1) Me and my love broke up
2) I left Canada forever
3) I left my job
4) I left all of my friends
5) I travelled around Europe and made new friends
6) I got a job and a new place to live

Yes, it came to an end. No, I don’t regret a thing. We taught each other indispensable things about life and love and compromise, and I had the time of my life. I suppose I never thought this would happen, and it was terrifying and alien when it did, but I know it was for the best.

Leaving Canada was comparable in that it had become my home. I had some incredible friends and a comfortable life, and I voluntarily pulled the rug out from beneath my feet and jumped on a plane back to Europe. I felt the need to do it, and I am really glad that I did. I don’t know if I will live there again, as fantastic as it was, it will never be home.

Europe was fantastic. I visited Spain (loved Sevilla), Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Austria and Germany. I probably had the best time in Hungary and Spain. I met some fantastic people in both places, and in Sweden I got to see the Swedes and meet some new Swedes. It was just what I needed. I have realised that I can do whatever I want, I can be whoever I want to be, and I felt like I needed that sense of freedom.

I now live and work in Central London. Trust me, I didn’t see myself back here! It is hectic, it can be dirty and loud and damn expensive. But how great does it feel to be surrounded by my own people again?! We remember the same children’s TV shows, we can wax lyrical about Eastenders storylines, politics and national history!

Also, England is buzzing! Festivals throughout the summer, amazing music, creativity, vegan and vegetarian restaurants on every corner, natural food markets, street performances and of course ridiculous proximity to the rest of Europe. Our weather is mild, we rarely see a cold winter (Canada cold, I mean!- The Brits may disagree with me there) and the countryside is lush and green all year long. I can go to the beach or go hiking in the lake district, or I can hit the highlands of Scotland. I can take a train to France in an hour or fly to most of Europe in an hour to two.

We also get more than 2 weeks vacation.

I miss the mountains, Alexander Keith’s beer, poutine, being able to ski as often as I like, the space and the customer service.

It’s true, London is a hectic mish-mash, but my God is it exciting and interesting. So much history, so much to see, do, smell, taste, drink- until the early hours. And if the city becomes too much, branching out of the city are a wealth of places to explore and get lost, with lakes and peaks, beaches and the ocean. I love it here, and I am so happy to be back.

no cameras or lights were used. Instead, 3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects. The video was created entirely with visualizations of that data.

I understand i’m not the most diligent blogger around, but I promise now that I have a shiny new Mac to be super active and let you guys know what is going on. You already know that I say “guys” in a really awkward way that doesn’t even make sense, and now I plan on unleashing a whole world of vocabulary you didn’t even know existed. 

Today I had the best ice cream of all time. (With the possible and understandable exception of Haagen Dazs Pralines and Cream- i’ll never forget you). It was a white chocolate cone, pistachio ice cream, with whole pistachios inside of it- the lady put them in and slapped it around a bit on this metal slab, but it tasted all the better for it.

I also have a new bike, she’s black and she’s named Bernadette.

Bye for now!

Funny thing this. I rarely questioned the idea that a country was “newer” or “older” than England. I suppose it’s hard to picture a place that is less than a thousand years old if you come from a land that has been around for longer than anyone can gauge.

When I arrived in Canada, everything was new. Buildings, sidewalks, street signs, all the material features which we see in our everyday lives had been there at most a hundred years. What took me longer to realise was that it was not just these which had been swallowed into the New World vortex, it was the ideology too.

In England, as my most understood example, nothing gets done on time. I thought about why, and it’s down to the complacency of the culture. It has been one way for such a long time, that the eventual invasion of newer technologies were not implemented as they would have been in a less archaic culture. It has taken people longer to realise that times have changed. We don’t operate in such a fast paced environment, with the drive-thru ATM’s and fast food joints. We never have and we never will.

In Canada, things work. When I say “things” I mean everyday needs and requirements: The internet, banking institutions, telephone enquiries, 24 hour off licenses, 24 hour Pizza delivery. The list is endless. It is the zeitgeist of the New World culture, one which is missing or perhaps just slightly missing in older cultures.

It is slightly amusing to hear from my mother back home that “The internet is on order – it should take about four weeks” when in Canada it will arrive within a day with no issues.

Maybe the problem is demand. Newer cultures demand higher service, faster service, more value for money. Maybe it isn’t an issue of New or Old world theory, and rather it is down to North Americans being greedy, and British people being a bunch of “lazy bastards”.