Things I (don't) Miss

My dearest friend Becca, whose blog is found here, has been doing a mini-series about things she misses about home. I'm copying her.

Things I Miss

1. Target

We do have Walmart here, but it's not the same. I grew up in the metro area that houses the Target headquarters. I have my loyalties.

2. Izzy and Wedge

Pictured at right. Izzy is the poodle, Wedge is the fat cat. They are guarding my brother, Sam, as he recovers from an appendectomy.

I haven't so much as seen a cat since I've been here, and the only dog is a guide dog, so I can only pet him on occasion. I am starved for furry companions, and I am very excited to be back with these critters for the summer.

Since he's featured in the picture, I suppose I can admit that I miss my brother, too. And my sister, even though she isn't pictured.

3. Free printing

Actually, the entire Mikkelsen library. The CBU library isn't a total bust, but the printing is expensive, and the book collection is limited. Also, the study rooms aren't as nice, and the study tables are usually housed in dark corners. I miss the sun-washed great room of Mikk.

Things I Don't Miss

1. Communal bathrooms

At Augie, I shared toilets and showers with 30-odd girls. Here, I share with one. What's not to like?

2. Friday classes

I have a three-day weekend. If my Thursday class gets cancelled, I have a four-day weekend. One extra day to do homework and dedicate myself to my studies... and by that, I mean goof around with friends and watch movies.

3. American attitude

In the states, we believe that we are better. There is this undercurrent of superiority in everything that we do. You don't find that here.

People here are more accepting. Yeah, sure, they give me crap for being American, but they don't truly look down on anyone. And I love it.

Looking back, my priorities are very clear. I wrote the most about my dog and cat.

Keep reading! Pictures tomorrow from Devon's birthday!

Love,

Maggie

What I've Been Up To

I haven't written in a while. My apologies. Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to.

1. I'm going home in a month. I'm trying to wrap my head around it. I have every intention of returning in the fall for another semester, assuming I can work it out. However, there are still quite a few people to whom I will have to say goodbye. I'm in denial. Severe denial.

2. St. Patrick's Day! This holiday is a way, way bigger deal here than it is in the Midwest. I've never seen so much green in my life. I spent a fantastic night at the Pit, and I don't think I've ever had so much fun dancing in my life! They played regular club music along with Great Big Sea and other folk favorites, which gave us the excuse to clap, stomp, jump around, and holler at the top of our lungs. A truly fantastic night.

3. Getting sick. This is the not-fun part of my recent activities. Friday evening, I threw up all over the hallway in my friend's apartment building and spent the next several hours on the floor of my bathroom. I can now cross "spend eleven hours studying the internal acoustics of a Canadian toilet" off my bucket list. For the record, there was no alcohol involved in my malady, and I am feeling much, much better. I still have very little energy, but I'm on the slow road to recovery.

Not much else to report, other than a lot of homework. More now that I spent one of my allotted homework days lying in bed, watching movies, drinking Powerade, and nibbling crackers. Anyway, I'll hopefully do something exciting enough to take pictures at some point.

Keep reading!

Love,

Maggie

Touring CBU: my bedroom

I've been in Canada for well over two months now, and none of you have seen my room!

If you open the door to my room from the hallway, there is a small entryway. It's a square room, not even big enough to lie down, with three doors. The door to the right is Paula's room. She's my roommate. The door straight ahead is our bathroom. The door to the left is my room.

If you come in my door and turn left, this is what you see. This is my closet, laundry basket, and desk.

Here's a better shot of my desk. This is probably the only time it's ever been this clean. The flowers are fake, but they brighten up the room quite a bit. The calendar is, quite literally, the only thing on my wall, unless you count the mirror that comes standard-issue with the room.

This last image is of my bed and part of my window. It was snowing very heavily when this picture was taken, so you can't see out the window at all. However, it offers a prime view of the courtyard between the dorms and lets in a good deal of light when the sun is out. I've been teased several times for my tendency to sit in the sunbeam like a cat. It's a prime homework location!

I like my room. It's fairly simple, but I have no complaints. I do wish I could get my desk closer to the window, but alas...

I especially love having a private bathroom. My roommate and I have different schedules, so our shower times never conflict. Sharing with one other person is much easier than sharing with thirty-odd other people, like I did at Augie.

I'll miss this room when I go. I'll miss everything when I go.

Keep reading!

Love,

Maggie

Funny stuff my professors say: vol. 2

I have continued to chronicle the hilarity that comes from the mouths of my professors. Here we have volume 2. For volume 1, click here.

