On a Night Like This...

What happens when I have no job? I make playlists on my itunes. I also applied for another job today and washed windows and changed lightbulbs for my grandma, so really it was quite a productive day! But back to my playlist - this is definitely my favorite one I've ever made. And for that reason, I'm going to share it with you all. It's my playlist of songs from chick flicks!

1. Love You Til' the End -The Pogues (PS I Love You)

2. Moonlight Kiss -Bap Kennedy (Serendipity)

3. Make Someone Happy -Jimmy Durante (Sleepless in Seattle)

4. Hey! Baby -Bruce Channel (Dirty Dancing)

5. Both Sides Now -Joni Mitchell (Love Actually)

6. The Princess Bride -Mark Knopfler (The Princess Bride)

7. Songbird -Eva Cassidy (Love Actually)

8. Galway Girl -Mundy (PS I Love You)

9. Stay -Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs (Dirty Dancing)

10. Christmas is All Around -Billy Mack (Love Actually)

11. Turn Me On -Norah Jones (Love Actually)

12. January Rain -David Gray (Serendipity)

13. Love is Strange -Mickey & Sylvia (Dirty Dancing)

14. River -Joni Mitchell (Love Actually)

15. Jump -the Pointer Sisters (Love Actually)

16. Cool Yule -Louis Armstrong (Serendipity)

17. Glasgow Love Theme -Craig Armstrong (Love Actually)

18. I've Had the Time of my Life -Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes (Dirty Dancing)

These songs make me want to curl up with a mug of chai and watch all these movies! Sometimes I love being a girl :-)

The Hunt Begins...

I've been back in Boulder for a week now. No job yet but oh boy what a time it's been trying to find one so far! My approach is to apply just about everywhere in all of Boulder in hopes that there is one single place left that needs help. So far I have not found this place. I've gotten lots of practice filling out applications both paper and internet and have gotten a couple interviews, but so far nothing. Can't give up yet though! It's only been a week, I guess all hope is not lost. Today, however, I was on my way to an interview when I got pooped on by a bird. Sigh. Such is life sometimes I suppose. So not having time to find a place to wash my hands, I just wiped the poo off my shoulder, hand, and shoe and proceeded into my interview after also quickly checking my hair for and more signs of poop out of fear that it would go unnoticed by me but might draw attention from my interviewer. Luckily no poop in my hair was to be found. Never have I been soiled by a bird, however, and it just figures that it would happen while I was on my way to a job interview! In any case I think the interview went alright so that's good. And they do say it's good luck to be pooped on by a bird but I have my suspicions that this saying was only created to make people who have just been pooped-on feel better. Kind of like saying it's good luck for it to rain on your wedding day. It may be good luck but it kind of ruins the present day!

In any case, I've entered the world of job-hunting and hope to leave the land of unemployment soon. If anyone out there hears of any job openings please let me know!!

As an unrelated side note, I am reading a completely hilarious book called Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks (not to be confused with the skateboarder Tony HAWK). It's a laugh-out-loud kind of book and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to laugh.

A Journey Home Worth Remembering

Yesterday morning Mom and Colin picked me up at the Denver train station with my six pieces of luggage and two carry-ons. And so here I am, finally back in Colorado after 2 weeks of trying to get here! I am minus one beloved car, but other than that managed to get all my stuff that I started with back to CO.

And how was the journey?? Well, let me tell you, it was pretty amazing! It started on Saturday morning at the Boston train station. Will dropped me and my luggage off and I got everything checked and sent off to be put on the train and that was a relief to not have to worry about my large and heavy bags again until I got to Denver. Then I sat and people-watched in the train station until my train arrived. Yay train! It was kind of exciting. We all stood in line on the platform waiting to get on the train and when we got on I looked at my ticket and had no idea where my seat was. Was it like a plane where your seat is assigned? I asked the guy standing behind me and he said he had no idea, I asked a woman already sitting down and she said she just picked a seat. So I decided that was a good plan. I walked through the car and by the time I reached some empty seats they had signs saying "reserved for parties of two". Well great, now I have to awkwardly turn around with my big backpack and duffel bag and make my way back to an open seat in the single people seating area. Grrr. Then the guy behind me says "do you want to be a party of two?" Well out of pure laziness I probably would have said yes anyways but he happened to be so cute and speaking to me in a great accent! So, obviously, I said "OK!" He said "so if anyone asks, we go way back". And so began my first half of the journey home - on a train from Boston to Chicago with a cute guy beside me.

