Modern Gonzo

Tonight was absolutely fantastic. I have been waiting for this night for a few weeks, and it finally came. The modern gonzo, my inspiration for travel writing, came to campus and did a two hour talk. I've followed him ever since I saw him in the student traveler magazine, and his website is fantastic. If you get the chance to check it out, DO! It's www.moderngonzo.com

This guy is so entertaining and brave. He's been to the off-the-beaten-track kind of places like Laos, Albania, Cambodia, Mongolia and more! I find him so inspirational, because he never started off as a travel writer. He was your every day normal Joe, then some idiot drove into him on his scooter and broke his kneecap...or something like that. Anyways, with the money he got from insurance, he toured the world! He hasn't stopped traveling since, and is now writing for eight major newspapers and magazines all over the world. Oh how I want that job.

On my round the world trip this summer I plan to write as much as possible, then when I get back I want to try and sell some stuff. I may get nothing out of it, I may get something, but at least I'll be writing.

It's funny, cause I'd e-mailed him a few times, and once said that he should come to Edmonton to do a talk. When I spoke to him after the show I said yeah I'm the girl that harrasses him with e-mails. He asked who I was, I told him, and he remembered me saying I was the one who asked him to come to Edmonton. It was so exciting. It kinda feels like I met a famous person, even though the majority of people reading this will go 'Who?'. Whatever, he's my career inspiration, and if for some reason travel writing doesn't pan out, I'll always have my degree to fall back on. Supposedly.

Paintball Extravaganza

Yes, I officially had my first game of paintball today. What are my initial thoughts? Holy crap it hurts. Second thought? Boys suck. Why do boys suck? Because the majority of them didn't follow the rules. There is this one rule about mercy kills. If you are within twenty feet of someone you have to yell Mercy Kill and offer two options: they can run, or they can surrender. Well, I would be fine with dying, but no, the guys felt like shooting anyone on close range which hurts like a bitch! I have seven bruises on my body, the worst on my hip.

Why is it men seem to enjoy warfare so much. My friend and I were discussing afterwards, how scary we found the game at first. I mean, the idea that you could be shot very close with unpleasantly painful objects. And the whole running, hiding, jumping whatever. Good fun in theory, but if you were to be in real war where just one bullet could kill you, well that just scares the bejeses out of me. And yet the guys loved it, and in fact men are the ones involved in the wars. I know that women traditionally weren't allowed to, but women in general would have no desire to initiate warfare in the first place. I still maintain that if women were running the world, a hell of a lot more people would still be alive. It might even run itself better.

On a different note, we have a spokescouncil meeting tonight, and I am now going to be involved in it more intensely next year as I am chairing a group. It's not altogether different to the volunteer work I'm already doing, so we shall see. It'll be fine.

Anyways, off for some much needed sleep. Rest is what I need!

Dream

Okay, I often don't remember my dreams, but last nights was too weird to forget. So, I'm on a Contiki tour, god knows where, and we're climbing a snow/ice face. It is nearly vertical! We aren't on ropes. We don't have harnesses or anything. We have regular boots and mittens. But climbing the iceface we are. There is a drop of at least 1000m, and I felt scared out of my mind even in my sleep! We get to the top, then make our way to the box of snowboards. They had those things surfboards have. The cords that wrap around your ankle, but are attached to the snowboard. So, we attach them to ourselves, then the idea is you jump off. The 1000m drop. You jump off it. Little freaky. I was the last one to jump. We didn't have parachutes or anything.

I'm getting closer and closer to the ground, which is still snow covered. But, I seem to just land easily on it. No show, no nothing. We just landed, and I honestly haven't felt so relieved about anything, even in real life, in so long. Then. we got a mini-bus back to the hotel. Me and my friend were trying to find the elevator, but we got lost about 8 times. We found ourselves in the hotel restaurant, the gift store, the bathroom, anywhere but the elevator. Eventually we found the stairs and took them instead. So, we get up one flight, and we see a bunch of polic trying to hold this guy down. The guy is really struggling and it looks like he's going to break free. We run like the freaking wind, but still get stopped by this guy who sort of holds us hostage.

But then I wake up to Stereophonics on my CD-alarm clock. I can't seem to get the thought of falling 1000m out of my mind. I guess I'll be doing that in New Zealand when I go sky diving. I still have no idea how I'm going to make it through. I don't mind heights, as long as I'm strapped into something like a plane, or a building! But free falling. I swear my heart is going to explode from over beating.

Free fall.

Freaky.

Ahelena

That is my attempt to write the arabic word for 'hello' in english letters. I've arranged this special program for my residence where each night we learn a bit of a different language, based on how many native speakers we have in the building. Tonight, as previously stated was Arabic. I now know how to say hello, my name is, i am from, i am 20 years old, the questions related to these answers and so on! Oh, and I also know how to say 'i love my teddy bear'.

I expect these phrases to be oh so useful when I'm in the airport at Dubai for a grand total of four hours! One day I look forward to going to Egypt and U.A.E. and so on. Until then, I will just practice with my Egyptian friend. She is going to be one of the RAs with me, which is pretty exciting. She wrote out my name in Arabic, which is now hanging on my door. She also wrote out the Arabic word for traveler. I think that's the tattoo I want on my lower back, but that'll be one day far from now.

In the meantime,

Mashelena everyone.

I got the job!!!!

