The Talon meadowridge alumni newsletter
issue 2
Apr il 1 0, 2002 April 10,
President’s message It is reaching that time again. I am finding that each year seems to take less and less time to complete. Finals, term papers, and projects appear to be endless, while the number of completion days is very limited! For many of you, this marks university graduation. Congratulations to you all! From here on the payments on the student loans begin and your job status is a little more permanent. As for the rest of us, we are still safe, protected by the library and the set timetable. For a brief time longer, we need to think only of summer jobs and classes next year. I hope that everyone is finishing up on track with their deadlines and desired grades. I know that I was elated when I handed in my sixth and final term paper this week. With only my finals ahead of me, school once again seems manageable. However, I also think that it is really important right now for all of us to reflect on current global events. Take a second and think about how lucky we really are. Be thankful for your health, your excellent education, and that you live in such an amazing country.
Don’t be a mug! - bring one Imagine what an impressive display of Alumni success we could mount if every person who came to visit us brought a mug from their university, college, or place of employment. What better time to bring a mug than to Café Night. Use it for your coffee then leave it with us. We’ll do the washing up. Don’t forget to visit your university’s spirit shop before the Alumni Dinner and Café Night on May 2nd.
Turn off CNN and put the current conflicts in perspective. Think about the each individual whose life is going to be directly changed by what is going on in Iraq. If you are going to your family’s home over the summer break, appreciate that you are all together, especially with the number of families that are currently torn apart. The summer may mark a time of travel, volunteering, work, classes, or just hanging out at your parent’s place. Whatever you choose, be safe and have a great one! For our 2001/2002 Meadowridge graduates, I hope your first year out of high school was all you expected it to be. For the current grade 12s, good luck on your exams and welcome to the Meadowridge Alumni. Congrats to everyone on there successes thus far. Keep in touch and have a great summer! B. Sprague, Alumni President (Class of ‘96)
Congratulations - it’s a library! On Saturday February 8, 2003 we held an Open House, and we opened our new library. The Open House was a great success, as hundreds of people toured the school and enjoyed the various children’s entertainers. We had people come who were curious, or who simply brought their children for the shows. We had many current families, enjoying the day, and watching as their kids had fun throughout the school. We also had about thirty serious inquiries from prospective families. In the Early Childhood wing, with its new kitchen, the teachers hardly had a break all day, as they were continually answering questions from parents who were considering the school. It was a chance for all of us to reflect on our school, and what it has come to mean to all of us. The library is certainly a beautiful and welcoming new addition; it is also a signal about our values. On entering the school, now, the first thing one sees is children learning in a warm and safe facility which inspires excellence, and which brings together all ages in a common pursuit. It is also a visible sign that our parents are serious about those values; the money for it was raised by our parents, and from our parents. As well, the staff, Board, and administration were strong supporters of fundraising efforts, and many of the volunteer efforts in building the new facilities. This was an effort by the whole community, and it shows. It is, of course, only the beginning of building a strong library program. By the end of the month, there will be twenty new computers in the library, along with a projector. We will also meet our target of allocating $60,000.00 for books and print materials this year, the first of five years of such strong purchasing to ensure that our children have access to excellent resources. The new primary shelves and story area will be completed within a few weeks, again displaying our commitment to early literacy and lifelong learning. Our strategic plan was displayed on the wall during the Open House as well. This week, it is being sent to all families. This plan was a year in the making; wide input was gathered, and focus groups were established. Any required research was done, and the whole collection of information and recommendations was provided to the Board. During a weekend retreat, the Board determined the priorities and goals for the next few years, and structured our strategic plan. Much of it is now underway, and much more detailed planning and timelines are being done to ensure success. Again, every part of the strategic plan is designed to maximize student learning; from facilities to governance to educational programs, all of our resources will be focused on this goal. In order to meet our goals, we have structured our finances carefully. In order to ensure that any fundraising is used to enhance learning, we need to balance tuition income directly with operating costs. We keep those costs low; we currently have among the lowest tuitions of any school of our type. Nevertheless, we do not want to use fundraised money to pay for the operating costs of the school. As a result, (we will be raising our tuition by 4% for the coming year). This is less of an increase than we had originally anticipated, but the growing enrolment has allowed us to achieve economies that were not possible earlier. Most of this money goes directly to teacher salary, as we match the raises given by the public system (although we still cannot match them in some benefits). As a result, we can ensure that the money we raise this year will again go directly to enhanced facilities and materials for the kids. It has been a busy, productive year for all of us at the school. With the completion of the initial renovations of our building, we are now setting out on an ambitious plan to build a school which will be a legacy for our children and our grandchildren, a school which brings out the best in our children, and which helps them develop into fine young adults. Together, we will succeed. H. Burke, Headmaster
Alumni Visitor’s Gallery Camille Traverse (‘02) continues to aspire to diplomatic heights: she wants to be a foreign correspondent for CBC Radio or replace Kofi Annan as the secretary-general… whichever comes first. She is currently studying journalism at Carelton University where her favourite course is ‘human rights’. Her immediate goal is to get a summer job so she doesn’t starve on campus next year.
