Printemps!

For once, the London branch of Mother Nature Inc has delivered... just in time for the official start of spring. We've had gloriously warm, sunny days all week. Birds and flowers abound. I have to say, I think I prefer this version of spring to the Canadian slow thaw.

And because the weather already has me on the bragging cart, I must also announce (with a big lag from Facebook, as usual) my next exciting holiday destination: Israel. Some Canadian friends are living in Jerusalem for a few months and invited me to stay with them. I've always heard good things and I couldn't resist the lure of a city with so much history, so there you have it. It won't be until the end of May/start of June, but I'm already counting down the days. The only question is: when am I going to start actually exploring Europe?!

No rest for the wicked

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks. You'd think being on holiday would have brought me a bit of respite, but no... lately my life has been all go go go.

My favourite part of my half-term break was painting murals for Kids Company. A day of physical labour can go by surprisingly quickly. I didn't want it to end.


Of course, before half term was Dubai, and I still haven't talked much about that. Dubai is full of steel and concrete; big fancy towers and shopping malls and resorts and 14 lane highways and every single brand name you can imagine. Even Canadian brands!


It's all very luxurious, I suppose, if you're into that sort of thing. I personally found it a bit sickening.

For me, Dubai had one single saving grace (apart from the sunshine): The Creek.


The Creek is the heart of Old Dubai and is where most of the traditional souks (markets) are concentrated. I had a brilliant time browsing and haggling my way through the labyrinths. It reminded me of India (though it smelled much more delicious), and I wound up getting some rather impressive deals.


It's also where I finally found some local food (shockingly difficult to acquire in Dubai!) and for a great price. This shawarma is about a fifth of the size of the ones they sell in Ottawa, but it was just the right amount of food and packed loads of flavour. The accompanying avocado juice was about the most amazing blended drink I've ever tasted. The total for both came to 11 dirhams (£1.84). I'm emphasising prices because they're so different from the rest of Dubai. My other lunches cost me between 60 and 110 dirhams (£10-18) and weren't nearly as nice.


Most people who live there will tell you there are too many Indians, but I think the high concentration of Indian expats was a big part of what made it appeal to me. Sights like these stirred up my memories of dusty, chaotic, magical India and made it seem like a real place where real people live and work, rather than a Wall-E wasteland.



I'll admit, I wasn't immune to the appeal of some of the nicer touristy spots...


And the dune bashing safari was a riot, if overpriced...


But if I were to return to Dubai, I'd definitely stay near the Creek and spend most, if not all, of my time there.

Next up: March 11-13 in Paris.

Catching up

Most of you who blog are familiar with having so much to write about, it's difficult to write anything at all. That's where I am right now.

In a few minutes, I'm off to my second and last mentor training session with Kids Company. I first mentioned them in this blog in September. The process has been long, but after this training, I just have to send in a match up form and hopefully I'll have my very own mentee in no time. I'm a bit apprehensive... this is definitely going to be an experience that will challenge and stretch me. But for that same reason, I am incredibly excited.

In a very quick nutshell (because I have to run off to catch my bus in 5 minutes), I'll be matched up with a child who, for whatever reason, has a challenging home life. My role will be to hang out with them on a regular basis, be their friend, and be the reliable adult figure they may not have at home. Kind of like Big Brother/Big Sister. Kids Company is so much more than that too, though. They provide a complete wrap-around service for these children and their families. On Thursday, I'll be going to paint murals for one of their centres.

Alright, off I run.

Spicy

I have a lot to say about Dubai, but for now, I'll leave it at this:

- Saffron
- Vanilla pods
- Dried lemons
- Red peppercorns
- Arabian masala curry
- Dates

I can't wait to get home and cook!

The unexpected holiday

I'm pretty excited. In a little over one week, I'll be in...


As always, tips and suggestions are welcome.

A quick hello

I know, I haven't written in ages and many of you have been on my back about it. There've been a few things I've wanted to write but just haven't had the energy or the inspiration. Still don't. So I just thought I'd check in to say that life's pretty good and not much has changed. And hopefully I'll soon be motivated enough to write about what I really want to write about: the power of mindset.

Until then, take care, y'all.

A nine year anniversary

Nine years ago, in January of 2002, my love affair with exercise began.

I'd been rather active as a young child (I danced, played soccer, and did synchronized swimming), but at some point, it all stopped. I began loathing exercise and doing everything in my power to avoid doing it.

I went from this...

To this...

I won't go into all the painful details, but suffice it to say that body image is something I've struggled with a lot.

And it only got worse when I got to university. We've all heard of the Freshman 15... well, for me it was the Freshman 50. I was so freaked out by the number on the scale when I finally stepped on one in the middle of my 2nd year, I made the most important new year's resolution of my life right then and there: I was going to take up exercise.

And I wasn't kidding! For the next year and a half, I worked out nearly every single day. It got to the point where I was regularly spending 2.5 hours at a time sweating it out in the gym. I lost 70 lbs. I was in the best condition of my life. And more importantly, I was enjoying it. Exercise felt really good.

