A National Day of Service:
Today began at 3:45am. Yep.
My roomie's alarm clock rang bright and early at quarter to four in the morning, and I fought to stay asleep until at least quarter after four. At last, I had to get up and take a shower. Today was a big day! Americorps NCCC celebrates National Days of Service such as Martin Luther King Junior Day. My team contributed by beautifying a public/charter (a bit of a contradiction if you ask me) elementary school in a rough part of town. The surrounding neighborhood is full of German Shepherds, Bull Dogs, and a freakish amount of Chihuahuas. I will admit that I was a little uneasy sitting outside the fenced and chained up school for the hour and half that we did (the rest of our sponsors weren't quite as prompt as us) in the pitch black before the sun rose.
The school's name is PS7, not overly creative. Despite it's bland name, and sketchy location, it's actually one of the top performing elementary schools in CA! Posted on banners infront of each classroom is that particular class' projected graduation day...not from elementary school or from high school, but from a four year college. Starting in kindergarten they have parents attending college scouting and planning forums. Pretty cool if you ask me. The school itself was in rough shape, however, and the city of Sacramento felt that it was important to show the students and staff the respect they deserve by helping maintain the schoolyard and by doing a deep clean of the classrooms and cafeteria.
My team, one other Americorps NCCC team, about 75 employees from a local health care company (that takes care of patients who have no health care plan), and a few families of attending students showed up to help. By the time it reached noon and we were wrapping up the project, we had already put in an 8 hour day!
Here is a video of our work: (The mayor Kevin Johnson...a former sports figure of some sort...and a ton of tv news crews kept us company. Apparently we were at one of the more glamorous sites!)
http://www.kcra.com/video/26520442/detail.html
Needless to say, I came back to base and took a nap before doing P.T. My team actually tried out P90X and got our butts kicked by the really questionable fitness guru guy who runs the workout video. It was pretty entertaining. Most of us actually stayed for a non-mandatory round 2 in which we worked our abs pretty intensely.
Once that was over, I have to admit that I took a second nap for the day. Then made dinner, and now here I am...about to go to bed.
I don't do early mornings.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
A Pair of Brothers
The Boys:
I have two sweet little brothers. One is in my morning class (3rd grade) and the other is in my afternoon class (2nd grade). These boys, like many others, have had some very tragic experiences already in their young little lives. I will call them Sam and Jon.
Sam is in my morning class, and for some reason is constantly getting in trouble. I can't quite figure out what he's doing wrong sometimes, but nonetheless, he is often being scolded for something. I've decided to help him stay on task and encourage him as much as possible. He is so incredibly affectionate, and loves hugs. He hardly lets go sometimes.
His younger brother, Jon, is the complete opposite. He actually doesn't talk. He can, but he doesn't. Not in school at least. I've been told that he talks at home and that he has one friend that he'll speak to at school, but that's about it. He is always on task, and is doing pretty well in school. I just have no idea what his voice sounds like. My teammate, Lauren, has gotten a high five out of him, but I have had no such luck.
Their Story:
I don't know much about these boys, but I do know this: They witnessed their dad being shot and killed about a year ago. My heart is broken. They handle it so differently, but they are two incredibly sweet boys. I am so sad for them. It can't be expressed.
Many Stories Like These:
They are not alone. One of the girls in my class is displaying both behavioral and learning disabilities. During a meeting with her mother, it was discovered that her skull was fractured as an infant. A straight answer as to how it happened was never uncovered. When the mother was asked if the little girl was on any medication, the response was, "yeah, sometimes I give her two white ones in the morning."
And let's not forget about the other little girl who lost her mom tragically (I don't actually know the details) a few years ago.
Or about the little boy whose dad came in the other day. His dad paid more attention to me and the other students than to his own son. The boy had lost something and was falling behind in school, and the dad just sat at a computer while I helped the student search his backpack and desk. No support.
Or the student who randomly told me at recess on Friday that, "one time, my dad had a real gun so he could protect me and my mom."
Or the student who attends school quite infrequently because the aunt who is taking care of him (or maybe she's the mom, or grandma...it's a confusing situation) is suffering from such severe depression that she can't get out of bed to go to work and take him to school some days.Or the other time when a little girl was crying silently at her desk because she was hungry. Thank goodness the school provides a breakfast option. We got her to the cafeteria quick.
The list goes on and on...
