Dec. 6, 2008
Christmas Trees on Guam
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Finding a Christmas Tree on Guam can be a challenge. It's not like back in Canada where I used to take my best kitchen knife and walk out in my back yard woods and look for a suitable tree. Over the years we have had some interesting trees. Our first Christmas here was one of the few times that we had a real tree. We got it on December 24th around 6pm. For $10. Finding a live tree on Christmas Eve is virtually unheard of. We really lucked out. I think that year they over ordered trees or something. So we put up the tree, enjoyed it for the next day and I'm pretty sure by the 3rd or 4th day after Christmas not one needle remained on the tree. Our second year on Guam we thought we could do the same thing. Wait until the last moment and then purchase a discounted real tree. However, by the week before Christmas there was not one live tree to be found on Guam. Not having the funds to purchase a "fake" tree, I took a white board tripod, wrapped silver and gold garlands around it, with lights and a star on the top, and we had a tree. I can't remember exactly how many more Christmases went by with the scramble for a tree. One year I remember I was able to take home the live tree from the preschool I worked at to use in our home. Eventually someone gave us a fake tree and we used that for a few years until it died a natural death. We don't have the greatest storage areas in the homes we lived in and I think we stored the tree in an old van in our yard and it rusted and fell apart in the humidity. This year, our previous fake tree had again succumbed to the elements (it didn't help that we left it out in the garden for over six months) so we made the trip to K-Mart to see what we could find. We have a space issue in our small home and concluded that a full sized tree would never fit. So we found a cute 4 footer with fiber optic lights already installed. As we paid for it at the cashier my husband ruefully shook his head. "Back in Canada I would have laughed at someone who had a tree like this," he lamented. Ah....yes but it looks really cool with the flashing lights! (pictures to come!) |
Dec. 5, 2008
Old Friends
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I have found so many old friends on Facebook. It is fun. At the same time a little scary. When I contacted an old friend from 1st grade I was so scared that she (a) would have no idea who I was (b) know exactly who I was and wonder what world I lived in thinking we were ever friends or (c)never respond, which could mean either a or b was correct. You can see my dilema. However, she remembered me! And when I went through the old pictures that my dad had given to me on CD a few years ago, I found pictures of her and I during those years and shared them. She was thrilled. And so was I. Because I didn't need to be afraid. And looking at the old pictures was a blast. Cassie enjoyed looking over my shoulder and exclaiming over how she looked just like me. I found several pictures of me that could be Stephanie too. Later I'll update this to share those similarities. One thing I realized was that having those old photographs is what has preserved my memories. I can remember the name of my best friend in 1st grade because my parents took the time to document those special moments and label the pictures with names. Without the names I wonder how much I would remember. I know that I want my children to remember their early years. That is why scrapbooking has been my favorite hobby since moving to Guam. Back in Canada, all my pictures are in a shoebox, stored in a trunk in my mother's attic. They are not labeled or categorized, nor properly archived safely. I pray I'll be able to get to them someday and properly take care of them. On the other hand, our lifie on Guam has been pictured and documented extensively as a legacy for my children. It is important for them to remember this adventure we live, called life. |
Dec. 4, 2008
Merry Christmas Charlie Brown
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It's that time of year again where Christmas specials fill our TV screens. We've lived without cable in our home for years. However, this year we have cable, so are able to take advantage of what TV has to offer. Or not. I really don't like TV very much and am ready to cancel it in favor of faster internet speeds. But for now, I take the opportunity to try to introduce the youngest two children to some of my favorite Christmas shows. A few nights ago, the special was The Grinch, the new version with Jim Carey as the Grinch. This is not my favorite and I far prefer the original Dr. Seuss version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Luckily we came across it in the last 1/2 hour so were able to avoid most of the vulgar humor that so destroys the story. What we did catch was the storyline where the meaning of Christmas was being debated. Cassie was quick to catch onto the conversation and announce, "That's not what Christmas is all about! " in a loud indignant voice. "Oh, and what is Christmas all about?" I asked her. "It's about God being born!" was her immediate response. For the rest of the movie she shook her head incredulously over the antics of the Grinch and still stuck to her version of the true meaning of Christmas. At the end of the story my husband commented, "Well, they sure do a good job of making Christmas be all touchy-feely....without even mentioning Christ." It made us think. Are there any Christmas specials that