The Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering 2010

So, in case you couldn't guess, I'm home!!  I had a really great week, spent time with many truly wonderful people, and took way too few pictures.  But I'll do my best to tell the story with only a few shots...

Last Saturday, we headed off toward Pittsburgh, to stay with a family we met at last years UWWG.  We were originally supposed to arrive much earlier, but by the time we actually got there it was midnight, and by the time we all stopped talking and hanging out in favour of bed, it was pat 3:00 am!  Emi, mum and I were thrilled to find out that not only were Jody, Bethany, Timmy, & Sam awesome people, they were also just as much night owls as we are. *Grins* The time we spent with the Hagensen's was great, and involved lots of conversations around the table in the sunny kitchen, about a variety of topics.  I love how with unschoolers, age matters so much less.  Between our two families, there were ages 9, 15, 16, 18, 18, and parents (I don't think they'd be thrilled if I tried to add their ages as well... ;-)), and all of us would happily sit around talking to each other...  That just makes me really happy.  As do the Hagensen's.♥  I really hope I get to see all of them again soon!

Here are Sam, Emi, and Timmy playing Smash Bros on Nintendo...

Their adorable, fluffy, crazy, cat.

 Isn't he cute?

On Monday, we headed to the Kalahari, for the third annual Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering!  We took Timmy along for the ride, since his family was leaving a bit later in the day, and he wanted to have as much time as possible there!  On the way, we spotted the official Girls Gone Wild bus.  Seriously.  We found that hilarious!

Yeah, I know you can hardly see it.  But trust me, that's what it was!

The first night there I was sooo tired I nearly fell asleep in John Taylor Gatto's keynote address!  That first day though, it struck me how very different it was for me just a year from my first unschooling conference.  I knew SO MANY PEOPLE!  I could barely take two steps without running into someone to hug hello, chat with, or just enthusiastically wave hi to.  I was even greeted by a lovely gift in one case.  It was a truly great feeling. ♥

The next day, I attended John Taylor Gatto's workshop.  I find what he has to say very interesting, though I don't agree with all of it.  He's very Libertarian, and I'm definitely not, so I found myself feeling uncomfortable with some of the surrounding assumptions and beliefs in many of his statements.  Regardless, I really enjoyed his talk, and found that he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.  Not arrogant at all, and very friendly. 

   

It's blurry, but that's him!

The conference centre was filled with hoards of happy teenagers...

 

People with interesting clothing...

And cheerful goofing off.

I enjoyed myself, spending time in the waterpark and in the conference centre, with teens and with parents...  Sadly, since I'm the photographer here, I have no pictures of me having fun! *Grins*

We also had the great pleasure of seeing the world premiere of the short documentary about Not Back To School Camp!  This film is seriously, absolutely and completely, AMAZING.  It captures so perfectly what NBTSC *is*.  I love it. ♥ Both Emi and I can also be glimpsed in several scenes...  I highly suggest you watch it now!!

Not Back to School Camp: A Glance Within from Allen Ellis on Vimeo.

On Wednesday there was a marketplace, complete with advertisers!

Emi was very happy with the stuff she sold, and felt she got a good idea of what sold well and what didn't, what price ranges worked, and similar useful info.  She also met some very kind and helpful people, who shared their experiences with both selling handmade items and traveling.

 

A friend kept her company while she sold her Creations...

Emi introduced one of her favorite games, Werewolves, to her friends, and they played some pretty intense rounds, or at least so I've heard...

 

Apparently playing Werewolves is much more fun than dancing. ;-)

You know, I really don't have all that much to say.  I hung out with awesome people, had lots of cool conversations, played in the waterpark, went to a couple of talks...  Of course, that's a lot of stuff.  But at the moment, I don't really feel equipped to elaborate on all of that!  So I'll just say that I had a good time.  Oh, I did also get to meet a few blogging and Twitter peeps whom I hadn't met before, which was cool, and got to know some people whom I'd only met briefly at earlier conferences and gatherings, which was also great!

On Friday, we left the Kalahari, with much sadness.  After an unschooling gathering, home seems pretty lonely...  I really want to make sure that I keep in touch with people this year!  