I have two sweet little brothers. One is in my morning class (3rd grade) and the other is in my afternoon class (2nd grade). These boys, like many others, have had some very tragic experiences already in their young little lives. I will call them Sam and Jon.
Sam is in my morning class, and for some reason is constantly getting in trouble. I can't quite figure out what he's doing wrong sometimes, but nonetheless, he is often being scolded for something. I've decided to help him stay on task and encourage him as much as possible. He is so incredibly affectionate, and loves hugs. He hardly lets go sometimes.
His younger brother, Jon, is the complete opposite. He actually doesn't talk. He can, but he doesn't. Not in school at least. I've been told that he talks at home and that he has one friend that he'll speak to at school, but that's about it. He is always on task, and is doing pretty well in school. I just have no idea what his voice sounds like. My teammate, Lauren, has gotten a high five out of him, but I have had no such luck.
Their Story:
I don't know much about these boys, but I do know this: They witnessed their dad being shot and killed about a year ago. My heart is broken. They handle it so differently, but they are two incredibly sweet boys. I am so sad for them. It can't be expressed.
Many Stories Like These:
They are not alone. One of the girls in my class is displaying both behavioral and learning disabilities. During a meeting with her mother, it was discovered that her skull was fractured as an infant. A straight answer as to how it happened was never uncovered. When the mother was asked if the little girl was on any medication, the response was, "yeah, sometimes I give her two white ones in the morning."
And let's not forget about the other little girl who lost her mom tragically (I don't actually know the details) a few years ago.
Or about the little boy whose dad came in the other day. His dad paid more attention to me and the other students than to his own son. The boy had lost something and was falling behind in school, and the dad just sat at a computer while I helped the student search his backpack and desk. No support.
Or the student who randomly told me at recess on Friday that, "one time, my dad had a real gun so he could protect me and my mom."
Or the student who attends school quite infrequently because the aunt who is taking care of him (or maybe she's the mom, or grandma...it's a confusing situation) is suffering from such severe depression that she can't get out of bed to go to work and take him to school some days.Or the other time when a little girl was crying silently at her desk because she was hungry. Thank goodness the school provides a breakfast option. We got her to the cafeteria quick.
The list goes on and on...
Falling in Love with an Elementary School
My Mornings:
My mornings at the school start with my "before school post" which is currently in the computer lab. Now, I realize that I'm in California, but it does, in fact, get quite chilly here. The children could use somewhere to go during these chilly mornings besides the over-crowded cafeteria, so I spend about a half hour supervising the computer lab, where students can play educational games and stay out of the cold.
The main part of my morning is spent in a third grade classroom. (For confidentiality purposes, I will use all fake names when referring to school-related adventures. Also, there won't be much for pictures, so I apologize for the bland posts.) This school focuses pretty darn exclusively on reading and mathematics because it is a school with a struggling population, and the NCLB act effects it pretty heavily. Therefore, my entire morning is math. This has actually been pretty fun for me (go figure, given that I have a math education degree). I can't decide which I enjoy more, teaching the math lessons to the whole class (which I've been able to sneak my way into doing a few times) or pulling students out one at a time to focus on their abilities more individually.
The class tends to adopt a negative tone, so I've made quite an effort to spice it up a bit. First, I was able to get students up infront of the class more, by having students show their answers, and then call on the next person and so on. Also, I was able to incorporate hangman (the fun game where you try to guess a word or sentence) as a form of math review, where students can only guess a letter once they have answered a math question correctly. I've also made sure to have the class clap for each student who is brave enough to answer a question. Supporting each other is important, and I'm not sure it's focused on as much as it could be.
Recess is super fun, playing jump rope, red light-green light, and basketball. I played tag the first day, which was a huge hit with the students (probably because tag is against school policy...oops.) The school has a rule of "keeping your hands, feet, and objects to yourself." This rule is important because the students tend to get violent and out of hand if they play any sort of contact sport, including tag. To prove this point, four of the students in my afternoon class came back from third recess with ice-packs because they couldn't refrain from attacking each other.
My Afternoons:
After eating lunch with my morning class, I spend about 20 minutes getting some adult interaction in the teachers' lounge before heading over to my second class of the day. This class is a group of second graders. And it's a zoo!
This teacher organizes the day so that, once again, I am just in time for math class. The teacher has worked it out so that every day I take 4-5 students to the back of the room to get more individualized help and attention. This is VERY needed. I would say there are only about 5 students who don't desperately need extra help. However, there is only one of me, and there is only one actual teacaher, and there are only so many hours in a day.
