Yesterday

My intention yesterday was to post this before going to bed. My jet lag beat me to it. Barnabas and Junko went out at about 5ish to go get some groceries, and I fell asleep. I just woke up (around 8) and had breakfast
mmm
and now I'm writing this.
So
Yesterday, I woke at 3 with the momma and the poppa and we drove to Newark airport to catch my 7 o'clock flight.
terminal eh
nice picture :)
We lined up and such, then I walked to the gate area
There was this cool Alaska plane docked. The picture doesn't quite do it justice
the Alaska plane
This be my terminal. It was also a significant moment because in this shot I figured out how to turn the flash on.
I waited a couple hours, and I boarded with no issues.
The plane took off no problem and there was a really cool Quebecois pilot. I could actually understand both languages! woot woot
After a bit I decided to take some pictures of the ground below -- it's nice to have a window seat:
I'm guessing this is upper Midwest, maybe North Dakota/Montana-ish. There was no map, I'm just going off the barren rocky nothingness. As you can see, I was very close to the wing and I wouldn't have minded crashing in water so I could do that cool inflatable slide thing.
The in-flight entertainment magiggy was pretty neat, but there were no games, and I was kinda hoping they had Pokemon. It was OK though, because they had Watchmen, Gran Torino, and a Bob Marley radio station. I didn't finish Watchmen because the earphones were hurting and I had to have it very loud to hear anything. I'm thinking I want to read the graphic novel before I finish the movie. After about four hours of the flight, one of the flight attendants came around with some sandwiches. I got a roast beef one for seven dollars. The beef was very plastic-looking, but it was a decent sandwich.
It was around this time that I looked out the window and all of the sudden the rocky mountains snowy peaks were sticking up at me. I was quite surprised
I don't know what time we touched down in Vancouver, but I'm guessing it was around 2.
The airport was neat, but for some reason I forgot to take pictures of any of it. There were about three of those flat conveyor belts that are really fun to walk on. I felt like Jay Kay in the music video for virtual insanity, and I briefly moon walked. I would have taken advantage of them more, but there were people trying to get places, and I didn't want to slow them down too much. One of the other fun things was when there were people walking on the path next to the conveyor belt and you could walk slowly and keep up with them.
Once I arrived I noticed a bunch of green Olympic merchandise, because the winter Olympics are coming up and Vancouver is the host.
Anyhoo, I went along the long path that spit everyone out, but before I went through customs I went to the bathroom. The only reason I mention this is that the stalls in the bathroom were Shaq-sized. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want to freak out the janitor. It was crazy. Usually I am taller than the stall door, but in these it was like I was a six-year-old again. The walls must have been seven and a half feet.
After marvelling at the over sized bathroom stalls, I stepped outside into the streets of Vancouver. I passed the first crossing guard, then remembered that I had to take out money. I asked the second crossing guard where the nearest bank is, and she told me. I walked back inside and got out some Canadian money.
I walked outside, because job number two was the cab to Harbour Air in Richmond. Immediately outside there were several taxis, but they all were taken. About a minute later, one pulled up and let out two girls. Then the driver came out, and he stepped out in sync with the driver of a neighbouring cab.I noticed this because they looked nearly identical. Everyone knows the stereotype of the turban-wearing Sikh taxi driver, but having never been in a taxi I didn't think it was as real as the stereotype made it out to be. Both men wore a turban, black sunglasses, a flannel shirt, khakis, and a pair of brown leather loafers. I greeted the driver and told him where I wanted to go. He confirmed my destination in a thick accent and we were off. My first taxi ride was pretty cool. My driver, who was evidently named Raj (he had a name tag clipped to the dashboard) was a master of temperate driving. It was sunny so the car was nice and warm. As soon as it started to get a bit uncomfortable, he lowered the window a bit, letting some cool air in, and then closed it when it had cooled down to a manageable warmth. I noticed his trip gauge that recorded his current use of gas, and above it was the price tracker, that went up about 10 cents every 10 or 15 seconds. At the beginning of the trip he was listening to music at a low volume, but I could tell it was some sort of Indian music station. He later changed it to a news station, which was interesting because while it was in Hindi or some other Indian dialect, I knew it was reporting on the Iranian election because I heard "sjdknbfkjbdkfbsdjkfbkdjsnfskdnf IRAN disfnmlenflkenfefn PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA asjfdknfksdfjiojf UNITED STATES dsfnjndsfidofneon IRAN ejfnekjfn" etc.
I soon arrived, and the bill was 14 dollars. I had been calculating the tip (20% as mom told me) all along the way, and I figured it was 2.80, bringing the total to 16.80. I only had twenty dollar Canadian bills so I gave him the note and asked him for a tooney. Raj was a nice guy.
I walked in, signed in on my reservation, and went to the Flying Squirrel, a restaurant attached to the flight place. I ordered a bowl of clam chowder and a ginger ale, and it was great, one of the best bowls of clam chowder I've eaten. The people were nice, and Wimbledon was on. After eating I had a few hours to kill so I wandered around outside and took pictures.
This is a bus parked outside the place, along with Raj and several other taxis
Being a seaplane dock, it was attached to a nice big lake. There were some other seaplane companies on the same lake, but I bet Harbour Air gets the most business because they've got the Flying Beaver attached to them. Hehe that sounds really funny. Also, customers at Harbour Air (like me) get 25% off in the Flying Beaver (like me).
Plane taking off
Not the most common road sign
Another company down the road. I think they were called Seair. Too many vowels if you ask me.
I made friends with a very nice dandelion
The picture doesn't capture its beauty

