The Last Greek Island

Our final stop in Greece was Corfu. The island had spent years under different rule, so while it was part of the country of Greece now, the buildings showed a lot of Italian, French and British influence. We started off by wandering the streets and picking up some souvenirs.

We eventually ended up down at the water, where Uncle Brian walked through the fort and the rest of us explored the courtyard areas along the sea. It was just a short stay at the port, as we were off to Dubrovnik the next day and we had to cover quite a bit of ground (water) to get there.

It also happened to be my mom’s birthday, so I had asked our stewardess if she could make my mom a towel animal while we were out and I set out a card I brought along. My mom was definitely surprised! Since there was still a lot of the day left, we headed up to the pool. I had not yet tried out the waterslide and was excited to do so. It did not turn out very well though because, unfortunately, a misbehaving child did not wait until I had gotten out of the way before he came down and I ended up with a big, awful bruise! That was the first and only time I used the slide. Even though we had dinner in the dining room (and mom had some giant prawns), I also decided to try out the room service for a late night snack that night.

Lauren Takes to the Air - Part 1

This past weekend, I didn't just take to the airport, I took to the air! I headed back to Ontario for a quick visit to attend my cousin's wedding. Even though it was brief (I was only in Ontario for about 41 hours), it was totally worth it! I loved getting to see my parents and extended family (even though there's a lot of us, we're very close!) and even my best friend! She normally lives pretty much in Manitoba, so this is only the second time I've seen her in the last year. We might have stayed up until 2:00 am talking on Friday night. Whoops! My cousin is also starting at my university in September, so we had tons to talk about. My voice is still recovering from the trip because there was a whole lot of talking and not a whole lot of sleep. I haven't had a normal voice since sometime on Saturday evening.

My adventure started on Friday morning. I had booked a 9:00 am flight with Air Canada (keyword: "booked"), but unbeknownst to me, the flight I booked on was a Boeing 777 that originated in Sydney, Australia. It stopped over in Vancouver, then continued on to Toronto. The problem with this is that if it's late coming out of Australia, it's going to be late leaving Vancouver. So, I got to sit around "the office" for a few hours longer than I planned. This also meant that my connection home? Not going to happen! So, after a painful, hunger-inducing time spent in line, I got the connection cancelled and finally had my boarding pass.

Protip: If you want your flight to be on time, maybe don't book that particular one. However, if you want a free $10.00 meal voucher, that's your flight!

Sadly, I didn't have a window seat on the plane. The girl who did though was kind of weird. I sat in my seat, staring longingly out the window because I wished I had a window seat. I also wanted to see my airport from views I don't normally see it from. As we're still taxiing on the runway, she folds her legs up, shuts the window, closes her eyes and starts meditating. I totally get if you're nervous and that helps, but first of all, why did you get a window seat? I would have totally enjoyed it! Second, your eyes were shut, you could have left it open for me and still been content. I didn't think this was very cool!

Long story short, I made it to Toronto and after locating my lost dad and my bag (which took way longer than it should have . . . ), we went out to the car where my dad had a whole bunch of my favourite snacks waiting for me! We talked all the way home and my best friend was waiting for me at my house.

Then, Saturday was the wedding. So much fun and yes, an open bar. Apparently, at weddings, getting an alcoholic beverage when you're underage is okay, if you're with your mom. The second time I went up for a drink, I got ID'd because my mom wasn't by my side!

On Sunday, my second and last morning in Ontario for the trip, we went over to my aunt and uncle's new house because I hadn't seen it yet. They had a pool, but I didn't think it was quite warm enough for me to jump in. Actually, Ontario was rather disappointing on the hot, swimming weather front. After that it was time to head to the airport. I was making a connection in Toronto this time, so my parents didn't have to take the long drive. Since it's a small airport, it doesn't take long to get through security, but I went through a bit early, just to be safe. Since I obviously hadn't spent enough time with my parents, we mimed back and forth through the windows until I had to board. Pretty sure everyone else thought we were crazy.

On both flights, I got a window seat! My first flight was very cool because I was sitting RIGHT NEXT to the propellor. I loved watching it start up because it was so huge!

My second flight, from Toronto to Vancouver, I sat next to a lovely gentleman. During the second round of drinks, he toasted me with his orange juice. How lovely! One of the movies I watched on the plane was called "Lunarcy!" It was about people who are convinced that we are going to colonize the moon. As we were landing in Vancouver, I still had one of my my earphones in and about 10 seconds before we touched down, someone in the movie said "I didn't think there was anything wrong with the flight." I pretty much had a heart attack because I didn't realize it was in the movie, but thought it was someone on my plane. (They were recollecting when they heard about the Challenger explosion.) It was not, though and I landed safely. We came in over the water and it was still light, so I could see UBC, downtown, islands and my airport as we came in!

