There & Back Again

It's back to England...back to the rain & having an accent that makes me stick out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, my vacation in Canada ended on a brilliant note:

Dad drove me to the airport and, after checking in and killing time until it was time to go through security, I thought that I would get on a flight without some kind of incident. Standing in front of the x-ray machines, laptop in the plastic tray and the customs officer holding my passport, I hear, "Jessica Couper, would you please check at the Air Canada desk." ....Well, dammit. I gather up my stuff and walk back down to the counter. The ticket officer must've seen the look of panic on my face because before I even got there, he asked if I wanted to be flown, first class, back to London.

Hell. Yes.

My original itinerary was Fredericton-Toronto, Toronto-London. Turns out, my flight to Toronto was overbooked and passengers were asked to volunteer their seats. After nobody did, the agents looked at my flight plan and figured that they could fly me to Halifax on a later flight and, to make up for the "inconvenience," I would be flown first-class to London, have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge in Halifax, have a voucher for food at the Fredericton airport and have a hired car waiting to drive me home when I landed in London.

Hell. Yes.

Dad waited with me for about an hour more before heading home and I had a few hours to kill at the oh-so-exciting Fredericton International Airport. Turns out, a 3-terminal airport has very little to offer in ways of entertainment. I met a young guy heading to Montreal and we chatted until it was time for me to go through security and head to Halifax.

After I landed in Halifax, I found the Maple Leaf lounge and immediately felt under dressed in the company of many suit-clad business people. Whatever. The free alcohol & food helped me get over my concerns pretty quickly. Enjoying my last tastes of great east coast beer, it was soon time for me to get my Halifax-London flight. I walked onto the plane, found my seat and I never want to go back to flying in coach again. It was a fully reclining chair that stretched out into a bed, a 12" flip-out tv, a real (yes real) blanket and...so on. Before we took off, we were offered a drink and asked if we wanted a wake-up call for breakfast later in the flight. Even though I was tired, I didn't want to sleep and wanted to enjoy the whole experience. It was awesome, from take-off to landing. Good thing I got the upgrade...I certainly needed the extra leg-room.

When I landed in London, I checked at the desk and they arranged my car. Soon, I was picked up and driven back to Northampton, all on Air Canada's bill. Really, Air Canada, feel free to upgrade me at any given opportunity. Trust me...it's not an inconvenience. (Actually, come to think of it, it's a nice pay back for being put on a NO FLY LIST when I tried to leave England back in July. Thanks for that, by the way.)

Wednesday night, I went out to dinner with some great friends to celebrate my one-year anniversary of living in England. It's been a great year and I'm looking forward to the next. The roommate has headed off on his holiday, so I have the apartment to myself for a few days. I went to school today with Nikki & Kate to do some tidying and get my classroom ready...only to find my classroom in the middle of being re-done...here's hoping it's ready for the start of term. The summer rehearsals scheduled for WWRY have been cancelled because of the renovations at the school, so I was able to extend my Norway trip :). I head to Norway next Tuesday to celebrate my birthday with friends & family...very excited :).

Roll on vacation #2!

Nothing to Do Here but Think.

My bag is packed and I'm getting all the last details ready to return to England tomorrow. I leave New Brunswick just past 1PM, land in Toronto for a few hours and then head back across the Atlantic. I land in England just past 6AM on Tuesday morning, where a wonderful and my favourite married couple, Sean & Nikki, will be waiting to pick me up.

I can't believe my holiday is over. I'm sitting on the screened-in deck, looking out over the fields, the orchard, gardens and flowers. It's so quiet here, the only sound is insects and the wind in the trees (it's very Wilderness Family here in Upper Knoxford). I'm already sad about leaving, I've had to say goodbye to friends and several family members already, tomorrow will just be the grand finale.

As I was driving to church this morning with my grandparents, my grandmother was remembering a story from when she was young...about how she was given a hand-sewn dress by a friend and, while running after hanging Maybaskets (see here for an explanation), she ran into a barbed-wire fence and tore her dress. The dress was repaired, she was unhurt, and she has that memory to look back on. It wasn't an overly exciting story, but it made me think of all the small-town traditions that I grew up with, that I have grown out of, and it's a little sad. It's changed so much since I was a kid, and these traditions aren't always carried on to new generations. When was the last time a Maybasket was hung? Who even knows what a Maybasket is and why they are made?

