i'm like fuel on fire

I haven't had time to update in a while! Our whole group has been so busy with work and group activities that I haven't had much time to just sit down and type.

A quick recap of my last week...

There has been noticeable tension within our group this past week. Everyone was kind of getting on everyone's nerves, and things were not going too well. So yesterday night, our group had a 4 hour circle talk where each person says one good thing and one bad thing about each other person. It was pretty tough, there were some tears, but it has made our group SO much better. Because everything's off our chests now, we have a new clean slate to work with.

On Friday night, we raced through dinner and helped out at a haunted forest. We got to dress up as zombies and scare people, although we didn't really scare anyone... but we tried! Then after some of us went out to a heavy metal show at The Hub just down the streets 10 minutes, which was REALLY fun! Good music, good times. Although one guy tried to crowd surf and fell on his head! Ouch...

Today was a really good day at work. I think I made some progress with one of the toughests students to get through to, so I'm really happy about that. There's some Halloween party at the Queen's Hotel next week, so I think we might try to go to that if we can.

while we're on the subject

Just a quick update...

I had a great first week at work! Even in just the few days I was there, I was able to connect on some level with almost every student. Some not as much as I'd like, but I'm making progress for sure. I like the idea of Second Chance. It adapts to the student's needs, rather than the student having to adapt to how a school is run. I think EVERYONE could benefit from a program like it. They get to work at their own pace. I helped a couple of them do some outdoor work yesterday, which was a nice way to be able to bond with them on a more personal level. I like that T let's us spend time together outside of school, so I'm not just a teacher's assistant to them, but hopefully someone they can trust. I was invited to a party yesterday night, but never found out where it was. That's OK though, there will be more!

Our end of trimester excursion is probably going to be Toronto, which will be so much fun because we can stay in a hotel and I'll hopefully be able to see Alannah and Adam.

Anyway, hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! We get two turkies for 12 people... woo!

we'll all float on

Things have been going well during Katimavik. For the most part everyone is getting along, and if heads butt we are quick to solve the problem. We're all really close and comfortable with each other, so confrontations don't really happen because we aren't afraid to bring up problems.

I started work at Second Chance yesterday. My first day was a little rough... the students seemed a bit hostile towards me, which is understandable because they have no idea who I am. They all come from pretty troubled families and outside lives, so I get that they don't want to trust me right away. I don't expect them to. I did mostly computer work, and helped some of them with what I could.

My second day went a lot better. N seems to be warming up to me the fastest. She's really funny and personable, and a really hard worker. Three of the guys at Second Chance didn't come back after lunch yesterday, so they got in trouble today when they went to school. T, the teacher, told me about a lot of their background stories... most of their problems seem to stem from bad parenting, or lack of parental support. I won't post them on here, because it's the Internet, but they're pretty sad.

Last Saturday we went to the Gandhi Peace Festival in Hamilton, where we saw Gandhi's grandson speak and took part in a peace walk. I got to hold a sign, which was fun. And we got to hang out with the Hamilton group, too. After that we drove to their house, went to the park and played some sports, and then we drove to see Niagara Falls. So far, it's been my favourite day. Niagara Falls were SO cool, and sharing it with my group made it that much more special.