Catherine and Shaelyn: Exploring Canada in the UK

Song of the Day: Twist & Shout- The Beatles

 

Catherine and I (Shaelyn) were the leaders for 5^th day of our trip, which included a visit to meet Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom as well as our presentations at University of Greenwich.

The night before, we picked up our London 2014 mascot, who we decided to call ‘Chuck,’ we figured out our routes and headed to bed before an early wake up of 6:30am (10:30pm Vancouver time).

Luckily, we arrived a few minutes early prior to our meeting with Mr. Campbell, so we had some extra time to explore the main floor of Macdonald House. The house definitely had the feeling of a home away from home for a Canadian, from the walls adorned with paintings by various Canadian artists to the wooden Mountie statue that stood in the stairwell landing. We had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Campbell in one of his sitting rooms, where he explained his title to us, and took the time to answer a few of the questions that our group had prepared before hand.

 

Our meeting was informative, though short as Mr. Campbell had another meeting set up quite soon after. Luckily for us, he was kind enough to extend an invitation to join him in the afternoon at Canada House where the Governor General of Canada, David Johnston, would be speaking. Of course we couldn’t turn that down! Robin and Yvonne, our study tour leaders, worked quickly to fit the meeting into our schedule, and we made our way down to Trafalgar Square.

It was really neat for us to hear Governor General David Johnston speak, as not only does he hold a prestigious position within our Canadian government but His Excellency also has a background in education, and in his speech, spoke of the importance of not just education, but education on an international level; it was the perfect speech to hear on a study abroad tour.

 

 

After a group photo in Canada House, we made our way out to the University of Greenwich for our presentations. Once there, we were greeted by Peter Vlachos, the Principal Lecturer in Events Management from the Department of Marketing, Events, and Tourism at University of Greenwich. He welcomed us with a small tour of the campus and a presentation on what we as Canadians should know about doing business in the United Kingdom, with things to consider such as history and communication style. Then in our groups, we presented to Mr. Vlachos and a few of his students on what people in the United Kingdom should know about doing business in Canada, from political, environmental, legal, social, and economic viewpoints.

After our presentations, we were invited to the school’s Student Union building, which was neat to compare and contrast to Capilano’s own Student Union, and then we dispersed off into our own evening events for the remainder of the night. It was a fun and exciting day, and we were glad to have the opportunities to make the connections that we established today.

 

Catherine Holysh is a second year Business Administration student with a focus in accounting.  Shaelyn Johnston is a second year arts and science student with a focus in creative writing.