Almost time to go!

Some of us at the Blarney Stone Saturday night.

It's Sunday night and I'm counting down to my departure for the land of pineapple lumps, jandals and pohutukawa on Wednesday! It feels like the last 7-odd months have gone quickly, but when I look back through pictures it seems a lot has happened since I first arrived and found work and a place to live. I'm going to miss the friends I've made here. I went out for farewell drinks at an Irish bar last night and am just a tad hungover today as we had to mark the occasion with the ingestion of repeat measures of alcohol beverages. I've made friends with people from Australia, Iran, the Czech Republic, Germany, the U.S., and of course a few Canadians! Several people have said they'd like to visit me in NZ which will be awesome!

I've been reflecting on things I've learned while I've been here. Some of the following are specific to Canada, others are more general. Here's a summary:

• Rain is actually quite tolerable when it falls straight down (compared to Windy Welly where it gets blown horizontal and umbrellas are a waste of time).
• It rains a LOT in Vancouver. No one mentioned that before I came over!
• There are lots of weird and wonderful people in this world, and they all take public transit.
• It's hard to find bread at the supermarket that isn't really sweet.
  
• They don't sell custard powder over here! Apparently it's more of an English thing.
• The minimum wage is really low ($8/hour) and temp wages are much lower than in NZ and Australia.
  
• It is possible to copy and paste between spreadsheets in a half-asleep state - you can run on autopilot!
• It is possible to have a "sugar hangover" the day following consumption of copious quantities of chocolate.
• If you're going to take your shoes off on a long-haul flight, ALWAYS put the free airline socks on over your own and no matter what you do, do not look down at the little rim that runs around the edge of the toilet cubicles. 'Specially not later in the flight. Dispose of socks with care at end of flight.
• Zip-loc bags are strangely popular over here. Everyone uses them.
  
• Seafood is not so bad after all, and in fact lobster, crab, and squid are actually pretty good!
• Unless you specify otherwise, hot chocolate is always served with a huge topping of whipped cream ("whip").
• A lot of Canadians are amazed that there is a whole country of ONLY 4 million people, southeast of Australia. One guy made a remark that I shouldn't be too picky about men considering the tiny population in NZ!
  
• Going to an ice hockey game is a lot of fun!
• Sub-zero temperatures are actually quite tolerable when there's no wind! I didn't freeze to death and I actually quite enjoyed the cold weather, though Vancouver doesn't get anywhere near the cold temps experienced in other parts of the country.
  
• Squirrels and raccoons are really cute and will come right up to you, looking for food. But you don't want to let them get too close because they can carry disease.
  
• Paddington Bear was right. Crows are evil.