do cover the true Christmas story? I mean, besides Veggie Tales (one of my favorites is The Toy that Saved Christmas). The one that came to both our minds was A Charlie Brown Christmas. Easily within the top 3 of my favorites. Of all the Christmas specials directed at children this is one of the few that actually tells the Nativity Story and even quotes from the Bible. My husband reminisced about how he was always drawn to the reading of the scripture in the story, long before he even knew what Linus was quoting. I realized that I too, thought of that scene as my favorite in the whole show. I have no idea if Charles Schulz was a Christian, but I can't help but think he must have been. What a testimony he has, that his story was instrumental in drawing people to Christ. Because this is what happens. God draws us to Him however he can. If you look back at your life and your conversion to Christ (if you are a Christian and if you were not brought up in a Christian home) there are clues and hints along the way. For me, it was the 10 commandment plaques that belonged to my grandma. I don't remember the whole story of those plaques. I just remember that they were wrapped in brown paper and stored in the record cabinet in my parent's home. My mom once told me (I think) that they belonged to her mother (or maybe it was grandmother) and she wanted me to one day have them. I think I was even offered to hang them on my wall? Or maybe I imagined that. At the time, being young, rebellious and ignorant I probably didn't show correct enthusiasm for such a legacy. I probably hurt my mother's feelings with my indifference. Yet at the same time, I remember being drawn to those plaques. Sneaking and looking at them in the record cabinet, carefully unwrapping them and reading the commandments silently to myself. Drawn to something of God but not knowing why. This is how A Charlie Brown Christmas was for my husband. Thank you Charles Schulz for being bold enough to share the gospel with the world. Merry Christmas Charlie Brown! |
Dec. 3, 2008
Barbecue Turkey
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Well, Thanksgiving has passed and now we get to enjoy all the wonderful Turkey leftovers. One of my Canadian friends asked me on Facebook what Turkey tastes like in Guam. So to answer that question, it depends on who cooks it! I cook my turkey the traditional Canadian way. I use dressing inside the turkey (here they call it stuffing), which is a mixture of bread crumbs, spices, onions and celery, mixed with butter and water and then stuffed into the main turkey cavity and also into the loose skin under the neck. Cook in the oven at 325F. for 20minutes per pound of turkey. This is what my mother taught me to do. I cover it loosely in foil and remove the foil in the last 1/2 hour of cooking. Periodically baste as I remember. Now the local Guamanians, known as Chamorros, may use this method, or some other inventive methods. We have heard of turkeys cooked on barbecues or there is the popular deep fried turkey (deep fried in peanut oil in a special turkey deep fryer). Many locals have outdoor kitchens to cook in so they don't heat up their house cooking a turkey all day long. We battle enough with the heat as it is! I think this is why the deep fried turkey method is the most popular. I hear you can cook a turkey in less than an hour in one of those. But I'm a traditionalist, so three times a year I suffer the extreme heat of having your oven on all day long - Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are our traditional turkey times. For my first few years on Guam I actually celebrated two thanksgivings - Canadian thanksgiving in October and the American one in November. Since we enjoy turkey and it's leftovers we never felt this was too much turkey! Our favorite leftover meal is Barbecued turkey. This isn't the turkey cooked over the barbecue mentioned above, but a delicious shredded turkey and barbecue sauce served over crusty rolls or french bread. To make you slice up as much turkey as you can fit into a large frying pan. Dark and white meat works fine. For us it is a way to use up the dark meat that doesn't get eaten. We are a family that preferes our white meat. Add in one bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce. I prefer the tangier versions. Mix in about 2/3 bottle of water (using the empty barbecue sauce bottle), salt, pepper and any other spices you might like to add. If you prefer a sweeter sauce you can add in a bit of brown sugar. Vinegar if you prefer some tang. Simmer over low heat until the turkey shreds nicely. Serve over crusty rolls, french bread or hamburger buns. My favorite is the crusty rolls, but alas I have not found a bakery on Guam that makes crusty rolls like I could find back in Canada. This is our family's favorite turkey leftover meal. I can never make enough of it to satisfy everyone. If you still have some leftover Turkey give it a try! You will be pleasantly surprised. |
Dec. 2, 2008
Banana Leather
