I was at a meeting the other day. It was supposed to start at 9:00, so being a good Canadian, I showed up at about 8:40, since I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I know that things tend not to start on time here, so I was surprised when we got rolling at 9:15, with about 75% of the group present.
As the last few people trickled in, each one politely entered the room, greeted the group and sat down. One lady, though, as she found her seat just before 10:00, decided she needed to provide a reason for being late.
"Sorry I'm late," she says. "I'm on vacation and I came from my beach house. I'm going back there after this meeting." That's it. Everyone nodded understandingly and we continued with our meeting.
Hmm... Forget 'the dog ate my homework', or 'I got caught in a traffic jam'. Nope, next time I'm late, I'm going with the beach house excuse.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Soccer Fever
I can't believe I didn't get around to blogging about this sooner, but the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament just finished here.
If you don't happen to be married to a soccer nut or live in a soccer crazed country like me, the Confederations Cup happens the year before the FIFA World Cup (which happens every four years) in the host country, as a bit of a trial run before the big event. Brazil is the proud host, and Fortaleza was one of the five cities selected to play the games.
Karl and I had the privilege of going to not just one, but TWO games! The first was Brazil v. Mexico, which Brazil won 2-0, and redeemed themselves for having lost to Mexico during the Olympics. The second was a semifinal game, Italy v. Spain, which Spain won 7-6 in a penalty shootout. We went to this game with Arlene and Jeanette, our two Canadian volunteers here to help us out with English Camp.
The entire country had soccer fever during the event. Here in Fortaleza, every game played in the city was actually declared a holiday, so people could be part of the excitement.
If you don't happen to be married to a soccer nut or live in a soccer crazed country like me, the Confederations Cup happens the year before the FIFA World Cup (which happens every four years) in the host country, as a bit of a trial run before the big event. Brazil is the proud host, and Fortaleza was one of the five cities selected to play the games.
Karl and I had the privilege of going to not just one, but TWO games! The first was Brazil v. Mexico, which Brazil won 2-0, and redeemed themselves for having lost to Mexico during the Olympics. The second was a semifinal game, Italy v. Spain, which Spain won 7-6 in a penalty shootout. We went to this game with Arlene and Jeanette, our two Canadian volunteers here to help us out with English Camp.
The entire country had soccer fever during the event. Here in Fortaleza, every game played in the city was actually declared a holiday, so people could be part of the excitement.
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| Thank you, Coke, for really cool tattoos! |
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| A sea of yellow and green |
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| The masses flocking to the stadium |
English Camp
This July we have been hosting our first round of English Camps! We planned 3 weekend events throughout the month.
Each event runs from Friday evening until Sunday evening. We pretty much have one rule: Once you arrive at our front gate, you leave Portuguese outside and speak only English inside!
We have been so fortunate to have two awesome volunteers helping us for the month. Jeanette and Arlene both hail from southern Manitoba area and have been invaluable when it comes to planning activities, food prep and interacting with our 'campers'.
We always make it very clear to people that we are NOT a language school. There are plenty of those around, and we do not want to be seen as competition. We want to be a SUPPORT to these language schools. We let them teach things like grammar and vocabulary. We are native English speakers who they can use to practice what they have already learned in class. We do this through organized games (like Taboo, Scattergories and Funglish), activities (like putting on a mini Amazing Race and baking cookies), and of course, leaving lots of time to just hang out and chat while we laze in the pool, kick a soccer ball around, or make pies in the kitchen.
All the meals we serve are foods typical to North America. People get the opportunity to try things like quiche, cinnamon buns, pancakes (of COURSE they are topped with maple syrup!), tacos, and lasagna. Although I have to admit that the most popular meal is definitely roasting hot dogs around a campfire and s'mores for dessert.
Aside from language and food, we strive to give people a distinctly Canadian cultural experience as well. People can attend workshops on Canadian idioms ('Keep your stick on the ice') and linguistic quirks, eh?! We also try to talk about what day to day life is like in Canada (like how many layers of clothing you have to wear in winter, or the fact that Canadians tend to be punctual). Above all else, we are teaching people that no matter what we Canadians are, we are NOT Americans! (Sorry if I offended you, my American friends. - Did you catch the ever present Canadian Sorry there??)
