Phew, I am tired. This has been a busy week for me with a schedule to match. I've gotten up at: 6:45, 6:15, 5:30, 5:30, and 6:00. In summation I am ready to go home now.
I think it's just hit me how much work I've done this entire summer and I need a looooonnnnggg nap. I'm still sad to leave Vancouver, but I'm pretty excited it's my last week of work.
Left to do here: I have to analyze my Milo data and prepare a presentation for work by Tuesday, clean my sublet really well, do like 4 loads of laundry, eat all the food I have left, PACK, take lots of pictures, and be really sad saying goodbye to all the people/animals I have come to love.
This summer has been amazing, thanks to everyone who read and kept in touch. I'll probably post one or two more times with some final adventures, and then it's back to good ole Pomona for me (the 30th). I hope I'll see you all before then! If not then I guess it will be...Merry Christmas?
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
AH! Only 10 days left!
Woah this summer has flown by. As always when I'm leaving somewhere I'm half sad and half happy. I can't believe I've been in wonderful Vancouver for 3 months and that I'll be going home in 10 days and not feeding otters and kissing whales daily. I feel like I should have crammed way more stuff into my time here (even though my first whole month was already so surreal)! At the same time I'm so excited to see everyone at home and am freaking out about only having one week in Omaha and feeling like I should have left a week earlier for more time there.
So obviously, I'm a little torn. But honestly I think this is the perfect time for me to leave, I'm definitely ready for some home-time even though I'm going to miss so many people and things here. And my last two weeks here have been and should continue to be a lot of fun, and it's always great to end on a high note.
Part of the reason the last couple weeks are fun instead of a countdown is getting to visit other departments! We're doing 4 'exchanges' in our last two weeks: Stellars, MMR, Open water and team switch. Translation: we have a research team that trains and uses stellar sea lions and Northern fur seals to try and determine why wild populations have taken a sudden dive. Part of this team is located in the 'back' of the aquarium, and this is our day with the 'Stellars'. The other part of the work is done at 'open water', which is just that- a site at Reed Point Marina where 5 trained stellars are released into the open ocean for dives etc. to help collect important data/participate in scientific trials. MMR is Marine Mammal Rescue, which is an off site aquarium-owned rehab center for injured wild animals (mostly Harbour seal pups) with re-release intention for all animals. And finally 'team switch' just means that I'll spend a day with Dolphin/Seal team and their interns (Sheri and Jenny) will spend a day with the Beluga/otter team!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019061&id=1322040101&l=1e635f40db
So obviously, I'm a little torn. But honestly I think this is the perfect time for me to leave, I'm definitely ready for some home-time even though I'm going to miss so many people and things here. And my last two weeks here have been and should continue to be a lot of fun, and it's always great to end on a high note.
Part of the reason the last couple weeks are fun instead of a countdown is getting to visit other departments! We're doing 4 'exchanges' in our last two weeks: Stellars, MMR, Open water and team switch. Translation: we have a research team that trains and uses stellar sea lions and Northern fur seals to try and determine why wild populations have taken a sudden dive. Part of this team is located in the 'back' of the aquarium, and this is our day with the 'Stellars'. The other part of the work is done at 'open water', which is just that- a site at Reed Point Marina where 5 trained stellars are released into the open ocean for dives etc. to help collect important data/participate in scientific trials. MMR is Marine Mammal Rescue, which is an off site aquarium-owned rehab center for injured wild animals (mostly Harbour seal pups) with re-release intention for all animals. And finally 'team switch' just means that I'll spend a day with Dolphin/Seal team and their interns (Sheri and Jenny) will spend a day with the Beluga/otter team!
Open water and Stellar day were SO fun. We basically hung out with sea lions all day and got great pictures with them. It was really cool to work with animals on land, something that I had never done at the aquarium, especially such huge animals- a couple are over 200 kilos! I hugged the same sea lion, Yasha, that Jennifer Aniston has hugged. In summation I loved it and had a great two days.
And in other news I got my bridge today!!! with only 10 days left...but still. This is really dorkily exciting for me because I didn't think I was going to be at the point where I got one this summer. A bridge is a whistle that you blow to terminate a behavior and let an animal know they've performed a behavior correctly. Up to this point I've been using a 'tap bridge' which means I tap the whale twice in row to let it know it's done something right. Obviously this limits what you can do with your animal because it has to be within arms reach to tap. So basically you need a bridge to train and getting one is pretty great!
More later if I think of anything, see you all in 10 days!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019061&id=1322040101&l=1e635f40db
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Okay well I promised a post explaining the things at work. Not that anyone really cares about what 'jointing whales' means; but I just watched Godfather 2 by myself and am fiercely depressed so I needed something else to do to distract me. So joint feeding jus means feeding more than one animal at a time. This doesn't sound very complicated and I thought it wouldn't be. Surprise! Here is a list of things that you would never think about but that trainers have o do when joint feeding:
1. You have to keep track of what and how much your feeding both animals at one time
2. you have to check each fish for quality as you feed it (we always do this but X 2 it gets hard)
3. you have to give both animals equal attention so as to not accidently ignore (we call this"LRS"ing) an animal and cause it to start 'offering' behaviors to get your attention
4. you have to know which animal is dominate and monitor it for signs of aggression or even subtle displacement (like turning its back to the other animal its next to)
5. you have to make sure you don't accidently reinforce (feed) an animal as it's aggressing on another animal/doing something bad
6. you have to end both animals at the same time even if they have very different amounts of food that need to be fed out (like for Kavna and Imaq 1.8 kg vs 3.5kg)
phew a lot trickier than it sounds isn't it? I got to try it once with the belugas Kavna and Imaq and while it was fun because it was challenging, I did accidently LRS Imaq and then reinforced him for something wrong. Whoops. I definitely realized that there is a LOT about training that I don't know yet. I've also been joint feeding the otters prety regularly and that's been going much better! Well it is a lot easier with them because you aren't asking them for any behaviors while you're feeding, and you aren't touching them which takes away one of the hands you could be using to feed. It was a really nice surprise today when the trainers asked me to go up to the otter exhibit by myself and joint feed 'Tanu' and 'Elfin'! Again, it's kind of sad to have to leave right when you're finally starting to feel like you can work independently and be helpful.
Well I also gave my otter talk- which is just one of the trainers giving a 5-10 minute talk about sea otters while all 3 otters are either fed or trained (depending on the time). It's essentially a 3 page spiel with a bunch of info and some corny transitions. There are 4 shows a day and I'll probably do one of them from now on. It's a little nervewracking at times, I know all the information, but sometimes you lose your place and have to skip ahead like an idiot. Also I hate hearing myself on microphone. But it is fun answering the crowd's questions because the kids get so excited.
