My name is Andrea. I am from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada. Saskatchewan is a province of Canada. Saskatchewan got its name from a native word, 'kisiskatchewanisippi', meaning fast flowing river. There are two Saskatchewan rivers in our province, the North and the South. Our province is divided roughly in half between farmland and forest. The southern half of our province is farmland which is used to grow wheat, barley, canola, peas, flax, and other crops. There is also some ranch land in the south. The north is forest consisting of various sorts of pine trees. A great deal of logging takes place in the north. There are also hundreds of beautiful lakes which many people visit in the summer. Saskatchewan's economy is resource based relying on agriculture, foresty, mining, and oil for a great deal of its income. In the past 5 years a move has been made to increase the amount of manufacturing and processing done in our province.
Saskatchewan's new license plate slogan is "Land of Living Skies". Our skies are alive with birds, beautiful sunsets, and of course the Northern Lights. Thanks to our great open spaces there is an abundance of wildlife. You never have to travel too far to see nature at its best! Saskatchewan's weather can be described as extreme. The summers are generally warm with lots of sunshine. The sunshine capital of Canada is in Estevan, Saskatchewan. In summer the temperature can reach plus 40 degrees Celcius! The winters are sunny but cool and fairly dry with not a lot of snow. This year it took until December 30 for it to snow. We had our first ever 'Brown Christmas'! But just as it can get quite hot in summer it can also get very cold in winter. Our temperature can drop to minus 40 degrees Celcius in winter!
My hometown of Humboldt is named after the German academic and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. My town is located one hour east of Saskatoon. If you want to find Saskatoon on a map click here. Humboldt has over 5300 inhabitants. The population is growing as the local agricultural businesses increase production. That gives you a little introduction to Saskatchewan. As I update this page I'll include a Saskatchewan facts page to give you more information on our wonderful province. I'll also include some links to Humboldt pages so you can find out more.
I was an exchange student to Denmark with AFS Interculture Canada in 1992-1993. I had a fantastic time! That is why there is so much stuff about AFS on my site. I was a general volunteer with the Saskatchewan chapter ever since I returned home in the summer of 1993 until 1998. I have also served as Returnee Coordinator, 1996-1997, organising a number of former AFS participants,returnees, as well as other young volunteers.
I liked my exchange so much that I decided to go back to Europe, this time to Germany. This time I went on a direct exchange between my university, the University of Saskatchewan (located in Saskatoon) and the University of Marburg. I finished my B.A. in International Studies in April of 1997. I began work on my Master's degree in Political Studies at the University of Saskatchewan in September of 1997.
In the summer of 1997 I had the opportunity to work with Industry Canada's Community Access Program (CAP). I was paid to work on computers and the Internet all day! Industry Canada provides funding for small and remote Canadian communities to 'get wired'. Industry Canada also provides funding for summer employment programs whereby the small CAP communities hire youth to run their sites for the summer months as well as teaching people about computers and the Internet. Check out the CAP homepage to visit the hundreds of Canadian communities with CAP sites. The work of the youth is quite impressive.
If you have any questions or just want to write to me, e-mail me.
I am going to be working hard to update my webiste so please come back and visit often!