Posts Tagged ‘Huge Experiences’
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
In creative writing class, we watched an inspiring video about the Haitian people. After we finished the video Callie proceeded to tell me to write a poem about everything. Of course, after watching something of that magnitude it was easy. So, here’s what I came up with. Enjoy!
The Haitian people already struggling for a good life, they didn’t need strife and then Mother Nature it seemed out of spite planned to smite this poor island nation who’s freed of plantations,
The quake planned to break everything in its powerful wake leaving destruction and the crumblings of what used to be, Haitians began to cry for the world to see, they couldn’t even hold their economy,
The death toll was staggering, women, children, and men their was no exception, I doubt they had any conceptions that a tragedy such as this would squish many hopes and dreams so quick-ily,
The mass confusion, leading to stores having no more,
The hospitals packed to the brim trying to save many without any supplies or equipment leaving many to suffer through the pain while they remained,
The weak government shocked and helpless to do anything but watch as their country cries out in pain but all they can do is hide their face in shame
Tags: creative writing, Go Huge Experiences, haiti poem, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, new river academy, NRA, poetry, taylor cote, traveling school
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Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
The other day we took a field trip. We went to Ottawa, our nations proud capitol. Everyone was all excited because they wanted to see our parliament building that was made out of ice. They were however mad too though because they thought that Canada did not have roads yet so that it may take us a while to get there. They also were wondering about the lack of dog sleds in summer. Nothing Jess or I said or did would convince them of the fact that Canada is a well functioning country with advanced modern infrastructure and a nice list of achievements. We arrived at the Canadian Technologic and Science Museum. Every one was shocked at how every thing here was as nice or nicer, more like nicer than in the States. The museum itself was pretty sweet as there were many cool exhibits on Canadian achievements. I liked the trains. They were big. There were also sections on things like Canadian Space travel, the Canoe, and the first nuclear reactor in Canada, which I believe we had before the States. I enjoyed the exhibit on all the things that we invented, like the snowmobile, basket ball and a way to effectively produce insulin for diabetics. Every one seemed to become more accepting of how Canada was actually a country and they became less ignorant. However I think that most everyone thought of it as a joke. I don’t think that that is how you should treat your neighbor. Do you? Mostly I think it is from jealousy or something else along those lines. All that I have to say to them is: Stop making fun of us, eh? We know all aboot stuff, Ok, buddy? So stop. Please?
God save the Queen! And I will see you on the water!
Tags: Academics, Gap Year, gap year abroad, go huge, Go Huge Experiences, go huge kayaking, high school, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, matt hill
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Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
The first school day we were here in Canada, we had our first NRA field trip! It was so excited traveling into Ottawa City to visit the science and technology museum there. It was full of many items made in Canada and information about space/ technology in general. They had a section about different sports such as lacrosse and hockey. The hockey exhibit had one of the first hockey masked ever used and it was pretty scary looking. I don’t think I would ever trust my face to be protected by that piece of plastic. A few other exhibits had a bunch of model ships and a life size train created in Canada. My favorite exhibit had to be the space section in the museum because that topic really interests me. In that section they had a life-size Canada-arm which was an amazing sight to see. The Canada-arm is used on space shuttles and International Space Station. They use it to aid in docking, repairing broken items on the exterior, and even astronauts can be strapped to them during repairs of the exterior. They also showed Canada’s first satellite which was only up in space for 4 years. All the other information in the space section told mostly about achievements of the United States and our shuttle missions. Another cool thing we got to experience was a constellation dome. It was an interactive exhibit where all the constellations were shined up on the ceiling of blow-up dome and we were told all about them. We were shown where the Big and Little Dipper was and even more complex constellations such as Orion and his dog. I think that might have been the coolest part of the museum. Another fun thing in the museum we saw in the museum was the room that slanted sideways to show optical illusions. It was really interested reaching the end of the room and walking in a normal hallway again. You wanted to walk like you were still on that slanted plane. So as you can see, we had a pretty awesome day at the science and technology museum.
Tags: field trip, go huge, Go Huge Experiences, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, new river academy, nra field trip, Ottawa City, space and technology ottawa, taylor cote
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Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
This past weekend the school stayed at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, where most people in the southeast begin their boating journey. However, of course, we were there for a different reason. We were there to train our little hearts out and be ready for the competition NOC would be holding. Everyone worked extremely hard and had an amazing week on that fun little wave/hole. The event was really exciting; watching and competing with my friends was pretty awesome. It was fun to cheer them on and watch them nail that cartwheel or spin at the last second. So, here are my pictures of this amazing event we were able to experience. Enjoy~!
