cuties

I was going through some pictures of the students in my class and this is what I found.
Two of my boys on Pajama Day. I couldn't help but to burst out laughing. Soooooo cute!
I'm going to miss them so much.

Update!

*I wanted to share this with everyone, but I emailed Suzanne and so I share that email with you.

We just had a local ice hockey tournament and was busy sweating all weekend.
Tomorrow, I leave for Kuujjuaq and Yellowknife for two weeks as a badminton coach for the 2008 Arctic Winter Games. Dave is going as well, so we're excited about that.
Our wedding date has been set and it will be on July 12, 2008 in Oshawa.
Yeah, Dave and I got a job for the next couple of years in Beijing. I will be teaching grade 4 and Dave will be a highschool math teacher. I hope that we don't suffocate because of all the pollution. hehe Hopefully, we'll be able to catch some of the Olympics too.

The sunday school has been consist and the kids have been coming out quite regularly. A lot has been going on though. I received an anonymous letter from a parent saying that I was teaching anti-cree things at the church and threatened to go public. I was really upset, but I had a chance to share this with members of the community during a workshop, and I felt most ppl including the chief and reverend were supporting me. Ppl have stopped to say thank you and support me, so I'm feeling more uplifted. As soon as I was discouraged, God sent ppl to come and encourage me. I live solely by the grace of God. He even sent some random white lady from down south that had come up for a while to come to the school and say thank you for the work I've been doing. crazy, huh?

After that, I was asked to a prayer meeting last week and had a great time even though it was only 4 ppl. I hope that everything continues to go well and please pray that God will send someone to take my place when it is time for me to leave.

Simply Love You

by Ginny Owens

Seems that life's become so complicated
I don't think it was meant to be this way
I find myself so distracted
Caught up in the chaos of your day

When did I stop asking for your wisdom?
As if your words were meant for someone else
Why do I choose to second-guess you?
Oh I only frusterate and confuse myself

Chorus:
I just wanna love you, Simply love you
The way it used to be
When you love was new to me
I just wanna love you, simply love you
To hear what you say and live every day
Like you asked me to
I just wanna simply love you

Many times you spoke of us as children
Childhood seems to me so long ago
You say i can trust you like I did then
If I give you my hand then you'll lead me home

(Chorus)

Oh...to fall on my knees
With the freshest belief
Stirred once again with the story
of how you loved me

Halloween and YOOAH

I had to put up some Halloween pictures.
The pictures speak for themselves.
(from the top, Alexa, Yelena, Sam and Dave with Alexa)







Also, I just wanted to point out
Why do people have such a hard time spelling my name correctly?
Starting with Yodah on my visa to all of these variations.
It's YOO and then AH. Exactly how it sounds. EXACTLY!

Trip to Montreal

Our trip to Montreal was fun and tiring. We got to see a very long and disappointing Alouettes game, see an imax movie, go to the space centre, play laser tag and lots and lots of shopping.

It was good to see all my friends during the symposium as well. But, I had to cram all of you guys into 2 days which kinda sucked. But, we always have Christmas!

Dave's coming back from another community further up north, Puvirnituq, after a week with his students. So, we get to see each other after 2 weeks. yay!

Oh yeah!!!! I have great, great news!
I met a Christian! A real Christian that I can pray with and share!
I've seen her around our school and helped her with the photocopy machine before because she's the personal assistant to my principal, but she's totally french and hard to communicate at times, so I would just say hi. But I got to know her at some potluck dinner and she said she was a missionary for the catholic church. I had my doubts... but I talked to her on our way home last night after dinner at a friend's, and she gets it. She's Christian and she wants to help with the Sunday school. I won't keep my hopes up too much because I've been let down too many times while I've been here, but I'm even just satisfied with the hour long talk we had outside last night.

anyways guys, keep on praying for me, big decisions to make before next summer....
Miss you all already!

YUMMY!

