Kat's Backpack

Riots Take 2

2011-06-22T16:51:00.002+01:00

Night 2 of riots in Belfast . . . this time a journalist was shot (not fatally). I am glad I am on the other side of the country!

(but it's still a little too close for comfort)

See the Belfast Telegraph's article here.

Tesco Child

2011-06-13T12:52:00.000+01:00

Recently, I went on my weekly shop (aka grocery run) to the local grocery store: Tesco. While there, I saw a little boy of about 4 or 5 years of age who was being picked up by his father. The boy said, "Daddy, daddy, set me down! I'll be good!"

The father duly set him back down on the ground, to which the boy looked up and smiled sweetly at his father before saying,"But not today!!!!!"

Brilliant. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in the supermarket before.

I got mail!

2011-06-01T17:03:00.000+01:00

Recently, I received some mail in the post from Canada. Well, sort of from Canada. The truth is that it originated in Northern Ireland, then traveled to Canada and then back again. You see, a year and a half ago, I sent my sister a Christmas card and, last week, it returned to my door. Let me reiterate that point. . . A YEAR AND A HALF AGO I SENT THE CARD! What had happened during that time to the envelope? It's well splattered with dried rain drops, so it certainly saw the light of day at some point. I can piece some of the picture together. I know it made it to the house my sister lived in at some point, but apparently at least 8 months after I sent it, since that's when she moved out of that place and some one else had scrawled "Not at this address" on it. It then mysteriously visited the street our mom lives on, but a couple of houses down from her. I know this because it says not at "1## *%$£" Street" which is literally steps from my mom's apartment. It then, at some point, decided to cross the Atlantic again, this time in the opposite direction and return itself to me. I wonder what it says inside? I can't actually decide if it's amazing it made it back to me or truly sad that it never made it to my sister's address! (This comes as news breaks of Canada Post possibly going on strike this week too)

Perhaps it's best if I hand deliver this one in person when I go home in August?

Ancient Arachnid?

2011-05-31T16:31:00.000+01:00

Goliath Bird-eating Spider

Recently, I was watching a wildlife program where the tv presenter was getting rather over-excited by a spider. Mind you, the spider was cool (it even had an incredibly cool name: the Goliath Bird-eating Spider. Sounds impressive, no?). However, what excited the presenter the most was how old this particular arachnid was. "This spider is ANCIENT! It's at least 25-30 years old - ANCIENT!!!!!"

If that is what constitutes ancient then what hope is there for the rest of us???*

*Please note that this message was written by a greater than 30 year old and therefore may be *slightly* biased

Cultural Differences

2011-05-25T10:12:00.005+01:00

For me, NI has many similarities to my home province in Canada. It's a fairly small place where everyone knows everyone (or at the very least, knows someone in common). However, there is one big cultural difference that I do not think I could ever adjust too.

Bombs.

This includes bomb threats, pipe bombs, car bombs and left-in-random-places bombs. They must happen at least once a week in Northern Ireland, and while most of the time it results in a hoax or the item being safely destroyed, occasionally it results in severe destruction or even death, as these links will tell you.

Bombing of Santander Bank, Derry

Car bomb under police officer, Ronan Kerr's, car

Canada Bound! (Fingers crossed anyway)

2011-05-24T14:41:00.004+01:00

Today, I made the big announcement. I waited until everyone from work (well, everyone that was here and available, which totaled 5 people, 2 of which already knew) was gathered around our conference table for our "weekly" (read: once in a blue moon) staff meeting. I didn't want a fuss made, as I didn't feel it would be genuine, but I admit I did expect some sort of reaction. I laid my cards on the table by stating:

"It's my intention to return to university in September to pursue my teaching degree, so there will be some upcoming changes to the education department here"

The response. Silence. Seriously, no one even said congratulations or what uni are you going to or anything! My boss already knew, so I wasn't completely dropping the bomb on everyone at the table, but still people could pretend a little bit. I so can't wait to go back to people who are socially normal! Wee Northern Irish village - you have been a struggle (and a half!)

3 months to go and so much to do!

Canada Election 2011!

2011-05-03T18:21:00.004+01:00

Oh, Canada! Another election, another disappointment. At least from my perspective. I completely understand that the highest number of Canadians who voted, voted for the Conservatives, resulting in a blue majority, but given what I have heard Harper has done in the past few years (and also what I know he's done while I was still in Canada) I can't help but feel let down. Saddened. And thoroughly gutted by the fact that this election resulted in only 61.4% of Canadians going out and voting, according to Elections Canada. Someone told me that this was the 3rd lowest voter turnout in Canada's history. I wonder why less than 2/3 of Canadians can be bothered to do anything? To voice an opinion? To stand up and be counted?

These days in the media, there are plenty of countries where their people are demonstrating and protesting. Why? To have more power and a say in their government instead of being ruled by dictators. In Canada, where we do have that precious freedom, over 1/3 of us appear to be apathetic. The concept of our right to vote is not seen as important enough for many to bother to get out and make their mark on the ballot paper. It's at times like these where I wonder if it would be best for Canada to adopt a system similar to Australia where if you do not vote you are fined. And the Australian government are good at finding people to pay their fines, as a friend of mine who lives in Britons can attest!

I am off to vote in the UK election on Thursday, including a referendum on electoral reform. Here's to hoping things improve here!

Chefchaouen, Morocco (population 36,000)

2011-02-26T11:42:00.002Z

Pretty blue Chefchaouen (or Chouen, as the locals call it), it was such a good decision to go and visit you! The estimated 3 hours for the bus journey from Tangier turned out to be exactly right, magically including the long delay departing from Tangier, and a lengthy stop at one of the towns along the way. Chefchaouen, a small village, set in the slopes of the Rif Mountains, makes a perfect destination for travellers who may want to get away from the hectic larger cities of Morocco.

View Larger Map

Most of the houses are white in colour, with the outer walls of the ground floor coloured a beautiful blue. The blue goes very well with the clear blue skies that greeted us while we were there. The weather was perfect, at least in terms of lack of precipitation. Temperature wise, it was a bit too warm for my liking: 37°C each day. My poor pale skin does not cope well with such extreme heat and I frequently hid out in our pension during the hottest part of the day. As a side note, I thoroughly recommend Pension Souika as a place to stay – very relaxed and the men who run it are very friendly and helpful!

Typical colours of Chefchaouen

The first day, we just wandered through the maze of streets in the medina, checking out the variety of shops and all their tourist wares. The second day we climbed one of the hills that overlooks the town where a smart new hotel has been built, complete with a spa. The views were spectacular, looking back down at the village and at the mountains. While we were up there, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check out the spa. I had my first ever massage and I have to say that I could get used to having more of those on a regular basis! The exchange rate also worked quite well in my favour!

Spice Shop

View over the Rif Mountains from the spa

That evening, on the recommendation of a fellow traveller, we had dinner on the rooftop terrace of the Casa Aladin restaurant. Not only does this provide fabulous views over Chefchaouen’s main square, but if you time it right, you will also witness the sun setting behind the Rif Mountains. That is one sunset I will never forget.

View of Sunset over the Rif Mountains from the rooftop terrace

On the final day, I did a few bits of shopping and also visited Chefchaouen’s Kasbah, or “old town”. It’s a beautiful golden colour with some interesting buildings and a lovely tower to climb for some more wonderful views.

All too soon, we were heading back to Tangier and Tarifa, Spain, our next destination.

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:01:00.004Z

Hello my few loyal readers and Happy Holidays!

I can't believe it's been so long . . . much has been happening and I haven't been available for updating my blog until now. I also haven't put together my traditional Christmas email/card send off, so this time I made a Christmas video, which really just shows a few pictures from all the different places I explored in the past year. It's only two minutes long, so you don't have to fear about being incredibly bored for hours . . . I hope it will work!

UPDATE: I just tested it and resolution is TERRIBLE if you play it full screen! All the pictures are blurry. It looks much nicer on my own laptop with excellent resolution pre-posting. Tip: Play it small!

New Year's Resolution: Blog more.

Upcoming Travels

2010-07-27T17:32:00.004+01:00

In August, I will be a very busy traveler. Here is a map of all the places I will be going (you will need to zoom out, as googlemaps isn't translating very well onto my blog today!):

View Larger Map

I will have lots to write about!

Belfast
Glasgow
Reykjavik
Halifax
Charlottetown
Edinburgh
Shrewsbury

Tangier, Morocco (pop 1,000,000)

2010-07-13T12:20:00.009+01:00

Oh, Tangier – my first glimpse of Africa! I hope I will have many more glimpses in my future. We took the ferry from Tarifa, Spain, which takes you in to the old port (closer to the city centre) than the ferries from Algeciras, which take you to the new port.

View Larger Map

As I watched the continent of Africa loom closer and closer while on the ferry, I couldn't help but feel excited. I have desperately wanted to visit Africa for many years now and here I was finally reaching my goal. Sure, some people might scoff and say that Morocco isn't really visiting Africa, but I disagree. When we arrived at the port our first task was to find the hotel that we booked. Trying to find the entrance to the medina was difficult, and although there was no shortage of eager Moroccans willing to show us the way to a cheap hotel that they knew (for a fee, of course!) we were reluctant to pay someone for this service. Plus, I am a strong believer that getting a little lost is all part of the adventure. Eventually, after consulting the map man,y many times, we found our way into the medina – and luckily chose the right entrance, as there were plenty of clear signs showing us the way to our hotel.

On the ferry to Tangier

Overall, Tangier isn't the type of place that I feel I would like to spend any length of time in again. For starters, you have to have the right mentality: expect men and children to approach you constantly offering to show you to points of interest, hotels, etc. It is important to be exceedingly firm with those offering you help if you do not wish to have their assistance – they will not leave a potential paying customer willingly!

The room to our hotel overlooked the city and it was quite an impressive view which literally did offer a window into the everyday lives of Moroccans. The only thing I might change is the call to prayer from the local mosque which started at 4:30am and lasted for a half an hour! The view from our breakfast terrace out of over the Mediterranean was pretty special though.

View from our hotel window over Tangier

Our Breakfast Terrace

We wandered around through the medina and the kesbah and took in the sights and sounds of what Tangier had to offer. I think the best part was the views over the Mediterranean and the atmosphere. After 24 hours in Tangier, I was ready to move on and see what else Morocco had to offer!

In the Medina

View from the main terrace of our hotel over the Mediterranean

Happy Canada Day (tomorrow)!

2010-06-30T17:35:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow is Canada Day and I think I will feel a bit lonely over here then as this is the first year I can remember not having fellow Canadians (or at least honourary Canadians) around to celebrate with. Instead, I will be working . . . maybe I will find something red to wear though!

So to all of you out celebrating back home - I wish you a lovely and safe day. Send me a message and let me know what you did!

Happy 143rd Birthday Canada!

Granada, Spain (pop 300,000)

2010-06-25T17:08:00.006+01:00

I will now attempt to blog about Granada once more!

View Larger Map

GoogleMap of Granada, Spain

For me, there are two highlights that stick out in my mind from my visit to Granada. The first, the Alhambra – an amazing old fort/palace on top of a hill overlooking the city of Granada. The second, free tapas with every drink you order. Apparently, Granada is one of the few places in Spain that still does this. At first, we weren't sure if the food would be free or not – perhaps they were just bringing us food and if we ate it we would be charged? No! It turns out they just like to make sure you have something delicious to eat while you consume a soothing and refreshingly cold beer. I only have three words to say about this: I like Granada.

Alhambra outside walls

The Alhambra was first built in the 9^th century, when it was a fortress. Since then, several palaces, hotels, beautiful gardens and even bookshops have been added! The first area we visited was the rose garden. It was simply beautiful and we had some pretty spectacular views to the snow capped mountains in the Sierra Nevada as well.

Prettiest rose ever in the rose garden + buildings

Snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada

From there, off we went to explore the different buildings and palaces. There were so many different buildings to look at that we ended up spending an easy 4 hours checking out the Alhambra, and we didn't even make it to the other set of gardens at Generalife. It was definitely worth it though! The views over the city and the Sierra Nevada, as well as the detailing of the mosaics and tiles in one of the palaces were simply breathtaking.

Buildings inside the Alhambra

View through archway over Granada

Beautiful archways

Marco?

2010-06-22T16:47:00.003+01:00

Polo! Well, Polo was the name of the wee car I hired this past weekend when my friend Brandon came to visit from Edinburgh. Finally, I was able to drive a manual car in the UK completely on my own. In Canada, driving a manual (aka standard) car is pretty uncommon. Most people drive automatics while in the UK pretty much everyone drives a manual car. Apparently, automatics are considered "old people's cars" - who knew???

I successfully drove around in my wee Polo for 3 whole days. Well, "success" is a relative term I suppose. It didn't start off so well - I couldn't figure out how to shift the car into reverse. The "R" for reverse was next to the "1" for Gear 1, but for some reason I couldn't get the gear shift to, um, shift to that position. Brandon didn't know either . . . luckily we had yet to leave the car park of the car hire place, so I went inside and did the dumb blond routine. We then discovered that the only way to get the gear shift into the reverse position was to press down on the gear shift first and then push it to the left. Oh, technology, how you mock me.

Upon finally leaving the car dealership, I managed to stall on the very first roundabout we came to (about 30 m from the dealership). It was the first of many stalls over our weekend together. Poor Brandon was a bit of a guinea pig for my driving abilities! I think he'd get back into a car with me, but maybe not for a while . . .

So, success wise . . . well, the good news is that no one was killed or injured in the driving of this vehicle.

A pretty picture

2010-06-15T17:27:00.004+01:00

Rif Mountains, Chefchouen, Morocco.

This was the view we had from our restaurant's rooftop terrace one night in Morocco. It was a really lovely evening.

Last night, I wrote a long blog about Granada, but when I went to save it, it disappeared! So, due to more technical errors, you will need to content yourself with this wee photo for now!

Delayed due to Technical Difficulties

2010-06-14T15:59:00.005+01:00

I know I promised that I would upload photos and blog about my trip this past weekend, but my plans have been curtailed by a major technical difficulty: power outage. When I lived in PEI, the power would frequently go out for a couple of hours or so, especially in the winter when storms caused havoc on the power lines. Since moving to the UK, I don't think I have experienced a single power outage. Well, okay, there has been the occasional power "blink" - you know what I mean: off for a few seconds and then back on again. Nothing major at all. However, this weekend the power went off at 10:30 am on Sunday and remained off for several hours. By 3pm I was getting curious (and a bit tired of reading my book!). This had never happened before. Was it just me???

