Home?

OH! So happy to be back in the city. It's so busy and there's a million things I could do. So far I've amused myself by riding my bike to the CPAR office to pick up some stuff for the interview on Friday, on bloor near dundas west. I'd never been in that neighbourhoodand it's so nice to ride to! On my way back i went through little italy, then china town (to look for work shoes and buy vegitables) and finally up to Robarts library where I am now. I'm getting all my admin stuff done before I go to swim practice at 6 and then to meet Jen andElla for beers because she's leaving tomorrow.

I've only been back a moment but already I'm in love with the city again and everything's in full swing. I mailed the letter and chequeto the government today to start to find my birth mother, which shouldbe another interesting part of the summer.

Hurrah for unlimited things to do (even if they aren't involving mountains or oceans), and what seems like unlimited time to do them in.

Victoria and area is full of lovely things to do that one doesn't do anywhere else in the same combination. I've been here for a little over a week, and I've been busy doing nice things, because that is what one does here. Today was no different, as my mum and I went up Island to some of the local wineries for a bit of a wine tour. We started at the one pictured above, where we had a delicious lunch of crab cakes and creme brulee, and a cheaky little Damascus wine. Our next stop advertised that "visitors are always welcome to ... share our salmon stream and sunlit vineyard views". Mum and I joked with the guy behind the tasting counter (who was actually their landscaper, but was for some reason leading tasting tours today) that we were actually there for the salmon stream and not the wine. He looked at us strangely, and eventually I convinced him to let us take a look at it. As it turns out, "sharing" the salmon stream involved a precarious hike down and extremely steep and slippery slope. And there were no salmon. By the end of it I was muddy and unfit for further wine touring. I should have taken the fact that the vineyard was far from sunlit as a sign. We made one more stop before we returned home via the scenic route, with no less than 12 bottles of wine. I think my current glow is less from the alcohol and more from an entirely well spent day and recent pleasant activity.

Cowichan Winery Tour

Kate and Salmon Stream

Dance or fade out 

Smells like BC

In Victoria once again. This happens more than I predicted when I left for Toronto two years ago. Every time I come back there's a different emotion. This time I feel more at peace with the whole deal- I'm not trying to viciously reject my roots as much as I once did. But everything is sort of hazily and eerily familiar: I keep thinking that I"m going to run into someone I know, and that I won't recognize them, yet everyone I come across looks sort of familiar. It smells and smiles like Victoria, and the flowers and wind and water are beautiful. It would be so easy to slump into HOME LIFE, but I'm determined to take advantage of all the good things that I use to brag about the West. So, tomorrow if it's nice I'm booting it down to the beach in my spanking new bikini after a coffee and some italian pastries with my father. I am happy to be back in a large part because I am so happy in Toronto- you'd think it'd be the other way round.

If you're from Victoria, you may as well give me a call.

Spah-dina

The summer has begun. It's been a crazy transition from school to no school...no school for 1.5 years! I finished my last exam on Friday, and then went straight into party mode. The whole evening was great, with dinner, drinks, good people, and then the bar. I went to bed late and woke early for work, and of course the day was complete crap, but for some reason I like a good hangover once in a while. It lets me know I'm alive! I got home after work and spent the evening PACKING everything I own (which, when organized, fits into a space of one meter by two meters) before the house invaders (new tenants) arrived the next morning. By 12am I was about to lose it- exam (no sleep), party (no sleep), work (no sleep), packing (no sleep)= anger and irrationality. In a serendipitous turn of events, I managed to use the house invaders van to get my stuff to my new place, and so quicker than I thought I have a new home. It's a great location (close to everything), and the interior is pretty good too. Since the move I've had a couple of two to four hour naps in between dropping friends off at the airport, goodbye breakfasts, lunches, dinners and drinks. It's finished today, and I started my "real" summer life about two hours ago. If start as you mean to go on applies, I'm excited and ready for this summer!