Lydia & Julz Go Large Week 6

Week Update 6

For those of you who, for whatever reason, such as a will to live, do not participate in downhill winter sports, this is an activity that is popular for people who don't think skiing is lethal enough. Although, we thought we' be heroes and go straight to snowboarding. For weeks, I have been telling everyone that I have a BurSton board, when in fact it's a Burton board, a well known snowboarding brand, not great when you've got a certain image to uphold here- ha!

We have progressed from the "breath-catching method" and have attempted the "downhill method" that the crazy kids are doing these days- rather unsuccessfully at that. We boarded from Whistler Creekside through to the Village which is approx 10km away and starts with a 5 metre drop. I flew down the drop with no control, only to cartwheel down the hill for another solid 5 metres; snow flying in all directions and finished with a face plant into the powder. The girls we were boarding with (more experienced) came racing down after me, as they were yet to witness a stack like that this season. I sat up, threw my gloves off, reaching for my nose, as I had seriously thought I had broken it.  Once the nose was intact, I laid there for a few more minutes to catch my breath while skiers swooped past and deliberately sprayed snow on me- talk about kick a man when his down! Julia took a more careful approach and slid down on her bum to get down the 5m drop, so 20 mins later we were able to start actual boarding. I went on, only to wind myself another couple of times after the first fall; I made the mistake of not wearing my new Victoria Secret wonder bra to soften the fall. Although, after an hour riding the run, we've started to pick it up quite well. I just wish there were a more graceful way of plummeting the snow, although our friend Anika has this mastered. She was boarding down the hill towards the gondola where everyone is, and got a little over confident- caught an edge and flew over her board. She was so embarrassed but as she had winded herself, she couldn't get up properly, and pulled out her phone to pretend that she was texting to catch her breath back. To sum up our snowboarding experience, we are in a world of pain and have spent the last few days dosed up on ant-inflammatorys. This little mishap has forced us to slow down on the party front, as we;d be restricted to the two step if we were to go out- please!

Despite there being a minor setback on the party scene, we weren't going to miss out on the Australia Day celebrations.The vibe here is so infectious, more so than in Australia. Everyone joined in with arms around shoulders, raised glasses and chants on patriotic pride- everyone wants to be the next John Farnham! The Aussie beer drinking culture runs deep in the Whistler community, I swear if you weren't already Australian, you wished you were as all nationalities were jumping on the Aussie Day bandwagon- putting on their best impersonations of our bogan accents and joining the camaraderie by draping the Australian flag across their half naked bodies, singing "Land Down Under" off key. If you didn't know the words of "Land Down Under" or Jonny Farnham's greatest hits, you certainly did by the end of the day.I was concerned about not being dressed up enough but by the end of the day I had an Australian flag as a cape, the green and gold scarf that Julia had stole for me and a giant blow up finger which was later used as a weapon. Julia went in style with her Aussie flag which was fashionably wrapped around her waist, as the day went on later found it's way to her neck, and then hung from her arm at one point. Everyone was dressed up in there green and gold, one guy even went as far as dressing up as a lobster, the tattooed foreheads were all the rage- don't people realise what a bitch they are to get off! The Canadian camera crew were there to capture all the drunk and disorderly moments, so who knows we may have made an appearance on the Canadian news. And if the news team didn't get us, then Julia, our very own paparazzi queen had her camera on standby. After all, we are Aussie- it comes with a certain expectation to get drunk and out of control, it's a tradition within itself. We caught the 10am bus into the Village, and returned on the 10pm bus, a solid 12 hours of drinking, followed by 10 hours of dancing and a further 24 hours of paying for it! We drunk in true Aussie style and threw back the beers and energized ourselves with red bull cans which were topped up with vodka that we'd smuggled in. 

Speaking of red bull and vodka, this guy brought Julia and I a red bull and vodka after he repeatedly asked us where about in Australia are we from. After we'd told him for the 10th time that we live in Tasmania, he continues with; "I never knew Adelaide produced such beautiful women"- that comment should have cost him more than just a red bull and vodka. There goes my New Year's resolution to tolerate idiots more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time- that ship has sailed.

Aside from me near taking out Julia's eye with my giant blow up finger, it was the best Australia Day that we've ever experienced. I think we've well and truly filled our misbehaving quota for the week.

