DR Trip Part 2

Here are a few more photos from my trip.



This is Clement, one of our students from Hong Kong. He was chasing a student from the orphanage around the compound at dusk, just having a little fun, when he ran full speed into a support wire. It knocked him off his feet and scraped him from his chest to his chin so we took him for a tetanus shot and he was back at it the next morning. He's a trooper.

I really enjoyed watching some guys from the neighborhood play stickball. Dominicans are phenomenal baseball players- 10% of MLB players come from this small, island country. These guys were hitting water bottle caps (the tiny, blue kind) with sticks no more than an inch in diameter. Not easy to do. When I played baseball with the young boys at the orphanage they hit nothing but bombs. Crazy.

I like this photo- just some typical graffitti on a school playground.

We took all the students to the Haitian border to experience a busy market. Hundreds of Haitians were crossing the river with loads of food and goods in baskets on their heads, while others, like this woman, crossed the bridge on foot.


A beautiful hike up a small mountain overlooking the ocean.

My Dominican Trip

I just returned from a 1-week school trip to the DR where we volunteered at a local orphanage and taught English in some public schools. It was an incredible experience and a beautiful country- made me want to come home, pick up my family and take the next flight back. It was very hard to be away from Jodi and the boys for a whole week but I was able to build relationships with many of my students in new and exciting ways. Some of the highlights of the trip were hanging out with Bob, Terry and the boys over the weekend, swimming in the ocean, visiting the Haitian border market and just being immersed in Dominican culture and life. Of course, playing with the kids at the orphanage was great too. They are incredible kids- so open to newcomers and so genuinely happy. Here are some photos of the trip. More stories to come.

Guitar Hero

One of the perks of living in a boarding school is having access to the boarder's toys, including the XBOX 360. Over Christmas break Liam and I played some of my old favorites on Rock Band. Of course he doesn't know that I always unplug his drum kit or guitar first. Anyway, he's convinced that he is now a musician. When I heard him singing a Nirvana song to himself the other day after hearing the boarders' play it once, I realized that I need to be be very careful with our song selection. Or better yet, buy him his own (fake) guitar so he can rock out at home. Which he did. Hardcore. He's got a few moves: the front leg kick, the splits, the tongue wag, and the evil glare. I tried to show him the windmill but it's still a work in progress.

Getting ready for Christmas

This is what happens when you let Liam decorate the Christmas tree by himself.

The Hiatus is Over

Ok, so I guess it's been awhile since my last post. Sorry. The last few months have been busy with the boys and work, but that's no excuse for my poor blogging performance. Perhaps some nice pictures with will make it all better.

We had some pics taken of Seth- this is a favourite of ours.

I guess this is cute too.



For Halloween Liam was a Samurai. At times he took his costume a little too seriously, as seen below when he attacked the Chemistry teacher at dinner.

Seth was Po, from Kung Fu Panda. One of the boarders from Hong Kong bought this for him.
How often do you see a midget Samurai playing video games?



Our good friends Warren and Susanne also got into the Halloween spirit. Warren subs here at SJR and, needless to say, didn't get much respect from the students on this day.

More pics of Seth

Seth is finally here!

The stats:

Seth Zachary Kope

Born August 26, 2008

1:10 p.m.

8 lbs. 20 inches

Baby & Mom are both doing very well and are at home.

Enjoy the pics; I'm too tired to write anything else right now.

More pics to come...

Random Olympic Thoughts

I wanted to do a sports column, but since everyone is sick of hearing about Brett Favre (and rightly so), I'll go a different direction and post some notes on the first few days of the Olympics.

There were some odd team uniforms on display at the opening ceremonies, but none worse than this Danish atrocity. As one ESPN writer put it "JEAN SHORTS?! This isn't Gainesville, Fla.; this is the Olympics!".

Another terrible look was the Americans in their white berets. Naturally some of the 'ballers had to wear theirs angled to the side, making a bad idea much worse.

I'm starting to get into the swimming thing. I like the close finishes, and trying to predict which broad-shouldered lady may actually be a man is always fun. The U.S. comeback over France was unbelievable, but the "Michael Phelps is the greatest athlete of all time" argument is getting a little old. Keep in mind a couple of things. First, he's a swimmer. Second, very few athletes get to compete in that many events. Third, swimming is a fringe sport at the international level- just not that big of a deal. I heard a radio announcer sum it up best by saying "if we lived in Waterworld, then he would be the greatest athlete... if there was no land. Throw LeBron James in a pool for a couple of years and he'd break records too".

Another highlight of mine was the boxing match between the top-ranked Russian and the Ukrainian challenger. A lot of bad blood between those two, as could be seen by the Ukrainian building a lead then mocking the Russian to come and get him. Just another Olympic example of how the Games bring the whole world together in love and unity.

Back to Michael Phelps for a second. He used the term "Frenchie" in an interview with NBC after his team's win in the relay. Granted, the French swimmer had talked some smack before the race, but still, show some class (like the Spanish basketball team, who pulled back their eyelids for this picture in China, apparently without thinking through the obvious backlash it would bring).

Should women's gymnastics be considered a "sport" if people are upset because the other team used 13-year-old children to beat them?

I don't understand water polo- The ref is constantly blowing his whistle, but not much seems to change. I don't get the rules- apparently you can choke and dunk your opponent, and hold him underwater, but not all the time. It reminds me of a game a group of bored kids would make up in their backyard pool until someone almost drowns.

