Saturday, May 28, 2005

Little Perceived Differences # 1

Some small differences between Canada and Australia that I've noticed.

Canauckians really do attach 'eh' a lot to the end of their sentences. In a noticeable way. I mean, I had a habit of saying 'eh' at the end of my sentences back home but I would say it in one whole breath, for example:

" It was a good movie eh !"

Whereas, I've noticed Canuckians say it with more exaggeration on the 'eh', as in:

" It was a good movie .... ( wait a few beats) ehhh!"

If I was Canadian I'd plan to have the words " I died, eh ! " on my headstone after I carked it.
Jusssst playin with ya, Canuckians, dont feed me to the mooses ! Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Pizza slices are freakin BIG here. They're like two and a half times bigger then Aussie pizza slices.

Matter of fact, a lot of their food/drink/grocery item proportions are bigger.

The obvious: they drive on the wrong side of the road.. When I first arrived here it felt so awkward crossing the road. I would automatically turn my head right instead of left, to look for oncoming vehicles.

Drivers slow down in the middle of a busy road and wait for you to cross over, if you're in the middle. Aussie drivers just let ya stand in the centre and play a game of Frogger as ya look for a big enough gap between cars to scoot across. Though, perhaps they just did that because I had a 'deer in the headlights' look about me. Now I automatically turn my head left when crossing ( yay for me and my road survival, stay-outta-hospital-coz-I-have-no-medical-coverage'ness ! ). Yet I sometimes lapse and check the 'right' way as well lol.

They have squirrels ! Still wondering if the little critters bite ?

They dont have an accent, its me who does.Their accents stood out when I first arrived. But now I've stopped hearing their accent and started hearing mine. Even to my own ears I talk funny lol.Someone asked me my name the other day and when I told them they looked at me quizzically and asked " Thats an exotic name, how do you spell that ?"
"Um T...I...N...A "
" Oh TINA ! "
"How did it sound to you when I said it "?
" It sounded like Taynah or somethin.."
I've lost my accent a couple of times where, one example, I've accidently pronounced 'cant' and sounding out the 'a' like ya would pronounce it for 'can'...instead of how I normally say it, which is pronouncing it like we do 'car' ie."carrnt". Suddenly our way of pronouncing 'cant' sounds rude heh ( I was gonna type out the obvious word it sounds like but its crude and that word grates on me like nails on a chalkboard).


Some other things in short..

Ppl stand on the right side of the escalator and walk up/down on the left side. Probably in relation to the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road and cant break this habit. Image hosted by Photobucket.com

When they try to put on an aussie accent they come out sounding like a hybrid of South African, British and Kiwi.

Canadian temperature, weather-wise, feels warmer then Melbourne temperature equivalent.. A 17 degree C day here feels like a 24 degree C day back home.

My cat even meows with a Canadian accent.
Meooooow-eh , purrrrr-eh.

A lot of Canadian men treat their women a hella lot better then a lot of Aussie men.Not generalising and saying all on either nationality's part but I've noticed the differences with the whole attitude to the dating game. Canadian men seem to be more romantic, respectful,thoughtful and in 'wooing' mode... even after they've 'got the girl'.
From what I've seen from Aussie men ( in my own experience and in others I've observed )a lot of Aussie guys seem to think that the fact that they're going out with ya and willing to let ya hold their remote control ( when ya pick it up to wipe down the coffee table ) is romantic enough.... haha.

Anyway I'll remember the other observations and make more observations in other posts to come.

Later, eh !

Friday, May 27, 2005

300 + Channels...

... and tonight I finally came across an Aussie show shown on Canuckian cable tv !

Great Aussie show!

They dont just show Steve Irwin here haha ! Although, I suppose the characters arent a far cry from him and the stereotypical 'Dundee' character of which overseas'ers believe all Aussies act,talk and live like ...

At least it aint Neighbours *cringe*


Crikey !

:p

Injustice Served

Click on the link above ( post title ) to see the story I'm talking about.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Schapelle Corby was found guilty of drug smuggling, in a GROSS case of injustice, in a bali court yesterday.

You wanna know my gut instinct on this woman and this case ?
She was a young woman ,flying out to Bali, who got the surprise of her life when Indonesian security opened up her surfboard case and pulled out marijuana. She, most likely, reacted how I, my sisters or any of my friends would react which was :

This is a mistake and it will all be sorted out soon. Someone planted this on me and it wont be long until my innocence is established and I can go home.
Right after the dope was found, her demeanour seemed to speak that reaction in volumes.

My mum felt gutted watching this unfold because she saw her daughters in this woman. Knowing that she could have so easily been me, travelling on my own to different places and being vulnerable to bastards planting something in my suitcase. She spoke of how she would feel as a mother, KNOWING her daughter could not and would not do something like this and TRYING to make the public understand that she is not just talking as a biased mum ...but as a mother who KNOWS, more then anything she's ever known, that her kid is innocent. And wanting, needing nothing more then to shout angrily in the Indonesian authority's face and take her baby home.

