Too Funny....

This is in response to Josh who wanted to know some of the funniest questions we've encountered on the road...I'm going to expand it to funny stuff in general.

-During a presentation I stare at a kid while he has his finger, no joke, up to his knuckle in his nose. Grade 12 nose picker. The next time I looked over his buddy was picking stuff out of his back teeth. Did I mention we were a really small group - 6 or less. There was nothing discreet about it.

-Student yells..."Hey Lady!" I was like, "Are you talking to me?" He laughs awkwardly and says, "Ah, yeah." I laugh.

-Student, "So what's the most I can bench press in the weight room?" Liaison officer, "I'll have to get back to you on that." Student was dead serious.

- When taking an airport shuttle to the hotel we had a lot of stuff so the driver had to pack everything around us. When she's got everything in she jumps in the drivers seat and says "Well, now we can go seeing as I'm loaded." We all wet our pants at this point.

-While out at lunch with a bunch of other university reps the York rep asks for no cheese on her sandwich...another rep asks her if that's because she was a vegetarian...she was ordering a steak sandwich.

-We do presentations called General Information Sessions (GIS') - we explain the general process of choosing a university without speaking directly about our institutions. I was tag teaming one with another rep and had to tell the students that they could find a complete directory of all the different programs in the INFO 69 magazine. The students all started giggling...I laughed and said, "yeah, 69." It's actually the issue number which is unfortunate.

-You know how in shi shi poo poo bathrooms there are people who offer cologne and towels etc. We were at a university bar and there was one in the male washroom. We figure he had a hand fetish.

That's all for now. I have more written down but they're not with me. I hope you enjoy most of them.

Worth A Thousand Words

While in The Bruce I was able to stay in a lot of towns which bordered Lake Huron. It was gorgeous. I tried to get out for a walk every night. These are a few pictures - though the disposable camera didn't do the scenery justice it gives you an idea of what it was like. I think this may be one of my new favorite areas of Ontario.

The Power of Kindness

This will be an update on last week spent in the Bruce peninsula. Firstly, it is STUNNING. I was literally breath-taken on a couple of occasions. Such a pretty part of Ontario - I felt so lucky to have seen it. The thing that stood out however was the kindness of the people I met. I would like to share with you a few of those occasions...

1.Barbara & Dave from the first B&B I have ever stayed at. She is a wonderful German woman, librarian and the "mum" to the most wonderful dog ever named Mazi. He is a Canadian bus driver. They are both bikers (Harley D's) and are the most lovely people. They were married in Las Vegas at a drive through wedding chapel on a Harley - she had an orange hat on...we got to see the tape. These people were so welcoming and down to earth - I actually picked their B&B because she was wearing overalls in the picture. They were wonderful company and completely easy going. I felt so well cared for that I came back with a friend to hike some of the Bruce Trail for the weekend and we stayed there. Funny part of this was that there was always a guest named Barbara there as well as our host. They were so thoughtful.

2.The schools I visited with were some of the most easy going teachers and students I have had the pleasure of interacting with. Very easy going, interested in who you were not just the school you were representing. Many of the secretary's were also avid hikers which was helpful in deciding where to go. I really also felt I had the opportunity to invest in some of the students I spoke with. Some are so afraid of "getting it wrong" or failing and I LOVE being able to tell them that they should be proud of being in the position that they're at (able to go to university) and that they're going to make a fantastic choice. One girl almost cried just having someone tell her that she was wonderful.

3.Being away from home. This may sound odd in a lot of senses but let me explain. I have loved my job thus far and loved my adventures. It's also helped me realize what wonderful people I know. My mum for example and her husband have been a regular contact for me. I've talked to them more in the past 2 months then I have in the past 7 years. My mum is an incredible lady and is always good to give me the latest on what's happening at home or to remind me that she thinks I'm wonderful. I've also been able to keep up with some friends on a more regular basis then I've been able to over the past couple of years. I get to call them in the middle of the day at work or chat at the end of a long day and it's so refreshing. There's also my friends who have been great to make time for me...Whether it's a meal or a movie or a walk in the park or a phone call or an 18.5km hike.