As the hours went on I tried to figure out the guy's accent. I first thought English, then upon asking him where he's from discovered he was Irish. Moved to Boston about a year ago, on his way to Chicago to meet a friend and then road trip their way to California! Sounds like my kind of travelin' man. The best part about meeting this guy: his name. Now Irish people seem to have very silly names in general anyways (Jess and I met an Irish guy named Darragh in NYC!) But my train traveling partner's name was...get this: Fergal! I have no idea how one would spell that, but that's my best attempt. I thought a couple of different things when he told me his name: Fergie? Fruegal? Fievel? (like in Fievel Goes West). But in any case, what an awesomely strange name! I love it. I can't wait to visit Ireland and ask everyone I see what their name is. Maybe I'll write them all down!

So Fergal and I chatted a bit during our long train ride to Chicago and suffered through the discomfort of trying to sleep through a night on a train. Although it was one of the most uncomfortable sleepless sleeps I've ever had, I think the awesomeness of riding on a train mostly cancels out the discomfort (unless you needed to be alert and refreshed when you arrived at your destination, which I did not!) so everyone on the train suffered together through there being no comfortable way to sleep in a seat that only reclines halfway. Everyone on the train seemed to have about the same sleep pattern: try one position for 10 minutes, flail around for a few seconds, settle into a new position and doze off for 10 minutes, then flail around again and try a new position, and so on. Oh well! We all survived, and I got probably 3 hours of sleep which is just fine since I had to get on another train in Chicago and I can sleep the day away on that. Isn't it strange how its easier to nap on a train or airplane but once night time comes and you feel like you really should be sleeping it's impossible to fall asleep. Hmm.

We arrived in Chicago around 9:30am. Fergal was off to meet his friend at the airport so we said goodbye and I set off to find the gate for my train to Denver. I had 4 hours to kill in the train station and sadly I couldn't find any internet access or outlets to charge my phone but I found food and magazines so it wasn't a total loss. Then I went to wait at my gate. Boooooring. Although I did get to do some serious people-watching. There were 4 amish women waiting for a train. There was a very cute little girl running around making friends with everyone while her mom called her back every couple minutes when she wandered too far. There was a guy with the most amazing mustache which upon later internet investigation could be called a horseshoe or a very thick fu manchu or basically a Hulk Hogan mustache...as a side note, I discovered there is a website called americanmustacheinstitute.org - probably the coolest thing I've found in a long time! I recommend you all go check it out.

Anyways at 2:00 I got on my train to Denver. And this was quite a train indeed. Called the California Zephyr - it was 2 stories high! It had an observation car, a snack bar, a dining car, lounge cars, plus all the regular seats and sleeper cars. Oh to be rich and stay in a sleeper car...oh well. I met lots of interesting people on this train ride. No cute guy next to me - only an average looking guy with unbelievably bad breath :-( suffice it to say I spent a lot of time wandering around the train instead of sitting next to bad breath man. He was a nice guy, but he slept most of the time and seemed to only be able to breathe out of his mouth, making the bad breath situation pretty much unavoidable. Eww. Anyways in my wanderings around I met a guy who said his name was D. He was from Indiana but was on his way to California at the moment. We talked for a while, then later I met a woman who only spoke Spanish and so we attempted to converse in Spanish. The conversation was mostly about weather, where we were from, our names, and food. Eventually I headed back to my seat next to smelly breath man and read a book for a while, then tried to sleep (with my face away from the bad breath). It wasn't too bad of a night's sleep actually. Still only a few hours but on this train we had foot rests on the seats, making them more like lounge chairs and somehow that made all the difference in comfort. It was still sleeping in a chair, but a slightly more comfortable chair. We went through Iowa and Nebraska during the night (and I'm really ok with the fact that I missed seeing those two states) and finally made it into Colorado the next morning. We pulled into Denver's train station around 8:15am and I deboarded the epic California Zephyr train and was greeted by my Mom and Colin! I treated my taxi drivers to some Starbucks and then we were on our way to Boulder with all my stuff loaded into their 2 cars.

I feel like there's more to write here but the problem is that I am starving for breakfast right now so I'll have to finish later! :-)

Goodbye to a Great Friend

If you haven't heard yet, I had to say goodbye to my car Baxter last week. He made it as far as Ontario, Canada before he couldn't go any further. Fortunately I was able to make it to a mechanic just outside of Ottowa who was extremely helpful and nice in my time of tragedy. There were too many things needing to be fixed to make Baxter drivable again, and I couldn't afford it so I made the decision to let my dear travel partner stay in Canada as his final resting place. He will be missed immensely.