Ashley Brown (‘02) paid us a visit during her most recent break from Western where she is currently in an undergraduate Social Sciences program. While residence life at Western is pretty good, it doesn’t come close to the TLC that she got from A Pint her family And A Chat during her short If you are Ashley 19 years old and you’re going to be in the lower mainland for visit home. Christmas break, come by the Black Sheep Pub for a bit of Christmas isthe considering cheer and a chance to catch up with fellow alumni on December 30, applying to the 2002. We will be meeting at the pub at 3pm. It is located on 232nd Street Ivey Business just north of Dewdney Trunk Road: 23227 Dogwood Place. See you School at some there!
Former Meadowridge teacher and “Superstar” Troy Hammond breezed onto the wet coast just in time for the North American premiere of Run Lola Run. He is enjoying his new post as University Liaison at Bayview Glen School in Toronto where he has landed right in the middle of the double cohort. With characteristic energy, expertise, and empathy he is assisting students to reach their academic goals. Mr. Hammond hopes to host a Meadowridge reunion for all of those alumni studying in the east. He also reports that Joy Axmith, also a former Meadowridge teacher drawn eastward, is engaged to be married. We wish her all the best. Thanks for the book contributions to our library Mr. Hammond and congratulations on the purchase of your new home
Vivian Yin (‘99) came by Meadowridge School April 8th on an unplanned visit. She had to come to Vancouver because her purse, with all of her identification, was stolen in Toronto. She had to replace all of her ID before passing through Homeland Security en route back to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Vivian graduated this year with a science undergraduate degree specializing in biology. Congratulations. She plans to go on to medical school. It was indeed a pleasure to see her smiling face The Boys are back in town. Vinny Mann (‘02) and Ishan Akers (‘02) checked out their old haunt, the Grade 12 Lounge, on a recent visit to Meadowridge School. While they were released for ‘reading break’ these two first-year Guelph students seemed more interested in catching up with old friends. They are enjoying the bright lights and city nights of Toronto but are also looking forward to the end of the year. Ishan is studying business and Vinny is studying psychology. Ishan hopes to work then travel to Denmark and Egypt this summer.
Meadowridge school wins business excellence award Meadowridge school wins business excellence award When Donna McGeachie from BC Gas came to Meadowridge School as part of the selection committee for the Chamber of Commerce Excellence Awards, When Donna McGeachie from BC Gas came to Meadowridge School as part of the selection committee for the Chamber of Commerce Excellence Awards, she was overwhelmed at the positive reception she got from staff and students. In speaking with her at the awards banquet, she commented on what she was overwhelmed at the positive reception she got from staff and students. In speaking with her at the awards banquet, she commented on what a special place our school was. Apparently the Chamber Selection Committee agreed. Based on selection criteria including public image, staff development, a special place our school was. Apparently the Chamber Selection Committee agreed. Based on selection criteria including public image, staff development, community relations, governance and administration, and business planning Meadowridge School scored top marks. Additionally, the Chamber Selection community relations, governance and administration, and business planning Meadowridge School scored top marks. Additionally, the Chamber Selection Committee recognized the extent to which Meadowridge School - with over 300 families, 46 employees, and a 4.2 million dollar budget - is an engine of Committee recognized the extent to which Meadowridge School - with over 300 families, 46 employees, and a 4.2 million dollar budget - is an engine of growth for the local economy. It is hardly a wonder that Meadowridge School was also characterized as an exemplary destination school that attracts growth for the local economy. It is hardly a wonder that Meadowridge School was also characterized as an exemplary destination school that attracts families to the area. Education is our business, and by all accounts, we are doing very well. With sound business planning we are able to fulfill our families to the area. Education is our business, and by all accounts, we are doing very well. With sound business planning we are able to fulfill our educational mission. Ann English, Vice President of the Board, accepted the award on our behalf. We were also honored by a video presentation featuring educational mission. Ann English, Vice President of the Board, accepted the award on our behalf. We were also honored by a video presentation featuring an interview with Hugh Burke on the philosophy of the school, and footage from the recent open house. It seems entirely fitting that the award itself an interview with Hugh Burke on the philosophy of the school, and footage from the recent open house. It seems entirely fitting that the award itself featured an Inukshuk, an Inuit symbol reminding us of our dependence on each other and the value of strong relationships. Congratulations Meadowridge featured an Inukshuk, an Inuit symbol reminding us of our dependence on each other and the value of strong relationships. Congratulations Meadowridge School on the receipt of the Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award! A. Graveson School on the receipt of the Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award! A. Graveson
Musical Notes Musical Notes It is no secret that It is no secret that Meadowridge School has a Meadowridge School has a rich musical tradition. For rich musical tradition. For your listening pleasure click your listening pleasure click on the following links. on the following links.
