In the month and a half that I've been here I've learned many new things. Some of it is useful and pertains to my job at Gilwell Park. Some of it is information about different cultures and countries that I've learned from other volunteers, or general life skills that are good to know. Then there are some things that are completely and utterly useless.
I have mentioned before all the training I've been doing here: archery, rifle shooting, running the shop, working in reception, setting up ropes, belaying, lowering off on zip wire, harnessing in on 3G swing, driving, working the booking system in reception and taking (very large!) payments. I can clean a toilet block quickly and effectively, put up and dismantle a fiesta tent badly (seriously, it took 20 of us an hour and a half to set one up the other day), direct customers to different places onsite, and I know what most of the keys on my key ring open.
I've learned how to book train tickets and flights online, I can find my way around London and beyond on the underground, train and bus. I'm good at communicating with people with limited English skills and I'm the one the other volunteers go to when they don't know a word (but then, who else do they have to ask?). I know a couple words in Spanish and Korean (although none of them are particularly useful or appropriate). One of the most important things I've learned is how to live with twenty people. It's definitely a challenge when there are so many personalties, and so many cultures. I've figured out how to live happily in this sort of environment, even if it means washing more dishes than the ones I use. I've also learned to develop a thicker skin and stick up for myself a little more (the Brazilian guys especially think the sole Canadian girl is an easy target for teasing.) I've also re-learned how to share a bedroom with someone for longer than a few days. I now have two roommates, Nancy and Su Jin, although Nancy is leaving in a couple weeks and we are all very sad about it.
Yet some of the most interesting things I've learned has come from talking to the other volunteers from around the world, realizing how diverse our backgrounds are and what different places we come from. It has especially made me realize how privileged my life in Canada is and I could make a whole list of things that I no longer take for granted. For example, when Johnny mentioned that his older sister was in the Korean military, it sparked a conversation about mandatory military service and I found I was quite alone in coming from a country where there was no such thing, and had not been for many years.
Another wake up moment occurred when I was making breakfast in the kitchen a few weeks back. Patrick was making tea and suddenly he asked me, "Have you ever suffered from malaria?" I was taken aback and to me it seemed like a ridiculous question, of course I had never had malaria.
"No, never." I shook my head.
"Never?" He seemed genuinely surprised.
"Have you?" I asked.
"Many times." He was making tea because he was actually feeling sick at the time because of a malaria recurrence. We had a conversation about it and I explained that we don't have malaria in Canada and I'd never been anywhere where I could have been exposed to it. There are so many diseases and problems and daily occurrences in other places that we in Canada barely ever give a thought.
With people from South America, to Africa, to North America, conversations about certain topics can be very interesting. Discussions about capitalism vs. socialism can get heated (as they usually do) but watching people from such different backgrounds disagree, and the reason why they disagree is fascinating for me. There are quite a few volunteers who are poli sci majors or the equivalent and I love hearing about their systems of government and trying to explain them how the British Queen is Canada's Queen but we are our own independant country. Allan and I often talk about different education systems and I've learned that the public universities (which are free in Brazil and many other Latin American countries) usually provide a better education than the private institutions.
The last thing that I've noticed is how many people here classify themselves as religious. As someone who was raised in quite a non-religious way in a country with no official religion, it took me by surprise at first how many of my fellow volunteers were Catholic, or at least when to some church on a fairly regular basis. At home, I could maybe name 3 or 4 people my age who attend church every Sunday, perhaps a few more. In any event, people I know who practice religion are a minority at home. Here, I am in the minority of non-worshippers. It makes me feel a little awkward at times but it helps that I know at least something about Christianity and have respect for those who are religious.
I think really what I'm trying to say is that these past months and all these people have really opened my eyes to the way other people live, made me want to travel and made me incredibly thankful to have been born and raised in Canada.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Thursday, 11 October 2012
This is real work?
