Trinity Visit

10/9/2012

Please write your full post in the "comments" section. I suggest you type it out in "word" and then copy and paste into the comments (in case there is a problem with it saving). Please use your Lit name to sign it. Consider this a "free write". Please show me evidence of thought and reflection on your experiences today.

What did you learn about the person you met today?
What did you learn about yourself, and how you will approach your future? Please take care with these responses. Thank you again for your maturity today.

22 Comments

Trisayretops

10/9/2012 09:01:46 am

I learned an unbelievable amount from Brigette today. Brigette Zablotney is the mother of Mr Zablotney, who was not only my grade 8 French teacher, but also took me to Europe for the first time when I was in grade 9. Brigette was born in the late 1920s in the northern German city of Bremen, where she stayed until 1957. She lived through the rise of fascism in Germany, the Second World War, as well as the post-war years in Germany, which I found fascinating. She described her life as a child as being quite unpleasant, as most of her childhood was spent under the rule of Adolf Hitler. Her mother, who was active in politics, told her as soon as Hitler came in to power that “this means war,” meaning she knew that war was inevitable. People knew that Hitler was bad news, yet they were forced to swear allegiance to him in order to protect themselves and their families. Times were tough; people were dirt poor, starving, and desperate for a savior; and Hitler was just the savior they were looking for. He promised the German people prosperity and a solution to all of their problems, and his charisma was undeniable. Brigette said that she believed the only reason he got in to power was for the sole reason that he possessed amazing speaking abilities. Germany at this point was a very unsettling place to be. During the Second World War, Brigette can recall seeing German battleships and U-Boats dotting the sea near Bremen. She could literally look out her bedroom window at any point of the day and see the boats sailing away into the distance. She lived near a German naval base, so there were always ships within the harbour. She said that this was the most significant thing she has ever experienced in her life, seeing the size of these ships and having it hit so close to home. After the war, Mrs. Zablotney held a steady job at an office building in Germany. However, in 1957, she decided to give up everything she had and move to Canada. When Mike and I asked her if she regretted that decision, she laughed and said no. She said that Canada is the greatest country in the world, and that Canada was her true home. She even said that you must be crazy to want to leave! That really hit me close because I do in fact plan to leave Canada and settle in another country, and it was very interesting to hear such a statement coming from someone who has in fact left their country and settled in mine.
All in all, I learned a tremendous amount from Mrs. Zablotney. Hearing her stories really made me appreciate what I have in my life. World War II seems like it happened so long ago, and hearing the stories of a woman who lived it is absolutely amazing; especially with her being German and on the other side of the conflict. It adds a whole other understanding to the situation. Listening to her opinions on Canada versus Germany also really opened my eyes. Although Canada is a great country, I still don’t want to give up my dreams of living in Europe and spending my last days there. She did, however, make me realize that I am in fact very lucky to be a Canadian citizen, building on the appreciation that I discovered after living in France. I am very happy that I got this opportunity to talk with Mrs. Zablotney, and I hope she got as much out of it as I did.

Lacellecakes

10/9/2012 11:32:34 am

Today Russell and I met a hilarious bright woman named Betty Fulton. She was born in 1929, in Essex England. At the outbreak of war she and her sister were sent to a town near Cornwall, where Betty lived the entire length of the war and went to school. She was away from home for 5 years, and at the end of the war returned home to immediately go into the work force as a shorthand typist. Eventually she married and together they moved to Canada, discovering the Okanagan on a holiday from Prince George. But Betty didn’t want to be a typist, but it was work and that’s what her mother wanted her to do. Betty told us that if her mother was still alive today, she would tell her that she was wrong. A job isn’t everything, in fact money isn’t everything. I think this is what we learned from what Betty had to tell us. That what you do in life should be what you want to do, not what is available, or what your parents do or say. She told us that her daughter would wonder at a young age, how do I know what I want to do when I grow up? How do I know what is out there, when I have hardly seen the world. I find myself wondering this sometimes (I mean I know I’m dead set on architecture…), what if I didn’t go to university? What if I did this or that or etc. Point is how can I possibly know what I want to do with my life when I have only been on this great planet of ours a scant 17 years? But because of Betty I know now that anything I do in my life has to be dictated by my own mind, that whatever happens in my life it will happen because it is what I want to do, and not the pressures of other people. That and that I should never get old because “getting old is the shits”.

