Work, work and more work...

That is what life seems to be all about at the moment! Since I finished all my exams (all went well, I even passed Spanish and walked with an A average for the year) I have been working at a restaurant down on Kitsilano Beach called Watermark. It has been going well, all the staff are pretty cool and the place has a view that is hard to beat. Every night there are the most stunning sunsets, the sun falling behind the mountains and the light reflecting off the water... Beautiful. But as ever, if you spend long enough in one place you start to get a little jaded, and seeing as I spent 101 hours there over the past two weeks I am feeling a little over it! But having said that, I gave my notice on Saturday, so I only have a couple more weeks there before I am off and away.

Plans are all starting to fall into place, Simon and I are heading to Seattle on the 25th of June for a few nights, to party it up one last time before we head our separate ways back to Aus. It has been great hanging out with him over the past year, a really solid guy who I look forward to seeing more when we are both back in Aus. I then fly on to Chicago to catch up with my friends from the Dave Matthews Band shows at the Gorge (see previous posts) as one of them is having his bachelor party there. I'm looking forward to that, it should be awsome to see Chicago and we're gonna hit a baseball game and a few other quintessentially American things I think. Good times. From there I fly on to Montreal, which I am really excited about. Sim is there now and says it is amazing. I can't wait for the food, and I may have to relent on my determination to not drink coffee until I get back to Aus! I have about a week there, with one night in Quebec City. Hopefully I'll get to catch up with a few friends from Uni there and I am there while the Jazz Festival is on so am hoping to see a couple of shows too... It's going to be great!

From there I fly back to Van, have a day to do laundry and gather myself together before the day that I have been looking forward to for a while now... Tess arrives here on the 10th of July, which is going to be amazing. We have heaps planned already and it looks like it could be quite a busy few weeks!

So those are my plans, but I have also been doing some fun stuff, believe it or not! A couple of weeks back my mate Sebastian and I had a final day at Blackcomb, which was fun. The snow was decidedly slushy but we had a good day. While waiting for the Gondola to open we saw a young Black Bear rummaging through a rubbish bin, and then another while we were on the way up the Gondola - so now I don't have to see any more bears thank you very much! It was great to hit the mountain in the sun, and I must admit that we stopped often for a beer and a relax in the sun!

A couple of weeks before that I went to Victoria with Simon and a couple of other friends Maria and Becky. It was a slightly spur of the moment trip, but all organised by Sim which was awesome. We stayed at a little hostel and lived it up for a couple of nights! Basically we got off the ferry, dumped our bags and headed straight for a patio to drink beer in the sun! It was just what I needed to do after a couple of intense weeks at work, and really good times with Maria, who has also become a good mate, before she flew back to Sweden. Walking through the harbour the next day I spotted something in the water, which turned out to be a Sea Otter, just cruising around, foraging for food and playing in the water. We stood and watched it for a few minutes, and while we were there a Sea Eagle of some kind just dropped from the sky and scooped up a fish, right there in front of us. It was amazing to see that kind of wildlife right in the harbour of the city. The rest of the day was basically spent hanging out in the sun, talking to seals (that apparently understood Swedish) and then having some more beers! Dinner that night was amazing, in a little place called Ferris Oyster Bar, fantastic seafood, simple and not overpriced... Love it! Victoria was on the whole fantastic, great shops (found some good t-shirts and a nice vintage Speedo jacket!), good food and good company! I spent maybe too much money, but that is par for the course at the moment!

Apart from that, I have just been catching the odd live band, saw Ozomatli a couple of weeks back, and a local band called Hey Ocean twice recently which was great. Off to another gig next week, a band called OAR who I came across seeing DMB last summer, which I am looking forward to seeing in a small venue. Catching Melbourne band Architecture in Helsinki this week with my friend Sebastian which should be cool - I never saw them in Melbs so it is quite funny to be seeing them here!

Other than that it is work work work! Fourteen more days of that and then off and away again, I can't wait. I hope all is good in your world, maybe I'll be seeing some of you in the next couple of months... Take care and stay in touch!

There is no logic in my Logic Board...

Hi all, so the end of term is drawing ever nearer, I have only three more classes left of my BA, and on Easter Sunday my lovely little iBook decided to crash... I only lost the work I had done on two end of term papers, and possibly all my photos from this trip, but hopefully not! I now know to back up! It looks like it is the Logic Board that has gone, so hopefully the Harddrive is still intact. I'll be buying an external Harddrive very damn soon! Ah well, all these things work themselves out, and I am now in the process of negotiating with Apple to see if I can get it fixed under warranty or not - as well as negotiating with Profs for extensions on papers!