There have been some that have said that an airport worker ( possibly someone in Australian Customs ) is responsible. The thought of someone on the 'inside' of airport customs taking advantage of their position and working in conjunction with a contact in Indonesian ( and other countries )customs does not surprise me.

I wonder how many unsuspecting travellers have had drugs stashed in their luggage by someone at an opportune moment before the luggage gets stored on the plane and removed by someone in customs at the other end, only to pick up their luggage at the carousel none the wiser ? The surfboard case that Schapelle had must have been a cinch to get into.
Pretty smart way to get this shit from one country to the next with not much risk to a few shifty customs employees involved making money doing this eh ?
The drugs enter another country and 'disappear and they make their money. If the drugs are found, by law-abiding airport staff, then the person who owns the luggage lands in the shit...not them.

Some cowardly piece of shit ( or more then one ) is sitting comfortably at home right now letting an innocent woman take a massive fall on his/their behalf.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Some Dreams

One of the things I want to do whilst in Toronto is write stories.
Or just one long story that could become a published novel.
I want to begin it here and complete it here, thats my goal.

I've been thinking of what I am going to write, where its going to be set and who the characters will be. So far I'm thinking it will be set in New Orleans, mayyyyyyybe in the 1930's or 1940's.
I want my women to wear fab-gorgeous corsets and I want it to have an erotic undercurrent.

Ideally I would write this book whilst living in New Orleans, soaking up its mysterious, romantic atmosphere, its colourful past and present. Listen to the beating hearts and souls of the people who once walked and slept, loved and had their heart broken within it.
Delve into Cajun and Creole worlds.
Follow the ghosts of Voodoo queens.
Its an old dream but a dream which still has oxygen, where a flame still flickers.

I have a sister-dream of doing the same in Tuscany, in some old picturesque villa nestled amongst its rolling hills or reclining on its coastline.
I want to sit at a table with locals and drink wine and eat mouth-melting, sumptuous Italian food with them and listen to their stories.
I want to take my camera, pen and paper and sit in the middle of a field and see and feel for myself why artists are so in love with Tuscany's sunlight, soak up the magical quality in this sunlight they so raved about.

Are these dreams realistic? Dreams are born in the womb of your soul where reality will never touch but where these dreams can eventually emerge dancing into reality.
Only when these dreams are nurtured and cultivated until they're strong enough to see the light of day and withstand the world you move in.

I have to stop this human habit of thinking in the box of 'feasible' and remember that life is to be moulded any damn shape I want it to take. Stop mulling on what is expected of me and go by the compass of my heart.

A New Day

I walked home after work yesterday ( I'm a 15 minute walk from work ), welcoming the fresh air and fading light of the day.
I walk through Mt Pleasant Cemetary which runs alongside most of my walk home and find its a peaceful, pretty place. One can see at least half a dozen squirrels at any given time in this cemetary and having not seen one up close before, I take notice of the little creatures and smile at their cuteness. The first time I spotted one, on my walk home last Saturday, I stopped on the path and watched it. It noticed me too and maybe, having not seen a strange, displaced Aussie before, it took notice of me too and started to approach me for a closer look at my 'cuteness'.
Lol.
I continued walking though because I wasnt sure if they bite/have rabies. Ahhh my Northern American creature naivety ?

As I was walking home I mused apon a comment that Maude made in my "New Country Blues" post; about having a peaceful,thought-collecting place when in a new land.
Well Mt Pleasant is a start, I've yet to discover beautiful peaceful havens this city has to offer. I'm sure there are hundreds and I cant wait to find them.

Taking Lucy to the vet today. I'm not familiar with the city really and never been to this area before so this should be interesting lol. I just went and bought a cat carrier and have to take public transport so wish me luck and hope I dont get lost with a distressed, on heat, cat in a bag.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Yucky Day Continued.

Why do people have to be so horrible to staff on the phone ?

Got to work today, after writing the last couple of posts, still feeling down and proceeded to 'get on with it' at the office.

A patient calls, one that I had spoken to the day before. She had called the previous day to reschedule her appointment from Wednesday to this Friday so I did my best to line up a massage with one of our massage therapists and an appointment with Sid, one of our chiropractors so that she could pretty much see Sid after her massage.
Later on in the day I realized that this woman was already in the appt book for Friday ( why did she not tell me this instead of acting like she was simply moving her appts from Wednesday to Friday ? ). Someone else in the office had already booked her in to see another chiropractor, Mila, after a massage with Krista. So I call her, leave a message on her answering machine about this and asked her to call back to confirm.
Today she calls and when I tell her shes seeing Mila she gets all riled up. I tell her that everyone is pretty booked out and this is the best we can do for her but she yells " NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" !!! pretty aggressively down the phone. " I dont WANT to see Mila, I want to see SID. HE is the ONLY one who sees me and its been this way for two years !!". Then started sighing and carrying on saying how unnacceptable this was, that we were mucking her around. I said as calmly as I could " I'm really sorry about this....what do you want to do... ?"
" Oh just nevermind. I'll come in for the massage only. Sid's gonna have your head ".
" MY head ?" I asked.
" Oh whoever makes the appts yada yada ..."

