the goose

over the weekend, my roommates and i went for a room bonding. 'bondings' at pearson, is the colloquial term used for any sort of time spent together with a certain group of people. there are regional bondings, large groups of 40-50 people separated into the 6 main regional groups of pearson. there are smaller, still based on origin country, bondings either based on single countries (germany, usa) or on smaller geographic locations (nordic, provinces of canada). there are also bondings based off of the languages we speak (francaphone, chinese/mandarin). there are house bondings, either separated by gender, or first year/second year, or altogether as a house! but most commonly, there are room bondings, where you organize an event or get together solely with the three other members of the space that you share and live in, in order to become more closely knitted.

we decided to sign out a few school bikes, and bike on the goose to metchosin, where my-chosen cafe lies. the cafe is a popular destination for pearson students, since it's essentially one of the 2-3 restaurants in walking distance (which is still about an hour!). the poutine, burgers, and general food is excellent. there's pizza which can sometimes be seen ordered to the college. there's also an excellent ice cream parlor, with supposedly great milkshakes and banana splits.

on saturday, the goose was utterly different from about two months earlier, when i'd last taken that part of the goose to metchosin. though still mostly green, now the sky was grey, and it was raining cold droplets. the best part, was the sea of yellows and oranges that covered the ground of the goose. as we sped by trying our hardest not to freeze, i was struck by such a beautiful image. i'm very grateful for the conversation and fun we had at the cafe. grateful to have such lovely roommates, who are funny, kind, honest, and respectful of each other.

photography

this morning i've been thinking a lot about photography, watercolors, and writing. i feel like i've interacted with all 3 pretty regularly, but have never advanced past the beginning phase of a lot of interest, and very little tangible talent. i want to take better photos; better composed, that use light better, and shadow and colors and scenes. how do you do this?

i want to write about my life with more than just rote description of what happened. i want to write more about my emotions, how i feel. what;s the point in blandly showcasing what has happened to me if i'm not writing how i experience what;s around me.

and it's time for more watercolors, less abstract, i'd like to do more detailed. perhaps even more on color theory. i think i'll get some watercolor paper next time i'm in town.

i've really got to write this philosophy essay, and clean my room. and then slowly think about other things. but i got some really yummy, crisp and warm, purple halloween tea from david's tea over cas week. i was very happy.

morning

this morning, i woke up to a hazy blue sky from the window above my bed. it was a comforting, pleasant sight, after a day of grey rain. i stood up, and saw white specks covering the roofs of the buildings around me. it was euphoric, pretty, calm, and special. snow had finally stuck to the roofs. its snowed a few times this week, but never stuck.

now, i'm sitting in the corner of the library, trying to stop thinking about things, to distract my mind. outside the window, golden sunlight is streaming in even though its past sunrise. it reminds me of my first day at pearson, warm summer sun and green.

the snow is slowly melting off the roofs now.

APAC

Wow, the last two weeks have been crazy. We've been preparing & then executing Asia Pacific (APAC) Regional Day, and I probably bit off way more than I could chew. I was leading the show, dancing in 2 acts, leading a workshop & trying to figure out my feelings about my culture & Singapore. It was a crazy, uniquely Pearson (or UWC?) thing to have a moment where you begin to seriously question your culture in relation to identity. The word identity is sprung upon us so often - in everyday conversation or as part of more formal discussions; and it's importance is hard to ignore at a school where the students come from such disparate areas of the world. What can hold us together? What impels to come together here? How do we share in common things? I feel the answer to all of these questions lie in our identities. The word identity even fascinates me; it's a marker, an identifier of yourself. Is it a presentation to the rest of the world? Or is it merely a way for yourself to get to understand your mind and beliefs better?

Regional Days increased this tension in me tenfold, I spent a while very concerned that I felt that I couldn't bring something wholly originally Singaporean to perform at the show. I think this traces back to how big performing and creativity have been as part of my life - I feel that I express myself best through performance; and here I was unable to come up with something Singapore specific to show. The internal conflicts of being born in an immigrant nation appeared to me for the very first time that I can remember. I felt like my culture was nothing, that it was just borrowed elements from other places (which were also doing their own dances/songs). In the end, I decided to try and express my feelings of my culture in a spoken word piece, and sing a bit of my favorite song from Singapore, 'Home' by Dick Lee. For some strange reason, the lyrics connect me to Singapore in a way that nothing else really can. Perhaps it brings up swells of nostalgia of home, of national days, of patriotism, of school, of red & white?