Just like the last time I had car trouble (back in Pennsylvania) I got to witness that this world still does have truly, genuinely nice people. The Canadians were wonderful! While I was stopped on the side of the road I had two people stop and offer help, then the help I received from the people at the garage I took my car to went above and beyond their job description. The owner and his entire staff helped me make phone calls, try to find a new way to get home and even tried to help me find a new car to buy in Canada and figure out what the laws would be about getting it over the border. In the end my equally amazing friends in Maine rescued me by offering to come get me and bring me back to Maine so I could put myself back together and figure something out. After I decided that would be best, the owner of the garage offered to find me a hotel and drove me there. He also offered to take my car so I wouldn't have to have it towed anywhere and he said he'd give me $100 for it (a fair deal I think, as far as workable parts) but after he'd spent hours of his day helping me find a way home I said he could just take it for free. I don't even think that begins to be sufficient thanks to him and his staff. So here's my plug for them, as I feel it's completely necessary to advertise for him: If you are ever in Ontario, Canada and need someone to help with a car problem contact Phil Roy's Service Station! They are unbelievable people, especially Phil! Also thanks to my mom, Colin, Will, Kathy, Zach, Jess and Ben for your help in my predicament! Getting stranded and car-less in Canada was, of course, just the epic adventure that Baxter's final day deserved. What a story to tell, about the giving up of my first car to a Canadian mechanic in some small town in Ontario and then getting a ride back to Maine.

Speaking of being back in Maine, here I am once again with all my stuff minus a car. I've decided to take a train home for several reasons. First, it will still be somewhat of an epic adventure, taking a train across the country! Second, they allow up to six pieces of luggage with the first three being free and the next three being only $10 each! So I leave Maine again on Saturday, and I will arrive in Denver on Monday morning. In the meantime, it's great to have a couple more days to spend with all these amazing Maine people :-)

Do You Speak Facebook?

How do I know that Facebook has infiltrated every corner of the world? Because I am in a hostel dorm room in Canada, uploading photos onto Facebook while my German and Australian roommates do the same. Weird.

Anyways....Montreal! What a fun city!! I wandered around downtown today. I talked myself into taking the subway (even though I had no map, speak very limited French, and have never ridden a subway all by myself before!) But get this...I got exactly where I wanted to go on the first try! Yay me! The Montreal subway system is actually quite easy to figure out, but let's not allow that to lessen my victory :-) So I took the subway into the middle of downtown and proceeded to walk north along Rue Sainte Catherine where there are all kinds of shops and restaurants. This kept me occupied for several hours, then I walked a few blocks south into Old Montreal which was VERY cool! Cobblestone streets, cute little shops, restaurants...kind of the same as the rest of the city except way cooler architecture, all very old and European looking...or what I imagine Europe to look like, since I haven't been there yet! As I was walking through Old Montreal it started raining so I sat under a tree for a while and waited for the rain to stop.

Come to think of it, I did have two small mishaps involving the subway. But they don't really count. First was when I tried to buy a ticket. I don't see why all subway systems can't have the same ticket-buying system too?! I know how it works in Shanghai, Tokyo, New York and Boston...each city having different systems, and of course Montreal also had its own way of doing things. So I got a little confused at the ticket-buying machine and had to ask the little man behind the window to help me and fortunately he took pity on me and spoke English to me. The second mishap which was more hilarious than anything was getting off the subway and somehow finding my way into the middle of a university! Apparently it was orientation day at "Subway U" and I was suddenly surrounded by college freshmen speaking an interesting mix of 'Frenglish' I'm not sure which university this actually was, but how random to have the entrance to it sneakily disguised as the subway exit! (My newest French word is sortie, which means exit)

I've been fascinated by the linguistic culture of Montreal. It's definitely a bilingual city although I think the preferred language in most parts is French. There are several universities in downtown Montreal and therefore lots of Enligsh-speaking students. My interactions and people-watching so far lead me to conclude this: people first speak French to a stranger, then depending on the person's response they either continue in French or immediately switch to English. I like using the little French I know, but this probably breaks the language flow in interaction norms because when a store clerk or someone starts out speaking to me in French I can get as far as "hello, how are you, I'm well thank you" before I have to admit I don't know any more French and we should continue this conversation in English now.

Well tomorrow I drive 8.5 hours to get to a KOA kampsite in Ontario. It's going to be a very long day of driving. So...wish me luck! :-)

More blogs soon!
<3

Bonjour de Montréal!

That's a bit of my very limited French that I've gotten to use so far while in CANADA!!! Woohoo! A new country to check off my list of countries to go to :-) I said goodbye to Vermont and the awesome people who live there, and headed north! Crossing the border in my car was fairly quick and easy, I was just asked lots of questions. The woman asked me what I was doing in Canada (being a tourist of course!) where I came from (Maine) where I live (Colorado...I guess?) if I had any weapons in my car (nope) what was I doing in Maine (sitting on the beach...oh, and working at a camp) how long I'd be in Canada (um. Maybe...a few days? No more than a week?) when I'd be crossing back into the USA (uhhh what's today? Um maybe a week from today, no later than a week. I think...) And what border point I'd be crossing back over (hmm maybe Montana? Or maybe North Dakota..) I suppose the border guard lady must have thought I was an unprepared idiot but she let me through anyways :-) She might say unprepared, I say spontaneous...hopefully! Anyways, yes, I have somewhat of a plan. I'm staying in a hostel here in Montreal tonight and tomorrow night, then I will be stayingat various KOA kampgrounds across Ontario -which is, as it turns out, pretty huge! Then I will stay somewhere in Winnipeg...probably a hotel. Then I will cross back into the US, probably through North Dakota. Then make my way southwest until I find myself surrounded by those gorgeous rocky mountains again!!! YAY!

