Underground SkyTrain??

Picking up from my last post, I went back to the swimming pool the next day and had a swim. It was okay. But I woke up the next day with an eye infection! Can't be sure I got it from the pool but it seems like a strong possibility. I got some eyedrops to clear it up but it was really bad timing as I had my meeting with Opus in the afternoon. I was going to explain my bloodshot eyes and lack of makeup, but I forgot, so I hope they didn't think I was stoned or something!

The meeting went okay; they don't have any work for me themselves, but are going to send me a list of contacts for other consultancies that I could try. However it helped reinforce to me that I came over here for a change and I'd be quite happy to just do some admin work or something for a few months, as the main point of being here is to enjoy and explore Canada. We'll see. I'm going to try to talk to someone at the city council and see what they have there.

I noticed another thing that comes super-sized over here: laundry powder. It seems impossible to find any boxes smaller than something you could fit a small child into. Which is not very helpful when you've got to carry your shopping some distance home, and you only want a small amount because you're in a hostel or short term stay like I am at the apartment. In the end I found some liquid stuff that was a bit smaller.

I caught the SkyTrain out to Metrotown yesterday which is an enormous multi-level shopping centre. I want to know why you have to go underground to catch the "Sky"train - what's up with that, huh? To be fair it is on raised tracks once you get out of the central city but I still think it's funny. I spent about 3 hours at Metrotown and didn't even cover all the shops on one level. I bought one t-shirt, which I badly needed as my last minute efforts at reducing the amount of stuff in my suitcase before leaving NZ has left me with a rather odd selection of clothing over here!

I had some KFC chips while shopping and was alarmed to discover that they don't taste the same at all! None of that tasty seasoning on them. However they do have Poutine on the menu, which we don't have in NZ. It's a Canadian thing (from a particular region but I forget which one) where your chips are served with gravy and cheese curds. Really healthy! Not. But I'm definitely going to try it sometime - I've always liked chips with gravy :-)

Our internet connection at the apartment has been down for the last 3 days and it's driving me nuts as it's the main tool I need for job searching, finding a new place to live at the end of the month, and keeping in touch with friends and family! So I told my roommate I'm not paying him all the rent I owe if he doesn't sort it out, because the agreement was for utilities included. Right now I'm back at the hostel I stayed at for one night, using their wireless network.

I signed up with a local video store the other day and was amazed when they printed out the membership agreement on a dot matrix printer!! Old school! It's not the first time I've seen one here - they printed my visa document (that gets folded up and stapled into your passport) out on one too. There was something a little odd about watching the immigration officer in his high-tech bullet-proof vest ripping off the low-tech perforated edges of the paper!

I went out last night with Kylie and some of her friends from her hostel. Five of them have just found a house together so they were excited about that. They were a really nice bunch of girls even though they're all Aussies ;-) and it was a good night. Up until we went into this club and after having waited in the queue outside for a while, we made a beeline for the bathroom, and I was quite disturbed to see that there were obviously two girls in one stall, one of them nearly comatose and spewing, and her friend trying to get her upright and awake. The toilets were a mess and I refused to use them, and left to find a staff member who I told about the girl and suggested that she needed assistance. Of course it's not the first time I've seen someone who is a drunken mess, but it just killed the mood for me. The others couldn't understand it and said I needed to have some more drinks! Maybe it was all that work I did before leaving NZ on strategies for reducing alcohol related harm - perhaps it has increased my awareness of the issues?? In some places they are quite strict about not allowing you to order a second drink without ordering food (I think that's the law) but obviously people seem to find ways around it - I didn't see any food in that nightclub! It was also interesting that everyone entering had to have their photo taken along with a picture of their ID. So anyway I didn't stay for any more drinks!

Don't forget to keep me updated with news from home! Sorry if I've been a bit slow to reply to some emails but limited internet access has been a pain in the rear end. But I will reply, I promise!

Bye for now, J.