But anyway, we left the Kalahari and headed to my grandfathers, whom I haven't seen in several years.  I was a bit nervous about seeing my granddad and step-grandma, honestly.  Having had only brief phone calls for the last few years, it felt a bit strange to be visiting.  But I'm really, really glad we did!  It was really great to see them, and I was a rather sad when it was time to leave the next day.

 My step-grandmother and my grandfather, with their adorable but VERY yappy little doggy.

Me, my grandfather, and Emi.

Then, on Saturday, we came home.  It's always surreal coming back home after being away.  The tap works the same way, the dishes are all in the right spots, and the bed is in the same state of dissaray it was when I last saw it, yet it all seems different somehow...

I should mention that the Tuesday we were away, we got some bad news.  My great-grandmother, Eileen Boyle Caputo, passed away at age 99 on the day we left, Saturday the 6th of February.  I wasn't very close to her, having only known her in her later years, but my mom was, and it hit her hardest.  I don't think any of us really thought she was going to die soon.  She always seemed like the Energizer bunny: you just expected her to keep going forever!

So I will leave things at that for now...  I hope everyone had a great week, and there are, as there often are, several post ideas bouncing around in my head, that will hopefully turn into actual posts soon!

Peace,

Idzie

An Epic Adventure

SO, bright and early tomorrow morning, we are heading off into a snowstorm!!  Seriously, we are.  The forecast isn't looking great, but my mom is a tough Montreal driver who is very used to driving in lots of snow, and if it gets too bad we can always pull over.  Hopefully that won't impact on our plans, which are to drive to Pennsylvania tomorrow, and stay with some lovely people who live near Pittsburgh until Monday morning, at which point we'll drive to the Kalahari waterpark for the Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering!  We'll be there until Friday, when we head to just outside Toronto, Ontario, to visit my grandfather, whom I haven't seen in several years!  Saturday, we'll complete the final leg of our journey, and return home.

By that point, I expect to be thoroughly exhausted, but very hopefully cheerful!

I will, of course, have my camera with me, and try to remember to take lots of pictures.

And I most likely will not have internet access.

Right now I'm both very excited (I'm going to be seeing lots of awesome people!!), and rather stressed (we still have tons of stuff to pack!!).  We're bringing all of our own food (or at least, bringing *most* of our food, and buying some at a grocery store in the States), because otherwise we couldn't afford to go, but that means that today includes cooking and stuff as well as packing and tracking down lost clothing items and buying last minute things...  PLUS I signed up for what will be my last year of NBTSC just a couple days ago, so I need to send in my registration form before I leave!

...Phew, it made me tired just writing all that...

Point being, I have much still to do.  But I'm excited!!

Oh, and if you're going to be there, come say hi!! 

Enjoy your week, everyone!

Peace,
Idzie

Unschooling Gatherings

It seems for many, quite possibly most, people, going into a new situation/group can be rather intimidating.  Perhaps especially for something like an unschooling conference, where you really care about being part of that community, learning more about that lifestyle, and meeting others who are following a similar path.  I've heard from a few people that they were worried they'd feel out of place, and from a few people who *did* feel out of place at their first conference!  I was worried about this, too.  And I've felt out of place as well.  But not anymore!

My first ever exposure to other unschoolers was Not Back to School Camp in September of 2008.  I was pretty nervous going there all alone, and when I arrived at the camp, there were what seemed like hundreds of people rushing around and yelling and hugging and being exuberant.  I just wanted to find a little hole to curl up in!  I got a cold nearly instantly, I felt pretty miserable and shy, and kept mostly to myself, so the week was kind of rocky.  It was only on the last day I realized that I had actually managed to make a couple friends, despite how much I'd hid in a corner!
 

Five months later, in February 2009, I went, along with my mother and sister, to the Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering.  It was the first conference we went to!  Aside from a handful of people I'd met (but not hung out with much) at camp, we knew no one, and I found it pretty nerve-wracking.  There also weren't many people near my age, and although I'll just as happily befriend younger folk individually, I feel pretty out-of-place in groups of younger teens, so I kind of bounced between different people, older and younger, for much of the time.  I enjoyed a lot of talks, and *did* make friends with a few awesome people, though!

