There's no place like home

So I've been feeling a little homesick lately because Canada is the best. Just look at the love we have received over the year and a bit that we've been here. :)

In the spirit of the new unit, Oh the places you’ll go, I’ve been doing a lot of video searching on YouTube to find a suitable travel video to showcase my home and native land. This unit, I’ve printed off a few travel stories for my students. I’ve got a story about landing in LA (very simple and talks more about the plane than anything), a story about PEI and its picturesque beauty (this is the story we’re currently on), another story about an airplane doing international travel, and a story about Mexico and its homey quality.

We’re currently focused on the PEI story. I tried to find a story about Newfoundland, but when I came across this gem on PEI, I couldn’t resist. It paints a really beautiful and tranquil picture of the tiny but full of life province.

The other day, I asked my students to bring me three facts about PEI. I learned a lot! Haha. I’m excited to be able to focus on areas of Canada that the students are unfamiliar with. They know Toronto and Vancouver and a couple of them have heard of Montreal, but the East coast is often overlooked, which is such a shame as it is breathtaking. We talked about important trademarks of PEI. Lobsters, potatoes, red sand. “Red sand? But Mrs. Sarah, sand is not red,” one of my little inquisitive children claimed. “It is in PEI…” this clarification was met with 17 looks of awe. They were so curious about PEI! They wanted to know if I had been there and how it was different from the places they usually thought of when they think of Canada (Toronto, basically).

Yesterday, I played the students “The Island” by the Barra MacNeils from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I asked them to listen to the song and circle descriptive words and then describe Cape Breton based on the words in the song. I then showed them a picture slideshow of Nova Scotia. They ooed and awed at all the greenery and fresh lobsters in their traps. They gasped and giggled at the moose and the seagulls.

Sidebar: When the picture of the moose came up, this is what I heard and it made my life:

Student #1: Look! A bear!
Student #2: That’s not a bear! It’s a cow!

From now on, the moose’s nickname is bear-cow. How excellent is that?!?!

I think the best reaction was a handful of kids pointing and saying “Wowwww!” at a picture of a lovely forest. The greens and browns were astounding. I definitely won the kids over and they all want to travel to the east coast of Canada. J

On Friday, the students completed “postcards” of PEI based on the story we read and how they interpret written description. They will then be asked to pick any place in the world to create a “postcard” for and describe it to the class. I don’t doubt some of the kids will pick places in Canada. I know I’m biased, but I just love Canadian landscape, culture, and spirit! I wish I could teach a unit called “I love Canada!” I guess I could, really. Hah! In the same breath, this is an international minded school so I figured talking about traveling the world is a better bet. The world is so big! There’s not enough time to talk 

about it all!

These little activities are making me want to go back home to Newfoundland. Hilariously enough, after I found a video covering approximately a minute’s worth of pictures showcasing all the 13 provinces of Canada, I went into B’s office and he turned from his desk and said, “I really want to go to Prince Edward Island! Can we go visit your aunt?” Haha! I couldn’t have agreed more. I too was feeling homesick, for Ontario family and friends, but more so for the simple life on the East coast. It’s been years since I’ve been out East and I could use a dose of warm welcome, sea salt water, green blankets of grassland, and delicious bites of hot home cooked local seafood.

As I gazed at my wall of cards from family and friends and how much it has grown over the year and a bit we’ve been here, I couldn’t help but miss home. Bernard went out and got some fixings and made a big Western breakfast this morning. We felt like we were back in Canada. Every now and then, I need that.

I’m sorry Shanghai, but I cannot replace my home. Once a Newfie, always a Newfie. The spirit of Newfoundland is as strong as the screech they drinks.

Until next time.

Sarah the Canadian Wun