ST MARY'S HIGH SCHOOL

Our time in Canada is coming to a close so I thought it about time that I introduced you to some of the people who I have been working with over the last 12 months. Besides that I actually have lots of marking to do so you could say that I am procrastinating. St Mary's is the only Catholic school in Woodstock and has about 1,000 students. This last semester I taught 3 Grade 12 classes so I very fortunate as they were great classes for the most part.


My workroom was Room 186 so I thought I would give you an insight into the goings on in this particular room. Above are Lorraine Thompson and Bela Shea. Lorraine teaches Religion and she is one of the gentlest and kindest persons I have ever met. She is always prepared to drop anything to help you which she did for me on many occasions. Thank you Lorraine. Bela teaches Family Studies and although she is tiny she is very assertive and confident and not one to mess with according to the students.


These two characters above with the cheeky smiles are Tim Trewin and Monica Marzhal. Tim is the Head Teacher for Religion and Monica teaches Religion also. Tim is a whiz teacher and super organised Head Teacher and an interesting person to talk to. He also organised the potluck lunches and Chinese feasts throughout the year. Monica prefers to hang out in Siberia in one of the portables, don't know why as we are stimulating company, but when she wants to gossip she turns up in the workroom.


This is Bruna Pullin, our ever efficient receptionist and just good person. Bruna has relatives in Australia so we found many occasions to chat. Thank you Bruna for doing paperwork for me and generally filling me in when I had queries.


This is Stan Verschoore who is one of our Vice Principals (sorry about the photo Stan). Stan is in charge of staff absences and organises on-calls and relief when it is needed. Of course he hands out those on-call sheets with a smile on his face and everyone justs loves him. I'll always remember the way Stan gets involved in the life of the school, his Halloween costume was particularly memorable.


These two ladies are Natalie Wood and Mary-Anne Kish. Natalie works in the computer office and makes sure that we all do the right thing when it comes to reports etc. She always has a smile on her face, well almost always, apart from when we forget to check the box when we have entered our report marks and comments. That of course only happens twice a semester so that's not at all bad. Mary-Anne is the Principal's secretary and she too always appears to have a sunny smile, even when it is -10 degrees outside.


This is Shirley Gelinas, our second Vice Principal. Shirley is in charge of student welfare among other things and has been helpful in the absence of a Department Head Teacher this last semester. She patrols the corridors with her trusty radio and has some particular Grade 12 students running scared from her. If the truth be told probably some staff members as well.


Above are Brad Boulianne, Kathy Shelton and Myriam Martin. Brad occasionally visits our workroom and teaches Religion. His best performance so far has been trying to steal a desk in Room 186 from a rather feisty Irish lady ( no guesses for who won that skirmish). He also introduced me to Hungry Man's Dinner, a microwave dinner that would help you along to a heart attack if you ate too many. Kathy Shelton teaches Geography and I will not forget her as she is always so optimistic and she gave me a quilt which she had made herself, so I will have a little bit of Kathy and Canada. Myriam teaches French and is one of the people responsible for the Sunshine Club which does just that, brings a little bit of sunshine all year round.

This is Paul Droog who resides in our workroom and teaches Religion and is the king of the one-liners. He has so many that I honestly cannot remember a particular one. I have loved his cynicism and sense of humour.


These two ladies are Katie d'Hondt and Kristy Lane who both reside in our workroom and both teach French. Katie has become a great friend and I will miss her very much. She finishes up shortly after I leave to have her first baby so I will look forward to that. Kristy has only been here this semester as an LTO so I hope that she is able to get more work next semester.


Above is James Delodder who is Head Teacher for Canadian World Studies or Social Sciences. James and I shared a prep this semester and we have had some great conversations about everything from politics to unions and I will miss this a great deal.


This is Gail Moran who has been like a substitute mother for me, even though she is much younger. Thank you Gail for all the help and friendship you have given me over the last year and also for the great variety of jellies, jams and pickles which you have made for me.


Last but certainly not least this person is Anne Paterson-March who is the feisty Irish maiden who was involved in the dispute over the desk in Room 186. Anne teaches English and she quite the character who has become a good friend this last semester.

