Graduation

Yay! I'm now an official graduate! On Wednesday, November the 14th 2007 I received my Bachelor of Arts and I'm happy it's over with. It's been a long time coming and now I can finally take a break from it all.

A friend of mine recently posted a note on facebook about her regrets of University life. I'd love to say that I have no regrets but I do. I wish I'd had more of a social life instead of working my ass off all the time. And I dont just mean at school, I always had a job on the side so that I could afford to go to school. Of course, the good thing is that I am completely debt free. I have to give a shout out to my family for all of their assistance as well. I maybe have paid for all of my schooling on my own but they were more than generous in making sure I had a place to live and food to eat. I will miss my friends, sleeping in the sun on the field between classes and the discussion classes but I won't miss term papers, and all nighters pulled to get research done or last minute editing. I always got sick on my holidays because the semester wore me out so I'm hoping I'll actually be healthy and able have fun this Christmas!

I wasn't looking forward to the ceremony but it ended up being real nice. It was a lot more elaborate than my graduation from High School (duh), man that was terrible! But the set up was great, with everyone in their colours. I think graduating in the fall was a blessing. We had a small grad class and no long speeches-it was over in an hour.

My parents flew down for a few days and my grandparents also came down for the occasion. I got some wonderful grad presents but the best part was that I got to spend so much time with my family. They were all proud of me and it made me feel good, like I did something right. The weather was cool but it didn't rain so we got some pictures outside. Unfortunately I was up late playing Halo (I'm so addicted) with Pete the night before so I only got 4 hours sleep. Its cruel to make an anti-morning person graduate before noon! However it's done and now I move on to the next chapter of my life-Australia!

A Fun Night

So Saturday night Jamie and I went to Galey's farm, which is located between her house and mine. Pete and Kristi went to a movie so it was a total 'girl's night.' Galey's farm is set-up every Hallowe'en with a huge corn maze, a train that tours around the maze, a ghost town in the middle of the maze and a haunted house. They also have a huge barn that puts on some classic Hallowe'en horror flick. Jamie was too young to hit up the haunted house (PG13) but there is a kid one in the ghost town. I did go through the 'adult' haunted house last year and it is very well done.

We lucked out this year as the weather was perfect-it was a full moon, no rain and warm for late October. Jamie seemed a bit apprehensive on our first tour of the maze and town and she refused to go in the haunted house. After we'd seen it all though, she decided it was 'all good,' and we ended up going through the haunted house twice and we spent over an hour in the corn maze chasing each other and getting lost. It was a lot of fun. Of course, something like that builds up an appetite so afterwards we sat on hay blocks eating chocolate bars.

Before we had left the house, we decorated it with witches and spider webs but we needed leaves to fill up our pumpkin bags and there were none on her street, they had all been picked up. So we went to my neighborhood where the leaves had been raked into huge piles and were just waiting for pick-up. *I should note that in Victoria everyone is required to rake their leaves and pile them by the street so that a vehicle that I've nicknamed the 'leave sucker upper' can come and collect them. We have a lot of Garry Oak trees here and their leaves do not decompose and rather than have a mess of rotting leaves, the city picks them up. Anyway, so Jamie and I found the largest pile on the block and started to fill our pumpkins. Of course, we decided to have fun taking silly pictures and then we jumped in the leaves. I honestly think the last time I dove into a pile of leaves was back in 'ol PG with my brother...that was a long time ago. It was a blast and we ended up back in my car with bits of leaves in our hair and smelling like nature. Our decorations look great though.

Upon returning home, Jamie still had a ton of energy (rightfully)so I thought maybe we could make up a dance routine to the classic "Thriller" by MJ. I had introduced Jamie to the song earlier in the week and she loved it. So we spent a good 30 mins making up a dance routine-its hilarious. I even put in some classic MJ moves from the video, ah the 80's! Her parents drove up about 30 seconds after I finally got her in bed but they weren't surprised at all to find us giggling in her bed. And I wonder why they dont let me baby-sit her more often...just kidding! Jamie and I had a blast together, we always do. *this picture on the right is my favourite!

Las Vegas

Okay, I know I went to Vegas at the end of April but whatever-I'm behind.

