Wandering Observations

Halifax

2009-06-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

Dad and I were walking along the waterfront in Halifax this afternoon, and it was beautiful enough to take a picture of, so I guess I have something to blog!
And while I'm at it, here are some favourite photos of hummingbirds I took last time I was at Grammie's house. I have to say, you really need to have a lot of patience and a good chunk of free time to get a clear shot. Those buggers move fast!

Summer in Halifax is great. I finished one week of full-time teaching last week, but I'll be down to part time for the rest of June. I'll be happy to have a lighter workload of grading and lesson planning! Other than that, my big news to report is that I bought my Olympics tickets yesterday. The website was open at 2pm, and you were put into a virtual waiting room to be randomly selected to be able to buy tickets. I had to wait about an hour, but got on in time to get almost all the tickets I wanted. Of course, this was the second phase, so the cheap seats for the big events like the Opening Ceremonies and figure skating were long gone, and I couldn't bring myself to plunk down $500 to watch the Pairs short program. I ended up buying a ticket to the Victory Ceremony three nights; medals, flags, anthems and a concert! Plus I'll be going to three events; women's hockey (Canada vs Switzerland), women's halfpipe snowboarding finals, and doubles luge. I might try to get figure skating or speed skating tickets later on. I booked my hostel bed, so the whole thing won't be too expensive, and I planned it for the week of study/reading days at university, so the timing is perfect. I'm so excited, I love the Olympics more than anyone else I've ever met (well, Carole's a tie!)

Week in Ontario

2009-05-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since my last post, I know. Jill suggested that I blog, though, so here it is! My posts may be sporadic over the summer just because I'm in Nova Scotia now and the majority of my readers are probably hearing my news from me or via the family gossip line. Here are some pictures from my week in Ontario, including brunch with the family, days wandering the Art Gallery and the Royal Ontario Museum, and Niagara Falls with Louise.
The new skyline with that amazing cube building on the left.
Always my favourite section at the ROM (or any other museum), the fine jewelry.
A new favourite section: cultures from around the world, including this South African beaded doll.
Beautiful graffiti
The new look of a favourite mall in Thornhill, Promenade
Sitting in a giant chair at the Ripley's museum. Not quite sure what it was, but they said it was a photo opportunity so...
The Falls
As for my summer so far in Nova Scotia, it's been great! My latest news would be that I joined the gym so I can do my favourite fitness classes that I loved in Taiwan and Sydney. Also today I found out that my Hollywood in Halifax camp I was supposed to direct is officially cancelled. Thankfully I've had a few weeks to get used to the idea (we had only a few students register), and I think this will make for a better summer. I'm starting substitute teaching on Monday, full time for a week and then part time for all June (a writing class!) It will be nice getting the experience with university aged students and the pay is better than camp, with fewer hours and weekends free. I guess the only other news is that it is freezing in Halifax this weekend, around 8 degrees Celcius today. Brr.

Almost Finished

2009-04-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Only a weekend left in Edmonton! Thankfully I have a road trip to some national park called Elk Island (to see Elk, Bison, etc.) and a free K-Os concert to keep me occupied. I am so looking forward to my week in Toronto, especially seeing Michelle, Aunt Carole & Bill, playing tourist with Louise and spending all day wandering the ROM and AGO. Oh, and just travelling is good enough for me... put me on a plane! As for the flu pandemic, it's not on my mind at the moment, and I don't think I'll be wearing a mask on the plane. I am glad that I thought to buy that Nectarine Mint antibacterial hand gel when I was last at Bath and Body Works, though!

Anyway, these last few weeks have been pretty intense school-wise, including preparing for my very first presentation at an academic conference (well, we were co-presenters). It was the Alberta TESL mini-conference and my pronunciation instructor spoke about how to teach pronunciation and then each of the students in my class spoke for 5-10 minutes about some successful tasks we used in out tutoring sessions this semester. I think we all did a great job, and I was thankful that, as Carole pointed out, we were forced to get over our fear of public speaking at as teenagers. I felt anticipation but no nerves, and I trusted my memorization to remember what I was supposed to say. Anyway, this is our pronunciation class after the presentation, and also my closest friends in the TESL program:
Dr. Tracey Derwing, Miao, Me, Sabine, Amy, Bonnie & Jun

The nice thing about all the hard work this semester is that it paid off! And, since I don't think anyone from the UofA reads this, I think this is a safe place for one sentence of bragging? I got an A+ in Teaching Pronunciation and in my Education Research class, and an A- in my Statistics class! I was relieved with the stats grade (I didn't understand 90% of what the professor said) and really proud of the research grade because it was such a difficult class. Of course, grades really don't matter that much, but at least I'm leaving the opportunity open if I want to go for a doctorate ten years down the road.

Anyway, this week has been one giant to-do list. I've crossed almost everything off, including handwashing all my winter sweaters, going for a physical at the student health centre (I just walked in: convenient and free) and figuring out the Canadian tax system. I'm celebrating my first free "nothing-that-I-should-be-doing" afternoon by watching Funny Face.
If you haven't seen Funny Face in a while, I highly recommend renting it and singing along: it's such a cheerful movie. I was also considering Roman Holiday, but that always makes me melancholy at the end.

Last random thing to report: the opera. This week I went to see La Traviata by the Edmonton Opera Company. I splurged a bit and sat in the very front row, centre, about six inches to the left of the conductors head. It was worth it! I felt like I was the only person in the audience, I could see every expression and the voices were so much more intense than they are from the speakers in the second balcony. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the second balcony and obstructed view seats- I would never have been able to see all of the arts performances I've seen around the world if I had to pay full price! Next year they are putting on Rigoletto, Othello and the Pirates of Penzance, and I'll be back to the nosebleed section where starving students belong.

I was thinking I should put a clip of the opera on here, and this is one I stumbled upon. The song is an aria from La Traviata, but the Muppets make it more interesting!

Calgary Tower

2009-04-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Last set of overdue pictures from the weekend in Calgary. We had a gorgeous dinner in the revolving restaurant atop Calgary Tower. The longer days of spring meant that we arrived in sunlight at 8pm and watched it set before we left a few hours later.

The food was incredible too. When I saw that "Digby scallops" were on the menu, I had to order them. There was something very surreal about eating them in such glamorous surrounds compared to the "charm" of Digby, NS where they came from (that's where camp was last summer, and I have many fond memories of scallops by the Bay of Fundy). Yes, there are only three scallops on my plate... a reminder to eat slowly.
And crème brûlée for dessert! Obviously that's my friend Amy in the picture with me, she's one of the few students who started the program full-time in the fall with me.
The weekend passed quickly, but it was a great first introduction to Calgary.

More of Calgary

2009-04-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of the hotel. It might not seem like something worthy of it's own blog post, but you have to remember that I often sleep in a bunk bed in a shared room at a dingy youth hostel. The only hostel in Calgary was $30 a bed, so I ended up convincing Amy that if we put that $60 towards a real hotel room, it would be worth it. The Fairmont Palliser downtown had an amazing deal, and the location was perfect (that's the hotel and the Calgary tower in the picture above).
The lobby had a great marble-and-warm-lighting kind of atmosphere.
And the room was "cozy" with all the nice toiletries and cushy bathrobes.
I also loved the pool! (though I didn't take this picture)

2009-04-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

I really should be studying for finals, but it's more fun to put up pictures from my weekend trip to Calgary. Overall it was a nice weekend away with my friend Amy, and the highlights were the zoo, dinner at the revolving restaurant in the tower and staying at an elegant hotel downtown. Oh, and Denny's for breakfast, but that's just cause it brought back memories of childhood roadtrips in the States with my family!

Anyway, for today, some pictures from the zoo. I really enjoy zoos, and Calgary's was small enough to walk around in a couple of hours with a pretty good range of animals. If you've ever been to the zoo with me, you know I've developed a bit of a fixation with monkey exhibits in my adult life. Picture from Ebay where an unloved Gundy is selling for $115 USD!

Who knows why- Mom thought maybe it was because Carole and I had much loved identical stuffed monkeys named Gundy and Mindy (yes, Gundy comes from the brand name Gund, and Mindy rhymes with it). My orange Wrinkles slippers were named "pumpkin" and "pie", and due to an inability to reach a compromise, both Carole and I named our polar bears "Pola." Good thing we developed some creativity later in life!

Anyway, as for the real monkeys, four of the species had adorable babies born within the last three months. And, of course, I took pictures.
The one above is my favourite. A bit alien-looking but so cute when she ran around.
The spider monkey is above, and the one below was so tiny, the babies head seemed about the size of a quarter.
Of course, there were other animals too.

More to come tomorrow (that is, if I survive the statistics exam...)

