Here comes the sun

Hello readers!

When I last wrote, I was bout to leave for the dance. Some nice photos from the dance:

Me, Tanuvee, Kalkidan and Tanya. The braided girls!

The roommates!

The dance was pretty much like a J.F.R CVI dance, except there were less people, no lazer lights and they had Bollywood music mixed in with "Party Rock Anthem" and "We Found Love".  It was interesting to dance to, I'll say that.

Saturday is a day to chill, a day to breathe out. Spending Saturday hanging out with friends, eating homemade Indian food care of my lovely roommate, staying up until 1:30 watching the princess bride with Tanuvee and Devika, skyping and chatting with people back home, sounds like a good way to spend it (especially considering it was POURING with rain).  No photos from saturday, sorry...

Sunday is, of course, church day! A whole group of us went up to Kellogg church yesterday. Kalkidan is my official church buddy; I don’t think I’ve ever met someone quite so religious. It’s actually really fun. She comes from a very different spiritual background, so it makes for some interesting conversation.

We took the cab up to church (cab fares are freaking cheap!) and had a nice, leisurely walk back, giving me quite a few photo ops!

A nice view of the plains

I can't quite believe I took this photo. A perfect view of campus. The top right building is midlands, the circular in Alter Ridge (middle school girls) and dining hall, the one with the pool is Hostel (Senior boys) and you can't quite see the school, but whatever.

Yay plains!

The village

Kellogg church

Oh, and THE SUN HAS FOUND MEEEEEEE!!!

The sun is back (ish) and I love it, every second I can I'm out snapping photos and enjoying the sky before it dissappears again.

That evening, we hung out in dorm and ordered Domino pizza. Something I was not expecting to be able to do, but still awesome…

Monday, school. Yay! Everything is going so well here. My french teacher Ms Amy brought in chocolate croissants (which was unfortunate, since because of my antibiotics everything tastes like bile). I’ve started my voice lessons with Mr Okie the choir teacher (he has me singing Se tu m’ami. I already love Italian). We’ve also started choir, I’m auditioning for the school play (I’m going for Lady Macbeth!) and I want to join the Japanese drumming group. Can you say “arts kid”?

Here’s some pics I took on the walk home from school with Lexine and Kalkidan. It’s gotten to the point where I can almost run up the steps to midlands. Be proud, people, be proud…

Kalki and Lexine!

The front gate

Artistic shot=wet bum

Totally looks like a sasquatch, dunnit?

Walking home...

The misty mountains

My board in my room!

Tuesday has been a good day. It helped that the day started out cloudless and then thunderstormed later: my favourite! We also had time to work out in the gym, and overall it was just a good kind of day. I wrote a killer report in french on a canadian sport (lacross) and am learning cool new stuff in Bio & chem. I love the book we're reading in English, and life is just plain good.

Oh, and just randomly, here are some photos of mussoorie at night:

Trust me, this is nothing compared to real life: the whole hillside lit up with tiny pinpoints of light everywhere...

And here's some random photos I want to share:

We got the photo up! Proof of our roommate-ness

Our room!

No clouds this morning: that was a first, although totally appreciated.

Outside the dorm

A gorgeous view!

Another nice view

Courtyard and health center (where I'm trying to volunteer)

An even nicer view!

Is it obvious that I like the views here?

Later on: cloud cover coming in.

A feature of woodstock that all students apparently have to experience: Throw a rock through the tree on Lover's Lane  and make a wish!

Devika on her... fifth attempt? Annabelle got it on her first. I got it on my 12th, I think.

Tanuvee managed to get not one, but two rocks stuck in the tree! We thought this should count as double wishes, even if she didn't manage to get one actually through...

Our desks! Kalkidan is a bit of a decorator....

My internet space, where I am now.

Love to you all, 

Emily

PS here's a monkey for you. The babies are so cute with their wet fur...

Oh monkey, you try and fail to look dignified...

New roommate is awesome

Heyla!

Kalkidan lives!!!! Yes, the new roommate from Seattle has arrived, after having her visa delayed in the post. She's freaking awesome, just letting you guys know.

Yesterday we had some KILLER rain. It thunderstormed for about 5 hours, and it was uber loud on the plastc sheeting roof in Midlands. I've got a video but it's not letting me upload... Mum, have you got it in Dropbox? Post it on FB if yes.

We've got a LOT more space now that the extra bed is gone. Ms Maya had the dorm staff take it away, so we've got the most spacious room in the dorm. Hooray!

I'm really starting to make good friends here. Last night, Annabelle brought up a couple of 80's movies. We rearranged the beds and had a girls-night-in movie night! We watched "16 candles" with Molly Ringwald. It was me, Kalkidan, Devika, Tanuvee, Annabelle, and Lexine.

