I Hate Transit

I can't really pretty up the title anymore than that. I grew up in Calgary where if you don't have a car you're condemned to stay at home and starve to death. I've never been without a car, be it my parents or my own. If I had to make a pros and cons list about transit it would look something like this:

Pros:
1. Saving the environment
2. Don't have to worry about parking

Cons:
1. It REALLY SUCKS
2. See number 1
3. See number 2 (you get the idea)

My newly revived hatred of transit began about 3 weeks into my stay in Melbourne and coincided with the commencement of my job. I work as a substitute teacher, or CRT (Casual Relief Teacher) as they're known here. Part of my job description is that I visit a variety of schools, taking over from teachers who are sick or have prior commitments that day. Without a car, this can get somewhat tricky. First some background about Melbourne's transit system.

Okay, the system here isn't at all bad. It's actually quite comprehensive. If you're traveling somewhere close to your home then there's really no problem getting around. The system is comprised of buses, trams and trains. I think the 1st and 3rd are pretty obvious and don't need further descriptions but I will go into the trams. These are akin to Calgary's LRT but much more rickety and squeaky. They are tracked and run on electricity, however, they operate like buses in that you need to indicate you want to get off at the next stop or the driver will just carry on. For the first few rides on the tram, I usually glued myself to the window in the fear that I would miss my stop (which are handily numbered). I'm a bit more relaxed about it now. The transit system breaks Melbourne up into two zones. Zone 1 originates in the city centre and extends at least 15-20 kilometers out (I think). Zone 2 covers areas outside of zone 1, and is generally the suburban areas of Melbourne. Zone 1 tickets are $3.50 one way and Zone 1 and 2 together will cost you $5.50. Now back to my initial carping.

The company that I work for generally calls the night before to inform me of a job opening. Once I accept said job I then open up the transit site on the computer and proceed to obsessively map out a route to the school. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to about an hour (I'm serious). I first look at what the site suggests then take matters into my own hands by pulling out the transit map and poring over the train, tram, and bus routes closest to the site. Once I've settled on a route, I consult the website for the timetables of each vehicle and then coordinate accordingly. These nightly productions leave me worn out and unenthusiastic for the day ahead. So far my job assignments have been far enough away that it takes me two hours to get there and I travel through both zones. Yesterday my route included: tram, train #1, train #2, bus. Spending 2 hours (one way) walking, tramming, training and then busing is not my idea of a good time. At the end of a chaotic day my desire to get back onto a bus is about as strong as my desire to poke my own eyes out. Not to mention I'm spending about $50 on transit a week.

To rectify the situation and after much complaining and whining after only 3 days of using transit extensively (yes, I am that spoiled) we have now bought a car. Nothing fancy, just a '94 Toyota Corolla that'll get me from point A to B in some comfort. Yes, I'm leaving a carbon footprint and no, I don't care. As for parking, pfft, I can always use a pay lot.

So here's to my last week of transit and to my upcoming life of absolute luxury.

Accents and Textas

Living in Australia, I'm surrounded by the accent. It's sometimes grating on my ears and other times I hardly notice it. Now that I've started teaching I get the frankness of children staring open-mouthed at me when I tell them I'm from Canada. It's strange to be considered the one with the accent. Don't they realize I speak real English and they're the ones who are doing it wrong?

Today I asked students to guess where I was from this resulted in the following:
Me: Where do you think I'm from?
Student 1: America!
Me: No, try again, it's really close to America.
Student 2: USA!

Okay, I'm going with the assumption that the second student either didn't hear the first guess or thinks "America" referred to the continent as a whole and wanted to be more specific. In any case I informed the class after more unsuccessful guesses (I did wonder why Canada never entered their minds, I guess we really are that far off the map) that I was Canadian. They seemed flabbergasted and the general response was to say "Wow..." in appreciative disbelief.

After I set the group's project for the hour I walked around the tables looking at their progress. When one student asked me for a "rubber" (*giggle*) I said: "Oh, the eraser is over here." At which some kids looked confused. To further the confusion, there was another exchange that went like this:

Student: May I use a texta?
Me: I'm sorry, what did you want?
Student: Can I use a texta?
Me: What is a texter? (I'm saying it incorrectly)
Student: You know, to colour.
Me (now completely baffled): A pencil crayon?
Student: No, a texta!

