Monday

We went to the Smallville set on Monday. Here are some pictures of us on the set. #1 is in the Fortress of Solitude, #2 is in the Luthor Mansion, and #3 is in Clarks loft.

Last Day in Canada

So the countdown is on. We'll be leaving Canada at 9:10 am tomorrow (Tuesday). Today we'll be going to the set of Smallville to watch them shoot a couple scenes. My aunty Natalie is the head makeup artist, so she'll take us around and give us the grand tour of the set. Apparently they're shooting in the builing where the green screen, Luthor's mansion, and Kent farm are. I'll see if I can get some pictures when I'm there...I've finally organized myself enough to be able to take pictures with my own camera. I pretty much didn't use my camera the whole time we were in Victoria because my battery died and I left the charger in my bag at my aunts house. Then, yesterday, I got my camera all charged up and took it to Julie Richardson's house to take pictures of everyone swimming, but my memory card was missing. Apparently, I left it in the card reader on my laptop the last time I used it.

Anyways, I thought I'd let everyone know my "plan" for not having jet lag when I get to Germany. I'm going to sleep this afternoon from 7pm until 12am then get up and stay up until we fly out for Germany at 9am (keep in mind that at 12am here it's 9am in Germany). Then I'll stay awake on the flight until about 2pm Canadian time and then go to sleep on the plane (it will be 11pm German time). Then I plan on sleeping as long as I can before we land in Germany (which will be 6am German time on Wednesday). Hopefully, everything will be screwed up enough that at the end of the day on Wednesday I'll be able to fall asleep and wake up on Thursday morning refreshed and ready to go. I think it will work. Let me know in the comments if you don't think it will work.

Anyways, I better get going....we should head out for the set pretty soon.

Andrew

The Buchart Gardens

This garden is pretty amazing. I was in a place last year in Germany called The Residenze....it was a huge elaborate mansion with the biggest fresco in the world. It also had a huge garden in the back yard that was probably the most impressive I'd ever seen. Until yesterday. The Residenze doesn't even hold a candle to The Buchart Gardens...and the fireworks were the most amazing I've ever seen. Anyways, I need to jet to get to the ferry in time. Here are some pictures:

In Victoria and More Pictures

We've been in Victoria for Friday and Saturday. We'll probably take the early ferry back to Vancouver on Sunday. But, yesterday when we arrived, I managed to find my way to Danny's house from the ferry terminal....not bad considering I've only driven in Victoria once before. We sat and chatted about things for a little while. One thing that we talked about was Danny's book that he's writting on teaching religion class in highschool and teaching youth in general. He's got 8 chapters done of 11, so he's almost done. I have a feeling that he won't have a lot to time this school year, so I hope he can get the book done. I think the book will be especially useful for youth ministers, youth group leaders, teachers in Christian schools, and Christian parents. Since I've done so much in youth ministry, youth groups, and teaching I think this will be a pretty interesting book. Anyways, later that day we went for a walk around downtown Victoria through James Bay. Lots of street performers and merchants selling things. We actually sat and watched a juggling act for half an hour.....he was performing just across the street from the Empress Hotel....it was pretty good. After that, we went to the parliament building and had lunch on the front lawn. It's a pretty beautiful place. Here are some pictures:



















After lunch we went shopping downtown. I actually ran into one of my friends from highschool who was working in one of the shops. It was Kathleen....I haven't seen her or talked to her for about 4 years. It was pretty great to talk to her and see how she's doing. She's actually directing a play for the Fringe Festival and the first performance was just the other day. Apparently it went pretty well and the audience really liked it. It's cool to know that she's being successful.

Anyways, we all slept in today since we were up at 5:30am yesterday. I especially needed to sleep in because I woke up with a head cold yesterday. Hopefully I can fight it off before we leave for Europe.

Well, I'm going to go get some breakfast before the morning becomes afternoon.

Andrew

Made it to Vancouver

So Tony, Julie, and I just arrived in Vancouver this evening. We're going to leave all our extra bags here and take off to Victoria tomorrow for the weekend. I'm pretty excited about going to Victoria....we'll be meeting up with some of my friends (Justin, Drew, and Danny) and they'll be taking care of us for Friday and Saturday. Tony checked online at the Bouchard Garden's website and found that there will be a show on Saturday night, so I'm pretty sure we'll try and make it to that. Should be pretty great.