Sure enough, it was just me! Apparently, I had somehow blown a fuse which resulted in a switch being flipped in the wrong direction and the power had gone out in my flat only. All I had to do was flip the switch back in the opposite direction and the miracle of electrical power was back in place. Too bad I had already wasted most of the day. The good news is that I got power back just in time to watch Ghana win it's match in the the World Cup. I haven't decided who I want to cheer for yet overall, but I have to say I was impressed by Germany's side last night too. Of course, here in the UK, all the adverts are linked to England's attempt to win this year! Even the recent number one song on the UK charts is all about shouting to support England at this year's World Cup! Yeah, they're pretty into their football (aka soccer) over here. You can watch a video of the recent number 1 here:

Back in the NI

2010-06-08T17:43:00.005+01:00

Firstly, I think I owe a huge thank you to Volcanic Ash - it stayed away during my holidays and all my flights were blissfully ash-free. I also successfully avoided the British Airways strike and the rail strike in Spain. All in all, it could have been a pretty stressful trip with travel issues, but it wasn't! Success!

So, I am back in Northern Ireland . . . straight back into work, and already staying late again in order to prepare for tomorrow. I am hoping to have time to blog properly about my trip this weekend (highlights to include: Granada, Spain; Chefchouen, Morocco; and Malaga, Spain) but in the mean time here a few highlights:

Morocco was my first time in Africa and I really enjoyed it!
Both me and Karen were proposed to in Morocco (we said no) and we were told we were beautiful several times a day by random men on the street
I enjoyed many sangrias while in Spain
The weather was HOT - too hot in Morocco (37 degrees!) yuck!
I spent a day at a spa in Chefchouen and had my first massage - I now understand why people go on spa breaks. When can I go on my next one?
Karen got robbed at our hostel on our second last night in Malaga - they took all her money (BOO) . . . but, at least it was only money. Passports, credit cards, etc are all in tact
Swimming in the Mediterranean again = HEAVEN
When I arrived in Malaga, Spain to start my holiday, the customs guy forgot to stamp my passport. I lived in constant fear for the rest of the trip that this might come back to haunt me. Luckily, it didn't.
I got a total of 7 new stamps in my passport. I heart passport stamps.
We made a point of eating ice cream at least once a day. Yum. I introduced Karen to Magnum ice cream. So. Good.
This trip made me realise how much I love to travel - I want to go backpacking again soon! Luckily, I am heading to both Iceland and Canada in August: Two more months!

Now, back to work! :-)

Dear Volcanic Ash

2010-05-27T17:32:00.001+01:00

Please stay away from UK and Spanish airspace over the next fortnight. I will be on holiday and would like to make it there and back on the dates and times I booked.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kathleen

The Birds and the . . . Bats . . .???

2010-05-26T18:23:00.003+01:00

The previous 24 hours have been a bit rough. First, I think I may have accidentally killed a bat in what I can only assume was a most horrific death. Second, I had the misfortune of being an assistant murderer to a greenfinch. Not the best days work for an environmentalist.

First the bat: I was hanging up my wet laundry to dry when, at the bottom of my basket, I noticed something furry and black - a bat! It wasn't moving and I assume it didn't enjoy the spin cycle of my washing machine! The only thing I can think of is that a) it was already in the washing machine before I got there or b) it somehow climbed into my pile of dirty clothes and I put it in the washing machine myself, closed the lid, and pressed start! Either way, if it was alive when it went in, it was a horrible way to go. I feel pretty terrible!

The day after this happened, a green finch got stuck inside one of our rooms at work. Me, being the environmental goody goody that I am decided that I must rescue it and restore my good name. (The week before I had rescued a warbler from a similar situation). Alas, redeeming myself was just not to be. The bird was too high up for me to reach, so I asked my boss to get it for me. He put my jacket over the bird, but he didn't have a tight enough grip and the bird flew away . . . straight into the window with a horrible smack. It fell to the ground, looking a bit stunned, then shuddered a few times and was still. All of this happened in front of my coworker's primary school daughter. Oh yes, things just keep getting better and better!

*hangs head in shame*

On the bright side . . . Spain and Morocco in two days!

Summer is here (I hope)

2010-05-23T09:33:00.002+01:00

I don't want to speak too soon, but I feel it should be noted that this weekend has been one the most glorious and sun filled weekends I have had in Northern Ireland. I'm talking sunshine all day both Saturday and Sunday, which is more than enough to get me excited, but on top of that, the temperature has been around 25 degrees each day - that's well hot for NI.

I celebrated this particular spike in the temperature by donning shorts and flip flops for the first time this year. I even walked down to the village in them, showing off my white pasty legs which are so in need of a good tan. However, when I got to the village I felt a little out of place. Not a single other person was sporting shorts. Everyone had jeans on, and I think I caught a few funny looks from the locals too. Do they not where shorts in this country? Did I miss something in the tourist brochure that said "WARNING: Shorts are banned here"? They can keep there jeans - when the sun's out and it's hot, I'll be working on my tan in my shorts!

In -hopefully - related good weather news, I am off to Spain and Morocco on Saturday!!!!!!! By the copious amount of exclamation points I used in that sentence, I hope you get the impression I am excited. I am still concerned about the volcanic ash, but I know I can't do anything about it, so I just have to wait and see. Hopefully the airspace will remain open between here and Malaga, Spain on Saturday. I definitely need the holiday and I am looking forward to traveling with my friend from Canada who is going to meet me there!

Bring on the sunshine and sangria!

Dear Jen

2010-05-19T17:56:00.002+01:00

Thank you for being my second loyal reader. I appreciate you keeping tabs on me and I look forward to our next adventure . . . in whatever country that happens to be in!

Miss you (but I will see in you in August - volcanic ash willing!)

PS I dedicate my Aix photos to you. :-) Better late than never!

Dear Vanessa

2010-05-17T18:21:00.002+01:00

I only have a few seconds to post this, so I just wanted to say to my one (and only?) loyal reader that I am sorry for not posting during this past month. I will post properly soon and hopefully be as good a friend as Jen. :)

(please don't scold me anymore)

Miss you!

Aix-en-Provence Le Quatre

2010-04-09T16:31:00.002+01:00

Well, I think I finally solved how to get my computer to post pictures again! It only took, oh, six hours. Yay for technology!

You can see my new and improved post on Aix HERE (complete with photos). Now, if I only I could get my slideshow to show the rest of my pictures from Aix!!! (I'm not sure if I'm willing to dedicate another 6hrs of work to this . . . )

Bon fin semaine!

Bank notes

2010-04-08T15:46:00.004+01:00

There's nothing like the feeling of a brand new crisp dollar bill (or pound note!) coming out of the cash machine into my keen hands! Even if it is just a £10 note, I still enjoy that feeling of new money and knowing that I am probably the first person who has ever handled that bill before. Recently, I was given a brand new bill from my local cash machine which was a £10 note from the Bank of Ireland (in the UK, each individual bank creates it's own notes). This particular bill caught my eye because of what was on the back of it: an image of Old Bushmills Distillery (see picture below for a similar £5 version that I found online). In Northern Ireland, they celebrate their whiskey . . . which kind of perpetuates the stereotype of a country that drinks too much! I guess this is what they are the most proud of? Bushmill's Whiskey . . . perhaps I should try some!

I then decided to look up what Canada had on the back of it's bank notes. The answer? Birds!

Us Canadians must be really proud of the loon (that's Great Northern Divers in the UK) as they not only appear on our $20 bill, but also on our $1 coin. It's too bad we couldn't come up with a better name than "loony" for our coin though. However, it is still much better than "twoony" (I have no idea what the official spelling is supposed to be?), our two dollar coin. I wonder if the powers that be decided to create something called the twoony so that all other coins would feel superior????

Good Friday? Not in Northern Ireland!

2010-04-02T14:23:00.001+01:00

(I just emailed this to a friend, but thought it was worth posting online too . . .)

So, today is Good Friday, but apparently in Northern Ireland no one gets it as a holiday (they get Tuesday instead). However, I am still the ONLY person in the office and there is no heat. I've just checked the thermometer and it says 14 degrees! That's celsius, of course . . . you Americans with your funny system beginning with F that I can't spell might not understand what that means, but it's damn cold in here. I want to go home now, but I have to wait for this guy to ring me back. In the mean time I am sporting my winter hat and coat and I can just barely feel my fingers and toes.

What does hypothermia feel like?

Aix-en-Provence Le Deux . . . ou Trois?

2010-04-01T16:58:00.010+01:00

I've posted this again . . . this time with pictures! (It only took me a good 6 hours or so to sort out my computer . . . )

*apologies for my absence - I have had tonsillitis and that has made me very cranky and not so much in the mood for blogging!*

I have been taking a look through photos on my laptop and realised that in addition to not posting pictures from my trip to France in October, I also don't remember writing about it on my blog! So, before I can fill you in on Edinburgh I should start with my trip to Aix last year.

In case you were wondering, Aix is pronounced like "x" or "ex" . . . I know was quite curious about the pronunciation before I left for France. The plan was to fly from Dublin to Nice and then take a train to Aix . . . that meant I needed to buy a train ticket and I better know how to pronounce where I was going!

My journey to Aix went something like this: Up at 4:45am (this wouldn't have been too bad if I hadn't been up late packing . . . I've always been a *bit* of a procrastinator when it comes to packing!) then taxi-bus-plane-plane (I changed in Zurich, Switzerland) - bus - train - train (I changed in Marseille) finally arriving in Aix around midnight! I was pretty tired and pretty sure I'd caught something on the plane/train/bus/taxi, but I was very happy to see Jen, if not much of a conversationalist!

We headed back to her place albeit in a very indirect manner! But, I have to say that my first impression of walking through Aix at night was really nice. The old town has a lot of character with plenty of winding streets that do look a little similar, so I can't blame Jen completely for getting a bit lost! Plenty of student-type people were still out at restaurants, sitting in squares finishing off their wine. I immediately got the feeling I would enjoy Aix!

Aix is famous for Cezanne, a famous painter who did a lot of very cool impressionist paintings. I love impressionism and while I didn't know too much about Cezanne, I was willing to learn. So, one day we went in search of Cezanne paintings . . . by accident, we went to the wrong museum, but they had a very cool exhibit on Picasso so we checked it out for a while. It was one of the best exhibits I've seen and they included quite a bit of technology to make it all a bit more interesting too. They had this huge room (see picture below) filled with poles on which pieces of wood were connected that listed various works of Picasso. The pieces of wood that were lit up could be touched and then the corresponding work of art would appear on the wall beside you. To top it off, each lit up piece of wood not only triggered the art to appear, but also resulted in a musical note being played! It was really neat and you could make your own songs up while works of art flashed up on the wall.

Picasso Exhibit

While Picasso is interesting, I still really wanted to see some work by Cezanne. Time was running out, so we made a last ditch attempt to locate a museum with works by Cezanne by heading to the tourist information building to ask them (in French, I might add!) where I could possibly find some paintings by Cezanne. Surely there must be a museum dedicated to his work in his hometown? Well . . . there is . . . however, all his paintings were currently out participating in a travelling exhibition! No Cezanne for me then. (UPDATE: I did eventually get to see 1 painting of Cezanne's when I visited London in December - I really liked it!)

Another thing that Aix does oh so well is fountains. They seemed to be everywhere, and whether they were working or not they were pretty spectacular. The best one was in the middle of this crazy roundabout that had probably 5 different points of entry and 3 or 4 lanes across. It would have been nice to get closer to it so that I could get pictures without a car zooming in front of me, but I decided not to risk it . . . at least for now.

Fountain in middle of roundabout

One of my favourite little squares was the Place des Albertas. It didn't have anything of interest in it really, except a fountain that wasn't working but it was just really pretty. I especially like the nonchalantness of the motorbike resting against the beautiful fountain.

Place des Albertas

The other highlight of my trip to Aix was the Natural History Museum. Now, if you've only been to the Natural History Museum in Ottawa, London or New York City, this museum will perhaps be a *bit* of a disappointment! However, I think that considering its size, it didn't do too badly. They had an interesting display on dinosaurs, which I wasn't really expecting to find there and also some old skulls from our long-lost ancestors.

At the Natural History Museum

My time in Aix was short-lived. I did make sure to go out and enjoy some proper French cuisine and wine and (of course!) crepes! But quicker than I expected it was time to head back to Northern Ireland . . . no problem! Bring on the train-train-bus-plane-plane-bus-taxi!

Trips

2010-03-16T23:41:00.003Z

One of my plans this year is to do more travelling. So far, I have been to the Lake District in England . . . but that was for work so I am not sure if it counts. I have also been to Edinburgh (more on that later).

I currently have two major trips in the works for this summer though: Iceland and also Spain & Morocco. It will be my first ever time visiting the continent of Africa and I am very excited for that. Apparently the capital of Iceland (Reykjavik) is the most northerly capital in the world. It also has up to 22 hours of daylight in the summer time.

Perfect. ;-)

2010-02-22T10:44:00.002Z

Hello, hello, hello!

I don't have too much to report really, but felt it was time to update my blog a little. I came back from training in England about 3 weeks ago and life has been pretty quiet since. There hasn't been too much going on at work, which has been nice for a change, but I am now starting to get a bit antsy . . .

So, I decided to book a trip to Edinburgh for my birthday next month. It's a big one: 30. I am having trouble accepting the fact that I will be turning 30 already. It doesn't seem right some how. But, at least I get to spend it with some good friends in my "second" home.

In other news, a good friend of mine from Ottawa might be coming to visit me in June. I am very much looking forward to it. It's been quite a while since I've seen her. I think it's funny that people have started to visit me once I moved to Northern Ireland. I have lived in the UK on and off for a total of about 4 1/2 years and in that time no one has visited except in the past 6 months! I had 3 visitors from Canada in that time period and it's been splendid.

I'm still getting physio for my ankle which I sprained back in December. It's incredibly annoying that it's still not 100%, but I am told that I am doing "really well" and that it "should" go back to normal. Somehow the word "should" isn't as comforting as I would like it to be . . .

The Olympics! I hate being so many time zones away from the Olympics . . . I miss all the good stuff . . . like the US-Canada men's hockey game. The BBC has poor coverage of the Olympics too . . . at least compared to the CBC! I almost never get to see a complete race/competition, it's just the highlights, which somehow takes away from the whole thing. I like to be anxious and on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how things go. Also, they have coverage at random times. For example, on Saturday, there was a recap of what had happened the day before at around 1pm. Then, on there was some coverage again around 8pm. And then, the bulk of the coverage started around 11pm until the wee hours of the morning. I tried to watch, but fell asleep around 2am. Or was it 3am???? Hopefully, this will be well improved for the London Olympics in 2012. I must try to get tickets to some events, but I am not sure what I want to watch . . . track and field? rowing? the marathon? what other events are there???

11 days to go until my UK manual (stick-shift) driving test . . . oh, oh, better go practice!

