved it. There was also a really great swing park, I got a few pictures, which I am finally uploading onto my computer as I type this. There are a lot, so I am using the time to do this, even though I’d rather sleep.

My last host family was in Carstairs, where I had the 4 boys. It’s a very very small village where everyone knows everyone. I love it. The people at the church were just amazing at how much they supported us with everything. So loving. They set it up that all the children got bathing suits and they got a pool reserved for us to all swim together. We had our first 3 night stay here, so the first night the boys went out to play football in the village park across the street, and literally ALL the children from the village showed up. Everyone knew we were there, a few other host families joined us, so there were about 12 of the choir children. All the girls were talking pictures and interviewing the boys. It was really funny to me. We were pretty much celebrities to them. The people there said it was nice to see everyone get together to play with them.

It was on my day off that we went swimming, but I don’t regret going at all. It’s cute because all the children just latch on the adults and want to be pulled around. It was only their second time in a pool, so they are still somewhat getting used to it, so they aren’t too adventurous yet. None of them are afraid to be in it, though some will stay in the kid pool still. It’s nice that way because I didn’t feel too nervous knowing they pretty much all stayed near an adult on their own. I think Dubai will be different because it will be public pools with a lot of people in them, so we are going to have to be watching them all like hawks.

The earlier part of my day off was spent with Michelle. My great host family woke up the boys and got them all ready to go, so I got to have what they call a late lye. (sleeping in) I woke up just to make sure everything was smoothly and to remind the boys what clothes to wear. It’s a daily thing to remind them of what clothes they need to wear.

My host family drove us into New Lanark where we did a little bit of shopping and looking around. It’s a very small place, but quite cute. We wanted to go out to eat just for something different. So we went to a pizza/fish n chips place. We ordered our food and the seating area was separated, then they put our food in bags and we asked if we could eat it there, but she said no. We had to sit there and order it on the other side if we wanted to eat inside. It was strange. So we ate in a Tesco’s parking lot. Tesco is one of the major supermarkets here. It’s closest to our Super Wal Mart, but its more of a grocery store, the other departments aren’t very big, but bigger than a normal grocery store. They have a store called Asda, which is owned by Wal Mart, it’s supposed to be better than Tesco and it’s 24 hours. I haven’t yet been to one. I’m excited though. There isn’t really malls anywhere. I’ve been to 2 so far, but didn’t spend much time in them, they are quite similar to ours, just smaller. Most towns just have the stores on the side of the road in old buildings.

It was really hard to leave Carstairs, it’s my favorite place so far. I actually got teary eyed leaving. I wouldn’t want to live there I don’t think, but the people are infectious and make you want to stay, I didn’t notice that there was nothing to do because I just enjoyed my time with the people, it makes you realize what you really need and don’t need to survive. This whole trip I’ve been realizing that more and more everyday.

I also heard there is a slight chance we will be going back, everyone is really excited. We all pretty much felt the same way about the experience. We also will get to stay with the same host families.

I am now in Motherwell, and staying with 3 girls. Two are quite noisy, still good, so it takes a bit of extra effort to get things done. One of them is my partner on the bus, she’s soo soo sooo cute.

My host family is very nice and let me use their phone and computer, they are rather shy, so I wasn’t sure if I should stay down and talk to them, so I just told them I had things I needed to get done and they were fine with it.

The wind is quite strong here, at least right now it is. It also just got dark. It took forever for the girls to settle into bed because they still think its daytime. It looked like it was Noon outside when they went to bed at 9ish tonight. It’s sometimes hard for me to get used to as well.

Anyway, things are getting a lot better for me, I feel more comfortable everyday, and enjoying myself more, and learning so much. It’s really nice. I’ll fill in any other details I may have forgotten later.

Oh, four of the children got sick on the bus coming here because we were driving along the coast in the bus, the road is very curvy, it wasn’t a pretty picture. Pictures are done downloading, I’ll have to name them another time.

I burnt my hair on my curling iron... I got a new converter and it is obviously too powerful for it, my other one says the same voltage, and it didn’t happen with it, so I don’t know what the issue is. My flat iron turns on, but it doesn’t get hot. I don’t want to leave it in too long and have it blow up on me or something. I might buy a cheap one here, haven’t decided yet. I don’t get much time to do cool things with my hair. Busy waking the children up. I’m totally living the life of a mom. Moms deserve more love people. You don’t realize what they go through until you have to do it yourself.

