The Lion Mountains

The Lion Mountains, also known as the Twins Sisters, are located North of Vancouver. The legend goes that the two peaks on the mountain are a certain tribal chief's daughters that have been immortalized on the top of a mountain. The Sagalie Tyee had two daughters that were about to go into womanhood, and he decided to throw a massive celebration for the occasion because that is what is typically done. However, the tribe that the Tyee was from was at war with another tribe, but he decided to ignore the war for one week while the celebration happened. His daughters, however, requested that the celebration should be a peaceful celebration, and that they should invite the tribe that they are at war with. The Tyee accepted their request, then proceeded to throw the best celebration in the history of celebrations. The Tyee was so overjoyed that he decided to immortalize his daughters in a high place: on the top of a mountain. And they remain there to this day.

Kayaking 2012

Last year, the kayaking OEE trips focused on simply going out and having a good time. This year, we are actually practicing the skills necessary to be a skilled kayaker. We went in doubles kayaks instead of singles on the first trip, and we covered a fairly large distance in the one and a half hours that we had on the water. There was nothing particularly fancy about our first outing, we simply went around on the water, and crossed from island to island on one occasion.

Sailing 2012

This was the second time we went sailing this year, and it was definitely more exciting than the first time. We experienced a squall wind while we were on the water, and more than half of the boats got capsized because of it! I learned how to properly bring a capsized boat back upright, which was also made harder because of the harsh winds.

There was very little wind when we first got on the water, but within half an hour there were 15-knot winds coming from the West. This made sailing a whole lot more challenging. The boats were not made for such winds, so as a result everyone either capsized or lost their mast to the wind. 

Other than learning things on the water, I also learned some new sailing terms like Broad Reach and Jybe. 

Canoeing

Today the 8HV OEE class went canoeing at Deer lake for one and a half hours. Some of the newer canoe-ers learned new strokes and how to get in and out of a canoe. Our instructor provided some good advice and some interesting side conversations to boot.

Overall, while I already knew how to canoe fairly well, it was fun to do it once again after not canoeing for a while.

The IB characteristic that I think I showed the most was being principled because I helped out others, mostly Gavin, when they needed help with learning a new skill.

Community Service

Today the Grade 8 OEE group went to the Maplewood Conservation Area and planted several trees. The group gathered soil, cleared blackberry bushes, and finally managed to plant the trees.

Though the poor weather conditions made this activity far less enjoyable, I still managed to have somewhat of a good time, and learned some new things along the way.

The IB Characteristic that I showed most during this activity was principled, because I managed to do the task at hand without complaining or asking for much assistance. I also took some initiative when I decided to lead the way while clearing a trail.  

Snowshoeing

The fourth activity that the 8HVW OEE group did was snowshoeing on Mount Seymour. This activity was only done once. Everyone was split into two groups, and they both went on a trek through the trails. The walks were done relatively casually, with some challenges being presented along the way to make the walk more of a challenge.

Snowshoeing was a good experience for me, but it was one of the less fun when compared to the others. However, snowshoeing still proved to be a unique and new experience for me.

The IB characteristic that I showed the most during this trip was being caring. I helped people get through some tough times when they were tired, and urged them to keep hiking. I also waited when a team member fell behind or slowed down.

Skating

The third activity that the 8HVW OEE class did was skating at the Killarney Community Centre. The focus was on learning and improving everyone's individual skating skill. People could skate casually or they could play ice hockey on the other side of the rink. Most people did a mixture of both, and had fun doing it.

This was possibly the best OEE activity that I have done all year, because I learned the most. Prior to the 3 ice skating sessions, I had only played ice hockey once in my life. After the 3 sessions, I had become almost impossibly better, being able to finally skate and shoot the puck at the same time, which is something that I used to think was incredibly hard to do. I also learned how to quickly change directions while skating, which came in handy while I was playing hockey, mostly during breakaways and defense.

During the skating sessions, the part of the IB Learner Profile that I showed the most was being caring. I would often help people at becoming better skaters, and helping them when they fell down.

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."
-Wayne Gretzky  

Indoor Rock Climbing

After the three sailing sessions were finished, indoor rock climbing was next on the list. The class went rock climbing 3 times at the Cliffhanger facility in Vancouver. Everyone tried various walls, and some had greater success than others. People were given the challenge of doing colour routes instead of just "rainbow-ing" the wall. The walls ranged from an easy 5.6 to an extremely challenging 5.12.

This was not the first time that I had been rock climbing, but the facility was certainly the largest and best that I have been in so far. I managed to complete two 5.9 colour routes, which was a fairly impressive achievement for me. I tried as many walls as I could, and I also tried bouldering. It was a good learning experience for me, and I got to improve my climbing immensely by trying out the more challenging routes and walls.

During the 3 rock climbing sessions, I learned to be a bigger risk-talker. This was because it was necessary for me to take some risks when I had to make a decision on how I would climb the wall, and sometimes neither option was an easy one.

"I love climbing because it feels so good when I stop..."
-Karl Baba

Sailing

At the beginning of the year, the 8HVW OEE group went sailing at Jericho beach three times. The first sailing day was mostly just an opportunity to get acquainted with the instructors and learn some basic sailing skills. On day two, there was a greater focus on the skills needed to successfully sail the sailboat, and many more skills were learned, as well as new information about the sailboat, wind direction and sailing direction. On the third and final day, several groups capsized their boats and practiced getting back in properly.

This was the first time that I have gone sailing. It was a good experience for me and I learned a lot about the topic of sailing. The most memorable moment I had was probably the time when I somehow managed to fall out of my group's sailboat and get completely soaked in the process. Looking back, sailing was a very fun thing to do.

Over the course of the 3 sailing sessions, the attribute that I would say I have developed most is the skill of being a Communicator. I say this because while I was on the sailboat, I had to communicate with others in order to steer and control the ship, since it was not a one-man job. 

"He enters the port with a full sail."
-Virgil