Durham Region students Return to Vimy

H-O-M-E... what does that spell? TOO EARLY!

Hey everyone!

We tuched down yesterday, an hour late coming out of switz! but we didn't mind... most of us wanted to stay there! hahaha! it's great to be back and using a keyboard that's in the right order... although I'm sure the people in Europe say the same thing when they come here! hahaha! Sorry we didn't have time to write much over there, we were swamped and busy as ever! The trip all in all was awesome! and is something I'm sure none of us will forget... some more than others! By far I'm sure Belgium and Switzerland were the two tops  for most of the henry people, although I did hear the random handful say they liked London... which is pretty kewl! London was an awesome city as well! France sadly enough was a bit of a let down to good amount of us; there were too many pick pocketers ---->

This picture was taken in the Efile tour lift... hahaha! Also the food wasn't all that great, which was quite the let down for me (wanting to go into cullinary and all). We actually went to one place and those that ordered the burger there know what I'm talking about it was RED, and I mean RED! I had the ham though so I was pretty safe ^_^, although that same night I got a tea from the hotel tea/coffee machine... the milk in it was bad... next day Ashley and I were sick majorly (she had some tea and ate the burger...) Let me put it simply, I left my mark in Paris the way no one wants to... and all of Paris too, bleh!

As for our over night train ride to Switzerland, that was kewl... and the sad factor to it, the little cubby hole with the six bunkers felt more spacious than the hotel in Paris -_-... that's upsetting, but then again  I slept the whole train ride cause I was sicky still! HUZAH!

Now hitting Switerland was probably the best thing on the planet! No lies! I enjoyed that place a lot, and in Lucern they have 200 some odd fountains around the city and they are all FRESH DRINKING water from the mountain! Like honestly! Their TAP water is our BOTTLED spring water! it was the only place I went safely for 2 days without a bottle of Evian! I LOVED there to the max! and the Bridge :

<-- yep that one! I want to get married on it, that's how in love with it I am! and when I say get married on it... I more than likely mean to it! hahaha! I LOVE THAT BRIDGE! Anywayz! once I get  a hold of some pictures from a top the mountain I'll upload... there's a pretty sweet one of some people suntanning on some beach chairs with snow in front and behind them!

Newayz! Ciao for now loves!

Pauline

THE SUCCESSFUL RETURN TO CANADA

Well AjaxHS, we are officially back in Canada!! The churches and castles we have become accustomed to have been replaced with Tim Hortons everywhere you look, but I cannot decide which I'd rather see:D

Overall, the trip was amazing to say the least. Favourite sights include: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, BigEye, and basically anywhere in Belgium! Shopping of course, was always a welcomed break:D

APRIL 9TH- Vimy Ridge day itself. Obviously needs some special attention as it was the key reason for going at all. Started the day off with a ceremony at the gravesite, laying wreaths, playing bagpipes, giving speeches, burying the time capsule and remembering those who fell there so long ago. We then had a short intermission to eat and sit and see various sights like the fields with shell holes and the trenches( I, myself got lost). We then headed over to the Vimy memorial and got prepared for the parade and second ceremony. After spending a good deal amount of time trying to organize ourselves(LINES OF TEN EVERYONE, LINES OF TEN!!!! :D), we marched down to the memorial site, waving and singing and being in overly good Canadian spirits. From there we stood in pride as people flew in, drove in, marched in and just gathered with pride and remembrance. Hearing speeches from Stephen Harper, the French PM(name?!) and my personal favourite, The Queen of England herself. The surprise ending of the jet planes flying over was definetely a highlight to be remembered. This ended the day well, and the bus ride back to the hotel was definetely one most won't remember as everyone in my bus fell asleep almost immediately. FANTASTIC DAY, made the trip so amazing, pictures and videos and stories cannot describe.

Special thanks to all chaperones, LIONEL!(for those who don't know, he is bus1's driver/"the jolly little bus man"), Expedia tour giude(Christian), "Alliance 72" and everyone else who made this trip awesome!!!

Please leave your favourite parts of this trip or any special thanks you'd like to add. Picture links will hopefully be added later.

HOME!

