My three lives of Guiding: The Nomadic Era [European Edition]

I hardly slept on the flight over to London. I was so excited. My plane was mostly empty and I had an entire row to myself. As in, the left, centre, and middle sections...three possible places to stretch out and sleep. Which I didn't.

When the place began its descent, I scrambled to the window on the left side and watched as the patchwork quilt country side slowly turned into a Metropolis. At the airport, a frazzled volunteer from South Korea, Ah Sook, was waiting for me. She was terrified she'd miss me even though she had a picture of me. She got to my gate over an hour before my place touched down, just so I couldn't squeeze past her.

She guided me down to the underground and we were off. I remember being in awe of my surroundings before the train dropped below ground. We stepped into the bright sunshine at Belsize Park and the first thing I noticed were the red brick buildings.

I don't remember the walk up the hill to Pax Lodge, but I do remember being greeted by all kinds of people. Just minutes after I made it to my room and closed my door to wash my face and unpack a few things, two girls knocked to see if I wanted to go RIGHT AWAY to Camden Town. I said no, but after that, I rarely said no to anything.

I made myself a promise that while I was having my once-in-a-lifetime experience I wouldn't say no to anything unless it was going to hurt me or someone else or was illegal or unethical.

It's a good promise to make. I went out when I probably should have been in bed. I spent a few dollars more than I probably should have to see some wonderful theatre and art. And it was worth it.


I had no idea when I walked into Pax Lodge that July that it would be just shy of three years before I settled down at home again. I was only supposed to be gone for a year.

I liked being a House Assistant (HA). It was hard work, no doubt about it, but it was fun too. I met all kinds of wonderful people. Guests, other HAs, volunteers on the World Board. It was amazing.

HAs worked hard, but they also played hard too. Many nights after a long day in the kitchen or doing housekeeping duties we would head out to the local pub or the Hampstead Heath and have some fun. Or we'd have a party on the balcony (weather permitting) or in the corridor once winter came. Or we'd squish into the Deputy's lounge or sprawl around the conference room and watch movies. Working and living in such close proximity we became quick and fast friends.

Every month we had a change over of staff - anywhere from one to four people. While we always heartily welcomed new staff, we mourned the loss of our friends...a real emotional roller coaster.

I spent a wonderful, exciting, marvellous six months at Pax Lodge. I loved it. I was happy there. Sure, I missed my friends and family, but I was having a blast. When my six months were up, I packed myself off to Denmark to visit TeamHardCore, who was there on Rotary Exchange and then hopped on a train down to Switzerland to hang out with my aunt, uncle, and now two cousins in Switzerland for five weeks.

Because, just before Christmas, I found out I was going to Our Chalet. My dream was coming true!


I was there for three glorious months and met some of the most wonderful people ever. I kept my promise to myself and by the end of my time there, I skied a black run. I was never, ever, ever again going to downhill ski after a disastrous day on the mountain when I was 16, but my promise made me do it. And I loved it.


My plane ticket was waiting for me in the Pax Lodge safe and in order to get it back, I had to go back to work there for four weeks. Okay, so not had, but I did go back for four weeks. They were short someone for one of the busiest months of the year, so I was happy to help out.

I boarded a plane on July 4th, returning home to Canada a different person. A person who had been bitten by the World Centre bug.

I went to Guide camp. I became a Guider leader. I got a real job. That paid well. That had benefits. That would become a career. And just before Christmas, I quit. So that at the beginning of January I could jump on a plane back to Pax Lodge for another year. This time in a paid position.

I had another wonderful year. I made so many friends. I did so many things. I travelled to so many places in Europe. I wanted to stay, but visa issues meant I had to go home. But I wasn't ready.

So I packed my stuff. Sadly waved goodbye to Pax Lodge. Got on a plane. Cried all the way home. And three weeks later I got on another plane and zoomed off to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii for 13 weeks.

On my first day there, I met up with another Canadian who I met at Pax Lodge and two Australian who had been there at different times...they ended up working together on the same Guides Australia Committee!


I had a great time roaming across the bottom of Australia, visiting all my marvellous friends from my time away.


My wonderful and amazing friend, Virginia, and I travelled up the east coast together and spent three days travelling through the outback to Uluru (Ayres Rock).