I have a question that I could seriously use some advice on: how in the world do you explain what 20+1 is? Or how about what the next number after 27,28,29 is? Because I have one student who desperately thinks it's 90. No matter if it's the 20's you're counting through, or whether you're in the 50's. On a similar note, how do you teach how to read a clock? The hour hand point to the actual hour, but the when the minute hand points to 3 it actually means 15...and sometimes the hour hand is inbetween, and even though it might be closer to 4 it could still be something like 3:45... Oh my gosh. I have no idea how to make these ideas click for the students. It's frustrating and hilarious and absoultely mind-bending at times.
Anyway, this group of students is actually known throughout the entire school for how wild they are. They are absolutely precious and adorable, but discipline is not a word that they know. The teacher did find a fairly effective way of helping them calm down after lunch recess and third recess, however. He has the lights off, gentle music on, and has the students put their heads on their desk for about five minutes (or however long it takes to get them settled) before he starts class.
Then afterschool, there is a program called Masters that I help out with. I work in a room with my teammate Sara, and a Masters employee, with about 20 second and third graders. This works out pretty well since I have some of them in class, and know what is expected for their homework. I sit at the second grade table and work with four boys. And let me tell you, it is a BIG DEAL when one of them sits in each other's chair or touches someone else's pencil. I can't tell if my time there is used more for homework help, or interpersonal conflict resolution. Eitherway, they are some seriously adorable little boys!
Overall:
PT in the morning makes for some long days. And I have to say, time works differently here in AmericorpsLand: the days are long, but the weeks are quick!
My mornings at the school start with my "before school post" which is currently in the computer lab. Now, I realize that I'm in California, but it does, in fact, get quite chilly here. The children could use somewhere to go during these chilly mornings besides the over-crowded cafeteria, so I spend about a half hour supervising the computer lab, where students can play educational games and stay out of the cold.
The main part of my morning is spent in a third grade classroom. (For confidentiality purposes, I will use all fake names when referring to school-related adventures. Also, there won't be much for pictures, so I apologize for the bland posts.) This school focuses pretty darn exclusively on reading and mathematics because it is a school with a struggling population, and the NCLB act effects it pretty heavily. Therefore, my entire morning is math. This has actually been pretty fun for me (go figure, given that I have a math education degree). I can't decide which I enjoy more, teaching the math lessons to the whole class (which I've been able to sneak my way into doing a few times) or pulling students out one at a time to focus on their abilities more individually.
The class tends to adopt a negative tone, so I've made quite an effort to spice it up a bit. First, I was able to get students up infront of the class more, by having students show their answers, and then call on the next person and so on. Also, I was able to incorporate hangman (the fun game where you try to guess a word or sentence) as a form of math review, where students can only guess a letter once they have answered a math question correctly. I've also made sure to have the class clap for each student who is brave enough to answer a question. Supporting each other is important, and I'm not sure it's focused on as much as it could be.
Recess is super fun, playing jump rope, red light-green light, and basketball. I played tag the first day, which was a huge hit with the students (probably because tag is against school policy...oops.) The school has a rule of "keeping your hands, feet, and objects to yourself." This rule is important because the students tend to get violent and out of hand if they play any sort of contact sport, including tag. To prove this point, four of the students in my afternoon class came back from third recess with ice-packs because they couldn't refrain from attacking each other.
My Afternoons:
After eating lunch with my morning class, I spend about 20 minutes getting some adult interaction in the teachers' lounge before heading over to my second class of the day. This class is a group of second graders. And it's a zoo!
This teacher organizes the day so that, once again, I am just in time for math class. The teacher has worked it out so that every day I take 4-5 students to the back of the room to get more individualized help and attention. This is VERY needed. I would say there are only about 5 students who don't desperately need extra help. However, there is only one of me, and there is only one actual teacaher, and there are only so many hours in a day.
I have a question that I could seriously use some advice on: how in the world do you explain what 20+1 is? Or how about what the next number after 27,28,29 is? Because I have one student who desperately thinks it's 90. No matter if it's the 20's you're counting through, or whether you're in the 50's. On a similar note, how do you teach how to read a clock? The hour hand point to the actual hour, but the when the minute hand points to 3 it actually means 15...and sometimes the hour hand is inbetween, and even though it might be closer to 4 it could still be something like 3:45... Oh my gosh. I have no idea how to make these ideas click for the students. It's frustrating and hilarious and absoultely mind-bending at times.