My very own cookie monsters

2010-02-10T21:37:00.003Z

A weird thing is going on at my work . . . I have been feeling somewhat excluded lately. Why, you might ask . . . well people seem to be excluding me from the sweets! It's the strangest thing. Someone will come into my office and there will only be two other people sitting there - me and somebody else. The sweets are offered . . . not to me but only to the other person! "Would you like a cookie, Simon?" I am left to salivate obnoxiously while the plate of cookies pass under my nose. At first, I thought it might be some sort of weird Northern Irish hazing ritual - how long until the Canadian girl cracks, grabs the plate of cookies, and procedes to stuff every single one in her mouth? I had been feeling pretty good about passing said ritual without knocking the plate of cookies to the floor and jumping up and down on it to infinity. No sweets had passed under my nose without being offered since Christmas. I thought I had broken these Northern Irish cookie holders. That is, until today. Today, they had apple crumble and I . . . well, I had nothing. I looked longingly at the plastic container, trying to hint suggestively with my eyes but to no avail.

The Northern Irish are definitely tough cookies (what - was that a bad pun?).

My local bank was robbed last week!

2010-02-03T15:47:00.002Z

Three men committed armed robbery in my bank in Enniskillen last week! I feel especially sorry for the ladies who were working the tills. No one was hurt and a few thousand pounds were taken. You can read the full story here.

Home x3

2010-01-29T13:30:00.006Z

Recently, I was having a discussion with my fellow workmates about the word "home" and how it has different meanings to different people. At the moment, I can safely say that I have 3 homes. One, refers to PEI where I grew up, but not to a particular house. Another, refers to my place in Northern Ireland, where I currently live. The third refers to wherever I happen to be going to sleep that night (e.g. a friend's place, hostel, etc).

I am curious about how many homes other people feel they have though . . . (feel free to comment if you are reading this)

My home in Northern Ireland

Portstewart and area, Northern Ireland

2009-12-14T17:53:00.002Z

Irish Stone - Rick's Hostel

In October my Canadian pal and fellow traveller, Keri, and I headed to Northern Ireland's Portstewart, one of the many gateways to what is arguably Northern Ireland's most famous site: the Giant's Causeway. The train journey from Belfast to Coleraine was laid back and straight forward. We'd grabbed the dinner time train on a Friday, which was a bit crowded, so definitely make sure you get there in plenty of time to grab a seat. Two hours later, we'd arrived in Coleraine. We had an hour to kill before the next bus to Portstewart, so out we went to see what we could see of Coleraine. What a shame we couldn't stay for longer! The pedestrian shopping area was lovely and full of shops that I wouldn't have minded having more time to browse in and the townhall was gorgeous.

Then, it was quickly back to the train station to catch our bus to Port Stewart. We found our way to our hostel (Rick's Hostel, the Causeway Coast Independent Hostel) without incident and then, admittedly, took a little while to figure out how to use the phone in the hostel to call Rick to check in (it was all duct taped up and you had to hit the "call" button to summon Rick). However, once we'd figured it out (with the help of at least two other hostellers) we were on our way to an excellent stay in a very friendly hostel. Rick is extremely helpful and clearly a traveller at heart. The fellow guests at the hostel were all great fun – the hostel itself is small enough that you can really get to know your fellow backpackers. Our first night was spent in a small but tidy twin room (bunk beds only) and our second night we switched rooms to a 4 bed ensuite. There, the bunkbeds were luxury, as the bottom bunk was actually a double bed, and I was lucky enough to score it before Keri did (sorry, Ker!). It was also pretty handy having the ensuite shower as well, since the hostel was full and the communal showers were in high demand!

On Saturday, we were absolutely blessed with some wonderful late autumn sunshine and decided to head towards the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, a 20m long bridge from the which fisherman put up every year and run by the National Trust. It's around £4 to cross the bridge. The view out over the water was fantastic and the anticipation mounted as we walked closer and closer to the rope bridge (it's a bit of a walk from the road to the bridge itself). Finally, we were there and the moment of truth was upon us. Would we be brave enough to cross the bridge with a very obvious view to the water and rocks below? Oh yes we were! I'm not going to lie – my legs took a good 20mins to stop shaking afterwards! Keri and I spent forever taking pictures along the bridge, which was a luxury we could well afford since we were there during the off-season, although I have to admit it was still quite a bit busier than I expected! Apparently, in the summer, they have to operate a strict one way system on the bridge as so many people are trying to cross it at once!

The view down, from the rope bridge

The view from the island

On the island itself, there really isn't much to see except an old fisherman's shack. However, we amused ourselves by taking many, many photos. Eventually, we headed back up to the road to catch the bus to the Giant's Causeway . . . unfortunately, I hadn't kept good enough track of the time and our bus was long gone, and there wasn't another one for several hours! What were we to do? Well, we thought that since the Irish were such friendly people, surely we wouldn't have too much trouble hitchhiking? Out went our thumbs and car after car just drove by! Oddly, many cars honked their horns at us (in a friendly way) or gave us a wave while they drove by . . . but it didn't appear as though anyone was going to stop. Finally when we'd all but given up hope, I stuck my thumb out for one last hurrah, as a group of 3 cars approached (Keri had gone to see about getting a number for a taxi) and lo and behold, car number two stopped! Thank goodness! They were a lovely English couple who just so happened to be going to the Giant's Causeway, the same location as us.

The Giant's Causeway (free entry) is Northern Ireland's only UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mythology behind this area is that an Irish giant named Finn MacCool built the crazy rock formations as a part of bridge to Scotland. He needed the bridge so that when he got there he could fight Scotland's giant, Benandonner. The scientific explanation is not as interesting, has to do with the rock basalt formations forming as lava flowing through the area cooled, creating the hexagonal columns. See, I told you it wasn't as interesting.

Me at the Giant's Causeway

I'd been to the Giant's Causeway before, so I knew what to expect. There are two paths you can take: the upper path, which leads to a set of stairs, which after you go down them, you then get to the Giant's Causeway itself; or the lower path, which heads straight to the Giant's Causeway, but if you want to see the view from the cliff-tops, you then need to climb those steps up to the top. I personally recommend going along the cliff-top path first so you can see the views along the coast, and you also get the bonus of not having to walk up all those steps! Alternatively, if you don't feel you can face either walk there is a bus which will take you right to the heart of the Giant's Causeway, for just £1. The different formations of rocks are quite interesting, from the Giant's boot to the organ pipes, and if you time it right you might just get some spectacular waves hitting the rocks as the tide comes back in.

Me in front of the Organ Pipes

Me sitting on the Giant's Boot

Sunday brought back the typical UK autumnal weather: rain, fog, and cold. We had wanted to head back to Coleraine to check it out before getting the bus home, but when we checked with Rick, we discovered that since it was Sunday, the shops probably wouldn't be open until the afternoon, so there wasn't much point for us to go to Coleraine. Instead, we decided to go follow the Coastal Walk to Portstewart Strand, a stretch of 2.5km of gorgeous sandy beach. However, it wasn't really the best beach day and by the time we'd returned to the hostel we were absolutely soaked to the skin. We spent the rest of our time in Portstewart warming up in the hostel, before catching the bus back home. It's worth mentioning that unlike the mainland UK, Northern Ireland doesn't overcharge for public transport and you can get a Sunday Rambler ticket for £8, which will gives you unlimited travel anywhere in Northern Ireland for that day. Not too shabby.

Portstewart's Harbour

Christmas Trees

2009-12-07T16:22:00.002Z

Last week I set up my Christmas tree for the first time in Northern Ireland. It's just a wee tree that the BBC left behind when they were doing some filming and using my place as a back drop. What was really nice about this year's tree was that I got to use my very own decorations (the ones that I had in Canada) for the first time since I moved to the UK. It was nice to see all those decorations that reminded me of people:

There was an angel with a bell on it, which reminded me of my friend Shannon. She gave me and Vanessa similar decorations for our first Christmas in Edinburgh, where we hosted Christmas in our flat and had a rule about our tree (who we called Veronica) that we couldn't buy any decorations ourselves - they had to be borrowed, given, found or stolen . . .

Baby's First Christmas - I am proud to say that I still have my very first Christmas ornament and that it made it safe and sound all the way from Canada!

Edinburgh 2004 decoration - reminds me of my time in Edinburgh, of course, and all the good people I met then!

A friendship heart from Lori - it's good to know who your friends are!

Hand-made decorations from both grandmothers. They're so lovely to see every year and are definitely items that I want to keep for many years to come.

An angel from my mom, which obviously reminds me of her and also my grandfather.

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is coming this year. I just received another gift in the post today and I am looking forward to putting it under my tree! I will struggle not to open it until Christmas though . . . it's so hard!

Buses & Beckham

2009-12-04T15:34:00.004Z

Riding the bus in the wee village is completely different from riding the bus in any other city I have visited/lived in so far. While there are bus stops in the village, and between the village and the closest town, these are largely ignored by the locals. Instead, apparently, you can flag down the bus wherever you happen to be on the road, rather like a taxi, and ask the bus driver to let you off the bus in any random spot along the road you like.

I have to admit that this works very well for me. Recently, JenMac and I ran the entire length of my village's main street in order to flag down the bus and jump on at a spot that was well after the actual bus stop. Luckily, the bus was caught in "traffic" on the main street, so it couldn't get away. We then had the bus entirely to ourselves for the entire ride into town. Luxury! haha

I wonder if the new bus system that we got in PEI is like that? I have yet to ride the bus back home, so I cannot comment!

On a side note, I think I may have been in the UK too long as I was listening to David Beckham in an interview yesterday and his voice, oddly, did not cause me to shudder in any way! I don't know what's happened . . . either I've been here too long or he's been stateside too long and we've reached a point of mutual understanding!

***This post is in response to Ali's well deserved admonishing for me not posting stories about my wee village recently. Until the next installment . . .

Rain, rain go away . . .

2009-11-21T10:10:00.001Z

I don't know if I've mentioned to anyone or not, but the rain here during the month of November has been unreal! In fact, it's been raining in County Fermanagh for the past 34 days and counting, and the water level in the Lough closest to me is at it's highest level since records began (in the 50s)! And I get to be here for it . . . how lucky I am! haha!

Plus, did I mention I work outside every day? I'm telling you, my luck just keeps getting better and better. I am quite happy I invested in that Gortex jacket though - it really is a life saver!

I can't complain too much though. In Cumbria (the North west of England) they have had absolutely unreal rainfall amounts this week. One area had over 300mm of rain within 24 hours - that's over a foot! By contrast, the highest amount of rainfall we've had here in a day was just over 33mm. Not too shabby!

In more exciting news . . . JenMac might be coming to visit next week! Yay!

Christmas time! . . . ????

2009-11-14T18:41:00.002Z

Today was a very Christmasy day for me. Not only was I wrapping Christmas gifts . . . .-keep in mind I have to send them all the way to Canada and I plan on sending my items by surface mail, as it is half the price or air, and therefore need to send my items asap - but the outside of my house is completely decorated for Christmas! It's got lights, a mini-tree in the window, and a LARGE tree sitting out front. Also, there are, as I type this, about 15-20 primary school children singing Christmas carols outside my door.

I'm not kidding.

There is a reason for all this madness, however . . . the BBC is filming a special with the kids from one of the local primary schools! And, they are using my house as a backdrop. I love it, but I think I will feel somewhat deflated after they have left . . . you know, like the holidays have finished and I have nothing to look forward to for a whole year.

I wonder what they are going to do with the leftover tree when they're done???

It's November????

2009-11-10T19:13:00.002Z

I can't believe it's November already. Time is FLYING by and work is absolutely hectic at the moment! I don't really have time to type, but I just wanted to post to say I'm here and still alive, but absolutely swamped at the moment. I am teaching everyday in November, while trying to accomplish other things both at work and out of work, so life is a bit mad.

I'm taking my second driving lesson in Northern Ireland tomorrow. I haven't had time to practice, so it's a bit of a concern! Also, I'm teaching a new session tomorrow and I don't feel completely trained for it, so that's a bit nerve wracking. And, I just finished work now (at 7pm) . . . hmmmmm, maybe I should go practice and look over my notes for tomorrow???

Or, I could work on my Christmas shopping . . .:-) I must send everything off soon, as it has to make it to Canada on time. There have been postal strikes here recently, but things seem to be sorted out now. I certainly hope so. My next goal then should be to get everything sent off by the end of the week. Surface mail: it takes way longer but is way cheaper.

Any snow in Canada yet? We just have lots and lots and lots of rain here. Boo.

Mr Cabdriver

2009-10-27T10:57:00.005Z

(Another gem, found on my laptop!)

Besides being a good song by Lenny Kratvitz, it also refers to a rather popular source of employment. Recently, I went out for a walk in a two mile loop near my house. While I was walking, I suddenly became aware of the sound of footsteps coming up close behind me. They came closer and closer and eventually I knew I was about to be passed. Now, I happen to be somewhat competitive and I hate when I get passed by fellow walkers, as it makes me feel rather incompetent. Especially, when the walker turns out to be someone in their 70s or 80s! *sigh – that happens more often than I’d like to admit*

Enter Gary, the cabdriver. He was my walker-stalker on that fine evening, and, naturally, he appeared to be in his 60s. I slowed down to allow him to pass by, but instead he suddenly shouted “Hello!”, slowed his pace, and started asking me questions. He wanted to know all about who I was and what on earth a Canadian was doing in this wee village. I also learned a fair amount about him along the way. We walked for around a mile together before we parted ways. I had to laugh at the situation – this would certainly never have happened in Edinburgh! If someone suddenly shouted “Hello!” and started asking me questions about who I was when I was walking through the Meadows or Holyrood Park, I probably would have turned and ran the other way!

UPDATE: I have since ran into Gary several times! Once, he picked me and Keri up in his cab, and once he walked in on Keri and I trying to get a photo op with two unsuspecting donkeys on the side of the rode (see picture evidence below - the second donkey is behind Keri).

Random Odd Facts

2009-10-27T10:40:00.004Z

Here's an old post that's been hiding on my laptop . . .

1. When I moved to Scotland, I learned that they didn’t say the word “lake”, they said loch instead. For example, think of Loch Ness. However, in Northern Ireland they use the word “lough”, which is pronounced the same as loch, but spelled in a completely different way. Therefore:

Lake = Loch = Lough

2. Number of churches I’ve seen so far called St. Patrick’s: 3 and counting.

3. Funniest school name I’ve seen so far: Tempo Controlled Primary School. It’s found in a wee village called Tempo. I’m not sure what the controlled part refers to though . . .

4. Names that make me laugh:

Ballyshannon, Ballymoney, Ballynakelly, and pretty much any town/village/hamlet with the word "bally" in it
Belcoo. It's a village not far from here that I just like the sound of. If you divide it into the two syllables of "bel" and "coo" you get "pretty cow" if you use the french word for pretty "belle" and the scots word for cow "coo". At least, that's what I think of every time I see it.
Smurfit something something. This is the name of some company that we drive by whenever we go to Belfast. OBVIOUSLY it reminds me of the smurfs!