Still here

2009-04-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive and in Edmonton. All I can think about is my schoolwork that has to be finished over the next few weeks and my trips to Toronto and Halifax for the summer. Especially now that spring has come to Alberta, it just makes me want to jump on a plane. But first I have to finish this beast of a research report. It was quite discouraging Wednesday when I realized I had written 20 pages and had only done the appendixes, references list and title page. If you're wondering why I start with the stuff people usually do last, it's because I like to get the "easy" stuff out of the way and have the satisfaction of crossing four things off my to-write list. For example, writing the "meat" today took the whole day for six pages. Yikes- it feels like wading through mud. I'm hoping that if I work non-stop tomorrow I can finish most of it so I can relax a bit on Easter Sunday. And then I have Monday for final proof-reading. I'm learning a lot- did I mention that? It's slow going because it actually requires thought (instead of just typing whatever comes into my head and relying on my writing ability to make it sound intelligent even if it isn't). I don't know if anyone would be interested, but here are the research hypotheses (which condensed, means I'm looking at ways that teaching and classroom management affect classes like Carole's where all the kids just talk in Turkish instead of listening or participating in English :)
Among Turkish Preparatory Year students in English language classes, the higher the quality of teaching that the teacher provides and the more collaborative the teacher’s approach to classroom management, the less the unsolicited use of the first language in the classroom. This effect will occur because the higher the quality of teaching the teacher provides and the more collaborative the teacher’s approach to classroom management, the greater the students’ perception of class robustness will be, and the greater the perception of robustness, the less the unsolicited use of the first language in the classroom. However this relationship between perception of class robustness and unsolicited use of the first language will be larger for students with high self-efficacy in the class than for students with low self-efficacy.

Last Week of Classes

2009-04-01T13:07:00.001-07:00

The semester is screeching to a close, and I am coming to terms with all of the work that I need to finish. I have all of April; one huge research report, three exams (one for pronunciation, easy as pie and two really difficult ones, statistics and research methods). Oh and a statistics problem set that I'm trudging through at the moment. I find the professors notes completely confusing, and it probably doesn't help that I have Shakespeare's As You Like It on DVD in the background.

I re-discovered the wonders of the public library last weekend. I had been just getting books from the university library, they had everything I needed for school, plus I could find the literary classics, slightly dated travel guides and even 1980's knitting pattern books. But when I went to the main branch of Edmonton public libraries downtown, I just wandered around drooling. There were so many books, magazines, audio books, CDs, DVDs that I would love to look at! How to choose between fiction, travel, crafts. I got too overwhelmed and put most of it off for another day. They also had an annual booksale in a basement parking lot. Library booksales are increidble, and you would not believe the number of tables (or the number of people!) Thankfully, I made a logical decision to limit myself, which also allowed me to finish looking in under two hours. After all, I have a very small bedroom, and no bookshelves.

This may sound weird, but my other big excitement last weekend was doing my Canadian tax return! This is the first year I've done my own Canadian tax return (I figure Dad's accountant needs a break), but it's not intimidating after having figured out tax returns in four other countries (one in Chinese). Plus, I found that one of the programs, ufile, is free for students, and it was a breeze! Amazing. Even if I had to pay, it would be well worth it. No extra forms to fill out about student credits or income from two provinces, it's all taken care of.

And my last bit of news, which may make some readers jealous (and hungry) is that I went to Red Lobster this week! I hadn't been since I lived in Ontario, and apparently they don't have them in the Maritimes (strange?) But it only took two bus rides and a short walk to find one in Edmonton! The salad tasted the same, the biscuits were divine, and the whole resturant had the same feel as the one we used to go to in Thornhill. I was really wanting to get scallops, but I eventually thought they might not be as good in land-locked Alberta in winter as they are fresh from the sea in Digby! I went for crab linguine instead. Here's a picture I found online to remind you...

Chuzzle

2009-03-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

You know you're not quite disciplined enough for graduate school when you find yourself playing Chuzzle instead of writing your pronunciation paper.

I Gave in to Etsy

2009-03-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a few months now that I've known about Etsy (thanks to Maureen mentioning it on her blog). Every so often I went on, spent hours drooling over handmade jewelry and made a wishlist. I always managed to talk myself out of purchasing though:
1. The exchange rate was really bad for a while
2. There were so many pieces I loved, I couldn't afford all of them, yet I couldn't pick a favourite
3. It might be easier just to buy something in a store
But today I gave in. Real stone earrings are way too expensive in stores in Edmonton, and the exchange rate has been improving. Plus these two pairs of earrings really jumped out at me. I had decided to sleep on it, and then I got dressed this morning and went to my jewelry trees. It turns out I needed something cheerful with some blue and red to brighten up my navy hoodie/coral tee combo. Sure enough, there was nothing that would work! So both the earrings are in the mail, I'll let you know when I get them if I'm still in love with Etsy.Look how cute!!!

Spring has sprung?

2009-03-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since my last post, but I've noticed the other sister/cousin/friends blogs are all lagging too, so maybe it's just that time of year. Anyway, that gives me lots to report!

Two weeks ago I went down to Banff to see Louise before she left for South America. It's always nice to get out of Edmonton, and I really like the relaxed atmosphere in Banff. Plus the Greyhound bus ride is always a nice six hours of staring at the scenery (five hours of flat and the last hour of mountains). The Greyhound in Alberta is a bit better than Chicago or Toronto, but it's still a surreal place. Every single time I ride on the bus I overhear someone talking about the criminal justice system or their previous misdeeds. While waiting for my connection in Calgary, the couple next to me spent an hour comparing their experiences in the jail system. It seems that women's prison is "way different" from men's prison, and that provincial jails are much cushier than federal prison. The things you learn...

Banff was great except that I was really, really sick most of the weekend. I rarely get sick and I can only think of two or three times that I have been that sick. Part of it was my fault, I wouldn't give up my chance to try snowboarding just for a sore throat and cough. Louise and I went up Sunshine where she's been working in a restaurant on the hill. We took a 15 minute gondola ride to get to the village and we went to her staff accommodations to get layered and geared up. One of her friends had extra snowboarding equipment I could use, so the only downside was that I didn't have snowpants. We started on the learning slope (you couldn't really call it a hill) and Louise patiently taught me the basics. I was pretty lucky to have such a great teacher, and I felt like I was picking it up pretty quickly. I didn't feel completely confident to go to a real hill, but Louise, as a friend, knew that it would be the only way to learn (it's much harder to snowboard on a slope than on a hill!) So, she decided that we would not be allowed to go inside for a warm lunch until I had gone down the real hill at least one time. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working, so the only documentation of my snowboarding experience is a dark snapshot on Louise's cellphone. These pictures will give you an idea, but it was overcast and snowy when I was there.Louise was most worried about the getting off the ski lift part at the top of the hill, but I aced that test (ie, did not fall over and force them to stop the ski lift so others didn't trip over me). Then came the hill, which seemed extremely steep, but I made it down without any big issues. Of course I fell over many times, but I mastered an efficient way to get back up (involving rolling onto your stomach, then standing up facing the top of the hill so you can get your balance before continuing). All in all, it was a very successful first time down. Most of it should be attributed to Louise's superior teaching skills, and a bit to my natural ability. I could see myself trying again some weekend, and really enjoying it. But, as it was, as soon as I got inside for lunch, all the snow started melting on my jeans and I got really chilled. And breathing cold air was really painful for my throat. So, back to Louise's place to change into dry clothes, then a hot beverage to drink on the gondola back down.The rest of the weekend I was a pretty lousy guest... I had a fever that night and then couldn't move much the next day (possibly fatigue from being sick, possibly from the snowboarding). Thankfully Louise took good care of me, and I advised while she packed for her trip. She's in the Galapagos Islands at the moment, and wandering around Ecuador and Peru for the next few weeks. I was thinking of going to join her after school's done, but I decided just to time my visit to Toronto so we'll be able to meet up when she returns and I can hear all the stories.

Yes, I am going back to Toronto for a visit from May 4-11. I'm very excited, and already planning out all the things I want to do and see. It's been 2 1/2 years since I was last back for a visit, and it wasn't very expensive just to buy a one-way flight from Edmonton and then another continuing onto Halifax. As for the summer, I'll be working with the same language school I worked with last year, although the girls from the UAE won't be coming back (sad). Instead, I'll be working with Hollywood in Halifax, which should be smaller and much less stress. Plus Carole has decided not to teach, but to do some studies at Dalhousie, so I think we'll be able to enjoy our time together more (she'll want to hear my stories, but we can also talk about things other than camp!)

Skating

2009-03-01T22:03:00.001-08:00

Finally I have some pictures to put up here. I think colours and tone really represent winter in Edmonton. I took the picture above because of the weird pink sky (it was only 2pm). I finally went to one of the big parks with a frozen lake/pond for an afternoon of ice skating. The lake was surprisingly large with two islands to skate around. It took about five minutes for a lap if I skated fast, 10 minutes for slow. It's been a very, very long time since I went skating on a pond, it definitely requires more energy, concentration and balance than rink skating.
I loved skating there and I'm going to try to go more often. It was so peaceful.
The only downside was that the bus didn't stop for me on the way home. And, since the bus route runs every hour, I would freeze if I sat waiting there for the next one. So instead I had to trek up the hill and walk home in the cold. I composed my letter of complaint to the Transit Commission in my head on the way.

More knitting

2009-02-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

I'm busy with school these days and Edmonton is cold. Nothing new, I guess. I wasn't sure if I should just do another knitting post, but I'm assuming a good majority of my readers (all 10 of you) are knitters so here goes. I was so inspired by Maureen's latest blog post that I'm about ready to run out and buy what I assume is some pretty pricey yarn. But aren't the colours gorgeous! Also Mom told me today that she's finally found a way to get paid for knitting. Granny's Garden hats are too cute for words. As for my latest project, I sent it to Carole in the mail. She has a mini computer that she lugs to and from school everyday, so I made it a cheerful cable knit cover. Cute, eh? I also sent her more IKEA stuffed mice for Charlie, and she's promised to put up a picture of him and his prize possessions. Supposedly he likes the white one best- she's done a scientific study.

