Rens' bus is empty, and we are heading home.
A pleasure to serve you. That's Rens in the middle.
Gathering our luggage and our thoughts at the Rome airport.We bid Rens farewell at the airport in Rome. Adding it up I’ve spent 86 days in Europe with Rens, and I know I’m leaving a friend every time I return to Canada.
It’s difficult to summarize the trip, or make some sort of concluding statement. One of the aspects of the trip that still affects me is the weird time warp that happens as we travel. It is not uncommon for people to remark that something we did two or three days earlier seems like it was a couple weeks ago, as we have done and seen so much between. I even heard people confused about what we had done that day, thinking that what we did in the morning was actually the day before. I guess that could be a good thing (we are using all of our time well in Europe), or a not so good thing (we are doing too much?). I guess it depends on your perspective. My philosophy is to do and see as much as we can, as long as we get a sense of the place, have an experience, open the doors, and, of course, climb the stairs! Tours that drive by, stop for a photo op, and continue on are not my style. Rens says he drives a lot of groups who do tours like that, and not many that do tours like ours.
This trip had a very inauspicious beginning for me. On the Sunday before we left, I awoke with a dull ache in my head and body. By 5 AM on Tuesday morning, I had a very high fever, full body aches, headache, and dizziness. I actually called the airlines to try to reschedule my flight and meet the group in Paris on day 6 of the trip so I could stay home in bed and get better. With care and attention from my wife, by noon on Tuesday, my fever was way down, and I made the decision to go. I’m very thankful to James and the couple of parents who clued in that I was not well those first couple days for stepping up and helping me out. I didn’t want to tell anyone how I was feeling, especially at the start of the trip! I rarely get sick, and when I do, it is usually mild and over quickly. This was as sick as I have ever been. I spent the flight with my blanket over my face, washing my hands as often as possible and feeling horrible. Ask James – he had to sit beside me for all 9.5 hours. He never got sick, so the virus must have been waning then, and for the next few days, I progressively got better, almost losing my voice and developing a bit of a cough, but feeling better anyway. My wife says I got sick because I was riding my bike too much (all the way from Mission and back several times a week) before the trip, and that suppressed my immune system. She’s probably right, as usual.
Probably one of the most unique things about this year`s trip was the weather. Amazing weather, everywhere! That just doesn`t happen. I know we`ve been spoiled by the weather when on the last afternoon of the trip I`m about to send the group off for their last shopping and dinner with a very light sprinkle of rain coming down, and one of the kids says, incredulously, “In this?”
For me personally, the best thing about the 2009 trip was that my wife Lisa was able to join us for the last 9 days. I`ve left my family for this trip every year for the last five, and I knew that it was high time Lisa got in on the experience. We were very fortunate to have my mom and our friends the “Mission Johnsons” care for our children while we were both in Europe. Lisa had a wonderful time, and commented to me that she really enjoyed getting to know the other parents on the trip. My kids are getting older, and Magdalena, my oldest, will be coming on the trip in the next couple of years. They always eagerly look forward to my return, but probably most of that is because they know I have Dumon`s chocolates in one of my bags.
Every year I seem to say that this year’s trip was the biggest one ever, and every year it is true. I don’t think I’ll be able to say that again – we had the largest bus that AMZ uses and it was basically full, and we had the longest tour ever (19 days). It can’t get any bigger.
The students were great. All 36 of them! Everywhere we went, people commented on how well behaved the students were. Just as important to me is how intrigued and engaged the kids were in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Europe. What a great group of young men and women.
Now about those parents... 15 of them! I know other trips that are done with no parents at all, and even my daughter’s grade 7 trip to Quebec earlier this month had only two parents along and one teacher for a full class of kids. I think the philosophy behind some of the less-parents-is-better trip leaders is that “too many cooks spoil the soup”. But I don’t consider the parents cooks. They`re along to enjoy the ride and take on some of the responsibilities of looking after a large group of kids. And to have a great experience with their own child. But not to cook the soup. That`s my job. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the soup this year! Mr. Johnson and I truly appreciated all the help and support the parents were to us and the students. The kids were fortunate to have such a caring group of adults along with them on the trip. It is a rare thing as a teacher to really get to know the parents of the kids we teach, and I find this to be one of the most enjoyable things about the Europe trips.
Thanks to all the parents who sponsored fundraisers during the year, all the teachers who supported students missing 8 days of school by providing work for them to do before or catch up after, Mr. S. Johnson and Mr. Sawatsky for covering a few classes for Mr. Johnson and me while we were gone, and to Mrs. Bicknell, for whom the Europe trip adds another whole dimension to her bookkeeping duties in the office! And finally, thanks to all the parents for entrusting Mr. Johnson and I with their kids on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope that the trip has broadened horizons, fostered tolerance, and encouraged future travels.