My two new behaviors I was approved on were 'ventral' and 'pec present.' Basically these are when the whale rolls over on its belly or its side. They may seem boring, but they are some of the most important behaviors to keep strong with the animals because we really need them to do medical procedures, they are called 'husbandry behaviors'.
Hmm what else, oh yes, I led an encounter for the sea otters. Basically guests pay extra money to get a tour of some of the aquarium facilites and to feed an otter. I led a tour of three people as they fed our oldest otter Milo. As the trainer you just have to monitor everything the guests do and make sure they are feeding correctly and answer any questions. The group was really nice and didn't want to ask questions or hear much info, they just wanted to look at the otter, which was fine by me! So in conclusion, that was easy.
Oh and of course Daisy! Daisy is a rescued Harbour porpoise, aka the cutest thing I have even seen in my entire life. Seriously. She is declared unreleasable to the wild because she has been dependent on human care since she was about 6 weeks old (she is now a year). She has been in recovery and then just living at the aquarium's rescue facility, MMR (Marine Mammal Rescue) for the past year- but now she is at the aquarium and beginning training! I really hope to get at least a couple of pictures of her so that I can put them up here.
Wellllll other than that my weekend was awesome- the Chinese fireworks were amazing, they even had waterproof ones. And I laid out at English Bay with Sheri all afternoon Sunday and then went back to Lynn Canyone park by myself Monday. I went hiking and swimming and saw lots of cute dogs there, it was sooo pretty and fun and I even remembered my camera for pcitures but then forgot the battery...so no photos of that adventure- but I did see some bear tracks!
Woohooo see you all in less than 3 weeks!
1. You have to keep track of what and how much your feeding both animals at one time
2. you have to check each fish for quality as you feed it (we always do this but X 2 it gets hard)
3. you have to give both animals equal attention so as to not accidently ignore (we call this"LRS"ing) an animal and cause it to start 'offering' behaviors to get your attention
4. you have to know which animal is dominate and monitor it for signs of aggression or even subtle displacement (like turning its back to the other animal its next to)
5. you have to make sure you don't accidently reinforce (feed) an animal as it's aggressing on another animal/doing something bad
6. you have to end both animals at the same time even if they have very different amounts of food that need to be fed out (like for Kavna and Imaq 1.8 kg vs 3.5kg)
phew a lot trickier than it sounds isn't it? I got to try it once with the belugas Kavna and Imaq and while it was fun because it was challenging, I did accidently LRS Imaq and then reinforced him for something wrong. Whoops. I definitely realized that there is a LOT about training that I don't know yet. I've also been joint feeding the otters prety regularly and that's been going much better! Well it is a lot easier with them because you aren't asking them for any behaviors while you're feeding, and you aren't touching them which takes away one of the hands you could be using to feed. It was a really nice surprise today when the trainers asked me to go up to the otter exhibit by myself and joint feed 'Tanu' and 'Elfin'! Again, it's kind of sad to have to leave right when you're finally starting to feel like you can work independently and be helpful.
Well I also gave my otter talk- which is just one of the trainers giving a 5-10 minute talk about sea otters while all 3 otters are either fed or trained (depending on the time). It's essentially a 3 page spiel with a bunch of info and some corny transitions. There are 4 shows a day and I'll probably do one of them from now on. It's a little nervewracking at times, I know all the information, but sometimes you lose your place and have to skip ahead like an idiot. Also I hate hearing myself on microphone. But it is fun answering the crowd's questions because the kids get so excited.
My two new behaviors I was approved on were 'ventral' and 'pec present.' Basically these are when the whale rolls over on its belly or its side. They may seem boring, but they are some of the most important behaviors to keep strong with the animals because we really need them to do medical procedures, they are called 'husbandry behaviors'.
Hmm what else, oh yes, I led an encounter for the sea otters. Basically guests pay extra money to get a tour of some of the aquarium facilites and to feed an otter. I led a tour of three people as they fed our oldest otter Milo. As the trainer you just have to monitor everything the guests do and make sure they are feeding correctly and answer any questions. The group was really nice and didn't want to ask questions or hear much info, they just wanted to look at the otter, which was fine by me! So in conclusion, that was easy.
Oh and of course Daisy! Daisy is a rescued Harbour porpoise, aka the cutest thing I have even seen in my entire life. Seriously. She is declared unreleasable to the wild because she has been dependent on human care since she was about 6 weeks old (she is now a year). She has been in recovery and then just living at the aquarium's rescue facility, MMR (Marine Mammal Rescue) for the past year- but now she is at the aquarium and beginning training! I really hope to get at least a couple of pictures of her so that I can put them up here.
Wellllll other than that my weekend was awesome- the Chinese fireworks were amazing, they even had waterproof ones. And I laid out at English Bay with Sheri all afternoon Sunday and then went back to Lynn Canyone park by myself Monday. I went hiking and swimming and saw lots of cute dogs there, it was sooo pretty and fun and I even remembered my camera for pcitures but then forgot the battery...so no photos of that adventure- but I did see some bear tracks!
Woohooo see you all in less than 3 weeks!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
My fourth to last week in Vancouver was great! The Boecker grandparents visited for 4 days and we had an amazing trip. We toured a lot of downtown Vancouver, spent a day at the aquarium and met some whales, went to lynn valley ecological park and suspension bridge, drove up to Whistler where the 2010 winter games are going to be held, and went whale watching! Phew I’m tired just writing about it. We hiked a lot, ate good food (yay!), swam, took a ton of pictures, and basically had a pretty much perfect Vancouver experience. Each thing we did I could go on about for about a page each, so I’ll spare you and just tell you the cool details in person when I get back home!
As far as work goes it was an awesome time too. There was one sad thing; our other Beluga intern quit (for numerous reasons); and although I miss him a lot because we had a really fun time together at work, I am really busy now and probably doing more than I would have had the chance to otherwise. So I guess I'm sad for him, but at least the change isn't really hurting the internship (except for more days in FH).
Well to go back to the 'awesome time' part of work- This week I got to joint feed two whales and two otters, I finally gave my ‘otter talk’ in front of the public on mic (twice), I was approved on two new behaviors w/ whales, I lead a sea otter encounter, got to play with the only Harbour porpoise in captivity in North America, watched some world-class fireworks, and I had an amazing amazing last day of my 10th week here. (told you I was busy) Today was just one of those great days you can’t explain- nothing big and perfect happened, it was just a good day.
I woke up at 5:30am to go to work by 6:30 and had extra time so I grabbed a coffee and some ‘timbits’ (donut holes) for my early morning co-workers and myself. Walking to the bus stop/work it was just a perfect morning, a lot like Midwest summer mornings before the humidity hits. I was the first one at work- which was pretty fun, and when the other trainers got there we did some super-fast bucket making and fed a bunch of animals with lots of down time in between to eat our timbits. Basically it was just a nice day and really good ending to a busy week. Well Ice Cube knows what I’m talking about anyway.