P.S. Yogurt is Amazing here! I love it. It's soo soo much better. Sorry people. It has way more flavor to me. Ive tried so many brands too. They are all so yummy.

Week 1- Portadown, Northern Ireland

Saturday, June 6th, 2009 Portadown, N. Ireland

Well, things sure have gotten busy in the last few days, most free time I have isn’t long enough for me to pull this out and start typing away.

Thursday was bag check day, so the children all got a new bag full of new clothes. I am responsible for 2 boys and 2 girls. (Sikhombuzo, Johan, Nompie, and Gabsile) Nompie is one of the smallest girls in the choir. She is so cute, but so forgetful. Everytime the children run out of toothpaste, deodorant, lotion, etc, or their clothing is too small, they must come to their bag check Auntie or Uncle and show them before they can get more. It teaches them to not expect things and to take care of what they have. I picked out some really cute stuff for them. I found one shirt with a football (soccer) on it and Johan got really really excited, I think he told me 3 times how much he liked it.

Last night was our first concert! It went rather well too! The little bumps along the way weren’t enough to stop us, and we pulled through for a great finish. One of my first duties is to make the housing sheet, so I get a list of the families that are hosting and I match up which children and chaperone will go to each home. It didn’t take too long. I have to photocopy the sheets, and the copier kept getting stuck, but eventually I figured it out. I’ve been told by the end of tour I will know the ins and outs of photocopiers, it’s most likely the truth!

One lady dumped a huge bag full of coins into the basket. I’m glad Julian came along to help, we had so much coins. They have more coins than we do, but I think I have learned them all now. They have 2 Pound coins, 1 pound coins, 50 Pence, (P= Pence) 20 P, 10 P, 5 P, 2 P, and 1 P. The sizes are all different. The 2 P coin is quite similar to the 50 P, although one is copper and one is silver. It’s not too too different, I’m just not used to the 20 P and the 2 P. There was quite a bit of euro coins, which we can’t accept, so we had to leave it with the minister. Euro coins are done in size, so they get smaller as they are worth less, they are also much much lighter. Pence is much heavier than North American coin. I was very unsure of what currency was accepted in the UK, I should have asked Heather earlier but it’s Pounds here. Most places won’t take Euro, so I might have trouble getting rid of mine (I brought a bit of both just in case) I might be able to change it when I get to Dubai. Currency is quite interesting here, the notes (bills) are from different parts of the UK. All the Pound notes are worth the same, but they look different depending on where they are from. Northern Ireland has their own, Scotland has another version, and England also has one. I’m not sure if there is any others, from what I remember their are just the 3 types. They have different colors on them, but I still have to look at the number. I don’t think I would know if they were real or not. I asked Julian if they ever get fake money, but he said he hasn’t come across any. (Euro notes get smaller as they decrease in value, the 5 Euro notes are so cute and little to me, it almost looks fake.) The Euro notes have clear security features on them like Canadian money, so it’s probably easier to spot it in theirs. Can you tell I prefer the Euro’s yet? Haha. It’s alright though, I will know Pounds and Pence like the back of my hand in a few weeks time.

I am at my first host family now. They are very very nice. It’s quite what I expected. The children get most of the attention, which is expected. They have 2 boys and 2 girls in the family, so my 3 girls are adapting quite well. The youngest girl is 5 years old, so she was playing a little bit with them last night. I’ve got a nice room to myself. The mother made me a great bubble bath last night with muscle relaxers in it, that was quite the special treatment. I was up until 1AM talking with the parents last night. I didn’t feel tired until then either. (I’m still getting used to it being light until 10:30PM) The children think we are changing the clocks and making them go to bed early. It’s harder for them to sleep when it’s light outside, but eventually they get tired and do sleep.

I was up quite late. The father is a marathon runner so he was talking about all his experiences and his friends experiences. He runs for local charities, the mother does a women’s breast cancer run once a year. But the father said he runs 8-18 miles every 6 days. He is quite intense and passionate about it. He has done 19 marathons in 10 years.