[Mary Keating]

"They didn't expect [Tolkien] to finish all that. I suspect that no one in their right mind expected him to finish all that."

[Ian Brodie]

"Blaming technology is the last refuge of the coward."

"In 1600 and 1650... I'm pulling these numbers out of my ass, but I can back it up."

"The student union presidential candidate gave you cookies? Don't fall for that. Vote for the no-cookie ballot. Eat the cookies, though. Screw 'em."

"This is the first time I've taught with a disc. Because, you know, I'm not a stinkin' hippie."

"You are so lucky that I'm not a bastard."

"It's cute, but it's dirty. Because it's about a rooster."

"Every time I got to Newfoundland, they make jokes [about hooked rugs]. 'I'm a proud hooker! I've been a hooker for years!' They all giggle, and you have to giggle, too."

"That's a lot of feces. That's a cesspit full of feces, which is a standardized unit of measure."

"Let's not have sex in the pooper... in both senses of the word."

[allow me to put this in context: we were discussing the cultural significance of outhouses in Newfoundland, and someone mentioned that these outhouses were once used for sex. A lot of naughty jokes ensued]

"I'm one of those anti-scurvy people, and I don't care who knows it. I'll take a stand."

"That's not the reaction you usually have when you're hit in the testicles, but it had a type of artistry to it."

"I'm going to dance with her. I have to listen to fiddle music to do it, but dammit, I'm going to do it."

"What was I talking about? I was talking about Daniel touching people's butts. And transvestitism."

"AIDS can sort of be funny now."

[Richard Marchand]

Moment of silence for this guy... he's been replaced for the rest of the semester due to medical issues.

"Stamps were sexy in those days."

"She loved sex, which meant she was usually pregnant. It really all comes down to sex, in the end."

"If the daughter fell in love with the chauffeur, my god, there was hell to pay."

"He says, 'Think too much of the body, and you'll go to the wall,' but he should've said 'hell.' Everyone knows that's what he meant, anyway."

[Anna Daniels]

"Okay, we have to stop brainstorming about pizza. It's making me hungry."

"Ad infinitum. It means, to infinity... and beyond! I'm kidding."

"That's what I should do. I should get some Donald Trump hair and give you a whole bunch of scenarios and just say 'You're fired' if you give me the wrong answer."

"Well, they can go suck a lemon."

"They don't get any more funding from the government. But it's good because they're no longer connected to stupid Harper and his sweater vests."

"They used to say girls were stupid. Ah, how the tables have turned!"

"Let the reader know you're not using a backhoe to bury a hamster."

"I got into a fight with my neighbor over a snowblower. I think our relationship is over."

Enjoy, and keep reading!

Love,

Maggie

One of those really great weekends.

So great that it needs to be chronicled.

While we were in Halifax, Stephen Morris and I discovered that we share a love for bleu cheese, an uncommon love on the Cape. From this was born the idea that we would cook something bleu-cheesy together, and from this was born The Potluck.

On Saturday night, we gathered at Maile's apartment for an evening of food, friends, fiddles, and fun. Everyone brought a dish that somehow included cheese, and we ate ourselves sick.

Some of the dishes include:

• Cheese pockets (Jaime)
• Bleu macaroni and cheese (Stephen)
• Spinach and strawberry salad (Steven)
• Casserole (Julie)
• Cheesecake (Dan)
• Bean dip (Becca)
• Cheese and crackers (Maile)

This is my dish: raspberry walnut baked brie. The recipe can be found here. It was very pretty before I put it in the oven. But when I put it in the oven...

...this happened. I guess I didn't seal my puff pastry well enough, because the brie came pouring out the sides like a much more delicious biblical deluge. Ah well. It was still absolutely delicious and disappeared pretty quickly. Actually, all of the food was really spectacular, but the best part of the night was the music.

Maile and Dan are both accomplished fiddle players and decided to serenade us with some music toward the end of the evening. I'm not going to pretend like I remember the names of the songs they played, but fiddle music is among the most wonderful in the world.

Maile has been playing the violin since the age of seven and started learning the fiddle when she was ten. She was in a performance group for several years in high school and performs regularly at a local pub with Dan.

I don't know Dan's fiddle history, so I cannot chronicle it for you. Suffice to say he is very, very talented. At some point, my hope is to get a video of the two of them playing, just so all of my lovely readers can enjoy the music.