Stayed tuned for Lauren Takes to the Air - Part 2. This time I go to Alberta!

The Vancouver List

I'm sure you're all breathing a sigh of relief now that I'm posting again! Now you know that I was NOT, in fact, pecked to death by crows. You're welcome. However, I have been insanely busy between work and enjoying the wonderful weather we've been having! I thought I would share some of the reasons why I am loving spending my time out here (and the few reasons that I'm not).

Reasons Why I Love Vancouver:

1) The Weather

The weather here is pretty much perfect. It's been around the 20 degree mark since I got here, which means everyday when I get home from work . . . shorts! It's also not that stifling hot that Ontario gets in the summer. 40 degrees with smog in downtown Toronto on the 7th floor with no air-conditioning was NOT a good time. I've heard that they get a lot of rain out here, but that has yet to prove itself true. Especially since Calgary and Toronto have been getting all of that. Apparently there can be earthquakes too, but I guess Ottawa took care of that one earlier this year too.

2) My Security Pass

I definitely feel like I own the place when I'm walking around in my high-visibility vest and security pass. I keep hoping people will come and ask me for help or directions. I'm pretty much crushed on a day that they don't. Let me tell you, it was not an easy process to make it happen either! It took me 6 weeks to get the pass! Now that I do have it, I start preparing myself the stop before I get off at the airport. I put my book and cell phone away and whip out the pass, straighten it out on the lanyard around my neck and then sit up tall, in case anyone wants to know when to get off. To actually use it, pretty much like all of those spy movies. Biometrics are awesome.

3) My Job

My manager told me that he wanted to be the best manager I've ever had and so far, he's doing a pretty good job! His goal is to just expose me to everything he can at the airport, including fire extinguisher training, an architectural tour, design of the baggage system, health and safety (good thing I took that half-credit course . . .), project management, golf tournaments, contractors, bow-tie Wednesday (which I pay tribute to with a headband adorned with a bow), new software, work as a business analyst, the 4:30am clean-up walk, etc. It wouldn't be too bad either if they wanted me to bring all of my knowledge back next year, once I'm done school. Can I make that my sole co-op workterm objective? To be hired back? It's also pretty wicked that I can just see planes taking off and landing while waiting for my train to go home!

4) The Markets

When I first got out here, I was pretty unimpressed with the grocery stores. What is this world without Loblaw stores?? Now I've realized it's because there are way better places to get food at. There are small fruit and vegetable markets at every corner, where you can just buy grape tomatoes in bulk. It was awesome. The other bonus is that it's so cheap! Spending the time to go and pick out your fruit and vegetables like this definitely improves the price. It's also mostly locally grown. I know some of my Guelph friends would love that idea! I usually buy a whole backpack full of fruits and vegetables and it only cost me $8 to $9! You can also go and buy fresh-baked bread and bagels this way and get your meat right from the butcher. I still use the grocery stores for things like milk and cheese (weirdly milk is cheaper out here, but cheese is more expensive than Ontario) and pretzels, but these small markets are the way to go for most things!

5) The Festivals

There is always something happening out here. I've been to a couple of music festivals, including one right down the street from where I live and last week, the boyfriend and I went to the Gastown Grand Prix. People were racing bikes (ridiculously fast) around the streets of Gastown. For safety, all of the turns had hay bales!

6) The Beach

This doesn't require much explanation. Beaches everywhere. That I can swim in (since they're salt water). Also, the seawall. So cool.

7) Transit

Transit here is actually really good. The pass is a bit expensive, but totally worth it considering how much I use it. It's cool that you can get all the way from UBC out to Surrey and down to Richmond and up to the mountains in North Vancouver all on the same transit system. They're also implementing a new fare system soon and will be doing a beta test of it in a few months. The engineer in me was excited (probably too excited) to apply to be a tester. I'll know August 9th!

8) The Buildings

There are cool buildings all over the place! From Canada Place, up at the waterfront, to the amazing airport (not biased at all here). That's only commercial too! Where I live reminds me of Florida, with its beachy houses. The buildings are all so different here too because of the climate. It isn't just row after row of identical bricked houses. There are even the hobbit houses!

9) The People

People just seem happier and nicer out here. Even though its such a big city, it seems a lot smaller. Everyone thanks the bus drivers when they get off the bus, just like in Guelph! They also say hi to you on the street. 

10) The Boyfriend

I guess it's also pretty nice that the boyfriend is out here. He can make the list too!