Jingles

10/9/2012 01:03:16 pm

Today me and Kim met with an amazing old fellow named Art Cutler. He was a bit hard to understand but he answered all of our questions thoroughly. I learnt that he was in the navy, owned a jewelry store and had a wonderful wife. He lived through a lot in his life such as the great depression and many wars. He grew up in Vernon, and although running a Jewelry store wasn’t his first choice of a job (he wanted to be a farmer) he still enjoyed it anyways and it was quite successful. He described his wife as beautiful and easy to get along with, they were married a long time up until her death at age 97, a couple years ago. He loved her very much and they almost never argued throughout their marriage. He originally wanted to be part of the air force but never made it in so he settled for navy instead, but he enjoyed his time in the navy just the same. When we asked him about what he thought about technology and the world today he didn't have much of anything negative to say about it the way I would expect most elderly people too. He also said he enjoyed the life he had and his advice to us was to stay healthy, make good choices and live our lives to the fullest so that we won’t regret anything when our lives come to their end. Even though I’ve never been too fond of old people I thought todays experience was interesting and enlightening. I think that youth today could learn a lot from people who have experienced so much. Hearing the story of someone who has lived so long in comparison to me was almost like opening a novel and reading about the life of a character, which brings about the realization that we are all just like characters in our own stories, writing out the chapters of our lives with every step we take.

Scheff-Boyardee

10/9/2012 01:30:42 pm

Today Thyra and I met with a wonderful old lady named Helen (can’t remember her last name). We didn’t have to ask many questions she was very into the idea of talking to us about herself and the events that took place in her life. We learned that she is Dutch and was born and raised in Holland. When she grew older she married a young man. Because of the war she and her husband moved to Canada (although it took them 2 years to be allowed to move). She had to leave everything she ever knew behind, including her family. When they arrived at Canada they settled in Burnaby and built a home that she cherished very much. Helen spoke very fondly of the memories she had in that home with the birds singing and how her and her husband would laugh together though there challenges. Helen also told us of her children and her grandchildren. she told us a lot about her grandson, Robby, and how he would visit them every day after school. I noticed that no matter what she talked about it always involved family. And this spoke to me in a deep way because I’ve always thought about how I could create my future and never once put much focus on family. I always worried about getting good grades to get a good job to be able to live well. I never really realized how it impacts my life even now. I can see that when you become very old and when you look back, that only thing that will really count is family.

Thyra-Daktal

10/9/2012 01:49:37 pm

Today I met a glorious woman that goes by the name of Helen. We were welcomed with more enthusiasm than the average person can muster. Although she claims that she talks too much, it is evident that her words are of ten times more use than an average conversation can serve. In her youth Helen was one courageous young woman. She fell in love with her beloved husband, only in time for him to go off and fight in the war. She found herself hollow without him by her side yet, instead of letting herself collapse, she packed up the few belongings she had and headed for Canada. Both her mother and father were dead against her decision. Being the bold man he was, her father voiced his distaste at the idea. However, she never let that stop her and she set out to accomplish her quest to leave Holland. After she passed a thorough inspection at the border, she was relieved to have made it into the welcoming cradle of Canada’s arms. She admitted to us that the hardest part of her journey was leaving her family. She only knew mere snippets of information regarding Canada and she knew once she ventured forth there was no return. Today she holds no regrets regarding her decision. Her face lit up at the mention of the word children. It turns out both myself and Crystal know her grandson, which she was more than delighted to hear. Any stories swapped about her family left her tingling in reminiscent joy. It was interesting to hear about her children as well as her grandchildren, especially because her grandson is familiar to us. Seeing her response to even a simple memory of her family made me realize that having a family truly is the one thing that can’t go wrong in your life. Protecting something so dear to you is a small slice of serenity that can never really be tampered. Out of all the chaos we are drowning in today this showed me there really is a way out a small flickering light at the end of the long high school hall. Helen mentioned that after her husband died in the war she knew there was nobody in the world who could replace him. This shows that in life, there really is someone out there who knows you are irreplaceable. Family is the one dream that really can come true.