The Northeast Unschooling Conference in August 2009, was the last gathering were I felt out of place at all.  I really still felt like a newbie at first, and was really shy, but I quickly started to have a good time, got to know people whom I'd previously met better, and made new friends (that sounds strangely young and cute...  "I made new friends, mommy!" ;-)), and ended up having a really wonderful time!  By the end of the conference, I didn't feel like an outsider anymore.

 

Not Back To School Camp followed shortly after, in September 2009, and it was awesome!  When I arrived, to all the same yelling and hugging and exuberance as the year before, I was surprised to find I wasn't intimidated at all.  I cheerfully greeted people, new and old, chattered happily, and just felt really relaxed.  I kept waiting for the OhMyGawdI'mInAGigGroupIWannaHide thing to hit, but it never did!  I knew at least half the people there, at least by sight, and I got to know a ton of really awesome people that week.

For this years Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering, it's been great feeling like we're really a part of the unschooling community!  A couple of people offered to share a suite with us (it didn't end up working in either case, sadly), and people have asked us if we're going to be there, because they want to see us.  We've asked if various people are going to be there, because we want to see them!  I'm looking forward to seeing old friends, and meeting many new ones.

Really, the point of all this is just to say that, to start with, going to unschooling events can be a scary proposition.  It's easy to feel like an outsider, easy to be shy, and easy to think everyone there has known each other forever (which often isn't true!).  But it really doesn't take long to no longer feel like the new guy/gal!  You'll undoubtably meet great people, and it really is a wonderful community to be a part of.

Peace,
Idzie

Going to the UWWG!

It's now official: I, along with my mum and sis, am going to the Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering in Sandusky Ohio at the beginning of February!

I'm doing the whole mixed-feelings thing right now, because last year, I had an okay time, but not a *great* one.  The Kalahari resort itself felt pretty icky to me honestly, with it's tacky decorations, and staff that seemed almost *subservient*.  It felt like I was in the heartland of consumerist privileged America.  It just made me feel icky...  That said, I did meet some awesome people, go to some great talks, and I finally started to really enjoy myself just as we were getting ready to leave. :-P I want to make it clear that my reluctance to go has nothing to do with the actual organization of the conference itself! Just a few issues with the venue...  If you want to find out more about my experiences there last year, you can read my write up, complete with lots of pictures, here.  As to why we're going this year, even though there are some other conferences I might prefer to go to, is that Emi is planning on meeting a friend she's known online for about 7 years now.  This friend is near enough that they can actually manage to get together if we go to the waterpark, which pretty much clinched the decision.

So now I'm switching gears, into one of focusing on the positive, thinking of all the cool people I'm going to meet (there are only a few people whom I've already met who are going to be there, as far as I know!), on the fact that I'm going to get to go to a talk by John Taylor Gatto, and on how much fun the slides and wavepool in the waterpark are. ;-) If you're going to be there, I'd LOVE to meet you!!  So if you recognize me, please do say hi, and if not, well, I just hope we run into each other at a talk or something! :-)

Peace,
Idzie 

P.S. I really appreciated each and every comment on my last post, The Cons of Unschooling, and read them all happily and with interest, but right now, the thought of responding to all 17 comments feels a wee bit overwhelming.  Which is why I haven't yet.  But I'll *try* to in the next few days, and I want to thank everyone for making it such an interesting conversation! :-)

Starting an unschooling group in our area!

