Canada, eh?...the trip recap!
Mon May 09, 2005 2:08 am
So...while PPT was coming back online, I left on a band trip for Toronto (the same one I asked advice for two months ago). And it was awesome!
On the first day (the glorious Cinco de Mayo), my band left for Canada. Customs wasn't too bad, and the bus ride was overall uneventful. We ended up getting to our hotel a bit late though, so everyone had to rush in to get ready for our later activities. I was one of the first ones ready, meaning I was one of the only ones on time. Anyway, we head to the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto. It was great there! The waiters got onto the bar and danced to YMCA at one point. They have good cookies too. After that, we headed for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Great concert, but a little too long. One guy sitting near me was counting things, like people in the audience, empty seats, boards in the celing, etc. I was also at a good angle to see what the bassoonists were doing, and was quite pleased to see that there were four of them...one of which switched to a contrabassoon for one song.
Day two was revolutionary for band trips for two reasons. The first reason was that we were able to sleep in. The second reason was that we were given free time to roam around the Eaton Center (a massive mall) and a radius of a few blocks beyond it. My friends and I didn't leave the mall, but we still found a lot of stuff to buy and amuse ourselves with. We then went to the CN Tower. This bugged me a bit at first since I'm acrophobic (especially that glass floor), but I managed and took tons of pictures. After that the band went to watch a Blue jays game, and must have annoyed tons of Canadians by rooting for the White Sox (who won). the stadium, though the roof was open, was still a neat site, and it was even neater how you could see the CN Tower next to it.
Day three was our performance and awards day. The performances went extremely well. For our other activity of the day, we went to Canada's Wonderland. I didn't have any of the funnel cake, but it looked delicious. I enjoyed riding the stuff there, especially the Top Gun coaster. The awards ceremony was at the park, and we did extremely well! We won a 1st place trophy for concert band and jazz band, along with the overall trohpies for both. We also won a trophy for a jazz solo and something along the lines of "Nicest Band". So, we won a total of six trohpies, beating everyone there (I recall Xil asking me to beat his brother, so I did just that). My band's goal was to achieve superior ratings (the highest ratings) for both concert and jazz band since we kinda knew we'd win first, and we achieved that goal. Once we left the park, we got back to the hotel pretty early, so we had free time there.
Day four (which was today), we left the hotel and headed for home. First we stopped at the Niagra Falls and took a boat tour on the Maid of the Mist. The falls were impressive! After the tour we got lunch at a nearby street (I forget the name of it, but I liked the boardwalk feel of it) and walked around a little. After that we headed home on yet another long, uneventful ride. And now I'm here telling you about it!
Dumb trip facts:
-146 pictures taken by me
-6 trophies won
-The last hour of my time at Canada's Wonderland was spent by playing cards with friends
-My bassoon wasn't functioning properly due to it being frozen for several days and then rapidly reheated. I still did well.
-No one in the low woodwind section could play a certain part of the one song. No one noticed (clearly).
-I used a sheet to make a fort out of my two seats on the bus, mainly to block out the sun when I was sleeping. Everyone else copied me at one point or another, most notable of which would be the back of the bus blocking off the entire...back of the bus.
-Movies watched were: National Treasure, Napoleon Dynamite, AVP, a home movie a friend of mine made, Drop dead Gorgeous, Spaceballs, and Finding Nemo (most of it anyway...we came home before we could finish it).
And that's all I have to say!
EDIT: What was all of that with the beavers? The only ones I saw were on the money I got.
On the first day (the glorious Cinco de Mayo), my band left for Canada. Customs wasn't too bad, and the bus ride was overall uneventful. We ended up getting to our hotel a bit late though, so everyone had to rush in to get ready for our later activities. I was one of the first ones ready, meaning I was one of the only ones on time. Anyway, we head to the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto. It was great there! The waiters got onto the bar and danced to YMCA at one point. They have good cookies too. After that, we headed for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Great concert, but a little too long. One guy sitting near me was counting things, like people in the audience, empty seats, boards in the celing, etc. I was also at a good angle to see what the bassoonists were doing, and was quite pleased to see that there were four of them...one of which switched to a contrabassoon for one song.
