Nico Space

I hope 25 is fantastic!

I hope 25 is fantastic!

Hello yall

I am having a great time back in saskatoon. I am lucky that there have been so many events where I can see lots of people at once. Every single baby I have seen so far is the cutest baby I have ever seen! My friends must all be very good looking and have fantastic personalities.

Tonight I went to a 5 a 7 at la troupe du jour. Then I went to Lukes place and headed to the yard to hang out with Jeff and Kim. I ran into tons of friends there and have just arrived home after a really good night of catching up. Everyone seems to be doing pretty well or so it seems at christmas rendez vous.

Anyway, I am really tired and need some sleep.

I'm bAAaaaack! I got in, about and hour late, last night! It feels awesome to be home!
Mom had made chicken wings like she does every time I come home from somewhere. Quite the tradition. Maman, Luke and Patrick were all at the airport to greet me!

It really feels like christmas now with the snow and all. I saw the forestry farm's display from the plane and it really looks beautiful from above.

It's 7:00 am and I have been awake since 6:00. I guess that's normal since it is 13h00 Wales time and I am not one to slep in.

Looking forward to breakfast club this morning!

Big News, that I am now allowed to tell! My dad is coming home for christmas!!Leaving the beaches of Goa for us! That's pretty sweet.
My brother told me last night, "do you know dad's secret?" I was all like, "what secret?"

Haha...I can keep secrets!!!

Fun, fun.

I went to school this morning and there were only 8 students there and no teacher. My prof had to go to Kosovo for some reason and I and 7 others didn't get the message. So, I spent the day watching tv and sorta worked on my article. I am going to go to school tonight and finish it off and print it. It gave me the chance to get my laundry done. Another job off the list.

2 days and I am home!!!

Things are better in Cardiff. Not so much stress today. Who left the last comment on my blog? I liked it. It sounded like a calm voice of reason. I finished off my news story and will work on my Wal-mart article tonight. I am also going to Des' tonight. It's the last Tuesday before I go home and last Tuesday I went to salsa dancing classes with my flatmate so I am due for a visit.

I went shopping with Yi-ting today and I think I have bought everything I will buy here. Maybe a little duty free visit in London, who knows.

Oh my goodness.

I was so wound up today that one wrong word out of anyone would have sent me over the edge.
I woke up early, thank God, even though I didn't have class , to go to school and print my dissertation proposal which is due today.

My new macbook went on the fritz this weekend. Every time I turn it on the screen flashes and sometimes I cannot get any image at all. I called them this morning. The first phone call went fine but then the line went dead and when I called back they put me on hold for 15 minutes. I was irritated because I was anxious to get to school and print out my paper. I can't print it at home because my printer isn't working. It seems a lot of things don't work with me and I haven't been very diligent in getting things fixed.

When I finally got through they needed me to put one of the setup discs in and I couldn't find it. My cd rom doesn't seem to be able to read discs anyway. It always just spits them out. I will need to look for it and try it tonight and do what they told me to do. If that doesn't work I need to bring it in to get fixed. Is there any apple store in Saskatoon??? Cause I really don't have time this week.

I have a few issues with apple. I really think they were a higher quality product but now they have expanded too much too fast and are not able to keep up delivering quality merchandise while dealing with the huge pressures of demand. My major uses of computers is the internet, msn and word. Word for mac works fine and the internet does too. I have issues with msn though. It doesn't work very smoothly and I can't get to people's msn spaces on it. I also can't use webcam with it. What's the use of my fancy new webcam if I can't talk to people on msn with it?

I know, part of the problem is that I have a learning curve and I am not used to macs, so maybe I am not using it to its full potential. I am, however, very pissed off that I needed to send in my info to get my money back for my ipod within 30 days. They did not mention that when I bought it and also did not automatically send me the forms to get my money (my parents money) back. So, here is to hoping they still reimburse me.

ANYWAY. Hopefully I can get it fixed. SO....I have been using my dad's computer this weekend and he doesn't have microsoft word so I have been writing on his open office programme. When I got to school this morning, fuming and worried about my computer, my proposal would not open. I went to the tech office and they could not open it either. Tears. So, I walked the 1/2 hour BACK home and saved it differently. I ran back to school and met up with my filming partner. She hadn't printed her proposal yet either so I had a little time to spare.

I know I should have thought about the compatibility problem and saved it differently. But lets not talk about my incompetence. I don't like being reminded. I was really wound up about everything. I was trying to analyze everything as I went along and tried calming down but I still feel the tension.

My footage ended up being ok. I have a bit too much space above the guy's head that I was interviewing, but that's ok. I will live with it. Rachel is brilliant and helped me edit out my blabbing. I talk too much in interviews.

What was helpful is listening to "time to say goodbye" with Andrea Bocceli and Sarah Brightman. I think it embodies all that is important.

