Another delegation come and gone! The time seems to fly by so quickly during the week of the delegation. It’s hard to believe the amount of activities we packed into their schedule during their stay in Mississauga! The delegate who came to stay with us this year was named Mika. She was super cute and we had lots of fun taking her around places in Mississauga and Toronto. Since it was also her first time traveling abroad, the trip was extra special for her.

We pretty much kept to the same schedule as previous years, with a cultural demonstration on the first day and a welcome reception at night. The next day was the obligatory Canada Day celebration at Celebration Square. Canada Day was by far the longest day for me, since we were outside from lunch till the fireworks. I’m so glad we had access to the Glass Pavilion at night, since it was way more relaxing than standing in the crowd for the fireworks.

Luckily this year I was spared from attending the day trip to Niagara Falls, so I had a relaxing day staying indoors…at work. LOL. The day after was already their last full day with us. Since we had free time that morning, I took Mika downtown to get the full Toronto experience. We ended up taking the GO train, the GO Bus and the TTC that day, so it pretty much covered all the major modes of transportation. Hehe.

During the morning we grabbed a traditional Canadian breakfast at Timmy’s, then slowly made our way up Bloor Street to see the Bata Shoe Museum. It was actually my first time at the museum, but I was quite surprised by the collection they had. Even the special exhibit on the Fashion Victims was interesting. For lunch I let Mika chose what she wanted to eat and to my utter surprise she ended up choosing to eat ramen. LOL. I guess it’s fun experiencing eating ramen outside of Japan. =P

At night we came back for the farewell party at Ron’s house. For some reason it was exceptionally cold that day, so everyone had a sweater on outside. Luckily it didn’t rain and we were able to enjoy the festivities outdoor in his amazing backyard. For our entertainment that evening, all the delegates performed their rendition of ‘Koi Suro Fortune Cookie’ for us. Such an awesome way to end the night.

I hope all the delegates enjoyed their stay in Mississauga. I really wish I can make it to Kariya to visit them sometime in the future! Fingers crossed.