Settling In

Having spent a few days in town, I am feeling pretty comfortable with Prince Rupert. I’m enjoying my time at Lax Kxeen Elementary school. The students are friendly, amiable and so polite! I start my mornings off in Breakfast Club where students can come and eat a nutritious breakfast at the school. This is my favourite part of the day as it is a nice, casual way to meet and chat with the students. Then for the rest of the day I travel throughout the school helping out wherever needed. For example, I read with students, help them in groups and individually and observe the daily routines of the school. I finish off the day by checking out their after school program which usually involves art or games.

While I had stated that I was enjoying walking everywhere in Prince Rupert in previous posts, it was brought up that if we had bicycles our commutes would be even faster. For whatever reason, I could not get this idea out of my head and having a bicycle became an obsession for me. I had asked around my school if any staff members had an extra bike to rent to me, but no luck, so after school I wandered around downtown looking for an inexpensive bike I could buy. Right when I was beginning to lose hope, I walked into the Salvation Army and spotted a teacher I had volunteered with on the Skeena River Relay and explained I was on the great bike hunt. I was delighted when she told me she had a bike I could borrow for the three weeks and drove me to her house to pick it up, complete with helmet and bike lock. How’s that for small town hospitality! I triumphantly rode across town on the bike, loving the efficiency and dreading the hills. My goal is by the end of this to be able to climb all the hills from Cow Bay to my home stay.

Tonight the other UBC TCs and I ate dinner at a tiny sushi restaurant in Cow Bay and the food was delicious! It was great to meet as a group and brainstorm some activities we would like to do while we are here.