* pics - making my friend's birthday cake, Dave's saturday morning crepes, cheesecake with freshly picked blueberries and I think I was making frosting for something

The one of the good things about being up here is that you have time to make food, instead of eating out 95% of the time. I really started to enjoy baking and realized that I don't know what to do when it comes to red meat, I either make it bulgogi (booboogee-as Dave calls it) or put teriyaki sauce on it. Pretty asian, huh?

On another note, I'm finally better. Yesterday, I slept the whole night without waking up from coughing. YAY! I really didn't want to be sick when I went to Montreal. Speaking of Montreal, I'll be arriving at Dorval around 6:30-ish, I think we have to go to the hotel, check in and all and whoever wants, we can go grab dinner or something? I'm staying at the Sheraton downtown, I think it's the one near Bonaventure. See you all very, very soon!!! Can't wait!!

*singing Father Abraham

*peek-a-boo

*Dave's crazy hairdo

The weather this weekend was really bad because of some storm passing by. I thought the house was going to be blown away. Nearby my house, the roof of some warehouse blew off.

Anyways, I thought nobody would come to Sunday school since 1. it was stormy, and 2. it was a ped. day on Friday which means I can't remind them an extra day. But, 8 girls showed up. YAY!
So, we learned about the 10 plagues, that sometimes, we are like the stubborn king of Egypt that wouldn't let the Israelites go. We know what God wants, but we just won't do it. We need to be like Moses and even if we're a little reluctant at the beginning, we should trust God and accept his will and just DO IT! We might not see the benefits right now, but in the long run we will know that this was the right choice.

Sunday school is so great. It's great because while I'm teaching, I get these little pangs inside me saying "Well, don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk, Miss Bang!" When I was explaining that we shouldn't be stubborn like the king..... I'm sooooo stubborn. So, I'm learning a lot as I teach Sunday school.

Well, tomorrow is another ped. day!! YAY! Although, it'll be as busy as having students with meetings and all. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Miss sickie

So, these are some of my grade 5 students.
The atmosphere in my class has changed. For the past couple of weeks I've had 7 regular kids that come to school out of 15 for whatever reasons. They are eager to learn and are a lot more positive than the beginning of the year. Every week, things get better and better. As for the biggest problem child in the class, Leroy, I've had numerous meetings and nobody has an answer. For now, the mom is to keep the child at home and not have him at school. Yup, that's how extreme this kid is.

But, on another note, I've come to realize how lucky I am. The principal, v-p, special ed., other teachers, psychologist, social workers and the list goes on are all so supportive of me. I've come to realize that most of these ppl think I'm a really good teacher. At first, I was really flattered, but it's been a humbling experience, which is weird because I expected it would do the opposite. I almost can't explain it. It comes around again to how God shows me his presence even through these situations and uses them to teach me something. I've also realized how important recognition is as well. It has given me the extra boost in teaching the kids in my class.

As for the title of this post, I've just been feeling sick for a while now. I had what felt like strep throat and could barely swallow or speak. Then, on Sunday, I was all ready to go to Sunday school and then..... my "time" came and I almost died. Now, it seems I have a cold/stomach thing going on. I feel like crap. Everyone here is sick. Dave, my colleagues and my students are sick. yuck.

Hope y'all are doing well. I'm wondering especially how Martin is. Where is he?
Anyways, if you didn't know, I'll be down in Montreal for about 4-5 days on Oct. 15. So, squeeze me in on your busy agendas!

I miss my girls!

Baseball

I had a pretty rough week. Even though it was only a 4 day week.
But, it was alright, I got a lot of support and that helped me immensely to get through the week.
I've never had so many meetings with parents, principal, v-p, spec. ed. ,etc... as the past two weeks.

I ended the week by being recruited into a baseball tournament. No, it was not because of my most awesome skills. They didn't have enough players. hehe

I've never played baseball before. So... let's just say there was a lot of laughing going on. hehe

I had Sunday School today as well and 8 kids showed up. We learned about Moses and the burning bush. It was really nice.