This might sound braggy or whatever, but I officially have kept my track record alive. EVERY SINGLE job I've applied for....I've gotten. Yay! It'll be so disappointing when I don't get a job one day. Argh, fingers crossed that day will never come. So, I am officially going to be an RA next year. I don't know which floor will be mine, but it should be tons of fun. I'm replacing one of the RA's that left, which means I was the only choice out of 6 or 7 new applicants. Yay!!!!!!!!! Well, the training apparently is going to be tons of fun. They even take us out to the mountains for a few days to train us.

My Dad is coming to visit tomorrow. It's the first time he's come to visit me up here, so that's kind of exciting. I think I'll take him out for breakfast (where he pays naturally!) then take him on a tour of the campus. It'll have to be low strain for his back, but I'm sure I can show him my favourite buildings within that time.

I got the job!!!!!!

21.14

I hate...

...being sick. I honestly despise it. I suppose nobody actually enjoys being ill, but I hate it. The thing I hate the most is the ears. I mean, it feelslike the inside of my earlobe is being tickled and I CAN'T STOP IT. That's truly frustrating. So, this is my minute little rant.

And, I forgot that RA job offers come out tomorrow. I thought they were today. So, yet another day of.....waiting.

Officially older

Today I learned that one of my friends is engaged! I am so happy for her. But it made me think how much older I am getting. I now have FRIENDS plural that are engaged. I know someone who has a baby...and is my age. I will be going to two weddings of friends within the next two years. There are girls in my classes NOT much older than me if at all, that are discussing their wedding plans. It's kind of scary. They're still in school, but they're talking about the table decorations, the flowers, the music that will be played and so on and so on. It scares me a bit, making me think I have to get going a little faster. But then I think, that isn't what I want. I'm not saying I don't want to get married one day, but I don't want what these girls want. Not saying that about my friends, because my friends are cool and I know they truly deserve the things they are planning. They are planning magic. That's what I want, but in a different way.

In my last two years working in a hotel I witnessed...and waitressed...many weddings. Every single one seemed to have a similarity. Stress. Everyone was stressed. Always.

Except for the special one. The one that I will always remember.

The bride wore red, my favourite colour. The totaly amount of guests? 10. The day? A Wednesday. In the middle of the afternoon, on a nothing special day. They lucked out with the weather, because it is Scotland after all. They sat on the grass in the afternoon sun drinking beer and Pimms. At 7 they came into the fine dining restaurant for an excellent dinner (the rest of the restaurant was still open to guests). They had a great dinner, a small cake, great conversation, and best of all they were happy. The couple weren't stressed, the family weren't stressed, there were no caterers to be stressed, it was stress free. They were happy. It was beautiful. So, whatever size the wedding my friends choose to have, I have two wishes for their happy days.

Wish 1, that they be stress free. Wish 2, that they be truly happy. Best wishes guys.

Question!

Okay, as per my political science reading, I need everyone who actually reads my blog to answer me this:

1) Why do you, or don't you, vote?

2) What do you think are some of the reasons for low voter turn-out?

Thanks everyone!

Extraordinary Ordinary

Today has been one of the warmest days in months. Everyone outside is happy, soaking up the sunshine. People are wearing shorts and t-shirts, but surely it can't last for long. We appreciate it while it does. While waiting at a traffic light, I noticed a couple across the street. They looked so happy, holding hands and smiling at each other. They were making the kind of smiles that mean you're smiling on the inside as well. It was sweet. But I noticed something. It wasn't like something out of the movies. Neither of them was perfectly attractive. They were okay looking. She wasn't a size 2. He wasn't David Beckham. They were your average students, maybe at the end of their degrees. They were wearing average clothes, had average hair, and her make-up was average. Everything was average, except their happiness. Their happiness was extraordinary. It was beautiful. So, in fact, the movies are lying to us. We think they reassure us, but they set us up to try and be what we're not. To try and make love what it isn't. It seems the most beautiful kind of love, has the appearance of ordinary. If only we could all be so lucky.

Not long until...

...my trip. My and my friend's trip. We're going to see so many countries, and it occured to me, I've already seen quite a few for my age. Countries Faith has visited:

-Canada...duh
-United States
-Scotland
-England
-Ireland
-France
-Italy
-Spain
-Switzerland


Countries that will be added to my list this summer:

-Czech Republic
-Germany
-The Netherlands
-Greece
-Austria
-South Africa
-Australia
-New Zealand

Exciting, exciting, exciting.

RA Interview and Thyroiditis

So, interesting mix of a day. I went to the doctor last week and had bloodwork done. They called back and said my TSH thyroid levels were unhealthily high, which means the opposite is happening with my thyroid: it's not working like it should. This has been an issue with the doctors for about ten years now. Some think I have it. Some think I don't. Some think it's barely high enough to be considered an issue. So, this time my TSH levels have risin to the occasion. When it should be a 5....it's now an 8. Not so great. But whatever. After stressing about it all morning, it turns out it is just like my mum says. One little pill a day makes no difference whatsoever. I mean, I've seen immediate family go through much worse problems, so really this shouldn't be an issue.

The funny thing is that my mum has a theory as to why I have thyroid problems. Are you ready? Wait for it....Chernobyl. No, seriously. She thinks Chernobyl. She might be right, but when you first hear it...it's kind of funny. Anyways, the radiation traveled all the way to the lovely Isles of Scotland, where my mum was when pregnant with me. Anyhow, there were radioactive sheep, and the water was contaminated. Long story short, I may have weirdly been affected by Chernobyl. Weird conversation.

Different topic. I had my interview for RA today. I think it went pretty well. They asked for loads of examples, some of which seemed to have the tiniest of differences. Well, I now have two weeks to wait until they make a decision. Fingers crossed.