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Thursday, May 6, 2010
Really, Day 5 already?! I'm realising as I write these blogs that I am not a pensmith. We math teachers only use letters as variables, not for communicating. Anyways...
Today we visited the Manitoba Hydro building downtown. It's a brand new building that is one of the World's greenest buildings. As well as getting a panoramic view of the city from way up high, our tour guide also showed all the innovative ways the building was designed to conserve energy and use as little power as possible. Maybe if they didn't charge as much for electricity they wouldn't have to worry as much. It was interesting to find out about all the little details and thoughts that go into designing something like this. We also found out that the guy who controls the blinds on their windows does so from Calgary and something else like that is controlled from Germany.
After the tour we had a little free time to shop, before meeting at The Forks, where the Assiniboine River meets the Red river. The Forks has a great selection of little shops and restaurants. We all had lunch together before taking a steady walk along the river, past the Manitoba legislature, back to school. And yes, we can attest to the fact that the Sun does shine in Winnipeg.
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Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Today's adventures took us to Steinbach Mennonite Heritage Village. We were a little late setting off as one pairing, who shall remain nameless, overslept. When we were sat on the bus waiting for them I managed to get hold of them on the cell phone. The ring had just woken them up. We were waiting to leave and they hadn't got out of bed yet! Though tempted, we didn't leave them behind, instead we picked them up on the way. The neighbours must have had something to talk about when the yellow school bus pulled up outside their front door.
The Heritage museum took us through the history of the Mennonites, emigrating from Europe and settling in Manitoba, as well as inform us about their culture and beliefs. The village contained many period buildings including a fully functioning windmill. A water mill may have been more appropriate as we had rain but not enough wind. The tour ended in a delicious Mennonite meal: cabbage borscht, farmers sausage, vereniki (perogies) and all the trimmings, then rhubarb platz to finish. After lunch, we had a wagon ride around the whole village to wrap up the tour.
Just before leaving we visited a temporary art exhibit in their gallery. The theme was about 'Just Food'. Although our time in the exhibit was short it was never-the-less thought provoking and educational.
The day ended with a few 'getting to know you' games back at Churchill H.S., organised by Ms. Lamoureux. Having learned a little today about Just Food, tomorrow we turn our attentions to ecology and green architecture.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 05 May 2010 19:06 |
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Today we were supposed to take a long bus ride out of town to the Narcissa Snake Pits. However, when we checked last night we found that it was 100% chance of rain and there were no snakes yet. So rather than go all that way to look at a match of soggy ground, we decided to stay in Winnipeg. In the end the rain held off and we had a fabulous day.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 06 May 2010 19:21 |
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Monday, May 3, 2010
After much needed sleep we're ready to face day 2 of the exchange. Half of us had a lazy morning; some of the boys reported they got out of bed at 11am. The other half had an early start. The biology class had a field trip to the Imax theatre to see 2 films on the Amazon and the Human Body. Our student's got to accompany their hosts if they were in that class. in the afternoon we all met up for a guided tour of Winnipeg's historic exchange district. Our tour guide was very interesting and informative.
This evening the students are meeting up to go rock climbing. i think we'll leave that activity to the younger arms and legs. I'm off to meet Yan Martel (author of 'life of Pi'), who is in town promoting his new book 'beatrice and virgil'. If anyone is interested, he'll be at the Rideau Centre Chapters on May 10.
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Last Updated on Monday, 03 May 2010 17:07 |
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Sunday May 2, 2010
We made it safe and sound. The Winnipeg Exchange is officially underway. After a very early start at Ottawa airport we have met up with our twins and are just getting set for our first exchange event: A pot luck. Tonight we are off to Thunderbird house and a First Nation Planetarium.
Sleep is for Wimps!
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 04 May 2010 18:55 |
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