like going home for two hours

yesterday started off as a bit of a jonah day...flat tire, cut finger, sweaty....you know. but it ended up being a rather productive one. its been really warm here (apparently because of all the madness happening in the gulf) and i almost didn't need a jacket last night.

but the highlight of yesterday was going to the arcade fire show...absolutely brilliant. i met up with chris, rich (#3), matt and darren had a drink and then headed for the show. there was one extra ticket - that i got 'cause i'm a girl - and chris waited outside to see if he could scalp one. they were originally asking £50!!!! for a canadian band???!! something is wacky. i think he ended up paying £30.

the show was amazing and crazy and probably the sweatiest i have ever been in my life. i've been to some crammed venues before, but the academy has absolutely no ventilation and lots of people. but don't worry mum, there were lots of emergency exits.

...felt like going back to montreal for a couple of hours, it was really quite something.

british for a day

bank holiday weekend...what fun.

saturday was a quiet one, but i finally bought some canvas and started painting. it seems the thing to do in the uk is to sell your art on ebay, so if i ever produce enough stuff that's what i'll be doing. canvas here seems quite expensive, but i was told yesterday that there is a chain of art stores, there just might not be one in liverpool.

on sunday i was officially british for a day...at least that's what it felt like! harriet, sofian and chris invited me to come with them to north wales for the day. we headed for abersoch amongst the holiday traffic and had a bbq on the beach. the guys were in search of a surf school and waves so we drove a little further to hell's mouth. now, i do have to say that it was quite cold (long pants, long shirts, shoes and socks) but sofian and i were crazy enough to put on our swimming costumes and run into the FREEZING cold ocean to go diving into some waves. chris was lucky enough to have a wet suit and harriet wore the top of a wet suit so i think they were probably a tad bit warmer. after noticing that my legs were quite red i ran out and dried off.

on the way home, we stopped in caernorfon looking for some food, but ended up in conwy eating fish and chips (with tea!) by the harbor in front of the smallest house in britian. needless to say, i slept very well that night.

on monday i slept in very late and then received a fab phone call from the wonderful j9...so good to speak to someone from home as i was having the "man, i just really want to talk to someone who knows me" moment. later on met up with jo and her excrutiatingly cute friend ian at the matthew street festival aka the largest cover band festival (think coldplace, the repeatles, and definitely mightbe). as we were leaving the u2 cover band was playing, which made me think of sweet j9.

someone please remind me to stop watching crappy romantic comedies; they're depressing.

off tonight to scalp tickets for the arcade fire. i'll tell you, i never thought i'd have to scalp tickets for a canadian band in this city. oh yeah, going to apply for a job at starbucks today too. wheeeee!

canadanian invasion

this was the highlight of my week...(and i'm going to try and add as much brit slang as possible)

so at this bbq i went to last weekend with val & chris there was this bloke who apparently fancied me so sofian & harriet (the bbq hosts) invited me out with their crew last night. we started off having a few jars at the albert docks. i know that i'm being "set up" at this point, but i think they might think that i don't know. anyway, everyone is being very polite about it all.

so the bloke - also called chris, i swear every guy i meet in this country seems to be called chris or rich - sits down next to me and this is the beginnings of our conversation:

"i met one of your fellow countrymen today."

"oh yeah? i'm sure i must know him...canada being such a small country and all."

"well, i took his picture, hang on just let me get my mobile out."

...waiting...

and here is the highlight: it was picture of MIKE MYERS! mike myers....he's been haunting the starbucks on castle street for the past week. i knew his mum was from liverpool, but VERY cool...and a very good way to impress a canadanian girl.

probably shouldn't have gone out last night seeing as i haven't been feeling well and all, but i did need to get out of this house. it was good times, but i do have to confess to val that they did drag me into the blue angel. after hearing all of the horror stories it wasn't too bad as it was quiet and not too crowded. i can't believe they have blue slushies spiked with vodka. brilliant.

i also have to admit that i have indulged in one guilty pleasure everyday...beverly hills 90210 reruns at 2 pm on sky one. painfully addictive, but oh so wonderful.

still sickly

meh. still feeling kinda like crap...and now i've got the raspy voice to go with it. i called irene this morning to tell her i wouldn't be coming to see her and uncle bill tomorrow...don't want to get them sick too!

for all you boy crazy folk that i sent my flat pics too...that guy is actually my cousin's boyfriend, but i'm sure she'll let him know that he's got a few canadian fans ;)

one of sam's friends just bought a house in the area as she's starting grad school in september so i'm making the trek to ikea with her this afternoon to help her pick out some things. see, i am being useful in my unemployment regardless of how i may feel.

i made a big pot of carrot, ginger and orange soup last night after making the trek to asda to pick up some things and a stock pot (can you tell i'm getting tired easily these days? everything is a trek!) so hopefully with a bit of luck i'll be feeling better in no time at all.

