Starting chronologically, my Christmas was quiet as well. I spent Christmas Eve here my my host family, which was ok. Christmas Day, I went to my best friend in Canada's house (they own a great log house) We had ham, pork, turkey and they even bought me a lobster, as I mentioned that we had seafood at my house for Christmas. Yes, I shed a few tears, I must admit, but if you have to be away from home, it's lovely to be with close friends.
My New Years Eve was unorthodox for this little Clovelly girl, but it was amazing.
So I arrived in New York on the Friday night. I went straight to my hotel (not before getting lost on the complicated NY subway with a HUGE backpack). I stayed in a great place, not far from everything, that was part hotel, part hostel. I was sharing a room with 2 girls, a chick from Perth and one from Washington DC. After a wonderful nights sleep, I got up at around 9am and walked to 5th ave, did some window shopping, then back tracked to Times Square. I met these girls from my room at midday and we decided to spend new years eve together. All in all, there was the 3 of us, another australian guy from Canberra, a german guy and his girlfriend. WE had a huge lunch at this sterotypical NY diner, and packed ourselves with carbs, ready for the long wait for midnight. Around 2pm we headed back into the throng of Times Square. Unfortunately at that point, one of the girls had to go to the washroom, so she waited 45, yes 45, minutes for a mcdonalds toilet. We went shopping, I bought a lovely beanie. After this we waited, directly below Planet Hollywood. It was a great position, unbelievably crowded. I have never been so close to strangers in life. When I say close, I'm talking my hands were actually resting on other people, as there was nowhere else for them to go. At 5pm, the roads in TImes Square are sectioned off and we were able to walk onto the road. WE found a great posse, directly between the 2 ends of TImes Square, so we were able to see the TV (there was lots of performances throughout the evening) and we could also see the "ball". LEt's talk about the ball now. It is TINY. I'm not sure you can adequately describe how big, bright and raucous this place is. THe ball itself is only 6ft across, which in comparison to everything is positively miniscule.
And then... we waited. We waited some more. And then some. One must point out, that you cannot leave the section that you are barricaded in, so that means no drinks, no food, no washrooms, nothing. Remember, there is also no alcohol to numb the pain!
I'll be honest with you, I can be quite impatient at times and so by about 7pm I was very agitated. Luckily, I was with some very friendly people and there was a lot of entertainment. Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Puddle of Mud, P.O.D and some random american bands performed. To be honest, none of them were really my style, but we did have a HUGE singlaong to 'New York, New York', which I will admit gave me goosebumps.
Each hour, a celebrity was brought onstage to say "and there's only 6more hours to go!" but they were pretty B grade celebrities. Some American Idol people and a lot of others I didn't know.
At Midnight, I was speechless.
The confetti fell, the ball dropped, people hugged and I stood in shock. I spent New Years Eve in New York. I still haven't gotten over it to be honest. It was long, boring, arduous even, but holy shit, I've done it. I think travelling is a bit like that though. It shocks and surprises you, mostly because you don't realise how much something silly (like a little ball dropping) can affect you.
After going STRAIGHT to bed, I spent the next day in Greenwich VIllage, exploring NY's version of Surry HIlls/Newtown, which was great. I met a great friend, Larissa and her parents from high school for dinner and ultimately we got trashed. Cocktails all night, then after dinner, we had a horse and carriage ride through the streets of NY and then we migrated to an uber hip bar in Times Sqaure, where drinks were the price of a small house in Sydney. It was awesome though. The follwing day I caught a 12hour bus back to Canada.
Once I arrived in Canada, I was lucky enough to see Matt, my best friend. It was absolutely amazing. As you all probably know his family moved here in July, about an hour and a half from where I am living. They live in Ottawa. It was so good to see him (and them). We had so many plans to travel together, and they always fell through, so it was just unbelievable. Also, I haven't known him for that long and don't really know his family. I feel very special that they let me stay and get to know them. Originally I was only staying one night, but I ended up staying with them for 3. I didn't realise how homesick I really was, until I saw fellow Aussies and Matt. It was just brilliant to see them.
Now, I am back in Quebec. I am getting ready to leave here. I think my next destination will be Calgary for a few days, just to visit a friend and then onto Vancouver. I want to get a job and a place to live in Vancouver and start making some money.
SO, that's where I stand at the moment! Everything is plodding along nicely, financially I am starting to ahem, well, yeah, I need a job, but otherwise all is wonderful.Travelling has it's ups and downs, at the moment more downs than ups I suppose, but I think that is simply because Christmas and New year is family orientated in my house, so it's unusual for me to be away. It's amazing though, the opportunities that have presented themselves, and I'm so glad that I had the guts to tackle life and follow my dreams.
I hope that all of you have an amazing 2006, I can't wait to hear from you all, about how life is going.