High Praise

2009-02-20T16:20:00.001-08:00

I was waiting in the LRT metro station downtown yesterday reading my book. An "eccentric" old man walked by me and started talking loudly in a sing-song voice. I'm pretty good at ignoring such things (every single ride on public transportation in Chicago seemed to involve a similar encounter), and I couldn't really catch what he was saying. But I got the last word... lit-er-ary. I took it as a compliment!

Take a Break

2009-02-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

It's reading week! I can't even tell you how great it is to sleep in a bit, go to the gym, and relax with my morning coffee. Plus I'm catching up on my personal to-do list as well as trudging through the workload of my classes. Not much else to report, but here's a youtube video some of you might enjoy (at least everyone in my pronunciation class enjoyed it!)

Muffin-y Goodness

2009-02-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm surviving the cold, still enjoying most of my classes, and managing with the workload. I had my first really late night working until 3am on Thursday- 12 hours straight of reading pronunciation articles and writing pedagogical implications. I was really proud that I finished and it was fairly good quality. And, believe it or not, I didn't put it off until the last minute, I started two weeks ago, and had been working on it whenever I had a spare moment. But I have been engulfed with TA work (30 hours last week, 30 hours this week!) and my research class which has an incredible workload. Anyway, after the next few days of marking midterms, I have reading week (just in time). It corresponds with Alberta's "Family Day" Holiday, which was instituted to help depressed people through the miserableness of winter. I feel that! Anyway, as to the title of my blog post, I feel the need to proclaim my love of Tim Hortons' low fat cranberry muffins. I always scoffed at low fat muffins in the past (why bother if they taste like cardboard), but now that I've tried them, I can't go back. I always get a low fat cranberry muffin when I need something sweet and it's so much healthier than my previous favourite, the sour cream glazed donut. And, lest you think the cranberry would make it tart, the reason I love it is because it's so sweet and reminds me exactly of vanilla flavoured cakes from my easy bake oven in childhood (seriously!)

My pretend cat

2009-02-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

I am running out of mental and emotional space this week. I had assignments to grade for my TA job that took eight hours Friday and another eight hours Sunday. Plus all my schoolwork took all day Saturday, so I feel like I need a weekend after my weekend. Unfortunately I have a huge journal review due on Thursday night, and midterm grading next weekend (probably at least another 15 hours!) But the great news is that next week is a reading week so I'll be able to stop for air. Yesterday, after a particularly weary day in the world of academia (which, granted, is no where near as wearying as the real world or, even worse, the world of high school students that Carole is swimming through) I was spent. I went home after a nonsensical three hour statistics lecture to find a little brown paper package on the kitchen counter. With wonderful timing, So Young (college roommate from Korea) had sent me the sweetest gift. She knows me well, it was a small stuffed cat. He/she doesn't have a name yet, but it's lovely to pet for stress relief (not to the point where you'd doubt my mental stability, of course!) Submissions for names will be accepted in the blog comments. I wish, of course, that I could have a real cat; maybe one of these...

Necklace

2009-02-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I guess I should fill you in with part two of last weekend, but first... here is the amazing necklace that my Aunt Carole knit and sent to me! Actually, there were originally two necklaces with other types of beads included, but I loved the knit ones so much, I combined them all for a colourful and funky necklace. As Michelle warned me, though, they do get a bit scratchy after the first few hours of wearing! But they first time I wore it, the woman in the elevator couldn't stop complementing it! Do you like the picture? I think it looks like something on Etsy (not that I ever spend hours looking through jewelry on there or anything).

So the reason I had such a great weekend was that I had tickets, and I love tickets. Friday night I went to see Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal perform one of the most beautiful nights of modern dance I've seen in a long while. There were two pieces choreographed by an Edmontonian, Azure Barton, and I found (what I assume to be) Canadian characteristics of contemporary dance to be colourful, joyful and full of rhythm and musicality.

Saturday night I had tickets for a concert by Hannah Georgas and Jeremy Fisher. I had just been looking around for tickets for events on campus, and the concert came up. The tickets were only $15, so (although I'd never heard of either artist) I listened to some of the songs online, decided I would most likely enjoy both of their music styles, and decided to go. On a whim I mentioned it to my friend Amy, and she wanted to come, and then Jun overheard and she decided to come too! And it was much more fun going together because it was such a great concert, it was nice to have people to enjoy it with. It was small, and very independent-Canadian-artist-y which I loved. I feel like I'm just beginning to discover Canadian music. Any recommendations?

Despite the grimness of being a student in Edmonton in the winter, I am so happy to be living Canadian life again. There is a world of difference between living as a Canadian overseas and living as a Canadian in Canada. One reason I really wanted to come back to do my masters was to be a "real" Canadian again. And once in a while I stop and appreciate my lifestyle. I feel especially Canadian when I read Macleans (which I subscribed to in my quest for Canadianness). Or when I ride the bus and the bus driver is SO friendly to everyone. Or when I drink an extra large coffee at Tim Hortons on an almost daily basis (cause it's so cheap, I can afford it). The only thing I haven't gotten used to is the Edmontonian accent... it kind of scares me.

2009-01-31T23:38:00.000-08:00

It's been a great weekend, and pretty much as exciting as it gets for me here in Edmonton! Friday I had to go return some shoes at West Edmonton mall. I made the mistake of buying footwear online and it turned out to be an annoying headache trying to coordinate the delivery with UPS. I had stayed home all day Wednesday when they were supposed to be delivered, but the call never came. It turns out the driver had forgotten to read the buzz code I had printed on the label and just left without trying. Then they were supposed to come on Friday, I stayed home all day and left post-its in the lobby advising of my buzz code, etc. and the UPS guy didn't buzz up, but somehow got in and came up to my floor! If he knocked, I didn't hear it, I just found another infuriating little brown and yellow UPS note on my door. I stayed home all day Monday, though and they finally came (and the boots didn't fit).

So after returning my too-small boots, I went through every shoe store in the mall looking for another suitable pair (and, yes, it is called the biggest mall in the world). No luck. My problem was I wanted the comfort of Uggs without the overdone-teenage-trendiness of wearing Uggs (no offense to anyone who wears Uggs, but unique footwear is important to me). I really needed boots, so I ended up going to another mall the next morning for the perfect pair in my size. They look something like this:

Anyway, while at West Ed, I decided to walk up to Michaels. I had looked it up on google maps, and it was less than a centimetre! What a nightmare. Trudging through snow (have they heard of sidewalks?) and trying not to slip and break my back. What should have taken five minutes took about 20. I've been meaning to rant about the ice here in Edmonton. I cannot get over it. Walking to school is deathly, and I slip all the time. The sidewalks are pure ice! They sometimes put down little stones but it doesn't really help. I guess that's why I never see anyone over 50 walking outside- it's too dangerous. The roads too get caked with snow and frosted with ice (do you like the cake and frosting reference?) At the end of the walk to Micheals my shins, calves and entire legs were exhausted like I'd been ice skating for hours. Anyway, do you know where I'm going with this? I have been shocked and appalled by this and kept wondering if Albertans are too poor to afford salt or too lazy to put it down or what. Thankfully my roommate, also a displaced Toronto girl, explained that salt doesn't work here because it's too cold (if you're thinking I'm an idiot for not realizing myself, understand that I am the kind of person to be thankful things work the way they do and not ask too many questions).

Anyway, that's one of the reasons I moved out here... to learn about western Canada. I've also discovered it's too cold for maple trees so the fall colours are mostly just yellow. And they don't have rats in the underground train station. This puzzled me for a while, although, as I said, I don't like to ask too many questions, I'm just happy to be in such a rodent and insect free city (they also only have two kinds of birds, which is kind of freaky. I've only ever seen pigeons and black billed magpies:) Anyway, back to the rats. Do you know the story? Rats only ever made it to the border of Alberta in 1950! And Albertans didn't want rats so they set up a border patrol, still in operation today consisting of eight employees, 600 x 70 kilometres and a whole lot of rat poison. So there are really no rats in Edmonton.

Well, it's bedtime due to an important statistics midterm tomorrow night. Therefore you will just have to wait for the Friday night through Sunday portion of my weekend review.

Knit-a-thon

2009-01-29T07:58:00.000-08:00

I did quite a bit of knitting last weekend, which I do when I need to relax (it's so therapeutic). Plus it was cold outside and I really wanted a cozy hat and scarf. Mom asked for pictures, so here they are. Above is the scarf. Neat, eh? I didn't have a lot of yarn left, that's why I did the looser knit. It's knit two together, yarn over; but I'm not really sure if it's supposed to look like that? Maybe my idea of yarn over is different from accepted rules?
Here's the hat and scarf combo. I made the hat with earflaps after the last one I made (green) left me with freezing earlobes. I have Carole to thank for the incredibly warm, yet unflattering "blueberry bubble" coat.
And, to match my black coat, I made a purple combo. I had even less yarn left, so you may notice the scarf was crocheted with giant holes in it. It still works. This pic also shows the variegation of the yarn (the blue too, but it's hard to see)

It's been a while

2009-01-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

Well, at the request of Mom and Dad, I am going to get back into blogging. Life has fallen into a routine, I guess, and the mundane details hardly seem worthy of a post. But hey, it's something to read. Be forewarned, there may be an unreasonable amount of food-related posts.

To begin, I've returned to the yummy-ness of wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce. I know at least Louise, Carole and Jill can appreciate what I mean! I didn't know if I could replicate one of Australia's greatest snack foods, but McCain's spicy wedges, light sour cream and Thai sweet chili sauce work pretty well. If you've never tried it, I highly recommend you run to the grocery store right now.

