Day 1

Monday: Day of Arrival

My students arrived very enthusiastically at 11:15, dropped off their stuff at the lodges, and joined me at the Friendship Circle. We had lunch as a big group, talked about the IslandWood rules, and then headed out as Team Lightning for the very first time. We started off by giving each other nature names. I decided to go with Eagle Erin this week. Next up was a solo hike....nothing like an abrupt entrance into nature and solitude! As they arrived to the Pond Shelter one by one, I could tell who had followed the "hug a tree" card because they were covered in moss. They were obsessed with hugging trees for the rest of the afternoon. On the way back we stopped to admire the shelf fungus and the maple trees (and giving it lots of love).



We made a stop in the Dining Hall and asked the chef what's for dinner. Turkey and mashed potatoes, surprise surprise! They also met Wade, our friendly dining hall scale that weighs the students leftover food.



Our next stop was to the gear room where they borrowed their rain pants and rain jackets for the week We played a game of Earth Eyes, then set out for exploration! I had hidden their IW journals around the admin wild zone, and their challenge was to find the hidden cultural items. I obviously hid them a bit too well and one of them was never recovered. Luckily I always carry a spare journal in my backpack just in case; I inconspicuously placed it by a log when no one was looking!

I had them journal about what their perfect week at IW would look like, and that lead into the community agreement where we discussed how they were going to achieve those things. "Earn the right to do these things", "Respect each other", "Keep our hands and feet to ourselves", "Listen to each other". Go team Lightning!





We discovered some deer prints and deer poop on the way back to the lodges. Fascinating stuff to a 5th grader.



As I was walking back to the lodge, I found out that my chaperone was from Malaysia! Not was she just from Malaysia, but from Penang! And not JUST Penang - she grew up in Fettes Park, right across from Island Plaza! We were practically neighbors! We talked about chicken rice and the best hawker stalls in Penang. That made me really excited.

Day 0

Allow me to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Evergreen Erin.

Tomorrow at about 1:30 I will be officially responsible for the week-long health and happiness of 7 fifth grade students + one chaperone at outdoor school.

Thus begins a typical teaching week at IslandWood.

As if I don't have enough to do already, I'm going to try to write about my teaching experience throughout the week.

This is what I know of this week so far:

I have 3 girls and 4 boys, one of which "doesn't like ice cream". When asked what they are afraid of about IslandWood, 6 out of 7 responded "nothing". The other student responded, "Not being able to call home." Tough cookies.

The weather is supposed to be sunny which makes me hopeful. What's not so hopeful is that it is quite late and I am going to wake myself up before dawn to go run. However, there's no better way to start the day than a few quiet moments on the beach, watching the sun rise.

Until tomorrow,

ee

Nature is neat

I think beauty's in the details. Forests are nice, and sure, trees are lovely too. But check out these gnarly roots!



And the bark of this Madrona tree!




This picture blows my mind, although it's a little bit too tiny to fully appreciate. I've been a little bit obsessed with this question lately and so I will ask it here: How many shades of green can you see?

Overwhelmed

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by life right now. A LOT overwhelmed, to be more correct. There's so much going on in my life: school, teaching, classes, relationships, and life in general. It's impossible to do it all.

But they're all good things. They're all exciting things: once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. This is my only chance to be at IslandWood, my only shot to live on Bainbridge Island, and I certainly can't replace or relive my relationships and the point of my life that I'm at right now. I'm surrounded by so many interesting people, places, and ideas. I wish I had all the time in the world to give myself fully to all of these things. But because that cannot be the case, some things have got to go. I have to prioritize my life according to what's most important to me, and inevitably things (even good things) will have to be let go. Say it isn't so!

How amazing it is to think about how overwhelmingly blessed I am! I am surrounded by so many good things that I can't humanly take it all in. My cup overflows. God is good.

A trip to the Peninsula

When Reuben was visiting for his last few days before he flew back to Malaysia, we took a short trip to the Olympic Peninsula. It was amazing!

We stopped by the visitor's center in Sequim and got some advice on where to go. The old man volunteering there told us about a beach in Sequim that we ended up going to.





More beach art. Andy Goldsworthy is my latest hero. It's amazing how many colors you can find on a beach!



We stayed at a B&B right on the cliffs of the coast.






We travelled East to Lake Crescent and visited Marymere falls






...then continued on to Lake Cresent, hiking the Spruce Railroad trail. We stopped for lunch. The lake is deep and water turquoise.








We found a cave where the old WWII railroad ties had been dumped in.

We love Wii

The holidays this year were a peaceful time in our household, and a lot of time was spent sitting jovially, our tummies full of eggnog and the Christmas spirit.

We read books.



We had our moments of music appreciation.



We stood around the fireplace.



We even sat through the music box.



The claws came out with one push of a button: Enter the Wii.

The Wii is a brilliant invention. Too cold for tennis outside? Play a match in the cozy of your own living room. Too lazy to stand up to play ping pong? You can play and sit on the comfort of your lazy chair. Is the nearby recreational lake frozen over? Go wakeboarding on your tv. The Wii is addicting. It's fun. It's competitive. And all ages can do it. With the exception of my mom, who refuses to touch the thing, the Wii brought my whole family together.

There's so much body movement and gesturing involved that we had to place physical barriers between the players and the tv so that remotes and/or hands would not get flung into the screen. People reported having sore muscles the next day, as a result of just a few rounds of fencing. It's that intense.






Just look the aggression on their faces.

Let it Snow!

It's unfortunate that Christmas this year couldn't be white, but Mother Nature redeemed herself on New Years Eve when a winter snow storm blew in. I was so excited!! My feet were in my boots before any of the kids.

There was only about a few inches (at most) of snow on the ground, but we thought it was the perfect opportunity to use unreasonably large and complex machinery to remove it from our driveway. The men loved it.







What would a snow storm be if we didn't go sledding down the massive West Valley Middle School hill?
If the experience could be summarized as a mathematical formula, it would be as follows:

Steep slopes + plastic sleds + small children = intense wipeouts.







And I caught a glimpse of one little boy catch a snowflake with his tongue for the very first time :)