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It all started with a craving. My 14yo daughter's craving to be specific. She had a "hankerin'" (as she put it) for banana chips. These are dried bananas that are usually very sweet. We picked up a package at K-mart but it didn't quite do the trick. They tasted more like apples than bananas and weren't sweet enough. Eying the bunch of bananas that was ripening on my kitchen floor, I decided "Why not make our own?" So began the research to find out how to make dried banana chips without a dehydrator. I asked my Chamorro friends but they couldn't tell me. I found several links on Google for "fried banana chips" and "oven baked banana chips". I decided to try deep frying the first batch. The recipe recommended soaking sliced bananas in salted water, draining, deep frying, and then placing them in a sugar water solution, draining again and then deep frying one more time. I sliced up three bananas for this experiment and cooked them up, splattering grease everywhere and creating quite the mess in my kitchen. I guess I didn't drain them very well and the water and grease combo was not good. The resulting chips were crisp on the outside, but still soft inside. A little too greasy, and therefore not quite the healthy snack I had envisioned. So onto the drying method. For this method it was recommended that you brush on lemon juice over the sliced bananas before baking in your oven at 200F. for several hours. The lemon juice was to prevent the bananas from turning black during the drying process. So I went outside and picked some Calamansis, Guam's local lemons. They are tiny green/yellow lemons with orange colored flesh. Very delicious. They actually make the best lemonade I have every had. I used my Pampered Chef lemon squeezer to squeeze the juice out of the calamansis, then brushed the juice onto the sliced bananas that I had laid out on my Pampered Chef stoneware Pizza stone. I baked them in the oven for about 3 hours, turned them over and baked for another 2 hours. I then mixed up a sugar water solution and brushed that over the banana chips to give it a sweeter flavor. I was using Guam's cooking bananas which are a little more starchy and not as sweet as the eating variety, so figured it would need the extra sweetener. After another hour of cooking I turned off the oven and went to bed, leaving the banana chips inside the oven for further drying. By morning I tried the product. There were a few crisp banana chips, but mostly what I had was a chewy dried fruit substance very similar to fruit leather. I had invented Banana Leather! It had a curiously lemony taste and wasn't very banana like. But still yummy. My goal this year is to make up more batches and give them away for Christmas gifts. So if you want a batch of banana leather you had better send me your mailing address! |
Dec. 1, 2008
God Smiles on us in Guam
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The skies have always fascinated me. The stars, planets, meteors, satellites. All of these objects orbiting over our heads. The skies we see on one side of the world, are they the same on the other? I never thought about it until I moved to Guam and looked up at the night sky and saw nothing familiar. Oh the moon was there all right. But even the moon played tricks on me. When the moon was a crescent, it didn't stand up straight and tall like in the Canadian skies. No, on Guam, the crescent moon lounged on its back, looking very much like a banana. Well that fit, considering banana must be the national fruit of Guam. Or at least it should be. I'll have to share my banana leather post in another blog. But I was talking about the moon...and the stars. It took me several months on Guam before I found the big dipper. I had just assumed that my favorite constellation couldn't be seen from this side of the world. But one day I was looking up at the stars and by turning my head I found the big dipper! The problem was the angle. Like the moon, the big dipper does not look like a frying pan ready to cook, but is tipped over on its side. I will try to find pictures to illustrate this point as it's hard to describe in words. The point is, the big dipper can be seen from Guam, and so could other more familiar stars and planets as I learned my way around Guam's night skies.  Big dipper as seen in the Canadian Skies Big Dipper as seen from GuamTonight we were blessed with a unique phenomenon that could never be duplicated back in Canada. First you need to know the background. My husband had the two littlest kids and made the big mistake of trying to go pick up a couple of items at the grocery store. On the first day of the month. Not a good idea around here. Typically the beginning of the month is food stamp and WIC day and if it corresponds with a gov't payday, well, let's just say the grocery store is NOT the place you want to be. So poor Les was just trying to buy some french bread and barbecue sauce so that we could have Barbecue Turkey for dinner (recipe will be posted soon). However, the crowd did him in and he put the items aside and hustled the kids out of the store. I imagine his mood was a tad dark. Anyway, as they drove out of the parking lot, he happened to look up into the sky and saw the following sight. Jupiter and Venus were side by side in the night sky , brightly opposing each other, with Venus being slightly brighter. And under these two bright planets was the crescent moon. Lounging on its back. SMILING down on Guam. Remember the banana moon? Les showed this to the kids, laughing as he pointed to the sky. "Did God make that?" asked Cassie. "Yup, God sure did" Les replied. "Guess God knew you needed a smile tonight"  (photo courtesy of Jean Olech, Guam http://theochronicles.blogspot.com/)Yes indeed. God smiled down on us tonight on Guam. |
Nov. 22, 2008
Winter Olympics 2010
