Summer School Continues...

It is so hard to believe that three weeks of the four week summer school program have already passed! Each field trip challenges the students' English in new ways, and gives me insight into their personalities and how they will fit into the International program for the coming school year.

The week before last began with a trip to Grouse Mountain and ended with an evening watching the BC Lions play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Grouse Mountain was... wet! However, our guide for the day was fantastic, and we had Phil, the ecowalk guide we enjoyed so much when we went up with Ruth and hte boys. The students had been forwarned about possible inclimate weather and most came prepared. It was their introduction to Canadians not letting the weather stop them from having fun outdoors. Only a few complained about being wet and cold, but they enjoyed themselves nonetheless.

Our day at the Aquarium was perfect! It was nice weather for watching the Beluga show outside, and to enjoy the dolphin show. I caught a great photo of one of the Pacific White-sided dolphins at the beginning of the show.



Truth be told, football is really not my thing. However, the game we went to was very exciting! It was very close, although the Lions lost in the end. Sherlock, my student from Hong Kong, was very excited about going to see a "football match." I explained that in Canada the term is "football game", which also differentiates it from what he thinks of as "football" and we call "soccer."

We had several extra tickets to the game, so Paul tagged along. At the last minute, since there were two remaining tickets, we called Donna and Alvin and they met us at the stadium. Both are avid football fans, and it was fun to have them join us with the students.

Some of the students enjoyed the game - especially due to the close score. However, quite a few were ready to go home after the second quarter. The game didn't end until about 10:45 pm, and we spent a very long time sitting in traffic trying to get out of the city. This got us back to the school at almost midnight, and Paul and I only got home to be in bed by about 1 am. I had to park the bus, alarm the high school and lock all the gates.

Paul and I had to be up at 5 am the next morning to get me to Cultus Lake for the regatta. Regatta day had that dream quality all day, as I was operating on adrenaline alone!!



Last week we shuffled some activities around based on weather. As you can see, we had perfect conditions for a day at Crescent Beach in South Surrey. The tide was out during our time there, which created a lot of different options for the students as they decided how to fill their time there. The boys had a soccer game going on out in the tidal flats. Other students dug up clams and baby crabs, and found egg sacs and dead jelly fish. Of course, there was also frisbee and kite flying - and before we went home, I bought everyone icecream.

The day after the beach was even hotter, which was perfect for a day at the waterslides at Cultus Lake, near Chilliwack. All the students enjoyed a full day of running up to the top, and screaming all the way down the slides. Lineups were fairly long, but the students were patient, and except for the odd sunburn, everyone had a great time!

We also went to Science World one day last week, and on Friday visited the Mountain View Wildlife Conservation Centre near Fort Langley. The latter has a goal of raising and breeding endangered species from around the world. The centre is only accessible by appointment, and only two tours go out each day. Over the 2 hours, the students saw some very unique animals and heard a lot about conservation. The owner's daughter attends Pacific Academy, and we noticed one compound that had been donated by the school. Each habitat area is as big as the natural territory for each species.

It has been a fun summer so far, and I look forward to next week's adventures!!