MC RIDE

10/9/2012 02:30:23 pm

Today I met Daryl, a retired RCMP officer, who worked on Vancouver in a small town near Campbell River. Daryl had some interesting stories to tell about his years working for the RCMP, one story he labelled as his most exciting was when they seized a boat off shore that was smuggling dope, he explained the process of how they seized the boat and the process of how they detained the culprits. Daryl was seemed very distracted, he constantly stared out the window and looked around the room, but Daryl also came off very eager to talk, he seemed excited to ask and answer questions. Daryl gave me some ideas of making careers out of my interests. Daryl was hard to follow at times because he had a hard time remembering specific dates, but he always to remember. Daryl was trying to help me and Dustin figure out the best routes to go on in picking a career. I enjoyed our talk with Daryl, he had some interesting pointers to give to me and Dustin, I doubt I'll forget our short, but meaningful talk today.

Slim Kitty

10/9/2012 03:27:54 pm

Today, I met an interesting man named Harry. William and I got to talk to Harry about some of his past endeavors. Unfortunately, Harry didn’t express much about his past too us. However when the nurse came over, we got to know a little bit about harry. We found out that he used to be in the navy, and that he loved chasing the girls! The most comfortable he felt was when he was talking about the girls, which proves he must have been quite a ladies man back in the day. While I didn’t learn much about him, he spewed forth his signature catch phrase “that’s the way it is” a few times. That gives me the impression that Harry is a pretty care free guy who doesn’t focus too hard on the little things. I thought today was a great adventure, and I hope Harry had as much of a wonderful time as I did!

Salsa

10/10/2012 10:59:32 am

Allison and myself got the privilege to meet the hysterical and devilish Mollie Dunn the other day at the Trinity Center. Mollie was born December 29th 1914 in England and moved to Canada, at the age of twenty, after the war to be married to a soldier. She has three sons, several grandchildren and great grandchildren, whom she all loves very dearly. Mollie loves to hang out at the Trinity Centre with her best friend Bridget, but when she's not getting up to trouble she likes to sit by her window and wave to all the school children, because Mollie loves the children. She believes that kids these days focus too much on education and need to have more fun and "fool around with the boys more" like she did when she was a teen. "It's all about the education these days!", that was my favorite quote from Mollie.
She made me realize that even though school and education is important it is more important to find love. Mollie is surrounded by love everyday and that is what keeps her going. She has her large family, her best friend, and all the children to love. School can teach you lots of things, math, science, socials, and English (my favorite) but, it cannot teach you how to love or how to live your life. Those are things that you need to figure outside of school and work, while your living.

Michaela

10/10/2012 12:40:16 pm

Me and regan went to visit an 95 year old man named Len. He was a cowboy, a boxing champion, trained dogs, was in the war. He has been married three times and each one of his wives died of cancer. He wrote beautiful poetry. He has even won awards for it. The poems that me and regan read were about his mom and about his wives. He was very nice and I really enjoyed visiting him. Me and regan plan on visiting him again sometime. He inspired me to do lots with my life. He had a lot of things to be proud of. He also taught me a lot of strength. He went through a lot in his life. He wrote a lot poetry to help him with his pain.

KANKENHOOFENSTALFEN

10/10/2012 01:23:07 pm

Today me and Destiny got the chance to talk to a sweet little flower named Dodi, who was quite a quiet woman but was very enthused about telling us the tales of her life. We learned that Dodi was born in Vancouver in the year of 1921 making her 91 years old. She may move slowly now but she is still with it and able to recall information from long ago. She told us of how she met her husband who she loved very much. Sadly though he passed away 10 years ago and she misses him deeply. Dodi expressed to us her love for teaching, and how she loved working with kids of all ages. Dodi also seemed very interested in myself and Destiny's lives aswell. She was eager to hear our oppinions on marriages now a days compared to when she got married. She asked us what we though about the meaning of sex these days which was a tad awkward but thats perfectly fine. She wanted to know where we had been in the world, and of the places we wished to visit. From hearing all about Dodi's experiences, it had brought to my attention that i need to experience all that i wish, and make sure i get the chances to do them. I had a wonderful time chatting with Dodi, she is a lovely woman and i hope she had a lovely time the same as I.