Here's a visual aid: the real thing at the Easter Show in Sydney.

The Danish Elves

2009-01-06T21:06:00.001-08:00

In Sweden and Denmark, Carole and I admired so many of the Christmas decorations. Most of all there was a specific style of elf that reoccurred in ornaments and decor, a company called Maileg. I fell in love with a large advent calendar elf, but they cost about $120 CAD (which is hard to justify, even if I would use it every Christmas for decades to come). So imagine how excited I was when I found the same artisan elf that had been imported and was on Christmas clearance ($30) at an American online store! I was so excited I bought one for Carole for Christmas, too. And Carole had the great idea that our new tradition will be to buy 24 little gifts for each other and send them to each other in November to fill each other's advent elf.

I didn't expect the company to mail them with UPS, though, so I was waiting for them to arrive the slow way. Then yesterday I finally checked my voice messages, and UPS had called on Christmas Eve saying they couldn't deliver, but I could go pick it up. I was very worried they would send them back to the States, but they managed to stop them in the warehouse just in time. Tonight my flatmate Lillian was very generous to drive me to the UPS warehouse (I could never get there on the bus!) It turns out that they had tried to deliver it again and somehow delivered it with another package to a neighbor in my building! He even paid the GST. Then two days later he called back irate, but threatened not to return the package (the UPS woman said he was nasty). I guess they convinced him to let them pick it up again, and if that whole fiasco hadn't happened, I probably would have never gotten my elves. Better yet, I didn't have to pay the GST!

So here are my precious elves... yes, they are five feet tall; that's part of the charm. Each little pocket fits the gift for the 24 days before Christmas.

It's really, really cold

2009-01-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Edmonton and dealing with minus 30 degree weather (I don't remember it ever being this cold in Toronto, let alone the average daily temperature!) I'm really grateful I have a few days to adjust back to reality before starting classes on Monday. My vacation was perfect, especially the two weeks joining in on Carole's life in Tarsus. I wanted to put up some pictures on here, but don't worry, they are different from the ones I put up on Facebook!
I spent several days observing Carole's classes. It's always entertaining to mess with students' minds (eventually I was labeled "fake Miss Nickle" and Carole was "our Miss Nickle). The school is very nice, the lunch at the cafeteria was always delicious, and Carole even has a Smartboard! The only downside was the students... they have unbelievable behavior issues. I won't go into detail... you probably wouldn't believe it. I even observed a Turkish teacher's English class to make sure it wasn't just Carole's class, but it was much worse!
When I didn't go to class, I relaxed in Carole's gorgeous apartment with her perfect cat, Charlie. On Christmas morning we decided to dress him up as Saint Lucia for a photo op. Too cute.
Christmas morning we had a brunch with her friends then went to the Haman baths in the afternoon. It was such a memorable Christmas; relaxed and joyful. Christmas Eve was more formal with a potluck at the school director's apartment for all the foreign teachers. We got dressed up for fun and the food was amazing. One of the teachers, Birute, even made a boneless turkey (by removing the bones and carefully reshaping by filling it with stuffing before cooking).
As in any expat community, there were some strange personalities, but for the most part, I really really liked Carole's co-teachers. And the Christmas Eve party had such a family fell, and when we tried to have a gift exchange, the resulting confusion over rules and general chaos reminded me of home! It was even more scandalous, though, because one (attention-seeking) teacher kept stealing gifts from the people who were most attached to their gift, even though she didn't actually want the gift!

Tarsus

2009-01-02T15:52:00.001-08:00

Because Carole never thinks to put up pictures of Tarsus, here are some of the ones I took. I didn't know what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying Tarsus. The only foreigners are the teachers at the American College, and I was most definitely the only tourist in Tarsus. Here is Saint Paul's well. And it's generally accepted that this is the actual well that he would have used.
Tarsus is definitely the birthplace of St. Paul and the place where Cleopatra met Mark Anthony, but I'm more skeptical about it being the final resting place of Daniel. I checked online and there are at least seven other contenders. We went to look nonetheless, at the excavated tomb under what used to be a mosque. It's very rough around the edges as you can see from the picture- they had to stop because of lack of funding.
And here are some snaps of Tarsus life... just to give you a visual.

Europe

2009-01-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

A couple more of my favourite pictures. Copenhagen above.
St. Lucia choir
Christmas table at an museum full of traditional Swedish homes.
Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen
I enjoy this picture. Carole snapped it before I was ready, but I think I just look puzzled by the dazzling artwork!

Finally in Tarsus

2008-12-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

It feels so great to be in Turkey again. If nothing else, I'm tickled pink to be in 20 degree weather while it's -25 degrees in Edmonton. We left Latvia yesterday morning after a quick morning walking tour of the Art Nouveau architecture. We had a few hours in Istanbul to visit the spice market and pick up left luggage at the hotel before a night flight back to the south of Turkey. Then it was a short shuttle bus to Tarsus! Carole's apartment is incredible, and I met three of her friends tonight for a game night. We've also picked up her cat, Charlie, (who I already love) and started to decorate the living room for Christmas. Pictures to come. And I also need to put up pictures and stories from St. Lucia Day in Sweden... it was perfect. Tomorrow I'm going to class with Carole, mostly so I can appreciate what a tough job she has (I'm not arguing, though!)

Quick Update

2008-12-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

Scandinavia is fabulous. Carole and I are having a blast. Carole's camera memory card died, I loaned mine to her, and therefore, all of these pictures were taken by her. Her camera is better, I have to agree. Anyway, we're a bit low on snow, but we have enough Christmas spirit to make up for it. Tonight we're staying in the best hostel! It's a prison that was closed in the 1970's and converted into a hostel and hotel. We have a cute cell with bunk beds and the nicest ensuite. The prison is on an island in the middle of Stockholm, so it involves a bit of walking but it's worth it! Tonight we went to see the Swedish version of the Nutcracker. All the same music but with a storyline that follows a Swedish children's tale. It was wonderful. Tomorrow we head to the outdoor museum where we see traditional Swedish life and culture. It's St. Lucia Day too! Here are some more pictures from Denmark...

Istanbul

2008-12-09T01:50:00.000-08:00

We made it! Istanbul is fabulous, but we're taking of for Denmark this afternoon. More pictures to come.

Oh No

2008-12-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

My weather pixie says it's -17C. Oh dear. Do you think I'll make it walking all the way to school?

More Christmas Spirit

2008-12-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to a Christmas festival with a couple of friends from my program. It was very Christmas-y, but was full of young families. That's good in a way, it's fun to watch kids enjoy Christmas, but I get really frustrated by slow moving clumps with thousands of strollers in an enclosed space. The trees were gorgeous though, all decorated by businesses or individuals (the whole festival is a fundraiser for a hospital).
My favourite one had a cookies & sweets theme!
And there were some pretty impressive gingerbread houses...
And for a dollar, you can decorate your own gingerbread man! Amy is demonstrating.

Christmas is Coming

2008-11-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

(First of all, a note. I have a lot of pictures of myself on this blog. This is not an ego thing, I was just told by my family that they like seeing pictures of me, and I always like seeing pictures of the authors of the blogs I read, so I just want to make the reader(s) happy!)
I'm inching towards some Christmas spirit, but it's largely overshadowed by panic. I'm leaving for Turkey in less than ten days. I think I can get everything done, but it's going to be a tight fit! Besides oral presentations and an intimidating "Best Practices in Teaching Grammar" paper, I have Christmas lunches and dinners, Carole's shopping list, a to-knit list and, of course, I need to travel plan for Sweden and Denmark (I got the guidebooks out of the library, now I just have to figure out how many castles and museums we can fit into a limited number of days!) Yesterday I got tickets for Carole and I to see the nötknäppare in Stockholm (any guesses as to what that is? Clue: it's a ballet!) Anyway, I think I better get back to reading. Here are some pictures from the other night.My friend, Amy (also in the TESL MEd program) and her family took me to the Bright Nights outdoor lights festival. We walked around a park full of whimsical light displays.

Random Tales

2008-11-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

You can always count on a blog post when I'm procrastinating! I have two huge papers due on Monday, so I will take this opportunity to update my blog. Besides the paper writing, life in Edmonton is pretty routine. My days revolve around classes, articles and hot beverages (Caramel Apple Spice at Starbucks, anyone?) It's getting colder here (-10C) but still no real snow. I went on a Christmas shopping excursion yesterday and creating some Christmas cheer for under $15. All the ornaments were hot glued from dollar store kits; it's hard to see but they all have jingle bells on the bottom.
Carole's in Monaco today. I have to admit I wish I were there too! I heard all of her Switzerland tales yesterday, and the day before we chatted on facebook. It's always fun when we chat online because we think the same way. In about 10 minutes of typing, we typed the same thing at least five times. Either I would ask a question and she would answer it at the same moment or we would both make the same comment simultaneously (followed, of course, by us both typing "jinx" in the same minute). I love being a twin!

