Our "Newfie" Experience

Mrs. Lovato, Leslie, Maribeth, Michelle, and Camila all had the opportunity to travel to York Harbour, Newfoundland on an airplane as exchange students for the Corner Brook Regional Heritage Fair.  It wasn't what we expected Newfoundland to be like.  Newfoundland is all mountains, very different from Manitoba, which is completely flat.  Even though we were expecting mountains, we weren't expecting them to be so big and there to be so many!  We explored the fascinating scenery of the high mountains, and the calm ocean.  Another thing that was very different from the Winnipeg accent was the Newfie accent.  They talk very differently from people in Manitoba, and they talk very fast!  There were so many things there that we could never see or do if it wasn't for going on this Histor!ca Exchange trip.  We got to go on an airplane, go on a boat in the ocean, and hike through mountains.

Day 1, Wednesday, May 10^th, 2000

We all (all as in Camila, Michelle, Maribeth, Leslie, and Mrs. Lovato) woke up around 5:30 a.m. on May 10, 2000, feeling very excited.  Today was the day we were going to Newfoundland.  We all met at the airport at 7:30 a.m., with the exception of Maribeth.  She came ten minutes late, and we were all afraid that she wasn't going to show up at all.  Finally she did, so we got into line and received our tickets.  With a lot of "good-byes," "call me when you get there," and "make sure to dress warm," we finally entered the terminal, all waving and shouting to each other.  We waited about 20 minutes in the terminal for our plane, and after what seemed like an eternity, we finally boarded.  This was an exciting experience for all us, and especially for Camila and Leslie, who had never been on a plane before.  We all clutched our Rosaries, and prayed for a safe flight.  Finally, we descended from the Winnipeg Airport, on our way to first Montreal, then Halifax, and finally to Deer Lake, Newfoundland.

The flights were very tiring, and we all dragged our carry-on baggage around when we arrived in Montreal and Halifax.  We had a little bit of layover time in each city, so in each airport, we went from store to store buying postcards and newspapers as memoirs.  On our flight to Deer Lake, we kept looking out the windows and trying to spot the island of Newfoundland.  Finally, it was right below us.  It was really surprising because we weren't used to seeing the mountains and all the water surrounding them.  We landed at Deer Lake, and walked off the plane into Deer Lake Airport.  Waiting inside was my billet, Jade, with her dad, and Mrs. Lovato's billet, Mrs. Thorne.  We stood around getting acquainted with everyone and waiting for our baggage, and finally we were off to York Harbour.  Camila, Michelle, Jade, and her dad all traveled in one car while Mrs. Lovato, Maribeth, Leslie, and Mrs. Thorne went in the other car.

The drive was about an hour and a half long, but we drove looking at all the sights like 'The Man In The Mountain,' the Newfoundland mountains, and the 'Pulp and Paper Mill,' located in Corner Brook.  We stopped at a Tim Horton's in Corner Brook, where Jade and her dad bought Cappucinos.  It took another half hour to drive to York Harbour, and when we finally arrived, we dropped Michelle off at her billet's house, Melanie, and then went to Jade's house, where Camila was staying.  We all started unpacking our things, and a little after 9:00 p.m., Newfoundland time, Michelle and Melanie came over to Jade's house.  Camila and Michelle were supposed to be rehearsing for their presentation at the school the next day, but all the girls just ended up talking until about 10:30 p.m. at night.  They left soon after that, and Camila and Jade sat up and talked for a little while longer.  We were all exhausted from the flights, so we all went off to sleep pretty quickly, as we had a big day ahead of us the next day.

Day 2, Thursday, May 11^th, 2000

As we got ready to visit our billet's school, we stood outside in a bus shelter, for the school bus.  When we got on the bus, everyone was looking at us!  We felt weird and embarrassed because we didn't know anyone there.  It took about 10 minutes, driving on curvy roads to get to the school.  When we got off the school bus, we looked at the school, and it was much smaller than our school.  St. James goes from grades N-12.  As we walked in, we saw many people, who greeted us in surprise.  We got a tour of the school before the bell rang, and got the chance to meet some of the teachers there.  In each class, there was approximately 17-20 students, and at least one room for each grade.  Instead of six days per cycle, they had 14.  Their school starts at 8:30 and ends at 2:30 in the afternoon.  During the first period, Camila, Michelle, Leslie, and Maribeth, got the chance to present their projects to the students.  All the students we met there were very friendly and they showed us their hospitality, by making us feel welcome.  We got the chance to go to some of their classes, and we learned what their teacher taught them.  It is not very different from what we've learned here, but some of the work was taught differently.  It was pretty interesting to see many different ways, teachers teach.

For lunch, we went to Marlene's, which is a family diner by the ocean.  We thought the food there was really good, especially their sandwiches.  Looking off the deck, was such a beautiful view, seeing seagulls fly by and looking out to the mountains was just amazing.  We took many pictures, and we also took some beautiful shells and rocks from the shore.  We got to meet the owner of the diner, Marlene and her sister, who served us.

Once we got something to eat, we went back to the school to pick up our billets.  Then we went on a hike on the mountains. Since we couldn't drive up the road to get started with the hike, we started from the very bottom, which took about 20-25 minutes to get to the steps around the mountains.  Before we got on the stairs, we took dozens of pictures on the shore with the mountains behind us.  Finally, we started our hike on the mountains.  Boy, was it hard! We just about had our workout walking up so many steps.  It took about 45 minutes just to reach the top of the mountains.  When we got up there it was so beautiful and amazing.  We took a lot of pictures, then started going back down the steps, on our way to the Community Hall for our Newfie Night.  When we got there we were introduced to many other Newfies who had organized a true Newfoundland feast.  Boy, were we hungry, after all the walking.  We got the chance to try out many foods, which were delicious.  We also had lobster fresh from the ocean.

