Happy Half Anniversary, Kristen Hyde

I know it's been awhile since I posted last. I've been a tardy blogger which means I've been a tardy traveller too. After all the excitement of the USA - moving to a new city every few days and finding new adventures to write about - my life in Canada has fallen into a routine. Work, boarding, work, boardring, partying, boarding, work. And sometimes I sleep. But mostly I board.

But I couldn't let today go past without posting, as today is my six month overseas anniversary. Correct-o, I've been an ex-pat for six months. I can't believe that half a year has gone by since I was hugging my parents farewell at Brisbane airport. I've been lugging the same backpack around for the last six months, wearing the same clothes and thinking the same thought that there really is no better way to live. Seeing new things and meeting new people and being so far outside of your comfort zone you don't even recognise yourself. The only buzz-kill is the thought of one day going home. But after six months of travelling and everything that goes with it - the occassional homesickness for your own bed, your own cupboard, breakfast at Le Monde and Tamarama Beach - even home has its merits.

But for now, I'm in Banff and (I'm sorry, family and friends) I'm not going anywhere too soon. Especially now that I have my brand new snowboard in my posession. With all the fresh snow dumping out of the sky and tired of having a debt to my name, I decided to just buy my board and deal with the after-effects of being poor and not being able to drink or eat. Moving from my neighbour's beat up Capita to my untouched Arbor was like driving a rusty old pick-up truck and then upgrading to a Mercedes Benz. The new board not only looks like a dream but turns like she's on rails, which is a vast improvement on the Capita which was like trying to steer a cruise ship on ice. Needless to say, the amount of time I spend boarding verses the amount of time I spend falling on my ass is now greatly outweighed thanks to Betsy.

Yes, I named the board.

Other interesting things that have happened in Banff include the Muskrat Street House losing one housemate and acquiring two new ones, acquiring enough movie files to start our own illegal movie store (including The Neverending Story which just isn't the same when you're 23), taking up yoga and not knowing how I've lived my entire life without it and implementing the tradition of $8 Steak Night every Tuesday at the Elk and Horseman.

And then there's wanting to get my ear pierced again, but that's another story for another time.

Ciao for now. xo

Birthdays and Boarding

So things are really heating up (or perhaps that should be cooling down...) in Canada, which is good for a variety of reasons, the most important being I finally have some news worth blogging about. After all, nobody likes a rambaling blogger, much like nobody likes a musician at an open mic night who is smitten with the sound of their own voice.

First and foremost, it was my birthday last week and I turned 23. Yet another milestone celebrated on the other side of the world. (For reference, other milestones have included eating gator sausage, watching Steph Holt get her first tattoo and being photographed unawares in a Steakouts advertisement. I am easily satisfied.) The benefit of being from Australia and celebrating your birthday in a different country is that you essentially get an additional 17 hours of celebration time. I saw in my Canadian birthday over pool and (a few too many) shots at The Gap and had Mexican that following evening with my roommates and neighbours, my now Canadian family, who were a fine replacement from the people who would have taken me out in Australia to get me drunk on my birthday. This fine replacement also sat me down to watch the movie, The Number 23, and now I am positive something bad is going to happen to me this year courtesy of the 23 enigma.

After a disappointingly warm introduction to winter, it has FINALLY started snowing! It started dumping last weekend and now everything looks like its coated in a thick layer of icing sugar. Unfortunately, snow doesn't taste anything like icing sugar but it looks pretty none the less. So, with snow to cap its peaks, Sunshine Mountain finally opened its doors to the public and I officially started waitressing at Trappers. My first day on the job was much like being thrown into the sea and told to either sink or swim, but I came out the other side with a better appreciation for northern service expectations and $120 in tips. God bless gratuities.

Like the weather hasn't been bipolar enough over the last month, the temperature plumeted to a very uncomfortable -38 degrees this week, forcing the mountain to close and everyone to seek refuge indoors. Despite it being cold enough to freeze your eyelashes together, Sunshine re-opened for part of the day so that only those crazy skiers and snowboarders who are addicted to the snow like Cher is addicted to the knife, could go up and get frostbite.

With all this snow falling out of the sky, I decided it was time to get my boarding butt on some slopes. I went and bought my snowboarding boots - a pair of peppermint-coloured Thirty Two's which are, in my opinion, the snowboarding equivalent of a pair of Jimmy Choo's but make my feet feel like they're being pushed through a meat mincer. Apparently fashion, and snowboarding, is pain. So with new boots in tow and my neighbour's old snowboard under one arm, I went up the mountain yesterday for my first ride of the season. Having been six years since I was last on the slopes, I greatly underestimated how much I remembered of how to snowboard. I spent most of my first run down the hill on my ass and at one point, jarred my thumb so that it bruised up to the size of a small sausage. By my third run, I had re-mastered the act of balancing but I've got a long way to go before I'll be boarding alongside Shawn White.

But the most exciting news is that, after getting the go-ahead from BUNAC, I should be making my way back across the border for Appel Farm 2011.

I've got my apple, you've got your apple...

Ciao for now. xo

No News, No Snow, No Sanity

I wish this post was bursting with news from abroad. I wish I could say that I've been run off my feet at work, hitting the slopes every other second I get, making enough money to cover my coffee addiction and the layby debt I've established at almost every ski and snowboarding store in Banff.

But unfortunately, none of this is true.

I am still waiting to start work.

I have not hit the slopes.

This is because there is about as much snow up on the mountain as I have things to fill my day with.

And I don't have any of my snowboarding gear as it's all still sitting on layby and can't be paid off until I start work. The only piece of snow gear I have acquired is my WestBeach jacket, which is as warm as it is smashingly attractive. Let's just say that if I get trapped in an avalanche, my jacket will save me. It's a beacon of colour. It's the Skittles of snowboarding jackets.

Unfortantely, all this spare time means I have acquired some seriously bad habits. I now sleep in until at least 10:30am. This is partly because it's too cold in the morning, partly because I know I have nothing better to do than stay in bed and usually because I'm sleeping off a night of 'playing pool' at the Devil's Gap Bar. I skip breakfast and move straight on to lunch, followed by a mid-afternoon nap which gives me enough energy to return to the Devil's Gap at 9pm for more pool. I realise this is far from a healthy lifestyle.

But this week, apart from sitting around watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother, praying for snow and pining for Appel Farm, my small achievement was playing my first gig at Bruno's Bar and Grill. My housemates, assorted neighbours and spattering of friends from around town all turned up to watch my first show and made for an appreciative audience. I play again next week and am hoping I can find a cheap used guitar before then so I can play more songs than just those I learnt in 10th grade music.

I hope my participation in Banff's cultural community might appease the snow gods and in return they will award me with snow.

I never thought I would be so impatient for a dump.

(Okay, that was cheap and nasty - my apologies).

Ciao for now. xo