Expedition Update: Ottawa, Ontario
Aug. 3 - Day 2

Good morning! All of our students, chaperones, expedition staff and educators arrived yesterday and throughout the evening - with our last airport pick-up just after midnight.

Throughout the day and evening, briefings were held, meet and greet "ice-breaker" games were played, luggage was lost and found by various airlines, Canada's capital city was explored on foot, and new rooom-mates met for the first time! All in all it was a superb first day without any major hitches - just the usual transportation hiccups that occur when 115 individuals travel from ten different countries!

We had a very, very busy day. After a morning wake-up call at 6:30 am and a hearty breakfast at Leeds House, the team transfered to the Canadian Museum of Nature's reseach centre in Gatineau, Quebec. They rolled out the carpet for us - giving the participants a behind-the-scenes tour of their collections.

At noon, the museum will hosted a big expedition launch to formally kick-off the event. We watched an exciting Inuit performance by Victoria Tagomak and Heidi Langille, as well as presentations by International Polar Year and Canadian Museum of Nature officials and other dignataries - followed by a big, delicious '100 mile Barbeque' (where all ingredients were sourced within 100 miles).

In the afternoon, Team SOI left for another behind-the-scenes tour - this time to Canada's Parliament Buildings and for a walk-about of the city.

After dinner we were treated to a special lecture by senior scientist Alain Baranstain from the Canadian Space Agency. We also met the entire education team, chaperones and education staff. After a briefing about the next day's events, the troup trooped off their rooms to get a good night's sleep for tomorrow's adventure.