Note to self: If we are here next Australia Day, we need to formulate an evacuation strategy, prior to entering Longhorn's.

Love

Lydia and Julia x

Lydia & Julz Go Large Week 5

  

Week Update 5

This week, we’ve decided to bite the bullet and get ourselves up the mountain, as it’s getting very embarrassing when people ask the question, “Do you board or ski?”
This is the introductory line that all locals use when meeting new people and despite our lack of experience on an actual board, we’ve found that we too have adopted this phrase. Our response has gone from “Kinda neither” which has progressed to “Hell yeah we board!” after the frowns and the “Well, what are you doing in Whistler?” comments.

After getting dressed up, looking the part of a pro boarder, we went and met up with a friend to go up the Gondola at Whistler Creekside. We were full of excitement, taking our boards out for the first time as they had been newly waxed. We were already to use the terms “We shredded the mountain” and that was “Epic” – typical snowboarding lingo. We enjoyed a nice ride on the chairlift, taking in all the phenomenal scenery, snapping every moment on the camera only to get to the top of the mountain to find that my bindings on my board were too small. After, the disappointment of getting so far and not being able to board, we made the most of it and took a few more photos which may deceiving look like we “shredded the mountain” and then came back down 15 minutes later. A typical start! I’m not sure why these things just keep happening to us?? You can imagine Julia, repeatedly shaking her head, “Lydia, you are hopeless!”

The next day we built up momentum again to attempt to snow board, in which a friend of ours, Sam who is a snowboard instructor took us up to a training ground. As it had been snowing all day, the ground was covered in powder, ideal snow conditions for the novice who is going to fall a lot. We learnt snowboarding via a two step method:

Step One: Watching Sam do something

Step Two: Trying to do it ourselves

We were pretty good at Step One. The problem with Step Two was that you had to get up onto your board from sitting on the ground, this took an entire lesson for Julia to master, as Sam had to start her off by pulling her up, each run. Sam would yell out helpfully; “You just get up onto your board”. If only Julia was learning how to ski, as she’d have her ski poles to stab him for every time her yelled that out.

We appear to have a fundamental difference in technique in comparison to other “boarders”: They seem to board via the downhill method, in which you board down the mountain, whereas we like to think we board via the Breath- Catching method, in which you stand on the hill, looking as athletic as possible without actually moving muscles. And if anyone asks whether you’re OK, you simply say “I’m just catching my breath!” in a tone that suggests that any moment you are going to swoop rapidly down the mountain. After a few hours, of going up and down a 30 metre run, only to get to the bottom on the hill, and undo our boots from our bindings then walk all the way back up to repeat this frustrating cycle. Our patience had worn thin, and the state of our bodies has led us to an all-painkiller diet.

The next of our snowboarding experience lasted for a whole 5mins. Both Julia and I had the day off work, and thought we’d learnt enough from our lesson with Sam to be able to go up by ourselves. As it hadn’t been snowing for a few days, the snow was like a base of reinforced concrete – you could not dent this snow with a jackhammer. This was the session that we’d endured the most pain, we didn’t have the protection of the marshmellowy powder when we’d fall, this was just like learning how to skateboard and falling onto the gravel, and it stung- real bad. Julia spat the goo after the first 5mins, she was as rigid as a statue on top of the training hill and I was secretly happy to go home when we did, as every part of my body ached. As they say in our training video, you don’t control the mountain, the mountain controls you- and the mountain certainly hasn’t taken a liking to us, after throwing us across the solid ice on a number of occasions.

Although, we’ll persevere with snowboarding, as we’ve paid for our ski pass now. We’ll just wait for another snow day.

This week was meant to be our recovery week, after Julia has grown a new friend on her lip (cold sore) and the overall fragility of our bodies. Although, once again, against our better judgement we’ve been out 4 times this week, where we’ve woke up to find our new party friend Emily in our bed. We went out to a bar called the GLC, which plays the best music –where we may make a weekly appearance there. A Spice Girls number came on, “Wannabe” and as girls do when they drink too much, we jumped up and down screaming “Oh my God, I love this song!” We climbed on top on the chairs, forming a podium for ourselves singing to the most memorable song of our teenage years, surrounded by 19 year olds (average age in Whistler). When Julia and I glanced at one and other, both severely out of breath that we just couldn’t get out that last chorus, and had to take a breather – following the Breath- Catching method again! Perhaps our bodies just don’t move as well as they did a few years ago because it certainly wouldn’t be the extra kilos that we’ve put on in recent weeks that were holding us back.

