A SURPRISING EXPERIENCE

Today, I would like to talk about one of my experiences. I have a vivid memory of it because it happened not long after I came to Canada. It was the first thing that surprised me in Canada. It was interesting.
Last August I was living in Charlottetown, the capital of PEI, and was studying in an English school for newcomers. It is similar to LINC schools in Toronto. Charlottetown is a very small city, and there is no TTC there as in Toronto. If we wanted to go somewhere by bus, we had to wait for one or two hours. There was no car park in the school. So the students living far from school had to drive to school and had to park in different spots for free parking every day.

One day after school, I received a call from my friend. We were studying in the same school and had landed in Canada on the same day. She said anxiously, "Lily, something is wrong! I can't find out my car." Oh, my God! She couldn't find her car.

To be honest, I had had a similar experience. Once, I parked my car behind a building. But I didn't notice the sign on the wall. It said something like "authorized parking only". When I came back, I couldn't find my car. It had been towed. I spent $80 on a fine to get it back. I thought her case was the same as mine. It was urgent. I asked her where she had parked and went there in a hurry. When I arrived, I found my friend standing there helplessly. She was upset. I looked around. The car park was beside a printing centre. And there was no sign on the wall or in the car park. So I had no idea what happened. We decided to go into the building to ask for help. The receptionist was very nice and asked the security guards if they knew anything about the car. Nobody knew. The receptionist went out with us and had a look around. He also didn't know what happened. Finally, he said we could call 911 in this situation. We were worried that we couldn't describe it clearly on the phone, so we asked the receptionist to called for us. The police asked for some information about the car. It was a new red Dodge car. My friend also told them the car's model and plate number. Just a few minutes later, the policeman told us the car was about 100 metres away from the car park. It was in next block. Really? We couldn't believe it and looked at each other. But we had to go see. After we arrived there, my friend laughed and said, "Sorry, Lily. I forgot that I haid parked the car here this morning!" I laughed too.

But it was so surprising. How could the police find out where the car was so quickly? On my way home, I tried to think of the answer. Maybe there was something in the car, and the policeman used the satellite positioning system to find the car. It was just my guess. Anyway, it was lucky that my friend didn't lose her car.

          

Federal Bridge

holiday parade