I went snowboarding! I didn't think it was possible to sweat at -11C.

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I’ve always wondered what -10C and lower would feel like. Now I know! I went to Lake Louise when the temperature was -13C. It was fine at first. I had a thermal jacket and warmers, sweater, bonnet and gloves. I hate winter clothes. I looked so big with all those layers. Dressing just to go out takes so much time. After about fifteen minutes my toes and fingers hurt. Even when I was wearing two socks on my feet and gloves on my hands. I wanted to go ice skating but I couldn’t bear the cold anymore. Good thing they had a bonfire there. The lake was still frozen in the first week of April. It’s already spring in BC. I don’t know if it is already spring in Alberta. But it certainly doesn’t look like spring here. It was snowing when I went. There’s supposed to be a huge glacier between the mountains but I couldn’t see it because of the snow. They had an ice castle! More like a wall but close enough to my dream of seeing ice castles. There was a vain Asian guy who was dressed like a model and had tons of solo pictures of himself taken by his girlfriend on the ice castle. It was like a full on photo shoot.

I met up with an old friend from Manila who moved here in December last year. His entire family moved here and it’s hard for him. He said he’d just save money and move back to the Philippines eventually. He’s new here. I don’t think he’d say that after a year here. I guess we’ll see. They’re renting a three bedroom house for $1,750. They wanted a smaller house to save money but since there’s five of them, they’re required to have a house that has at least three bedrooms. His mom and their landlord would get in trouble with the government if she rents a smaller house. His mom works for Fairmont hotel in Banff. She moved here five years ago to work as a maid in hotels. Her plan was to bring all her five kids here. Alberta is not open for petitions when she got her permanent residency so she had to move somewhere where she could submit a petition to bring her kids here. The sacrifice of moving to a much colder province paid off and now they’re all here.

Kenneth works for McDonalds. I went once and all the staff are Filipino. He admits that life is good here because he can afford to buy a car even though he’s making close to minimum wage working in McDonalds. After just one month he became employee of the month and was granted a raise when he asked for it. He’s lonely though. Banff has a small population and he doesn’t have a lot of friends. His brothers are doing better because they’re still in school and have more friends to hang out with. Kenneth stays home in his days off. There’s a small Filipino community here but there’s very few people in our age group who are single. He cried out of loneliness in his first few weeks. It was that bad. He’s still very lonely and he’s glad to finally have a visitor.

This place is known for its skiing so I went to a ski resort. I tried skis first but it was too difficult and I couldn’t get the technique. So I exchanged it for snowboard. It’s a lot easier for me because the technique is somehow similar to surfing. I went straight to the top of the 8,600 foot mountain through the lift without any previous experience in snowboarding. It’s a lot higher and steeper than what I thought. I didn’t know that there were easier runs for beginners. The lessons were too expensive so I decided to learn by myself. My descent from the lift at the top of the mountain was almost flawless! I did manage to snowboard right away but I didn’t know how to break. So I fall on my butt to break. That’s the only way I know how. I was surprised at how much sweat snowboarding in -11C generated. I didn’t know it was possible to sweat when it’s that cold. My hands were freezing but my body was hot. Believe it or not it’s possible to feel hot and cold at the same time. Ice cream and chocolate doesn’t melt here. I like soft chocolate and that doesn’t happen here.

Snowboarding at a fast speed was not a problem. You just make your snowboard straight and that will make you fast. However I was too scared to go fast because I didn’t want to hurt people or break my bones when I hit the pine trees. Learning now to take it slow was the challenge. I had to position my board close to parallel. That was the hardest thing to learn. I thought I’d be able to go up the mountain at least three times but once was enough. I was crazy to attempt to snowboard on a mountain that high without knowing how to. My butt hurt for a few days after snowboarding. I also fell on my face twice. I could seriously have gotten hurt but I’m okay with the idea. None of the people back home can say they got injured from snowboarding. It would be pretty cool if I came back home with a cast and sling and when people ask what happened I’d be like “snow boarding accident” and they’d be like “Shut up! You went snowboarding!” HAHA! Vain, I know!
The first aid guys kept their eyes focused on me as I was doing my thing. I was involved in theater in college and it taught me the skill of not caring if other people think I look stupid.

I was exhausted by the time I got to the bottom of the mountain. I rested for a bit in the lodge and had an apple cider from Starbucks. They said it’s only here in Canada that Starbucks sells apple cider. It was nice. Like warm apple juice that’s just a little sour. Perfect for cold weather when you’re tired from winter sports. A day of snowboarding or skiing costs about $130. $270 for lessons. $130 is pretty steep for me but I had to do it. I cannot leave Canada without trying skiing and snowboarding.

I walked around with Kenneth in the city center one night just to see it at night. It was soooo cold. He took me to a souvenir shop but I didn't buy anything. I'm not one to buy souvenirs. I just don't see the point of wearing a T-shirt that says you've been to this and that place. He bought me one anyway! It looks like it's made in China but I love him for buying me a souvenir. Souvenir T-shirts is a very Filipino thing. He also bought one for our friend in the Philippines.

Alberta does not need a zoo. Elks and deer roam around like stray dogs in Manila. They shed their antlers once a year every spring so they do not have their antlers now. It's fully grown by winter so they can use it to dig the grass out of the snow. Isn't that amazing! The snow here is different from BC. They're actually shaped like stars! So lovely! Maybe because it's so cold here that they don't melt when it reaches you. On my first day I was so cold but I went outside anyway just observing the snow that fell on my gloves. During daytime when the sun is up and not covered by clouds, I can now go out for a few minutes just wearing a T-shirt. That's so awesome that I can do that now! But not at night even when the temperature is warmer than -4C. Fairmont in Banff is the prettiest building I ever did see! I've never seen a castle before and I'm not sure if it's a castle but it looks like one.

I don't know if it's because I'm not used to it but leg warmers are painful to wear for more than 8 hours. After about eight hours my legs were burning. I have two leg warmers and and they both cause me pain after wearing them for a long time. It's just the right size. It feels fine in the first few hours. I wonder if leggings for women have the same effect on their legs.

It's cold in Banff so I couldn't get out much. Nothing better to do other than read and watch TV. Apparently Netflix is internet based. I though it was cable. I think it's not possible to have Netflix in the Philippines because 3Mbps is "fast" there. I noticed the commercial models are not model looking. They're mostly ordinary looking people. I love the humor in their TV commercials! Back home they use sex to sell everything. A commercial for bottled water would have a topless guy pouring the water down his washboard abs. A famous actor endorsing a clothing brand is always topless in his billboards all over Manila even though hes endorsing clothes. Manila media = sex sells. Canadian media = humor sells.

They sell firewood in gas stations!

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Comments

[bertN]

Your friend
I think you are correct in thinking that your friend will change his mind about returning to Pinas because of the current "hardships" he is encountering. He is still adjusting to a different lifestyle and his current location is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of life in Manila and its environs. Canada is a huge country with plenty of opportunities for economic and academic advancement.