Pearson Life has really only amped up - I cannot believe it's been half the term already. This weekend I embark on a crazy adventure - CAS week, where students all go off campus to explore their CAS activities to a further depth. I'll be sailing on the Amatuana sailboat for a week with 5 other students - and I'm very nervous and a little excited to plunge into this adventure - I guess, it is onwards with life here at Pearson.

I hope you all find yourself in similar positions of joy and wonder.

Love,
Theo

North American Regional Day (NARD)

Yesterday - September 30, was the first of 3 Regional Days this year at Pearson, North American Regional Day (colloquially known as 'NARD'). At Pearson, students come from 6 general regions of the world; Afro-Carib, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East-South Asia (MESA), Latino, European, and the aforementioned NARD. Over the course of each student's two years, they are given the chance to organize their own regional day, and attend 5 others.

NARD started off thrillingly with a sunrise hike, which I surprised myself by waking up at 5:30 for. It was a small group of 6; lead by Alma & Morgane, I hiked up to Cougar Ridge, about 40 minutes away from the college. Cougar Ridge is a beautiful lookout above Matheson Lake, which is also a popular spot for people to swim in when the weather is fair! The group also included Anne-Sophie, Leif, and Adrita, and the walk there was a good opportunity to have some dazed conversations! Walking on the Galloping Goose (the 14km trail that runs down a part of Vancouver Island's coast, and passes by the college) is definitely a different experience in the dark, but still exciting! We got to the lookout just in time to see the sun's full ascent, and as it was a foggy morning, watch the rays peak out from behind the mist. On the way back, walking along the goose in the light was also beautiful! Here are some photos --

First arrival fog.

Adrita

Matheson Lake

Morgane

We left as the fog completely obscured our view - maybe it was a giant cloud.

As we descended, the glow & fog combined to create a magical atmosphere.

Walking back on the Goose!

I got back to campus, had breakfast, and basically passed out till noon. There were games being played on East House Lawn when I woke up but I went right on past to the Cafeteria where there was a special 'State Fair' themed brunch with churros & other Mexican desserts, as well as corn on the cob & hot dogs! Regional Days are meant to have better food than what is normally in the Caff, so I was really happy to see some things I haven't eaten since leaving home! Then, the afternoon was spent with our camp group (the activities had a theme of a Summer Camp!) rotating around different workshops put on by students from the NARD region. I really enjoyed the Independence Workshops & US-Mexico relations talks as I learnt about things I didn't know & found a human perspective to things I've often only seen as sensationalised facts in the news. I also learnt a lot about the Indigenous Peoples of Canada around a fire, and learnt about smudging which is a fascinating ritual practiced by the people. We also attended workshops on pop culture, Bilingualism in Canada, and Newfoundland/British Columbia.

After the workshops, there was about an hour where people went back to the houses to prepare for the swanky Hollywood themed dinner. It was so magical to watch everyone getting prepared and dressed up, and it's so nice to see people in such different clothes after a month of living together! The dinner was interesting, and it was fun to get to talk to the people sitting at my table, whom I haven't really spoken to yet! I learnt about Foday's life in Sierra Leone, Thompson's in Brazil & Naomi's in Hong Kong. It always makes me so happy to know that at Pearson, getting to know people better isn't limited to the first two weeks! Outside during dinner there was photo taking en-masse, which was fun but also got a bit overwhelming at a certain point, because it's really just all about asking people to take photos with you, which I always feel very awkward doing.

Then, came the big event of every regional day - the show! I was performing 'Feeling Good' as part of the Jazz Band, as was feeling very very nervous about staying on pitch and not messing up, so the next half hour was dedicated to practicing again and again, and not freaking out. Luckily, I think I managed to have pulled it off, and was thereafter able to enjoy the rest of the show from the audience! And oh, what a fantastic show! It was such a mix of beautiful heartfelt, intimate moments and raucous embracement of the unique differences that we have. One of my favorite acts was the Greenlandic dance, which managed to be sexy & scary; and was set to the coolest throat singing! I also really loved the Mexican mariachi band. But honestly, it's impossible to pick favorites, and at the end of the day I liked them all because they all were just beautiful people feeling proud in sharing their stories & cultures. It was particularly emotional for me to watch the finale with all from the region on stage and singing a song, and I got a little teary because I'm just so happy to be here, and to be sharing this moment with everyone in the room.

Right after the show, there was a party, where we danced for 3 hours non stop, after waking up so early I was more than tired so had to sit down multiple times, but it was so fun to be in the common room dancing to such great music!

Now - life has settled a bit after NARD, but not for long as planning for APAC day in 2 weeks has begun in earnest. And so, the cycle of craziness & fun continues.

