And ... Cultured Up

4 December - Last night had the Novex CHristmas party, out in the middle of nowhere (at least it seemed that way to me) - kind of fun. None of the other bikers were there for various reasons and the only people I knew were Chris, the dispatcher, and BJ, the driver manager. One of the other dispatchers knew me by my voice (apparently she thought it was exotic ... I think she needs to see more of the world). It was at a restaurant and there wasn't a huge amount of mingling, as everyone was seattd. I joined one table with a few employees and their guests, none of whom i'd ever met before, but they were all very nice. I seemed to be the centre of attention for a little while as it appeared that none of them had ever met an Australian before - they asked about spiders, kangaroos, snakes and Vegemite (one of them had tried it but admitted to preferring Marmite, eaghhh ....) - ate a bit too much and drank a little too much as well. Noone was heading out afterwards and it ended reasonably early - most of the guys lived out in Richmond and had drive but it was still a fun night nonetheless. Saying goodbye to everyone was strange - I couldn't really say 'See you soon' because I never see any of them and it's quite unlikely that i'll ever see any of thm ever again, but it was still nice to meet them.
Woke up with a bit of a hangover this morning, not as bad as some of the others in the household who had also had Christmas parties on the same night (December 3 seems to be the day to do it in this city) but not strong enough to keep me away from my mission of making it down to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. My hangover may not have stopped me but the weather should have - it was snowing really heavily and the roads were really slushy, the main ones were okay because there was a lot of traffic to clear them but some of the quieter streets were soaking. I'd geard up with the tights, waterproof booties, a decent jacket and my toque but the gloves failed me. The water completely penetrattd them and the wind made them completely numb. By the time I eventuallymade it to the MOA I could hardly feel my fingers at all. Had a bit of trouble finding a place to leave my booties and jacket whilst I went in - the staff weren't terribly helpful but it was all sorted out in the end. Interesting thing about the museum is that they have a rule not allowing backpacks. I could carry it in my hand but not on my back. Carol Major, our favourite Canadian writing teacher one told me that Canadians generally have pretty liberal laws but they ALWAYS obey the laws they have, even the sillyones. I've had a few run-ins with silly rules and bylaws since arriving in this city and I have to say that I would tend to agree with her. Every country has silly laws but over here they ENFORCE them. MOA was a bit disappointing after the efforts its taken to get here. Lots of totem poles (a few old but most quite recent) and weavings and an extraordinarily abridged explanation of the history of the natives both pre and post Europeans. Not hugely interesting I have to say and I probably wouldn't recommend it. I've seen a lot of museums and galleries this year, none for quite a while admittedly, but this one was not a highlight. Getting back home was a bit of a trek, hands froze so much that I had to stop for a coffee to warm my hands. I as very specific to ask for it in a paper cup but they gave me a ceramic one. They transferred it at my request to a paper one but then they gave me a double cup (so wasteful over here - ddouble cupping and double bagging everything). I handed the extra back and finally got what I reallywanted, just somethng to warm my hands.
Eventually got home and then went for a (very long and slushy) walk out to the Canadian Superstore, a soulless behemoth of a place that had a good special on yoga balls and didn’t seem so far when I looked it up on Google Maps. I hope I'm never tempted to head back out there - miserable walk to get there and miserable place to be, but, I got my super cheap yoga ball so it wasn't a complete waste. Also debating about buying a Craigslist advertised snowboard and associattd kit, would like to try doing it first but am not sure how often i'll be getting up to the slopes. It's a very expensive pastime, even over here, and i'm not exactly breaking records with my earnings so I think I may wait.