Aix-en-Provence, France

2009-10-25T09:16:00.002Z

I know I seem to be skipping around a lot here and not writing for a long time, but the problem is that I have a few items to post on my laptop, which is at home where I have no internet. When I am at work, where there is internet, I do not have my laptop. So, I will skip ahead to my upcoming adventure in France and, hopefully later today, I will find time to post about my more recent adventures.

On Wednesday, I will land in Aix-en-Provence, France where I expect to get up to much mischief with my friend JenMac over the course of the next few days. I have never been to that part of France before and I am a bit nervous about purchasing my train ticket to Aix, as I have no idea how to pronounce it. Also, I think I just have a slight complex when it comes to buying rail tickets in France anyway, due to a previous embarrassing experience: I can speak French well enough, but when I go for long stretches without using the language I tend to forget key words that I would normally know. Like the word for "Tuesday". One of the first things you learn in French are the days of the week and for some reason when I was traveling in France a few years ago and trying to book a train ticket for the following Tuesday, I completely forgot the word for Tuesday. Instead, I managed to say (in French, I might add) "Not Monday, but the day after" and the lady at the counter looked at my kind of funny and said "Mardi?" and I said, rather enthusiastically,"Oui!!!!! Mardi!!!!!" and managed to successfully book the ticket.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to travelling in another country for a bit and France is one of my favourites. I am not sure what we will get up to, but there has been some talk of hiking, visiting Avignon, and of course plenty of French cuisine (aka baguettes) and eau de France (wine).

See you soon Miss JenMac!!

Life in the village continues

2009-09-27T18:58:00.003+01:00

Recently, I went to register with the doctor's office here in my village. They were very friendly and nice and wanted to know all about me and why in the world I would leave "sunny Canada" for Northern Ireland. I also found out that there is a Canadian doctor, from Ontario, who sometimes covers the clinic, which is somewhat exciting. Since I've moved here people like to point out the other Canadians that they've heard about living in the same area. I have yet to meet a fellow Canuck, but I know there is one living somewhere nearby in "the sticks", which I thought was where I am now living, but it appears I have been misinformed!

Last night I went to watch Gaelic football for the first time. It's different from regular football (meaning soccer to you Canadian folk), in that you are allowed to pick up the ball with your hands. You can also score both points and goals . . . a goal goes in the net, and a point goes between the uprights, kind of like in the CFL. If you pick up the ball, you can't just carry it, but you have to either bounce it once (kind of like basketball) or do a solo, where you kick the ball back up to yourself. It was all very interesting and fun. People really take it seriously here . . . there was lots of swearing! And my current housemate, who almost never speaks and is someone that I consider quite shy, suddenly became this whole new person and barely stopped yelling at the pitch. It was bizarre! The first match I saw was a cup final, called the New York Cup, and it was very exciting. I am glad that I went and will likely continue to go support my local team, who's pitch is just up the road from where I'm living.

I'm still not in my own flat yet, which is frustrating! I better be in asap this week, or else I will be one unhappy lady!

Little Village = Little Adventures

2009-09-20T20:04:00.001+01:00

I wrote this blog earlier in the week, but I haven't had a chance to post it until now . . . enjoy!

I have been in Northern Ireland for almost a week now and I like it so far. I haven’t settled in yet though, as all my stuff is still in boxes and shoved, rather precariously, into a closet in the house I am sharing. There’s no point in unpacking it yet really as I am moving again in a week or two to a private flat. I can’t wait to move, not only so I can unpack and start to make this place feel a bit more like home, but also so I can find my phone charger . . . my battery is definitely going to die at any moment and then I will truly be cut off from the world . . . not that I can get much phone signal here anyway! ;-)

I survived my first day of teaching. It went alright, all things considered. I was flying blind because I hadn’t had the opportunity to observe the session I was teaching in advance, so it was a steep learning curve. I am glad it’s out of the way though!

My most recent adventure in the village involved visiting the local shop to see what they stocked on their shelves. Answer: not much, but it’ll do for staples like milk and bread. The shop lady looked up when I came to the till, and seemed quite disappointed when she didn’t recognise me (she’d called everyone else by name who had been ahead of me in the queue!). I am not sure what was required of me, in terms of social etiquette; in that situation . . . should I have introduced myself, telling her who I was? That seemed a bit much, as there were a few people waiting behind me. I decided to leave it for the time being. It won’t be long now until she finds out who I am on her own, I suppose.

My upcoming adventure is as follows: On Saturday, I plan on travelling into the nearest town (pop. 10,000) by bus to do a bit of shopping and nosing around. The only annoying part of my plan is that once I arrive in the town, I am then stuck there for about 9.5 hours before there will be another bus to take me back home. Oh, the joys of small town living!

Those city lights are calling!

First Impressions

2009-09-12T17:45:00.000+01:00

I arrived in my Northern Irish town (location to be kept secret from the public domain) about an hour ago. “Town” is a term to use loosely here, as there are only around 600 people in the area, so village would be more appropriate. I am currently exhausted, having not slept well the night before the move, and being on the go since just after 4am. Yuck.

The ferry crossing was beautiful though, as was the drive to Stranraer (where you catch the ferry from Scotland to Belfast). I wish I had explored that part of the country before. But, I digress . . .

My first impression so far of this village and of the accommodation supplied is that of claustrophobia. And, it’s not because there is anything wrong with the village or the house . . . it’s just that they are quite a bit different than what I am used to! I was living in Edinburgh (pop. ~450,00) where no one that you pass on the street really pays attention to you and my flatmates were very much interested in keeping a distance from each other. This is in contrast to here, where already I have been the subject of much staring and a few waves from the local children! Also, the house that I am in at the moment is probably smaller than the flat that I was living in before, and I feel like there isn’t much privacy. It’s just the complete opposite of the flat where no one spoke to one another and you would often go days without seeing someone. Here, you can see/hear the other person without any difficulty.

On the plus side there is a lovely garden though. Also, I have about 20 pillows on my bed. Bonus!

I will need to decide over the next week about staying in this place or moving to the flat that the girl I am replacing is currently staying in. I haven’t seen her place yet, so I am not sure what I will end up doing!

Deep Sea World

2009-09-07T13:35:00.002+01:00

Here's a video of my recent visit to Deep Sea World in North Queensferry. It's quite dark and a bit blurry, but hopefully it'll give you an idea of what I got see. It was taken while I rode around on a conveyor belt through a tunnel surrounded by clear glass with fish, sting rays, and sharks swimming overhead!

"No More Than Two MPs Allowed at a Time"

2009-09-04T18:09:00.000+01:00

****My friend JenMac recently (and rightly so, I might add) got mad at me for my lack of posting lately. I humbly apologise. For some reason, I tend to start writing blog posts, save them, and promptly forget about them. Here is a post I started from way back - June 10th!****

On the walk home from work today I spotted a sign with the above slogan written on it. It was hanging in a local shop in the Cannonmills section of Edinburgh and it made me laugh out loud. For those of you not in the know, many of the UK's politicians have been recently plagued with negative publicity for using public funds in inappropriate ways. For example, two MP's, who are married own two properties. No problem so far, but wait for it . . . . Both claimed "second-home mortgages", which they are completely allowed to do, but they claimed it for the opposite property to that which their partner was claiming it for. Clever that. Another employed family members to do secretarial work of some sort, while said family members were living in a completely different part of the country from the MP. Another's husband paid for porn and had the tax payer foot the bill. There's more too, but I am getting too annoyed to write about it. .

The downside of all of this, is of course that people are feeling rather uninspired by our politicians. The MPs have broken the public's trust to such an extent that they cannot be allowed within local shops more than two at time for fear of them stealing! This is a huge problem. Recently, the European Elections were held and voter turn out in the UK was an uninspiring 34.7 percent. Furthermore, out of the 27 nations eligible to vote, our percentage of voter turnout was ranked 21st. Ouch. I helped count the votes for the election in Edinburgh and one voters showed his/her displeasure by writing the word "crooks" beside every party on the ballot. They had to be pretty angry because they actually took the time out of their busy day to make it to a polling station and then write "crooks" beside all 13 parties (including one independent candidate) of this election.

Perhaps one of the consequences of the low voter turnout was that BNP (British National Party) scored two seats in European Parliament. I feel the need to point out that neither of these seats came from Scotland, but, nevertheless, their apparent rise in popularity does send a shudder of dread down my spine. They're not exactly "pro-foreigners"! I certainly hope that this is not a sign of things to come.

Collect the Country

2009-08-10T00:27:00.002+01:00

Next month I will be beginning the next phase of my adventure in the UK, as I have been offered a job in Northern Ireland! It's a job in my field, pays more than the my 2 jobs here do (combined) and it also includes a place to stay and food! Plus, I will get most weekends off!

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

Only time will tell and all I can say is that I am looking forward to this next adventure. Tomorrow, or more accurately - later today, I will be calling the company to accept the offer and confirm my date of arrival. Hopefully, it will all go smoothly!

So far, I have worked in Scotland, England, and soon . . . Northern Ireland! I will somehow have to find a way to make it to Wales for employment of some form. Really, I'm not doing too bad - not including UK countries I have also worked in Canada and France. I wonder where life will take me next???

Stay tuned for a funny/typical story about me, the interview, and procrastination!

Badgers!

2009-06-14T19:56:00.005+01:00

I went badger watching at the weekend. It was only the second time I have seen a live badger . . . although I have seen lots of dead ones! They probably don't count though. The first time I saw a badger, it was so dark it was really hard to see it. This time though I got pretty lucky.

Here's a video of one of the badgers coming out of it's sett:

Random Fact of the Day

2009-06-04T14:26:00.003+01:00

My home province, Prince Edward Island, Canada only has 1 escalator. It's in the Charlottetown Court Mall and goes up one flight of stairs, so really, it's a bit unnecessary. There is a rumour that there may be a second escalator in Summerside, but as far as I know, this has yet to be confirmed.

I feel like someone should take a picture of our province's only escalator and promote it as a tourist attraction. JenMac, what do you think?

Learning to Drive (again!)

2009-05-31T08:14:00.003+01:00

I decided that I need to learn how to drive manual (aka standard) cars. Last year, I converted my Canadian licence to a UK one. That is something you can do during your first year in the UK and I got it in just under the wire. However, unless you can prove that you took your test using a standard car, the UK gives you a licence with a stipulation: you can drive, but only automatic cars. In my case, I've only ever driven an automatic car, as standards just seemed a bit unnecessary back in Canada. Unfortunately for me, automatics are like a rare and endangered species over here, and knowing how to drive a standard car is tres importante for many of the jobs I'm interested in.

In short, I am taking driving lessons yet again! I was a bit apprehensive about this at first since, the first time I took lessons my instructor clearly had no intention of really teaching me how to drive and just expected me to basically know what I was doing when I showed up for my lessons already. She even went so far as to say that she wouldn't bother teaching me how to parallel park because there aren't that many places where parallel parking is required where I come from. I was too shy/young to stand up to her and say . . . ummmmm, but what if I want to park somewhere else? Say in a different province (which I've done) or Europe (which I've also done)?

Back to the current day. Being still slightly traumatized from my first set of lessons, I wasn't exactly looking forward to round II. Did all instructors secretly expect you to already know what you are doing before you show up for your lesson? The closest I've ever been to driving a stick shift was reversing down a hill for a friend who had trouble staying straight going backwards. I guess that means that technically, I have driven a standard car before . . . if driving it backwards counts!

My first lesson went surprisingly well, I think. I only stalled once and I even got up to third gear which was exciting! I definitely have to think about things a lot more while driving a stick shift compared to an automatic though. And, add in the added complication of converting UK driving terms into Canadian (e.g. "give way" means "yield", stop signs don't really exist, they have things called zebra, puffin, toucan, and pelican crossings, which are really just different kinds of pedestrian crossings, and finally, remembering to make sure I stay on the left hand side of the road!) well, let's just say it made for an interesting first lesson.

Lesson two went better. I got up into third year again, went through my first manoeuvre (a three point turn, which is way more complicated with a manual car), and even drove on a busy road. I also practiced my "clutch control". Again, I stalled once, but overall I really improved from my first lesson. It also made me itch to get out there on the road again with my own car! Lesson three will be next week, I'll keep you posted!

On an unrelated note, this weekend has been gorgeous here in Edinburgh! It's been over 20C every day and I am loving it. Edinburgh doesn't really get this kind of weather. Today, I am walking from Balerno to Leith, along the Water of Leith Walkway (13 miles) with a friend. We made sure to end up in Leith because there are excellent pubs there which I am sure will look very tempting at the end of our journey!

More Pictures!

2009-05-17T11:15:00.004+01:00

Recently, I spent a couple of hours at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. I'd been there before, but I hadn't really explored the North Side of the Gardens. I wanted to post some pics directly onto this blog post, but blogger is not cooperating, so I am afraid you will have to make due with the slide show to the left!

Stockholm Pics

2009-05-10T00:27:00.003+01:00

So, I finally added some of my pictures from Stockholm to my blog. They're my new slideshow photos, so feel free to take a look and (hopefully) enjoy them!

In the mean time, here are a few pics from my recent day at Portobello Beach:

March Madness

2009-04-16T05:01:00.004+01:00

Okay, so it wasn't really so much March "Madness" as it was March "Sickness". I came back from Sweden with a cold which I never could seem to shake and it eventually developed into a very nasty chest infection. By mid-March I was bed-ridden, as I was finding it very hard to do things without getting out of breath. It got so bad that I would have to take a rest after sorting my laundry! I eventually broke down and went to see a doctor, which is where I met the over-sharer lady (see earlier post). My doctor gave me some antibiotics which helped clear things up in just over a week. Now, although I still have a cold, my chest infection is all gone!

I also celebrated my birthday in March and had a great time with friends wandering through Roslin Glen. I don't know if it was being outside in the fresh air or what, but we all had a great time and laughed at pretty much everything. I also have some photos from that day which I can post soon.

I also did some exploring of Cramond Island. It's just north of Edinburgh and you can walk out to it when the tide goes out from Cramond. It was pretty cool - lots of buildings from the war were on it, which is something I always find quite fascinating. Anyway, I was pretty happy to go exploring on it, since it's been something I have been meaning to do for a while!

Hmmmmm, I can't seem to remember what else I got up to. It seems like March was a fairly idle and boring month! I think I will blame it on being sick for so long!

February Frustration

2009-04-11T00:08:00.005+01:00

I should preface this post by saying that I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I am sorry. Life has been busy and I have been a bit of a lazy blogger. But, I am currently on holiday for two weeks, so I guess I have finally run out of excuses!

I thought I would start with my life in February . . . because that's kind of when things went downhill in terms of the blog.

The month started off with me just being stressed out with my jobs and feeling pretty run down. I was considering my options, and was frustrated that I had to work multiple jobs just to barely eek out a living. I was also frustrated with the lack of jobs in Edinburgh in my field. Finally, I decided to look further afield for positions and I applied to a couple of jobs of in England as well.

