Discover is my current word of the moment! I am loving being in a new city and while the weather has been chilly – the coldest winter Vancouver has had for 10 years – it has been blue skies which is perfect for me and my love of walking with my camera! My iPhone tells me that on Wednesday last week I walked 11km and on Thursday I walked 10km. – 6 degrees both days and that was 10am – I most certainly have never walked when it has been that cold as it never gets that cold in Sydney! The rain is set to return so that is set to put a dampener on my walking!
So this week it was back to school for Sienna. She was nervous and anxious which as to be expected – when you are in a new country, going to a school that is not the “traditional” style of school and you are 12 years old, anything different is stressful, but she is a trooper and learning to trust her mum and dad in this new direction we have taken for the next few years.
Sienna is still very reluctant to talk to others about her new school – she says she is embarrassed as it is not a traditional school so she doesn’t want anyone knowing about it just yet. I get why she feels this way – nobody wants to be seen as different, but I am sure over time she will embrace her individuality and be happy to tell others about her experiences – well my fingers are crossed anyway.
For those who have not heard about Eaton Arrowsmith I would recommend you jump on the website and have read – they have an incredibly unique method of teaching for kids who just don’t “get it” in mainstream school. There was a fantastic 60 Minutes story by Charles Wooley back in 2014 which is the best way to grasp what they do at the school (you can click here to watch it). Also visit the main Arrowsmith School website for loads more reading and information about how it all started. It was while watching this story 2 and a half years ago that the seed was first planted in my head about this style of school. I still can believe that we have taken the plunge and moved our entire family to Canada so we could enrol Sienna – but here we are, feeling ever so grateful for the opportunity!
So today a few photos of Sienna on her first day at EAS – As you know through my involvement with the Stillbirth Foundation I am all about talking about these things – with awareness comes acceptance and understanding and hopefully a way for others in a similar situation to learn more, so while Sienna is still not yet ready to talk about EAS I will continue to add snippets about the program here during our time in Vancouver. Please feel free to ask any questions if you have any – I am always happy and willing to share our experience!
We took our first trip to Whistler last weekend – very much the thing to do when you are a Vancouver local! It seems that most of the Aussie expats we have met that are living here spend their week in Vancouver and head to Whistler every weekend to enjoy the skiing!
As we are not yet skiers we just did the sightseeing tour – spectacular! I can see there will be many more weekends spent in this part of the world! We were hard pressed to find a local while in Whistler – every cafe, lift operator, hotel desk operator and tourist came with an Australian accent – seems we like it over here!
They have had so much snow this season – the best for years – so we are definitely seeing this part of the world at its best! The girls had a great time tubing while Mr A and I stood around freezing our butts off – need to put an end to that and learn to ski!!
After what was the shortest Christmas break my girls have ever seen they are back to school here in Canada! We had a short 2 hour orientation on Tuesday and on Wednesday is was back to a full day of classes! Sofia and Indi are attending a local elementary school and will be getting the real Canadian school experience! They came home happy and excited and have made some new friends already! Their teachers all seem lovely and happy to have some new girls in the class! Sienna starts at her new school next week! So funny to see snow covering the playground and no school uniforms!
I took my first morning walk Vancouver style today – lets say it was quite a contrast to my regular Sydney walks of the last few weeks! All I could think was I am glad Scooter isn’t here yet as there is no way his little paws would have enjoyed the cold snow I had to crunch through! Lets say this was probably the sortest and most clothed walk I have been on for some time! Brrr …