beceh

WELCOME TO CANADA :-)

I have been here for one week and one day now. Feels longer.

MONDAY - Got into Vancouver International Airport in the afternoon - my flight was delayed by about an hour and a half. It's only about 2 hours from San Fran to Vancouver. Quick! I watched Whale Rider on the flight. I've really got to stop watching sad movies on planes... I always cry!
Got through immigration easily enough and got my work permit.
Collected my suitcase (it had an unfortunate shampoo explosion- at least it smells nice?) - it had been inspected in San Fran by the TSA.
Jumped on the Skytrain to Downtown Vancouver. I wish Melbourne had a train out to the airport!
Found my hostel easily enough - although I felt like a bit of a knob dragging my suitcase behind me. Missed my backpack! The hostel was alright. Not the best I've been to and kind of made me want to find a house straight away. It was full of Aussies. Couldn't believe it. Felt like I was back in Australia. Chatted to some people in the bar. They were nice, but I wasn't really inspired to see them again.

TUESDAY - Freezing day. Plan was to explore Downtown but I kept retreating into cafe's to escape the biting cold. I got a phone (Fido) and started looking seriously at places to live - emailed a few that looked alright and Mark got back to me pretty quickly so I went and inspected the room! I liked it! It's in Burnaby, takes about 20-30 minutes to get Downtown on the skytrain. The house is very close (2 streets away) from Holdom Station and is rather big - 2 kitchens, 6 or 7 bedrooms, 2 lounges - I think there are 9 housemates including me.
My room is huge. I need more furniture, it feels too empty! Anyway I like it. I know you're never meant to get the first house you look at, but this was exactly what I wanted so I took it. Only thing better would be if it was closer in, but being on the skytrain route makes it not a problem. It's pretty cheap - $550 a month with internet & utilities included. Sweet. If I lived in Yaletown or Gastown or Kitsilano or the West End, which would be way cooler, but twice as expensive.
Mark said I could move in straight away if I wanted, so I said I would move in the next day. Had already paid for the night at the hostel. Feeling rather happy and wondering if it could really be that easy (yes) I headed back to the hostel for my last night. Met my roommates Chris & Callum from Canberra. They invited me out for dinner with them and we had a really good night. Went down to Gastown for dinner and a few drinks at a place called Steamworks, then headed back Downtown to an Irish pub for a few more drinks. They met up with their mate Ross who is living here this year - he said he might be able to get me a job at his work. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be cool.

WEDNESDAY - I packed up(amazing how much mess I could make in two days) and moved to my new house! Easiest move ever. I just rocked up with my suitcase. Luckily the room is partly furnished - there is a double bed, cabinet and walk in robes already there. Signed the paperwork and settled in. Bought some new sheets, doona, pillows etc.
My housemates: everyone is in their mid-twenties or so.

• Mark - Canadian. Owns the house. Nice? 
• Jen - Canadian. Mark's girlfriend. Kind of looks like him.
• Hannah - British. Student. Lovely. Very nice.
• Luke - British. Hannah's boyfriend.
• Dan - Canadian. In the room next to me.
• Tracy - Canadian. Moving soon. Good.
• Jess -
• Alex - Haven't met her or Jess yet, just heard their names!

There are two women, I'm guessing Jess and Alex, who I haven't met properly and who don't seem all that interested in meeting me! But the rest are really friendly. Hannah and Luke invited me to go out with them tomorrow night and to Whistler on Saturday :-)

THURSDAY - Got my bank account sorted. Vancity.

FRIDAY - Hung out with Callum. We went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was pretty cool, although at first my feet got soaked and freezing. Need new boots. The weather fined up in the afternoon though and we spent the afternoon wandering around Gastown and Yaletown before drinking at various pubs. Met up with Ross again. Good night. I think I need a break from alcohol. It's not affecting me anymore!

 Hello from Los Angeles :-)

Just a quick one. Obviously I got here alright! We got to Melbourne Airport super early - left home at 6am, got there about 8:30am.... check in didn't even open til 8:45.... so we had a fair bit of time to kill, but it was nice, we just got some hot drinks and sat in Hudson's watching the planes. Dad got excited because we were sitting next to some cricketer from the late sixties/seventies (Paul Sheehan?) and he had a bit of a chat to him. 

I think it gets easier to leave the more often you do it. I was bawling my eyes out when I went to Japan and they had to literally push me through the doors. Last year there were very few tears, but I was petrified and rather reluctant to actually walk through the doors. This time we were laughing and joking around and playing a waving game until I finally went through - the line up was MASSIVE - my family kept running up to different spots and waving like maniacs. It was funny. And I didn't have any reluctance to leave, and I wasn't scared or anything. Probably because I've been to America before and I kind of know what to expect, plus I'm staying with someone I already know for the first week... 

Caught up with Jimmy, Ian's cousin, at the gate. Had a bit of a chat to him, but we weren't sitting anywhere near each other on the plane. The flight wasn't full which was good, so I had an empty seat next to me, so I could spread out a little bit. 

Flight itself was very uneventful. I hardly slept - the seats were pretty uncomfortable, but the entertainment system was really good. Watched a heap of things, they kind of blur into each other. Time Travellers Wife, 500 Days of Summer, A year in the Life if JK Rowling, How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, Post Grad.... and I think some others that I honestly don't remember at the moment oh well. 

