Sandcastles to Snowmen

Brentwood is made up of three general groups of students: the day-students, the Canadian boarders, and the international students. Many trips and options are offered for the international students during breaks that are too short for them to go home. While these trips are great opportunities, overseas students often enjoy going home with other students for the five day midterm break. Sometimes, the day students are bombarded with requests to take a boarder home. For this past November midterm, I decided to take one international student off their hands. My friend Lindsey P, Allard ‘19, decided to embark on a long, treacherous journey, to the North, my North, my home, Fort McMurray, Alberta. Even though flights to Hawaii were cheaper, we still decided to go to my house for some hot home-cooked food - and some snow.  We started our journey with the drive to the Nanaimo airport, when disaster struck. My car was out of windshield washer fluid and I had never refilled it myself, due to the dependance on my brother and father.  Pulling into a gas station on the side of the highway, I asked Lindsey to pump the gas while I ran in to get the windshield washer fluid. A sea of panic flooded over her face as she had never really driven a car, let alone put gas in one. Her first words were “What? I can’t pump gas? How do I know when it’s done? What if the car blows up?” I reassured her that a monkey could do it.  My attempt at reassurance did not help. She was convinced that pumping gas was its own complex science. After dragging her out to the pump, I briskly walked into the gas station to find the magic fluid that would stop my car from screaming. I thought to myself, ‘That $6 washer-fluid was a great deal for a whole jug!’ I later found out that it can be bought at Canadian Tire for much less.  After a six hour flight delay due to some thick fog, we were finally on our way to Calgary, and then to Fort McMurray. We were greeted by Jack Frost when we stepped out of the airport and the sharp, chilling air hit our lungs. The roads paved their way to my home; the skating rinks of twists and turns made our journey all the more exciting.  My brother’s old room was set up for Lindsey to stay in; our beds were covered in fuzzy sheets and the heated mattresses were on the highest setting possible. My mom enjoys having company and was very willing to host a guest. After midterm, when Lindsey and I left, she said “I hope our home was as welcoming to her as her own home would be. I couldn’t imagine having my parents so far away and not seeing them for months at a time; so I wanted her to feel like she was just as much a part of our family as you, Ryan and Coewyn are.” We spent our days playing cards, driving around and, keeping warm. Our nights in Fort Mac ranged from a 74 year old’s birthday party, to some boys bolting snowboards onto the bottom of a couch and pulling it behind a truck. For me, this was just another typical Tuesday; for Lindsey, this was one of the most insane experiences she had ever experienced. It was a truly exciting experience to be able to bring a part of my Brentwood life home to meet my family and friends.  Hannah C ‘19