Return to Canada

After 8 long months away from home I finally arrived in St. Catharines. Things have been hectic and busy as usual. I'll give you the highlights as they happen.

DAY 1

After a busy day of frantic banking I headed over to Sylvia's for dinner and a game of badminton. The net we set up was ridiculous - the poles leaned in so the net was about 3 feet off the ground:



It was still wickedfun. We finished off the night by sipping Timmy's coffee while watching Single White Female - that bitch is crazy!

DAY 2

I went to the dentist for what I thought was going to be a filling. Turns out I didn't have a cavity. What I did have was tooth damage due to grinding my teeth at night which had to be fixed. Also, I unexpectedly had to get a wisdom tooth removed that I didn't know I had. Fun!



So, I spent the remainder of my morning clotting, then visited my niece and nephew. I finished my evening drinking wine and watching Boston Legal with mom. Oh, and then I noticed I had split my pants :( I'm apprehensive of what tomorrow will bring...

WEEKEND

After twisting my ankle playing tennis Gino and I watched A Clockwork Orange. Definitely a movie I'll have to watch again as I was mildly confused by the lack of clocks and oranges in the film in addition to the slang.

As per our tradition, my grandparents, mom, and I saw a play at the Shaw Theatre. We saw "Born Yesterday" which was written after WWII yet is highly relevent today. It is a humourous commentary on the corruption of American politics and how senators are bought by rich businessmen. I thought of Keith Olbermann's rant about healthcare in the states. Creepy story: As we were leaving I noticed an asian tourist partially hidden in some trees a little ways away from me as I was walking to the car. He was taking pictures of my family and I. I gave him a death stare but he literally just inched further and further away still taking pictures. Then he got onto his tourbus and drove away.

After scoring a free dinner at Jay's parents' house which included purple potatoes, June and I wandered all over Toronto catching up. Funny picture pending. I polished my night off by brushing my teeth with a Q-tip because I forgot my toothbrush at home :( My teeth feel remarkably fresh.

Coming Home (Finally)

After being away for 200 kajillion years I am finally coming home August 12-23. While I'm home I'll be making stops in St. Catharines, Toronto, and London.

August 11-16 = St. Catharines
August 16-18 = Toronto
August 18-19 = London
August 19-23 = ???

August 23-??? = Chicago

Canada

I was talking last night to Eric about my appalling general ignorance of the political system in Canada [for which he mocked me]. Sure, I know what the parties stand for, and that Stephen Harper is a total douche, but as for the nitty gritty details of the system, not so much. Thoughts:

1. Someone at school said something to the effect of 'a person easily becomes a nationalist by moving to another country' and there may be truth to that. The less people know about Canada here [and that includes almost everyone] the more I want to talk about Canadian politics, actors, movies, shows etc. As differences between Canadians and Americans become more obvious, I feel more fortunate that I am Canadian.

2. Eric pointed this out and I agree. We mock the Americans for being so self-absorbed, ignorant, and how their political system is ridiculous, yet most Canadians are watching presidential debates like it's a sport [including myself]. We watch Colbert and the Daily show religiously and talk non-stop about American issues. Not that there is anything wrong with that per se, but we may be forgetting to talk about our own political system and to watch shows like the Mercer Report, This Hour has 22 Minutes and the like. Admittedly, I don't watch them that often but when I do, I quite enjoy them.

3. I find a lot of people from Ontario never want to travel within Canada. In fact, it's the last place they'd want to explore. I think many people think there are no interesting places outside of Toronto, that it's all a boring wasteland when you venture out too far. Before I traveled around Canada I used to feel the same way - like, who would live in Saskatchewan? *shudder*. But I had the opportunity to go to conferences in Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal and found that these places were alright. I was inspired to go to BC on a trip, then on a crazy roadtrip to Nova Scotia while stopping here and there along the way. My conclusion? Canada is a pretty neat country and I could probably live in a variety of provinces other than Ontario. Although I still have a general disdain for Newfoundland...is that wrong?

4. We have crazies in Canada too. There are creationist museums, people who believe humans hung out with dinosaurs, and political scandals. Let's not forget about the shit in our own backyard that we need to clean up. Not that it's on the same scale as the US but we should be aware of these issues nevertheless.

So, today why don't you check out one of these links:

Learn about Halifax: http://picnicface.com/videos.php?videoID=33

Read Rick Mercer's Blog: http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/11/index.cfm

Watch 'Conservative Life Insurance' video: http://www.cbc.ca/22minutes/