I've been a bit stressed lately about making sure this trip goes well and everything is ready. You see, I have this idea in my head that I am really organized....but lately it seems like I'm not very organized. I just feel like I've been running around in circles trying to get things ready. Anyways, I'm happy that things have started and we're in Vancouver now.

I'm off to have something to eat with my cousins and uncle.

Adios,
Andrew

Things are starting to pick up

OK, so I finally have a bit of time to post some pictures and info about what's been happening over the past month or so. To start, I have the Camp Morice Teen camp slideshow rendered and ready for download. I know that UNBC will be really mad at me for having about 20 or more people download this 167 MB file, but I don't really care.

Right-click on the link below and choose "Save Target As..." (or whatever your browser says) and save the file to your computer first. Then watch it.

http://web.unbc.ca/~johnsona/TeenCamp2006.wmv

Next. Here are some pictures of some things I've been doing.


Downtown Vancouver from Cyprus


Mount Robson



The top of the Jasper Tramway



The Othello Tunnels in Hope



The Columbia Icefields on the way to Jasper.

Tell the World

SO.....

I've uploaded 40 pictures from the 2006 Camp Morice Teen Camp. Anyone and everyone should be told. Spread the word.

The address is: http://web.unbc.ca/~johnsona/gallery/gallery1.html

It may take a minute to load up if you have a slow connection.

Andrew

PS: Ha....I beat Jane in posting before she did.

Adventures Inc.

I recently realized that I need to plan ahead to have fun otherwise I'll end up being too tired or too busy to do anything. That's not to say that I don't do things on the spur of the moment because I do and it always ends up being a good time. But, for the really fun things...the things that you look back at later in life and say...."Man....that was fun! How could I ever forget that?" It's those things that are awesome because they've been planned, organized, thought about, anticipated, and carried out...and there is something that is really fullfilling about it all.

That said, I have been planning some things for this summer and I'm starting to get pretty excited about doing it all. I just hope I can get some friends to tag along. I've tried to plan things for the weekend or evenings so that I don't have to miss work and so that everyone else has a greater chance of being able to make it.

So here it is....Adventure Inc.'s schedule of outrageous outings:

Saturday July 22 to Thursday July 27
Road Trip: I'll be driving to Vancouver to stay with my aunt an uncle for a couple days and pick up a friend from Germany who is coming to Canada for a month to visit with everyone who went to Germany for World Youth Day in 2005. On Monday afternoon (July 24th) I'll be driving to Osoyoos to stay there for the night. Osoyoos is where BC is harbouring a desert (in case nobody knew). The 25th in the afternoon I will be driving up to Invermere/Radium Hot Springs to enjoy the springs and stay at Gord Bennett's house. The 26th in the morning I will be driving to Jasper to check out the Columbia Icefields and take a ride in the Gondola to take a look at Jasper from 7472 feet (2277 meters). It's pretty sweet. Finally, on the 27th we will make our way home to PG stopping along the way at Mt Robson for a little while, Rearguard Falls, and several other relaxing places....we've got the whole day to drive 3.5 hours...so if it's a nice day, we'll take our time.
























Saturday July 29th
Falls Tour: A tour of northern BC to view some amazing waterfalls. Bijoux falls lives up to it's french name and Kinuso falls is one of BC's best kept secrets falling to the earth from a greater height than Niagra falls. Click here to see a little advertisement I've made up.

Saturday August 5th
Barkerville: Back to the old days at Barkerville. I've been to Barkerville 23 times in my lifetime with last year being the only year I couldn't go. It's aways tons of fun and it's somewhat comforting to be in a place where computers and technology are no where to be found.

There are several other things that I'd like to do in August, but I don't have any dates for them. Rock Climbing at Giscome, Paintballing, going to Bear Lake, Wildlife viewing near West lake, going to the Observatory, and some visits to Camp Morice to take pictures.

OK, so does that sound like an interesting summer?

In other news, it's my brother Shaino's birthday today and we're having a big barbeque at my house tonight. The nice weather, the beer, and the family should make this an enjoyable evening.