Humphrey TheThe Humphrey Family Family Many of the cuts from our
Many of the cuts from our “MacDonalds From Away” CD “MacDonalds From Away” CD can now be heard online at the URL can now be heard online at the URL below. We’re in the Roots and Folk below. We’re in the Roots and Folk category. You can find us in the what’s new folder category. You can find us in the what’s new folder for both the celtic and folk categories. Roots Music Canada: for both the celtic and folk categories. Roots Music Canada: http://www.rootsmusiccanada.com/main.cfm#loaded http://www.rootsmusiccanada.com/main.cfm#loaded
Soraiya Campbell Soraiya Campbell I’ve probably been talking non-stop Chop to a fair number of you, and now that my
I’ve probably been talking non-stop Chop to a fair number of you, and now that my band has finally got some sample music online so I thought I’d give you the address: band has finally got some sample music online so I thought I’d give you the address: www.quietcreations.com/tunes/pc/chop www.quietcreations.com/tunes/pc/chop
Things that make Things that make you‘hmmm. go ‘hmmm. you go
Call (604) 467-4444 ext 199 Call (604) 467-4444 ext 199
Alumnus, Graduate, or both? Alumnus, Graduate, or both? The goal of the Meadowridge Alumni Association is to provide opportunities for its members to remain connected in The goal of the Meadowridge Alumni Association is to provide opportunities for its members to remain connected in meaningful ways to the school. It is our goal to maintain and build the relationships that were started when you meaningful ways to the school. It is our goal to maintain and build the relationships that were started when you attended the school by hosting events such as the Alumni Homecoming Dinner, by informing you through attended the school by hosting events such as the Alumni Homecoming Dinner, by informing you through publications like the Talon, and by providing opportunities for you to mentor upcoming graduates. The Alumni publications like the Talon, and by providing opportunities for you to mentor upcoming graduates. The Alumni Association is a group of individuals connected by their common experience of attending Meadowridge School. I Association is a group of individuals connected by their common experience of attending Meadowridge School. I should point out that we view anybody who attended the school for two or more years and left in good standing should point out that we view anybody who attended the school for two or more years and left in good standing as an alumnus. In addition to being an alumnus, a student who graduated form the school is also a graduate. All as an alumnus. In addition to being an alumnus, a student who graduated form the school is also a graduate. All graduates are alumni but not all alumni are graduates. Alumni and graduates are encouraged to visit the school, graduates are alumni but not all alumni are graduates. Alumni and graduates are encouraged to visit the school, attend alumni functions, and receive school publications. attend alumni functions, and receive school publications. Latin Primer Latin Primer Alumna Feminine Singular Alumna Feminine Singular Alumnus Masculine Singular Alumnus Masculine Singular Alumni Masculine Plural Alumni Masculine Plural Alumnae Feminine Plural Alumnae Feminine Plural
Letters from Way Out There - Continued So lets see, what have we done so far? Well, we arrived on the Tuesday as I said before, that week was a lot of walking the city sorting things out … bank acounts and such, but as we walked around with Frieda (the HINF grad) she showed us some of the sites. The golden Dachl, the Hoffburg, Maria-Theresen Straße, etc. The city isn’t all to large itself, it takes us about ten minutes to walk into the heart of downtown. On Friday we were told about the University ball. Now in Austria for the months of January through March there are tones of balls, every organisational body holds one, physiotherapists, companies, the university … this is the first year that UMIT is participating in the University of Innsbruck ball, so all of the UMIT people got free tickets. Woo hoo! So Saturday Megan and I spent the day finding dresses and shoes and then Saturday night, off to the ball we went! The ‘UniBall’ was one of the bigger ones in Innsbruck, approx 5000 people (students mostly, but professors and parents and other “old” people also made up a large part of the group). It was held in the Congress building (sounds legal, but I think it’s a conference centre .. banquet rooms, lecture halls, foyers) http://www.congress-innsbruck.at/htm/indexie.htm and there were live bands set up throughout the building, each palying a different type of music. The Dogana hall was the largest, with the university symphany orchestra catering to the