I’ve got another concert tonight, which I’ve heard is already sold out. Ray Barnett (founder of the organization) will quite possibly be there, so I am excited and nervous to meet him. I’ve heard he’s very nice and won’t make you feel nervous at all, which is good to know. I am nervous about the offering count if there is that many people. It might take me quite some time, hopefully I will have enough help. I’m sure its normal to have a lot of change, people like to empty their pockets/ wallets full of coin.

I just remembered, last night I was standing at the back of the church, and the children were introducing themselves and saying what they wanted to be when they grow up, and an older man got up out of his seat and came over to me and handed me a handful of money and said “This is for the children”, as tears were rolling down his face. It was so incredibly touching for me, I teared up as well. It’s like seeing them for the first time every time I see them perform. They looked soo cute in their costumes! I haven’t had a chance to take pictures yet, but I will get them eventually. I just need to make time for it.

The weather has been incredible this past week, everyone is amazed. There are a lot of sun burns. It started to rain on the way to the church and the children were quite excited. It’s a lot colder for them though, so they aren’t yet used to the cold wind that has come along this week.

The Children's Arrival- Northern Ireland

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 9:21PM Base Camp

So the bus arrived and I ran over, I could see the children looking through the windows at us, and I just began to break down and cry. I had been waiting so long to see them, and that’s just how my body reacted to it. I tried to hold it inside, but it was too hard. We had a few minutes before they got off so I got myself back together before they saw me. They all came off and just started coming up to us and hugging us, so I asked them their names and told them mine “Auntie Eleni.” They speak very quietly so I had to ask a few of them to repeat themselves, there was also a lot of noise.

I didn’t recognize many of them, and it seemed like there were a lot more than just 23. They sat down for a snack, and then went to play outside. The boys all played “football” (soccer), and the girls were on the playground or playing a game they play, which I could not figure out at all. I tried to ask them but they are too young and don’t know enough English to explain it to me. Some of the older ones speak rather well, but it’s still not always easy to understand. I definitely feel the language barrier between them, I just have to continue to be patient with them. Some are quite shy and don’t talk much. I was warned though. Others will talk to you as if they have been with you the whole time and expect you to understand everything that is going on. They are quite polite.

I don’t really know what to think or say. They are and aren’t what I expected. Closer to are based on what I was told.

I’ve also met the rest of my team (for now, it will change again in a few months) Godfrey is from Uganda, Lynsay is from Scotland, Agreeneth is from South Africa, Ruth is from Norther Ireland, and Angee is our tour leader from Oregon. Angee has a major SA accent from being with the children there for the past 4 months, it’s really cute. She even has the “yeah?” thing after her sentences. The children’s native language is Siswati, some of them were speaking it to me, and I didn’t understand. They still aren’t at the stage where they always realize the difference between the languages. I’m sure I will pick some of it up.

The girls like to play a clapping game, quite like “Stella, Ella, Olla”( if you have heard of that game). A few just came up to me and started teaching me, it made me feel very welcome and wanted. The older ones can explain certain things in simple English.

Right now they are counting up to 20ish. Some don’t always get there, and go back to 13, but I haven’t heard any get higher. Possibly if they are by themselves they may be able to do it. I’ve only seen them in group settings so far.

Three girls helped do the dishes, and they started to sing “You Raise Me Up” sung by Josh Groban. Music and dance is natural to them. They dance all the time, I mean ALL the time.

They got some toy planes on their Turkish Air flight so they spent a majority of the evening passing them back and forth to each other. It seems like the fighting and arguing happens when a third tries to join a pair playing. They are like any other children at their age. They push and poke each other, scream, cry, laugh, joke, I’ve pretty much seen it all in the short 3 hours I’ve spent with them.

Before bed they sing which was really awesome to see. Then they hug all the Auntie’s, one girl came running right up to me, it was so cute. The sad part was I don’t remember who it was because I don’t always see their faces because I’m so tall to them, and they move quickly. I honestly need to work on their names a lot more. I’m still working on the pronunciation for some. When they are all running around it feels like their are 50, so it can be a bit overwhelming. At one point, I was alone on the playground/ field with close to 20, and they were all yelling at me to watch what they were doing, and I was turning my head every which way and running around to make sure they were all safe. It wasn’t very easy. They like to try and see what they can get away with, so they would do what I told them not to just to see if I would notice every time they did, which of course I didn’t because I know they were disobeying when I wasn’t watching because I was busy with another group. You kind of just have to laugh when it happens, and do your best to make sure everyone is happy and safe.

