Christmas!

Carmella and I shared a wonderful Christmas this year, and a lot of it had to do with the generosity and love we felt from our families.

Everyone back in Ontario got presents together before Mom and Dad left for Australia in November, and we received a hockey bag full of the wrapped gifts before December even started!

Once December 15th rolled around, we opened the hockey bag and put the presents under the tree.  Here's Carmella with our natural tree, with Nisse!

And look at all the gifts we received!  We felt so happy to have them all, as we felt loved and appreciated (I know, I know, Carol said the same thing about her presents she was brought in Australia!) even though we're in a different province.

There were so many things we received that we can't list them all, but you can see in the picture everything that fit into the hockey bag!

In the picture you'll be able to make out a tent from Mom (wooo!  Carmella was really excited, as she's never had a tent before and always had to borrow them), a shirt from Kir to me, a Finnish shirt from Mom to Carmella, a sunflower calendar, a collection of exquisite teas from Minke to Carmella, a Risk Management world map (rating both security and political risk across the world from Erik), a number of gift cards, two beautiful decorative balls from Kirsten and Peter, loads of druppies and peppermints, bookmarks, an Olympic book from Mom, and Christmas ornaments.

Carmella and I were both very happy to receive a gift from Mom and Dad that was a donation to Haiti in our names, represented by the postcard in the middle of couch.

Not pictured is the wonderful pizza cutter that Carolyn sent from Australia with Mom and Dad. It got confiscated at the airport.  Apparently it was a really good one, and has no doubt been re-gifted by the airport staff, and is in the hands of a (hopefully) grateful punter who has been tired of ripping their pizza apart more than we were.  I bet those airport security check staff don't ever buy things they want, they just confiscate the items they're looking for then take them home!

Thanks everyone for being so thoughtful and generous!  Carmella mentioned during our present opening that she's enjoying the thought of having another family who cares for her, and she loved getting presents from everyone even though we're not married yet!

Today was Christmas, and Carmella made cookies in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went to Maple Ridge and had a wonderful meal with Carmella's mom and brother.  As always, we were treated to a great turkey, lots of mashed potatoes, Finnish casseroles, lox, squash, and many other things!

We then had a rousing game of Settlers that everyone enjoyed (especially me, as I was victorious, winning 10-9-7-7) because we all built a lot of cities and the Longest Road card was traded around a lot.  Everyone had good numbers and the opportunity to build, and we were all competitive in the game.

It was a great Christmas, and Carmella and I are so thankful to our families for their generosity and love!

Merry Christmas everyone, and thanks again for all the wonderful gifts!

Awkward Bus Ride!

So I'm going home on the bus, and there was a girl w blonde hair sitting alone. There were three of us on the bus.

The other passenger, a random guy sitting beside me at the back of the bus, suddenly stood up, went over to her, and started an awkward conversation.

"Hi! Are you a UBC student?"
"No, I'm in my last year of highschool..."

I thought the guy was working for a survey company or something, polling UBC students about transit or Christmas spending. I looked for a clipboard that he might be using to record responses, but didn't see one.

They continued on for about three minutes, talking about stuff like they were on a first date. He chatted about the sports teams he played for, and said he had "fond memories" of that and that high school when he attended there.

Then, expectedly, the girl suddenly stood up, said it was her stop, and got off the bus.

I guess I have to give the guy marks for having the courage to go up and talk to her, but I think he needs to work on his delivery! I was grimacing to myself at the awkwardness of the situation he created, and I bet the girl didn't find it any more comfortable.

She handled it politely, so that was good.

I just got off the bus and the situation is over. I bet the girl is now on a different bus, and the guy is wondering how another one got away.

In a bar, drinking alone.

I'm not there anymore, but I was earlier tonight.  And it's not as bad as it sounds.

For a few years, I've had this romantic idea of sitting in a dimly lit bar drinking neat scotch, watching blue smoke float its way past the dying lights.  I've imagined the kind of establishment that gets momentarily bathed in light when someone walks in the heavy door, but is quickly returned to its pupil-dilating sepia ambiance once the door closes again.

I've wondered what one must be thinking when they find themselves in this situation, and I'm certain the thoughts aren't the most positive. Loneliness, self loathing, boredom, and emotional pain are topics that I'm sure find purchase at a time like that.

In a weird way I've wanted to find myself in this situation, just so I could feel the deep, rich emotions that would go along with it.  They'd be tough feelings to deal with, but at the very least I'd find yourself experiencing the most that life has to offer.

Today in the bar was not one of those times, as it was only depressing in that it was raining and already dark at only 5pm.

Carmella was staying over in Whistler teaching a weekend snowboard camp, and I was walking home from the bookstore.  We hosted a successful engagement party last night, so I wasn't feeling like being social for two nights in a row.  I felt like watching the hockey game, so I ducked into a White Spot family restaurant that has a lounge section.  Being alone, I was guided to the corner of the bar where two others were already sitting.