Andrew

Entaro Adune

OK fine. I'll actually post something that you can read as oppose to cheaping out and just posting some pictures.

So to start, my cousin Sarah just got married on Saturday and what a beautiful Saturday it was. The weather was amazing, the pictures were spectacular, and the reception was a riot. My whole family had a really good time. I was actually surprised at how much I was dancing...i'm not usually the one to be dancing the night away, but Saturday....I kinda was. Man my family knows how to have a good time...we were laughing and dancing and carrying on for the whole night. Anyways, it was a great weekend and it was good to see all the rest of my family that doesn't live in Prince George.

The more I think about, the more it doesn't seem right. Of course, I'm talking about being a highschool teacher. I was subbing the other day (as I wrote in my blog) and it was not too bad, but in the afternoon I found myself thinking "this isn't really that fun...and it doesn't really feel like it's on my heart to be a highschool teacher." I've been working at listening to my heart instead of my head because I tend to over-think things and rationalize too much. It's not that I'm a procrastinator, it's that I'm sometimes indecisive because I want to think about things too much when I should really just listen to my heart and jump with both feet. Anybody know what I mean? If you've ever been at a meeting with me you'd probably notice that I don't usually say much when people are debating things because I'm thinking and processing things....then when the people are pretty much done debating things they realize that I haven't said anything and then look at me and say, "Well Andrew, what do you think?" By that time, I've usually processed the situation from so many angles. So, I say my piece and everyone says "Hmm...yeah...I hadn't thought of it that way." In some ways it's good, but in others it's bad because I didn't take part in any of the conversation leading up to that point.

I'm currently working on redoing my resume. I have a lead with a video editing and production place, and I'd like to get them my resume and see if they're interested. I was thinking of making a DVD of some of the video projects that I've done so they could take a look at what I can do. I was also thinking of making a video showing who I am....kind of a video of my life and accomplishments....I think it would be lots of fun to make even though it might come across as a bit egotistical. Speaking of ego's...I just talked to Peter the other day...it was great to talk to him. He seems to be having an amazing time in Ontario at Camp Brebeuf. He was telling me that he just took a course about high ropes so that he could run the ropes course at camp. Apparently, the whole course is 60 feet in the air and you are hooked in to a support wire so that you don't fall to the ground. It sounds like it would be crazy fun...tire swings, tight ropes, monkey bars, rope bridges, and platforms to jump to all 60 feet in the air! Sounds like it would be pretty scary, but a whole lot of fun. Quite the challenge I'm sure. Anyways, I shouldn't say that Pete has a big ego....he used to in highschool....but he's much more humble now....right Pete?

Back to the resume thing. I'm actually very excited about this opportunity. I think it would be amazing to be able to do video editing and production as a job. A couple things that you might like to know:
1. I would be working for The Miracle Channel, so all my collegues would be Christian which would be really cool! I think it would be an amazing environement to work in.
2. The Miracle Channel's production studio's are located in Lethbridge Alberta

And finally, my tentative schedule for heading to Europe at the end of the summer:

August 25th - Leave from Prince George and stop at Williams Lake to do some rock climbing
August 26th - Continue on to Squamish to do some more climbing
August 27th - Not sure what I'm doing yet, but it will be fun
August 28th - Drive to Vancouver to stay with my aunt and uncle and leave my car at their house.
August 29th - Fly to Frankfurt Germany with Anthony to visit with friends from last summer
September 4th - Fly to Czech Republic to see Magdelena (Czech exchange student in Anthony's class)
September 7th - Fly to Dublin with Anthony to meet up with Jenn, Roberta, and Brian
September 19th - Fly from Edinburgh to Rome with Anthony for a family reunion. Mom and dad, cousins, aunts, and uncles will be meeting us there on the same day.
September 29th - Leave from Rome to fly back to Vancouver (arrive Sept 30th)
Oct 2nd - Drive home from Vancouver (If I feel like it....maybe I'll just do something else...I won't have a job to go back to....at least I don't have one secured right now)


So, that's what I've been meaning to type for a while....any questions?

