ichy feet

over the last few months ive been doing alot of thinking and i have come to the conclusion that i like to travel and dont like to work.  i work and work and work to go away for a few weeks a year, then to come home and work and work and work to go away again. over the last 5 or so years this has been an endless cycle. esentially working to get away.  so in 2007 and 2009  i tried a different approach,  go overseas and work there, so i was working to be away. this didn’t work either. so now im  dwelling on a new approach to being at work as little as possible and being away as much as possible. stupid thing is, i have been working alot during these last few months of thinking and have taking not one holiday so im failing at present.  casino anyone?

taste and taste alone

let me share a unique dining experience a friend and i had whilst we visited Montreal. we walked into a foyer, with groups of people standing round ordering food. we were asked to place ALL our belongings, and coats into a locker and then choose entree, main, desert and beverage before heading any further. next we were introduced to our waitress, who warmly greeted us in a typically European two handed welcome. we exchanged in a little small talk and i was complimented on my amazing Australian accent. my friend was then asked to extend her right arm, to hold on to our waitresses right shoulder and i was asked to do the same with my friend, thus making a 3 person chain. she then lead us into the dark, literally.  you see our waitress  was taking us to our table, in a dining room completely devoid of any light.  she is visually impaired and we were entering her domain, taking our sight made us  clumsy, venerable and completely dependent on her. we made some turns, and where guided into our seats with much more ease than i expected. we were told to keep our drinks on the right of the table which was pushed against a wall. we felt around our table to find our cutlery, i reached across to find Justyna, even though i could hear her, i needed another sensory cue she was there.  for some reason i expected the room to be quite, but on the contrary it was quite noisy, which made perfect sense as our hearing was heightened, making up for the lack in sight. to add to the ambient noise of other diners there was a band somewhere to the right of me. our waitress came over with our entrees very swiftly. its hard to describe the smell i experienced when my entree of roasted eggplant and zucchinis was placed in front of me. i felt the warm, soft flesh of the vegetables with my fingers. i picked up my knife and fork and tried to cut myself food. it took me 4 or 5 attempts, but when i got it the piece was way too big for my mouth, but the taste was unlike any eggplant i have ever tried……amazing…..and as the title of this blog suggests, i like eggplant. stupidly for main i ordered steak, it was so very tasty, but so very difficult to manage into my gob. for sweets, i enjoyed chocolate cake that was warm, dense and silky…………….hands down the best meal i have ever experienced. what an amazing evening, feeling venerable, clumsy but enlightened. my eyes have been “opened”.

5 by 5

so life is happening here. yep its happening. nothing much exciting,  just life. which is what i wanted i guess. its strange cause im “traveling” but im not really seeing anything or going anywhere. im just doing life. im picking up my car on tuesday….(Wednesday in Australia) which is cool, and i have another job interview on thursday (friday) but otherwise just living……that’s all…life

two months and three days

i have been away from my wide and salty continent for two months and three days. feels like longer. i got my first letter the other day with my name and a strangers address below it. having only ever had mail delivered too one address it was very surreal. not bad, just so strange that my name didn’t look like the spelling was correct or something.

its exciting cause im starting to make some travel plans to see this beautiful country. first going out to Quebec, then hopefully the east coast. I’m also going to New York City again just cause I’m so close and it’s too amazing not too.

in other news i bought a car! a 1993 honda accord, brown, manual and rusty….ohhh yea. hopefully ill get to pick it up shorty.

life, oh life, ohh ohh liiiiiiiife oh life.

so its official, i have set up a life for myself here in Canada. i have found a job working with Autistic kiddies, i have a local number, opened a bank account and am car shopping. all this couldn’t make me feel further from Australia. don’t get me wrong, Canada is fun and awesome and contains Jenn, but i enjoy my little life back home and you people there. homesick is a strange feeling that i haven’t really felt this strong before. i am having a blast here meeting great people, and forming friendships and doing life. i’m excited about my job (its just admin stuff at the moment) and the prospect of having a new car. i like living in Guelph, it’s a cool little university town, with a real environmental and community feeling. so its just this crappy feeling that kinda lingers and bears its ugly head periodically. im not ready to go home yet tho.

hockey 1, hockey 2, hockey 3

last night i went to a ice hockey (hockey) game. it was a bithday present from Jenn. man hockey is a great sport, so much fun to watch. its seriously fast and frantic. i didn’t get all the rules, but i got the gist of it. i am a fan!

homesick from beer

i had a guiness today, it reminds me of vegimite. for some reason i thought it would be a good idea to not bring vegimite. that was not a good idea, oh i miss it so, i could totally smash some vegimite toast. i really take Australia and its salty goodness for granted.

its all in the accent

it’s really fun being in a country where everybody likes you accent. im sure im developing an oversized cranium, but it’s fun all the same. almost every shopkeeper goes that extra mile to help you out and want’s to know my story. so im having lots of fun. any day im on my lonesome, i just make sure i go get a starbucks and have a chat with whoever is behind the counter. it’ s a surefire lonliness cure every time.

i really hope this formula will work gettng a job…….

the cold shutter

my camera is a propper Aussie, it may be made it China, but its true blue at heart. I can olny take a few pictures at a time because not only does the shutter freeze but the lens doesn’t know what to do anymore and goes in when i turn it off. poor little guy he cant cope with the -15 like it is today. but neither can i now that i think of it…..

frozen burgers

i cooked a bbq tonight. it was -5 and i had snow up too my ankles but i felt like an aussie! it was great, although im sure i have frostbite now!!!