Day 4- Valemount to Vancouver

The fall has arrived in Nanaimo! Right now I can hear it raining outside and I haven't seen the sun in days! I am lucky though, because people tell me it's usually like this the whole fall so I wont complain, I experienced so many sunny and lovely days here! Besides, the fall is kinda nice with all it's colors, this picture here I snapped earlier this week as I was running from one class to another. 

As mentioned in my previous post I am still way too busy with school. Which is such a shame, since my good friend Mat from Sudbury is visiting and I'm not able to hang out with him much. The two weeks I'm the most busiest too! But after Wednesday my schedule should improve!! Looking forward to all that free time! (I'm jinxing it right now, aren't I?) Next week besides my two exams I am also speaking at an event to promote Finland as a place for exchange studies! Really excited about that!

Also something to look forward to: Halloween!! I already decided what I'm going to dress up as, but you will find out afterwards when there will be pictures! 

These pictures are from Monday which was the actual thanksgiving day here. I had the traditional thanksgiving dinner at the residence on Sunday. Mat arrived on Sunday evening and on Monday I went out to his friends' house for a thanksgiving BBQ! As you can see from the pictures the food was delicious and their three dogs adorable!

(The day four of my Rockies trip is after this)

Rusty, Pip and Uppy (Not sure if spelled right)

" Why did you stop petting me??"

I can't figure out new ways to express this so I'm just gonna say it: On the 4th morning of the trip I again went for a walk in the town! There, I said it! Valemount had motels, motels, a restaurant/motel, a motel and our hotel. Apparently somewhere there is a grocery shop as well! So, it was a short walk. On that morning it was really cold as well. Pre-taste of what was about to happen in Nanaimo!

Our hotel, the Ramada.

On the road again, it was very foggy that morning. Good thing we had a reliable driver!

After some driving in the fog we made it to our second last adventure place, the bear safari!! 

Off we go! We were all given extra coats and blankets but we were still freezing in there. My fingers were almost blue because I was taking pictures. 

The boat dog!

The only bear we spotted but it was so cute! I think the other's were sleeping that time in the morning...

Trying to find bugs for breakfast.

After spotting the bear we went for a small hike to the forest to see... Can you guess? Waterfalls!

After the boat trip we had a pancake breakfast. Unfortunately there was one person making the pancakes and waaaay more people waiting in line so it took me half an hour but they were good!

Pancakes with berries and sort-of-mapple syrup and hot chocolate.

Hiking up to see this beautiful valley and ... Yes.... a waterfall! This was after the bear safari. 

EH?

This is an area where they had a huge forest fire some years back. It was all started by a local volunteer fireman who dropped his cigarette bud. No charges were pressed though, because he noticed it right away and called for help, so local people forgave him. 

Our bus!

This is where we stopped the first and last day for dinner!

Last stop before arriving to Vancouver!

During the bus rides our guide did a really great job giving us different little facts about what we saw around us and she picked up different plant when we stopped and then introduced them to the bus. On this last day she also told us a story one of her first nation friend told her. She was introducing pine cones to us and this story is related to those. I want to share it with you.

The first nations in Canada believe the raven is the creator of all. He created the trees well before there were even humans. The trees were one day talking excitedly because the raven was going to come and give an announcement that day. They were all nervous of what the raven was going to say, and a little h!

Finally they heard the raven coming, heard the wind under his wings. The raven spoke and promised them to come back to a river the next morning and give them cones so the trees could have babies. Then he flew off. All trees were looking forward to next day, especially the little hemlock. It could not sleep until the early hours of the morning. Finally the hemlock woke up and hurried quickly to the river!

He was late though and all other trees had already formed a long line. The little hemlock was very upset and worried there would not be enough cones! So the little hemlock snuck to the front of the row when the raven was not looking. The raven however had noticed and ordered the little hemlock to the back of the row. 

So the little hemlock watched as the trees got big, nice cones, and finally it was the hemlocks turn. The raven said: "Because you cut in line, you get the smallest cone" The little hemlock was sad about this and had been drooping it's head ever since. That is why all hemlocks droop their head in shame of what the first hemlock did. 

Hemlock tree. 

I thought this story was special. Now you know it too!

So that was the trip! It was surely one of the greatest trips I've went to so far, many more of those hopefully to come! Now, my books on the table are looking at me longingly so I better get back to studying. Will write more next week after my exams are done!

Have a great week!!