And I still have the fireworks left to complete my week! Tonight is China and I’m really excited…although it is already 8pm and I haven’t gotten a call from the friend I’m going w/ to see them…but hopefully it’ll work out!
I’ll write more about what everything I did at work means later, I just wanted to get at least a short post out so that Auntie Di-Di would have something to read at work on Monday!
See you all three weeks from today!
Love,
Your favorite whatever relation I am to you
As far as work goes it was an awesome time too. There was one sad thing; our other Beluga intern quit (for numerous reasons); and although I miss him a lot because we had a really fun time together at work, I am really busy now and probably doing more than I would have had the chance to otherwise. So I guess I'm sad for him, but at least the change isn't really hurting the internship (except for more days in FH).
Well to go back to the 'awesome time' part of work- This week I got to joint feed two whales and two otters, I finally gave my ‘otter talk’ in front of the public on mic (twice), I was approved on two new behaviors w/ whales, I lead a sea otter encounter, got to play with the only Harbour porpoise in captivity in North America, watched some world-class fireworks, and I had an amazing amazing last day of my 10th week here. (told you I was busy) Today was just one of those great days you can’t explain- nothing big and perfect happened, it was just a good day.
I woke up at 5:30am to go to work by 6:30 and had extra time so I grabbed a coffee and some ‘timbits’ (donut holes) for my early morning co-workers and myself. Walking to the bus stop/work it was just a perfect morning, a lot like Midwest summer mornings before the humidity hits. I was the first one at work- which was pretty fun, and when the other trainers got there we did some super-fast bucket making and fed a bunch of animals with lots of down time in between to eat our timbits. Basically it was just a nice day and really good ending to a busy week. Well Ice Cube knows what I’m talking about anyway.
And I still have the fireworks left to complete my week! Tonight is China and I’m really excited…although it is already 8pm and I haven’t gotten a call from the friend I’m going w/ to see them…but hopefully it’ll work out!
I’ll write more about what everything I did at work means later, I just wanted to get at least a short post out so that Auntie Di-Di would have something to read at work on Monday!
See you all three weeks from today!
Love,
Your favorite whatever relation I am to you
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Just a quick link to some more photos!
More on the very busy past week later, here are some pictures for now- I have about a thousand more still to come!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019061&id=1322040101&l=1e635f40db
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019061&id=1322040101&l=1e635f40db
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Week 9, 3/4 done!
Whoops, I forgot to update last week, but don't worry you haven't missed much! I'm halfway through my 9th week in Vancouver and cannot believe I have been here for two months! Tomorrow I will officially have four weeks left at the Aquarium and then I'll be back to NE to see everyone. On that note, if anyone does want to see me my flights are all booked, I'm coming back to O-town August 21 and leaving for school in CA August 30. So that will put me at home for a total of about 10 days this summer!
As far as Canada goes- the internship is pretty much the same, fun, but I haven't taken on any new duties for the past week. I'm still doing mostly fishhouse, powerwashing, animal duties, and basic training sessions with the whales and otters. I'm working a little more on my Milo project and will try to analze the results by next weekend to let the trainers know where I'm at with it.
The week has been fun out of work as well, there is a big fireworks competition here called the 'Celebration of Lights' that takes place over four days. Three countries (China, Canada, South Africa) have seperate shows and the winner puts on a finale for the last night of fireworks! I went to the first show last night with one of the other interns, and it was amazing! It was Canada's turn and they did a solid 20 minutes of fireworks to the 'Wizard of Oz' soudtrack. At first it was a bit weird, but the 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' finale was really pretty. There were literally a hundred thousand people all packed onto the beaches at English Bay to watch the fireworks being shot off a barge in the water, we felt like a herd of cattle when we left and the streets were still packed with people even 6 or 7 blocks away from where the show was. I'm looking forward to going again in a couple of days.
I'm also looking forward to the Grand-Boeckers visiting tomorrow! We don't have too much planned because I have to work two of the days but a few ideas are a state park, the fireworks, a suspension bridge, Stanley Park, whale watching, and of course the Aquarium. I'm also going to try to get them behind the scenes to watch me do a session w/ the whales- but it may prove a bit tricky since the other two interns have their entire families here this weekend as well!
Anyway, I'll keep you all updated and I'm sure I will have many many many pictures to post, courtesy of Grandma Sharon.
Miss you all!
As far as Canada goes- the internship is pretty much the same, fun, but I haven't taken on any new duties for the past week. I'm still doing mostly fishhouse, powerwashing, animal duties, and basic training sessions with the whales and otters. I'm working a little more on my Milo project and will try to analze the results by next weekend to let the trainers know where I'm at with it.
The week has been fun out of work as well, there is a big fireworks competition here called the 'Celebration of Lights' that takes place over four days. Three countries (China, Canada, South Africa) have seperate shows and the winner puts on a finale for the last night of fireworks! I went to the first show last night with one of the other interns, and it was amazing! It was Canada's turn and they did a solid 20 minutes of fireworks to the 'Wizard of Oz' soudtrack. At first it was a bit weird, but the 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' finale was really pretty. There were literally a hundred thousand people all packed onto the beaches at English Bay to watch the fireworks being shot off a barge in the water, we felt like a herd of cattle when we left and the streets were still packed with people even 6 or 7 blocks away from where the show was. I'm looking forward to going again in a couple of days.
I'm also looking forward to the Grand-Boeckers visiting tomorrow! We don't have too much planned because I have to work two of the days but a few ideas are a state park, the fireworks, a suspension bridge, Stanley Park, whale watching, and of course the Aquarium. I'm also going to try to get them behind the scenes to watch me do a session w/ the whales- but it may prove a bit tricky since the other two interns have their entire families here this weekend as well!
Anyway, I'll keep you all updated and I'm sure I will have many many many pictures to post, courtesy of Grandma Sharon.
Miss you all!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Let's call this one the week of dichotomy!
Well the week of awesomeness came to a pretty bleak end. We found out on Tuesday that two staff members (one of them being one of my best friends at work) were giving their two weeks notice. While they were leaving for pretty exciting personal reasons, new job/moving etc, it was still a depressing day for the Marine Mammal Dept. Unfortunately one of the staffers leaving is the head of fish house which means its back to 7am shifts for the interns! It kind of stinks going back to fish house two days a week, but we are going to get 'pulled up' from it throughout the day to do animal sessions, so it won't be too bad.