4.Another, and the last of my examples, are two new friends of mine: Jordan and Christopher. Age 9 and 10 respectively. I was able to stay with them in their families home as their grandparents run the B&B and their dad lives there too. I played sequence with the boys, and had my butt kicked, we read books on horse back riding and talked about how angles are not only found in grade four homework but all around us. We spoke in British accents and shared scones together. They even wanted me to come back and visit now that I know where they live. They were so wonderful.

The theme that I'm constantly reminded of is how kind all these people have been to me and how it has often, and quite literally, "made my day." I'm sure those little boys weren't trying to go out of their way to be nice to the random lady in their living room...but they totally changed my experience. I feel so blessed. There's that totally overused quote by Margaret Mead that says "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." I wonder if her point wasn't just in reference to "thoughtful" as people who put cognizant, analytical work into their cause but also that those who were thoughtful. As in being kind and considerate of the feelings or well-being of others.

Why Would They Call it That?

So, this week has been fairly quiet. I've been able to stay with my mom and travel throughout the area - it was neat to go back to my own high school. I also had the pleasure of having breakfast with a couple of friends from high school. We would sometimes pull pranks together - shocking I'm sure. One nearly fell down a 25 foot ladder while hunting with his girlfriends dad. He caught himself at the last minute. I asked if his girlfriends dad was around in case he had fallen...his reply was "He was close enough that he would have heard me hit the ground." Funny guy. My other friend is working on his masters. He created a machine that can give a quantitative answer for whether someone has an ear infection or not - why is this important?...Mis-diagnosed ear infections are the number one reason that antibiotics are wrongly prescribed...that leads into immunity to certain antibiotics...yada yada yada. So I think his project is cool. He's also going to ultimate frisby world championships. It was great to see both of them.

Beyond that I've just been going to schools - doing the presentation. I had a fantastic group today. They laughed so hard at my jokes and were really focused on their choices...good for them.

For today's fun I will let you know about some of the funny signs my colleagues and I have seen while on the road...this is just the beginning.

Beer Road ... the next day I saw Barr Road ... coincidence? I think not.
Go Home Road
Hore Sale ... It was one of those boards that have removable letters ... some had falled off ... he he.
Balls Falls Conservation Area
Ralphs Slaughter House "Custom Killing Available"

Good Laugh

I Survived 214

Another week, another code red.

So, I'm setting up for a presentation in a high school. All of a sudden the teacher of that class enters and informs me that we're entering a code red and initiating a lock-down. "Oh" I say nonchalantly, as if the old code red lock-down was my invention. Then he locks us in the room. We shut the windows. Everyone sits against the inner wall out of the way of the window in the door. For anyone who doesn't know, that's the usual code red procedure.

The students are quick to tell me that they started practicing these things after Columbine. The teacher informs me that it's not a drill but he doesn't know what's happening. The principal got on the announcements periodically informing us that there was police presence (he didn't mention that it was the SWAT team) and that we were continuing in a, you guessed it, code red.

We talked about financial aid, played "bum" (censored for your own good). We even came up with a t-shirt slogan: "better bored then dead." Some of my colleagues were scared and unnerved. I really had peace about the situation - thank you donning. I even had peace when a girl got a text message from a friend who heard from a friend that said that their was a student walking around the halls with a gun...this ended up being a partial truth. It was actually a fake gun, the guy was 15, they didn't find him right away and when they did he was arrested.

My friend Julia would probably laugh and say "It's because T was there." She might be right...I attract these things it seems. I was just thankful I wasn't the teacher who was about eight months pregnant and had to pee like a racehorse.

Everyone is fine. It worked out in the end. It's a first in Liaison history as far as anyone can remember.