Thank you one and all for making me so welcome and for making my stay so memorable. You will not be forgotten and because of all of you I can honestly say that this experience has been a once in a lifetime.

NEW YORK

We visited New York City after Christmas and spent 3 very full days there. New York City consists of 5 boroughs; The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhatten, Queens and Staten Island. Although you can see these other boroughs most of the tourist attractions are in Manhatten so that is where we went. The total population is approximately 8,300,000 people who speak at least 170 different languages. In fact most of those we heard on the streets were languages other than English. The population is thus very diverse and approximately 36% were actually born outside the United States. The greater city occupies 305sq miles.

The city was founded in 1624 as a commercial trading post by the Dutch, who called it New Amsterdam. It was the US capital from 1785-1790. In 1664 the English conquered the city and renamed it New York after the English Duke of York.

The photo above is of the New York skyline from the shores of New Jersey and the one below is of the Empire State building. Both were taken at sunset on our 3rd day in the city. We had just returned via ferry.


We stayed in a city called Fair Lawn which is in New Jersey. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay with Nellu and Anca, Andrei's aunt and uncle both of whom work in Manhatten.
On our third day we had decided to take a ferry ride to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty, however, we got sidetracked in The Holocaust Museum for 3 hours so by the time we got to the ferry wharf the line was kilometers long so we had to settle for this long distance view which you can see below. Likewise for the Empire State building which we had intended to go up, also had an extremely long line as well. When you are there for only a short time you have to make compromises.


On our second day there we were treated to a personally guided tour of Manhatten by Nellu and Anca. Some of the sights we got to see were Central Park, Union Station, The Rockefeller Center, Broadway, Times Square, Bryant Park, the Plaza, Hyat and Marriot Hotels and Trump Tower. It was great not having to make decisions as they both knew the best routes to take and the right order to see things in. Below is the Rockefeller Center where skaters were making the most of the great weather. On this particular day the temperature was mild, about 66f so of course the city was crowded.


Below is the bridge in Central Park which has been used in several movies. The park itself is about 250 acres so you would need days to see it all.


Below is a group shot, minus Anca, at the entrance to Central Park. Nellu is very tall which in the crowds was very helpful as he stood out amongst everyone else.



Below is Tom's Diner where the sitcom Seinfeld was filmed. It is quite close to Columbia University and judging by the crowd is a popular place although no one could tell us if that was because of the food or the fact that the show was filmed there.




One of our first stops was uptown at the University of Columbia where Nellu works in the computer department. The University itself is huge covering a large part of the city. It does not have too much parkland although the plazas are unique and many of the buildings are very beautiful, particularly the Library. To do an MBA there can cost up to $60,000 a year. It is considered to be number 5 of the Ivy League universities in the USA.



The pictures above and below are of the Wall St Stock Exchange and the intersection of Wall St and Broadway. We visited the financial center on our first day in the city which was very cold and also foggy so you could not see much of the river at all. We took the subway from Hoboken in New Jersey over to 33rd Street and then walked south through Soho, Greenwich Village, Little Italy then Chinatown where we had a great meal at a Japanese restaurant. We went to the financial center from there and finished the day at Ground Zero which essentially is a hole in the ground and a construction site.


All in all this was a great experience despite the crowds which we expected but did not realise they were going to be quite so bad. Will try to do a couple more postings before we leave but cannot promise anything.

CHRISTMAS IN GREENSBORO

Friday the 19th December was our last day of school before the break and it was also the day that we had a huge snowstorm and all of the schools in the city were closed which means that teachers do not have to go in to school at all. This was a real bonus as it meant we could organise ourselves to go south. We were actually anticipating it as everyone in our workroom exchanged cards etc on the Thursday. Wayne and I drove down to Greensboro on the Saturday which was a 13 hour drive.


Above are Sylvia and Louisa opening some of their gifts. We spent the day at Sylvia's, Andrei's mother, where we had a traditional Romanian Christmas meal. The weather down in Greensboro was surprisingly warm compared to Woodstock


Andrei opening some of his gifts.


Louisa opening one of her gifts. They were all extremely generous to Wayne and I.


