hfXplore introduces students to Halifax's gems

It’s par for the course that the orientation week experience will include some tiring days, but many of Dal’s first-year students were surprisingly keen to make the most of their early mornings, too.

At 9:30 AM last Tuesday, September 6, the Sexton Gym was flooded with first-year attendees of ‘hfXplore’ – a new orientation week event which allowed students to discover some of Halifax’s hidden local gems while accompanied by seasoned (Haligonian) leaders.

I tagged along with a group of first year students, many of whom had come a long way to poke around Halifax’s nooks and crannies: from across the country, the States, and (in one case) Zimbabwe. Even before hfXplore kicked off the morning, there was plenty of early enthusiasm regarding the little municipality that could.

Where the cool people come to

“The houses here are really cute,” said first-year student Kelsey, from Montana. “Everything’s really compact.”

Fellow student and hfXplorer Kelly, from Ottawa, agrees. “I thought it was so quaint and pretty,” she said of the local scenery. “Every house is different from the next.”

Here’s how one orientation week leader summed up the adventure: “This event is designed to expose you guys to the total diversity of our city… there’s something about this city that draws the coolest people in the world...this seems to be where the cool people from Toronto come to meet.”

Organized chaos ensued after the event’s introduction, as two dozen or so groups of first years departed en masse to explore their corner of the city.

Where the monkeys are wooden

The first location our group visited was the Wooden Monkey restaurant (organic, local and cooler-than-cool). On the way, group leaders pointed out local landmarks like the ultra-hip Black Market and the infamous Pizza Corner.

At the Wooden Monkey, owner Lil MacPherson waxed jubilantly idealistic to her Dalhousie guests.

“I waitressed for 25 years. Very proud to say that,” she said, relating the tale of her eatery’s origins, best summed up as a sort of gastronomical Cinderella story. When she decided to open a restaurant, “people thought I was crazy. I had no money, none…but my fear and my love…just drove me.”

Of the feat of opening the restaurant herself, Ms. MacPherson said, “It was the easiest hardest thing I’ve ever done” – maybe not far divorced from the emotions of first-year students experiencing total freedom after travelling hundreds (or thousands) of miles from home. Ms. MacPherson continually emphasized the impact and influence she believed those students would have on food politics: “The whole world has to shift, and you guys are right there. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.”

For some students, the forward-thinking Wooden Monkey represents a culinary trend that has only brushed their hometowns. “In Ottawa,” said Kelly, “We have a few places downtown that are very green, but they’re very small and hard to get to.”

For others, Ms. MacPherson’s passionate interest in local and organic foods was a welcome reminder of home. Another student, Rachel, said that the mindful food trend is “all over the place” in her hometown, Vancouver. “It’s nice to see things like that in Halifax.”

Where history lives on

Our group’s next stop was Citadel Hill, Parks Canada’s second most visited national treasure. A tour guide told us that the fort on top of the hill was built to defend against the Americans, but in fact never saw a battle or an “angry shot” (although many POWs were held within its confines, including such noteworthies as Trotsky).

Students marched through the front gate, encountering guards in kilts and the sound of bagpipes, as our guide related choice tidbits of Halifax trivia: he informed us that George Washington wanted to attack Halifax but expressed trepidation at the thought of the Citadel’s lethal defenses, that the Hindenburg “accidentally” drifted over the Citadel during World War II, and that the Commons – now the site of a playground and a skate park – were originally built as a sort of disguised battlefield. The tour is quick, wrapping up in plenty of time for students to escape being deafened by the daily noontime cannon.

First-year student Kuda from Zimbabwe found the Citadel “beautiful”, telling me that her hometown has plenty of historic sites, but not many military ones: “We never got attacked that much.”

“I’ve never been here,” group leader Jess admitted, but shared that, "It was awesome.” As they leave, many students are already expressing interest in going on the Citadel’s lantern-lit ghost tour.

At this rate, they may manage to keep their fondness for the city even when winter rolls around.