Banff Part 2

2008-11-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I assume most of my readers (aka my family) have seen these photos on facebook. But just to add some colour to my blog, here they are again. Banff was great. It's a very busy time with school, but I came to the conclusion that in five years I will not care if I get an A or a B in this class (seeing as I've decided I definitely will not be doing a PHd in my lifetime) but I would always remember a fabulous weekend in the Rockies with friends. And I'm so glad I went. I was so relaxed and everything was so fresh. The greyhound there and back was uneventful and the tickets were cheap with my student card. I stayed with Louise and her friend Anne-Marie (also Australian, they've been friends since childhood) in an adorable cottage right in "downtown" Banff. It was so nice to return to a warm cabin, drink coffee on the couch and laugh over an old movie or reality show. We did a lot of walking and window shopping in town and had some delicious meals. Thankfully, Anne-Marie, Louise and I are all alike in our love for good food and eating out! The other highlights of the weekend included ice skating (next time I go I want to go ice skating outdoors) and visiting the Banff hotsprings at night. The weather was a few degrees below zero, but the water was 38.7 Celcius. Perfect. Plus, I got to rent the cutest "historic" swimsuit to wear (something like the one on the sign).And, of course, I couldn't go to the Rockies without climbing a mountain. Well, actually, I would have been very content to visit the Rockies without climing a mountain! But Louise told us it only took about 20 minutes to climb up and 20 minutes back down so I agreed (plus we decided we could go to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch afterwards since we would have burned off all the calories in advance!) Turns out that Tunnel mountain was not quite as quick as she remembered (the guidebooks online suggest 2-3 hours!) We stopped for lots of water breaks and photo breaks, and I have to admit it wasn't too painful. Plus, we made it to the top and the view was beautiful. Here's the proof:

Banff

2008-11-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

I am in Banff for the weekend visiting Louise and Anne-Marie! The town is beautiful, and it's exciting to experience the Rockies for the first time. More adventures to come, and I'll put up some pictures and stories when I'm back in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Main street in Banff

The pool at the famous Fairmont Hotel

He at the famous Fairmont hotel! Louise worked here for a while, but will be working at a restaurant at a ski resort as soon as the snow starts.

Canadian Finals Rodeo

2008-11-05T23:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, I went to see the rodeo. I couldn't help myself. I got a vastly discounted ticket (under $10) and I figured this might be my one and only chance. I also got to see all the cowboy hats and boots that I had been (naively) expecting before my arrival in Edmonton. It was certainly an entertaining night. In case you currently find yourself in a foreign country, a metropolitan city or anywhere outside midwest North America, here is a movie to give you the whole experience. Six different events were included, bull riding is the last one on the video. If you are watching this on a public computer, you may want to turn down the sound a bit first!

See, don't you wish you lived in Alberta?

Finished Results

2008-10-15T21:45:00.001-07:00

Having completed my hat and afghan, I feel I've earned the right to display some pictures. I'm especially proud of my quick knit hat (a design I adapted) The best part is, it's just a rectangular square you knit then fold in half and sew up (so that the points will cover your ears)! Then I cabled the trim along the front, back and little side bits. The pattern on the main part was something I added to give it a bit of interest, and I decreased the stitches at the top so it would not have the elf-like point (which always makes me look like an idiot).

And my afghan, which became more of a lap blanket after I ran out of yarn. Basic granny squares with a cute little scalloped edge. The colours don't come out properly in this picture, but you get the idea.
If you think those colours are pretty, have a look at my new yarn (for the fair isle hat-scarf-mitten extravaganza)!

Tea and Crochet

2008-10-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy couple of days. Way too much mental energy required! I had my first grad school midterm on Monday, which I did pretty well on I think. It was on the statistics component of my Assessment for ESL course, and the combination of my understanding of the material and my savvy test taking skills served me well. Other than that, I've been busy with answering hundreds of questions (literally) from undergrad students about the assignment coming up in the assessment course I TA for. It is a satisfying feeling to always have the answer, though! I had to laugh on their midterm, a majority thought the word "deleterious" meant "to delete." Something like Use of nose sprays may have a deleterious affect on... the sinus. Students were supposed to write why it was a bad test item, and many wrote "Well, obviously you can't delete your sinus, so it's a clue for the students." Ha. Actually some of the graders didn't know what deleterious meant, so I probably shouldn't have found it quite so funny. A sales pitch: at the end of a long day, on my cold walk home in the dark, I always take comfort in the anticipation of my cup of tea. I've never been a real tea lover, but I have found the perfect tea. If you are in need of a comforting, relaxing, warming tea, go buy this (it only costs $1.90 for the box, so it's low risk). It tastes a lot like the heavenly tea they serve at Aveda salons, and I never realized that it is licorice root! It doesn't taste a thing like black licorice flavour, don't worry. It has an unusual aftertaste that feels like warmness in your throat for a few seconds. Yum. That's all for now.

The Chill Has Set In

2008-10-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

I'm freezing in Edmonton. On my walk to school this morning I thought my hands were going to fall off. Yes, I was stupid for not wearing mittens, but how was I to know? The problem with living in an apartment building is that, by the time you realize you've misjudged the weather, you're out of time to go back and change. (At this point someone will comment that I could step out on the balcony. True.) I have been frantically knitting a fabulous toque with earflaps (just wait till you see the picture- my own design!) and I have a fair isle toque, scarf, mitten combo in mind next. I went a bit overboard on my last trip to Michaels, but all the yarn was so gorgeous! I love cable knitting and fair isle- I'm always amazed that following those silly little directions results in something so beautiful.

Anyway, yesterday was Thanksgiving!! I had gone to the store and picked up my very own Thanksgiving feast. It might have been a bit overboard, but this is only my second Thanksgiving in Canada since 1999! I'm not much for cooking (I hate things that take time to prepare) so I bought the cheaters supply of Thanksgiving goodies:
Delicious! I didn't actually get to eat my food on Thanksgiving day, though. My friend Amy from the TESL program called to invite me to her family's house for dinner! Thoughtful, eh? It was an amazing meal and no one in their family likes brown meat so I got to bring the leftovers home (or they were going to feed it to the pets). They had three cats and two dogs. Two of the cats were lovely. The kitten could fetch! If you sat on the bed and threw a hair elastic onto the wooden floor, she would pounce down, run over, pick it up in her teeth and bring it right back to you on the bed! Without fail! I was amazed. One of their cats was so sick though. He has seizures which have caused blindness and sometimes he just lies around so lethargically. He didn't really move, couldn't keep his balance and kept tucking his paws under him in awkward ways (the vet said he can't feel pain). The poor boo. As for the dogs, one was okay, the other was a demon dog. Seriously. Would not stop barking when they put him in a bedroom. The let him out and he ran around barking (or staring at me menacingly). He was short, squat and looked like some kind of science fiction creature (pug face, severe underbite, bulgy black eyes, oversized pointy ears). I survived the ordeal thankfully. By the way, I took my camera but I didn't get to take any pictures. I'll try to get a picture of the demon dog and a video of the fetching cat for you eventually!

Louise's Visit

2008-10-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

In the middle of last week, Louise sent an email saying that her boss had given her Friday and Saturday off. She took the greyhound bus up from Banff and we had a great two days bashing around Edmonton. I made a decision to forget about schoolwork for two days (thankfully I have this week before Thanksgiving to catch up) and we both just relaxed. Well, not relaxing in the normal sense. We packed as much fun, shopping, talking and action into 40 hours as is possible! I picked her up at the bus station around 6am on Friday and I took her to my focus group to take notes (she had the hard job!)
The focus group went really well: it was basically just talking with international students about the issues they face listening and speaking in the classroom.
Then we took off to West Edmonton Mall for a shopping fiesta. The main purpose was buying a ton of snowboarding gear for Louise's winter adventures (cheaper here in flat Edmonton than in the tourist-y ski resort town of Banff).
I had to try it on! I don't think I have a future in snowboarding, eh?
Friday night we had bangers and mash at an Irish pub (yum) and Saturday morning we went into downtown Edmonton. We started at Chinatown, but were shocked by the lack of anything in Chinatown. Seriously! A big archway and one restaurant were about it.

We walked along the river and took some fall pictures then had a great Vietnamese lunch (as good as food can get!) In the afternoon we did some more shopping then back to my apartment for Chicago-style deep dish pizza. We decided to see a movie that night, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which we really enjoyed. Then I dropped Louise off at the bus station, and we both went back to reality. Hopefully I can go visit her soon and try out her snowboard? Or maybe just take my ice skates and find a lake somewhere.

Elections

2008-09-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to be doing some statistics homework, but I felt it was my civic duty to procrastinate by researching the upcoming election. I think I'll need to vote by mail for the Halifax district, and it looks like it will be a much more exciting race than Edmonton. Did you know that 28 of 28 districts in Alberta are currently Conservative? It's strange and a bit worrisome if you ask me. I haven't decided who I want to vote for, but the idea that an entire province of people hold exactly the same political beliefs is like something out of a sci-fi movie. Anyway, a quick overview of the websites of the candidates for Halifax was confusing. Does it seem to anyone else like they are all saying the same thing? Can anyone recommend a website, newspaper or magazine to help me sort through the wish-washy political jargon?

Pictures

2008-09-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

I know everyone likes a blog post with pictures, right? Well I've been trying. I keep throwing my camera in my backpack and hoping I'll come across an inspiring vista or small item of beauty. Not yet. In the mean time, here are a couple I thought you might be interested in.
I took this picture in a mall in downtown Edmonton this morning. I was shoe shopping (it's getting way too cold for flipflops) and stopped here for a Tim's coffee. I guess this kind of gives you an idea of Edmonton downtown- lots of space, very few cars and short office buildings.
This is officially the dining room table of our apartment. But, because I don't have a desk in my "room", I use it for most of my computer work or studying. Cozy, isn't it?
And lastly, this very strange, moderately depressing picture is of me in my "office." This is where I have TA office hours for an hour on Tuesday and Thursday morning. Students can come if they have questions, but so far it's just been one student per morning. By the way, that's Seattle's Best Coffee! Now brewing at Mac's convenience store!

