Call me Stompin' Tom
It appears as though my nomadic tendencies won't be fading away anytime soon. Next Monday I'll be hopping onto a twin engine plane and flying into the heart of the Caribou, a region in central British Columbia where the mosquitos are as big as the nuggets unearthed by Gold Rush tycoons in the late 19th century and about as plentiful as the brothels that kept them entertained. I blame my viking heritage.
Thankfully, however, instead of burning and pillaging every new town in which I find myself every so often, I like to think that I do my best to leave each of them in better shape than I found them. Given the fact that I'll be working as a project leader for Katimavik in the bustling metropolis of Wells, BC (pop. 200 in the middle of winter, 400 in the summer), I figure I'll be able to say the same thing for this town as well.
Though most project leaders work in their host communities for nine to ten months and with three different groups of participants aged 17-21, I'll only be in Wells until the end of August. I'll be picking up from where the current project leader - vacating the position for personal reasons - left off in order to guide my group through their third and final Katimavik trimester.
Despite being less than enthused about the mosquito situation, I'm excited to have been given the opportunity to live in what must be one of British Columbia's smallest towns for a summer and to be working for an organization as, dare I say it - Canadian - as this one. My preparations for departure began this morning with a day-long first aid course with St. John Ambulance and will continue through the week as I study for my Class IV driver's licence and receive pre-departure training out at Katimavik's offices in New Westminster. Throw in a few days of coaching and early morning rows in Deep Cove, an afternoon of lifting sandbags onto a wooden dome at UBC and hopefully a day of mountain biking up in Whistler, and my last full week in Vancouver for the summer will already be complete.
Thankfully, however, instead of burning and pillaging every new town in which I find myself every so often, I like to think that I do my best to leave each of them in better shape than I found them. Given the fact that I'll be working as a project leader for Katimavik in the bustling metropolis of Wells, BC (pop. 200 in the middle of winter, 400 in the summer), I figure I'll be able to say the same thing for this town as well.
Though most project leaders work in their host communities for nine to ten months and with three different groups of participants aged 17-21, I'll only be in Wells until the end of August. I'll be picking up from where the current project leader - vacating the position for personal reasons - left off in order to guide my group through their third and final Katimavik trimester.
Despite being less than enthused about the mosquito situation, I'm excited to have been given the opportunity to live in what must be one of British Columbia's smallest towns for a summer and to be working for an organization as, dare I say it - Canadian - as this one. My preparations for departure began this morning with a day-long first aid course with St. John Ambulance and will continue through the week as I study for my Class IV driver's licence and receive pre-departure training out at Katimavik's offices in New Westminster. Throw in a few days of coaching and early morning rows in Deep Cove, an afternoon of lifting sandbags onto a wooden dome at UBC and hopefully a day of mountain biking up in Whistler, and my last full week in Vancouver for the summer will already be complete.
In not so unrelated news, Justin Trudeau - essentially my new boss if you look way, way up the chain of command to the Katimavik Board of Directors - got married this week. I'm not sure why it made the front page of the Globe, but I'm nevertheless pleased to see that "the groom's late father [is still] in the minds of many."
In completely unrelated news, I've posted the rest of my photos from Australia here.
In completely unrelated news, I've posted the rest of my photos from Australia here.
posted by Per at 11:03 p.m.
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