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I recently heard that the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in the city of my birth, Vancouver, BC Canada. How exciting! At the same time, I'm sure glad I don't live there any more. I remember when the World Expo was held at BC Place in Vancouver (that was when they built the sky train and the BC Place Dome and that fancy building that used to house Science World ...I hope it still does!). That year I was pregnant with son #2, and I had no intentions of waddling around Vancouver in the summer heat at 8 months pregnant! The most exciting thing I think is that the Olympic torch will be hand carried from one end of Canada and back again and will not only go through Vancouver but will also travel up Vancouver Island and back down again, take a ferry boat ride from Comox to Powell River, travel down the sunshine coast back to Vancouver and then on into other parts of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and beyond before returning to Vancouver for the start of the Winter Games. From the BC's homeschool nation website you can read the entire story plus see an interactive map to follow the torch's trail. What really fascinates me is that the roads and streets this torch will be carried, I probably walked on at one time or another. At least the roads and highways from Victoria to Comox on Vancouver Island, across to Powell River and down the coast back to Horseshoe Bay. I have walked every inch of those highways. I may not have been an Olympic torch bearer, but my feet have trod on the same sand and rock as those who bear this symbolic item will run beginning Oct 31, 2009. How exciting it will be for me to view this event on TV from the comfort of my beach home in Guam. To be able to view across the miles, streets of my childhood, teen years and young motherhood. It will make me proud to be Canadian, though I am separated by the ocean. It will be an historical moment for me. Here's to February 2010 and the Winter Olympic Games! |
Sep. 28, 2008
My baby girl is 14!
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It doesn't seem like 14 years ago when I was bringing home my new baby daughter from the hospital, to our small little cottage in Kelly Creek, BC. Canada. The cottage was small, a living room served as a nursery where a cute little crib was tucked in a corner opposite the wood stove. The ladder that led to my bedroom loft served as a barrier between the crib and the hot stove. Her daddy had yet to meet her and she was already 3 days old. He worked in logging camps, cutting cedar shake wood for the roofs of rich Californian houses. I had arranged for a friend to pick up dad from the lake so that we could get the baby ready to meet him. First we dressed her in a blue sleeper, fixed a blue blanket on her bed. When daddy walked in the door, he knew his new baby was there, but not what he had. Was it son #3 or his first daughter? The boys giggled as he picked her up and said, "What a handsome lad. What's his name?" "Hmmm....I'm not sure, what should we call the baby boys?" I queried the kids, to draw the attention away from my eyes, which can never lie. The boys giggled uncontrollably and Dad was beginning to get suspicious. ' "Okay, what's going on here?" he asked. "Her name is Stephanie, " I finally managed to blurt out. Even after confessing, our ruse had worked well enough that dad was suspicious enough to want to check the diaper. Now here she is 14 years later. My Canadian born daughter who has spent over 13 of her years on the tropical island of Guam. She last saw snow when she was 6 months old, and has no memory of a cold winter morning. She doesn't remember banging on the window and scaring away the black bear that crossed our yard when she was 5 months old. It seems odd that she only knows warmth and sun and eating chicken and rice for breakfast, running around barefoot, year round as a child. Picking coconuts and bananas off of trees instead of apples and cherries. Swimming in the ocean on New years day, and it isn't the polar bear swim! Being the only blond haired girl in the movie theater, or the restaurant. Starring in Japanese tourist photo albums as a baby. Riding a caribou (water buffalo) when she was 3. Being featured on the front page of a newspaper, watching waves with her dad, 4 hours before one of the biggest typhoons hit our island. Having a snake bite her finger when she was 7 - a brown tree snake crawled through our window and tried to snack on my daughter! Never knowing what it's like to have a real Christmas tree. Having her first snow fight at 8 years old with her best friend, inside a dome where artificial snow was made, and walking outside to get warm again. Always being able to go to the beach on her birthday and not having to worry if it's warm enough. Someday she'll get a chance to go to her country of birth and see a real live squirrel. Smell the heady scent of cedar and pine trees. Taste snow on her tongue and feel the true coldness of snow. In the meantime, she combs her long red/blonde hair, dresses in her modest shirt and pants, and goes out for dinner with her brother to celebrate their birthdays. I joke that they make such a handsome couple that people will think they are on a date. She laughs and says "We look too much alike, everyone will know he's my brother." I'm glad she would rather go out with her brother than a boy. She is still my little girl and I don't want her to grow up too fast. My husband assures me that she'll stay sweet. "After all", he said, "I've heard that 14 is the new 13." I hope that means she can stay young and innocent for at least one more year. |
Sep. 23, 2008
My Little Mermaid