While we were at the GLC, this guy came up to Julia and said, “Are you from Tennessee?” Julia disgusted and offended, as we’d coped enough grief over a bogan Aussie accents yelled to him, “NO!” in which he continued with, “Because you’re the only 10 I see!”Julia has turned to me and said, “Oh God! Did you hear this guy?”The guy was still standing beside her when she’d said this. I think we’ll have to award him with pick up of the week.

Love

Lydia and Julia x

Lydia & Julz Go To Seattle

Seattle Road Trip

As I was clearly out of action, Julia was left to fret over how we were going to get to Seattle, as neither of us had bothered to get a map or to note down directions, as I was happy to take the "wing it" approach, with the naive attitude of "I'm sure there will be signs to Seattle!". Luckily, Renee had written the directions from google maps, oh how ever did we live without google. As Renee and Julia weighed up the logistics of packing two nights worth of provisions into the "green monster motherlicker" (which had been written in permanent marker on the dashboard by the previous owner). We’d stopped by the petrol station to fill up with gas. You would think this would be a simple task however, with three blonde's and an out of action brunette; this was just all too difficult. Julia went to pay for the prepaid gas, Renee couldn’t decide whether to purchase sugar free red bull or just normal red bull, Emma was fiddling around with checking the water and I was passed out on the back seat. We drove off and were 10 mins down the road, when Julia noticed that the petrol gage hadn’t gone up, and then the question was raised, “Well who put the gas in the car?” In the midst of all the commotion, we’d realised that we’d driven off without the gas. A minor setback, we had to go back and get the gas that we’d already paid for. This was just the start of a roadtrip that offered a near perfect set of comic circumstances and typical "blonde" moments, as Renee had asked during the trip as to whether Egg Nog was Eggy- this was the level of intelligence that we had to deal with.

We got to the US border where we drove into the shorter lane, only to be yelled at by the officer, as apparently you had to pay to be in the express lane. After escaping a $500 fine, playing the naive card, we had to pull into security control to have our car searched. Renee was busting to go to the toilet at this point, and made it known to the entire security division that we had a case of code yellow on our hands – insisting that there weren’t any public toilets. This was our first introduction to the welcoming manners of American’s.

The main purpose of the trip was shopping, where we went to a couple of shopping centres in Seattle city and the Outlet Mall. Shopping was relatively cheap there; one of our favourites was Victoria’s Secret- advertising 75% off! I found myself walking directly to the sleep wear where I was going through the sale racks of flannelet pyjamas. Then I heard this voice inside my heard saying; “Are you serious? You’re in Victoria Secret and you’re purchasing snow flake flannelette’s, what’s wrong with this picture?” Out of fear of never living this down, I reluctantly put the snow flake flannelette's back on the rack, and brought myself a sexy little number – I should probably rephrase, I brought myself what I thought was a sexy little number, Julia may beg to differ.

Whilst in Seattle we did some sightseeing, we went to the Space Needle which overlooked the city – spectacular views. We paid a visit to the famous Fish Market, and even had the pleasure of holding a fish (I personally didn’t get the attraction of the Fish Market), and even saw the famous Gum Wall and when I say Gum Wall I mean exactly that, people from all over the world come and stick chewing gum on this wall- there’s nothing like admiring a spit plaque, nevertheless the tourists that we are, we took photos so that you two can see the Gum Wall, not to worry though we had sanitizer on standby.

On the way back through the Canadian border, we went through the same process as getting through the US border, however this was much more intimidating. Our car was searched again, as apparently it’s the kind of vehicle used to transport drugs in. The lady officer was attacking Julia, as she accused Julia of lying whereas it was really a miscommunication as to whose car we were driving. The officer nearly brought Julia to tears, so as her ‘defacto partner’ I jumped right in there to protect. She repeatedly said “I’m not sure you realise how serious this is?” We were sweating with guilt, as we’d smuggled in more than our quota in liquor, which was suspiciously hidden in our doona’s. Our powers of persuasion escaped us from being detained, and fined. So not only are we Canada’s Most Wanted, after a stolen Christmas tree but we’ve now taken it to a new level and are up there with America’s most wanted. I would have thought we would have made an appearance on ‘Border Security’. This experience did slightly deter from the excitement of the road trip.