I've been in England over a month now. It's such a cliche, but it feels like I've been here a long time and no time at all. Living and working at Gilwell has just so quickly become normal that it almost feels like I've always been here. I think I've finally wrapped my mind around the idea that I'm going to be here for almost a year with this crazy group of people.
This past week saw me doing real work instead of just training. Ok, yeah, cleaning toilets is real work but it's not the reason I payed Lattitude $3000 to come here. On Wednesday Blum and I instructed two archery sessions with a school group of nine nine year olds. I was slightly nervous at first, but of all of the things I've been trained in so far, I feel most confident about archery. I enjoyed running the session more than I thought I would. Volunteers here moan about sessions because they get so repetitive, but I loved teaching each kid how to shoot properly and see their excitement and pride when a few of them hit bull's eyes. There's something really special about teaching somebody to do something well and then seeing them succeed. Archery is very easy when there are two instructors, one for each kid who is shooting, so we can walk them through each step and get them shooting really well. It's going to be harder when I'm running sessions alone. Luckily I'm qualified to do that ;)
My second day of real work was on Sunday (sure, schedule the Canadian to work on Canadian Thanksgiving). I worked at the reception from 2-10pm. The good thing about that shift was that I could sleep in as late as I want and have a leisurely breakfast in the Den while everyone else cleaned the disaster that was the vacated Aussies' room and take down a tent. Although I've had one afternoon of training on reception, the first shift was a little nerve wracking. Thankfully Morris, one of the old volunteers, was with me until 7 and one of our bosses Dave was around until 5. Really there was not much to do at that time of night. I gave and received keys a few times, answered a couple phone calls and tried to familiarize myself with the computer system. It got really boring and I spent the evening talking on Facebook, waiting for 10 o'clock to come. One of the advantages to working the late shift in reception is that the kitchen will give you leftover food from any of the events that have been catered for that day in the White House. So I had grilled salmon for my Thanksgiving dinner, but I greatly missed the traditional family dinner, turkey and pumpkin pie.
I have had three days off this past week, which is great, except it means that I don't get another day off until next Monday or Tuesday. This Tuesday I drove on the left side of the road, something I had really not expected to be doing this year. I didn't think I would even be allowed to drive in the UK because I still only have my 'N'. Apparently it is legal for me to drive here, for up to a year. Then I need to apply for an international driver's license, for which I would need a full Canadian license. British driving rules make no sense. I had a very nice Hungarian driving instructor who took me out and said I did very well. It felt so strange at first, but even turning and intersections got easier with practice. The things I'm not very confident are round-abouts (frankly I'm not that confident on round-abouts at home either, seeing as I rarely came across them) and remembering where my blindspots are. My driving instructor was very relaxed and chatted about how he is planning to move to Canada, and how crazy drivers can be in Britain. Now I can say I've driven on the opposite side of the road, something to cross off the bucket list.
On Wednesday it was back to ropes training because we have our Level 1 assessment early next week. We got a chance to try out the outdoor climbing wall, which is much more challenging than the indoor wall.
This past week saw me doing real work instead of just training. Ok, yeah, cleaning toilets is real work but it's not the reason I payed Lattitude $3000 to come here. On Wednesday Blum and I instructed two archery sessions with a school group of nine nine year olds. I was slightly nervous at first, but of all of the things I've been trained in so far, I feel most confident about archery. I enjoyed running the session more than I thought I would. Volunteers here moan about sessions because they get so repetitive, but I loved teaching each kid how to shoot properly and see their excitement and pride when a few of them hit bull's eyes. There's something really special about teaching somebody to do something well and then seeing them succeed. Archery is very easy when there are two instructors, one for each kid who is shooting, so we can walk them through each step and get them shooting really well. It's going to be harder when I'm running sessions alone. Luckily I'm qualified to do that ;)
My second day of real work was on Sunday (sure, schedule the Canadian to work on Canadian Thanksgiving). I worked at the reception from 2-10pm. The good thing about that shift was that I could sleep in as late as I want and have a leisurely breakfast in the Den while everyone else cleaned the disaster that was the vacated Aussies' room and take down a tent. Although I've had one afternoon of training on reception, the first shift was a little nerve wracking. Thankfully Morris, one of the old volunteers, was with me until 7 and one of our bosses Dave was around until 5. Really there was not much to do at that time of night. I gave and received keys a few times, answered a couple phone calls and tried to familiarize myself with the computer system. It got really boring and I spent the evening talking on Facebook, waiting for 10 o'clock to come. One of the advantages to working the late shift in reception is that the kitchen will give you leftover food from any of the events that have been catered for that day in the White House. So I had grilled salmon for my Thanksgiving dinner, but I greatly missed the traditional family dinner, turkey and pumpkin pie.
I have had three days off this past week, which is great, except it means that I don't get another day off until next Monday or Tuesday. This Tuesday I drove on the left side of the road, something I had really not expected to be doing this year. I didn't think I would even be allowed to drive in the UK because I still only have my 'N'. Apparently it is legal for me to drive here, for up to a year. Then I need to apply for an international driver's license, for which I would need a full Canadian license. British driving rules make no sense. I had a very nice Hungarian driving instructor who took me out and said I did very well. It felt so strange at first, but even turning and intersections got easier with practice. The things I'm not very confident are round-abouts (frankly I'm not that confident on round-abouts at home either, seeing as I rarely came across them) and remembering where my blindspots are. My driving instructor was very relaxed and chatted about how he is planning to move to Canada, and how crazy drivers can be in Britain. Now I can say I've driven on the opposite side of the road, something to cross off the bucket list.
On Wednesday it was back to ropes training because we have our Level 1 assessment early next week. We got a chance to try out the outdoor climbing wall, which is much more challenging than the indoor wall.
After that we learned what a Level One needs to do when running a zip wire session, and we got to try it out. The zip wire goes along the bottom edge of the grass sledging field and as you zip along you get a wonderful view of King George's Reservoir and outer east London.
Me lowering Benjamin off the wire.
Both Johnny and I had a great time.
Something else I should mention, if only to stop some people worrying about me. The Den is nowhere near as dirty as it used to be. It's impossible to keep the floors clean since most of us wear our shoes inside, and we'll never get everyone to wash their dishes all the time, but things are improving. We have managed to agree that Wednesdays after work are General Cleaning Days. We don't have a schedule of who cleans what when, everyone is just expected to clean something in the house on Wednesday. We are slowly attacking the dirt, greasy stains and months old stickiness while maintaining a level of cleanliness on the stove, floors and common room.
The other night everyone was really wound up for some reason (maybe it was the fact that we only worked a half day) and the boys attempted to evict the wasps from the nest in the outer wall of the kitchen. They accomplished nothing while running in and out of the house screaming. Although they did create this excellent Captain America costume in an attempt to shield themselves from wasp stings.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Life at Gilwell
It's now been over three weeks since I arrived at Gilwell Park and life has begun to settle into a pattern of semi-normality. In a lot of ways coming here has been a big leap into adulthood and I'm definitely still adjusting. Yet already this place feels like and home the people feel like family. I'll try to offer a picture of what my days look like.
If I'm working (or in training as I am right now) then I wake up at about quarter to 8. Getting ready in the morning is a lot quicker when I have a uniform, there is no time needed to pick out clothes. There's also no need to bother with makeup. At 8, Nancy and I walk from the White House to the Den to find something for breakfast. The only tables are in the tent that is attached to the Den, our bosses call it our dining room, we call it the party tent. So we eat either sitting on the bigger freezer in the kitchen or in front of the TV in the living room.
At 8:30 we meet in the staff room and then one of the lead instructors takes us 14 new volunteers for training. The three leads are Emma, Phil and Ian. They all seem pretty nice so far, other volunteers beg to differ. Ian is said to be the most easy going, but according to Francisco, "when Emma mad, you run. Fast."
Over the last week we have done a lot of different things in training. I now know the basics about the revenue and expenses of the centre, how to work in both the gift shop and the coke bar, how to check customers in and out of all four lodges, how to work the log splitter in the woodpile and lead a session of low ropes. I had one afternoon of reception training where I learned how to make bookings for the centre (and how much some of accommodations cost!). I had a four day archery instructor course where I was taught by a national champion and assessed by a woman who coaches the GB Junior Olympic Archery Squad.
I've now had two days of ropes training: I can set up the climbing equipment of most of the high ropes and climbing wall activities and I can belay people and teach kids to belay. These days were both really fun and I actually remembered to take my camera out on one of them!
Today I started a two day air rile shooting course. Within the next two weeks I will have my Level One ropes leader certification. I've been learning so much, but I feel like I'm learning it well. The instructors give us lots of time to practice what we've learned and I feel confident that I can actually do my job well when the time comes.
Our training usually ends between 4 and 5pm , depending on how our leads are feeling (or how busy they are with other things.) I usually go back to my room in the White House, check my computer then gather up any laundry I have and go back to the Den. My evenings are spent in the Den, eating, watching TV or more often a movie or two. People hang out in the tent a lot because it's the only place most people can get internet access. The Brazilians, Allan and Rodrigo, spend a lot of time playing guitar and singing in there and sometimes they convince me to join in, and then I sing very badly.
This past weekend provided something new and interesting because I went to visit Emily at her placement in Sheffield. I booked my tickets online during the week (35 pounds return) and got up very early on Saturday morning to catch the train from Chingford to Liverpool Street Station in Lodon. From there I caught the tube to St. Pancras Station where I succeed in picking up my tickets from the automated ticket machine and getting on the right train to Sheffield. Two hours later I was there and Emily met me at the station. We waited for a bus and made our way to Castleton in Derbyshire. The buses in that area are pretty awful. They're not exactly cheap, they're never on time, and because there's about 4 different bus companies, getting any sort of bus pass is pointless. Victoria's transit system is flawless compared to Sheffield's.
Emily and I chatted non-stop on the double-decker bus to Castleton and probably annoyed our fellow riders. The weather was typically English: over cast and occasionally raining. Just the ride there was beautiful. Castelton is the Peak District; full of lush, green, choppy hills dotted with sheep. It was so English countryside. The thing about being Gilwell and Chingford is that I could almost forgot sometimes that I'm not still in Canada, but up north was exactly what everyone thinks of when they think of England.
So what did we do in Castleton? Visit the castle of course! Peveril Castle is almost 1000 years old, though not much remains of the oldest parts. It's set way up a steep hill, perfectly defensible, though apparently it rarely saw any military action. It seems it was the residents of the stewards of the forest who collected taxes and fines from the villages and enforced laws concerning the forest. Other than the remains of some walls, the only part left standing is the Keep. We explored it quite throughly (it didn't really take long) and ate our lunch in one of the deep window ledges. The whole time we kept saying to each other, "Guess what? We're eating lunch in castle!" We took tons of pictures and were in awe of it all the whole time. For more pictures, see my album on Facebook.
After the much easier walk back down the steep hills, we attempted to go to one of the caves that Castleton is known for. We got to the entrance, and it looked pretty cool, but also quite expensive to go in. We decided not to enter and instead walked around the town, checking out the little shops and laughing at the funny names of the inns and pubs.
I nearly fell asleep on the bus back to Sheffield. We took another bus to Totely, the suburb of Sheffiled where Emily works at Mickely Hall, a home for adults with disabilities. Emily has her own room with an extra pull out couch, which I slept on, and in that way she's better off than me. But there's just one other overseas volunteer who lives there, all other staff and volunteers come in on shift work. It was great to see Emily but I don't think I could be happy living there. To me it feels like living and eating in a hospital, and she admits it is kind of lonely. Maybe it's because I'm used to living with a roommate and working and eating with dozens of people every day, but I found her placement extremely lonely. That in combination with seeing Emily again made me a little homesick.
On Sunday Emily, the other volunteer, Karina, and I went back into Sheffield and did some shopping. My train wasn't until 7:18 but everything in Sheffield (and Chingford too for that matter) closes at 5pm. So there wasn't much to do for two hours. Emily and Karina caught the bus home at 6, and I read in the train station until my train came because changing my ticket to an earlier time would have been way too expensive. The train ride back was 3 hours and I was quite tired by that point. By the time I got to London, and then back to Chingford it was 11pm. There is a 24 hour taxi service in Chingford and I had a very talkative Indian cabby drive me back home. By the end I felt quite proud of myself for navigating public transit so well in a foreign land.
Despite having been gone less than 48 hours, I was very happy to be back at Gilwell, surrounded by all these people who I like and who like me, doing work that I thoroughly enjoy. I told Emily to come and visit me whenever she wants, and since Karina knows a couple of the girls here at Gilwell they are both going to come down the next time we all have a weekend off.
This is what life in England has been like so far. I'm greatly enjoying it, though I still miss some things from home, and already I feel like this experience is changing me.
One more thing. Emily and I have decided that we are going to Greece for Christmas! We're going for at least a week since I get two weeks holiday over Christmas and Emily is going to request time off. We want to get some other Lattitude and/or Gilwell volunteers to come with us. We're thinking of doing one day in Athens to see all the mandatory tourist sites, the on to one of the islands. Except we have no idea which island. I would be very grateful if anyone could suggest a good island to go to stay on, it seems impossible to choose.
If I'm working (or in training as I am right now) then I wake up at about quarter to 8. Getting ready in the morning is a lot quicker when I have a uniform, there is no time needed to pick out clothes. There's also no need to bother with makeup. At 8, Nancy and I walk from the White House to the Den to find something for breakfast. The only tables are in the tent that is attached to the Den, our bosses call it our dining room, we call it the party tent. So we eat either sitting on the bigger freezer in the kitchen or in front of the TV in the living room.
At 8:30 we meet in the staff room and then one of the lead instructors takes us 14 new volunteers for training. The three leads are Emma, Phil and Ian. They all seem pretty nice so far, other volunteers beg to differ. Ian is said to be the most easy going, but according to Francisco, "when Emma mad, you run. Fast."
Over the last week we have done a lot of different things in training. I now know the basics about the revenue and expenses of the centre, how to work in both the gift shop and the coke bar, how to check customers in and out of all four lodges, how to work the log splitter in the woodpile and lead a session of low ropes. I had one afternoon of reception training where I learned how to make bookings for the centre (and how much some of accommodations cost!). I had a four day archery instructor course where I was taught by a national champion and assessed by a woman who coaches the GB Junior Olympic Archery Squad.
I've now had two days of ropes training: I can set up the climbing equipment of most of the high ropes and climbing wall activities and I can belay people and teach kids to belay. These days were both really fun and I actually remembered to take my camera out on one of them!
Patrick and Su Jin hanging out on Jacob's Ladder
Benjamin and Patrick tackle the Wobbly Pole. I failed quite miserably on it.
Su Jin and Gustavo (I think?) on The Gauntlet
Me belaying someone on the Rope Ladder
Our training usually ends between 4 and 5pm , depending on how our leads are feeling (or how busy they are with other things.) I usually go back to my room in the White House, check my computer then gather up any laundry I have and go back to the Den. My evenings are spent in the Den, eating, watching TV or more often a movie or two. People hang out in the tent a lot because it's the only place most people can get internet access. The Brazilians, Allan and Rodrigo, spend a lot of time playing guitar and singing in there and sometimes they convince me to join in, and then I sing very badly.
This past weekend provided something new and interesting because I went to visit Emily at her placement in Sheffield. I booked my tickets online during the week (35 pounds return) and got up very early on Saturday morning to catch the train from Chingford to Liverpool Street Station in Lodon. From there I caught the tube to St. Pancras Station where I succeed in picking up my tickets from the automated ticket machine and getting on the right train to Sheffield. Two hours later I was there and Emily met me at the station. We waited for a bus and made our way to Castleton in Derbyshire. The buses in that area are pretty awful. They're not exactly cheap, they're never on time, and because there's about 4 different bus companies, getting any sort of bus pass is pointless. Victoria's transit system is flawless compared to Sheffield's.
Emily and I chatted non-stop on the double-decker bus to Castleton and probably annoyed our fellow riders. The weather was typically English: over cast and occasionally raining. Just the ride there was beautiful. Castelton is the Peak District; full of lush, green, choppy hills dotted with sheep. It was so English countryside. The thing about being Gilwell and Chingford is that I could almost forgot sometimes that I'm not still in Canada, but up north was exactly what everyone thinks of when they think of England.
So what did we do in Castleton? Visit the castle of course! Peveril Castle is almost 1000 years old, though not much remains of the oldest parts. It's set way up a steep hill, perfectly defensible, though apparently it rarely saw any military action. It seems it was the residents of the stewards of the forest who collected taxes and fines from the villages and enforced laws concerning the forest. Other than the remains of some walls, the only part left standing is the Keep. We explored it quite throughly (it didn't really take long) and ate our lunch in one of the deep window ledges. The whole time we kept saying to each other, "Guess what? We're eating lunch in castle!" We took tons of pictures and were in awe of it all the whole time. For more pictures, see my album on Facebook.
This is one of my favourite shots. I would love to go back and do some real hiking in the Peak District
I nearly fell asleep on the bus back to Sheffield. We took another bus to Totely, the suburb of Sheffiled where Emily works at Mickely Hall, a home for adults with disabilities. Emily has her own room with an extra pull out couch, which I slept on, and in that way she's better off than me. But there's just one other overseas volunteer who lives there, all other staff and volunteers come in on shift work. It was great to see Emily but I don't think I could be happy living there. To me it feels like living and eating in a hospital, and she admits it is kind of lonely. Maybe it's because I'm used to living with a roommate and working and eating with dozens of people every day, but I found her placement extremely lonely. That in combination with seeing Emily again made me a little homesick.
On Sunday Emily, the other volunteer, Karina, and I went back into Sheffield and did some shopping. My train wasn't until 7:18 but everything in Sheffield (and Chingford too for that matter) closes at 5pm. So there wasn't much to do for two hours. Emily and Karina caught the bus home at 6, and I read in the train station until my train came because changing my ticket to an earlier time would have been way too expensive. The train ride back was 3 hours and I was quite tired by that point. By the time I got to London, and then back to Chingford it was 11pm. There is a 24 hour taxi service in Chingford and I had a very talkative Indian cabby drive me back home. By the end I felt quite proud of myself for navigating public transit so well in a foreign land.
Despite having been gone less than 48 hours, I was very happy to be back at Gilwell, surrounded by all these people who I like and who like me, doing work that I thoroughly enjoy. I told Emily to come and visit me whenever she wants, and since Karina knows a couple of the girls here at Gilwell they are both going to come down the next time we all have a weekend off.
This is what life in England has been like so far. I'm greatly enjoying it, though I still miss some things from home, and already I feel like this experience is changing me.
One more thing. Emily and I have decided that we are going to Greece for Christmas! We're going for at least a week since I get two weeks holiday over Christmas and Emily is going to request time off. We want to get some other Lattitude and/or Gilwell volunteers to come with us. We're thinking of doing one day in Athens to see all the mandatory tourist sites, the on to one of the islands. Except we have no idea which island. I would be very grateful if anyone could suggest a good island to go to stay on, it seems impossible to choose.
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