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I just got word that a mermaid lives in the bay at my driving school office. Yesterday I was visiting the new coffee shop that opened up next door and in chatting with the owner mentioned I owned the business across the parking lot. "Oh, is the little mermaid your daughter?" she asked. Looking out the window towards the beach I watched my very blonde daughter scampering in the water in her pink bathing suit. "Yup, that's her, " I said. "Oh, she gave me a scare the other day, " continued the lady. Oh oh.....here it comes. This is what I was afraid of. My kids are going to get me in trouble always wanting to play in the water. Someone is going to report me for child neglect, as from certain vantage points it often looks like my 5yo is out there playing in the surf unattended. What others from the road and parking lot can't see is our office door open, with big sister sitting in the doorway and mom hovering in the background keeping an eye on the bobbing blonde head of little sister. "I'm sorry," I replied, "were you thinking she wasn't being watched?" "No, I thought I was seeing Sirena. I had to do a double take to make sure she had legs and not a tail!" Ah! Guam has a local legend. Apparently, Sirena was a young girl who loved to swim. She neglected her family chores to swim in the ocean. One day, her mother was so mad at her that she cursed her own daughter and said, "you shall become a fish the next time you disobey and go swimming without doing your chores." Her auntie, overhearing the curse, quickly counteracted the curse by adding in the clause, "a fish from the waist down only". Sirena, unable to resist the lure of the sea, soon disobeyed her mother and as soon as her feet hit the water, they turned into a tail. She was destined to live forever in the sea as a mermaid. Guam's people are very superstitious. For them, the story of Sirena, is not just a legend, but a true story that could happen to their children if they are disobedient. I think that is why many older Chamorro women (40 and up) cannot swim. Their families were so fearful of their daughters becoming mermaids that they didn't allow them near the ocean. Sad, when you look at the beautiful beaches we have on this island. To tie this in with my Canadian home of Powell River, BC, a beautiful underwater mermaid statue can be found off the coast at Saltery Bay. The Emerald Princess, as she is affectionately known as, is a popular dive spot for divers in the area.  |
Sep. 22, 2008
Finding Canada on Guam
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When I first came to Guam I was overwhelmed with the difference in the climate and the culture. The hot humidity took some getting used to. However, not to be daunted, I wanted to get to know my new home. One early evening I decided to take a scenic tour of some of the side streets and back roads of Guam. So on the way home from my husband's work, I decided to look for a "short cut" home. I'm pretty good with directions and am one of those people blessed with a sense of where north, south, east and west are. As I turned off the main road onto a side street to explore where it may lead me, my kids, aged 9, 6 and 10months old, asked "where are we going?" Okay, the boys asked, the baby just made her usual noises. "We are looking for Canada." I told them. "I know one of these roads will lead us back home." The boys eagerly fell into the game and we joked about riding on ferries (as we passed some big pipes that looked like fuel lines), driving over mountains (descending down a steep road and back up again), exclaimed over the cow we saw (it was a caribou {care -i- bow} or water buffalo), and in general got pretty silly. The road I was on wound around in circles so that even I, with my great sense of direction, felt a little off. Were we still heading in approximately the right direction? Will I find a way out of this maze of side roads and winding streets? I was beginning to question the wisdom of taking my children into the heart of Guam. And then suddenly in front of me was a street sign. I had to stop the car to make sure my eyes were seeing what they saw. The street was called "Toto Canada". "Uh, boys.....guess what?" I asked. "What?" they eagerly replied. "Uh, Toto*, it looks like we aren't in Guam anymore.......we found Canada!" In awe we all looked at the sign and then laughed all the way home, as I turned onto "Toto Canada**" Street and it led us back to the main highway, less than 1/2 mile from where we first entered the heart of Guam. To this day that sign will bring a smile to my face. *reference to Wizard of Oz "Toto I don't think we are in Kansas anymore" ** Toto Canada is pronounced "Totu Can-aw-daw" |
Sep. 16, 2008
Reconnecting and Why I Homeschool
