Day 7

Hello everyone. The sun is shining and the sky is blue for our last full day of school here in Vancouver. Today’s program is to have an English class in the morning, and then go bowling in the afternoon.

Yesterday we were not in the classroom as we went to Vancouver to see the city. We first went to Stanley Park, which is a very large park on the ocean in Vancouver. We saw totem poles there, as well as the famous Lion’s Gate Bridge.

After that we went to Robson Street for lunch, and then Gastown, which is a historical district in Vancouver. It was a good chance to do some shopping and buy gifts for friends and family back home.

Tomorrow we will meet at the school in the morning and then take the bus out to the airport. Typhoon number 10 is coming to Japan about the same time as our airplane, so the homepage will be updated if any of the travel plans change.

All of us at the totem poles in Stanley Park.

Fries + gravy + cheese = Poutine! A Canadian classic.

We only had 5 minutes for a bathroom break, so this small french fries was shared by 6 people!

During this trip the students have also been keeping journals that I can check each day. It is a chance for me to get a sense of how they are doing during their homestay hours, deal with any problems, and it also will be a way for them to remember their trip after it is finished.

Day 4, 5, and 6

Hello everyone. It is Monday morning here in Vancouver, with cloudy skies. However, the forecast for today looks good, and it probably won’t rain during our day trip to the city center. Fingers crossed! On Saturday and Sunday our students spent time with their host families, so I am excited today to hear about what they did over the weekend. I hope they made some good memories and deeper connections to their hosts.

On Friday we had our usual English class in the morning. Then in the afternoon, students watched a Disney movie in English and prepared for some special guests. At three o’clock several Disney princesses came to our school to tell their stories to the students. The show was well done, and they singing voices were very nice.

I have put some pictures below, and will add some more tomorrow when we have finished our Vancouver tour. See you then!

Our host families joined us when the princesses came.

Day 3,

Hello everyone. Yesterday at school there was a special guest. She is a member of Canada’s First Nations people, and taught us about different songs and dances used in their ceremonies. We also made a dream catcher.

One other interesting thing was the connection between Japan and Canada’s west coast. Japan has a long written history, while First Nation’s people have a long oral history of telling stories. These two histories often match. For example, there is a story from the Huu-ay-aht First Nation about a night that “the land shook”. The time of that story matches the time recorded in Japan of a tsunami with no earthquake in the Genroku era. Japanese people knew that tsunamis followed earthquakes, but this tsunami had no quake. In fact, the earthquake had happened in Canada, and sent a wave all the way to Japan.

Today we will have more special guests, and then the students will spend the weekend with their host families. The weather looks rainy, but hopefully it is not too bad. See you Monday!

After the dream catchers, we went outside to learn to sing and dance.

Some students were drummers, and some were dancers.

The dancers each had an animal. Here are some eagles.

We sang and danced a traditional welcome song.

Day 2,

Yesterday was our first full day at school. We all met at 9:00 and met our buddies that will be studying with us this week. After some games to “break the ice”, we learned about Canadian money. After lunch we went to America! Kind of… the Canada/USA border is close to our school, so we went to the “Peace Arch”. It celebrates peace between the two countries. After that we explored the town of White Rock. Students had a photo scavenger hunt.

This morning is a little cloudy and cool, so students are dressed warmly. Today they will learn about First Nations people and make a dreamcatcher.

Here are some pictures from yesterday…

Studying in the morning with our buddies.

The Peace Arch park was partly made from donations by children from both Canada and America.

Day 1,

We have made it to Canada safe and sound. After getting our suitcases at the airport, we went downtown to a market called “Granville Island” to look around and get a snack. After that, we took a bus to “William of Orange Christian School”, which is where we will have our lessons everyday. As we got closer, our students got more nervous because they were about to meet their host families! At the school we went to the gym, met our host families, and said goodbye for the evening.

This morning everyone arrived at the school on time and ready for the day. Today’s plan is to have an English lesson in the morning, and then go to the “Peace Arch” border crossing to have a picnic in the afternoon. After the picnic lunch we will look around the small town of White Rock, and then come back to the school at 4pm.

Here are some pictures from the first day: