Things I've Learned

      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.