I was the maid of honour at a New Zealand wedding. My Pax Lodge friend from New Zealand married a boy scout from London who she met at Our Chalet. There's some Guiding connections for you!


By the time I got home, I was ready to be home. I missed my London life and home. I missed my wonderful friends. But I was ready for what ever was waiting for me next.

My three lives of Guiding: The Nomadic Era [Canadian Edition]

Off I went to university...Guiding came with me.

I became a Sparks Leader. I might have been an adult, but I was still a girl...I was in a part of town where the leaders were a pretty even mix of 18-22 year old students and moms in their late 30s-50s. With the exception of a small few of the "older" leaders, most of them figured us young uns had no idea how to run a group, had no good ideas, were irresponsible, and couldn't be relied on. It went so far that the treasurer wouldn't let me keep the books for my unit, but oddly enough she let me and the other guiders in our group (who were the same age as me) buy things and write cheques to reimburse ourselves...

Anyway...frustrations aside, Guiding was important to me as a student. It was something I did for myself. Something I did that had no relation to my studies. Something I looked forward to every week, because no matter how tired I was or how busy I was or how many assignments I had, I got to leave it all behind for a couple of hours every week and have a blast with five year olds. And they know how to have fun!

I loved my Sparks...but they were only around until April when school ended and I went back to Kelowna. For two summers I helped in a Pathfinder group when I was home - the opposite end of the spectrum - 12-15 year olds. Who were a challenge and lots of fun, just different fun than Sparks.

As graduation approached and I still had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, I started thinking about what to do next. And I didn't know. I knew I was done with school for the time being. I knew I didn't really want to jump feet first into the work force and have a retail or office job that I didn't particularly enjoy. I figured there must be something out there that would give a challenge, that had purpose, that might even be fun.

That's when I remembered a promise I made to myself when I was 14.

When I was 14, my wonderful Mama decided I should accompany her to Switzerland when she went for her annual visit to see my aunt, uncle, and cousin who lived over there eight months (or so) of the year. I was thrilled. I had a blast. I decided I loved Europe and travelling. And I visited my first World Centre.

My aunt and uncle weren't far from Our Chalet, so we went. The only day we could go was a day that was actually a cleaning day - the staff spent the day scrubbing the building from top to bottom - and they were technically closed but they agreed that we could come up and go for a tour.

I had a great time. The snow was taller than me. We had a tour, given by a volunteer, Helen, from the UK. The people were all so nice and friendly. And I vowed I'd be back. I wanted to volunteer just like Helen did.

So, when I got stuck on what to do with my life after I finished university, I turned back to Guiding and did some research on World Centres. Based on the availability of volunteer jobs, the times of year and duration of those positions, and my vow to return to Our Chalet, I decide to apply there and also to Pax Lodge. I wanted to go back to Europe.

I applied at the end of my third year of university. I spent hours on my applications. Eight-seven people looked over my applications and made suggestions. I rewrote my cover letter so many times. And then I sent them off. And crossed my fingers.

And, on September 25, 1998, I got the letter I was waiting for from Pax Lodge. They had accepted my application to be a House Assistant. I was excited for days. I spent my last two semesters as a student dreaming about my six month stint in London.

Just before I left Vancouver in April of 1999, ready to have a great adventure, I received a surprising (and welcome) phone call from my District Commissioner (DC). My District had been very supportive of my adventure, even chipping in to buy me a new uniform and some gifts to take with me, but there was still an undercurrent of grouchiness towards younger guiders. My DC called to tell me that while she was still working to convince all of the "older" Guiders in our District, she knew the value of young Guiders and knew that her District wouldn't be able to have half the number of units it had without young Guiders. Her acknowledgment meant the world to me!

And so, I found myself on a plane in July, ready for the experience of a lifetime!

Thoughts on today

February 22

Birthday of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell

World Thinking Day

I spent a lot of time thinking today. Thinking about how Guiding has changed and shaped my life. Thinking about how the people I have met because of my involvement in Guiding have become part of my life. Thinking about how my life would be radically different if I'd never been involved in Guiding.

Today I spent some time, quietly reading my "book" and flipping through photos albums.