After a lousy start to the 7th week, things got better- I got to deliver my first solo sd (signal that asks for a behavior) w/ the whales, which was a 'dorsal layout', basically the whale lies flat on its stomach with its dorsal ridge within arms reach. This was really cool because I'm actually getting to do 'trainer stuff' now! I also got to be part of an encounter which was really really cool. Encounters are when people pay a bunch of money to come back and meet the whales. They usually consist of three trainers- two trainers with a whale and 2 guests each and a third trainer on the opposite end of the pool that the whales get sent to when the trainers want to give the whale a little break from the guests or take a minute to explain something to them. I got to be the third trainer for an encounter, and although it's nothing too difficult, it was awesome to actually feel like part of the team and know that the staff trusts me enough to let me do it!
Then the week got lousy again- there has been a flu going around the department for a couple of weeks, and I got it. I now realize that it really sucks being sick when you live alone, there is no one to get you ginger ale and make you soup and listen to you whine. Thankfully it's not the stomach flu, its the 'influenza' flu which is a lot easier to manage by yourself. But I still don't know how I made it through the last two days at work, I've basically been coughing up a lung/blowing my nose/shivering/dying from fever for three days straight. My weekend started yesterday at 3pm and I came home and slept for around 12 hours and finally just got up. I'm pretty sure the worst is over and I broke my fever- but last night was really awful. I had the fever and chills so bad that I had a fan pointed at me on high and a wet towel wrapped around my head, but I also had two comforters next to me to wrap up in for when I got freezing. So pretty much all I've done in the past 24 hours is sleep, watch old friends episodes, and eat crackers and a smoothie.
But I'm still hopeful the week will improve again!
After a lousy start to the 7th week, things got better- I got to deliver my first solo sd (signal that asks for a behavior) w/ the whales, which was a 'dorsal layout', basically the whale lies flat on its stomach with its dorsal ridge within arms reach. This was really cool because I'm actually getting to do 'trainer stuff' now! I also got to be part of an encounter which was really really cool. Encounters are when people pay a bunch of money to come back and meet the whales. They usually consist of three trainers- two trainers with a whale and 2 guests each and a third trainer on the opposite end of the pool that the whales get sent to when the trainers want to give the whale a little break from the guests or take a minute to explain something to them. I got to be the third trainer for an encounter, and although it's nothing too difficult, it was awesome to actually feel like part of the team and know that the staff trusts me enough to let me do it!
Then the week got lousy again- there has been a flu going around the department for a couple of weeks, and I got it. I now realize that it really sucks being sick when you live alone, there is no one to get you ginger ale and make you soup and listen to you whine. Thankfully it's not the stomach flu, its the 'influenza' flu which is a lot easier to manage by yourself. But I still don't know how I made it through the last two days at work, I've basically been coughing up a lung/blowing my nose/shivering/dying from fever for three days straight. My weekend started yesterday at 3pm and I came home and slept for around 12 hours and finally just got up. I'm pretty sure the worst is over and I broke my fever- but last night was really awful. I had the fever and chills so bad that I had a fan pointed at me on high and a wet towel wrapped around my head, but I also had two comforters next to me to wrap up in for when I got freezing. So pretty much all I've done in the past 24 hours is sleep, watch old friends episodes, and eat crackers and a smoothie.
But I'm still hopeful the week will improve again!
Monday, July 6, 2009
'Week of Awesomeness'
So I finished my 6th week or the “Week of awesomeness” so named by my co-workers. We had a Canada day BBQ, a farewell party for one of my coworkers, a West Wing marathon, and a delicious lunch. It was a very fun week in which much money was surely spent well! It’s definitely been my most fun (socially) week in Canada so far. Work was fun as well, nothing too new this week though. I learned more about delivering ‘sd’s (the signals that elicit behaviors) like how and when to give them and which ones are which. I also made some progress on my project about Milo the otter. I’ve narrowed down when he pattern swims and I’m trying out new solutions to counteract it; like switching around feeding times and places and giving him varied types of enrichment. The next few weeks should be really good as well- there are two big birthday parties soon and my friend Christian from Pomona might be coming up to visit, which would be great!
There was one minor incident this week- an apartment in my building had bed bugs (ew) so they inspected and sprayed the whole building. Luckily I worked during both appointments so my landlord just took care of it, and I didn’t have any bugs (thank the Lord), so I just got a little preventative spray on the apartment baseboards and everything should be fine! Also oddly enough, the landlord told me they use a little Beagle to inspect the houses. Apparently they are specially trained and are over 90% accurate at detecting the presence of pests. I thought that was pretty hilarious, maybe Meredith and Andy should enlist Bailey.
I hope everyone had a great fourth of July, I’ll call you all later this week to hear about them!
There was one minor incident this week- an apartment in my building had bed bugs (ew) so they inspected and sprayed the whole building. Luckily I worked during both appointments so my landlord just took care of it, and I didn’t have any bugs (thank the Lord), so I just got a little preventative spray on the apartment baseboards and everything should be fine! Also oddly enough, the landlord told me they use a little Beagle to inspect the houses. Apparently they are specially trained and are over 90% accurate at detecting the presence of pests. I thought that was pretty hilarious, maybe Meredith and Andy should enlist Bailey.
I hope everyone had a great fourth of July, I’ll call you all later this week to hear about them!
Monday, June 29, 2009
My second month in Canadia-land
My fifth week in Canada is officially over, and it was really fun. This week I got to do my first ‘play’ sessions with the whales. This is where the trainers go out with toys/mirrors/etc. to just hang out and interact with the animals which builds a better relationship and is really enriching for the animals. We have absolutely no food, but the whales still come to you just for fun- which is amazing. I ‘played’ with Tiqa, the one year old whale who is adorable, with basically a floaty noodle people use in pools. She would bump it and chew on it etc, and also got tongue rubs and lots of ‘petting’ from me. Basically it was a fantastic experience. I got to do the same thing with her dad Imaq and another older whale, Kavna.
Playing was a pretty big deal because the animals are getting to the point where the recognize the interns and will actually ‘give us the eye’ when we walk past. It’s really cool- they’ll kind of peek at you from underwater and judge whether your worthy of their attention or not. I got quite a whale compliment because Kavna (the oldest and most finicky beluga) eyed me for about 5 minutes, but then popped up and stationed for me for tongue rubs even though I didn’t have any fish for her! It sounds very lame- but it is really cool for me to actually see how my relationship is progressing with all the animals.
I also got to be the test dummy for ‘beluga encounters’ that the aquarium offers to the public. This basically meant that I stood by the pool in a raincoat while the whales practiced splashing me. It was very wet, but a lot of fun, I learned how to ask a whale for a ‘spit’.
Other than that I can’t think of anything too exciting- I’m going to a Canada Day BBQ/party on Wednesday (July 1st) which should be pretty fun (although it is an incredibly lame holiday compared to the 4th), and maybe the other Americans and I will plan something for the real independence day on Saturday! I’ve already burnt an “America” CD to listen to while I work in Fish House next week- it features such great artists as the Boss, John cougar Mellencamp, and Lee Greenwood.
I miss you guys, but am still loving Vancouver- more later!
