Well as most of you already know, I have arrived safe and sound back in the Soo. I know I haven't updated in a while, but the end of tour was fantastic! Our team got really close to one another and we feel like family now :) Reflecting back on tour, I can honestly say that it was by far the best four months of my life. I learned so much and got to experience so many amazing things that I never dreamed of! Who knew that I would one day be travelling across the country speaking to approximately 23,600 students from Ontario to B.C??? I wouldn't trade these past four months for the world! The end of tour was a bitter sweet thing. Not only did I know that I would no longer be living a "celebrity" lifestyle (travelling from town to town each day and living on a tour bus and such), but I would also be saying goodbye to the eight fabulous people I got to know so well on this tour, not to mention the many others I met along the way. To each and every one of them, I wish good luck in the future and I pray that we will continue to be good friends for a long time after this. One good thing that I could see coming out of this amazing tour coming to an end was that I would finally get to go home to see my family and my friends and spend the Christmas holidays with them, which has thus far been wonderful. :)
I'm looking forward to what God will be showing me in the second semester of this tour. After everything I've learned so far, I can't imagine how there is another lesson in the world to be taught! BUT there's lots more to learn and experience and I'm excited to see what all that may be. I'm excited to be doing lots of hands on work in the coming four months. From September to December I spoke to kids about Hero Holiday trips and got them inspired about ways that they could make a difference, and now I'm going to be there making that difference first hand. I'll even be working with some of the schools that we presented to first semester as they'll be coming for Hero Holiday trips. While in Mexico, I'll be teaching English in at least two schools, volunteering in seniors homes, building houses, leading humanitarian teams (Hero Holiday trips) in building houses and schools, as well as studying a social justice curriculum!
As much as I am looking forward to this new part of my journey, I am still struggling to find the funds to pay for my second semester. The costs for the second semester will be close to $5,000. I have been working since I've been home, but I'm not sure how many more shifts I'll get with the Christmas season coming to an end and Searchmont still not open yet!
If you feel led to supporting me financially, you can contact me at ckburmaster@hotmail.ca (NOT .COM), as well, cheques can be made to "Absolute Leadership Development" and can be mailed to my house. (Please email for address).
Thank you so much for reading and keeping me in your prayers!
God bless,
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Cynthia
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
There are some things in life that can just brighten your day no matter what mood you're in. I experience one of those things today. During set-up this morning, a group of special needs girls walked through the gym in front of my soundboard table to go do their daily physio class. At first, I didn't think too much of it .. until one of the girls with down syndrome looked at me, waved and smiled. I said hi to her and asked her what her name was. She couldn't really pronounce it properly but her EA told me her name was Natalie. When I said "Hi Natalie, it's nice to meet you", she opened her arms and threw them around my neck. She was so excited that I had taken a minute out of my day to know her by name. A few minutes later, she entered the room again, this time accompanied by the rest of her class and they took a seat on the bench beside me. Natalie came over again and hugged me, sparking the interest of a few of the other girls. I walked over and asked the other girls their names, receiving a few more hugs as I did so. One girl named Manami caught my eye. She was wearing braces on both of her knees, one on her wrist, and she was sitting in a wheelchair. I sat down beside her and we bonded over the colour pink being our favourite colour. I think she's my new best friend. It was hard to pry myself away from her to go do the show, but she sat at the back and watched. Over lunch I sat with her and Natalie again and even though they both couldn't speak, I had a really good time with them! It made me so happy to just spend time with them and see the smiles on their faces!
When we left the school, we headed to the local grocery store to buy snacks for our bus ride, and on the counter as we're paying we saw a glass jar with a picture of Manami on the side of it. It read: Please help Manami - We are trying to raise money to send Manami overseas in order to have stem cell treatment. I couldn't believe my eyes. This was the girl I had just met, the girl who made my day and here was an opportunity for me to give back to her! I dropped a few bills in the jar and wrote a note that I put in along with it. I was amazed that there were so little donations in the jar and I started brainstorming ways I could help them out. Maybe start a facebook group to raise funds for her and send them to her? I really feel compelled to do something ... This girl was amazing. She had so many things to complain about in life and yet the smile never faded off her face ... That's how I want to live. :)
I'm going to try to get ahold of her educational assistant and ask if there's any way I could fundraise some money for her. If anyone feels compelled to donate, feel free to contact me by email!
ckburmaster@hotmail.ca
When we left the school, we headed to the local grocery store to buy snacks for our bus ride, and on the counter as we're paying we saw a glass jar with a picture of Manami on the side of it. It read: Please help Manami - We are trying to raise money to send Manami overseas in order to have stem cell treatment. I couldn't believe my eyes. This was the girl I had just met, the girl who made my day and here was an opportunity for me to give back to her! I dropped a few bills in the jar and wrote a note that I put in along with it. I was amazed that there were so little donations in the jar and I started brainstorming ways I could help them out. Maybe start a facebook group to raise funds for her and send them to her? I really feel compelled to do something ... This girl was amazing. She had so many things to complain about in life and yet the smile never faded off her face ... That's how I want to live. :)
I'm going to try to get ahold of her educational assistant and ask if there's any way I could fundraise some money for her. If anyone feels compelled to donate, feel free to contact me by email!
ckburmaster@hotmail.ca
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Little ol' Weyburn
This weekend we had the opportunity to have four whole days off in a small southern town in Saskatchewan called Weyburn, where one of our team leaders lives. I've probably said this before, but I feel I should mention it again : SSM is NOT a small town ... we've been deceived our whole lives living there thinking we were stuck in a tiny little city, but let me tell you, I haven't seen small towns until this tour. Weyburn has a population of about 10,000 people and they're biggest hit: wheat fields and oil rigs! Oh wait... They do have a McDonald's AND a Walmart! ... you know you're a big shot when ;)
The first day we were here, we spent the whole day laying around doing nothing! Because we are SOOOO generous, the girls and I had given up our beds for the guys the night before, so we spent the first night making a fort around our air mattresses so we would have a private place to sleep as well. It's a good thing we gave the guys the bedroom because even though us girls slept until about 11:30am, the boys slept in even longer! I think we needed it haha. The second day was much more eventful! We took team pictures outside in the snow around the old barn in our billet's yard, then took a trip to Walmart (so exciting!!!). Afterward, some of us went over to an intern's house who we met at the last school we were at and went horseback riding! It was cold, but fun! When we returned to our billet's house, she had a lovely turkey dinner waiting for us with stuffing and all! It was delicious! After dinner, our billet had hockey tickets for us so we got to go watch the Red Wings play! .... Okay, maybe I should be more specific ... The Weyburn Red Wings ... BUT they won the game in a shoot out, and we caught two pucks, so we're convinced we're good luck :)
Who said small towns couldn't be exciting ?!?!?!?
Today we're spending the day packing Christmas shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child at our billet's house!
Overall, it has been a very relaxing and exciting long weekend!
Tomorow we're Manitoba bound!
The first day we were here, we spent the whole day laying around doing nothing! Because we are SOOOO generous, the girls and I had given up our beds for the guys the night before, so we spent the first night making a fort around our air mattresses so we would have a private place to sleep as well. It's a good thing we gave the guys the bedroom because even though us girls slept until about 11:30am, the boys slept in even longer! I think we needed it haha. The second day was much more eventful! We took team pictures outside in the snow around the old barn in our billet's yard, then took a trip to Walmart (so exciting!!!). Afterward, some of us went over to an intern's house who we met at the last school we were at and went horseback riding! It was cold, but fun! When we returned to our billet's house, she had a lovely turkey dinner waiting for us with stuffing and all! It was delicious! After dinner, our billet had hockey tickets for us so we got to go watch the Red Wings play! .... Okay, maybe I should be more specific ... The Weyburn Red Wings ... BUT they won the game in a shoot out, and we caught two pucks, so we're convinced we're good luck :)
Who said small towns couldn't be exciting ?!?!?!?
Today we're spending the day packing Christmas shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child at our billet's house!
Overall, it has been a very relaxing and exciting long weekend!
Tomorow we're Manitoba bound!
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Time to Turn Around =(
Well out of this whole tour so far, there's one thing I've learned for sure: the west coast is the BEST coast :)
Snow covered mountains, glacier rivers, ocean views, canyons, small town souvenir shops, and wild ten minute long blizzards are all so exciting to me!