We did all of this with only our parkers on, no tail or dash lights, thinking they were broken. Then realised when we’d reached Squamish (45mins from home) that there was a knob in the car to turn on the lights. Julia has become quite the skillful driver, driving in the dark. And she had single handily drove for 10hrs!

Our friendships have definitely reached a new level, with being couped up in a car for 10hrs with minimal toilet breaks. Aside from the unpleasant aroma in the car, we had a wonderful trip, with lots of laughs and funny moments that we won’t forget.

We have displayed photos of our Seattle antics on facebook!

Love

Lydia & Julia x

Lydia & Julz Go Large Week 4

Week Update 4

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We had a little Christmas lunch at our place, with a few of our friends. I made a roast Turkey (with my special marinade) and roast veggies (glazed in honey and balsamic vinegar) – Just call me Jamie Oliver! I brought Julia a ‘magic carpet’ which is like slippery cardboard that you can slide on the ice with. So we spent the morning racing down the hill outside our condo, it was so much fun, quote “the BEST Christmas present EVER!” We stacked it a few times, and by the end of it, we had to change our pants but all in all, it was great fun, even random strangers were getting amongst it. Photos from sliding down the hill have been uploaded on facebook.

We went out nightclubbing on Christmas Eve, where I had lost my ticket for coat check. And apparently they have a very strict policy on “no ticket no jacket”. I waltzed up to the Manager (I know him, I’m kind of somebody in Moe Joe’s :P) where I had explained to him my dilemma. He walked behind the coat check and found my jacket, and said to me “Well, the good thing is that because I know that it’s your jacket, I won’t hand it to anyone that comes over with your ticket but unfortunately it’s a part of our policy, and I can’t give it to you until tomorrow. “ At that point, I felt so defeated, having my jacket in sight but not allowed to take it, thinking about walking outside without a jacket in minus 7 degrees. What would any girl do in that situation, I started to cry. The Manager obviously couldn’t cope with the waterworks, and handed over my jacket, saying “Congratulations, you’ve now broken my policy”. I clearly haven’t burnt the friendship, as we’ve since become facebook friends, and nothing cements a friendship like the public display of facebook friends that ops up on your news feed!

I’m not sure whether you’ve seen my facebook posting or not but yes it’s true, I did sell Gene Simmons and his family three hats on Boxing Day. Is it creepy that I kept the signed receipt?? I’m sure he would have written on it “To Lydia with Love” (then his signature) but he seemed to have been pressed for time- that’s my theory anyway.

We went to 80’s night at a local nightclub which has an 80’s theme every Monday night, with a few of our friends- I can see this becoming a Monday tradition. Julia had the 80’s theme covered, with her crimped side pony tail, blue parachute adidas jacket which she insisted tying up to her belly, black high-top shoes with fluoro yellow laces, and leggings that formed a camel toe- the only thing that girl was missing was a fanny pack. I was rocking the 80’s with my side ponytail, and bright pink parachute jacket which I’d picked up from the OpShop for a $1. Jazzed the outfit up with some second hand pink converse shoes ($4.50), size 6 might I add, even though I’m a size 7 ½- just goes to show my sheer determination and testimony to the ‘fashion is pain’ motto that we live by, although that was probably already evidenced in wearing ballet flats in the snow. We looked like we’d stepped out of Footloose!! We were meant for the 80’s.
We’d danced the night away, bopping to Madonna’s greatest hits. Finally a place that appreciates my dance moves, as you couldn’t drag us away from the podium- I’m almost positive I heard the crowd chant “Sprinkler Sprinkler”. On that note though, I do want to make it a New Year’s Resolution to limit the use of the Sprinkler, as I always seem to break into the Sprinkler EVERY time I’m out. As cool of a move as it is, it’s probably time that I learn a few more moves, rather than relying on my Sprinkler to be the show stopper.
As we clearly weren’t hot enough, we found ourselves walking directly to the glow paint booth. I was hoping to steer clear of the glow paint and glow sticks especially after the glow paint saga on my birthday, as it’s been brought to my attention that they’re quite hazardous, after near choking on a glow stick. In fact, I should probably just steer clear of anything that glows, as it’s the safest way to avoid both looking like a tool and compromising my life.

