More of the same

Yes yes, once again I have been slack in my blogging. My main excuse is that it's all been more of the same, we got to work, come home, watch a film/tv show and go to bed, and get up again the next morning to go to work...blah blah blah. I will, however, fill you in on the latest with my snowboarding, which is coming along very nicely.

I am in general a helluva lot more confident on my board and yes, I can finally say that I absolutely LOVE snowboarding. It's taken me a while to get to this stage - far longer than I was expecting - but somewhere around my last post it all just clicked and since then it's only got better. Before, I found everything hard work on a board, from cat tracks to chair lifts, and longed to be back on two planks. Well the mileage I've put in has paid off, and now I no longer look at skiers with envy at all. That's not to say I don't want to ski anymore - in fact I'm determined to have one more day skiing before we close - it's just that I feel like every time I go out on my board I improve a little bit more, feel that little bit more comfortable, can ride slightly harder terrain, and it's rather addictive.

After spotting a poster at work and signing up immediately, last Wednesday I had a freestyle lesson. Freestyle, for those of you who don't ski or ride, is all the tricksy things you do on skis or a board; jumping, spinning, riding rails and so on. I had already ridden a couple of boxes in our 'baby' park, and felt I needed a hand getting my confidence up to try something more, so this was just the ticket. It was only $25 (organised for staff) and given that only my friend Stacey & I were in the beginner's lesson it was basically a 3 hour private, which is worth $355 to a punter! We had Pierre, a Belgian instructor, teaching us and it was amazing. I'll be honest, I ended up chickening out of the boxes in the Big Boy's park (aarrggh the pressure!) but by the end of the three hours I had ridden the baby boxes several times, got some good air off a small jump (previously one of my biggest fears), learnt to ride switch (this means riding the opposite way round to the way you normally ride, so since I'm left-foot forward, known as 'regular' or 'natural', I was riding 'goofy', which is right foot forward. It feels very weird), perfected my spins (not spinning while jumping, just pirouetting on the snow) and learnt to do 180s (where you jump from facing one way, to facing the other, hence 180 degrees). All in all a very productive and enjoyable three hours. Whilst I don't think I'll ever be a park rat, with their oversized clothing and fearless tricks, it's nice to know you can do something a bit more interesting than just sliding downhill, you know?

Following on from that, the following day we had Interdepartmental Games at Cardrona, and I was 'persuaded' to take part in the relay race. It involved running on slush from the courtyard to the bottom of McDougalls chairlift, getting on and then coming down a steep and icy front onto a gentler slope, racing back to the archway to send your next team member off to do the same. Not too bad then, if you forget to factor in that there are 6 other teams competing and they were all very VERY fast skiers and snowboarders, who were taking it all very seriously. I was lucky, by the time I ambled down we were so behind I was pretty much alone but it was honestly one of the more terrifying experiences of my entire life. We lost, hopelessly, but since I managed not to vomit on the chairlift through sheer nerves coupled with physical exertion, I considered that a win. I have vowed that in future, skiing and snowboarding is for fun and my fun alone.

The only other thing that is occupying nearly all of my time at the moment is my Permanent Residency application for Canada. It's so much more than just a form, it's a huge document where we've had to basically lay our lives bare for the Immigration Officers to judge us. The fact that we ARE a genuine couple means that it should all be fairly easy, but sadly it doesn't seem to work that way. Our main problem is that we spent the first 6 months here living in a Toyota Hiace, and though you (and I) might argue that this is a far tougher test of a relationship that sharing a flat together, whether it counts towards my immigration application is a moot point. Still, I've determined to press on, putting together a bundle of emails between Isaac & I, birthday cards to each other, our tenancy agreement, joint van ownership/insurance docs, joint bank account statements, a ton of photos, statements from family and friends saying they know about, and are supportive of, our relationship and much much more, including a comprehensive list of EVERY campsite, hostel or house we stayed in during our first 6 months here. That took a while I can tell you. That, along with every address I've lived at and every job or period of unemployment I've had since the age of 18 - leaving NO GAPS whatsoever - has been a challenge. That's not to mention the application costs! But little by little I'm chipping away at the work load (and using work while I can for photocopying and printing, naturally) so the plan is by the time I arrive in Canada, I can literally send it all off the next day. I hope that it'll be so comprehensive that they'll have no choice but to say yes! The whole process of course will take around 6 months to complete (maybe less but very possibly more), during which time I can't work legally in Canada, unless of course I get a temporary work visa separately, which I plan to try to do. It's all a bit of a nightmare, but it will be worth it in the end...