At some point another student took pity on me and showed me the "texta" in question. For the North Americans out there, it's a marker. In Australia, they have different words for different thicknesses of markers. "Marker" means a large tip marker, "texta" is medium, and "felt-tip pen" is fine tip. After this minor debacle I overheard this comment: "Well, she does speak Canadian."

Canadians back home will be happy to discover we have our own language! It's eerily similar to Australian and American but just different enough to be declared separate! I look forward to future word tangles and will update you all accordingly.

My lack of Midnight Sun

This is completely unrelated to anything Australian but I wanted to make a note about my current favorite series.

Since it was recommended to me by my former educational assistant's daughter, I have been hooked on a teen series called Twilight. For a short summary it chronicles an unlikely romance between a normal girl and a vampire. Yes, for those of you unfamiliar with it I know it sounds cheesy but it's the best thing I've gotten my hands on in a long time. I bought the first book, read it in one day and promptly bought the second, third and then fourth books (which I sped through in similar style). My recent pastimes have included obsessively re-reading all four books.

Apparently the last of the series, Breaking Dawn incited such strong hatred in so many former fans that they attempted to return their copies. I'm sorry, but who returns books that they've already read? It's not like clothing that falls apart after one wearing. I've had the unpleasant feeling of buying a book, reading it, and then discovering that I didn't like it AT ALL. I never once thought about returning such a book. But then, I'm relatively normal. I can't imagine, no matter how rushed an author is, that a publisher/editor would permit them to put out, as it was referred to by some former fans, "garbage." Some people were apparently so horribly offended by this last book that they took it upon themselves to create a website devoted to hating Stephenie Meyer. Yeah, these people were real fans! I went to the website in question and seriously, you have to have something better to do with your time than cultivate hatred. Like hobbies. Hobbies are good, they keep you seated in the real world and help prevent utter devastation from fictional books.

After Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer had planned to publish a 5th tome, Midnight Sun (basically Twilight from the other main character's perspective). It was stupidly leaked and then "proudly presented" by the evil Meyer-hating site, their actual reason for making it available was because they knew she wouldn't have wanted it. The proprietor of the site is probably going to end up somewhere that ends with "double hockey sticks." Now, upon discovery of the leak, Ms. Meyer has put the series on hold indefinitely. This latest news has left me in a funk. A really bad funk. And I know it's going to leave at least one close friend of mine in a similar depression. I love this series and was avidly looking forward to reading a vampire's point-of-view. What am I going to do without my shot of Twilight? I'm like a drug addict stumbling around now, not knowing when or where I'll get my next hit.

I want Ms. Meyer to keep writing dammit! Don't let these idiots get you down. I can understand that fans weren't supposed to see the novel until it was finished. I can understand how betrayed you must be feeling because of this leak. But please don't stop writing, because then you let the nogoodniks win. What I saw of Midnight Sun was beautifully written, I think it's her best work to date. So take some time, calm down, spend time with your family but please keep writing to the fans who adore your work and support anything you create. Ignore the idiots who are, after all, human.

Sticker Shock

While things aren't terribly different between Canada and Australia they are there and mainly in the cost of two BIG (well to me anyway) things. Those being:

1. Internet
2. Coca Cola or other name-brand pop

I will address issue #1: When I lived in Canada, Korea and Japan I didn't know that such a thing as a bandwith cap existed. I figured everyone paid a flat fee and got all the internet their heart desired. I've now discovered, that those down under don't think the same way. Not only are you capped but miniscule amounts of internet are enormously expensive. 400MB per month (which is practically nothing) cost $20. Finding that this wasn't nearly enough we upgraded to 15GB which raised our bill to a whopping $60 (in comparison in Calgary we paid about $35 a month for unlimited high speed). What happens when/if we pass these thresholds? We're slowed right down to a crawling pace at which you can barely check your email. This may seem petty to a great many of you who only use internet for email but for me, it's entertainment and a fountain of information.