Other than that, we had an amazing day at Whistler on Good Friday, the snow was slushy but the sun was shining and we just had lots of fun. Good times. It is sad to think that the season is drawing to a close, but the sun makes up for it! I also got two jobs and a place to live last week, which is a big relief! I may cut back to one job once I have started them both and got a feel for them, or I may do both and just rake in as much cash as I can for the summer! I'm going to be living in a little house just off-campus, on a lovely tree-lined street, and it is dirt cheap, so that has worked out well.

The cherry blossoms have just started to now fall off the trees, so we have shifted from having beautiful aromas to having pink snow on the ground! I have only one more day of classes, then on Thursday afternoon is 'Arts County Fair' which is a big concert/party put on here at campus, supposed to be one of the biggest campus parties in North America - should be fun. De La Soul are playing, which'll be sweet. Friday I start my new job, at a place called Watermark, check it out here. I've also been offered work here (it's called Bridges), which looks potentiall really good if they offer me the gig upstairs in the actual restaurant, as opposed to the Bistro downstairs. So that will all work itself out, and hopefully I'll have time to hang with mates and chill out and enjoy the city as well! I'm sure I'll manage to juggle it all!

Apart from the computer crash Easter was good, had yummy Turkey dinner on Monday night thanks to Kat and Chrissy, which was gold (oh and Jovan's Cornbread was excellent too!!). Nice little study-break that was. I hope you all had a great Easter and are back into the swing of things wherever you are.

Anyway, I'd best dash off and get some food before my final Spanish class. All done with exams on the 25th of April, then move into my new place on the 1st of May. Take care, out for now...

Hometown Baghdad...

I've just got back from class and was talking to a class mate over a quiet lunch-time beer about the Baghdad Burning blog that I've recommended you to, and she told me of another, called Hometown Baghdad, which you can find here. This 'video blog' is a collection of home-video style documentaries that discuss life in occupied Baghdad. As you can probably tell, this issue and media has really captivated me, and I thought I'd share with you! Please if anyone has other similar sites I'd love to see them... OK time to go job-hunting! It is a beautiful sunny afternoon, I've just got an invite to a wedding from one of my best mates Scotty, and am feeling particularly far away from home right now as I'm not going to be able to make his wedding... These things happen I suppose, I just have to be philosophical about it and realise that everything we do means that there is something else that we can't do! On that note, time to go look for a job!

So much snowboarding...

I'm sitting here in my bedroom, the sun is shining outside, the hunger in my belly is growing, but I thought I'd hold on for another few minutes to write my blog, which I have been neglecting recently... So the end of term is nearing, only another week or so of classes, then two weeks of exams, then it is all over, red rover! So what have I been up to? Well, that is a good question... Basically I realised a few weeks back that since just before Christmas I'd not had a weekend where I had spent the whole two days in Vancouver. I have been going snowboarding at various different mountains all over BC, with different mates and the crazy and awesome rabble from the UBC Ski and Board Club. This club organises four trips per year to different mountains around BC, and 50-odd 'kids' jump on a bus, drink out way to the mountain, party it up, stumble onto the hill the next day and fly down way-too-steep hills, back to the bar, more partying (maybe with a hot-tub thrown in there for good measure), and then do it all again the next day, jumping back on the bus and arriving back in Van late Sunday night, tired but in a good way! Over 'reading break' (a week-long break in the middle of term) they organise a big trip, which this year was to the Rockies, and was perfectly amazing! A really nice bunch of 30-odd people, two amazing mountains Kicking Horse and Panorama, lots of fluffy white stuff, and a good good time... See my flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/licksflicks/ for pics of that trip, and other randoms from other mountains... Yes I apologise, there are rather a lot of pictures of snowy mountains up there, but that is kinda symptomatic of what I've been doing this term!

