'allo, poppet!
oooh today I'm a mess. Actually, my hair looks fantastic, but the rest of me is moderately passable. I mean, sports bra, grad sweatshirt and jeans (though right now it's those brilliant flannel pants...)....lol. What can i say? I've got who i want - what else do i need?
But I DID go to Tintern Abbey. AMAZING. I highly reccomend it.
Tonight we're going to 'have a dvd' and eat curry. mmm. I LIKE curry. I get to choose the dvd, too.
Those of you i have mailing addresses for, i have postcards...and should be writing/sending them in the next week or so. Hopefully. Optimistically.
Pictures will be burned onto a CD and mailed home...so you'll have to wait (sorry guys. I'm lazy..and the Carlos' don't want my pictures on their computer). There are around 25 of Tintern.
Tomorrow I'm going to Caerphilly. yay!
That;s it for now: I'm actually starting to get over the jet lag. (FINALLY). Miss you guys a lot and can't wait to talk to you!
ta

Today
It rained HARD. I got stuck in the middle of it. IT's so impossibly quaint here. It's also wet. And dreary (as in, at 7:30 when i got up it was still pitch black outside. Weird.) I took a picture of their local 'mountain' (which was nothing more than a glorified hill). I had people (very nice people, though) ask me:
-if George Bush was our president
-if everyone loved hockey

They also couldn't believe that Van is as wet as I said...and that I actually didn't MIND the rain....
You know, i can see (even with my shortsighted-ness) straight into the people across the way's house. Clearly. It's all jam-packed together here. It's okay for now...but i think it would get to me after awhile...everything is just so much more...open in the western world. Physically, at least.

Lol.
It also figures that the best looking guy at the office (I'm just looking. lol. You know I belong to another...) isn't ACTUALLY from the UK: he's from America. lol. Think Brad Pitt smile with dark hair. Cute. I'll put him on hold for you, Rabbit... ^_¬ <--i can't find the squicky eye on this keyboard.

I think that's it for now...on Saturday I'm going to Tintern Abbey...and then next thursday I'm going to Bath... and sprinkled in there are some castles. So yeah.
I think I'm going to take another walk tonight. To clear my head...and to try to wash away all of my squicky feelings. Hopefully it won't rain while I'm walking...
miss you all!
ta

Walking to cure the weary soul
I don't know why, but whenever i feel down walking helps me immensely. I was feeling somewhat blue all day...then...yeah.
bah.
can't think. more later.
ta

So I lied.
Soooo this is an in-between "i've got nothing to do" post.
It's strange being all alone in my aunts house. SHe lives right above the subway, and once every ten minutes or so the house will rattle and shake and do all thta....scary stuff. When she first moved in me (being from BC) thought that it was an earthquake, and subsequently freaked out. Not so much anymore.
Yesterday Lisa and I went ot the Eton centre for some last minute shopping. I bought (yet another) toothbrush (it's rather sad how excited i get about cleaning my teeth. I get all giddy when i get a new toothbrush...) and some flannel pj pants. I left my plaid ones back home somehow. lisa bought a bunch of stuff and, as we were leaving, got picked up by this random guy. She actually stopped and talked to him, too, until i practically DRAGGED her away. He wasn't even cute.
--->why don't I get picked up?
--------> Probably because of the perpetual scowl on your face.
Not that it matters. WHatever will she do, without me there to protect her from alll the creeps on the subway?
Actually, on the ride home there was this massively FAT man staring at her. I looked at him (my father was right: nobody on teh subway looks at eachother. And if they do it makes you WONDER...), and then he began to stare at me. Creeped me out like you would not believe.

But anyway
Toronto is infinately colder and dirtier than i remember it to be. I used to pretend it was like, the pinnacle of urban sophistication...and now i know it's not. I belong in Vancouver, now. And yet I'm going to Wales....
It's strange: I never thought that this day would come. Or...i dunno. I'm so incredibly ready and so NOT ready. I guess this is part of the whole 'experience' thing.

My aunt gave me the run-down on culture shock - what to expect, how long to expect it for...etc. MAN am i thankful for that.
45 mins. left. I'll email everyone asap...

aaand yeah.
Wish me luck....