Berry picking

We went berry picking to soothe the pain from a harsh and draining week.
We got Cloudberries and blueberries!
We're having blueberry pancakes with Cloudberry jam for breakfast!
YUMMY!!!!

What a week!

I almost quit my job this week.
I'm joking, but I'm kinda not.
It's just a build up since Aug. 8, the beginning of this school year.
So, let me begin my complaining/whining/venting.

My trouble makers
At school, each class has troublemakers, right?
The first year I was here, I had 3-4 slight troublemakers out of 22 kids.
Last year, I had 2 major ones out of 19 kids.
This year I have 5 major ones out of 14 kids.

When I started this year, the secretary gave me the list of kids for Grade 5 and said "sorry" while all the other teachers give me sympathetic looks. How encouraging!
3 out of the 5 troublemakers had been absent for a while because they were out camping. I was having fun with my class, getting to know them better, getting the students used to the routines of the class, etc.

AND THEN.!!!!!!!! THEY showed up. That was it. I had all 14 kids in my class and it was CHAOS. (When things get very, very, very out of hand, I turn off the lights and make the students put their heads down for a few minutes to calm them down. I did this twice last year. I used it twice last week.) So, during one of these "heads down" periods, 2 of them started majorly acting up. They started throwing the chair bean bags everywhere, trying to climb out the window, screaming at other kids, giving me major attitude and just would not listen. I warned them until I finally called the office for someone to get them. Someone came, they ran away as soon as the door opened.

I spoke to the principal, v-p and to the special ed. teacher. They all knew of them and were very supportive. I told them I will not teach them, unless at least one of them has a shadow or their parents come in with them. They agreed.

I went home. I cried so hard. Not because I felt like a bad teacher, not because I was mad, but because I feel so helpless and hopeless.These two kids, have alcoholic parents. They are sent from foster home to foster home. They are cousins. One of them seems to have a severe learning disability. They say it's from sniffing too much gas.(the special ed. teacher and I both have written to youth protection about them).

Soooo, I can't teach them because then all the other kids will not be able to learn. They can't bring in their parents because they're drunks. They can't stay with the special ed. teachers because they ruin their classroom and run away. We can't leave them on their own because they skip school and bang on my class window and yell at the kids (that's what happened this friday). You leave them in the office, they do nothing and create problems for all those working in the office. WHAT TO DO?

WINDOWS
We have been having a lot of trouble with the windows breaking. For 2 weeks, we had no windows in my classroom. The kids broke it over the summer. In total we have about 70 windows broken in our school. Each window is a few thousand dollars.
I caught an 8-year old with a sling shot shooting at the school. I take it away. He's telling me he wasn't aiming for the windows(there were 2 broken from previous incidents) and pleading with with me. I asked what he was doing. He says he was aiming for the security camera. WHA...????

PURPLE PAINT
I seriously prayed to God of thanks when I saw this. Grade 4 had a substitute teacher. They got a hold of a tub of purple paint. Everything was completely purple. The floor, their clothes, hands and faces, the hallway, my door, etc... I ran to get the v-p. She came to take over.
I went in my class and saw that my class was somewhat doing their work and quiet, and I thought, maybe this is God's way of showing me I didn't have it THAT bad. He's funny.

SUNDAY SCHOOL
Today was the third Sunday after I came back. During the week, I put up posters all over the community and everytime I saw a kid or parent I informed them of sunday school.
Today, there will be a funeral. No Sunday School.... eishi...........

(and I was kinda tricked into going to this ceremony, which I don't think is very biblical, but couldn't back out cause it's disrespectful. Dave and I both repented while we came out. hehe)

PRAYER
I need prayer big time, guys. If you haven't notice already. The two boys in my class, they're names are Leroy and Brandon. Pray for them to have peace. I really want to go to Pharmaprix right now and shop for about two hours.

And this is how it all began...

*******originally posted on Aug. 19********
I know I told many of you of already, but for those of you that don't know,
I came here a year and a half ago to teach Grade 5 and this is what happened....

