SEPTEMBER 17,. 2013
I haven't written for a while.
Marilyn and I are enjoying our new class.  The students are very friendly and nice.
Yesterday we had a lockdown at the school.  It was a bit scary, frustrating and very warm in the class.  We had our morning break and part of our lunch break in the classroom because we couldn't leave the room.  I am very lucky because some of my students gave me some food for my lunch.
Our manager Ewa and all of the staff at Westmount, staf from downtown and staff from Edmonton Police Services did a great job making sure we were safe.
NorQuest staff will have training about emergencies next week and I am going for sure.

I always talk about the weather so  make sure you spend time outside whenever you can because the weather could be cold very soon.

I showed some pictures of an alpaca farm.  It is called Saumer Time Alpaca Ranch or STAR and I really enjoyed the visit.
Their tea house is open on Saturdays.  I don't know when you can visit the alpacas but you can go to the website and send an email or phone them.  The owners are very friendly.
For sure there is a day in November when they have an open house.

On Being a Gradnparent

People say that being a grandparent is more fun than being a parent and it's soooooo true.  I have been a Nana for 3 years and I love it.  It's hard work because my 2 grandaughters need a lot of attention and they love it when I play with them.  After 4-5 days staying with them I need a rest.
The other day I was thinking about my own grandparents.  I had 2 sets of grandparents that I saw regularly even though my dad's parents moved to the USA when I was about 6.  I remember them well and very fondly, but I don't think they played with me the way I play with my granddaughters.
I play 'go to sleep", 'monster', and chase them around.  I take them for walks and to the park.
I have recently started doing crafts with my 3 year old granddaughter.  She loves making bead bracelets and necklaces.  Both of my granddaughters like playing with playdough and building blocks.
I love it when they see me and give me a big smile and hug.  If I go into their bedroom in the morning or after a nap, they don't think it is unusual.  They are used to being around me.
Until you have your own grandchild, you will not believe how wonderful it is.  You have another generation of little people to love and who will love you.
I know my sons loved their grandmother very much even though she didn't speak much English.  We spent most long weekends at her place in Calgary and they remember that time very fondly.  Both of my sons spoke at their Avo's funeral and I realized what a great influence she had been on them.  I hope that I am an equal influence n my grandchildren.

The Status of Men vs Women

In Canada, children are the most important, then pets, then women and finally men.

I have heard this kind of comment many times over the years and of course, I don't believe it's true and in my opinion, it shouldn't be that way.

I think what people (usually men) mean when they say this is that women in Canada have more power than men because in many countries women have much less power than men. I think that men take time to get used to the fact that women have power in this country and don't have to do whatever their fathers, brothers and husbands tell them.

It's true that in Canada men and women are equal in the eyes of the law.  I think that that isn't true in every country but I'm not an expert in law around the world. In some countries it's OK for a man to hit his wife especially if she does something wrong. 

 In contrast that kind of behavior is not acceptable under Canadian law and most Canadians do not find that kind of behavior appropriate in Canada.  But physical abuse still happens in Canada.  The victims are women, children, seniors, disabled people and sometimes even men.  The victim usually has less power then the person responsible for the act.

There were many related issues brought up in my class when we discussed the above statement.  Most students were shocked to think that pets are more important than chilren or men.  The majority of my students feel that men and women should be treated equally and that children are very important because they need a lot of help from their parents to grow up.

Have women reached equality with men in Canada?  Unfortunately, I don't believe we have.
For example, look at the statistics for the new Cabinet in the Canadian Government.
Still, with 12 out of 39 members of the female persuasion, the female-male ratio on the new cabinet bests the Conservative party’s own standing in the House (29-167); and the ratio in Parliament as a whole (76-308), even if it’s well below the near 50-50 makeup of the Canadian population

The above paragraph says:

Canadian population	50% women and 50% men
Parliament	76 women out of 308 seats
Conservative party	29 women out of 167 seats
Conservative Cabinet	12 women out of 39 members of Cabinet

This is just one example.  I have a couple of others. I have noticed that my husband gets better service in banks and stores than I do  when he wears a jacket, tie and dress pants because he seems more powerful.
Feel free to comment on this.