The next morning, we woke to our alarm which was set for 6am, to embark on our road trip to Seattle, I think it’s obvious whose idea that was to set the alarm that early. Way too early after 80’s night! Julia woke to me diving to the toilet, chucking up my pizza from the night before. That’s one way of curing my pizza obsession. She walked into the bathroom to find me lying, shivering on the floor with a puddle of dribble from my mouth, hugging the toilet bowl. So between the mascara forming a black eye mask over my face, and my side pony tail now on the opposite side of my head, and a stamped wrist with ‘80’s Night’, I was a blast from the past. I won’t be bragging about not getting hang over’s in the snow again, as that’s clearly come back at me. A promising start to our journey to the USA!!

Love

Lydia and Julia x

Lydia & Julz Go Large Week 3

Week Update 3

Canada's Most Wanted: Julia Freeman and Lydia Maskiell
We walked downstairs of our Condo (Canadian term for apartment), to be inundated with a trail of leaves which started from the front door, making there way through to the kitchen floor and finally the living room. The floor downstairs was completely covered in needles from a tree, which led right to a massive Christmas tree that stood in the middle of the living room, shoved against the fire place- it stuck out like a sore thumb! (We could almost hear the Ajax theme song, right before the Ajax Spray & Wipe appears to miraculously clean up the mess). We were both bewildered by the mere fact of how the hell did we got this seriously gigantic Christmas tree into our living room, and further to that how the hell did we carry this gigantic tree up to our condo, keeping in mind that we live on top of n icy hill, and when I say we, I mean me (Lydia). Our roommate was less than impressed, to be woken at 3 in the morning, to the sound of us banging around an over sized xmas tree, giggling our heads off, as when you're in that state, everything is the funniest thing in the world. We did however considerately leave a note for him saying, "Hi Shain, sorry about the mess but on the bright side at least we have a xmas tree!" Julia had written underneath, "We love Xmas Trees!"
If my message wasn't enough to saviour the situation, Julz came through with a "We love Xmas Trees!" to calm the beast. We did get a love note in return from our roommate the next morning saying:
"Ya you were really drunk, yo woke me up!! There is no room for this tree and you don't even have a stand or decorations!"
I honestly would have thought the lack of decorations was the least of all our concerns here, but he does make a compelling argument!

It turns out the power of recollection turns to shit after a mix of cider and beer. As Julia and I both woke up the next morning, talking about the night's antics, however both failed to mention anything about a tree. Only after walking downstairs to the sight of an over sized Christmas tree, did we remember that we had stolen a xmas tree which had been sitting outside a supermarket- this is not an admission by all means!! We as in me, hauled the xmas tree all through the car park at Creekside, all the way up an icy hill and into our condo- I know, you can expect that kind of behaviour when you're 15 but at 23, the effort is not nearly as impressive- such crazy kids!

In the morning, we just stared at the size of the tree for a solid 20 mins, debating the best approach of taking the tree back outside. With great struggle, we carried the tree back outside- I distinctively remember the tree being half the size when we'd brought it in. As judging by the "love note" that our roommate left us, I think it's safe to assume that we weren't allowed to keep the tree- damn Grinch! I can't begin to explain the pain I have endured, and not to even mention the neck muscle I've pulled out, in the midst of pulling the tree up the hill -it's certainly the most physical activity that I have participated in. It's amazing the strength you draw from nowhere when you're drunk- we're still scratching our heads as to how we've managed it. We ended up dumping the tree in our backyard - B grade burglary right there! So despite our best efforts, and Julia's "We love Xmas Trees!" I doubt we'll have a Christmas tree this year.

Note: You can view the latest Christmas tree antics on our latest photo uploads, including a special feature of the love note our roommate left us on facebook.

After our little incident with a "borrowed" Christmas tree, we are now potentially one of Canada's Most Wanted. Reflecting back, it's probably not the best decision we've ever made but why break a trend of poor decision making now. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! I think that will be our motto for ending the year 2010.

It will be a very quiet Christmas this year, as both Julia and I are working on Christmas Day, and very busy with work all week, leading up to Christmas. It doesn't feel like Christmas this year, we don't even have a tree - and not through lack of trying might I add. We will probably get a few of us together and cook a roast whenever we all have a spare day.