YES!! we are finally home! this trip has been amazing!! I have met some awesome people from Courtice and i have gotten to know more Sinclair people! Yesterday was a really long day. We had a later wake up call...8:30, because on Friday night we had a pizza party in the Lobby of our hotel. It was sooo fun!  :):)
We got up right away and packed our bags. It was really hard to pack because we bought so many clothes, adn gifts from Europe...i was afraid everything wouldnt fit!!  Anyways, we were on the road to the airport by 11. We got to the airport and just hung out. Then we finally got to board the plane and then we were off!!  The flight was about 7 hours, but it felt like forever! We flew Air Canada...they were really good! We finally landed in Toronto at about 5:45ish Toronto time and that means i was about 10:45 London time!!! I actually wasnt as tired as i thought i would be. The trip was awesome....we had no mojor problems at all!!  I think everone else enjoyed themselves too!!  I cant believe its over already!!  It was an amazing experience and i hope that all of you guys have checked out the blogs and have enjoyed hearing all about it! Thanks!!
~Michelle~

Last day!!

Hello everyone.
wow...i cant believe how fast this trip has gone by. We are now in London. We arrived here on Wednesday evening. We took the Eurostar from Brussels to London. It was sooo cool!!  We still have GREAT weather here. It has no rained once. It has been sunny and hot all 11 days. Vimy ridge was awesome and so was Paris and London. We are leaving tomorrow morning at 11 from the hotel. Our flight leaves from here at 3:15ish. We should be back in Toronto at around 6:30ish p.m. I cannot wait to get home but i am really sad that we have leave. It has been a great experience and everyone here has been so awesome. Everyone has had a fantastic time and we have had no major problems. We are all ready to get home and sleep in our own beds. Everyone here is slowly getting tired and exhausted. The plane ride is going to nice, we can all relax and hopefully sleep. Hope to see you all soon!! Thanks for reading all of my blogs!!  :):)

~Michelle~

Zurich... then HOME

Okay guyz, well we're at our last stop and we'll be at the Airport in TO tomorrow at noon!!! Zurich is by far one of the greatest places we've stopped off in.... not sure if everyone feels the same... but yeah. Yours truly left her mark in Paris yesterday.... and on a fellow student... yep i was sick beyond belief. Anywayz, I heard the mountain climb was awesome... but I went back to the room and KO'd like a bad sumo wrestler. Anywayz, food here is great... and the view from our massive hotel room is fantabnulous (as Mrs Stevens would so strategically put it!)... yep so there isn,t really much to say other than the keyboards are really messed up and none of us really want to leave this place. We're actually in Lucern right now, and they have really pretty fountains all over the place (BTW, these fountains are fresh water from the mountain, you can drink from them! how cooliousus is that????) Anywayz I,m gunna throw you over to Michelle cause she luvssssssssssssssssssssss you all soooo much ^_^, oh right and dad... I bought you a new wallet.

Hey Guyz!

It's Friday the 13th and we didn't die on the mountain! It was amazing! The view from 7000 ft was pretty great and I have to say it was worth sticking it out on an overnight train which was quite an experience for anyone who had to bunk under someone with smelly feet.....( all of us stunk) It is completely ridiculous how much I spent on chocolate.....over maybe 60 euros ( I have a chocolate Switzerland ..it's ginormous! Anyways, I am pretty sad to leave but I do miss sleep..we have to leave by six ..see ya- michelle

Our final day. We spent the day in Switzerland which I love. The view was magnificent. We took a gondala ride up which was amazing. At the top we could climb through caves and go up another set of stairs. Lunch was up there too, at a fancy restaurant. After we came down from the mountain we had time to explore the city. The water in the river was cool and clear. Four bank machines and two bank cards later I was finally able to get money and go shopping. It was a great last day. - Emily

Paris!

Alright guys!

we're in paris right now, the key boards are pretty weird so if i type funny it isn't my fault!!!!!