Adios,
Andrew

Grad 2004 is much harder

You will be hard pressed to find me in this picture. I've scanned it at a huge resolution (it's about 34MB), but it even took me a few minutes to find myself in the picture and I could remember exactly where I was standing. I've got 2 hints for ya:
1. I'm standing next to Jenn Russell
2. I'm wearing a tie

Can you find me?

Here is the outdoor group shot of all the 2006 UNBC grads. The small pic is linked to a HUGE resolution picture (about 11 MB in size). Take a look through and see if you can find me.

A quick update

So, I don't really have too much time to be typing cause I'm at Kelly Road teaching and it is currently my prep block. I'm just subbing today, and I probably won't be teaching any more this year until I get back from Europe in October. But, my co-operating teacher for my practicum really needed someone to come in for today, so I bailed him out. I've been working tons at Nata Reforestation as the office administrator/assistant manager, and it's been lots of fun. My job is so diverse that I get to do a thousand different things in one day. Last pay period, I worked 120 hours in 10 days....so I've been makin the big bucks.

I had my graduation ceremony last Friday, so now I can write my name like this:

Andrew Johnson
BSc, BEd

I'll post a few pictures when I get home.

Anyways, I need to get to work now. Oh, those BIG decisions are still up in the air. I'll try and elude to them in my next post. I just haven't had enought quiet time to think about my options.

Adios,
Andrew

PS I hope to post my Europe schedule soon as well. I'm mostly writing this now so I don't forget later.

I don't know why I do it

I really don't know how things like this happen, but I seem to take on way more than I have time for. I'm super busy with a million projects...and I don't even have time to go outside and enjoy the nice weather. Anyways, I'm hoping to have time to write something substantial tonight and post it on my blog. I've been dealing with a lot of "big" decisions lately and I think it will help me to figure some things out if I write about it. So there might be a big post on its way....we'll see.

Adios,
Andrew

The Last Week

Well....

I finished teaching my grade 9 math class on Thursday of last week, and my supervising teacher is taking over on Monday of this week. I'm pretty sure that those kids will be in for a bit of a shock. I'm pretty laid back in class and I let a lot of things slide that, in my opinion, don't really matter. Some students listen to music while their working on math and I just let it go because it stops them from talking to others and keeps them concentrated on their work. I'm not sure if my supervising teacher will be letting anything like that happen. She came in on Thursday while I was talking to a student who didn't do any work all class...since she's taking over this week, she decided to make him come in at lunch on Monday to make up the time he wasted. Ya, she hasn't even taught them yet and she's already got one in detention. Don't get me wrong, I was going to give him a detention as well, but their going to be in for a shock I think.

This week I'll be teaching my grade 9 computer class and grade 11 computer class. Both classes are making web sites as their final project for the web development unit. As you can imagine, the grade 11 web sites will be far more advanced than the grade 9's. It's going to take me a long time to mark all the sites though. But, I'm looking forward to being done. My last day of teaching will be Friday of this week and then I observe a few days the week after that. The end is very much in sight. It wouldn't have been such a long stretch if I was actually getting paid for the obscene amounts of work that I've been doing, but I don't get paid. And now that my bank account is down to only $90....I'm feeling the need to find a real job where I get paid and can go home from work and not have extra things to do (marking, lesson prep, assignments to create, quizzes, tests, tutorials, homework, worksheets...).

But, I'm excited about making a video for the DYC this year, and I've been working on a few other projects as well that are fulfilling. I'm not going to say anything about the other projects until I've done some more progress on them...they're a surprise. But ya, I'm not even done being busy from this teaching practicum and I've already started to fill my life with other things that need to get done. I guess I'll never really learn....

I don't know....maybe I just like being busy.

Anyways, I'm off to bed.

Adios for now,
Andrew

A quick update

So, Jane sent me a text message the other day complaining about the lack of updates on my blog. So here I am....writing a little something to update anyone who still comes here. I suspect that Jane might be the only regular and the odd person might show up on my site when they have absolutely nothing to do. I really surprised myself today while trying to get to my blog....I actually forgot the web address of my blog for a moment...it took me about 30 seconds to remember how to get to it. During that 30 seconds I even considered going to Jane's website because I know she has a link to my site. But after a few more seconds I managed to remember.

