The Trip Begins!

So. Woke up this morning in my own bed for the last time and started trying to get my head around actually leaving. A very odd feeling, partly excited, partly scared, partly panicking. How the hell do you know if you've packed everything you're going to need for the next 5 months, when you're not even certain where you're going? I think the answer is you don't, you just check you've got a passport and bank card and go, and tell yourself everything will be fine. Telling yourself something and really feeling it are two different things though, and was hard saying bye to Val. Left the house feeling a bit nervous and uncertain about the whole affair. Got on the train to the airport next to a posh prick with a ski bag who liked to talk a lot. He let me know he was heading to Switzerland (yah) for 10 days with a smug look on his face. "Where are you heading to then?" he asked. "Whistler." I replied. "For two months". He didn't say much after that. I started feeling a lot better. This is going to be good.

There's a really cool thing with flights from London to Vancouver. To get the shortest route you go way North, which means that your speed "around" the earth changes. You start off changing longitude fairly slowly, (ie. slower than the sun) but then speed up (longitudinally speaking) as you hit the far North, then slow down again as you head further South. The cool thing is that if you take off in the late afternoon, it gets darker and you have a sunset, but then you start going back in time (kinda) and the sun rises again. Then you head further South as you approach Vancouver and you have another sunset. Well I think it's cool anyway. I can explain it better when I see you.

Sunsets. I took photos of both but they look the same.

This also means you can be fooled into having several sundowners. This is fine, but can make customs a bit confusing. Apparently people ask more questions when you're staying for a while.

"Your immigration form says you're here for 51 days"
"Yep"
"What will you be doing?"
"Snowboarding!"
"And working as an instructor?"
"No."
"How will you pay for this?"
"Erm, with my money?"
"How much money do you have?"
"I'm not telling you!"
"Why not?"
"It's rude!"
"Have you been drinking Sir?"
"Yes"

She was alright in the end and didn't insist on checking my bank details and sent me on my way after I spent 5 minutes failing to log onto the free wifi.

Arrived in Whistler with no further dramas and got taken to the Pro-ride house. Everyone seems nice, although there's a surprising number of young Australians here. I have a room to myself though which is a massive bonus. Should be fun!