After the cheese potluck, I spent a few hours laughing and chatting with some friends in Harriss. Names you may remember: Tim, Devon, Eric, Rob. The usual folk. It wasn't a particularly remarkable weekend in terms of exoticism, but the people-time was fantastic.

Today, I have two presentations to give and will meet with a professor later to discuss fall's classes. That's right, folks: today may be the day in which I learn whether or not I can stay for another semester.

Keep your fingers crossed, and keep reading!

Love,

Maggie

How to speak Canadian: vol. 3

It's been a while since you've been treated to a linguistics lesson, my darling readers. Also, I might possibly be doing a little teeny bit of procrastinating.

This is the 26th letter of the alphabet. In the states, we say "zee." In Canada, we say "zed," which rhymes with "head." Pretty straight-forward. You may think that opportunities to mispronounce letters would be scarce. However, I am an avid Bananagrams player, and my friends correct me every time I say, "Shoot! I don't want a zee!"

Another term I've learned is puck bunny. A puck bunny is a girl/woman who only dates hockey players. So, a very picky jersey chase.

The picture I've provided features Inga Skaya, who was the 2008 Canadian candidate for Miss Universe. She wore this costume to maintain the proper Canadian spirit, not to look like a puck bunny. However, an image search of "puck bunny" generates a whole lot pictures that are very Hugh-Hefner-esque. Think maple leaves in place of Playboy bunnies. Anyway, I figured this would be a more appropriate illustration than a half-naked women using goalie gloves in place of a bra.

Last but not least for today, we have this lovely item, usually called a couch or a sofa. Canadians say Chesterfield. However, one should note that not all Canadians use this word. From what I've gathered, the term is about as popular as "davenport": recognizable, but mostly used by citizens over the age of 50.

My collection of slang is growing quickly, so volume four may appear fairly soon. Not so soon as to enable further procrastination, but I digress. I'm going to study for my Children's Lit midterm. Wish me luck, and keep reading!

Love,

Maggie

Turning 21 in Canada

Hat-tip to Caitlin DeVos for kicking my booty and making me blog again. I've been neglecting you guys again! I won't write about my whole Halifax trip. I'll just write about my birthday. This post will have lots of pictures, because it was the best birthday ever.

A stack of buddies from CBU were in Halifax for a few days, and we spent the whole day together. Here we are at Cora's, which is an adorable breakfast place with fantastic food. The fresh fruit was phenomenal.

From left to right: Jaime, Becca, Daniel, Stephen, Maggie, Maile.

Our next stop was the Natural History Museum, to visit Sue! For my readers who are not nerdosaurs, Sue is the most complete T-rex skeleton ever found. We honored her with a silly picture. At the museum, we met up with Bini, who is a friend of Maile's from Calgary. She's the girl in the blue-and-black shirt.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around Halifax and shopping. This particular store is called Black Market. It boasts handmade jewelry, clothing, housewares, and more from all over the world at excellent prices. This picture is a meager tribute to how colorful this store is. I bought a pair of earrings for myself and a gift for my mother, and I had to resist buying all the pretty linens!

We enjoyed supper at A Mano, a fabulous Italian restaurant near the water. This is my supper: pizza made with fig confit, arugula, prosciutto, and fresh mozzarella. It was the kind of food that makes you forget you ever had dignity and drool all over the table.

For dessert, I split a dish with Bini that had caramel and chocolate gelato, dulce du leche, and crushed meringues. More drooling followed.

Our final stop was the Old Triangle, an Irish alehouse in downtown Halifax. The time we spent at this pub rivals the Great Big Sea concert in terms of just how much fun we had.

This is the band High Tide, who played live music all night. They sang Nova Scotia folk classics, Great Big Sea covers, popular favorites, and original songs. They were very talented, with an infectious stage presence. They even sang happy birthday to me!

Their music was the backdrop for the dancing that consumed the rest of the night. We were easily the youngest people there, but it didn't stop anyone from having a fantastic time. I never wanted to leave! Just like the Great Big Sea concert, it was a moment of liberty, where nothing matters in the world except for the fun you are having right here, right now.

I leave you with this parting image of Bini and me dancing. Everyone should have a birthday like this in their lives.

Keep reading!

Love,

21-year-old Maggie

Great Big Sea Concert in Halifax

I've been in Halifax for 48 hours now. I want to write about the cute shops, the beautiful scenery, the kind people, the charming pubs, and the tasty food. I especially want to write about how great it is to see Julianne again. But alas... all I can write about is Great Big Sea.