Here's our setup:

Kalkidan passed out at about 8:30, and woke up at around 5, just like all the North Americans did first day. Accoring to her, I make some weird noises when I sleep. Random...

Today, we had a relaxed, laid back day. We were going to go to Bazaar, but no one really felt like going out in the rain (which was almost as bad as yesterday). So instead, Kalkidan braided hair, I taught  a couple of the girls Jungle Speed.

Tanuvee is really happy with her braids. I'm super fond of mine too.

Tonight is the welcome back dance! I'll probably not stay too long, but it's gonna be fun with all the seniors there! Maybe the boys will actually talk to us...

Oh, just a side note, the rain makes the monkeys look reeeaally funny. ;)

Stay awesome, lovelies!

Sweet 16

Hello all!

I am returning to health, isn't that nice? I'm on antibiotics 3 times a day for the next ten days, then once a day for another 10 days. It'd good to be up and about again. According to the teachers, getting a stomach bug during your first month is a kind of rite of passage that all the international students must endure. Joy...

As most of you know, yesterday was my 16th birthday. It was a fantastic day. I felt really well in the health center, so I got up and went to my first day of class.
This was my view when I woke up. Awesome!!!

The day began in Advisor group. I have Mr Steve Luukkonen from the US as my advisor. He's a lot of fun, and to celebrate mine and Lexine's birthday we had a ceremonial "cutting of the banana". The best he could come up with on short notice, he explained.

All day people were wishing me and Lexine a happy birthday. We even had signs taped to our lockers (a novel experience for me!) and people singing happy birthday in the cafeteria.

When we got back to dorms in the evening, we had some spare time which I used to call Dad, Beryl and Will. A little while later I also got a call from Mum. Yay family!

At 6 pm Lexine and I went to Ms Geeta's apartment, which is really, really pretty. We had some lovely pepper pasta (made by Tanuvee) and Ms Geeta made us paratha. Soooooooo good! The perfect birthday meal!

Ms Geeta told us that in Indian culture it is most hospitable to serve the food directly from the pan to the plate. A most civilized custom, in my opinion. Everyone eating there (Lexine, me, Tannuvee, Devika and Ms Geeta) all thought it much superior to the school food, and we're considering having Saturday cookouts after Bazaar

Lexine and I also had a cake each to share with all the girls in our grade at check-in time. Made by Ms Geeta and Ms Maya.

And to cap the evening off, I got to call Lukas!
Day well spent, no questions asked.

Oh, and I've discovered hat video chat is a lie. Telephone and skype phone calls only, folks. Apologies, although probably no one feels as dissapointed as me.

Good day to all,
Emily

PS check out this awesomeness!

I feel really sucessful :)

Oh, and just for Elliot, here's a picture of the sucking depth of the fog:

That is the same perspective as the photo at the top, might I add.

Warning! Long post ahead!

And I apologize for the lack of photos. The internet is mean to me whenever I try. :(

            Well! Here I am, arrived safe and sound to Woodstock. First off, I’d just like to say that it is so beautiful here, especially in the rain and mist. It’s fabulous, the people are lovely, and I am so thrilled to be here!

I will start off on Friday, when Lukas, Will, Mum, Dad and I went to the airport. After some teary goodbyes on my part, I set off to my flight to Heathrow. I t was delayed by half an hour, but fortunately that didn’t affect my connecting flight. Arriving in London, it was a lot less crowded than I’d have expected for the day after the Olympics started.

            On to Delhi! I sat next to a lovely young woman working in India as a researcher in economics. We talked for a little while, and then I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I checked out the moving map. It was so cool to see how close we were getting. I will admit I started getting a bit excited. After that, I watched Fast Girls, a movie about the British women’s relay team. It was ok, a lot like Bend It Like Beckham.

            The Indira Gandhi airport is really not that different from any other. The only noticeable difference is the ceilings are lower and the signs have Hindi as well as English. There, Megan and I got our bags and met up with some other students.

            The second you step outside, though, the difference is really noticeable. The heat smothers you and you feel sticky almost immediately. The taxis waiting outside look really beat up, and of course, there are people everywhere. When I got in the taxi (my bags on the roof) the first thing I did was look around for a seat belt. Nope. No seatbelt! Sketchiness…

We got to the Centaur hotel at about 1 am. I shared a room with Megan and Caroline, the students from Ontario and California. I was pretty well rested from the plane, and only managed to sleep about and hour. I chatted with Caroline for a while, we went down to the lobby at 4 and got a bus to the train station. Yet another big difference: people sleep EVERYWHERE. I saw people sleeping in the middle of the floor at the train station, even little children! I was completely mystified as to how they slept through the grating bingely-bong of the announcements every minute or so. I certainly couldn’t ignore it.

            We caught the train at 6:30 am. All the Korean students were exhausted, but the North American students were all wide awake (it was about 8 pm my time). The next six and a half hours were spent riding up to Derhadun (or Dehradoon). I was happy to discover a western toilet on the train, instead of the hole in the floor with handrails (which was another option).

