Aug. 19 - Day of Roasting Marshmallows and Tracking Bison! [Day 4]

Today, we started earlier than usual in order for us to have enough time in Elk Island. No one seemed tired this morning, everyone's face was lit with excitement. On the way, the Chengdu kids started a sing along by blasting music. They were so surprised when us locals actually knew a few of them and had sang along too.

We reached Elk Island park in an hour and a half and was greeted by at least 50 bison. Everyone immediately ran to the front of the bus to get snapshots (I'm surprised that the bus didn't tip!). We received a tour through the forests and looked for evidence of life (such as footprints, poo, and fur). There was a part where the tour guide explained that the giant dusty bare part of the ground that we were standing on was where the bison rolled on the ground in their own pee! Everyone jumped back a few steps because of the fact that we were standing in pee. The tour guide also showed us plants that tasted like tea and mint. We were literally walking through the forest, with not much of a path, just flattened grass. Mosquitoes were brutal!

As one of my Chengdu friends was walking through the trees, she must've ran into a certain plant, because her sweater was stuck full with burrs! It took a while to help her get it all off.

Lunch came quickly, we gathered around a picnic site and campfire to roast sausages and marshmallows. This was one unforgettable experience for everyone, especially our Chengdu guests who had never done anything like this before. They enjoyed the unusual hot dogs and marshmallows (which they had never tried, let alone seen before) along with a buffet of apple pie, fruit, gummy worms, chocolate and so on. They still ate hot dogs with mounds of chilli on the sausage, it was spicy even by looking at it.

The probably most Canadian thing they tried today was roasting marshmallow on a stick. Now we learned about 3 kinds of sticks: the regular two-pronged stick, homemade stick (made from bent cloths hanger) and last but certainly not least the Canadian Experience (a sharpened tree branch). Everyone seemed eager to use the third one. They were timid at first for trying new things, but once one marshmallow was eaten, they couldn't resist to have another (and another, and another, and another). They graciously made sure that each person had their share of the marshmallows by offering them to anyone else before chowing down themselves.

Once bellies were full, it was off to the Ukrainian Village. There was a section here where many of my Chengdu friends were trying on Ukrainian wedding clothing! When they put it on, it took a while for them to take it off, because they were having so much fun! We also participated in a tour of what a Ukrainian village would've looked like.

Urban China restaurant was our next stop. We all enjoyed the Chinese cuisine and was drawn into another contest of who could eat the most chilli pepper pieces. Obviously it was a Chengdu friend who won, but it was fun to see how much we Edmonton buddies could stand (including the peer pressure around us)! I made a bet with my buddy that if I ate one piece, she would have to eat two, we did that throughout the dinner. There was one boy (who won the contest) that ate at least 40 pieces! His face turned so red at the end everyone started laughing!

Megan