Took forever to get through immigration and customs but that was because of all the people, not because they asked many questions. I was actually surprised at how easy it was - the last two times I came to America I got grilled. He just asked me a few questions, didn't want to see anything. I actually had everything prepared especially but he wasn't interested!! 

Deb picked me up from the airport which was lovely of her. Came back to her house which has AWESOME views and is really nice and I just crashed for a few hours - I had about 6 hours sleep the past 2 days combined, so yeah I was pretty  zombielike! 

So after I emerged slightly more refreshed, we went out for lunch with her Dad and his girlfriend, really yum food.  Her Dad made me feel really welcome. Then Deb and I went for a drive around and got some DELICIOUS yoghurt from some place called PinkBerry (I think) and now we are back home and Deb's in the shower and we are going to go to Hollywood when she's ready! 

Ok that wasn't so quick after all.... 

 I can't believe January is already over! Didn't it just start?? 

I leave in less than three weeks now. Before I know it I'll be on the plane! These 3 weeks will totally fly by, but I predict that the first month/two will totally drag when I am trying to find a job/house/friends etc.... I'm not really looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to 3-6 months plus down the track when I'm settled and whatnot. 

Anyway have a bit to do before I leave as well, I haven't really done anything yet. I am quite good(bad) at leaving everything to the last minute... 

So. 

Have already done the important stuff:
-Passport
-Canadian Working Permit
-American 5 Year Tourist Visa
-Plane ticket to LAX

Still need to:
-Travel Insurance
-Make some plans after first week
- Pack
- Sort out banking 
-Ummmm probably a lot of other stuff that I can't think of at the moment. 

I bought my ticket! I'm flying out to LA on Saturday Feb 20th.

I have no plans after that.

It's a one way ticket.

I'm kinda scared lol.

WEDNESDAY:
Wednesday, the day that Sydney awoke covered in red dust. Flight chaos ensued. My flight wasn't until the evening though, and thought it would be okay as they were reporting that the backlog had cleared by the afternoon and yeah...LIES!  Mum was lovely and drove me to Avalon (giggled at the ghastly spray painted orange rocks lining the driveway at Avalon) and we wondered where all the planes were - we could only see one, and that was a massive Qantas 747.... no Jetstar planes to be seen at all. Anyway, walk in and first thing I see is that my flight has been cancelled. Damn it. Got lucky though, they put me on an earlier flight that had been delayed and I ended up leaving only about 10 minutes after my original flight was meant to leave, and got to Sydney at the same time! So it all worked out well. 
Anna was nice and picked me up from Sydney Airport. We had a nice night just chilling out at her house and catching up and watching the Mighty Boosh. Her family is really nice. 

THURSDAY:

We drove over to Newtown (Anna lives in Coogee) and Anna took me to a cool big second hand bookshop. We spent about an hour wandering around in there. Yes, we are both dorks.  Had a look in some shops around there, then met up with her friend Martha and Martha's bf Nick and went back to Martha's house via the bottle shop and spent a lovely afternoon in her backyard. 
Went out for dinner with Anna's family. I had the best meal, it was soooooo good! 

FRIDAY: 
Anna had uni, so I took the opportunity to do the ultra touristy thing and caught the train to Circular Quay and checked out the Harbour, Bridge and Opera House, then caught the ferry over to Taronga Zoo and squeed over the adorably cute baby elephant and irritated at parents who were pointing to the gorillas and saying "Look at the Monkey!"  Got sunburnt. 





That evening I met some more of Anna's friends, Nadia and Eleanor, and we drove to Bankstown and went out for dinner and tried shisha/agila/hookah/whatever you want to call it. It was nice. I wouldn't do it very often, it's still smoke, but it was nice. Apple. Mmmm. 


Anna and I 

Because I can.

Things I like about Oregon (Portland in particular):
1. You walk down the street and complete strangers say "hello/good morning/good afternoon". This doesn't happen in Melbourne anymore! Noorat doesn't count, we all know each other. 
2. It's so green! It's almost halfway through summer and the grass is still green! 
3. The gardens. In this neighbourhood particularly, most people seem to take great pride in their gardens. There are some very beautiful ones around, and many of them spill out onto the street, with that bit of land between the footpath and the road, full of plants as well. I really like it. 
4. You are not allowed to get your own petrol at a service station. Lol. This appeals to my lazy side. 
5. Fred Meyer. That store seems to have everything. 
6. Powells. Gigantic book shop, both second hand and new. Need I say more? 
7. All the natural beautiful sights, waterfalls, lakes gorges etc.... 

Things I am looking forward to when I get back home:
1. Being able to drive my car!
2. Seeing friends and family (obv.) 
3. Meeting the pony lol. Cuddling Jezza and listen to his amazing purr. Get caught up in Angus' enthusiasm. 
4. Moving my life forward. I feel a bit in limbo at the moment. Figure out uni stuff. Finish a novel. 
5. Having some responsibility. 

Things I will miss:
1. The sense of absolute freedom and unknown possibilities. 
2. Meeting new people nearly every day. 
3. Being able to randomly hop on a plane/train because, hey, Portugal looks nice today. 
4. Not having any responsibility. 
5. Not knowing what tomorrow will bring or where it will find me.