Lauren Takes to the Air - Part 2

Warning: This is probably the longest blog post ever. I would suggest getting a going to the bathroom, getting a snack and finding a comfortable seat if you are going to read it. Don't say I didn't warn you. Also, there are cool pictures in the middle of the post, so if you don't want to read it all, at least scroll through and find the pictures!

Here it finally is . . . the trip to Calgary. Yeah, I know, that happened two weeks ago, but my life has been a bit hectic with work for the last two weeks. I think I'll leave that for a separate post because I want this to be all about that time that I went to Calgary to see my best friends!

The Friday that I left, I dragged my suitcase and backpack (which was also filled with work stuff) on my commute because I wanted to go straight to Calgary at work. It was pretty hard to focus that day because I was so excited to see the friends that I hadn't seen in four months! I'm pretty sure I was bouncing in my chair. Finally, 4:30 pm rolled around and one of my wonderful coworkers gave me a lift from the trailers to the terminal, so I didn't have to struggle along with my suitcase down the service road.

Since my flight was kind of at a weird time, my dinner that night consisted of chocolate banana bread from Starbucks, a bag of cashews, an apple and my water bottle (filled up AFTER security). I did have one little slowdown at security though. I had some medication to take with me that needed to stay cold. Instead of making a huge deal out of it by packing it in an unnecessarily large lunch bag, I put an ice pack, the medication and the prescription into a sock. I'm an engineering student, it was efficient. However, the security lady was pretty confused as to what was going on in the sock and made me unpack it, so she could check it out. Cool.

After a 10-minute delay (I think I just have bad luck with flying), we were finally boarded and ready to take off. The trip from Calgary is a brief 58-minute flight. That's pretty much how long it takes me to get to work! I was happy that we were served a snack though! For dessert to my random dinner at the terminal, I had a bag of weird, little chip things. Kind of like someone smushed a bag of Doritos, except they were supposed to be like that. It was awesome to go over the mountains because they are so much bigger than what we have close to Vancouver!

I had chosen to carry on my bag, so that I could get off as fast as possible, since I was losing an hour with the time difference. I was at the back of the plane and the wait was excruciating. I powered through the airport to find my way out (pretty abnormal for me considering how much I love airports), but my best friends were somewhere around here! I finally made it through the doors and Brittany was waiting to meet me! Everyone probably thought we were dating because I ran over and we were hugging and jumping around. She also turned bright red, as usual.

After that, we headed out to the car, which I was told not to make fun of because it was the only rental car available. We got out to the parking lot and Jaime and Angela were squished into the back of a silver Mustang. As I loaded my suitcase into the trunk, it looked like there was probably more room there than in the backseat of the car.

We drove through Calgary and it was very different than many of the other cities I had been to or lived in. There is A LOT of urban sprawl. High-density and medium-density just isn't a thing in Calgary. The houses also just keep going and going. It's also divided into quadrants. And neighbourhoods. Not suburbs (like of Toronto and Vancouver), but small divisions of the quadrants that all have basic services, like banks and grocery stores. It could get pretty confusing if you aren't familiar with it . . . or even if you are! I could feel all of the knowledge from my Society and Space geography class coming back to me as we drove.

We spent about 45 minutes at the house before going to meet up with some other friends. There are a lot of people from Guelph in Calgary. We stopped briefly at one of the residences at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) where we may or may not have snuck in. As soon as we got off the elevator, a friend from Guelph we didn't even know was going to be there, saw us and ran out from a lounge on the floor. Very random! After that stop, we were headed to downtown Calgary. We got to take the train, the CTrain, which I had to clarify was not the "Sea"Train, since we have the SkyTrain in Vancouver. Yes, I know that "sea" would not make any sense in Calgary. Although I am directionally-challenged, it's not that bad! I think an accurate description of how excited I was can be found here. It totally freaked me out though how the train tracks run right across roads and walkways. There are gates telling you to look for trains, but nothing really to stop you from just walking in front of them. Yikes!

After our exciting train ride, we did some walking around. I couldn't tell you where we were or where we went, but I can tell you that I managed to sustain some injuries on the walk. I was excitedly walking and talking to friends and didn't see the leg of the construction sign sticking out in front of me on the sidewalk, right about shin-height. I think a lot of other people saw it coming, but it was too late to warn me. That bruise is still going away, even two weeks later. About 30 seconds that happened, I stepped off a curb and rolled my ankle. On the same leg that had slammed into the construction sign. It was pretty impressive though, I think, because I fell all the way down to my knee and somehow recovered and kept walking.