Yet another difference from Canada: you can take the train and not see another human being for hours. Here, you can’t go four seconds without seeing someone, be it a farm worker, kids playing cricket, women washing clothes or a man walking along the tracks. I also saw a LOT of cows and dogs.

            When we got out in Dehradun it was raining buckets. We races through honking cars and motorbikes to our buses and began the trek up the mountain.

At first I was really quite amused by the tune of our bus horn. After about five minutes of almost constant honking, I was no longer amused. Why must they honk at everything?!?

            The road to Mussoorie is possibly the sketchiest road ever. It helped quite a lot that we were in a cloud and couldn’t see anything, but there was a sucking depth to the fog that was hard to ignore. Mostly I tried to stare straight ahead, focusing on not getting carsick.

            We arrived at Woodstock in pea-soup fog, and went straight up to the Midlands dorm, for the senior girls. It’s the farthest dorm from everything, so we had a bit of a walk, but it’s really quite lovely.

            I absolutely love the dorm. It’s really open, light and airy, and all the girls are really nice. I am in a room with four girls: Me, Ritsen from Bhutan, Devika from Bombay, and Kalkidan whom I have yet to meet. Apparently she’s having visa troubles, so she’ll be arriving later. Our room is huge; it fits six people comfortably, so we’ll have lots of space with just the four of us!

            I’ve met a lot of really cool people. Caroline, Lexine (who has the same birthday as me), Kate, Uma, Maggie, Tanuvee, Raya, Megan, Savannah, Setse, Annabelle, Tara, and a whole bunch of others whose names I can’t remember at present!

            The food is decent, not the best but it’s ok. It’s fun eating Indian food three meals a day, and the cafeteria is quite nice.

            Two days ago we had our orientation and placement tests. I can say right off that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the campus

The first thing we did when we got to the school (after the rather steep walk up) was assemble in Parker Hall, the main auditorium. Student services and the principal talked us to about Woodstock and the curriculum, and then we went on to math placement tests. I have been put in Algebra 2. After lunch and meeting with guidance, we had our language placement tests. I was put in AP Level 5 French. Hooray! I know one other girl in the class, so I’m not sure how many people are going to be in the class. It would be totally rocking if there were only two of us!

So in the end, my course load comes in thusly: AP Chemistry, Algebra 2, AP English language and composition, Music (voice, of course), AP French, Study Hall (spare) and AP Biology. This should be fun…

The schedule at Woodstock is really different from Ross CVI. I have 7 classes, 6 classes per day. They rotate so that you miss one class every day. It goes: A to F, then B to G, C to A, etc. This means that I am taking fewer courses than I would at Ross, but they span the full year, so I sit my exams in June. This means that I am without a doubt taking 12+ when I come home, as well as summer school, just so I can catch up with all the courses I need to take for sciences and French. Sigh…

Yesterday we had music auditions-Oh My Gosh there’s a monkey staring at me! Now there are two! Dang these things are everywhere!

Apparently you shouldn’t smile at them, and if you want them to go away, throw rocks IN FRONT of them. But it’s so hard not to smile!

Music autditions went very well. I am in the Senior choir and I will be taking private lessons. Sooooooo excited.

Today was the first day of school... and I am incapacitated with a stomach virus! No fair!!!

So Im on antibiotics three times a day for 10 days, then once a day for another ten days. I will also be taking probiotics once a day to compensate for all the good bugs I'll be killing off.

I'm in health ward until tomorrow at least. I'm hoping to be better for my birthday!

Lots and lots of STUFF, mostly technology

Hey all,

For those of you not aware, I have 8 DAYS LEFT!!! Holy shlamoly!!!

Oh, and I'll be 16 in two weeks. Yay!

So I figured I would give you guys another update. My flight stuff is all sorted, everyone going to the airport is bringing tissues, and I'm realizing that I have A LOT OF STUFF to take. Here is a snapshot:

For those of you that know me well, yes, this isn't my bedroom, but my brother is away and therefore doesn't mind me piling all my assorted crap on his bed ;)

It's really hard to be packing for a WHOLE YEAR without bringing everything you own. I have to limit myself extensively, and there is just stuff and more stuff to bring. Hiking boots, blankets, bedrolls, scarves, pants, skrits, extra bags, cosmetics, lady stuff, soap & shampoo, backpack, binders, paper, pens...

And all my new fancy electronic stuff :D
It's all beautiful!!
(and I have fabulous taste in music, can't you tell? ;)

This is my voltage stabilizer. It is compatible with Australian, Japanese, English, North American and UK plugs. This stabilizes the current in case of voltage fluctuations (which are quite common in India) and will be used in partnership with...

