In PLP we went on our latest rip to Ottawa. But this trip was completely different than any other PLP trip in history. It was not run by our teachers, it would be completely supervised, arranged, organized, and directed by Encounters With Canada Encounters with Canada is a unique opportunity for Canadian teens to meet other young people from across the country, spend an adventure-filled week in their nation’s capital, discover their country, and share their hopes and dreams. More than 110,000 youth have stayed at Encounters with Canada.
This trip would be focused around Canada’s involvement in World War 1. Specifically, the battle of Vimy ridge which was an intense battle for the ridge that had tried to be taken by other country’s multiple times before.
The first day was an extremely long day. It started with the Destination Imagination Provincial tournament in Surrey and ended with our class on a plane to Ottawa. The tournament lasted from around 8am to 3pm and after the tournament we had to meet straight at the airport to board our flight at around 5pm. We would then arrive in Ottawa at around 1am. Most of us ended up going to bed at 2am Ottawa time or 11pmVancouver time. Unfortunately, most of us were not informed that we could sleep in if we wanted the first day so most of us woke up at 7am which is when our teachers said to wake up. I sort of just wondered around exploring the building and ended up getting breakfast. As you could imagine a was extremely tired so I went back to bed as I realized that it was a sleep-in day. The first day was extremely low key, we literally just did nothing since not all the students from other provinces had arrived. The third day of the trip is where we started to get into the action. We first headed to the National War Memorial which is a 2-minute walk away from the parliament buildings. In fact, you can see the parliament buildings from the memorial.
At the memorial, there was the tomb of the unknown soldier. The tomb of the unknown soldier is a granite coffin built into the memorial that holds an unidentified soldier from World War 1. The memorial was built to commemorate the Canadians who died in the First World War and was later rededicated to add the Canadians that died in the Korean war and Second World War.
The next day we went to the Canadian War Museum. I was extremely excited to visit the museum as I had been there before in grade 7. I loved how interactive everything was there, a lot of the stuff was hands on. They had their own trench setting with lighting and sound effects and everything! It made you feel like you were in the trenches in World War 1. They even had an AK-47 that you could hold in your hands. They also had a huge collection of tanks that were used in World War 1, 2, The Cold War, And even present conflicts! They also had a Canadian fighter jet strung up over the whole exhibition. Overall I would give my experience at the museum a 9/10. Now you might be asking, why didn’t you give it a 10/10 if it was so good? Well, the reason is because everything at the museum cost’s so much money! It’s like $3 for a coffee and $3 for a tiny bag of chips! It was ridiculous but besides that, I absolutely loved my experience at the museum.
The next day we went to the parliament buildings! But before I talk about that I would like to talk about the Canadian space and aviation museum. This museum was by far my favorite. The museum was based in a huge hangar just beside a functioning air strip. They had pretty much every plane you could imagine! From float planes to fighter jets, this museum had it all. I have loved planes since I was in grade 1 and it was cool to see planes I dreamed about seeing when I was younger.
Now, back to parliament. Yet again, this was another situation where I had already been there so I pretty much knew what to expect. And yes, it was pretty much the same as my last trip to the parliament buildings. There was a ton of security to go inside, the had scanners and x-ray machines just like in the airport. You could tell that the government cares about their safety especially in times like these. Once you got inside the building you got to wait in this waiting room with benches and chairs. Then the tour guide would call the group number you are in and you would then start the tour. When you get into the main room in the parliament buildings it is cool. Basically, everything is made of either granite, velvet, or gold. Unfortunately, we were not able to go into the senate because they were in the middle of something. The good news is, I got the privilege of going into the senate in my previous visit to parliament so I am very grateful for that. I Loved our visit to parliament but these tours were taking a toll on my knees. So much standing still! I still love the learning but the standing in one spot for 20 minutes gets to you after a while.
The next day we woke up bright and early to visit the Dieffenbunker. The Diefenbunker was commissioned by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1959, as part of his government’s reaction to escalating tensions in the Cold War. The purpose of the bunker was to house key members of the government and military in the event of a nuclear attack on Canada. They had everything you could imagine, a cafeteria, bedrooms, washrooms, radio rooms, a huge server room, a huge vault to store almost all of Canadas gold supply, and a lot, and I mean a lot meeting rooms. In my opinion, this visit was by far my most favorite part of the trip.
On the last full day in Ottawa, we had the big dance. What more can I say? Good music, dancing, and fun times with new friends.
For the trip, I spent a lot of my time getting video of our experience as a class. I made a short video of our trip to reflect on the major things we did, and to show you how much fun we had learning about our nations capital!