We clearly haven't mastered the best approach for walking down the hill, which is conveniently situated outside our condo and by far the quickest route to the bus stop, hence the persistence to tackle the hill. This time around, the accident prone duo that we are, instead of Julia skiing down the hill, the hill took the feet from under me, leaving me breathless on the footpath, a little winded and a little concussed. Neither of us have been battered and bruised as much as we have been the past couple of weeks, and we haven't even been on the mountain yet!

A random guy at the bus stop confessed his love for Julia, and felt he could better express his feelings through song, it went something like this: "I see your true colours, and that's why I love you" (sung in monotone) If only she could look beyond tone deaf and drunk- such an appealing quality, a quality I too share. We may even award him with Song of the Week. And P.S Canadians clearly don't understand the concept of personal space on a bus, as I really appreciate a local coughing and spluttering in my hair- manners people!

On another one of our bus exhibitions, I sat with a German guy, where I took it upon myself to try and communicate with him in his native language, and draw on my Grade 6 German. My introductory sentence was, "Ich bin eine Nuse, Im eine buse!" For those of you who don't know German, translated that means, "I'm a nut, on a bus At least this is what I think it means- I knew this sentence would come in handy one day- Thank you, Mrs Healey! don't let his pity laughs fool you, I could tell he was rather impressed, as a few nights later, he approached me on the dance floor saying"Ich bin eine Nuse, Im eine buse!"

Speaking of different languages, we hear so many different accents here, we admittedly have come home on the odd occasion with a British accent. We do have to remind one and other that No, we are not British nor do we have a French accent- the accent robbery is common. Just giving you the heads up, that there is a high chance of us coming home with an accent or two.

We had our three Swedish friends for dinner the other night for Tacos, which they were appreciative of, as they have been living off plain pasta all week. Wages are so low here, people can't even afford to eat, and any spare penny is put away for the infamous cider. Give it a few more weeks and we could be on the poverty line, we too could be serenading random strangers for pennies at a bus stop to fund our new love of cider.

We all went out after dinner, where we ended up at Moe Joe's AGAIN, it's getting a little embarrassing. They have a pool table there, which I cannot seem to drag myself away from. As you know, we are on a lot lower wages here, therefore are forced to be money conscious, so hustling guys on the pool table has been a necessity. I have decided that "the ability to play pool" is a prerequisite for my "ideal man". There is nothing more unattractive about a man that cannot play pool. Mind you, it's possibly the worst place for me to pick up, as I'm oblivious to what's going on around me when there is a pool table in sight, I get so fixated on the actual game. I could very well miss out on my Prince Charming, as I may write him off if he can't differentiate between the "Little's" and "Big's."

Julia has been doing most of the driving in our van "the green monster" over here, which she has picked up really well- I know, I'm just as baffled as you. As you may or may not be aware I admittedly don't have the best driving skills at the best of times, so trying to adjust to driving on the other side of the road has been an experience and a half, it's like being on my learners all over again- and that took me 7 goes the first time to get it!! I'm a bit like Nemo, I think I can do these things but I just can't. Oh, and you can drive through red lights here- bizarre. Nevertheless, the plans are underway for our road trip to Seattle soon.

We are still loving it over here, I don't think either of us have laughed as much as we have over here. It's been such a fun experience.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and an absolute awesome New Years!

Love

Lydia and Julia x 

Lydia & Julz Go Large Week 2

Week Update 2

Commence my first week of work, yes in the Hat Gallery in Whistler Village, I'm still not sure why this warrants a giggle every time I say that. It's so chilled out there, no stress and surrounded by...yes..you got it...HATS! What more could a girl want??I spend my days playing dress ups from wearing top hats to cowboy hats, every day in the Hat Gallery is a movie montage.

After the altercation with the bear, I thought it best to educate myself on the appropriate steps t take when faced with a bear. I brought myself a book "The Life of a Whistler Bear", it was either that or "How to Prevent a Bear Attack"- I'm just not taking any chances, that sort of attitude will get you swiftly clawed by a bear- and don't be mistaken, these things do happen, as per "The Life of a Whistler Bear". Although when I was telling a girl from work about my fear of bears, she had said that I should be more concerned about Cougars. Oh, great! Now I'm going to have to get a book about "How to Prevent a Cougar Attack." Julia thinks I'm getting a little obsessive with bears, as I walk home jingling my keys to ensure that any bears steer clear, although I'm pretty sure that if she were face to face with a bear, I would be the girl she would want standing next to her. Further to my dedication towards protecting myself against bears, I have borrowed the Man Vs Wild dvd, I figure who better to learn from than the man himself, Bear Grills!

