Dakota Christian

I am once again a new face, learning tons of new names, being talked about by students, trying fit in with faculty, and trying to not to look like an idiot in front of all these people. So far it has been pretty successful..minus the little incident yesterday where I walked in the wrong classroom, looked around, students all gave me a very strange look, and I walked back out to the sounds of hysterical laughter in the background.

It is getting a bit difficult to stay "Sharp" when I sit and observe for most of the day. Its way to easy to glaze over (I suppose that is why high school students are not always thrilled about it either).

I really like South Dakota. I feel a lot closer to nature. People are very personable and kids don't seem to be so stuck on themselves (not that LC kids are). I haven't taught yet, but I am looking forward to it. Classes are a lot smaller...which is kinda nice.

I love living with the Ruters. Its great to have friends so close! I feel a lot less independent. This is a good thing. I hope to post a few pictures soon.

Victoria, BC

-This is in Lynden on Saturday morning


-me and dave (he's a mountee)


-We rented scooters and drove along the water...the weather was beautiful!


-the view from our hotel


-capital building by night.


-By the famous Empress Hotel


-capital building.


-Me and Laura on the island.

OUTSide the Walls.

This past Wednesday teachers and students at Lynden Christian broke the monotony of the regular schedule and spent a day learning outside of school. Activities included tours of Victoria, Vancouver, Boeing Airplane plant, golfing, surfing, and many more. (Outside the walls happens once every four years). I was fortunate enough to be able to go hiking with 15 students and my supervising teacher Jon Van Hulzen. We headed to the base of Mount Baker and hiked Heliotrope Ridge which leads to one of the biggest glaciers that comes off of the mountain. Unfortunately it rained most of the time. I had rain gear so I was ok. The students on the other hand were drenched from head to toe for 4 hours...so they were not as excited about hanging out by the glacier as I was. Pretty cool school day though, no one disagreed with that.


-Jon Van Hulzen (my supervising teacher w/ his dad) teaches the students about the valley below.


-Nels likes the waterfall!


-Waterfall on the trail.


-Matt and David...notice the carhart...they grew up in Sutton, Nebraska.


-You can tell they are a bit colder than I am in this picture :)

Regent/Vancouver/Whistler

Beautiful British Columbia. Yup. Its true. I don't have my own pictures to prove it because I was trying to stay on the road (there was a lot of road construction..probably getting the roads ready for the 2010 Olympics).

Well, to start out I headed to Regent College in Vancouver on Thursday morning and caught the end of a class on Christian Education which was pretty cool. Then I hung around the Vancouver area for a while (lost, most of the time...which helped me to see more of the city I guess) and eventually went to my host families on Thursday evening. They had a small group over and I met a bunch of people from Regent. The Regent Community is Phenomenal!

I went to a Church history/Philosophy class on Friday morning which was awesome. The class just read The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis which I just read this summer, so I could sorta participate. After a few hours of that I drove up to Whistler and hung out in the Village for a while. I got board(probably because I got there late and I couldn't do a whole lot without spending the night/my life savings) so I drove around and picked up hitch hikers. I met some interesting folks...like two dudes from France who are spending a year in Canada traveling around and Snowboarding.

I got back in the States on friday night after waiting at the border for an hour and a half. Good Weekend...I miss friends though. :)


-unfortunately this is how I look now.


-Regent Picture.


-I was being unsafe and taking crappy pictures while driving. Vancouver downtown..from a distance.


-My Vancouver lodging (an apt on Oak/Prince Edward)


-Regent (on the campus of the University of British Columbia)


-Lion's Gate Bridge to West Vancouver.


-My Car has now been to Canada.


-Squamish, B.C. Visitor Center!