So an update is in order I guess:

1. I'm still teaching right now (3 classes a day...Computers 9, 11, and Math 9).
2. I have no life because of all the prep and marking that I'm doing for the classes (it's very sad.....).
3. On weekends I sleep in on Saturday, and then try and forget about everything I need to get ready for Monday. Sunday, I get up early and work on things before church, then come home and work on things until supper. Then (most Sunday evenings) I stay home again and try and prepare things for Tuesday.
4. I'll be starting to "Phase Out" next week and I'll be officially done my teaching practicum on April 21st.
5. As soon as I'm done my practicum I'll be setting up all my flights to Europe in September. Right now I'm still waiting for my travel agent to get back to me on the main flights. September will be quite the month for me and Anthony....Germany, Czech Republic, Ireland, Scotland, and Italy. It will be tons of fun!

Anyways, that's all I got for now. I could go on for about 10 pages about how much I have to do and how disorganized my life is....but I don't think very many people want to read about that.

That's the best I can do for now.....Adios,

Andrew

I've got a spare few seconds

Well, actually...I've had some free time lately, but I've opted to spend it doing something else other than being in front of the comptuer. I've been working all of last week preparing for teaching this coming week at Kelly Road SS in PG.

Here's what I'm teaching:

• Information and Communication Technology 9
  
• Information and Communication Technology 11
• Core Math 9

I start teaching this week and I finish on April 28th. It's my final practicum. After this I'll be a teacher. Well, actually, I have to wait for the BC College of Teachers and BC Teachers Federation to certify me....but that is just paperwork. I get a normal high school spring break March 11th to March 26th which is going to be great. The youth group is going to Smithers on the 10th and I get to drive the bus....it's gonna be a riot.

Lets see, anything else special? Ummm.....not really. Well actually, Tyler and I are almost done making a video slideshow for the houseboat trip that we did last summer to Shuswap Lake. We took about 4500 pictures during the week, so there were a lot of things to go through. But, I'm excited to see the final product. Speaking of videos....one of the other student teachers and I are going to start a film club at Kelly Road....we're thinking of getting them to do some kind of short video and then we'll work with them to edit and produce it. It should be fun.

Well that's about it for now. I might actually update this a little more often (at least once a week I think)....it's nice to reflect on what is going on in my life and where I'm headed.

Adios,
Andrew

Birth and Resurrection

Well...I'm turning 24 this Friday. Friday the 13th.

Talked to my sponsor teachers today at Kelly Road. Looks like I'll be teaching Computers 9 and 11, and core math 9 for the 10 weeks. It should be fun....but I'm sure it'll be a challenge. I guess I'll know for sure if I want to be a teacher at the end of this practicum. The dilemma in my mind is whether I'll be happy as a teacher...I've already established that I can do it...but the question is whether I would be happier doing something else. We'll see.

I just found a replacement motherboard for my old laptop on ebay. Imagine that! You really can find anything on ebay. So it will be shipped to me tomorrow and hopefully arrive next week. If everything goes according to plan, I will be able to resurrect my laptop before the end of this month. I'm a little depressed that I didn't look on ebay earlier, but I'm still pretty happy with my new laptop....and maybe now I can sell my old one and use the money to make payments on my new one.

So I was in class the other day...actually it was before class, and decided to fire up msn to see who was online. Then I realized that I had my mini webcam in my bag which clips on my laptop screen, so I hooked it up. I started chatting with Jane and got to show her my classroom and the view that I had of the admin building. It was cool to be sitting in class...connected to the internet wirelessly...and chatting on msn. I don't know...maybe only other computer geeks can understand why I think it's so cool.

Adios for now,
Andrew

Many things to be said....

OK, so even though I've had lots of free time in the last little while I still haven't updated my blog. But why you say? Well...a lot of things have been happening and I've been filling all my free time with things that don't have to do with computers or sitting at desks....there will be plenty of that to come over the next month.