Same with fencing- sword fighting with no element of danger is just boring. I don't like it when they scream after each point or the fact that it looks like they're poking each other with floppy noodles. I want it to hurt!

Trampolining- come on, this cannot be an Olympic sport. Bouncing on a trampoline is not even a game. I admit the athletes are very fit and can do amazing tricks, but seriously, what's next, BMX? Oh wait... they have that too.

On a political note, nothing screams goodwill like invading a country and starting a war during the Games (nice one Russia), or bulldozing citizens' homes without paying reparations (way to go China!). I can't wait to see how Vancouver handles the "homeless problem" in 2010- my best guess is that they will either arrest the homeless (a la Atlanta in '96 when 9000 homeless were arrested without cause) or criminalize panhandling during the Games (a la Sydney in 2000). Who knows, maybe they'll choose the bulldozer method.

Enjoy the rest of the Games!

Happy B-Day Jodi!

Coming Soon...

Here are some recently taken photos of us, as we wait for the action to begin.

Cubicle Life- Part 1

I've spent the past three months of my life in a cubicle, and have found it to be one of the strangest and most fascinating of places. If you've never worked in a cubicle environment before, congratulations. If you do have experience in a large office setting, then you may have noticed some of the following characteristics of office life...

• The Elevator. An elevator is quite possibly the most bizarre place in the entire office. I want to know who created elevator etiquette and why we continue to pass it down to our children- Everyone face the doors. Absolutely no talking is permitted, unless it is a generic greeting or terrible one-liner. If you and a friend are in the middle of a conversation, put it on hold until you exit. Make minimal eye contact. Glance at your cell phone at least once for no apparent reason. And most importantly, check which floor you're on by staring at the numbers overhead every single time the elevator beeps, even if you know full well it's not your floor.
• The "Monday Joke". It seems I can't go an entire week without hearing one form of this classic: "How's it going?" "Great.... for a Monday". It's not even really a joke, but it's always followed by awkward laughter from both parties. Other versions include "Great.... for a Monday" when it is actually Wednesday, and "Great.... for a Monday" when it is actually Thursday.
• The "private" phone calls. I have overheard some truly remarkable things this summer. From working out student loans for hours on end to yelling at a home contractor for botching a job to planning weekend keggers. One of my favourite things to do is wait until the end of a personal call then throw out a comment like "Nice work. You sure told that guy." This is almost always followed by a "oh, you heard that..." as if it was ever in doubt.
• The Loud-talker. Every office has at least one. No sense of discretion. Inflated ego. Enjoys belittling other's ideas. Only one volume level. If you've seen Will Ferrell do the "voice immodulation guy" on SNL then you know what I'm talking about (if you haven't, then get a life). Our office loud-talker is so brash and annoying that as soon as he leaves the room, random phones all over the office start ringing as people call each other to make fun of him. I'm not kidding. This actually happens.
• The "crisis". Office crises come in all shapes and forms, and provide excellent entertainment value on a long, Thursday afternoon. Our most recent crisis was a leak in the ceiling tiles, which produced levels of near mass hysteria. Again, I'm not making this up. When one worker saw the leak, she immediately notified everyone else, and roughly a dozen co-workers gathered around to get in on the "action". Others stood and peered over their cubicle walls and talked delightedly with neighbours about the possibilities and potential "threats". I heard one concerned woman hypothesize that the leak was caused by the heavy rain, before a colleague reminded her that since we're not on the top floor that was unlikely. This went on for a good 15 minutes until the maintenance man showed up (without a ladder of course) to handle the crisis. One small bucket did the trick, and the relieved masses were finally able to get back to surfing the web.
• Needless procedures. Another highlight for me is the fire alarm, not because each false-alarm evacuation kills roughly an hour, but because I get to listen to the security officers talk through the intercom. Normally this wouldn't be funny, but in our office they are required to make an update every 120 seconds. So basically the guy gets on and says "Attention. The alarm is being investigated. You will be notified when further action is required." Then he repeats this over and over again. By this point those who are actually working (there are a few) want to scream back "We get it!!! Please stop announcing that there will be a further announcement!!!". I love it.
• Fire alarms also allow one to encounter the random office panicker- the person willing to push her way through the crowd on the stairs to get out of the building first. During our last evacuation I had the privilege of being "passed" (or pushed to the side, depending on who you ask) by the panicker, and she looked like she was fully willing to sacrifice my life if it meant a 10 second lead out the door. She had this crazed look on her face. I kind of felt sorry for her, but I also kind of hoped she tripped and fell too.

Well, that's all for today- got to get back to work! Wink. Wink.

Random Pictures

Since I have nothing interesting to write about, I'll post some pics...

Liam.... cute.

Best playground, ever. We found this place in Grand Forks a couple weeks ago, and Liam went crazy. It's called Sherwood Park Forest and it was great. The only drawback of a massive maze of medieval tunnels with solid, wooden walls is trying to find the children inside.

Liam and I trying to figure out the new board game rules.... turns out "Candyland" is pretty straightforward.

I wasn't the only one scared of "Billy the creepy Beaver" on Canada Day.

I love this picture- took it Canada Day at the Mint, where they had a historical village set up. I couldn't get over how weird it was to have a guy explain the details of a British soldier's life while holding a plate of tuna sandwiches and Tim Horton donuts.