O Canada!

To get from Queenstown, New Zealand to Ottawa, Ontario I flew on 5 planes, went through customs and security 4 times, watched 8.5 episodes of Suits, I laughed, I cried, got excited and sad - I was in transit for 51 hours. It gave me a real perspective on how big the world really is, even though I was flying at a speed I couldn't really comprehend.

Our first layover was in Sydney. Flying in I could see Cronulla - the beach I'd always go to, and the Shire - the suburb where I'd lived. When we touched down, the flight attendant announced "Welcome to Sydney!" Jennine and I glanced at each other with a look only we'd understand. We weren't staying. What a tease! Knowing that we were within an hour radius of so many people we loved, but couldn't see any of them, was just the worst. Felt like we had to say goodbye to Australia all over again. 

When I arrived in Dallas, Texas, I discovered my luggage was missing. We had been told we would have to manually transfer our bags and re-check them since we were changing airlines. Jennine had found her bag no problem, but I waited until no more bags were coming out onto the carousel, then decided it must have gotten lost. I wasn't afraid of when they would find it, per say, just IF they would find it. I would hate to lose all the sentimentals and souvenirs I had collected over the past 8 months, so I was praying hard to Saint Anthony to find it!

Once we hit Vancouver I had a bunch of messages regarding my bag, but all I could think about was food... mostly Timmy's! Felt good to be somewhere so familiar: the YVR, where the majority of my epic adventures begin... and end. We arrived pretty late, saw three Tim Horton's but they were all closed. How sad! Though I was so confident that there was one open late cause I have pulled a couple over-nighters at the YVR and definitely been greeted by Tim's upon my return, so I was determined. Lo' and behold, Jennine was overjoyed by surprise and delight when she saw me waltz up, Iced Capp's in hand. I was pretty overwhelmed, with the stress of trying to locate my bag, I wasn't sure if I was crying tears of sadness or joy! Probably both.After 4 hours of interrupted sleep, 6am rolled around pretty quick and it was time for more flights! This time just domestic flights, which are far less complicated. I flew out 3 hours before JinJin, but she got up and waved me off at Security. What an incredible adventure we had together. We literally saw each other everyday, from the day we left Vancouver to the day we returned. We were good friends before, but now we share memories and stories that have brought us much closer. I am so blessed by her. Thankfully, I'll be stopping by her city in a few weeks, so the goodbye didn't seem so final.

My flight from Vancouver to Edmonton was my only flight that was on time! But once I got there I discovered the 2 hour delay on my flight to Ottawa. *sigh* As if my journey wasn't long enough! Haha, I was pretty spent at that point. With the change of my arrival time, my sister Kandace wasn't able to meet me at the airport due to another commitment too, bummer. When things like this come along, comfort food is definitely a real thing - in my mind, this is any food that makes me happy, and in this case it was WOK BOX! YUMMMM! I've missed my Mama Ng's cooking, so some Asian food was quite satisfying.

Once I was on my last plane, I fell asleep before we even took off, I was exhausted! I was woken up shortly after by a gift from my parents! They surprised me with a Thai Chicken Wrap! They happened to be flying to the East Coast that day, so when they bought in-flight meals for themselves, they also bought me one! They're the best.
In other news, I had decided to catch up on my journal by the time I got to Ottawa. butttt... the only pen I had... died. So that wasn't gunna happen. But! (Jennine will be shocked by this) I read nearly 50 pages of my book instead! This is only impressive cause I'd been reading the same book the entire time I was in Australia, I was far more committed to keeping up with my journal, and completing crossword puzzles. Clearly, I'm not much of a bookworm. 

Twinsies!

I was so relieved to finally arrive in Ottawa. It was SO HOT and HUMID! 27C!Summer, round 3! I was not dressed for the weather. My future brother-in-law, Nic, graciously picked my up from the airport, and delivered me to the event Kandace was playing Cajon at. A couple people there had to do a double take when they saw me cause they thought I was Kandace - rightly so, we were both wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with our hair swept up in a top-knot. Obviously this was not planned, just coincidental. It brought me back to our teenage years having everyone ask: "are you guys twins?". I embrace it now more than I did then. What a privilege it is to spend time with her now that our lives have lead us to different places in the world.

During those first few days back in Canada I caught myself thinking, "you're driving on the wrong side of the road", "which is the passing lane..?", "WOW! 97.9 cents!? Petrol is so cheap here!!", "THERE'S TIMMY'S!!", "DQ!!!!!", "Mmmm... Peroggies!!!!", "Bagels. Yuuuuummmmm!", "Toonies and Loonies! They won't look at me like I'm an idiot anymore!".

I've been thoroughly enjoying the simple pleasures of being back in Canada, though I'm not technically home yet, there are some things that are nationally the same... and some that are not...

Like bagged milk. Weird.