 As for the big birthday bash- I had such an awesome night. Julia and I went out with our new friends to a glow party at Moe Joe's nightclub, where we danced up a storm and not to toot my own horn (Toot toot) but we were on the "guest list", that's right, bypassed the line with no cover charge- yes I know, how very exclusive of us! Shots after shots chased down by Canadian beer- a dangerous combination. I'm not sure whether I have mentioned it to you in previous emails, but you don't get hang overs here, the bizzarrest thing ever but LOVING it, as I'm sure you remember that I am known to suffer badly- no more embarrassing spews in gloria jeans. I thought I was killing it until Julia subtly pointed out what a tool I looked like with glow paint smattered all over my face and a glow stick around my head- (which I was apparently reluctant to part with the entire night)- perhaps you can get away with that when our 18 but apparently at 23 it is just not that hot. Julia was a right off before we even got to the nightclub, I had to ask the waitress to keep the waters coming- but she did sober up and it became quite the role reversal, me being the right off. That aside, there were a couple of pash and dashes between us- my one (name unknown) definitely had his beer goggles on, as I was certainly no Miss Canada that night.

As per the facebook posting, I woke up with "what was" the resemblance of a '23' that was originally painted on my face, which by this stage had smeared across my forehead and woke to chocking on a glow stick which had made it's way down to my neck. I'm still finding these glow sticks in the bed- really can't explain. So between the mish mash of glow paint slapped on my face, mascara staining my cheeks, beer crusted hair and to top it off the nightclub stamp which is now permanently tattooing my wrist, I think it's safe to say that I was a real trash bag on my 23rd birthday- glad maturity comes with age.

Not TOO many stories to tell from the night but more than enough disgusting photos which I can assure you will not be making an appearance on facebook. And more ruined ballet flats, I can only imagine your surprise, yes we still haven't learnt our lesson- we're like the kid who kept touching the hot plate. And we still at genuinely surprised when we come home with destroyed shoes and frozen toes! 

Love

Lydia and Julia x

Lydia & Julz Go Large Week 1

 

Week Update 1

After a week here, I have settled in nicely, things have started to fall into place-with job, making new friends, accommodation etc.

As for the job hunting, I spent yet another day wondering the village of Whistler, handing my resume out from shop to shop, hearing the same thing from each store manager;
"We've just hired" or "We aren't hiring at the moment"
And just when I thought that all hope was lost, I went into a little Hat Gallery, which I nearly overlooked. I spoke to the Manager there who was Australian, and she offered me a job- talk about right place, right time.We got chatting, and she had seen on my resume that I had "retail management experience" (perhaps I embellished a little). She said that she would start me on $12 an hr, which in Canadian terms is awesome money. Julia is a senior hairdresser and she is only on $10 per hour. Wages are ridiculously low here, yet the cost of living s still relatively high. So there you have it...I have a JOB!!!

Julia has had her first week of work, as a spa attendant/ hair dresser, although she has been training all week which has been tiresome for her – she did make quite the impression by rocking up to work on her first day hung over, to the extent of covering the toilet floor with the pizza from the night before, all class. You will probably sense a trend here- the sudden love of pizza and Doritos.

I haven’t started my job in the Hat Gallery yet, first day is tomorrow.

I went to a job fair a couple of days ago, which was an experience and a half. I had to line up for 3hrs amongst 300 other people desperate for a job, to go for a position in a night club. It wasn’t as bad as the job fair that Julia went to, she was lined up for 6hrs. Anyhow, it went quite well as the guy that interviewed me, Quatchi (typical nightclub name) invited me back to the club that night to meet the manager. He was impressed with my ability to deal with the crazies, thanks to my Centrelink reference. Julia and I went to the club ‘Moe Joes’ where we met the manager, scored a few free drinks/shots, it turned out to be a really good night. We made friends with another girl who was in the same boat as me, and her and I were dancing the entire night, trying to make an impression on the manager, admittedly it did get a bit competitive out there, there is nothing like a healthy dance off amongst new friends. I have never sweated for a job so much in my life- literally, I was shaking it on the podium with all I had, even restrained myself from breaking out into the sprinkler- desperate times call for desperate measures. Well, to sum up that story, it ended with me waking up in the morning with pizza in my purse, clearly the result of a good night out.