There were lines all over the place and we ended up at some sort of country bar. We spent our time chatting and playing buck hunter. That experience should be pretty good proof that I am not a hunter. I should never, ever go hunting. My hand-eye coordination is not good, AT ALL. We didn't stay out too late because we had plans to go to Lake Louise for a hike the next day!

We got up bright and early(ish) for Lake Louise the next day. After making some breakfast, we packed up and headed out. Jaime was getting very excited once we started to get close to the mountains. She probably could have set her camera to just take video, considering how often she was sticking her phone between the front seats and taking pictures, haha. We got to the entrance to Banff and didn't even have to wait long to get in. Along the way, we saw a group of cars pulled over to the side of the road. There was a moose taking a bath in one of the rivers! (No, Erin, we didn't want to shoot it.) Also, all of the water we could see was a turquoise colour. It was so pretty! We got caught up in some traffic because a camping trailer, attached to a car, had ended up in a ditch and been blown apart by the impact. It looked like everyone was okay, but they wouldn't be using the trailer ever again.

We thought we would have trouble finding a parking spot (and we were nervous about where to safely leave the Mustang), but we were pretty lucky to see a car pulling out a spot . . . just as we had passed by it. However, I wasn't losing that spot! I jumped out of the car and stood in it until Brittany could back up. Pretty sure everyone else hated us.

After walking down to the lake and lunching on sandwiches that my lovely friends had made the day before, we took the cliche shots in front of Lake Louise. We're just SO HAPPY to see each other. I think we need travelling pants. It's that happy. Then, we ventured towards the trails. We were pretty ambitious when first choosing a trail, but it became pretty clear that my chicken legs weren't going to handle that. Angela took the backpack from me and we ended up going to a look-out, which gave the chance for another photo op and some great views of the area. Eventually, some other friends found us and we ventured a little further, to a steep, rocky area. Jaime found an inukshuk and Brittany kept saying she wanted to see a bear. Um, no thanks. After spending some time up there (and getting rained on), we headed back down to walk around the lake. It was a pretty long walk and we took plenty more pictures. We also saw that a wedding had been taking place recently. That would be a pretty cool location for it!

After tiring ourselves out, we headed back towards Calgary. I definitely fell asleep in the car, only to wake up when we pulled into a McDonald's in Canmore. Yum, fries! We had plans to visit downtown again that night, but considering how exhausted we were, we decided to make a "family" dinner instead and hang out in the hot tub. Worked for me!

On Sunday, we had breakfast and then it was time to take Angela and Jaime to the airport. So sad! We said good-bye and Brittany and I headed back to the house to relax. I wasn't leaving until late that night! Somehow, being in Calgary made my voice come back. (You might remember it was pretty much gone from the Ontario trip.) This was great because Brittany and I could talk! Since we had made so much food that weekend, we decided to go for lunch/dinner after dropping the car off. We found a Montana's and that filled us right up. I had the Chipotle Firecracker Burger, which was really good, except for the fact that I kept ending up with deep-fried jalepenos in my mouth, as much as I tried to remove them from the burger before taking a bite.

Since we didn't have the car anymore, another friend from Guelph was able to drop me off at the airport. I got there right on time, but of course, with my bad luck, the hour flight to Vancouver (okay, actually an hour and seventeen minutes) was an hour delayed! I had some chocolate milk and talked to my parents while waiting and finally got on the flight. I had an emergency exit row seat with lots of leg room and enjoyed more of the chip things.

The boyfriend was waiting for me when I got back (he's the best!) and I went straight home to bed. What a great weekend!

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!

Arts and Crafts

I had some pretty good pictures taken today, so I thought I would quickly share. I was making some full-scale, cardboard mock-ups of equipment for a project I'm working on, so we could pretty much "place the furniture". I also thought my parents would be proud of my engineering degree being put to good use for arts and crafts. I probably could have done this based solely on my Girl Guide experience. Good news though, the props worked SUPER effectively and everyone thought it was a wicked meeting. Yay!

I happened to get a photo of myself in the infamous high-visibility vest that I talk about, as well. Somehow our meeting turned into a photo shoot.

Fireworks and Fireworks and Fireworks (And Some Other Stuff)

It's been a while! I'll keep this post mostly to pictures, since a lot has happened.

