Je m'amuse bien!

Well, I am here in the grand land of Canada's capital, Ottawa. The flight over went exceptionally well. There ended up being four of us LLCer's on the same flight out of Abbotsford: myself, Tanja (girlfriend), my now current roommate Brock, and another farm kid Adrian. In our first stop at Calgary, my girlfriend and I managed to catch some breakfast with her brother before meeting up with two more people heading to the LLC, Dustin and Norm. The six of us flew into Ottawa and the LLC together.
I can't say I didn't expect it, but the Laurentian mansion is indeed spectacular. Maybe later I will post its story and features. Our room is nice, better than Trinity, and my roommates, Brock Bersaglio and Kyle Bandy, are cool guys. I'm really pleased with the set up here. It does feel weird running around this place in socks and bumming around clothes because it all looks so grand. What an opportunity to live here!
My impressions of the city are very good right now. It doesn't feel like a big city at all. They've maintained lots of trees and old buildings, which gives it a pleasant, wide-open feel. It's very pretty and the coming fall colours are supposed to be brilliant. I won't mind having to walk around this city all the time. It's pretty and very accessible. I'm still learning my way around though. Once I figure out my directions and some major streets there will be so many different places to go. This place is loaded with adventure and activities.
Yesterday and the night before we trekked around Parliament Hill. Wow. What grand buildings. The feel of them compared to Washington, DC is quite different, however, as they are more of a gothic design, looking more like European castles than Roman structures. On Tuesday night we went to see the Parliament Sound and Lights show. It was a half-hour show with images, video and photos that were projected on the Parliament building with music and spoken parts honoring Canada old and new. Even Bob and Doug McKenzie appeared in the "we can even make fun of ourselves we're so great" portion. It was really cool. If I were Canadian, I'm sure it would have stirred patriotic feelings.
Yesterday we trekked around during the day, visiting the Supreme Court, the Parliament buildings, and the Byward market. At the Supreme Court, we got the VIP tour because the director of the LLC is married to someone in the Justice ministry. We got to go in the Supreme Court chamber, their conference room where they discuss and decide cases, the Supreme Court library, and sat in briefly on a Federal Court session. Words can't fully portray giant marble rooms and the exclusive nature of some of the places we visited.
Next, we went to the central block of Parliament, meaning the main Parliament building with the Senate and the House of Commons. Really ornate, detailed, and grand, but again, in a different style than that found in Washington, DC. We toured around inside, visited the Parliamentary library: very beautiful, amazing carved wood. We also visited the Senate chamber which was also very beautiful. We saw a bunch of other stuff in there too, but I can't remember all of it and I would have to explain the importance of it for my American audience, which I'm not fully equipped to do. We did not get to visit the House of Commons or go up in the Peace Tower (the huge tower in the building) which was disappointing, but we can go over there and visit them again some time just as easily.
I have to get going now, but I will write more of my adventures and new knowledge later. I'm doing well over here and I appreciate your prayers and support.
-Jess