Week 2 of my Canada study abroad program I went with going to a Nordic/Baltic Film Festival and trying skiing for the very first time! That was... very, interesting. I also went to the forrest to feed the birds and to a bird hospital.
In week 2 I went to a Nordic/Baltic Film Festival with my host mom. They were actually showing an old Danish silent movie from 1910 called 'Afgrunden' or 'The Abyss' in English.
The movie was actually banned around the world in its time, as there was a too 'risky' dance scene with a woman who, basically, grinded on the movie's antagonist, she had run off with. It was actually pretty good movie after all. There was live music, which was synchronized to the movie and it was such a great experience. (I feel like such a pretentious art geek, when I say I like silent movies...).
The Friday in week 2 was also my first time going skiing. Yes. First time skiing. In Canada. The weather was lovely, though, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. I went with my host mom and a friend of my host sister's. If I haven't made it clear already, I have NEVER had skis on in my entire life. I don't know how to skate either – Overall, I'm just even worse at winter sport than regular sport, so Canada was of course the perfect destination for me.
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| View of the Rideau Canal in Ottawa |
I didn't get a lesson in skiing, but my host mom and the friend taught me on the bunny hill. I skied into the fence the first time and I had a very hard time walking with my skis on, but after a couple of tries we went over to the bigger hill (It was still a small hill, but bigger than the first one – Don't judge). On the bigger hill I learned very quickly how to turn and do the pizza cut/ how to stop, and it was really fun too!
I did that for an hour or so, before we went inside to eat. I got a club sandwich with a salad on the side. Out bus would leave at 7:15pm, but we had to be there by 7. But of course my friend and I decided: why not try one of the really big hills – Which in reality was a mountain.
BAD IDEA.
Anyway, clever as I am, I thought 'sure, why not – I can stop and turn, so it wouldn't be that difficult'.
BAD IDEA.
We took the lift up the mountain and it was SO beautiful up there. Now we just had to get down the mountain. It was probably around 6:30 at the time we were on the mountain.
BAD IDEA.
After the first 5 seconds down the hill mountain I started falling. Because of the sun earlier on the day it was so slippery and it was difficult for a newbie to stop and control the speed. After falling 20 times within the first 5 minutes, we decided to walk down the hill.
BAD IDEA.
So I took my skis off and started to walk down the steep mountain. Oh God... What was I thinking! Basically I fell about 50 times going down the mountain, which just seemed a lot longer than what you saw from the bunny hill... Just laugh at me already. When it was about 7:30, we were down the hill and my host mom came looking for us, and we just thought: 'shit, we're in trouble'. She wasn't mad, though. I don't think she was... I hope she wasn't.
My friend and I hurried to change and return our skis. We had to walk down the hall of shame, when we got into the bus, because we had delayed the whole bus with approximately half an hour and it would take about 1,5 hour to get back home... When we got back to the school, I realized I forgot to return my helmet... Great job, Cindy, great job. So my host mom is going to return it today. That's very nice of her.
Saturday, I believe, I went with my host parents to the woods to feed the chickadees. We went on a walk through the forrest and talked, which was nice. We also went to a bird hospital, which was located inside the woods, where we saw a baby owl, ducks, a hawk, and an eagle. I got some pictures from the small trip. It was nice with some fresh air, even though my body was completely sore after the ski trip. There was a lot of squirrels, and I must say it was a bit colder that day. I couldn't feel my legs after a while, but I'm not sure, if that was because of the cold or the skiing. There were so many squirrels as well it was crazy. They wanted the seeds just as much as the chickadees.
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I am sorry I do not have a lot of pictures from week 2, but it was difficult to ski for the first time AND take pictures. I hope you enjoyed reading my second week of Canada and please leave a comment below, if you have any questions or to tell me what you liked the most of this post!
Have a great day, and don't go skiing down a big mountain when it's your first time skiing! :-)
Love you all! xx
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