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Greg's Diary

Hi, I am Greg. I am 14 and this is my third year at high school (Grade 10). I started school in Canada in elementary school, so I have already graduated once!

You can e-mail me directly if you want to ask any questions? BTW I used to be known as Owen on this web site but now I am happy to use my real name.

Spring opportunities.

Now that it is spring a lot of new events and things to do are opening up. Snowboarding season is coming to a close, but it is still fun to snowboard in the sun. Sailing season is just beginning so I have many so many activities to do with my friends.

This year I plan to do more with my friends like go camping somewhere and try things we haven’t done before. For example we plan to go the beach and go swimming, like we did last year. But in the summer we have big plans to go camping in the interior in my friend’s cabin. As well as seeing Slam City Jam and Monster Jam. I plan to update my blogs more often now so I hope for all of you to check in more often.

Into School, Out of School

School has just begun and already we are out of school. Not for holiday but because our teachers are striking. All the parents and the government are saying how terrible it is that the children aren’t in school learning. But if you ask the students they are just glad to have extra time off. Although the strike is illegal the teachers are still defying the law. Most of the students agree that the government are taking the rights of the teachers by not taking them seriously.

The best part is probably missing tests, for me I missed my math test on Friday. But if this strike continues then I’ll be pretty bored of not going to school. So for now people will have to deal with it until either side gives in. But I hope the teachers get what they want.

Agility Competition

I also have now taken Jasper, our Border Collie, to an agility competition. I’ve been taking him to his classes most weeks, except when we went away. So by August he had learned everything except the “teeter totter” (see-saw) and we entered him into the Club’s fun competition.

The trainer said he should stop getting extra food as he was a bit tubby. So we have cut out all his snacks and put him on food for “Laid Back, Chilled out Dogs”. Now he is so desperate for a treat he would turn cartwheels if I asked him!

The competition was held in the Capilano River Park in a field. It was a very hot day and there were over 100 people with their dogs there. The dogs were entered into various competitions, and competed against dogs of the same size and ability.

Jasper was in “Specials” (beginners). I have a friend who was competing with 2 of her dogs, one a master champion and one a beginner. There are also Regulars, Veterans (over 7 years old) and a special category for dogs who compete in Agility competitions.

At the first competition – Jumpers - Jasper ran off the course, so my Mum had to come and stand at the start line. He did complete the course, barking his head off. We came last.

The second one, Standard (like mock competition course), was worse. He had noticed all the para-gliders who were launching themselves off Grouse Mountain and decided to bark at them. Half way round the course he stopped to bark at a guy who was swooping overhead to land in the park opposite. Next a fire truck came past and freaked him out. We came last again.

In the Team section, he was brilliant, did the course perfectly in 16 secs. We came 3rd. In the Gamblers section, we tied 3rd but the other dog was faster so we came 4th. A good first attempt! I bought him a bone to celebrate, I don’t think that will make him fat.

Sail Camp

My Dad has been bugging me again to write something. Well that is all very well, I know I am on holiday but I happen to be very busy. Holidays are when I get to go out with the guys and see movies or we hang out at each others houses.

This holiday I have been sailing at the local Yacht Club. I did Whitesails III in early July before we went away for a week. That was pretty good except the weather was pretty bad and it rained a lot. I wore my waterproofs most days!

WS3 was still on Pirates but at least we were not with the beginners and it was more fun. One day there was no wind at all and we all played soccer, did theory and team games at the club. You sail in pairs and take turns at being crew or skipper.

At the end of the course the instructors grade you on all your work and give you a report. You have to demonstrate all the skills in order to pass and pass the theory as well.

We got to sail around Passage Island again and had a BBQ at the club house. Another day we had a “bake day” and all brought cookies and cakes to share.

I want to be a coach one day, like some of the older guys. You have to volunteer for a couple of seasons and do the coaching course. It meant that I had to do Bronze IV before I was 14. So I ended up doing Bronze IV in early August. That meant we sailed the Lasers and Laser 2s. We can also do racing now in Bytes.

I have now caught up with most people my age and can start competing in the local races. The weather was very hot in August and we had great fun capsizing and racing each other. I had to learn the advanced sailing skills theory as well.

