Category: Canada

I set out tonight in search of social Dublin and – while I am drenched to the bone – there can be no denying that I found it. Through the drizzle, I made my way to Trinity College. There, I introduced myself to one person and began to spread virally as “Milan from Canada.” Every twenty minutes or so, it seemed that whoever I had been speaking to would introduce me to someone else. Between that and speaking with people beside me who were part of the same group as the person to whom I was introduced, I was very rapidly integrated.

Once the student bar at Trinity closed, I followed a group of Spanish drummers and pipers whose jaunty tune was quite at odds with the downpour. While doing so, I met a quartet of Dubliners who seem to overflow with goodwill towards Canada (actually, the sentiment was quite omnipresent among those with whom I spoke). After teaching one young woman the French version of the anthem, I ended up with them and still further friends at a place called Doyle’s. I wasn’t quite up to the 2:30am closing time there, so I tried to take advantage of a gap in the rain to get back to my hostel. Thirty metres away, a cab managed to hit a puddle in such a way that I got drenched from head to toe in pure Hollywood fashion.

Despite such minor foibles, it has been an excellent few hours. My ability to pick a person’s words from loud background noise has always been far below average, so chances are I didn’t hear anyone’s name properly. Even so, I direct my sincerest thanks outwards to all those anonymous Dubliners (and Spaniards) who made this rainy night so social and interesting.

I don’t know who took this photo, but it is probably my favourite from the original Cabin Fever retreat, in the summer of 2005. Organized by Tristan, those 5 days were probably the best of that summer. Most fortuitously, he is planning a redux, to take place during the time when I will be in Vancouver. If enough of the friends who I really want to see are going along for the three days (September 10-12) I shall make a point of doing so. Surely nobody who went the first time can deny the appeal of a repetition?

I very much hope the thing will come together. To devote three of my eighteen days in Canada to such a venture seems most worthwhile, provided people who I really care about choose to come along.

Since my camera is still off in Stoke-on-Trent going through dust rehab, I am unable to produce new photos of the day. My stock of recent images has also been exhausted, as a slew of photos of high voltage towers might have indicated. For the next while, I will therefore use much older photos as photos of the day, with some explanation of why they are interesting.

This photo was taken of my by Kate’s friend Lucas, the morning after her seventeenth birthday party, on Mount Stephen Street, in Victoria. Given that the photo is six years old (27% of my whole life), I think I look remarkably similar. Eight months after this photo was taken, I started my undergraduate program at UBC. This is a period I think back to again and again because it strikes me as the point at which almost everything that has happened since became fairly obvious. That is to say, the probable course for the next decade or so was laid out.

With regard to the period after the M.Phil, there is enormously more doubt. Almost everyone has advised against me going straight into a PhD program. After six consecutive years of university education, attaching another four to six right on seems like a tall order. As for what could be done during a lapse, the obvious options are to work (somewhere interesting) and travel. To work for a year and a half or so, then travel for six months, is an idea with considerable appeal.

The travel plan would be a great arc across the Eurasian landmass: from coastal China through southeast asia to India, then up to Turkey, Russia, and through Eastern and Central Europe. Incorporating Africa, and perhaps Australia and New Zealand, would also be a big plus. One of the three planks of my eight year plan is to travel to at least every major area of the world. With only North America and Western Europe firmly under my belt, that leaves a lot of wandering to be done.

Canada trip

On the matter of the return to Canada, it seems quite likely that I will be able to see most of my friends in the area over the course of the nineteen days. On my last Saturday in Canada: the 16th of September, I am planning a gathering at my parents’ house in North Vancouver of a style akin to my departure and graduation parties. People should be sure to mark it on their calendars.

Happy Birthday Dad

Contrary to my expectations, it seems that I will be returning to Vancouver between the two years of my M.Phil after all: between the 6th and the 23rd of September. I am naturally very excited about the prospect of seeing my brothers and parents, as well as friends in Vancouver.

People who are likely to be around should leave a comment or send me an email and we can sort out times to meet. Having some kind of general gathering for friends of mine in North Van is also a very strong possibility.

An hour ago, I thought it would be summer 2007 before I saw Vancouver again. Now, I will be there in less than a month.