I mentioned last time that I was going to help set-up a food bank in Burnaby with some people from work. It was a pretty fun morning and I think I've had my fill of retail for now. I'll stick to engineering. It turned out that the manager of the store was having his first day of work when we were there, so he was very grateful for the help. We spent the morning cleaning, unpacking items and then stocking the shelves. The manager explained that they call the store a "hand-up", not a "hand-out". The purpose is to make everyday food and groceries more accessible to people without being free. A pretty cool idea!

Saturday night was the first night of the Festival of Light fireworks competition in Vancouver. It's an annual event where countries from around the world compete for the best fireworks show. First off was the UK with a James Bond theme. The boyfriend and I decided to check out the view from Kits Point this time. Even though it wasn't the actual venue, it was packed with people out to see the show.

On Wednesday, the second fireworks show was scheduled. This time, for the full effect, I went all the way down to English Bay. After yoga, I went for a 40-minute walk to the bay since transit was wonky because of how many people were in town for the fireworks. If I thought Kits Point was packed, it was nothing compared to this venue! Luckily, I was by myself, so it was easy to find a spot. This was definitely the best view of all three shows. The fireworks were loud, the music was blaring and the fireworks were exploding right above my head. There was also a bit of the show on the barge, which I couldn't see from the point. Wednesday was Canada's entry by a Calgary group. They did a tribute to the Calgary flood. They were also making hearts with the fireworks, which I liked a lot!

On Saturday, I asked the boyfriend to go with me to try out a fish and chips place that I had heard about down in the Granville Island area. Go Fish! was a cute, little stand that looked out over the water and into downtown. Of course, the friendly neighbourhood crows were there. They're everywhere! Fortunately, they let me eat my meal in peace. It was pretty tasty, I think I'll have to take my parents here when they come visit!

Then, we took a walk through Granville Island, with its markets and waterfront views.

Saturday was the last day of the fireworks competition and Thailand was competing. The boyfriend and I decided to take in the show from Point Grey. We also got a recommendation from the 5-year-old upstairs from the boyfriend about the best place to watch it in the park. It was a little far, but there were a couple of gentleman behind us that had a radio, so we could still hear the music. They also sounded like they were quite the fireworks aficionados because they were giving each other commentary the entire show. We had a pretty good time listening to it! Thailand totally won me over with their happy face fireworks! Unfortunately, I'm not a great photographer and couldn't snap a photo, but it was sweet! Probably for the best because after a few happy faces, they changed to sad faces and no one wants to see that.

I think people at work must think I'm the crazy fireworks lady because I was really excited about all of them. Way more than anyone else.

Somehow, we also totally lucked out with all of this. NO RAIN. I don't even understand it, but in case you hadn't heard, Vancouver broke records for having no rain. There was no rain for the entire month of July. Totally weird.

Finally, yesterday, we went to check out Vancouver pride. We decided to go for the parade, and stopped around the end of the parade route with perfect timing. We saw the groups and floats go by, including a TD float with some very enthusiastic dancers and a hockey float that I thought my parents would like. Nearby, in one of the main intersections in the area, the city had painted a permanent rainbow crosswalk. Very cool! After crossing there, there went to La Belle Patate for poutine. It was delicious and the poutine had squeaky cheese!

It's back to work tomorrow, but I have a super short work week because I'm headed back to Ontario early Friday morning for my cousin's wedding. I'm excited to see my parents and family after so long! I think it will be weird to go to the airport to get on a plane though, instead of for work. I'll also get to see my best friend who I haven't seen since Christmas. Postcards are great, but they don't quite cut it after that long. Yay!

Volunteering and Planespotting

Just like at my last co-op job, the engineers here are also involved in helping the community. My first Friday working at the airport, I was at there bright and early to participate in the "FOD Walk" (FOD = foreign object debris), where we picked up FOD around the airport. Then, we had our own "TOD Walk" (TOD = trailer object debris). Yeah, the acronym doesn't work out quite as well, but I'm over it. Tomorrow morning, a bunch of us are heading out to Burnaby for the morning to help with the set-up of a new food bank. The cool part about this food bank is that the people who coordinate it are trying to make it more dignified for the people who use it. So, really, we're setting up a "grocery store" of sorts. That'll be new for me, since I've never worked in retail! People will be able to come in and pick up what they need from the shelves, just like grocery shopping! I'll get back to you on how it goes!