First, I want to talk about my new laptop. I am really enjoying it. I actually got it on December 18th which was a really great early Christmas present. I'm loving the wide screen....it makes me feel so free....there's so much room....I don't fee cramped like I used to on a square monitor. Now, granted this machine is not much faster (1.8GHz instead of 1.6GHz) than my last laptop, it has a substantial upgrade on RAM (1 GB) and hard disk space (100 GB). I think that it will last me a long time. I've already installed Battlefield 2 on it and it runs like a dream. Also, during the break when I was out at Camp Morice Pete and I got a chance to play some Warcraft II using our wireless cards and setting them up to run ad hoc (with out a base station for all you non geeks out there). It was tons of fun and I managed to wallop him twice and Matt once. It was lots of fun.

Second, I'd like to tell you about my (not relaxing at all) month off. I finished classes on December 1st and didn't have to come back until January 3rd. It was nice, but I didn't relax very much....I filled all my time with decorating, buying gifts, playing hockey, organizing Warcraft tournaments, cleaning the house, and hanging out with friends. I'm actually surprised at the small amount of time I spent on the computer during the holidays. I espessially am surprised at how little I've used my laptop. But, now that I'm in school I'm sure that I'll be using it lots. Anyways, the days surrounding Christmas were filled with marathon after marathon of eating. Big dinner at my house, turkey dinner at the Parrish house, a ham dinner at our house, plenty of food at the retreat at Camp Morice, and another ham dinner at Camp. I loved it. Food is my second favourite part of Christmas....the first being the birth of Jesus (of course). For Christmas, I got a new pair of hiking boots that look like they are more than adequate to climb Everest....they are pretty skookem.

Third, I'd like to tell you how much fun I had after the retreat at Camp Morice. The Daigles, Bagnalls and myself stayed out at camp for new years and had lots of fun. The best part was when Pete, Matt, and myself went out on the lake and cleanned off a full sized hockey rink on the ice. Later that day we all played hockey out on the rink until it was so dark that we couldn't see the puck....it was a blast! To bring in the new year, we took a whole lot of wood out to the sand on the beach and started a huge bon fire which was lit about 10 minutes before midnight. We stacked the kinling about 2 feet high and then pilled on the regular firewood after that. It was a pretty sweet fire.

Lastly, the start of another university semester....and acutally my last university semester. I'll be finished at the end of this April. When all is said and done, I'll have been at UNBC for 6 years which is 12 semesters which translates into $24,000 in tuition and about $6,000 in books for my university career. That's a whole lot of money! That's about 40 different professors, 50 different classrooms, 66 different courses, and over $400 spent on hashbrowns for breakfast. It sure adds up when you think about it. This semester I'll be in classes until the end of the month of January, and then I begin teaching in February at Kelly Road Senior Secondary. I'll be teaching 2 computer classes and one math class for about 10 weeks. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Adios for now,
Andrew

It's on the way!

YESSSS!

My new Dell Inspiron 6000 is on the way! I have to put myself into debt to get it, but it's done now so who cares. I didn't want to get a $700 laptop that I'd be dissapointed with, so I went a little further and got something that is equivalent to my old laptop....but a few upgrades (mostly just the ram and the hard drive). The estimated arrival date (on my doorstep) is Dec 20th...so I'll have a new laptop for Christmas! And....at least I can have the satisfaction of getting Airmiles for the purchase that I made. Maybe I can use the points to get some gift certificates for Coast Mountain or something.

I'm excited about making a video of my Shuswap houseboating adventures in the summer. I've been working on it a bit and it's turning out pretty good. I've been making the video in high definition widescreen...so it should look pretty amazing on my projector! I picked a Fatboy Slim song to go in the background...and it is turning out nicely.

Anyways, that's just a quick update. I'm not in the mood for typing a whole lot...this keyboard sucks and the spacebar doesn't work very well. When I'm typing it sounds like I'm using an old typewritter....everyone in the house can hear me!

Cheers!

What am I going to do now?

Well...I feel terrible. The world is coming down around me and I don't know what to do. A terrible thing has happenned. I feel lost and alone. Everywhere I go I feel confused and incoherent...I've lost what makes me happy. Yes...the unthinkable has happenned....the worst thing imaginable. It's so terrible that I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.

My laptop has died.

It's unrepairable. Dell doesn't make the parts anymore.

Bye,
Andrew