So here I am in Canada. It's been a while since I've been so surrounded by a language other than English. It seems that French is the primary language of everywhere in the province of Quebec, including Montreal, so it's already been an adventure figuring things out using the little French I know. I mean sure pretty much everyone here also speaks English but they'll think more of me if I try to speak French....? Hard to say. Anyways, I suppose as I travel farther west the Canadians will speak more English and less French.

Today has been my day of driving, border-crossing, getting only slightly lost (which is better than I was hoping for!), and wandering around the neighborhood where my hostel is located. For some reason I can hardly keep my eyes open right now as I type so I think it will be an early night going to bed. But tomorrow I plan to explore Montreal a bit and see what I can find! My hostel is pretty nice, and the girls in my room are great. One is German, one is Australian, and I'm not sure where the third is from because I haven't heard her speak yet (staying in hostels helps me perfect my accent-detection skills).

So I think it's time for bed. Hope you all are doing well! If you are in the Boulder area...I'll see you soon! If you're somewhere else...I miss you already!

On The Road Again

Jennie's road trip part two has begun! Yesterday I said goodbye to Maine and all the amazing people there, loaded up my car again and started heading back west. I am taking a different route than on my way to Maine. I am currently visiting Kristene, a friend from Semester at Sea, in Vermont and then I plan to head up into Canada to see what those silly neighbors to the north are all about!

My last few days in Maine were bittersweet, but not for the normal reasons. It was great seeing everyone one more time before leaving, and I got to do a few more fun things, but sadly a friend of mine was also in an accident last Friday, causing some worry. But fortunately he survived and is now working on the long road of recovery. I was sad to leave him in that state, but I know he'll get through this. Besides the accident, though, I did get to go on a cocktail cruise around the Maine coast for an hour with Meg which was really fun! It was a great summer and I will miss Maine and everyone there dearly...but of course, I'll be back :-)

So after loading my car up to the point of, once again, riding rather low to the ground and moving the drivers seat forward to make room for stuff to fit in the back so that I am awkwardly close to the steering wheel, I took off and headed north/west to Vermont. This, folks, is where I made a strange and wonderful discovery. Boulder has a twin....and it's name is Burlington, VT! I'm not sure if any of you have ever experienced this strange phenomenon of entering a city and it looks and feels exactly like the city you grew up in...but let me tell you, it's kind of fun when you'd been away from that home city for 3 months! It was fun to see mountains and hills again as I drove further and further into Vermont. Maine does, as I have explained before, have mountains but they're very sneaky mountains that don't appear until you're RIGHT there in them...so as I drove through Vermont and saw gorgeous hills and mountains in the distance it already felt like home. But THEN.....I drove into Burlington and the first thing I saw was a college campus, young people wandering around, some skateboarders making an amateur video of their "skills", a guy riding by on a unicycle, a family riding bikes, and a town and architecture that was scarily similar to Boulder. I saw the equivalent to Mapleton road, and then I saw a street with the name of....that's right, Pearl St! :-) Needless to say I instantly decided I liked Burlington, and Vermont in general and everyone who says it's similar to Colorado is totally right. And I wonder, was anyone else aware that Burlington is just like Boulder? Im sure someone has discovered that too.

Well, now I get to hang out with Kristene for the day and either tomorrow or Thursday I will head up to Canada!!! This will be my first time in Canada and my first time driving through a border. But fear not, I've got my passport all ready! Although it sounds like it's really not necessary to get into Canada, it's coming back to the United States where I'll need to prove I'm American. Oh what a silly country we are...to say the least. In any case, I think it's going to be a fun trip west through Canada. That reminds me, I should start planning out where I'm going to stay while I'm there. I'm hoping to do some camping along the way as a cheaper and more adventurous alternative to hotels. I will also be visitng Montreal though, where I think I will try to get a room in a hostel or hotel.

Speaking of travels, my awesome friend Bethany, also from Semester at Sea, will be spending 10 months in China teaching english and she leaves Friday! So I wish her happy and safe travels, and lots of fun! Goodbye Bethany!!!!! You will be missed while you're gone! :-)