Day 6...Oh Canada x 100...thanks again Wageningen!!!

Five years ago today I figured out what it was like to be a Canadian abroad.... especially in the Netherlands!  Let me qualify that point, when I first set foot on the soil of Vimy almost 10 years ago, I figured out why it was important to be Canadian.   Vimy solidified the ideals of a Canadian and I truly feel that its extremely important for every Canadian to visit the site if physically able to, hence the reason why we always refer to these tours as pilgrimages.  The ceremony the kids were a part of last night in Groesbeek, by the way if you would like to pronounce it correctly then you should load up about a full pound of spit in the upper part of your chest and then say "Rusbeck"(meant to do my language lesson last night...my apologies!!!)  But I digress...back to the topic at hand.

About all I can say is thank you once again to the people of the Netherlands, which is funny because the most common thing we heard all day was the same statement.  I do realize the people of the Netherlands are thankful for what some of our grandfathers and fathers have done for them, and I will touch on my feelings about that a little later, but really for the current generations of Canadians I think it is important that we say thank you to them.  They play a really large role in holding onto the great memories of the heroes that came to rescue them from tyranny, and the acts of heartfelt kindness that they still exhibit today is overwhelming.... unbelievably overwhelming.  I tried to explain to the kids about how they can go from somber, reverence and remembrance to "party on Wayne, party on Garth" (Wayne's World quote-SNL 90's...look it up) in the matter of hours.  First we need to realize that May 4th, is their November 11th(Remember), and the 5th is their Canada Day(party).  These days just happen to run together...think of it like this...on May 4th the armistice was signed in Wageningen after the heavily influenced Allied forces liberated the country, the war was now over.  So on May 5th the Dutch were free of Nazi rule thus the reason to celebrate!!!! 

So what exactly happened today?  Well let me start by saying that morning awoke to a beautiful orb and birds singing gaily, this turned to muffled snores from a few even after a 9:30 start up and a 30 minute drive!  In a nutshell we are on out way to Wageningen (a little tougher to pronounce…you still need the spit in your chest and then say Vaagen-ing-jen) which is the site of the May Day Liberation celebrations.  The kids had an opportunity to see vintage WWII vehicles and machinery and also vintage heroes…more on them later!!  EF has done a great job of everything to this point, I can honestly say that(even now knowing that a number of the daily staff are reading this each morning…hey DROB let me know next time would ya!!!  You to Erskine because now I am slightly paranoid!!!!).  Our meals and accommodations have been excellent and now with the possibility of that beautiful orb disappearing behind the dreadfully dark clouds, they have provided a large event tent for the kids to find shelter in if (when) it comes.

Once off the bus, I can tell the kids are ready for a good time, they have been awesome in the way the have behaved at the ceremonies and in the cemeteries and it always affirms my belief in the teens of our island, but today is a day to let loose a little bit and celebrate along with the Dutch people.  We find our way to EF Canada House and are treated, along with hundreds of others to music, snacks, giant jenga and clog keychains.  What the heck, I will ruin their surprise,  if you get a clog keychain as a souvenir, they didn’t spend a dime on you!!!  They were free, just ask Chaperone Dave “the Hammer” McNeill.  I think every McNeill, MacNeil, McNeil and MacNeill on the island will be receiving one for a gift at some point…thanks god EF gave us extra bags!!!(Just kidding EF staff he only took 5!!)

The kids are pumped!  I might add that most of us Northern Islanders(isn’t that what we are called now after that winter?) have shorts on because it is 18 degrees…we are even putting on sunscreen, well some of us are.  I need the vitamin D personally!  They are interacting with other schools and dancing to the music and generally having a great time and we have only arrived on site.  The best is yet to come!!!

After about an hour the kids are free to roam the grounds of the celebration and discover all of the corners of the displays and as well meet the citizens and also, and most importantly, meet some of the veterans that are on sight, many of whom are Canadian!!!

We have a number of roles for kids today, flag bearers, flower distributors, goodwill and cheer spreaders, and at about 1:00 PM we are going to be discussing international affairs with Steve, well Laureen calls him Steven, and most of you would call him Mr. Prime Minister, but at this point in our relationship I figure we can go by Steve!!!  Pretty sure that if I play my cards right I could have Duffy’s Senate post by the end of the afternoon!!!

That’s right, once again the #TOSHworldtour was in the right place at the right time and we were asked to scoop up 12 students to rush off and meet the PM and his wife!!  Just as we got into position the skies opened up and we ushered into a very small replica Red Cross tent…the kids we a little worried that maybe we wouldn’t get to see them because of the severe weather.  Well OMG exactly the opposite, he and his lovely wife were ushered into the tent and he was surrounded by islanders!!!  “The Harp” as Riley affectionately calls him now, chatted with myself and the kids and then did some photos…of course the kids wanted selfies and he more than obliged and of course I thought I better jump in!!!  The kids were ecstatic and really so was I!!!  I love when the kids get these extra special moments that they never will forget, and on that thought I need to thank EF’s Matt Noble and Laura Palma profusely for the opportunity and I promise never to use that vulgar swear word(Ex____, don’t even want to write it in full on this EF sponsored blog!!! J)   Well at this point I don’t have Duffy’s seat in Senate, probably more qualified than Duff but guess I didn’t make a strong enough impression, but Steve I actually LIVE on PEI…swear to god, and if I paid for a personal trainer I could actually convince someone that it truly did happen…give me a call or an email and I’ll discuss the position with you when you get back to Ottawa…I imagine he reads the blog, heck everybody does!!!

