Well, I’m getting to know Ottawa a bit better! Today, I was tasked with driving to various locations throughout the Capital Region to gather supplies for our expedition. I have no problems driving through an unfamiliar city… IF I have an excellent navigator with me. With directions from Google Maps. And a regular map. Luckily I had all of those.
For our pre-expedition days here in Ottawa, we are staying at Encounters With Canada’s Terry Fox Youth Centre. It’s a fine facility with dorm spaces for 150 people, a cafeteria and lots of classrooms space. Bedding is provided – but not towels. Sooooo… off I went on a towel run.
Now anyone who has ever driven with me knows I am a pretty good driver. 22 years without one accident or speeding ticket (until last Sunday, thank you Winnipeg Police! Grr…) So, I was being extra careful in Ottawa considering it was unfamiliar to me, and I was driving van. But to make matters worse, once we picked up bags and bags of towels, we were off to collect dozens of empty beer bottles. Yes, that’s right beer bottles. And not just regular kind, but the old stubby ones.
Why, you ask?
Good question. Once on the ship, we will do a bottle drop. Each student will get a chance to put a message in a bottle (complete with instructions for the finder, should that happen) and throw it into the Arctic Ocean so that we can learn more about ocean currents and movements. To do that, we need 150 stubby empty beer bottles.
Anyhoo, to make a long story short, there I was, driving through Ottawa with a bunch of empty beer bottles clinking away amidst piles of bleach-y white towels. And I’m thinking to myself, “Mike, don’t speed. You will never be able to explain this one to the police officer…”
After safely returning with the supplies, it was off to a meeting with my fellow chaperones and leaders. It’s another great group of scientists, fellow educators and other people passionate about the Arctic. Some familiar faces from last year and lots of new faces. I definitely encourage anyone reading this to head to the Students On Ice webste to look up the bios on the Expedition Team. There are some amazing people on there.
Once we all introduced ourselves and talked more about the education program, we headed off to dinner at a local pub. While we were there, some of the Northern students arrived at the EWC facility. Since weather conditions can often play havoc with travel between northern communities, we get some of the students started a day earlier. That way, should some unforeseen circumstances delay a flight, they have a whole day to catch up.
Myself and a fellow educator, Jeff Baxter, who teaches up at Paulatuk, NWT, did our first bed checks tonight. Some of the Inuit students are very shy and withdrawn – something I remembered quite well from last year. Many feel homesickness in the first couple of days. It’ll take some coaxing to get everyone to warm up and socialize.
Tomorrow, the rest of the students arrive from all over Canada and the world. I’m off to the airport to greet them and then it’s back to EWC for the big grand meet and greet with almost our whole team!
In the meantime, off to get another good night’s sleep.
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