I can remember making Maybaskets in school, running around a school-made Maypole (smacking into other people as I was a rather clumsy child...something I haven't grown out of) and other activities only possible when you live in a small village. This includes the school (the entire school) walking down the street to get an ice-cream for an end-of-year excursion or our school-bus driver letting some kids off at the store to get drinks or food and then picking them up again a few minutes later. Getting time off school to help harvest the potato crops or it being perfectly acceptable for farm kids to miss time to help with planting. It's all the 'quaint' traditions that go with living in a small village that I look back on.

Yet now I have to think of how much my life has changed, for the better, in just a years' time. I'm living in Europe, able to travel and see places that I had studied in school and visit destinations that I only ever saw in movies. I miss the small-town familiarity that I grew up with--working at a local store for 7 years (never having done a formal interview or actually applying for a job there and knowing my position was always waiting for me on school holidays), spending an hour in the Tim Hortons, drinking coffee and just watching other people, the beauty and quiet of the home where I have lived all my life and the laid-back, relaxed and peaceful atmosphere of this place. I miss it when I am gone, I enjoy it while I am here, but I know that I would never have been happy to stay here my entire life. I want to travel, to see as many places as I can and experience a lot of new things...I wouldn't be able to do that if I had never left home (obviously).

As much as I wax poetic about the beauty and peace of home, I realize that this is probably a very skewed and unrealistic vision I hold. As much as I like the quiet now, I remember how isolating it felt to be stuck out here during a storm, or having nothing to do on the weekends before I had my drivers license. I love this place and it will always be home to me...but only as a vacation spot.

My life in England has been wonderful--once I got used to it. It's still not 'home', but it's getting closer to that all the time. I'm at my school for the foreseeable future and I know that there are no teaching jobs available to me back in Canada...so, unless I want to return to my job at the feed & hardware supply store, it looks like England is my best bet for remaining successfully employed.

It's off for the final visits to friends & family and the last bits of packing. Some chores to do and a quiet evening to finish this holiday. What a long post this was...all sparked by a story told to me by my grandmother. Well, that should be all until I'm back on British soil (taking for granted it's not on fire or anything like that, thanks to the rioters). This was an awesome holiday and I've had an amazing 3 weeks here.

See you at Christmas, Canada.

It's Now...

7:10 PM in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

10:10 PM in Upper Knoxford, New Brunswick, Canada

2:10 AM in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England and...

3:10 AM in Stavanger, Norway

There are about 4 places that I want to be, all at once. Actually, England is on the bottom of the list. Sorry Northampton...the riots in London, the peace of home and all the time spent with friends & family make returning to England look not-too-exciting. I'm excited to see friends back in England...but would rather spend more time at home.

Bridget, Madi & Bella left tonight and the house is so quiet. I miss them already. Some of the most peaceful times I spent at home was holding Bella in my arms as she slept and cuddling with Madi before she went to bed. I'm such a sap (AKA best aunt, ever). At the airport tonight, after they went through security, Madi came up to the window, put her hand on the glass and kept asking why I was so sad. Cutest kid on the planet, pretty sure.

I head back to England in 7 days and then to Norway a week later. I've only seen a couple of pictures from Sarah & Kristian's Norwegian ceremony and I am very excited to see the rest. The pictures are beautiful and I really wish that I'd been able to be there for their other ceremony. I'm heading back in 15 days to celebrate my birthday & I'm quite excited.

It's a little sad thinking that I have to face school again in about a month. There. That's the last thought I'm gonna give to school until I go back.

Plan for the next week...campfires, bugbites, sunburns, friends & family and overdosing on coffee. Sounds perfect.

It's Been...

11 days since I landed in Canada.

6 days since the kegger.

5 days since I welcomed my brother-in-law into the family and watched my sister get married to a marvelous man and...

4 days since I woke up and realized staying up until 5AM with a bunch of Norwegians made for a very sore head the next morning.

My trip to Canada was uneventful--save for my passport being flagged and being put on a no-fly list in Toronto on the way home...somehow, I knew that it would happen to me eventually. A phone call later (and me about to get hysterical), I was on my way home. Because of mechanical problems, we turned around and headed back to Toronto for attempt number two. 3 hours delayed, overheating from the humidity and carrying a dress that felt like it weight about 1000 pounds, I was home.