So far, my favorite town we've visited all tour has been Jasper, Alberta. I love the small town feel and being surrounded by mountains that are covered with snow! It just makes me want to go skiing so badly! We had the weekend off there and we got to go shopping down town and i can honestly say that I've probably been in every single souvenir shop in that whole entire town! I mean, somebody's gotta support the local businesses during the winter time! We had dinner at a cute little pub downtown where everyone knew everyone and they welcomed us back each night with a smile. I think I can safely say that I would be totally fine living there someday! One day while walking down the street, we literally watched as the town became enveloped in a snow storm from all directions. We saw this white whispy cloud coming towards us and finally realized it was snow ... two seconds before the snow flakes landed on our heads! It was crazy! And within ten minutes, it had stopped and the sun had come back out again! It's amazing how different the weather can be sometimes.
Now, we're on our way back to Ontario and we've made it to Saskatchewan now. It's cool because we're getting to stay with some of the same families who billeted us on our way here and it's awesome to see them again ! It's kind of depressing to go from gorgeous mountains to flat open land ... but that's the beauty of Canada!
I don't know what the weather is like where you're at while reading this, but I've heard that back home in SSM it's been about 15 degrees and sunny .... Wellllll it's been sunny here ... and about -12 degrees and snowy! There's more and more snow the further east we go! It's not like a usual Ontario first snow fall where it snows just enough to cover the ground and then melts by the afternoon.... right now there's probably about three inches of snow on the ground ... and that's just been sitting here since the first snow fall on Friday night! Personally, I have no problem with the weather since i'm a northern girl and love to ski, however I seem to be one of the very few on the team who is the least bit excited about the white fluffy snow outside and the chance to wear a hat and mits! I hope the rest realize we live in Canada, not Mexico :P
All is good here! a few minor bus issues, but nothing that coudn't be solved by a few jumper cables and some intelligent young men!
Getting excited to be back home in a few weeks!
Snow covered mountains, glacier rivers, ocean views, canyons, small town souvenir shops, and wild ten minute long blizzards are all so exciting to me!
So far, my favorite town we've visited all tour has been Jasper, Alberta. I love the small town feel and being surrounded by mountains that are covered with snow! It just makes me want to go skiing so badly! We had the weekend off there and we got to go shopping down town and i can honestly say that I've probably been in every single souvenir shop in that whole entire town! I mean, somebody's gotta support the local businesses during the winter time! We had dinner at a cute little pub downtown where everyone knew everyone and they welcomed us back each night with a smile. I think I can safely say that I would be totally fine living there someday! One day while walking down the street, we literally watched as the town became enveloped in a snow storm from all directions. We saw this white whispy cloud coming towards us and finally realized it was snow ... two seconds before the snow flakes landed on our heads! It was crazy! And within ten minutes, it had stopped and the sun had come back out again! It's amazing how different the weather can be sometimes.
Now, we're on our way back to Ontario and we've made it to Saskatchewan now. It's cool because we're getting to stay with some of the same families who billeted us on our way here and it's awesome to see them again ! It's kind of depressing to go from gorgeous mountains to flat open land ... but that's the beauty of Canada!
I don't know what the weather is like where you're at while reading this, but I've heard that back home in SSM it's been about 15 degrees and sunny .... Wellllll it's been sunny here ... and about -12 degrees and snowy! There's more and more snow the further east we go! It's not like a usual Ontario first snow fall where it snows just enough to cover the ground and then melts by the afternoon.... right now there's probably about three inches of snow on the ground ... and that's just been sitting here since the first snow fall on Friday night! Personally, I have no problem with the weather since i'm a northern girl and love to ski, however I seem to be one of the very few on the team who is the least bit excited about the white fluffy snow outside and the chance to wear a hat and mits! I hope the rest realize we live in Canada, not Mexico :P
All is good here! a few minor bus issues, but nothing that coudn't be solved by a few jumper cables and some intelligent young men!
Getting excited to be back home in a few weeks!
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Family Time
While in Vancouver area, I also got to meet up with some family members who I barely ever get to see, due to the fact that they live half was across the country! I got to have dinner with them a few times, and have a family game night. This was a major highlight for me from the trip so far! I'm so glad I got to tour the West Coast, even if I've never been to the East before!
A Solo Adventure
Two weekends ago, my team and I had four days off in Vancouver and everyone kind of split to go do their own thing. Some went to a concert, some went camping, and I ventured off to Vancouver island on the ferry all by myself (I'm a big girl now haha) to go visit one long-lost best friend named Hannah at an awesome Bible Camp. Who would have thought that during both of our first years away from home, we'd be meeting up 3,648km away from home! I got a chance to meet a lot of her fellow students and spend some quality time with my life-long best friend :) It's awesome how things work out!
Monday, 17 October 2011
It's Been Too Long!
Hey all, I know I've been MIA for a while... I guess I've just been having too much fun to stop and write about it! Well what can I say, Alberta was awesome! We spent most of our time in Edmonton, but also got to go to Calgary for a few days as well. We stayed with a family in Calgary who has been on Hero Holiday trips before and who's oldest daughter wants to do this program next year. They were so nice and acommodating to us! Their daughter came with us to our show and watched as we set up the stage and did sound check and stuff to see how all the behind the scenes stuff works. Her whole family came to watch our show and they all loved it! Her mom told me that our stories made her cry! That night we got to go out with a friend who took us to play laser tag! It was such a nice break! On the Thanksgiving weekend we drove back to Edmonton and got to spend all day Saturday at the mall! We went shopping, skating, and in the amusement park! It was soooooo much fun! I know this might sound funny, but all of the girls on the team have stuffed animals with them, and I didn't bring one, because I haven't been attached to one since I was little! So my friend Brittany thought that I needed one, so we found a Build-A-Bear Workshop in the mall and made me a bear :) We also bought him a pirate outfit since we named our team "Team Pirate" and we made him our mascot! I named him Captain Jack.... please don't make fun of me! haha :)
While we were in Edmonton we stayed with an amazing family who have three young kids. They live in Sherwood park just outside of Edmonton. We stayed there for six nights altogether! They were so kind to us and even made us a Thanksgiving dinner! It was really fun to play with their kids, they were so cute! They also had a dog just like mine, only younger so I got to play with him and take him for walks. The family was big into hunting so most of the meat we ate there was wild meet. We ate lots of venison, and some moose and elk as well! I thought it was delicious, some of the girls did not want to know what they were eating though haha .
This Friday that just passed, we stayed with one of the girl's sisters in Edmonton and her and her boyfriend took us out to dinner on them. It was really fun to have a nice formal dinner for once! The next day we were up at 6am to hop on the bus for a 12+ hour drive to Penticton BC (the town of the newly weds and nearly deads as they say!).
Because I was so tired, I slept the first two hours on the bus (yay) and I woke up at the right time, because we were just coming in sight of the mountains! Jessi was driving at that time and I spent the next 8 hours up at the front of the bus sitting beside her with my camera taking pictures and listening to some good old classic country music together (in our headphones of course, because half of the team strongly dislikes country music!). It was the best roadtrip yet! We had such a fun time! We stopped for food in Jasper, gooooorrrrgeous town! I forgot how much I love Alberta and BC! I haven't been here since I was in grade six so I'm just blown away at how beautiful it all is! I ran my camera battery dry because I used it so much!! Even though we took the much flatter route, our bus was not happy to be climbing so many hills .... With all the weight of our gear in the back of the bus, we were travelling about 40km/h for the last 2 and a half hours of the drive ... our bus hated it!
Let me tell you, the long drive was totally worth it! We're staying at one of our teamates (Brittany's) house in Penticton and she lives on top of a mountain that overlooks the city. It is so beautiful here! The town is surrounded by mountains. She told us that when she was little, she used to dream of what was on the other side of those mountains! She said she always felt closterfobic lol.
