A contingent from our sister city was in town last weekend, renewing ties and keeping relationships alive between the young people of the two cities.
Saturday evening, the contingent rolled into town on a bus, disembarking to a large greeting party of Gold Pan residents. The group that came was a mix of shy, nervous newcomers and visitors who had close ties, prompting tears and hugs as they met old friends
The delegation consisted of 20 people –14 students and six adults.
Many of the adults that came along with the mostly junior high crowd toured Quesnel’s schools with ex-teacher and Shiraoi House president, Doug Jamieson. They also swung by City Hall to see the inner working of the municipal government.
Jamieson said the adults were surprised by the difference between schools, with kids using power tools and a relaxed atmosphere in the classes.
"We really liked the the agriculture class," Jamieson said.
The students, however, were in class Monday and Tuesday, in an atmosphere they found quite different from their own.
"The school was the most different," Aira Kon, one of the students at Correlieu, said.
"During class they were allowed to eat."
Many of the students found the looser environment at the schools to be surprising.
Over the weekend, the guests were shown around town by their host families, with a mass gathering for bowling Sunday night.
After the delegation left Wednesday morning, they headed to Jasper and Edmonton,
with many of the students looking forward to West Edmonton Mall.