Canadian Gal Lost on Guam

It’s been a week of reflecting and thinking about my former home in Canada, Powell River, BC.Partly this is due to a new magazine my mom shared with me. Powell River Living

I moved to PR when I was 14. It was in high school that I met my husband, Les. We dated for four years and then got married when I was at the tender age of 19. This didn’t thrill my parents as they felt I was too young to get married. And that I should finish my university education. I did attend two years at UVic, majoring in Elementary Education. But it was the early 80′s and Canada was in a recession. Money was tight. Jobs were scarce. When it came time to return for my 3rd year of university, the funds just weren’t there, despite my efforts to be frugal and save. So instead we returned home to Powell River and set up house there. Soon we began adding children to our family, and our first son, Kevin was born, while living in a cute cottage at Black Point. When Kevin was 8 months old I had the opportunity to go back to school at Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University, Powell River Campus) for my Early Childhood Education Certificate. For the next few years I worked at various preschools and day cares throughout PR, adding two more children to our family (Adam and Stephanie). Then, in 1995, came the call to move to Guam.

What a culture shock that was for me. Here I was, a small town gal, flying half way across the world – by myself! My husband and eldest son had ventured on ahead to assess the lay of the land. Two months later I was told to pack up, sell all we owned and join them in Guam.

Upon arrival on Guam one of the first things I noticed was that the local Chamorros (native Guamanians) reminded me so much of the Sliammon Indians. Their looks, stature, skin coloring. It really opened up my eyes to how much alike all human kind is, despite a vast ocean between.

Soon more similarities came to me. Living in Guam is really like living in a small town. First there was the isolation factor. Guam is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, reachable only by plane or a very long boat ride. Powell River is isolated too. You cannot drive to Powell River, but must take two ferry boats from Vancouver area up the sunshine coast. So leaving the island of Guam or leaving Powell River takes some planning, money and time.

Guam also has that small town feel in the grocery stores and post offices. Eventually you get to know the people behind the counter and it is not uncommon for total strangers to comment about how big your children have grown over the years. It helps that my kids are an anomaly with their pale skin and blonde hair. It makes them more noticeable and people remember them. The same can be said for living in Powell River. I’ll never forget receiving a parcel from my mom and the post office lady in PR had written on the outside "Hi Colleen! from Marge." After 14 years on Guam I’m now on first name basis with the post office workers here too.

Then there is the ocean. The same Pacific Ocean lies outside my windows. Unfortunately not the same fish. I really miss Salmon. Here we get Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Marlin, and many small "reef" fish that live inside the coral reef. If I want Salmon, I have to buy it at Payless (our local supermarket) for outrageous prices. And the waters of the Pacific Ocean are decidedly warmer on Guam. One of our family traditions is to go swimming on Christmas and New Years Day, not something we could ever do back in Powell River!

I think the biggest difference between living in Guam and Powell River is the lack of seasons. I miss having 4 seasons. Here we only have two. Dry and Rainy. And both of those are hot! My poor Guam born children (Cassie and Eric) have never seen a crocus bloom, never seen cherry blossoms, never seen the maple leaves turn color and fall to the ground, nor have they seen snow, which is Eric’s biggest regret. Even my other girl, Stephanie, has missed out on these seasons as she was so young when we came here. Only the older boys remember the changing of the seasons.

Food is different here too. Guam is heavily influenced by Asia, so we have a lot of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Filipino foods. As well as the local favorites. Everyone eats rice here. Potatoes are not as common for meals. Chicken is a favorite as are beef and pork ribs. Everyone in Powell River is familiar with the beef shish kabobs sold during the Sea Fair. This same food is a local favorite on Guam!

These are just some of the things I’ve noticed. 

My husband, Les, and I have decided to start a new venture on Guam. The Guam Homeschool Resource Center. We plan to operate as an independent resource center for homeschoolers on Guam.

Over the years I have found myself to be on the frontlines when it comes to newcomers arriving on Guam and wanting to know about homeschooling on our beautiful island. Part of it is due to this blog and others that I have. I’ve also been active in the Guam Homeschool Association as leader (two different occasions), newsletter editor, resource box person, and webmistress. As a result I have in depth knowledge on the ins and outs of homeschooling on Guam.

Our Resource center will be a place where new families can come and ask questions about homeschooling on Guam. I will have magazines, catalogs and sample curricula to share so that families can have an idea what is out there. We also have Wi Fi access and computer stations for families to use to look up resources.

I’m excited about this new venture and hope that we can provide homeschoolers on Guam a safe haven for exploring this new educational alternative.

Check out our website: http://www.guamhomeschool.com

Well, the move has begun. The Smith family is once again, packing up boxes and going on the road to a new (to us) home. Still on Guam of course. We have lived in our beach house for 3 years now and it’s been a wonderful experience. But now it is time to move to something a little different. More room, more bathrooms (about time!) and typhoon proof. Always a plus when looking for a home on a tropical island. So we are moving down south to Inarjan. Southern living….ah…..