Jekyll

10/10/2012 02:22:47 pm

Today Wilson and I met an English man from Leicestershire by the name of Jim Sparrow, though the Trinity staff jokingly calls him “Captain Jack Sparrow”. The name suits him well, because while he may lack dreadlocks and a telltale drunken swagger, he had served in the Navy, as a serviceman below decks. “Not during the war,” he told us, so he didn’t see any combat, but he did see most of Europe on his tour of duty, going so far as Gibraltar and Norway. This may have been why he joined the Navy, or maybe it was because his father may have done the same, he was somewhat vague when we asked. He only stayed in the Navy for five years, but that didn’t stop him from amassing 4 tattoos during his tours. After a brief interval, in which he went back to coal mining, his occupation before he joined the Navy, he moved to Canada and became a ‘jack of all trades’, gathering knowledge spreading from plumbing to construction. During his years he also collected a variety of wise advice, chief among them “watch your step”, something he repeated fervently, as though it were a mantra. And perhaps it was for him, because it seemed to define his character: ambitious, strong willed, yet polite to the utmost. In retrospect, if there’s nothing else I’ve learned, apart from that the Navy is great because you get to sleep in hammocks, it’s that bit of advice he offered up. “It’s a hard world out there,” he said, “You’ve got to watch out for yourself but, watch your step”.

Harman and Russell

10/10/2012 03:01:15 pm

Today Russell and I got a chance to meet a very interesting man named Joe from German. Although Joe didn't talk a lot, we got to know some interesting things about him. The most interesting thing i found out about Joe was that he was a bee keeper for his entire life. He told us that he got bit multiple times but it did not phase him. We also learned that Joe traveled the world, he went all over South America and lots of other places too. He also told us about his family, he has four kids(two boys and two girls) they all live in Vancouver. Me and Russell are glad that we had the chance to meet Joe, he told us to enjoy our lives and live for every moment.

D P-P-P-PIZZLE

10/10/2012 04:16:40 pm

Yesterday, Alex and i met a very small old woman, born in Vancouver named Dodi. She is almost completely deaf and therefor very soft spoken. Although she is 91, she was able to sum up alot of her life within half an hour, and she asked us questions about what we want to do when we graduate. She gave us some pretty good advice. She said that she wished she could have travelled more, and that its a good idea to see the world before you settle down and figure out what you want to do. She also said, looking back, that if she was young nowadays she might not even consider marriage. She was quite comical and it made me realize how much can happen in a lifetime, and how young i really am. I have my whole life ahead of me and i want to learn from what she told me and take her advice about travelling before settling down. The saying "the older, the wiser" really is true. There is no greater way to learn than through personal experiences. One of the most interesting things i learned about Dodi was that she used to be a teacher, and to this day she misses it. It made me sad seeing the look in her eyes as she talked about teaching. I also learned that back in the 1930's and 40's, woman couldn't teach after they got married because they could get pregnant and 'corrupt' the childrens minds. This experience was very enlightening and made me excited for my future, but at the same time aware of how fast time goes. One of my favorite things that Dodi said to us was after i complimented her on her blue outfit, saying "blue looks good on you" (it's her favorite color) and she replied by saying "it used to. nothing looks good on me anymore." and she chuckled. Dodi reminds me of my great grandma, when she was alive she had the same sparkle in her eye, and raised her eyebrows the same way Dodi does. I wonder what she thought of my pink hair...

Falls From Tree

10/11/2012 05:00:52 am

The other day sayre and i met a fascinating German woman Named Bridgette Zabloteny. Bridgette, who happens to be the mother of my GR8 french teacher, was born in Germany in the 1920's and has lived through the depression, and ww2 while she lived there. it was interesting to hear the other side of what happened in the second world war, when asked what the greatest thing she had ever seen was Bridgette replied with the U-boats in her back yard. Bridgette moved to Canada with her husband and son never looking back or regretting her past, and i guess if i learned one thing this visit it would be just that, never regret. i admit i wasn't too sure what we would talk about when we first arrived, but after the first minute we had a good conversation going. I hope i have another opportunity to talk to Mrs Zabloteny, and i hope i made a difference in her week.

