Well, it could've been worse.

Yesterday was my birthday, wherein I discovered that I'd been lied to: people do like you when you're 23. In fact, the lovely Anna of Just Rise Above It  has nominated me for a Real Neat Blog Award. How exciting! From one platonic life partner to the other: thank you very much! Anna writes about her journey to improve her health and well-being, focusing on both her physical and mental wellness, and improving her happiness wherever she can. Explore her blog (and follow her, of course) for a site that is regularly updated (mine is not), and complete with  recipes , life advice , insights , and reflection . She's an all-round winner (proven: she has an award)! So the rules for this award are as follows: 1. Put the award logo on your blog 2. Answer 7 questions asked by the person who nominated you 3. Thank the people who nominated you, linking to their blogs 4. Nominate any number of bloggers you like, linking to their blogs 5. Let them know you nominated them (by com

Last night I cried myself to sleep - a personal first. Crying has always kept me awake in the past, usually leading to more emotional turmoil and over-thinking. I'd see movies with people crying in bed, suddenly closing their eyes and drifting off, freshly shed tears still glittering... And I'd just think about what utter bull that was. How could they sleep knowing they had a soggy pillow? Or how much snot was covering their face? Didn't they realise how uncomfortable that must be? OK, so the snot thing is just me apparently, but eve n if I'd spent three hours crying, I'd still  have to  clean up after myself before rolling over. A little background: as of March 1st, I have been living in Canada for ten months. In May, following a brief sojourn into the US, I'll be returning home to the UK indefinitely. Up until recently, whilst I realised that eventually my time here would come to an end, it seemed too distant to bear thinking about. But s ince the start of th

I had such high expectations when I left for Canada. I said to myself, "Yes, this is your chance to do something constructive; to use this year abroad for the betterment of your future. You'll find a job no problem - you've got a stellar work history - and once you've got some savings together, you can find an unpaid internship or work experience in The Film Industry." Fast forward three months, and you'll be astounded to hear that hasn't happened. The savings that I thought would last me four or five months have lasted about half that, and finding a job wasn't nearly as easy as I'd thought. This was partly my own fault, since I grossly overestimated how much I had put aside at the beginning of my trip. Consequently, I spent the first couple of months partying like a first year, and now have much less than I would be comfortable with. As for jobs, apparently I also overestimated my employability here. During one of the first few weeks, I saw

Yesterday's weather was what some would call, 'The worst weather we've had all summer.' It rained. And it rained, and it rained. All afternoon in fact. Coming from the UK, this was hardly a revelation for me, but for Toronto it's apparently very out of character. Whenever there has been rain before, the clouds have bestowed several hours worth of water in mere minutes. The result: everyone ducks for cover, waits ten minutes or so for the rain to stop, and then carries on with their day like nothing happened. On top of this, at least recently, there's been a thunderstorm at least once a week. Why then, is an entire afternoon of light rain so concerning? I spent yesterday being   forcefully  reminded of home - where it rains more often than it shines. One of the things that I've found most jarring about moving to Canada has been the rain. Even though we get fairly regular showers, they don't feel very satisfying. It's like the rain's been put off

Greetings, one and all, from slightly overcast Toronto! After all the panic and stress of the last few months (see earlier posts), I finally find myself precariously connected to you through Canadian hostel wifi. Damned exciting stuff, that's for sure. Well, that's what I keep being told at least: "It's so exciting; you'll have a wonderful time - what grand adventures you'll have!" Honestly, I have yet to experience this excitement myself - or even accept the reality of having to live abroad for a year. A year . It seems like such a long time right now, and yet giving myself a month and a half to find a job... That seems like it'll be no time at all. All these thoughts and anxieties, and I'm only just finishing day two. Despite the fact it's actually been going extremely well so far, I've already broken down once. I know that in the past I tend to collapse under multiple stresses, and after talking to my dad for about ten minutes, it all

You may have seen me mention it once or twice before, but I'll be heading off to Canada soon. Very soon, in fact - just over two weeks if you want to be more precise. In my last post, I was panicking, and to be honest that's not changed an awful lot. Thankfully though, I have managed to get at least one milestone crossed off my list: I now have travel insurance! For the bargain price of around £250, I am now insured against (most) medical emergencies (hopefully)! It's only taken me two months of searching, phone calls, and comparing over thirty different providers, but I've finally made it. Wondering what took so long? Having a life-threatening allergy that requires hospitalisation if I have a reaction. Yeah, that . Most insurers don't want to touch it with a bargepole, since I'm much more of a risk than most people. Practically guaranteed as far as insurers are concerned. Doesn't matter that I've had about five reactions in my 22 years of living, oh n

Want to know the face of fear? Easy: my face when I first saw this GIF. I hate deep water. I'm not a confident swimmer, and I have a great fear of the ocean. So I have to wonder - what does it take to make a leap like that? No, seriously, I'd like to know. At the moment, I feel like it's a combination of faith, trust, and pixie dust. When the turning point comes, I don't have any of these things; I panic. Unsurprising really, given that a) I don't think many people would face a scenario like this with confidence, and b) that's basically the definition of panic. In case you haven't realised yet, I'm using the GIF as a metaphor for leaps of faith or life-changing decisions. 'Yeah, I get that,' you say, 'but what's your point?' Well, slightly annoyed reader of mine, my point is that (on what seems now to have been a whim), I created a life-changer for myself: on May 1st, I will be leaving for Canada, spending up to a year there.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that working in customer service is the modern version of being Sisyphus. It's full of endless, repetitive work, and tricking people into buying whatever rubbish you're forced to sell them. No matter how hard you work, it's never enough. There aren't many people who love being in customer service, and I have the greatest respect for those who do. But personally, I hate it. Don't get me wrong though, as long as you don't mind doing less physically and mentally demanding tasks, it's not that bad. The job itself is actually fine. In fact, having said that, most of the customers are generally fine as well. But you know the saying 'one bad apple ruins the bunch'? On some days, that's all I can see: the bad apple. Let's face it, it's not like I expect to get on with everyone I meet. I know there are going to be some people who will just hate me no matter what I do - and this goes both ways. Working in

Whilst standing around making coffee all day, the mind tends to wander. Or at least, mine certainly does. Truth be told, it shouldn't be wandering if I were to do my job correctly: engage with customers whilst making - sorry, hand-crafting  their drinks, smile, make conversation, and generally enjoy being at your job. Obviously I don't do this, as I tend to ignore the customer completely and put all my effort into their drink. I like to think that this extra attention to detail pays off, but my manager disagrees. Well, for now we'll agree to disagree. At some point in the day, once my grande skinny latte routine is honed to perfection, I start to the think of other things. In the beginning, I created the perfect milk and foam. And the foam was without large bubbles, and smooth. Except, after a while I started noticing that different milk foams in different ways when steamed. Skimmed milk, for example, is the worst at clumping. I've yet to figure out why this is, but I

At the end of university, I decided that I'd spend a year in Canada. 'How hard could it be?' I naively thought to myself. The land of famously kind people; surely this hospitality would extend to their sister nation? Well, not quite. On the whole, it's been pretty much a straight road so far. There have been some ups and downs, admittedly, but on the whole there's nothing too terrifying - until recently. At the moment, I have reached an impasse I like to call: Ain't Nothin' Straighter Than a Circle for a Government. But first, let's start at the beginning - I'd hate to put you off the idea of living in Canada completely. To clarify, I'm trying to live and work in Canada. 'Ah, working abroad,' I hear you say, 'That must be where the issue is, right?' Wrong. The Canadian government runs this rather awesome system of temporary work permits. For up to a year (though that can be extended), those aged 18-25 can work in Canada withou