Waiting for the children's arrival

Monday, June 1st, 2009 11:36PM Portadown, N.Ireland

Today was quite a busy day for me. A lot of trips back and forth to different cities. We had to go and pick up stuff from the office in Lisburn to bring to the base camp that I am currently at and empty it out, then go back to the office for training (which helped but also confused me too) , and then go shopping. Kyle arrived today, he isn’t part of my tour, but he will be helping us out for the beginning. He’s from Ireland, but now lives in Scotland. He’s been really nice to have around. Heather has returned to Scotland where she lives, she works part time as a teacher there. So she will be back on Friday. So we are at the base camp with Kyle pretty much preparing for the children to arrive on Wednesday. Tomorrow we will be unpacking and sorting everything for their travel bags and such. It’s nice to have a boy around, I know it sounds odd, but having 4 brothers, I’m just used to having boys around, so it was a bit weird for me. He’s helpful with preparing us for tour because he has a lot of experience and he has toured mostly in the States so he knows what types of differences we can look out for here, because he has been through the transition already.

I’m staying in a room with Michelle tonight, we are getting closer and closer everyday, it’s really nice to have someone around to talk to. I really enjoyed having a roomate in Kamloops, and I feel the same way now. It won’t be like that for long. When I stay in host families it’s just me and 3 or 4 children in a strangers home. It will be interesting. Anyway, it’s late and I don’t want to keep her or myself up any longer.

Kyle will be going over administration stuff with me again tomorrow, in a bit more detail, so hopefully I will feel a bit more confident about it then. Right now I’m not too nervous, but I do feel as if I need more training and there will be things I will forget. Julian is the Financial Administrator in the UK, so he is sort of another one of my bosses, but he explained everything really quickly and didn’t go into detail (which I need.) I tried to take notes, but it was quite a bit to take in. He’s a really nice guy though, so I know he will be patient with me.

I’ll be off to bed now...

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 4:06PM Base Camp

Yesterday I didn’t really make time to write in here. I did a bit more training, and spent the rest of the day organizing cute clothes into sizes for the children. I’m very anxious to meet them, it’s hard to hear so much about them and only have a photo to look at.

For dinner we made fajitas and home made guacamole. The avocados aren’t that great here, so it took a while to mush them down. It ended up all tasting excellent. It’s my favorite meal so far.

Today Helen arrived, she is in charge of the education for the South African children. They have a certain curriculum that much be followed while on tour. She went into major detail of what we will be doing as far as being tutors, so I’ve learned A LOT today. She went over a lot of history of South Africa which helps me so much to understand the children better and their way of thinking.

Michelle is now becoming the Head Tutor, which puts quite a bit of pressure on her, so I will help out where I can. I will be a tutor along with 4 others teaching Life Skills, Literacy, and Numeracy. We thought it would be easier to have each tutor be assigned to 4 or 5 children instead of the whole group, I think it will be much better that way. The majority are in Grade 3, and a few are in Grade 4, the education system is much different there so we will have to see what actual level they are at when they get here. Some may still be at a Grade 2 level.

The children are due to arrive in 15 minutes, my stomach is in knots because I’m so nervous and excited. It’s crazy. I feel like I have been waiting forever for them to arrive. Things are going to get very hectic for me now, and I will be responsible for them, and they are my priority, everything else comes after.

I am quickly realizing I won’t have much time to communicate as I had realized. I will not be updating everyday. Maybe once a week. I will try my best and you all will have to be patient and understanding with me. It’s a full time job, and it doesn’t stop. On my days off I will be doing everything I can’t do on the other days, such as laundry and any administration stuff I haven’t done. Other team members will also need my help, but I will try to get some alone time so I don’t go crazy. It’s going to be really really really hard to get used to, but I knew what I signed up for and I’m as ready as I can be. The host families will be wanting to talk to me a lot, and I have to be respectful of them, because they are opening up their home, and feeding us as well. I will ask when I think it’s appropriate if they wouldn’t mind for me to use my lap top to communicate with friends and family.

