Well, I got my term paper back. 97%. Not bad! I didn't see anyone else who had a mark as high as that, although there were a number of people who did well.
I've got a paper due Friday and a presentation for Social Issues. I've got a family genogram assignment due next Monday for Human Services. I've got a paper due the following Thursday for College Prep, then an English essay the day following. I've got a paper due that Sunday for Psych, plus a quiz. I've got two more math quizzes, an optional math redo quiz, and at least one exam. I think I actually only have one exam, so that's nice.
I got to read a bit of next semester's cultural diversity textbook. It's got a lot on why white men are jerks. My prof said he was going to apologize to me now, because while I'm not the enemy, next semester I'm going to be treated like the enemy. That's cool.
Somebody must be giving out my phone number as their own. I got a ton of calls today from people asking for some lady I don't know. They were all looking for the same person, though. All day it was:
Person: Hello, is ___ there?
Me: No, I think you got the wrong phone number.
Person: Oh, I'm sorry, is this "###-####?"
Me: Yes.
Person: Oh. Do you know ___?
Me: No, I don't know anyone by that name.
Person: Oh, okay, thanks for your time.
Hmmmm......
Monday, November 26, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Grazing Deer
Recently, I was walking home from grocery shopping and I saw a deer standing next to the sidewalk. I went up next to it and it didn't run away. I didn't have my camera on me, and I forgot that my cell has a built-in camera. The deer inspected me, grazed, inspected me again, and finally galloped away. I guess it did leave because of me, but it stuck around long enough, and even as it galloped, it seemed to move at a relaxed pace.
I've also seen two rabbits and a hawk recently.
I got led through a smudging ceremony at the Aboriginal Services Office. Women traditionally burn sage, while men usually burn sweetgrass. Curiously, sweetgrass represents Mother Earth's hair, and burning it encourages men to come to terms with their inner woman. Just like the sweatlodge, it's meant to bring out feminine qualities in males. Unfortunately, since the male elder was busy, the female elder dealt with me, and she said that "A woman cannot teach a man to be a man, just as a man cannot teach a woman to be a woman."
That kinda hurts, since I didn't really have any male influences growing up. I guess that's why I failed to become a man.
That world champion martial arts girl hangs out at the Aboriginal Services Office all the time. Pretty cool, I get to talk with the champ!
That term paper that had me so frazzled turned out to be 35% of my final grade, so I'm glad I paid it as much attention as I did.
I volunteered at this career fair thing for my school on Saturday. I stood at a booth with my professor and two other students and we told people about Human Services Foundation. I think it went well.
Last week, the dryer didn't dry my clothes proper, and after I aired them out, they smelled funny. I've got my clothes in a dryer right now. I avoided last week's machine, so let's hope things turn out differently this week!
I've also seen two rabbits and a hawk recently.
I got led through a smudging ceremony at the Aboriginal Services Office. Women traditionally burn sage, while men usually burn sweetgrass. Curiously, sweetgrass represents Mother Earth's hair, and burning it encourages men to come to terms with their inner woman. Just like the sweatlodge, it's meant to bring out feminine qualities in males. Unfortunately, since the male elder was busy, the female elder dealt with me, and she said that "A woman cannot teach a man to be a man, just as a man cannot teach a woman to be a woman."
That kinda hurts, since I didn't really have any male influences growing up. I guess that's why I failed to become a man.
That world champion martial arts girl hangs out at the Aboriginal Services Office all the time. Pretty cool, I get to talk with the champ!
That term paper that had me so frazzled turned out to be 35% of my final grade, so I'm glad I paid it as much attention as I did.
I volunteered at this career fair thing for my school on Saturday. I stood at a booth with my professor and two other students and we told people about Human Services Foundation. I think it went well.
Last week, the dryer didn't dry my clothes proper, and after I aired them out, they smelled funny. I've got my clothes in a dryer right now. I avoided last week's machine, so let's hope things turn out differently this week!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Human Services Term Paper
Well, I just completed the largest paper I've ever written in my life. I think it's probably the most challenging assignment of the semester. That's why I haven't updated recently. I was so nervous, because that previous paper forced an all-nighter out of me, and it was one third the size and required half the research. I'd tried to prepare for this more major paper, but I was worried that my preparations would not be sufficient.
I surprised myself, though. The morning of the day before it was due, I was such a nervous wreck. Remember the time I did that all-nighter and OD'd on caffeine? Yeah, this time around, I had heart palpitations before I even put anything in my system. Pure anxiety. But once I got going, I was good. I even managed to get some sleep the night before.
One third of the class failed to hand it in, and it was a very major paper. Late penalty is 40%, with a 60% requirement to pass. Basically, you need 100% to pass if you're late.
I've been getting telemarketer calls on my cell. You know what for? For the Kitchener-Waterloo "Do not call" list. They advertise a service to stop telemarketer calls by using a telemarketing system...
