Workin' on Parliament Hill

Parliament Hill with Jenna (Bridgewater, NS) and Maryse (Charlo, NB).

The Library of Parliament

Now I know that again, I have not been incredibly regular in my blogging duties... And again, I have an excuse? I suppose it will be up to you to decide if it is legitimate or not... Well, here it is: I've been living in Ottawa and working at Parliament Hill!! How freaking exciting is that! And in all seriousness, it has been keeping me really, really busy, requiring copious amounts of sleep, which I have been having a hard time to get during the week, so I decided to do a little catching up this weekend. So please, do forgive me, but please do enjoy what blogging I am able to do :)

I moved to Ottawa a little over two weeks ago, and it sure has been busy! I'm sharing an apartment with a girl who is currently guiding at Parliament, Martha, and I'm so lucky that we get along so well! In the short amount of time that we've lived together, we've already become great friends, which is awesome :) The apartment is in a fantastic location too... Only 3 blocks from downtown (Rideau Street) and 20 minutes from Parliament Hill. Though the building is slightly sketchy, the apartment itself is very nice, which is all that really matters I guess :)

The Guides outside of Rideau Hall, residence of the Govenor General.

Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons, and I.

As for training, we've been hard at work these past two weeks. There was a great mix of real work and good laughs, intense sessions and fun field-trips. We had some presentations on lots of historical aspects of government, such as social progress, confederation and constitutional evolution, as well as some other important issues such as important people, architecture, art, process and learning styles. We've also had presentations from both Speakers of the House of Commons and the Senate, as well as both Clerks of the House of Commons and Senate. We met with Toronto MP Bill Graham, and Alberta Senator Claudette Tardif, as well as the Parliamentary Carillonneur, Gordon Slater, who is the person that plays the enormous set of bells in the Peace Tower. And luckily for me, I've see famous faces such as those of Michael Ignatieff, Stéphane Dion, Gilles Duceppe, Stockwell Day, Jim Flaherty and Gordon O'Connor, which really excites me, haha. Nerd, nerd, I know, I've heard it before.

Carleen (Edmonton, AB), Me (Campbellton, NB), Ben (Ottawa, ON), Julie (Jean-Côté, AB), Julie (Gatineau, QC) and Zsuzsi (Toronto, ON).

As for the social side of things, the people in the Guide Program are absolutely fantastic. There are students from all across the country who are incredibly outgoing, funny and wonderful. Our managers, or Interpretation Officers (IOs) as they are called, are also great! They're young, hilarious, understanding and helpful, and they're all in favor of having an awesome summer :) Us guides have gotten together a number of times for themed parties, nights of dancing, cheering for the Ottawa Senators, and studying the famed Interprakit, the enormous binder full of everything you could ever possibly need to know about Parliament.

The four MTA students! Jenna (Bridgewater, NS), Stephen (Ottawa, ON), Liz (Ottawa, ON), Me (Campbellton, NB).

Some lovely ladies in uniform! Me (Campbellton, NB), Tejas (Vancouver, BC), Liz (Ottawa, ON), Julie (Gatineau, QC), Melissa (Hamilton, ON).

And now I should really get back to working on my tour! My first shift is tomorrow morning, and I can hardly believe I'm supposed to be able to give a complete tour of Parliament on my own, no notes, no help, nothing, haha. A bit of an overwhelming feeling, but I'm sure it will be an interesting day nonetheless! Talk soon!

Much love,

Sue

sjhumphrey@mta.ca