A group of "flatlanders" from the Northwest School Division in Meadow Lake Saskatchewan recently decided to visit the east, not the Middle East and not the Far East, but the Canadian East. Our travels took us to "God's country" as we so often heard it referred to, or Newfoundland and Labrador. If it is true that "God spent half an hour more creating Newfoundland," these "Mainlanders" wanted to find out for themselves.

Now, I need to say upfront that I myself am from "Da Rock" and have seen God's work in all its majesty. It was now my turn to be the host, the tour guide, the leader of the pack. Did I mention that these Mainlanders are also my bosses? They represent the taxpayers and fight the good fight for quality education, outstanding education, in the Northwest School Division.

I mean no disrespect to say that I was worried (for but a brief moment in time) as to whether or not my bosses could accept the "feel" for out island, our culture, our people. We chose not to spend all out time in the city but began our visit on the south coast of the island. We walked the rocky shores, visited the isolated island of Rencontre, toured the heritage home in Harbour Breton, ate Jiggs Dinner at the Dashwoods Diner near the Conne River, and had a Screech-in by "Screecher Preacher Roy" that made us laugh so hard we almost "upped our cookies." I'm just not sure if that was before the Mainlanders worked so desperately hard to say: "Deed I is me o' .............." or after. Of course, we also visited Cape Spear, Signal Hill, sampled many a brew on George Street, had our fill of fish and chips (although some of us still yearn for an extra piece of that splendid white cod).

Now as I sit back here at my desk on the Mainland, my heart and my soul yearns for da Rock more and more with each passing moment. I want to say THANK YOU to all our fellow Newfies who naturally and gracefully give, give, and give of your hospitality. I want to say to all you other Mainlanders, if you haven't been to da Rock yet, you MUST put it on your bucket life. Life is to short.

Most of all, I want to say "THANK YOU" to the owners of the Bear Sleeps Inn in Milltown. Wayne and Ruth cooked for us, looked after our every need, and showed us a love for our island, the culture, and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador that is second to none! When you visit this inn make sure to bring your appetite for Ruth's homemade bread with partridgeberry jam, Wayne's fish cakes, and tons and tons of delicious Newfoundland desserts! Practice your hearty laugh or your stomach muscles might get sore and prepare your heart to grow three sizes bigger as you cultivate a love for my home and native land.

If you don't think Newfoundlanders are resilient enough, have a look at the picture of Wayne and Ruth in their Roughriders shirts. Although there was not a football to be found on the south coast, these Newfies wore the colour green with pride and this endured them even more to the Roughrider fans who live and breathe football. As Rex Roberts wrote: "May the sun always shine on your wild wooded mountains, may the sea be as one with your roughed hearts alone, and may the doors of your homes always be open. May God's hands guide you folks back home."   Submitted By: Carolyn Forsey