Issue #2: Okay, I don't drink litres and litres of Coca Cola a week or anything but WHY is it so expensive?? A regular 2 litre bottle of Coke will cost you, at best, $2.50 (I say at best because this is the price on SALE at a grocery store). I recently bought a 500mL bottle of pop from a convenience store for $3.10. Is all pop imported, is there no packaging plant within Oz? Is Coke so damn popular that they can afford to hike the price as they do? Do they have a monopoly? At least this way I won't be buying pop but once a year or so.


Other things that I've noticed are clothing labels. Let's take Levi's for example. Will loves 501's (even though they're hideously ugly). I think he can get away with paying about $30 or so in the States. How much were they in Melbourne? $110. That's right, we won't be buying Levi's here either. Will and I are horribly cheap people.

At least it isn't as bad as Japan...

After 29 hours of travel torture comes Melbourne

Hello all, I write to you in Melbourne where I have finally gotten access to the internet. I was only 3 days without it but man, it seems like a long time!

I see that I have neglected my blog but with good reason, living in Canada was boring. I love Canada but when you've grown up there and the majority of people reading your blog have grown up there then it's not so interesting to write or read about. But now onto Oz...

I've been in Melbourne now for 3 days and, surprisingly, my jet lag isn't nearly as bad as I'd anticipated. I think partly due to the fact Will did his damndest to make sure I didn't sleep during the day. Usually I'm falling asleep in my dinner or zonking out in front the TV. That usually results in me waking up wide-eyed and alert at the convenient hour of 3 am.

First impressions, it's grey and it rains...ALOT. All 3 days have involved on and off rain and today bizarrely bright sunshine. I've been trying to convince Will that he wants to live in Vancouver. So far I see no real difference, weather-wise that is.

We live in an suburb of Melbourne called "Brunswick West". It isn't the newest neighbourhood out there and our apartment definitely could use some work. There isn't any central heating here so it's cold, though not nearly so much so as Japan where I turned into a veritable popsicle.

Houses here are very Victorian looking. Actually I'm reminded of New Orleans' French Quarter when I look at them. Downtown Melbourne has a similarly decadent feel with a good number of Victorian-era buildings still standing (or at the very least having been restored).

I'm still in the process of figuring out which stores are what and what the equivalents of my favorite clothing places would be. I'll post more later about the Tram system going on here, I still need to figure that out too. Stay tuned for what will hopefully be a more interesting post than this one. I'm begging fatigue as an excuse for the rather boring nature of it.

Slip Sliding the Day Away

No, I'm not talking about those yellow plastic carpet things that kids slid on during the hot summer months. Oh how I coveted those! No, I'm talking about driving on Calgary streets in rather inhuman conditions.

It's been snowing for the past 3 days virtually non stop. Sometimes heavily, sometimes not, but enough to be sufficiently annoying. Not having a garage, I'm one of the privileged few who get to freeze while brushing their car off in sub-zero temperatures. Occasionally I wonder about my blood circulation, I could be wearing gloves a foot thick and my hands would still hurt from the cold. Naturally I don't let thoughts like these bother me for long. I'm too busy turning into a popsicle inside my car.

Seriously, I think when streets are like they were today the city should call a snow day. Not only is it friggin' cold, it's actually pretty treacherous to be out on the roads at all. Since most people are sensible and realize that ice generally equals danger (there are a few that zoom by whose intellect and sanity I question) traffic progresses at a snail's pace. Though snails are probably faster and have the sense to stay inside on days like today.

So we Calgarians sit, shivering behind a steering wheel, alternately heating ourselves or our windshields, and watching the red lights of the car in front of us with an eagle eye. With the ever-growing number of accidents on the Deerfoot (and main thoroughways everywhere) I have to ask is work really worth this? Snowplows and gravel trucks can't seem to keep up with demand which leaves the bulk of us on a virtual skating rink.

Call me strange but I'd rather stay in then venture out into chaos.

Career...again

Oi, I should know better than to post something when I'm in a funk. But thanks to those who emailed me supportive comments. It's very much appreciated.

