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Thursday, April 16th, 2009
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10:18 am - Istanbul!
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This is just going to be a collection of random thoughts and observances. I may or may not post proper write ups from my trip somewhere else.
Flight from Vancouver to Istanbul via Chicago:
- no recycling at O'Hare! I was astonished.
- they did play nice blues music in the airport the whole time I was there.
- my seatmate was Johnathon from St. Louis. He had no idea the Canucks are playing the Blues in the playoffs.
- Gulay asked me to bring some Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Apparently the American Transportation Security Administration found this to be a suspicious package because they opened it, searched it, and then put it back in my bag with a note. I now have Aunt Jemima all over my backpack. At least I had the sense to put it in a compartment that only had other food items in it.
First impression of Istanbul:
- Vancouver is so multicultural that I think nothing of walking around a building and being surrounded by people who aren't fairskinned with light hair and who aren't speaking English. I have to remember that while the people here don't look different to me, I look different to them!
- so many car horns...
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| Sunday, October 19th, 2008
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3:51 am - Late night ramblings
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I just want to bitch about how much I fucking despise the night life in this city. Other than the perverse enjoyment I get out of telling guys who approach me on the dance floor to fuck off, I passionately hate clubbing on Granville St. I went dancing once at the Marble Arch and that was fun (they actually played music that I liked, and it was more than one song!) but now it's shut and I hate the pretentiousness of the hipster clubs. This city fucking sucks after 1am.
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| Thursday, July 17th, 2008
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10:54 pm - It's been a while...
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Today I registered for the first of three distance ed courses that I'll be taking over the next few months in order to boost my average for my BCIT application. It's a first year anatomy course and I haven't really looked it over yet but I did read the first page of the first module and suddenly being in student mode shot little shivers of excitement through me. I miss learning! Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, doing this at my own pace will relieve the stress of paper deadlines and exam periods (I'll only be doing one exam at a time). I really shot myself in the foot with the way I left UBC (I can't go back and finish my original degree, or switch to a different program like Pharmacy, without doing a TON of courses to raise my marks) but I know that BCIT will accept me next time around and I'm well set to go there in 2010.
As a side note, last week I went camping at Long Beach near Tofino. It was one of the best weekends of my life, and has been part of the best Vancouver summer I've ever had. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to travel around Europe this fall like I had originally planned to do before I came home, but this summer has been good enough to make up for it. I believe that my days off for August will be Wednesday/Thursday so if you ever want to go hiking or camping that's when I'm available. I`ll be out of work by the end of September so let me know if you know of anyone who is hiring (and who will give me time off at Christmas).
Tofino Sunset:
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| Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
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1:02 pm - Excitement
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My application to BCIT was not accepted (they want me to take some refresher science courses). This basically means that in 2009 I will be living pretty much anywhere other than Vancouver (or Scotland). Woot! Rejection has never been so exciting before.
current mood:  very excited
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| Sunday, May 4th, 2008
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1:39 am - The (near) future
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It's amazing how I spent six months in Glasgow and pretty much don't miss it at all but whenever I talk to someone I knew while I was living in Mallaig I'm filled with great pangs of homesickness. I only lived there for 10 weeks and yet the village became a part of me.
I'm in the process of applying to BCIT for the Medical Laboratory Technology program that starts in January 2009 (the application deadline is the end of May) and there's a summer break from June-August next summer. If I get accepted to BCIT then I am going back to the UK next June. Hopefully Alasdair will be able to come with me, and maybe Brie and/or Celine will be around Europe/London, but even if I go it alone a visit to Scotland in June 2009 will be my reward for a successful first semester back at school. If that isn't a goal, I don't know what is.
current mood:  nostalgic
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| Friday, May 2nd, 2008
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2:05 am - This Summer
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Does anyone read this anymore? If you do, and you see anything on this list that you'd like to do, let me know.
Things I really want to do this summer:
Go to Tofino (Pat booked a campsite for July!).
Hike Mount Gardener on Bowen Island.
Go camping somewhere else, preferably near a lake.
Hike Mount Garibaldi.
Hike the Grouse Grind at the start of the season.
Explore either the Sunshine Coast or Saltspring Island. This may involve cycling and camping or hostelling and travelling alone or travelling with friends and/or any combination of the above.
Rent a kayak and kayak around Jericho Beach/False Creek/Stanley Park.
I'm so glad I came home.