waltz. There were also rooms for salsa, latin american and then a nightclub atmosphere. There were two large foyers also with bands. All varieties of dancers: the professional, the good, the awful, the dangerous, the couple that has to leave the floor because she won’t let him lead – they all came out! And so did the dresses, all the way back from the 80s. We had a wonderful time! Met some of the locals and, should you ask if we know Arnold, from Austria. I would now have to say “yes, we do.” I had put a slight delay on sending out this email because Megan and I went to a ballet last night, and I wanted to include that in this email too. Last night we went to the Congress centre, yet again, to see Sleeping Beauty performed by the Russian State Ballet Company. It was wonderfully done! The costumes were of course very beautiful and the dancing superb. I was quite pleased to note that there were several short ballerinas in the company. Including Princess Aurora. One of Auroras suitors had rather skinny legs … hense me nicknaming him “skinny legs” and I spent the entire second act trying to work out if Skinny Legs was also dancing the part of Prince Désiré. He was not. I was a little disappointed with Prince Désiré though. He wasn’t your sterotypical russian ballet dancer. He was … a chessplayer on stilts with a really big nose, I’m sorry to say. Even the man dancing the part of the Fairy Carabosse was better looking. But if you overlook Skinny Legs and Prince Désiré I thouroughly enjoyed myself. And if I interpret Megans snickers and snorts as signs of amusement, then so did she. And another wonderful detail: In the last act characters from other fairy tales attended the wedding celebrations, including Princess Florine (she was brilliant) and the Blue-bird (now he was cute!), Pussy in Boots and a White Pussy Cat, the Wolf and Little Red-Riding-Hood, and Cinderella and her Prince. So although we put in a busy day at work and are perhaps quite tired in the evenings, Megan and I are still making a concerted effort to try all varieties of beer, chocolate and baked goods that Austria has to offer us. We have yet to start on the sausage, but its only been two weeks – give us time! For those of you who know Megan, I’ll report that she is just as meganlike as ever. Having her own perspective on all things Austrian, being astounded that “they have that here” as we see european food products that have made their way to Canada, and so on. But I am glad to have her here with me, shes more willing to make a spectacle of herself than I am, so there is a healthy amount of adventure in our lives . . . and Kodak moments. My only fear is that Canadians may have a reputaion by the time we leave. I’ll keep you updated on that after our office sleding party (Feb 19th), where we shall endanger many lives as we hurtle ourselves down the slopes. And knowing my luck, right into a tree, huh Pam? Its apparently a two hour hike up an abandoned logging road, and then down. And to make this image even more comical, sleding is a two man operation. One to steer and the other to break. I wonder how far we will get with everyone yelling instructions at the incompetent Canadians – In german no doubt, Megan screaming and me laughing uncontrolably at the situation. *laughs * At least we speak the same language. Oh oh oh! I understaood my first complete sentence of German yesterday at the ballet: We were heading into the washroom and almost collided with the end of the loooooooong line, when the woman behind me says, with some feeling “Oh god. Nien nien.” Everyone laughed, it was so funny! I think that brings us pretty much up to date, the weather is really nice today, back to clear skys. I have also discovered a power outlet in my office that isn’t effected by the power outages, for some reason. And its really fortunate today becasue for the last hour I have been in the dark! I guess the last issue of business is my current address … which you will see at the bottom of this email. For those of you so inclined to phone, please restrain yourself. I am nine hours ahead of you and when you are walking around, I am in bed. So let me phone you. Yes, we are using my office address for mail because it is more reliable than going to our apartment. If you mail something to me, the envelope should look something like this: Victoria Brown (Class of ‘00)