Halfway through the month, things started to look up . . . I had scored an interview for a summer job (in my field) in Edinburgh and an interview for a full-time job (again in my field) in England. The only problem was that I was going to be on holiday in Stockholm from Mon-Weds and the job interview for the Edinburgh position was scheduled for Thursday. The England job would be the following Monday. I had to admit that I would be busy during my holiday, but I was confident that I could handle it.

Once in Stockholm, however, things got a little more hectic. I received an email regarding the England job and found out that I would have to write a two page essay that was due at noon on the Thursday (not good since I wouldn't get home until late Wednesday night!). In addition to the essay, I was also asked to prepare a presentation which I was to give during the interview on Monday. It was so frustrating because, while I wanted to be enjoying my holiday and not being stressed out by work related issues, my mind kept straying to the job interviews . . .

Stockholm was good, but still not quite a holiday. Maybe I will post pictures from my trip another day . . .

Back in Edinburgh, I spent Thursday morning frantically trying to write out an essay for the noon deadline. In my opinion, the final product was okay, but not my best work. Again, I was frustrated because I consider myself to be a fairly strong writer and I wanted to showcase this for the job, but I didn't quite live up to my expectations. Following the completion of my essay, I had to quickly get ready for my Edinburgh interview. And, I am happy to report that it went well because I got the job! It's just for the month of July, but it'll look good on my CV, will hopefully lead to good contacts, and fits in nicely around my other jobs.

The England interview went fairly well, but again was still not quite my best performance. So, I wasn't surprised when it turned out that they'd chosen someone else. I was slightly disappointed, and also slightly relieved because I wouldn't have to leave Edinburgh! I also got some really helpful feedback from my interview.

Finally, February had ended . . . lots of job frustration, but little headway was made! At least my CV looks pretty good now!

Today, at the Doctor's Office

2009-03-13T21:44:00.005Z

Okay, you know how sometimes you are sitting in the waiting room, waiting (what else would you be doing?) and you somehow get stuck chatting to this person who just will not be quiet and leave you in peace for the life of you? Well, today I visited the doctor's office found my visit most intriguing. I learned a lot about one of my fellow Edinburghers that I did not necessarily need or even want to know. Her MO was to ask for the time and as soon as you gave it to her, she pounced: giving you all her life's details.

I thought I would summarize her life story in bullets, so you can understand how my day went:

She had been in the hospital for 14 days prior to this because of a problem with her tonsils.
14 days was a much longer length of time than she expected to be in the hospital for - she'd been told she'd be there for 3 days tops
She hates living in our part of town and will soon be moving out to a better section thanks to her support worker
The reason she hates our part of town is because her sister was murdered here (I also heard the gory details of her tragic death, but they're not exactly intended for PG audiences!)
Her husband, the love of her life, passed away a few years back due to liver problems from excessive drinking
She has also had problems with excessive drinking
Her flat was recently flooded by her upstairs neighbor
She really likes horse racing
She wants to go on holiday but doesn't have the money at present
She thinks it takes too long to be seen by the doctor at our doctor's surgery (aka office)

Yep, she was pretty much a classic over-sharer! Note to self for future: pretend I don't have a watch and wear earphones so I cannot hear!

A Till Story

2009-02-15T23:15:00.003Z

Working in a shop that sells tacky tourist souvenirs gives me the opportunity to acquire many funny stories involving random customers that come in. The best stories usually involve American tourists (I'm sorry, but it's true). Last night, a group of American guys came in and they kindly provided the fodder for the following stories:

Story 1: I was stocking up a display nearby and I could hear this one guy asking his friends, "Who's Robert Burns? Is he a poet?"

Two seconds later he comes up to me and says, "Excuse me, who's Robert Burns?"

My answer: "A poet."

I guess that story is funnier if you know who Robert Burns is . . . if you're unsure google him.

Story 2, is admittedly the better one: One of the American customers is looking at a display of key rings, badges, car stickers, etc; and turns to me and asks, "What's Bonny Scotland anyway? Is it a famous place or something?"

(internally I am laughing my butt off, but I think I managed to keep a straight face and say) "No, it's an adjective that means 'pretty or beautiful'".

As he than ran over to his friends to share his new found knowledge I shook my head slowly from side to side in complete bewilderment. I really hope that I am not that ignorant when I travel to other countries.

THE END.

Looking forward to the weekend

2009-01-15T18:01:00.003Z

What a long hard week it's been! I am not sure if I am cut out for this whole working for a living business! It's starting to get me down. There is lots of stress surrounding my jobs at the moment: two are in a bit of uncertainty as rumours are flying about that there may be lay offs/cut backs. We'll see what happens, I suppose. The other job, that I feel secure in (but maybe I'm not?) is moving house in a month and there is SO MUCH TO PACK!!!!!! I don't know what they're thinking by moving now anyway. It's practically the worst time to do it . . . well, at least it's not the most sensible time to do it. Plus, we're moving into a new building, i.e. it's not finished yet and the last I heard they were three weeks behind! Well, it'll certainly be all fun and games over the next few weeks.

Of, course I am being sarcastic.

I have two rays of light ahead: 1. A friend of mine is coming up to visit this weekend from england (yay!) so I am going to put all my work commitments aside and have a fun couple of days! This is the first weekend I have had off since . . . . oh yeah, since I tore a muscle in my back in October. Not really what you'd call a good time. Hopefully all my muscles will stay in their correct places this weekend.

2. The second thing I have to look forward to is going home in April!!!! It'll be a year and a half since I was last home so I am really looking forward to it. I am going to sort out all my stuff in storage so that I hopefully will have nothing left there. It's been draining my credit card and I need to sort out my finances. Maybe my mom will be nice and let me stash a couple of boxes at her place? Regardless, I am looking forward to seeing all my friends and family again. Except Keri, who apparently is going China without me. Typical, really. The lengths she goes to so that she can avoid me! haha :)

In other random news, I got my hair dyed red over the weekend, but I don't think I really really really like it, so I just called to see if I could get it fixed. I wanted it to be reddish brown, i.e. just a hint of red rather than the bright red it turned out to be. I have never called a hairdressers to complain before, so this was a first! But she seemed really nice about it, so hopefully everything will be fine 1 week from now. Well, either that or in sheer vengence of me calling to complain she'll dye it green and I will feel just like Anne Shirley.

I have to wait a whole two weeks to get it fixed because the colour is so bright it has to tone down before the hairdresser thinks she should redye it again. Okay, it's not really that bad - but it is bright!

Getting into the swing of things

2009-01-09T18:21:00.002Z

A new year has started and I was DREADING going back to work. It was so nice having time off and being able to sleep in as late as I wanted to. By the end of the week, I was staying up as late as 3 or 5am - don't ask why - and sleeping in until noon. It was wonderful! But then, the harsh reality of Monday hit with my alarm going off at 6:20am!!! I had been up until 3:30 the night before, so it was a difficult morning . . . and I hadn't even started the work day yet!

My first day back was an interesting one, for sure. I ended up taking someone to Minor Injuries because they had fallen over and hurt their leg. *sensitive readers, please be warned - there are graphic details ahead* Her leg wasn't hurting so much as there was a chunk missing from it. We could see bone. And fatty tissue. It was pretty gross, but somehow my eyes couldn't seem to look away. Does that make me a bad person? Anyway, she turned out to be fine . . . just a few stitches. We never did find her missing skin though . . .

*Gruesome details over with*

I am pretty happy it's Friday as it's the weekend and that means I can sleep in for two whole days in a row! It's been a stressful week, but I felt like I was finally starting to get in the swing of things again by Thursday . . . too bad that I will have to start all over again next week. Oh, well.

I have got a few days holidays coming up and I was looking for cheap places to fly to. So far, I am considering Geneva, Switzerland; Madrid, Spain; and Paris, France. Paris is the only one I have been to before, but I love it so I think it would be totally worth going again. All these holidays need to be carefully considered as I have been quite strict on myself budget wise lately, and this would certainly be out of budget. However, last year I didn't go anywhere and I want to be a bit more adventurous this year! I hope to make some decisions over the weekend. (I have 5 weeks left until Stockholm!)

2009

2009-01-02T21:28:00.003Z

Happy New Year!!!! I am so happy that 2009 is here, as, in many ways, 2008 has been a bit . . . hmmm, what's the word I am looking for here? I know: Meh. It's had a lot of difficult times in it, but I have also met a lot of terrific people, which I will always be thankful for.

I don't expect 2009 to be all sunshine - I am sure there are more trying times ahead, as there will always be when you try to settle in a new country and embark on the beginnings of your career. There is much to consider and much to be thankful for.

Like many of my friends, I don't believe in making resolutions, per se. Rather, I prefer to make improvements on myself and new goals throughout the year. However, I do strongly feel that New Years is a fantastic time to look around you and take stock of your life, evaluating where you are and what you can improve. I have been working hard on that the past few days and I have many ideas . . . but I will keep them to myself for now! ;)

This year, my New Year's Eve was a rather quiet one - I spent it at home watching the World Juniors Hockey: Canada vs. the US. That particular game was one of the best matches of hockey I have ever seen! It was great to have a touch of home. I was also lucky that I could see all the fireworks (well, the ones that were going off from Calton Hill anyway) from my bedroom window. Long live Hogmonay!

And, most importantly, all the best to each of you for 2009. x

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T23:46:00.005Z

Christmas this year was a different affair . . . usually I surround myself by people, particularly when I am faced with another family-less Christmas, but this year I wanted something different. Specifically, I wanted to be alone this year . . . it's hard to explain why . . . I mean, it's not that I suddenly turned into the Grinch or anything, it's just that for over a year now it's just been go-go-go in my life. Specifically, the past year and a half has basically looked like this:

finish my masters, rush home to say my good-byes, move to Scotland, get a job, get a place to live, get a new job, move to England, work ridiculous hours for little pay, move back to Scotland, find a job, find a place to live, find a new job . . . you get the picture.

And, yes, that has really been what the past year a half has been all about. It's been stressful, but I am glad I am where I am today. So, basically what I am trying to say is that I wanted to relax and enjoy the day, and not have to worry about whether everyone else was having a good time - perhaps I was being selfish, but I really enjoyed my Christmas.

Don't get me wrong - I was incredibly disappointed not to have been able to afford the astronomical flight prices this year in order to get home and spend time with my family. When the reality sunk in that I was going to be stuck in Scotland while everyone else was at home, I had to move on to Plan B: Skype. I organized a surprise rendez-vous with my uncle via skype for Christmas day, as my family were all going over to his house to open gifts and eat Christmas Dinner. It was really nice to be able to see them open their gifts that I sent them and, hopefully, it was also nice for them to see me open their gifts. It was honestly the next best thing to being home.

On a related note, I was really touched this year by my friends who took the time to get in touch. It really meant a lot to hear from each of you. Thanks for everything and all the best for 2009!

Economic Blues

2008-12-21T23:45:00.003Z

From reading the newspaper lately, I cannot help but feel a new form of winter blues. Specifically, the economic blues. Article after article sends me into a spiraling depression from which there seems to be no way out.

Woolworths, a company that first began in 1878 (Source: Wikipedia), is closing all of it's stores in the UK, resulting in approximately 22,000 jobs being lost. That is bad enough, but there's more. One of the latest companies to potentially fail is Jaguar Land Rover. Company officials asked the UK government for help (in the form of £1bn over the next 18 months) or else they will likely be forced to close their doors, resulting in 15,000 staff being out of work. Furthermore, if Jaguar Land Rover closes it's doors, there will be huge knock-on effects which could result in the doubling of people being out of work due to Jaguar's closure doubling.

The latest article that I read was citing many high street stores as potentially having to close down in the new year as they may not be able to pay their rent. One person said that what we could expect to see in the new year would be a "bloodbath". Ouch. And how is the UK government responding? By throwing money at the problems.

First of all, similar to the US there is a bank "bail-out" underway. HBOS (Halifax, Bank of Scotland, etc) was forced this year to seek a merger with Lloyds. This seemed to be the beginning of the end for the banking system as we know it. Although, the truth is that it started far earlier with Northern Rock going under.

Most recently, George W. Bush has agreed to provide $17bn to the ailing car manufacturing companies, Chrysler and GM. Naturally, this has resulted in the UK government feeling pressure to provide Jaguar with cash as well. A subsidy of some sort will likely be agreed upon in the coming days, but where does it end? And, more to the point, where are our governments getting this kind of money from?

The UK government's latest venture has resulted in them secretly selling shares in a Atomic Weapons Establishment to an American engineering firm. This was apparently done to raise well needed money and also results in the UK government having no say in nuclear warhead production in Britain. This makes me feel ever so slightly uncomfortable.

Overall, it feels like the governments trying to put a plaster (aka a bandaid) on a gaping gunshot wound. I don't think it will work in the long term, but it might slow things down for now.

For me, all of this has resulted in three major concerns:

1. What does all of this mean for me?
Really, at the end of the day, I think that is what most people are thinking. Will any of the companies I work for go under? Will I be looking for a new job? Do I have enough money saved to get me through this economic downturn? The fact is, no one can really answer that question. I expect, as do many of the "experts" that things will get worse before they get better. All I can do is wait and see.

2. What happens if the government commits too much money?
Let's face it, the government does not have infinite amounts of cash, so how are they going to finance all these ventures? One of the reasons why we got into this mess in the first place is because people spent more money than they had. Is the government doing the same thing?

3. Where do our respective governments draw the line?
By lending money to the big banks, and the big car companies, our governments are setting a potentially dangerous precedent. What happens when other big companies get into trouble? What about the little companies? How does one decide who to help and who to let fall by the way side?

Ugh, sorry if this post has depressed you! Perhaps I should have put a warning label at the top stating that my blues may be contagious????

Sweden!

2008-12-13T17:43:00.006Z

Lately, I have had very itchy feet - the travel bug has struck again. I don't remember the last time I went to another country for a holiday! In fact, I don't remember the last time I had a break. Sure, I went to Fort William recently, but I injured my back so badly that I can assure you it was not a relaxing vacation! So, I have been eager to travel somewhere, anywhere really, as soon as possible. However, I have been severly hampered by lack of funds.

Enter RyanAir with a brilliant sale!

I have scored flights to Stockholm, Sweden for 79pence (Roughly equivalent to $1.60) each way + tax. I think that's a pretty good deal! I've never been to Sweden or any of the nordic European countries before, so I am really looking forward to it. Tomorrow, I will need to go to Waterstones to pick up a trusty Lonely Planet to use in my adventure. I go to Stockholm in February, so it'll likely be pretty cold there still! I'm not sure how cold it really gets, but I guess I will find out. It can't be worse than Ottawa, can it?

Hopefully, RyanAir will still be alive and well in February . . . I am worried that it might go under!

If anyone has been to Stockholm and has any recommendations, I would appreciate it!

I went to the Zoo!!!