So...I went to Vegas with my mom and we had a blast. The weather there was fantastic and no matter where we were (indoor or outdoor), the temperature was perfectly maintained. Of course, I truly believe mom and I are cold-blooded so it could really never be too hot for us.

We stayed at the Monte Carlo, located right on the strip and it was very nice with huge chandeliers and a great view of NYNY's rollar coaster-we could hear them scream! ha ha. We got there late Thursday night and spent the evening exploring Paris. It was very cool and I love how they paint the ceiling to look like the sky...you completely lose track of time. We were starving so we found a place that made the best crepes I have ever had in my life. It was divine!

We spent Friday exploring all the different hotels. Although I have never been to Vegas before, my mom has several times so I was lucky as she knew her way around. My favourite hotel, hands down, was Caesar's. It was gorgeous and it houses the Forum Shops, where I got to enter my beloved Jimmy Choo store. If you dont know who Jimmy Choo is, please dont break my heart by asking, visit http://www.jimmychoo.com/ instead. It's only the best goddamn shoe store in the world! I was drooling and I think I made the security guard nervous because I was handling all the shoes, ha ha! Of course we didnt buy anything...not when they are $500 (min) a pair. I have to wait until after I win the lottery.

Friday night we went to Cirque du Soleil-KA. It was at the MGM and it was fantastic. The peeps come right into the audience and they are flying around on strings above us and the stage is turning, tipping, spinning, moving-it was so entertaining. Right before we went into the show I bought mom and I some margaritas (we were thirsty after walking in the sun all day) and they were HUGE. There was 4 or 5 oz of booze in them and they were delicious. We didnt eat dinner that night, in fact we were a little tipsy by the time we left the show and we ended up hanging out at Mandalay Bay for the remainder of the evening.

On Saturday morning we saw the remainder of the hotels and spent a lot of time shopping, well window-shopping. Its very expensive in Vegas but they have really nice stuff. We spent the afternoon by the pool in our hotel. It was so gorgeous and I got a bit burned on my shoulders but it was so nice to lay in the sun and then dip into a nice, refreshing pool. In the evening we went to...CELINE DION. I know many people do not like her but I absolutely love her. My mom and I have listened to Celine since she first came out. I remember when I was 9, my mom would play her cd over and over again. Anyway, she performed at Caesar's Palace and she was amazing. Mom bought us the most amazing tickets-we had fantastic seats up real close. Celine came out and took my breath away with the power of her voice. I'm serious, as soon as she began to sing I started to cry because I was so moved by the emotion in her voice and I was so damn happy to be there! Her show was not very long (could be longer I think) but it was worth it. She had 50 dancers perform around her and Celine herself actually danced and did a good job. I was amazed that she could dance and still belt out her tunes without missing a beat. That's a professional diva for you. I will never forget that night, it was fantastic and mom and I had the best time.

On Sunday we were not in a rush to do anything or go anywhere. We wandered the strip and took our time enjoying the weather. My other favourite place there was the Bellagio water show. I could sit there all day and watch the water show, it was very soothing and entertaining. I cant say we did much gamblers, mom and I dont really gamble. We were happy enough to attend shows and sight-see, I dont care much for gambling. But the casinos were very nice and its always fun to walk through them and people-watch. I also recommend the buffets....yummy! So much food and its all very good.

I thought Las Vegas was great but I really wouldnt stay there longer than 3 days. I will definately go again, but I would go to see more shows and to shop- not to gamble. I'm very thankful that I got to go with my mom because we get along well and we both love to travel and see new things. In fact, the reason we went to Las Vegas was because I told my mom that this was Celine's last year in Vegas and that if we wanted to see her-this would be our last chance. I also said that we should make it a tradition that we travel together every 5 years because it was 5 years ago that we were in London together. In another 5 years mom wants us to go to Italy. I think that would be a great trip too.

Happy Days

March is turning out to be a really good month, weather wise and...life wise.

So I am on this new kick to get healthy. I eat way too much junk and I need to cut down. So this week I am doing a 'cleanse' of which I have never done before. This particular cleanse allows me to only eat fruit, veggies and some meat. Its my way of giving up bread and sugar cold turkey. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving it up forever, just trying to reduce the amount I allow into my system. I am only on day two and its hard but it will be worth it.