~Heidi

(Suomennos: Syksy on saapunut Nanaimoon. Tällä hetkellä kuuntelen sateen ropinaa! Mutta ei parane valittaa koska täällä on ollut yli kuukauden aivan loistava sää ja se ei kuulemma one yleistä täällä. Koulussa on edelleen todella kiireistä, tämä ja ensi viikko luultavasti tämän kuun kiireisimmän, mikä on harmi sillä juuri nämä viikot ystäväni Mat Sudburysta on täällä käymässä ystäviensä luona enkä siis pääse hirveästi näkemään häntä itse. Ensi keskiviikkona tosin helpottaa, silloin ovat kokeet toistaiseksi ohi! Torstaina menen puhumaan Suomi.tapahtumaan jossa mainostetaan Suomea hyvänä vaihtopaikkana, siitä tulee jännää!

Koirakuvasta alkaen kuvat ovat viime maanantailta kun täällä oli kiitospäivä. Mat tuli sunnuntaina, ja maanantaina olin hänen ystäviensä luona ja kiitospäivän kunniaksi grillailtiin!

Sitten alkaakin viimeisen reissupäivän kuvat, viimeinkin! Aamu alkoi taasen kävelyllä Valemountin kaupungissa, ja siellä oli motelleja, motelleja, /ravintola/motelli, motelli, ja meidän hotelli, 

Sumussa ajelun jälkeen saavuimme toisinki viimeiselle "seikkailulle", karhusafarille! Meille annettiin veden/tuulen pitävät takit, ja peitot mutta silti olin ihan jäässä, varsinkin sormet koska otin kuvia kokoajan! Näimme vain yhden karhun mutta sekin oli söpö, kaiveli ötököitä kivien alta! Kävimme myös saarella katsomassa... Kyllä.. taas uutta vesiputousta!

Tämän jälkeen kävimme... Arvaatteko? Katsomassa upeaa laaksoa ja... Vesiputousta! Ei sillä, upeita olivat kaikki eikä näistä maisemista kyllä kyllikseen saanut! 

Meidän oppaamme oli aivan loistava, kertoi pitkin matkaa tarinoita ympäröivistä maisemista sekä kasveista joita poimi aina kun pysähdyimme. Hän kertoi myös tarinan jonka oli kuullut Kanadan alkuasukas ystävältään:
Alkuasukkaat uskoivat että Korppi oli  luonut kaiken, myös puut jotka olivat maailmassa ennen kuin ihmisiä oli. eräänä päivänä Korppi tuli kertomaan puille että seuraavana aamuna hän jakaisi joen rannassa heille käpyjä, jotta voisivat tehdä lapsia. Kaikki puut olivat innoissaan, niin myös piemi hemlokki joka ei saanut unta koko yönä. Viimein se oli nnukahtanut ja aamulla heräsi myöhässä kun kaikki muut olivat ehtineet jonoon. Pieni hemlokki koitti hiippailla jonon eteen mutta Korppi huomasi sen ja käski jonon perään. Kaikki muut puut saivat isot ja komeat kävyt mutta kun tuli pienen hemlokin vuorom Korppi antoi sille pienimmän kävyn koska se oli etuillut jonossa. Kaikki hemlokit siitä päivästä lähtien ovar riiputtaneet päätänsä häpeästä, minkä ensimmäinen hemlokki aiheutti. 

Minusta aika kiinnostava tarina joten jaoin sen teidän kanssanne!
Nyt nuo koulukirjat katsovat minua kaipaavasti joten palaan lukemisen pariin! Jospa ensi viikolla sitten ehdin kirjoitella paremmin!
Hyvää viikkoa!)

Day 3- Banff to Valemount (And other stuff)

Howdy folks! Been a while again! So sorry for that! October seems to be the busiest month for me when it comes to schoolwork. It's like getting hits from all angles and can't fight back all of them: BOOM advertising assignment  BOOM a script for an add, BOOM reports, BOOM exams. Surprise! 

I'm so glad we went to the Rockies last month and got a lot of sightseeing done then because Now I have to wait till closer to next month to be able to really enjoy myself again! But in reality the school here is fun so I'm not complaining. The next picture is from last week I think. Taken from the library as my team was preparing for a negotiations assignment. Pretty cool, EH?

It looks like an eagle to me! 

And here's how my days look like!