A few of us went to a church called Cheers this morning. It reminded me of the Summit because it was mostly young couples and had a little cafe in it as well. The service was really good! I enjoyed the worship and the pastor had a really good message! After lunch, we got to go explore the town! We climbed up a mountain to the "Penticton sign" ... literally the word Penticton made with white rocks on the side of the mountain. It's huge! The city is build around a lake and you can see the sign on the other side of the lake. The view from the mountain was magnificent! We all stood up top and yelled across the lake and listened to our echo like little kids! :P After that, we went to the pier downtown to take pictures. It was hilarious because Johnny wore this horse mask that we have on the bus from filming some of our videos and we walked down to the boardwalk with a big speaker blasting music and dancing! There weren't many people around but the few people who were around thought we were so funny. We walked by a restaurant and 4 of the staff came out front and started clapping as we were walking by dancing. We've made jokes about making people wear the mask in public but never thought anybody actually would. We took some pictures and put a video up on facebook so y'all can check that out. We spent the rest of the night in the hot tub and having a bonfire! Good old team bonding time :)
So that's all folks! I hope I haven't forgotten too much. I'll try not to go so long next time without an update I promise!
Two shows in Penticton tomorrow so I'll talk to you later!
Hope all is well back home and every where else!
Cheers from BC.
While we were in Edmonton we stayed with an amazing family who have three young kids. They live in Sherwood park just outside of Edmonton. We stayed there for six nights altogether! They were so kind to us and even made us a Thanksgiving dinner! It was really fun to play with their kids, they were so cute! They also had a dog just like mine, only younger so I got to play with him and take him for walks. The family was big into hunting so most of the meat we ate there was wild meet. We ate lots of venison, and some moose and elk as well! I thought it was delicious, some of the girls did not want to know what they were eating though haha .
This Friday that just passed, we stayed with one of the girl's sisters in Edmonton and her and her boyfriend took us out to dinner on them. It was really fun to have a nice formal dinner for once! The next day we were up at 6am to hop on the bus for a 12+ hour drive to Penticton BC (the town of the newly weds and nearly deads as they say!).
Because I was so tired, I slept the first two hours on the bus (yay) and I woke up at the right time, because we were just coming in sight of the mountains! Jessi was driving at that time and I spent the next 8 hours up at the front of the bus sitting beside her with my camera taking pictures and listening to some good old classic country music together (in our headphones of course, because half of the team strongly dislikes country music!). It was the best roadtrip yet! We had such a fun time! We stopped for food in Jasper, gooooorrrrgeous town! I forgot how much I love Alberta and BC! I haven't been here since I was in grade six so I'm just blown away at how beautiful it all is! I ran my camera battery dry because I used it so much!! Even though we took the much flatter route, our bus was not happy to be climbing so many hills .... With all the weight of our gear in the back of the bus, we were travelling about 40km/h for the last 2 and a half hours of the drive ... our bus hated it!
Let me tell you, the long drive was totally worth it! We're staying at one of our teamates (Brittany's) house in Penticton and she lives on top of a mountain that overlooks the city. It is so beautiful here! The town is surrounded by mountains. She told us that when she was little, she used to dream of what was on the other side of those mountains! She said she always felt closterfobic lol.
A few of us went to a church called Cheers this morning. It reminded me of the Summit because it was mostly young couples and had a little cafe in it as well. The service was really good! I enjoyed the worship and the pastor had a really good message! After lunch, we got to go explore the town! We climbed up a mountain to the "Penticton sign" ... literally the word Penticton made with white rocks on the side of the mountain. It's huge! The city is build around a lake and you can see the sign on the other side of the lake. The view from the mountain was magnificent! We all stood up top and yelled across the lake and listened to our echo like little kids! :P After that, we went to the pier downtown to take pictures. It was hilarious because Johnny wore this horse mask that we have on the bus from filming some of our videos and we walked down to the boardwalk with a big speaker blasting music and dancing! There weren't many people around but the few people who were around thought we were so funny. We walked by a restaurant and 4 of the staff came out front and started clapping as we were walking by dancing. We've made jokes about making people wear the mask in public but never thought anybody actually would. We took some pictures and put a video up on facebook so y'all can check that out. We spent the rest of the night in the hot tub and having a bonfire! Good old team bonding time :)
So that's all folks! I hope I haven't forgotten too much. I'll try not to go so long next time without an update I promise!
Two shows in Penticton tomorrow so I'll talk to you later!
Hope all is well back home and every where else!
Cheers from BC.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Book Report
Oh, and when I say I have a day off, what I really mean is that I'm spending the day reading like crazy to try to complete my book report by Monday. It's on the book Not For Sale by David Batstone, and it's a wonderful book, it's just very hard to find time on tour to read the book and write about it! So here it goes!
Lieutenant Governor's Northern Tour = The Best Week Yet!
My team and I spent this past week flying around northern Saskatchewan with the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan (pronounced Leftenant Governor) and his "entourage". Every year the Lieutenant Governor travels to different small northern native communities to reward students with academic awards. Last fall, he saw Absolute's work at one of their leadership conferences and immediately started planning to have us join him this year in his travels up north. There are a lot of concerns with the youth in these communities. In 2008, there were 9 teen suicides in one single community up north. There are a lot of problems as well with teen pregnancies, and alcohol and other substance use. His Honor wanted to give these students an exciting, motiviational presentation to remind them of their worth and the power that lives within them. He told us that he wanted to restore a new hope in the lives of these kids.
So we started off early Monday morning with half of our gear and an overnight bag at the very tiny airport in La Ronge. We weren't quite sure what to expect, and to be honest, I was not excited for this week at all. I was very discouraged thinking that it was not going to be very successful. I was quite worried about it actually. When we got to the airport, we were greeted by four very nice, fairly young pilots. They were very helpful in loading our gear onto the planes. We had two planes just for us and our gear. The Lieutenant Governor had his own plane with his enourage which meant that we got the other two planes all to ourselves. Luckily, Cameco and the RCMP sponsored our trip and paid for the cost of the two planes. The flight company provided two boxes of donuts for us on the first day, and coffee, granola bars, chocolate, and other treats for us the rest of the time. The first day we didn't touch the tray of treats because we thought they must be for someone else, we didn't think we were important enough to be given all this free food!
By the end of the week we had visited 6 schools, taken 7 flights, and performed for about 1,500 kids in 6 different communites.
All of my worrying had been for nothing, because the schools we went to were awesome. Obviously there were some schools who paid less attention than others, but we usually captured them with our stories. It was encouraging to see some of the kids ask us about Hero Holiday trips and how they can get involved. We're hoping that we will have had a big influence there since they have never seen a big presentation like that before with lights and music and the whole deal.
On Monday night, we spent the night in a community called Buffalo Narrows. I think that it was one of my favourite towns. When we got there Monday night, we started setting up immediately in the school gym and as our musicians began practising, a large group of highschool students began gathering outside of the gym doors listening. Some of our team members chatted with them for a while as they shared with us what it's like to live there and explained their lives to us. They followed us to the house we were staying at and then showed us around the neighbourhood. All of these kids were dressed the same way: long baggy sweatshirts and gangster hats and they all rode on BMX bikes around town. They were the small gang who ran the town. Except, we were surprised to see that they were not bad kids. None of them were doing bad things, they were just hanging out and looking for things to do. They took us to the corner store and we bought slushies and candy with them. It was really fun! You could tell that they looked up to us and wanted to show us where they were from. It was interesting to see the accents that they spoke with as well!
On our way back from the corner store, something eventful happened. And not eventful in a good way. As we were walking back from the corner store, one boy threw his bike to the ground and started chasing after one of the girls, who we found out later was his girlfriend. He had hit her. She ran off crying, trying to get away from him, but he persisted to chase after her, calling her babe, thinking that he could just apologize and everything would be better again. But life doesn't work like that. There was no way that we were going to stand for this. Our leader chased after the guy as I went after the girl. He told the guy that it wasn't cool what he had done and that it wasn't acceptable. We assume that the kid was brought up not knowing any better, but something needed to be done. The boy got very defensive and told Johnny he wanted to fight about it. We explained to him that violence doesn't solve anything and that he needed to walk away. In the meantime, I had caught up to the girl and was consoling her as she was crying. I told her that she is worth more than that and that she shouldn't have to put up with that kind of behavior. She was only 14 years old. Her boyfriend of one year was 17 years old. The abuse had been going on during their whole relationship. She told me about the bruises she had on her arms and that he forced her to do things that she didn't want to. It broke my heart to hear that a 14 year old girl had convinced herself that she was worth no more than that. I told her that she didn't have to settle for second best, but her friend told me that there was no one else... that she doesn't have a choice because there aren't any other guys in the town for her to date. I realized the only thing that I could really do in this situation was console her and pray for her. A few minutes later, her mom showed up. One of her friends had called her, and her mom got out of the car and yelled at the boy and told him to leave her daughter alone. I told the girl to come see me after the show the next day because I wanted to make sure that she was alright. While all this was going on, Johnny had called the cops. Within minutes, the RCMP was driving around the community in search for him. I talked to the girls' group of friends and explained to them that they shouldn't be standing up for this type of behavior either. That they have a huge amount of power to stand up to this guy and stop the abuse from occuring. The next day, the girl came to talk to me after the show and told me that her boyfriend had been taken into custody by the RCMP and that she had gotten a restraining order against him. That was the answer to all of my prayers. The girl was so thankful that we had helped her out.