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Tags: Go Huge Experiences, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, Nantahala Outdoor Center, Nantahala River, new river academy, noc, noc shootout, taylor cote, whitewater photography
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Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
For our first photo assignment of the quarter, we were shown a few funny looking photos and told to guess what our next assignment was. At first we were all quite confused, but of course the genius that Matti Hill is, he guessed it, abstract. We needed to take abstract photos consisting of: man-made, light, color, nature, and texture. It was a pretty fun assignment a lot of things involved getting up close and personal to the items or distorting the item all together to get the desired effect. For my nature photo, I even had to set up a bunch of leaves in many rows to get what I wanted. It’s pretty cool how when you actually get up close to many things/items they can look take on a whole different look. All in all I really liked this assignment, It was a really fun one. The best part was seeing what everyone had found and gotten interesting pictures of.
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Tags: abstract photography, go huge, Go Huge Experiences, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, Kayaking, new river academy, Photography, taylor cote, whitewater kayaking
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Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Lorenzo en el Rio Negro
Katie Kowalski
hanging out in camp
Every morning, the students emerge from their cozy tents, tucked away in the security of the mossy trees. Our campsite here in Hornopiren is perched atop a grassy knoll that slopes gently downward into a craggy ravine, directly to a gorgeously turquoise 10-foot waterfall. This waterfall makes up one of three that we have been running on the Rio Negro, whose tantalizing whitewater is so close to our tents that we can hear it in our dreams. We are enjoying the wonderful countryside hospitality of our host, Dona Tato, who has been serving up three delicious meals a day- she is even spoiling us with homemade pastries for breakfast. Nights are rolling away while we congregate around the campfire, singing along to Tino and Matti’s guitar and Andy’s fiddle. Lorenzo’s ghost stories have us all convinced that his family’s home is haunted.
Weather has been delightful- sunny, warm, perfect, and has allowed for our classes to cluster around the funky, hand-made wooden tables in the yard. My AP English students had a fun project this week, where they learned the importance of being familiar with both sides of an arguement before taking a stance on it. I had them prepare to write a persuasive essay on a controversial topic, repeatedly warning them to investigate the opposition’s viewpoint as well. When the day of the in-class essay arrived, the looks of horror on their faces revealed my sneaky plan. That’s right, they had one hour to write an essay that was exactly the opposite of the thesis they had planned. Matt’s photo classes have been utilizing the gorgeous sunsets and surrounding countryside to explore the world of landscape photography. Taylor and Eric made slideshows showcasing Al Capone and the Flapper era for Tino’s history class.
Today we had a race down the Rio Negro, on a small section beginning with a 25-foot waterfall and ending with a bang as the students landed that boof from the top of the 10-footer. What a great way to end our time in Hornopiren. I left the students back at camp, packing up their tents and gear bags, preparing to rise and shine at 5:30 am tomorrow. We will get on an eight hour ferry to Chaiten, where we will be about two hours away from the town of Futaleafu. I’m sure everyone shares my excitement in experiencing this legendary river!
Tags: Academics, Chile Rivers, Freestyle Kayaking, gap year abroad, go huge kayaking, high school, Huge Experiences, Photography, whitewater kayak photography
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Sunday, February 7th, 2010
(c) Zoe Ross
Greetings from Choshuenco! Choshuenco is a one-road town about three hours south of Pucon, accessible only by dirt roads that encircle dazzling lake after dazzling lake. We have our own little lake here in Choshuenco and have been taking advantage of the scenery to enhance our classroom environments. The lower Fuy drains into Lago Choshuenco, which makes the take-out a five minute stroll from our cute hotel, La Posada. Everyone is loving the Fuy! The Upper Fuy boasts an awesome run- a super clean 25-footer, Salto Los Leones, followed by an awesome class V section. I’ll let the more experienced boasters describe the run in more colors for you!
Our first afternoon in Choshuenco, we headed to Salto Los Leones for a park and huck. Everyone killed it, including some ladies who were timid at first, then so stoked at their accomplishments! Jessica ran a beautiful line on her first ever waterfall, and Stephen scared us all as he threw his paddle from the top of the drop. Clay and I both got a little bruised from under-rotating or over-rotating our flips from the top of the waterfall into the swimming hole.
Yesterday we took a break from the whitewater and ventured out to Huilo Huilo, to scout two gigantic waterfalls, a 150 footer and a 130 footer! Some of the daredevils think they’re runnable. Either way, it was a gorgeous place to spend an afternoon hiking around.
On the academic front, classes are running smoothly; Eric, Alex and Clay wrote delightful stories to share aloud in class for a creative writing assignment. Lorenzo’s Spanish classes have been learning Spanish through videos, such as Meet the Robinsons and The Lion King. Video class is putting together a video called “How to by Boof, by Billy Harris”.
