A Girl, a Bar, and a New Experience

This weekend was filled with firsts. My first dorm party, my first time to a bar, and my first full beer, along with other things. Let me start at the beginning. Friday night my friend Maggie and I went to a pre-gaming party which is where you drink alcohol in preparation of going to a bar or a different party (a bar in our case). The party was in our friends room upstairs and it was pretty chill. After spending about an hour there we finally went out to the bar. The bar in question is actually located on campus and is called The Pit. It was Sunglasses at Night theme so we were obliged to wear the neon sunglasses that were provided to us when we walked through the door. What followed was a slew of average bar related activites. We played pool, a guy bought us drinks, we danced, and we went home. For Maggie's view of the evening just look here.

Saturday night there was a get together of sorts in our friends room where we went and had a few drinks. This was the scene for my first full bottle of beer followed by a second one. I must note that it took me well over 4 hours to drink 2 beers. Apparently this is not "normal" but it is also not a practice I plan on continuing because I found beer disgusting. A few funny videos and some music later I called it a night and crawled into bed. So ends my exciting weekend of firsts. I hope everyone else had as exciting of a weekend! Have a great day!

Yesterday was Winds-day!

Yesterday much to my delight and horror was an Oregon rainy day. For those that do not know what that means let me inform you. It means that the rain is coming down in a nice steady drizzle, the sky is as dark as can be with no sign of letting up. It reminded me of home (to my horror) but gave me a chance to wear my raincoat (to my delight). However, I would have preferred snow to the rain. Today compared to yesterday has been a peculiar day indeed. The sky has been a grayish color all day. It appears like it could open at any moment and pour down on us but as of yet it has taken pity on us poor people.

Also, thank you Gopher for my lovely title. It describes the weather here on the island to perfection!

Oh... Canada

This is a video by the artist Classified. He is from Halifax, NS which is the capital of the lovely province where I am. I was shown this by my friend Amanda's roommate and now I thought I would share it with you.

One Week Down

I have now been here in the land to the north for over a week. This may not seem like such a long time but for me it has seemed much longer. In this time I have started classes, made friends, and been on some wonderful adventures. This weekends adventure was my first Canadian mall filled with all sorts of goodness!

The lovely Mayflower Mall in Sydney, NS

Yesterday I had my first experience at a Canadian mall and it was about the same as an American mall. There were stores that had different names but in essence they were the same as the stores back home. There was your electronic store similar to Best Buy (Future Shope), the department store like JcPenny's (Hudson's Bay Company or The Bay), and the coffee shop similar to Starbucks (Tim Horton's).

The Bay where I bought my mittens

My first Tim Horton's

My favorite purchase of the day would have to be the mittens that I bought at The Bay. They are red with a white maple leaf on them. They are also lined and extremely warm. Well why don't I just show you what they look like on me and my lovely friend Maggie.
So ends this weekends adventure! I haven't planned next weekends excitement yet but if anyone has an idea be sure to tell me. I'm always looking for a new adventure. Happy travels!

Made it!!

If you didn't know it I made it to the northern land of Nova Scotia, more specifically to Cape Breton University. The 13+ hour journey was not as bad as I was expecting and could have been worse. My luggage showed up for customs in Toronto and it made it through Halifax to arrive at the Sydney Airport on the same plane as me. I got to campus and got checked into my room with very little problems. This was the view from my room that first morning when I awoke:

Isn't it beautiful? I have now had all of my classes and I think I will survive through all of them. I hope everyone is having a lovely week and enjoying whatever type of weather they are privileged to have.

All my bags are packed

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go"

This is one of my favorite songs and with getting ready to go I think about the meaning behind it. So I leave it here for you to ponder.




All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The taxi's waiting, he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could cry.

Chorus:
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go.
(oh, baby, don't let me go!)
I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go.

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, I think of you
Every song I sing, I sing for you
When I come back, I'll wear your wedding ring.

(Chorus)

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Then close your eyes, and I'll be on my way.
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say,

(Chorus)

Winter/Spring 2011

My next adventure is coming up. This adventure has more to do with school and less to do with major travel but it is still a new experience that I am greatly looking forward to. For the winter/spring semester I am participating in an exchange program, specifically NSE or National Student Exchange. This program allows students from specific universities across the USA and Canada to go to another participating university for up to a year. From this description you can conclude that I am not going on another European whirlwind trip. I am however going to a place very unlike mine.

Enough with the suspense, I shall tell you where I am going. I am heading off to Sydney, Nova Scotia. Many of you might be wondering where in Nova Scotia is that and I will tell you. It is on Cape Breton Island in the north of Nova Scotia. I am going to be on the edge of the world. I'm going to be about 3,941 miles away from home, should be fun.
This is the Island of Cape Breton. If you have any advice for me I would greatly appreciate it. I hope everyone is enjoy the start of fall and stays safe. Happy travels!