Sushi and Black Pills

As January rolls out, it was only fitting that we get some nasty weather. All available transit was shut down yesterday--and I was completely stranded after leaving work. The taxis were not running up my mountain because of the seriously slick road conditions, and for the same reason, my land lady was unable to come and pick me up. I was like: "Problem solving!" Really, I had no idea what I was going to do. But thankfully, my land lady is super woman and she figured out a way for me to get home. Thank goodness.
In the good ol' way of the Fraser valley, however, most of the snow and ice soon melted, and today, only sidewalks remain to be shoveled, and almost all the other snow is gone or has been shaped in gigantic snowmen.
In fact, later last night, the weather had completely changed and the roads were again drivable. Taking advantage of this, my land lady and I decided to head out for sushi, rather than muster the motivation to make food for ourselves. so we went, and it was good. We split some veggie tempura (yum, by the way), I had some simple California rolls, and one piece of Unagi (BBQ eel). I've had all this stuff before, and love it, so it was nothing new to my stomach. But later in the evening, my tummy was not at all happy. Something nasty came over me and I felt incredibly foul.
When I moved out here, one of the last things I grabbed from a friend was a baggy full of these smelly little Chinese all natural cure-all pills. I don't know what they are called, so amoung my peeps, they are known as "black pills." They smell like creosote, or really pungent campfire, they look like rabbit droppings, and their smell lingers forever and seeps out your pores; bottom line: you should never take these little pills when you are required to be in public. But they work, and they pretty much fix every problem your stomach and digestive system might be feeling.
I took a couple, and pretty much within an hour I was once again able to move in and out of the fetal position, not to mention, muster enough energy sans nausea to get from my couch to my bed. Good times. No clue what it was. I don't blame the sushi, just the irony of timing. I think everyone should eat sushi all the time. But not tuna sushi because it is laden with heightened levels of mercury. So don't eat raw tuna too much.
I've been reading my Political Science textbook on World Politics, and my Anthropology texts all day. It feels good to be writing about something as meaningless as black pills and sushi.

Non Sequiter

So I've been back in Abby for just over a week now. All things considered, Abbotsford has really begun to feel somewhat like "home." I guess. Okay, it feels like a temporary home, but home none the less.
Pretty much the second I got off the plane, I was back into the school lifestyle; I had an English class later that same evening. Three weeks into class and I admit, I feel like I am drowning scientific terms and political policies that I do not understand. Two of m textbooks are just like...I don't know. I get headaches after trying to read the texts for long period of time. Oh well, I am sure I'll figure out a way to get through it.
Work is going...it is going. I like my co-workers at Starbucks (and I get a great set of benefits!!), but golly gosh gee, I don't know how long it will last. After my trip home and the few hours I worked at Global Grounds, it reminded me of how much the people connection means to me. And a good cup of coffee of course. Oh, and not to mention, it reminded me that there really are some great people out there, but most of them live in Linden. Sob.
Oh well, I don't know how long I'll be at Starbucks. I'm trying to think about what to do for summer, and there are a couple really cool things that I would like to do. But that is a couple of months away yet. I don't know what I am going to do, where I'll be living, who I'll be working for, or if I will even be in the country the whole time. Fun fun times!
So there is an uber quick update on the ins and outs of what has been happening with me in the past week. Not much.

Home Tastes Like a Small Caramella with Whipped Cream

I am not ready to head back west yet. I've been on vacation in Linden for a week now, and in that time, have seen so many of the people I've missed; despite the time I've had here, I feel like I have had hardly enough time to spend with the people I miss so much.
It's been good though, and as always, being back in Alberta has been refreshing and a huge blessing. And sunny! A lot has happened this week, sleep not being one of them unfortunately, and while my time out here has been refreshing, at the same time I feel somewhat burned out. I think that's only because I seem to be unable to sleep when I'm back home, for some strange reason.
It has been three months since I was last home, and for the most part, three months since I last had a conversation with many people here. But it does not seem like I was gone at all. Not that life and Linden have not changed at all (they actually have), it just seems like I was asleep, or that Abby was just a dream, or I spent the last three or four months completely out of it. If that makes any sense. I came home, and everything just fell back into place as it was before. Or, well, most things, but not all. Some of the things I wish were the same are not, and some of the things I wish were better are seemingly worse. But, that is how life goes, or so I have been told.
People back in Linden are...unique. They seem to genuinely want the best for you, and they treat you not only with courtesy, but they make every effort to better the lives of the people they love. Some how I got to be so loved, and coming home is like--like what i always hoped "coming home" would feel like, I guess.
I'm looking forward to getting back to school, of course, But at the same time, I know that it will be a while before I am able to come back again, and that makes me want to spend every minuet with the people I love. And it is true, I did not realize how much I loved some of the people back home, until I went away; now I just want to bring them with me wherever I go because I love them so much. I guess that is the way of life though.
I'm a big kid now.

An Update

Second semester starts in one day! Goodness, I am so excited; I am the biggest nerd. I actually quite enjoy post-secondary, however, aside from the insane cost of textbooks. It should be an interesting semester: three of my four classes are on Monday (the only day they were offered), and the other is Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I’m hoping night classes, or later-in-the-day classes will not only yield a group of more focused classmates, but the opportunity to actually get to know some of them.
I have been working my tush off and my mind has been unable to focus on anything really, in the past couple of weeks. It almost feels like I’ve gone about a separate life, which has been so up and down, frustrating and somewhat discouraging. I’m still chugging along though, so I guess that is good.
My Christmas was awesome. My sweet landlords bought me a brand new printer (my other new one was fried in one of the many power surges we’ve had, as was theirs) and made me join them in Surrey for a turkey dinner, sans cranberry sauce, with their extended family. It was lovely. We played some Wii (I kicked butt at bowling), watch some Rush Hour 3, and ate a whole bunch of delightful food. But it still didn’t feel like Christmas, being away from GG, and mom and dad.

New Year's was pretty much uneventful for me. I worked New Year's Eve, and had the first two days of the year to myself. It was odd though; I felt a great deal more homesick than I thought I would. I admitt, I was lonely. However, my homesickness was relieved when my old youth pastor and good friend, and his family and sweet little girls gave me a call. They were in town and we went out for a coffee, and I was so happy to spend time with them.