I went to a fight and an ice hockey match broke out!

Yet another eventful week has passed here in QC. Time is simply flying by in fact. I'll be home for Christmas before you know it!

It was a particularly challlenging week for discipline at school last week - I'm beginning to think they put something in the water here, they can't all have ADHD! As much as I want them to speak in English, when the whole class does so at once, it causes quite a racket! At least the majority of them don't need motivating! Still, they are such good fun to work with. In a lesson about holidays, one of my sports boys told me exactly why he wanted to go to Amsterdam... Funny, but a little too much information! The highlight of my week, however, was when one of the English teachers came to me to tell me how the students are raving about my workshops. A nice little ego boost there! It's always nice to be appreciated, and let's face it, the kids don't usually tell teachers they are enjoying school!

So, after a long and tiring week at school, what did I do at the weekend? Rest, relax, put my feet up in front of the telly? Of course not. I headed off to Saint-Georges de Beauce with the other assistants for a Thanksgiving Feast and weekend of frivolity. I had my first ice hockey experience on Friday evening, it was so exciting and so violent! I can see why everyone here (and I mean EVERYONE) is nuts about the game. It's great fun to watch, even when the game descends into all-out warfare between the players and the puck lays forgotten. As the saying goes - I went to a fight and an ice hockey match broke out! This game wasn't too violent though, because it was a junior league, so the referees stepped in fairly swiftly when things started to get out of hand. Even so, there were a fair few punches thrown, players smashed into the barriers and some sneaky stick-tripping going on!

On Saturday morning I had what could quite possibly have been the world's largest breakfast. It came on a plate the size of a large roasting tin, and consisted of 4 pancakes and maple syrup, bacon, 2 eggs, sausages, ham, creton (mince pâté), mini potatoes, 4 slices of toast, a large fruit salad and free refills of coffee. Needless to say I didn't eat for the rest of the day! We went shopping in the afternoon for all the bits and pieces we needed for our "traditional" thanksgiving feast - co-ordinating 20 people and 2 trolleys was very entertaining, but we didn't forget a single ingredient! We had a quick dinner then threw on our gladrags and headed to Au Vieux, the best (only) club in St-Georges. It was so completely packed there was only room to dance vertically - jumping up and down and moving your arms in a similar fashion! After a late-night poutine, we headed home to bed.

Sunday brought with it a flurry of activity in the kitchen, as 20 people tried to cook different dishes simultaneously. I was assigned to washing up duty (oh the joys) so for the most part I kept out of the way of the chaos in the kitchen, only being called upon as and when we ran out of pans, spoons, plates etc. etc. When everything was ready and spread out on the floor, we had our Thanksgiving picnic of ham, roast and mashed potatoes, chickpeas, stuffing, various vegetables, couscous, banoffee pie and apple crumble. Not exactly the traditional turkey and cranberry, but equally delicious, and after all, it's not the food or the decorations that make the holiday, but the people you spend it with, and we had good fun! One of the highlights of the weekend, however, had to be "Chinterviews" - where you draw a face upside down on your chin and give an interview in a funny voice upside down. We had American tourists, Germans and British MPs, I don't think any of us have ever laughed so hard!

Now I'm back at home in Beaupré, sorting out everything for another week at school. The little angels tried to convince me I hadn't taught them before, so they could play games, this afternoon. Nice try kids! On a random note to finish, I'm making soup for my dinner, but it's gone a very funny colour... Cauliflower is purple in Canada. So too is my soup now. I'm making a purple stew, scooby do do...

A bientôt!