I am so thankful for the opportunities we were given this week. The communities we were in surpassed all of my expectations and proved my assumptions wrong. Yes there are bad things that happen in the world, but we don't have to let them control our lives or define who we are. This week reinforced the idea that in my mind that our lives are powerful and that we can change the world. Of course it isn't going to happen in one day, but each day that we continue to work, we get one step closer to accomplishing our goals. Adolf Hitler was a terrible man with a great tactic. Change the heart of the youth, and you will change the world, and we are seeing that out in full.
Some other highlights of the week were seeing the northern lights explode in the sky above us. Not just like a blue or green line in the distance, but the whole sky exploded in colour above our heads. Blue, pink, green, purple swirls of colour filled the sky and we were so amazed. I've never seen anything so majestic and beautiful in my entire life. I was awestruck.
Another awesome thing was going for a speed boat ride over rapids. We got completely soaked, but had a blast! It was the last boat ride of the season for the company so he made it extra fun!
Right now, we're spending two nights at our founders' parents' house near Prince Albert. We got to sleep in for once and are so excited to have a long weekend off :)
Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but i'm hoping that this long update was long enough that I didn't forget anything!
Thanks for your prayers everyone!
So we started off early Monday morning with half of our gear and an overnight bag at the very tiny airport in La Ronge. We weren't quite sure what to expect, and to be honest, I was not excited for this week at all. I was very discouraged thinking that it was not going to be very successful. I was quite worried about it actually. When we got to the airport, we were greeted by four very nice, fairly young pilots. They were very helpful in loading our gear onto the planes. We had two planes just for us and our gear. The Lieutenant Governor had his own plane with his enourage which meant that we got the other two planes all to ourselves. Luckily, Cameco and the RCMP sponsored our trip and paid for the cost of the two planes. The flight company provided two boxes of donuts for us on the first day, and coffee, granola bars, chocolate, and other treats for us the rest of the time. The first day we didn't touch the tray of treats because we thought they must be for someone else, we didn't think we were important enough to be given all this free food!
By the end of the week we had visited 6 schools, taken 7 flights, and performed for about 1,500 kids in 6 different communites.
All of my worrying had been for nothing, because the schools we went to were awesome. Obviously there were some schools who paid less attention than others, but we usually captured them with our stories. It was encouraging to see some of the kids ask us about Hero Holiday trips and how they can get involved. We're hoping that we will have had a big influence there since they have never seen a big presentation like that before with lights and music and the whole deal.
On Monday night, we spent the night in a community called Buffalo Narrows. I think that it was one of my favourite towns. When we got there Monday night, we started setting up immediately in the school gym and as our musicians began practising, a large group of highschool students began gathering outside of the gym doors listening. Some of our team members chatted with them for a while as they shared with us what it's like to live there and explained their lives to us. They followed us to the house we were staying at and then showed us around the neighbourhood. All of these kids were dressed the same way: long baggy sweatshirts and gangster hats and they all rode on BMX bikes around town. They were the small gang who ran the town. Except, we were surprised to see that they were not bad kids. None of them were doing bad things, they were just hanging out and looking for things to do. They took us to the corner store and we bought slushies and candy with them. It was really fun! You could tell that they looked up to us and wanted to show us where they were from. It was interesting to see the accents that they spoke with as well!
On our way back from the corner store, something eventful happened. And not eventful in a good way. As we were walking back from the corner store, one boy threw his bike to the ground and started chasing after one of the girls, who we found out later was his girlfriend. He had hit her. She ran off crying, trying to get away from him, but he persisted to chase after her, calling her babe, thinking that he could just apologize and everything would be better again. But life doesn't work like that. There was no way that we were going to stand for this. Our leader chased after the guy as I went after the girl. He told the guy that it wasn't cool what he had done and that it wasn't acceptable. We assume that the kid was brought up not knowing any better, but something needed to be done. The boy got very defensive and told Johnny he wanted to fight about it. We explained to him that violence doesn't solve anything and that he needed to walk away. In the meantime, I had caught up to the girl and was consoling her as she was crying. I told her that she is worth more than that and that she shouldn't have to put up with that kind of behavior. She was only 14 years old. Her boyfriend of one year was 17 years old. The abuse had been going on during their whole relationship. She told me about the bruises she had on her arms and that he forced her to do things that she didn't want to. It broke my heart to hear that a 14 year old girl had convinced herself that she was worth no more than that. I told her that she didn't have to settle for second best, but her friend told me that there was no one else... that she doesn't have a choice because there aren't any other guys in the town for her to date. I realized the only thing that I could really do in this situation was console her and pray for her. A few minutes later, her mom showed up. One of her friends had called her, and her mom got out of the car and yelled at the boy and told him to leave her daughter alone. I told the girl to come see me after the show the next day because I wanted to make sure that she was alright. While all this was going on, Johnny had called the cops. Within minutes, the RCMP was driving around the community in search for him. I talked to the girls' group of friends and explained to them that they shouldn't be standing up for this type of behavior either. That they have a huge amount of power to stand up to this guy and stop the abuse from occuring. The next day, the girl came to talk to me after the show and told me that her boyfriend had been taken into custody by the RCMP and that she had gotten a restraining order against him. That was the answer to all of my prayers. The girl was so thankful that we had helped her out.
I am so thankful for the opportunities we were given this week. The communities we were in surpassed all of my expectations and proved my assumptions wrong. Yes there are bad things that happen in the world, but we don't have to let them control our lives or define who we are. This week reinforced the idea that in my mind that our lives are powerful and that we can change the world. Of course it isn't going to happen in one day, but each day that we continue to work, we get one step closer to accomplishing our goals. Adolf Hitler was a terrible man with a great tactic. Change the heart of the youth, and you will change the world, and we are seeing that out in full.
Some other highlights of the week were seeing the northern lights explode in the sky above us. Not just like a blue or green line in the distance, but the whole sky exploded in colour above our heads. Blue, pink, green, purple swirls of colour filled the sky and we were so amazed. I've never seen anything so majestic and beautiful in my entire life. I was awestruck.
Another awesome thing was going for a speed boat ride over rapids. We got completely soaked, but had a blast! It was the last boat ride of the season for the company so he made it extra fun!
Right now, we're spending two nights at our founders' parents' house near Prince Albert. We got to sleep in for once and are so excited to have a long weekend off :)
Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but i'm hoping that this long update was long enough that I didn't forget anything!
Thanks for your prayers everyone!
Sunday, 25 September 2011
One amazing billet after another!
Our team has been so blessed this entire week with amazing billets each night. We haven't once had pizza or chicken fingers for dinner, instead, we've been fed home-cooked gourmet meals every single night. We got to stay with two of the families of some of our fellow School of Leadership students who are spending this semester in Mexico. It was really cool and weird at the same time to meet someone's family and stay in their house while they aren't even there. And it's especially cool to see where my new friends were raised and see where they come from.
On Friday we went to a native reserve school near Fort Qu'Appelle which was very different from what we were used to. It was definitely a challenge, that's for sure! But I have a feeling it may have been a warning for what we're going to be experiencing this coming week as we'll be travelling to northern Saskatchewan to perform for the Lieutenant Governor's Leadership Awards ceremonies. Our home base for the week will be La Range, but we will be travelling via plane to remote villages each day to do shows. We're leaving Regina tomorrow to head to La Range, then on Monday we start our shows. We have two shows on Monday in two different villages and we have to fly to both, so it's going to be a very long stressful day!
Life on the road is still going well. Our team is still in that "honeymoon" period where everybody loves being around everybody. This weekend we got split up five people at one house and five people at another, and none of us wanted to split up! It was really funny! But we're convinced that we're never going to graduate from the honeymoon stage, we always want to stay close :)
Anyways, it's midnight here so I suppose I should get some sleep before the trip tomorrow!