My lovely Indian adapter, handily fitting just about any plug (in case any buddies need to have a borrow).

Next up is the fabulous graphing calculator, crazy expensive-but worth it for Pre-Calc- graphing calculator, currently showing y=7(x+2)2 (squared, not X2)

This makes me happy. :D

It also comes with a strange plug that looks like I should connect headphones to my calculator. Is confused. :P

I also have a regular calculator for day-to day stuff, up to and including pi, E, sine, cosine and tangent.

The device on which all these were taken is my birthday present: a lovely freeze/dust/shock/water proof camera. It's bright blue and perfect. I'm currently having fun experimenting with all the settings, especially panorama. So far, I heartily approve of it.

It is by Fujifilm. One thing that was kind of interesting, if you buy it in Canada, you have to register it online at their website to get the warranty legalized and qualify for assistance if needed.

Finally, piece de resistance: Mum is letting me take her macbook! This is an excuse for her to buy a Pro, but WHO CARES?

I'm so very happy with all these things. I know Mum's a little out of pocket right now, but I extend my sincerest internet thanks to her for all her purchases, time investments, and dedication to me in this adventure. She's now playing with my hair and reading over my shoulder. 

Also thank you to my aunt & uncle who sent me some Indian rupees they had from their trip there a couple of years ago. (It's 40 rupees to the Canadian dollar, for those who don't know. -Indian prices are super low. They're going to spoil me rotten :D)

Are you excited? NOT AS MUCH AS MEEEE!!! HAHAHA!!!

Thanks all, and goodnight,

Emily

PS By the time you read this, it'll probably be 7 days left, unless you're staying up stupidly late like me reading my blog. In which case, I'm flattered, and GO TO BED, silly person!)

Immunizations

Today I got vaccinated!

On tuesday Mum and I went to the travel clinic for a consultation. Originally it wasn't going to be a consultation, but we were late getting back from Kingston so all we had time for was talking about the meds I would need and getting a TB test (tuberculosis). Malarone (malaria pills) are more expensive than I thought.
The Tb test consisted of a serum being injected into my arm. I was not allowed to scrub it or put a band-aid on it, in case that gave a false positive or negative. If I was TB positive the area where the serum was injected would be large and an angry red. If not, it would look like a little bruise.

Check out how not-infected-with-TB I am!!

So today we went back to get me vaccinated for Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Japanese Encephalitis and Rabies. Apparently the Typhoid/Hep A needle hurts a LOT for about 24 hours, so I was well doped out on Tylenol before arriving. So far, all is well, although I'm starting to feel a bit stiff in my upper arm.

The other band-aid was for my Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, a disease known throughout southern Asia. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I'm just happy to be immune to it. :D

Finally, the rabies shot. Apparently the nurse has been giving A LOT of these recently to vet students at U of G and to Canada's Nautral Resources people, so she didn't have a lot left. Also inconvenient, the drug plants that make the vaccine are pretty much out, and don't start production again until after summer. I'm lucky to have been able to reserve 3 doses!

And in other, non-medical news, I have started packing! This was Mum's idea since I am notorious for speed-packing at the last minute, not somehting we want to be doing here. I have absolutely fallen in love with her mountain equipment co-op bag, it is PERFECT in every way, shape and form. Most of my stuff, however, has been packed into the Big Brown Bag, which, as I found out afterwards, I'm not actually allowed to take...

Look how lovely and organized that is! Grrr...


22 days to go!
Emily

Visas are evil

Well!
For those who have not had the oh-so wonderful experience of getting a travel visa, I cannot wait to impart the sheer joy of waiting in a non-airconditioned environment for around 4 hours only to have your visa application found "incomplete". According to Woodstock, this is the first time that they have been asked for their registration number for a student visa. However, we have pulled together all the missing paperwork and submitted the visa in Toronto, where it will be ready in about 1 week. Hooray!

In other news, Air India has gone on strike, so there is no direct flight from Toronto to New Delhi. Quick transfer of tickets to British airways with a two-hour stopover in Heathrow and we are still set to go!. However... Megan (my mississauga travelling buddy) and I will be arriving in London the DAY AFTER THE OLYMPICS START. Hello crowded zoo!

Not all news is bad though. Megan and I met for the first time on sunday. She has been at Woodstock for the past year and is going back to graduate, and we had a Q and A session at her place. What's monsoon like? Unpleasant, apparently. How big are the classes? Between 9-20 people.
She also had a yearbook, where she showed me everyone I will be taking classes with next year. There are about 40 grade 11s at Woodstock next year. According to Megan, it's a positive, friendly and studious environment. These are my people! :D

Another bonus: Megan said that one of the things she found she really needed was a computer, so Mum is passing down the laptop in exchange for a newer mac. Best news of all, I can skype, blog, and acces facebook while in India! Will be keeping you all updated!

1 month and 1 day left

Emily