Hello all, I’ve decided to bless you all with some more Australian ramblings.
This is it folks, in just a few weeks I’ll be coming back to Canada. I assume this news is a mixed bag, depending on where you are. I’ve had some more things happen that I assume you’ll be interested enough to read. If not, by all means exit this now and go do other things.
I finished my coursework and final exams, which may or may not have gone fine. I haven’t gotten the final marks yet, so it’s anyone’s guess if I’m marching towards being an exchange Valedictorian (I’m aware that that probably doesn’t exist) or my academic ruin, my simple mind knows there can be no in-between. The suspense of it is a bit fun.
At my internship I’ve been busy editing, reading articles and interviewing different geniuses here who have devoted their lives to studying very specific things, like how to beef up the trees and forests in cities or figure out what the heck to do with all the car parking on streets. For these interviews, I try and throw all the questions I can at these helpless academics to keep things lively and interesting. Already, my supervisor kept laughing when she listened to what I have so far, which is probably a good sign since I wasn’t fired.
I’ve done more filming for MyTV which has been a scream (I think that’s baby-boomer for “fun”). We’ve done lots of scenes and so I’ve been contorting my mouth into all sorts of weird shapes to sound like a demented New Zealander (that’s how my character is, I know that not quite ALL Kiwis are demented). I’m a bit perturbed at the thought of what the final product will be like, I’m praying the editing room can whip up a miracle and make my on-screen presence tolerable.
And of course, I didn’t forget about Canada’s birthday. There turned out to be a big Canada Day party down here at a waterfront bar right in the city, beside the casino. (On an unrelated note, my bank account has been cleaned out, so I’ll be going to the food bank for the remainder of my time here). It was a big joint with lots of patio-outdoor places to dance and mingle, and there were easily over a thousand people there! I didn’t know at any single time there were so many Canadians outside of Canada, it was a Canuckian miracle. It’s odd, I’ve met only a few Canadians since I’ve been on my exchange. I guess we’re just a really sneaky bunch that gets around unnoticed until our day comes along. There was a live band playing Canadian hits, beaver tails, Tim Hortons coffee, Molson, maple leaves, with red and white festooned (which is my new favourite word) everywhere. The Canadian accents swirling everywhere was almost disorienting, luckily there were a few scattered Aussie accents which grounded my newly-adapted brain.
I’m now starting to get things ready for my journey back home (which is mainly just me praying that I don’t get wedged between loud and/or large people on the flights) before my final year at Ryerson starts. Enjoy the rest of your day and your lives!
Jack Hopkins 