I had a beer and a burger, and watched a period and a half of hockey.  During the first intermission, I took Douglas Coupland's Player One out of my bag and began to re-read the first chapter.

I was alone in the bar, but wasn't depressed.  I was somewhat bored, but not bored enough to dig up some social times for myself, and not desperate enough to head back to my house, not wanting to run into my roommate who I seem to always be at loggerheads with.

It was fun for about half my burger.  I was enjoying my alone time as I always do, but realized I enjoy it more if I'm reading, writing or running.  It's not that fun to sit in a bar alone, even if you're not depressed.

I listened in on the conversation the two other alone people were having.  One was a somewhat overweight 32 year old male, wearing a plain blue t-shirt.  The other was a 35ish female, wearing a sweatshirt that reminded me of Dad's Overland Express shirt; something that used to be stylish but because of its utility, never got thrown out or retired even ten years after its purchase.

The guy was quite intelligent yet had some social challenges, speaking more slowly than I was used to.  He was talking to the girl, who predictably brought her fiance into the conversation, saying that if he were here instead of Taiwan, he would eat her leftover yam fries.

I was hoping the guy would ask why he was in Taiwan, and he did.  Apparently he's a PhD geneticist creating strains of white rice from native brown rice.

I was also hoping the guy would ask if she goes to visit him much, and he did.  She just returned from a 5-week visit over there, but that was as long as she could afford to stay.

I was hoping that the guy would ask if there were plans for him to move back, and he did.  There were no concrete plans, but she was hoping soon.

I wondered what kind of relationship would require both parties to be so far away from each other, even through engagement.  I thought maybe they had careers that required them to be apart.  It fit for his case, but not for hers.  Staying behind for a career that allowed for five weeks off in October and November would fit, but then I couldn't quite think of what kind of career would have such a plastic work schedule.

My second thought is that they were believers who didn't feel comfortable making a living commitment before they got married.  I was soon proven correct, in at least half of my guess.  She mentioned they met at church, but didn't mention the reason they are living apart.

The Canucks started losing and I was no longer engaged in my eavesdropping, so I finished my beer, paid my bill, and walked back out into the rain.  I was happy to leave, because it meant I didn't have to endure the awkward stabs at conversation that my server/bartender thought were necessary.  It also allowed me to leave the conversation the two others were having, which had turned into a discussion about Chinese writing and language.  I wanted to jump in and correct both of them on numerous occasions, but resisted.

My night alone in the bar wasn't the emotional garlic press I've been waiting to have, probably because the bar was full rather than empty, well-lit instead of dark, and non-smoking instead of heavily socked-in.  I also wasn't soul-searching, but was instead quite content.

It was still an interesting experience, but didn't quite sate my desire for the dark, empty, smoky bar environment and the accompanying mental unrest.  Maybe I'll never have to experience that though, and I'll wager that will be a good thing.

DecapiCone

I've come across some interesting things while working in the Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty. Here's what holds our pens.

 

What I do at work.

Here's an example of what I do in my afternoon job.  I've begun to see it like a challenge, collecting arrears payments from people.  Here's an email I wrote yesterday, that ended well for us as the client will be bringing in her cheques tomorrow.

Hi X,

I looked into you file, and I have some unfortunate news, but maybe some you were expecting about your EPP payments.

You received your pass on January 1^st, 2010.  Your payments were good until May, 2010, when we only were able to deduct $35.25.  You gave us cheques for May’s balance of $35.25, and also $70.50 for June’s payments.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get cheques for the remainder of the year.  July, August, Sept, Oct and Nov payments are missing.

Your arrears account is now sitting at $352, as we paid for you pass during that time.  If you’d like to continue in the program for 2011, we’d need a years worth of post-dated cheques that we’d cash one month at a time. 

We’d also need to recoup the missing payments, and we could arrange a payment plan with you if you’d like.  An example of one such plan would be paying an extra amount on each of your 2011 cheques (and 1 Dec 2010 cheque) that would slowly but surely chip away at your amount owing.

Tomorrow, December 1^st is the last day that I can terminate EPP members for the start of January 2011, meaning that your pass would be good until Dec 31^st, but not for Jan 1^st, 2011.  If you choose to terminate, we’d only have to work together on your arrears payments and not the 2011 pass payments.  Please let me know by tomorrow if you want to be in the program for 2011 or not, and how you’d like to proceed.

So, this is what I do.  I like it because I get to interact with people from all over campus, and there's a challenging aspect to the work.  Not all I do is about collecting money, but it's a major part.  I enjoyed this interchange because it ended well (if she does actually come and bring in her cheques!)