Anyway, this group of students is actually known throughout the entire school for how wild they are. They are absolutely precious and adorable, but discipline is not a word that they know. The teacher did find a fairly effective way of helping them calm down after lunch recess and third recess, however. He has the lights off, gentle music on, and has the students put their heads on their desk for about five minutes (or however long it takes to get them settled) before he starts class.
Then afterschool, there is a program called Masters that I help out with. I work in a room with my teammate Sara, and a Masters employee, with about 20 second and third graders. This works out pretty well since I have some of them in class, and know what is expected for their homework. I sit at the second grade table and work with four boys. And let me tell you, it is a BIG DEAL when one of them sits in each other's chair or touches someone else's pencil. I can't tell if my time there is used more for homework help, or interpersonal conflict resolution. Eitherway, they are some seriously adorable little boys!
Overall:
PT in the morning makes for some long days. And I have to say, time works differently here in AmericorpsLand: the days are long, but the weeks are quick!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Day 1 of Project 2
School:
Today was my first day at Woodlake Elementary School here in Sacramento!!! The kids are super cute and all of the faculty and staff were very welcoming and supportive of us today.
Woodlake Elementary School, like many in CA and across the nation, have gone through some major budget cuts in the last few years. This means that they have had to cut back on some of the fun stuff. What I mean by that is they don't have any gym class, extra curriculurs during lunch or after school, music classes, or art projects for the students to participate in. None. As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, they focus almost their entire day on Math and Reading. That does not make for a fun day for a bunch of kindergarten through sixth graders. In addition to cutting back on programs for the students, a large percentage of the faculty and staff have been laid off, resulting in less teachers, which in turn causes larger class sizes. Let's not forget that that clearly leaves the school with no room in the budget for any classroom aides. Thus, Americorps is here to help out with classroom management, tutoring, and reintroducing the fun activities that make kids want to come to school in the first place.
Beyond all of this, the teachers have been thrown for an extra loop in the past few years-the school has been redistricted and a new population of students have entered the classroom. The school building itself is situated in a nice neighborhood with cute little houses that have tons of character. This is not where the majority of the students come from, however. The majority of the students are bussed over from "the projects" just across the river. According to the report we got from the school, 94% of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, 32% are homeless, 40% are transient, and 30% are English Language Learners (with the primary languages being Spanish, Russian, and Ukranian). Despite all of this, many of the parents and teachers are super eager to help their students. One of the faculty members was telling me today about how they used to have a bunch of the mothers volunteer their time as aides throughout the school day. Unfortunately, many of the fathers have been laid off, which has forced the mothers to take paying jobs instead. It was actually a father of one of the students who went through all of the paperwork (and there's quite a bit!) that made it possible for Americorps to come and help in the first place. This is a very exciting opportunity, because my group is the first Americorps group to come and work at this school!
As a whole, the school has given me a very fun, bubbly, and upbeat first impression. And it's incredibly diverse! 50% of the students are Hispanic, 25% are Black, and the rest are a combination of Ukranian, White, and Hmong. I have to say I'm super excited for this project! And I know that no matter how tough a day might be, I have four walls and heat to come back to at the end of the day...and that's not something I was able to say while on Catalina!
On a completely different note:
I called Grandma today! The day after her birthday...oops. She's doing quite well though. After I got off the phone, I thought to myself, "Why haven't I done this before? She's super fun to talk to." Also, "why don't I do this more often?" So, I made a new resolution: to talk to grandma more. It's such a strange thing that I've never really called just to chat with her before.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The Return to Sac-Town
So, Christmas Break was awesome...lots of good quality time spent with my loved ones! And I have yet to update you all on the highlights from Catalina. But first comes first...yesterday.
Yesterday was Travel Day:
After finishing packing, I drove Mom and myself up to the Green Bay airport. That was my last chance to drive for the next 7 months!!!
Mumsie and I had a surprisingly tasty lunch at the airport, and then hung out for a while before I checked into security and hopped on the plane.
Let's back up a sec...
