Greetings from the Carter family for the Christmas of 2009. This has been a very special year for us as we have spent it in Canada as part of a teacher exchange program.
We arrived into a Canadian winter at the beginning of January and settled into our cosy exchange home in Kingston, Ontario. Our early days were spent buying winter clothes and acclimatising to snow and temperatures as low as minus 27!
Veronica began teaching at Holy Cross secondary School (a school of 1400 students), where Emily also attended, while Max and Nicholas were both enrolled across the road at Mother Teresa Elementary School. A school of over 300 students, this was quite a challenge for the boys after coming from their small Tilba school. However, within a few short weeks, all three children had settled in and made lots of friends. Canadian people loved to hear their accents, and they were quickly accepted into their school communities.
Veronica has found the high school system to her liking and has thoroughly enjoyed her year of teaching. She has taught Careers and Civics courses, and has appreciated the early finish to her day and the short drive to and from work. John, meanwhile, has played house husband, taxi driver and has been teaching as a supply teacher in the local Catholic elementary schools since April.
It has been a wonderful year for us both professionally and as a family. Some of the travel highlights of our year have included a week in New York City during March and a seven week, 10 000km caravan trip to the Atlantic Maritimes and down into the United States to Washington DC over the summer break. We have also ventured to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, the Muskokas, Barries Bay and Niagara Falls, as well as numerous day trips to local places.
The children have had the opportunity to skate, snowboard and ski during the winter. Nicholas and Max have played soccer and swum competitively, while Emily has danced the year away at a very professional dance school. They have all done well in their school studies. We have been very proud of the way in which they have tried so many new things. Emily won a dancing role in her school’s performance of ‘Westside Story’, while Max was elected by his peers as School ‘Team Leader’. Not to be outdone, Nicholas was also elected by his class as their representative on the Student Council.
We have made many friends that we hope will continue to be part of our lives in years to come. We have been made to feel very welcome and are saddened in many ways to have to leave.
As we send you this Christmas message, we are preparing to return home to Narooma (and our much loved – and missed - dog Cozmo!). We leave Canada on Christmas Eve, and will spend Christmas Day in Hawaii before returning to Australia on January 1st. We will catch up with John’s family in Sydney and Nowra before we head back down the coast to Dalmeny and a relaxed January.
We hope you and your family are well as we head into the Christmas season and that you have had a safe and happy year. We would love to hear from you in 2010.
Merry Christmas
Veronica, John, Emily, Max and Nicholas
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