(no subject)
I went to Vancouver on the eighteenth. Unfortunately (but then again, fortunately), my dad got us deluxe seats for Eva Air; with all the extra leg space, I was able to sleep, but jetlag hit extra hard once I got off the plane. I ended up drinking a lot of hotel coffee and watching a lot of late night South Park, Comedy Central, and Family Guy.
Fastforward a restless night, a crappy McDonald's breakfast, and a few showers. My friend Patricia drive from West Vancouver to Richmond (and got lost for about an hour), and brought me to North Mall. Fortunately for me, Patricia didn't make a scene when she helped me pick out clothes. Normally my mom does, though, because she can't seem to pick out anything without touching, picking up, and then criticizing all the clothes on display before telling me (no wait, ordering me) to try something on. For the first time in six years, I put on a pair of jeans. I still don't see what all the fuss is about, because jeans are heavy and they don't breathe.
Pat said I have to dress prep, so I have some sweaters now. Yay, white trash. No, but really, thanks for driving me all over the place Pat, you saved me from two days of would be sightseeing.
In a Roots store:
"Do you mind having 'Canada' on your shirt?"
"Not really."
"Is it going to get you beat up in New York?"
*quickly* "Probably."
Oh yeah, we also stopped by a Starbucks. Patricia works there, so, naturally, I assumed she was a coffee junkie. Oddly enough, she finds coffee revolting and only gets teas or juices from Starbucks. On yeah, and to prove my point about stupid people and lawyers, she told me that Starbucks had to serve hot drinks twenty degrees cooler because somebody sued Starbucks. Really, somebody go sue Microsoft for being too hot too, that should be profitable.
I also got the chance to visit the Vancouver aquarium. Upon seeing the salmon in the large tanks, Patricia said she once stated how tasty salmon were while visiting the Capilano salmon fishery. Consequently, a bunch of conservationists got pissed off and said "you shouldn't talk about animals that way!" (I agree, but I couldn't help but laugh). I guess that's why a few heads turned when I explained that sturgeon were "caviar fish." Fortunately, Patricia had gotten an ice cream cone by the time we visited the sea otters, so nobody talked about eating there. The otters drifted on top of the water belly side up and spent an awful lot of time grooming themselves. One rubbed both his paws on his forehead, as if confused...and then another otter came over and bit him (or her).
Let's see...I also went to Seattle. I visited the original Starbucks and was surprised it looked nothing like other Starbucks; it lacked that weird Starbucks icon. I also visited Pike Market, where my dad told me to go buy a crab. While I was handing the guy my money, I felt a fleck of ice against my neck. I blinked and heard a large plop(!) as a large salmon, the length of my arm, landed in the cashier's hands. Interesting...I almost got knocked out cold by a fish. Apparently, the guys at the fish market toss their fish from station to station, and the accuracy with which they do it still amazes me (we're talking salmon folks, not sardines). Maybe I'll sue them, too.
I am headed to University of Rochester tomorrow. Hopefully I will have some post about the hilarious stuff that will happen on orientation day.