Reflection

Hello again!

It's been awhile! So I will walk you through the last couple of days...

Another important part of the Occupational Therapy Process is Reflection.
Some of us are natural reflectors, and some are less inclined to think back to days gone by. Some are constantly reflecting, so much that they are constantly revisiting the past, forgetting about what lies ahead.

For an OT reflection is practice related, but I think everyone can benefit from this skill - for instance, a lighthearted reflection might as well ask if it was really necessary to eat an entire pizza just because it was free. Or another example, what was I thinking, volunteering to lead a charity group to tour machu picchu next summer?  Or did I really think I could join the football club, climbing club, christian union and choir - all of which meet on Tuesdays?!

As you may have gathered, school has started, but the academic part won't really materialize until we go on placement in less than 2 weeks.
In the meantime we are slowly experiencing the other aspects of university life.
University life  presents  a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and meet new kinds of people.
Tiffany and I went to the Christian Union's meet and greet games night tonight. About 20 young people were there looking for fellowship and a new church community while they stay in Northampton. It was nice to connect with like-minded individuals.

Last Sunday, at Reynard Way Church, there were 4 adult immersion baptisms. I have never seen this myself, so it was quite powerful having the young members read their testimonies, completely submerge into the pool, all to the choir of amazing grace. Amazing indeed. Also a praise item is the fact that two of my roommates joined me for worship that Sunday as well! It's just really exciting to know that wherever you go, God is still God, and in total control!

Today we had a "breakaway" training at a nearby hospital. This is a mandatory violence prevention activity, and as I've worked in health care for awhile, I thought I knew what to expect. I did not expect our trainers to be huge - 6 ft 3 heavy tattooed, with matching black uniforms. I also did not expect the training to take place in a completely padded room, in the soundproof area of the hospital. I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I should "breakaway" myself, or at least have written a will. Needless to say, we had a great time, learning how to get out of all sorts of threatening holds, hair pulls and strangles. You know you have an interesting job as a trainer when to say "do you mind if I strangle you?" is part of the work script.

I just can't believe we are just shy of our month anniversary here! It feels like ages, I mean I feel I blend in very well, I have biscuits with my cuppa, mostly remember to bike on the left side of the road and try not to act concerned when someone says "are you alright?" They just mean "how are you doing today?"

The leaves are changing and the weather is cooling down, another season passed. But not to worry! Something new is just around the corner:

"You are blessed because you belong to God - He chose you, shaped you, and prepared you to make a difference in the world." ~ This is what my daily calendar has to say about Sept. 24. It's actually still Sept. 23 but I decided I liked tomorrow's phrase for this post instead. Why not!

Well, cheerio mate.

I thought I would officially introduce my roomates to you, as we are doing this adventure together.

 This is Sophy. She is the oldest, is Vegan, loves being active and exercising. We bike places together which is very fun. The other fun part is she thinks I am good at directions. Apparently we both never know where we are going. I chose this picture to display some of the more chaotic aspects of school. This is uniform fitting day. Every single person in a health profession all has the identical time slot of 12:00 to communally try on uniforms. Sophy also dislikes inefficiency.

This is Danielle. She is blending a smoothie by pedaling a bicycle. She loves animals, except for spiders which she has an extreme passion about keeping at bay. To date we have gone through peppermint oil, rigorous kitchen cleaning and now after a small tarantula episode, resorted to buying spider poison off the internet. She is also very good at taking care of all the important paperwork aspects of our living arrangements. She misses her puppy. I have watched more dog videos with her in the last month, than all my previous video watching life. I think I may have become a dog lover too.

This is Tiffany. Or "Jazz hands." She is constantly incorporating dance moves into everyday activities. I'm pretty sure she danced her way out of breakaway training this morning. She also never goes a day without wearing something hello kitty. I think that was the first thing she mentioned after going to church with me. "Did you see that little girl with the hello kitty dress?" She is absolutely adorable, always smiling and a lot wiser than the average 23yr old.

