Written senior student Hassan, Bolton’s own Takatuf Scholar:
My last weekend was the best I’ve ever had since I came to SMUS. I did new things that I haven’t done before: seeing snow for the first time in my life, and going ice-skating.
I was asleep on Saturday morning when Mehrab woke me up, “Wake up Hassan; it’s snowing!” he said excitedly; he knew I had never seen snow before. I ran to the window very quickly, and I stood there for what seemed like an hour gazing through the window with open mouthed astonishment. Everything was white; the field, cars, and buildings were all covered in snow. Chuckles were coming from kids who were playing cheerfully on the field. The first thing I did was reach out to my phone to take a picture; I sent it to my parents, and they were very jealous, because the weather in Oman was still hot.
Not only I had seen snow, but also I went ice-skating. On Sunday, everyone in our house went ice-skating. I had never gone ice-skating before, so it was really difficult. I was grabbing for something all the time to help me skate. I asked for tips from those who were skating fantastically; Mr. Shaw was the best skater I’ve ever seen, but I didn’t have a chance to ask him, because he was skating so fast.
It was my greatest weekend. It’s an amazing feeling to experience new things in my life; these moments will live in my memory forever.
Hassan! So glad you were able to experience a little “Canadiana”. Ask someone who has been around Victoria for a while to share some pictures of the 1996 snow storm. I used to have one on the wall in my office. It’s amazing how some parts of the neighbourhood were unrecognizable. And since you are a skating expert now, go check out the ice rink in front of the Empress Hotel! (P.S. Mr. Shaw is back on dry land- you can likely catch up to him for a chat.)