Despite our very international flair, many of our students have grown up in sunny California.  The concept of real cold is a very foreign thing for a kid who technically could go bogie boarding year round. Oh, they have been to the snow and had snowball fights in Big Bear compliments of Bear Mountain’s fancy snow machines… but REAL weather… they know not… or have lost their appreciation for…  Well our 10^th graders are discovering life on the cold side as they experience a week living the good life in Ottawa.  Reports from trip organizer Fabien Lacroix confirm that our kids are living an unforgettable experience and discovering that a whole world exists with fantastic things to do at -5… so far, in addition to getting to know their  Lycee Claudel correspondents… they have tasted local treats (a maple syrup/ snow delight), learned about local culture, been ice skating on the Rideau Canal, snow tubing [19 second video included below] and lived a variety of snow induced activities that parents have been following on the LILA lions blog.

They are already planning what they will have their Canadian hosts do when they come to spend a week in sunny LA this June…  Roller blading along the beach, ey?

I received a note from one of the chaperons in Paris and I thought I'd share it with the rest of you.
Enjoy!

Hi Elizabeth,
I just wanted to share a little story from our second day out and about in Paris.
After school we visited the Eiffel Tower with the munchkins. It was a long metro ride from our side of town, and it got progressively colder as the sun (and fog) set. We took some pictures, did some ice skating (which was a big hit as you can imagine) and had a little hot chocolate/crepe break in the cafe on the first floor...
We were all tired, the kids were wet from ice skating in the rain, we were hungry and we had a long metro ride ahead of us, I'm sure you can imagine the mood, but just before we rounded a corner, out of sight of the tower, it started sparkling. It sparkles every night, but this was the first time it has sparkled for most of our kids. They were elated. The burst into laughter, shouted with joy and some started singing!
We took some more pictures and continued home. . .
I am grateful for having been included in this experience. It was heart warming on a chilly Parisian evening.

I attached a picture of the tower at that moment - I couldn't get one of the kids and the sparkling, but this one turned out pretty nice.

Hope your side of Paris is as beautiful as ours is!

The 2011 Joshua Tree Field Trip  was, for 3 days, a community of 201 persons. A community designed for children, parents, and teachers to integrate into all life and not the narrow bandwidth that we are focused on. When our relationship to the world has grown cold or lost, it is time to warm it up! Getting into community for the benefit of our children at Joshua Tree is a good response to that, to bring life back into our life,  no matter how many iPods, TVs or cell phones, or whatever else we have.

The beauty of the Joshua Tree desert and the attitude of each one of our parents made it precious and wonderful.  It was Pasadena’s eighth trip to Joshua Tree and, as always, this event creates a special bond between all the participants  and for a few days we all- students, teachers, friends and parents - shared many memorable experiences: the workshops, teaching, carrying, washing, cooking, building, the scenery, the amazing sky, the silence.  All the hard work invested into this trip resulted  into smiles and endless memories that will remain with these Pasadena families for the rest of their lives.