Letters from Way Out There Hey Mr. Graveson! I just checked out the very nifty Talon newsletter (I do hope you are working on the next edition). I thought I would drop a line just to say things are going very well for me, I’ve been married for almost 2 years now (my last name is Loewen, very close to Knowlden, minus a couple of consonants), and we’re living it up in London, England. Oh yeah, you met my husband, he was the guy I brought with me to a Meadowridge Open House years ago. Haven’t made the pilgrimage up to Liverpool yet, but that will happen all in good time. I do marketing for a national charity that helps disadvantaged people back into employment, I really enjoy it. We like it here, but you can’t beat the quality of life in Canada, and it takes living somewhere else to appreciate it. We’ll definitely come back some day.I’ll pass a little goss your way, I’ve heard through the grapevine that Jean Warnebolt is tieing the knot later this year! Anyway, hope all is well with you, cheers*, Sarah Knowlden (‘91 - ‘94)
Greetings From London
*in this country, cheers can mean goodbye, sorry, and thank-you! Hello Sir: What a pleasant surprise — just the other day I check my outdated and only semi working email expecting only junk mail and invitations to try a new weight loss drug money making scheme. Instead I found Meadowridge’s alumni newsletter and therefore what all my friends and teachers have been doing these past 8 months. By the way, notveggie@hotmail.com is my new address since Dal is a little technologically inept and can’t fix their server. Oh well, they do better than me; I currently have nothing more than a scientific calculator to get me through school. It’s pretty fun though. So you may be interested to know that I have changed majors and faculties. I was studying international development until I got in a screaming, fist-banging-on-the-desk argument with the professor of my core IDS class about value systems. This was in her office while I was asking for advice on an essay and citation problems. She told me that I was too much of a realist, I had no place in IDS and that I should stop blaming the system for my lack of intelligence. I took this into account, aced the final, considered that good retribution and switched directly into sciences. I am now an environmental science major heading toward that and a double French and political science minor. It’s a lot of work, but I’m having a lot more fun than before.
From The East Coast To The West Coast
I just got back from Montreal and McGill’s Winter Carnival Debating tournament. Let’s just say Dal got “schooled” by the central Canadians, not to mention Harvard, Yale and others from all corners of the world. Let me say you would be surprised to find out just how knowledgeable some Americans are of the specifics of Canadian constitutional amendments! My only accomplishment of the week was coming 34th in public speaking out of 168. Alas, we had little time to see Montreal itself except late at night after the debating had finished. Despite that, we did manage to get interviewed by French TSN and make an appearance at Club “SuperSexe” next door to a cathedral, if I remember rightly. Speaking of debating, did you know that Michelle Dalal went to the worlds this past Christmas? Despite workload and Debating (oh and a job at Subway since the catering company I waitressed and bartended for went bankrupt) My friends and I are finding time over reading break to go and visit Newfoundland! We are going to Cornerbrook and Gros Morne National Park where we are going to attempt to camp outside one night. It has been bitterly cold here (-40)so hopefully we won’t die. You sir, have been everywhere; do you have any tips and insight on Newfieland? It’s going to a low budget trip where we hitchhike and ask around in bars for accommodations. It’s a good thing we’re going to Newfoundland and not New York! I can’t wait. Next year I am going to take the whole year off (school fees are going up to $6000 each so I need to make some money) and search for my soul/ passion/whatever you want to make of it in Waterton Lakes National Park where I lived last summer. I have a job at the lodge set up and I think that a year in very close proximity to the wilderness will be good for me. My parents are not so keen on it; they think I will never go back to school. Nonsense I say to that. I’ll be taking distance calculus even then. School will never go away! This e-mail is getting too long and there seems to be a line forming behind this terminal. I had better go. I hope to see everybody at Meadowridge in early May sometime. Until then... Best of luck Lindsay Ferguson (Class of ‘00)
Letters from Way Out There - Continued Hi Mr Graveson: Thanks for forwarding the newsletter- it was really interesting to read up on what people have been doing these past 4 years! Carolina told me about meeting up with you over Christmas— she said that you remembered me as being “cynical”— is that how I came across in grade 11? I get lots of descriptions these days, but usually they are more like “cartoon-like/animated” or “refreshing” ... is that what growing up does to you? I think it’s supposed to be the other way around...