In other volunteering news, I have a Sparks unit!! I will get to be a Sparks leader for the four months of the Sparks "season" that I'm out here! It turns out that I'll also be the most experienced of the bunch, as they have just had a big turnover in the leaders for the unit. My four years of experience gives me the most seniority (although, my seventeen years also does too, likely). I'm excited to meet the leaders and the girls and have the opportunity to share ideas all the way from Ontario! Now all I need to do is pick up my Guiding shirt and camp hat when I'm home in a few weeks. The only downside to the situation is that the yoga class I have been trying is on the same night. So, I'll be finding a new to go to, if I still like it by then.

On that note, I can walk this week after yoga! My hamstrings seem to have figured themselves out and this week I came out of the class feeling like I had a great workout, instead of a painful stretching session. Although, I have been feeling the burn in my shoulder, arm, leg and hip muscles for these two days. I also love that I can walk to and from the class! (And there's a market that's still open after the class on the walk to I can refuel with a chocolate milk!)

I'm going to finish off this post by saying again how nice my commute is! I've been able to sit at the windows of the SkyTrain a few times this week and I'm pretty sure I looked like a little kid when the planes went over. They're so close!! These pictures don't even do any justice. You can practically see the people in the plane. It's the coolest thing!

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.

Beaches and Waffles and Postcards

I think that the title of this post sounds pretty hipster. Especially with the postcards part. But, no friends, I am not a hipster (even though my Ray Bans might try and deceive you). However, I am pretty relaxed after my weekend!

After a big, tasty barbecue dinner on Friday night, the boyfriend and I took to Spanish Banks on Saturday, where a group of his friends was getting together for beach volleyball. For those of you who had to endure gym class with me in Grade 9, you'll know that I'm not particularly good with hand-eye coordination. Like, not at all. I probably shouldn't even attempt to play sports involving balls because it just doesn't happen. Not to mention the fact that I burn like a burger that my dad is barbecuing (just kidding, Dad! I know you're just making sure that it's cooked all the way through!), so I had my big baseball hat and sunglasses on. Now I didn't only lack the coordination, but also the visibility. Needless to say, after some fruitless attempts and a very encouraging (but probably frustrating) couple of rounds, I decided to become the protector of the food. We were going to have a big picnic lunch later! Somehow though, I have still been in extreme pain for the last two days . . . I blame all of the running I had to do through the sand to get the balls that I missed.

The tide was also waayyyyyy out on Saturday, you probably had to walk a kilometre to even get to the water! Luckily (or not so luckily) there was also a strong breeze (wind) blowing down the beach, along with probably half the sand that was there.

After enjoying as a spectator for a bit longer, we started up the barbecue and had sausages . . . and vegetables and watermelon and drinks and chips and antojitos and brownies and cookies. So much food!

That evening we also attended a gathering for a birthday, where we enjoyed beverages. Some random, apparently cheap, beverage from Kelowna. It kind of tasted like water when you got to the bottom, which was weird. I also happened to run into my cousin on the way there, which was nice because we hadn't seen each other in a while. Such a coincidence in such a big city! I don't think I've been awake that late since I moved here!

On the way home from the event, we passed a waffle place on the bus and I was determined to try it from that moment on. No surprise then that I ended up there on Sunday morning. I tried out the apple and cheddar waffle. It even came with a cute little salad on the side. Waffle Gone Wild! is my new favourite place! So tasty!

In fun news work, I got a name placard! I guess I'm here long enough to warrant one. Or maybeeee I'll be able to use it next year . . . after I graduate. Hmmmm. You also get to see my desk, with its fun high-visibility vest and hard hat.

Today, when I came home from work, where I spent my day being productive, but also stuck at a desk, I found a lovely surprise in the mail. My bestie had sent me a postcard from her east coast biking trip! I don't even know how she got my address, but it was so exciting! I love mail. I even keep stamps in my purse, so I can send fun things. Like cards. I love sending cards. Postcards are even better though! Thanks girly!

And now here I am. I'm planning on going all Vancouver this week and trying out some yoga (for free of course). Which is great because apparently it's supposed to rain. Yay for Vancouver.

Yay! Fireworks!

I really like that these long weekend things happen pretty much every month! When you work a standard Monday-to-Friday-9-to-5 (well, I actually do 8:30 am to 4:30 pm) job, long weekends are the coolest thing ever!

I kept myself busy and spent tons of time outside because we almost had some Ontario-like weather temperature-wise. What I really liked was that this didn't translate to Ontario-like weather humidity-wise. Much easier for a person with cystic fibrosis!

