Whoa- crazy cut Asian guy, welcome to the gym

Two days of close to non-stop activity have left me in a bit of a blur. So yesterday I got together with my GALA group for workshops (which were all a bit of redundant information) and then in the afternoon we got a BBQ (YAY! FREE FOOD!) and in the evening many of us purchased tickets for the Winter GALA classic event. Now, I got there pretty close to after it starting and by the time I got to the front of the line to enter the arena they told me that all the slots for games had been filled *sad face* but there was still free ice skating. I opted out of the skating because my ankle is not 100% and I didn't want to mess it up more because I plan to start the gym full on next week. I took some photos and played some table hockey and ate lots of food...well, not lots but food that wasn't the best for me.

 Sledge Hockey- it's played with a ring and straight sticks rather than a puck and traditional hockey sticks.

Human Bowling: Insert one human into a sledding disc. Put helmet on human head. Push human across the ice towards two litre bottles that services as pins. Human attempts to knock as many down as possible and then slams into the wall behind the pins to stop.

There was dancing at the pub on campus after but I didn't go. I came home to shower and was utterly exhausted. So I stayed in. I felt a bit lonely. I understand that this is normal and I'm resisting the compulsion to do something stupid like get a boyfriend. I'm strong and I'm sticking it out and putting myself out there to meet new people.

Today: I got up and went to a pancake breakfast hosted by the International House. It was awesome I got berry fruit topping and delicious coffee. I met a Stastics major from Germany (whose name I cannot remember) and an Enviornmental Science major named Carlo from Florida. A young man from my group named Max (who I haven't decided if I care for or not- he seems slightly too pretentious for my taste) who is from Germany joined us. Max had been to San Diego and Santa Cruz both this past summer as he made his way up the coast to Vancouver. I chatted with Carlo about drug policy reform (in the lightest of all possible ways).

On my way out the door this morning the parents of one of my apartment-mates arrived. They are from Calgary and they were really nice. Yes, they did say eh quite a bit. Which compelled me to say something because according to my Canadian culture workshop from yesterday "eh" is the equivalent to "don't you agree?" or "Correct?" The apartment mate's name is Kate. She is a theater arts major and is super sweet. She and I seem to have similar temperments- we both like our downtime. My other apartment mate arrived later this evening. Although I cannot remember her name I can tell you that she is a Theater Arts major from Maine (in the U.S.)   with a concentration in Stage management. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I've been a little bit on edge/tired/drained or the fact that I was just getting back from the gym or the combination of the two but I haven't yet decided how I feel about her. We'll see.

I went out and did some shopping today. I bought somethings that I really needed including: a manicure set (mine disappeared in transit), some gum, a rain jacket (I couldn't believe they had one at the Salvation Army) some shoes, a heavy winter coat with a hood, a laundry basket, spoons, a knife, some produce, toiletries, gum, and some chips ahoy 100 calories pack for my "off days." And while I was out shopping I walked past this sign:

 

Bride to Be= You Can't Beat Vera's Meat

I went to Granville Island- which turned out to be very boring. But I ate some butter chicken (what was supposed to be spiced but I'm not sure where), bought some HUGE nectarines, a big crate of cherries and some granny smith apples. YAY! I also sat down and had two older gentlemen from the Czech Republic join me at my table. They got some food from the Croatia restaurant in the Public Market at the Island. They were really nice and didn't bother me too much- but they kept feeding the damned birds. I assured you the pigeons here DO NOT need to be fed. They were fat. And the pigeons on campus are borderline aggressive. 

True story: I was sitting on a bench yesterday eating some pizza and this pigeon comes over and starts lookin' at me. Watching me eat, and hoping I'll throw some crust it's way. I don't, because- it's MY crust and it's damned good crust too. But this pigeon keeps getting closer and closer to me. Then it jumps up on the bench and starts inching towards the plate that has part of my pizza on it...and it's like a little kid who moves towards something they're not supposed to have and looks at it's caretaker to determine whether or not they are crossing a boundary....and I almost left the pizza there to see if the cheeky little bird would have balls enough to steal my pizza but instead I picked up the pizza and ate it- while I taunted the stupid bird. I'm mean.

So anyways- wandered around Granville and tried to find a suitable replacement for Obama the Bear- with no luck and went into a coffee shop after dinner and walking for a dessert coffee- soy white chocolate mocha. I sat in the most comfortable chair and had this really sweet view of the pond just beyond the building.

 

mmmmmmmmmm delicious AND beautiful.

 

ON the way back I ran into Jilly (who is from my GALA group) and we chatted on the bus. When I got back to my apartment I decided to go to the gym at the Commonsblock (the big gym on campus that I pay for closed at six and it was coming up on 7.30 at this point) so I went and did a light work-out. It was nice because I had some pretty intense feelings of loneliness while I was out today. I went to Granville with a large group but really wanted to wander on my own so that's what I did. But after an hour- it got a to be a bit much. So I needed an endorphin kick. And while there I got a little bit of one, broke a little bit of a sweat and watched some totally buff and cut Asian guy workout on the weights. It was kind of intense.  

 

...I'm really tired...so I'm going to bed....without re-reading this. So, that's the explanation for typos or failure to be clear.