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| Sunday, April 6th, 2008
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2:08 pm - Hooray for YouTube
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"Save the knoll" is the lamest protest chant I have ever heard. Give me a fucking break. I love the knoll, and more than that I absolutely ADORE the outdoor swimming pool at UBC and really don't want to see it gone, but what happened this weekend is just absurd. From YouTube video it appears as though the police got a little arrest-happy, but the students were being stupid for a) lighting the bonfire and b) interfering with the fire officer who was trying to put it out. There has got to be a better way to protest the excessive commercial development of campus.
P.S. To avoid any further LJ fueled confusion, yes Quinn, I'm back in Van.
current mood:  unimpressed
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| Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
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6:30 am - Does anyone actually read this anymore?
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In case they do, a really quick update - I broke up with Zander and I'm moving back to the Highlands (but a completely different area) on Monday. I'll post again in a while after I have settled down in a town with a job.
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| Monday, November 19th, 2007
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8:11 pm - Coming Home!
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I just booked a flight home for December 15th. I fly from Glasgow to Vancouver. It's four hours more than I've ever spent on a plane. I can handle a sixteen hour road trip no problem but I do NOT look forward to this flight. However, nine hours of discomfort will be SO WORTH IT. (Yes, I realize that most of you have had much, much longer flights than a measly nine hours. I'm a wuss, I know.)
I'M COMING HOME!!!
Scotland just wasn't at all what I thought it would be. The scenery of course, was as gorgeous as the guide books, but there's just nothing here culturally that makes me want to stay. I mean, the Scots are friendly as hell, don't get that wrong, but it's not my country, never will be my country, and I feel like I'm wasting time by being over here when I have such an amazing life with amazing people back in BC. Part of the point of being here was being close to the continent so that I could travel around Europe but I haven't even made it over to Ireland, because I can't afford it. My finances stink, and have done so since I arrived. I think what I really need to do is go back to school and get a job that pays significantly more than minimum wage so that I can afford to travel from Canada.
All you can eat sushi here I come!!!
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| Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
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3:46 pm - I have a job!
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As the subject line says, I have a job! I had an interview yesterday at the Euro Hostel in the Glasgow city centre and they called me this morning to offer me the position. Yay! I expect that once I start working and settle in to a routine I will be much happier in the city. I still need to find a flat but I'm not as concerned about that, as I have a free place to stay while I look for a place. The job is doing reception and shifts are 7-3 and 3-11. Pay is shit, just minimum wage, but hell, it seems everyone here pays minimum wage. In Vancouver there is sort of a tier system to the low paying jobs; ie, fast food is absolute minimum wage, coffee shops are usually a bit higher, grocery stores pay a bit more (especially Choices and Capers), and hotel and office reception type positions are a bit higher as well. Here, all of those types of jobs only pay the minimum. I think it may have something to do with the number of people looking for work in Vancouver compared to Glasgow. Regardless, I am very happy with the job despite the low pay. I don't have to buy nice clothes (they provide a uniform), I don't have to work in a call centre, I don't have to try and sell anything, and most importantly, I don't have to serve food to cheap Scots who don't tip!
P.S. You all need to update more (Alasdair, Jordie, Tristan, Sarah, Brie, for starters)!
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| Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
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1:57 am - Rachel's Scottish Adventures Continue...
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I'm off to Glasgow tomorrow. The pub I've been working at changed ownership today and the new people wanted me out of my flat this afternoon and couldn't guarantee me a job later this week so I packed my bags and I'm leaving for Glasgow first thing in the morning. It was a fairly spontaneous decision; I was expecting to stay in Mallaig for another month but hey, maybe these things happen for a reason.
I have FINALLY uploaded some Scotland photos. They're on my flickr page (username rachelempson) and on Facebook. They're also on my new Bebo page (username CanadianLassie). Bebo is to the UK and Ireland what Facebook is to North America.
The Knoydart Peninsula, as viewed from Mallaig Bheag:
P.S. Do you guys like The Gossip?
current mood:  anxious, excited, tired
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| Monday, August 20th, 2007
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4:16 pm - No Longer Homesick
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Thought it was time for another update here...
Actually, really I just want to tell everyone that I'm dating a local Scottish boy named Zandar. It's not quite at the stage where I can change my Facebook status to "in a relationship" (is that how we define our dating statuses now?? By what we put up on Facebook?) but we'll see where it goes. He's moving to Glasgow next week, and I was already considering going down there for the winter, so it's looking quite likely that I'll be living there by November at the latest.
