Introducing Justin Trudeau...

How does a non-Canadian describe Justin Trudeau? I think the most befitting word is Engaging.

After almost missing his talk, I was determined to meet the man that Charlotte has been enthusiastically talking about and after reading his biography, I knew I had to hear what this man was about. The closest that I had been to ANY Trudeau was the picture of Pierre Trudeau with Jeanne Sauvé in the salon, so meeting Justin was an honour.

Although there were few Sauvé scholars present, we had a good group of Education students from McGill Education join us. What I really appreciated about Justin was his short talk, like really short – so short that it was mainly him speaking a few minutes and opening the floor to questions. My goodness, we had a myriad of questions for him! We covered the pressing issues we faced as educators not only in Canada but worldwide and it can summed up into two words; relevance and hope. Those two words were like gold to aspirant educators like myself, as in the world we live in education has got to go beyond traditional routes but rather offer an opportunity for students to have a vested interest in their own learning. Gone are the days of a teacher imparting knowledge and hoping the students will retain it. Like the adage says, “Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand”. This has been such a great reminder for me, as I strive to go beyond as an educator who goes beyond talking and showing my students but rather importantly, and intentionally, seeks to involve my students in their education.

Today has been a great day because Justin reminded once again the importance of being an educator. I’m in the business of changing lives and that’s what I hope to do – one Deaf student at a time.

My first hockey game

When I was in China, I heard about how Canadian people are crazy about hockey game. Hockey, in my mind, is highly intense and competitive and requires both smart maneuvers and excellent skills, which never fail to fascinate me.

The game is between Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. Both teams have a glorious history and enjoy outstanding records in the NHL. Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL, as well as one of the oldest North American sports franchises. The franchise is one of the "Original Six" teams, a description used for the teams that made up the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. Following the departure of the rival Quebec Nordiques in 1995, and the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington, DC in 2004, the Canadiens remain the sole team of the four major sports leagues of Canada and the United States that is based in the province of Quebec. The team's championship season in 1992–93 marks the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.

It was such a dramatic and intense game that I got so deeply into and even forgot to sit down to enjoy my dinner. The Canadiens scored two goals in a less-than-1-minute span in the third period to take a 5-4 lead. But the lead was short-lived. Finally, Matt Duchene and Milan Hejduk from Avalanche scored in a shootout to give the Colorado Avalanche a 6-5 victory over the Canadians.

Everything about the game was perfect except the reality that we lost, since all Sauvé Scholars stood firmly on the side of Montreal Canadians. For me, it was an amazing and impressive memory. I should thank to our dear Sonny who not only led us to access to this amazing game but also acted as our perfect “game commentator”.

China National Evening

China is a country famous for charming culture and delicious food. As the only scholar from China this year, I feel obligated to demonstrate our culture and more important, “to feed my dear followers with delicious Chinese cuisine”.

The super star of the dinner is definitely “General Tso chicken” which is a sweet-and-spicy, deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in North American Chinese restaurants. The dish is named after General Tso Tsung-tang, or Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty general and statesman, although this connection is tenuous. He is said to have enjoyed it, and perhaps helped create a dish, but there are no recorded recipes. The real roots of the dish lie in the post 1949 exodus of chefs to the United States. The dish is reported to have been introduced to New York City in the early 1970s as an example of Hunan cooking, though it is not typical of Hunanese cuisine, which is traditionally very spicy and rarely sweet.

Dumpling, whose mandarin name is Jiaozi, is indispensible for a traditional Chinese cuisine.

Common Chinese dumpling generally consists of minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped into a thin and elastic piece of dough skin. Popular meat fillings include ground pork, ground beef, ground chicken, shrimp, and even fish. Popular mixtures include pork with Chinese cabbage, pork with garlic chives, pork and shrimp with vegetables, pork with spring onion, garlic chives with scrambled eggs. Filling mixtures vary depending on personal tastes and region. Given the various religious backgrounds of Sauvé Scholars, I choose to serve dumpiness with a mixture a ground beef and onion.

Besides the real delicious food, the presentation about Chinese culture is also a “visual delicious dish”. By playing two interesting short films about China, I seek to provide a relatively whole picture about China in controversy to my fellow scholars, hoping to further their knowledge about China.

It was a night with great fun and I am sure the coming national evenings will bring Sauvé community more fun.

Trip to Eastern Townships on Thanksgiving Weekend

Mohammed, Dechen, Esmael and Maria in the vineyard

A group of Scholars that stayed in Montréal during the Thanksgiving weekend went on a fascinating one day trip to the Eastern Townships. We left Sauvé House on Sunday morning and our first destination was Knowlton, a truly picturesque village located about 100 kilometers away from Montréal. This village has been described as “one of the prettiest towns in Québec”.

Dechen, Yimin, Maria, Simangele, Esmael, Ethan and Mohammed at Mont Sutton.

On our way there, we were delighted with a beautiful landscape dominated by the foliage of trees. It was a real pleasure. We arrived Knowlton past noon, and we walked around its beautiful streets, boutiques and country inns. We later had lunch at a restaurant where we didn’t have a very pleasant experience due to the excessive waiting time and bad service, but it was all part of the adventure. We were later treated with exquisite ginger homemade cookies. After a short view of the beautiful lake, we continued our journey towards Sutton, through the “route de vin”.