Okay so we've already passed through Belgium, the chocolate was apparently good!!! but yours truly has an allergy! :(  Vimy was awesome (and as Nick just so proffessionally quoted our british tour guide "Viminy Bridge") We saw the queen it was pretty sweet... Brugge (in Belgium) was kinda like Venis so it was sweet. We wen't to the Louvre which was awesome  we saw the Mona Lisa... Michelle says it was kinda small... I bought a poster copy of one!!!! Efile Tour was another we stopped for.... I ran... yes RAN down the steps from the second level... Jo I bought you some chocolate and something else...

Emily:

Vimy Ridge was absolutely amazing, although people were passing out and we had to stand for over five hours it was definitely worth it. Henry was luckily right up at the front of the students, near the guests of honour. The veterans gave us Canadian flags and pins. I got on TV which was exciting. Then the prime minister of Canada and of France, and of course the Queen came. It was so exciting! The entire event was absolutely moving and fantastic.

3-Day Catch-Up!

We have been extremely busy these last couple of days! On our fourth day in

France we visited Dieppe and we also went to a Canadian Cemetery.  At Dieppe , we saw a tour, and we got to see all of the monuments.

The next day was our big Vimy Ridge Ceremony that everyone had been anticipating for, for about a year now. The ceremony really turned history into life. Seeing the number of gravestones and the number of participants behind them made it seem so much more real. Every student was in uniform, which consisted of a replica soldier shirt and black pants. From there, we stood behind a gravestone, representing a soldier who fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Speeches, stories and other pieces of literature were spoken, giving thanks to all the men who gave their life for us and our country.

After the morning ceremony, we gathered around in the ridge, surrounding the newly restored  Vimy Ridge Monument and awaited VIP guests such as Stephen Harper, and the Queen Elizabeth II. We then heard blessings and the national anthems of France and Canada . The day was a great success and to top it off, we had beautiful weather to go along with it!

Today (April 10th), we traveled to Belgium where we got to see various cemeteries, including the German WW1 Cemetery and The Tyne Cot National Cemetery.  In addition, we visited the Passchendale Memorial Park and Hill 62 where we got to explore the trenches and see what life was like for the soldiers during the war. During our free time in

Belgium , inevitably we got to go to all the many chocolate shops, and made sure we stocked up. As a bonus, since we ARE Canadian, certain stores gave us discounts on our purchases, to make sure we didn’t run out! (haha!)

Day 5 -7

Day 5 – Happy Easter!!

Today we went to Dieppe . We also went to the Canadian War Cemetery. It was very beautiful.

Jessica and I wrote a poem for the ceremony that we put on. It was a perfect ceremony to commemorate the soldiers’ victory in all of the wars. It was a really long ride all the way to Dieppe. It was about 3 hours to get there by bus. Once we got there we met up with another tour guide. We walked around Dieppe for a while and we also got to walk along the beach. We didn’t stay there for very long and we didn’t see much but it was still a cool experience. Then we had another 3 1⁄2 hour drive back to a new hotel. We didn’t get to eat dinner until around 10:00 that night. We all fell asleep very quickly.

Day 6 – Vimy Day!!

Today we had to get really early to go to Vimy Ridge. It was a only a 30 minute drive to Vimy, so it wasn’t really that bad. Once we got to the Vimy site, we went into our tent and we got some instructions on what we were doing that day. Next, we headed down to the Canadian Cemetery #2.

We all got to try and find our soldier that we were representing. I unfortunately didn’t find my soldier. After that we stayed at the Cemetery for a ceremony where Taylor and I got to carry and lay the Sinclair wreath. It was a neat experience. It was such a warm day yesterday and we were out there just standing for 1 1⁄2 hours, some people were passing out and getting dehydrated. It was kind of scary. Every one from Sinclair was okay, but one girl from Courtice wasn’t feeling well. After that ceremony we went back to our tent for lunch.