I went for another walk on Sunday because it was so beautiful out! I could have worn sandals and a tank top and been comfortable. Of course I took more pictures, the first photo being my favourite. I can't have enough pictures of blossoms. Its currently my desktop photo. I am still running but I hurt my leg on my Friday run so I took Saturday off and then only walked yesterday. I plan on running again tonight.

I am counting down the days until school is over...forever! I have loved going to school over the past 5 years, its been a wonderful experience but now I am ready for something new. I really just want a social life again, I miss that the most. I just have 3 summer courses to make it through...and of course my final two essays! They are killing me because I have no motivation to write them. But I've talked to many of my friends and they all feel the same way. Maybe because its the end of the years and we are so close to being donw.

Of course I plan to travel but I won't give any information on that just yet. I am heading to Vegas with my mom at the end of April and that should be a fun girl's weekend! The last time my mom and I travelled somewhere together was 5 years ago when we met up in London. It was a great time and I know this experience will be just as memorable. We have started a tradition of travelling somewhere together every 5 years. My mom loves to travel, just like me, but my dad hates travelling so its best that we go together. We are staying at the Monte Carlo, which is located beside Caesars Palace, which is the perfect location for us. We have tickets in the Orchestra to see Celine Dion (we have always been huge fans) and I'm so excited to see that performance. All in all, I'm really looking forward to this trip.

So I am looking for a new place to live...what a hassle. My roomie is moving back to Vancouver for the summer and will be gone at the end of April. I dont think my landlords will have me sign a lease for the summer so I plan on moving out for July. I would stay the full summer but as I will not be here to move at the end of July (family vacation) and we all know its impossible to find a good place for September (student rush). I will probably get a one bedroom but its very expensive. Might be worth it for awhile though.

Once again all my photos have been taken by me at the Hillside Golf Course (thanks Matt).

Good Times with Good Friends

Wow, I think this is a record for me, two posts in one week! ha ha, I guess I am on a roll.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I went to Vancouver with Pete, Kristi and Greg to attend a Van Morrison concert. This first picture is the view of BC Place from our hotel room, we had a great view. We went over early in the day so that us girls could get some shopping done. Poor Pete, we must have dragged him into every shoe store on Robson Street. The concert was awesome, Van Morrison had a huge band. I dont think anyone enjoyed the show as much as Kristi and I, although I must admit our enjoyment was only heightened by the large amount of wine we consumed! Let me tell you by the end of the night everything was spinning! The picture on the right is of Greg and Kristi chillin in our hotel room after the concert. Of course, we are all drinking Starbucks!

My roomie's boyfriend Peter lives in Vancouver and he came over a couple of weeks ago and took us out for dinner at Earls...where they proceeded to get completely drunk (I was driving). We ate so much food too and afterward we walked through the Bay center in order to sober them up. Well, if you have never walked through a mall with two drunk people before, let me recommend that you dont! They were knocking over mannequins and makin total fools of themselves in the stores. I mean, from my perspective it was hilarious but they were pretty embarrassed. It was all good fun though.

Saturday night my roomie had a bunch of her friends from Law school over for an ethnic potlatch. There was some pretty incredible food, including Chinese, Mexican and Indian. There were about 9 of us and we ate so much! We played taboo, which when you play with anyone else is crazy fun but when you play with a bunch of lawyers it gets all serious and something simple, like picking teams, becomes a huge event. Everyone was great though and we all had a good time. The night didnt end until 3am but we had tons of leftovers the next day (the best part)!

Spring Walk

Yay! Spring is on its way and I couldn't be happier. I went for a walk to celebrate the new warmth and really enjoyed the fresh air. It was so nice to see the paths littered with bright green buds and to my surprise flowers everywhere! I don't remember the blossoms coming this early last year...it's great! Behind our house we happen to have a golf course...I'm not sure what its called but its lovely and they have trails around and in it so that you can run/walk anytime you want.

My first picture is one of my favourites, although I think all of them are good. I love how the crocuses crowded around the decapitated tree.

