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THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012
LIVING HERE EDUCATION / EXPANDED HORIZONS
China becomes extension of the classroom Seven St. John’s-Kilmarnock students get a firsthand experience of Mandarin during a 15-day trip ELENA MAYSTRUK China’s ancient ruins, street clamor and tropical monsoons became a colorful reality for seven students from St. John’sKilmarnock School in Breslau. In August the school sent them to Ganquan Foreign Languages Middle School, a sister school in the heart of Shanghai. Head of St. John’s-Kilmarnock Norman Southward says the connections made by the school are essential to the kids. “They are remarkable trips. … It is the demographic reality of Canada that we are already a very diverse population. That exists anyway. But to diversify that further only creates better understanding of the world for our students,” he explained. “Learning Mandarin was pretty good, it would be a pretty useful language to know,” said SJK student James Webber, who joined three friends, Kyle Conrad and sisters Chloe and Lauren Good, on the trip. The students left Canada Aug. 1 for the 15-day trip, but their excursion was no vacation. Though they certainly had a chance to see the sights – the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and a popular market on Silk Street – much of their time was taken up with studying the Mandarin language and living through some volatile weather. The students were coming back from a trip to the Bund, a waterfront
CHEF’S TABLE/ RYAN TERRY, FLOW CATERING
Quinoa makes going gluten-free taste good RECIPE NOTES
Lauren Good, James Webber and Chloe Good with some of the souvenirs and painted fans they crafted during a monsoon in Shanghai. They were part of a group of seven St. John’sKilmarnock students who travelled to China on an exchange trip. [ELENA MAYSTRUK / THE OBSERVER] boardwalk from which they viewed the Oriental Pearl Tower, Chloe Good explained as three student started to tell the story of a monsoon. “Were going back to school that night, they [tour directors] were just like ‘oh by the way there’s going to be a large typhoon tomorrow and its going to be the biggest one we’ve had in quite a few years,’” she said. “They told us afterwards
that there were four levels to the intensity of the typhoon. The lowest one was blue and then yellow, orange and red ... being the most severe,” Lauren continued. “[The school coordinator] smiles and says ‘oh, yeah, this typhoon is red.’” The storm went around the city instead of directly through as predicted but the students spent their time inside anyway, watching the U-shaped streets
of Shanghai, designed for flood drainage, fill with water as high winds drove torrents of rain. Two days inside of a student dormitory didn’t dampen their spirits, however. They spent their hours busy with painting fans, making artificial flowers and building models. On the second day, when rains finally let up, they went out into the grounds and ran to their language classes, umbrel-
las in hand. As part of the school’s baccalaureate program, the school offers exchanges to sister schools and reciprocates by hosting foreign students. Prior to talks with Chinese schools two years ago, St. John’s Kilmarnock had already created connections in Tibet and Kenya. The recent addition of Mandarin language studies through
Being a café and catering business, we must be prepared and aware of common dietary restrictions. In the café, we always have a way to accommodate the restrictions whether it is an allergy (like wheat), sensitivity (like gluten) or a choice (like vegan). With our caterings we are even more flexible since we have time ahead to plan and create a menu according to your dietary needs. In fact, we are catering a gluten-free and dairyfree wedding this weekend. Being celiac certainly has its drawbacks, but in recent years it’s becoming more common. Today’s chefs have to become more creative with gluten free ingredients while incorporating them into menu items that will be appealing to the masses. One ingredient we love using at the café is quinoa. According to website www.celiac.com, quinoa is gluten-free, high in fiber and a complete protein, meaning it has all nine amino acids. We like to think of it as a power grain, and it’s mighty tasty too. This stuff can be served hot or cold and unused por-
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