I’m also realizing there would be pages and pages of terms that the Brits use, and I won’t be able to name them all. It would simply take days for me to remember every new word I hear. Each country is very different as well. My favorite word is Portadown right now, because of the accent sound in the “ow.” I can’t do it myself. Irish isn’t an easy accent for me to do, but I have picked up some terms which I’m sure you will hear when I return.

I don’t miss home too much yet. A little bit, but I’m doing relatively well. Also if I didn’t mention it already, I didn’t really get jet lagged, which was nice. Oh I think I did mention it, things are beginning to become a blur for me.

Hope everyone is doing well, again I apologize for not being able to let anyone know that I’m alright. Hope you aren’t too worried about me. I will probably have internet on Friday, not that you know that now...

I’m going now as the children will be here any minute!!! :)

Weekend Training in Portstewart

Saturday, May 30th, 2009 12:56 PM Heather’s Parents House Portadown, Northern Ireland

I slept really well. I’m so glad. Woke up at 6AM and thought I had slept in and realized I was fine. I was told it might happen, its my first time dealing with jet lag. It’s a weird feeling. I was worried I wouldn’t go back to sleep, but I was fine. Heather said she knocked on my and Michelle (my other teammate) at 9AM and we didn’t answer so she let us sleep for an extra 30 minutes. I didn’t hear her at all. She knocked at 9 30AM and woke me up. I felt quite rested.

I now feel tired. I’m about to take a nap. We went over some training materials, and now I have an hour break to do anything. I want to take a walk because the weather and view is amazing, but I just need to take a small rest first. So far I feel really good. Things will be much different in a few days when the choir arrives and things start rolling.

Sunday, May 31st, 2009 8:58AM Heather’s Sister’s Summer Home Portstewart, Northern Ireland

So I am now in Portstewart. It’s beautiful. The view from the living room looks over The Strand, which is the name of the beach here. We walked down near the water, and had fish and chips for dinner, it was the perfect weather, warm, but a nice ocean breeze. We pretty much spent the rest of the evening talking. I got to know Michelle more, and vice versa, which is good seeing how I will be spending a lot of time with her while I’m here.

Today I realized that the UK isn’t all that different from North America. Looking around the differences aren’t that drastic. The biggest thing I think is the accents and certain saying they use and trying to figure out what the person is referring to, but I haven’t had much trouble at all. The ‘ou” sound is more of an “igh”. When Heather says “Sound Guy”, it always sounds like she’s saying “Sign Guy”. One of the first things to catch me off guard was getting into the other side of the vehicle, and then not understanding why we were on the wrong side of the road, and then I remembered. I still forget every time I get into the car, so does Michelle.

Some terms that are different in Northern Ireland (may be different in other areas, many you will have already heard of) are:

lift = elevator, wee = little or small, car park = parking lot, toilet = washroom (but you might just get the toilet, often the bathtub or shower is in a separate room, called the bathroom), biscuits = cookies (arrowroot type), but chocolate chip cookies are cookies, dessert/candy = sweets (but both terms are used), nice/good = lovely (almost an overused word here), windscreen = windshield, hood of a vehicle = bonnet, trunk of a vehicle = boot, mobile home = static caravan, sat nav = satellite navigation/GPS, trailer = caravan

pop cans and bottles are a different size here, cans are a bit shorter, and bottles are skinnier

I will add to this list as time progresses, but I must be off to breakfast now.

We walked along the coast again on the way back from breakfast. I have to admit I’m falling in love with this beautiful little town. It’s really amazing. It’s so relaxing, I feel like I’m on a vacation. It’s almost romantic to me. A honeymoon spot if that’s safe to say. Apparently the weather isn’t ever nice here, it’s hard for me to believe that’s its always rainy and cold, I haven’t experienced either since I landed in the UK.

So today we did some more training, just verbal. Tomorrow I will go to the office in Lisburn and work with the financial advisor more hands on, so that will help a lot. Today it was decided that I would primarily be the Administrator and Michelle would primarily be doing Product Sales, which we mutually agreed upon, so I’m quite happy. It wasn’t set in stone what we would be coming out, but we are going to learn both so we can cover each other if needed. I think its always good to know as much as you can.

