This week in our Monday morning circle Ruth T. told us that we are going to have a very busy week. She said we are going to Grouse Mountain and Bard on the Beach. Also we are going to practice our play with the grade eight Waldorf students. After that we talked about the weather, stars, sports and then everybody came up and reported on their weekend activities.
Everybody loves the Monday morning sports report by Fred and Jim
In the afternoon we all gathered into Circle Hall and practiced our fairy tale eurythmy movements.
On Tuesday morning we went to Grouse Mountain. When we got there we took a tram up to the mountain. Then we took the chair lift up to the top of Grouse Mountain to see the view of Vancouver and its surroundings. After that we went to the Lumberjack Show. We saw how the lumberjacks used to work in the early 1900’s cutting down trees, climbing up posts, and transporting logs by floating them down the river. We also saw the lumberjacks compete against each other in contests of who could saw the fastest and climb the fastest. During the show we ate lunch and laughed at their funny jokes. After lunch we broke into smaller groups; one group went to see a movie about the birds, another group saw the bird show and another group visited the grizzly bears.
This week in our Thursday morning college John told us about the word ‘reconciliation’. Reconciliation means becoming friends after a disagreement. John explained that the Native children were taken away from their mothers and fathers and put into residential schools where they were forced to speak only English and punished if they spoke their native language. They had to reject their traditions and become like the white people. Residential schools opened in the 1850’s and were finally closed in the 1960’s. Since then, laws were made by the government to give the natives equality and a say in how their lives should be run. This has led to a beginning of reconciliation between the natives and Canadian people.
Since we were going to see Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’, we learned about the play from Patricia, who led Aiden, Jeff, Mary, Fred, Laurel and Eric in a couple of highlights from the play. Then in the afternoon we went to the play. Shakespeare wrote it in 1602. It was set in a hotel spa and it was like a musical comedy with lots of singing and dancing. During the play we laughed, cheered and enjoyed the funny parts.
Friday morning we went for a walk around the track and then Monique introduced us to our new coworker Jane who was born in Russia but now lives in Germany.
In the afternoon the grade eight students came to Circle Hall and practiced with us the eurythmy movements for the fairy tale ‘The Seven Ravens’.
September 14, 2013 Saturday morning Aiden, Fred, Susan and Marietta went to the grand opening celebration of the Community Gardens at City Hall. Gundula and I showed everyone how to use willows to make a trellis and a basket. During our two presentations people were very keen on trying out the project for themselves. Mayor Mussatto gave a speech saying thank you to everybody who came out to support this wonderful event and also to us for demonstrating our work for the community.