Last weekend my mate Sim and I went to Vegas, both for a bit of respite from the Vancouver rain, and also as a form of pilgrimage to see the Dave Matthews Band... It was a great weekend, awesome to get away and not, for one moment, think about schoolwork, wander around in shorts and t-shirts, gamble a little, drink a little, eat a lot, and get blown away by two awesome nights of music. I really have been lucky to have seen some incredible music on this trip. From now 6 nights of DMB, to Gomez, Jurassic 5, The Cat Empire, Johnny Lang, Maceo Parker, Ray LaMontagne, The Fray, and local Van Bands like Hey Ocean and 5 Alarm Funk (check out their myspace sites, Hey Ocean particularly are great)... Live music has rocked my world, but I've also had a great time at some DJ's like Kid Koala (like a symphony orchestra with turntables!), Krafty Kuts, and Shy-FX... Good times.

I'm starting to get my life organised for the summer, I think I have a house sorted through a girl who is in the Ski and Board club, pretty cheap and in a good spot. Hilariously it looks like Sim has hooked up a house in the same block as me, totally randomly and unintentionally! I can't wait for summer, to get a job, and just live in this city for a while, instead of being stuck out on campus the whole time.

Well right now I need to get to class, and get out into the sun for a while! Just quickly, any of you who (like me) are a bit tired of the media representations of the Iraq War, and are interested in checking out a different perspective, head over here and have a read. "Riverbend" is a 24-year old Iraqi woman who writes on how it is to actually be an Iraqi woman in occupied Baghdad. It is fascinating reading, and I would strongly recommend back-reading the archives. Other than that, I'm also reading a book called 'Fugitive Pieces' by Anne Michaels for my course on Holocaust Literature, and it is a beautifully written book. Again one I'd recommend seeking out. More on that next time. I'm listening to the new Gomez album, 'How We Operate' and it is great. Also loving Jose Gonzales, his album Veneer is really chilled... OK it's 10.30, I have class in 30 mins and I need breaky and a coffee before then! Hope all is well in your worlds, I'm really going to try and do this more regularly from now on... Take care wherever in the world you are, and stay in touch!

Christmas, New Year and lots of snow!

Hey everybody, this'll be very short as I am sitting using the internet at the UBC Lodge up at Whistler after a great day's snowboarding...

I hope that Christmas was as good for you as it was for me, had such a great time with an awesome crew of people in a small town in the south-east of BC called Nelson. Seven of us, (3 Aussies and 4 Swedes) drove over to Nelson on the 20th of December, and spent the next 10 days skiing and boarding, eating, drinking and generally having an awesome time! We skiied a tiny little resort called Whitewater, with only two archaic chairlifts, but really nice people and so much awesome snow. The landscape was stunning, snow covered mountains merging into beautiful green trees, cut through with bubbling rivers.

After ten days there (and two Christmas dinners!) we headed back to Vancouver on the 30th, getting the rental car returned with only 5 minutes to spare. My New Years celebrations were somewhat stunted by work, but I still managed to have a glass of bubbly at 12 and a few beers after!

On the 2nd Simo and I headed back up to WHistler, to find it raining and generally not very nice. We took that day as a day off the mountain, and yesterday only went up for a few hours. Today, however, was awesome. We found some nice fresh powder, and I managed to make 'fresh tracks' with both my board and my feet after I crashed and had wo wade out through knee-deep powder!

SO we are back to the mountain for a few more days this week, school is back on the 8th, which is also my 25th birthday! Crazy!

I'd better dash, Simo needs to check his email, hope all is well, will post some pics etc soon... Ciao for now, Al.

Magnificent mountains and Matthews Madness...

So I left off last time having landed safely in Vancouver... My wonderful cousin Kate and her partner Ben were at the airport to meet me (Kate has been living in Van for about a year now), which was brilliant. I was pretty knackered, and it was great to be able to just chill out with them for my first evening there. Over the course of the next week or so I just began to get my bearings around Vancouver - slowly but surely. One of the funniest ones was getting lost on my first trip up to UBC! I caught the bus up, didn't have a map or anything, but had looked online where I needed to go. UBC campus is pretty huge, out on a peninsular about 20 mins from Vancouver downtown. So I got down here, looking for International House, where I was to go and check in, and promptly turned in completely the wrong direction! Walking around this huge campus, trying to use parking maps as reference points, I started to get pretty demoralised! Eventually I found where I was supposed to be, and the first thing I asked for was a map! At least I got to see some bits of campus that I might otherwise have missed!

So my first week was all about settling in. I bought myself a bike, which seemed pretty essential to getting around campus, and spent a bit of time checking out the touristy sights of Vancouver. A ride around Stanley Park (one of the world's largest Urban Parks) was great, and gave me a really good idea of the beauty of this city. Kate and Ben were really good to me, showing me all the good hang outs and full of advice on places to see. The first weekend I was there we did a day trip and a hike up to Whistler, which was stunning. It is incredible to have such beautiful mountains so close to the city.