My class is still nuts and while I still don't know if teaching is going to be a lifelong career for me, I'm on somewhat better footing (and in a much better mindset) since the weekend.

I also like the fact that it's Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow and Sunday! Yay! Man, compared to my last post, this one must make me seem manic.

Anyhoo, I'm going to go and veg in front of the TV because I deserve it! Cheers.

Career crossroads

Hello all, I write to you on a rather weary Sunday night. I'm so glad tomorrow is not a teaching day, just a workshop to attend and I can handle that. If teaching was all workshops how happy I would be.

As per my title, I find myself in the unfamiliar position of realizing that the career I thought would last me until retirement might not be for me at all. I can't say it's a sudden realization either. It's been creeping up on me since both my practicums and now is overpowering me in waves.

Now, I'm a person that's always been relatively sure in life and done pretty much what I set out to do. Sorry if this sounds egotistical but its true. I haven't done anything really grand but whatever I thought was important was duly carried out. Then came teaching. Again I set out like a good little soldier, applied and was accepted to the Education program, then began classes. That's where things started to go awry. I never really once thought I might be doing the wrong thing or that a career goal I set at the age of 11 might've changed over the years.

In my first practicum I just about died from dehydration as I found myself in tears almost every time I returned from my school. In my second I went in fully equipped with a water bottle and tried valiantly to avoid becoming a prune. Now I have a classroom and the situation hasn't improved as I'm approaching raisin status.

They should tell you during your practicum that you will feel like you have no idea what you're doing that first year. And I mean, NO IDEA. I usually feel like I'm banging my head against the proverbial brick wall. Oh wait, I do have a brick wall I can literally smash my head into but I think it would be bad form. As an introvert having myself on constant display is exhausting and I'm drained by the time lunch rolls around. It seems everyone else knows what they're doing but me and I can't seem to catch up. My kids trail me everywhere and won't stop asking questions (obviously questions are good but its incessant and usually off topic), though that's probably in part because I'm not getting information across very well. I spend my evenings fretting and fussing over lessons or sometimes staring at paper until the letters begin to blur because my brain has ceased to operate. And still I don't know how to reach the different levels in my classroom. The weekends are a welcome break until Sunday night rears its ugly head and my stomach knots, my hands become clammy and I continually wake up through the night. I don't think its a healthy way to be.

That was an extremely long winded way of saying my next move is probably to stop doing this and recover my appetite and sleep patterns. Its a first for me but maybe its a good thing? If you made it this far down my post I congratulate you. It looks more like a diary entry.

Check back for updates on my dissipating sanity! I promise my next post will be more lighthearted.

Post New Year's rut

Well, I consider it a rut anyways. Most of us spend at least 2 months anticipating the Christmas holidays which means we're fantasizing about what we'll do with the time off at the beginning of November (or possibly at the end of October). We eat and unwrap our way through Christmas and then can look forward to ringing in the New Year (often with paper hats and a great deal of booze). Once that's all over what do we do? What is the next holiday to look forward to?

I really enjoy Christmas, I love that particular holiday. It's my favourite of all the holidays that come marching round like clockwork every year. New Year's is kind of a low-end bonus. Yay new year! And then pffft. I think the hardest work day if that first day back after the Christmas break.

As a teacher I have a lovely 2 weeks off. Actually, with my particular school I have 3 weeks off. (I hope no one's out there rolling their eyes about how teachers always have holidays. Come spend one day in my shoes!) I'm currently worrying that I'll be the size of my couch by the time school begins again as I can't seem to stop eating. Especially junk food. Chips and Betty Crocker cake are my current best friends.

In any case I am and I'm not looking forward to going back to work. This inactivity will get old really fast I'm sure and I need to use my brain again. I know that first day is going to be a doozy. Cheers all I hope you're enjoying 2007 so far.

My life as a couch potato

With the first half of school giving way to the winter break I have found myself with and inordinate amount of time on my hands. This feels rather strange after having run around constantly not knowing what the heck I was doing for the last 2 months. Since said break began I have not done one really productive thing with my time. Unless you count baking cookies as productive (which could be argued to be so).