Friday, the boyfriend and I had poutine pizza . . . our new favourite thing that we probably shouldn't have ever consumed more than once. It's actually so good though!

On Saturday, I decided we were definitely going to the beach. If I was home in Ontario I would be, so I was definitely going to be doing it here! Being by the water also made the temperature so much more bearable. There was a strong breeze (which was also good because there was no way I was staying in the water that long!) that kept us cool and we did try the water out once. I was also a big dork and had my hat, sunglasses and layers of sunscreen on. It wasn't fruitless though, I didn't get burnt at all! The boyfriend was not so lucky.

On Sunday, we decided to head over to UBC and wander around. We saw the flagpole plaza. It's such a pretty spot because the campus opens right up to the mountains and it's just like "Bam! Canada!" How appropriate for the Canada Day long weekend! There were also these super cool squishy seat things (also notice how they are white, so the glaring sun doesn't heat them up much and they can be sat on . . . science, friends). We also headed down to the rose garden where I decided to have a photo shoot since I matched the roses so well. I could even kind of smell them (like I'm pretending to do), unusual for me!

Here's the only bad part of the weekend . . . really, the only bad thing since I've been out here. You've probably guessed it . . . the crows. Yes, I am bringing them up again. This time, we were walking through UBC (not anywhere near where I live) and I saw one sitting up on one of the banners around the campus. I am legitimately scared of these things from my past encounters and the boyfriend was making fun of me and saying how it was going to get me. Obviously we didn't think it actually would, but just as we had walked past it (together!) it swooped down behind me and it's wing hit my back! Just like the other time! Except this time, I didn't have a jacket and was wearing a tank top. So, I started to cry. There's pictures. Yep, awesome. I'm convinced it was aiming for me because there's no way that it would have just happen to hit me instead of him! I'm also convinced that it likes my hair. It must be the same colour as some crow predator or something. Or maybe it looks like nest material. I don't know, but I've had just about enough! Fledgling season was supposed to be over! I'm also probably going to be known at work as "Crazy Crow Girl" or something.

On to happier things. Monday. The day I had been waiting for. Fireworks! Now, obviously you can't see fireworks during the day, so we had to do something. We went for a walk in Pacific Spirit Park! Most of it was okay, except for hills. I hate hills. We've also decided that the boyfriend must scare people off because every single person we passed said hello to us, but that never, ever happens when he's alone. It also happened at the grocery store before. Weirdo.

After cooling down from the walk, we headed towards the beach because we had a plan to be able to watch BOTH sets of fireworks . . . and also not get stuck downtown until 3:00 am. From the beach, you could see the high fireworks above the buildings and hear them too. Across the water, in West Vancouver, you could see the whole show because they were out on a barge in the inlet. Good plan too because transit was crazy that day! As we were getting to the beach, the bus stopped to let people off and then made a funny noise and shut down. We figured we might as well walk from where we were since we didn't know what was going on, but just as we stepped out, this river of green slime started pouring out of the bottom of the bus and running along the curb. That couldn't have been healthy. Also, for my environmental engineering friends, you might want to look into how great that is going into the storm sewers.

All in all, a great weekend! Yay! Fireworks!

The Past Week

I've kind of been slacking on the blogging the past week, so here's the recap.

Friday

A few friends and the boyfriend and I headed to Gastown on Friday night for the "Make Music" festival. It's pretty much an event open to anyone who wants to sign up. We got there at the wrong time though, apparently, because as we walked from tent to tent each performer finished a song and then packed up. Luckily, on the way back, the performers decided to do more than one song. We heard a drum circle, rapping, folk, DJing, contemporary, jazz and more! Gastown was also a really cool neighbourhood . . . although I don't know if I would want to go down Blood Alley. We also saw the famous clock (which I failed to get a picture of). It even had a souvenir shop at one point, but it looked like it had closed down.

Sunday

My boyfriend was running a half marathon, so I got up early to go and meet him at the finish line. The half marathon also happened to go down the street below me, on the way from UBC to Stanley Park, so I was able to watch the runners as I walked to the bus and then got to follow beside them as we crossed the bridge. At the bus stop I got off at there was a community garden. I thought it was so cool that it was just there, in the middle of downtown Vancouver. Finally, I made it down to the park, where I encountered these laughing statues, perfect for me since I love to laugh! Called A-mazing Laughter, by Yue Minjun, they were designed for the Olympics in 2010 and were supposed to be temporary, but the owner of Lululemon liked them so much, that he contributed to the cost of keeping them there permanently. As for the race, unfortunately, I left the finish line before my boyfriend crossed it because I thought he had passed without me noticing. Next time we need to coordinate what each other is wearing before we go, so we know what to look for!

