Friday 24th November

[squirmelia]

It was 4 a.m. and less than 24 hours before, I had booked a flight to Vancouver. I ate Daffy Duck raspberry jelly for breakfast, out of a star-shaped mould that once belonged to my grandmother. I then stumbled around my flat, gathering items to stuff into a large rucksack, unsure of what was needed. I packed Douglas Coupland's City of Glass, print-outs with the addresses of goth clubs, my half-written NaNoWriMo novel, not enough jumpers, and eventually, sushi at the airport.

In Amsterdam, between flights, I bought postcards of tulips and prostitutes and sent text messages to friends and relatives detailing my current location. My black jeans became sticky with someone else's chewing gum.

I watched My Gym Partner's A Monkey and consumed more jelly on the plane. As it flew across Canada, towards Fort St John, I looked out the window and saw a landscape that looked entirely lunar. I wondered if I was flying to another planet and what was actually there on the ground beneath me. On the in-flight radio, space exploration was mentioned.

As the plane began to descend and Vancouver came into sight, the sun began to set and the snow-covered mountains, skyscrapers, sea and clouds looked dreamy, so dreamy, glowing with shades of pink and blue.

Before I was allowed to enter Canada, immigration officers asked me to name what Douglas Coupland books I had read, amongst so many other questions that made me feel scared about travelling alone.

Eventually, I found ellescriba, bickichick, wrldtravlr2, elzbthpdx, Erin and Darlene, and we drank cocktails at Cloud 9, the rotating restaurant on the top of the Empire Landmark Hotel, where I felt giddy viewing the skyscrapers, that were lit up brightly in front of me.

Comments

[pgd.livejournal.com]

The Canadian landscape is absolutely spectacular, isn't it. It looks so old and remote; pre-historic maybe. I just wish it were possible for planes to have bigger windows!

Glad you had a good time and found people to meet up with :)

[mad-gemma.livejournal.com]

ooh yay! that sounds like fun :)

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

Hurray!

I am trying to get a job in Edmonton at the moment for some reason, which would be crazy if it does come off, but I'd definitely go for it.

[clarehooper.livejournal.com]

Yay for adventures!

[absinthecity.livejournal.com]

So, if you can't answer the questions on Douglas Coupland do they send you packing? ;) seems like a fair enough strategy...

Trip sounds amazing, btw!

[cherielabombe.livejournal.com]

It was cuz you booked spur of the moment. They often red-flag travel booked that quickly. Also being a young lady traveling alone, you fit the profile of someone who would overstay their visa.

[mal1.livejournal.com]

Did they ask you about Douglas Coupland because you had one with you, or do they ask everyone the same question? Or maybe they rotate the selection of Canadian novelists every few days so that people can't swot up, and next week you could get Margaret Atwood or Robertson Davies or Carol Shields. Or maybe they don't limit it to novelists, and ask you to give renditions of the songs of Leonard Cohen, Alanis Morrissette or Joni Mitchell. Intriguing, anyway.

[cherielabombe.livejournal.com]

This sort of thing happens to my students all the time, so I know how it is, you see.

[turnedoffneon.livejournal.com]

that's so weird about the douglas coupland question. i think someone above in the posts asked whether you think they asked as he was canadian or because they saw your book... i wonder.
and i really really hate people who leave gum in places where it can get attached to me and my clothes.

[bearro.livejournal.com]

Welcome Home Otter!