On Sunday morning I was up at 6:30 am scrambling to get ready for the ferry to the Island. CC drove me and my two big bags to Horseshoe Bay, kissed me goodbye and I was on my way to a big adventure! When the ferry docked LC was there waiting and we began our journey north. It was a winding, heavily forested road and we saw a few eagles and a big brown bear cross the highway right in front of us!
Around 5 pm LC and arrived at our homestay family’s home in beautiful Port Hardy. SM and CM (a high school teacher) greeted us and welcomed us with a huge, tasty feast of lasagna and homemade focaccia. It was a really, really, really long drive to get up here – I don’t think either of us really knew just how far north we were going!! After briefly discussing details for the next few weeks, I was off to bed.
My focus this week has been on settling in to a new routine in a new place with new people (lots of new things!). The whirlwind of emotions from ending our 10 week practicum have left me pretty exhausted both mentally and physically. I’ve been looking forward to coming up here for so long and I am really excited about all the new experiences I am going to have.
This week has been full of unique happenings and wonderful learning experiences. I was lucky to work at Cheslakees Elementary School in 3 kindergarten classrooms. The school is located in Port McNeil (a 35 minute drive from Port Hardy) and is a tight-knit community of 5 staff members and around 45 students. Having done my practicum in a 4/5/6 class this was a completely new experience for me. There was a lot of tears (luckily not my own) and a ton of band aids given out (kindies are still learning how to use their bodies I guess), but I really enjoyed it. I can see myself potentially teaching kindergarten in the future! Who knows what the future may hold…