Hope everyone is doing well back home :)
On Friday we went to a native reserve school near Fort Qu'Appelle which was very different from what we were used to. It was definitely a challenge, that's for sure! But I have a feeling it may have been a warning for what we're going to be experiencing this coming week as we'll be travelling to northern Saskatchewan to perform for the Lieutenant Governor's Leadership Awards ceremonies. Our home base for the week will be La Range, but we will be travelling via plane to remote villages each day to do shows. We're leaving Regina tomorrow to head to La Range, then on Monday we start our shows. We have two shows on Monday in two different villages and we have to fly to both, so it's going to be a very long stressful day!
Life on the road is still going well. Our team is still in that "honeymoon" period where everybody loves being around everybody. This weekend we got split up five people at one house and five people at another, and none of us wanted to split up! It was really funny! But we're convinced that we're never going to graduate from the honeymoon stage, we always want to stay close :)
Anyways, it's midnight here so I suppose I should get some sleep before the trip tomorrow!
Hope everyone is doing well back home :)
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Welcome to the land of the flat ...
The saying "Clear your mind like an open wheat field" has suddenly become clear to me ... Although I have been to Saskatchewan before, I have to admit I have never seen anything flatter in my entire life! I swear we kept driving in circles on the way here because the sight out my window every hour looked exactly the same as the hour before! I think we've past about 20 combines on the highway so far since we got here yesterday ... talk about farm land! It's a beautiful place, but being a ski lover, I would never survive living here!
So the bus trip here took about 32 hours straight driving from Hamilton through the states. Surprisingly, we all got along really well, even 30 hours into the trip! There was a lot of sleeping sprawled out on the floor of the bus that's for sure! It was funny to walk into a gas station and ask "Excuse me, what city are we in? And what state is that in??" hahah .
I'm finding that people in Saskatchewan are all very nice. I've learned that Southern Sask is very much an openly religious society. Today during our show at a public school, God was mentioned twice by the teachers who introduced us. Also, one of the teachers came up to our leader Johnny and said "Thank you for sharing your testimony!" even though Johnny never even mentions God in it, they were able to tell that it was his testimony. Lots of the kids explained to us that they have been on missions trips with their youth groups, and in fact the school invited two of the local youth pastors to come watch the show!
Tonight we're spending the night in one of the other School of Leadership girl's house which is really cool because she's on the team that's in Mexico right now, so we got to skype her with her family!
Our show tomorrow starts at 1:00, which means we get to sleep in a while! :)
Thanks for reading everyone!
God is being so gracious :)
So the bus trip here took about 32 hours straight driving from Hamilton through the states. Surprisingly, we all got along really well, even 30 hours into the trip! There was a lot of sleeping sprawled out on the floor of the bus that's for sure! It was funny to walk into a gas station and ask "Excuse me, what city are we in? And what state is that in??" hahah .
I'm finding that people in Saskatchewan are all very nice. I've learned that Southern Sask is very much an openly religious society. Today during our show at a public school, God was mentioned twice by the teachers who introduced us. Also, one of the teachers came up to our leader Johnny and said "Thank you for sharing your testimony!" even though Johnny never even mentions God in it, they were able to tell that it was his testimony. Lots of the kids explained to us that they have been on missions trips with their youth groups, and in fact the school invited two of the local youth pastors to come watch the show!
Tonight we're spending the night in one of the other School of Leadership girl's house which is really cool because she's on the team that's in Mexico right now, so we got to skype her with her family!
Our show tomorrow starts at 1:00, which means we get to sleep in a while! :)
Thanks for reading everyone!
God is being so gracious :)
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Adios Hamilton!
So we had an awesome week of shows this week! The schools were really good and it was a lot of fun!
After one of the shows we had a principal actually come up to us and ask us if we were a christian group! it was great!
Anyways, we're leaving for Saskatoon in two hours so I have to get all my packing done. I'll update when we get there!
Cheers for now!
After one of the shows we had a principal actually come up to us and ask us if we were a christian group! it was great!
Anyways, we're leaving for Saskatoon in two hours so I have to get all my packing done. I'll update when we get there!
Cheers for now!
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
So much to talk about, in such little time!
Hey everyone, I know it's been a while.. So I'll try to catch everyone up. So yesterday (Monday) we had our show for grades above grade nine. Let's just say it's a bit more challenging than grade 7 and 8's! The school we went to was in Stouffville and it was rather interesting. It's safe to say that it is probably the worst behaved school I have ever seen. First thing's first: kids walking around wearing hats! What has this world come to?!?!?!? LOL in my day, hats were banned the moment you stepped foot into the school! And you should have seen the clothes that some (most) of the girls were wearing. Talk about not having a dress code. I actually saw one girl wearing a completely see-through belly top with just a hot pink bra underneath ... now that's class .... haha. Now, please don't think that I'm judging a book by it's cover here. We did give the kids a chance. However, they proved themselves pretty quickly to be very disrespectful. For example, three girls in the front row gave my friend Brittany the middle finger during her entire speach. Talk about rude! It was overall a very frustrating day.
Today's show was quite a bit better. Still a little disrespect from the students, but they were really great to talk to afterwards! It was a smaller school, only 500 kids and it was awesome because while talking with some of the students afterward, they seemed so interested in what we were doing! Three girls actually hung out with us for a while after and asked us how they could start the movement in their school. We encouraged them to start a "Live Different" club in their school and plan a Hero Holiday trip to Mexico and they were all for it! They literally went straight to the office after talking with us and before we left the school today, they had started a club. I also got to share the School of Leadership with a few kids who told me they had no clue what to do with their lives next year. I really feel that these students will have a huge impact on their school. It was so encouraging!
Anyways, Kitchener tomorrow --- 2 shows back to back, 2 live global classroom sessions, a concert, then one more live global to top it all off!
Nighty night :)
Today's show was quite a bit better. Still a little disrespect from the students, but they were really great to talk to afterwards! It was a smaller school, only 500 kids and it was awesome because while talking with some of the students afterward, they seemed so interested in what we were doing! Three girls actually hung out with us for a while after and asked us how they could start the movement in their school. We encouraged them to start a "Live Different" club in their school and plan a Hero Holiday trip to Mexico and they were all for it! They literally went straight to the office after talking with us and before we left the school today, they had started a club. I also got to share the School of Leadership with a few kids who told me they had no clue what to do with their lives next year. I really feel that these students will have a huge impact on their school. It was so encouraging!
Anyways, Kitchener tomorrow --- 2 shows back to back, 2 live global classroom sessions, a concert, then one more live global to top it all off!
Nighty night :)
Friday, 9 September 2011
Most amazing two days yet!
Alright everyone... I'm going to try to make this brief ... But to be honest, I could go on for hours about the last two schools we've been in! But I will try my best to summarize :)
So yesterday (Thursday) we were in an elementary school in Hamilton called Cardinal Heights. There were a few complications with this school. For starters, there was no direct ramp going into the gym, so we had to carry all our gear up about 5 steps to get it all in! Then, once we got into the school and laid eyes on the gym, our jaws dropped. This was probably the smallest gymnasium I had ever seen in any elementary school anywhere, and we had to fit 300 students in it, as well as our whole stage. Needless to say, we were pretty rattled, bummed, frustrated, annoyed, etc! However, all our emotions changed very quickly after hearing what the principal had to say about the school. She told us that this particular school was very impoverished. The kids come from homes that sometimes don't have much money or don't have very supportive parents. She told us that most of the kids have lost hope, and a great number of them stopped coming to school altogether last year. She then went on to say how she wanted to see a change in the school this year, and she had faith that we could start the change right then and there. That was enough motivation for us right there to get everything set up and start the show in no time!!! And, as if we weren't excited enough already... The principal brought us in two large boxes of donuts and two big bags of cookies all from Timmies and also informed us that they would be providing pizza for us for lunch!! Wow :)
The show went soooooo well! The kids were so responsive to everything! Cutest thing of life: While I'm in the middle of my monologue, still pretending to be Anna, I say a line that goes "They sent me away because they didn't love me!" and one little boy yelled out: "I love you!" and the whole gym started laughing! Soooo funny! lol. The principal gave us time to walk around from class to class and mingle with the kids. They all wanted autographs and pictures with us. I never expected to be looked at so highly!! One little girl said to her friend as I was signing my autograph for her: "I'm going to go home and tell my mommy that i met famous people today!" ... I thought to myself... I'm famous?? what???? We've all decided that after each show, we're going to have to all hit each other to make sure we all bounce back into the real world where we're all just normal people again! hahaha .