 

Meaningful Occupation

Being an Occupational Therapist (in training) means that you learn about what makes people tick.
People need to have roles, and access to meaningful occupation in the areas of self-care, productivity and leisure. They also know the importance of being "balanced." This is important for anyone! Here is just a few visuals of these theories in practice.


Productivity: Hemming my own uniform, a new skill learned for me. Nothing like Grandma's work, but it will do!

Productivity: Here it is! The coveted OT uniform. Had my orientation day at Kettering General Hospital. I am so excited to have a placement here, the OT department is geared to student learning, and we have weekly discussions with other students regarding interesting journal articles, new ideas, shared learning experiences etc.

 
Leisure / Self - care: It's race day every Saturday! Sophy and I joined a 5km running club. It's a competitive, timed event that gathers around 100 or so participants weekly stampeding their way to a new personal best! We love this initiative to stay in shape.

Leisure: We enjoyed the sunshine in an open air vintage market last weekend.

Below are the 6 (including myself taking the photo) Canadian OT students! We are maximizing on all the student perks including this free welcome dinner on campus. We may or may not have taken some leftovers home in a container :)

School is in full swing and we are learning all we can before placement starts in early October! That is all for now - hope you are enjoying a balanced lifestyle!

Goodnight.

A New Found Freedom

Hello everyone,

It has been a fantastic week so far.
Sunday afternoon I picked up my bike complete with bell, lights, rack, pump and lock! The people here really are too good to me!
Sunday was a full day again, which I love. Two services, an open lunch - where about 15 of us gathered, and a late night Bible Study. Over lunch I was informed of Scotland's big vote of independence coming up in a few weeks. It would create a big mess in the UK if they separate, as how do you divide things like an army, share currency, create legislation? We shall see how things turn out. It is safe to say I feel involved here.

A small highlight of my Sunday morning walk to church was this :

This generous contribution from a complete stranger made me very happy. Although, I might add, my purse was incredibly heavy for the rest of the day. Also, fun fact : a zucchini is called a courgette here. 

Monday dawned bright and sunny and quite early, as I woke in anticipation of exploring the English country-side on my bike. The only downside is the issue of storage space. Last night my bike was stored in our shed with a broken window and no lock, tied to the vacuum (or my favorite English word hoover), with a chair blocking the door. Hopefully it will be safe for the time being.

                                                      Here she is! Graffiti is universal.

         In the last two days I've put in 6 hours on my new bike - so much to see and explore!

Monday I also had the privilege of having lunch with the Pastor Paul and his wife Julia. They are a very warm and welcoming family, and it's great to see the passion they have for their church community. Yes, I have also been doing some reading for school. Looking forward to going to my first class with all the other students tommorow! It will be a surprise for them as they don't even know 6 Canadians will be joining them! Tiffany and I were thinking of bringing Canadian - themed cookies to help break the ice. It was that or a giant poutine.

Hope all is well back on Canadian soil!

These Boots were made for Walking

It's Saturday night, or afternoon, depending on what side of the world you are viewing this from.
I hear the valley has some lovely sunshine today! Enjoy it.
Well, we made it through the first week in England.
To celebrate we ventured to a cute local pub, which this weekend offered a beer garden atmosphere.

An interesting observation is that in the UK, it is totally acceptable to bring the whole family to this sort of outing, and everyone was entertained, whether it was Grandpa watching football on the tele, or the children playing tag in the grass. Quite enjoyable.

We were told at school last Friday that we weren't expected to be back until the following Thursday! It's a strange phenomenon for us, the 4 recently un-employed, turned international students. What to do? We literally have only explored as far as our boots have taken us, which I might add is quite a few miles...

I decided to take a hike. Well, I tried to find something with some elevation gain. I asked the friendly chap at the mobile store for some advice. He got really excited and mentioned some really great "walks" that were over an hour away by bus. It was then that I ate an entire Milka chocolate bar.
The English don't really understand incline like us from the West Coast.

