Cheers

I have heard the phrase "cheers" used here more times than I can possibly count. Cheers for holding the door open, cheers for giving back change from my 5 pound note, cheers for drinking, and cheers for everything in between. But only now has it hit me just how much I have to cheer for.

The past four months has flown by. I remember standing at the gates at YVR and thinking How am I going to do this? The act of moving halfway across the world to a place where I knew no one and had no idea what to expect seemed overwhelmingly daunting. Four months later I'm sitting in my pack up room, luggage scattered about and a bulletin board empty behind me, and I'm thinking, How could I ever not have done this?

I think when we go through the day to day routine at home, in a place of familiarity, we often forget just how wonderful the unfamiliar can be. That feeling of butterflies in your stomach, or of a quickened pulse when you don't know what's going to happen. All of which lead to the satisfaction of turning a street corner and discovering something new.

I am so grateful for the new things this experience has provided me with new friends, new memories, new places and new knowledge. The expectations I had going into this semester were nothing special, I thought I would have some fun and see some cool things, but all those were exceeded.

And now, as the final day here draws to a close I realize there were a lot of lasts.
Last dinner all together, last walk to ASDA, last night out, last time I'll sleep in my bed here. But for what it's worth, as I look back on all those lasts, I'm so glad that four months ago I took a deep breathe, walked on the plane, and took a first.

familiarities

And then there was the time that I got off the train in Leicester and I knew that I had to walk right out of the station instead of left to get to the bus stop. And that because it was a Saturday the 31 bus would only run every half an hour instead of every 10 minutes so I knew I had time to walk down to Green Oasis on London Road to get a coffee before it came. And I knew that the coffee would be 1.20 and that it would come it a beige take-away cup and that I would have to switch hands while holding it because there was never any sleeves left. And I knew to press the stop button for Oadby Village sometime between the school sign that said 'Best A-Levels Results in the East Midlands' and the road that shared the same name of my Dad's hometown in Saskatchewan, otherwise it would be too late and the driver would go right past. And I knew that once I got off the bus at Oadby that it would only take 5 minutes to walk back to my room if I went past the gardens, and 7 minutes if I didn't. And I knew all of this because, somewhere along the way, without even realizing it, it had become like home.

Hockey eh

You don't really realize the importance of hockey as part of the Canadian national identity until you step outside of Canada. Suddenly, the world seems a lot bigger and emptier without the comforting knowledge that Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada is just around the corner. You find yourself wondering what absurd suit Don Cherry is wearing? and what comment will he make that will cause Ron Maclean to cover his face with his hands trying to hold back calling him an idiot? Without the daily update from Dan O'Toole and Jay Onrait you are lost in the world of sports. You have no idea what the TSN turning point of the day was and you can't even begin to guess how the Canucks finished off the third.

Whether you grew up around hockey or not, whether you knew the rules to offside, or when a ref should call slashing or roughing it doesn't really matter. You knew that come May long weekend when the weather started to get nicer there would be a line up of boys on the road curving sticks and dragging hockey nets out of the garage. The sound of chatter and chirping interspersed with the universal call for time out - CAR! Playoffs meant that your Dad would start to sport and unusual amount of facial hair (and complain about it itching the whole time), game 7 meant an undeclared bank holiday and overtime meant you were to follow an undeclared house rule to duck in front of the TV if you had to get up (and it had better be a good reason).

You learned a lot of lessons from watching games too. You learned that its ok for grown men to cry over a loss, that you should stick up for your teammates and that a black eye or a broken jaw didn't mean sit this one out, it means persevere. From hours spent at the rink, either on the ice or in the stands you learned to cheer for a common goal and shake hands no matter the outcome. On the drive home you learned to give praise when deserved and simply say "Next time" when it was not (because there was always a next time). But most of all, you learned that the Canadian national anthem  is sung at the beginning of games not only because of tradition and out of respect, but because hockey is undeniably a part of Canada, and is indelibly painted, just like the blue line on the ice, into the mosaic of this country.

Scotland

There's an image of Scotland I have.
Of rolling plains scattered with cows and sheep.
Of mountains intersecting the valleys of the highlands.
Of a boy, age 16, walking home from school, tie loosened,
his best mates on either side and Irn Bru in hand.
Of white haired ladies at bus stops asking where you're from
and sitting down for tea time at family owned cafes.
Of a pride for tartan and scotch and Sean Connery.
Of unabashed humour, matter of fact conversation,
and hand rolled cigarettes stuffed into denim jackets on the North Bridge.
Of crowds of people on Princess Street holding bags overflowing with Primark clothes.
Of the Royal Mile at midnight, loud and fun and busy.
Of a mosaic of single images that when put together fit side by side into the shape of a country...
That's the image of Scotland I have.

Ireland...

Where to begin? The cliffs, the ocean, the accent, the amazingly interesting history or the guinness? Lots and lots of Guinness. Rather than trying to recall everything I saw and did over my 6 day tour of Ireland, which travelled from Dublin up north to Belfast and many other towns in between, I'll just write the highlights and surprising facts I learned along the way.

1) Dublin castle is the film site of king Henry VIII's court in The Tudors tv show

2) Christchurch in Dublin is the birthplace of Tom and Jerry: the cat and mouse duo were found dead in the organ pipes and kept by the janitor of the church until they were donated by him after his death for their preservation

3) If you have a southern Ireland driving license you cannot get a speeding ticket in northern Ireland

4) southern Ireland driving licenses are written and printed on a piece of paper, no lamination, nothing

5) Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on the Guinness storehouse

6) the south uses euros while the north uses pounds that are different than British or Scottish sterling

7) the cliffs of Moher were the film site of scenes for Harry potter: the half blood prince and the princess diaries, also, for some unknown reason your hair stand on end and become static when walking around the cliffs

8) an original bullet hole from the Easter rising still exists in the angel statue in Dublin on o'connel street

9) a river divides the northern town of Derry and separates Protestants from Catholics. Each attend different schools, hold different ideologies, support different beliefs, are stubborn to change and rarely cross paths in town; yet the most annoying problem seems to be the roaming charges they receive from having uk phone suppliers.

10) after the death of Margaret thatcher a minority of Catholics threw a street party, streamers and all. The "wicked witch" was dead.

11) to kiss the blarney stone you have to lie on your back and hang upside down halfway out of the top of blarney castle in cork

12) there is Tim hortons! And molsons!

13) the views are amazing