Being a Respectful JOurnalist

I heard something on CBC Radio this morning that was very interesting.  Jian Ghomeshi, who has a radio show every morning was interviewing a journalist from Quebec.  They were talking about the Lac-Megantic train derailment.  The journalist was saying that most of the journalists there stayed in the background and were not aggressive about getting stories.  They waited until people came to them and wanted to tell their stories and many people did want to tell their stories about what happened to them, about loved ones they lost and about what they were doing when it happened. 
I think this is a very good approach and I'm sure they will get some very interesting stories.

Places to Shop in Edmonton

This is a repeat of a post from July 2012 but I thought you'd like to read it.

I thought some of you would like to know about good places to shop in Edmonton.  I like shopping so I'm quite knowledgeable about it.  Right now, the end of July is a really good time to buy summer clothes and other things.  Two places that keep marking things down are Dots and Winners, but every store in the city has sales because they need to make space for their winter stock.
The best places to shop in EdmontonI am going to share my favourite shopping places. Everybody likes to get a good deal and I do too.

 winners.ca

There are several Winners and Home Sense stores in Edmonton. Winners has clothing for the whole family and Home Sense has household items.
One thing I like about this store is that the prices get marked down and down and down. There is always a clearance section. There will be a big sale in January because the store wants to make room for Spring clothing. The clothing is of average quality and there are Petite sizes (for short women) and Plus sizes ( for women who take larger than size 14 or 44).
There is also clothing for men and children. You can often buy children’s toys and books for a very low price.
I regularly buy kids books, pants, tops and underwear at Winners. I have also bought purses, suitcases,shoes and boots. If you check carefully you can find very interesting socks and tights.

‍Dotsstores.ca

There are two Dots stores in Edmonton. 11825 - 105 Ave. and #300, 3414 Gateway Blvd. corner of 34th and Gateway Blvd. (Behind Second Cup)
Dots has mostly women’s clothing but also some men’s clothing and sometimes there is children’s clothing. Much of the clothing is of very good quality. Dots carries a lot of clothing from Europe and is probably from one year ago but still very nice. You have to be prepared to spend time looking through the racks which are very crowded. Their prices also go down and down. Every year I buy several tops and maybe some pants and skirts sometimes for $2 or $5.

‍Value Village

Everybody knows that this is a second hand store where people donate their used clothing and other items. There are several Valu Village stores in Edmonton. I go about once a week to look for yarn and now for toys. Sometimes you find a lot and sometimes you don’t find anything.
There is yarn regularly because people often buy yarn and then never use it. I have bought good quality balls of yarn for about $1 each. One time I bought 2 large balls for $4 each, but they would cost about $35 in the shop.
I look for toys for my granddaughters especially plastic toys you can wash easily.
They also have a lot of small appliances such as coffee makers, hair dryers etc. You can buy them and clean them up at home.
There are several similar stores in Edmonton – Salvation Army and Goodwill are two of them.

‍Reitman's

I also shop at Reitman’s because they have an excellent Petite section for short women. Their clothing is good for women who have had children and aren’t very thin like the models in many stores. The prices are fairly cheap and the quality is average. There is also Plus clothing for women larger than size 14.

‍H&M

This store is quite new in Canada and there are stores all over the world. I think Madonna designs some of the clothes. There are clothes for women, men and babies and children. The children’s clothes are very very cute. You have to be careful about the women’s clothing. Some is only for very young women but some is for anyone. The quality is quite cheap but if you want something new and fashionable, this is a good place.

XS Cargo(pronounced Excess Cargo)‍

This store has many things for your home including a lot of electronics. Men love this store. I have bought a grill for meat, cordless phones, cell phone covers there. There are also some toys. The prices are very good because the electroncs are refurbished. This means that someone returned them to the store or factory to be repaired and they are perfect when you buy them.

‍Shoe Warehouse http://www.shoewarehouse.ca/promotions/default.cfm

This store is located in the basement of Kingsway Garden Mall. It is very big and has a wide variety of shoes and boots for the whole family. There is a clearance section and sometimes the shoes in this section are marked down 50% again. For example I bought a pair of black leather boots last year and they cost only $25!! Many of the shoes are leather and the original price is over $150.