Tuesday

I was "voluntold" (my manager's new favourite word) that I would be working at the company golf tournament, which is run for airport employees and contractors every year and coordinated by the director of engineering. I had a "Lauren Conrad" moment because it seemed like such an intern thing to do. (It also meant that I thought about The Hills and have started watching season one again, oops.) I started with unloading all of the door prizes from the van, later helped organize and label all of the prizes and finally, ended up tallying gold scores until halfway through dinner. However, I was wearing awesome floral pants that I was complimented on multiple times, so that was certainly a plus. I didn't make it home until 9:00 pm and was up bright and early for work the next day.

Friday

Yes, I know, it isn't Friday yet. I do know what's going to happen though. I was supposed to get a half day off because of the working late on Tuesday, but a check-in conveyor I'm working on needs to be up an running for the long weekend. Of course, the project is behind schedule, so I need to be there all day tomorrow in case "unforeseen events" occur. Lucky me! The good news: if you happen to be at the airport and flying domestic, you might be able to use my lovely new conveyor. Yay.

Fortunately, this weekend is a long one. I'm excited to see fireworks and do some exploring . . . as well as relaxing. I'm actually really excited for fireworks because they didn't have any here for the May long weekend. Apparently, that's not a thing out here, like it is back in Ontario.

This Week In My Stomach

It turns out that working at the airport doesn't just mean that people from all over the world are travelling through it. It also means that I work with people from all sorts of different places. My manager is from Ireland, along with another engineer in my trailer (obviously different parts though, based on the fact that their accents sound NOTHING alike). The engineer that sits across from me is from New Zealand, along with the contractor I am working with on the drop-belt for the check-in. Some of the other contractors are from the UK and the Netherlands. Of course, there's also people from Ontario. Three of the engineers went to schools near Guelph (and by that, I mean they actually know what Guelph is)! Another one of the contractors is from Niagara Falls. It's really interesting to work with people from all over the place, but that's not the best part. It also means that I get some tasty snacks at work that I normally wouldn't pick up myself. This week has been particularly full of treats: a chocolate bar from the UK, pocky sticks and a cookie that tasted like cotton candy, but was apparently healthy!

I also got yet another free lunch (I think I've literally had a free lunch every week since I started!), but this time it was because of our new president and CEO. He also came around to visit us in the trailers yesterday and my manager decided to tell him how I wrote a letter asking the airport for a job. He also mentioned that they thought my pushiness was why they thought it would be good to hire me. Excellent.

I also got a surprise walking to the train today. I was walking on the sidewalk up to the terminal, huddled under my umbrella because it's been quite the rainy day today when I realized that something was in my path. I managed to snap a picture of this guy before he flew off!

I think it was a heron, but my brother can probably confirm that for me. It turns out that there's even a job for him here at the airport, having taken fishing and wildlife for his college program. The airport has an environmental management program and one of the employee's jobs is to deal with the wildlife around and in the airport. Sometimes, the animals apparently like to set up shop out on the airfield and someone has to make sure they get out of there safely!

P.S. In case you were wondering, I have actually learned to use that logbook that the chocolate bar is sitting on . . . more so than I ever did in my entire engineering education, in fact. It isn't just decorative!

P.P.S. This heron was much nicer than the crows I've been encountering and did NOT try to attack me. I still haven't walked down my street in that direction since the last crow encounter.

The Space Centre!

Yesterday was the best day EVER. I went to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre and heard a lecture about robots!

Dr. Elizabeth Croft from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia gave a lecture on human-robot interaction as part of a Women in Science initiative. It's almost like the event was made for me!

Not only was it really cool to hear about the kinds of things she was working on, but some of it is actually kind of relevant to my upcoming 41X project.

A few of the highlights:

• People understand the rules for sharing a space (i.e. what to do when both reaching into a bowl of popcorn) and how people have trouble responding to this when it happens with a robot. However, when robots are programmed to show hesitation, like people do, the people respond better to them. This personifies the robot and makes people want to work with them, like they would a person.
• A strong form of communication is gesturing and it can transcend language (or be useful in noisy industrial areas . . . or even underwater!). Her research has shown that if robots gesture properly, people can completely understand what the robot is asking them to do.
• Human balance is based on "sensors" and "actuators": vision, the vestibular system and proprioception, and muscles. The combination of all of these sensors allows us to balance and correct ourselves because it acts like a feedback system.

