gratitude.

somewhere along the way i stopped actively thanking the people in my life who have supported and facilitated my spiritual growth. procrastination has lead me to rediscover some old emails detailing the process of getting me to india when i was 14 years old. i'm disappointed that i had forgotten how much support and love i was surrounded with back then... so thank you to everyone who facilitated my growth from girl to woman, then and now <3 blessed.

Miri Piri Academy

For those of you who haven't seen it, here's a video about our school made by Guru Darshan Kaur, who taught photography at our school for one semester and now lives in Dharamsala:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h4sYEpQY5g

Yay.


So... there are 3 weeks of school left! Oh how the time has flown by. We 10th graders have Board Exams in a week, for two weeks, and then we're HOME. I have to say I can't wait!! but I am gonna miss MPA. Hopefully, I will come back next year. Anyway.. not much else to say and I don't have a lot of time left. Catch you all later.

Sat Karm Kaur

my work

Here's one of my essays written in English class that Ms Bentley posted on the Student Work Blog. ( http://mpa-studentwork.blogspot.com )

My Family

Welcome to the Bissett family. We’re big, loud, and pure Aussie pride. I’m the only Canadian on my mum’s side, but that doesn’t stop my heritage from coming out.

I live in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, with my mum and my cat. We live in an apartment complex off of Commercial Drive, a spunky area in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver. The area is very multicultural, inhabited primarily by Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Canadian families. My mum moved out of her parents’ house in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, when she was 22 to begin traveling around the world, and moved to Vancouver permanently when she learnt she was pregnant with me!

Neither of my parents are Sikh. My father is Christian (his dad was a priest), and while my mother does Kundalini Yoga she doesn’t follow a religion. When she was a child, she went to a Catholic all girls’ school, and my Nana brought my mum and her 9 other siblings up as Catholics, although they were never baptized. These days, the Bissetts aren’t very religious, but we all remember our spirituality and beliefs.

My entire family (on my mum’s side), aside from me, are from Australia. I’ve been to Australia twice, where I visited the twenty-something Bissetts inhabiting Geelong. The central meeting point is my Nana and Papa’s house, which my Pap designed and built himself in his earlier years. My family is a classic Australia family. All our pictures together are at a barbeque (or ‘barbie’), the men usually holding beer cans, and cricket is mandatory at every family gathering.

My father’s side is a touchy and generally unknown subject. I was born as a surprise to my dad, who wasn’t even there when I was born. I never knew this man very well. I’ve had a few encounters with him which weren’t the most pleasurable moments of my life. Nevertheless, I have faith that he will be able to change and I will perhaps be able to have a relationship with him.

My family is very complex but at the same time ridiculously similar. We come from many different worlds but we all have our “biscuit-brain” reputations to be recognized by. Some would say that I’ve had a tough upbringing but I’m grateful for what I’ve got.

Rishikesh... spring break!

Wow... so I haven't been here in a while. Just leaving a brief overview here about my spring break so you know how I'm doing.

We took a 7 hour train ride from Amritsar to Hardwar, followed by an hour long bus ride to get into Rishikesh. The day after our arrival we were greeted by torrents of rain. Nevertheless, we weren't discouraged, and set off into town for a day of good food and great rain. The rest of the week remained generally sunny, just our luck.

The highlights of the trip were most definitely white-water rafting and swimming in the Ganga. The constant good Italian food wasn't bad either.

Anyway... now we're back at school with 40 day seva, exams, and home on our minds. 2 months left. I can't wait to see you all!

long time no see...

Well, I guess I haven't written you guys in a while.

Christmas spirit is beginning to flood through the halls of Miri Piri Academy. Dharamatma Kaur started making wreaths out of the trimmings from the bushes surrounding the girl's dorm, all the germans have been singing german Christmas carrols, and the signup sheets are posted in the hallway for the girl's stocking exchange. There are 25 days (and counting) of the year left and everyone's getting pumped up for Winter Break, parents comming, exams (cough,cough), DHARAMSALA!! Yes, it has been 7 years since MPA has been to Dharamsala and I am soooooo excited to go! It's going to be a blast. But I can't let the excitement get to my head because we still have Midterms (the day after Christmas, I might add).

