dear ottawa, thank you

We are back from yet another field study, this time to Ottawa! However, this trip was different. It was not a traditional PLP trip, but it was with a company called Encounters With Canada (EWC). Encounters with Canada is a government sponsored company that bring youth ages 14-17 to Ottawa to learn about different subjects. There are different themes, and each week you learn about something different. The kids only go for one week, and they can choose which week they go on, depending what they wasn’t to learn about. The theme of our week was the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The reason our teachers chose this week is because it ties right into what we’re are learning about, which is WWl.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a battle during WWl, in France. In bus battle, Canadians went and conquered the ridge from the Germans. This battle was very successful, and Canadians had conquered all the land they needed. 

On the trip, we were not the only ones. Because this wasn’t an actual PLP trip, there were other kids there as well. 126 to be exact. Because there were many kids there, many of which were my age, I got to meet so many new people from all Canada! Now let’s dive into the trip.

APRIL 7

The day we left! This day was actually really good. I got to spend a plane ride with my best friends, and the flight wasn’t too bad, other than the bumpy landing. 

APRIL 8

We have landed in Ottawa, and it’s 3am. We are in a bus, and all of a sudden, a lady started yelling at us, when we are all exhausted. It was pretty fun. We go off to our dorm to sleep, also accidentally waking up everyone who got there the day before. Time to sleep. 

When we wake up, we have no idea what to do. There is a little tv in the hallway telling us the day plan for that day, and all it said were meals. Today, there were still people flying in, so no activities were planned. All we did was play monopoly, which lasted about 2 hours. 

APRIL 9

Today was the first day we did something! Today we went to the mini version of the Vimy Ridge monument, which is actually in France, but they have a duplicate in downtown Ottawa. 

We watched a ceremony at the monument because that day was the anniversary of Vimy Ridge! It was very interesting to watch.

APRIL 10

Today we went to a museum. It was actually very interesting, and I learned a lot from it. We also got to hold WWl artifacts, such as a bayonet. It so interesting to see how the people in WWl lived, and his much their lives changed.

APRIL 11

Today was one of my favourites! We got to go INSIDE Parliment and it was so amazing, and I never would ave experiences that without this trip. Parliament was one of the most interesting experience that i learned the most from. After parliament, we went on a walking tour to all of the war monuments in Ottawa. It was very interesting to see what they created to remember all of these wars. 

APRIL 12

Today was a very relaxed, and chill day. In the morning, we went to the Diefenbunker. This was a bunker that was actually used in WWl, and we got to go inside and see what it was like to live in there. Afterwards, we had some free time, before we went to the war cemetery. There, we had a small ceremony and placed candles on their tombstones to show respect. 

After wards, we got to pick an activity to do after dinner. I decided to go to the escape room. It was so much fun, and I actually bonded with all of the people’s I was in the room with, because we had to work together to find a way out. 

APRIL 13

Today was actually my favourite day. We had 3 hours of free time downtown to go shopping! It was so much fun to hang out with my friends, and also with the ones i made on the trip. Afterwards, we had talent show, a banquet dinner, and a dance! It was so much fun, and i got to spend time with my new friends. 

APRIL 14

Time to go home today:( This trip was his toy one of my favourites. I bonded with my whole class in ways I didn’t even know we could, and also made so many new strong friendships that i never would have made without EWC. Hopefully i will get to visit my new friends sometime soon!

 

Read my book I made during Ottawa!