After lunch, we headed over to the back of the actual monument. We had to stand there for about 1 1⁄2 hours. It was really hot and really tiring. Then we had to start getting ready for the parade. We all had to get into our school groups and we had to walk to the front of the monument. That walk took about 3 hours in total. Once we got to our spots, it was getting really hot and we were all really tired. Finally the ceremony actually started. It was really exciting because the Prime Minister of France was there, The Prime Minister of Canada was there (Stephen Harper) and The Queen was there!! It was soo cool!! The ceremony was pretty long but it was a really cool experience just seeing that huge monument in front of us and just taking it all in. We also got to see some shell holes that were around the site. That was pretty crazy. After the ceremony was over we headed back to the bus. It only took about 1⁄2 an hour to get back to the hotel. First we went to our rooms and just relaxed. Then at 8:45 we went over to the restaurant. We had another late dinner! Our hotel it right beside a bowling alley so we got the chance to go bowling after dinner. Jessica and I chose not to go bowling because we were so tires. Curfew was at 11:30 but we were so tired tat we fell asleep at 10:30!!

Day 7 –

Belgium!!!

Today we went across the boarder to Belgium . We went to the battle site of Passchendale and Ypres. Passchendale was really cool. The Passchendale museum was really neat. There was a lot of interesting information about it. Another thing that they had there was a really life-like replica of a trench dug out. It was really dark down there, but it was really cool. After Passchendale we went to the Tyne Cot cemetery. This cemetery is the biggest common wealth cemetery in the world. It was a pretty cool place. We went over to Ypres after that. We got to have free time to walk around Ypres.

Jessica and I bought LOTS of Belgian chocolate. The Belgians LOVE Canadians! They gave us cool discounts and they were really friendly with us. After lunch, we went over to the St. Julien Canadian War Memorial. That was amazing too. If you guys have been have been checking out the Explorica website, you would have seen all of our group pictures that Elena (our awesome tour guide has been taking. We took another picture in front of the Canadian memorial. Next we went over to the German War Cemetery
and the John McCrae Memorial.

They were both really interesting to see. If you don’t know who John McCrae is that’s okay, but you defiantly know his famous poem In Flanders Field. He wrote the poem just after his best friend died in the war. John was actually a doctor in the war…..Dr. John McCrae. Next, we went over to Hill 62. We got to go in the actual trenches and look at all of the artifacts that they had. They had many pictures that we really cool but some of them were pretty graphic. It was really cool to see the trenches because it really hit me just how bad the conditions were. It was crazy!!

I know when I send my blogs that they are sent with lots of spaces. Sorry about that. It’s really not my fault it just happens when I send it over to the site. I hope you all can read it.  I will try to do 1 or two more blogs before we come back home. Only 4 days left!!!  L We arrive back in Toronto on Saturday evening. Tomorrow we are going to Brussels and then we are off to London in the afternoon!!  JJ I will also send a few more blogs once I get back just to put a conclusion to all of these blogs throughout the trip.

~Michelle~

Vimy Ridge pictures

Jenn Sunnerton has posted lots of pictures from Vimy Ridge . Check' em out.

See our complete gallery of trip pictures.

Video from Ypres, Belgium

More to come Tuesday...keep watching this space

T plus 4 DAYS

hey families and friends, we'll keep this short because internet is not cheap in France!

we've been busy

we'll give you a full update later but we're already running late.

here's that message from sage that we priomised:

• hey mom and dad! its the end of day two and i have to say i do actually miss you. london is fun but its kind of different, a lot of architecture though. tell grandma i looked at her jewels today and their in perfect condition. i've only bought one thing so far but i haven't found anything of significance for london yet... well, i better get some sleep (ididn't really sleep on the plane) I LOVE YOU GUYS TONS and miss you!!! love sage.

sorry to anyone else who was looking for a message... everyone's busy  but im sure they still love you.

to poochie (you know who you are): i miss you and love you and hope your enjoying the snow because its super sunny over here and beautiful; gotta go lv u bye

tara says hi

Now in France!!

The past two days have been awesome and all of the kids are enjoying their time here. Some of the sites that we have visited since the last blog have been riding the chunnel to Brussels, from there we did a tour of Brugge and then we did the famous boat cruise through the canal. Also, the students have been given some shopping time so if yu are lucky, your son or daughter might bring you back a little somethan' somethan! LOL. We are all very estatic that the day we have signed up for is tomorrow, so today was based on walking through cemetary's throughout Ypres and Passchendeale just to set our minds in the right place.

