Internships: East v. West

According to this Globe and Mail article (be sure to click on the nifty graphic!), getting an internship in Eastern Canada looks more promising than finding one in BC. I'd love to be able to go back to BC for the summer, but I really need to do a writing internship. So now I have decisions to make. Feel free to give me suggestions. Here are the pros and cons of working in the east this summer.

Pros:
1. I'd really and truly be on my own for the summer
2. Having never lived east of Lacombe, Alberta (at least in Canada), it would be a completely new experience and, most likely, an adventure
3. I'd be a lot closer to my older sister who lives in Ottawa, Ontario
4. If I found an internship in Quebec or New Brunswick, I could work on my French-speaking skills
5. I would have the opportunity to meet Adventists that I don't already know
6. There would be the possibility of another Canada Day in Ottawa and maybe this time I could actually get close enough to PM Harper to shake his hand!
7. It's a lot closer to travel around the east than it is out west, so I could see a lot of new places on the weekends
8. Train travel for cheap is a reality with the wonderful services of ViaRail and their student rates
9. I could attend campmeeting somewhere other than Hope, BC or Bowden, Alberta
10. Not knowing anybody would help me get a lot of reading done

Cons:
1. I'd really and truly be on my own for the summer
2. My mountain withdrawal would continue (No matter what people tell me, I know the truth. There AREN'T real mountains in the east.)
3. I'd miss out of fun family events (going to the cabin, going to BC Cowboy Campmeeting, and our annual vacation at Fairmont Hot Springs)
4. The writing projects I wanted to work on for my home church wouldn't get done
5. It would be rather difficult to hang out with all my friends who come home every summer
6. Quadding or boating every weekend wouldn't be a possibility (and my ongoing summer Ogopogo-search would be postponed)
7. I'd have to worry about a place to live, and how to furnish and pay for it
8. I wouldn't be able to work on the family history section of the memoir project I've been planning to do (which includes interviewing my grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and other wise and knowledgeable family members)
9. I'd miss my family
10. I'd miss BC

Earth Hour

On March 31, 2007 one city decided to do something about global warming. In Sydney, Australia 2.2 million people turned off their lights for one hour at 8:30 p.m. A year later, the event went global with 35 countries and 370 cities around the world taking part in Earth Hour. Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. local time all around the world, people will be turning off their lights to raise awareness about global warming.

While I don't believe all the hype about global warming, I do believe in finding ways to save money and I think Earth Hour is a good place to start. I'm guilty of using way more electricity than I really need to, so tomorrow from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. EST, I'll turn off my lights for an hour and go do something not involving electricity. You should too...

To find out more about Earth Hour, click here.

Alouette

Tonight I agreed to hang out in Bryn's room and help her write and edit a 12-page Bible paper she has due tomorrow. I edited as much as she had done and then spent the rest of the evening distracting her. Somehow I managed to get the Alouette song stuck in my head and tried to sing it. This proved quite difficult because I'd forgotten all of the French lyrics except the first line. So I found a video to remind myself of the words that I learned all those years ago in elementary French classes.

English Translation: "Alouette" is a popular Canadian children's song about plucking the feathers (presumably in preparation for cooking) off a skylark, a small bird. It originated with the French Canadian fur trade. Naturally, the literal English translation does not match up well with the meter of the song, so a slightly less literal (but more singable) version would be:

Little skylark, lovely little skylark
Little lark, I'll pluck your feathers off
I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
Off your head - off your head
Little lark, little lark
O-o-o-o-oh

Then repeat with various other body parts:
Off your beak
Off your eyes
Off your neck
Off your back
Off your wings
Off your legs
Off your tail

Wave Tag

How to Play:
Find an ocean. One with waves is preferable.

Rules:
1. As the water from the last wave goes back out to sea, walk towards the new incoming wave.
2. Stop and stand your ground when you are between 30-60 cm in front of the wave.
3. At the last possible second before the wave touches your feet, make a 180 degree turn and run.
4. Do whatever you need to in order to remain untagged.*
5. (a) If the wave tags you, you are now it and will need to tag the wave. (b) If you managed not to get tagged, congratulate yourself and start all over again when the next wave comes in.

*Dropping a camera is not suggested.


Exhibit:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Note: Playing a game of Wave Tag up until 25 minutes before church time on Saturday morning is an excellent way to start the Sabbath.

Passport Expiration

While I don't often find faults with my country, there is one thing I would change in an instant if I were the PM or an MP or the GG (or whatever official has control over this issue); I would make Canadian passports valid for 10 years. Getting a new passport every five years is much too troublesome and, I suspect, simply a ridiculous money-making ploy. If Canadian passports only had to be renewed every 10 years instead of every five, my passport would not have expired today.

I guess I can be thankful that the new land and sea travel requirements between Canada and the U.S. have been postponed so many times in the past year. First, the new law was supposed to be in effect in January 2008. Then it was pushed back to June 2008, and finally, the Canadian and U.S. governments postponed the new rule until June 2009. So, luckily, I will be able to return to Canada once this semester is over. Hopefully, renewing my five-year passport will be done long before I need to come back to school in August. In any case, at the time of this posting, the law will change in only 96 days, 21 hours and 3 minutes. So, if you need to get a passport, or, if you're Canadian and your passport will expire soon, you should probably get that looked after. I'll be debating writing to my MP to see what can be done about the passport-that-expires-after-five-years situation.

If you've never read the intriguing story about my previous passport, and would like to, click here.