When we were away at the UWWG, my mom attended both of Kelly Lovejoy's talks. One of them was a kind of 'ask Kelly anything' one, and my mother brought up the issue of finding an unschooling community. My mom said how as far as we know, there are virtually no unschoolers in our area! Kelly's response: "Montreal?? There's tons of unschoolers there! Start a group, and I guarantee you'll have at least 30 family's". Well, what could we say to that? So we're starting a Montreal unschooling group! It may not be a success, but at least we'll know we tried. :-)

So for now, we're simply gathering info. Finding what other people did/do with their groups, thinking of how we can publicize it, what activities to do, where to meet... If anyone has experience with an unschooling group, or even if you have no experience but ideas, I'd love to hear them! :-D

I'm very excited about this, and hoping it works out. :-)

Peace,
Idzie

P.S. I'm still looking for unschooling articles for Homeschooling Horizons! If ANYONE who unschools is interested in writing something, I'd love to know! Thanks a bunch. :-D

What life looked like today

My family got some very bad news yesterday. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll probably know what that news was. I'd love to blog about it as well, since to me, blogging is a great outlet, but before putting that news on the net for anyone to view, I think I should check with the person who's bad news it was. So for now, just know that my family is going through a bit of a rough patch, but I'm doing okay, and keeping some mental distance. When I need to think about it, I do, but otherwise, I'm distracting myself, and just going on with life how I normally do.

I could write 'what unschooling looked like today', but I came to a realization just a little while ago; there is no 'what unschooling looked like today'. There's only what LIFE looked like today. Learning IS living, and living IS learning, so why differentiate between the two? If I'm living, I'm learning, and obviously if I'm learning, I'm living! So what did life look like today? So far, I read a bunch of blogs, mainly on unschooling. I read some of Endgame, and thanks to that book, I decided to take a walk.

I love where I live. I love being so close to the water. So that's where I walked, down to the water. It's a bright day today (although as I speak the sun is starting to go down), and fairly warm, with the snow starting to melt. However, the wind is strong, and makes it feel MUCH colder. It was a spur of the moment decision to go for a walk, so of course I didn't even bother changing out of my PJ's before going out! I simply put on my coat, wrapped myself up in my stripey wool scarf, slung my camera over my shoulder, and started out. (I wanted to show you some pictures I took, but blogger isn't cooperating. :-( ) I walked along, huddled in my coat, pretty much just looking at the ground, and in that position I couldn't help but notice how all of the snow was glittering. It was melting a bit today. But since it was still cold, there was lots of ice. Marvelous, glittery, slippery ice. I stopped to take a picture of a random chunk of ice on the street, and I'm very happy with how that shot turned out. :-) I'll use that shot for my photography blog today, and I'll post all the pictures that I wanted to in a separate post when blogger starts working properly. As I walked, I let my mind drift... I listened to the cars go by, and the wind passing by, and saw the beautiful sunlight streaming down... When I got to the water, I had to navigate the ice before I could get to the shore and the patch of grass (actual grass!) where the snow had melted. Just as I got near the shore, the wind suddenly picked up, making my loose pajama pants billow like crazy, and the leaves that had somehow managed to cling to a dead branch rustle wildly. What a lovely welcome! Everything was ice bright, and I quickly started snapping pictures. Note to self: next time I want to take pictures when it's cold out, I should find proper gloves, instead of wearing a ratty old pair of mittens that the wind cuts right through. My hands got pretty cold pretty fast, so I decided to head back. Just as I started to walk away, the wind gusted once more, pushing me away from the water. I love the wind! :-) I was so lost in thought on the way home that I actually walked past my house!

I don't see how anyone could ever not love life, when there's crunchy ice to be cracked, rocks to be kicked, wind to be raced with, clouds to be watched... This was one of those Winter days that lets you know that Spring is on the way. Sure, there will probably be more snowfalls, and there will definitely be many more cold days, but Spring is still on the horizon, moving steadily closer. Everything is just so damn wonderful.

I picked up the mail on my way in, and discovered that my Yukon travel booklet had arrived! I now have travel information from New Mexico, Newfoundland, BC, and the Yukon. So far, the places I want to go to most are Newfoundland and BC. I find it funny that I literally chose the two places that are farthest appart. One on the eat coast of Canada, one on the west!

And that's pretty much it. I continue to read Endgame, and look at the travel info... My family has decided we need to go to more unschooling conferences, and so far we're looking mainly at the Northeastern, We Shine, and Toronto unschooling conferences. Cost is a big issue, and so far We Shine seems o be the best for that... I know that most unschoolers who read my blog are west coasters, but I still have to ask, is anyone else looking into those conferences? It would be awesome to run into people I know online! :-D

Peace,
Idzie

Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering 2009

Yes! I finally have all of the pictures I wanted uploaded onto this post uploaded!! Since blogger only allows you to upload 5 at once, I've literally been uploading for hours. Hey, you guys asked for lots of pictures, right? ;-) They're in chronalogical order, and that's how I'll tell about our trip as well!