I also got a call from the Guelph hospital. No idea why, they didn't leave a message or anything. I just saw the number, called it back to see who it was, and found myself at the Guelph hospital reception desk.
My cell phone has a weird beep that rings out after a phonecall from some kind of business. I have all it's sound settings muted and the ringer is on vibrate. When a regular person calls, there's no beep, but for the telemarketer call and the Guelph hospital, it beeps after the ringing is done. No idea why, and it's quite annoying.
I surprised myself, though. The morning of the day before it was due, I was such a nervous wreck. Remember the time I did that all-nighter and OD'd on caffeine? Yeah, this time around, I had heart palpitations before I even put anything in my system. Pure anxiety. But once I got going, I was good. I even managed to get some sleep the night before.
One third of the class failed to hand it in, and it was a very major paper. Late penalty is 40%, with a 60% requirement to pass. Basically, you need 100% to pass if you're late.
I've been getting telemarketer calls on my cell. You know what for? For the Kitchener-Waterloo "Do not call" list. They advertise a service to stop telemarketer calls by using a telemarketing system...
I also got a call from the Guelph hospital. No idea why, they didn't leave a message or anything. I just saw the number, called it back to see who it was, and found myself at the Guelph hospital reception desk.
My cell phone has a weird beep that rings out after a phonecall from some kind of business. I have all it's sound settings muted and the ringer is on vibrate. When a regular person calls, there's no beep, but for the telemarketer call and the Guelph hospital, it beeps after the ringing is done. No idea why, and it's quite annoying.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Winter Coat
Last month was heavy for finances. I got a cell phone, a vacuum, and a computer mouse. I'm trying to be frugal this month, but I've already been forced to make another major purchase. A winter coat. The one I've got at home is from my Linamar days, and it's safety-pinned up one side. There's always something else that you need, huh?
I had my first ESL conversation. One of my partners decided not to do it this semester, but I still have my other partner. I won't go into detail, but it was a very positive first experience. Apparently, I'll be getting another partner to replace the one who isn't going to be doing it.
Remember how I hated my Fox Man name from Cree nation? Well, the Ojibway really like me as a fox. They say that my perception of foxes is false and based on media, and they rattled out a list of positive fox-qualities. I don't remember them too well, except that foxes make good parents. I said that "When I look in the mirror, I don't see a little orange dog." They seemed to think that was funny.
I tried to say that being called "Fox Man" was a cultural insult, because all the people of that tribe were named things like "Running White Bear" or "Too Hard Bear" whereas the visitors were named things that followed the formula of "Animal + Man/Woman."
But the Ojibway use simpler names than the Cree, so "Fox Man" is just a perfect name in Ojibway.
I guess I really am Fox Man :(
I had my first ESL conversation. One of my partners decided not to do it this semester, but I still have my other partner. I won't go into detail, but it was a very positive first experience. Apparently, I'll be getting another partner to replace the one who isn't going to be doing it.
Remember how I hated my Fox Man name from Cree nation? Well, the Ojibway really like me as a fox. They say that my perception of foxes is false and based on media, and they rattled out a list of positive fox-qualities. I don't remember them too well, except that foxes make good parents. I said that "When I look in the mirror, I don't see a little orange dog." They seemed to think that was funny.
I tried to say that being called "Fox Man" was a cultural insult, because all the people of that tribe were named things like "Running White Bear" or "Too Hard Bear" whereas the visitors were named things that followed the formula of "Animal + Man/Woman."
But the Ojibway use simpler names than the Cree, so "Fox Man" is just a perfect name in Ojibway.
I guess I really am Fox Man :(
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Current Grades
Sorry I haven't been updating. The semester has really gotten into it's heated point. I've got three major assignments due on the same day, and I've got a huge paper due in about two weeks. I've also got tests and minor assignments due almost every day. Today, I had to go into school, and tomorrow, I have a psych assignment due. All my downtime has been spent sleeping or destressing. I'm afraid that updating my blog registers as an "obligation" in my mind, so I don't usually do it during my downtime.
Here are my grades, currently:
English: 82%
Preparing for College: 100%
Socil Issues: 95%
Human Services: 92%
Psychology: 83%
That puts me at 89% overall. Anything above 80% is Honours, and anything above 90% is Presidential Honours. So close!!!
Here are my grades, currently:
English: 82%
Preparing for College: 100%
Socil Issues: 95%
Human Services: 92%
Psychology: 83%
That puts me at 89% overall. Anything above 80% is Honours, and anything above 90% is Presidential Honours. So close!!!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Clarity on the Sweatlodge
So I have my English as a Second Language partners. I got two instead of one, and we'll be working in a group. As per my privacy policy, I will not go into further detail.
I spoke with the Ojibway elder again, today. Remember that cool post I made about my sweatlodge experience? It's probably my most frequently-referenced post. It's as edgy as I've ever dared to go publicly. A real fan-favourite from this blog, if it's possible to say that this blog has fan-favourites.