Todays' school was very similar except it seemed to be in a higher class neighborhood. The principal at today's school let us hangout with the kids outside at lunch and actually extended their lunch hour for us because the kids were having so much fun! We got to talk with kids who opened up to us about our stories and began to share their own personal stories with us as well. There were 500 kids there today and i'm pretty sure at least 80% of them got all of our autographs... Needless to say, my handwriting got pretty messy near the end! We also got fed at this school as well and got free gifts of water bottles!
This trip is already proving to be so rewarding for me. I never thought that my life could touch so many people! We are all quickly learning that kids watch everything you do and you become their role model. It's amazing to realize how much of an impact you can have in a kid's life by simply living differently than everyone else, and caring about them. One of the easiest things to do is to ask a kid their name. And to them, it means the world. One of the most motivating things to hear from a kid is "I want to be just like you when I'm older". It's then that you realize that you're on the right track. You begin to understand the movement you're starting.
Now, I am not perfect, and I make that clear to the kids I speak with. But knowing that they look up to me and watch my every movement for the couple hours I'm with them, inspires me to continue to live different... with every step I take, and every word I speak, I am chosing to live different.
So yesterday (Thursday) we were in an elementary school in Hamilton called Cardinal Heights. There were a few complications with this school. For starters, there was no direct ramp going into the gym, so we had to carry all our gear up about 5 steps to get it all in! Then, once we got into the school and laid eyes on the gym, our jaws dropped. This was probably the smallest gymnasium I had ever seen in any elementary school anywhere, and we had to fit 300 students in it, as well as our whole stage. Needless to say, we were pretty rattled, bummed, frustrated, annoyed, etc! However, all our emotions changed very quickly after hearing what the principal had to say about the school. She told us that this particular school was very impoverished. The kids come from homes that sometimes don't have much money or don't have very supportive parents. She told us that most of the kids have lost hope, and a great number of them stopped coming to school altogether last year. She then went on to say how she wanted to see a change in the school this year, and she had faith that we could start the change right then and there. That was enough motivation for us right there to get everything set up and start the show in no time!!! And, as if we weren't excited enough already... The principal brought us in two large boxes of donuts and two big bags of cookies all from Timmies and also informed us that they would be providing pizza for us for lunch!! Wow :)
The show went soooooo well! The kids were so responsive to everything! Cutest thing of life: While I'm in the middle of my monologue, still pretending to be Anna, I say a line that goes "They sent me away because they didn't love me!" and one little boy yelled out: "I love you!" and the whole gym started laughing! Soooo funny! lol. The principal gave us time to walk around from class to class and mingle with the kids. They all wanted autographs and pictures with us. I never expected to be looked at so highly!! One little girl said to her friend as I was signing my autograph for her: "I'm going to go home and tell my mommy that i met famous people today!" ... I thought to myself... I'm famous?? what???? We've all decided that after each show, we're going to have to all hit each other to make sure we all bounce back into the real world where we're all just normal people again! hahaha .
Todays' school was very similar except it seemed to be in a higher class neighborhood. The principal at today's school let us hangout with the kids outside at lunch and actually extended their lunch hour for us because the kids were having so much fun! We got to talk with kids who opened up to us about our stories and began to share their own personal stories with us as well. There were 500 kids there today and i'm pretty sure at least 80% of them got all of our autographs... Needless to say, my handwriting got pretty messy near the end! We also got fed at this school as well and got free gifts of water bottles!
This trip is already proving to be so rewarding for me. I never thought that my life could touch so many people! We are all quickly learning that kids watch everything you do and you become their role model. It's amazing to realize how much of an impact you can have in a kid's life by simply living differently than everyone else, and caring about them. One of the easiest things to do is to ask a kid their name. And to them, it means the world. One of the most motivating things to hear from a kid is "I want to be just like you when I'm older". It's then that you realize that you're on the right track. You begin to understand the movement you're starting.
Now, I am not perfect, and I make that clear to the kids I speak with. But knowing that they look up to me and watch my every movement for the couple hours I'm with them, inspires me to continue to live different... with every step I take, and every word I speak, I am chosing to live different.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Show Numero Dos!
Hey all!
So today's show was in Burlington Ontario (only like 25 minutes away ... got a lovely extra half our of sleep this morning ! haha). When we got there and started setting up, kids were poking their heads in the gym doors trying to watch and they were soooooo captivated by the band! I walked over to a few girls and started chatting with them and asked them their names and what grade they were in . They told me grade 6 and they were soooo disappointed when i told them the presentation was only for grade 7 and 8s! The kids were great though. They loved the show and we got to hangout and chat with them for a while afterwards which was great! I have officially signed my first autograph! Kids were running up to us all with pens and paper and getting everyone's autograph, especially the band!
It was a great second show! Watching the expressions on the kids faces and seeing them get so into our stories is an amazing feeling! Today after the show, their teacher asked the kids if anybody had any comments. This one little boy shot his hand up and said "Most motivational presentations don't really grasp my attention or interest me that much. I usually just tune them out and go on living my life. But you guys are different. I was hanging on every word and rather than just preaching at us telling us how to live our lives, you shared your own personal stories with us about things you've gone through and showed us how you've changed your lives and made a choice to live different. I was very moved by your show" ..... What an amazing kid! Things like that just make my heart melt and make me stop and go "Ok God... I see why you brought me here!" . I'm beginning to realize that no, we aren't going to make an impact on every kids life, but the kids we do reach, will have an impact on the ones we don't reach. And not everyone is going to react to it the same way. It's about starting a movement... Not just telling them how to live their lives, but showing them that they have a choice to live different.
" A changed heart can change the world!" It's our motto :)
So today's show was in Burlington Ontario (only like 25 minutes away ... got a lovely extra half our of sleep this morning ! haha). When we got there and started setting up, kids were poking their heads in the gym doors trying to watch and they were soooooo captivated by the band! I walked over to a few girls and started chatting with them and asked them their names and what grade they were in . They told me grade 6 and they were soooo disappointed when i told them the presentation was only for grade 7 and 8s! The kids were great though. They loved the show and we got to hangout and chat with them for a while afterwards which was great! I have officially signed my first autograph! Kids were running up to us all with pens and paper and getting everyone's autograph, especially the band!
It was a great second show! Watching the expressions on the kids faces and seeing them get so into our stories is an amazing feeling! Today after the show, their teacher asked the kids if anybody had any comments. This one little boy shot his hand up and said "Most motivational presentations don't really grasp my attention or interest me that much. I usually just tune them out and go on living my life. But you guys are different. I was hanging on every word and rather than just preaching at us telling us how to live our lives, you shared your own personal stories with us about things you've gone through and showed us how you've changed your lives and made a choice to live different. I was very moved by your show" ..... What an amazing kid! Things like that just make my heart melt and make me stop and go "Ok God... I see why you brought me here!" . I'm beginning to realize that no, we aren't going to make an impact on every kids life, but the kids we do reach, will have an impact on the ones we don't reach. And not everyone is going to react to it the same way. It's about starting a movement... Not just telling them how to live their lives, but showing them that they have a choice to live different.
" A changed heart can change the world!" It's our motto :)
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
First Show = Success!
Alright, I know I haven't posted in quite a while, but my excuse is that I've been so busy with rehearsal and training and what not. But as of today, I can completely understand why all of those many hours were 100% worth it! After a whole week of 8:30-5 training and rehearsal, we have finally mastered our show. Our timing for the video transitions, the lighting for the bands songs, the sound levels, everything is perfect. Everyone's speeches keep improving everytime they are said. The whole show just came together like magic! It's crazy to think that just last Monday we all had no idea how to set up a stage, and now we're perfoming live in front of hundreds of kids everyday!
All of us SOL's (School of Leadershippers) agree that we have learned more in the past two weeks being here than we did all throughout highschool. We never knew how much effort went into a show like this!!! Everyone has their job to do during set up, the actual show, and during tear down. It's wonderful how everyone works together too!
So we were up at 5:30am this morning and out the door by 6:15. We had about an hour drive from Hamilton to Brantford and by the time we loaded the bus and got on our way, then drove an hour, it was almost 7:30am. Then we had to unload the bus and start setting up. That was the longest part, because it was our first time setting up in a new venue, but it worked out fine.