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I've been reconnecting with old childhood friends from Canada via the popular Facebook. As a result, I've been taking long trips down memory lane, recalling my days in public school. It really was a scary time for me. I cried a lot in school. My best friend in 5th grade recalls how much I cried. Looking back she wondered if I had a hard home life, or was this normal for children of that age. Now that she has a nine year old daughter, she suspects that it just might be normal. I was a sensitive child. I'm still a sensitive adult. Public school does not favor sensitive children. I have few good memories of school. And a lot of bad ones. Like being forced to go see the school psychologist who would question me about my home life, without consent of my parents. I asked my mother if she remembers the school telling her or even asking for her permission for me to see the school psychologist. It is a complete mystery to her. This was back in the early 1970s. Can you imagine what goes on in schools today? I hear rumors that young teen girls are offered birth control and that parents do not need to be informed. Talk of children's rights is bandied around, but no talk of parental rights. Canada has a reputation of being a very liberal country. I was told by an old friend that when she sent her daughter to public school she was forced to go to a mandatory "Family" class where she was taught that homosexuality was an acceptable alternate lifestyle. In 5th grade! When it became clear to me that school was not benefiting my children, I began homeschooling them. When it became clear that my second son was a "sensitive" child, I thanked God that I had learned about homeschooling. When I look back at the things I endured in my school years, I would not wish that on any child, let alone, my own flesh and blood. My son does not have to endure teasing from bullies, while teachers turn a blind eye. He does not have to stand in front of a class and recite poetry or answer questions while fear clamps his throat closed. When something interests him, he does not have to wait his turn to tell the teacher, but can come forward, in freedom and share his discovery with me, his mom and teacher. My third son would probably be medicated by now if he was in school. He walks to his own beat and learns at his own pace. Schools would label him as ADD or some other behavioral acronym. School psychologist would be calling me daily and demanding I medicate my son. At home he is allowed to be who he is, creative, artistic, loud, funny, boisterous, and yes, sensitive too, like his older brother. With no medication to dull his personality. I homeschool because I have the freedom to. Whether in Canada, or in Guam. Isn't it wonderful that we have this option? |
Sep. 6, 2008
Tea Time in Guam
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One thing I missed the most after moving to Guam was tea. Good tea. Red Rose tea to be exact. Remember the commercial? British drinking Red Rose tea and commenting, "Only in Canada, eh? Pity!" Well, to my surprise, while shopping yesterday I spied boxes of Red Rose Tea! I didn't even look at the price, I just had to buy a box. That evening I enthusiastically put on my best British accent and served tea to my hubby and myself. I noticed on the front of the box, a picture of a ceramic dog, and something about "prize in every box". So I searched through the tea bags and found my own little figurine. Suddenly I was launched into a major flashback of childhood memory. Something I had not thought about in years! I used to have quite the collection of these little figurines! I never realized, or maybe I never knew, that they came from the Red Rose Tea box. After reading on their website RedRoseTea.com I found out that these cute little animal toys are collectors items now. I wish I knew where all of mine were! Somewhere between childhood and adulthood they slipped out of my life.    For instance, last night I had a tiger and a dinosaur having a wrestling match in the middle of my kitchen floor. Where was the camera or video camera? Not at home! My kids had found some old costumes in their bedroom and dressed up to play. These moments come and go and will be lost if we don't attempt to save them. I think this is why scrapbooking has become so important to me. So much of my older children's lives I have forgotten. Their first words, their first owie, their first ride on a bike. Do I have all these "firsts" saved? No, sadly, I don't. My goal for this year in homeschooling is to try to capture these moments and preserve them, whether in the written word, or in pictures/scrapbooks. So as I sip my Red Rose Tea (ah....no longer only in Canada, but now, also in Guam!) I will work on my scrapbooks and save the memories for my children. |
Sep. 2, 2008
Fun at the Beach
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It's the day after Labor Day. Back in Canada this would mean the first day of school for those who attend public schools. For homeschoolers who want to follow the school year's calendar, this may mean the first day of school for them too. I think this was one of the hardest adaptations I had to make when I came to Guam. For me, the day after Labor day ALWAYS meant the beginning of a new school year. My first few years of homeschooling, whether back in Canada, or here on Guam, this was the calendar I followed. School began on the day after labor day. We took time off at Christmas, Easter and Spring Break and Summer began June 15th. I soon learned that Guam had a completely different schedule. School began in the first week of August and ended mid May. Wow. That took some getting used to! Over time I have drifted towards year round schooling. Mostly because I have become an unschooler - where life is learning and there is no distinction between "school" and "life". So with that in mind, how can there be a beginning or end to a school year? But old habits die hard, and to celebrate the day after labor day and the "official" start of school (said with tongue in cheek), we had a free day today of painting and playing on our beach. I love that my driving school office is 100 feet from one of the nicest beaches on Guam. What makes it even nicer is the tourists don't use it!  Cassie and Eric playing in the water  Our Own Private Beach Sunset from our beach |