My job is kind of up in the air right now because the pub is changing owners so I'm not sure where I'll be working in September. Possibly in Mallaig, possible in Portree, the main town on Skye, with the people who currently run my pub. Going to Skye would be cool for a month because most of my coworkers are moving as well and so I'd already know a bunch of people there. And also, Skye is beautiful.
I went to Inverness last week to get back to the urban life. Inverness is the "City in the Highlands" - and it's only about 50,000 people. Compared to 1,000 though, it's quite a lot. I was just excited to make it in to some charity shops for used books, go see The Bourne Ultimatum and eat a proper thin crust pizza at an Italian restuarant, with some absolutely fantastic tiramisu for dessert.
current mood:  happy
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| Thursday, August 9th, 2007
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5:29 pm - The Music Over Here
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I'm completely out of touch with what music is popular back home. If I list a bunch of bands that get regular, daily airplay over here, will you tell me whether or not you hear them much back at home?
The Kooks
Kaiser Chiefs
Amy Winehouse
My Chemical Romance (my coworker is OBSESSED with them)
Muse
Razorlight
The Zutons (have you ever heard their song Valerie before? I hear it almost daily, and it's over a year old)
Damn, I'm out of time at the library, I can't list any more. No one in Mallaig knows The Decemberists or Sufjan Stevens, never mind the likes of Sloan or Our Lady Peace or the Tragically Hip.
I'll have to continue this post later.
P.S. Things are still well.
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| Thursday, July 19th, 2007
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6:40 pm - Homesickness
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I'm currently in a pretty good mood, I'm at the library with a coworker and we've been on the internet for well over an hour so I've been able to get my fix and then some, and so I figure that this is a good time to tackle the issue of being homesick, since I'm not feeling it right now and thus my post won't be one big mopey whine.
This is sort of a question for any of you who have ever been FAR away from home for an extended period of time. Even Guelph didn't feel that far away from home, and Canmore was practically right next door, but Scotland is solidly located on another continent and it is not cheap to fly back to BC. Some days I am really quite content to be in Mallaig, but other days I do get lonely and wonder what I'm doing here and whether or not it's worth it to be away from the people I love for so long. Of course the idea is that I am meeting new people over here and seeing new things and that's the whole point of travel anyways.
I've heard that when you move to a foreign place it takes three months to get over the culture shock and another three months to settle in and feel comfortable. I've only been here for a month and a half, and I assure you I have no intention of packing it in and going home any time soon.
I'd mostly just like to hear other people's experiences with being away from home for an extended period of time.
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| Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
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6:49 pm - Further Scottish Adventures
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Damn, I came to this internet cafe with the primary intention of writing a big long post and an hour and forty minutes (and £3) later I've got twenty minutes left and I'm just starting now. So this will be a bit shorter than I had intended, and not properly edited for grammar/spelling errors.
So, Mallaig. I've been living there for three weeks now (I say "there" and not "here" because I'm down in Edinburgh for the night) and it's become home. This was most apparent to me when I left last weekend for a shopping trip to Inverness, met a boy from Sechelt who was working at the hostel who was cute and friendly but turned out to be a bit of a jackass, didn't get ANY shopping done and got all frustrated about Scottish fashion and how I don't like any of it and I hate shopping to begin with and I was on about 3 hours of sleep and I was homesick and miserable and hungry because I didn't have time to buy food in Fort William on the way home, and then the train pulled in to Mallaig and on my four minute walk (literally) from the train station home I ran in to a couple of different people that I knew and they waved and said "Heya" like they do in Mallaig and I felt glad to be home. (That run on sentance perfectly fits the mood I was in that day).
I spend the vast, vast majority of my time at the Steam Inn, either working, drinking, playing pool or some combination of the three. I get hit on constantly by drunk old fisherman and by 18 year olds who are shocked when I tell them that I am in fact five years older than them and thus they are too young for me. The teenagers are sweet, but some of the old men are absolutely shameless. I had one particularly drunk (and old) man yell out "I want your body!" when I was working one night, but usually it's just "hey gorgeous, can I have another pint of cider?" As tempting as old men and 18 year olds are, I would really prefer to find someone a little closer to me in age (five years older would work, but not younger).
As I mentioned, I play a lot of pool. I'm not very good at it at all yet, but I am thoroughly addicted. I think yesterday I played about ten games. My last game was my best, and I embarassed some young fisherman when I beat him and all of his mates were teasing him. I really intend to be a decent pool player by the end of the summer though.