Random Pictures

2008-09-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

These pictures are mostly for Carole (I'm not sure who else cares?) Yesterday I was sitting at my desk working hard at the reading I needed to do for class on Monday. I started chatting with Carole on Skype and happened to mention that I was trying to talk myself out of going to West Edmonton Mall. Normally my self-discipline would win out, but Bath and Body Works had just opened (first stores in Canada ever!) Carole, being the dependable sister she is, insisted that I drop everything and rush out to the mall. So I did. And Bath and Body Works was a scent-filled paradise. I got two shower gels and three hand soaps all for $28! I think it seems cheap because the exchange rate has changed so much since I used to shop for the products in the states, and that Alberta only has 5% tax. I am now taking orders (if you live outside of Edmonton or Toronto).
I found a new jewelry tree! How can I live without my jewelry tree? (it was too wide to bring home from Australia)
I'm learning the basics of statistics in my ESL Assessment class. We were supposed to get a scientific calculator, and I was was much more excited about finding a "pretty" one than I should have been! All the other ones were boring and grey, though.
New shoes (Carole will be jealous!)

It Makes Me Smile

2008-09-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Note: please don't take the following post too seriously. I really don't know much about what I'm talking about, it's just my opinion at the moment. And I hope all my American friends know that I'm not talking about you!

It's no secret that I am fascinated by American politics; I think it comes from all the American history/government courses Carole and I took. This race is going to be one of the highlights of my fall! I find it entertaining and enlightening. I remember watching Barack Obama give a speech while I was living in Illinois. I'm really fuzzy on when exactly it was, but I think it must have been during the 2000 Presidential elections (the whole Gore/Bush confusion) because there were a lot of us sitting in the lounge watching the political news. Anyway, it was a great speech! Here was this guy with great ideas and inspiration who seemed bipartisan and international, and I remember thinking "Why don't they make this guy president?" And now there is finally the sense that maybe, just maybe, if he is elected, America will be able to salvage the threads of their reputation around the world. Although it doesn't seem like many Americans care about that! Anyway, when it comes to the Republicans, I am beginning to think that, if they are elected, we might as well just give up on the US. I've found the policies, opinions and beliefs of the American government (and average Americans) disturbing and sometimes terrifying over the last few years. And if America is crazy enough to elect copies of the previous administration, then it really is the fall of the Roman Empire. And the Sarah Palin element is mind-boggling to me. I read an article in last week's Globe and Mail that really explained it well and was fun to read. My favourite fact? She got her first passport last year, and she's going to be meeting foreign heads of state and influencing foreign policy! And then this morning I watched this news clip from Yahoo news. Hilarious. I was laughing out loud. I know Carole will get it, but I hope everyone can understand how crazy some Americans are! I'm so proud to be Canadian, and the Canadian reporter they talk to in the clip should get a bonus (you can tell he was rolling his eyes at the nutcase American broadcaster). I guess the point to all this is that, as much as I like watching the US elections for the drama, I am so, so glad for our Canadian elections! I guess I should decide who I want to vote for, eh?

Travel Plans

2008-09-14T19:40:00.001-07:00

I know that I've only been in Canada for three months or so, but I'm already planning my next trip! My excuse is that Carole needs someone to come visit her in Turkey and bring her winter clothes. Instead of spending a small fortune to fly to Nova Scotia during Christmas peak times, I decided to go for a trip to Istanbul instead! And (because Carole needs a vacation too) we booked a side trip to Scandinavia. It was a toss up between that and Egypt, but we decided to go for the Christmas-y option! We'll spend a few days in Copenhagen, Denmark then take the train to Stockholm, Sweden. On the way back we'll have a night in Riga, Latvia. Both Copenhagen and Stockholm have outdoor Christmas markets and special Christmas traditions and food. We'll even be in Sweden for St. Lucia day!!!
But, more practically, life is going well here in Edmonton. I'm very happy in my cozy 9th floor apartment with two great (quiet, clean & nice) roommates. I've only had a week of classes, but I'm already busy. My TA job takes up a lot of my focus: tonight I'm working on learning outcomes for a grade 11 assessment for English Language Arts. How would you compare and contrast Romeo and Paris in Romeo and Juliet? Most of it is just re-typing things, but I actually have to think up an answer for that one. I'll freely admit my dependence on Spark Notes!

The New Place

2008-09-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

At the family's request, here are some pictures of my new apartment. My two new roommates were gracious enough to let me move in yesterday even though my rental application hasn't been approved yet. The apartment is right on campus (although not campus housing) and about a five minute walk to my classes. It has some great amenities like a nice pool, workout room and even a movie theatre. Here's a picture of the living room. Those folding screens separate my "bedroom" (aka the dining room).
Here's the view! It's on the 9th floor facing south.

This is my bedroom. Notice Grammie's quilt! And, Carole, I did not choose turquoise for the sheets, it was all that was left in jersey knit at IKEA.

The other side of the room, leading into the kitchen. It feels quite spacious, bigger than my room in Thornhill, even. My roommates are very quiet and spend a lot of time in their rooms or out so I don't have to worry about noise from the living room.

And this is the kitchen.

That's it for now. Hopefully you have a better picture now when you think of me in Edmonton!

Whoops

2008-08-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

Mom just sent me an email saying that the cute black jacket I was sporting in the last picture was, in fact, a jacket Carole intended to take to Turkey! When Carole's luggage was overweight, she had to take some winter clothes out, and Mom had them laid out on her dressers. However the jacket was just hanging in my closet, so I really had no idea Carole wanted it. Whoops. I think I'll get a lot more use out of it here, though! And it makes up for that time she stole my favourite summer skirts to take to India and then lost her luggage. This morning I got a call back saying I could have the room in the apartment I liked. I went over to get the papers and was slightly disheartened by the extensive application forms (Mom and Dad, expect an email from me tomorrow!) Two other downsides were that the laundry machines were coin operated and that I wouldn't be able to move in until my application was approved (they even need to run credit checks on me and my guarantor). So, seeing as I can't turn in the forms until Tuesday, I decided to go see two more apartments tomorrow. At least then I will know for sure that I have the best deal. As for the mall, it is quite impressive. It's not much to look at on the outside, but the inside is extensive and beautiful. I have never, ever been in such a crowded mall, though (with the possible exception of the Eaton's Centre on the last big shopping day before Christmas). I thoroughly enjoyed myself, lost all track of time, and only bought the things on my "necessities list." Did you know that the sales tax in Alberta is only 5%? Isn't that crazy? Plus, I found a movie theatre showing Indiana Jones and the tickets only cost $3.50- all day, every day! Here is the only picture I took of the mall (that's a sea lion show in the middle).

Back to School

2008-08-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was not my first day of class, but it was my first time walking through the University of Alberta campus for orientation. Orientation itself was not very informative, it really just confirmed my suspicion that grad students are left to figure everything out for themselves (survival of the fittest, I guess). Thankfully I am a pretty resourceful person, and I should be able to get my own ID card, figure out how to pay my fees and find all the buildings on my own. The campus is very nice. Big, but not as big as I expected. Alberta is cold, colder than I had mentally prepared for. Today, the high is 12 and the low is -1. That's right, minus one in August. Yikes. I've decided to celebrate my first free day in Edmonton by taking the bus to West Edmonton mall (biggest in North America!!!) I saw one apartment yesterday that I loved, but I'm waiting to hear back from them today. I can see two more apartments tomorrow, but for today I will just enjoy myself since it's all out of my hands. The only preparation I've made is to research the bus routes that get me to IKEA, because how could I decorate my bedroom without IKEA? Here is the only picture I have of me from yesterday. The lighting and angle aren't great because I was a bit embarrassed to be taking a self-timed portrait of myself. Though I had to show you my first-day-as-a-grad-student outfit... thanks to Carole for the top and coat! By the way, I think I have the easiest major possible. Maybe it's just because I love ESL or maybe it's a fact? Talking to all these other students taking French Literature and Biophysics and Directing made TESL seem like a breeze!

In Edmonton

2008-08-28T12:09:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends and Family,
Yes I have arrived safely in Alberta. I found my way to the hostel in the rain, and have decided to spend the rest of the day here. I was going to force myself to go out and explore, but it's just too depressing when it's cold and wet... no way to introduce yourself to a city. Being in Edmonton is quite surreal, but I knew everything would be fine when the whole stretch of highway from the airport to the city was strung with big box stores (just like Thornhill :) And the first one was IKEA: my happy place. Did you all read about Zoom? I feel very upset that they're gone, and very concerned that I had been looking at buying a flight on their website yesterday!! Very dramatic. Anyway, more to come after orientation tomorrow!

Leaving (again)

2008-08-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

My life seems to be a chain of packing, traveling, adapting, enjoying life and then packing again! I'm not complaining, though, because I have a lot of control of how long I stay and when I go. And I am certain that Edmonton is the best next step for me (although I may change my mind when I actually experience an Edmonton winter!) I fly out tomorrow, stay at a youth hostel, and start orientation on Friday. I have the weekend off to try to find an apartment and then classes start on Tuesday. I'll have wireless there so hopefully I can do a bit more posting than I have been this summer. Speaking of this summer, I'm still recuperating from camp. The stressful memories are already fading, and it was really an amazing job with incredible students. I spent a week at my grandmothers, which is the most relaxing place for me. I spent most of my time painting one of the bedrooms and repairing an old quilt (made over 100 years ago by my great-great grandmother!)
That's all for now... off to a new adventure!