My intention during my last week of school was to have a "pajama day". This entailed the arduous task of wearing my pajamas all day long and not moving from the couch, except for those irksome but necessary visits to the bathroom. I tried this out yesterday and enjoyed it for the first half of the day and then found I started to feel weak from inactivity. Not to mention I had become addicted to some game I found on the web. I sat and stared at my computer screen for, I kid you not, 6 hours. And I still haven't passed the damned thing. Actually I'll probably cry when I do, that game is darned fun. But I digress.

I concluded that pajama day will only work if you get fresh air in between, thus ending the whole purpose of the day since you can't walk outside in your jammies during the winter months in Calgary unless you want to die by freezing. Seeing as how I find the idea of turning into a human popsicle distasteful, this ends my quest for the perfect lazy day. Gol ding it!

Please note that the above was brought to you while sitting in my pajamas. Take care.

The joys of Last Minute shopping

It's that time of year when carols are played on radio stations and the unmistakable bells of the Salvation Army can be heard when you walk into any mall. Yes, Christmas has arrived once again, cheering on 2006 as it prepares to make it's grand exit.

Along with Christmas comes trees, tinsel, lights and the delightful frenzy of last-minute shopping, something I always vow to avoid but end up indulging in anyway. I mean, who really finishes all their shopping before November? No one I personally know. Who would want to avoid the agony of searching of a parking spot? The elbowing your way through crowds of tired, cranky people all searching for that 'perfect' gift? The obviously exhausted looks of salespeople?

Yesterday I was lucky that Canadian Tire was the only stop I had to make, it isn't exactly the hotspot of shopping. For real live frenzy you need to stop at Market, Chinook or Southcentre Malls. If you manage to find the oh so elusive parking spot you can then be dazzled by overly bright lights as you enter the mall. Then commence the aimless wandering that inevitably follows as you wonder what in tarnation to get your father. The frustration begins as you realize that each store carries NOTHING he'd want. It mounts as you come up with a great gift idea only to discover all stores sold out of it a week ago. It culminates as you now pick up the pace and whirl frantically from window to window, trying to convince yourself that he really does need a tie with huge snowflakes printed on them. Take deep breaths to prevent from collapsing into a sobbing mess on the floor. Only when you hit despair can you make yourself go and purchase those damned socks you get every year and not feel bad about it.

At least this is the general pattern I follow every year. Usually culminating over the course of a week as opposed to one night. In the end I have to tell myself that it's the thought that counts. It's the defense of all last-minute shoppers.

Merry Christmas everyone. And realize whatever you get has, if not blood, at least sweat and tears put into it.

Help me...I have a classroom

I think that will be the title of my first novel, should I ever get around to writing one. They really should tell you during teacher training that your first year is going to be a complete gong show. And I only teach in the mornings! How bad is that?

It's been a month and I've gotten to know the kids better but I'm still struggling in the classroom management aspect of things. I pretty much have a whole class of ME at their age. Meaning, talk talk talk. No real behavior issues just constant chattiness.

Aside from chatter, there is also the fact that when it comes to curriculum, I'm a mess. While trying to interpret it, (which I imagine is what decoding Enigma was like), I find myself bouncing back and forth between topics and dragging my students along with me. After a lesson I'll sit and ponder (ie obsess) over what the kids learned, what they were supposed to learn and, of course, what they have yet to learn. What'll inevitably happen is that I'll stare at the curriculum until it resembles a whole pageful of wiggly lines. I think I'm attempting to learn through osmosis.

I've also discovered that the iron-clad memory I used to pride myself on has now vanished. Gone, possibly forever. No sooner do I get a thought in my head, such as I should call this person, or I need to photocopy this, then it mysteriously vanishes into thin air. Occasionally it meanders back when I can no longer do anything about it.

I've learned that students will follow you around like puppies unless you tell them otherwise. Either to have you explain a problem or to praise work that they've done. Let me tell you, their legs are getting a great workout from all the getting up and sitting down they do.

All in all, it's an educational experience to say the least. I have no idea how any given day will go because it depends on they dynamic of the classroom which changes from minute to minute.

