if i only knew...

Canadiana

It's official - only pending a visa application, that is - i will be spending almost 4 months in Vancouver, Canada starting from July. I am very very very excited.

Ever since i could make sense of maps, i have been dreaming of living abroad. Age 14 i decided i want to spend a high school year abroad. Didn't work out. Age 17 i wanted to work in a volunteer program abroad. Didn't get the scholarship. Age 21 i wanted to spend a semester abroad. My ******* school vetoed it in the last minute. And now after months of organising it and waiting for the decision, i got the OK to spend my internship in Canada. The extra joyful part of it is that my sister lives there with my family, and i only see them every 1-2 years, and now i will spend months with them. Yay!

Here is the top 5 things i am looking forward to seeing/doing:
1. Going on a whale watching trip like i did 4 years ago when i was there to visit. An experience i will never forget and can't wait to relive.
2. Spending hours in the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens.
3. Going to Granville Island and browsing the lovely shops and market there.
4. Riding the Sky Train and enjoying the view.
5. Flying to Vancouver and getting to see the arctic icy ocean, the vast flat areas in Northern Canada with the ocassional plume of smoke signaling people living in the middle of it, the Rockies, and finally the beautiful descent to Vancouver with the open sea to the west, the bustling city underneath, the huge volcanic Mount Baker to the south and the snowy mountains to the north.