Another plane, another airport, another city...

After less than two weeks sleeping in my own bed I'm on the road again.  I will start by saying that I love the Vancouver airport, if only for the FREE wireless.  Seriously everywhere else they want you to pay an arm and a leg.  Okay so maybe not everywhere but I've been enough airports in the last few months that I feel okay stereotyping.

Anyway, my time at home has been great, culture shock minimal to non-existent, and I won't even start with the food.  I've also been extremely busy...coldplay concert, day at the spa, the cabin, a marathon relay, coffee, lunch, you get the picture.

So now I'm sitting in the Vancouver airport waiting for my flight to Kelowna and then on to Vernon where I'll be in my cousins wedding.  Actually when I checked in...after the computer asked me if I had any hunting bounty to check in...I was told my flight had been canceled because there was no crew to fly the plane and that they had booked me on a flight for Tuesday.  Not exactly what I was looking for but they got it sorted out and put me on a flight that will actually get me there earlier than I had thought.  After the wedding is a week in the bush hiking the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, a trip down to the US of A to visit friends and then home again.

London Limbo

Coming through British customs last Sunday the customs officer asked all the normal questions, why are you here, where are you staying, where have you come from, where do you live...  All fairly simple questions except that lately I'm not sure how to answer that last one.  I've been living in Egypt, I'm currently staying with friends in London, a week from now I'll be living with my parents in Winnipeg, and two months from now I could be anywhere.  At the moment, limbo is the only word that describes my current situation.  If you google it you get two options...

limbo [l'ɪmboʊ]

If you say that someone or something is in limbo, you mean that they are in a situation where they seem to be caught between two stages and it is unclear what will happen next.

or

The limbo is a West Indian dance in which you have to pass under a low bar while leaning backwards. The bar is moved nearer to the floor each time you go under it

...you can decide for yourself which one I'm talking about.  The past few days have been great.  Who wouldn't want to spend the day taking a run in the park, visiting a gallery or two, eating great food, and drinking coffee.  I do feel however like

 I'm in some in between world.  No longer in Egypt but not yet home.  The realizations that I'm somewhere new comes at funny times and have included...

1. I probably can't respond to the flight attendant speaking to me in German with Arabic

2. You know you're in Germany when you sit down to have a coffee before your 6:30 am flight and at the table next to you people are having a beer

3. Before beginning the drive from the Stansted airport to central London the bus driver reminded us to buckle our seatbelts

4. 30 minutes into that same bus ride I realized we wer

e driving on the left side of the road

5. Went grocery shopping and instead of digging through a pile of tomatoes to find the fresh ones I had to first choose between the 10 kinds of tomatoes available

6. I walked down the street, camera in hand, and no one said 'Welcome to London'

7. Went to a pub and didn't walk out smelling like a package of cigarettes

8. People wait for you to step off the tube and then file 

on without pushing

9. Side walks are meant for walking on

10. A very nice reminder came over the speakers in the tube station reminding everyone that in the hot weather it is important to carry water with you...it didn't even reach 20 C yesterday

I've also made a new friend, his name is Caleb.  He's very cute, blond hair, blue eyes.  He's a great listener and I hear he likes walks in the park too...

...he's also 9 months old

That's all.  Today I was a proper tourist and visited the Tower of London.  Tomorrow Reesa and I are going out for lunch and to a show.  Almost home.