2008-12-07T10:12:00.005Z

St Andrew'sDay weekend, was a frightfully cold one, but there was a lot of free stuff on, as per usual. Edinburgh Castle was free, but I'd already been there . . . .the zoo was free, and while I'd already been there too, a free opportunity to go again was hard to miss. Especially since I didn't get to see all of the animals the last time I was there. In fact, even though I spent 3 hours at the zoo on St. Andrew's Day, I still only made it to about half of the enclosures . . . it looks like I wil have to go back!

Some of my favourite animals I saw were:

African Painted Dogs

The Grey-Crowned Crane

Penguins

Pygmy Hippo
(the fence to the right only comes up to about waist height)

Rainbow Lorikeets

I got to feed them nectar as they landed on my arm!

Cotton-topped tamarin
(I know it's a blurry picture, but he's too cute!)

And when the end of the day drew near, I got to see a beautiful sunset from corstorphine hill:

Forgotten Posts, Full Frontal Fringe, and Fort William

2008-11-23T19:00:00.005Z

Hello, hello, hello! My goodness, it's been a long absence on my behalf and I do want to take this opportunity to apologise! (I have been scolded through Facebook about my lack of posting of late). There is no real excuse for it really, except to say that I have been BUSY! I have started (and never quite finished) several well intentioned posts commenting on things like the Canadian Election, Thanksgiving, My ONE year anniversary of moving back over to the UK, and the US Election, but alas all have been lost, as it seems rather pointless to comment on those items now. Well, okay, maybe just a quick synopsis:

Canadian Election: boo Harper!

Thanksgiving: I missed eating turkey (they don't have thanksgiving here)

One Year in the UK: Yay me . . . I am now one step closer to dual citizenship!

US Election: Yay Obama! (Interestingly, Obama's whole platform was about creating change and I would just like to mention that a good American friend of mine who had been unemployed for about 8 months, suddenly got a job after Obama was elected - coincidence? I doubt it! haha)

Life has been good, but dominated by work. I now have three jobs (I think that also happened during my temporary hiatus) so you can imagine that life is busy. But, that's just how the cookie crumbles. I am trying to save money so that I can go home next summer and to pay off some debt that I have from moving 12 times in 5 years! Hence, the extra jobs. Also, given all the doom stories about financial meltdowns and credit crunches and what not, it just seemed sensible to get as many jobs as possible in case one of them disappeared suddenly!

A while ago I posted about taking the "plunge" and getting a fringe (aka bangs) again. I meant to post pics, but never got around to taking them . . . until today. Voila . . . below please find an image of my First Aid Scissors Massacre:

A few weeks back I planned a last minute weekend away, since I'd managed to score return tickets to anywhere in Scotland for just £15. I chose to go to Fort William and planned a wonderful weekend of sightseeing and hiking. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a simply awful weekend, as about an hour before I was supposed to board the train, I was running to catch a bus and I felt something "go wrong" in my back. It was pretty painful, but I didn't have time to think about it as I had to rush home, pack (I am slightly famous for my last minute packing, eh V?), and then catch the train. Unfortunately, five hours later when the train arrived in Fort William I couldn't stand up straight and could barely walk. I spent the weekend in the hotel room not being able to move without being in serious pain. I did force myself out for a short and slow walk at one point just so I could say I "saw" some of Fort William (my 3 photos from this journey are displayed below). When I got back to Edinburgh I went to see the doctor who told me that I had most likely torn a muscle in my back (no wonder I was in so much pain!). It's almost back to normal now though, thank goodness, but I can't help but wonder if this back injury is a sign that I am getting old???

The water was pretty still

There were snowcapped mountains in the distance

See?

Postcards and other unassociated ramblings

2008-09-29T21:32:00.003+01:00

For those of you who have sent me postcards . . . THANK YOU! (see previous post here) My "Postcard Wall" is starting to come together. Keep those postcards coming!

On a completely unrelated note, I actually finished my "to do list" today. It feels very strange. I don't know what to do now. Help!

A lesson in Scottish food and drink

2008-09-29T21:06:00.003+01:00

So, I volunteered to make dinner for a friend of mine tomorrow night. I decided early on that a Mexican theme would be the way to go. This meal will include many things, one of them being sangria (okay, so it's not strictly Mexican) and a dessert made out of jello . . . again, not quite Mexican, but I planned to make it a triple layer of jello in a tall clear glass, using jello that loosely represented colours from Mexico (i.e., red, green, and either orange or yellow). I freely admit that my jello dessert idea was borrowed from someone else (and also that it is really really good).

Off I went to the local supermarket to pick up all the ingredients I would need. Lesson 1 that I learned has to do with the dessert. They don't have anything called jello over here, so I was stuck in what I hoped was the right aisle looking for something similar. I found a box with the word "Jelly" on it, which looked similar to the Jello boxes from Canada. After reading the directions I was a little skeptical (it called for putting the jelly "cubes" in the microwave!) but I had no other option, so I placed three different flavours into my basket. The other problem with the dessert idea was that they didn't have that great of a selection for different flavours: I ended up having to get red (strawberry), orange (orange), and purple (black currant). Not very Mexican, but it'd have to do.

I came home and decided to make up my first layer of the dessert. I grabbed the strawberry package and opened it up. Inside was not powder (as would be expected from Jello) but a block of cubed gel. The only way I can try to explain it is that it kind of looked like a filled ice cube tray, but it was completely made of jello. What you do next is put the gel cubes in a container, add 100ml of water, and heat it in the microwave for 1min. Surprisingly, it seemed to do the trick and I now have two layers of jello-like material chilling in my fridge.

Lesson 2 had to do with getting the ingredients for the sangria. I needed club soda, but as far as I could see at Tesco there is no such thing as Club Soda. I think I was in the right section: I could see tonic water, soda water, flavoured water, etc, but nothing with the word "club" in it. In the end, I went for the water with the word "soda" in it and I hope that it will be the right thing. I will find out tomorrow night!

I find it both frustrating and amusing that even though we speak the same language, there are so many different words for the same thing!

e.g. Canadian pants = UK trousers, while UK pants = Canadian Underwear
Australian thong = Canadian flip flops
Canadian pavement = UK road, while UK pavement = Canadian sidewalk (this one was very tricky when I was working with kids and wanted to tell them to get on the pavement, i.e. off the road, but that would have meant the complete opposite to them! I had to be VERY VERY careful of what I was saying!)

Silly Osprey!

2008-09-28T20:33:00.004+01:00

Some of you may remember that I posted a while back about a webcam where you could watch baby ospreys as they grew up and started to learn to fly. Well, each winter these ospreys migrate to Africa (who can blame them with the winters that happen over here?). The two chicks that fledged the nest at Loch Garten in the highlands of Scotland were fitted with radio transmitters so that the wildlife biologists that are interested in them could follow their route. They've also made the signals, and therefore the paths that the birds are flying, available on google earth so that people with an interest can follow their progress. For the past 4-5 weeks the two chicks have been staying in southern England (in different areas) eating lots of fish and not venturing too far. One, the male bird named Deshar, had been based in the very south west of England for ages when he finally decided to make his move, so to speak, on Friday. However, instead of flying ESW across the channel to France, as I and most other people would have expected him to, he's flying WSW. The problem with that is that there is absolutely no land that way until the Azores (see image below). The experts think he's actually been flying without a break for two whole days! What will happen to poor little Deshar? The satellite won't pass him again until tomorrow, so I just have to wait to find out . . . the suspense! It's almost as good as an episode of Eastenders! ;)

What did you do today?

2008-09-26T19:32:00.003+01:00

(Feel free to tell me via the comment section)

As for me, well, I walked 13 miles today and am now very tired.

THE END.

P.S. I also have VERY sore feet.

The reviews are in and the verdict is . . .

2008-09-22T22:48:00.002+01:00

Not guilty! Oh, wait - (must remember to save that excuse for later) - what I meant to say was: Undecided! As in, I am still undecided about the new job. There are both good points (e.g. the hours of work) and bad points (e.g. the pay). Plus, it's hard to really get a feel for it cause they're currently short staffed so I have yet to have a "normal" day. Plus, on Wednesday, it looks like I will be running my section all by myself after only working there for a week because no one else will be in. It should be interesting because I don't yet have passwords or anything for the computers! I wonder how much trouble I can get up to?

The Day the Bank Died

2008-09-21T19:21:00.000+01:00

That’s right ladies and gentlemen . . . . the mighty Bank of Scotland (and all its associations: Halifax, etc), turned out not to be very strong in the current economy and had to be BAILED OUT by Lloyds TSB (a competitor bank) before COMPLETELY collapsing. I can still get out money which is good, but it is seriously making me think about how safe the banking industry really is. And it makes me sad to know that the Bank of Scotland is no more. Just like Bookworld. Hmmmmm – I wonder if Andy banks there? (Ali, you’ll understand that one!)

Picnic Lunch

2008-09-17T20:21:00.003+01:00

I went on a hike on Sunday and when I stopped for lunch, this was my view. Just thought I would try to make you jealous!

(you can click on it for a larger image though you may need to click twice!)

Lots and lots to say

2008-09-13T10:42:00.002+01:00

I have much news to fill you in on and I am happy to finally have some time to do it. I have a few days off so I am trying to catch up on many of the things I have been avoiding/unable to do lately.

New job

The last time I posted things were still quite up in the air about when my start date would be for my new job. I did finally get my background check about a week and a half ago and I thought I would then be good to start. But, I managed to get a little more drama in my life when I was told that actually they were missing a reference for me. Why they couldn't have told me this while I was waiting for the background check to finally come through I don't know. Again, Admin is so frustrating! So, I had to do some serious scrambling to sort everything out (I will spare you the details here) but eventually (as in yesterday) things finally did come together. And, I am happy to report that I will be starting my new job on Tuesday. Finally! I am really looking forward to it.

Financials

Ah, the financial burden of moving 12 times in 5 years has definitely caught up with me! Things are starting to get a bit more under control, but this month I was faced with the challenge of trying to somehow squeeze another £100 or so from my budget. I had no idea how I was going to come up with the money. But, it turned out that there is a way. Basically, I am currently on holiday from my current job for the next 3 weeks and that has solved my financial issues for the month. Too good to be true you ask? Well, this is how it works. I am on holiday from my current job so they are going to be paying me for about 30hrs of work per week, but during my holiday, I will also be starting my new job, which will also be paying me for 30hrs of work per week . . . .so in total I will be paid for 60hrs work, but only do half of it! Yes, I agree, it does sound too good to be true, but I am going to go with it for now.

Allotment

For anyone who may not know in the uk you can rent small plots of land (called an allotment) to grow flowers and vegetables on. In Edinburgh these allotments are primarily managed by the Council and there can be a wide range of people with allotments in the same area of land (sometimes as many as 100 allotments together). I decided that I would really like to have my own garden, and since I don't have access to any land in the flat I am currently living in, an allotment would be the way to go. At the moment, with soaring food prices and a shift towards more organic foods, the demand for allotments is quite high. I knew there was a waiting list for all allotments in the city, but I was expecting to wait maybe a year or so before I could get my own special plot. However, when I called the Allotment Officer I was informed that the process could take as long as 4-5 years! I now have an application form and I had better fill it in soon so I can get the process started.

Zoom Airlines

Zoom, the budget airline I use all the time to fly back and forth between Canada and Scotland has gone bust due to increasing fuel costs! They went under several weeks ago taking with it the only airline that did direct flights from Glasgow to Halifax. It was also the cheapest option by far. And, this means that I will most definitely not be able to afford to go home for Christmas this year. It's a shame, but realistically I very likely might not have been able to afford it even if Zoom was still here. Plus, I have to look on the bright side - I would much rather come home for a visit next summer when I can go to the beach!

West Highland Way

I have decided that next summer I would like to hike the West Highland Way, a long distance path that goes from just outside Glasgow to Fort William. It's a distance of 95 miles (152 km) and goes through some absolutely spectacular scenery. Hiking and hill walking is something I really enjoy, but do not do enough of . . . hopefully this goal will encourage me to get out more often and get much fitter, as I will need to be to tackle this walk! If I am feeling really ambitious, I could then continue from Fort William on a different walk that goes all the way to Inverness (73 miles, 117km) called the Great Glen Way. Would anyone like to come over and walk with me?

Fireworks!

2008-09-08T22:42:00.005+01:00

Each year, at the end of the Edinburgh International Festival of the Arts they have a pretty big fireworks display. I'm talking HUGE. The fireworks are set off from the castle and they last for about an hour. They are also set to music, played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from Princes Street Gardens (right below the castle). This year, the musical selection was taken from pieces by Dvorak and Brahms.

Here is a selection of some of the fireworks I saw:

The view from Hanouver Street.

The view from there was pretty poor really, so after a bit we moved to Castle Street, which, as the name implies, has a great view of the castle.

The view from Castle Street.

The finale!

And the best part - all of this was free!

Postcard Collage

2008-09-01T10:42:00.003+01:00

I have decided to create a collage of postcards that people have sent to me and put it on my wall. That means, that I am going to need quite a few postcards! So, if you are reading this, you are charged with the duty of having to buy a postcard (from no matter where you are, and from any trips that you might take) and fill it out and send it. Weird, wonderful, beautiful, strange, and comical postcards will all be accepted. I will, of course, respond to all postcards with one of my own, as an added incentive!

Happy postcard hunting!

Pictures from the Pentlands

2008-08-25T00:50:00.009+01:00

Today I went for a walk in the Pentlands. I didn't really have any other purpose besides the desire to climb to the top of Caerketton Hill (~460m) and once I had accomplished that, I was happy to just meander around. It was a lovely day here in Edinburgh - sunny and warm. I even managed to get a bit of a sunburn on my face! What follows is a pictorial description of my hike:

Map of the Park

View towards city center. Arthur's Seat is to the right

and to the left you can see the Salisbury Craigs.

Caerketton Hill from below

Cairn - do you think they made it to look like Arthur's Seat on purpose? (the real Arthur's seat is in the back left)

Taking a well deserved break

Back on the path

Hmmmm - I think I would like to go over that way

Oh - another cairn!

Pretty view of the valley after "Windy Door Nick"

Heather on the hill

I walked through some fields of sheep
(This pic is for Keri!)

Looking back over the end of the trail

Homesickness

2008-08-22T21:36:00.000+01:00

I just had a lovely phone conversation with my best friend from home. It was so nice to hear from her and to catch up on everyone's news. It also made me miss home a bit and wish that I could be there to see everyone. I miss all my friends and going out for meals and impromptue nights out. No, this isn't foreshadowing - I will not suddenly decide to return home, but I figure I am allowed a moment or two of homesickness every now and then.

I don't suppose anyone wants to move over here instead?

Well, it was worth a try!

Gotta Love Jon Stewart

2008-08-19T17:10:00.004+01:00

See this video for Jon's take on the US's view of the Russian-Georgian conflict.