...make it stop staring...
Ooooh. I'm getting picked up in two and a half hours to go to the airport so i can begin my adventure. I've opened an account at imagesation.com under sargwa_abroad, and I'll have pictures up as soon as i can.

I've never been on an international flight before. No...that's not true. Once. To Colorado.

Ugh. How am I supposed to fit everything BACK into my suitcase? Dammit. I'm going from super nervous to really excited. Right now I'm hovering in the middle.


AHAHAHHHAAHHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry: had to get that out of my system. Well...here we go, eh? Far away - upwards and onwards ever chasing glory...(or seeking wisdom...and looking for adventure...)
To everyone who emails me: PLEASE DON'T STOP. I need the contact to back home. I'll do my best to get back to everyone...but please please please don't stop emailing me!
I miss you!
Hailing (for the last time for five months) from Canada.....

1. What did you do in 2003 that you’d never done before?
TaeKwonDo.


2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No. I completely forgot. At the stroke of midnight i was staring glumly at a TV screen wishing that *he* was there.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Well....no. People I KNEW gave birth...and leah was CLOSE to people giving birth in the hospital (you remember)...but no, nobody i was close to.


4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. But i felt close to John Ritter. : (


5. What countries did you visit?
I only went to point Roberts. Ugh. Ask me again next year, though....


6. What would you like to have in 2004 that you lacked in 2003?
A sense of direction...


7. What date from 2003 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Um. Do ihave to answer this? Somebody? Anybody? There are two. Three guesses and the first two don't count...


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Definitely graduation and Tara and Taro (the completion of the Novella)


9. What was your biggest failure?
I dunno. Can't think of one, really...


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I suffered a great deal of injuries to my dignity and pride. <--I second that.


11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hands down my bomber jacket. So warm and fuzzy and stylish. : D Seconded by the NICE PANTS pants. : )


12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Why mine of course...I was an angel....bwaaha. Rabbit. For putting up with my boy-obsessed-ness.....and Ligwa. For trying to absorb WAY too much information. : P


13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Ned. In 2003. Not anymore: took me awhile to realize that he was just a jerk through ad through.


14. Where did most of your money go?
FOOD! For me and Rabbit. Seriously - i spent almost 100 $ a week on food. mmmm. Mcdicks.


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
WALES and SOUTH AFRICA. Jason fits in there, too. ^_~


16. What song will always remind you of 2003?
Yeah, I'm going to have to go with the latest matchbox twenty cd as well. It just...FITS.


17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier...
ii. thinner or fatter? For awhile i was more fit...but i think that's escaping me now. ...
iii. richer or poorer? RICHER! Though that's all soon to be undone...


18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Spent more time with family; read; things i WANTED to do, as opposed to what i should have done.


19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
working at a job i hated.


20. How did you spend Christmas?
On an airplane


22. Did you fall in love in 2003?
Stupid question.


23. How many one-night stands?
Three. JOKING. None. I'm not into that...


24. What was your favorite TV program?
Bah. I don't get to watch TV anymore. It's unfun.


25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No, not really. All my angry feelings are vanishing...


26. What was the best book you read?
The Alchemist. Phenominal. All of you should read it NOW.


27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Russian Chamber music.


28. What did you want and get?
New Jacket;sweatshirts; gloves....a digital camera!


29. What did you want and not get?
A laptop...but that's okay. I don't *need* one yet.


30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Last Samurai <--yeah, i suppose. Or Spirited Away.


31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
18 and I...went out for dinner? With friends and fambly. Was fun.


32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I'm not going to answer that. Nope.


33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2003?
Yes, i KNOW i wore this yesterday....*work*


34. What kept you sane?
Kgwa. : D


35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Benjamin McKenzie!!!!


36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Fuck, there was a lot of them. I’m pissed off about tuition rising (who isn’t?), and no doubt there was the whole M.E. thing, the Canadian gay marriage thing…I come from a hotbed-house of political debate. <---me too. I'll second all of that.


37. Who did you miss?
Everyone back home. : (

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Jaaason


39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2003:
The mating game is sick and twisted.


40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Should I walk into the water, when I might get swept away?"
-When You're falling by God only knows who.