We were rushed because we were still going on a boat cruise, and there was a fishing boat waiting for us by the dock. When we got on the boat, we got to see Newfoundland's many islands around the west side of Newfoundland.  As we went further from the dock, we saw a cave, and some people on the boat apparently saw a whale.  We were hoping we would have seen a whale, but we were just not looking at the right spot of the ocean at the time.  That's too bad!

After a one hour cruise on the ocean, we headed back to the Hall for our other surprises.  When we got there, they had planned skits of the Newfoundland heritage.  The same night, we were made honourary "Screechers" of Newfoundland. The real deal was to kiss a cod fish and drink rum, but because of our delicate age and the danger of extinction of their cod, we drank a popular punch and we kissed a capelon fish!  We found it very interesting learning about their heritage.  From there, we called it a wonderful night, and headed back to home.

Day 3, Friday May 12^th, 2000

All of the Heritage Exchange students went on a trip to Gros Morne National Park.  Not only were we there from Winnipeg, but there were other students from Abbotsford, B.C. and Kingston, Ontario and all our hosts.  All of us together filled a big school bus.  When we arrived at the park, we went into a big cabin first, because it was too cold outside, and participated in fun group activities.  After a lunch of spaghetti and Caesar salad, we went into a different cabin and watched a video about the heritage of Gros Morne Park.  When the video was over, the man, who showed it to us, put on a funny little skit about a typical day at the park a long time ago when the inspector came around.

When all of this was over, we headed back onto the bus to go up the mountain to the lighthouse.  The lighthouse is now a museum containing things such as a stuffed seal, old tools and boat parts, and many models of the types of fish found in the ocean.  For dinner that day we all ate at a restaurant.  All of us from Winnipeg had the seafood platter.  The day before we ate a huge seafood dinner, and we really didn't feel like fish again, but we had pre-ordered and we couldn't change it.  We ate most of it but got pretty full and couldn't finish.  On the way back to Corner Brook, we saw many moose on the highway. Every time the bus driver spotted one he'd yell, "Moose on the right!" or, "Moose on the left!" and we all would run to the window to try to get a picture.

On this trip to Gros Morne National Park we met a lot of new and interesting people, and made a few new friends that we will continue to stay in touch with through letters and E-mail.  This wouldn't be the last time we'd see them though, because the next day we would see each other at the Heritage Fair in Corner Brook and at the Marble Mountain Ski Resort for a BBQ supper and a final goodbye.

Day 4, Saturday, May 13^th, 2000

We left for Corner Brook early because it was about a two hour drive from where we stayed.  We got to the Heritage Fair site and soon we got organized.  We quickly took a glimpse of the other projects, and we were fascinated.  We saw a lot of interesting topics and neat diagrams.  It was wonderful to see others from different destinations and how they feel as Canadians.  The opening ceremonies began and we were introduced in front of the crowd.  It' s so funny when they thought that Winnipeg was in Ontario!  We were handed shirts and entered our names for prizes.  The whole morning was long.  We didn't get judged which made it easier for us, but we did get a lot of questions and compliments.

For lunch, we ate at the Valley Mall.  (Michelle was craving some rice, so she ate at the Chinese restaurant.)  We walked around the mall and tried on some clothes.  We came back to the Heritage Fair and it was just the same as the morning.  When the day ended, we went off to the other local malls in Corner Brook.  Before that, we went to visit Captain Cook's Trail up at the top of the hill.  Jade's father (a girl who was apart of the exchange) took us to see a marine boat and had a quick tour.   Then it was time to go to the malls.

We were very tired when we got home; we just wanted to sleep.  We ate dinner, which was fries and gravy with chicken fingers, exchanged gifts and again thanked our hosts for their hospitality.  Then it was time to pack.  We were very excited to see our families again, but yet, we wanted to stay in this country-life.  We couldn't sleep that night, so we stayed up watching the last programs that we'd ever see on Newfoundland television.

Day 5, Sunday, May 14^th, 2000

Today was our final day in Newfoundland. We woke up around 5:30 in the morning with all of our bags packed, so all we had to do was shower, dress, and pick up our bags and leave.  We all exchanged addresses and phone numbers with our billets so we could keep in touch, and swapped gifts and good-bye hugs with each other.  Around 6:30 a.m., Melanie's dad picked up Camila, Leslie, Maribeth, and Mrs. Lovato, with Michelle already in the car.  We all buckled up for the long ride to Deer Lake Airport, and the four teens all fell asleep in the back.  

We woke up at the airport, and waited to board the plane.  While waiting, we sat and reminisced about the past 4 days and the experiences we had.  Finally we boarded the plane, and said our final good-byes.  We went off to Winnipeg!

The flights this time were to Halifax and then Toronto, so they were pretty much the same as the first flights.  Only this time in Toronto, we had a long layover time, so we got to step outside the airport and breathe the Toronto air.  We all got pictures of the CN Tower, which we could see from the airport.  When we finally boarded the last plane, we were so happy that we thought we were going to burst.  The flight from Toronto to Winnipeg was about 2 hours long, but we sat patiently and waited.

When we finally arrived in Winnipeg, we walked out of the terminal to see all of our families smiling faces, faces we had not seen for 5 days.  It was a joyous reunion, and it was good to be back.  Home at last!!!