Saturday 27 October 2007

Driving Lessons

Today I (Mareesa) had a driving lesson with a friend! I need to go for my licence soon, and she was kind enough to donate a car and her time to help me out :) I must admit, I did hit the kerb once...but driving on the RHS of the road wasn't as bad as I though, maybe I'm getting used to it due to walking/busing around.

Thursday 18 October 2007

Another week goes by...

We find ourselves as busy as ever! Thinking often about writing to people, but seldom finding the time to do it. I'm having today off because I'm losing my voice due to the cold I've had for a week or so. Tuesday and Wednesday I soldiered on, but my voice sounds ridiculous and I want to be able to speak properly! So hence today, I am warm inside, resting my vocal chords and drinking lotsa hot water.
Monday and Tuesday was the government evaluation at my school. The evaluators were lovely Christian people, and it actually went fine. The last month has been stressful, but they didn't tell us anything we didn't already know, we still are getting our funding, and they gave us a time extension to get our teacher certification finalised.
We've had some issues with our alarm clock (3 sleep-ins in 2 weeks!) and Nathan arrived half-way through a lecture on Tuesday morning, so I think I will be purchasing a new one this weekend, and possibly some gumboots so that I stop complaining about having wet toes =)
Fall the last week or so has been absolutely beautiful! There's a carpet of multicoloured leaf confetti everywhere. The maple outside our window is finally red, and about to lose the rest of its leaves - I'm going to miss it. We had about 5 days of sunshine and visited a local apple festival on Sunday (a much needed rest as I worked from 10am to 5.30pm on Saturday getting ready for the audit). We found out about a reasonably-priced 2-bed apartment near-by that is available, so we are considering that opportunity at the moment and need to make up our mind by the end of October. The Regent Spouses Network will be starting up soon also, which is a chance to get to know some other wives and feel a little connected to the Regent community.
Nathan and I have pretty much decided on a church to attend - U-town, on the university campus. A few families from my school attend, and some lecturers from Regent. It was a church plant that is pastored by an ex-Regent, Australian guy. It's different from the churches we've attended previously, and we're looking forward to the opportunities to get involved in this new church family.
That's all til next time,
M

Wednesday 10 October 2007

Washington State

We enjoyed our weekend at Regent College Retreat which was in Washington. We got to know the college president Rod Wilson and his wife Bev a little better, and listened to talks on the life of Moses and how his relationship with God turned from fear to longing. It was a good chance for me to get more of a feel for Regent life, and meet some more of Nathan's friends and professors. There was a talent show which was MC'd by two Australian girls called Nerida (yes, they both have the same name). We enjoyed the Aussie humor, as well as the great show put on by students and faculty.
Last Thursday and Friday I was back in the states for a teacher conference. We picked the wrong border crossing the first day and arrived an hour late, but the workshops were great - I went to one on sacred dance (dance for worship), folk dancing (so I can teach it in PE), as well as some theoretical ones on how I teach.
Regent had an open day to celebrate the new library; Nathan wants to add some pictures soon so that you can see what it looks like!
We think we've decided on a church to go to...
This week is Reading Week for Nathan, no lectures, just study time. He has also started a minicourse at UBC for 6 Tuesday nights called Introduction to Sound Recording for some leisure time.
My school is having its audit next week. Planning has taken a lot of time, but I would really appreciate some prayer as I am still not certified, and this could be a problem. BC is very beaurocratic, and as all my paperwork has not been received we're trying to apply for an Independent Teaching Certificate. The audit is something that happens every few years, but we were not given much warning as their notification letter did not arrive at the school. We've had about a month to prepare, but our principal has been sick which hasn't helped.
On a lighter note, autumn in Vancouver is beautiful! I'm amazed by the variation in the colour of leaves: green, yellow, brown, orange, pink, red. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium and saw belugas (Arctic whales) and saw sea otters too - a teachers appreciation night (there are some perks around here!).
M