Now, for a little local history :this is FOOTWORKS, Northampton's claim to fame. This shoe factory inspired the film "Kinky Boots" that is now a Broadway Musical, right up there with Phantom of the Opera. It looks abandoned now, but still stands magnificently as a reminder to what put Northampton on the map.

 Even though it's not hiking, it's nice to walk everywhere, you experience more of the scenery, and rub elbows with some of the locals. Everyone is happy to talk to an "American."
I am looking forward to tomorrow, to be back at Reynard Way Church, and to pick up my new BIKE that Sonja found for me. I can't wait to have my own set of wheels...

Have a blessed Sunday!

It's the small things

Hello again!

It's been a full 3 days of school! The campus is very nice and modern, not really what I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of "Harry Potter."
They haven't taken it easy on us, the "special" Canadians as the last two days we stayed in class longer than our original 9:30 - 4:30 itinerary indicated.
I really can't complain as sleeping in till 7:30 is the latest I have ever woken up for school!

I am super excited for this opportunity - and as our educator put so adequately "congratulations on choosing the best occupation in the world!" - As all our educators are OTs I'm confident that statement is completely unbiased :)

For those unfamiliar with the profession of Occupational Therapy I will explain it as my roommate Tiffany does: "Think about what you do, everyday, from the moment you wake up, until you go to bed at night. Now imagine you have some sort of disability or barrier whether mental or physical, which inhibits you from completing those tasks. This is where occupational therapy can help!" It's such a  great occupation with  a huge area of work opportunities.

I also realized that school in the UK however glamorous that sounds, is still school. I've learned to appreciate the little things that make life grand. Free tea and coffee and a microwave on campus being a few of those things.

I'm still pinching myself daily, that I'm actually here, in England, going to university. As my devotional this morning put so well - a rejuvenated prayer life often begins with 2 words; "Thank you!"

This plaque was on campus - so true don't you think?

                                                      Jumping for joy to be back at school :)

An unique feature of the very modern student lounge - a "gaming pod"

So happy to be running through the dangerously uneven streets of Northampton

                                                            Tiffany and I exploring town 

A House to Call Home

The New Place!

Hello,

It's back to the usually foggy rain here in Northampton - what the locals call "boggy."
I thought I would give you and idea of what our place looks like on Cecil Rd - pronouced (Seh - Sol) which is a man's name. I learned that one the hard way when trying to direct the taxi driver to (Seh - Seal). Anyways, I quite like our little place although there are a few things that make me chuckle.

This photo for instance is of the second washroom. A bit of a let - down considering there isn't even room for a hand towel, and we flood the floor everytime we use the sink. Oh yes, and ironically enough it is the ONLY room in the house where the door is not spring loaded.

This is our backyard. I volunteered to be responsible for mowing the grass. But considering how much it rains I might change my mind. The first morning I stepped out I was startled to realize I was looking straight at my neighbor... 5 houses down. Not so much privacy, and I was easily able to bend down and pet the neighbor's cat over the wall.

This is also something different in England. People park however they want

                                      

This is one of the intersections close to our place. It's just so quaint and English!

                                                    

The picture above is of Sonja and Eric. I met Sonja at church on Sunday and she has completely adopted me already! We spent the whole day together - had a fantastic dinner which we all took naps after (I'm a tad jet-lagged), sang at a Retirement home and then back to church for the evening service. There was a young adults Bible Study happening after that as well, which I will probably check out next week. I was overwhelmed by the hospitality and warmth from everyone in the small 100 member congregation. The pastor's wife is Canadian and was thrilled that I would still be in Northampton for July 1st and we already planned to make Canada Day cupcakes together. 

So far so good out here. I am thankful for incredibly tech - savvy roommates, without them I would be completely lost, and probably never be able to write on this blog. Hope to have internet at our place soon! 

First day of school tomorrow!  

Goodnight

Luv.