happy christmas

Turkey dinner number 2 is polished off and we Regiers are on our way to church for some pre-present contemplation of the reason for the season.

Wishin you all a very merry Christmas full of love and cheer.

See you in the new year when I'll return with gusto!

xo.

home. sick.

The cold I've been fighting off all week finally caught up with me in the third leg of our 26 hour journey home.

Luckilly there's really no better place to be sick than at your mom's cozy house by the sea, under a blanket with neo-citran and Harry POtter - especially at 4am when jet lag gets the best of you.

Less luckilly, now that we get to sleep on a queen sized, pillowtop, pocket-coil mattress, Dean and I are reminded of what we've been missing these months in Scotland.

Likewise, when Trevor picked us up from the airport bearing sushi and then joined us for a night in Parksville, we got another reminder of what we've been missing (yes, sushi, but also one of our best friends).

Even so I catch myself saying "home" in reference to Aberdeen, Canadian coins have a foreign lightness to them, and Dean had a very hard time determining which side of the road to drive on when we insured the CRV yesterday.

We've got two more days of r&r here on the Island and then a whirlwind of dinners and shopping in Vancouver. Hope to see lots of you there!

jettin'

Stephen will be here in 30 minutes - a very early morning for a student. We're going to the airport with a suitcase full of gifts for nephews and nieces. We've missed our families.

We've got a whirlwind visit to Vancouver - just 3.5 days, so if our paths don't cross, it's not for lack of love, just lack of time.

xo.

social ills

A weekend packed to the gills with outings and meals out left me a little worse for wear today. Icky chills, achey limbs and flegmy throat are excuse enough for me to take an afternoon off.

I fell asleep on the sofa with Harry Potter beside me. When I woke up 2 hours later I was in a panic of disorientation, thinking it was tomorrow and that I'd not yet planned my lecture which I was certain I was already late for.

It's still today, but it's true that my lecture remains unplanned, and I'm going out for dinner with friends in spite of my Mother's voice in my head saying "If you're too sick for school then you're too sick to go out!"

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Currently wondering: How on earth did we go from being friendless foreigners in Aberdeen to having a full social calendar, in a matter of months? I may complain about the weather and expensive restaurants, but there's no denying that the people in Aberdeen are pretty wonderful.

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This week:

On TUESDAY we hosted dinner for two lovely Irish girls from church - a second year med student and a first year nursing student. Back in Belfast these girls live only a few blocks from one another. To listen to their accents you'd think they were from opposite ends of the country - a testament to the ancient British "accent = class" stereotype. One of these girls went to a posh private school and one was homeschooled. It's something we encounter often, and a blog post in the making.

On FRIDAY after a looong day at Starbucks I opted in for the Community & Lifelong Learning Christmas dinner. I am making a genuine effort to like my co-workers at the College. This was a step.

Jaws may drop when I say this: We were spoiled at TWU. Birthday, farewell, Christmas and Summer fun lunches/dinners were always payed for. So forgive me if I resent forking over $50 for my curry dinner with the College.

My consolation was that at 9pm sharp I was picked up by two charming men and whisked away to an evening of wine, whiskey and banter with our four favourite Aberdonians. Dean and I walked home after midnight, happy, feeling known.

On SATURDAY after another day of coffee serving, Dean and I got gussied up for a night on the town with my Starbucks cronies. By contrast to Friday night, we enjoyed a three course meal and a bottle of wine courtesy of the company. Starbucks is not too evil.

After dinner 20 of us walked through the rain, past leering drunks, brawling "neds" and shrieking "chavs" (who are apparently impervious to icy wind and rain) to hit up Bassment, the first of what would be several bars before 5am. Ten minutes and one shot of Jagermeister later, Dean caught my eye and gave me the "let's blow this joint" nod. And I gave him the "I heartilly agree" nod.

Suddenly we find we are just too old for that scene. The difference between 22 and 27is vast it seems - from this vantage point, a night of Chuck and Heroes downloads is more fun than throbbing bass an beer-soaked carpet.

TOMORROW is our last day in Aberdeen for a little while.

TO DO LIST: Buy more dishes for the 2008 onslaught of guests. Wash sheets, make beds. Mail cards. Get coffee. Pack!

cheer brigade...

I turned up for work on Saturday morning to find my boss wearing a mischevious grin and a Santa hat - which she promptly removed from her own head and placed on mine, announcing I was officially responsible for all things cheer.

Thus my day was spent, alongside my fellow cheer brigadeer (just came up with that one now!) Sarah, handing out gingerbread lattes and caramel waffles on Union St to hordes of freezing Christmas shoppers.

My very kind boss gifted Sarah and I with something else on Saturday too: a digital camera for recording our Bean Responsible initiatives. The first evidence is below, and more shall soon be posted here!




And to think, on Tuesday my students were asking me WHY I work at starbucks! Getting paid to brighten your day really isn't a chore. (yes, i've been fully indoctrinated)

sorry + ammends

blogging is sparse lately, but so is time.

Teaching is taking more (unpaid) time than anticipated, and I can't help but feel a little bit duped. As in: I got roped into taking on this class just when their major assignments were due and the curriculum manager simultaneously managed to LOSE the course curriculum.

So I've been lesson-planning my little butt off (again, that's without pay) and The Front Lawn has taken a hit. I apologize, and offer a wee update of recent highlights.

- Dean and I bought and decorated our first Christmas tree. It's as tall as my knee, and oh so cute.

- We saw a movie we loved (Once) and a movie we hated (Beowulf) and are so very ecited for The Darjeeling Ltd tomorrow

- We celebrated the birthday of two good friends with a phenomenal seafood dinner on The Green. I had to eat my words re: Aberdeen's inability to produce unique restaurant meals. My seared tuna with wasabi mayo was enough to hold me over until the Minato feast I'll be having in two weeks (good thing since it cost 6x as much!).

- We had a visitor (if the Glasgow pictures didn't give it away). One of my oldest friends, Kelly Jacobs made her first cross-ocean trek and got to see a good chunk of Scotland in its wintry finest.

- We've been discovering great friendships. Dean and I have both been blessed with wonderful friends here. Sunday nights at the pub are never dull.

- The city is so Christmassy. Aberdeen has a parade each winter and the high street is strung with lights in the shape of polar bears, Christmas crackers, Santa and, oh yah, baby Jesus.

- I got to go out on the bus again. Once a month I get to be a part of a ministry to prostitutes in Aberdeen's harbour area. We go down in a refurbished bus, giving the "lassies" a place to warm up and have a cup of tea and toast, and some chat. Sme of them eventually end up in Teen Challenge recovery programs and get off the street. Humbling to realize how, minus their addictions, those girls aren't much different than me.

- Dean is going to Sheffield of Thursday. He got invited to do a wee talk at the Uni there. And he's going to visit Helen!

We're leaving Aberdeen in 2 weeks for a quick visit home. Looking forward to cuddling and speaking French with neices and nephews, dinners with friends, a spa day with the Regier ladies, and heaps of family gatherings!