Our Beautiful River Valley

As you know, I go walking on Sundays and its usually in the river valley.  Here are a couple more pictures of Edmonton's beautiful river valley taken on June 16, 2013.
The second picture looks like you could be in the country instead of the middle of Edmonton.

Edmonton



Are we in the city or the county?



Here is a picture taken near my son's in-laws place in Norris Point NFLD.  It's right outside their door.  The scenery is beautiful and so is the baby.



We Love Our Routines, Community and more gardening

This week has been a bit different for the students in room 205. The other teacher, Lorna has been sick so I taught mornings and the students had independent learning in the afternoons for 2 days, then will be having a sub for a week.  We all like our routines and don't like it when they are disrupted and I'm like everybody else. But we carry on and try to learn from our experiences.

Some people may think there is less of a sense of community in Canada then in other countries and I partly agree.  A sense of community is when you are part of a group, neighbourhood, ethnic group etc.  Each of our classes is a community and having a sense of community is when we enjoy a joke together, when we have a pot luck, when people in class enjoy time together owns help each other.  Our LINC program at the Westmount Campus is a community.  The student centre is alive with talking and laughing in many languages and students really miss this sense of community when they are finished here.  Hend and Hessam, who run the cafeteria were students here about 10 years ago and missed our community.  when they had an opportunity to come back to run the cafeteria, one of the pros was that they again became part of our community.
I had a very interesting and nice community experience this week on my crescent ( street).  we have been living here for about 15 years and know a few neighbours.
When we leave our house, we go into our attached garage, open the door with a remote control, and drive away.  our neighbours do the same so we don't have much chance to talk to each other.
Its  a bit different in the summertime because people are outdoors.  Quite a few people on our block are retired and so they are home during the day.
When we recently had work done on our driveway, many people stopped by to admire it, talk to other neighbours and ask the young man doing the work for his business card.  My son came over and he talked to a couple of the neighbours.  this may be 'your normal' but it's unusual in many areas with big houses and very busy people.
On Friday, my son was in the garage doing something with the tires on his motorcycle.  It was nice and the garage door was open.  he needed a tool to take the tire off but didn't have the right one.  My husband asked a neighbour if he had one.  He didn't but asked another guy on the street.  then he came over and helped my son.  this was all happening on Friday when many people are at work.  I really liked the feeling of community.

I planted some plants on Friday and bought some more to plant. It was a nice day, not to hot, not too cold.  Tomorrow I'm going walking and then to someone's house for a potluck lunch..
I hope everybody has/had a nice weekend.

a long long weekend

My long weekend is almost over and it was very enjoyable.  I cleaned a couple of cupboards, worked in the yard a little and went walking with "the girls"
The weather has been nice and in Alberta we always appreciate good weather.
On Monday I walked about 9 k in the river valley and then we had breakfast at Jeffrey's.  of course we had a good time and the river valley was gorgeous. there were so many shades of green.
If you saw your teacher walking you might not recognize her. This is what I wear when I walk.

Linda in Edmonton's beautiful river valley

It's almost time for people to plant flowers outside.  You have to be careful because there can be frost at night.  If you  live in an apartment you can buy a basket of flowers and put them on your balcony.  If you think there will be frost, you can bring in the basket at night.  It's important to water the flowers and give them fertilizer.  Unlike some countries, we have to work very hard to have beautiful plants.
 You can buy bedding plants many places - Superstore, Rona, Home Depot, Lowe, Target, WalMart or at special garden centres such as The Enjoy Centre in St. Albert or Kuhlmans
I usually have a few baskets of flowers and I plant 2-3 tomato plants because I love fresh tomatoes and I hate the unripe one you buy in big grocery stores.  You can buy a very small tomatoe plant and take very good care of it or you can buy a bigger plant.  You can even grow tomatoes on your balcony in pots.  Choose cherry tomatoes (small) or other tomatoes that ripen in 55 days or less so that you will have some before winter comes again.
Don't forget to spend time outdoors if it's nice out.  June can be quite rainy so if it's nice outside - get out.

A new class

LINC 4 Linda and Lorna's Class

Its the second week of a new term.  The class has been getting acquainted and there is a good atmosphere in Room 205.
In my blog I usually tell you something about the class, life in Canada and my life.  You don't usually have to read it but sometimes I will ask you to read the blog and answer questions.