An hour and a half after leaving Vancouver we were up in the mountains, riding the Gondola up to to the peak of Whistler. Incredible views out over the coast mountains, the glaciers and what will in only a few short weeks be some of the best skiable terrain in the world. It was stunning. We walked from the peak along a meandering path called the Musical Bumps, then down through the woods all the way back to the village. In total a descent of about 1,580m, complete with the most diverse landscape I could imagine. From rocky scree to lush meadows, to glacial valleys and rich coniferous forest. Lunch perched on the top of a 'bump' called "Flute" was great. We had some inquisitive crows who were pretty keen on our pate and proscuitto! As we sat and recouperated, a couple of large eagles that had been wheeling high in the sky began to come closer. There was something really majestic and magical about the two huge birds silently circling, like sentinels, in the sky above this huge range of mountains and glacial lakes. It is in moments like that that you really know you are alive. As we walked down, slightly nervous due to the nature of the foliage around us and the knowledge that this was bear country, the air became thicker and warmer. Emerging in the Whistler Village, it was good to pull off the hiking boots, slip into my Crocs and head off for a quick beer and a bite to eat.

So the next week rolled by, and the start of school crept ever closer. By this time Ben's mum had arrived from England, so Kate and Ben's little basement flat was pretty full of people! Again very kind of them to have me over that time.
A trip to the Vancouver aquarium with Kate and Paddy was great fun, complete with a bit of a dousing from the boistrous Beluga whales! As the first weekend of September approached, so did the end of my 'holiday' - the reality of Uni was palpable!! But not before one final fling. I had decided fairly soon after my arrival in Vancouver that I was going to try to do one last road trip before starting school. The Dave Matthews Band were playng a three-night stand at a huge outdoor amphitheatre in Washington State over the Labour Day weekend. I didn't have tickets, didn't have anywhere to stay, and had no way of getting to the gigs, but in a moment of madness decided that I wanted to go! So I went to one of the DMB fan websites, and posted on one of the discussion forums, asking if anyone had a spare space in a car from Seattle (I figured I could get there pretty easily) out to the Gorge, and if possible somewhere to stay out there.
I quickly recieved a response from a Minnesotan bloke called Ryan, who, to cut a long story short, said that him and two mates had both a spot in a car, and in a hotel room, and would love to have an Aussie along for the ride. I managed to hook up tickets from some more people on the same site, and hey presto, Thursday afternoon found me on a bus, heading south across the border to the US of A! One night in Seattle was interesting. All the hostels in Seattle were full, so I was forced to go out to a small island just off the coast, as that was the only other hostel in the area. Vashon Island was a blessing in disguise. It was a classic alternative community. Immediately a lift was offered from the ferry to the town, where the mini-bus for the hostel was waiting. Within minutes I found myself at a lovely little ranch-style hostel in the middle of some woods, on a beautiful island. There were tee-pees, a couple of barns, a log fire... It was idyllic. If you are ever in the area, check it out for sure: http://www.vashonhostel.com/. The next morning I got up early and caught the first ferry back, then on the bus to Sea-Tac airport to meet up with Ryan, Matt and Nick, who were to be my travel companions for the next few days. After a small altercation at the car-hire desk we got ourselves a nice little Pontiac, and off we went, heading east to the Gorge. And what a trip followed. How can I begin to describe it. The weather was hot, we snuck into the pool of the swish hotel across the road every day to drink a few beers in the sun, and held the inaugural "Gorge Beer Darts Championship" (it's a long story). There were crew from all over the country. I was travelling with dudes from Minnesota, partying with guys from Baltimore and San Fransisco, all there watching a band from Virginia, in the middle of nowhere in Washington! Crazy! But such good good times. The Gorge Amphitheatre is an incredible venue, holding about 20,000 people, looking out over the Columbia River, and a huge gorge. As the sun set each night we would have a few beers in the car park, play some more beer darts, listen to some tunes, and chill out. Come about 8, the crowd would begin to move toward the amphitheater, and the excitement would build. What followed each night was about two and a half hours of incredible music. It is hard to describe, but it was an incredible experience, to be in a crowd of 20,000 people, under the stars, all united by a passion for the music. Again I have Zak to thank for introducing me to this band, mate one day we'll do those three days together... Memories of the great times I'd had with two of my best friends in the world, seeing this same band on a rainy Thursday night in a small town on the Northern NSW coast came flooding back - I missed you guys that night, thanks for the memories! I had managed to hook up pretty good seats for all three nights, although on the third I snuck forward to get a better view, and got a few good pics. You may wonder why anyone would go and see the same band three nights in a row, but the energy, the difference in the setlists, the sheer musicianship of it was exciting from start to finish. Following each show the party continued back at the hotels, and we fell into bed at around 3, ready to start all over again the next day... Great times, great company, great music. So when Monday morning dawned, and we all had to pack up and roll out, it was with slightly hazy heads, but fantastic memories and a bunch of new friends. Ryan, Matt and Nick are all solid blokes, who I've already promised I'll visit in Minnesota sometime. I owe a whole lot to those guys for being prepared to take a random Aussie under their wing and showing me such a good time. Thanks guys, you are the best....