Yeah, well, I went over the same story with the Ojibway elder, and he made sense of the experience.Ready for it? I was on my man-period.
No, seriously! Men need to do the sweatlodge ceremony because we don't have our monthly spiritual cleansing, which happens to women in the form of menstruation.
So the sweatlodge makes up for that. When we enter the tent, we are climbing into Mother Earth's womb, and when we emerge, that is a spiritual rebirth.
I remember women doing the sweatlodge when I was in Chisasibi, and I remember them feeling that they benefited from it. There was even a female-specific ritual. I guess it's just not mandatory unless you're male.
Kind of weird to say that my moment of spiritual reawakening can be boiled down to having had a period. Props to you ladies who every month.
He explained about the hair-braiding thing. He said that the braid is made of three strands. One represents the body, one the mind, and one the spirit. Apart, they can be torn easily, but intertwined, they are strong. I said that that reminded me of the Cree belief that there are four aspects of the human being, which were the same, but with the inclusion of the emotional aspect. He turned and pointed to an emblem on the wall, a circle with four colours, and said that the four aspects are represented by it, the medicine wheel.
Had another metaphor for the medicine wheel of four human aspects. Said that if you imagined the wheel to be your life, and if you imagine it rolling along, than if you decrease the size of any of the four colours, than it makes an indent in the wheel, and you'll hit a bump with each rotation. Life's going to be a bumpy ride unless you balance your four aspects.
Aboriginal is a slightly offensive term. It's the most widely recognized, so they use it for their office, but they're trying to wean off it. It's because Aboriginal is a government-designated term, and it refers to bloodline but not culture. Nobody's going to get too mad at you for using it, but it's most pro to use the tribe name if you can, or there's a more general word they use, but I forget it... Inishnawa or something like that.
Oh yeah, and the word tribe is slightly, slightly offensive. Like, it's a proper term and has it's place, but it's overused and oftentimes there's a better term to use. You would usually want to say "Nation". Among the First Nations, they don't consider themselves Canadian. They believe they belong to many smaller nations that existed before we came along, and which still today exist, even if they're not recognized by everyone. You know how I was in "Cree Nation"? Yeah. Everyone has a nation. Ojibway nation, Blackfoot nation etc.
But the Inuit are a separate definition to First Nations, so I don't know about them.
I spoke with the Ojibway elder again, today. Remember that cool post I made about my sweatlodge experience? It's probably my most frequently-referenced post. It's as edgy as I've ever dared to go publicly. A real fan-favourite from this blog, if it's possible to say that this blog has fan-favourites.
Yeah, well, I went over the same story with the Ojibway elder, and he made sense of the experience.Ready for it? I was on my man-period.
No, seriously! Men need to do the sweatlodge ceremony because we don't have our monthly spiritual cleansing, which happens to women in the form of menstruation.
So the sweatlodge makes up for that. When we enter the tent, we are climbing into Mother Earth's womb, and when we emerge, that is a spiritual rebirth.
I remember women doing the sweatlodge when I was in Chisasibi, and I remember them feeling that they benefited from it. There was even a female-specific ritual. I guess it's just not mandatory unless you're male.
Kind of weird to say that my moment of spiritual reawakening can be boiled down to having had a period. Props to you ladies who every month.
He explained about the hair-braiding thing. He said that the braid is made of three strands. One represents the body, one the mind, and one the spirit. Apart, they can be torn easily, but intertwined, they are strong. I said that that reminded me of the Cree belief that there are four aspects of the human being, which were the same, but with the inclusion of the emotional aspect. He turned and pointed to an emblem on the wall, a circle with four colours, and said that the four aspects are represented by it, the medicine wheel.
Had another metaphor for the medicine wheel of four human aspects. Said that if you imagined the wheel to be your life, and if you imagine it rolling along, than if you decrease the size of any of the four colours, than it makes an indent in the wheel, and you'll hit a bump with each rotation. Life's going to be a bumpy ride unless you balance your four aspects.
Aboriginal is a slightly offensive term. It's the most widely recognized, so they use it for their office, but they're trying to wean off it. It's because Aboriginal is a government-designated term, and it refers to bloodline but not culture. Nobody's going to get too mad at you for using it, but it's most pro to use the tribe name if you can, or there's a more general word they use, but I forget it... Inishnawa or something like that.
Oh yeah, and the word tribe is slightly, slightly offensive. Like, it's a proper term and has it's place, but it's overused and oftentimes there's a better term to use. You would usually want to say "Nation". Among the First Nations, they don't consider themselves Canadian. They believe they belong to many smaller nations that existed before we came along, and which still today exist, even if they're not recognized by everyone. You know how I was in "Cree Nation"? Yeah. Everyone has a nation. Ojibway nation, Blackfoot nation etc.
But the Inuit are a separate definition to First Nations, so I don't know about them.
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