While I stood in the middle of Tyne Colt (one of the biggest cemetarys in Belgium where 12,000 soldiers are burried and 35,000 missing which are scattered ALL over the walls) with fog hovering around my feet, I just stood and watched. People were scatted everywhere in the grave yard and were respecting the very soldiers that respresented our country. At this moment I got a glimpse of reality.

Later in the evening students and people of the community joined together under the Menin Gates for the Last Post Ceremony. This ceremony is held nightly at 8pm in memory of the soliders who fought in the Great World War. Some students had the privilidge to represent our country by holding the Canadian Flag and the Ontario Flag. On the other hand students represented Canada by decorating their faces with tattoos, stickers and mini flags of their own. At the end of the ceremony we sang O' Canada with their community.

Now we are off to bed because there is a 6 hours time difference to prep for the big day. Be sure you are watching are the tv, check your local listings for times and channels.

Casey, Steph, and all the Central V.E.T.S. would like to say Thank You for this once in a life time opportunity and we are havin' a BLAST! :D

Pics & Video from London

Journalist Jenn Sunnerton has just posted some photos and a

Video of students in London.

Day 4

Day 4 – April 7th 2007

Today we had to get up at 6:30. We got up, had breakfast, packed out bags, and we were on the road by 8:20. Today we left Paris and headed to Normandy.

We were on the bus for 3 hours until we got to  Bayeux (Normandy). While in Bayeux, we went to the Tapestry and the Baeux Cathedral. After Bayeux we went over to Juno Beach and went on the actual beach and inside the museum on the site. When we were at Juno Beach we got to walk around on the beach and experience what it was like for the soldiers to come over and land there. It was a great experience because you just feel the energy and how much history is around that place. It was great because I had never been to a historical beach like that. It was also really fun to see the bunkers because it was just a fun thing to see.

(Multi-media presentation on Juno Beach Centre

The bunkers were really small and tight! I cant imagine staying in there for months at a time. After Juno, we went over to Arromanches museum. That museum was about the ports that the soldiers built to transport tanks, cars, and supplies from ships to shore without the enemies noticing. After that museum we got to see some of the German bunkers over by Omaha Beach.

They were the real bunkers that the soldiers stayed in. When we were at the bunks we got to see a grown-in trench, shell holes, tanks, and the inside of the bunkers. It was sooo cool!!

We are now in Normandy and we are just going out for dinner. We are having CREPES!!  Our tour guide Elena and our bus driver Michelle are fantastic! They have been with us since we arrived in Paris and they are coming all the way to London with us as well.

The weather is still 100% PERFECT!! Today was a bit breezier by the beaches, but it was still around 20 – 22 degrees. Tonight we are checking in to our new hotel in Normandy . Well we are just about to go to the restaurant so I’ll be sure to blog back soon. 2 days until VIMY!!!

~Michelle~

Hello to all!

Another beautiful day has come and gone, while here in Paris. Things we have learned: the ice cream here is greaaaat,  the Eiffel Tower has MANY stairs, and the tour guides could double as comedians (bonus!). The day was another success, and everyone's pumped about waking up at 6:30..AM. As well, with the few days that we have been here, we have learned much, like calling cards don't always work, and not all hotels cash travellers checks! Well, there's a big day tomorrow and the troop should be getting to bed.

Today is our second day in Paris ! It is very fun and interesting. Yesterday we started with the Notre Dame Cathedral and moved our way to the Louvre. In the Louvre we got to took at the paintings and saw the famous Mona Lisa. At the end of the day we took an interesting boat tour. It was a great experience, although we are all very tired from the jet lag. Also the buildings here are beautiful and very detailed.

Today we took some more tours and we climbed up the Eiffel Tower ! It was a long walk, but it was worth it because the view was beautiful. We have been taking good pictures and having a great time!

PARIS! day 1-3

Day 1 and 2 Blog:

Bonjour! We are finally here in Paris !!! IT is sooo beautiful and sunny, and hot…..it is defiantly spring here.

