the Haka

So my sister loves the All Blacks. They are a rugby team from New Zealand and they do this awesome, yet slightly crazy dance called the Haka before every game. You should check it out on their website click here you won't be disappointed. My sister plays rugby as does her fiance so they are having the haka performed during their wedding reception. I'll let you know how it goes!

Brown Haired

So this is me with my new hair color. I went for a dark brown this time thanks to the advice of a good friend, thanks Vicki. I thought it was a good idea because my hair is red to start so when I dye my hair red it ends up really red. Now I just have redish-brown hair and I like it a lot. So what do you think??

Re: homeless

Not having a home is a very strange feeling. Usually I can adapt really quickly to having a new home or having to make a new home. Since coming back from Sri Lanka though I have had a difficult time. I've changed and I have a different perspective on my life and the culture that I live in. Not only do I have to make Canada home (like I had to make Sri Lanka home) but I don't have a permanent place to live right now. I had to give up my apartment when I went overseas so when I got back, I stayed in Saskatoon with my aunt for a couple of weeks living in the basement. School wasn't home because I am taking a semester off so it felt really weird to be there. Right now I'm in Grande Prairie, Alberta living with my parents. I always call my parents place home cause I grew up in GP but when I'm here it doesn't feel like my home and I'll be moving to Saskatoon again in December or early January so again I'll be forced to make my home all over again.

Making a new home in Canada while living in Canada is not such a hard thing. I've had to do it umpteen times in my life (I've moved a lot). Coming from a foreign country and trying to assimalate back into the culture so that it feels like home is a lot harder than one would think. There were things that I enjoyed in Sri Lanka that are different from here. I also got used to the way of life there. Things are so much more simple and slow which I really enjoyed. Everything is so fast paced here that I am often overwhelmed.

So I say all of this to say that I'm not on the street homeless just trying to make sense of my life and finding my home here in Canada again.

Mom's New Room

So when I got home to Grande Prairie I got to see mom's new room. She has redone the living room. It is so amazing and looks so much better than it did before. The picture in the middle is the fabric from one of the chairs but the color is not true in the picture. The iron and glass frog is not in the living room it's outside in mom's flower bed. Ijust thought it was cool. As you can see she appreciates the color orange as much as I do:) 

The Oasis Room

So this is the tree that I painted in the Oasis Room (aka my room while I was in Sri Lanka). I thought that it turned out pretty good. I didn't finish painting the lime green around the top though. Reb needs something to do on the next break! Ha ha. I really appreciated Matt and Reb letting me paint the room to my liking. It meant a lot that I could leave my mark on their house. When I was painting it Moses came in the room and said, "Oh Auntie Kendra, it's the Coconut Tree Hotel!" Oh I miss that little dude:)

In Grande Prairie

The trip to Grande Prairie reminded me of the things that I love most about Canada. The immense, forever changing sky and my favorite season autumn. I'm a real cloud watcher so when I was in Sri Lanka I missed the sky and clouds in Saskatchewan. Driving from Saskatoon to Grande Prairie was an excellent opportunity for me to catch up on time missed. The scenery was amazing with the changing colors of the trees, red, orange, yellow, purple and the ever green. I fell in love with autumn all over again.

Grande Prairie has changed so much since I lived here as a kid. I love driving by businesses that are still here and favorite spots around town. The memories come flooding back in. Some happy, some sad and some that I just shove back down because I'd rather forget them.

It's my sister's wedding in a couple of weeks, October 8th. I'm really looking forward to sharing some more good memories here in GP with old friends and family.

It's A Beauty Thing

There are many lessons that I learned while I was in Sri Lanka. There are also many things that I came to appreciate about their culture. While I was there I was aware of some of them but now that I am back in Canada I am realizing that there were more than I thought.

When I got off the plane in Vancouver I was asking myself, "I wonder what differences I'm going to notice right away?" By the time I made it to customs I was already trying to walk with my mouth closed. I was shocked and kind of repulsed by what I saw.

Now I'm sure some people are going to label me as "old, stuck-in-the-past, fashion illiterate, fundamentalist puritan," or whatever, I don't care, it really bothered me. It was the way that women dress. Now not all women but a good majority of them. I hadn't seen so much skin as I did the first 5 minutes in the airport. Shirts too short so the belly is showing (if not hanging out!) and too low so that you see their boob crack for miles! Also skirts and shorts so short that you wonder how they move in them without their butt showing. Jeans that barely cover their bum and so tight that they waddle like a duck. How as a society do we think that this is beautiful? Can someone tell me what is beautiful about the tight jeans and the too short, too low shirts? There are not even that many people who can actually pull these styles off with grace and dignity. I really wonder if any of us actually take time to think about what we are doing or do we just pick up the next Cosmo or other "beauty" magazine and do what we're told? If our society is so bent on being individualistic, why do we let the media, designers, advertisers and celebrities tell us how we should dress? And do it in droves none the less!

When I was in Sri Lanka I thought that the women were beautiful. I realize that it was not just their features but the way that they presented themselves. It wasn't because they dressed in fancy clothes or traditional clothes, many wore western style clothing. It was because they actually clothed themselves. I didn't see boobs, belly or butts the entire 7 months that I was there. If I did, it usually was a foreigner or someone from Colombo (the capitol city). Doesn't God call us to be modest? To be in this world but not of it?

Back In Canada

So I'm back in Canada. Not really over the jetlag yet. I feel like I've been run over by a truck.

It's been really good seeing all my friends and family but really strange that I am not going to school for the whole semester. I am going to be here for the first couple of weeks and then going home to Grande Prairie, Alberta for my sister's wedding. I'm excited for that.

I am going to spend the rest of the semester in Grande Prairie having a break from all things. I'm not sure how I feel about that...I'm not good at spending down time but I know it's what I need to sort through everything that's happened to me over the last year.

So far readjusting has been ok. It's not really that hard to slide right back into your own culture. I do however have moments of shock and horror at some of the things that I see and hear. It really amazes me at how such a short time overseas can make such a huge impact in my life.

I am forever thankful for the experiences that I had in Sri Lanka.

I'm Home

but it doesn't really feel like it. I'm back where things are familiar and I don't have to think about the details all of the time, but the only problem is that it doesn't feel like home. I will make a disclaimer though that I am writing this at 5am after travelling for almost 48 hours with little sleep and I don't personally have a home right now. Things may change by the end of the week. I'm not sure though.

I am excited however to catch up on everything that has happened with friends and family for the last 7 months:)

I'm in Singapore Again

Sorry that I didn't blog anything for the last week or so. I know that it was an important time but I couldn't come to the school and the internet doesn't work at Matt and Rebecca's.

I couldn't go to the school because I had said good-bye to the students and I couldn't live through that again. I don't recall having to do something so hard. I'm going to miss them immensley (or however you spell that).

Actually the last 2 weeks have been extremely emotional. I've had to say good-bye to so many people that I have come to love...never mind an entire nation.

Friends I really like Sri Lanka and I am really sad that I'm leaving. I actually started the grieving process awhile ago but I think that it is going to be really intense.

I have the big leg of my flight coming next but thankfully I got an aisle seat:)
I'll be home on Saturday night at 6:30ish.

To my friends in Sri Lanka ... I miss you so much already:(
To my friends in Canada ... see you soon:)