Day two was revolutionary for band trips for two reasons. The first reason was that we were able to sleep in. The second reason was that we were given free time to roam around the Eaton Center (a massive mall) and a radius of a few blocks beyond it. My friends and I didn't leave the mall, but we still found a lot of stuff to buy and amuse ourselves with. We then went to the CN Tower. This bugged me a bit at first since I'm acrophobic (especially that glass floor), but I managed and took tons of pictures. After that the band went to watch a Blue jays game, and must have annoyed tons of Canadians by rooting for the White Sox (who won). the stadium, though the roof was open, was still a neat site, and it was even neater how you could see the CN Tower next to it.
Day three was our performance and awards day. The performances went extremely well. For our other activity of the day, we went to Canada's Wonderland. I didn't have any of the funnel cake, but it looked delicious. I enjoyed riding the stuff there, especially the Top Gun coaster. The awards ceremony was at the park, and we did extremely well! We won a 1st place trophy for concert band and jazz band, along with the overall trohpies for both. We also won a trophy for a jazz solo and something along the lines of "Nicest Band". So, we won a total of six trohpies, beating everyone there (I recall Xil asking me to beat his brother, so I did just that). My band's goal was to achieve superior ratings (the highest ratings) for both concert and jazz band since we kinda knew we'd win first, and we achieved that goal. Once we left the park, we got back to the hotel pretty early, so we had free time there.
Day four (which was today), we left the hotel and headed for home. First we stopped at the Niagra Falls and took a boat tour on the Maid of the Mist. The falls were impressive! After the tour we got lunch at a nearby street (I forget the name of it, but I liked the boardwalk feel of it) and walked around a little. After that we headed home on yet another long, uneventful ride. And now I'm here telling you about it!
Dumb trip facts:
-146 pictures taken by me
-6 trophies won
-The last hour of my time at Canada's Wonderland was spent by playing cards with friends
-My bassoon wasn't functioning properly due to it being frozen for several days and then rapidly reheated. I still did well.
-No one in the low woodwind section could play a certain part of the one song. No one noticed (clearly).
-I used a sheet to make a fort out of my two seats on the bus, mainly to block out the sun when I was sleeping. Everyone else copied me at one point or another, most notable of which would be the back of the bus blocking off the entire...back of the bus.
-Movies watched were: National Treasure, Napoleon Dynamite, AVP, a home movie a friend of mine made, Drop dead Gorgeous, Spaceballs, and Finding Nemo (most of it anyway...we came home before we could finish it).
And that's all I have to say!
EDIT: What was all of that with the beavers? The only ones I saw were on the money I got.
Mon May 09, 2005 3:10 am
Discordant Note, it sounds like it was a lot of fun. Niagra Falls is awesome. The way it is lit up at night is so beautiful. And, being a ChiTown native, I love how you rooted for the White Sox. Congrats on making first place! And getting all of those shiny trophies.
Now, do something for me: write everything you wrote here down on paper somewhere. A diary, a journal, a scrapbook, because someday you are going to want to remember this great trip and nothing is better for remembering than reading your thoughts about the trip.
Now, do something for me: write everything you wrote here down on paper somewhere. A diary, a journal, a scrapbook, because someday you are going to want to remember this great trip and nothing is better for remembering than reading your thoughts about the trip.
Mon May 09, 2005 3:24 am
Congrats on the win! Sadly beavers don't roam and live in the cities they tend to live near the foresty part of Canada.(Which toronto doesn't have much of if i'm thinking right) I never saw a real beaver in the wild either, but in the zoo sure. Glad you had a fun time in Toronto, maybe next time you can come visit western Canada!=D
Mon May 09, 2005 5:26 am
I somehow missed the first thread, but in grade 12 I went to a band fest in Toronto too!!!!