Before the lecture, I also got to check out a bit of the museum, from the Russian space shuttle look-alike  to the astronauts hanging from the roof.

This is my new favourite place!

Richmond

I pretty much had one goal this past weekend (yes, I'm going to write about my weekend today because work gets so crazy that I never have time to do it on the actual weekend) . . . get a hurricane potato! I'll save you the suspense. I was successful in doing this, but since the boyfriend and I had to wait all day for the night market to start, we also did some adventuring around Richmond on Saturday.

First off, we decided to try and find the Ikea. Mostly because Ikea stores are really cool and sell really cool things. This one wins though because it was on Sweden Way. One thing that didn't make it out to Vancouver with me was all my little containers that I pack my massive lunches in. I've been using plastic bags and feeling terrible about it, so it seemed like a good idea to grab some. Actually, we decided to grab two sets, one for each of us. Oops. We didn't really think about the fact that we would have to carry them around for the rest of the day . . . at least they were empty? Also, we unfortunately didn't get to have any Ikea meatballs because the employees were on strike and the restaurant was closed. Sad!

Then, we went down to the mall in Richmond. It was just like home! Not that it isn't fun to pretend to be all classy and shop on West 4th or Broadway or Robson Street or at Pacific Center, but I still like normal malls.

Finally it was time for the night market! The only thing I remember about the last time I went (many, many years ago) was that I bought socks. Lots and lots of cheap socks. There's also three night markets to choose from (all of which I assume sell cheap socks and hurricane potatoes). Since we were in Richmond, that narrowed it down to two to choose from. Since we're cheap, we chose to go to the free one, which was actually pretty close to the Ikea. It was the opening ceremonies for the International Summer Night Market, so when we arrived, there was a big stage set up with VIPs on it and a whole, roasted pig and a ton of cupcakes. After the introductions were done and the food was moved, dancers came up to do a lion dance. About halfway through, we saw a man walk up carrying a head of iceberg lettuce hanging off the end of a stick. I thought this was pretty funny and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen with it. A little while later, he handed off the stick to one of the VIPs, who went up and teased the lions (dancers, not real lions) with it. I thought that would be the end of it, but one of the five lions grabbed at it and then started ripping apart the lettuce and spewing it into the audience. It was AWESOME. We also saw these hilarious balloons with legs. They were excellent.

After this, it was finally time for the hurricane potatoes! I'll let the picture below show you how I felt about them. It's pretty much the BEST WAY EVER to eat a potato. Even the ketchup was tastier than normal!

After our long day out in Richmond on Saturday, we decided to take it easy on Sunday. We took a walk around the neighbourhood to pick up some slushies (mmmmm!) and I didn't even complain about my sad little legs . . . on the way there at least. I also tried to take some pictures of flowers that were clearly trying to evade my camera. And we saw a hobbit house! This is number two that we've managed to find. There's only three in the city, so we're close to a bingo.

Definitely a fun weekend. I'll be working hard until the next one!

He Was Wrong!

A few exciting things happened today!

First, my boss was wrong. He told me that I would be stuck in the trailers for my entire co-op work term, but I found out today that I'm getting a second desk in the terminal later this week. I have been assigned to a new, huge controls project and will be working in the terminal for it several days a week. I'm pretty excited! I also think I probably have an overly inflated ego now because of the fact that I'm going to have two desks . . . oops!

Second, it's been beautiful out the last few days. So nice today that I decided that I would go put the giant hills I normally complain about to good use. I ran up them a bunch of times and walked down them inbetween for a rest. Then I went down to the beach/park and did some jumping jacks and crunches. The weather must have inspired me! Good news though friends, I have also been making sure to eat lots, so I think I've actually been putting on weight. I feel jigglier! This suspicion will be confirmed at my doctor's appointment next week.

Third, when I was at the park, I heard the ice cream truck that I thought I heard a few days ago. It really does exist! It also plays animal noises instead of music, which pretty much makes it the best ice cream truck EVER.

Fourth, my lovely best friend made it to Newfoundland to start her bike trip. Really weird to think that we went from seeing each other for ten hours a week at synchronized swimming practices to now being literally as far apart as we possibly can be in Canada. She's in the furthest east time zone and I'm in the furthest west.

