Apparently writing on route is what I do best. I am currently on the train going from London to Chatham, for my last couple days at home before England!
My past couple weeks-ish in review:
I made a surprise arrival in a morning East Thought class to see some Artscis at Mac after having about 3 hours of sleep at home post-Montreal. Thankfully, I didn’t have to pay attention in the class, and it actually turned out to be Movie Day in the class! The rest of the day was full of visiting, mostly with Artscis. I met my grandsib, and went out with my Sib family! For those who are unfamiliar with this concept, it’s a kind of “big brother/sister” program in Artsci, where you are matched up with an incoming first year to mentor them, edit papers for them, and bake with them! It was amazing seeing my little sib, Katherine, and grandsib, Marta. I think most of Hamilton knows that we met up, since together we make the Energizer Bunny look depressed.
The day had some impromptu decisions, like meeting a fellow Woodstocker that I knew from first year, and joining him and his friend for a tour of the nuclear reactor! We learned about its uses at Mac, and killed some time before I was supposed to meet someone new. It was a crazy-fun part of the day, and added a great extra element to the day! To complete the Thursday I went to the Artsci General meeting, Andrew Prine’s birthday, and clubbing at a new (for me) place downtown. Friday was more laid back, but still quite a whirlwind, ending with a trip back to Toronto for yet another night out – this time with Jessica!
Returning to Toronto meant another tiring but fulfilling weekend at my workplaces. The week then led to figuring out some last details for exchange, visiting friends, and hanging with Jess. In my latest Adventures at York, a friend and I made some deliciously hilarious cookies (note for the future: use enough flour!) and invented what are now called “Cookie Cakes”. The recipe will never be released, so if you want one, you’ll have to ask me to make you some. ;)
One of the best times of my last week in Toronto was Alanna Cartier’s “Superhero Party:, which featured such classics as Wonder Woman and Wolverine (our hosts), Rainbow Bright, Super Grover, and some Japanese anime character that was Johnny wearing socks with flip flops and pants from Thailand. Jessica had given me the inspiration to create a Soup’r Salad costume, which was a lot of fun, and provided us with a giant bowl of chicken noodle soup for the party!
A final weekend at work was all that was left. Promotional work Saturday started later than usual, my last night at the club was a blast, and then Sunday back at my promo job was incredibly efficient, to say the least. I continued with a packed schedule for Monday, going out for lunch, coffee, dinner, and breakfast (in that order), but finally connecting with some important people – my cousin Oz in particular.
After packing and having yet another night of little sleep (sorry, Mom!) I left for London. I saw a lot of people and missed seeing just about as many, but had a great time! Katie O and Rob were great hosts, and the incredibly dead Tuesday in London ended up being quite fun anyway!!
Now it’s time for home – hopefully a bit of rest, but a bit of visiting as well. Sleep is for planes, and that time is coming up soon enough!
To answer the question that has been asked quite a few times now: Yes, I am VERY excited for England, but I’m more than happy to be excited for the moment now! Excited to see my family and Chatham friends, and then when that’s over I’ll be unbelievably pumped for LanU!
Still smiling,
-V
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
An Extra Month of Summer
So, what happened when I got back from the Great not-so-white North? Well, there was a weekend of debrief, where all counsellors from the Fronteir College summer camps came back together at the Lakehead campus. It seemed strange, as if we hadn’t left yet, and we were just back in training, but now had a summer of wonderful experiences behind us. The highlights of the weekend included running into a camper from Kingfisher while we were in the Sioux Lookout airport, and walking to a movie theatre to see Dark Knight – a month after it came out! It was wonderful.
I returned home to Chatham for a few days, doing everything that you do in Chatham – seeing friends, going to the Nest on Wednesday, River Rock Friday, watching movies and visiting with my parents and grandparents. It was great to be home for a while, although the time was short.