The show today was at St. John's College in Brantford for their new grade nine students. 280 fresh minor niners wandering around with their school maps in their faces ... oh how I remember those days!
The show went amazingly well! The only few minor glitches that occured would never have been sensed by the audience. Anybody who wasn't part of the team would never have known that anything had gone wrong. And to be honest, the worst thing that really happened, was that one of the videos came in a little too quickly after another one. Besides that, the show was practically flawless!
Now I am not one to get nervous. I have been on stage enough times in my life to feel relatively comfortable being the focus of 560 eyeballs. However, when I was standing backstage behind the curtain waiting for my cue to walk on-stage, picturing Anna (the little girl from Jamaica who's story I was telling) and trying to imagine myself in her shoes at that moment, I started to get this weird feeling in my stomach that I hadn't felt in a long time. The butterflies! But they were just mini ones and I think I was mainly just psyching myself out .. because the second I walked on-stage in front of those 280 kids, all my feelings of nervousness just disappeared! I was comfortable enough to feel like i was standing in my own bedroom talking to my mirror. I had every line memorized beyond memorization that I was able to focus on the emotion of my story, rather than what my next line was!
It was an overall amazing day and I'm so glad that I'm getting to be a part of this for the next four months! :D
Thanks to everyone for following my blog, for praying for me, keeping in touch, and supporting me ... It's amazing.
Show #2 tomorrow morning in Burlington!
Cynthia :)
All of us SOL's (School of Leadershippers) agree that we have learned more in the past two weeks being here than we did all throughout highschool. We never knew how much effort went into a show like this!!! Everyone has their job to do during set up, the actual show, and during tear down. It's wonderful how everyone works together too!
So we were up at 5:30am this morning and out the door by 6:15. We had about an hour drive from Hamilton to Brantford and by the time we loaded the bus and got on our way, then drove an hour, it was almost 7:30am. Then we had to unload the bus and start setting up. That was the longest part, because it was our first time setting up in a new venue, but it worked out fine.
The show today was at St. John's College in Brantford for their new grade nine students. 280 fresh minor niners wandering around with their school maps in their faces ... oh how I remember those days!
The show went amazingly well! The only few minor glitches that occured would never have been sensed by the audience. Anybody who wasn't part of the team would never have known that anything had gone wrong. And to be honest, the worst thing that really happened, was that one of the videos came in a little too quickly after another one. Besides that, the show was practically flawless!
Now I am not one to get nervous. I have been on stage enough times in my life to feel relatively comfortable being the focus of 560 eyeballs. However, when I was standing backstage behind the curtain waiting for my cue to walk on-stage, picturing Anna (the little girl from Jamaica who's story I was telling) and trying to imagine myself in her shoes at that moment, I started to get this weird feeling in my stomach that I hadn't felt in a long time. The butterflies! But they were just mini ones and I think I was mainly just psyching myself out .. because the second I walked on-stage in front of those 280 kids, all my feelings of nervousness just disappeared! I was comfortable enough to feel like i was standing in my own bedroom talking to my mirror. I had every line memorized beyond memorization that I was able to focus on the emotion of my story, rather than what my next line was!
It was an overall amazing day and I'm so glad that I'm getting to be a part of this for the next four months! :D
Thanks to everyone for following my blog, for praying for me, keeping in touch, and supporting me ... It's amazing.
Show #2 tomorrow morning in Burlington!
Cynthia :)
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Another Day On The Job :)
Im sitting here at the soundboard right now as we're rehearsing the show ! there is still lot of work to be done and everybody is getting pretty high stressed. Our first show is on Tuesday!! Lots to do until thenn!!!
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Settin' Up Stage
This is a brand new week full of brand new experiences! This week we're out of the office and into a church called 24/7 in Burlington to learn the set-up of our stage. The church is kind enough to allow us to use their entire space. We have two huge rooms where we can set up our ginormous stage. Every time we set up, we have to haul all the equipment off the bus (which is very heavy FYI) and bring it into the gym. Then we put everything in place and start setting it up. Every person is assigned a job which they are responsible for everyday. My job is to set up all the sound equipment ... Good thing I know quite a bit about that! I have to put the subs, speakers, and moniters in place, then I have to hook up the wires from each of those to the amp rack which supplies it with power. One frustrating part is the amount of wires that accumulate around the outside of the stage! Everybody is wiring different things and they all get in the way of each other, but it all works out in the end!
Another job of mine, once the stage is all set up, is to work the soundboard. This one is a bit different than what I'm used to, but it sure helps to have some experience at it. It's so cool being responsible for such big things in the show!
Today was our photo/video shoot. We each had individual photos done, as well as a short video without sound. It was slightly awkward because for the video we literally had to pretend to talk to people off stage, stand there fake laughing, do funny dances and anything else for like three minutes. We also got individual photos done. Then we got to make a team video which was hilarious! The team video will be played at the very beginning as an intro, before anybody gets on the stage to speak. It's kind of to get the kids' attention. Then, as each of us are being introduced when it's our turn to speak, our personal video will be playing. And while we're speaking, a picture of us from the photo shoot will be displayed on the screen behind us.
We also got to meet both of the bands yesterday. The band that will be touring with my team out west is called Crystalyne. The lead singer Marissa was on a show called Disband with her previous band, and this band just got together recently. The other band that's touring with the East team is Brian Melo. He was a Canadian Idol winner a few years back. He's a really nice guy and has a great sound!
It's looking like this is going to be a great year!
Another job of mine, once the stage is all set up, is to work the soundboard. This one is a bit different than what I'm used to, but it sure helps to have some experience at it. It's so cool being responsible for such big things in the show!
Today was our photo/video shoot. We each had individual photos done, as well as a short video without sound. It was slightly awkward because for the video we literally had to pretend to talk to people off stage, stand there fake laughing, do funny dances and anything else for like three minutes. We also got individual photos done. Then we got to make a team video which was hilarious! The team video will be played at the very beginning as an intro, before anybody gets on the stage to speak. It's kind of to get the kids' attention. Then, as each of us are being introduced when it's our turn to speak, our personal video will be playing. And while we're speaking, a picture of us from the photo shoot will be displayed on the screen behind us.
We also got to meet both of the bands yesterday. The band that will be touring with my team out west is called Crystalyne. The lead singer Marissa was on a show called Disband with her previous band, and this band just got together recently. The other band that's touring with the East team is Brian Melo. He was a Canadian Idol winner a few years back. He's a really nice guy and has a great sound!
It's looking like this is going to be a great year!
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Week One Completed!
Hey all! So on my last post I said that I would be sharing the story of an aboriginal lady who was forced into a residential school. There has been a slight change of plans. The story of this lady was not mine. I have never met this lady before, however, a girl on the other road team has met her before and is sharing her story as a monologue on the other team. Our main leader, Christal, originally wanted me to share the same monologue on my team, but I found it too hard to try to tell this woman's life story when I've never met her before and dont' know much about her. So, Christal told me to think of someone I've met in my lifetime who has influenced my life and who I could talk about. So, I went outside and sat on the roof with my laptop and my headphones in and tried to brainstorm. I wanted to tell the story of someone who's had a hard life, but who still stays strong and has hope that things can and will change. I prayed about it a lot and God reminded me of a girl I met at an orphanage in Jamaica. Her name is Anna and she was almost 5 years old at the time I met her. She had never had anyone teach her how to speak because there were so many kids in the orphanage and such few staff. The only word she could say was "no".. she didn't even know her own name. I will be telling her story on stage as if I were here, speaking in first person. At the end, I will turn it around and tell the audience that this is not my story, it didn't happen to me, but I do know this girl and she had a huge impact on her life. One line from my monoloue : "I sat with her, played with her, held her hand and today my life is changed because of who she is. Anna doesn`t have a voice, so I am standing here today to be a voice for her, to show people that they can make a difference in other people`s lives. "
Right after this monologue, someone else will speak about Absolute's 'Hero Holiday' program, their humanitarian trips, so it all tied in together. I'm excited that I get to share a little bit of my Jamaica trip in the presentation.
This week they announced to us who would be on our road teams with us. Both of my road team leaders are strong Christians, which I'm happy about. I'll also be touring with two other girls my age.
This week we start learning how to set up the stage, the sound, and the lights!
