Alright, so I’ve gone over the whole “Identity” part of our trip, but what did we actually do on our trip? I’m sure that was on everyone’s mind while they were reading my post, instead of “Who is this kid?” or “What am I doing here?”.
As many of you know, I am Jason, and this is my official Alberta blog post.
So, in this post, I’ll be covering most of the things that I didn’t cover in my identity Video, so if you want a bit more info on Alberta, and specifically, one of the main projects we worked on. Check out my identity post after you read this post.
Also, before you read, I’ve made a little video documenting some of the places that I will mention in this post. Make sure to take a look at that. If you do not like EDM, then you can get out.
Just kidding. If you don’t like my music then just mute it. However, I spent a lot of effort syncing up the images to the music, so it would mean a lot to me if you enjoyed the full experience.
On one fateful day in September, similar to last year, at some undisclosed time early in the morning, 17 rowdy kids departed Seycove in the ol’ faithful Seycove bus, with their bags crammed under their seats and their headphones plugged in. And just like that, the trip had begun.
Canadian Pacific Railway
Along our trip, we visited several CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) attractions. The CPR was also a pretty big focus on our trip, as we visited Rogers Pass, the Spiral Tunnels, and most notably, the Last Spike. We also did a lot of research before and during our trip, including watching the CPR movie The Iron Road and watching some short filmstrips and documentaries on our trip, such as “The War on Snow”, which we watched in Rogers Pass and taught us about how the military launched missiles into the mountains to cause avalanches. Or something like that.
Calgary
We spent a few days on the road, staying in Three Valley Gap and Lake Louise, before arriving at our final destination, Calgary. We spent 4 days in Calgary visiting some well known attractions, such as the Calgary Zoo, Glenbow Museum, And The Royal Tyrell Museum (which technically isn’t in Calgary but we went there while we were in Calgary).
Beakerhead
But now, you might be asking, why did you go to Calgary in the first place? Well I’m gonna tell you.
You see, in Calgary, we participated in a magical event called Beakerhead. Basically, beakerhead is when a bunch of scientists, artists, and other people come together, and take over the city of Calgary, setting up various “Beacons” and “Pop-Up” events. Beacons are pretty much huge attractions that combine both science and art to represent something.
During Beakerhead, we visited a huge dung beetle, a burning man recreation, an up recreation (House covered in balloons) and giant tesla coils.
Through beakerhead, I’ve gained a better knowledge of both Science and Art. Also where else are you gonna get to ram into your fellow students in zorb balls for school? (Yes, we actually did that.)
The Art Of Filmmaking
Another focus for the trip was filmmaking. We worked on both our iMovie and clips skills by creating 4 short films/movies at various locations.
Obviously, you’ve seen the identity video, which was included in my identity post, which all of you obviously read, but what were the other 3? Well, I’m not gonna tell you.
I’m not gonna tell you.
Nope. Not gonna tell you.
OK, maybe I’ll tell you.
Hey, stop peer pressuring me to tell you!
Alright fine, I’ll tell you. Our first one was on one of the first stops of our trip. The Heritage Ghost Town In the Three Valley Gap. The Ghost Town is made up of many restored historical buildings, and is eerily creepy, due to the abundance of manniquins. And also the dental office. That was terrifying.
In The Town, we created silent films, which weren’t even allowed to include sound effects. Even though it was in a ghost town, it didn’t have to be spooky. Ours did have some spooky elements, but still has an old-timey movie feel about it. Take a look for yourself.
Our second was a while later in Drumheller, where we had to make a video telling the story of one of the fossils in the dinosaur museum using accurate facts about the fossil. Check that out as well:
Our final project was on our final day, in the Enchanted Forest, which may have been one of the creepiest places we went to. Take a look at the figures in our video and you can see for yourself.
Well, you’ve watched and enjoyed our movies (I hope) and you’ve enjoyed this post just as much (I also hope) and it is now time to cap off this post. The Alberta trip was definitely a great way to start the year and will definitely be one of the highlights of my high school days.