It’s been quite a relaxing day, I took a nice hour nap, possibly longer. Currently I’m reading Where The Brave Dare Not Go, written by Ray Barnett who is the president of The African Children’s Choir. It’s about his life, and its very very interesting. I’ve been trying to read it for months because I was told it was really touching, and I finally had some free time, and I’m really grateful I did. I’ve learned so much history through it.

Today was a bit hard without internet. I don’t like having to say that, but its really quiet and lonely sometimes without being able to talk to people you know and update them. I hope no one is too worried about me, I’ve only had a chance to call my mom, but I might be able to get online tomorrow, not that any of you will see this until then.

I don’t really feel sad about being away, I can’t really describe the feeling. I feel anxious I guess because I feel like my new life is about to begin and I’m really excited to embrace it, the good and the bad.

I’m going back to reading now, I’m sort of being anti-social with Heather and Michelle, but I told them what I was doing and I’d like to finish the book tonight.

Arrival in the UK

May 29th, 2009 Heathrow Airport 5:15PM London Time

So I landed safely. Yay! Pretty good flight except not being able to sleep. I blame my body for that.

My issue was getting through the UK border. I went up to the desk and told the I was volunteering with the African Children’s Choir and handed her all the documents I was told to give, she asked if I had a sponsorship number. I had never heard of it before and had no idea. The officer seemed a bit confused why I didn’t have it and said she needed to look further into it before she could let me in. So she handed me a paper (which I might still have) that said I was being held back and my case was going into further study. I was a bit nervous, but I knew everything would be alright. I sat in a closed seating section with 4 chairs. After an hour and having no response I was somewhat worried, but still confident I would get through, just hoping it would be soon. I didn’t want to miss my connecting flight that was later that evening. So after about 1.5 hours a lady came up to me and said the other lady is gone home and has handed the case over to me. I was told they were in contact with the Choir and trying to sort everything out, which helped a lot.

She asked if I needed anything, food, water etc. I had just said I am just really tired and want to sleep. The sleeping pills were in full effect at this point and I was struggling a lot to stay awake while waiting. I had no one to phone or talk to. One New Zealander joined me for a bit because he wrote that he was a “bum” as his occupation on his landing card because he didn’t have a job. He also wasn’t sure when he would be leaving the country. (I personally would have put him there for that) He was a really nice guy, just made a bad decision by not planning things out properly before getting to the border. He left quite quickly, I’m not sure if he ever got thorough. A lot of Africans joined me and left, it didn’t feel good sitting there for so long. The lady came back about 30 minutes later to check on me, and re assuring me they were still looking into things. I told her I had a connecting flight I didn’t want to miss. She was quite nice, but still quite serious and didn’t give me any hope of knowing weather I would be staying or going.

After about 2.5 hours of sitting in that black leather chair, the officer came up and said to come join her. She said it wasn’t bad news. She told me they would let me land, but my stay would be monitored while I was here, and gave me the info of why I was allowed in, and told me to give them the paper when I would be coming back in from Dubai so it wouldn’t happen again. The choir now has the sponsorship number they need. Apparently the airport isn't sure of all their rules and how to deal with them. They actually admitted that.

There was free Internet at the airport, but it wouldn’t let me connect for some reason, I tried about 5 times. The airport is HUGE! It’s also really cool looking, I took some pictures, but I didn’t want to get lost. It took me a while to find the train to the next Terminal and I couldn’t figure out the gate for my connecting flight, and then it got changed last minute, but it all got figured out. My second flight was a larger plane than I had expected. We got to go up the big steps, I always feel like a celebrity when I go in and out that way. I’m glad it wasn’t raining.

A crazy day to say the least. I made my connecting flight to Belfast, Northern Ireland, sat next to 2 businessmen who talked the entire time, and I just kept falling asleep on and off. I noticed the difference in accents right away. It’s hard to explain in words how it sounds. I was picked up at the airport with a smile and a hug from my Choir Manager, Heather, and everything just felt at peace.

