The Odyssey

Life In Canada

cardz13 — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:56:00 GMT

So here we are. It's been a long time since the last entry so I'll try and fill in the important details. The travel after camp had everything from new passports to Harry Potter and ice wine.

So after many anxious weeks I finally got my BRAND NEW PASSPORT in NYC! Many thanks to the Collins family for putting me up, I'm forever in your debt. Armed with my passport; Gaz (welsh mate from camp) and I joined up with Benny Falkland-Brown (Melbourne mate from camp) tripped it on the mega bus to Boston and spent some chill time on a friends' porch waiting for Cyclone Earl to blow us away. We survived and left Benny to head back to Connecticut while Gaz and I made our way up to Vermont.

We spent the following week catching up with Camp Billings crew in the Upper Valley and then enjoying the loft apartment accommodation provided by Anne Hartman. It was great to spend a week in the green mountains away from the big cities and prepare ourselves for the travels ahead.

We then caught a train from Vermont to NYC arriving in the city with no place to stay and having to kill two nights before a flight down to Orlando, FL. Luckily enough we were able crash with Dave Peskin and after some late night wanderings catch a subway down to JFK at 4am to catch our 7.30am flight to Orlando. Many thanks Peskin!

After a sleepless night in NYC we arrived in Orlando and waited for Lydia Batham (British camp friend) to drive and meet up with our camp house mates for the next week; Elsa from Australia, Ethan from Canada and Natalie from NZ! After settling in we spent the following week chilling by the pool, reminiscing moments of the summer and taking in the tourist sights. We started with a day at Universal Studios of which half was spent at the new Harry Potter world. Gaz realised his dream and was selected by Mr. Ollivander himself to select his very own wand! In other news ... I conquered my fear of rollercoasters! We spent a couple of days at the Aquatica Water Park! On the last day Elsa, Ethan and I spent an amazing afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral. After a great week in Orlando we had to part. I left for Montreal with Elsa and Ethan to start the job search and find out what those Canadians were going on about.

I LOVE MONTREAL! What a great city! All the structure of a big city with that relaxed, Adelaide type feeling. Many thanks to the Kraus family for putting us up, showing us the sights of the city and the many celebrations including my first Shabbat and Canadian Thanksgiving!

I also made a trip with Elsa to Quebec City for a week to meet her parents and celebrate my 25th birthday! It was only a 3 hour bus ride we were magically transported into France. QC is a city of walls, fashion, baguettes and everything French. I was able to catchup with an old friend from Billings, Maryse Paquette. Maryse was able to show us the local sights which included an afternoon of wine and cider tasting on Isle d'Orlean and there we discovered Ice Wine/Cider. A winemaking process in which they allow the grapes to freeze on the vine and only after 3 days will they be picked.

After Quebec City we returned to Montreal in an effort to find a place to work in this beautiful city, but unfortunately I am not bilingual :( So once Natalie joined us in Montreal we started making plans to head west to Alberta and in particular Banff, a town of opportunity! We spent our final week in the city watching hockey with Patrice and playing pool with Cedric. Then Natalie and I made the flight out west to Calgary.

Well here we are in Banff! Its a beautiful place. The mountains are huge and covered in snow! Nat and I settled into the Hostel here with a job seekers package and should find work soon. We've done some exploring in the mountains nearby and from first impressions I know the winter up here will be life changing. Now that we've settled down I'll end this entry here. There's more job hunting to do, a weekend trip to NYC for the Camp Billings Staff Reunion and some skiing and snowboarding to do. To the family and friends I hope everyone is well and I apologise once again for my slack updates.

Much love and keep in touch.

Photos: Life in Canada

cardz13 — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:08:00 GMT

Moments from weeks in Quebec Province and the beginnings of my life in Banff.

Playtime is over, let the travelling begin!

cardz13 — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:37:00 GMT

So this is my first time blogging and I apologise for that but when camp is on I rarely have time for even FB or email.

I am now staying at a friends place in Huntington, Long Island chilling after a hectic 10 weeks of work, play and parties at Camp Billings! Highlights from the summer include 2 canoeing trips with rapids, a very short haircut from a girls cabin and a lost passport!

We had a great 2 weeks of pre-camp setting up the cabins, docks for the waterfront, weed whacking and having huge campfires at night!It was great to see so many new foreign staff fitting in so well and I got to catch up with some first time counselors that I haven't seen for years.

The campers arrived and it all systems go! We had a great 4th of july complete with a huge BBQ dinner and epic fireworks display. I was looking after Cabin Annex which is filled with 10 14 or 15 year old boys and 3 other staff CRAZY TIMES!! Running the Athletics program was heaps of fun. Spending everyday playing dodgeball, 4 square, bocce, basketball and some street hockey got a little repetitive but we changed it up enough most days.During the 2nd 2 week session I had a visit from mum and we spent a few days in a lake house high up in the mountains relaxing except for the night we got trapped by a summer storm!

Second month I moved down to the Junior Boys row and was in Cabin 9A which has 10 campers aged 12-13 and 3 other staff. By the end of 4 weeks everyone knew the words to The Waitress Song(by seth sentry) and Parlez Vous Francais! And just when everything was looking good I went and lost my passport on a day off! I searched everywhere for it and it was nowhere to be found. The last weekend was sad to see the kids leave but we were all desperate for a rest:) So we spent a day and a half packing up and celebrating the end of a GREAT summers work!

Now i'm here in new York City, My new passport application has been sent in and I'm heading up to Boston on friday for the weekend to chill with some friends and then down to DC for a few days while I wait to pick up my new passport. Once that is taken care of Elsa and I will meet up in florida with some more of the camp foreign staff and hit up the theme parks, then it should be time to head to Canada!! i cant wait to get up there and see the first snowfall! At the moment it will be Elsa, Nips(NZ girl from camp) and me looking for a place to live together. We are hoping for either Montreal, Banff or even Whistler. If anyone is around the Quebec City region drop me a line; I'm having some 25th birthday celebrations up there. Its gonna be EPIC!

That's all for now, hope all of you are having fun wherever you are in the world! I'll catchya again online soon.

peace and love.