Aug. 31, 2008
Powell River Vs. Guam
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There are a lot of similarities between my Canadian home town and the island I now live on. Both are isolated. Powell River is a small fishing/tourist/mill town on the coast of BC, Canada. Located about 100 miles north of Vancouver, BC, you can only reach Powell River by taking at least 2 ferry boat rides. From Vancouver's Horse Shoe Bay Ferry Terminal, you ride the Queen of Sydney (or whatever Queen of some place is the current boat's name) to the Sechelt Peninsula where you drive for 1-1.5 hrs to Earl's Cove where you board another, smaller ferry that takes you to Saltery Bay. From Saltery Bay you still have an hour drive into the town of Powell River. So to live in Powell River, is to be isolated by at least a 1/2 day trip to any major city, and on to the rest of Canada and the U.S. Guam, is a small island, about the size of Texada Island, which coincidentally enough was the island off the coast of Powell River. Small world. Anyway, Guam is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, this tiny dot that can barely be seen on a map. If you draw a triangle from the Philipines, to Japan, and to New Zealand, Guam would be located somewhere in the middle of this triangle. The only way off of Guam is by plane, unless you want to take a boat to the nearest island, Rota, over the deepest part of the ocean (the Marianna's Trench), which would probably take you at least 3 hours. In good weather. Not my idea of a fun trip! This too is isolation. Perhaps this is why I have adapted so well to Guam. Despite the difference in temperature, I've learned to live as if it is always Summer, and imagine similar hot Summer days in Canada. Powell River is located on the Pacific Ocean coast line, as is Guam, only the opposite side of the ocean. So I have always lived on, or near enough, to see the Pacific Ocean. Such a comforting constant. That the waters that crash on the shores of Guam also touch the shores of Powell River, half way around the world. God is glorious, you know? With isolation comes resourcefulness. Homeschooling requires resources. But when you live somewhere where it takes time & money for items to be shipped, you learn to search for the free stuff. I love the internet. I would have loved it back in Canada, if it had been available back then. But that was 1992 and we were just figuring out how to play games on computers. We still didn't know that computers had hard drives or that you could save your data to an internal drive, only floppy disks. When I first started homeschooling in Canada I had just finished an Early Childhood Education course, was working in preschools and daycares and was blessed to be able to take my children with me to work. So Kevin, my oldest, was in preschool since he was 2 years old. Always with me, which I loved. When I began homeschooling him, I still worked 3 mornings a week in a preschool, so Kevin came and sat in the church kitchen and did his school work, while I taught downstairs, and Adam was in my class. Kevin loves to say that this traumatized him, making him go back to Preschool when he was 7! One of the greatest things I learned in that ECE course was how to make my own manipulatives, toys, flash cards, etc. And I learned some great songs and rhymes. I made all my own felt pieces, magnetic letters, numbers, and shapes. Collected books and had a wonderful library. I even had acquired some old preschool cubbies that we used as toy bins and books shelves in the boys' room. So my early homeschool years I didn't spend a lot of money and made most of my resources. Guam has shipping issues, so it is a necessity to make your own or figure out how to acquire homeschool resources for not much money. One of the first things I learned to do was to get involved in educational companies that offered distributorships in order to get my own items at wholesale or less. So I joined Discovery Toys and always managed to have enough shows to get my toys for free. Great educational games, books, puzzles, and toys. I've also sold Usborne Books and stocked up my library. My latest favorite and one that I want to really do something with is Story Time Felts. Remember the felts I cut out back in Canada for my boys? Well, now when I cut out felt, I'm cutting out quality felt stories! I love them. Cassie and Eric, my two Guam babies (5 and 8) are benefiting from my participation in that company. And to pay for my own hobbies (cause when you homeschool you need to learn to take some "Mommy time" too!)I joined Stampin' UP and am learning to make beautiful homemade cards and to embellish my scrapbook pages more! And now of course, I have the internet. I take full advantage of every freebie I find out there. I have e-books, lesson plans, curriculum samples, all for free. When my husband and I sit in our outside garden, contemplating our life, making plans for our future, the Pacific Coast of BC is never far from our minds. We think about our life back in Canada and wish that we could have the best of both worlds.Life on the beach in the tropics, and life on the beach on the Sunshine coast. That's our dream retirement plan. |
Aug. 29, 2008
Where the Journey Began