This American flag was given to Wayne by Sylvia. It once belonged to a Vietnam veteran so it is quite special. Below is a picture of Lee in one of her contemplative moments.



We stayed with Lee and Andrei until Boxing Day when we all left for New Jersey where we were to spend some time with Andrei's aunt and uncle. The trip to New Jersey took approximately 10 hours but the traffic was horrendous in some places as everyone had the same idea as we did. On the way we drove into Washington DC where we went down Constitution Ave and passed the Lincoln Memorial and the entrance to the White House. Unfortunately it was only a fleeting visit as we simply did not have the time, maybe next time.

HUNTING AND WOODSTOCK CHRISTMAS PARADE

Wayne has been out hunting several times since we have been here, although he has not actually seen anything shot. On this particular occasion he went out with Glen on 15th November and it was pretty miserable as it rained most of the day. It doesn't really appeal to me at all, especially having to sit still for so long in the cold.


Later that same night the rain turned to wet snow and it was also the night of Woodstock's Christmas Parade. We watched it for an hour and a half before the freezing weather got to us but it is pretty huge as trucks etc were still coming through Dundas Street when we left. These 2 young girls were having a great time watching the parade.



These pictures are of the parade and the square near City Hall where the lights were lit up on the huge Christmas tree.


These photos below were taken this same weekend on the back deck. This was the heaviest snow that we had so far this season. We never tire of it and love getting out when we can. I try to walk to school most days which is a great experience although some days have been a bit treacherous when the footpaths ice up or when you have to trudge through slush after a thaw.

HALLOWEEN

Halloween has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. Largely though it is secular. Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America during Ireland's Great Famine of 1846. The day is often associated with the colours of orange and black and is strongly associated with symbols such as the jack-o-lantern.

The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season. Traditionally the festival was a time used by the ancient Celtic pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. It was believed October 31st was the boundary between the living and the dead where the dead became dangerous for the living causing problems such as sickness and damaged crops.


Halloween is a big celebration in Canada and the USA, unlike Australia. Both St Mike's and St Mary's celebrated by dressing up in various costumes. The students I teach warned me about Devil's Thursday which is the night before Halloween when kids go out and cause mischief. They seem extremely inventive although we were not targeted at all.

Above is one of the homes on Mill St, Woodstock, whose owners take great pride in decorating their house. These decorations were up for quite a while and then before we knew it they had replaced them with Christmas theme decorations which were just as good.

AMISH COMMUNITY AT MILLBANK

On the weekend of October 25th Wayne and I took a tour of the Amish Community at Millbank. They have only been opening up their farms to the public in the last 5 years and it was very interesting. The Amish are members of the Anabaptist Christian denomination, best known for their simple living, plain dress and for resisting modern conveniences. It originated in Switzerland among the Swiss Brethren in 1693 and early in the 18th century they began migrating to Pennsylvania because of intense persecution. The Old Amish Order has been the most successful at resisting change. They emphasise church, family relationships and they typically operate their own one-room schools and children stop their education in Grade 8.


Above is an example of one of the bicycles that they ride. They use modern technology if it cannot be avoided but in this case the bicycle is propelled much like a scooter.


We had often seen these booths above and wondered what they were. They are actually telephone booths which they will use but will not have a telephone in their homes so booths such as this stand apart from the homes and can be used by several different families.


This was one of the workshops that we visited. This was the harness making workshop which is kept very busy.


Gradually over the years many of the Amish who first settled in Pennsylvania spread their wings and bought land in other localities. This community in Millbank is quite large and is not too far away from the Mennonites who live near St Jacob's and Elmira.


We thought this was a good picture of an Amish farm complex. Below I am standing in front of a sled which they use during winter.



Wayne wanted to see inside one of their barns and although this not officially on the tour it was a good example of what they were like. This of course had a selection of pigs in various shapes and sizes.


I think the photo below is great. Wayne captured this pair in just the right light and spot.



They even allowed us to go into one of their homes. No electrical appliances or lights at all and very little furniture. They heat their homes with wood burning stoves and heat water for washing etc which is all done by hand. It appears that about 90% of the Amish people who are raised in these communities stay in them as the children do not interact with outside children and culture since they do not go to outside schools and are not exposed to the media.