I'm too tired to write anymore, hope you're enjoying the holiday spirit so far. I love Christmas.

Papers everywhere!

Well, I think I'm officially losing my head. My Board of Ed sent me two copies of my official contract to be duly signed and witnessed and I've gone and lost them both. Though I did manage to finish filling out the rest of the 40 billion forms they sent along with the contract. Seeing as how the contract was one of the most important things I'm glad I managed to keep all the other inconsequential papers from the package.

In addition to losing my contract, I'm losing my ability to organize. My desk at school really looks like a hurricane hit it. Partly due to the fact that two teachers are struggling to put all their things onto it. I can't seem to remember to nag students for their homework, nor hand back homework that WAS handed in and that I actually marked. I can see myself at the end of the year with 20 binders full of kids' homework that I can sift fondly through during the summer holiday (while I pull obsessively at my hair because I've been reduced to a slobbering mess).

So aside from losing vital documents and neglecting homework, I'm also falling behind on my own schedule. How does this happen? How does my perfectly planned week turn into chaos? Simple, I teach kids. Today my perfectly planned science class took a major cut when we were called down to take class pictures. By the time I got back, I hustled them through the first of 3 worksheets I had intended for them to complete. After I anxiously wringed my hands at the lack of time, I herded them into line and then dumped them into the gym teacher's capable hands.

After a half hour prep where I seemed to be flying around and yet accomplished little, I picked up my class and then shoved them outside for recess. I fiddled with the computer projector, praying for it to work this day. With a scream of joy when I saw the screen flash on I finally sat down and took a sip of water.

For math I'd actually tried to be creative and it paid off by watching my students eagerly get down to work. Strange when just yesterday they'd complained about how boring it was. Little did they know that it was the same work disguised as something fun. Bwa ha ha ha! Unfortunately my evil laughter was short lived as my grade 5's came bustling back into my room because the other teacher had to take her class for photos. Amid a wailing chorus of "I'm finished, what now?" I managed to fire off some questions to keep the 5s busy while juggling my own grade 6's at the same time.

And that was my day at school. It's amazing how quickly the morning will go. It's more amazing how much I've learned just in this first week. What's probably most amazing is that my behaviour problem has toned it down so far this week. I probably speak too soon as I still have tomorrow to get through (Friday is a PD Day, no kids).

Anyhoo, there are my ramblings on that.

Teaching...the first 3 days

I sit in my apartment, knowing that I really should brush my teeth and call it a night but I'm compelled to instead type away at this blog which has been woefully neglected. Whilst I type, I'm wondering how on Earth some people manage to both teach full time and take care of families. I'm teaching part time, my husband is away and I feel like I'm barely functioning. My apartment hasn't been vacuumed in probably 3 weeks (and I can see crumbs on the floor which I think I should pick up and never actually do, how hard is it to stoop down and pick up a friggin' crumb?), my sink is full of dirty dishes, and the bathroom is a mess. And that's just in 3 days! Hmm, I guess I have no excuse on the vacuuming. Not to mention that's also without having assignments or report cards to mark and such.

In 3 days of teaching I have:
1. Told my class to sit down approximately 5 billion times
2. Told my class to quiet down approximately 10 billion times
3. Explained and then re-explained 'factors' in math approximately a million times (an improvement!)
4. Felt that I was being ignored (by my class) at least 70% of the time.
5. Repeated the phrase "I'm waiting until everyone is listening" about twice a minute.
6. Had a successful math class 33% of the time
7. Felt like I wanted to go home and lay prostrate on the couch 100% of the time

Such is the life of a beginning teacher and I only teach part time! If I've discovered anything it's that the loudness of my voice is really a gift and not a curse and that kids are constantly surprising you.

Stay tuned for your next report...

p.s.

Stay tuned for my teaching adventures! To be posted whenever I can tear myself away from planning and marking...