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I began homeschooling when my eldest son was 7 years old, entering 2nd grade. Technically, when I really think about it, I began homeschooling from the moment he was born....or even further back, when I realized I was pregnant with my first child. I was one of those fanatical pregnant women who would read books to the baby in my womb, play music, and sing and talk to my unborn child. At 21, I was eager to have my own baby, and determined to raise a brilliant, healthy child, starting at birth. Kevin reached all of my expectations in the area of brilliance...as well as exceeding all the other expectations I had as a mother. Where to begin? He was so eager to learn, even as a baby. By 18months he was talking fluently and learning all the letters of the alphabet. By 2 he was reading books to himself. Everyone thought that was so cute, he had it memorized. Yeah right. By 2 1/2 it was evident that this child had taught himself to read! I admit I became a bit boastful, thinking I had figured out the secret to exceptional children. Surround the child with an educationally rich environment, read constantly, and he will learn by osmosis. My second child, Adam, came along when Kevin was almost 5. I did the same things with Adam that I had done with Kevin, lots of reading in the womb and once he was born. Adam didn't learn to read until he was 6. And he didn't like to read until he was 9! There went all my theories. I officially began homeschooling Kevin when he entered 2nd grade. We had gone through public school Kindergarten and 1st grade. He had been moved through 4 teachers in his two years in school and he had lost his love for learning by the end of the 1st grade. He couldn't believe that they didn't even know the alphabet in Kindergarten, and that they were only beginning to learn to read in 1st grade. His teachers didn't believe me that he had taught himself at 2 1/2. He had lousy penmanship, kept to himself (he was so bored) and had other "social" issues, so that his brilliance wasn't recognized. Before the end of 1st grade I was starting to research other options. I had heard of some families who homeschooled, but I thought it was for hippies and religious fanatics. And I wasn't entirely sure it was legal in B.C. But I was desperate so began looking into the homeschooling movement. This was 1991. Homeschooling had been legal in BC for several years. And it was very relaxed and open. All you had to do was register your child as a homeschooler, with either a public or private school. And then you were on your own to teach your child whatever you wanted. At least that is what I was told. So that is what I did. At first I tried to recreate the classroom in my home. Within a month I knew this wouldn't work for me. Life was too distracting. There were beaches to explore, woods to walk through, too many good books to read to waste time on curriculum. I felt like we wasted a lot of time that first year. But Kevin did read a lot of books. By my second year of homeschooling I had joined a group of parents who wanted to start a Christian school in our small Canadian town. There was only one private school in the town, run by the Catholics. Christians needed their own school. So as a group, we chose to use a standard curriculum (A.C.E. was chosen by the more forceful families) and to join together once a week to do Friday School - we had a chapel time, music, arts & crafts, cooking and P.E. activities. Moms took turns teaching the various workshops. We had a great year. Except for the A.C.E. curriculum. Kevin lasted 2 months. Barely. He hated it with a passion and it bored him completely. I bought a few Alpha Omega Lifepacs to try them, as they were similar to the ACE paces, with more thought provoking questions. He did better with that, but by half way through that year, we sacked that curriculum too, and just went back to living life and reading. By the time Kevin was ready for 4th grade I gave birth to our 3rd child, Stephanie. I was really tired and didn't think I could homeschool two boys and look after a newborn, so I enrolled the boys in the local community school. They had to ride a bus to school, which was hard on Adam, who was very quiet and shy. Kevin did well, and had a great teacher. To this day he jokes that everything he learned in life he learned in 4th grade. Adam, however, hated school. And I hated sending him off to school. Halfway through that school year, we had the call to move to Guam. Les decided to take Kevin and "check it out" while I stayed back with the two youngest and waited for his call. The original plan was for Les to spend a few months on Guam, make his decision about moving there, then come back and get me and the other two children. Instead, 2 months into his stay there, he called me and told me to sell everything and come to Guam. So I had to sell, store, give away all of our belongings and move myself, a 6 year old and a 10 month old baby halfway across the world. By myself! And I had never ever flown in an airplane before! Well, as you can guess, I made it to Guam. It's been 13 years now. Our family has grown. Lots has happened. The rest of this blog will fill in the details. |
Aug. 28, 2008
First week of School
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All I wanted to do was to blog about my first week of school and enter it in HSB Company Porch Blog Tip Challenge I guess you have to have a homeschoolblogger blog in order to do this. So I created this one. What's one more blog in the big scheme of things? LOL And I did want to have a blog to share about what it's like for a Canadian gal to be living and homeschooling on Guam. So that will be the gist of this blog. In the meantime, my entry for the HSB company porch blog tip challenge can be found at Memoirs of an Unschooling Teacher |