something new

I've decided to go out on a limb & sign our family up to host a student from the Katimavik program who is helping out in Megan's school for three months. I had never heard of this until a month ago when the students were selected to come and work at Windsor House, but apparently every year about 800 students from across Canada are selected to spend nine months volunteering in various locations around the country. They don't get a lot of choice about where they are sent or what they do but it sounds like a fantastic experience - the government pays for you to see the country and meet lots of interesting people, and in exchange you help out in a preschool or museum or something for a few months.

The kids at Windsor House have really taken to their students and I've had a chance to meet them a few times. I know the staff is really pleased with the volunteers who have embraced the chance to participate in this unique school community for a little while this year.

Anyway, they are expected to spend two weeks out of their three months here in Burnaby staying with a local family as part of the experience and nobody from Megan's school had stepped forward to offer their homes so I had to open my big mouth & say that we had a room here that wasn't being used! In spite of having his own big boy bed, Calum still spends the vast majority of his sleeping time on the little toddler bed in our room so he can certainly do that for a couple of weeks while we enjoy having a guest from Calgary stay with us. Tomorrow the project leader is coming out to visit us and make sure we really do have a home and that there really is a room for the student, Jean-Noel, who is going to come stay at our house.

Megan can now play chess with him at home as well as at school!