Late monday night I arrived back in Vancouver. Absolutley knackered. I was to move in to my new residence apartment on the Tuesday, and my first class was that afternoon. That is another story, to be told in the next installment of this blog. Right now I need to go and write a paper, but be sure that I am happy, healthy, and seriously excited about the snow that is falling at Whistler at the moment!

Well here goes... My very first blog post ever, and it is a long one!! This is installment one, brings me up to my arrival in Canada... Installment two will follow when I have my mid-term exams out of the way!


So here I am in sunny Vancouver, sitting in my little room in my little residence unit at UBC, feeling guilty that I have been such a bad correspondant over the last few months since I left Australia. So now, by way of recompense I'll try to make it up to you all...

When I left Australia, I flew to Japan with Tess, which was just fantastic. We had a brilliant time eating, drinking, and lapping up the culture of Japan.
It is a fantastic place, and one which I would recommend anyone to go to. Through Jo (Tess's sister who lives in Japan) and her boyfriend Yuske we had the best tour guides ever, complete with world famous Kobe Beef and plenty of local beer!

We travelled a bit by ourselves also, with our rudimentary Japanese skills coming in handy often, with Tess being able to read the character, and me (if it was food) often being able to translate what it was!! We did, however, have to guess a couple of times, but that is all part of the fun! To sum Japan up in one sentence is almost impossible, but it was a mixture of crazy city lights, funky Sake bars, sobering history, beautiful temples and castles, wonderful food, friendly people, sun, rain, laughter, tears and above all else great fun with fantastic company.

So that little chapter ended tearfully in Tokyo airport, as I farewelled Tess, and flew on to Rome to meet up with Ollie. Landing in Rome to hear that it was still 38C at 10pm was not quite the relief that I was expecting, but when Ollie and I met up a cold beer slid down very easily indeed. Now for those of you who know Ollie, you can imagine what Rome was about for us. For those who don't, the next paragraph will give you a good idea... The consummate tourguide, Ollie led me basically on a walking tour of Rome, complete with the worlds best coffee, nice charry pizza, fresh gooey Buffalo Mozzarella, delicate Spigola with fresh white truffles, perfect Bresaola, bustling markets, sumptous Gelato, crunchy and juicy Porchetta, fantastic Vino Nobile be Montepulciano, icy cold beer, soaring ceilings in the Basilica San Pietro, the Colosseum glowing in the setting sun, Meditteranean beaches, philosophical conversation and plenty of cold beer to quench our dry throats in the hot hot sun. It was brilliant. Four days just wasn't enough, but we had talked, ate, drank and absorbed the culture of the city solidly and without much rest so I think we were both glad to be getting on a plane bound for London.

So were met off the airport bus by Dad at Finchley Rd station, and I was whisked off to spend the next few days with our very good friends the Bards in London. Dad's wife Rosie and her three daughters also all came over for a BBQ one night, and all four of the Bard 'kids' were also there. A really great way to start the UK leg of my trip. A few days later I was on a train to Edinburgh, where I had a lovely few days with Granny, me playing chauffer as we drove our way around Scotland. Re-connecting with cousins who I'd not seen for years, cantering through fields that brought many happy memories flooding back, and sneaking a quick coffee with crazy Clare from RHCL were some of the highlights of that time - as well, of course, as hanging out with Granny, which was great.

