OTTAWA (AN ENTRY WITH LOTS OF PICTURES)

This past weekend was the Fulbright/Killam orientation in Ottawa. I flew into Ottawa Thursday morning and made it to the hotel by early afternoon. We had a reception, an academic lecture, and then dinner that last until well past 11 - between traveling and being on Atlantic time I was exhausted.

Friday we had a lot of academic discussions and presentations - followed a reception at the house of the US Ambassador to Canada. He had this beautiful house along the Ottawa River. After the reception we went to dinner at an Aboriginal Grille. I had buffalo and cloudberry crème brûlée - both fantastic. After dinner, few of us went out to see the "Ottawa nightlife" and ended up at a pub with a live band. It was good to know that cover bands tend to play the same terrible 80s music in Canada that they do in the US.



Saturday was the cultural portion of our trip: a tour of parliament, the national art gallery, and a trip to the civilization museum across the river in Quebec. Saturday happened turned out to be the coldest day of the trip (only 9 degrees celcius!) but I still had a wonderful time. Parliament was beautiful - and it was amazing to see the differences between the building and the capitol in the States. We saw the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and (my favourite part) the Library of Parliament. The Library was absolutely beautiful - but I have to say, I still love the Library of Congress best of all - but maybe I'm slightly biased by the fact that I got to go to school in the LofC for nine months. The tour of parliament was also great because I'm still trying to fully understand the Canadian government for my Politics in Maritime Canada course. The President of the Parliament Institute also spoke to us about current issues facing the Canadian government.

Next we headed to The National Gallery of Canada. We were given an official tour of the most important works in Canadian history - and then were given time to explore. The gallery had a fantastic exhibit of modern Inuit sculpture. I also checked out some of the pop-art before lunch. After we ate, we headed across the canal to Quebec to visit The Museum of Civilization. Maureen, Meg, and I got separated from the group and explored the Canadian History exhibit on our own (we actually went through it backwards). Canada hall was full of life sized exhibits - instead of viewing images or a few artifacts you went through houses, churches, factories, rail stations, etc. Then we went to the exhibit on the Canadian post - and created our own stamps (just like the Postal Museum in the district!). Finally, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the best part of the weekend - the hockey game!

I was a bit worried about the hockey game - but it was fantastic. We were given an hour to work up, and my skating skills improved greatly (although I am by no means good). Still, I can stay on my feet now and skate back and forth rink, pass the puck while skating, and turn around without falling - big accomplishments for me! We all lined up and sang The Star Spangled Banner and O Canada before playing. I didn't manage any goals - but I did manage to stay on my feet the whole time and got one assist. My team lost in the shoot-out. I'm not a hockey star in the making, but I had a great time and gained an appreciation for the game. I'm not likely to become an avid fan - but I do want to watch some games while I'm up here.

I flew back Sunday afternoon and am now back in the full-swing of papers, tests, and general homework. I also re-wrote my mobility proposal - I'm now hoping to get approval to go to Edmonton, Alberta over fall break. I'll write more about that decision in my next post, I better get back to my Environmental History research now.