Gotta love copping the shit for other ppl's mistakes. Some ppl dont think about the fact that the person trying to help you on the other end of the phone is simply just a person getting through their day.... possibly someone who is having a bad day and has been close to tears all day themselves.

Guess My Accent Update.

One woman got it right yesterday and asked where in Aus I was from. Probably because she was in Aus and NZ for 6 months so she came to know how we sound.

Yay !

New Country Blues

I think thats whats goin on with me....

First the build up and workin my ass off in two jobs, running around like a madwoman trying to organise my move to Canada in stolen moments whilst AT my full-time job...

Then the excitement of being here in Canada.

Then I started a new job, got a 2nd job in about a week of being here. The office job is only giving me 20 hours a week at a measly $ 10 an hour before tax. The second job fell through because the office job kept me there until 7:30 and it just didnt fit in with the 2nd jobs hours so *plonk* went the bar job, in the toilet.

Yeah I went into holiday mode when I got here and still trying to pick myself up outta it.Things just feel a little strange at the mo and I miss the stability of the full time Monday-Saturday job I had back home...where I got paid half-decently. I had a routine going and now things are all up in the air and I feel vulnerable and down these days. I dont wanna even say " I'm going to do this " etc to other people because at the moment it sounds like just 'talk' ...so whats the point ?

So get off your butt and do somethin about it ya lazy sod, are the words floating around my mind and probably yours too.Stop whining/talking/promising...

The place where Josh works may be going on strike in the coming months and if they do it could last anywhere from two to five months, without pay. So on top of the mountain of debt both of us have, we'll still have to find some way to pay living costs.
New Orleans in August for my birthday is looking VERY VERY iffy right now....
I want to travel as much as I can and see as much as I can of Canada and the world, not be buried under work and paying off debts.

I miss hangin out with my mum and sisters. I miss my nephews cuddles and laughter.

In other news , Lucy the cat is on heat and is being quite noisy about it ( although she is sleeping on the couch on the mo ). Gotta take her into the vet tomorrow for a pre-op then book her in to get spayed. Fun for her eh.

Dont get me wrong, I love Lucy to bits and wouldnt trade her for anything but now shes a responsilbility and if we wanna go see other parts of Canada and the States we're gonna have to constantly get someone to catsit her. Then we'll have to fly her back to Aus and she'll have to be quarantined whilst we travel to Spain and Italy on our way back to Aus ( if we can afford it ).

I had to vent...these are just a few things playin on my mind...I'll probably be fine and back to my normal self very very soon and see things in a different, more positive light. I just dont wanna go home to Aus and say all I did was work and live like I normally do back home which comprised of work,home,work,home, responsibilities.
I just want this to be an adventure.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

May Resolutions

Since I've landed in Toronto I've been so lazy and unmotivated its pissing me off so ....

I resolve to:

Get back into my fitness routine.Take up yoga and pilates again whilst undertaking the usual cardio shtuff.

Go back to eating healthy ( I've put on 5 kg's since I've been here eeek ).

Going to bed at a reasonable hour and starting my days early.

Keep the apartment cleaner.

Spend less time on the net.

Get a second job ( oh man, going from $600 a week to $200 a week bites HARD).

Read all the books I have lined up to read.

Dive into my writing and photography.

Start chiseling away at my mountain of debt.

See more of Canada.

Start saving for New Orleans, Italy and Spain.

Oh myyyy, this ' Getting my ass into gear " task above seems like a lot....Specifically the debt issue :(

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Ms Puss

I'm a mummy ( oh wait , I'm in Canada so make that 'mommy' )

She was born on September 1st 2004 and she's a green-eyed beauty.

And furry and charcoal grey.

She was adopted from the Humane Society ( Josh went down for a 'look' and fell in love with her at first sight) in Toronto and is the craziest, funniest Ms Puss in Canuckialand. She's been chasing me around the apartment playing a hybrid of tag/hide & seek. I hide around corners and she scales the corner to chest height, whacks me with her grey paw ( " You're IT !!! ) and zooms off.
We were thinking about getting a Russian Blue cat but we couldnt justify spending $ 800 + on a pet and theres so many animals in shelters, needing love and a home . Lucy was the name she came with ( from her previous owner ) and I wasnt too keen on it but she knows that name so ... she gets Lucy, Lucy-Lui , Lucy-belle or Lu-Lu.

Pics to come later as I cant resize my current photos of her ( no photoshop *sob* ), they took up the entire screen.

In other news, I am consistently amused by Canuckians trying to guess where my accent hails from.So far the current score is approx:

South African : 18

New Zealand : 14

Aussie : 3

English : 2

Apparently I dont have a 'strong' aussie accent. I'm guessing its coz I dont sound ocker like Steve Irwin or Paul Hogan.