Day Four: Meli-Melo

Parliament by Alexandra
Today we went to see the parliament. We saw two rooms, the Senate which was red and the National Assembly room which was blue. They were very pretty. In both rooms, it was very clear that there were three parts to Quebec's history: the English, French, and the Canadian. In the National Assembly room, we were curious why there was a cross over the speaker of the house's chair. Our guide then replied that the cross had been put there before the separation of church and state. Here we are, finishing up listening to the guide:

From Quebec 2008

Ice and Snow Sculptures by Kevin and Stephanie
Today we saw the ice sculptures in the ice sculpture contest. There were many ice sculptures from all over the world. There were even sculptures from Canadian provinces! Each one represented its country or province. Some of them even had awards! Our favorites were a ship made by people from Quebec and a raven eating the moon made by a group from the Yukon territories. They were amazing! We could tell that the artist(s) worked very hard on them. Here's the ship:

From Quebec 2008

The Icebreaker Ferry by Jenny
Today we rode on an icebreaker that ferries people across the St. Lawrence river. The ferry was humongous when we approached it. It made me feel like an ant! Anyways, when we arrived at the boat and went to the front, we saw so many blocks of "white chocolate" (like Mr. Tanaka said) floating on the river. When we started to move, it was FREEZING because of the wind on the river. But we didn't care! When we saw that ice breaker break the ice, we were in awe. When we reached the end of it, we rode on these glass elevators called a funicular. We used them to get from the river, which is pretty low, all the way up the hill to the Chateau Frontenac! Here's the funicular taken from inside the elevator, heading up:

From Quebec 2008

Chateau Frontenac by Abby
Today...dun dun dun....we went to the Chateau Frontenac, pictured here from the icebreaker boat.

From Quebec 2008

It was so much fun. We separated into two groups: boys with Mr. Tanaka and the girls with Mme. Amy and Ms. Wegner. It was so much fun. At one point the girls passed the boys in the hallway, and the teachers said, "Don't make eye contact, don't even look at them. This is girl time." It was so funny. I learned that the bricks on the wall came from inspiration from the British who stored them in the bottom of their ship on the way over to Quebec. The British used them to weight down their otherwise empty ship on the way over to Quebec. When they got there, they switched the brick for wood. They built the houses out of the brick, which inspired the architect of Hotel Frontenac. We also learned that there were three suicides in the hotel and the maids refuse to clean those rooms. Bum...Bum...Bum! Also, our tour guides wore old timey outfits and pretended to be characters from hundreds of years ago. Here is the girl's guide, whispering to us the secret of the disappearing portrait:

From Quebec 2008

Movie and Snow Ball Fight by Jessica
This night we took a city bus to M. Vincent's parent's house to watch a movie. It was called La Guerre des Tuques (Beanie Wars). It was about two groups of kids over winter break having a snowball war. Even though the plot is about snowball fights, at the end a lovable dog died, which upset all of us. Afterwards, we gave M. Vincent's parents a thank you card and had hot cocoa. Later, we walked two blocks to the bus stop. The bus was going to take about twenty minutes to get there, so...we decided to slide down the snow pile behind the bus stop and had our own snow ball fight (Ms. Wegner comments: luckily, no dog died during this one). One thing that I am really going to miss is M. Vincent's parents. They are literally some of the sweetest people you will ever know. Here's a picture of the snowball fight:

From Quebec 2008

Weather Report by Jack
The weather, you could say, was not the best experience ever. It was cold!!! It was so cold that when we went to the ice sculptures, we had to go back to the hotel to find the right clothes. It was so cold that when the wind blew in my face, it felt like my cheeks were frozen and i could take my cheeks off my face. I couldn't even cry if I wanted to, because it felt like the water in my eyes was frozen. Well, hopefully the weather is better tomorrow when we go to the sports village! (Ms. Wegner Notes: In the picture below, you'll see that our dear weather reporter is not wearing his face mask, as his classmates are; could that be why his face nearly fell off?!)

From Quebec 2008

Food Report by Grant
For breakfast we ate at the hotel buffet, which includes potatoes, crepes, croissants, bacon, fruit, cereal, sausages, and much more. For lunch we got sandwiches at Paillard. I thought they were pretty good, but Eric thought they were some of the best sandwiches he's ever had! For dinner, we went to a steak house near M. Vincent's parent's house. The service took forever, but the food was pretty good. Hayley had a Mexican dish while I had a spicy sandwich...Mmmmmmmm!

Ms. Wegner Reflects
You don't have to read between the lines to infer that we have a very busy schedule here in Quebec! And...you may be wondering, WHEN do these kids get time to type their blog entries!? Well, tonight we did it on the city bus on the way back home after M. Vincent's parent's home. I have to say, it was really sweet watching the kids tucked into their seats, scribbling in their journals and handing me the sheets when they were done. Other nights I've grabbed them as they're getting ready for bed, asking them to type the entry directly in. We are so grateful for technology, allowing us to share our stories immediately with you... It's hard to believe that in two short days, we'll be home to share stories and pictures live and in person. The kids have started expressing their twin feelings of sadness and relief--sad that our fun days together are coming to a close, but relief that they'll be home soon with their families. See you soon after a very educational day at....the Village des Sports!