International Student Ski Trip: Silverstar 2014

For most, midterm break of second term consists of five blissful days of rest and relaxation in the comforts of home – a chance to catch up with family and friends who you don’t see at Brentwood two hundred days of the year. Or not. For some of us, home is a long airplane journey and then some, once you factor in time difference and driving time. For me, the decision not to go home for midterm is not a complicated one – with the time difference, and a 15 hour journey across the Pacific to Australia, by the time I got home, I’d have to turn around and come right back, so I took full advantage of the slightly more economical option offered to the 30% of the Brentwood student body who aren’t from Canadian shores. Last Thursday morning, thirty-five international students from Mexico, Germany, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, America, Australia, Japan, Columbia, Brazil & Hong Kong piled onto the bus bright and early for the 40 minute flight to Kelowna, located in the Okanagan Valley in interior British Columbia. After a short bus ride up to Silverstar, accompanied by Mr. Allpress, Mr. Hyde, Ms Dalrymple and Mr. Farrell and checking into the hotel, students either chose to hit the slopes early for a few runs or spend the afternoon relaxing and exploring the village. For the first full day, we all had to take part in lessons, suited to our level, to make sure that we had professional instruction before being let loose on the mountain. The few (mainly German) advanced skiers jumped straight into the black and double-black diamonds: Michael S and Michael G dominated the intermediate group with their skills and a few of the more tropical students impressed their instructor with their progress in the beginner group. The rest of the day was free skiing under Silverstar’s characteristic sunny skies. Après ski, student’s had the chance to relax in their rooms, explore the village shops, or head down to the skating rink and ‘Tube Town’ for the evening. For a group of student’s largely from warmer areas, who had mostly never skated before, the impromptu ice hockey games were mostly, other than a few tumbles (well, when I say a few….), a success. Not too partial to the art of balancing on skates, whilst also fighting off at least four other people clamoring for the puck, I was unanimously appointed referee/commentator/score-keeper/medical personnel. Of course, there were those who disagreed with my policies of “one-thousand points to Gryffindor” and “negative one million points for hitting the referee”, but all in all, the games were very popular, with some lasting well into the evening. Though a couple of people did take the phrase ‘put your back into it’ a little too literally, thankfully, no major injuries were sustained. Aside from that, the late night times in the hotubs, random in-room dance parties, and of, course, how could I forget Mr. Farrell’s fateful room inspection on the second last night. On the last night a group bowling evening rounded off the trip, with Mr. Farrell coming out at the top of the game, then a last group dinner. In the morning, some hit the slopes for a final time, while others chose to relax before the journey back to Mill Bay. On behalf of all the international students, I’d like to thank Mr. Farrell, Ms Dalrymple, Mr. Allpress, and Mr. Hyde for accompanying us and making it such a fantastic trip. Even amid all the jokes about the accents, thanks to everyone for such a great trip. For those returning, have a great time next year! Joanna L, Alex ‘14