Today I am thankful for my Guiding friends and the fun we've had together.

Today I also spent a lot of time forming posts in my head.

So, for the next little while, there might be a lot of Guiding content on this blog...

Happy World Thinking Day to my wonderful friends here in Vancouver, across the province, across the country, across the continent, and across the globe. You have been (and are) very important people in my life. Thank you!

Pick up where you left off friendships

I've mentioned before that I lived in London for a long while and in Switzerland for a short while and that I worked at Pax Lodge and Our Chalet during that time.

Working at World Centre means that on a fairly regularly basis I said goodbye to some of the women I lived and worked with and hello to some new ones. And by fairly regularly, I mean at least once a month there was a staff changeover of between one and four people.

Now, these women were usually in three to six month volunteer positions, but long(er) term staff changed as well. We all lived, worked, slept, and ate in the same building. Because most of us weren't from London, we became travelling and site seeing companions and by default we often ended up as friends.

There are many women who were part of my experiences at Pax Lodge and Our Chalet that I still consider very good friends. And some of them are so very different from me and have such different lives than me that I can't imagine we would have necessarily met, let alone become friends, if it weren't for our common World Centre experience.

ANYWAY...all that rambling is because yesterday we hopped in the car after J had gymnastics to have lunch at the airport.

Yes. At the airport.

Actually at the Fairmont. Which is a lovely place to have lunch if you have a few dollars burning a whole in your pocket and you have three hours. We had a great time. For the second time in two weeks.

We met my friend Heather and her friend Maia at the arrivals area and trekked across the airport. Heather and I worked together at Pax Lodge and Maia currently works at Pax Lodge. And Heather worked there until last year.

And even though it's been about 15 months since I saw Heather, and even though we've been bad about keeping in touch because some of us had crazy things happen with our jobs and some of us got new jobs and some of us went travelling in Africa and some of us have two year olds and a husband, well we just picked up where we left off 15 months ago. The only differences were the addition of Maia, who fit right in, and J is now a walking, talking small person, not a baby. And when we saw Heather 15 months ago, well, we picked up where we had left off 20 months before that.

And I love friendship like that.

I need friendships like that. Because if you check out Heddy's blog, you'll see that I'm a bit of a hermit these days and being able to dive right it like no time has passed is important.

Yeah.

Sorry, no pictures. We were enjoying the company too much!

PS Hi to all my pick-up-where-we-left off friends...I know there are a few of you read my ramblings! Hope we can pick up where left off sometime soon!

Olympic Weekend Out and About

My parents came to town for the weekend to take in some of the Olympic festivities. We had a great time just being tourists.

not sure what it all means but it's obviously very important and very official

Italian-Canadian? Problem solved!

our cheerleader, decked out in Miga-wear

I stole this from Kelsey. We had dinner at Yew at the Four Seasons and Evgeny Plushenko showed up. We clapped. Kelsey stalked him to get a blurry picture of his back. It's all good!

the whole gang in the bobsled

count down clock counting up

welcome world

Kelsey and Kamiah

Alex the ski jumper

THE Flame

Live City Yaletown from the Granville Street Bridge

English Bay lasers and the Burrard Street Bridge

J and I met my parents and my aunt and uncle and hung out on Granville Island on Saturday. We went to the Place de la Francophonie for lunch. This sign was outside the door as we went in.

And here's our drinks...I was going to take pictures, but forgot because I was hungry, but we got food, there was a stroller parking area and pretty much everyone was in outside shoes, many that were not soft soled!

J loved the stilt dancers and danced away on Bop's shoulders!

patriotic puppy

We met my friend Mary Kay from Virginia (who I met at Our Chalet) for dinner. She was here with her fiance Kory (who we also met) and her mom and sister for her third straight Olympics. We said goodbye to them and they went off to a hockey game - their second of the day!

We weren't sure if these signs were suggesting women's ski jumping has no place in the Olympics or protesting that they aren't in the Olympics this time...this was it...no other indicators around.




What a weekend...we need a weekend to recover I think! And there is still almost a week of Olympics left and two weeks of Paralympics!

It's been seven years...

but we picked up exactly where we left off...