We’ve been out on the town 4 out of 7 days, our livers have definitely seen better days. Neither of us have partied as hard as we have this week.

Funniest thing ever- and this was really one of those moments that you had to be there but I will tell you anyway. Julia and I were walking down the hill outside our apartment, in our ballet flats, and as there is no grip on them (unpractical footwear), she was slipping and sliding, trying to hold her balance then suddenly she just flew a good 100 metres in front of me down the hill, it looked like she was skiing. She was yelling out “I CANT STOP!!” As a good friend, I walked down casually in fits of laughter at her expense, only to find her at the bottom on hill- the poor dear had fallen in a heap. If only I had a penny for every time someone fell over in Canada!

We have made friends with some great people, we’re all going out for dinner and drinks for my birthday and then headed to a glow party. So stayed tuned, I’m sure plenty more messy stories/photos to come out of that night.

Love

Lydia and Julia x

Lydia & Julz Go Large Arrival in Whistler

Arrival in Whistler - 1 December 2010

Just giving you a little update from the other side of the world.

I have arrived safe and sound in Whistler, after concerns not being able to find Julia. As it suddenly dawned on me, only when I was at the Auckland airport that I didn't get international roaming on my phone, this was only apparent when I had actually tried to call out, with the surprise of no signal- this is so typical of me. After desperately trying to exchange my Australian dollars for New Zealand dollars in between connecting flights, so that I could use the internet. I sent out numerous emails via facebook to everyone to try and get hold of Julia, as I couldn't use my phone nor did I know what her Canadian number was or even where we were staying. Once I arrived in Vancouver, I checked my facebook to have gladly found an email from Julia with her Canadian number. I raced downstairs of the airport, as my bus was leaving in 15 mins to call her from a public phone only to hear; "The number you are calling is disconnected or not available, check the number and try again." In a panic and pressed for time, I hauled my luggage up the stairs and exchanged my New Zealand dollars for Canadian dollars to use the internet, yet again, to email Julia with my bus details and hope that she would receive it and know where to pick me up from. If she didn't get it, then I'd be stranded in the dark in minus degree temperatures on the other side of the world. I can only imagine your surprise as to how unbelievably organised I was!

I go off the bus at Gateway and waited by my luggage, to turn around moments later to find Julia standing there. I could hear the theme song; "At laaassst, my looovvee has come allooong!" And even in that exhausted moment of arrival, we ran to each other, jumping up and down screaming- it's a girl thing. As it was dark in Whistler by the time I had arrived, it was difficult to see the village but the whole town was lit up with Christmas lights, much like a mosquito I was drawn to all of it. I don't think I have seen anything more beautiful, it distracted me from the piercing cold climate which I was not appropriately dressed for- surprise surprise! After a 15hr flight and a 3hr bus ride, Julia convinced me to go out.

Julia  had given me a brief run down on the fashion in Whistler, as it's certainly not the place to be fashion conscious, as we'd be hitting the town in our Kathmandu jackets and heels were out of the question. Despite Julia's pre-warning on the fashion, we wore our ballet flats out against our better judgement, and set out to Buffalo Bills for local night. It turns out that there is local night, every night of the week here.

PAF- the acronym for 'Pissed as Farts' we were stumbling home through Creekside, laughing about the nights antics, playing in the snow, crunching on our Doritos, when we could faintly hear this noise. Once we stopped crunching on our Doritos,the sound got louder. Curiosity got the better of me, and I followed the sound up the stairs. Then Julia yells out for me to get down from the stairs, as she had recognised the sound. The sound was coming from a bear, we're yelling, running away from the bear, against the advice of Bear Grills. The only reason Julia had recognised the sound was because she had seen a bear the night before.

As soon as we got home, after devouring what was left of the packet of Doritos, we'd passed out on the bunk beds, much to Julia's roommates' relief, after being woken to the sound of our giggling and Dorito munching. 

I woke up to find it snowing outside our window and the best part-no hang over.

What a wonderful way to start my life in Whistler Wonderland!

Love 

Lydia and Julia x