Check out these next three...

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The truck thing was cool because it looks like they just chopped off the front of a pickup. From here it backs up and brings it to the maintenance station across the road.
This is cool. Not far from the Beaver are some benches. This is the first one. I think "Joseph Wolzen and his Beaver" would be a good title of a book, movie, play, album, anything.
Along the side of the lake
This was somebody's dog tied up against the fence. Maybe a golden retriever? I just know that I find it cute, which is quite something considering that I don't really like dogs, especially big ones.

Before I left, I sat in the lobby for a bit and I have to mention a few observations that I had while sitting there. First of all, I noticed that there were a lot of suits walking in and out, so I guess that is how they get to Nanaimo. Also, one guy who walked through had sunglasses over his glasses, and the sunglasses stuck out from his face about four inches. It looked pretty odd. Lastly, there was a gift shop-ey thing where they sold Flying Squirrel merchandise. One of the items was a pair of boxers that said on the waistband "I frequent the beaver".

At 1 o'clock, There was an announcement that my flight was boarding, so I went out and boarded. The ramp down from the building to the dock was really steep, and I was thinking how dangerous it would be for someone in a wheelchair.
Inside the seaplane before takeoff! There were five passengers including me, in about seven or eight seats. I didn't know at the time but if you ask, you can go in the co-pilot's seat, which would have been pretty cool. Maybe I can do that on the way back. Anyway, I was seated in the very back, so I can see the back of everyone's head. Yay
I attempted to take some videos, but in the first one I tried to get the takeoff, and it wasn't really. I kind of got the takeoff in the second attempt, but I stopped because I didn't want to waste too much juice.
We took off and went over the Georgia straight to Nanaimo.

This is water, believe it or not. I initially thought it was oil or pollution or something, but Barnabas later told me that Richmond was created by a delta, and this is just all the buildup of silt and such. It was like this for maybe a mile.
Nanaimo!
This is very blurry, but on the map in the plane it showed the very famous Juan de Fuca straight.
A ferry, just like the one we took from Port Angeles last time.
Me making a dumb face

We arrived in Nanaimo about 2:30, and I met Junko and her friend Bobby, along with Bobby's two sons Evan and Dane
Another plane in the dock
Nanaimo harbor

After arriving, the five of us drove toward home, and en route we dropped Dane off. The four remaining went to Montana's, which is a pretty cool place. I had a buffalo burger, and they served it in less than 15 minutes, which was a shame because they say if they take longer than that it's free. As we were finishing up, Barnabas arrived and had a dry apple martini. Then Evan went to a drum lesson and Barnabas, Junko and I went to get a couple things. We went to the driving place to get me a packet to study for my permit test, and we went to Long & McQuade to rent a guitar so that I can play during my stay. So nice of them do that for me! We rented a 350 dollar Epiphone for a month and it cost around 25 dollars. It is the nicest sounding guitar that I've ever played! When we got home Barnabas took me on an introductory moped ride, and while I was a bit nervous at first, I got the hang of it and had tons of fun. We saw a bunch of deer, and since the area is really hilly, it was an interesting ride. After we got back, Junko and Barnabas went grocery shopping, and I fell asleep (see the beginning).

Today (So Far)
Here's a picture of my uncle Barnabas. I forgot to turn the flash on so you can't really see anything and it looks a bit austere, but there will be more, better ones in the future. You can also see the guitar that we rented on the left
I showered, I ate, and I did this. Today I'm going to get my permit and my SIN, so I can start working. Junko and I are also going to go see Transformers 2. I am so happy to be here I am thrilled that I get 41 more days of this.