Nine years ago I met Rebecca (second from the left) in Switzerland and we created some havoc together. The picture of us in the bath tub (with Christy and Liz on either end of the tub) is the night before I left Switzerland we had a little party...

Anyway, two years later I went to Australia and spent a couple of weeks with Rebecca in Melbourne. She was here yesterday with her friend Dani - they had just spent nine weeks travelling together and they stopped in Vancouver for a few days. Rebecca was on her way home to Australia today and Dani headed south to Washington and California. But even though it had been seven and a half years since we saw each, Rebecca and I just picked up where we left off...it's so nice to have friends like that. I was so sad to see her leave our apartment tonight - we had such a lovely day together - we walked through Stanley Park and part of downtown, we went for Greek food, we went to MEC, we had birthday cake and we got takeout Chinese and we just had a great time. Amazing how seven years of life have passed and while many things have happened in our lives, it's still comfortable and easy and great.

The other half of Shannon Squared for dinner

My friend Shannon who I met when we both worked at Our Chalet is in town for three weeks doing an elective for med school. She came over for dinner last night, only the second deck dinner we've managed this year AND we got rained out. We haven't seen each other in seven years so we had a lot to catch up on and a lot of photos to look at! I love seeing old friends, especially when it feels like no time has passed at all!!

Oh, and 2[Shannon]=[Shannon]^2 where [Shannon]=2

Small World Coincidences

In Guiding there are lots of campfire songs that make people happy, drive people crazy, make people cry etc etc. It's A Small World enjoys a love-hate relationship with lots of Guiders - it's easily overused, but it is also very representative of the Guiding movement.

Blah blah blah Shannon, get to the point...

So, tonight was my last Italian class and we had a bit of a party with food and loud Italian music and the tarantella. We also had an opportunity to talk to some of our classmates and have a real conversation with them because we were saying more than just "My name is..." and "My eyes are..." and "My job is..."

One of the ladies was asking me how I got to do most of my travelling and I generally mentioned Guiding, but when I said something about the Alps, she said, "Oh! Our Chalet. I think I can still sing the song."

So we started talking and she was a girl and adult member of Guiding and now that she's retired, she wants to be a leader again. At this point, another woman jumped in and said, "I'm a Guide leader. Want to be part of my group? We're always looking for more leaders."

In the conversation that ensued, we discovered that I had actually trained the second lady a few years ago. I thought she looked vaguely familiar, but she works at the university, so I didn't really think anything more of it.

All of which leads me to conclude...it's a small world....

weekend in Calgary

Friday morning, Alex and I flew off to Calgary for the weekend to attend Christy's wedding. We stayed with my cousin Melissa, her husband Neil and her son Carsen. Yet another weekend that was over FAR TOO SOON...Oh...and I guess I took a lot of pictures...

We arrived at the airport SUPER EARLY because of the security measures and got to eat with plastic knives, although we got real forks and spoons. Alex was also very happy to be able to watch the sports...

let's go! let's go!

thought bubble: I wish we had a tv with sports on it at home...

see the lover-ly plastic knife?!?!

The wedding was beautiful. Christy and Rob both looked so happy! They were surprised to leave the church and find Christy's Swiss dancing ladies waiting to greet them and a horse drawn carriage to take them to the reception. Christy's sneaky dad waited until she went on vacation before the wedding and arranged with her colleagues for a police escort too!

Leaving sunny Vancouver

The Rockies

FLAT Calgary

Carsen with his new cars

Alex and Carsen playing with the pumpkin balloon (and Harley, the dog, sulking cause he didn't get to play too)

Alex was the chief navigator...we made it everywhere we needed to go, even when we made the directions up on our own!

Christy and her dad, Hans

Mr. and Mrs. Rob and Christy Christen

SURPRISE...Police Escort

see you at the reception...

Alex boogieing with the bride

Alex happy to go home...look he's got the paper and Starbucks...what better way to wait out the snow is there?

snowy, foggy airport

de-icing the plane

Oh and by the way...I still want to be a paleontologist (yes, I know these aren't fossils, but they are dinosaurs!) and I DID go to Calgary too...I'm just not in very many of the pictures...

pterodactyls

see, here I am...double chins and all