Kalthugorishma

10/11/2012 09:01:29 am

Today I met a man at the Trinity care center, and he was a little difficult to understand but I learned a lot from him. He’s 86 years old and he has Parkinson’s disease. He likes tractors and, just like his mother, he likes animals too. He told me a bit about Parkinson’s that I didn’t know about, such as how it took away his ability to walk, write and talk. He has been at the Trinity care center for 1 year now and he hopes that someday he’ll be able to walk again. I also learned how much had changed in the time I didn’t exist and how much things he had seen that seemed so distant to me, he told me his first car costed $50 and filling it up with gas took only a few cents. Many of his words were only half understandable because of his Parkinson’s but I learned a lot about how the past can seem so distant sometimes but when you get older it seems like it was just yesterday, and I want to make sure that I have a past where I am happy with what I’ve done in my life.

B-Mac Chillin

10/11/2012 09:07:22 am

Josh and I met a man by the name of Jim “Captain Jack” sparrow as the attendants affectionately called him. He grew up in the city of Leicestershire in England and played football (called soccer here) as a child. His schooling was very hard he told us. He worked at the coal mines until he joined the navy. He didn’t spend long or fight in the navy but he did get a few cool tattoos and stories of Europe out of it. After the navy he went back to the coal mines and when he finally had enough of that he moved to Canada. He worked many manual labor jobs in Canada before retiring. He taught me to always watch your step which to me meant to be very careful but to be aware that people are always watching. He also taught me that I will learn many lessons in my life and to not disregard them.

Carlos

10/11/2012 09:09:37 am

What did I learn about the people at the Trinity Center? Well I was able to talk to man named Daryl. He had quite an exiting life and "good life". He was just like me and was in air cadets till he aged out at 19 and his goal in air cadets was to get his wings (private pilot's license). He was able to get his wings and continue his life in a way that a lot of cadets do and join the R.C.M.P. Daryl spent many years in the force including many exciting busts. One of his coolest ones was one time he to bust a boat loaded with "all sorts of dope" and its pretty cool he got to see coast guards come and pick the boat right out of the water and fly it to Victoria by a helicopter which is pretty cool. Unfortunately his health was bad and he had to retire in the 1970s and be on the composition board for another part of is life. Although he didn't live there he seemed to love to talk. One thing he did a lot though is ponder about dates that retired as it would take him about 5 minutes to remember something but it's ok because he spent forty years of his life working which is incredible me and Logan had a superb time talking with him and we got a lot out of it. I hope that I have a good of a life as he does because being an R.C.M.P. is one thing I want to do in life; also getting my wings is my number one goal in life and he gave me a lot of advice so that is pretty cool. I learned a lot from him and I hope he had a good of a time as me and Logan did with him.

Reganator

10/11/2012 03:22:03 pm

Today, me and my Michaela had an amazing opportunity to meet a kind, passionate elderly man who goes by the name of Lenn. We didn’t need to ask many questions, because he was very open to the topic of talking about his past. Lenn is a 95 year old man, who was a proud cowboy and a boxing champion in his days. Lenn had also went off and fought in the war. He was married 3 times, all of which he lost to lung cancer. Lenn also wrote these spectacular poems expressing his feelings about his life. He was very proud and passionate talking to us about his poetry. He told us "I write how I feel" Lenn gave us the chance to read some of his poems, most of which were quite upsetting. The whole time reading the poems I felt as though a lot of us don’t pay enough attention to the elderly as we should and that they are hurting as well. I hope I get the chance to see Lenn again in the future. :)

Kimchi

10/11/2012 03:55:07 pm

Jingles and I went to visit a old man by the name of Art Cutler. He used to own a successful cutler store. His wife passed away at 97, she and him never would argue, and he had kept saying that she was someone who could get along with anyone. Quite a looker, he wished that it was his place instead of her passing away first. He explained that he took advantage of every opportunity he had, and he always went with the flow of it. It was difficult to chat with him since he had a hard time hearing. But none of the less, he is such a fellow to talk to. He also has 4 sons, and he has 5 brothers and 2 sisters. It was a opportunity to talk with Art Cutler!