Of Weddings and such

Hmm, I kept meaning to update this thing and I kept not doing it. Until now that is. What happened in bit of time in between? I got married, went on honeymoon, and somehow managed to acquire a teaching job. *gasp*

My wedding day passed in such a blur that by the next morning I still didn't realize what had happened. Movies don't seem to mention the sheer stress involved in getting hitched. From the moment I woke up I felt like someone else. I watched this person get made up, get transported to the venue and then step into this very fancy dress. I then came back into my body only to be a huge bundle of nerves. My hands were sweating and I began to feel like I couldn't breathe. My makeup/hairsylist continually blotted at my face and reapplied lipstick. By the time I was ready to walk down the aisle, I had at least 50 layers of powder and lipstick on my face.

I vaguely remember the wedding ceremony and looking at my oh-so-almost-husband. I remember repeating after the commissioner and then taking photographs. I didn't taste much of my dinner and kind of floated through the rest of the evening. There it was I was married! Do remember this is partly tongue-in-cheek. I was quite happy to be a bride. Just a little dazed by it all.

What does a person do with their wedding dress? Grooms just give back their rented tuxes but a bride usually buys her dress. Mine is hanging forlornly in the closet, neatly covered by plastic and wondering when it'll see the light of day once more. I can't bring myself to tell it it'll never see the light of day again. So I guess it stays in my closet? And thusly moves from closet to closet whenever I change locations? I feel like my dress deserves better treatment than that. Maybe I'll have it bronzed and it can stand regally in the middle of our apartment.

This newly married person is going to sign off now. Hope you're all doing well.

Why I'll never work for a moving company

Hello and I hope all is well with whoever is still checking up on this blog. Since the last time I wrote I've been down to LA, had a lovely reunion with Will and then came back up with him to Calgary via his truck. Since then I don't feel like I've had too much downtime what with trying to get the wedding in order and also trying to furnish the apartment. We've been busy pretty much since we entered Calgary's city limits.

On Saturday we were lucky enough to procure a used but decent looking sofa, loveseat and chair set. Will and the seller loaded it easily enough onto the truck but I eyed the innocent couches with some wariness, knowing that I would have to help Will unload and put it into the apartment. This would further display my utter lack of arm strength.

Once back at the apartment we proceeded to first unload the loveseat, an easy enough task. With some grunting and groaning on my part we got it situated in the living room. The next not-so-easy task was the couch. It didn't want to go in as easily as the loveseat did. No matter how cajoling we were it stubbornly refused to enter the hallway. Fine, whatever. We hoisted it back up the stairs and brought it around to the front entrance instead. This time it managed to fit in the hallway but balked once we tried to push it through the doorway. By this time my arms had turned to jelly and my fingers were red from continually dropping and lifting the damn thing. Will got an earful of my miseries.

Once we realized that the couch wasn't going to budge I got ready to chop it apart while Will, more productively, examined the size of our windows. He concluded that the sofa would fit nicely through them. I looked on sullenly as he pried the panes out, knowing I'd have to use my jelly-like arms once again. The sofa looked on with an evil grin.

I tried to remind myself that this was the last time I'd have to lift the sofa. Unfortunately my arms and hands weren't buying it and Will pretty much fit the sofa in on his own. I contributed a lot of whining and futile hand rubbing.

And this is why I'll never work for a moving company.

Update

The home computer has gone awry. There's some virus that none of my anti-virus or anti-spyware products can detect. This is annoying and happens way too often. Who is it that has so little of a life they resort to creating viruses? Anyone out there know how to get rid of a FakeAlert-B Trojan?

It's very hot in Calgary. Compared to the sticky heat of Japan/Korea it's nothing but for someone who likes winter it's gross. I think I could fry an egg on the tin garbage can outside. I wouldn't really attempt this considering how dirty the garbage can likely is.

I went to a relaxation yoga class today and then fell asleep during the last pose (lying down on your back with eyes closed and breathing in and out in a darkened room). Luckily I wasn't the only one. The two friends I went with woke up later than I did.

I've become addicted to the reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance. I tell myself I watch it purely for the dancing. I think I might by lying to myself.

Well, that's my dull news for now. Stay tuned for more even duller updates! Cheers

Weddings and other stuff

Well, it's again been a shamefully long time since I've updated this thing. Over a month! How time flies...