I'm starting to make some actual friends, people that I think I could hang out with on a regular basis pretty contentedly. There's a lot of ecstacy in Mallaig. A shocking amount in fact. One of the guys does something like 20 or 30 pills of MDMA a day on a fairly regular basis. Apparantly it's super cheap. I haven't decided whether or not to try it.
Random note about the Scottish Highlands: There are a couple of RAF bases up north and the fighter jets use the Highlands and Islands as training ground. This means that randomly you will suddenly hear the screech/boom sound of the jets flying low overhead. It startles and irritates the locals and frightens the tourists, but as you might expect, it excites me and whenever I hear them I jump up to the nearest window to see if I can spot them.
Almost out of time, what have I forgotten to mention... I'm down in Edinburgh to get my suitcase from Orla and my hiking shoes are inside so once I have them with me in Mallaig I'll be able to do some proper exploring. Silly me left them behind, not thinking about the infamous boggy ground of the Highlands (you can NOT hike in running shoes). I'm excited to go to Skye and to the Small Isles or Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna. The views in Mallaig are gorgeous; I can see the ocean and the Isle of Skye outside my kitchen window.
Ok, time is up. If you want a postcard send me your address. Love and miss you all.
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| Monday, June 18th, 2007
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4:33 pm - Employment!
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I have a job! I found work in Mallaig, at a pub/restaurant. I live in a flat above the place (I suspect it may get loud on the weekends but naught I can do). Internet is limited to half an hour a day at the public library which is only open 2-4 hours five days a week. Last night I had my first bartending shift and I met a bunch of the locals. Mallaig is a fishing village so most of the regulars are all fishermen. They're good people for the most part and I enjoyed drinking with them after my shift. I tried my first dram of single malt whiskey and I can't believe how different (ie better) it tastes than mixed whiskey. I'm out of time on this computer. Hope you're all doing well. I'll post my address and phone number soon.
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| Saturday, June 16th, 2007
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11:39 am - From Mallaig
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I'm in a tiny fishing village of 700 people on the west coast across from the isle of Skye. It's gorgeous. Internet is a bit limited though. More later.
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| Thursday, June 7th, 2007
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12:09 pm - Stanley Cup Playoffs on UK Channel 5
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I was just headed to bed last night (at 1am) when I happened to hear the phrase "NHL" on the tv. I glanced up and lo and behold there was the pre-game show for last night's hockey game. I didn't end up watching all of it (I wanted to be out of the house before noon this morning, something I actually managed) but I caught the first period and a bit of the second. I knew that Ottawa wasn't going to pull it off when they scored in their own net so I went to bed. A few things I thought I'd share:
Channel 5 doesn't have commercials (I think) and so every time the game broke for ads the British announcers came back on screen with their analysis of the game. Impressively, they actually knew what they were talking about.
During intermission they were reading emails sent in by viewers and one person commented on how all of the American singers have been tone deaf wheras the Canadians have been great. They then showed clips of the anthems from the first four games. Two of the American singers fucked up the Canadian anthem (not as bad as Bryan Adam's debacle years ago, seeing as it's his OWN anthem) and good lord but Holly Cole was fucking awful. The clip they showed of Alanis singing in Ottawa seemed pretty good. Usually I am not so petty as to bicker over which country's singers are better at NHL games, but I do believe that this British viewer raised a very valid point.
The British announcers also discussed how the popularity of the NHL in the UK is growing (there's some sort of exhibition game or something in London in August? I didn't catch all of that part) but then went on to discuss how the NHL isn't succeeding in the US like it wants to.
Oh, and I'm in Edinburgh. Woot! Scotland!
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| Sunday, June 3rd, 2007
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2:44 am - Bah, technology
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I am trying to upload some photos to my travel blog so that I can make a second post (and one that is more interesting than "Southern Ontario") but for some reason it won't work on Alex's computer. I hate technology when it doesn't work. All of my photos are up on Flickr but they are currently friends only so most of you can't seem them.
Other than that, everything else in London is pretty great. I sure have lost my desire to write a half-decent travel blog though. It takes too much goddamn effort. Just get a Facebook account already and see my photos there. Except they aren't there, because I've wasted all my time trying to upload them to my other blog. Bah.
Scotland on Wednesday, I think.
current mood: irritated
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| Wednesday, May 30th, 2007
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9:34 am - London
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