Great Big Sea is a folk-rock band from Newfoundland and one of the best-known bands from eastern Canada. They played a free concert in honor of the 2011 Canada Games tonight at Celebration Square, and Julianne was kind enough to bring us along.

Excluding the drummer, each of the members played at least a half-dozen instruments, which they switched every song. We saw flutes, drums, accordions, fiddles, and several different manners of guitar, not to mention some fantastic singing voices.

I haven't been to very many concerts, so I'm not a good judge of what makes a "good concert." But I have never had so much fun in my life.

The band was infectious, and the crowd was on fire. We were so enthusiastic and bouncy and happy. It was one of those moments where you feel truly independent and free, where you're living your life and nothing can stop you. I didn't stop smiling the entire time. We left over an hour ago, and I'm still riding the high.

And now I'm a GBS fangirl. Hardcore. Just another step to becoming Almost Canadian.

Some GBS songs: Donkey Riding - Ordinary Day - When I'm Up

More Halifax updates tomorrow. Keep reading!

Love,

Maggie

I'm in Halifax!

Hey gang! Sorry I haven't been posting recently, but I've been planning our trip to Halifax!

Currently, I'm sitting in the hotel room with Becca, relaxing after our looong car ride with Alysha. We're laying low tonight, but the fun begins tomorrow!

Here's just a sample of the things we're seeing:

• Museum of Natural History
• Pier 21 Immigration Museum
• Spring Garden Road
• Alexander Keith Brewery
• Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

We're also thinking about going to Peggy's Cove. And I guarantee we'll do a LOT of shopping.

This weekend, we'll spend some time with Julianne, who you may remember from my trip over. We'll hopefully see Tracey, too. On Tuesday, we'll be joined by Maile, Jaime, Stephen, and Daniel for a few days, and they're going to help me celebrate my birthday!

That's right, gang. I'm turning 21 on Wednesday, the 23rd. Like all birthdays, it feels a little surreal. This one will be especially interesting because I'm not in the states. Back home, the 21st birthday is a heavily ritualized drunkfest that celebrates your newfound freedom in the liquor store. Here, I'm already legal to drink, and I can't say I'm sad to miss out on that particular landmark. I'm more than happy to enjoy a fun dinner with friends and maybe a night dancing without imbibing enough alcohol to flood a bathtub.

I'll do my best to write every night and upload photos from our adventures. One thing's for sure: this will be a birthday to remember.

Keep reading!

Love,

Maggie

A trip to downtown Sydney

I went to downtown Sydney today! I'd never been before, it and it was a fabulous day. Even now, as I write, I'm trying to decide what I should write about.

First thing's first. There is a giant fiddle in downtown Sydney, right on the harbor. It's about 17 meters tall, made of steel, and weighs eight tons. The fiddle was built to honor the opening of the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion, which is the building directly behind it. The giant fiddle is a must-see for anyone who visits the island. In the summer, it even plays music!

My companions for the day were Becca, Maile, and Jaime. Maile is from Calgary, and studies history and ethnomusicology at CBU. She's a closet communist and a wicked fiddle player. Jaime is from Switzerland and studies history and Celtic stuff. And if anyone who reads this blog doesn't know who Becca is... shame on you.

After a visit to the fiddle, we wandered around to a few shops, including the Cape Breton Curiosity Shop, the Cape Breton Fudge Co., and the Cape Breton Center for Craft and Design. All of these stores were fabulous and will probably take more than a little of my money by the time I leave. However, our most exciting visit was Gala.

The Gala is a wonderful vintage/consignment shop in downtown Sydney. The owner is Rick Jessome, a deeply fabulous local man who knows more about clothes than anyone I've ever met before. With his guidance, Jaime found some great skirts and shirts, Becca found an awesome coat for less than $20, and Maile bought a beautiful party top. But I struck gold.

This is a 100% cashmere Gloria Sachs suit. It probably cost around $2500 in the eighties, when it was made. However, I managed to talk Rick down from $99 to $70. A mere seventy dollars for a classic suit, whose fabulousness is not properly showcased in this photo. I also found an adorable pencil skirt and a cute top, but this suit stole the show.

To round out the day, we visited a used bookstore and a coffee shop. It was an absolutely fantastic day of exploring Sydney. Tonight, I'm headed over to Maile and Jaime's apartment and we're going to try making butterbeer. Yes, as in Harry Potter butterbeer. Wish us luck.

Keep reading!

Love,

Maggie