The Milewskis
Manfred is doing very well. After working around Maple Ridge for a year after graduation he came true to his word and joined the German army for over a year. He was a para-trooper and they wanted him to stay but he decided that he didn’t want to keep following orders for the rest of his life. So he began to upgrade high school marks (including English) while he was away, and then came back to go to BCIT - civil engineering. While he was there he met a very nice girl named Shannon, and they now live together in Thunder Bay, ON while he works on his degree at Lakehead University. He has 3 or 4 semesters left until he is finished... he’s working hard. You may recall that I left Meadowridge School halfway through grade 11, went on an exchange to Germany, and then finished off grade 12 at Westview. My life since then has been fairly exciting - I went into Nursing at UBC after graduation, spent one summer painting, one summer in Quebec, and started working full-time in private home care in my 2nd year while still going to school. This was insane, but I didn’t notice since I was driven to earn enough money to travel by the time I graduated. I ended up not waiting till grad, but taking January-April 2002 semester off and going on a very spontaneous and unorganized trip by myself to West Africa (scared the crap out of my family). There I did some AIDS education in a village in Ghana, traveled through Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Cote d’Ivoire, and volunteered in a clinic in Accra (capital of Ghana) as an undergraduate Nurse. Very phenomenal experience and somewhat indescribable over email. Four months later I began the very difficult transition back into western city and university life— and that transition is still going on, there are so many things that I don’t want to let go of. Future plans... 6 more months of school, then after getting some experience (preferably in northern BC) I’ll either go back to school to be a Nurse-Practitioner, or get a masters in Tropical Medicine. Haven’t decided which will be more useful. Then I’d really like to work with Medecins sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) doing some international work... we’ll see how it goes—never boring. (although now I’m working on a paper for a Healthcare Leadership and Management course, which isn’t the most thrilling topic in the world) One of the teachers at Meadowridge (grade 4 I think.. Scott) is very good friends with one of my roommates! That was pretty coincidental.. it sounds as if Meadowridge has gone through a lot of positive changes since I left. Thanks again for the email, talk to you soon. Monika Milewski (‘94 - ‘97)
On The Road With Victoria Brown
First of all I must apologise for the tardiness of this email. I am a terrible person I know. Also, I must warn you that this email may be full of typos, on the account that I can’t spell and also that the keyboard is German. For those of you who I haven’t spoken too in an unforgivably long time a) I am sorry and b) this email is so big because I am on my latest coop assignment (last one was in Toronto) in Innsbruck, Austria along with my friend Megan. Its hard to keep so many people uptodate on my adventures so hopefully I will be sending out mass emails on a regular basis – the first one is the hardest, right? What am I talking about?! All my emails are longwinded! I’m happy to report that the whole trip over here was pleasantly uneventful. As pleasant as a nine hour flight, 6 hour layover and two and a half hour flight can be. We did manage to catch some sleep in Amsterdam and on the flight to Innsbruck itself, but it was still a 24 hour awake deal. We arrived on the Tueday night but of course were quite awake ourselves so we unpacked right then and there. The rest of the week was a blur of getting over jet lag – the city is surprisingly busy at 530am – and generally getting settled into the new place, job and language. The combination of not speaking German and being surrounded by mountains made it quite overwhelmingly obvious that we weren’t close to home at all. But we are much better now, met some people, decorated, arranged some german lessons, etc. One of the greatest parts of this coop is how convienient the whole arrangement is. One of the ladies working here is a HINF Grad, and it is through her that the positions were arranged. She, Frieda, is such a wonderful person she even arranged our accommoddattions (I love that word, no idea which letters are doubled so I just double them all *grin * ). Megan and I live on the 12th floor of ‘The building’ as it is called. Quite a few people live and work in the same building, just like us. I think we are supreamly lucky with the appartment, considering all the horror stories out there. Our unit has two bedrooms, storage room and bathroom. We share a kitchen with the rest of the people on our side of the floor – currently an Australian who works with us and a nurse who is leaving for Germany at the end of February. The rooms are almost over furnished with new stuff. Megan and I both have in our rooms (large rooms … 20 by 30 feetish) two beds, three chairs, a large desk, a small desk,a bedside table, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. We didn’t bring that much stuff! The bottom end of our rooms are huge windows with a door that opens onto a balcony that runs the length of our place. The building is next to the river and facing the mountains – not hard to do when you are nestled in the Alps …
