War and Peace

  Next week we will observe Remembrance Day and I always like my class to learn a bit about why we observe this day.  The closest I think I have actually felt to war was on September 11, 2001 when there were terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.  In North America we have been very lucky and this was the closest terror had come in my life time to me even though it was still far away.  It was such a sad day and many lives were lost.  That day has had many effects.  It is one reason we have so much security now when we fly. I am including a video link for you here.
   Four years ago I went to London on July 7, 2005.  I took a train from the airport to Paddington Station and then I was going to take the subway to Waterloo Station where I was leaving to go to France the next day.  When I got to the Bakerloo line the trains had stopped.  Later I found out that there were several trains and a bus that were bombed.  If I had been just a few minutes earlier I could have been a bomb victim as the next station to Paddington going to Waterloo was bombed probably just as I walked into Paddington.
  It was one of the strangest days of my life as we really didn't know what was going on.  I understood a bit  how people in New York must have felt on September 11.  People in London were amazing partly because they are more used to terrorist bombings (though not to that extent of that day) as well as having been directly affected by bombing in the Second World War.  Again I felt how lucky we are in Canada.
  But many of you have parents who have experienced war and have come to Canada seeking peace.  I think it's very important that we learn and think about war and peace. Check out the link for Remembrance Day for some good ideas of what we can do.  Another great link on Peace is this one.