The Left-handed Governor

2008-08-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia graced our camp with her presence. She is the highest-ranking official in the province! She gave a great talk to the girls, and all the pomp and ceremony was kind of fun. There was a great deal of confusion beforehand about who she was and how to pronounce her title. One of the staff thought she was the Left-handed governor, and Carole and I kept calling it Lieutenant like it's spelled (we blame our American education!) It all worked out in the end and all of the students remembered to call her "Your Honour" during Q & A time. We even managed to get a twin picture with her!

Pictures from our day off

2008-07-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

We're coming to the end of camp! I really can't believe that we will be saying goodbye to these girls a week from today. We try not to talk about it much, or everyone starts to get upset. This last week is full of fun activities, and it's wonderful to see the students having so much fun. Today Carole wrote a murder mystery in which all of the staff dressed as characters and hid around campus. The girls had to run around asking us questions. I was a very angry, USA-hating Olympic boxer. Why? Because I had my Thai boxing shorts and Carole found a boxing teddy bear at Frenchies! Fun times. Anyway, last week Carole and I had a day off together and drove into Wolfville. The first part of the day was great. Carole finally got the Acadia alumni snapshot...
And we had a delicious, expensive lunch at her favourite restaurant.

She had lobster risotto, I had a lobster BLT! She had a gift certificate, by the way.

We were dying to see a movie, but Carole underestimated the popularity of Mama Mia on a summer's night in New Minas. Never have two people been so disappointed by a sold out movie! But, as soon as we got in the car to drive back, we got a call saying one of the girls was in hospital and was refusing treatment and needed to be taken by ambulance to Halifax and so on. Our days off always seem to end in drama. The girl had a sickle cell anemia emergency (the main symptom was pain in her elbows) and everything eventually worked out. Yesterday two other girls left camp with a chaperone to meet the girl in Halifax and fly back to the UAE. Anyway, on our ride home we stopped stressing for a minute and jumped out of the car to enjoy the sunset.

These are our "trying-to-relax" faces.

I like this twin picture from another night when we went into Digby for scallops.

And I had to put this picture on. This is me in "Arabian makeup" wearing one of the girls shaylas. They put on a UAE day and there were presentations, food & henna.

The henna wasn't very good quality, but the designs one of my students did on my hands were gorgeous!

Pictures from Camp

2008-07-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are still surviving camp. Barely. This weekend it was a girl with sickle-cell anemia who had to be taken by ambulance to Halifax. That kind of put a damper on my day off with Carole in Wolfville. She'll be fine, she'd had similar episodes before, but never told us. Anyway, I've had a pretty good day today, and I'm sad that camp ends in two weeks (that's gotta be a good sign). Here are some pictures from our day at Keji National Park. Watching the girls try to canoe was pretty funny. They got the hang of it eventually.

The girls loved the campfire! We sang campfire songs and made s'mores.

Carole looking relaxed.

More pictures to come!

Never Say...

2008-07-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

Never say that your day couldn't get any worse. Lesson learned. Friday was horrible, like in a novel when the protagonist keeps running into one problem after another. I get up to bang on doors at 7:15 every morning. Then, after walking the halls yelling, "We're going to breakfast now" for a while, we walk 15 minutes to the dining hall for breakfast and then another 15 minute walk to the school. We have classes from 9-12 but Friday's class was so chaotic and draining. Instead of walking with the kids to lunch, the teachers had "Professional Development" with the ESL head of a local school board. The food was late, the guy showed up 30 minutes late (for an hour long session) and all the teachers had so much grading and prep to do but no time to do it. All I could think about was my to-do list and being on time to get back to the girls. In the afternoon, we took them to Wal-Mart. 50 students, 4 teachers, 1 hour. We probably caused the most chaos at the check-outs that Wal-Mart Digby has ever seen. After that, I had an hour of grading time before dinner. The teachers had to monitor dinner, and we spent the whole hour policing the girls who had gotten into the habit of signing in for attendance then going outside to sit on the grass. They weren't hungry because they'd been eating junk food at free time. They might get away with it when the other staff are on, but not with the teachers. It was hard to enforce, and they had stopped serving dinner by the time we were done. After dinner I went to school to do some quick internet things and realized that someone had stolen my credit card number to rack up $2,000 of purchases at Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie in Arizona. Seriously. Thankfully the bank had blocked my card (which was why it hadn't worked the last time I tried to use it). The funny thing is that the number was stolen late June (I'm 99% sure it was a non-secure purchase of a photobook from Carson Mosher- WARNING! I'll be telling them too, don't worry) and it was used July 3rd, and I only realized on Friday. That's how caught up I am in camp. After a few minutes of initial panic, I got on the phone to PC Financial, and I think everything will be fine. The investigation department will figure out what happened and I won't have to pay. Anyway, Carole had a rough day too and as we were leaving the school I said "This day couldn't get any worse." After another hour back in our room I decided to go to bed early. A few minutes later Carole came in to get me up and said one of our students was not responsive. Seriously. It was the student who had been taken to the hospital a couple days before with redness, swelling and numbness in her feet. Turns out it was... gout. Seriously. Anyway, so we rushed to the girls room where two other staff are trying to get her to wake up and monitoring her breathing. I was sent to drive to another dorm to pick up a chaperone (a woman who came with the girls). We raced back and the girl still hadn't woken up and her breathing was fading in and out. Carole was on the phone to 911. Everyone was staying very calm, thankfully. Then I was sent to drive to the school to pick up all the student & camp information for Carole to take to the hospital. Finally the ambulance arrived, and the paramedics sauntered out. I do mean sauntered. They came into the room and proceeded to say "Wakey-wakey. Wakey-wakey or I'm going to stick you with a big needle" for about five minutes. Seriously. They checked her vitals which were okay, and eventually got her to the ambulance. Carole went with them, and it turned out to be... dehydration and too much junk food! Seriously. (That wasn't our fault, she had been staying the whole day with the chaperones so they would have been responsible to make sure she had liquids). Carole came back in the middle of the night and filled me in. I also spent a half hour talking with another staff member about one of the girls who has been acting very erratic lately. The staff member was telling me the girl talks about hurting herself, and she keeps having medical issues and fainting. I know it's not a suicide threat, and I don't think she'd ever hurt herself, but it's so hard to know how to give her the attention she needs without rewarding her attention-seeking activities. Anyway, the next morning, I woke up and saw Carole and she said "Did you hear what happened?" Sure enough, another drama. There was a conflict between two staff members, and one ended up quitting. That morning. Gone. So we had to rush to get the activities for the day covered, Carole had to go in and pick up the girl from the hospital. I took over her job in taking half of the girls on a trip to Keji National Park. The park was fun, but things deteriorated again last night. You probably don't want to hear all that, so let's end on a high note. I have the day off today (YEAH) and Carole and I have a day off together on Tuesday (YEAH, YEAH). Carole's boss & friend, Jess, will come down tomorrow, and I think the last two weeks of camp will be an ice cream sundae compared to this weekend!

Camp Twins

2008-07-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long silence. I am still alive and considerably more rested than a week ago. Last night we stayed over at King's University in Halifax with half of the girls, and we decided just to let them stay up as long as they wanted while we went to bed at 9:30. That might seem irresponsible, but our students are pretty trustworthy. Trustworthy but noisy. We just threatened to make them go to bed right away if they were too noisy and we had a quiet dorm. Saturday was shop-till-you-drop at Halifax Shopping Centre, and it was really nice to meet up with Mom and Dad for dinner at Pizza Delight. Other than that, camp is definitely a full-time job. I love the students, I love my class and I'm enjoying teaching so much. I'm sad when my class is over, and I have too many ideas to fit into six weeks! And there's the little matter of the textbook, but my students are so advanced that we breeze through the unit on Monday and have the rest of the week for my style of English class! Okay, it's time for me to go to bed.

No, Carole and I did not switch T-shirts for Sunday. We both have one in each colour and we planned ahead so we didn't look too much like twins :)

At Camp

2008-07-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

I'm at camp. I'm still breathing. I have never been so overtired in my life. I'm past the point of grumpy to the place where I keep dropping things, I can't remember anything and my speech is slurring. Everything is foggy. Thankfully, Carole assures us all that this weekend was the worst of it, and starting on Monday we will have time to rest everyday. I will be able to sleep on Monday night. Yeah. The students are WONDERFUL, though, I love working with Louise and Carole, and most of the other staff are incredibly fabulous. It will be a great summer. After Monday night.

Canada Day

2008-07-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

No time for writing, but here are some pictures! Carole, Louise and I took two other staff members to Digby for the Canada Day BBQ. It was a tiny bit of a letdown, especially considering my expectations were pretty low to begin with. But camp is going well, and the girls arrive today! Yeah!

You Call This Camp?

2008-06-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Carole, Louise and I are pleasantly tucked away at camp in Cornwallis Park, NS. The students won't arrive until Thursday night, so we have several days to prepare, decorate classrooms and get to know the other staff. Decorating classrooms and planning lessons are two of my favourite things, so it doesn't feel like work at all. The facilities here are great, we eat in the "Officer's Hall" (fancy & delicious), and Carole and I have a suite! Our suite consists of a kitchenette (stove, fridge, sink), a full bathroom with tub, a living room with a TV (70 channels!) and a bedroom with two queen beds and two closets. This is not the camp I remember from childhood! Not much else to report at the moment, just wanted to let everyone know that we're here and having a wonderful time. Hopefully I'll have pictures to prove it soon.