…We are really close to everything we could need, grocery store is on the same block – undercover hehe, bank, movie theatre …While there aren’t too many tourists around (ran into a guy from Texas yesterday), on the weekend the airport gets quite the bit of traffic – large planes too, 767s and such – coming in to drop the skiers off. They then take a 30min bus ride to the slopes. Of course there is a minor downside to being this close, the altitude is drying up my skin and my joints are also kicking up a fuss. Wow! The wind just picked up. I mean sometimes it whistles round the side of the building, but this is Wizard of Oz stuff! On the morning of the day we arrived Innsbruck had its first snow fall, and in the week following we had wonderful clear bright sunny days. Seeing as we brought this marvalous weather with us, we were told to stay as long as we want, however this week the weather has taken a nose dive. Its mostly cloudy and light snowfall but the temperature is decent. A few degrees above freezing and dipping a bit over night, however, since today there is a few inches of snow I assume it is colder. I checked the weather site and apparently its dropping to –10ish at night now. Can someone fedex me a parka? Just kidding, the heating in the building is terrific. Now Innsbruck has its own weather system really, so when it snows elsewhere its not necessarily going to effect us, so the other towns are much deeper in the white stuff. Which is going to be great for skiing. Not that I’m much of a skier, but I’ll get out there! Sleding is a olyimpic sport here to hear people talk about it. They all trek up logging roads and shoot down them several hours later, its all fairly intense with some people taking it a bit over the edge of seriousness. When I arrived for my first day of work, although that first week was spent doing errands as well, I was presented with my own office, here on the 9th floor. Megan is sharing an office on the 8th. Mind you there is room for another person in here, so I may have company before I leave in April. But I have a balcony and huge windows overlooking the city. From my desk I can see clear across town to the east, I think its east . . . as I am surrounded by mountains that is the main feature, but there is also this little village nestled part way up the slopes that I think is extreamly pretty. There is a little while church stepal and a small cluster of houses surrounding that, then a large surrounding area of green land before the trees start again. It’s gorgeous, at the moment the sun is shining and the southern slopes are green while the nothern part of the village is covered with snow. Very picturesque. In my office I have a computer … obviously… what I wasn’t expecting was that this very nice pentium four flatscreen speaks German. Just didn’t really cross my mind, that obvious little detail. I think it must have been quite comical to see me in those first few minutes. The “press Alt Ctrl Del” is in English, so I’m still unawares … however when my desktop loads and words like Arbeitsplatz and Netzwerkumgebung appear “oh, a German OS, how cute. Lets see about changing this … * right click * um … ok, I think my best guess for ‘Properties’ would be . . . Eigenschaften . . . because its at the bottom of the list * click * * gasp* ok, we will need a little help here. But lets check email first.” Here is where I realise the keyboard is arranged differently. Y and Z are switched around, and guess what? The @ symbol . . . not on the 2 key, no no, the 2 has “ and the Q has the @ symbol. And I have no idea how to get to it. That took about a day to figure out. There is a key, Alt Gr, which you use to get to the second or third option on some keys, like the @ or the \. The \ is on a key with ? and ß; where on the english keyboard you would find the _ . Just to give you some idea how many times I have to backspace. I very quickly sent out an email for help on the language issue, thinking the keyboard is the first thing that must change and then the OS, and I need some step by step directions or a dictionary to do this myself. Well, the keyboard I changed. But no luck on getting a English version of windows, so there is some motivation to learn german. However, two weeks later I find myself typing with the german keyboard again. Why? you ask. Well, my brain was getting a little forgetful and I was having trouble finding the \ and getting the ( and ). You see the brackets are shifted one over to the right and it’s akin to saying the the colour a word is written in instead of the colour it spells, if you are familiar with that little annoying game/test. It’s a little like typing with a limp. * grin * This section is about work, so please feel free to skip it if that is your inclination, I know a lot of you don’t really understand what it is that I do anyway – I include myself in that category sometimes! *grin* So I am working at the University for Medical Informatics and Technology – Tyrol (UMIT). It’s a small operation, especially in my department (Information Systems) where there are five of us. This is how it is: Prof. Dr