It brings to memory my other stint of living in the South. South of town that is. Powell River, BC. My link to Canada. For years Les and I lived somewhere South of PR. We started at Pebble Beach, a run down apartment building that usually housed drug dealers and single welfare moms. We only lived there for a few months while we tried to find a more suitable, but still affordable first home. Then we moved out to Black Point where we lived in a quaint two bedroom cabin on several acres of land. Love that home. Had our first goat – Ozzie. She hated me. My eldest son was born in that house .. well, in the hospital .. but we brought him home to that house. Then we moved even further south and had a disastrous 2 months stay at Stillwater. One of the worst winters that year. The very quaint A-Frame cabin we moved into would have made a wonderful summer cottage. But in the face of a cold snowy winter, it wasn’t the best. We couldn’t even get our car up the steep driveway. I was attending college so couldn’t afford to miss classes so we spent most of those two months crashing at friends’ places in town. Fun with a 9 month old baby!

We spent a few years in town but then the draw of the south called again and we ended up living in an old shingle mill office that we converted into a home down in Lang Bay. The house was old and draughty and we froze that winter too. But we did live near the beach and the boys had a great summer playing at Lang Bay Park. That was where we officially began homeschooling, back in 1991. From the old shingle mill we moved a little closer to town at Kelly Creek, and lived in a converted garage. Are you sensing a pattern here? Either quaint or living in converted buildings?

After our 3 child was born we moved yet again to what I had hoped would be my last move for a long time. A beautiful two story wood home on 2 acres of land at Kelly Creek. On Serendipity Road. I loved that name! It was a great house. Lots of room for a family with two boys. Creek next to the property where salmon would spawn and we often saw eagles swoop down to feast on the dying fish. Bears in the back yard. Cows too sometimes.

Never did I expect to only have 9 months in that southern country living bliss. And then my life was changed. And Guam became our new home.

So far on Guam we have moved, lets see, from grampas to the apartment……then to the trailer….moved to Yona (south) just  before the trailer was blown away by Super Typhoon Pongsongwa….from Yona to the beach house…and now we head south once more to Inarjan.

Tonight we took the scenic route to Inarjan. Next time I’ll bring my camera and time it at sunset. We drove through Piti to Santa Rita and took Cross Island Road to Talafofo. Through Talafofo to Inarajan. Total of 22 miles. Only 18 to take the Yona route. 32 miles if you go via Agat. You can guess which way I’ll be going most of the time.

I hope to get a lot of meditating on the Lord accomplished on the drives.

Yesterday my children brought their alligator/dinosaur/gecko costume to our driving school office. I assumed it was their idea, only to find out it was my husband’s. The kids had been playing with the costume the previous evening and he had this brilliant flash of insight. Why not use the kids to help promote our driving school?

You see, our logo for our driving school is a happy alligator driving a sporty red car. Why do we have such a logo? Well, when we first opened, we were using a classroom at Guam International Christian Academy (or GICA), who’s mascot is a Gator – the GICA Gators. Shortly after opening our business, Mrs. C. the principal’s wife brought me this picture of a gator driving a car.
"I saw this and thought of you guys" she said. And so an idea was born. We have used this logo from that moment on.

Now the costume that my children play with was the original Gator costume for the GICA Gator’s sport team mascot. I had taken this costume home one year to repair the rips and tears in it and it ended up staying with us after the school closed down. My children have worn it in many play sessions, as fierce dinosaurs, leaping lizards, and even as a Gecko. It really is a favorite play item.

So yesterday and today, for about 15 minutes, my children entertained motorists on Marine Drive, dressed as a Happy Alligator, covorting in front of our office. Smart advertising? My husband thinks so. The kids  certainly enjoyed themselves. Pictures pending.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, I thought I’d talk about my favorite food, chocolate. Or rather, my 6yo daughter and her love/hate relationship with the stuff.

Cassie has never really been my sweet tooth girl. She decided when she was about 3 that she preferred vanilla ice cream over chocolate, white cake instead of chocolate cake, and given the choice of a vanilla cookie over  chocolate one, she would choose the vanilla.

When she entered kindergarten, her best friend, A. told her "I don’t like chocolate" and suddenly Cassie’s vanilla preference had a " raison d’être". So for the next two years Cassie has announced "I don’t like chocolate" when offered any of that wonderful concoction. Cool with me, that just meant more for me.

However, lately I have noticed Cassie eating chocolate more and more often.

Today she announced, as we were making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, " I don’t understand why A. doesn’t like chocolate."
"Hmmm…" I replied, "So are you saying you always liked chocolate?"
"Yes." was her reply as she continued to pick out chips from the cookie batter.
"So…were you just pretending to not like chocolate when you were friends with A?"
"Yup!"
"A. sure was lucky to have you for a friend I think."

Imagine giving up chocolate for a year just to be a friend.

I’m not  saying this is what happened. But this is how I imagine it to have happened. How else can I explain a child of mine NOT liking chocolate?  At least she has finally come to her senses.