Love,
Theo

1 Month!

Hello,

It's been one month at Pearson today. That seems so crazy to me! Both because "I can't believe it's already one month" and "has it only been one month?". I feel so grateful and happy to be a part of this community, next to the Pacific, in the middle of nowhere.

Whenever I see the sun hit the wispy strands hanging from the trees, or Pedder Bay glinting in the sunlight, or hearing Dina cackle, or squinting at Morgane, or hugging Marta, or smiling at everyone and saying hello, or hearing "How are you? Really really how are you?" at least once a day. Whenever these things happen I'm so happy to be reminded that I am here, because it's easy to get swept up in it all, and forget where you are. And how special a time it is.

Which is why one month hitting is a weird feeling for me. The time has been spent so fully, and so meaningfully for me. A week ago, I couldn't believe it had only been 3 weeks since it felt like 3 months! Maybe it's just the word "month" that makes me change my view. I've been thinking about the construct of time, and how I interact with it, and what it can do for me (a good reminder to do things that have a time limit) or what it does badly for me (make me dwell on a number that I have no control over). It's a confusing thing, but I'll keep thinking about it.

Academics are going a bit slowly since it's the start, but I'm on top of my work. School life is packed with homework, socializing, CAS, student jobs, and other duties around the school. I hope to sit down tomorrow and try to remember what I wanted to do at Pearson before I arrived, and to see if any of it is feasible. But right now, I'm off to bed!

Goodnight.

UWC Day!

UWC Day was held on the 21st of September 2017, coinciding with International Day of Peace. This celebration is meant to mark a day in all of the 17 schools that make up the UWC movement, and encourage a celebration and reflection on the unique situations that we all find ourselves in. The theme this year was “celebrating the power of diversity”.

At Pearson, it was a decidedly low-key celebration. We had classes as normal, though apparently last year there were no classes and many people did workshops, games, art, etc. But this year we had a few events after classes; including a football game & choir performance to bring together people from different backgrounds in order to appreciate time spent with each other, and we had a workshop on linguistic inclusion at Pearson.

The workshop was facilitated by Kim, the English B teacher and one of the Victoria houseparents. The first part involved everyone in attendance filing out an anonymous survey about ourselves, with questions on gender, socio-economic background, sexuality, race, discrimination, neuro-status, and other factors of ourselves. The surveys were collected and redistributed randomly and then one by one the options of the survey were read out and anyone who had a survey with the option was asked to stand. It was a fascinating endeavour, especially as it really opened my eyes to how in some cases we’re very diverse (race, socio-economic background, sexuality, mental health past), but how in other ways we are not diverse (disabilities, belief in the UWC mission). It just gave me a good reminder on the realities of being in this place, and provided me with lots of food for thought.

After the survey exercise, we moved onto linguistic inclusion exercises, including drawing language circles for everyone, where people drew circles based on their comfort in a given language. Then we taught our languages to each other, and my housemate Foday taught me some Creole from Sierra Leone which was a great exercise, and now I’m learning more Creole! We also had discussions on how we can become more inclusive of linguistic backgrounds, the use of English as a major language around the world (why? how?), and we even practiced a new common language of our own “Muglish”, which eliminated words and relied on expressions and shared signs. 

During dinner, which was probably the closest I’ll ever get to Chinese food in the caf (it was dumplings!), I laughed so so much and was just so filled with joy. It was my second year’s birthday, and Yousra came down to the cafeteria in her sunglasses and spent the entire meal indoors with sunglasses that genuinely made her look like a Bollywood star and I had dared her to do it at lunch and was so surprised that she had even remembered! I was also overjoyed to be surrounded by such fun, smiling people. I witnessed Bei-Yi take such a large slice of the delicious cake that it more than filled her plate, and Dina and I tried to start a announcement but no one joined in so we were just banging randomly on the table and I laughed so hard I fell!

After dinner, there was a student-led discussion on diversity in the Max Bell, and I was really grateful to have been a part of such wide ranging and honest discussion. It saddened me a little to later look at other groups who’re meant to be discussing but were all just on their phones. It resolves me to spend more and more time off of my phone. I am here to experience this world through my eyes, not through a screen. 

UWC Day at Pearson might not have been as intense as at some of other other schools, but I believe that it was a day that was entirely up to the student body, and next year I’d like to organise a few more activities. But also I believe that everyday at Pearson is a UWC day, So many times in a regular week (is any week ever really regular at Pearson?), do I feel that “this is such a UWC moment”. For that, I am grateful to be in an institution that so deeply embodies these values. Happy UWC Day to all.

Love,

Theo