Well... what else to day. Not much. The weather's been getting colder and now that 40 day sadhana is over we've started doing yoga in the mornings. Not particularly favoured by anyone, but, eh, we can live. The first half of the day here is always ridiculously foggy and cold. Then it gets nice and sunny in the afternoon.

Anyway... not much else to say, and we're in study hall and the bell is about to ring... I'll hopefully update again soon.

Sat Nam
Sat Karm Kaur

kabaddi from a couple weeks ago

I wrote this a couple weeks ago but blogger was down, so here you go...


Today was the kabaddi competition. For those who don't know, kabaddi is a traditional india wrestling type sport. There are two types: square style, which is a style used all over India, and circle style, which is specifically played in Punjab. The differences are that in square style, once you cross the centre line to raid on the other team, you have to hold your breath and say "kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi.....", where, with circle style you don't. In square style, you have to touch a certain line before you can go back to your side, and the whole team can tackle you (theres usually 5 or 6 people per team), and in cirle style only the person you tag can tackle you. Square focuses more on teamwork, and circle is more wrestling oriented.
Today we played a square tournament. Each squad (Gold, Silver, Blue and White) has two teams: one of boys and one of girls. They set up two fields so the girls and guys would be playing at alternate times while the other field was being prepped for the next game. Today I had to play because half of our squad was injured from the soccer game the previous day. Traditionally blue house (my squad) is really into all the competitions. All the other squads hate us, because we try so hard and make everything a big deal. I can see why. Then gold house is the lazy squad and silver and white is kind of neutral. First blue played silver, and we won (guys and girls). Then gold played white and won for girls and guys. In the championships white and silver guys played for third and white won, whereas the silver girls won 3rd place. In the finals for 1st place gold boys won and blue girls (aka my squad) won. According to a lot of people I played well today. It was fun, tiring, and I got really dirty because the field is a dirt field.Most of the girls here like circle style better but I think square style is good because it really builds teamwork and is fun to watch.
After kabaddi everyone relaxed for the rest of the day. Anand and I ordered pizza from Dominoes and then I ordered dessert with a bunch of other people from a restaurant called the sweet life. My roommates (Dharma, Saibi, Prabhjot, Tej) and I ordered our carpet, FINALLY (our carpet is really gross and dirty... not to mention PINK), and then Dharma, Saibi, Guru Amar, Simmi and I watched Moulin Rouge. By the end of it, it was time for formation for meditation. And now I'm in the computer lab.This is pretty much an average Saturday. It alternates that every weekend we either have a competition or town leave.
Tomorrow is Gurdwara. It's going to be really relaxed with no kirtan, because part of the gatka squad is going on a Jaloose, and a lot of those people are the people who do kirtan. Sunday is always a day of laziness, where we can just sit back, relax, eat pizza, watch movies and sleep. Dharma, Simmi and I have a lot of movies to catch up on so it's going to be a BUSY day (ehehhe, I kid).Well, I should be off. Kick-in is in a half hour.

Goodnight!

Sat Karm Kaur

halloween! she comes!

Just a quick update before I get outta the computer lab, due to reason: my eyes feel like they're falling out of their sockets. I've been in charge for 2 hours and I'm about ready to leave. But anyway.

Last night we had our Halloween costume competition/party. I couldn't think of a good costume so I was just in privates the whole time, but some of the costumes were really good. The party was fun too.

But anyway, that's enough. Here are some pictures of Darbar Sahib on Guru Ram Das Ji's Birthday!

Kirtan

The golden temple all lit up!

Fireworks right over my head!


WJKK WJKF!
-Sat Karm Kaur