My mom, sister, and I started out towards Ohio Sunday, the 1st of February. We entered New York, and ended up staying in Buffalo.

When I saw this truck at night, I just loved it for some reason! My mom was nice enough to stop the car so I could get a good shot. :-P
We arrived in Buffalo fairly early, around 8:30ish pm, I think. We ate supper, then attempted to find a hotel. And that's where the difficulty started. The first one we tried was filthy (like really ew), and then the next half dozed or so were scented. Since both Emi and my mom are allergic to synthetic scents, it's really hard to find places that don't use stuff like Febreeze (which is really bad for everyone by the way, regardless of allergies), we have to try LOTS of hotels before we find one that we can actually stay in. Finally, at 11:30 pm, and after getting lost several times, we were stressed out, exhausted, and nearly in tears, when we finally (finally!) found a non sweet smelling hotel! Woo hoo! I took this pic the next morning.
The hotel gave us some coupons for a restaurant across the street, so we ate there the next morning. It was a really nice homestyle, large portion serving, place, with a really sweet waitress to boot.
We then passed through Pennsylvania.
It was a beautiful sunny day...

And it got steadily warmer the further we went. It was like driving into spring.
We were totally comfortable walking around outside in just our sweatshirts, which is certainly not something you can do in Montreal in February!
The Ohio welcome center was awesome.

Passing through Cleveland, we spotted this gorgeous building. I love it!
The car door handle just suddenly seemed really photographable...
And we made it there! Finally! It's about ten hours of straight driving, but with the amount of stops we make, it took us much longer.
We arrived at the Kalahari resort, where the UWWG was being held, on Monday the 2nd of February. That night, we were all really tired and spastic. Emi and I went down to the conference center, where everything was being held, for the Winter carnival, but we just felt out of place. I met a couple of people I knew from camp, but overall the carnival was really just for young kids, and all of the teens seemed to have come with their friends. I think we both, in our exhausted depression, decided that we'd have an awfuk time. Luckily, we were wrong!
The next day I woke up and started bouncing around excitedly trying to get my family to go down to the Waterpark with me. Mum was busy, so Emi and I went down. It's an all inclusive resort, so the waterpark, rooms, restaurants, convention center, and spa are all accessible without ever leaving trhe building! Emi originally didn't want to go in the wave pool, or on the slides, since the last time she'd been to a waterpark she was about 8 and it terrified her! However, as soon as she saw that there were tubes for the wave pool, she decided she's try it, and we both had a blast! After that, we tried several slides, which were all extremely awesome!

We wandered down to the conference center after that, and were hailed by a whole group of teens sitting around on couches, including a couple of people I know from camp. They were crazy, chaotic, and very friendly! After everyone split for food, we hung out in the hotel room for a bit...

But when the cleaning staff came to clean our room, we headed back down and met up with people again. They started a crazy girls against guys truth or dare game (I say "they" because I wasn't playing, just taking pictures :-P).
EWW! It got far worse even than that, sadly... :-P
"Why am I not on the cool fish list??"
These lights were on the ceiling of the auditorium/ballroom/really big room, and I just loved them!
I took lots of pictures of the first talent show (it was on Tuesday, I believe), but most were blurry! This little girl was just SO CUTE! She sung a song, and danced along to it too. :-)
The outdoor hot tub was awesome.
This guy was insane. Nice, but insane. ;-P
My mom took a belly dancing class on Wednesday. I took pictures. :-)
The lovely and very talented instructor. It was truly awesome watching her dance.
Mummy!
The endless ghallway that our room was on... The Kalahari resort is the largest hotel in Ohio with over 800 rooms, and also bosts the largest indoor waterpark in North America.
Wedensday night, hanging out in the empty, dark, grand ballroom. They played spin the bottle, we ran foot races, and some people started playing football. Emi just sat on this lion statue. :-P
The view from the windows overlooking the waterpark. A whole bunch of it is cut off at the left edge of this shot...