We have finished our first two events, and our third is coming up this weekend. The first two went SO WELL! If you happen to be in the Northeast of Brazil this weekend and would like to sign up, we still have a few spots available! Give us a call, or message us on Facebook and sign up!
Here's what people are saying about the events:
"One of the best experiences I have ever had! Thank you!" -Lia
"By Sunday morning, I noticed myself thinking in English. It was awesome!" -Victor
"How the people in the organization were so dedicated and kind and the activities push us to a better level." -Emanuel
Here are some pics for you to enjoy!
Each event runs from Friday evening until Sunday evening. We pretty much have one rule: Once you arrive at our front gate, you leave Portuguese outside and speak only English inside!
We have been so fortunate to have two awesome volunteers helping us for the month. Jeanette and Arlene both hail from southern Manitoba area and have been invaluable when it comes to planning activities, food prep and interacting with our 'campers'.
We always make it very clear to people that we are NOT a language school. There are plenty of those around, and we do not want to be seen as competition. We want to be a SUPPORT to these language schools. We let them teach things like grammar and vocabulary. We are native English speakers who they can use to practice what they have already learned in class. We do this through organized games (like Taboo, Scattergories and Funglish), activities (like putting on a mini Amazing Race and baking cookies), and of course, leaving lots of time to just hang out and chat while we laze in the pool, kick a soccer ball around, or make pies in the kitchen.
All the meals we serve are foods typical to North America. People get the opportunity to try things like quiche, cinnamon buns, pancakes (of COURSE they are topped with maple syrup!), tacos, and lasagna. Although I have to admit that the most popular meal is definitely roasting hot dogs around a campfire and s'mores for dessert.
Aside from language and food, we strive to give people a distinctly Canadian cultural experience as well. People can attend workshops on Canadian idioms ('Keep your stick on the ice') and linguistic quirks, eh?! We also try to talk about what day to day life is like in Canada (like how many layers of clothing you have to wear in winter, or the fact that Canadians tend to be punctual). Above all else, we are teaching people that no matter what we Canadians are, we are NOT Americans! (Sorry if I offended you, my American friends. - Did you catch the ever present Canadian Sorry there??)
We have finished our first two events, and our third is coming up this weekend. The first two went SO WELL! If you happen to be in the Northeast of Brazil this weekend and would like to sign up, we still have a few spots available! Give us a call, or message us on Facebook and sign up!
Here's what people are saying about the events:
"One of the best experiences I have ever had! Thank you!" -Lia
"By Sunday morning, I noticed myself thinking in English. It was awesome!" -Victor
"How the people in the organization were so dedicated and kind and the activities push us to a better level." -Emanuel
Here are some pics for you to enjoy!
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| I have never played such an exciting game of Uno in all my life! |
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| Breakfast of champions: Pancakes and Sausages |
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| My version of Timbits |
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| Mmm... Brownies. |
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| These are our event shirts. If you haven't liked us on Facebook yet, check us out! |
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| Starting things off right with a wiener roast and s'mores |
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| Practicing English can be fun AND tasty as we bake cookies together |
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| Amazing race challenge #4: Learn to throw a frisbee, then hit a target. If it goes in the pool, you gotta fetch it! |
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| Amazing Race challenge #5: Canada Quiz |
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| Amazing Race challenge #6: Get your blindfolded teammates to hit you with a water balloon. |
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| And every now and then, we have a moment of misunderstanding. The goal was for them to CRAWL UNDER the pipe. .. Yeah... |
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| Amazing Race challenge #7: Follow instructions to build a Lego house |
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| What is more North American than line dancing to Boot Scootin' Boogy? |
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| Karaoke after our country western theme night |
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| Country western theme night |
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| If you have never played Funglish, you are missing out. |
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| Funglish clue words. Use these descriptors to get your team to guess the mystery word. |
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| Iced Coffee toast to celebrate a great weekend |
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| A group hug to send people off |
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