Sorry about the long blog but I needed to tell someone.

It's a wet day in Wales. What else is f****** new?
I am sorry. That was a bit harsh. I am a lady.
When I am sleeping.

I went downtown with my partner Rachel to film the santa dash (mini marathon in santa suits). I was going to go to the museum and film an exposition on muslims but I needed to go through a bunch of bureaucratic crap, so I couldn't get in today. Then I noticed a truck by the winter wonderland with reindeer painted on its side. So, I did my story on the reindeer that are in town. I got a really good shot of its nose and its handler petting it. The closer the shot the better for my prof.

Soooo cold. My feet were soaked. Rachel and I were shivering and could hardly move our fingers. Training for going home I guess. At least it doesn't rain in Saskatoon at this time of year. Maybe it will. The rock was thrown pretty hard in the water. If you read this blog regularly you'll know what I am referring to.

I heard there was a good turnout for BC this weekend. That's good. I hope we have mighty BC's while i'm home.

I went to a party last night with my flatmates. They had some really good food. Pineapple and cheese on toothpicks. It's fun to walk into a party where you know no one and eat all kinds of delicious food.

I told one guy I was from Saskatchewan and he didn't say, "where?"

He said, "I know a song about Saskatchewan."
I said, "you do???"
"By the Arrogant Worms," he said.

HUH???!!! I have been listening to the Arrogant Worms since I was a child!! Those who were in grade 8 with me may recall my presentation on Going Hunting....or not.

My personal favourite is Jesus' brother bob, but the last Saskatchewan Pirate is a fantastic song!

Anyway, I guess it takes a slightly geeky 19 year old philosophy student in Cardiff to know the Arrogant Worms. It's just funny the people we cross paths with sometimes. We are all so interconnected in wonderful ways.

Hellooooo,

I am going nutso. I am laughing all the time and i'm just basically bonkers. I bought my ticket for Heathrow today. A little cheaper then I thought. 40 pounds both ways. It's going to be a LONG trip. I will be leaving at 1:55am Friday morning. Oh goodness. Sometimes I get a little moody when I am tired. Hopefully I will just sleep on the plane.

I went to school until 3, then had it and went christmas shopping. It was incredible. I remember christmas shopping on St. Catherines in Montreal at christmas and it's just as crazy here. Shopping on Saturday in December is not a good idea. I will have to go back on wednesday. I get paid then anyway.

I was really hungry and saw a whole pig roasting with a sign that said, "Hog on a bun". I couldn't resist. I ordered a regular one and they slapped a lot of hog and some stuffing on a bun. I added some apple sauce. Delish!

I took on U.S./China relations and now I am taking on Wal-Mart. Wow, what a week.
I can't believe it's over. At this time next week i'll be saying "hello house" and "hello snow" and "hello family" and "hello Luke" and "hello friends".

I was supposed to go out with some ladies from school tonight but they all canceled out cause they have too much school work to do. So I figured I mind as well do some school work. Man, these kids are hardcore.

I sort of have one eye on the daily show and I did put a little Baileys in my tea, so i'm not a huge goody goody.

I am feeling a bit of unrest. Probably due to the weather. It is quite wild. There was lighting, thunder, bright sunshine and violent rain all happening in front of me today. I also heard there was a tornado that hit London.

George, who goes to Des' on Tuesdays told me global warming is like when you throw a rock in water and it makes waves. The weather extremes are like te crests and troughs of the wave. When the water settles we will have a new climate. The transition part can be quite violent.

Luke really likes waves, as I discovered in Ireland. I really like waves too. I actually thought I would be living closer to the water in Cardiff. It's actually about a half hour bus ride to the bay and it's pretty touristy. You can't really walk along the shore or anything. I thought maybe I could lead the Baywatch kinda life but it didn't work out that way. It's just the stand in the rain kinda life.

Woe is me. I am getting really sick of sitting at this desk. My China US article should be done but I have been so slow on it and I really don't like it. My writing kinda stinks and my attempts at being creative are ridiculous, "China's economy is sizzling like a fresh steak on the bbq and the US economy is rather overcooked."

Whenever something exciting is going to happen there is often a little depression in the waiting period. I am definitely a really lucky person and have absolutely no reason to feel crappy. I think it just happens to us humans sometimes on rainy days.

On a positive note, the moment I walked into the Students Union today it started to rain, the moment I walked out it was sunny. Then I walked into Lidl and it started to rain and when I walked out it was sunny. So I am very lucky, indeed.

One of my profs often calls us "chaps". He often says, "listen, chaps" or "good morning, chaps". Anyway, I am sure I don't need to spell it out for you. Our boss in Ireland used to call us "lads" all the time and I said, "but i'm a girl," and they said it didn't matter, everyone was "lads." I realized that in Canada I say "guys" all the time in the same way. These three countries have general male terms for all people. I think we should come up with other cute little terms but maybe I am being persnickety (my mom calls me that sometimes).