it's bank holiday weekend coming up so i have the feeling that a lot of people will be out of town, either that or at creamfields (a music fest in the old liverpool airfield). i'm thinking of heading to manchester for a day cause i haven't done that much exploring there. and if the rain lets up i might take my bike on the train up the coast and do a little cycling...

that is if i feel up to it. going home to make a pot of tea...cause my teapots here now and i can do that.

good timing

my boxes arrived last week and last night rich was kind enough to drive me to moreton to pick them up from uncle bill (but he did get a home cooked meal out of it). so now i have all my little things...

including my soup cookbook which will come in very handy at the moment cause i'm all sick and sore throaty and tired...just a walk down to the asda and then i'm home for some soup cooking.

you'd be surprised at the things i found in that box...i can't believe i thought it necessary to bring my flashlight. bizarre.

british germs

well, i wasn't quite in my normal "must fight off these bad germs with lots of echinecea" mind set last week when sam was sick and i seem to have awaken this morning with one very sore throat and feeling a bit under the weather. i thought i'd kicked all the germs in the arse when i worked at centennial being around all those kids, but i guess there is a different breed to get used to in england.

so off i'll go to buy juice and any other thing that i think will make me feel better after i'm done spreading the germs all over the keyboard!

had a quietish weekend...val & chris came into town on friday night so they came to check out my place (they approved...i think) and then we went round to harriet & sofian's for thai take away. had a fun night drinking and chatting away. the next day i went back to h & s's for a bbq, which was good times. i didn't drink too much though as i was riding my brand new (well, second hand) purple stealth classic bicycle.

on sunday it was beautiful outside and even though i was feeling kind of crappy i took off for a ride to sefton park and parked myself in the shade to watch the people go by. the sunday papers are the "big" ones in the UK so i spent most of the day plowing through the observer.

i finished my macleans magazine in record time...when do i get the next one?

...and i love mail on saturdays even more!

top five things i love about england:
1) mail on saturday...especially when there's lovely parcels from elaine ;)
2) being able to eat penguin biscuits whenever i want (my new favorite saying on them is "why don't oysters give to charity? because they're shellfish!")
3) how none of the roads are designed in the traditional north american grid pattern
4) there's "good sky" everyday
5) bbc radio 6

i love mail

today was the most exciting mail day yet...not only did i get all of my banking information (hooray!), i also received a card and pics of brian, abby and jack, AND my first issue of macleans. that's enough to make a girl's day.

i was thinking about taking off next week, but now i'm not so sure. booking last minute can be expensive so i think i'll continue on the quest for a second hand bike and tour aroud liverpool a little bit more. its cost effective and i get to come home every night.

the prospect of going somewhere new right now didn't really appeal to me either. i had visions of being on the beach in san sebastien, but it'll be costly to get there. another time...

the joys of unemployment

yesterday....i went park hopping. it was too beautiful and although i went to town with the best of intentions to buy something suit like for job interviews, it was too crowded and all i wanted was a patch of grass. so i came back home, had some lunch and headed out for greener pastures.

i started out in wavertree park - quite close to my house - moved to sefton park - really big and very nice - and ended up at greenbanks park. greenbanks is probably my favorite as its a little smaller, has a little pond that is a ghastly colour but people still fish in it, and there are ducks. the only thing that would make it more perfect would be penguins;)

last night i watched the "shake hands with the devil" documentary about general romeo dallaire and thought back to the day at met him (and justin trudeau!) at my last conU homecoming. it still amazes me how human beings can be so inhuman. and i'm not just talking about the practitioners of genocide...i'm talking about the western world that did absolutely nothing to help (except for a few struggling peacekeepers and one determined and morally grounded canadian). after they had realised what *had* happened, no one bothered to be honest about the situation or really apologise. dallaire took so much of what happened on his own shoulders and suffered incredibly in terms of the emotional impact his experiences had on him. i only wish i could have as much guts and conviction as he does, because like many of you i'm worried that i'm all talk and no action.

maybe its just because i now have nieces and nephews and realise that yes, indeed, the world will go on once i've gone, but we've got to take care of this world. we really have to take more of a role to teach social responsibility to *everyone* (not just the youngsters) because the reality is, we cannot keep taking the stance that we can use up all we want in this world and just wait for someone to come up with a grand solution. the grand solution is individuals taking control, contributin, being aware of what's going on...the motto, if you will, of veteran's day is "never again"...i can't help but think it everytime i see such attrocities and inhuman behaviour, our planet slowly disintegrating, or life not being seen for the precious and wonderful thing it is.

well, there's my little rant of the day. probably not very cohesive or well thought out, but i'll work on that and get back to you.

we're getting there...slowly

i'm officially mobile...so go buy those phone cards 'cause you can catch me any time of day or night (if i'm smart enough to turn it on) at 01144 7929 906 811. best of luck with those international calls. i promise i'll go buy a phone card once i have a job and start harassing you all.

going to head into town today and enjoy the sunshine. we seem to be enjoying some good ol' fashioned canadian summer weather at the mo.