Right after this monologue, someone else will speak about Absolute's 'Hero Holiday' program, their humanitarian trips, so it all tied in together. I'm excited that I get to share a little bit of my Jamaica trip in the presentation.
This week they announced to us who would be on our road teams with us. Both of my road team leaders are strong Christians, which I'm happy about. I'll also be touring with two other girls my age.
This week we start learning how to set up the stage, the sound, and the lights!
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Days 2 and 3 summarized!
Hi everyone! Nice to chat with y'all again haha!
So training at the office has been great so far! I have to admit, our first day was not the most interesting... it consisted of 4 and a half hours worth of rules and such ... which i know are important, just slightly boring ;)
Day 2 of training however was much much better! Christal is the lady in charge or organizing our shows and making sure everything fits properly. She decides who will be sharing their stories in certain settings and how the overall look of the show will be presented. So on our second day, we all sat around a table and told each other our life stories. Some were a bit emotional but it really helped everybody to be able to understand each other a lot better. You could begin to see where each person was coming from and understand why they are who they are today. Then we had to begin writing. We started off with point form notes and Christal went through each of our stories with us individually and told us which direction she thought we should take it in.
Some people will be sharing their personal stories, but one person on each road team will be doing a dialogue. And that would be me on my team. I will be sharing the life story of an aboriginal woman who was forced to attend a residential school at age 5.
Stay tuned for details in my next post!
So training at the office has been great so far! I have to admit, our first day was not the most interesting... it consisted of 4 and a half hours worth of rules and such ... which i know are important, just slightly boring ;)
Day 2 of training however was much much better! Christal is the lady in charge or organizing our shows and making sure everything fits properly. She decides who will be sharing their stories in certain settings and how the overall look of the show will be presented. So on our second day, we all sat around a table and told each other our life stories. Some were a bit emotional but it really helped everybody to be able to understand each other a lot better. You could begin to see where each person was coming from and understand why they are who they are today. Then we had to begin writing. We started off with point form notes and Christal went through each of our stories with us individually and told us which direction she thought we should take it in.
Some people will be sharing their personal stories, but one person on each road team will be doing a dialogue. And that would be me on my team. I will be sharing the life story of an aboriginal woman who was forced to attend a residential school at age 5.
Stay tuned for details in my next post!
Monday, 22 August 2011
The day has finally come !
Hey everyone! So today was my move -in day at the Absolute house. I arrived at about 4pm and have been meeting so many people! The house is in Hamilton and we'll be here for training until our tour starts on September 6th. There are 13 girls living in one house, along with our "house mum", and 5 road team leaders (3 guys and 2 girls) and also a pet bunny haha. Every one seems to be getting along great so far and I couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to start this journey off with! Four of the girls will be leaving for Mexico in about one week so the hosue will be a little bit less crowded after that. Our fridge is completely packed with food because we all bought groceries to bring and share. Training starts tomorrow at 10am at the Absolute office so we'll see how that goes :) I can already tell that this is going to be a fantastic year :)
Goodnight!
Goodnight!
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Hasta Luego Sault Ste. Marie !
So I said goodbye to my house yesterday and we started on the road at about noon.. made a few stops along the way, all the while racing with that wild rain storm we had yesterday. Everytime we managed to get ahead of the storm, we had to make a stop, and by the time we were ready to get back in the car, the storm had caught back up to us! What a day! At about 8 o'clock, my mom was driving and noticed that a whole bunch of car lights turned on telling us to service the vehicle soon and stuff so we pulled over to check it out. Everything looked ok so we got back in the car to get back on the road only .... the car wouldn't start ! My mom tried probably ten times to get it to start and even tried taking the key out and everything. We checked to make sure it was in park but still nothing happened! Sure enough my dad tries it and nothing for the first 3 tries and then magically it turned on and all the warning lights had disappeared! My mom said to herself if we pass an accident just up ahead, we'll know why God made us stop randomly like that. Sure enough, 2 minutes up the road, a ginormous buck deer had just been hit on the side of the road... Coincidence???
Anyways, we made it safe and sound at about 12:30 that night.
Sunday's coming quickly and my team and I can't wait to finally meet in person! :D
Anyways, we made it safe and sound at about 12:30 that night.
Sunday's coming quickly and my team and I can't wait to finally meet in person! :D
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Departure = soooooo soon!
Caaaan't believe that I'm leaving so soon! Technically I leave today (since it's 12:05) but i'm still saying tomorrow haha. Bags are packed (almost) and i'm gathering up some last minute things. It's going to be a crazy journey! I'm so thankful to everyone who sent donations to make this journey possible for me :) You're all the best!
I'll keep in touch I promise :)
And yes... I packed my toothbrush mom ;)
I'll keep in touch I promise :)
And yes... I packed my toothbrush mom ;)
Friday, 5 August 2011
Getting Close!
Welcome to August, the indication that half of your summer has officially passed :(
Part of me is too chicken to actually look at the calendar and see how few days i have left in the Soo! August 21st is coming sooner than later, and there's lots to do before then!
It's so hard to pack for 4 months in this country because almost every month the weather changes! Summer, fall, winter... that's a lot of clothes to pack :/
If anybody has packing tips... send them my way! :)
TTFN, i've probably got some packing to do or something! ;)
p.s. thanks for all the support i've gotten so far! :)
Part of me is too chicken to actually look at the calendar and see how few days i have left in the Soo! August 21st is coming sooner than later, and there's lots to do before then!
It's so hard to pack for 4 months in this country because almost every month the weather changes! Summer, fall, winter... that's a lot of clothes to pack :/
If anybody has packing tips... send them my way! :)
TTFN, i've probably got some packing to do or something! ;)
p.s. thanks for all the support i've gotten so far! :)
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Travel Dates
Here are some dates for ya:
Semester 1:
August 21st: Arrive in Hamilton for training
August 22nd: General orientation starts
August 23rd - September 5th: Leadership training
September 6th - December 16th: First semester- Touring Canada with the Think Day presentations
December 17th: Christmas break begins :)
Semester 2:
January 15th: Back in Hamilton
January 16th -31st: Mexico orientation and training
February 1st - June 1st: Mexico
June 4th: Grad ceremony
June 5th: Drive home!
Semester 1:
August 21st: Arrive in Hamilton for training
August 22nd: General orientation starts
August 23rd - September 5th: Leadership training
September 6th - December 16th: First semester- Touring Canada with the Think Day presentations
December 17th: Christmas break begins :)
Semester 2:
January 15th: Back in Hamilton
January 16th -31st: Mexico orientation and training
February 1st - June 1st: Mexico
June 4th: Grad ceremony
June 5th: Drive home!
Just as I had imagined ...
Well, I suppose it's a good thing I hadn't pictured myself living in Mexico first semester, because as I had hoped, I was just informed that I will be touring Canada first semester and living in Mexico second semester!
This simply means that my dear parents (and anybody else who would like to go somewhere warm) shall have to come visit me in Mexico on the March Break! :)
Please keep prayin!
This simply means that my dear parents (and anybody else who would like to go somewhere warm) shall have to come visit me in Mexico on the March Break! :)
Please keep prayin!
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Planning Stages
Dear Family and Friends,
Thanks for checking out my blog! I plan to use this site as a journey journal. I will hopefully post a new update daily (Lord willing) to keep everyone (especially Mom and Dad) up-to-date about my whereabouts!
To date, I still do not know which semester I will be spending where. I have to admit that I have sort been picturing it in my head in the order of Canada first semester, Mexico second semester .... But perhaps I'm just jumping to conclusions. Where ever God choses to place me will be more than perfect I'm sure.
The program co-ordinator told me that we should be finding out in the beginning of July which team we will be placed on, therefore, which semester I will be spending where.
Hopefully I get that email shortly!
7 weeks away!
Thanks for checking out my blog! I plan to use this site as a journey journal. I will hopefully post a new update daily (Lord willing) to keep everyone (especially Mom and Dad) up-to-date about my whereabouts!
To date, I still do not know which semester I will be spending where. I have to admit that I have sort been picturing it in my head in the order of Canada first semester, Mexico second semester .... But perhaps I'm just jumping to conclusions. Where ever God choses to place me will be more than perfect I'm sure.
The program co-ordinator told me that we should be finding out in the beginning of July which team we will be placed on, therefore, which semester I will be spending where.
Hopefully I get that email shortly!
7 weeks away!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)