December!!

Wow! December has been such a busy month! We can't believe its already Christmas and winter break!  Here's a quick recap of all the things we've done this month!

We started the month with the illusionist Darcy Oake at the MTS Centre! Darcy put on an amazing show and we were left wondering how he did such amazing things!

Next up on the December agenda was a visit to the Manitoba Legislature for their annual Christmas open house.  There were choirs from elementary and middle schools from all around Winnipeg that preformed and we were able to see the House of Commons and the rest of the building all decorated for the holidays.

Since its the season for giving here in Manitoba we also took a day to help out at the local Koats for Kids office.  Koats for Kids collects winter clothing for children of all ages and distributes it to families who cannot afford proper winter clothing for their children. 

Next on the agenda was lunch at a Winnipeg favorite, The Old Spaghetti Factory.

After our bellies were full we walked over to the outdoor ice skating rink at the Forks and had a great time skating! For some students this was a first, others seemed like old pros.

And then, last night we participated in a real Winnipeg Christmas tradition and went to see the Royal Winnipeg Ballet perform The Nutcracker!  It was such a fantastic show, and it even snowed outside to give it a real holiday feel.

Phew! That was a busy month!  Now time for some holidays! 

Grey Cup Weekend!

On Friday students had the day off so we decided to go to Carnaval Brazilian Restaurant to have a really great Brazilian lunch!

It was a busy week in Winnipeg since last weekend we hosted 103rd Annual Grey Cup. The Grey Cup is the championship game for Canadian Football, so there were lots of things going on all week! There were concerts, galas, outdoor events, as well as the Santa Claus Parade! What a crazy week!

We got to attend the Santa Claus Parade and see some great floats with all kinds of lights!!

All the Cheer Teams from the different Football teams were there and they did some awesome routines during the parade...

And the bands as well...

 

And of course Santa was there!

Winter Break Activities

Winter Break is just around the corner and the planned activities are out!!

Make sure to e-mail Samantha or call the office to sign-up for one of our fun events!!

Manitoba Moose Game

Last Friday we spent the evening watching the Manitoba Moose play against the Bakersfield Condors!  The Manitoba Moose is an ice hockey team in Winnipeg playing in the American Hockey League.  

Even though the Moose couldn't get a win we cheered loud...

And we even danced a little with Winnipeg Legend Dancing Gabe!!

MCIE Reception

Last Tuesday night we were invited to the Manitoba Council for International Education annual reception.  We had four wonderful volunteers who greeted guests and got to meet international students from around Manitoba as well as government officials involved in education.  It was great to see so many people committed to international education in one room.  Thanks for the invite MCIE!

Manitoba Museum

Last Friday, we were just a small group of four but it was a great day at the Manitoba Museum and Smoke's Poutinerie! We started with some Canadian comfort food...poutine...or french fries, cheese and gravy for anyone who is unfamiliar.  After we took a much needed walk to the Manitoba Museum to see the National Geographic Presents: Earth Explorer's Exhibit.  We learned lots about Manitoba's history and how scientists are exploring the world and learning new things every day!

Esfera Flashback!

In October we hosted a small group of 7th graders from Brazil! It was so much fun to see them making fast friends and being interested in Winnipeg and Canada.  We went to the Zoo...

...and saw the amazing new Journey to Churchill Exhibit.  There were Polar Bears swimming, wolves lounging around and some seals getting lunch.  Later in the week we visited The Forks and had to make a little pit stop at the skate park to see how fast we could run up the ramps...

The Forks was great for some early lunch and shopping before we walked over to the Canadian Museum of Human Rights to learn about human rights around the world. Our tour guide was awesome and the students were so engaged in learning about champions of human rights and issues that the world faces.

The next week our Brazilian guests got the real Canadian experience by learning how to skate and play ice hockey with the St. James-Assiniboia Hockey Academy...

And last but certainly not least we got a great tour of the St. James Fire Station.  The students were able to try out the fire hose, put on the gear, and even got some first aid experience. 

It was a great two weeks spent seeing Winnipeg and making new friends across the world.  Until we meet again!

October

October has gone by really fast!  It's hard to believe it it's over already.  We had our annual grade 7 group from Brazil, and they saw quite a bit of Winnipeg in their two weeks here, including some swimming polar bears.

We also went to see an NBA game, which was a great opportunity.

And of course it was just Halloween.  Here is Daniel with a great costume and fantastic pumpkin carving.

Send in any more Halloween pictures, we would love to see them!