Scholars playing with leaves at Mont Sutton

On our way, we stopped at the Vignoble Domaine Bresee. There, we had a great time walking in the vineyards and trying different types of grapes: they were all delicious! We later had a wine tasting experience of five types of wines produced by the winery, and enjoyed the very gentle attention of the owners of the place. Finally, we headed towards our final destination: Sutton. As it was already getting a little late, we had a quick tour of the city and directly headed to Mont Sutton, a very popular snow station during the winter. We climbed the mountain and had a great time taking photographs and playing with the colored leaves. After our tour of the mountain, we decided to head back towards Montréal after a wonderful day in the Eastern Townships. It was a delightful experience for all of us!

Apple Picking Adventure: Sweet & Sour Experience!

It was the 10^th of October 2011, the Canadian Thanksgiving Day. Apple picking was on the agenda for the day. We left the warmth of our home in Montreal, the Sauve House, at about quarter to 10 am. The weather was beautiful, warm and sunny. Perfect day for apple picking!

Maria,Dechen,Simangele,Esmael and Stephanie

It was an exciting day. For some, it was their first apple picking experience. Not for me. Apples are found in abundance in Bhutan. That did not, however, make me any less excited. 

But we had no idea what the day had in store for us at the apple orchard. We knew for sure as we left the house in the morning that we will return with lots of apples.That some of the apples will be used to make pie for our Thanksgiving dinner. And of course it was going to be fun.

Esmael with one of his many poses!

After more than an hour on the road, we arrived at the orchard. Soon, we busied ourselves eating, picking apples and taking pictures. The usual photo suspects from the Sauve house were on the loose. Yimin and Stephanie busy clicking away and Esmael as usual making sure that he is in every photo with different poses.

Mohammed and the apple tree

And then Mohammed, the unbelievable Mohammed, climbed one of the trees. He shook the tree and a shower of apples fell, which was punctuated by roar and shrieks of our laughter.

It was when he shook the apple tree for the second time that a man came running and shouting. Suddenly all hell broke loose. The man was furious. We became the center of attraction. All eyes were on us as the man  yelled at Mohammed in French. Well, we were not prepared for this.

He wanted us to pick all the apples on the ground and pay for it. And then he left. Within minutes, another man showed up.

Man: How is it going? 

Us:  Good.

Man:  Do you want to leave? 

Us: Yes.

Man: Would you like to walk back or get on my truck ?  

Us: We will walk. 

Man: How about you get on my truck? 

Us: Fine.

And then we got into his truck. 

“I think we are being thrown out of the orchard,” I whispered to Simangele as we made our way to the truck. “Maybe... I don’t know,” was her response.  And I was right. We were being kicked out.

The man dropped us where we had our car parked. “You have to leave right away. The guy who shouted at you at the orchard is the owner and he wants you to leave,” said the man as we got off the truck. And so we left.

I felt so sorry for Stephanie. She had to argue with the men on our behalf. Later that night, the incident dominated our thanksgiving dinner table conversation.

What a day! It was quite an experience! 

Occupy Montreal

My last blog entry was about sleeping in tents in the Canadian wilderness, this one is of tents in the middle of Montreal’s financial district. Yesterday I went to the heart of the Occupy Montreal movement which is taking place in the recently dubbed “la Place du Peuple”, otherwise known as Victoria Square.

A large demonstration of 2,000 people, inspired by Occupy Wall Street, initiated the seizing of public spaces when they protested their discontent on October 15th. Some stayed and have since pitched tents, and even a Mongolian yurt, in the Square. The occupants are sending out the message that they are part of the 99 percent who have been hurt by the economic and political climate since the recession. Together, they will not allow the one percent who benefit continue guide the economic agenda. They are occupying the space non-violently. When I visited yesterday afternoon, I did not feel intimidated or notice any police. In fact, the Montreal authorities installed porta-potties for the demonstrators. The message of the demonstrators strikes me as being multifarious. I met anarchists, environmentalists and saw an Innu sculptor- all of whom had varying goals, but stood united in their desire for change.

The newly created community appeared organized and self-sufficient. There are daily meetings with the general assembly, seminars, a bulletin board to show activities, a library, hospital, kitchen, dish washing station, a clothing and goods exchange and even a “grotte” (cave) for discussions.

Renowned people such as David Suzuki and Maude Barlow have been to the site in its early stages to show their support.

Today, it is 9 degrees Celsius in Montreal. I am curious as to how much longer this occupation will last and whether it will bring greater coherence to the message of the demonstrators.

"This is camping!"

During the September 2-5 Labour Day weekend, all fourteen scholars and two of our friends ventured out of our new home in Montreal to enjoy the Laurentians.

The first night of our trip was a celebration of Esmael, Dechen and Yimin's birthdays. We cooked a large meal and cheered them as they blew the candles on an enormous glob of icing (there must have been cake under there somewhere). We enjoyed night paddling and swimming in the silky smooth, dark lake. Whenever we managed to stop laughing and be silent, we heard the calls of the loon. Paul, who had never heard the call of a loon thought that it sounded like a wolf.

On the second morning, we found ourselves under the epicentre of a giant thunderstorm! We bonded by keeping warm in tiny tents for several hours while others ventured into the downpour to make breakfast and keep the fire going. We worked together to take down the tents and paddle energetically back to our dry home. The thought of the storm returning must have provided the impetus!

We started our nine months together with a trip that formed deep friendships and gave the assurance that our cohort enjoys great synergy and trust. Spending two days away from the city was a great way to experience what is at the heart of almost every Canadian: freedom and a love for the great outdoors.

Birthday boys and girl- Yimin, Esmael, Dechen

Night paddle- Paul, Maria, Esmael, Josh

Laughter on the dock- Charlotte, Mohammed, Esmael, Maria

Frederik, Mohammed, Simangele, Paul with the canoes

On the dock- Simangele, Charlotte, Dechen, Paul, Josh, Esmael, Mohammed, Fred