I love taking pictures of trees, they have so much character in the way that they have grown, their twisted shapes, symmetry, bark, leaves, everything about them. I couldnt resist this shot because its almost a silhouette and its lovely.

The golf course is not very big, it only takes an hour to walk it. I started running again today and it only took me 30 mins to run the entire course (I am a slow runner but a fast walker). The course is always busy with runners and people walking their dogs. But the trail is good to run on because it is always covered with wood chips (I think they are our recycled Christmas trees) to make for a good surface to run on (not hard). Its funny actually because its almost spongey and when my roomie and I go for walks we like to pretend we are bouncing along the trail. Yes, we are weird but weird people always have fun. There is one thing you must know about me...I love taking pictures of roads/trails. I have a huge framed picture on my wall of the raod to my grandparents old house in the country. They sold the house long ago but I still have memories of the place and I love that they gave me the photo when I moved out on my own. I have always been captivated by roads because you never know what is at the end of them. I call these pictures "the road of life." I believe I have already posted a picture of a trail from another walk on this site, but it was in the summer and this is in the spring. I will have to try and remember to re-take this picture once the leaves are out.

One thing there are a lot of at this golf course is ducks. Well, ducks and geese but mostly ducks. Now, I really can't stand birds. All the flapping wings and feathers gross me out. I am not a bird person but I will admit that they are pretty. At one point on the path there are so many that I have to watch that I don't step on them because they don't watch for you and they don't feel they should have to move. Once when Jyo and I went for a walk there were these kids feeding the ducks and so they were clustered all around and then the kids thought it would be funny to chase the birds. Not good. About 400 ducks took flight directly at Jyo and I...well I screamed and bolted out of there. Brrr, the sound of wings flapping near my head freaks me out! Of course, everyone thought I was a freak! I dont care, as long as none of them touched me. This mallard seemed more than happy to pose for me.

Here is a picture of the golf course (I really must find out what it's called). There weren't many golfers that day, although I am not sure because it was so nice out, and it was Sunday. I also have another picture of a tree. I like how it is right in the path and you have to duck your head to get under it. Its a gnarly old tree and I love how the moss is taking over it.

I would love to post more pictures but I have so many and I don't have high speed internet (yeah I know but the roomie refused to pay more). So maybe when I am at school next time I will download some more photos. I hope you enjoyed them!

Canadian Passports

For all of those out there who have not yet renewed or gotten a Canadian passport and need to...do it NOW.

For those of you not aware, as of Jan 23 2007 the United States made it a requirement for all Canadians to have a passport in order to enter their country. This sucks. Since then it has been a mad rush for people who are planning to travel to the States in the next few months to get or renew a passport. This is not a huge deal for those not planning to travel to the United States anytime soon. Being the genius that I am, I decided in January that I should travel to Las Vegas this April. Unfortunately, I live on the island. But what does this matter you ask....it matters.

Victoria is the only city on Vancouver Island with a passport office, meaning that if you live in Parksville or even further up the island you must drive to Victoria in order to get a passport. Of course, you can always send the documents away to get your passport-NOT. It has been said that applications sent in on December 1, 2006 have not even been opened yet. Not to mention that if you happen to make an error (ex: forget a box) they send it back to you and you have to start all over again. Trust me, its best to go in person.

This mad rush to get a passport has resulted in horrendous line ups at the passport office. My friend said she was there at 5am and already 100 people were lined up at the door, she waited 6 hours. I figured the line ups would be better after the Jan 23rd cut off date, so I waited until yesterday to head out. Here is my story.

I woke up at 5am yesterday morning and dressed really warm, as my friend Janice said it was cold and it would be a long day. I was there by 6am and already over 100 people were lined up. The first 5 positions were filled by street people (camped out) offering to sell me their spot for $400...yeah right. I moved on. It was dark and cold and I was tired but it was a clear night and, being 2 blocks away from the ocean, smelled fresh salt water. Victoria does have a problem with street people but these days, what city doesnt? I find most of them are quite harmless and friendly and if you ignore them, they ignore you. They do rule the streets at night though and many were out in full force, taking advantage of the herd of people invading their territory, begging for money from everyone they met.

