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beboots-Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Okay, so I just had the most awesome training session ever, you guys.
First of all, I'd like to explain a few things. I haven't been posting for a while, you see. I've begun training at Fort Edmonton Historical Park (http://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/pages/FortEdmonton/default.aspx). I'll be working in the 1920s Midway/carnival type thing.
I'm certified to run carousels, you guys! :D So anyone who lives in the Edmonton area, please come and visit me and ride the carousel. It's beautiful and hand carved and stuff. You'd have to pay (it's like 2$), but I'll give you a super happy funtime carousel tour! :D
But that's not what I wanted to post about. l just had the most awesome training session EVAR. No competition. In the morning, we went over health and safety regulations (like the mornings on previous days - what to do in case of aggressive and angry guests, what to do in the event of fire, etc.,etc.). In the afternoon, we sat down to another boring session - or so we thought.
It began innocuously enough. THE Kevin Spaance (he's always known as THE Kevin Spaance), who's kind of the head supervisor at the park, began by saying that "The City of Edmonton has identified two new health and safety threats" - the first one was Swine Flu, and he detailed the City of Edmonton protocols, for how they're going to protect us, etc.
(Apparently, because we work for the city in a tourist-dense area, we are first in line for vaccinations, when one comes out! Cool! :D )
Then, we got to the second threat: Zombie invasion. Yes. The protocols were very similar to that of Swine Flu, except that the city was "pursuing a policy of every man for himself."
Then, we played a game. Essentially, we all got in groups of five, according to a coloured card. Our team was Blue - we called ourselves Blue Monday. The other teams were like, Green Arrow and Red Fire and stuff. We all got a strip of black garbadge bag to tie to our belts (or string). We had to run around the streets of this historical park, trying to find theh site supervisors and answer questions (about stuff we'd learned in training, or historical points) for points... while avoiding zombies. We were considered "infected" if a zombie stole our strip of garbadge bag.
After the first half hour (and after "Patient Zero" infected like half a dozen people, and they all infected half a dozen people...) the zombies were no longer "zoombies" and couldn't run any more. But we humans could. My group managed to stay intact until about forty-five minutes in, then the eldest of us (a 50 year old) fell to the undead hoard.
I was the only other one who got caught in my group - like five minutes before the final whistle. I think that I twisted my ankle, so I was limping around for like half an hour, so many zombies avoided me, thinking me one of their own - many were affecting limps anyway, and were groaning. A few realized that I was still "human" (I still had my garbadge bag pieces), but several (all men, women still being vicious) were like "oh, you're actually hurt" and chased the men on my team.
P.S.: it wasn't just tag. We could defend ourselves. We had rolled up socks (some guys used "sock wips") - if you hit a zombie in the chest with one, they had to stop where they were and sing "God Save the King/Queen" (depending on which street and thus era they were on), our old national anthem. They couldn't move until they'd finished singing, so we had time to escape.
I ended up getting caught in the Fort. I hadn't heard that the Clerk's Quarters were zombie territory - zombies couldn't enter Fort buildings... except this one. So I jumped from one (safe) building to that one that held the zombie hoard... and got caught, not realizing that they weren't human anymore. The whistle rang like five minutes later. D:
Plus, it was raining/sleeting for half of this "training exercise". But it was still amazingly fun.
I think that the point of it was to build teamwork, to test our knowledge, and to work on emergency procedures. But those are just excuses. :)
.Man, I love Fort Edmonton. I'm so happy to be working there this summer.
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 11:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 11:32 pm (UTC)... SO will you apply to work at Fort Edmonton next year, perhaps...? :D
no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 12:43 am (UTC)We could defend ourselves. We had rolled up socks
What, no chainsaw? :P
they had to stop where they were and sing "God Save the King/Queen"
The full version or the one minute version?
(The full version of our national anthem would take about half an hour to sing. Nobody ever learns it unless they're history enthusiasts... it's terribly long and the lyrics are awfully bloody. The "short" version is so long that they only ever play the introduction in the World Cups and any other kind of international competitions, and that alone is longer that many national anthems. :P)
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Date: 2009-05-13 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 01:05 am (UTC)THAT SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH FUN!!!!
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Date: 2009-05-13 02:24 am (UTC)Dude, even out of training, that sounds like one of THE best outdoor activities ever!
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Date: 2009-05-13 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 05:18 pm (UTC)(Commenting from Stockholm! Glee! :D Also, guess what I happened to find? Hans majestäts drake - His Majesty's Dragon, in Swedish! :DD)
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Date: 2009-05-14 04:07 am (UTC)... this means that I'll have to give you an extra-big hug when you get back. Seriously.
And you should buy a copy of that book. :3 It would be epic. You must show it to me and read me a passage from it when you get back. And I shall serve you tea and muffins and maybe cookies. And give you a hug.
Anyway. Enjoy Europe! :D Take lots of photographs! (I expect a slideshow upon your return). And practice your Swedish!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-16 01:08 pm (UTC)*huggles*
I did buy it. :D I figure - I already know the story, so I can more or less follow along with all the words that I don't understand. And given the fact that I've only studied one year of Swedish, I'm expecting it to be most of them. XD Temeraiare! ♥
Thank you! :D I'm hoping to have a chance to upload some pictures while I'm here, so I won't have it all to do when I get back. I got a lot of pretty Stockholm pictures. (Not so many Finland ones so far, but we only had one day in Helsinki, and I've got a few more one my way back, so I'll get them then.)
PS: You might want to update your LJ profile. I'm pretty sure you're not in grade twelve anymore. XDDD
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Date: 2009-05-18 02:14 pm (UTC)Anyway... Yay, photos! :D I shall comment soon enough - have you posted them yet? I haven't checked my e-mail all weekend...
And when do your classes start? Today?
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Date: 2009-05-18 02:43 pm (UTC)I don't know when I'll be posting them... I think I'll just upload then all to Flickr and post a link, or something like that.
I just had my first class today. :D It was very interesting, but the walk from the student apartments to campus is long - at least half an hour, depending on how fast you're walking. XD
no subject
Date: 2009-05-19 04:19 am (UTC)Also, I have uploaded photos. Here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=256961&id=839240415&l=58bdacc3d4
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-19 02:38 pm (UTC)