Jan.-June 2006
The first six months were just getting used to everything. I had come in the middle of the year, making things a bit more challenging. I spent most of my time getting used to the school, my house(which I didn't have for the first 2 months),the people, the community, etc... I thought about Sunday School but didn't have the spare time for it. I was at school till 5-6 and there on the weekends to prepare for the rowdy Grade 5 kids that everyone kept warning me about. I didn't know if I was going to come back.

Aug.-Dec. 2006
I came back. I was more at ease. I didn't have so much prep-ing for my class and I was already at ease with the community and with the people. I started seriously praying about Sunday School. I didn't want to start it without knowing God's will. Try to understand. I knew I wanted to do it. I thought I should do it. But I wasn't sure what the motives were behind my starting this Sunday School. Was it because I thought this was what God wanted me to do or the right thing to do or to look good to others? I just prayed and seeek his will. What else could I do, even though it seemed like I was wasting time?

Dec. 2006
At church we went to Urbana and I got my answer. He said DO IT!
I had a new confidence in me to start up the Sunday School and eager to get back up North.

Jan. - June 2007
I went back up for the second part of the year. I talked to the reverand at the Anglican church about everything and he dropped off the church key at the school for me. That was basically the last time I saw him.
I asked around and one native teacher and one non-native teacher told me they were willing to help. I had them over my house, we talked and prayed. We chose and prepared songs. They showed up the following week on Sunday. The problem was only 2 kids showed up. We just sang some songs. The same the following Sunday. I started announcing the Sunday School on the radio, started to tell every kid I saw and put up posters around town. The next week, a couple more kids showed up, but the teachers didn't.
THEN, was a gathering in town. THEN there was a baptism at the time of Sunday School. THEN it was too cold. THEN there was a funeral. Then.... then.... then.... It was really discouraging. THEN the students would forget. But, did what I could and soon enough the kids started remembering and then there were regular students showing up. The teachers didn't show up, but the students' enthusiasm was good enough for me.
I asked around again and a few ppl were willing and even eager to help. But, no one ever showed up. They were camping. It was raining. It was such a nice day. Didn't feel like it (at least they don't come up with excuses and lie).

By the time it was June, I had about 15 kids showing up to Sunday School. YAY!
But, then summer happened. I wasn't it town. That meant no Sunday School.

Aug. 2007-
I came back a couple of weeks ago. On the day that I arrived, 3-4 students showed up on my porch to welcome me back and the first question they asked was "will we have sunday school?"
I said YES! Sunday came around and it was cold and rainy, which meant more than likely no one would show up. But, I went just in case. I was doubtful that anyone would show up. I kept everything in my bag and didn't get anything ready, I just stood at the front of the church with Dave and we said we would wait till 2:30. 10 minutes went by and no sign of kids. Then, suddenly 2 girls come running jumps on us and says "Hi!" Then 3 more. Then another 3. I had 8 kids altogether. I thought they had forgotten most of the songs and motions. They knew it better than me! I was truly surprised and happy.

Today was the second sunday after I had come back from my summer vacation. I went to church with Dave, knowing that most of the town was out at a gathering. I still went just in case. We waited until 2:30 and no one came. Honestly, I'm disappointed. But, there's always next week.

Pray for the students that show up to Sunday School and for this community of Whapmagoostui(whap-mag-stu).

Introduction would be the appropriate name

***********originally posted on Aug. 19*****************

Soooooooooooo,

I've decided to make a blog for a couple of reasons.

1. I want to tell you how my life is here up North. I know that I tell you guys stories here and there, but I want to share how it is at this native reserve of Whapmagoostui/Kuujjuarapik/Great Whale River.

2. I would like to get prayers and support for not only myself but for the people here and also with the Sunday School. I feel weak a lot of the time to handle stuff by myself up here and I think to have ppl help, even thought from far away, would help tremendously.

Be patient with me, I warn you in advance, there will be a lot of complaining, whining, confusion, anger and disappointment.

But, there will also be times of joyfulness, sense of achievement, greatfulness and successes.

So, overall, bare with me and be with me spiritually and morally.