My friend Rachel from Shanghai, that I was talking about yesterday, (who I now know reads this-Hi Rachel:-)) told me this and I think it's true. I think it's necessary to have some higher ambitions to be really good at what you do.

I had a little test today. It didn't go too bad and it doesn't really matter because it isn't worth very much. It mostly shows if we have been listening or not. We had to calculate percentages and show things in proportion. This teacher is giving us some pretty basic skills I think will go a long way.

I have a bunch of new songs on my ipod that I am really enjoying. Especially some christmas ones, which I march to school to. One of them, Band Aid's "Do they know it's christmas?" is especially good and cheesy like I like it.

10 DAYS and i'm home!!!

Last night we had a christmas at our house. I guess flatmates do that a lot here. I think it it was a great idea.
The food was fabulous but the little I ate of it was a bit too much for my weak tummy. My flatmates are really good cooks! The highlight was chocolate mousse!

I finished school really quickly this morning because my partner right now has been a reporter for 5 years in Shanghai and really knows what she is doing. It's awesome. I learned tons and we were quick and effective. We were doing a mini news story about how difficult it is to cross the street. Between you and me, the pedestrian crosswalks make WAY more sense in Canada.

I have been listening to music, watching tv, surfing the net, doing laundry and generally fooling around all afternoon. It's time for naughty Nicole to get to work.

This is what I saw in back yard today!! I didn't think I was that squeamish...but I guess I don't like rats. It was HUGE. Maybe pregnant! The size of a guinea pig (NO exaggeration). My roomates went and talked to the neighbours and they already had pest control booked for tomorrow. We were all standing at the window with horrified expressions on our faces.

I need to do a news story about the Cardiff area and I think I found it. I sent an e-mail to pest control to get the lowdown. My roomates say it has been a growing problem.

My mom said she saw my great grandma kill a rat with a hoe once. What a woman!

I don't think we have that many rats in Saskatoon. Although, inside info tells me Safeway at Circle Centre may be infested with them....or maybe it was mice, which is less shocking. But you didn't hear it from me.

I feel better today. Thank goodness.

I had my shift Friday night at the bar...very interesting. Man, can people ever drink! I always thought I had decent tolerance. Everyone was super nice at the bar I worked at. Chris and I had actually been there before after seeing the Borat movie. It is a wine bar. There were actually about 4 bars in one building and man, did their food look good!! I have to eat there someday. I mostly prepared drink orders for servers and washed glasses. I was with a guy who usually ran one of the little bars on his own, so spent a lot of time just trying to make his life easier and not getting in the way. He spends most of his time flirting with middle aged women. He says 99% of his girlfriends have been older women. His last gf was 33...he's 24.

I was starving at the end of my shift and went to Subway. St. Mary's is pretty gross when you are stone cold sober at 3am on a friday night. I had one guy puke in front of me and I tried to avoid the splash of a guy peeing against a store wall. Disgusting!

Maybe it's what led to my subsequent ilness.

I got home and felt fine. Ate my sub, checked my e-mail and went to sleep. I woke up about an hour later and RAN to te toilet. Several visits ensued. I'll spare you some of the details. Yuck! I had a total of 2 toasts yesterday and lots of ginger ale. It's so strange and rare to not be hungry.

I feel better today, though. A little fever but otherwise ok. I canceled my Bridgend shopping trip, which friends and I from school were planning for few weeks. Oh well, more time for homework.

My roomates and I are having christmas today! We even have decorations. Should be a good meal! Hope I can down some of it.

Luke's brother Jesse is getting married today! It sounds like it will be a lot of fun. Luke's band is going to play for a while. I can't wait to hear all the details!

It's World's AIDS day today and on one website I looked at it said one thing we can do is talk about it. I suppose a good time to talk about it would be when the hype of AIDS week dies down but unfortunately I don't think about AIDS that often so I wouldn't remember to post a blog about it then.

When I was in elementary school one of my school friend's dad had it. She stayed at our house for a while, when her dad was dying. I remember going to pick her up with my mom at her dad's house but he couldn't come to the door because he was too ill and couldn't get off the toilet. I knew that if you were so sick you couldn't get off of the toilet, you must be in agony. I had had the flu before. I knew what that was like. How much worse must it have been?

He happened to be gay but I knew at that age that it was a disease that can infect anyone. I couldn't really imagine a parent dying at that age. Not that I can really imagine it that much better now. I don't think I completely realized what was actually going on.

I don't know that girl anymore because she went to live with her mom in Quebec. At least her dad had some treatment. Most of the 38.6 million people who have it now don't.