Lau’s world tour

Mon retour de l’Europe a été vite et facile. Deux jours après j’ai conduit mes parents a l’aéroport pour leur voyage en Chine. Depuis ce temps, je passe beaucoup de temps a l’école et avec mes amis.

My trip to Europe was unforgettable. It was refreshing and fun to spend time with Cloé and Stef. We got to hang out for a long time and it was like being back in YK. We got to discover new things together and met tons of people from around the world during our travels. I miss the girls a lot, but I know that each one of us is living an adventure this year and that soon we will all meet up again to catch up.

After mom and dad left for China, I got back to work. My classroom looks ready and I feel anxious to meet my new students. I think I am going to love teaching Grade 1. I am excited about the projects I have thought of and I am especially excited to watch them grow.

Being a teacher is the best job in the world. Is it September yet???

Unfortunately, I have had very little internet this trip since my phone will not connect to the wifi at the hotel in Brunssum and there are no hotspots in this town for free internet and coffee. Actually there are no cafes, but I will get around to telling you all about that later. I have been journalling everyday, so I plan to blog several times about what I have done and where I have gone with pictures once I arrive home early next week.

Aside from travelling the countryside of Holland, Belgium, France and Germany, in the two and a half weeks I have been here we have bought: a BMW, a table, some cool chairs, a big red couch, a tv and a very complicated TV stand from Ikea that took us almost two days to put together.

I have loved spending time with Stef and Cloe. We have had a lot of fun visiting and shopping. Eating at amazing restaurants and going on tours.

My trip highlights so far aside from spending time with two amazing friends have been:

- Trip to Belgium to see Nat, Bruno, Ariane and Danika

- Trip to Vimy Ridge Canadian Memorial

- Trip to Amsterdam

- Supper at Mario and Lise’s

- The greek restaurant owner in Brunssum who welcomes us with hugs and free coffee

- Stef’s really cool new house that she will live in while she is here

- Skype date’s with Megan/Alex and Kristen/Micah

-…

This past weekend was the start of my summer holidays and Catholic Family Ministries Family Life Conference. I have been going to the conference for about 5 years now, but have to say that this year I really loved the talks. The camping experience was okay, a

nd the food was really tasty. I was thrilled to run into many of the families I knew from St. Albert, as well as many families I know and see regularly from Beaumont.

Camping Baby Alex!

I was really pleasantly surprised by the relevance of the speaker’s talks (especially Danielle Bean) to my life. And I felt like the conference was a spiritual kick in the butt that I needed to start my summer. All in all, good experience.

Micah Bear at CFM

I did sneak out a bit on Friday to spend time with my family at the cabin. We had a boating day and then watched fireworks together, it was great to reconnect with them as well.

Canada Day with the family

My next adventure starts next week. I will be driving to Seattle with my dad and Grandma for my uncle’s wedding. The drive will be long, but enjoyable and I look forward to being back in the beautiful state of Washington. I have not been since Sab and I took our graduation road trip through there over 5 years ago now. After the wedding I will make my way to Vancouver where I will fly to Frankfurt and eventually make my way to Stef’s new home in Brunnsum, Netherlands.

The area I will be staying in is marked in Red. I am quite stoked to revisit the bath’s in Aachen, hopefully attend mass in Cologne and see parts of Holland I have never visited.Cloe will join us shortly after I arrive and the three of us will spend a few glorious weeks exploring and hanging out in the surrounding areas. It is going to be FABULOUS! I will try to update the blog with photos and stories on a regular basis! Hope to hear about all of your summer adventures too. Leave me comments to let me know what you are up to!

Lau

Bonjour mes chers lecteurs. It is incredible to think that the school year is over. My experience in grade 1/2 was amazing and I enjoyed it more then I could have ever imagined. I did miss my grade 3 niche a bit, but found joy and big challenges in teaching the grade 1′s to read and to write.

L’an prochain je vais avoir une classe de seulement 1ere annee, j’ai hate de voir comment ca va. Aussi de rencontrer et travailler avec tous les nouveaux qui viennent joindre notre personnel.

This Thursday will mark exactly 2 years from the day I left on my world tour. A lot has changed since then, and a lot has stayed the same. I am excited to be going back to Europe in just over two weeks to help Stef get settled into her new place in Holland.

To my American Friends, Happy 4th of July. To my fellow Canadians, Happy Canada Day!

C’est deja mars. Incroyable comment le temps passe vite.
I am officially moved into my new house and have even started decorating a little bit.

I had an open house and my friends came by to hang out.
This has also been a busy time at school, Open houses, new registrations and our First annual winter Carnival were huge successes and a lot of fun. I am truly starting to get into the grove of teaching Grade 1 and 2.