Playing was a pretty big deal because the animals are getting to the point where the recognize the interns and will actually ‘give us the eye’ when we walk past. It’s really cool- they’ll kind of peek at you from underwater and judge whether your worthy of their attention or not. I got quite a whale compliment because Kavna (the oldest and most finicky beluga) eyed me for about 5 minutes, but then popped up and stationed for me for tongue rubs even though I didn’t have any fish for her! It sounds very lame- but it is really cool for me to actually see how my relationship is progressing with all the animals.
I also got to be the test dummy for ‘beluga encounters’ that the aquarium offers to the public. This basically meant that I stood by the pool in a raincoat while the whales practiced splashing me. It was very wet, but a lot of fun, I learned how to ask a whale for a ‘spit’.
Other than that I can’t think of anything too exciting- I’m going to a Canada Day BBQ/party on Wednesday (July 1st) which should be pretty fun (although it is an incredibly lame holiday compared to the 4th), and maybe the other Americans and I will plan something for the real independence day on Saturday! I’ve already burnt an “America” CD to listen to while I work in Fish House next week- it features such great artists as the Boss, John cougar Mellencamp, and Lee Greenwood.
I miss you guys, but am still loving Vancouver- more later!
Another great week in Vancouver, we began training this week. I got to give some hand signals for the whales and actually feed an entire session by myself because we were short-staffed. I pretty much only know how to ‘point’ and ‘station’ so far, but it’s a start! I also gave my first beluga tongue rub. Belugas have incredibly sensitive tongues, so they will come right up to you and open their mouths to try to get a tongue rub, it’s kind of like rubbing a dog’s belly, they really enjoy it. It is a pretty weird feeling to put your hand in a whale’s mouth, though they are completely unaggressive they do have some pretty good sized chompers. It also just feels weird to pet something’s tongue- but it is pretty fun. You can tell the whales love it, they look really content.
This coming week we get to learn the exciting task of power washing the otter exhibits! Yippee. This means I ‘get’ to be at work at 6:30am once a week. You can probably tell how excited I am to be learning this great life skill. We have to wear these yellow overall getups and glasses when we clean, but I still expect to be covered in algae and other…stuff…from the otter pool when I’m done. But, besides manual labor we should get to do some pretty cool stuff with training. We’ll learn a little more about the academic side on Wednesday and then probably get to try some practical application the rest of the week.
I’m really excited, but pretty worn out and it’s only the beginning of the week, so it might be a long haul to make it to my second month here. I’ve officially been in Vancouver for over a month and worked almost 200 hours, I think it’s about time for a vacation!
This coming week we get to learn the exciting task of power washing the otter exhibits! Yippee. This means I ‘get’ to be at work at 6:30am once a week. You can probably tell how excited I am to be learning this great life skill. We have to wear these yellow overall getups and glasses when we clean, but I still expect to be covered in algae and other…stuff…from the otter pool when I’m done. But, besides manual labor we should get to do some pretty cool stuff with training. We’ll learn a little more about the academic side on Wednesday and then probably get to try some practical application the rest of the week.
I’m really excited, but pretty worn out and it’s only the beginning of the week, so it might be a long haul to make it to my second month here. I’ve officially been in Vancouver for over a month and worked almost 200 hours, I think it’s about time for a vacation!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Today was the beginning of my fourth week in Vancouver- we are finally starting to learn training tomorrow! We're learning what's called the 'ABC's, basically what 'bridging' and training are all about, how to reinforce/reward/ignore behaviors, how to change our body language properly etc. so it should be really fun and probably kind of overwhelming in a good way!
All in all it was a good 'Monday' I got my first kiss from a whale, Imaq, and it was very salty! I also got to start at 9:30am instead of 7am which is a relief. For some reason though I was still really tired and pretty loopy all day. The trainers say it is called 'Beluga Dimentia', haha. They're half serious though- with the new baby arriving our schedules have been switched around so much, our duties have changed, and our normal pattern is compeltely different which can really throw you off. Combine this with 2 straight days of me having been completely underwater in the dark for about 7 hours and you get pretty disoriented!
Despite a headache since after lunch it was a cool day, I got to feed some whales and participate in some behavior training in the afternoon and found out I'm already presenting part of my sea otter project next week! The staff may actually change how they do things based on my recommendations. This means I have to brainstorm pretty hard all week to come up with actual feasible and good suggestions rather than just theoretical ones- but I can't believe I might actually make on impact on how the otters are cared for at the aquarium!
Anyway, I still have a headache and no medicine so I'm just taking it easy and watching the Bourne Identity- it's a pretty quiet Tuesday night for me!
All in all it was a good 'Monday' I got my first kiss from a whale, Imaq, and it was very salty! I also got to start at 9:30am instead of 7am which is a relief. For some reason though I was still really tired and pretty loopy all day. The trainers say it is called 'Beluga Dimentia', haha. They're half serious though- with the new baby arriving our schedules have been switched around so much, our duties have changed, and our normal pattern is compeltely different which can really throw you off. Combine this with 2 straight days of me having been completely underwater in the dark for about 7 hours and you get pretty disoriented!
Despite a headache since after lunch it was a cool day, I got to feed some whales and participate in some behavior training in the afternoon and found out I'm already presenting part of my sea otter project next week! The staff may actually change how they do things based on my recommendations. This means I have to brainstorm pretty hard all week to come up with actual feasible and good suggestions rather than just theoretical ones- but I can't believe I might actually make on impact on how the otters are cared for at the aquarium!
Anyway, I still have a headache and no medicine so I'm just taking it easy and watching the Bourne Identity- it's a pretty quiet Tuesday night for me!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Well my weekend was a bit short-lived, but for very good reasons! On Sunday late afternoon the new baby Beluga whale was born! I got to watch the labor and birth from about 1:45pm on. It was really exciting and a pretty once and a lifetime experience. The calf is a little girl and is sooooo adorable (and not that little). She is bigger than me actually probably almost 6ft and 130-40 lbs. (and she could swim better than I can about 1 minute after she was born)
Of course having a new baby around has thrown off the schedule a little bit, but we interns are just doing whatever they tell us too. Starting to learn whale training may be delayed a week or two- but it's worked out fine as they've put us on different duties. We only have to do fish house once or twice a weel from now on, Hallelujah! Instead I've been working more with the sea otters or on 'baby watch'. This means I sit in 'underwater viewing' and 'supervise' volunteers. Not really, but Im supposedly an expert opinion for them to consult. We monitor and time respirations, aggression and nursing and record these for Aquarium research and the vet, Dr. Marty. I am on baby watch for the next two days for 7 hours a day. It should be interesting...I've been told to bring lots of snacks and caffeine as being underground in a dark and quiet viewing area is pretty condusive to sleep after a couple of hours. But hey, a job where you all you do is watch 4 whales play all day isn't much to complain about!
