I guess I should explain all this.

By 'all this', I mean what the title of my blog is all about and what it is I am currently doing with my life. Oh yeah, and this will probaablyyy be a long post, so if you plan to read it all, make sure you have plenty of time. Most of the people who read this, I guess, know already, but I'm taking part in the Katimavik program, which is a government-sponsored volunteer work program for Canadian youth. Everyone who takes part is between 17 and 21 years old and lives somewhere in Canada. The full program is nine months long. What happens is, we (the participants) get put in groups of 11 and sent to a place in Canada for three months. There, we work on living in a group, learning about the part of Canada we're in and the places our group members are from, and work at different places in the community. We learn about leadership skills, taking care of the environment, the official languages (aka, I get to work on my French!), how to adopt a healthy lifestyle, the different culture in the part of Canada we're living in, and working together on community projects. For two weeks, at some point over the three months, we stay with billet families in the community. This is for the purpose of some real cultural discovery. Then, after those three months we (staying in the same group of 11 participants) move on to another place with the same group, meet new people and work in new places. Three months there, and then we move on to another place for the last three months. Our rent, food, and travel are all paid for, but our salary is meagre at $3 a day. Now, this could prove to be a very difficult task, living with so many people and trying to adjust to a lifestyle that suits everyone. In my case it is made easier because of this: we have an awesome, awesome group. I am incredibly lucky to be with the people in this group for the program. Let me tell you about my group members. (I'll go from West to East just for the sake of order)...

• Pam is from Port Coquitlam - the other BC participant, so we share a home province as well as a set of bunk beds (pure coincidence). She's 21. We have many interesting nicknames for her (think: promiscuous), all of them hilarious because they are completely the opposite of her actual character. Pam likes to keep the rules in mind at all times and she's quick to speak up if we don't and it bugs her, and she always has a big smile or crazy laugh ready to cheer us up.


• Ed is 17, from Stony Plain (near Edmonton), Alberta. He's a talented musician, and he brought his guitar with him, so we can have jam sessions and singalongs. Ed has a sweet sense of humour and I knew we'd get along just fine when - I think it was something like the second day of the program - he went ahead dubbed me and him both 'Fatties' - it basically means you like food. (It's been almost two months and that name still isn't gone....)


• Robyn is 19, from Calgary, Alberta. She joined the group late, so she's only been here a few weeks. Her sense of humour and all that fit with our group pretty nicely. Although, sitting next to Robyn in serious or awkward situations is hard because she tends to giggle, which gets me going, which gets Ashaya going... not necessarily in that order, but you get the point. This brings me to..


• Ashaya is 20 and from Brampton, Ontario. If you know me, you pretty much almost know Ashaya, except that I'm not an actor. We have pretty much the exact same sense of humour, same taste in music, and same family. (She has 2 older sisters and an older brother, like me, and in the same order too.) She's also tall and blonde, and, wait, did I say it was hard staying serious next to Robyn? With Ashaya, it is nearly impossible.


• Lars is 19, from Trenton, Ontario, and he's hilarious. He plays the fiddle really well, so he's a big part of the two-man jam sessions that go on in the house. He also likes to order stuff from eBay, so he has us all beat for the most packages in the mail since we've been here. Sometimes I don't think he ever stops thinking about new puns... or he pretty much can make me laugh anytime with a joke that's so lame, it's awesome. Or just awesome.


• Roxanne is 18, from Québec. She's the shortest of the group (just a random fact) and she's very positive, easy to talk to and a lot of fun. She taught almost everyone in our group how to knit and is verrryy patient with helping us pretty much every time we make a little mistake. We also share similar tastes in music, which came in handy when Roxanne got an iPod a while ago, and she just used my iTunes and now we have the exact same iPod basically.


• Max is from Laval, Québec and he's 17. He's a really good friend to most of us in the group, and he's the tech pro who can fix pretty much any computer or device. He's also really fun, and he's a football player and likes to do stuff outdoors. We get a kick out of his made-up English words, like 'musculation' (working out) and 'chamber' (for bedroom), but it's all in good fun.


• Sandra is 21, from Beauce region, Québec. She was the first one of the group to have her birthday, in mid-January. She doesn't speak much English but she works on it a lot, and talking to her is a welcome chance to use my French. She is probably the most quiet of the group and keeps to herself for the most part.


• P.O. (Pier-Olivier) is 20, from Québec, and he unfortunately has not been with us for the whole program. He's pretty funny and fun, but he has diabetes and was having complications so he had to go home for a while. This was especially hard for Steph, who became pretty good friends with him while he was here. But fortunately, he's doing fine, so he gets to come back, and soon - he'll be back in Inverness on February 4th, just after we get back from billeting!


• Stéphanie is from New Brunswick and 18 years old. She is the most bilingual, and (coincidence or not) the most talkative one in the group. She also has an amazing singing voice and has a great positivity.


• Sarah is our Project Leader in Inverness. She is 26 and just happens to be from Kelowna, BC! She is truly awesome and we all love her. We're sad that we have to leave her when we move on to Ontario at the end of February.
  

Inverness is a great little town (and by little I mean little - the current population is less than 1500, I think) and the people here are so great and welcoming. Our work projects are: Me and Max at the K-12 school; Ashaya and Roxanne at the Tourist Info Centre; Lars and Steph at Inverary Manor (old folks' home); Ed at the Inverness Arena; Pam, Robyn, Sandra and P.O. at the Cottage Workshop Bakery (where they work with challenged adults and where they make amazing food). Back home, which is a half-duplex we all share, down by the ocean (so nice), we all take turns being House Managers - staying home and making the meals and stuff. You could say we're very cozy in our little home. I share a room with Pam, Roxanne, Robyn and Sandra - squishy quarters, but it's not so bad! Anyway, here are some pictures of the group and where we live.