I also got to go to 3 oiler’s games in February, and although they lost all but one, it was still fun to go and watch with my dad and Suzy.

One year ago today, I had just finished my Olympics volunteering and was teaching in Red Deer. Amazing how time flies and things change. Happy Easter Season to all, remember Lent starts on Wednesday. It’s a great time to reflect.

What a crazy weekend it has been! Friday night it  was off to Suzy’s after work and final preparations for Megan’s Baby shower. It was also the beginning of the biggest snow storm I ever remember in the Edmonton capital region. Saturday morning, it took my parents AWD and almost two hours to drive from my parent’s house to Fort Saskatchewan. It was a nail biting experience as we chopped fruits, veggies, cheese and meat as we worried if anyone would be able to come because of the storm.

Despite the horrific conditions, we had a lovely time watching Megan and Chris open gifts, passing around Alex and Micah and visiting with each other.

Sunday was another big day for young Alex and I. After I went cross-country skiing this morning in an effort to reconcile with snow, I made a stop in St. Albert for the baby’s baptism reception and at only a week old, he was baptised at Holy Trinity Parish in Spruce Grove.

God is good! All the time. And this week I saw him in so many ways. Stef got her dream job and is off to Europe next fall. Suzy hosted her family and Katie at her house (Katie’s recovery is going really well).  Micah smiled and sang with me as I sang to him in French. I met someone who makes me feel a bit like a princess and it snowed 40 cm. I am exhausted after this crazy weekend, but also envigorated and excited to see my students and hear all of their weekend activities and adventures.

Be careful in the snow. Lau

Oh what a year it has been!
I put aside my globetrotting ways this year and traded them in for a stint at the Vancouver Olympics, two new schools, many brand new babies and buying my very own house. As I reflect on the past year, I am feeling enormously blessed and content.

I flew out of Edmonton early last Sunday morning to visit Sabrina, Gab, Laurie, Aurelie, the Therriault’s, the Thorne’s, Jodi and Cloe in Quebec City. It was a magical trip. I loved my time spent with the baby (including Yoga, walking outside and baby spitting up all over me). I loved being a part of Sab, Gab and their families’ everyday life for a few days, and I loved seeing my Yellowknife girls during their Christmas holidays. I celebrated New Years Eve with the Sabrina Clan, and the girls drove me to the airport at 4am on New Years Day morning.

2011 promises to be an exciting and wonderful year as well. I got to Edmonton at 13h30 and my little sister picked me up. 5 hours later (I think he was waiting for me to get home), Alexander William Davies was born to my two best friends. I spent some time with him this morning, and I am officially in love with that kid. He is fabulous.

Quite the way to kick off 1/1/11!

Here are my 2011 New Years Resolutions:
#1- Take an SLR Photography Class
#2- Keep my house organized and clean (once I move in of course)
#3- Get out and enjoy the Canadian winter more often
#4- Spend lots of time with my family and my friends and their families
#5- Send more cards and letters to people (I miss snail mail)

Wow! I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. It is hard to believe that over a year ago I was arriving into the Edmonton International Airport after months of travel and days of planes and missed flights. This year has brought it’s share of challenges, changes and surprises.

- I have started an immersion program at a brand new school in Beaumont and absolutely love my new school district, administrator, co-workers, students and parents. However, I do miss my Yellowknife network and my Red Deer network too.
- I have bought a house, which I will be moving into as of mid-February.
- I have joined the staff of an Air Cadet squadron, but still think about my time with the Yellowknife Army Cadets often.
- I have become a Fr-aunty (friend-aunt) to several new babies including Micah and Aurelie.
- I have joined a curling team and enjoy running up and down the ice every Wednesday night.

So that is my update, what about you? I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful Christmas Season.
xxx
Lau

Demain matin j’embarque sur l’avion a 9h30 pour aller a Vancouver et ensuite Whitehorse. J’ai l’intention de voir Sab (ma meilleure amie) pendant la journée ainsi que faire un peu de tourism en ville.
My friends from Yellowknife are supposed to arrive Saturday and I will join their roadtrip across the yukon and Alaska. I am especially excited to see ben and jen from our Greece adventure when we get to Alaska. That’s all for now, but I will be updating as we go!

Sauf qu’il ne pleut pas beaucoup ici, il est très, très sec. Les mois passent très vite depuis mon retour à l’enseignement. I am enjoying being back in the classroom, parent-teacher interviews and even recess supervision.
I am getting ready for my next adventure which will be a trip through Alaska and the Yukon in early July with some of my close friends from Yellowknife. It should be awesome. I will keep you all updated.
Hope you all have a wonderful end of April and great May.