My wedding to a certain JET participant is approaching and with it the usual phone calls to florists, photographers, videographers, dress alterers, commissioners and whathaveyou. My daytimer is chock full of phone numbers, appointments and post-its detailing what I need to do for the coming week. It's looking rather haggard at the moment.

I've discovered on this path to matrimony that 'wedding' is another word for 'money'. Where a normal cake will cost maybe 20-30 bucks a wedding cake is easily 10 times that amount. More work goes into it but is it REALLY worth that much? I'm expecting the cake to come decorated with priceless diamonds.

On a real-estate note, I've defied Calgary's vacancy rate of 1.1% and managed to rent an apartment in a fairly nice area of the city. So now, I have a place to live. Hooray!

This post isn't that illuminating, and I'm going to blame that on my fatigue. I'll update again when I have something interesting to report!

Winter Sonata

Please note, the following may contain spoilers of KBS' 2002 miniseries, Winter Sonata. Also note that I am kind of enjoying watching it.

After having emphatically stated how I'd never watch a Korean drama called "Gyeoul Yeonga" or Winter Sonata, I bought my mother the DVD set and then it arrived at the house. Having some time on my hands and my curiousity getting the better of me, I popped the first of 6 discs into the DVD player.

And what did I get? A hell of a lot of hair-pulling frustration over the sloooowly unfolding 20 episode MELOdrama. The plot involves too many emotionally unstable people in one social setting. It's a wonder by the end, that they haven't either murdered each other or committed group suicide. Hell, I felt like doing both while watching the damn thing.

Winter Sonata features the notoriously popular Korean actor Bae Yong Joon. Well, popular in Asia anyway. In fact, Mr. Bae is so damn popular in a certain Land where the sun rises that he's earned himself the nickname "Yon-sama" (an honorable way to address a person). Viewing the ubiquitous WS helped me see why this might be. 1. He plays the at times melancholy and at times sunny but always gentle hero. 2. He dresses well. 3. He wears glasses (oh wait, that's just me *sigh*) The exalted Mr. Bae plays Joon Sang, an identity-challenged character that exists merely to be in pain (as one alter ego), and then inadvertenly pain others.

Opposite ol' Yon-sama is Choi Ji Woo. She plays Yoojin, Joon Sang's star crossed lover. A girl who has somehow managed to come off as strong and pathetically weak at the same time. The majority of her screen time is spent looking dejectedly at her hands. Sometimes she cries, sometimes she takes soulful strolls in the snow. Lots of times she's being saved from a sticky situation by our faithful hero. And sometimes, just sometimes, she does all 4. It's hard to cry, stare at your hands, wade through snow and be heroically saved at the same time. Though I can pull it off beautifully.

The snowy drama features other key players. The high moral character of Sang Hyuk, who's been in love with Yoojin since he was in his mother's womb, then tries to prove his love by first trying to rape her and then, trying to force her to marry him. Ah the sweet romance of it all.

Then comes Chelin, a clingy whiner and one of few characters who can cry more than one tear at a time (honestly, for most the eyes start welling and then one, ONE decorative dainty tear will fall). She tries to win our moodily sunny hero's heart by continually showing up unannounced, clinging needily to his arm and telling him lies. Who wouldn't be won over by such enticing wiles?

Lest I forget other main character of Winter Sonata. The scarf. Indeed the drama could easily have been called Winter Scarf. I've never seen quite so many scarves tied in so many interesting and innovative ways. Particularly around the attractive necks of our two snow floundering mains. Really I was very impressed. The scarves often usurped the actors. I found that my attention was often drawn to the scarves, their colour, length, style. I was often more anxious to see what scarf Yon-sama would choose to wear and how he would tie it, rather than whether he would win the girl. It was hard not to pay attention to them, since half the time they were looped around the actors necks so much it looked not only bulky but like it was cutting off air.

I won't spoil the ending of this glorious show of self torture and near mutilation. I haven't even finished it myself. I just forced my mother to tell me so I could be relieved of pulling out my own hair and screaming at the TV. Koreans love a good show of sadistic masochism. Or masochistic sadism. By watching those on screen run around with pained expressions we can feel better about our own relatively uneventful lives.