Ooot and Abooot

I think people are utterly shocked when I don't pronounce "out and about" the supposed "Canadian way" nonetheless, they tell me that I apologize too much for stuff I'm not doing and I say "eh" too much. I guess you never realize how true some stereotypes are, especially the ones you engage in, until people bring it up! In fact, now my friend says "Oh Canada" every time I do something Canadian, it's shocking how often I hear it during the day.

Continuing, it's a little sad that I've only met 1 Canadian since being here. However, it was a pretty glorious moment. It was about 2 am after a night out and I was ready to grab McDonalds and go to bed then ran into this guy at the ATM machine and my friend told me he was Canadian. Naturally I go up and ask him, sure enough he has a Blue Jays hat on and we immediately became best friends. He loves the Jays and he's from Edmonton, so funny! The night couldn't end there, so we all went out for some more drinks and reminisced about how much we love Canada and whatnot. It was heart warming, but that was the end!

 

I only know two other people in that picture

It seems that even 17874.69 km SE of my wonderful older sister, I still cannot avoid the awesome-ness that she holds. Working one night at the restaurant, I was serving dessert to two older gentlemen who were business partners. After much conversation with them I find out one is from Scotland who has worked many years with Molson, in Mississauga. So naturally I mention that my sister is studying in Scotland right now, completing her masters degree. He first asks if she's at Heriot-Watt University and I corrected him saying University of Edinburgh. You would have thought I hit him with a frying pan, the face he gave me. I already impressed him with that and when I told him she's one of two students in the Biomechanical Engineering program he nearly fell off his chair. To say he was astounded is an understatement. So, Steffani, congratulations once again, you are one lucky gal and an extremely smart cookie! And he went on and on with all the accomplishments the University has under their belt, an impressive school to say the least! I'd link you guys to her blog, but I don't know if I have permission since hers is password protected! But maybe she'll read this and give me the go ahead :) she has pretty neat stuff to say about Scotland! and she'll be going on more adventures soon during her reading week!

 

 

In other news, everything has been going wonderfully. Getting really close with all my friends at the hostel and at the restaurant, really really happy! This week we celebrated a roommates birthday as well another roommate leaving for a different hostel to work for accommodation. Really sad because I was the closest with her! But she's still only 20 minutes away, so I can still see her whenever possible! It's crazy how many people are wanting to do work for accommodation, literally each time someone has left another girl is put into the room the same day because there are that many girls waiting to get in. I don't blame them, it's a great way to meet people especially when you're travelling alone.

I went to this event in Auckland called Pacific Showcase (http://www.pacificshowcase.co.nz/) with one of my roommates and her friend. It's a free entry festival where you can taste local cuisine, buy goods, listen to music, etc. They had amazing things to buy and the food was incredible! I definitely will go again when they're back in Auckland in March. One of the highlights were the huge murals they were painting throughout the day as well as the ice cream in the pineapple!

My favourite mural, because I absolutely love sea turtles:

 

 

 

 

Enjoying my half pineapple and ice cream on the pier :)

 

 

More updates to come within the next day or two, had a little adventure at the aquarium I'd like to share! As well as valentine's day surprise from my mommy!

 

love