From there to Worcestershire, for a couple of nights of fine wine, fine food and great fun with Mum's brother Angus and his family. Their place is one of my regular 'watering holes' whenever I'm in the UK, and it is always full of hilarity and good times. So after a weekend of cider in the garden, pulling fences away from strangling brambles, walking doggies in the sun and as usual eating too much, I found myself on the road again, in the front of Dad's combi, en route to Norfolk.



Arriving in Norfolk is always in many ways akin to getting home. After 3 1/2 weeks on the road, I was well and truly ready to just chill for a while. And I did. It was great, just hanging out with Dad, playing tennis, going sailing and swimming, watching the huge tides rolling in each morning, inventing new ball games with my crazy step-sister Kate, drinking at the pub, and again eating too much. I'm sorry if the endless lists of things are getting boring, it just seems like there is so much to tell!!

After a quick sojourn to Brussels with Dad, where we gorged on Mussels, stocked up on chocolate and sampled every Belgian beer we could find (only to regret it the next day), we met up with Dad's mum in London Waterloo. Arriving back in Norfolk a few hours later it was back to much the same, although this time there were a couple more step-sisters with whom to run amok. The highly anticipated morning of August 8th dawned bright and sunny, although a few in Blakeney and surrounding villages no doubt had butterflies in thier stomachs... This was the day of the annual Blakeney Regatta, including the infamous 'Greasy Pole' competition. Yes, it is almost exactly as it sounds... A telegraph pole is pushed into the mud on the bank of Blakeney Creek, directly opposite the Quay (which stands in as a grandstand for the day). This pole is then covered with grease, and the young (and a few old) of the North Norfolk coast try to slide along the pole as far as they can, yet of course there are any number of ways that you can fall off, and any number of bits of you that can get injured! The ultimate aim is to go off the end, and every year a few champions manage to do just that... So of course, with my Norfolk roots, I was roped in to giving it a go! It was a good laugh, and lets just say that I survived with both my integrity and my manhood intact! The day ended with many many beers at the local pub, and still more on Rosie's lookout.

^^ Credit for this pic of Sid and Kate to Paul... Thanks mate!

Leaving Norfolk a few days later was sad, as Rosie had sold the house, and thus a special place for all of that clan was no longer in the family.
But onward to Plymouth we drove, via a stop at Grandma's place, where Dad's brother also lives, and I was able to catch up with another cousin and her two little sons, which was great. Dad and I then just hung out in Plymouth, really not doing very much... Playing tennis, walking, chatting and eating probably best describes those few days. It was a great end to my time in the UK. So, after a delicious farewell dinner cooked up by Bec and Mark in London, I boarded a plane to Dallas, Texas, USA... And so began my North American adventure!

Dallas was great. By some random chance my flight into Dallas had coincided with a Dave Matthews Band show there (as some of you will know I rather like this band!), and so I had rashly gone ahead and bought myself a ticket. At that stage I had nowhere to stay, and no idea where the show was being held! What transpired can only be described as amazing... I had recently heard from Mum that she had re-connected with an old University friend of hers from the USA, Ken, who was working a lot in Vancouver. She had mentioned to him that I was going to UBC, and he had offered to meet up with me and show me around sometime. Ken and his family are based, however, in Dallas. When I told Mum that I was stuck for a place to stay there, she remembered this, and told me to email him and see if there was any chance of a bed! So when I landed in sweltering Texas after leaving rainy bomb-paranoid London, I was met at the airport by Blair, Ken's daughter. The hospitality given to me by Peggy (Ken's wife), Blair and Ken was fantastic. I was shown all over Dallas, taken out to dinner, basically treated just like a member of the family. I also managed to make it to the DMB show, through a lady I met on the plane who lived two blocks away, and whose nephew was flying in to Dallas from California on showday to go to the same gig! It was amazing. Everything just fell into place, and I had a really good time. Sunday afternoon found me on another plane, thankfully the last one for a while, bound for Vancouver. So after almost 35,000 km of travel I had made it to my home for the next year... And what a beautiful home it is!



So there you have it... I'm here, safe, studying hard (haha), and generally loving it! Please go and check out my photos at www.flickr.com/photos/licksflicks if you are interested, and I'd love to hear what you are all up to, so email me (alick.weber@gmail.com) and I promise I'll write back!! Also pass this on to anyone else who might want to read about my travels...

Hope all is well wherever you may be in the world, take care and stay in touch!! Ciao for now, Al...