Father's Day

2008-06-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

Going back a couple of weeks, here are some pictures from Father's Day. Dad and I walked down to the bandstand in the public gardens in Halifax to listen to a band in the park.
The music was pretty good and there was a great "small city" feel (compared to Toronto, Chicago, Glasgow, Taipei or Sydney). I'm definitely a city girl, but I think I might be able to get used to a small city.

Me and Dad (I got Dad to hold the camera because he has longer arms).

Carole had warned me about the Public Gardens; they have rules and they aren't afraid to enforce them! I mentioned it to Dad on the elevator on our way, and another woman piped in with a story just like Carole's. Apparently there is a mean old man who walks around and yells at people who dare to sit on the grass (or jog, I suppose).

My Special Skill

2008-06-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty proud of myself. If I had to name my one superpower it would be discount travel planning, and my most recent find is quite impressive. I've always had the knack of finding great bargains: the grand opening of a Venetian hotel for Carole & her friends, discount Swiss rail tickets online or dirt cheap European flights (did you know you can travel from Spain to England for $10?) People have asked me how I do it, and I have to admit, most of my talent is just the willingness to put in hours of research. When Carole asked me to find her a flight from Halifax to Adana, Turkey, it took about six hours (Mom timed me) for me to finally be able to list three great options. If you were to try to buy a ticket on Expedia or TravelCuts, the price would be $2,865 one way (yikes!) I have found her three options on the same days each for under $1,000 CAD including all taxes. And whether she bought through Expedia or the budget airlines I suggest, she'll have three flights and the same amount of travel time. The only possible downside would be the luggage restrictions, but you can do a lot of shipping for the extra $1,865!

George's Island

2008-06-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

I talked to Carole this morning, where China feels like 47 degrees Celsius with the humidity. I remember those hot days longing for a cool Nova Scotia afternoon, and now I'm finally here (I think it was a high of 18 degrees here in Halifax). I'm keeping busy sorting boxes of my possessions, scanning old snapshots, and planning for the fall. Of course, I'm also trying to take advantage of a month long vacation! Dad and I took a tour the other weekend to George's Island, a tiny island in Halifax harbour. It was the very first time they have opened it to the public! They sold a limited number of tickets and ran ferries over on Saturday and Sunday. We weren't sure if there would be much to see (it's a really small island), but it has a great military history during the war, and it was used as a quarantine station during the expulsion of the Acadians. I looked it up on Wikipedia an hour before we were supposed to leave, and was shocked to read, "Georges Island is known to local fisherman to have lots of blueberries and black garter snakes. Georges Island has the highest ratio of snakes per land area in the world." Panic. If I had read that earlier, I might not have agreed to go! I pictured tripping over piles of snakes and them slithering up inside my jeans. Thankfully, I think the crowds of people scared them away, and I didn't see any. This is the lighthouse on the island, and Halifax downtown in the background.
This is the front half of the island. The back half looks the same but without any buildings.
The ferry was packed, apparently George's Island is a pretty exciting prospect for Haligonians (yep, that's what they call them!)
The highlight for me was a tour of the underground tunnels, ammunition storage and giant canons. Guided by a costumed Cadet, of course. Just in case you were wondering, no shots were ever fired in anger (who would want to attack cute little Halifax?)
And that was our trip to George's Island! Now, even though you've missed this once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit the island, you know what it looks like.

A Vacation in a Vacation

2008-06-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

I am back at my grandmother's house for a few days vacation. The picture above is Patches looking out on the hummingbird feeders and the barn, and below is the quilt in my favourite room, the yellow room.

The main reason I came to Mapleton was to pick up the car in the garage that Carole and I will need for the summer. And by sending me (I got a ride from Halifax with my cousin's family), Mom and Dad ensured that I would pay the bill for the brake repair when I took it in for a safety check (just kidding!) The only upside to waiting for them to replace the rotors and pads (and no, I don't know what those are) was eating lunch with Aunt Dorie at Pizza Delight.
I've also taken two days to go through my boxes which are being stored here (things like childhood treasures, souvenirs from my travels and old journals and pictures).

I was thrilled to find an antique poster I bought for Carole along the river in Paris (which we were both wondering where on earth it ended up) and to discover my oil paintings all hanging neatly in the back of closets (this is an original oil painting I brought back from Bali).

Some things I have been able to give up. Can anyone think of an occasion where I would actually need this suit? I think I'm going to keep the bottoms for PJs and turn the top into a fabulous bag.

That's all for now, I'll try to get the pictures of my trip with Dad to St. George's island up when I get back to Halifax.

Cookie Twins

2008-06-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

This morning I read Carole's blog post on cookies. Mom thought it was funny that we both blogged about the same thing at the same time. Carole can't read my blog, and she had no way of knowing I was blogging about Styrofoam cookies in China. I'll have to check with Carole when she posted... it would be spooky if it was the same minute!

Baking

2008-06-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I decided I wanted to bake. And, because I don't have much to blog about at the moment, here are some pictures! Warning: stop reading now if you're craving cookies and stuck in a country where the cookies could pass for Styrofoam. I have a very lazy approach to baking and cooking. If it has more than five ingredients or takes more than an hour to prepare, I just don't think it's worth it. I was thrilled to find two recipes that sounded like they had been created just for me.
1. Pumpkin Spice Cookies
2. Cake balls
And these are the only three ingredients you need for both recipes: pumpkin, icing and spice cake mix.
First, you mix the pumpkin with the cake mix...
and lick the spatula, of course.
I put half the dough in a cake pan to bake and the other half into cookies.
After the cake cooled, I crumbled it and mixed in icing. And, yes, it did look exactly the same as the dough before it was cooked, but it tasted better.
I froze the icing dough overnight then rolled it into balls. And I decided to do it in the living room watching Northanger Abbey so I wouldn't get bored. The blanket was Mom's idea to keep the rug clean.
The finished product! Pumpkin Spice cookies with a bit of cream cheese icing.
And Cake Balls (also with a bit of cream cheese icing on top).

An Exciting Sunday Afternoon

2008-06-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Dad and I dropped Mom off for her motorcycle ride with the Bentley. It was some kind of seniors contest for the ride in the Bentley, and Mom just volunteered to take the bike ride.
Dad and I had lunch and walked around the harbourfront. Is anyone else a big fan of Theodore Tugboat? I never realized the show was actually based in Halifax, because I watched it in Toronto, Scotland and even Australia! They have Theodore Too in the harbour for sightseeing tours.
We went to watch ten clipper ships come in from a round the world race. Each boat represented one of the stops of the race.
My favourites: Nova Scotia, Western Australia and Glasgow!

Quite the Day

2008-06-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent two hours in the dentist chair. Two hours for a cleaning and check by the dentist. And it cost $230, but I try not to think about that. I figure if I finally get up the nerve to actually get to the dentist, it's worth the money. It's strange, though, to spend money for two hours of uncomfort, pain and guilt. Does anyone else have the same problem with the dentist? I think the thing I hate the most is that I already know the lecture they are going to give me. This dental hygienist was really good at the guilt trip. I really believe if I don't start flossing, all of my teeth are going to fall out! After I survived the dentist, I checked online and found that I had been accepted to the University of Alberta. Which is very exciting because it's quite a competitive program, and it was my first choice. Now I have to choose between going to Alberta or staying in Halifax for the program at Mount Saint Vincent. I have a few weeks to decide, and I'll let you know!
Here are the pictures from the other day. This is the view of Halifax from Fisherman's Cove.
Me at the Rainbow Haven provincial park. I though it was a beautiful beach, but it was freezing outside! I think I'll visit again when it warms up.
Some people seemed to think it was the perfect day for the beach.
The other half of the beach.

The Clan Symbol

2008-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad and I took a drive around the area yesterday. We drove through Dartmouth and stopped at Fisherman's Cove, which has been developed into a cute little area for tourists. As much they don't like when I bring them souvenirs, my parents really like browsing through souvenir shops (as long as I don't buy anything)! There was a lot of tartan and Scottish paraphernalia, and Mom reminded me to look for the Gilroy clan. Sure enough, I found MacGillivray on cute little kilt pins. When I took a closer look, though, I had to laugh.
All the other clans had a motto in Gaelic or Latin combined with aggressive images of swords and flaming things. The MacGillivray clan looks like this:
So that's where the compulsive love of cats comes from!

Back in Nova Scotia

2008-06-01T17:29:00.001-07:00

Ahh, life is good in Halifax. I wouldn't want to rub it in for any currently displaced Canadians (Carole and Jill!) but there's something magical about a country where you can get a Tim Hortons coffee for $1.30. And of course, I love the manners, the pleases and thank yous, the way people smile and say hello to strangers (okay, maybe that's a bit weird) and hold the door open for you! Speaking of which, Mom took this when I came back from the airport.
The first night I was back in Canada, I went with my parents to a performance of the Northwood Players at the local seniors centre. I think the picture says it all (and, yes, I was the only person under 50 there).
My first weekend home we went to visit my Grandmother. We also visited my Aunt Ev, the baking maven. We even got to take this strawberry rhubarb pie home when it came out of the oven. So delicious.
I had to sort through some of my boxes. All of my possessions are currently in cardboard boxes; neatly packed and labeled. I opened five boxes I shipped from Taiwan and did some show'n'tell for the family.
Mom, Grammie and I in Mapleton
Friends and family out for lunch after church.
My favourite food, hands down: Garlic fingers with cheese. I've missed you, Pizza Delight!
(You're getting hungry now, right?)