In love with a New City, New Province.. and still feeling the love of T.O.
Alright, It's about time I posted this blog. Sorry to anyone waiting on baited breath.. haha, ok maybe not but still.
Vancouver. March 17-20 2005.
After a crazy week of essay stress, I took a break from returning to even more essay stress. Looking back, Vancouver was an oasis in the middle of hell.. I'm sure many of my fellow bloggers can relate. Getting out of the city producing your funk.. is exhilarating. Back to it though. I arrived in Vancouver bright and early to Cherry Blossoms and Sunshine. It was warm, my sunglasses were warranted, not just to look like a movie star! Haha, Matthieu, that last one was for you. Anyways, that morning after almost sleeping in through a taxi ride, I enjoyed a taxi drive with a conversationg with a man from Britain that ranged from weather to Jetsgo bankrupcy, to politics to travel. Believe me.. for a 6 am random convo it was great! Then, with my Starbucks cappucino in hand, I proceeded into the airport, realizing that my cellphone was still on my bedside table and that I was to be disconnected from the world for the next 3-4 days, scary thought for one who is obsessed with her global ear attachment.
The trip there: long, tiring, and filled with reading. But I got to see a movie, saw a funny lady who was stuck in the pioneer days. It was all worth the window seat and clear skies as we arrived so I had a full view of the rockies starting in Alberta!!! It was already the beginnings of a memorable trip.
Got out, got my taxi, feeling quite great about my travelling ease these days. Arrived at the hotel, thank goodness for perfect plane outfits, because by the time I arrived my clothes were the only fresh and stunning looking parts of my body.. haha SATC reference.
The Hotel: Beautiful, the Coast Plaza Hotel, view of mountains, ocean and city. Me on the 11th floor.. fantastic. I took a shower and proceeded to the 35th floor were I lost my breath at the sights arond me. I still can't get over the view.
So after a couple of meetings, catching up with my fellow NRYN'ers and meeting some new friends. My good friends Stephen and Jenn, and I went to a cute little sushi place, then on our St.Paddy's day pub crawl. After which we ended the evening at a fantastic Martini bar with some nachos, martinis and sweet potatoe fries.. I know bear with the details, but it all leads to why my life is so fantastic at the moment. We finished off our crawl.. drunk adn giddy and having had a fabulous night. I got back to my hotel and realized.. it was 11:30 pm!! Haha I completely forgot about time change.. I was at the point I normally am at only when 2-3 am rolls round.. it was great. Meant a good night's sleep was ahead of me.
DAY 2:
Arrived on time!! Thank you.. never happens. The day seemed like it might start off well, Stephen and I arrived.. skipping breakfast as we normally do, we get along so well because we both boycott getting up early for a buffet breakfast that sits there for hours anyways.. and we both are neurotic in the morning.
Now for the beginning of the best 2 days of my life. I'll get to the end of the first day in this post and then more to come.
We got into the conference and met our MC's: Geordie and Ryan.. both very cute, young hip. How can I best describe the first couple of hours? They put us through the most excrutiatingly awkward exercises in order to build trust with the other participants. To give you a clue, cuz I can't describe it all: there was headbutting, forehead poking and many physically embarrasing actions.. including some dancing! A lot of fun and laughter.. followed by an intense 12 minute look into my soul search with a partner. Anyways.. the results? Everyone was open.. honest, and we had moved past that first day phase.. where you try and figure out who's legit, and who's putting on a show, all in the first 2 hours. The day progressed with some interestng workshops.. I started to make some friend being the social butterfly that I am. Jenn and I spoke to the group on our youth organization, followed by watching some African dancing and singing at lunch. The last workshop of the day was called "Acting Out Loud" in which myself and some of the other selected few "Ninjas", worked on our 2 day workshop. If you're confused.. I'll explain in the next post. This workshop was amazing. We used form theatre to express our emotions, and I learned so much about others, myself and life in general... I also met someone during that workshop who would turn out to be someone very close to me by the end of the 2 days. Ok, before I get into the meat of this thing. I'm going to end on that note. Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of:
Vancouver.. All I can say is.. I love.. I love.. I've changed.