Craig Bresett
March 31, 2009
It’s difficult to summarize the trip, or make some sort of concluding statement. One of the aspects of the trip that still affects me is the weird time warp that happens as we travel. It is not uncommon for people to remark that something we did two or three days earlier seems like it was a couple weeks ago, as we have done and seen so much between. I even heard people confused about what we had done that day, thinking that what we did in the morning was actually the day before. I guess that could be a good thing (we are using all of our time well in Europe), or a not so good thing (we are doing too much?). I guess it depends on your perspective. My philosophy is to do and see as much as we can, as long as we get a sense of the place, have an experience, open the doors, and, of course, climb the stairs! Tours that drive by, stop for a photo op, and continue on are not my style. Rens says he drives a lot of groups who do tours like that, and not many that do tours like ours.
This trip had a very inauspicious beginning for me. On the Sunday before we left, I awoke with a dull ache in my head and body. By 5 AM on Tuesday morning, I had a very high fever, full body aches, headache, and dizziness. I actually called the airlines to try to reschedule my flight and meet the group in Paris on day 6 of the trip so I could stay home in bed and get better. With care and attention from my wife, by noon on Tuesday, my fever was way down, and I made the decision to go. I’m very thankful to James and the couple of parents who clued in that I was not well those first couple days for stepping up and helping me out. I didn’t want to tell anyone how I was feeling, especially at the start of the trip! I rarely get sick, and when I do, it is usually mild and over quickly. This was as sick as I have ever been. I spent the flight with my blanket over my face, washing my hands as often as possible and feeling horrible. Ask James – he had to sit beside me for all 9.5 hours. He never got sick, so the virus must have been waning then, and for the next few days, I progressively got better, almost losing my voice and developing a bit of a cough, but feeling better anyway. My wife says I got sick because I was riding my bike too much (all the way from Mission and back several times a week) before the trip, and that suppressed my immune system. She’s probably right, as usual.
Probably one of the most unique things about this year`s trip was the weather. Amazing weather, everywhere! That just doesn`t happen. I know we`ve been spoiled by the weather when on the last afternoon of the trip I`m about to send the group off for their last shopping and dinner with a very light sprinkle of rain coming down, and one of the kids says, incredulously, “In this?”
For me personally, the best thing about the 2009 trip was that my wife Lisa was able to join us for the last 9 days. I`ve left my family for this trip every year for the last five, and I knew that it was high time Lisa got in on the experience. We were very fortunate to have my mom and our friends the “Mission Johnsons” care for our children while we were both in Europe. Lisa had a wonderful time, and commented to me that she really enjoyed getting to know the other parents on the trip. My kids are getting older, and Magdalena, my oldest, will be coming on the trip in the next couple of years. They always eagerly look forward to my return, but probably most of that is because they know I have Dumon`s chocolates in one of my bags.
Every year I seem to say that this year’s trip was the biggest one ever, and every year it is true. I don’t think I’ll be able to say that again – we had the largest bus that AMZ uses and it was basically full, and we had the longest tour ever (19 days). It can’t get any bigger.
The students were great. All 36 of them! Everywhere we went, people commented on how well behaved the students were. Just as important to me is how intrigued and engaged the kids were in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Europe. What a great group of young men and women.
Now about those parents... 15 of them! I know other trips that are done with no parents at all, and even my daughter’s grade 7 trip to Quebec earlier this month had only two parents along and one teacher for a full class of kids. I think the philosophy behind some of the less-parents-is-better trip leaders is that “too many cooks spoil the soup”. But I don’t consider the parents cooks. They`re along to enjoy the ride and take on some of the responsibilities of looking after a large group of kids. And to have a great experience with their own child. But not to cook the soup. That`s my job. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the soup this year! Mr. Johnson and I truly appreciated all the help and support the parents were to us and the students. The kids were fortunate to have such a caring group of adults along with them on the trip. It is a rare thing as a teacher to really get to know the parents of the kids we teach, and I find this to be one of the most enjoyable things about the Europe trips.
Thanks to all the parents who sponsored fundraisers during the year, all the teachers who supported students missing 8 days of school by providing work for them to do before or catch up after, Mr. S. Johnson and Mr. Sawatsky for covering a few classes for Mr. Johnson and me while we were gone, and to Mrs. Bicknell, for whom the Europe trip adds another whole dimension to her bookkeeping duties in the office! And finally, thanks to all the parents for entrusting Mr. Johnson and I with their kids on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope that the trip has broadened horizons, fostered tolerance, and encouraged future travels.
Craig Bresett
March 31, 2009
Thanks Craig - I really enjoyed following your trip - sounds like it was great. Heather
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