I realized the day before my flight left that I still hadn't figured out how to get from San Francisco (where my plane was landing) to Sacramento (where I actually needed to be). Huh... So I hopped online and found a few options, made a few phone calls, and jotted down a few notes. Turns out that the train tickets aren't worth buying early since the seats aren't actually reserved, so I just focused on getting down the train company info and hoped that it would all fall into place once I landed.
Ok, Back to the Travel Day:
I managed to only have a duffle bag and backpack, and I have to admitt, it's SUPER nice to not have any checked baggage.
While waiting in the security line in Green Bay (a bit teary-eyed as I waved by to Madre) I was watching the girl infront of me struggle to get her laptop out of her bag. Except it wasn't a laptop. She reached in her bag and pulled out the cutest, calmest, sweetest little dog wrapped up in a red sweater! That was a nice pick-me-up. Turns out there were two puppies on my plane! And two screaming babies with dirty diapers. Besides the breath-taking turbulence (it was a VERY windy day-the car door almost flew off when I got out the car that morning!), the flight actually wasn't that bad. I was able to drown out some of the noises with my new ipod. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) It has a bass-boost option, which I quite enjoy!
My connecting flight in Chicago was actually only 5 gates away (super convenient!) and I only had to wait about an hour until I boarded. I was able to sleep on this longer flight and enjoyed some cranapple juice. Yummy! ...And I may or may not have eaten the entire bag of seasoned pretzels G-ma sent me away with. Also yummy!
This is Where it Gets Interesting:
Right when the plane was landing I decided it may be a good idea to check in with the guy sitting next to me and see if he was familiar with BART, the subway system I planning on using. Turns out he had used it once before, but had little to no memory of where to find it. He actually needed to find it again though.
It also turns out he had gone to the same christian conference thingy in Kansas City, Missouri that I went to in high school.
It also turns out he was really fun to talk to.
So he waited for me on the plane, since I had to get my bag from one of the overhead storage bins in the back of the plane (I may have overpacked my duffle this time around... It was difficult to fit it anywhere). Once off the plane we walked quite briskly until we found a sign for the BART subway system. Chatting this whole time made talking a wee-bit difficult (he's a very fast walker!). We walked where the sign was directing us, and then failed to find any more signs, or the actual subway itself. He decided we were having these problems because his shoe wasn't tied. Of course that's why. So he tied his shoe (while I asked a security guard for directions) and then magically we went up a flight of stairs and found the airtrain that was supposed to take us to the subway. :) Success #1.
Then we got off the airtrain and found a kiosk to purchase our BART tickets. I, of course, bought a $20 ticket instead of the $10 I actually needed. Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing. We asked another helpful airport worker where to find our platforms, and she directed us to an elevator. We saw that platform 3 (the one I needed) was on the third floor. The only complication is that no matter how many times you pushed the 3 button, nothing happend. Huh. So, we pushed 5 and walked for a while until we found another helpful airport employee. Turns out, we were at the right place. Our platforms were directly opposite from each other about 10 feet away from where we were standing!
As we parted ways, we decided to finally introduce ourselves.
Him: I'm sad our little travel adventure is coming to such a quick end.
Me: I know, it was fun! Well, you're going that way though right (pointing to his platform)?
Him: Yep.
Me: Ok, well, it was nice to meet you. I had fun. My name's Jenny, by the way.
Him: Gustav.
Me: See ya! (I ended with such a quick salutation because I didn't quite understand what he had said...I thought he had uttered some salutation in another language, not registering that Gustav was his name at first. Haha, oops...)
So, we smiled and waved goodbye as we got on our trains.
Then:
I rode that subway a few stops until I had to change to another subway.
Then I wandered around and found another train ticket kiosk (an actually train this time!), and then wandered up some stairs, past a man smoking pot, to the platform. Thankfully there was a group of college-aged people hanging out (since the train they were supposed to take the hour before mine broke down) and explained where the train would drop me off in Sacramento, and kept me company until the train arrived.
Finally I got off the train and found a taxi conveniently waiting to take me back to base! The cab driver was pretty sure he knew where it was... He kept asking which streets he should take though, which I was completely unable to explain. His confidence was low since he had just given his GPS to a friend of his who needed to navigate his way around Napa Valley.
So, Let's Re-Cap:
1) Drive up to GB
2) Flight from GB to Chi-Town
3) Flight form Chi-Town to San Fran
4) Airtrain ride
5) Subway ride
6) Second subway ride.
7) Train ride to Sac Town
8) Taxi ride to base!
