The Difference between The Winter Olympic Games and The Arctic Winter Games

Both the Arctic Winter Games ( AWG) and the Winter Olympic Games are important and international events for sports. But there are many differences between them.


First, where the participants come from is different. The Winter Olympic Games is for athletes from all over the world, while the AWG is for the northern and arctic athletes. So fewer countries participate in the AWG than in the Winter Olympic Games.


Second, the competitions are different. The AWG celebrates not only sports, but also social exchange and culture. The Winter Olympic Games feature winter sports held on snows or ice such as figure skating, cross-country skiing, bobsledding and ice hockey.


Finally, the frequency of the games is different. The AWG is held every two years, while the Winter Olympic Games happen every four years.


Although the two sport games have some differences, their main goals are to develop the sprit of sport all over the world.

An interesting field trip

Although the weather was very cold and we didn't have tickets to the ROM on Friday, we changed our plan to visit the Gardiner Museum and Bata Shoe Museum.


The Gardiner Museum is located across from the ROM. It was founded in 1984, and the collection was donated by George and Helen Gardiner. Today, the collection in the Gardiner Museum exceeds 3,000 historical and contemporary pieces, including ancient American vessels and porcelain of Asia and Europe.


We visited the Chinese porcelain exhibition, where the ceramics date to the Tang, Ming, and Qing Dynasty. According to the caption, the cobalt pigment was from Iran .



We also appreciated some western porcelain that was imitated Chinese porcelain. It was very fun!


After we had a break at Tim Hortons, we went to the Bata Shoe Museum. It is a special museum. It has collected 12,500 artifacts: African sandals, Chinese traditional shoes, western fashion shoes and so on, and it tells us the evolution of footwear and its symbolism through the ages.


We didn't have much time to appreciate each shoe in detail, including its time, its outstanding designs, its culture, its materials and its unusual shoemaking skills.


While some museums can help us to understand one country or one area's culture, special museums for ceramic art and shoe museum can help us to learn ceramic and footwear history and development. We can keep going back to learn more.

Friday's Field Trip: Royal Ontario Museum

This Friday we will be going on a field trip to the Royal Ontario Museum. We will be leaving at 9:30AM from the South-bound Platform of Sheppard-Yonge Subway Station.

Please arrive at the platform a little earlier, by 9:25AM. We will get off at Bay Subway Station and walk over to the museum.

Bring some snacks, water, camera, warm clothing, and good walking shoes.


Plan B: If we don't get our promised ROM tickets by 9:30AM on Friday, we could visit other museums for free.