Labour Day weekend arrived and I was off for Toronto. Having secured a promotional job for the Saturday and Sunday, I had to leave Chatham a day earlier than expected, but thankfully Jessica was ready for me! I moved into Toronto, where there was a pull out couch and an empty set of drawers waiting for me. The change from being in Webequie one Friday to Toronto the next was strange to say the least – Northern lights versus city lights, but both with their shares of friendly faces and people on welfare. Toronto brought me back into my whirlwind of fun – working 10:30am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday, but with my 10:30pm-5am stint at Guvernment tossed in the middle of that. Thankfully I’m not working during the week anymore, and Jess is around to convince me to keep my sleeping patterns regular throughout the week. The weekdays off allowed me to visit some friends in Toronto, go to the Beaches and Toronto Islands, and get my details sorted out for exchange, which is coming up quickly!
The past three days I’ve spent in Montreal. I’d never been before, so when the offer came up to visit friends, I jumped at the chance. I figure that if this is my year of exploration,I shouldn’t limit it to exploration outside my own country! Coach Canada’s amazing deals for Toronto-Montreal travel really aided my decision. Check out the deals! I’m not even being paid to promote them – it’s just that good of a deal! If you’re one of the first to book it only costs $10 each way, and even if you’re later than that it’s no more than $55 each way!! Montreal was beautiful – everything I’d heard about it being “so European” and actually having character turned out to be true. I had cheap tacos and beer, great smoked meat at Schwartz’s, explored an amazing park on Parc, and decided that McGill is by far my favourite campus I’ve seen yet. After baking cookies late into the night last night, today I went to Chinatown (where Fromstein impressed me with his Mandarin) and old Montreal for more exploration, met up with one of my longest friends, Amy, and then jumped on the bus back to Toronto!
Next stop on my trip is a night in the Hammer – I’ve got a lot of visiting to do in a short amount of time, and no cell phone to aid in the process, but I’m sure it will all work out somehow. Now it’s time to try sleeping a bit more on the bus. I’ll be arriving in Toronto at 3am and have plans to be in Hamilton in time to show up in a 9:30am Eastern Thought class, so sleep is likely an important stage in this journey.
Keep Smiling!
–V.
I returned home to Chatham for a few days, doing everything that you do in Chatham – seeing friends, going to the Nest on Wednesday, River Rock Friday, watching movies and visiting with my parents and grandparents. It was great to be home for a while, although the time was short.
Labour Day weekend arrived and I was off for Toronto. Having secured a promotional job for the Saturday and Sunday, I had to leave Chatham a day earlier than expected, but thankfully Jessica was ready for me! I moved into Toronto, where there was a pull out couch and an empty set of drawers waiting for me. The change from being in Webequie one Friday to Toronto the next was strange to say the least – Northern lights versus city lights, but both with their shares of friendly faces and people on welfare. Toronto brought me back into my whirlwind of fun – working 10:30am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday, but with my 10:30pm-5am stint at Guvernment tossed in the middle of that. Thankfully I’m not working during the week anymore, and Jess is around to convince me to keep my sleeping patterns regular throughout the week. The weekdays off allowed me to visit some friends in Toronto, go to the Beaches and Toronto Islands, and get my details sorted out for exchange, which is coming up quickly!
The past three days I’ve spent in Montreal. I’d never been before, so when the offer came up to visit friends, I jumped at the chance. I figure that if this is my year of exploration,I shouldn’t limit it to exploration outside my own country! Coach Canada’s amazing deals for Toronto-Montreal travel really aided my decision. Check out the deals! I’m not even being paid to promote them – it’s just that good of a deal! If you’re one of the first to book it only costs $10 each way, and even if you’re later than that it’s no more than $55 each way!! Montreal was beautiful – everything I’d heard about it being “so European” and actually having character turned out to be true. I had cheap tacos and beer, great smoked meat at Schwartz’s, explored an amazing park on Parc, and decided that McGill is by far my favourite campus I’ve seen yet. After baking cookies late into the night last night, today I went to Chinatown (where Fromstein impressed me with his Mandarin) and old Montreal for more exploration, met up with one of my longest friends, Amy, and then jumped on the bus back to Toronto!
Next stop on my trip is a night in the Hammer – I’ve got a lot of visiting to do in a short amount of time, and no cell phone to aid in the process, but I’m sure it will all work out somehow. Now it’s time to try sleeping a bit more on the bus. I’ll be arriving in Toronto at 3am and have plans to be in Hamilton in time to show up in a 9:30am Eastern Thought class, so sleep is likely an important stage in this journey.
Keep Smiling!
–V.
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