What I've learned, what I've done ...

Only a few days left! Thank you, everyone, for the lovely surprise and the flowers last week!

I've been preparing a Powerpoint of photos of all the amazing things I've done, and all the wonderful things I've learned to post here on the blog. However - although this sounds like a bad homework excuse, I've had computer problems. I don't think I will be able to finish it and have it posted until I'm home again, next week sometime.

Thinking about you all! I hope your summer is starting off well!

Nearly time to say goodbye ...

I've still got a few weeks left here in Spain and I hope to see you all a few more times, but there is some little piece of my home that I want to share with you before I go.

It's a song called "Alberta Bound" and it's about someone from the province of Alberta (like me!) returning home. It is written and preformed by a man named Paul Brandt who come from my city. Before he was a famous Country and Western singer he was actually a nurse for sick children and often worked in small villages in Africa. Is is friends with many of the nurses and doctors that my Mom works with. Paul Brandt wrote this song for the 100 year anniversary of the creation of Alberta in 2005 and he sang it at a giant party we had - even Queen Elizabeth II of England was there!

For me it is a very special song, and while I am feeling very very sad to be leaving you all, and leaving Spain too, I do miss my home. All I can say is that I hope some day you will all come and visit me in Canada!

So here you are! You are all invited!

Paul Brandt's "Alberta Bound" (lyrics are included below)



Lyrics:

Sign said 40 miles to Canada
My truck tore across Montana
Ian Tyson sang a lonesome lullaby
And so I cranked up the radio
Cause there's just a little more to go
For I'd cross the border at that Sweet Grass sign

(chorus)
I'm Alberta Bound
This piece of heaven that I've found
Rocky Mountains and black fertile ground
Everything I need beneath that big blue sky
Doesn't matter where I go
This place will always be my home
Yeah I've been Alberta Bound for all my life
And I'll be Alberta Bound until I die

It's a pride that's been passed down to me
Deep as coal mines, wide as farmer's fields
Yeah, I've got independence in my veins
Maybe it's my down-home redneck roots
Or these dusty old Alberta boots
But like a Chinook wind keeps coming back again ...

(chorus)

Some more music for your summer!

Missing you all this week! Now that classes are over I wish you luck on your exams! I thought I would post a few more songs with lyrics by Canadian artists so that you can listen now while you study, and later in the summer when you're off enjoying the warm weather.

The first on is "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams. It's a pretty old song, but it's a classic and should get you in the mood for summer fun!



The second is on by Nelly Furtado called "I'm Like a Bird". I bet you've heard it before!



And lastly my very favourite song, ever! Some students have been asking me who my favourite singer is, and here you go. Her name is Feist, and she is from my city, Calgary. This song is called "1 2 3 4" and it got her pretty famous in the United States when it came out a few years ago. If you like this one, search for an earlier song she did called "Mushaboom"!



Have a good summer!!! I promise to try and keep finding things to post on here, so keep checking! And, as always, please leave comments!

Vinyl Cafe - Stories from Canadian Radio

The Vinyl Cafe is a CBC Radio programme that comes on on Sunday at noon. It is hosted by the author Stuart McLean, who each weeks reads a new short story about a typical Canadian family. The father's name is Dave, the mother is Morley. They have two children, a sixteen year old daughter named Stephanie and an eleven year old son named Sam.

The stories are always very funny, and often very heart-warming too. Hopefully you will be able to understand some of it, give it a try. Stuart McLean reads fairly slowly and clearly, and you can always go back and rewind.

Here is just a couple to get you started. Don't forget to tell me what you think!

Morley’s Birthday Bash




Emil




Arthur the Dog

Let´s Make a TV Programme!!!

4th ESO:

We encourage you to make a video in groups based on a television programme you like. The script and dialogue should be composed by you and your group, and the performance should be recorded with each group member taking part equally. The format can be copied from the real TV program, including credits and bloopers! We will be sharing these in class and posting them on the blog for everyone to see, so be funny and creative!

Cheer up, it won´t be so hard, and we´re sure we will have a good laugh!

Some Songs in English.

Barenaked Ladies with their feature song, ¨If I Had a Million Dollars¨. If some of the lyrics don´t make sense, remember that a lot of the song is a joke. They are naming all the silly things you could waste a $1,000,000 on! (Wikipedia has a pretty nice explaination of what each thing is - for instance a `Chesterfield´is an old Canadian word for a couch.)

The second is a song by Michael Buble. It is called ¨Just Haven´t Met You Yet¨. It is a love song for single people who are waiting to meet the person they will fall in love with. Try to sing along!!!



NOTE!!! I have fixed the Michael Buble link! The new clip also contains the original music video along with the lyrics. Enjoy!!!

Hello from Canada

Hello everyone!

I wanted to thank you all for your warm and kindly welcome to me over the past few weeks. I look forward every week to seeing you all in class, and I am excited to learn more about all the fantastic things you have told me to do and try while here in Spain.

In the meantime, I thought I would post the powerpoint on Canada I made the first week I was here. (In case you wanted to have another look at it!)

See you in class! Krista

Hello from Canada

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