Yes, we are all happy, healthy and well-fed; we are getting three scrumptious meals a day. Last night for dinner we had a tantalizing soup stuffed with cilantro, potatoes, corn, green beans and carrots. Some of the kids were already starting to leave the table, satisfied, when the second course appeared- sausages and mashed potatoes, with a sweet peach for dessert. The only complaint we have this week is the weather; rain, rain, go away!
In three days, we will return to Pucon for about a week before embarking on our great adventure south to the Futaleafu!
Callie
Tags: Academics, Chile, Freestyle Kayaking, Gap Year, Go Huge Experiences, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, study abroad programs, whitewater kayaking
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Saturday, February 6th, 2010
We are about 3/4 of the way through our stay in quaint little Choshuenco. New to this year is a paved main street as well as paved sections of road on the way into the town. We are staying at La Posada a small hostel right in the middle of town. There is a large beach here lake side and a pretty frickin sweet rusted up old boat. We have however not only brought the party to this town, but also the rain. It has rained here non-stop since day two and there are no signs of it lightening up.
The Fuy is definitely a highlight of this little venture. There are three sections to this river. The upper is a mixture of steep rapids and waterfalls highlighted by the park and huck 25 footer. The middle and lower are both boulder garden type drops. The middle and lower sections can be run one to the other however to run the upper into everything else may be a bit of a venture.
Yesterday we took a small break from the river and went to Huilo-Huilo private park or something like that, I don’t think it was a national park. There was 2 huge waterfalls one a 130 footer and the other a 90 footer called Salto de Puma.
See you on the water!
Tags: Academics, Chile, Freestyle Kayaking, Gap Year, gap year abroad, Go Huge Experiences, high school, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, Kayaking, matt hill, new river academy, whitewater, whitewater kayaking
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Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
In Pichilemu, Melina read some of Pablo Neruda’s work. It made us both feel as though we were swimming in the deep blue of words. So as always, we became inspired. This creative writing assignment consists of writing ”quotes” to correspond to a picture. The “quotes” were trying to bring out as much feeling and emotion as Neruda did. I hope you enjoy this set.
“The blissfulness in the virgin child’s eyes are the gateways to the heavens themselves, they alone we need to cherish in the darkness” – Taylor Cote
“As we flee from the notorious and accelerate our mind into the concealed, our embodiment ceases to imprison us down to the bondages of man” – Taylor Cote
“Then the steam proceeded to rise up and envelop all that was holy and ethical leaving merely the valiant paladin to uncover the way to the revelation” -Taylor Cote
Tags: creative writing class, Go Huge Experiences, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, maipo chile, new river academy, pablo neruda, pichilemu chile, pucon chile, taylor cote
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Friday, November 27th, 2009
While we have been in the magical place of the Achiebueno, the creative writing class was inspired. The beauty captivated us to do an activity called “snapshots”. This is where for 5 minutes straight you write about a certain topic. All our topics have to do with the things around this location. The focus was more on figurative language and less on complete sentences. Enjoy!
Essence of Achiebueno
Perpetual blueness from the icey waters…alive icecubes…the cozy, earthy abode…smell of wood all around…a forest that once was…the long journey from the tahoe to our downy sleeping bags…trying on the mind…surrounded by jungle we become one of the colorful animals within…around the fire we crowd…cavemen once again…
The River
The atmosphere on earth…all the blue so teasing with it innocent lightness…nipping at my boat and blade…around the stone giants…hide and seek between them, careful not to get stepped on or flip while dodging…the excitement fleeing from my face replaced with amazement and adoration…the giant bumblebees flapping and cawing wildly above us as we bop down another mine field…
Fire and Light
The uncaged beast smoldering, hiding for his next strike on another lifeless log…greed and sloth encompass his existence…the beam of the glow eats away at the darkness only though where a glance may be placed, those few seconds the demons scurry to another ominous corner only to return when the gaze is gone…
The Sky
Racing each other to see the next beautiful vista…as if they haven’t seen it a hundred times before but they have the same excitement and love they have had for centuries for their mother…playfully tiptoeing over the mountain peaks then the dash to be the first to the next set…irritating the sun when they cover his proud gleam when people cannot enjoy and adore him any longer…galloping horses without masters, untamed yet know the way and have the keenest sense of direction…to be in Pegasus’ likeness, their aspiring dream…fleeting to our eyes never the same powdery blob…swirling and twirling a snowy ballroom dance…how it can turn angry in seconds and weep its sorrows on its mother, a poor child…
Tags: achiebueno chile, creative writing class, Go Huge Experiences, Huge Experiences, Kayak School, Kayaking, new river academy, taylor cote, whitewater, whitewater kayaking
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