If anyone wants I took a couple of photos birth/newborn, here you go!
I wasn't able to get many good ones and I haven't had time to sort through and edit them yet, but here are a few pictures of the new mom and baby whale: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015999&id=1322040101&l=a24bf4940
I took video as well, hopefully it loads quickly for you if you'd like to watch. One is the birth and the other is one of the baby's first breaths (if you'd like something a little less National Geographic)
Of course having a new baby around has thrown off the schedule a little bit, but we interns are just doing whatever they tell us too. Starting to learn whale training may be delayed a week or two- but it's worked out fine as they've put us on different duties. We only have to do fish house once or twice a weel from now on, Hallelujah! Instead I've been working more with the sea otters or on 'baby watch'. This means I sit in 'underwater viewing' and 'supervise' volunteers. Not really, but Im supposedly an expert opinion for them to consult. We monitor and time respirations, aggression and nursing and record these for Aquarium research and the vet, Dr. Marty. I am on baby watch for the next two days for 7 hours a day. It should be interesting...I've been told to bring lots of snacks and caffeine as being underground in a dark and quiet viewing area is pretty condusive to sleep after a couple of hours. But hey, a job where you all you do is watch 4 whales play all day isn't much to complain about!
If anyone wants I took a couple of photos birth/newborn, here you go!
I wasn't able to get many good ones and I haven't had time to sort through and edit them yet, but here are a few pictures of the new mom and baby whale: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015999&id=1322040101&l=a24bf4940
I took video as well, hopefully it loads quickly for you if you'd like to watch. One is the birth and the other is one of the baby's first breaths (if you'd like something a little less National Geographic)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
TGIF!
Hey everyone, sorry for my long updating absence, it has been a really busy second week. I’m still working from 7am to 3 every day in fish house, but have been doing a lot more outside as well. My day goes more like this now: sorting fish and making meals for the animals from 7 to 9:30, going up with the trainers to do something with Belugas (today we helped set up a dive to clean the exhibit). 10-11 we clean a lot and gut clams (because the otters won’t eat the guts), then we get to up again and go to an otter training session and then beluga training session, lunch time and then we only have an hour and a half left of cleaning and some more otters/belugas!
Between all this, we have ‘projects’ we’ve been assigned to present to the trainers at the end of the year. They’re pretty much just observatory, things the trainers would really like to know but are either unable to do it themselves because the animals recognize the trainers and therefore alter their behavior when they’re around or because they just don’t have the extra time. My project is on the behavior of the otters, one in particular Milo, tends to have a ‘pattern swim’ where he swims the exact same path over and over again (equivalent to pacing) which is a behavior the trainers really don’t want to see. So I hang out with him for about 30 minutes every day- 10 minutes before feeding, during feeding, and after feeding. I record all his behaviors so we can determine how they change in the presence of trainers, food, enrichment, audience etc. It’s pretty cool, after two days I’m already noticing a few established behavioral patterns. Basically I’ll summarize all my data and then present it to the Marine Mammal Department at the end of the summer in hopes that it will help them/future interns can continue the research if it seems promising.
Other than that nothing too out of the ordinary has happened lately. The next exciting thing to happen will probably be one of the belugas giving birth since she is due any day now. She is on 24 hour a day watch so that whenever labor starts everyone in the department (including us interns!) gets a call at home to come in and watch. I’m really excited about it since we get front row seats, I just hope it’s not at like 3am because I’m already tired enough at work in the mornings! I’ll be sure to take a ton of pictures of the baby when that happens and post them for everyone.
Vancouver is still as great as ever- very hot for the city this week, it’s been in the 80s every day. Since there’s no humidity here it’s been absolutely perfect weather for me. I sat outside and read at Coal Harbor (10 minutes from my apt.) for hours this week. It’s also been more fun because I’ve discovered the 19-25 crowd at the aquarium to hang out with! It’s one of the whale’s 1st birthday next week so the trainers will throw a big party then, which should be great. Last but not least I love where I live! The cats are amazing and really friendly and the place is in a great location and very well furnished and beautiful.
That’s pretty much everything I can think of, I have tomorrow off so I will probably give some of you a buzz to catch up! Oh, and I posted some pictures of my sublet and the cats if you want to see where I’m living:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015198&id=1322040101&l=7b7399e4a9
(I hope that was enough distraction from work for one day Di-Di)
Between all this, we have ‘projects’ we’ve been assigned to present to the trainers at the end of the year. They’re pretty much just observatory, things the trainers would really like to know but are either unable to do it themselves because the animals recognize the trainers and therefore alter their behavior when they’re around or because they just don’t have the extra time. My project is on the behavior of the otters, one in particular Milo, tends to have a ‘pattern swim’ where he swims the exact same path over and over again (equivalent to pacing) which is a behavior the trainers really don’t want to see. So I hang out with him for about 30 minutes every day- 10 minutes before feeding, during feeding, and after feeding. I record all his behaviors so we can determine how they change in the presence of trainers, food, enrichment, audience etc. It’s pretty cool, after two days I’m already noticing a few established behavioral patterns. Basically I’ll summarize all my data and then present it to the Marine Mammal Department at the end of the summer in hopes that it will help them/future interns can continue the research if it seems promising.
Other than that nothing too out of the ordinary has happened lately. The next exciting thing to happen will probably be one of the belugas giving birth since she is due any day now. She is on 24 hour a day watch so that whenever labor starts everyone in the department (including us interns!) gets a call at home to come in and watch. I’m really excited about it since we get front row seats, I just hope it’s not at like 3am because I’m already tired enough at work in the mornings! I’ll be sure to take a ton of pictures of the baby when that happens and post them for everyone.
Vancouver is still as great as ever- very hot for the city this week, it’s been in the 80s every day. Since there’s no humidity here it’s been absolutely perfect weather for me. I sat outside and read at Coal Harbor (10 minutes from my apt.) for hours this week. It’s also been more fun because I’ve discovered the 19-25 crowd at the aquarium to hang out with! It’s one of the whale’s 1st birthday next week so the trainers will throw a big party then, which should be great. Last but not least I love where I live! The cats are amazing and really friendly and the place is in a great location and very well furnished and beautiful.
That’s pretty much everything I can think of, I have tomorrow off so I will probably give some of you a buzz to catch up! Oh, and I posted some pictures of my sublet and the cats if you want to see where I’m living:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015198&id=1322040101&l=7b7399e4a9
(I hope that was enough distraction from work for one day Di-Di)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Real work
Well I learned that working from 7am-3pm means a very very long 5.5 hour morning! I now know to buy 4 things for working in the fish house- very thick socks, very strong lotion, a snack and a water bottle. When we arrive @ 7am we take about 100 pounds of fish and thaw them in cold water, put on gloves and then sort through every fish and check that they are good enough for the animals and then put them in buckets according to size. This is quite a challenge when you are barely conscious.
