Blogs from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, North America - page 60

Now onto Calgary… I remembered hearing the saying that this city is supposed to be the most Americanized city of Canada and its something I fully believe. The downtown core is a great place to wander around checking out the funky and strange art sculptures… commissioned by the companies in the oil and gas industry. I suppose like many other downtown cores, it is a mixture of different levels of society. Downtown Calgary is fairly white collared yet while walking down the street you will probably pass by a homeless person sleeping on a cardboard box or people pan-handling for change. Even the downtown c-train line is indicative of this. The first stop over the river is 8th St which is slightly sketchy and its known to have hosted a couple stabbings. The second and third ... read more

Well, she (the boat) finally has a new name, "Big Sky." The departure date is nearing and our excitement (and nerves) are building. We're wrapping up our careers, which doesn't come without emotion as we've poured our hearts, souls and energy into creating them for the last (combined) 65! years. Excel spreadsheets are a God-send, so we don't have to keep the details stored in our heads. Lists of items to pack, sell, give away; lists of "to do" from dentist visits, first aid courses, to researching the best medical plans; lists of financial tasks from international banking access, insurance to personal files filing; and of course filling up with "family" and "friends" before we set sail. We've charted a tentative course that begins in Turku, Finland, the Gulf of Bothnia (Swedish side), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, ... read more

Happy New Year All and warmest wishes for a new year full of health, happiness and peace. I thought it fitting that today, New Years Day, be the final blog for this chapter of Chica Jan’s 2006 amazing adventure. I have been home some 3 weeks spending time in both Calgary and Edmonton. To say that I have been experiencing culture shock - is a complete understatement. I find myself seeing our fast paced, constant stimulation and constant consumption world through another lens. You know you are in culture shock when you feel more at home with a Nigerian cab driver who you have just met than family and friends who are so excited to have you home!!!! And of course this has all been heightened by the mad rush of the holiday season. My brother ... read more

Geo: 51.0451, -114.063Tam showed up at my house, where we waited for Rodney to give us a ride to the airport. Rodney dropped off some of Dorianne's Christmas cookies - mmm mmm ... food for the long journey that we had ahead of us! Got to the airport and encountered a huge line-up to check in (almost 1.5 hours). The flight was delayed 2.5 hours so there was tons of re-booking happening. We got screwed - we're going to miss our Phoenix-Las Vegas connection, which will probably cause us to miss our Las Vegas-Miami connection, which means that we will miss the cruise! We could try going on standby on the later Phoenix-Las Vegas flights, but the chances of getting on are almost zero. All those flights are already overbooked. The ticket agent at the US ... read more

Geo: 51.0197, -115.547So, in the past 98 days of travel, did I actually achieve my goal and "find myself"? I can't say that I did, and I can't say that it really matters. I've realized that the whole notion of "finding myself" was flawed. I think I wanted to find the man that I used to be, but the truth is, that man no longer exists. This is not a bad thing because people are, and need to be, dynamic. When this dynamic element is lost, it is time for a change. I didn't recognize this and ended up in a downward spiral of self-doubt and self-loathing. I, and my life, had changed so much in such a short period of time that I lost all sense of direction, and who I was. The worst part ... read more