New Online Issue of Brazilian Wave Magazine

For our Brazilian students, and anyone else who is interested, there is a new issue online of Brazilian Wave magazine, a magazine for Brazilians in Canada.  You can see it online at  http://wavemagazine.ca/en/ .

Canadian Food

Here is a list of some typical Canadian foods to look forward to trying, thanks to J.J's Complete Guide to Canada.  As you will notice, most are snacks and desserts.

	Poutine Probably the single most famous “Canadian food,” poutine is a rather unhealthy dish produced by smothering French fries with gravy and lumps of white cheese curd.
	Butter tart A flaky pastry shell filled with a rich, sugary mixture of buttery baked cream and raisins. Delicious!
	Ketchup chips Exactly what they sound like — ketchup-flavoured potato chips. The mix of sweet and salty is a decidedly acquired taste. Pickle-flavoured chips are also popular.
	Beaver tail Contains no actual beaver. Instead, it’s a hearty hunk of deep-fried dough, usually covered in sugar and cinnamon.
	Nanaimo barOriginating from the British Columbian town of the same name, these treats are made from a thick, buttery cream sandwiched between two kinds of chocolate.
	Maple-flavoured things The national symbol you can eat! Along with the ubiquitous maple syrup, Canada is home to all sorts of maple-flavoured cookies, candies and treats.
	Coffee Crisp™ Perhaps Canada’s most iconic chocolate bar. Coffee Crisp houses vaguely coffee-flavoured wafers in a milk chocolate coat.
	Timbits™ Made by the good people at Tim Hortons, Timbits are little more than your run-of-the-mill donut holes. But so many flavours…
	BeefCanada has an ample domestic beef supply thanks to Alberta, the country’s thriving capital of cattle ranching. Good steaks and burgers will often brag about being “Alberta-fresh.”
	Rye breadRye is a grain that tends to grow well in cold temperatures, making it a natural Canadian crop. “Canadian-style” rye bread tends to be fairly light and fluffy.
	Smoked beef sandwich Combine beef and rye and you get a favourite offering of Montreal delis. Thick, peppery slices of spiced beef cold cuts served on equally thick rye bread.
	Smoked salmon Cooked for many hours in a special wood-burning “smoke oven,” this is the traditional aboriginal way to enjoy British Columbia’s famous salmon.
	Tourtiere Another French-Canadian favourite, tourtiere is a savoury pie made with ground beef and spices. They come in both group and individual sizes.
	Apples The most iconic fruit of North America, apples are grown across Canada, with the most famous variant being the McIntosh — first grown in eastern Ontario.
	Potatoes Like rye, potatoes thrive in winter climates and have remained another popular staple crop of farmers across the country. The tiny province of Prince Edward Island is known for little else.

Graduation

Congratulations to all of our students who graduated high school this week!   It has been a great year and everyone worked really hard. 

Another school year is over, we hope everyone has safe travels home, and to returning students, we are looking forward to seeing you in September.  Have a great summer!  

Doors Open Winnipeg This Weekend

Doors Open Winnipeg is a free, annual event that opens almost 80 historic Winnipeg building to the public.  It will be held on May 26th and 27th in locations all over the city.   It's a great chance to explore some Winnipeg buildings and hear some of their history, and in some places see it acted out.  Some of the buildings opening their doors this year will be the Bank of Montreal (Portage & Main), the City of Winnipeg Archives, originally the city's first library building (downtown), Gabrielle Roy House (St. Boniface), and Government House, close to the Legislative Building and home to the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, who will be hosting a garden party on Saturday from 11:00 to 5:00, open to everyone.  Check the Doors Open Winnipeg website for a full list of buildings and the hours each will be open at http://www.doorsopenwinnipeg.ca/

Pancakes and Baseball

This Tuesday about 2 dozen students went to see a baseball game as the Winnipeg Goldeyes played an exhibition game.  We were a bit worried it would rain and be chilly, but it was a beautiful warm evening.  No one really knew what was going on in the game (other than homestay mother Christina, who tried to explain it to students without much luck) , but Goldie the mascot was very popular.



  On Saturday, we also went to have some pancakes at the Original Pancake House.  Students tried a lot of different types of pancakes, but I think the thing everyone liked most is how it is customary here to get free drink refills.



Our annual BBQ is coming up on May 22nd, and our Chilean students will be leaving us the following weekend.  Then we are into the last month of school!  We will have one activity in June; stay tuned for more details.

This Week Around the ISP

Soccer season has started!  Many of our students are playing on their school's soccer team, and here are some from a John Taylor Collegiate-Westwood Collegiate game this week.

Thanks to homestay dad Rob Bye for the action photo.

On Thursday a group of students went on a tour of the Manitoba Legislative Building.  We watched a loud question period of the government in session,  toured several parts of the building, and heard a lot about the building's history.  Thanks to our great tour guide for telling us some good stories and answering all of our questions.

NEXT WEEK:  We will be having a pancake lunch tomorrow (Saturday) at the Original Pancake House, going to see a Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball game, and then to see Stars on Ice.  We are going to have a busy week!

Poutine and the Manitoba Museum

There were no classes last Friday, so a number of us went to the Exchange District to try some poutine, a Quebec specialty, and then to the Mantioba Museum for the afternoon.

 Everyone tried a different type of poutine, and the people at Smoke's Poutinerie were great, and even had a draw for our students, with one lucky student winning a t-shirt and another one winning a baseball cap.  A big thanks to them for making our visit fun, and for serving all 25 of us so quickly!

After our poutine, we walked back to the Manitoba Museum to see some Manitoba history.  It was the first visit for everyone (except me!) and the students spent a long time going through all of the exhibits.  Several commented on what a big museum it is.  Seeing places around the city with people who have never seen them before helps you see them with new eyes as well.