Needless to say, all three interns were a bit slow at fish sorting this morning-I dropped about half of the fish I sorter on the floor because they are so slippery. After this we assemble food buckets for each marine mammal in the aquarium for the entire day. Then we clean. a lot.
This is why I need lotion, my hands are sooo dry from scrubbing everything that comes into the room and then the entire room itself (its stainless steel and concrete) twice a day. Doing all this (and other random things I've forgotten) takes about 5 hours, and you often forget to eat/drink because it's so busy and hectic in the kitchen- so I will have to buy a water bottle tonight so I don't pass out tomorrow. We also have some pretty intense combination combat/rubber boots that definitely need to be matched with thick socks, but on the plus side you can literally kick a brick wall and not feel a thing!
Hmmm, one last thing I can remember- we did sea otter enrichment, which was really fun. We dropped frozen toys into their enclosures and watched the otters try to get food out etc. The otters are adorable and surprisingly strong. They're about the size of Zoey and they look like giant teddy bears, it's really hard not to pet them!
All and all, a great second day!
Needless to say, all three interns were a bit slow at fish sorting this morning-I dropped about half of the fish I sorter on the floor because they are so slippery. After this we assemble food buckets for each marine mammal in the aquarium for the entire day. Then we clean. a lot.
This is why I need lotion, my hands are sooo dry from scrubbing everything that comes into the room and then the entire room itself (its stainless steel and concrete) twice a day. Doing all this (and other random things I've forgotten) takes about 5 hours, and you often forget to eat/drink because it's so busy and hectic in the kitchen- so I will have to buy a water bottle tonight so I don't pass out tomorrow. We also have some pretty intense combination combat/rubber boots that definitely need to be matched with thick socks, but on the plus side you can literally kick a brick wall and not feel a thing!
Hmmm, one last thing I can remember- we did sea otter enrichment, which was really fun. We dropped frozen toys into their enclosures and watched the otters try to get food out etc. The otters are adorable and surprisingly strong. They're about the size of Zoey and they look like giant teddy bears, it's really hard not to pet them!
All and all, a great second day!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Work
Today was my first day at Vancouver Aquarium! It went really well, very hectic and busy- but everyone was incredbily nice. We got very dorky uniforms that consist of boardshorts, navy shirts that say 'intern', a Vancouver aquarium baseball cap, and water sandals called Keens.
After I changed we got a tour of the entire facility we'll be working in and met all the animals. Then I got to 'pet' Imaq the beluga for a while and feed him, which was amazing. For the next couple weeks I have grunt work- fish house duty from 7am to 3pm for at least 3 weeks. But after that we get to start going to training sessions w/ the trainer and eventually even training ourselves.
I'm really excited for the rest of the summer, especially because a baby whale is due at the aquarium any day any now! Now I just have to find a young, hip and cool group of friends to hang out with on the weekends.
After I changed we got a tour of the entire facility we'll be working in and met all the animals. Then I got to 'pet' Imaq the beluga for a while and feed him, which was amazing. For the next couple weeks I have grunt work- fish house duty from 7am to 3pm for at least 3 weeks. But after that we get to start going to training sessions w/ the trainer and eventually even training ourselves.
I'm really excited for the rest of the summer, especially because a baby whale is due at the aquarium any day any now! Now I just have to find a young, hip and cool group of friends to hang out with on the weekends.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
I went to visit my new home (for two months anyways) and the area is amazing! The apartment building I'm in is kind of Dundee-esque. It is literally in the middle of a little park plaza area where there are lots of different flowers and trees and bench areas, even some pretty little water statues etc. About 3 blocks from this is a dog park and kids' playground which are both really nicely maintained and designed. I'll definitely be visiting the dog park when I get homesick. (see previous blog for evidence of absurd abundance of dogs everywhere). And my fave part: the beach is a mere 6 blocks away- it took me about 10 minutes to walk there. The 'city' part of Vancouver- shopping, buildings, business- is also about 10 minutes away the other direction, which is good news for grocery shopping.
If you are bored and care to google maps (I know the only people who will do this are my grandparents and Meredith if she's really bored @ work) I live here:
1185 Haro StreetVancouver, BCV6E 1E3
I spent about 4 hours walking around the little park/beach/seafront area and I'll try to post some pictures soon. It seems pretty safe, so I may start jogging there in the mornings- there were about a million runners there all day long.
On another note I'm quickly realizing the perils of being alone (aka currently friendless) in a new city:
1. You spend more money because you don't have human company to distract you (ie movies, coffee)
2. People think you are weird because you overhear their conversations and inadvertently laugh out loud
3. People think you are weird because you make funny faces at their babies to get them to laugh when you're bored but then the parents see you and think you're going to kidnap their kid or something
4. People think you are weird because you are blogging alone in a coffee shop on a Saturday night
5. You are willing to talk to old falafel shop owners even when they are really weird because they're amusing
5. You actually watch the NBA playoff games all the way through, get really involved and secretly resent the 12 year old next to you rooting for the Lakers, especially when Carmelo Anthony fouls out with 37.1 seconds left in a 3-point game. (h8u Kobe)
6. You watch Behind Enemy Lines and miss Action Movie Thursday at Pomona
7. You have a lot of fun doing whatever you please and not caring about what anyone else wants to do
If you are bored and care to google maps (I know the only people who will do this are my grandparents and Meredith if she's really bored @ work) I live here:
1185 Haro StreetVancouver, BCV6E 1E3
I spent about 4 hours walking around the little park/beach/seafront area and I'll try to post some pictures soon. It seems pretty safe, so I may start jogging there in the mornings- there were about a million runners there all day long.
On another note I'm quickly realizing the perils of being alone (aka currently friendless) in a new city:
1. You spend more money because you don't have human company to distract you (ie movies, coffee)
2. People think you are weird because you overhear their conversations and inadvertently laugh out loud
3. People think you are weird because you make funny faces at their babies to get them to laugh when you're bored but then the parents see you and think you're going to kidnap their kid or something
4. People think you are weird because you are blogging alone in a coffee shop on a Saturday night
5. You are willing to talk to old falafel shop owners even when they are really weird because they're amusing
5. You actually watch the NBA playoff games all the way through, get really involved and secretly resent the 12 year old next to you rooting for the Lakers, especially when Carmelo Anthony fouls out with 37.1 seconds left in a 3-point game. (h8u Kobe)
6. You watch Behind Enemy Lines and miss Action Movie Thursday at Pomona
7. You have a lot of fun doing whatever you please and not caring about what anyone else wants to do
Vancouver: Beginnings
Well I arrived in Vancouver with an interesting start. I got off the plane in a HUGE airport complete with ponds and a waterfall between the escalators, which seems promising. Then I got to customs and foolishly decided to tell the truth. I was then informed of a competition clause in the working laws of beautiful Canada. Apparently even an unpaid internship can be taking away a job from a Canadian…so the customs girl told me I had to get a work visa. After freaking out for about 2 minutes she then decided to tell me that it was okay because I was a US citizen and could apply for one at the point of entry. Aka I didn’t have to go all the way back home that night.