Once inside my little dorm room I turned up the heat and crawled into bed! That was a long, but fairly up-beat travel day, thanks to my Korean-American travel buddy (and the puppy)!
Today:
Today has been a fun reunion day with my teammates. And a nice calm before the storm of Americorps meetings and such that begins tomorrow!
Yesterday was Travel Day:
After finishing packing, I drove Mom and myself up to the Green Bay airport. That was my last chance to drive for the next 7 months!!!
Mumsie and I had a surprisingly tasty lunch at the airport, and then hung out for a while before I checked into security and hopped on the plane.
Let's back up a sec...
I realized the day before my flight left that I still hadn't figured out how to get from San Francisco (where my plane was landing) to Sacramento (where I actually needed to be). Huh... So I hopped online and found a few options, made a few phone calls, and jotted down a few notes. Turns out that the train tickets aren't worth buying early since the seats aren't actually reserved, so I just focused on getting down the train company info and hoped that it would all fall into place once I landed.
Ok, Back to the Travel Day:
I managed to only have a duffle bag and backpack, and I have to admitt, it's SUPER nice to not have any checked baggage.
While waiting in the security line in Green Bay (a bit teary-eyed as I waved by to Madre) I was watching the girl infront of me struggle to get her laptop out of her bag. Except it wasn't a laptop. She reached in her bag and pulled out the cutest, calmest, sweetest little dog wrapped up in a red sweater! That was a nice pick-me-up. Turns out there were two puppies on my plane! And two screaming babies with dirty diapers. Besides the breath-taking turbulence (it was a VERY windy day-the car door almost flew off when I got out the car that morning!), the flight actually wasn't that bad. I was able to drown out some of the noises with my new ipod. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) It has a bass-boost option, which I quite enjoy!
My connecting flight in Chicago was actually only 5 gates away (super convenient!) and I only had to wait about an hour until I boarded. I was able to sleep on this longer flight and enjoyed some cranapple juice. Yummy! ...And I may or may not have eaten the entire bag of seasoned pretzels G-ma sent me away with. Also yummy!
This is Where it Gets Interesting:
Right when the plane was landing I decided it may be a good idea to check in with the guy sitting next to me and see if he was familiar with BART, the subway system I planning on using. Turns out he had used it once before, but had little to no memory of where to find it. He actually needed to find it again though.
It also turns out he had gone to the same christian conference thingy in Kansas City, Missouri that I went to in high school.
It also turns out he was really fun to talk to.
So he waited for me on the plane, since I had to get my bag from one of the overhead storage bins in the back of the plane (I may have overpacked my duffle this time around... It was difficult to fit it anywhere). Once off the plane we walked quite briskly until we found a sign for the BART subway system. Chatting this whole time made talking a wee-bit difficult (he's a very fast walker!). We walked where the sign was directing us, and then failed to find any more signs, or the actual subway itself. He decided we were having these problems because his shoe wasn't tied. Of course that's why. So he tied his shoe (while I asked a security guard for directions) and then magically we went up a flight of stairs and found the airtrain that was supposed to take us to the subway. :) Success #1.
Then we got off the airtrain and found a kiosk to purchase our BART tickets. I, of course, bought a $20 ticket instead of the $10 I actually needed. Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing. We asked another helpful airport worker where to find our platforms, and she directed us to an elevator. We saw that platform 3 (the one I needed) was on the third floor. The only complication is that no matter how many times you pushed the 3 button, nothing happend. Huh. So, we pushed 5 and walked for a while until we found another helpful airport employee. Turns out, we were at the right place. Our platforms were directly opposite from each other about 10 feet away from where we were standing!
As we parted ways, we decided to finally introduce ourselves.
Him: I'm sad our little travel adventure is coming to such a quick end.
Me: I know, it was fun! Well, you're going that way though right (pointing to his platform)?
Him: Yep.
Me: Ok, well, it was nice to meet you. I had fun. My name's Jenny, by the way.
Him: Gustav.
Me: See ya! (I ended with such a quick salutation because I didn't quite understand what he had said...I thought he had uttered some salutation in another language, not registering that Gustav was his name at first. Haha, oops...)
So, we smiled and waved goodbye as we got on our trains.
Then:
I rode that subway a few stops until I had to change to another subway.