The longest part of the day was the first 2.5 hours, waiting for the office to open. At 8:30 they finally came around handing out tickets. They only hand out 200 and I was #169, the people behind me got sent home. I felt bad because many of them were from out of town but hey-the early bird gets the worm! Plus, this was the only day that I could use to get this done. Its currently reading break and I had the day off work. I was frozen long before the office opened though, my feet were solid blocks of ice by 7am. I'm glad I had my iPOD with me though, it helped to get me through the first 2.5 hours of waiting.

When the line began to move (4 steps every 20 mins) I got to know the people around me. I will always remember the 5 friends I made that day and our adventure at the passport office. Although I couldn't tell you their names, I can tell you exactly when and where they are travelling!

The lady on my right spent 8 hours in line last Friday and was 4 people from the door when they shut it down for the day. My heart went out to her. She is going to the south of France this summer to spend time in a villa with her family in celebration of her father's 75th birthday. She was really nice and gave me her scarf to wrap up in.

The lady on my left took over the wait from her husbad at 8:30 when he had to go to work. She was tiny but a talker! She wasnt travelling anywhere but her kids are this summer-she was in line for them (as most of the adults there were). She shared her gigantic ginger cookie with the 5 of us (we were all starving).

The couple beside her were elderly (60ish) and soo sweet. They are touring Europe for 5 months this summer. I am proud of how they stood up against the elements of the day because I am a healthy 24 year old and I barely made it through.

The man beside the couple was from Nanaimo and he is taking his kids to Disneyland next month. He had sent in their applications but they were sent back because of one error and he was running out of time (didn't want to chance it again) so came in person.

The 6 of us chatted and were moral support for one another, nicer strangers you will never meet. We huddled for warmth, looked after one another's stuff/position so that they could pee, get coffee or slip into the mall to thaw their feet. When we finally made it into the building, we cheered everytime one of us got called to the counter. The other people smiled at us and told us they liked our team spirit. The entire time we lived for the line to move, we 'willed it' together every 15 minutes. It was very cold and rained but we stayed dry as we were covered for most of the line and when we weren't we put our umbrellas together. Team work baby!

Although I stood in line for 8.5 hours (in the cold rain) it wasn't a bad day. It will always be a good story to tell and it was bearable because I met 5 incredibly friendly and kind people. I couldn't have had nicer people to share such an experience with. I wish them all the best in their future travels and hopefully I will run into them again one day.

Chinese Immigration

Okay friends, time for another lesson in Canadian history.
Many of you are already aware that the Chinese built the railway back in the late 1800's. What you may not know is that the Chinese were recruited from China for the main purpose of cheap labour. Many Chinese died building the CPR and the worst of it was that once it was finished (1885), the Canadian government no longer wanted the Chinese to immigrate to Canada. BC in particular was very racist against the Chinese and did not want them populating their province.
In an act to discourage Chinese immigration, the federal government imposed a $50 Head Tax (1885)on all Chinese entering the country. When this failed to decrease Chinese immigration, they raised it in 1900 to $100. Worse yet, in 1903 they raised it again to $500. Remember that in 1903 $500 was a lot of money (who are we kidding, its still a lot of money ...to a student)!

However, it seemed that the Chinese were not wanted, no matter what price they were willing to pay (and many did pay it). From 1923-1947 the Chinese Exclusion Act restricted the Chinese altogether from coming to Canada. This Act prevented many Chinese families from being reunited as the men generally went ahead to make money to bring the rest of their families to Canada. The following is a picture of a Head Tax certificate.

Since then the Chinese community has been pursuing the government for an apology and compensation. The Conservative government came through with a long overdue apology in January of 2006. However, I am torn on the issue of compensation. While I agree that the Chinese community was treated horribly, I fail to see how giving them millions of dollars will heal their wounds. Instead, I believe the money should be put towards educating today's children of our past mistakes. By making it mandatory in elementary or high school education, children would grow up with a better understanding of the horrors that racism and other forms of discrimination can cause.
Overall, I stronly feel that Canada's reputation of being a 'multicultural' country has not yet been fully earned. We still have a long way to go before I would consider us accepting of every race, ethnicity, culture, etc.