I woke up in the morning to go to work, pack my stuff, and get ready for the day in general. I realized that we were going to drive through a time change today, so I preemptively set my electronics one hour behind in order to get used to it and not wake up late for work the next morning. Hohyun slept in and probably would’ve honestly kept sleeping if I hadn’t woken him up when it was getting close to check out time. I had to go downstairs and request a late check out in order for him to have enough time to get ready and pack. We left Jasper as soon as I was done work but decided to drive around the main town to see it before going.

We then headed towards the mountains since I wanted to make it into Kamloops before dark. The drive was supposed to be close to 5 hours, so we wanted to be on our way. Not long after we left, we saw the “Welcome to BC” sign and out of the ones I’ve seen on this trip, I thought that this one was the prettiest.

I just assumed that the time zone change would happen at the border and was surprised to see a “time zone” change sign a bit later on in the drive. We took some pictures and continued driving.

As we kept going, I noticed that the mountains became less “rocky” and more “tree-y”. We stopped at an A&W to get some food since we hadn’t really eaten that day and kept going. We wanted to get to Kamloops soon, so Hohyun sped a bit and got pulled over by the RCMP, who gave him his first-ever speeding ticket. Thankfully, the cop let him off with only a fine and no demerit points. After looking at his ticket, he realized that he would get $25 off his fine if he paid the ticket within the first month of issuance, which I found really interesting. We switched seats and I drove the rest of the way to Kamloops. This was also the first time I had driven my own car on this road trip.

A few days ago, we heard on the news about the discovery of the 215 indigenous children from the Kamloops residential school. Since we were going into Kamloops, I knew that I had to take the opportunity and see the school for myself. I had no interest in seeing anything else and even made sure to drive us there before we checked into the hotel. I had no idea what to expect.

The school was located a bit off the main road, which I had to drive into. The parking lot for the school wasn’t clearly marked, so I followed a few cars in who seemed to be going the same way. We parked in front of the gate right next to a field. Hohyun didn’t want to get out of the car, so I went by myself. I immediately noticed all the shoes and toys that were laid on the hill, and the number of them was honestly really haunting. As I was walking towards the main door, I also noticed that everyone was wearing orange (to show support), and I immediately felt bad since I didn’t have any orange. I got to the front of the school and noticed a sign explaining the history of the school. In front of the main doors, there was a memorial with flowers and toys, and I instantly felt bad that I didn’t have any toys to leave behind. I saw a group of indigenous people in traditional clothing setting up musical instruments next to a van with a large canoe on top. I found someone that looked like they knew what they were doing and asked them what was going on, and found out that there was going to be a wake for the indigenous children later that night. It started at 7, so I immediately left so we could go check-in and for me to change into more appropriate clothing and not be late.

The hotel that we were staying at (Pacific Inn and Suites) was 10 minutes from the residential school. We checked in, then moved our stuff upstairs. Hohyun was getting hungry and wanted to order dinner, so we went downstairs to the Chinese restaurant (Moon Wok Chinese Restaurant) and ordered. It was really refreshing to get to eat Chinese food again. I went upstairs and changed into my salmon-coloured zip-up hoodie (the closest thing I had to orange) then left. Hohyun was tired and didn’t want to go, so he picked up the food and ate while I was gone.

There was a bit of a line waiting to turn into the residential school, and I waited 10 minutes before it was my turn (probably the longest I’ve ever waited for a right turn). The wake was really well organized, and there were people throughout directing parking and giving information. I eventually found parking and started walking towards the main event when I noticed this school bus.

I kept walking and noticed a man walking alone that seemed to look like he knew what was going on. I started talking to him, and he told me that he was of a First Nations background and that he was a cowboy. He told me that his family was pretty badly impacted by the residential schools. His mom used to go to this residential school, and thankfully was able to escape but refuses to talk about her time there to this day. His father went to another residential school and escaped on horseback when he was around 12. He told me that the bodies buried behind the school were old rumours that were now proven to be true. People in the community knew (through word of mouth), but now there was finally physical proof. There were stories of bodies also being thrown into the Thompson River right behind the school. The “teachers” at the school would also rape the teenage girls and there were also little jail cells in the basement too. He and his buddy used to be the night janitors at the residential school, and while cleaning, they both swore they heard screams even though they were the only two there. Hearing a story like this really made me feel grateful for what I have and recognize my privilege since I never had to go through anything like that while growing up. There were a bunch of people seated in groups in front of the van I had seen earlier, and the man told me that the local Indigenous community was going to do some traditional Indigenous performances/chants usually done at wakes.

I went to go sit down somewhere and realized that they were doing some sort of traditional dancing. At one point, the MC of the event invited the audience to come to participate in their traditional dance. It was generally done by the boys of the community, and the last one standing would be considered the “manliest”. I ran up to the stage and started dancing just like the boys. I ended up dancing with a Ukrainian woman (the only other person from the audience) who also had never experienced anything like this. Both of us were dancing, trying to last as long as possible, but she got eliminated first. I danced for about 10 minutes nonstop before I got eliminated.

Eventually, I left the main part of the wake and said goodbye to the man I had talked to earlier. On my way out to the parking lot, there were a group of Indigenous people in traditional clothing chanting in their language. I stayed for a bit to watch, then left since I was getting really hungry.

Hohyun called me asking where I was right as I was leaving since I had been gone for a pretty long time. I told him what I saw as I was driving back, then showered, ate, and watched a bit of Netflix. I was pretty tired after the long day and slept right after. Since I was in British Columbia now, my days would have to start at 6am so I needed the rest.