Saturday, October 5, 2013

Sailing Weekend

On Friday the 27th of September, I headed to Ottawa, Ontario to start the adventure of a lifetime. In Ottawa, special events were being commemorated - being the weekends where previous Rhodes Scholars would set sail across the Atlantic Ocean, to England. The journey would last four nights, and acted as a fantastic way to become very closely acquainted with the other Canadian recipients. Fortunately/unfortunately, Canadian scholars have been traveling via airplane since the late 1970's.

Two former Rhodes Scholars - Mark Schaan (President of the Canadian Association of Rhodes Scholars) and Katie Sheehan (Editor of the Newsletter) had a fantastic weekend lined up for us! We started by a round table discussion with Graham Flack. Graham is the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans and Consultations and Intergovernmental Affairs). We had a a conversation on policy making within the government of Canada. While this was a topic that was a little different than my usual interests, I enjoyed the discussion, and was thoroughly impressed by the intelligence, and passion that many of the others showed for policy work.

The following morning, we had an opportunity to visit the National Gallery of Canada. Charles Hill, the Curator of the Canadian Collections generously offered to give our group a tour of the Canadian collections. The gallery was set up in such a way, that you walked chronologically through history of Canadian Art. Starting from aboriginal art upon stone, and moving our way up through the ages. My personal favourite was "Jack Pine" by Tom Thompson. Truly, a stunning piece that has captured the imagination of people all across the world. To see it in exact detail was simply breathtaking.

(Photo sourced from Wikipedia page  'The Jack Pine')

We were also fortunate enough to have a look at the famous, (and controversially expensive piece) Maman, by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. This 30-foot beauty welcomes each and every greeter to the National Gallery. Bourgeois created this in memory of her mother, who died when Bourgeois was just 21. If you look closely, you can see a clutch of marble eggs held within her abdomen.
Maman alongside her big, and beautiful shadow

Later that day we met with Marcil Lauziere, who is the CEO of Imagine Canada. This was a fantastic conversation about the importance of non-profits and charities to the Canadian economy. Did you know there are more than 160,000 registered charities and non-for-profits in Canada?  If you're ever looking for any sort of information regarding non-for-profits, or charities within Canada - Imagine Canada is a wonderful resource to start with.

That evening, we had a sailing dinner at the National Arts Centre. Named after the traditional method of traveling to England, this was the formal dinner where we had the opportunity to meet previous scholars. Dinner was delicious, discussion was lively, and there was a brilliant key-note address by former scholar Lori Ormrod. The address held the attention of all in the room. Oxford was described as being magical, whimsical, like nowhere else in the world. Just several days into my stay here, I can honestly say I'm picking up on that already.

The following day, we were able to have a fantastic tour of the Canadian Supreme Court, by a former Rhodes Scholar - Steve Aylward. We had a lovely tour, and discussion. Architecture was discussed along the main part of the building, and we were given a fantastic insight as to what happens behind the scenes at the Supreme Court of Canada. The main lobby is without a doubt, the grandest room I have ever seen in Canada.

Exquisite lighting at The Supreme Court of Canada

After we finished our delightful tour, we had the afternoon to explore Ottawa. Some of my newly acquainted friends and I headed to the Byward Market. We met up with two good friends: Adrienne (mentioned earlier), and Julie - a good friend from my undergrad institution who is studying Medicine at University of Ottawa. We enjoyed a delicious market lunch, then took a long walk along the Rideau Canal. Indeed, a fantastic way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Spending time with two lovely people!

After saying 'Good-bye' to my Ottawa friends, re-packing our suitcases, and taking in one last coffee at Tim Horton's our group was off to Oxford via London to meet up with the other Canadian Scholars, and start the adventure of a life-time.

I'll keep you posted!

PM

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