On November 29th, grades 3 to 8 went to a hockey game at the K-Rock Center. The game was played by the Kingston Frontenacs and the Ottawa 67’s and lasted from around 10:50 am to almost 1:00pm. The classes ate lunch at the arena, the options were hot dogs, pizza or a chicken wrap with a soft drink and chips. Kingston won 4-1. The game was held during the day as an anti-bullying event, many of the children and teachers who attended the game wore pink, the colour of anti-bullying. For one of my classmates, Raghad, who is a girl from the Middle East, it was the first live hockey game that she’d ever seen. The game was very loud and full of screeching children, including the person who was sitting beside me, Quintyn, instead of the usual choir of howling middle- aged men who should have something better to spend their time on. The video score board displayed tactics to help prevent bullying, how to deal with it and a “Scream Meter” to help motivate the viewers to make “some” noise. My ears were ringing after hearing all the screeching children. The game was an overwhelming win for Kingston and a very loud yet memorable experience.

On December 7th, seven of the students from the 7/8 class, Ms. Singh and the sister of one of the students saw the Russian State Ballet’s rendition of the Nutcracker at the Grand Theater. All the girls were outfitted in dresses, I looked like a middle-aged woman going to a funeral, and the guys wore decent shirts and khaki pants. The ballet started at 6:30pm and ended at 8:30pm. The overall quality of the performance was underwhelming as I’m pretty sure they brought their D team, not even their second best, there were some very obvious mistakes like sloppy positioning and the awkward pas de deux of the Nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Fairy. The quality of the ballet wasn’t up to my expectations but the story was still conveyed and I enjoyed seeing the tale that I loved in my childhood.