It is hard work sailing from 9 to 4 each day. The volunteers help with the extra work around the club and repair the boats, that will be great next summer.

Agility

Recently, I have enrolled my dog in an agility class, which is when you take your dog around jumps, through tunnels and over obstacles. It has been very fun to train my dog, Jasper, and he is catching on very quickly.

I take him to regular classes on Saturday at 10 o’clock in the morning at Super Fly Canine Training Centre. Most of the other dogs in the class are much younger than Jasper. Most of them are just over one year old. But because Jasper is 5 years old he is more concentrated so he learns really fast. I hope to take Jasper into the advanced class but he still has a lot to learn.

He is quite greedy which helps because he will do anything for a treat. He gets frantic to get the treat. He has to learn to do the tricks without a treat in the end, but he has a long way to go for that. For now I load my pockets with bonios and he will go through the tunnel, the hoop, over the jump and through the weave poles. I don’t think he would do that without the treat.

Playdome

Every year at spring break the Playdome comes to Vancouver. The Playdome is a travelling fare and has many rides. A few days ago, I went with my friends to the Playdome. There were lots of rides like bumper cars, and a Ferris wheel. But there were also many rides for teens, which were quite intense.

As well as the great rides there were also fun games with great prizes. Some of the prizes included giant stuffed animals and toys. There was a huge prize of electric scooters and skate boards. Any way the fare is fun for all the family.

XBox and KD

Xbox parties are great fun if the right people come. Recently, my friends came over for a halo/ fable party. It was very fun because we had 2 TV’s and 2 Xboxs so we could play what we wanted. But apart from the games, food is very important. Especially Kraft Dinner because it is simply and easy to make and it is so tasty. Kraft Dinner, in case you didn’t know, is a macaroni and cheese meal, which tastes really good, I think. So if someone asks you if you want KD it means do you want Kraft Dinner.

Ipods and beyond

Ipods and MP3 player are a very big thing because nearly everyone in my school has one. Every day you can see people at lunch or even during class listening to their Ipod with a friend. Although some of the time the teachers can take it away from you. But what is even more annoying is that you see the teachers sometimes using it for their own pleasure.

School sports

There are a variety of sports to do here in school and out of school. For example in elementary school, they have three seasons in grade 7, basketball, Volleyball, and Track and Field.

Volleyball was the first season that we played and it was mandatory for all boys. Although it seemed like it was going to be boring, it actually turned out to be really fun.

The next season was basketball which everyone wanted to play so that was a great time. Finally it came to track and field, which was a good opportunity to try different events like long jump and high jump as well as other events. There are also events after school like softball and baseball.

School is not like the movies

School is never like it is in the American movies. For example, the school buses never pick you up directly from your house and doesn’t drop you off from there either. Also at school there is no such thing as detention hall and the local “hub”. If you think about it, you find high school is much more productive here than in England. But it is also much harder. Not that there is more tests but there are way more projects. Like very recently I had to do a huge alphabet book for an English project. I had to get a noun, verb, adjective and an adverb from every letter. Then define all of them and then put them in a complex sentence. It’s over now and I hated every part of that project.

Holidays

Going out with friends all the time is the main reason for the holidays and weekends. Going to movies. Going snowboarding or swimming. I wished I could have spent more time with my friends over the holidays. One of my favourite movies I saw was Oceans 12 in the theatre and The Bourne Supremacy at home. They were all great.

Things I have learnt

When I came to Canada I didn't know how to snowboard, sail, play basketball (well) and play American football. But now I can play these sports easily. I love to snowboard and sail. At school every morning I play basketball with my friends. It’s so much fun.

Thoughts...

When I look back to my life in England; I can see how much better life is here and how much fuller life is. When I was in England it seemed so cool to be a skier but when I arrived here everyone thinks that snowboarding is the best and skiing isn't good and fun. Life here is so much better and more fun here.

Snowboarding

Me with a rental snowboard,
after my snowboarding campHi I’m Greg, and today I am going to talk you about snowboarding. It’s November the 6 th and soon the snowboarding season is soon to start. Since I live in West Vancouver I live right next to my local mountain. Snowboarding is really big here. In my opinion snowboarding is way better than skiing. The way I learned was by a camp on the weekends.