I think we did most of the same activities. Let's compare photos one of these days.
I think we did most of the same activities. Let's compare photos one of these days.
Mon May 09, 2005 3:06 pm
Congrats on the trophies and I'm glad you had a great time. One question- why did your poor bassoon get frozen??
Mon May 09, 2005 7:21 pm
krisgp wrote:Congrats on the trophies and I'm glad you had a great time. One question- why did your poor bassoon get frozen??
It was cold during the night in Canada, and it was left on the equipment truck (we couldn't take them out until competition day so we wouldn't lose them). Cold is bad for any instrument, especially woodwinds. Thankfully the bassoon is part metal and plastic, so there wasn't any major problems.
Tue May 10, 2005 2:59 am
DiscordantNote wrote:krisgp wrote:Congrats on the trophies and I'm glad you had a great time. One question- why did your poor bassoon get frozen??
It was cold during the night in Canada, and it was left on the equipment truck (we couldn't take them out until competition day so we wouldn't lose them). Cold is bad for any instrument, especially woodwinds. Thankfully the bassoon is part metal and plastic, so there wasn't any major problems.
aww...poor thing. i sleep witrh my windows wide open so i guess i am used to our waxky night time temp drops.
Tue May 10, 2005 3:12 am
Congrats on the trophies. ^_^ Sounds like you had fun.
No idea where you live, but how long did the bus ride take? Just curious.
No idea where you live, but how long did the bus ride take? Just curious.
Tue May 10, 2005 7:27 pm
Sock wrote:Congrats on the trophies. ^_^ Sounds like you had fun.
No idea where you live, but how long did the bus ride take? Just curious.
SE PA, so the bus ride was about 7 hours, give or take for stops and traffic.
Tue May 10, 2005 7:41 pm
*loads cannon*
You rooted for the wrong team.
You rooted for the wrong team.
Tue May 10, 2005 10:28 pm
Congrats on all the trophies. That's absolutely amazing! I'm in band too (I play the bass clarinet which is similar to the bassoon) and we're going to a competition next week in New York! We're really bad though(worst band I've ever been in!) but that trip should at least be fun! It's a ten hour drive though from here (Ontario, canada!), so I think I'm going to go insane on the bus, any suggestions on how I can keep busy?
Tue May 10, 2005 10:56 pm
Next time... go to the interesting part of Canada.
The East gets all the press. Feh. >.<
Go Alberta! Land of... oil, cows and conservatives!
The East gets all the press. Feh. >.<
Go Alberta! Land of... oil, cows and conservatives!
Tue May 10, 2005 11:09 pm
Monique wrote:Congrats on all the trophies. That's absolutely amazing! I'm in band too (I play the bass clarinet which is similar to the bassoon) and we're going to a competition next week in New York! We're really bad though(worst band I've ever been in!) but that trip should at least be fun! It's a ten hour drive though from here (Ontario, canada!), so I think I'm going to go insane on the bus, any suggestions on how I can keep busy?
Bassoon is quite unlike the bass clarinet. Don't get me started on why, because there'll be another really long post.
You can watch the movies they show on the bus (assuming your chaperones will put them in), knit, listen to music, play video games, do your homework, read a book, take pictures of random stuff, talk to people, sleep, play cards, make a fort out of your seats (requires two seats and a blanket/sheet), draw pictures, annoy the chaperones, or do any combination of the above.
Wed May 11, 2005 12:07 am
Well I'm glad you had fun and congrats on the awards! I'm angry you didn't have funnel cake though, you missed out big time. The Eatons center is great, although Square One is better IMO. I acctually havn't been up the CN Tower, but I have seen pictures, so I can imagine how cool that would be. Top Gun is an amazing rollar coaster, probably one of the best at Wonderland, so I'm glad you went on it. The Bat is great too.
About the beavers, we were kidding. Beavers really only live in the foresty areas, that have bodies of water. Not in the city
About the beavers, we were kidding. Beavers really only live in the foresty areas, that have bodies of water. Not in the city