No time to relax--there was a wedding to get ready for! I was so excited to meet my little niece, Bella, for the first time, see my eldest niece, Madi, and visit with my family again. The weekend was full of family and anticipating the arrival of Kristian's family on Monday. Tuesday evening, we had a big family dinner and, towards the end, we had a fantastic surprise when Beth and Rod, old and dear friends of the family, walked in unexpected. Sarah & I both started to cry (such girls eh) and we spent the rest of the night hugging, laughing and telling old stories.

Wednesday saw the combined bachelor/bachelorette kegger down in Fredericton. It started off with a reunion of the Canadians & Norwegians and the bridesmaids and groomsmen meeting each other. We all quickly realized that the bridesmaids were going to be dwarfed by the groomsmen. The best man, my date, was 6'3 and he was the shortest of the bunch. We all trooped off to Kingswood for some bumper bellies (big inflatable donuts worn around the waist and you had to smash the opponent out of the ring. After seeing Sarah do a face-plant, I declined to join in), bowling and lazer tag--my new love. I have become slightly addicted to lazer tag and had lots of fun; this doesn't really fit with my 'hate to be chased and have people jump out at me' personality. We headed back into town for the kegger and I saw Brett again for the first time in a year. Some beers, unwise games of knuckles, and some of the bridal party getting a crash-course in Norwegian later, the party was over. It was a good time, laid-back and nice to catch up with everyone.

Thursday was a big 'prep' day--we headed back home in the morning from Fredericton and got busy finalizing details, making phone calls, touching up on my maid of honour speech, getting clothes and everything together and heading back to Fredericton in the late afternoon. We had a final rehearsal with the bridal party at the chapel and I caught up with Andrew. It was nice to see him & catch up about everything.

Friday--the big day. Up early with the rest of the girls and preparation began. We got our hair done and hung out in the salon until everyone was finished. I checked on the ballroom for the reception, moved Sarah's wedding dress upstairs (with strict orders to Kristian to not come within eyesight) and, when everyone was ready, it was time to get ready to get Sarah married! We ordered some food up to the suite, drank some champagne, and got dressed. We got Sarah into her dress (after she was in it, I hugged her and cried haha) and headed downstairs for some quick pictures as we were running a tad behind schedule. Up to STU, into the chapel and then I watched my sister marry a wonderful man. After the ceremony (and several bouts of happy tears), more pictures were taken around the STU campus before heading back to the Delta for the reception.

As my feet were killing me and felt on the verge of falling off, I decided to change into some more comfortable shoes for the dinner & dance. The bridal party danced our way into the room to Start me Up followed by the happy couple, dancing in to Another One Bites the Dust....it was lots of fun. Wine & appetizers were served and, before I knew it, I was up in front of dozens of people giving my toast. I made it through the entire thing without crying and my Norwegian parts went off quite well, if I do say so myself (please don't ask the Norwegians what I actually sounded like). Dinner came and went and then Jon Einar, Sarah, Kristian, Dad & Susanne gave their speeches. I lasted until Dad started to talk before I began to cry...it was so touching and so nice...the same with Susanne's, Sarah & Kristian's.

Following dinner came the dance, which included lots of dances with Madi and a dance-off with the bridal party (I won, hands down). The last songs of the night were played and Per showed off his dance skills, which definitely put me to shame. After the dance ended and the bar closed, we all headed upstairs where we continued to celebrate until just past 5 in the morning.

Way too many drinks of gin, a painful round of knuckles with Brett and too many Norwegian jokes later, I was walked to my room and seen safely to bed :) ....for a few short hours.

We had friends & family to the house on Sunday and started saying the goodbyes shortly after. Throughout the past week, the house has become more and more empty and, I would say quieter, but with 2 little girls still here, definitely not. We've taken Madi swimming, gone shopping and just spent time together. It's been so fantastic and I can't believe that I have to say goodbye in a couple of days. I go back to England in a couple weeks and then head to Norway to celebrate my birthday. Lots to look forward to :)

I've had the chance to catch up with old friends and spend some quality time with my family. It's been a fantastic holiday & I wish it didn't have to end. Well, to bed to bed, I suppose. I have a niece that promised to wake me up when she got up in the morning :)

See you soon England & see you soon Norway :)