There were two elevaters that brought us from our room to the lobby. One we named Otis, the other George. George was cooler, because he had a heart on his floor.
Thursday, lying around in people piles. I loved watching these two (adorable little kid and Ben) interact. They just get along so well!
Group shot! Missing a few people that were part of this hangout group, but there's a lot of them here!



Riding the luggage carts was a popular pastime!

Paris Hilton ;-)
Crazy, chaotic, insane, elevator rides.
Such a cute picture! I love how much hugging and cuddling goes on at unschooling gatherings.

This was hanging around at the ball on Thursday night, our last night there. That is a petty intense look, although I have no clue what it's about! :-P
Emi doesn't like this picture, but I do!
Aww :-)
The ball!

Crazy headbanging.

Emi and Max looking lovely.
Swirling lights...
Nate doing a funny pose.
Dancing.


The woman who did the belly dancing class let people borow her coin scarves for the dance. Mum LOVED it and wants one of he own now!

Scattered shoes...
This little guy made friends with a couple of the teens, and was planning on sleeping over with them on Thursday night. However, his parents were leaving halfway through the ball. He was so sad! :-( He gave his shirt, which had earned him his nickname Checkers, to the guy he's made best friends with. :-)
More dancing...
Myself in a mirror.
The next, and final, morning at Kalahari. I realized I hadn't really taken pictures around the lobby, so I did. The tackyness pissed me off a lot to start with, but by the last day I'd pretty much gotten used to it. :-P

The Candy Shack
Signs
More waterpark shots through the windows.
"African" (we're not so sure about it's authenticity ;-)) decor.


People, getting ready to say good bye.
Jack and Emi.
All the group, or at least those who hadn't left yet.
Bethany, the girl in this pic, did an awesome workshop at one point on raw foods. She has a fascinating story (of how she used raw foods to heal herself), and you can check out her blog here. I'm sad that I only really got to talk to her and her mother on the last day! That whole family seems really cool. The three siblings that were there are pictured below. Emi and Timmeh (the bigger brother!) spent the last sleepover night talking, and Emi only got about two hours of sleep!
Jane and Tristram are so cute together! I met both of them at camp.
Their expressions are just made of awesomeness.
We stayed so long talking to people that by the time we got going it was three in the afternoon!

These swans were in a pond just outside of the Kalahari's main doors. I love ducks, swans, and similar birds. :-)
Pretty ice.
The bridge that connected the Kalahari building to the parking lot.
We only got as far as Buffalo again going back on Friday, so we stayed at the same hotel as last time. In the morning, on Saturday, we were up bright and early for the long drive.
Oil is such a fascinating contradiction. Beautiful, yet awful.
It was a good trip, even if the traveling bit coming home was stressful as hell. We were all really tired! But it's always nice seeing other unschoolers. There weren't all that many people my age, and out of the few that were there many seemed rather cliquey, but I still met some really cool people. There's this guy, Eli Gerzon, who's doing world travel tours for unschoolers. Emi was originally interested in the Japan tour, but since she always envisioned going to Japan in a few years, she's not sure if she wants to go as soon as November. Either way, Eli was a very interesting person to talk to, and I look forward with interest to any future trips he plans.

There were also several interesting workshops. I already mentioned the raw foods one briefly, but what I didn't mention was that there was actually food to try! I was rather suspicious of it at first, but the ONLY thing I didn't like was the guacomole, and that's just because I never like guacomole! I also caught the tail end of a talk on radical unschooling by Kelly Lovejoy, which made me sad, but what I did hear was very interesting, and my mom was there for the whole workshop and really felt that she got a lot out of it.

I'd love to catch up on all of the blogs I'm following, but since I follow about 40, I just can't! Because of that, please don't be insulted if I usually comment, yet don't this time! :-S

I'm still looking for unschooling articles for Homeschooling Horizons, and I'd be much obliged (and very happy) if you'd be interested in that!

Peace,
Idzie