Jeneral Roofster the Vth

10/11/2012 10:54:08 pm

So, for our first field trip I had the opportunity to visit Kankenhoofenstalfen's (hope I spelled her name right) grandmother. I learned that she was born and raised in Northern Ontario and went to University in Toronto and Montreal. She became a dietitian and had the opportunity to work with a man who has greatly influenced the modern day internationally accepted diabetic diet. She then went on to become one of the first female managers at IBM. As her life progressed on, she began considering schooling as a career path, so she moved to Oliver, BC and began a career here. One of her first memories of Oliver was becoming a judge, for the baking competition, at the Annual County Fair. She was very nervous since she did not want to choose someone who was not well liked in the city, luckily she need not worry, since she chose the person who won every year. :)  She also told me of the time she went to visit her parents who had retired in Florida and working at a hospital in the US. She was not happy about the discrimination against 'the Negroes" and quit after learning how separated they were from the Caucasian workers. Later on, she convinced her parents to move to the Okanagan and live their days out in peace. Hearing of her first few experiences in British Columbia made me realize just how warm and inviting of an environment I was raised in. Not a lot of places around this world nowadays are as accepting of others as the Okanagan Valley. And I am proud to say I was born and raised in such a beautiful place on Earth.   After fully hearing her tale out (and tearing up a bit), it made me come to the conclusion that I don't need to panic about my future, or have to justify my actions (mainly money spending actions) to anyone since, they will benefit someone in the end. And, I have to say that is all that matters. Knowing that I made the world a little better, even just for one person, is more than enough to make me feel like I have fulfilled my purpose in life.   Lately, I had begun to think that this world would never ever be able to get it self out of this rut, but her story gave me hope. That even if I lead a regular life, and never do anything that will go down in history, long as I am happy and make sure the people around me know their values in my life and on this planet, I shall be content. :)   

YEAH! Lit 12! WOOT! :D

Stephaniah!

10/14/2012 04:07:07 pm

I talked to Peggy Monroe, she didn't have too much to say but it was nice talking to her. Trying to use the time wisely I asked her a bunch of questions. She was married for 50 years but her husband is not with us anymore. (R.I.P) she has two kids, one boy and one girl. Her son lives in Kelowna with kids of his own and her daughter lives in Nelson. She said trinity is a very nice place, revolved around routine but the staff are incredibly nice. She liked school but thought it was difficult at times, her favorite subject was math. She doesn't do much during the day, she reads the newspaper and watches the news mainly. She grew up in the city in Manitoba and did not go to grade 12 because you had to pay $100 to do so. She was a rather quiet woman who seemed like she would have been happier to be alone but it was a break for her from the TV. Out of my experience with her I didn't learn much about myself, just that when you get older you usually end up in a care facility like trinity, and that you're not sure about much of what you want to do or if you regret anything. Though Peggy was definitely a pleasant woman.

EL CAPITAN

11/8/2012 11:48:33 am

Today I learnt about the interesting life of Alicia Hernandez. She is around her early Sixties, coming from my guess, but I don’t really know her actually age. Originally she was born in Mexico City, in the Federal District, were she spent her childhood and teen years. Eventually she went to school to become a therapist and, of course, later became a therapist. She also got married and had two kids, Abul and Sandy. As time went on her son decide that he wanted to move to Canada to study cooking and to one day become a chief. All while her daughter opened up a Chinese restaurant in Mexico. Unfortunately her husband didn’t want to move, and as she told me, there were constant fights over it. Ultimately she moved to Canada, after her son had already left. She is now a Canadian citizen and lives alone in her apartment. When I asked her for life advice, she simply laughed. And then she told me that it might not seem like it now but life will go by extremely fast and that I will make mistakes, I will have regrets but what I must remember is that there will be times in my life that may seem like hell but they will always pass. Basically I’m now more nervous for the future then I was before.

Trinity Visit

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