Thursday...

... was another sunny, warm day. I rode my usual route, and as I reached the top of the Fortway Road hill, I was greeted by a guy in reflective vest, leaning on a tree and lackadaisically holding a "slow" sign. Really, I don't have a lot of choice about my speed at that point on my route. I always go pretty slowly on that hill. For a second I wondered what he was doing there, as there was no construction in progress. Then, as I looked ahead to a long line of barely moving traffic, I remembered: this was the day of the Premier's breakfast at the Legislature, the kick-off for K-days. I was glad to be on a bike instead of in a car, as I zipped past everyone up the 107 Street hill.

And today was our City Hall tour. My first visit to City Hall happened when I stumbled on the building by accident when riding my bike and went in to pick up a bicycle map. Today our morning classes (about 18 students) walked from the school to Churchill Square, about 2 km, and met our guide at the south entrance to City Hall. Jackie, a 71-year-old woman who has worked at City Hall for 56 years, is a pretty amazing lady who also has a part-time job as a lifeguard. She took us around the building, giving an excellent presentation about civic politics and the history of the building. The students listened eagerly and asked some good questions. After the tour a few of us hung around at Taste of Edmonton, finally walking back to the school for afternoon classes.

Some of the same students attend both morning and afternoon classes, but there are some who come only in the afternoon. So I had the morning students tell the afternoon students about their visit to City Hall. They told them about Jackie, their guide, and one student said he thought I should emulate her, continuing to work as an ESL teacher and riding my bike to work even into my seventies. A worthy goal!