Looking ready to take on Paris

I cut my hair last week. :P

And then had a makeover. :P

Final Week

Today marks the one week countdown until I fly off.

My new to do list:

• choose what to bring
• pack my bag
• make photocopies of my id and such
• pick seat for my flight
• get guarantor letters and financial info
• find the info that tells me where I am staying for sept.
• choose courses
• get med insurance
• book train to go to Michaels wedding
• have my going away party with friends
• have my going away party with family
• pick up Jesus (Hey-soos)
• buy a coat
• buy new running shoes and vball shoes (may do when i get there)
• get all the crap I'm not taking with me out of my room
• say goodbye!!

Needless to say, I will be having a busy week. But alas, do not hesitate to try and make plans with me!

Island life

I`ll expand on this post in the future, but for now all I have to say is that island life is grand.

Reconnect

Hey,

So I have been on Hornby for 2 days now and am still in the unwinding process. It is good, but at the same time painful to be forced to relax. It is hard to go from being in constant interaction with people and stimuli to being alone, and left to simple amusements. Amusements like reading, walking, biking, swimming, or trying to decipher who is winning the 400m IM at the Olympics when your TV reception quality makes it more like you are listening to a bad radio with random black and white grainy images popping up once in a while. Seriously, who needs HD TV when you can have that!

I would hardly say life here is boring, but the pace is reduced from Hare like to Tortoise like. Hopefully that will be a winning change like in the story.

We did go clubbing on Hornby last night though. Clubbing on Hornby is dancing to the Marimba band at the Cardboard House bakery with your friends and their parents.

Life is so wholesome here, but I am still in adjustment mode.

Goodbye work, hello world!

I am no longer employed, and it feels great! The departure from work was bitter sweet. I will miss the people there dearly, I enjoyed my work, and I enjoyed going to work. Work was hardly a dreaded part of my day. My last day consisted of: responding to some inquiries, playing my last game of foosball, playing my last game of Ping Pong(which I lost! but I have to say it was perhaps one of our most intense games to date), sending a goodbye email to invite everyone to get the cake I brought in, cleaning my desk, and saying goodbye to people in person.

I then hopped over to get my wisdom teeth removed. As I was being put under I started saying ridiculous things and laughing. I thought bugs were crawling under my skin, and I loved how the whole ceiling was moving. I feel great now that it is done. If it was up to me I'd go play vball right now at the beach! However, that does not comply at all with doctor's orders.

Ahead of me is a solid 10 days of relaxation on Hornby Island. I get to see my awesome friends Ariel, and Sarah up there.

Talk to you when I get there! My internet access will be limited. Take care. Goodbye everyone (If you are from work, and want to leave a memory in the comment box, that would be sweet:))!

Last of the 9-5

Today is my last full day at work, and a good time to give a reflection of my last 7 months here. For those of you who don't know, I have been working as a Technical Writer at the Software company since January. It was my first full time job, and it exceeded my expectations. I will not talk about the job and its tasks. I will talk more about an overview of what I learned the past 7 months.

I learned that:

• You don't need to ask for permission to use the washroom at work
• 25 isn't old
• Throwing cheese isn't a good way to get rid of crows
• Dance fighting is a useful skill
• Scarves make good turbans
• Every desk needs at least 1 stuffed animal
• The Free Food Lookout Committee [FFLC] exists and it rocks.
• [co-op]

On a serious note:

• You actually don't need to ask permission for much
• You just do your job as you see fit, and comply with fairly broad set of requirements.
• There is no formula that structures your days, no lunch bells
• You interact with so many people and it is your own responsibility to set up the meetings necessary to get the information you need
• The final output is an accumulation of the knowledge communicated between those you work with

The out of work, term highlights included: Boat Cruise, Olivier's house, Karaoke, YBC, Cafe Crepe, Cambie, JulyCrawl, Motorcycles, Ultimate, Red Room, Vball, Running, Ping Pong, Clint's house, Penticton, and Phil's bonfires.

I will miss everyone a lot, especially my team and the other co-ops.

2 more days (at work)

Hi again!

I have less than 2 days left at work. I am now ending Friday July 8th at 1:30pm. This the new time and date because I am lucky enough to get to have my wisdom teeth removed that afternoon. I figure recovering while on Hornby Island at the beach will be more enjoyable than recovering at home during my last week here.

For work, I now must just finish my workterm report and tie up loose ends. My co-worker SoloLisaYNadaMas gave me a "Rag doll of a Rabbit" this afternoon. It is adorable! Rabbits, bunnies, cats and bears have been an integral part of my co-op experience. I was also given a card with a magnet that says "Bitch...like it's a bad thing...". I will miss her dearly (but you will hear more about here in October when she comes to Paris!) , as well as my other co-workers.

I will post a full reflection on my time at BOBJ in the next couple days.

30 Days

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my travel blog. As you may or may not know, I have not left yet. Today marks the 30 day countdown to when I leave. I fly on September the second. It is so soon that I am a bit freaked out. Here is a rough checklist of where I am in terms of preparation for leaving.

Checklist of things done:
- Gained acceptance from the school (Sciences-Po Paris)
- Booked my flight
- Found accommodation for September at Cite

Checklist of things yet to prepare:
- Choose courses
- Pack luggage (one 50 lbs bag)
- Pack up my room (we are going to rent it out while I am away)
- Find accommodation for after September
- Remove wisdom teeth
- Buy travel insurance
- Say goodbye to friends and family

I have 30 days to prepare. Out of those 30 days I have 4 more days of work, 10 days on Hornby Island, 1-2 days written off due to wisodom teeth removal, leaving me with around 14 days at home to do all of the above. Wish me luck!