After only getting 2 hours of sleep on the plane, we were very tired. We didn’t get to the hotel until 10:30 last night. We had spent all day out and about in Paris .
First we went to Notre Dame Cathedral and got a tour of that. Then we had a break for lunch…I had my first French Baguette! After our lunch break we went over to the Le Louvre, and yes we got to see Mona Lisa! After that we went out for a great French dinner. We went for a ‘cruise’ last night after dinner. We got to see got to see a bunch of great sites around Paris .

After the cruise we FINALLY got to our hotel! The hotel rooms are tiny but we were just so glad to get there. We went to bed right away. Today (Day 3) we had a city tour by bus. It was amazing. Then we went for a lunch break…and went shopping!! After our lunch/shopping break we went up the Eiffel Tower . We climbed 668 stairs to get to the top! Next we went to dinner in

Montmartre which was beautiful. Then we had another shopping break. Finally we got back to the hotel, and we are ready for bed! I am having a great time and I hope you guys don’t have too much snow.

Paris has great weather! These past 2 days have been around 20 degrees and really sunny! Hope to write back soon.

                                                      

~Michelle~

Good-Bye London

Alright... hey folks!

Lucky us, we've done it all here in London. Starting off with a FANTABULOUS DAY (as Mrs Stevens would so wordfully place it) as Morgan walked into a wall, Tommy walked into a post... and MUWAH (pauline) nearly got run down 3 times in one day. Going on the stay was great... bloody expensive, and I believe we've begun to pick up an accent! Or at least Mr Rae has attempted too! We have an early wake up call at 3am tomorrow so I'm gunna leave and let someone else at this note! LOVE YOU HOMESLICES! Ciao!

Wow, is London ever busy. There are people everywhere! But it sure is beautiful. We saw lots of great historical sites and went on an exciting bus tour. And, surprisingly my feet don't even hurt! Yesterday was pretty tough, but after a good night rest, it was so worth it. -- Emily

After a 6 hr flight and feeling pretty smelly and having no time to shower before going on a full day tour where your feet were ready to drop off.....IT WAS COMPLETELY WORTH IT!!!!!!!! From the majestic buildings and Buckingham Palace, it was a blast! Everyone bought tons of souvenirs but I was pretty cheap and just bought a spoon.....anyways, next stop Belgium and I promise to spend major euros...on CHOCOLATE! Michelle

Alright time for some notes from our fellow travelers!

Nicole: "Death Note"

+Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii 20 Clocks!

+Kayley can't fly!

Dawn: We're still here and we're not dead yet! Fun fun! ^_^

Shelby Hey, I like airplanes and Europe!

Nick & Matt: Why is he dressed as a pilot?" (said at airport gate)

Rebbecca: Ian you still smell! (pauline agrees)

Madison: Hey I'm having a great time! Miss you! Tell Kenzie I miss her too. See ya later! Love ya! xo

Anum: Having lots of fun here in London! Miss you guys a lot... even you Omar (only cause I'm here and you're at home :P LOVE YOU!) Call you all soon! Love you Anum! BYE!!!!! <3 (not even homesick yet :) ) Miss mom's cooking though!

Central Arrived In ENGLAND:D

Hey,

We finally made it to EUROPE!! Safe and Sound after a VERY long flight (First Flight for most of our crew) Our flight was delayed by a half n hour before take off. Our days have been filled to the max with everything in the past 48 hours such as Buckingham Palace, to London Towers, and even Ghost Tours at night. Although the days are extremely LONG and TIRING and we have our ups and downs (nothing life threating) we are all holding up better then we ever imagined, including the staff!!

We would like to Thank the staff and Dave Robinson for this once in a life time trip possible.

**WE ARE TAKING OFF TO BRUSSELS TOMORROW MORNING AND FROM THERE TO PARIS**

We will keep posting on the blog for more details...Central has purchased a phone card and students are calling home.

Stephanie and Casey

More Vimy News at...

The Metroland Durham Region Media Group has a reporter/photographer/videographer with the kids, check out
Jenn Sunnerton's Blog . Watch for our Special Keepsake Section being published May 4/6 2007.

T plus 2 DAYS!

HEY MCVI FAMILIES and FRIENDS!

