Summer Job

Hello Readers,

This is a opossum skull a child
found outside the museum.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

This summer I had a student position as Visitor Services/Reception at the Lambton Heritage Museum in Grand Bend. I was excited to start a summer position in my Tourism field of study. This position was approximately 67km from my usual residence in Canada, but I had the opportunity to live with my sister which was only 20km from the workplace. This was an option I knew I had but was hesitant because my sister and I hadn't lived under the same roof in about 6 years.

I started my job on June 1st and I worked Saturdays to Wednesdays. Thursdays and Fridays were my days off. It was hard to make plans to visit with friends but that is life and it was much better to be working in my field gaining some experience. I also got to learn more of the History of Lambton County (where I come from) because the Lambton Heritage Museum is the museum that covers the county as a whole.

This is from my personal Snap chat.
My last day was August 29, 2018.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

The job consisted of sitting at the reception desk and answering any phone calls that came in, ensuring the books were stocked on shelves, answering Tourism Information related questions, and taking admission to the museum.  I was to give an overview of the museum to each customer so they knew what areas they could explore and some key information about different exhibits. The museum was celebrating 40 years open this year so the special summer exhibit contained 40 artifacts over the 40 years from different areas around the county. It also told the story of how the museum started and gave information about the 2 men (Fred Walden and Peter Eisenbach) that donated approximately 6,000 artifacts each when the museum began in 1978.

The customer interaction at the museum is what particularly enjoyed about my time at the museum. I loved hearing about where people were coming from and what they thought of the history of our area, especially if they didn't know anything about Lambton County before coming to Lambton Heritage Museum. The museum is always trying to update the facility and improve their interpretations and exhibits. A task I was completing this summer was re-labeling the entire permanent exhibit, The interpretation labels will soon be put up and they will specifically tell the guests where in the county that specific artifact originates.

 If you are ever in the area to check out the Museum I do recommend it. There is a lot of information and history in this specific museum. If you are from Lambton County and are reading this, you can always go to your local Lambton County Library Branch and obtain a "Free Pass" you check it out just like a book and you have the chance to check out the museum free of charge. This also works for the partner museum located in Oil Springs "Oil Museum of Canada". The Oil Museum of Canada is part of the County of Lambton family which gives you that perk. It is very informative of the 1858 Oil History in North America - The first Commercial Oil Well in North America specifically and details the Oil Industry locally. If you do not have a chance to see these museums in person, be sure to check out their websites as they also have virtual exhibits with a lot of information as well as different exhibits you can not find in the museums.

I am very happy with what I have gained in knowledge this past summer working at Lambton Heritage Museum. I feel like I got to use my tourism knowledge as well as my customer service skills to give the guests a great experience.

Thanks for reading...Don't forget to hit that follow button or add your email address to get updates on when a new post is posted.

Back to School...

This photo is from First Year (2016). It is the Kemijoki River. It showcases fall quite well with the coloured trees.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Hello Readers,

I am currently back in Rovaniemi Finland, about to embark in my HOPEFULLY last year of studies. I am trying to take my 4th year classes as well as some 3rd year classes to finish my time here. I am trying to expedite the process because this past summer my sister got ENGAGED. I am so happy for her and I need to get things going here so that I am 100% available for her planning needs.

I have been back to Rovaniemi for a couple of weeks, I had jet-lag very bad this time. I had a hard time adjusting to the time difference, it took me about a week to get sleeping at the right time of day. I was excited to start some new classes and to gain more experience in destination planning. I think it was because of the KLM flight. I had never flown with KLM before this time, I few from Toronto to Amsterdam, and then Amsterdam to Helsinki, finally Helsinki to Rovaniemi. The past 2 years, I flew with my parents and I didn't come directly to my destination, I did sightseeing instead and I think this helped the jet-lag because I kept busy and could sleep more on the flights (I wasn't worried about flying with my parents, but when traveling alone it can be stressful).

This is me at the Con. It was held in the same
building as the Moomin Museum in
Tampere. Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

The first weekend here, I made plans to go to my friend Alex's house to see her family for one day, then travel to the south of Finland to Tampere for an Anime Con - Tracon. I am not particularly interested in Manga, Anime, Cosplay, or anything of the sort, I just wanted to go for the socialization and to say that I have been before. The day was exhausting, there were tons of people and we did a lot of walking, not to mention we took the bus so early in the morning that it wasn't even open yet, and then we booked a late train in case we wanted more time at the Con. This trip also got me out of the apartment before school started and allowed me to overcome my jet-lag. I also love visiting with Alex's parents. They do not speak the best English (though I am sure they understand way more then they let on) but she is like our personal translation speaker. I have learned a lot about Finland and customs from them, as they have asked me a ton of questions about Canada, to the point where they are excited to one day embark on a vacation to our vast country.

If i can not take the 4th year courses, it will be a little frustrating but out of my control because there are only a limited number of spots for students in the course, and the DPT 15 (year before me) have priority over the course. If this happens and I can not take the course, it means I will have to come back next fall to take these 2 courses, therefore making my sisters job more stressful in planning her wedding and potentially she will have to choose another date then what she originally wants.

Over the summer I said there would be more posts but it got very hectic at my summer job and the summer flew by too quickly. I have a few posts written as drafts however, the photos I need are in Canada. Maybe I can get them over Christmas and get these posts done in Spring.

Stay tuned for more Arctic Adventures....
Bye for now.