i went to visit uncle bill on monday for his 92nd birthday and got to meet his daughter irene from new zealand. its weird, i know, but you can tell at a glance everyone who's got a little bit of renfrey blood in them. job applications were drafted yesterday and i'll read them over later...when its dark.

announcing...jaimeson elizabeth archambault

BIG congratulations and felicitations to the newest 6 lb, 6 oz, 18.25 " long, member of the clan...

my sister karen had a beautiful baby girl on sunday, august 14th at 3:12 pm. papa glen calls her "just a little peanut."

and with all my nieces and nephews having such majestic and important sounding names they are all destined to be poets, dancers, artists and magicians...

weekend round-up a la call center

it's been a while since i've had to round up a weekend, but here goes...

friday evening sam came home from work and we grabbed some grub before heading to the office party. apparently the food there was supposed to be crap and karen always told me never to drink on an empty stomach. we arrived to tha backyard of one of the office buildings (which was green and pretty) and headed straight for the open bar. met a few people, explained why i was in liverpool (darryl - i need a t-shirt!) and then parked ourselves with her team who were super nice and hilarious. we made 50p bets on how many people were at the party...my event planner skills failed me as i was drastically wrong. i bet 87 people when there were actually 106. bah.

we then headed off to the tea factory with kelly (sam's twin sister) for a few more posh drinks. that last pint really did me in and we stumbled home a bit later. the next day was largely spent horizontally as i tried to recover from my first night drinking in quite a while.

the next afternoon i was convinced by rich that more drinking that night was in order. so i headed over to the pink richs' house (rich lives with another guy named rich...and yes, they do have a joint bank account). had a few cups of tea to spur me on for the rest of the evening and then headed to meet some of his friends. we had a few pints at metro (not the quebecois grocery store) and then went back to the house to watch some television.

and this is gold....we watched "the littlest groom". picture "the bachelor" but with midgets. yes, this is what graces brit tv at 2:30 a.m. it was unbelievably funny and bizarre and even met a twist when they added 3 average girls to the mix. i know, i know, i'm going to hell for continuing to watch.

random canadian happenings....rich #2 finding a nickel on our table at the pub and a simpsons episode where all of the characters break into "oh canada" at the end of the episode.

advice for the day (said by a cabby last week)..."give 'em hell."

well, so much for playing tourist yesterday. i think i wandered around more and just looked at stuff. i did go to the tate, but only checked out the permanent collection because the summer of love expo looks like too much fun to see alone. its around until the end of september in any case.

the day started out in front of the liver building stretched out on the grass on "canada boulevard"...that's right...."CANADA boulevard." we're everywhere in this city i swear it.

i didn't have that crazy of a day and didn't feel overly cultured at the end of it. everyone is on school holidaze at the moment so it seems crowded absolutely everywhere.

i'm off for what i suppose is my first official night on the town this eve. sam is taking me to her office party where you pay £5 for all of the booze and food you can eat.

yes please...time to retoxify.

dare i go for a ride in the open topped double decker tourist bus?

let's see if this is a little easier to read...what can i say, i like small fonts.

i'm off to play tourist today as i've feel i accomplished many mundane things in the past few days...job apps, banking, fighting with mobile companies...and i need a day off. thinking of wandering down to the tate and checking out the summer of love show. i think its going to turn out to be a beautiful day so i might just park myself in a park and read. the joys of being unemployed in summertime.

i went to see charlie and the chocolate factory with sam last night. it was SO bizarre and wonderful. very whimsical and dark as can only be expected from tim burton and johnny depp. but i kept laughing to myself - well actually out loud - because willy wonka's character played by depp has definite goldmember/mike myers qualities. he's says "yah" and "really" just like him. i couldn't contain myself.

so reminders of canada are everywhere you see. in movies, conversations at pubs about neil young, realizing that everything i bought at ikea was red...

alright. i'm going to go get me some culture.

le post premiere

i know its been a long time coming, but i've been trying to respond to all the e-mails i've been receiving before starting up the blog. and now that the e-mails have slowed down a little i can take the time to "post" instead.

everything still feels really wonderful and vacation like - what the expert ex-pats like to call the honeymoon period. i had my first major fight with liverpool on monday as i tried in vain to get a mobile phone. i HATE bad customer service and was blasted by it all day long. no mobile contract, no laptop cords (sorry darryl, but you got me the EU one, not the UK one!), no AC adapters for my CD player, no nothing. and of i course i thought it was all because of my canadanian passpost.

but thank god for small pleasures like having my own room, putting my art cards up on the wall, finding my bargain batteries purchased before leaving home, and for sam who has given me her old mobile in hopes that i can sign up for a pay as you go.

i successfully completed 3 job applications yesterday, which is quite the accomplishment. so fingers crossed and i might be working before septemeber roles around. august is "holiday making" time in the uk so i might have to wait a little longer for response than any other time of year.

but that's okay...as of today my money will officially be in the bank.