I hate to "one up" Mr. Harper but I am gonna do it and then I’ll shut things down with the guest bloggers again tonight and let them discuss their thoughts on today!  After the Harper’s vacated the tent I noticed a veteran over in the corner and decided to go an introduce myself and say thank you!  I would like to introduce you to Mr. George Emerson from Port Parry, Ontario.  And here I thought the PM was the coolest guy I had met today, sorry Steve I was wrong and I think you will be ok with that once you here George’s story.  Let me start this by saying none of you understand how blessed I have been by these experiences abroad with students and today was a day I will never forget.  Please take 3 minutes and watch the video that I have attached and meet Veteran Emerson….a 92 year old hero and as sharp as a tack.  A goalie, as I was, during his younger years but he gave that up before the war because he told me he took one “square in the nuts during one game” and said that was enough for him to pack the pads away for good!!!  I nearly died laughing!!!  Again please watch the video and try not to cry or be amazed…not sure if you will be able to!!!  Make sure you click on the link below the picture.

Chance encounter reunites veteran with man he helped save in 1945

By 2:30 we were ready to move into position for the parade.  The kids have been here for hours and are so pumped for this to start I can hardly hold my excitement for them!!!  They have no idea what they are getting into!!!  I am the only one lucky enough o have been a part of this before, man are they in for a surprise. This is one long parade and I wish I could give you all the pics.  The number of veterans that make it a point to come to this parade in unreal and we are very excited to sit here for a few hours and clap them through!!!  Exactly what they deserve!!!

Meeting the prime minister of Canada at a liberation ceremony in Wageningen was a great experience. Being able to remember the past of our country with the most powerful man in Canada was an unforgettable experience, the whole day was truly amazing. Even though we only got the chance to speak with him for a few minutes I believe that we got the chance to see how highly Mr Harper honors our country and we were able to show our gratitude for everything he does now and how much we appreciate what our forefathers did for the future of our country's and many others. This day will never be forgotten
-Kerrstin Trainor

 

The highlight of the day today for me was the emotion filled parade. Seeing the look of gratitude on the veterans faces was enough to make the day memorable, but seeing the hundreds of Dutch people having so much respect for Canadians , even 70 years later. As we proudly marched on, a man with a sign caught my eye. It read "forever grateful". It made my stomach drop, and left me speechless.  I had never been to a ceremony in Canada where people were as patriotic. Young

children had smiles on their faces as they saw Canadians. At such a young age, they knew what the brave Canadian soldiers helped do for their country.I will be coming back  an even more proud Canadian.
-Hailey Johnson

The highlight of my day today was the parade and seeing how happy the towns people were and all the children and seeing how happy and loving they are towards us and our country. Also, Being given the opportunity to represent TOSH as a flag barrier in today's ceremony it made me realize that just how lucky I am to be a Canadian. While standing outside welcoming the people into the church it began to down pour with rain and while standing there it made me think of all the soldiers that stood outside in unbarring weather conditions and it opened my eyes and made me even more thankful for the the work fight and lives that were given for me to be able to live my life and to be able to travel on trips likes these and to experience once in a life time experiences!!
-Jessica Gillis

Awesome!! The parade was one of the coolest things you ever did. To be able to see how happy the Dutch people were with seeing the veterans and made me extremely proud to be a Canadian.  And I gave my Canada flag to a very beautiful young Dutch woman.  From that point on our eyes met in an awkward but warm embrace.... language was a definite barrier but not even something like the Berlin Wall could stand between what we held at that moment.  After another short moment.... when she wouldn't even look at me , I decided this whole thing was only in my head.... haha awkward!!! Today I also got to meet "the Harp" aka Prime Minister Harper, but I feel that I was close enough to him to call him that...spoke to him about the war and sacrifices that were made and why it's important for us to recognize what they did.  

-Riley Forbes

Folks I am not sure I can describe their elation and joy when they joined the parade.  I didn’t get the final numbers on people who attended, but it was big!!!  The kids gave away so much stuff…more than most schools for sure and they were so well received.  Our kids were the last on the route because we fell so far behind giving away all of our Canada stuff…flags, pins, hats , t-shirts, footballs, Frisbees, you name it we are throwing it!!!  People want it all and they want to high five the kids and say thank you…wait say thank you???  To us??  We didn’t liberate your country; we weren’t even a twinkle in great grandpa’s eye at that point…so why us??  Well see that’s the thing, in order for me to comprehend the feelings they have for Canadians I guess my country will need to be overtaken and all of our people thrown into hunger, fear and despair for the better part of 5 years and then have some unknown young men and women ride in and give their own lives to save us from losing any more…some lineages completely destroyed, families permanently affected and a history permanently changed with very dark and harsh memories.  I am a Canadian and damn proud of it, that is why every time I get a chance to say thank you to a veteran like George Emerson I will, and I also promise to try to make sure more high school students do the same thing for the rest of their lives.  Good night all…sorry about the length.  It was a very emotional day and it had to be said!!!  Off to Amsterdam and the Jewish memorials tomorrow…free time in the afternoon with some shopping and a canal tour as well and then onto Anne Frank house…another roller coaster of a day!!!  One last thanks…thanks to everyone who allows me to do this…in the end I am the one that should be thankful for these times in my llife!!!!