Reasons Why I Do NOT Love Vancouver:

1) The Crows

I think that I might actually be psychologically traumatized from the times that I've been attacked. Every time I see them while walking around Vancouver, I do a check to see if there are other people near me that can call 911 when I get attacked and end up lying on the ground bleeding. (That might be a bit graphic, but that's exactly what I picture happening when I walk past them. Psychological trauma, I tell you!)

2) Distance

My family is very far away! Personally, I think they should just move out here with me, so they'll be closer. I guess I still have to work on convincing them though.

I had also mentioned that I was going to try a yoga class. Which I did, a week later than I planned because of the bike racing. The (free) yoga class was in a store after they closed. It was pretty cool because they pushed all of the clothing racks and did it right there on the floor. I had bought myself a nice, purple mat to use. The instructor was great and even recognized that I was new! Now for a brief synopsis:

Wednesday.
Go to yoga for the first time in 7 years.
Pull out the purple mat.
Start the class.
Haven't stretched my hamstrings in years.
Think it's going well.
Haven't fallen over yet.
Instructor says we're going to try handstands.
Nope.
That's not going to happen.
Try it anyway.
Thursday.
Can't walk.
Takes twice as long to get anywhere at work.
Friday.
Can't walk even more.
Take 2 buses to work instead of one because it's less walking,
Also can't climb the baggage system.
Saturday.
Go for a swim.
Think it will help the pain.
Feels better in the pool.
Get out of the pool.
Nope.
Not better at all.
Ouch.

Let's Get Physical

Wow! It's been a busy week since my last post. Including two days in a row (Thursday and Friday) where I was up at 5:00 am to be at work early for meetings. Meetings where we wandered around the baggage system. Yikes! Sounds safe.

Let's rewind a bit. My last post was pretty crow-focused and although I would like to say that's over, unfortunately it's not. In fact, it might have escalated to a full out war now. The giant pool down by the beach near me opened up over the long weekend, so being half fish, I had to go down and check it out! I was starting to think that maybe the crow just didn't have a good fashion sense and that's why it was out to get me, since I was usually in my highly fashionable work clothes. So, I thought I would go for a different look to try and trick it. I headed down to the pool in my sweats on the OTHER SIDE of the street and I was confident that I would be safe. Apparently the crow had other ideas. I don't even know how it recognized me, but it did! Sad face.

Another thing I hadn't counted on was that Vancouver doesn't quite get the temperature fluctuations that Ontario does. It gets cold, but not super cold, and warm, but not super warm. Luckily, this pool was heated to a balmy 77 degrees (25 degrees)! Yeah, it doesn't sound THAT great and I'll admit I was a bit hesitant to get in, but after paying the admission of $5.38, I knew I had to. (That's pretty steep for a swim considering I'm a student!)

Now, in case you can't tell, that's a gigantic freaking pool. 137 metres long to be exact. Normally to swim a kilometre, you would do 40 lengths in a 25 metre pool. Maybe 20 lengths in 50 metre pool. To swim a kilometre here, you do 8 to 9 lengths. I was hurting pretty bad by the last length (and even more the next day). This is going to take some getting used to. The cool thing about this pool is that it is right on the seawall. The kind of cool thing is that it's filled with salty ocean water. By kind of cool, I mean cool to swim in, but not so cool when you go to drink from your water bottle a few hours later and realize that you splashed the rim with salt water in the pool. Gross.

I also got out to do some kayaking down by the Burrard Bridge on Thursday, which was awesome. Only $5.00 for a few hours out in the water with a kayak and lesson included. Thanks MEC! That's the kind of deal I'm looking for as a student! A friend from home and I went to try this out and found out there are also paddle-boarding sessions. I think we'll save that for when it's a bit warmer because I would say it's very likely I'll fall in.

Now for a fun little work story. One of my colleagues asked me to drive him to the SkyTrain station in Richmond and I thought I wasn't going to make it back. You wouldn't think that it would be that hard to do, but for those of you that know me well, directions aren't my strong point. On campus tours, one of my signature lines is "I used the information desk in the UC in first year to find out where my classes were because I'm kind of directionally-challenged, but don't worry, I know campus way better now, so I won't get us lost on the tour!" This does not apply to Richmond. I don't know Richmond. There are 15890778 bridges between the airport and the SkyTrain station! (Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but there's a lot.) I literally thought I was going to have to call my manager and ask him to find me and direct me back.  Luckily, after some wrong turns and off ramps, I did make it. The Canada Line tracks are a great way to find the airport BTW.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who donated to my Great Strides page, I met my goal! Luckily, for those of you who haven't had a chance yet, you still can! The boyfriend and I are off to do that this weekend, so feel free to continue emptying your wallets for me! Speaking of him, we also went down to the beach to watch the sunset . . . how dorkily romantic. This weekend I will also be emptying my wallet because this week was my first payday! Shopping? Yes.