Vancouver. March 17-20 2005.
After a crazy week of essay stress, I took a break from returning to even more essay stress. Looking back, Vancouver was an oasis in the middle of hell.. I'm sure many of my fellow bloggers can relate. Getting out of the city producing your funk.. is exhilarating. Back to it though. I arrived in Vancouver bright and early to Cherry Blossoms and Sunshine. It was warm, my sunglasses were warranted, not just to look like a movie star! Haha, Matthieu, that last one was for you. Anyways, that morning after almost sleeping in through a taxi ride, I enjoyed a taxi drive with a conversationg with a man from Britain that ranged from weather to Jetsgo bankrupcy, to politics to travel. Believe me.. for a 6 am random convo it was great! Then, with my Starbucks cappucino in hand, I proceeded into the airport, realizing that my cellphone was still on my bedside table and that I was to be disconnected from the world for the next 3-4 days, scary thought for one who is obsessed with her global ear attachment.
The trip there: long, tiring, and filled with reading. But I got to see a movie, saw a funny lady who was stuck in the pioneer days. It was all worth the window seat and clear skies as we arrived so I had a full view of the rockies starting in Alberta!!! It was already the beginnings of a memorable trip.
Got out, got my taxi, feeling quite great about my travelling ease these days. Arrived at the hotel, thank goodness for perfect plane outfits, because by the time I arrived my clothes were the only fresh and stunning looking parts of my body.. haha SATC reference.
The Hotel: Beautiful, the Coast Plaza Hotel, view of mountains, ocean and city. Me on the 11th floor.. fantastic. I took a shower and proceeded to the 35th floor were I lost my breath at the sights arond me. I still can't get over the view.
So after a couple of meetings, catching up with my fellow NRYN'ers and meeting some new friends. My good friends Stephen and Jenn, and I went to a cute little sushi place, then on our St.Paddy's day pub crawl. After which we ended the evening at a fantastic Martini bar with some nachos, martinis and sweet potatoe fries.. I know bear with the details, but it all leads to why my life is so fantastic at the moment. We finished off our crawl.. drunk adn giddy and having had a fabulous night. I got back to my hotel and realized.. it was 11:30 pm!! Haha I completely forgot about time change.. I was at the point I normally am at only when 2-3 am rolls round.. it was great. Meant a good night's sleep was ahead of me.
DAY 2:
Arrived on time!! Thank you.. never happens. The day seemed like it might start off well, Stephen and I arrived.. skipping breakfast as we normally do, we get along so well because we both boycott getting up early for a buffet breakfast that sits there for hours anyways.. and we both are neurotic in the morning.
Now for the beginning of the best 2 days of my life. I'll get to the end of the first day in this post and then more to come.
We got into the conference and met our MC's: Geordie and Ryan.. both very cute, young hip. How can I best describe the first couple of hours? They put us through the most excrutiatingly awkward exercises in order to build trust with the other participants. To give you a clue, cuz I can't describe it all: there was headbutting, forehead poking and many physically embarrasing actions.. including some dancing! A lot of fun and laughter.. followed by an intense 12 minute look into my soul search with a partner. Anyways.. the results? Everyone was open.. honest, and we had moved past that first day phase.. where you try and figure out who's legit, and who's putting on a show, all in the first 2 hours. The day progressed with some interestng workshops.. I started to make some friend being the social butterfly that I am. Jenn and I spoke to the group on our youth organization, followed by watching some African dancing and singing at lunch. The last workshop of the day was called "Acting Out Loud" in which myself and some of the other selected few "Ninjas", worked on our 2 day workshop. If you're confused.. I'll explain in the next post. This workshop was amazing. We used form theatre to express our emotions, and I learned so much about others, myself and life in general... I also met someone during that workshop who would turn out to be someone very close to me by the end of the 2 days. Ok, before I get into the meat of this thing. I'm going to end on that note. Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of:
Vancouver.. All I can say is.. I love.. I love.. I've changed.
posted by Melanie G at
2:52 p.m.
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