We're having a blast here. right now we are enjoying our last full day in london. IT IS AMAZING.

yesterday:

• we arrived in heathrow around 10:00AM london time (4:00 AM OSHAWA TIME)
• we did a brief bus overview of london
• we visited the tower of london and saw tower bridge and more
• we took a trip on the london eye and had lunch at covent market (street performers, boutiques)
• we toured Soho and had bangers and mash at a Soho bistro
• we then went to our hotel at the outskirts of london and slept (at 8:30pm after 30plus hours with no sleep...)

TODAY:

• we started with a details bus tour of london and westminster (a different city connected to london) with our tour guide mike. he was awesome and very knowledgeable
• mike then took us through greenpark to buckingham palace to see the changing of the guards. It was beautiful. We are now in piccadilly circus having lunch and spending our remaining pounds

sage says hi (message to follow at a later time)

we miss you all

see you in 8 days!

PS blogs will be slightly spaced out due to the lack of computer accessibility. We're off to belgium tomorrow!

LIFT OFF!

HEY MCLAUGHLIN! (AND ALL OTHER VIMY TRAVELLERS!)

We leave TODAY! thats not tomorrow or friday.... thats TODAY! In case you can't tell, we're all very excited here at MCVI! don't forget that our first bus leaves at 3:30 pm TODAY so be ready to load your luggage right after school (aim for 3:00 or before). and remember 'bus one' to the airport DOES NOT mean 'bus one' on the trip. BUS ONE today = FLIGHT ONE!

PLEASE don't forget your vimy hats, jackets and uniforms... to quote Mr. Weaver, "that would be bad for business!"

I know currency exchange was chaos last night so if you don't have your euros or pounds yet and your parents really love you, ask them to try Money Mart. Its really last minute so it would be a stretch but its worth a try.

We wish everyone safe travels and we'll SEE YOU IN EUROPE! 

*!* Central V.E.T.S *!*

OH MY!!! We have only ONE last sleep. I am not going to sleep and I know it!!! lol! I hope everyone tries to get a good rest because there is a 4 hour time change in London and 5 hour time change in Paris. I hope to see all of the Vimy students at the airport tomorrow!! I am 100% packed and I am 110% READY TO RUMBLE!!!

--Casey--    Bye family, I love you'z! <3 Don't worry I will stay safe! xoxo

WHAT?!?!

WHAT!?!?! ONLY 2 MORE SLEEPS!?!?! Thats crazzyyy!
I cannot belive that we only have 2 more sleeps until we  are 'leaving on a jet plane'!!
wow...thats all i can say.
The time has just flownnn by!
I am soo excited!! Wednesday...paris...here we come!
i hope they are ready for us.
i hope that everyone is fully packed..or close to it....make sure you also have the adaptors for teh hotel rooms. We have Canada AM tomorrow at Fth Leo austin at 6:30 tomorrow morning...it will be a blast!!
oh and i hope that all of yor parent..your you have your buttons sewed onto your shirt!!
Well im going to try and get some sleep tonight and tomorrow night....it'll be hard but ill try!!
Hope everyone is excited!!  :):):)
see you all at the ceremony!!  <3

*!* Central V.E.T.S. *!*

Oh my!!!! ONLY 02 MORE SLEEPS! WAHOOO! Am I the only one who gets suddent bursts of energy all of a sudden?? The Day awaits us all and I know that all students are excited! I hope to see every durham student at Father leo Austin tomorrow morning bright and early to be featured on CANADA AM from 6:00am - 9:30am. Also, I know I have said this before but make sure that yur bank knows you will be going out of the country or they will cancel your debit card when you try and use it. They will assume someone has stole it! In another note, there is a man named Geoffrey Bird who is a PhD student and he is conducting an online survey on the visitor's battlefield experience. He is seeking assistance for people to take the survey. This survey will only take about 10-15 minutes to complete and should be done before and after you visit France. If you wish to participate please visit www.surveyconsole.com

--Casey--

2 days!!!

Hey Vimy kids!

Can you believe it? Only two more days until we hit up London! Hope everyone is packing like crazy! :) See you all on Wednesday!

Sara and Michelle

ALMOST THERE

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!