Then I wandered around and found another train ticket kiosk (an actually train this time!), and then wandered up some stairs, past a man smoking pot, to the platform. Thankfully there was a group of college-aged people hanging out (since the train they were supposed to take the hour before mine broke down) and explained where the train would drop me off in Sacramento, and kept me company until the train arrived.
Finally I got off the train and found a taxi conveniently waiting to take me back to base! The cab driver was pretty sure he knew where it was... He kept asking which streets he should take though, which I was completely unable to explain. His confidence was low since he had just given his GPS to a friend of his who needed to navigate his way around Napa Valley.
So, Let's Re-Cap:
1) Drive up to GB
2) Flight from GB to Chi-Town
3) Flight form Chi-Town to San Fran
4) Airtrain ride
5) Subway ride
6) Second subway ride.
7) Train ride to Sac Town
8) Taxi ride to base!
Once inside my little dorm room I turned up the heat and crawled into bed! That was a long, but fairly up-beat travel day, thanks to my Korean-American travel buddy (and the puppy)!
Today:
Today has been a fun reunion day with my teammates. And a nice calm before the storm of Americorps meetings and such that begins tomorrow!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Home For Christmas!!!
Hey All!!!
I finally made it home for the holidays...not without complication, of course. ; )
Give me a couple days, and there will be updates and pictures (and possibly videos) galore!
I finally made it home for the holidays...not without complication, of course. ; )
Give me a couple days, and there will be updates and pictures (and possibly videos) galore!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Chainsaw Training
And the fun begins! I am proud to say that I have now successfully operated a chainsaw without chopping off any of my, or any bystander's, limbs. Infact, I can actually take a chainsaw apart and put it back together in working condition! I can name over 20 parts on the beast as well. :) Myself, my teamleader Coli, and my teammate Lindsay, are the only ones allowed on our team to operate our chainsaw, since we were the only three trained. I'm kinda pumped.
Day one of training was incredibly painstaking. Especially being the morning after Halloween, a much celebrated holiday for Americorps members. It was a full ten hour day of sitting in a classroom. It felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone at times, as the instructor ran on and on about "the bad monkey cage"...still not sure what that was all about. Oh yeah...I just remembered that I already wrote about this. Oh well.
 |
| I think this is called the "pie cut." The tree will fall towards us. |
The morning consisted of taking chainsaws apart and then putting it back together again. The afternoon consisted of each of us taking turns to saw small clumps of brush down. We learned some technique and just got comfortable holding the dangerous thing. It wasn't has heavy as I expected. To end the day, we watched the main trainer fell a tree. I hoped that the next day would bring some felling (cutting a tree down) or at least some bucking (chopping up an already downed log).
 |
| We used the smallest on in the back of the photo. |
 |
| Brain, the main chainsaw instructor. |
Unfortunately, this was not the case. Day three consisted of sitting around. I held the chainsaw once but only for pictures sake. The picture a total fraud, fyi. (I didn't take any actual action pics the first day because I forgot my camera.) The entire morning we talked about and watched the technique of the main trainer felling a tree again. Then we split into groups (40 people split up into 3 groups) with 2 1/2 working chainsaws.
Yep. 2 1/2 working chainsaws. Our group got the 1/2. What this means is that it would start and stop quite frequently. First, the faceplate fell off. Then the chain and bar. We actually got a video of this. Then we wondered if it ran out of gas...nope. It was the spark plug that kept falling off. We tried to fix it and then lost the bar nut somewhere in the wilderness. The duct tape from the back of my boots was utilized without success at one point. Right. The design or our particular chainsaw was meant for cutting limbs high up in a tree (landscaping), not working on the forest floor, so we blame that...at least partially.
 |
| The chainsaw stopped working. |
 |
| The chainsaw started working. |
 |
| Now we're trying to fix the chainsaw... It had stopped working again, go figure. |
The best part of the third day was actually the ride there. We took a more efficient route there as to avoid the cheerful mountain men with their roadrage and stopped at a different gas station/grocery store to wait for our host. Once again, we had over an hour of downtime. This time because of rush hour traffic? Eitherway, I actually have no complaints, because in my opinion, this was the most beautfiul part of California I have seen yet. I'm not entirely sure where we were, but the pictures speak for themselves. If only they could capture what it actually looked like!  |
| Lindsay and I |
 |
| Coli (our team leader), Lindsay and I |
Random Addition:
 |
Our super-sweet raingear for Catalina. It smells bad and makes me itch. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)