Admin Wars II

2008-08-19T12:04:00.004+01:00

Part One: The current job

I found out a couple of days ago that the company I currently work for is making much less money than expected and so they are having to cut shifts from people to save money. I have lost one shift a week, which put me into a little bit of a panic as I am still trying to get myself organized financially here (something that I anticipate will take a long time) and losing out on one day a week will certainly hurt. But then I remembered my new job and that I should be starting that pretty soon so everything will hopefully be okay. Right?

Wrong. (see below)

Part Two: The new job

Before I can begin at my new job I first must obtain a background check (from Disclosure Scotland). I submitted it three and a half weeks ago, but as of yet have heard nothing. I called the Disclosure Scotland people the day after I found out that I was losing a shift a week at my current job to check in. They told me that they had never received a request for a Disclosure check and I should contact my new place of employment to make sure they sent it. Ummmm, gulp? I can't begin work at my new place until I get this check done, so effectively I am stuck! I have called my new job twice, but both times the gentleman I need to speak to has been out and although I have left messages he has not yet returned my calls. So at the moment I am in limbo and wishing people in admin were a lot better trained!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Admin Wars

2008-08-17T22:52:00.004+01:00

Everywhere I go I end up working for a company that cannot seem to get their admin right. I was paid for the first time since coming back to my old job last week and the amount was much less than I expected. This catastrophe was, admittedly, partly my fault, as I had miscalculated the cut off date for that pay cheque by an entire week. However, my company still managed to short change me an entire day's pay as well as some hours for night time work, which we get paid extra for. I was told that I would get a cheque in the post for the missing amount shortly. And sure enough, two business days later I received a cheque from my company. As I opened the envelope I thought to myself that receiving the cheque so soon was remarkably efficient for my company and sure enough I was right. As it turned out I was too right. This sudden increase in speed resulted in a sharp decrease in accuracy.

You see, they sent me a cheque for just over £300. Hmmmmm, I thought to myself, that is remarkably generous for a day's pay. Too good to be true? You better believe it. My eyes then flicked over to the name on the cheque. It was a K Duncan, but unfortunately not a Kathleen Duncan. So, I had to go back to my manager again and explain that I had received what looked to be someone else's cheque. I was assured that another CORRECT cheque would be sent out in the mail. A couple of days later I received one. This time the cheque was made out to the right person, but they short changed me again, this time by 50 pence. Sigh. I guess you just can't win them all can you?

A time for change

2008-08-11T00:11:00.003+01:00

This morning I decided to do something that was perhaps a bit risky. I decided to give myself my first fringe (for north americans: bangs) in about 10-15 years. I had originally wanted to go to a professional to do it, due to how long it's been since I had fringe, but I simply cannot afford it at the moment. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. All I needed was a pair of scissors . . . unfortunately, the only ones I could find belonged to my first aid kit. Not to worry, I thought - if it looks horrible, I am sure I can just pin them back or something.

I started to cut my hair. I ended up taking a good 3 inches off and partway through I thought to myself that I just may be making a terrible mistake! But, after I dried my hair I think it turned out pretty well. And, I've been getting compliments on it all day, which must be a good sign! Well, almost everything I heard was a compliment. My friend Andy took one look at me and said "Did someone do something to your hair?" and he followed that question swiftly with another one "Do you want me to get them for you?" :)

I can drive again!

2008-08-10T11:22:00.002+01:00

This week, in the post, I finally received my UK driver's licence. It has taken forever and much hassle due to people who work for the DVLA giving me the wrong advice. But it's finally been straightened out, although I received no apology from the people that be. As a Canadian you can actually exchange your Canadian licence for a british one (as long as you do so within a year of entering the UK) for a grand total of £50. However, you are then only able to drive automatics unless you can prove that you took your test using a standard/manual. If you can't prove that then you need to take a test to prove that you can drive a standard (which costs more money) and I don't really know the full details of that yet. I am currently only able to drive automatics, which suits me at the moment as I have never learned to drive a standard. But I will need to learn soon because almost all the cars over here are standards!

I am just happy because I can officially go on the road again which I am most looking forward to. I love to drive and being without a licence since March has been most restrictive. I don't have a car here yet or anything, but there have been times when I would have liked to rent a car and go for a drive and not been able to.

I have visited the future

2008-08-10T11:06:00.002+01:00

At least I felt like I did. I recently visited my local library here in Edinburgh and I have to say that they have the most futuristic way of taking out books that I have ever seen. Now, you may think that I am being overly dramatic here, but I contend that I am not. I see myself as a rather savy person when it comes to technology and new gadgets, but this machine has baffled even myself. My library has a self-serve check out, which I had never tried before so I thought it would be an adventure (rather like the self-serve checkouts at supermarkets like Tesco) and I wasn't to be let down. I set my books on top of the desk and the computer asked me to scan my library card which I easily accomplished using the scanner on the desk. Next, I was asked to enter my library pin, which again was easy to do. What happened next is what surprised me. Suddenly the titles and authors of the three books I had just happened to set on the desk appeared on the computer screen! I did not scan them or touch them in any way, and there was no obvious way of detecting them that I could see. How did the computer know what books I wanted? If I hadn't set them on the desk by accident, could the computer have still detected them? The whole process was most impressive and slightly overwhelming all at the same time! I look forward to my next trip to the library as I try to discover the secret to the all-knowing computer!

New Job!!!!

2008-07-28T20:53:00.002+01:00

Ah, sweet success! I have been offered a new job that is a bit closer to the line of work that I want to do (although still not there yet!). I don't want to write too much online about it due to privacy issues, but I am pretty happy about it. It starts in a month's time and is 30 hrs a week, so I will still be keeping an 8hr shift a week at my current job. Looks like that whole thing about me only being able to get an 8hr/week contract really did turn out for the best. It's so funny how that is. I found out mid last week that I got the job, but didn't want to post until I had spoken to my current job about the situation. I interviewed at 9:30am and I found out I had the job by 12:45 - not too shabby, I don't think. Anyway, the post starts in about a month's time and I am really looking forward to it.

If anyone wants to find out more about my new job, chuck me an email and I'll tell you all about it!

For now, have a great day!

St. Bernard's Well

2008-07-26T22:13:00.005+01:00

So a few weeks ago my friend Christina and I decided to visit St. Bernard's Well. The construction of the present structure was commissioned in the late 1700s (yep, it's older than Canada) although the well was supposedly originally found by St. Bernard in the 12th century. The well is located very close to Dean's Bridge in Edinburgh and I had often passed it on my walks along the Water of Leith Walkway. It is a very pretty site to behold as you walk along the path and suddenly a beautiful temple-like structure looms up before you. It seems a bit like it should be in the film Pride and Predjudice or something. Anyway, usually it is closed to the public and completely locked up, but the locals had decided to open it up one day and we went for a visit.

Statue on the top floor

The mosaic ceiling

There are two floors - the top being an open air one with a very nice statue in the centre. The bottom floor is where the well actually is. You can still pump water from the well (and of course Christina and I had to try that too) however, you are not advised to drink from it (Christina and I restrained ourselves). The real surprise though was the absoultely magnificent mosaic ceiling which we found in there.

All in all, it was pretty fun to do something a bit more unusual and to explore a new part of the city (and for free!).

President Bush and Climate Change

2008-07-22T22:36:00.003+01:00

Here is further evidence that US President Bush just doesn't get the importance or severity of climate change.

His goodbye "joke" to leaders of the G8 summit was, "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter" . . . (click here for source)

I wonder if that got published in the States?

Edinburgh Week 4: Where's the leaky pipe?

2008-07-20T22:33:00.003+01:00

I don't have much to report this week, really. Time has gone by rather quickly. I'm working full-time again and I am loving the flat. I love the flat despite the fact that the day after I moved in a water pipe burst in our kitchen and we haven't been able to use the kitchen sink or washing machine since. The plumber said the floor had to be torn up to get to the pipe, so we had to get a joiner (aka carpenter) to come in to look at it. A couple of days later the plumber and joiner duo arrived. They tore up the floor and looked at the pipes and decided that the problem was actually in the wall. So, once again we had to reschedule. They're coming this week sometime and they'll probably then decide that the problem is in the ceiling. Who knows? The point is, I still love my flat. That says something I think.

Other good news - I have 4 interviews in the next three weeks for jobs! No guarantees, but at least I am getting interviews! I think that deserves a little Woohoo.

woohoo!

Edinburgh, Week 3: Success! Well, moderate success anyway

2008-07-15T22:55:00.002+01:00

Two good things happened this past week. One, I found a flat! It's a cosy 4 bedroom in a great location. My room is a great size and I think I will be able to make it really homey here, once I get some money saved up. The only thing that is not so good about the flat is that there is no living room or shared lounge. On the bright side, at least I don't have to worry about the living room being private! Plus, given the size of my room I should be able to create a "living room area" in one of the corners of my room.

Good thing number 2 is that I am now getting full time hours at my old job. It's probably just temporary over the summer season, but it makes me happy because I now know I will be able to make next month's rent . . . and the month after that . . . although I am not sure what will happen in month 3, but time will tell!

I am still looking for a more proper job and one that better reflects my interests, but nothing solid yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Til next time . . . x

Edinburgh, Week 2: Rollercoaster Rides

2008-07-10T14:33:00.004+01:00

Week two started with the usual panic: I need a job and a flat ASAP. I tried temping agencies, and "real" job websites. The "real" job options were slim, mainly because it's just poor timing to be out looking for a job in my field. Also, some of the potential jobs that were on the go wouldn't be starting until the fall. So, in short, I still needed a job ASAP. I just don't have enough money saved up to wait around for a couple of months until a job in my field comes up.

So, I thought, why not get in touch with my last job in Edinburgh? It's practically festival time, surely they'll be looking for people! Actually, no. Turns out they've been through some rough times since I last worked there and weren't looking to hire any one. That was deflating, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I decided to stop in to see some of my friends that worked there though, which was lovely. We decided to arrange a night out and I headed back home .... later that day, I got a call from one of my ex-coworkers. Turns out that right after I left someone quit their job and they could hire me now! (This was a high point in the roller coaster week). The down point was that it was only going to be for 16hrs a week. Not much, but beggars can't be choosers, can they? So I decided to give my old manager a call the next day - and actually, they could only offer 8hrs a week, but I would likely get more (another low point). I'm not really enjoying the uncertainty of all that, but it's better than nothing. I suppose. For now. Maybe. At least I'll be making some money (a high point).

So, I'm back at my old job, but I can't guarantee how many hours I will be getting per week. I just hope it'll be enough to get by on!

In good job related news, I have an interview for a "real" job that would start in the fall (a high point). The interview is not until the end of the month, so I still have plenty of waiting and seeing to do (a low point).

...

Flats. Well, I did go to see a couple of places this week, but they were not my type (a low point). One of them, the kitchen smelled horrible. I cannot stay in a place like that. I like to keep things tidy. The other place, they kept changing things like how much it was going to cost, whether they'd require a deposit, etc. It's been a pretty frustrating week. I have never had so much trouble trying to find a place to live. I don't know how many places I've called and I either seem to just miss them or they have these crazy stipulations. One ad I saw said the "living room was private". Everything else sounded great, so I thought I would call and find out what that all meant. The girl I spoke to said that they basically didn't want to have any parties going on in the room. That was fair enough, I thought, but I still wanted to clarify - "So, whoever rented the room would still be able to use it though right?" No, apparently I was wrong. It wasn't for everyone to use. But, I still didn't get it, "But, if I paid money to live there, I would still get to use the living room, wouldn't I?" No. I wouldn't be allowed. I tried every angle I could think of, but the answer was still no. So my eventual response was "Riiiiiiiight. I don't think this flat is for me then."

And that pretty much sums up my lack of ability to find a place to live. Hopefully next week things will go smoother!

Til next time. x

Edinburgh, Week 1: Decisions, Decisions

2008-07-06T18:42:00.003+01:00

After London, I took the train up to Edinburgh. I love taking the train so much! It's so relaxing . . . you just sit back and eventually, i.e. 4.5 hours later, you arrive. One of the best things about the King's Cross - Edinburgh trains is the view along the coast. You're not right on the coast the entire time, but when you are it's pretty spectacular. But, even that doesn't really compare to when you first catch a glimpse of Arthur's Seat in the distance as you draw nearer to Edinburgh. It really does feel like home here.

I was met at the train station and whisked away to "my" flat, where I have been lent a bed for the time being while I look for a flat. It's so nice to have a place to stay that is not a hostel!

Basically, this entire week was about making decisions. Namely, did I want to apply for jobs in England as well as Scotland? Afterall, some pretty amazing ones were currently being advertised and it's not that I don't like England . . . it's just that I really didn't like the lifestyle I was leading with my company there. Well, I thought about it all week and I think I am going to try to stay here in Scotland, at least for the next year or two. Every time I leave Scotland, I just seem to end up plotting ways to return, so now I really want to try and stay here . . . even though I currently have no job and no place to live (that's mine, that is)!

So, that was the main decision and took up most of my time. At the moment, there really isn't any jobs in my field on the go here, but I have faith that things will work out. I am hoping to do some volunteer work in my field and, at the very least, meet some contacts that way.

Til next time. x

Ospreys in Scotland

2008-07-05T14:41:00.002+01:00

I thought I should stay in line with my environmental geekiness that I have portrayed rather well the past few weeks. So, here is a link to a live webcam feed from an Osprey nest in the highlands of Scotland. These birds are amazing birds of prey and they feed solely on fish and nest on the very tops of trees. Currently, they have two chicks who have grown quite a bit over the last two weeks. Warning: If you are anything like me you might just become addicted to this site!

Click HERE to watch the ospreys.

Canada Day in Edinburgh

2008-07-04T10:49:00.004+01:00

Ah, I will never forget my first Canada Day in Edinburgh in 2003 (Gulp, that was five years ago!). My group of friends all went out to the Globe and it was so refreshing to see all those people dressed in red and white! Many of them weren't even from Canada!

My second Canada Day (2004) was also fantastic. Vanessa and I held a BBQ at our flat and had a bunch of people over. True to Scottish weather, the moment people started to arrive it began to pour! Luckily, Maureen was still brave enough to take care of the BBQing - we just pulled the BBQ right up to the door so that she could stand in the doorway. I think everyone still had a good time, even though we were crammed in the hallway of our building!

Needless to say, I expected this year (my third Canada Day in Edinburgh) to be pretty fantastic too. But, I was kind of disappointed. We went to a pub which was hosting a Canada Day celebration on the Royal Mile, but it wasn't really that exciting. They did go around though and see how many people were from each province/territory and (shocker!) I was the only one there to represent good old PEI. I did my part though when they asked "Is there anyone here from PEI?" and I shouted out "Yay! ... I'm the only one!" Everyone laughed at me and there were naturally one or two Anne of Green Gables comments thrown my way. Typical. :)

For anyone not aware, Canada Day is held July 1st and it is NOT the same as Independance Day (July 4th and American). Canada was "born" in 1867 so this year we are 141 years old.