Schek is the head of the department and his right hand man is Dr Schuldt. Both of whom hold positions (um, Chair/Head) at the Insitute of Information Systems in Zürich, so they are here in Austria half the week and Switzerland the other half. The other two members of the team here are Raimond Schatz and Gert Brettlecker. No fancy titles, they are PhD candidates, and serve as Tas for the other two here at UMIT. So they are at lectures and marking half the time. I am the only one who seems to be here completely. Our purpose is research at the moment. We are researching a few areas: content management systems in healthcare and human computer interaction in healthcare, both with a focus on wireless environments. That’s Raimond and I. Gert and I are looking at the uses of Micro Databases and sensory stream data in healthcare. I thought that this was a little outside of my technical skills, but it seems that I am the only one with healthcare knowledge, the other two being electical engineers. So this is working quite nicely. But in all fairness, for the last two weeks the three of us have been fighting of sleep as we search the internet for eight or nine hours a day. Oh but funny: the power will fail every couple of hours on my floor, I have no idea what people are doing, and while its not very funny if you haven’t saved recently I think its quite humerous because as the power groans off, we all groan. And then at least one of the others will come running out of his office to go get the landlord to turn it back on … becasue they didn’t save their work and are harboring the hope that if power is restored soon, they can get their unsaved work back! Hahaha. I just sit here trying to work out how on earth I am going to get back to that web site. I’m also having the time of my life torturing the students. You see Raimond has to create the finals and both he and Gert have to create the projects … “Victoria, is this realistic? What have youre finals been like? Do you have anything we could use?” *laughs* This is probably a good place to mention the miracluous coffee machines that they have in the office. It is a contraption conceived in heaven, a the push of a button the little guy grinds the coffee beans and brews an cup of coffee just for you, and however strong you want. Expresso, latte, just turn the dial! Honestly glorious! Now apparently the brand of coffee we use isnät (oops, sorry, that’s whats in place of the ‘) the trick, it’s the machine that makes it taste so good, being fresh and all. And available all the time. Wonderful. Just wonderful.
Please direct your attention to the centre ring for these important announcements! Michael Just was voted Frosh King; I am not at liberty to tell you how he earned that title. Oky Theodorus is now back in Vancouver after doing his compulsory 4 years military service in Indonesia.
Andrea Bloom won the Governor General’s Academic Award.
Greg “Get Fired Up For Life” Gerrie is rumoured to be married.
Irfan Abdulla is now studying medicine at the University of Sydney in Australia. His brother Riyaz says “Hello”.
How do you spell success? M-E-A-D-O-W-R-I-D-G-E
Jean Warnebolt is getting married this summer.
TWO MEADOWRIDGE STUDENTS SCORE A PERFECT 100 ON PROVINCIAL EXAMS!
Meryl Herberts earned a perfect mark in her English Literature 12 Provincial Exam, and Sam Wasswa-Kintu earned a perfect mark in his English 12 Provincial Exam. These scores are exceptional; yet represent only the most outstanding results in a pool of excellent ones! Twenty-one students wrote a total of 46 exams. Of those 21 students, 7 Grade 11 students wrote the Math 12 Provincial. According to Grade 12 BC Graduation requirements, at the end of semester one, all of our grade twelve students have completed graduation requirements as required in the public schools. Remember, the public school requirements for graduating is completion of English 12, CAPP 12 and 52 credits. Our students generally graduate with an excess of 68 credits. We require that Meadowridge students write 4 Provincial Examinations because the universities require 4 Provincial Exam results as one of the entrance criteria. However, half of the Grade 12s have fulfilled the requirements for universities as well. These are outstanding results, the best that Meadowridge has ever seen, and it only seems to be getting better and better! Way to go Meadowridge!
S. Olah, Head of Secondary School
ALUMNI DINNER EVENING May 2, 2003 at Meadowridge School
Catch up with old friends; see what has changed and what stayed the same. Enjoy a buffet dinner and stay afterwards for dessert and beverages as you watch a showcase of talent performed by Meadowridge students. We are also inviting all previous graduates and alumni to perform at Café Night. Anyone interested please contact Mr. Graveson for further details. Dinner compliments of Meadowridge School Café Night attendance is by donation.
RELIVE MEMORIES AND CREATE NEW ONES Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Alan Graveson at 604.467.4444 ext. 205 or email agraveson@meadowridge.bc.ca by April 25th, 2003. Compiled by: Advancement and Marketing Office Meadowridge School (604) 467-4444 ext. 205 (604) 467-4989 fax www.meadowridge.bc.ca Please direct all questions or comments regarding The Talon to: agraveson@meadowridge.bc.ca