Favorite Canadian moments

Hi Charlie,

I'd like to share with all of you one of my favorite experiences during my stay in Canada.

Memorial day
Coming to Canada I didn't even think that I 'd be spending November 11th over there, it wasn't something that struck me as important, because as many of you will know, it is less celebrated in general in France.
But on the cold end-of-autumn evening of November 10th, my exchange partner Michael gives me a poppy and instructs me to wear it on the following day. In answer to my incredulous face, he reminds me that "tomorow is memorial day at school". After a few explanations I knew that in north America, wearing a poppy on memorial day, and attending the ceremony, is a traditionnal way of paying respect to the soldiers who gave their life during World War II. Furthermore, as it is crucial that, from a young age, canadians learn about these events. Schools either attend the memorial in the center of the city, or have a veteran over to talk about what happened.
I was lucky enough to attend the memorial as my school was 5min away from it, and the ceremony was an interesting experience. During 2nd period (our school days were divided into four periods, two before lunch and two afterwards) our teacher took us to the National War Memorial on Elgin street. We stayed there for roughly an hour and a half along with some other younger students from the other school nearby. Many veterans attended the ceremony, members of the Canadian Royal Air Force and of the army also were there along with the prime minister Justin Trudeau. The big street usually lit up with the noises of the passing vehicules and muttering of people, was now silent. Even the seagulls seemed to have understood and were now lined up on top of the buildings. Many shots were regularly fired by canons in between which the families of deceased soldiers each, in turn, rested a bunch of flowers on their graves. Planes of the CRAF flew above us in formation as the national anthems of both Canada and England were sung by choirs. At the end of the ceremony we returned to school and the streets were cleared.
I might add that we were outdoors during approximatly an hour and a half, and that I wasn't exactly ready for that kind of cold. About an hour in, I was starting to shiver in the -15 Canadian weather although I was wearing a very warm coat, that's when I started noticing what other people were wearing. I turned to look at my Gym coach, and noticed he was only wearing a leather jacket over a t-shirt. Looking at other people around me, I also noticed that the military men were wearing their uniform which, trust me, did not look warm at all. That is when I understood that we clearly do not have the same ability to withstand cold weather.


Sorry, I didn't have any pictures of the memorial day as I was scared that my fingers would freeze off if I took my hands out of my pockets. Here is a picture of my History class (with my History teacher Mr McCabe), the box you see behind us is a portable classroom. Two classrooms separated from the buildings were needed as there weren't enough inside the buildings.

Thank you for reading,
Nino Marcaggi