After waiting 20 minutes for my bag because the baggage cart was broken I finally headed to ‘intense customs for bad people who can’t make it through normal people customs’. The guy working there asked for proof of my internship. Oops no I don’t have a printed letter, it is on my computer only. Oops my computer is out of battery because I let it die on the airplane because I was at a really good part of “Behind Enemy Lines.” Um well my charger is a replacement charger so it kind of freezes my computer when I plug it in……Sooo….10 awkward minutes later when my computer started the guy glanced at it said ‘OK, oh thanks, you’re fine, bye good luck w/ your internship’. Then I got out of there quick because why let them change their minds? (By the way those 10 minutes were passed by him searching my bag…w/ all my underwear thrown in on top because I packed it at the last minute…oh yea and my mint tea from CHRISTIAN, thanks for almost getting me arrested, which he thought was drugs for like 30 seconds until he smelled it. )
So work visa free I entered Canada land! I could smell the ocean as soon as I stepped outside, because the airport is on a little island off of Vancouver. My airport shuttle came right away and took me to the airport- and here I am! All in all after a brief bump, the summer is off to a great start!
Day 1:
I checked out of my hotel and went out to adventure in Canada-land. At 64 degrees and sunny I was pretty pumped to explore. I walked around for about 2 hours people watching and have made a list of things I like about Canada:
1.EVERYONE has a cute dog. Really, everyone it was disgusting. Sabelow, you would have hated the joy the puppies were bringing to everyone around.
2.There are lots of trees
3.People are terrible drivers but they yield to pedestrians
4.Ocean! Beaches!
5.Really good little walking trails
6.Lots of coffee places
7.Lots of different accents
8.People care about soccer
9.Great taste in music: when I was put on hold over the phone TLC ‘waterfalls’ was played. I have also heard RENT, Natural Woman, Death Cab, Sea of Love, Simon and Garfunkel, etc
After contemplating these niceities I realized @ 3pm that I had not eaten in 20 hours. So I walked some more and looked for food. I chose falafels for 4.25, what a deal. The guy proceeded to tell me he was going to go make me fresh falafels so I sat and watched the Toronto v New England soccer match for 15 minutes. The Revolution lost to Toronto for the first time ever. Big ouch on Memorial Day weekend, eh?
Then 2 old Turkish?/Armenian? guys who worked there started talking to me. First they asked me if I was Mexican. I professed my American-ness and they seemed happy… I said I was really liking Vancouver and they said “Well Vancouver likes you too. We like the Americans here.” Uh thanks… Then I had to tell them what had happened in the game and then they asked me what my background was… I said I was from the Midwest and had 2 brothers. They cleared up that they meant ethnicity. Aha, now I see why they were guessing Mexican, they were confused because every white person in this wilderness is blonde and pale. I said Greek and Irish (I like to hide the fact that I am descended from the evil German empire when I can) which seemed another right answer. Then I was admonished that I should speak Greek and that I should tell my father that he hadn’t been strict enough and that he should have made me go to Greek school because it’s a good language. Um. After declaring that I had a pretty name and that I had to come back throughtout the whole summer to see them and that they would give me a free falafel when I came back tomorrow, I left.
Well, Vancouver sure is hospitable... And that falafel was pretty good.
After waiting 20 minutes for my bag because the baggage cart was broken I finally headed to ‘intense customs for bad people who can’t make it through normal people customs’. The guy working there asked for proof of my internship. Oops no I don’t have a printed letter, it is on my computer only. Oops my computer is out of battery because I let it die on the airplane because I was at a really good part of “Behind Enemy Lines.” Um well my charger is a replacement charger so it kind of freezes my computer when I plug it in……Sooo….10 awkward minutes later when my computer started the guy glanced at it said ‘OK, oh thanks, you’re fine, bye good luck w/ your internship’. Then I got out of there quick because why let them change their minds? (By the way those 10 minutes were passed by him searching my bag…w/ all my underwear thrown in on top because I packed it at the last minute…oh yea and my mint tea from CHRISTIAN, thanks for almost getting me arrested, which he thought was drugs for like 30 seconds until he smelled it. )
So work visa free I entered Canada land! I could smell the ocean as soon as I stepped outside, because the airport is on a little island off of Vancouver. My airport shuttle came right away and took me to the airport- and here I am! All in all after a brief bump, the summer is off to a great start!
Day 1:
I checked out of my hotel and went out to adventure in Canada-land. At 64 degrees and sunny I was pretty pumped to explore. I walked around for about 2 hours people watching and have made a list of things I like about Canada:
1.EVERYONE has a cute dog. Really, everyone it was disgusting. Sabelow, you would have hated the joy the puppies were bringing to everyone around.
2.There are lots of trees
3.People are terrible drivers but they yield to pedestrians
4.Ocean! Beaches!
5.Really good little walking trails
6.Lots of coffee places
7.Lots of different accents
8.People care about soccer
9.Great taste in music: when I was put on hold over the phone TLC ‘waterfalls’ was played. I have also heard RENT, Natural Woman, Death Cab, Sea of Love, Simon and Garfunkel, etc
After contemplating these niceities I realized @ 3pm that I had not eaten in 20 hours. So I walked some more and looked for food. I chose falafels for 4.25, what a deal. The guy proceeded to tell me he was going to go make me fresh falafels so I sat and watched the Toronto v New England soccer match for 15 minutes. The Revolution lost to Toronto for the first time ever. Big ouch on Memorial Day weekend, eh?
Then 2 old Turkish?/Armenian? guys who worked there started talking to me. First they asked me if I was Mexican. I professed my American-ness and they seemed happy… I said I was really liking Vancouver and they said “Well Vancouver likes you too. We like the Americans here.” Uh thanks… Then I had to tell them what had happened in the game and then they asked me what my background was… I said I was from the Midwest and had 2 brothers. They cleared up that they meant ethnicity. Aha, now I see why they were guessing Mexican, they were confused because every white person in this wilderness is blonde and pale. I said Greek and Irish (I like to hide the fact that I am descended from the evil German empire when I can) which seemed another right answer. Then I was admonished that I should speak Greek and that I should tell my father that he hadn’t been strict enough and that he should have made me go to Greek school because it’s a good language. Um. After declaring that I had a pretty name and that I had to come back throughtout the whole summer to see them and that they would give me a free falafel when I came back tomorrow, I left.
Well, Vancouver sure is hospitable... And that falafel was pretty good.
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