Plans Change/I am Sabrina
Ramblings from Abroad
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Lynn and I have had the pleasure of showing Flat Stanley around Paris this week. Flat Stanley is the school project of my aunt's niece. He comes with a bio (he needs to be in bed by 8:30, and he's allergic to pineapple) and he's pretty portable so he goes just about anywhere! He's gone to the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Chateaux Versailles, among other great places in Paris! I hear he frequented the Great Canadian Pub too...
Thought I'd put a few pics from his travels. He's such a cutie.
Stan comparing profiles with the bust at Versailles, spitting image I'd say!
Stan hoeing a row in Marie Antionette's Garden. He was breaking the law but shhhh...
Peakaboo! At Versailles
Pretending to be Wilson from Tool Time. Did I mention he's got a great sense of humor?
Stan's going to accompany me on my travels to the UK next month. Now my mom can breathe a sigh of relief, I won't be alone and Stan, my man, can protect me!
Anyways, I'm exhausted...too much fun and too much wine!
Love love everyone,
Kate
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Busy Busy Busy!
So I had every intention of sitting down and writing a nice long post about my trip to Scotland that followed the girls trip, but then last week came upon me, and I barely had time to take my clothes off before falling into bed!
My "less than 24 hour trip" to Scotland was a success! I had so much fun. Of course the point of the trip was to see Dave Matthews in concert and I can't even begin to describe how FABULOUS that was. He "forgot" to mention he was bringing Tim Renyolds along, best surprise in the world. Those two together are fantastic. It was an accoustic show, but Tim makes up for like 5 people he's so amazing on guitar. Jenn and I had a fantastic hotel, which included a full Scottish breakfast, haggis included (I left that alone for now, along with the blood pudding, puke!). We did a little pub crawling after the show with some friends of Jenn's. And by pub crawling I mean club crawling the exact opposite of what you would think of pubs in Scotland. These clubs had people dressed better than Parisians, and that's difficult. Needless to say we were a tad underdressed. But it was fun nonetheless! It might have been the best trip yet...
Work was absolutely crazy and pretty much great this week. I spent Tuesday in Brussels with my boss from Singapore and my boss from here as we had a meeting to attend at the World Customs Organization. It was fabulous to see all that goes on in a real meeting! The trip was short, there and back in one day but I did have a chance to stop and get some Belgium Chocolate. My intention was to send some home but let's just say I was in a chocolate mood lately so don't get your hopes up...! It was great week at work. A real confidence builder. I also learned some valuable lessons about not having TOO much confidence but thank goodness for a great boss who recognizes one's strengths and tries his best to show your weakness and ways to improve that. I will forever remember this internship and how I learned so much in the span of six months.
So onto the big news. I have an interview on the 27th for a visa to move to the United Kingdom. My short jaunt to Scotland made me fall in love and want to move there. I didn't feel I was ready to go home yet, and with Jenn being in Scotland and me liking it so much I think it's my next stop. I plan to become addicted to football, rugby and bad english soap operas and plan to drink too much beer in charming pubs while surrounded by boys in skirts. I think that's all the Scottish stereotypes I'm aware of...I'm very excited and will keep you posted on job prospects!
I'll leave you with a picture taken yesterday in Honfleur, Normandy. Not too far from the D-Day beaches. Dr Sun, an incredible woman my university set me up with took me there for a DIVINE lunch yesterday and I loved it!
I'll be back soon y'all. Love love love!
Cheers,
Kate
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Ok so this is a bit late coming but for any of you wondering....I had a blast with my girlies!
So the girls week, sorry their 5 days here, was great. It went by oh so quick and I didn't get to see as much of them as I would have liked to, but it was fabulous. Some of the highlights would include:
- Champagne and strawberries (to start the trip off right!)
- Tea with Dr. Sun
- Monmartre (mainly the ten million flights of stairs that gave us butts o'steel, wishful thinking)
- Music quiz at the Long Hop
- Versailles (aka Mary-Ann's house)
- Almost missing Cabaret (ok this wasn't a highlight, this was a disaster but worth remembering, it almost cost me 351 Euro)
- The man who drew our picture (Es looked like Mona Lisa, Dawn looked normal, and I wished that I actually looked like the girl he drew!)
- The bad wine, checking our pulse and the boys across the hall who heard every word we said...
- The Eiffel Tower (crying at the base of it, JDoggPop: scared man we took pictures of to email him, the Canadian Physio's at the top, Paris at Night)
- And of course breaking all the wine glasses and losing the key AFTER the safety deposit was returned.
It was a great week. I love my girlies...the last time we spent that much concentrated time together must have been going to Quebec in Grade 9. They brought me lots of presents from some great people. You know when you move to another continent people feel the need to shower you with presents...it's great, you should try it. Everyone will at least send you Kraft Dinner, and really is there anything better than that?!
Esther, Dawn and I at the Long Hop
Ok more pics to come...as well as my trip to Scotland! It just takes so long to upload the pics!Keep checking back for the updates. Love and miss you all!
Kate xo