As some of you might know, this coming Monday (or the current Monday that is, in Europe) is Thanksgiving here and my bathroom-mate went home for the holidays! Actually, most of my floor went as well so my weekend has been as it looks above as well as doing laundry. So I have now utilized the bathroom to it's fullest! When the cat's away...

And on we move to the Thanksgiving feast we had today at the residence! It's really great how much activities the school, student union and the residence have for us! The meal was for students who stayed here and boy, was it ever good! My first real Thanksgiving meal too! I think I'm in love... With stuffing! (Juha, I still like you though!)

The residence people provided some basics like the turkeys (!!), cranberry sauce (Which tastes like lingonberry sauce to me), stuffing (!!) and gravy. (Also, two huge pies: Apple and pumpkin) All the students were supposed to bring something, I made sweet potato casserole, there was mash potatoes, corn, beets, carrots, more sweet potatoes.. And some had baked for dessert as well. As you can see from the pictures... Well, you can't so let me just tell you: it was unbelievably good!!

And now we move to the REAL topic! The third day of the trip! As usual I went for a brisk walk to chilly Banff city center in the morning. I had been meaning to go earlier but the sun was barely up even though I waited to go. Anyway, the center was really charming and I had seen most of it already the previous night as we had walked to and from the nightclub and before that as well. 

Our hotel, Banff International

If I remember right this was the only original shop at Banff!

Afterwards we took off with out bus as every morning and after some driving went on sightseeing and a small morning hike to yet another waterfall! And yet again, Ah! So beautiful!

Beware of loose cave women!

This is from another stop, one more glacier lake! This one was absolutely breathtaking in the morning. 

Out tour guide!!

From Columbian ice fields! This is where we went for out glacier trip!

The old kind of truck they used to take people with to the glacier!

The NEW kind!

The guide said the water melting from the glacier is really good and some of us got it in the bottle but since the glacier didn't look very white, I did not take any water from there! I tried it though, and it was really cold!

This is from the town of Jasper. Can you see the mountain? Looks like a first nations chief!

After arriving to the hotel at our last hotel of the trip in Valemont, we put on warm clothes, because:

In the evening we had a BBQ! All three busloads of people that were on the trip were all in one place! It was fun, eating hamburgers, hot dogs, s'mores!

Roasting marshmallows!

My s'more, yum yum!

 So that was a little about my time here as well as day 3! I'll try to write about the last day of the trip next week!

See ya later alligator!

~Heidi

(Suomennos. Koulun kanssa on pitänyt todella kiirettä, Lokakuu vaikuttaisi olevan kaikista kiireisin kuukausi minulla täällä! Ohessa muutama kuva opiskeluiden ohesta. Ikkunasta otett kuva on kirjastosta, toinen täältä huoneesta. Varsinkin jälkimmäinen tarjoaa hienot näkymät... 

Täällä vietetään maanantaina kiitospäivää ja sen kunniaksi myös täällä asuntolassa oli tänään juhlaruokailu! Kalkkunan sun muuta ruokaa tarjosi asuntola ja kaikki oppilaat toivat myös itse jotain (Tein bataattilaatikkoa). Voitte uskoa kun sanon että oli hyvää!

VIhdoin myös reissun kolmanteen päivään. Päivä alkoi perinteisellä aamukävelyllä viileässä Banffissa. matka jatkui sen jälkeen vesiputouksille, ja kahdelle eri järvelle. Ensimmäinen oli aivan uskomattoman kaunis, ja olihan toinenkin. Hauskaa oli että se näytti sudelta!

Järvien jälkeen koittikin jäätikköretki! Monet ottivat jäätiköltä sulavaa vettä vesipulloihin mutta itse en vakuuttunut sen puhtaudesta täydin koska ihmiset siellä kävelivät.. Maistoin tosin, ja oli todella kylmää!

Jasperin kaupunki oli viimeisenä nähtävyytenä. Se oli todella pieni ja suloinen kaupunki! Huomatkaa vuori, joka näyttää intiaanipäälliköltä!

Viimeinen hotellimme sijaitsi Valemont:ssa. Heitimme tavaramme sisälle ja lämmintä päälle sillä sinä iltana oli kaikkien kolmen bussin yhteinen grillaus-ilta! Hampurilaisia, hot dogeja sekä paahdettuja vaahtokarkkeja! Nam! Sinä iltana nukutti makeasti!

Siinä siis tämän hetken kuulumisia sekä kolmas päivä. Yritän ensi viikolla saada kirjoitettua viimeisestä reissupäivästä! Heippahei siihen asti!)