Who knew Grey Herons were Comedians

2008-07-03T00:40:00.003+01:00

I took this photo at Hdye Park, while in London and thought it was pretty funny! (If you can't see the words on the sign, click on the picture to view a larger image!)

London's Natural History Museum

2008-07-03T00:04:00.009+01:00

So, I went to London . . . and spent most of my time there in the Natural History Museum. I don't know why I had never been there before - I love that kind of stuff!

Imagine a massive building that is one of the most beautiful buildings you have ever seen - it kind of looks like a large cathedral. The architecture was amazing - especially the detailing on the inside, covering the walls and framing the windows. Truely spectacular and accurately themed, as it all had to do with flora and fauna (aka plants and animals, in case you were wondering).

Anyway, they certainly know how to do first impressions. The first room I walked into had an escalator that went up to the third floor through a sculpture of the world. That's right, you actually travel through the work of art! I was pretty impressed . . . especially because this was one of the "side" entrances. At the main entrance they had a dinosaur. Meh! I say!

One of the cooler things I got to see while I was there was a stuffed dodo bird (see pic!). It is massive! The dodo is one of the birds that is now extinct in the whole entire world. That's right - there are no more dodos and there never will be. Except in museums.

In a related note, I also got to see a fossil of Archaeopteryx - which is essentially the evolutionary species link between birds and reptiles. It was amazing to see for me because I remember reading all about it in text books in school and seeing it's picture. But now, I got to see one in person.

Last but not least, I also saw an amazing bed of Myophorella shells - a type of bivalves very similar to clams. Ironically, these were found in the exact location that I had just left. It was like they were mocking me. We can find those on the beach by where I used to work . . . although this was a very impressive collection!

Perhaps the most impressive attraction was the robotic T-Rex. I've included a video I took of it on my blog - just click the play buttion. If you have sound, you should even be able to hear it roar!

Overall, I would give the Natural History Museum two thumbs up! Well worth the trip - plus you can see all these items for free!!!

A series of unfortunate people = Part II

2008-07-02T00:10:00.005+01:00

Unfortunate Person #2: The Taxi Driver

Right, so the taxi driver showed up at our gate and I was ready and waiting. Unfortunately, the taxi booker lady didn't tell him he would actually need to drive into our gate (normally, they just reverse up to the gate so they can drive straight out without having to go through our centre), so he was in a bad mood to start off with because he had to turn the car around again. Then we showed up with my mountain of boxes to put in the boot (aka the trunk) of his car and again, he was not happy. Oh, well - he's getting paid, so why shouldn't he relax? Well, then I apparently "slammed" the door. This angered him and he yelled at me. Yep, we were not off to a good start - we hadn't even started up the taxi yet. Then, we stopped at the post office on the way and we also apparently took entirely too long. For our information, we were informed that we had been in there a whole quarter of an hour, and he would have to charge us extra for that. The length of our stay at the post office was not intentional (see later in this post) and I did feel bad about it, but I didn't appreciate the way he dealt with the situation. On the way to the restaurant, he also yelled at another driver because that driver didn't yield the right of way to him. Oh, dear. I was happy to get out of the cab. The conversation Tom and I were having quickly died when the taxi driver yelled at the other driver. It was replaced by awkward silence.

Unfortunate Person #3: The Post Office Lady

While we were sitting in the taxi, we saw that the Royal Mail truck was just about to pull away, essentially meaning we had just missed the mail for that day (Unfortunate Event #2) (I should point out that this was not a full time post office, but one that is operated out of a store). Anyway, so in I walk with my 3 boxes and I say that I would like to post these. Well, the lady looks a little flustered and says I just missed the truck for the day. I answered that I know and I even gave a little laugh and add that it was just my luck really. Then she says, "But that means they won't be able to go out until Monday." I explained to her that this was fine as I was in no hurry to send those boxes. She then said, "But that means we'll have to keep these boxes until Monday! I don't know where we'll put them." This was followed by an awkward silence at which point she finally said, "Well, I guess we'll find somewhere for them to go." At this point Tom walked in with the other three boxes. She was not a happy camper.

She then proceeded to be the slowest postal worker in history. She complained about the weight of the boxes and said that she would have to get someone else to lift them. None of my boxes weighed over 5kgs. Her co-worker stood there and watched the entire thing happen, not once offering to help out to speed matters up. Well, that's not entirely true - at one point she offered to move the weighed boxes off the counter and onto the floor. Yep, totally helpful. Thank you.

At this point, I pretty much decided that Weymouth had absolutely nothing left to offer me.

Unfortunate Person #4: The Lucky Train Man

I eventually got onto a train to London, after missing, not only my original train, but also the one that was sitting on the platform when I bought my ticket by about 30 seconds (Unfortunate Event #3). I was sitting on my own, minding my own business when a man and a woman got on the train at one of the many stops on the way to London. He seemed extremely excited by this train and said, "Oh, this is a lucky train! A lucky, lucky train!" He walked a bit more and then repeated, "Oh, this is a lucky train! A lucky, lucky train!" and this continued for a bit, until he finally sat down and stopped saying how lucky the train was.

I never did get to find out why the train was so damn lucky.

Unfortunate Person #5: The Toilet (aka bathroom) Lady

Once again, I am sitting there on the train, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I hear incredibly loud banging coming from the back of the car near the toilet. Then I hear a lady yelling at the top of her voice:

"Boys! BOYS! Help! I am locked in the toilet!"

Now these two boys being the ever helpful fine young gentlemen that they were didn't even bother to get up or even move their mobiles away from their ears. One of them eventually grunted, "Press the OPEN button."

There was a loud whoshing noise as the toiled door slid open. Then, the toilet lady was free once again. It was beautiful - it practically made me cry.

Kidding!

Unfortunate Person #6: The Duck Feeder Lady

Ok. It's now day two and I am in London. FINALLY. I decide to go and relax and eat breakfast in Hyde Park and watch the birds. This old lady - you know the type - comes down to the water and proceeds to throw great big chunks of bread to the geese. You know the size I mean - think about the Dead Duck Day scene in About a Boy. If you haven't seen this film, rent it - it's brilliant.

But, I digress....

Eventually the lady comes over and sits beside me on my bench. She has two dogs with her - one is able to walk properly and follows her over, the second is a dog named Oscar and he is obviously having trouble walking. I feel really bad for him because he is clearly trying to make it over to her but his legs just aren't working right. He really looks like he is in pain. Another elderly lady was walking on the path at the same time and noticed Oscar. She asks the duck feeding lady if this dog belongs to her.

Duck Feeding Lady: Yes, that is my dog.

Elderly Lady: What's wrong with it's legs? Or is it just old?

Duck Feeding Lady (dismissively): Well, you wouldn't walk to well either if you were a 17 year old dog!

Elderly Lady: Yes, well . . . I didn't mean to - [Writer's note: I think she was going to say bother you, but this is just speculating]

Duck Feeding Lady (incredibly rudely): Well, DON'T then!!!!

And, then the conversation ended swiftly.

THE END.

A series of unfortunate people

2008-06-29T10:36:00.005+01:00

For all those who have been checking this blog to find out where I am and what I am doing - well, I made it to Edinburgh! I will write more on that later, but first I wanted to share with you a description of several people I met on my way to London - they all seemed to be rather miserable people, but hopefully you will find the tales amusing!

Right, so imagine me having an incredibly hectic morning just trying to finish packing. My suitcases were pretty much packed the night before, I just had to finish packing boxes which I was going to ship to Edinburgh. I was stressed, sweaty, and struggling to even close one of my suitcases. Thankfully, my friend Tom provided an extremely calm and helpful presence. Eventually I realized I was going to miss my train that I had booked to London for only £7 (Unfortunate event #1), but I didn't let it bother me too much. After all, it was my own fault for not having finished packing the night before (instead I went out for dinner with friends) and now here I was. So the new plan was that Tom and I were going to take a taxi into Weymouth, first stopping at a post office and then stopping at a cash machine to get money to pay for a taxi and then going to a restaurant for lunch.

Unfortunate person #1: The Taxi Booker Lady

So, in line with our plan, I called a taxi company to get someone to pick us up. I asked the taxi booker lady very nicely if the taxi driver could call me on my mobile once he got to our centre, so that I could meet him at the gate to let him in. That way, he could park right outside my chalet and I wouldn't have to carry those 5 heavy boxes up the hill. Ingenious plan, I thought.

"What do you mean "call""? she asked incredulously.

"Um, well if he could just phone me on my mobile to -"

"We don't call." (spoken as if I was a crazy person asking for gold nuggets in my coffee).

...later in the conversation....

"Are you paying by cash?"

"Um, yeah." In my head I wondered if it would be possible to pay by card, but was so stunned by their non-ability to call, I just decided to let that pass.

After the phone call ended I talked to Tom and we decided if I could possibly pay by card that would be better because then we wouldn't have to make that extra stop. So, I called the taxi booker lady back.

"Hi, I just called about a taxi?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if I could possibly pay by card?"

"We don't accept card." (again spoken as if I was asking for gold nuggets in my coffee)

"Well, why the #$£% did you ask if I would be paying by cash then? What other form of payment would I be using - pebbles?!?! Arghhhhhhhhh!" and then I slammed the phone down.

... actually, in reality, my response was:

"Oh."

~More to follow~

Walking 'Round Portland

2008-06-16T19:02:00.006+01:00

Portland is an island that is connected to mainland England by the beautiful and extensive Chesil Beach (a stretch of pebble beach that goes for miles!). To walk the entire way around Portland following the South West Coast Path covers a distance of about 13 miles. The walk itself is beautiful and relatively flat, especially on the west coast. Portland is famous for Portland Limestone and there are many quarries (both used and disused) dotted around the island to testify to the importance of stone to the island's economy.

Tout Quarry, a disused quarry that currently is the home to many different sculptures, seemed like a promising place to visit, however, I was actually disappointed, as the map I was given of the quarry to show the location of the sculptures was highly confusing and poorly organized. Some of the sculptures were pretty cool though, but I would probably suggest just wandering around the quarry on your own without the "aid" of the map.

It was a beautiful sunny day when I decided to partake on this journey. It was so great to be off centre, away from the hecticness of work for a little while and to just enjoy my own thoughts and the scenery that surrounded me. Portland Bill is a lovely lighthouse on the southern tip of the Island, however, unfortunately it was closed to visitors on the day I went. It still looked fantastically pretty from the outside though!

Last Chance for England

2008-06-16T18:46:00.004+01:00

Tonight, my fate was sealed. There was a brief moment in time where there was a chance that I would be staying in England because I was offered an interview for the position of Assistant Chief Instructor. I decided to go for it because it would give me the opportunity to expand a lot of the skills I have now. Unfortunately (or perhaps thankfully?) I didn’t get the job. Therefore, I am definitely returning to Scotland. In fact, by this time next week I will be in "home".

I am not entirely sure how I feel about not getting the job. In some ways it is good, because, in the long-term I do not doubt that I would want to return to Scotland anyway, but in other ways, it would have been so much easier to have a new job a place to live down here, because, at the moment I am homeless, jobless, and penniless. Life will certainly be an adventure the next few months! I really hope that everything works out over the next few months.

My last day of work is Friday and I cannot wait! From there I will spending a few days in London before taking the train up to Edinburgh. Wish me luck with everything!

Rambling Through Radipole

2008-06-01T18:05:00.003+01:00

On my day off last week I decided to visit the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve called Radipole Lake. It's situated in the middle of Weymouth and is filled with reed beds - perfect for some pretty rare birds. I got to see some mute swans, coots, moorhens (all three with chicks), a rather chatty reed warbler and a cetti's warbler. I also saw a mallard, a great tit, a grey heron,a house sparrow, and my favourite overall: a great crested grebe (see picture at left)! It's such a pretty bird and I was so happy to capture it on my camera . . . even though the picture isn't that great by wildlife standards. I also, narrowly missed seeing a bearded tit, an incredibly photogenic bird that is practically the emblem of radipole lake. Hopefully, I will be able to see it before I leave here as I really want to!

In other wildlife news . . . I saw my first wild badger two nights ago! A few of us from work went to Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve with the intention of staking out a badger sett to try and see if we could spot one. After sitting on the ground for about an hour, I was starting to get a little cold and a little tired, when suddenly I could hear something running around behind me. I turned, and not even 3 ft away was a baby badger! It scared me half to death, as I was not expecting anything to be that close . . . and then it just turned and ran away. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my "close encounter" with a real live badger. Oh, and we also saw a roe deer . . . well, at least we think it was a roe deer (it was pretty far away!).

Yes, I am turning into a wildlife geek!

The Latest

2008-05-26T18:38:00.002+01:00

I have done something that is potentially very foolhardy . . . I have quit my job here and I have no idea what I will be doing in a month's time! Eek! I didn't get the job in Aberdeen . . . well, at least they have offered it to someone else and they are currently waiting to hear back from that person. I am a bit down about that, but everything always happens for a reason. Anyway, I basically decided that it was still time to move on from here and to move back to Scotland. The plan, as I currently see it is to go back to part-time retail and do some volunteer work to make contacts and get more experience in Scotland. A lot of the jobs I really find interesting require a car, and the reality is that if I keep working at my current job I will not be able to put together enough cash to get a car for some time to come. At my old retail job in Edinburgh I made twice as much as I do now and worked 4 days a week instead of 6. Anyway, while I am still not sure if this is the best decision in the world, I guess time will tell!!!

Annotated pictures from hiking the South West Coast Path

2008-05-17T08:46:00.002+01:00

If you'd like to see a selection of annotated pictures from when Ali and I hiked part of England's South West Coast Path - see slide show - then please click here.

Aberdeen

2008-05-17T07:46:00.004+01:00

To get to Aberdeen, it took a lot of public transport. First, a bus to the trainstation in Weymouth. From there a train to London. Then a tube journey to another train station in London. Then another train . . . this time to the airport. Then, a shuttle bus to the actual airport. Then a plane to Aberdeen. And finally, a taxi to my hotel. It was a long day on Thursday! I started my journey at 8:30am and ended it at 7:30 pm. I am quite happy it is over!!! But, I have to do the same journey in reverse today . . . gulp. The journey from Weymouth to Aberdeen is only ~594miles! Click here to see a map (A = Weymouth; B = Aberdeen).

I came to Aberdeen for a job interview. It is a job that I would really love, but I am not sure how things went in the interview . . . it's always so hard to judge these things! There were 8 people interviewed and there are actually two positions. My roommate from my current job was also interviewed for the same position! The interview itself involved quite a few things, a written component, a presentation, and then the interview itself (which included having to interpret, i.e. describe, an onion!). I really hope I get it, but I will now just have to wait and see. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the week.

It would be great to be back in Scotland!