Fifth, I have been slowly putting together a list of people that remind me of other people at work. Some of you might have noticed, like me, that when you move to a new city, you think you see people that you know because you're used to seeing them. Then, you realize that it can't be them because you're IN A DIFFERENT CITY. One of the maintenance guys at work sounds exactly like Brent Butt in Corner Gas (Canadian TV, so awesome). If you closed your eyes and listened to him talk, you would swear it was Brent Butt. One of the consultants sounds exactly like a lovely gentleman from my design group last semester. He talks the same and best of all, laughs the same. Like just this hilarious kind of giggle thing. Finally, there is the document coordinator, she reminds me of my cousin's girlfriend. Not only do they look and sound very similar, but they are also both interior designers by trade!

I didn't think I was going to have any pictures for this post, but them I remembered that I had a picture of a cruise ship heading out to sea, which I took from the top of the hill on my street! Also, a picture of two police officers on four-wheelers . . . I guess that's how they patrol the beach?

Deep Cove

I never really thought I would literally climb a mountain, but that's exactly what I did yesterday! Although I do enjoy spending time outside, hiking up a mountain was never really on my list of outdoor activities. Now, this might be due to the lack of mountains back at home, but it also might be because I typically stick to swimming and beaching, with the odd attempt at a run.

I went with a few friends from school that are also working out here and we took the Baden Powell trail in Deep Cove, which was exciting for the 17 years of Girl Guide in me! After wandering around the nearby park for a few minutes, the climb started off going straight up. Not even joking, so many stairs and then no stairs, just walking up . . . a mountain . . . I was definitely the straggler of the group. Luckily, the others were quite considerate of my lack of leg strength and made sure I didn't get too far behind. We passed lots of little waterfalls along the way and what we thought was a waterfall, until we saw the sign that said it was actually treated sewage outflow.

 We also saw some really gross-looking, giant slugs on the way. There might have also been some screaming (not from me!) when someone almost stepped on one. Ew. Our first goal was to find the look-out point. It turned out that it was about 2.5k along the trail. Of course, I wanted a sporty-looking shot, along the lines of, "Bam! I tackled you mountain!" I think it worked out quite well! We could also see all of the little kayaks floating around the bay down below and even all the way to downtown Vancouver!

We hiked a bit further up until we decided that we might as well turn around because this trail was NOT looping back around any time soon and headed to the park once we got down for some snacks. From the park, you could see the look-out that we climbed up to and all of the little people up on it. We also wandered around the "downtown" and into a cool, little craft and gift shop. Before we headed back to the car, we came across some funny signs that the parks department had put up near the park.

This was quite the adventurous day for me and I think I am going to not enjoy moving for the rest of today . . . maybe the beach is in order?!

Great Strides!

I was planning on writing about Great Strides wayyyy earlier this week, but after the long trek out to the event, the walk and the trip back, I kind of lost Sunday. Then it was back to work for a busy week!

We were up nice and early on Sunday to make the almost hour and a half trip out to New Westminster. Getting there involved a bus, a train and THEN a community bus! It was also super dead at the train station early on Sunday and kind of eerie around the whole area. I thought it weird how all of their parkades were right on the water. (You'd think people might want that view for something.)

Eventually we got there and had to play Frogger to get across the street to the park because there wasn't a crosswalk in sight. Luckily, we made it! We found the event and registered, although this year I opted not to put a sticker on myself saying that I was walking for me. We also realized that maybe shorts weren't the best choice of attire because the wait to actually walk wasn't that warm! After a brief welcome, we were all off around 11:15 am. The walk was a 5k, making two loops around the park. If I was in London, where it was flat, this would have been no big deal, but there were plenty of hills on the route that made my sad, little chicken legs very unhappy! My super "supportive" boyfriend also refused to carry me or give me a piggyback the entire time . . . lame. What was even worse was that during the second loop, you could start to smell the barbecue that was being set up for after the completion of the walk!

Unfortunately, we had to wait a bit longer for the barbecue than expected. They were making rather extravagant Philly cheesesteak burgers: a burger patty and cheese slice on garlic buttered bread. It was really tasty, but after an hour of waiting for it, I probably could have eaten two . . . and that's a lot for me! We decided to head out after getting our sandwiches, but not until after I took a picture under the fun balloon arch! Then it was back on the buses. Getting to the train station again, we passed more than ten wedding dress stores on the main street. That kind of seems like overkill!

I want to say thank you once more to everyone who sponsored and supported me for the walk! If you didn't get the chance, guess what? You still can until June 24th!

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.