Q: Why should I read about someone's class and life?  It's boring.
A:  It's good practice.  Reading in English is never a waste of time.  Reading is one of the most important skills, especially if you want to continue your education.  The blog is not difficult so it doesn't take much time and you will probably learn something new.

You can feel free to read some of my old posts if you like.

Let me tell you something about myself.
I just celebrated 20 years of service at NorQuest College, but I've really been here since July 6, 1981.  I started as Assistant LIbrarian Downtown after finishing my Masters of Library Science.

I really enjoyed working with the ESL students downtown.  I gave tours and workshops about the library and  helped students find books. I quit that job in 1985 because I wanted to spend more time with my son, who was born in 1983.  That's how I started teaching immigrants. 
I taught in the evening for about 10 years and then started subbing at this school.
For a few years, I thought I would go back to library work, but now I wouldn't change careers for the world.  I really like my job.

My other job is being a grandmother.  I have 2 granddaughters.  Mia is 3 and Charlotte is 1 1/2.  They live in Fort McMurray but I see them quite often.  We also love to communicate using FaceTime on the iphone, ipad or Apple TV.
Of course, they are the most beautiful and intelligent girls in the world.  I really enjoy being Nana.

Charlotte

Mia

Dear students
It's almost time to say good bye to you, but I know the rest of the term will be great.  Marilyn and I often say how much we enjoy this class and how nice he students are.  It has been very enjoyable for me.
I'm going to start a new blog for those of you who are interested in following my adventures in Australia and Asia.  I don't know if I will be able to post pix, but I will put some from the internet at least.  It will be here Linda's adventures in Australia and Asia
I know we will have a great week this week.
Your teacher,
Linda

A few more pix

Here are a few pix from my trip.

John and LInda in front of the famous arch, Los Cabos, Mexico

Sea Lions near Lover's Beach Los Cabos, Mexico

Looking through the glass bottom boat

Hi Students
I'm still enjoying my holiday, still going to the beach and still eating too much.
We went shopping in the two close towns.  <you can find a LOT of junk but you can also find a lot of nice crafts made in Mexico and that's what <i like to buy.
I can't post any of my pics but I will show you some on Friday in the computer lab.  I hope I get some good ones of whales tomorrow.
We arrive in Edmonton around 9pm on Thursday and <i will see you 12 hours later.
Bye for now.
Linda

Mexico is warmer

We have really been enjoying the weather here.  Its been warmer than on the first day.  It's about 27 every day.
Mexico has a lot of silver mines, so there is a lot of silver for sale and it's the best in the world in my opinion.  So <i bought 2 pairs of earrings and a bracelet.
Today we went to a beach and my husband went snorkeling but the water was too cold for me.  There are some very interesting rock formations and we went by them.
The arch is very famous.
We saw sea lions and pelicans.  The beach we were on is called Lover's Beach and the water is very calm.  There is another beach where the water is rougher and it's called Divorce Beach.

Sea <lions near <lover's Beach

Pelican

Well bye for now.  The hotel has a Super Bowl party so we are going there.

Los Cabos is warm but not hot

Hi dear students
We have been here for about 24 hours now but I have eaten more than 1 day of food.
I'm sorry I can't post any of my pics now because I don't have wi fi to transfer my photos from my phone to my blog.  I'll get wi fi for at least one day this week.
Where we are is the Baja Peninsula and its a desert.  but its still beautiful.  It's here

There are lots of kinds of cactus including sajuaro which are the really big ones that look like they have arms.  Here is a pic.

There is a garden in the town nearby that has 500 kinds of cactus.  I'd like to see it but my husband isn't crazy about it.  I'll go when he is golfing.
The resort is Barcelo and it's really nice.

We went to the beach this morning but I didn't swim, I just lay there and listened to music and drank water and beer.
As the idiom goes 'It's a tough life.'
We will be going snorkeling on Sunday and whale watching on Wednesday.  There are lots of humpback whales right now.

I hope you are having a good time.
I heard from some people from Saskatchewan that there was a wind chill of -48 yesterday in Saskatoon.
Until next time
Your teacher
Linda