I am staying at her parents house with another girl from the states (she was the one who had to deal with the officials while I was sitting there. We were together in the decision, but I sat, while she did all the talking. They searched her suitcase and found the ACC logo shirts, which I think played a factor in them letting us in. The house is brand new and huge, I have my own room and bathroom. I’ve taken a shower, eaten and written this. It’s 12:30AM now. I’m barely keeping my eyes open. I can be more detailed when I have a fresh mind to work with. I apologize for not getting this to everyone sooner, but I’m in the country and there is no wireless here, so you will have to wait. Hope you aren’t too worried about me. :0)

Until then good night and thanks for reading :)

Flight to London

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

I am currently on a British Airways flight from Vancouver to Heathrow London. It’s my first time overseas. This is the update of my trip so far. Some family and close friends came with me to the airport, I was quite early so we sat down and just had casual conversation to not focus on the obvious. Eventually the time came where I had to go through security, so I gave my hugs and goodbyes without shedding a tear, just the way I had hoped. Not because it’s bad to cry, I was just trying to focus on the positive. So I waited in line to get on the plane feeling as if nothing was different or about to change, just another flight. Whatever, no big deal. I said goodbye to Vancouver in my head, and stepped on the biggest jet I think I’ve ever seen. That’s when it all started. The captain had an English accent which I liked, but didn’t expect. I saw a few people in line with UK passports and all of a sudden started hearing all the accents. The tears began to fall as I realized these were the sounds I would be hearing for the next 6 months, and I had to get used to it. No turning back.

Part of finding your seat is walking through first class. It wasn’t at all what I had expected. The chairs didn’t look much different, and you sat in this “pod” type of cubicle. Interesting looking to say the least. There was a flip down foot rest, and quite a bit of leg room in between, but that was about it, it just looked cramped. (I actually got pictures on the way off the plane.)

I found my window seat pleased to figure out no one had booked the middle seat. On the seat was a pink pillow, a blanket and a package, which made me feel better also. Inside the package was headphones, socks, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. Guess that’s all you need. (I actually had packed my own toothbrush because I had to deal with not having one at the airport another time I traveled, not fun after 9 hours.) I was happy to have the toothpaste though!

My neighbor (lady with the aisle seat) was in her late 20’s/early 30's and smiled when I sat down. I told myself I wouldn’t be shy and make an effort to talk to her before the plane landed. Sooner than later as well. She beat me to it and asked if I was returning home, I told her this was home, and it was my first time overseas. She seemed quite excited for me, and told me I would love it in her European accent. She spoke very clear English but I knew she wasn’t from the UK, so I asked. She was from Austria and visiting some family in Vancouver for the past 2 months. She had some mixed feelings about going home because she had realized she missed it, but was quite certain she would rather live in Vancouver. Her next goal was to find a job and move to the city she had fallen in love with. She was very sweet and friendly.

As the plane started to roll out of the terminal it again hit me that I was going to be away from this wonderful city, my family and friends for 6 months. No coming back to visit in that time, and the tears came harder as I tried to hide it from the other lady.

I had decided I wanted to somehow document my experiences so I wouldn’t forget them, but didn’t know how I would make it happen without having any power connected to my computer, or paper to write on (The airline didn’t have any, which kind of bothered me). So I just wrote small on the back of a letter I had 2 copies of.

I didn’t bring a book to read because it was extra weight I decided I didn’t want to haul around throughout my trip, so I took a peek in the magazine that gives you info on the entertainment provided. I found a section on South Africa which immediately caught my attention. Globetrekker, where people will travel throughout certain places to learn more about their culture, quality television right there. I also watched 2 chick flicks, which were alright.

So airline food is exactly what they say. Not good. The question was beef or pasta? I chose pasta. I’m almost 100% sure it was cooked in a microwave, it sure looked and tasted like it. It was accompanied with an eggplant salad with fresh mozzarella cheese. I’m not a big eggplant person, so I ate it first to get it out of the way. Dessert was some sort of apple pastry. It was just alright again. I’m waiting to see what breakfast has to offer in a few hours.

I saw the sun setting today, it was amazing. I took pictures to share. :) The sleeping pills are starting to make me drowsy, I will attempt to sleep now. I read about Gordon Ramsey having a airplane food restaurant in the Heathrow airport, I’m tempted to try it tomorrow.

The sleeping didn’t go so well... it’s quite uncomfortable having to sit for such a long time. I can’t describe my feelings, which is odd, I am usually pretty good at understanding my feelings. I don’t feel nervous or excited, but yet I feel a small amount of both.