There are some more painful details that I'll skip over, but my relationship with exercise has been on again/off again ever since. There was a brief period a couple of years ago when I decided to devote 100% of my energy to fitness and nutrition (and I really mean 100% -- I was doing it in lieu of having a job) and I got back pretty much to where I'd been a few years before. But eventually, I had to start work again and it all began to slide away. My only saving grace was my night job as a dancer.

Enter Europe. Most people lose weight when they come to Europe. After all, this is the land of healthier food and more active lifestyles. But for me, hoofing it a couple of miles and trudging up the Underground steps as part of my daily commute weren't boosting my activity levels at all. Because of money, distance, and timing, I'd basically given up the one consistent factor keeping me happy and healthy for the previous 6 years. I went from dancing 5-7 days a week to dancing once every couple of months. I gained 30 lbs... and lost a lot of my will to do anything.

Now, I don't earn a lot of money as a TA and gym memberships in London aren't cheap. I eventually sucked it up and started dishing out £50/month for the Central YMCA, but had such a horrible experience that I demanded to be let out of my contract shortly thereafter. I danced a lot when I returned to Canada this summer, but that was destined to be short-lived. The decision I made in September to start treating myself better did result in a few dropped pounds, but something else still had to be done. Thankfully, when I moved to my new house in Camberwell, the answer came: Peckham Pulse is conveniently located right along my daily route and, thanks to the school where I'm working, I got a pretty decent rate.

I had my first workout there today. The people were friendly and the machines were pretty sweet (I can play movies from my iPod or USB stick on my personal cardio screen!), but the best part of all was how I felt when I finished: alive.

I'm not making any resolutions this year, but I am recommitting to this 9 year old relationship. Just like any relationship, it takes work to keep it going... and that work has to be done for the right reasons. The reason I first entered into it isn't the right one for me anymore. Of course I'd like to lose weight and look good and fit into my old clothes again, but that's not enough. Over the years, I've discovered something much more important. Exercise feels good. It makes me want to take life by the reins. It makes me want to climb mountains and shout out from the peaks how very happy I am to be alive.

And it's for that reason I'm going back to the gym at 11 tomorrow morning.

On being Cana-British

I've been struggling for a while now to sort out my national identity. I'm a dual citizen with 26 years of life experience in Canada, 15 months of life experience in Britain. So much of who I am has been shaped by those first 26 years, and yet I'm happily settled here and feel more and more like a local every day. I actively avoid referring to Canada as "home." I feel strongly that this is my home now, but part of me feels like a traitor because of it. And I don't really identify with the term "ex-pat" anymore. So am I Canadian or am I British? The truth is that I'm both. I am a hyphen.

British-Canadian rolls right off the tongue, but that's not what I am. That would imply that I had been born British and become Canadian. Canadian-British? Just doesn't sound right. And so, I have finally settled on my own made up term...

I am a Cana-Brit, and proud of it.

Why I love London: Reason #42

People often compliment me on the courage and determination it must have taken to move across the ocean. I never quite know how to respond to this, because as far as I'm concerned, moving here was no act of courage at all. It actually would have been a much greater struggle for me to stay put. I moved here, quite simply, to scratch my interminably itchy feet.

I come from a long line of wanderers. You don't have to look far to see it: my family is spread far and wide, and my mother alone has lived across (and holds citizenship in) three countries. Look a little further down my family tree and you'll find explorers, pioneers, Vikings, and conquerors. You'd be hard-pressed to find a European country that isn't somehow involved in my lineage.

I'm also hugely interested in everything relating to human behaviour and the mind. I love travelling to new places because there's very little that excites me more than experiencing, for the first time, where and how a group of people live. But of course, sampling a culture for a few precious days isn't the same as becoming a part of it. Here in London, I'm perfectly placed to be involved in both the breadth and depth of anthropological observation.

Not only am I living in a new country and within easy reach of dozens more, but London itself is a pretty reasonable microcosm of the globe. With over 300 languages regularly spoken here, and nearly 30% of its population having been born outside the UK, London is one of the most multi-cultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world. It's impossible to escape the beautiful array of accents, colours, and flavours, and nearly every street and alley I step into in London feels like a different reality. It's mind-boggling just how much diversity there is here.

And that's part of what's making my next move (a much smaller one this time) so exciting. South London is even more multi-ethnic than the city centre, and among the neighbourhood pubs (Hermits Cave! What a brilliant name!) are restaurants specialising in Bengali, Nigerian, Eritrean, and countless other lesser-known cuisines from around the world. Not to mention a highly-rated Spanish tapas bar, so I can get my taste of Spain after all.

Cake: I am having you. And eating you too.

5 x 15

One of the best things about London is the assortment of neat and quirky events that are always happening around the city. Last night, I had the pleasure of attending 5 x 15 -- an evening of entertainment that features 5 speakers, each telling a 15 minute cross-section of their personal stories or areas of expertise. Somewhat reminiscent of TED talks.

The topics ranged from how to get into Oxford on blind luck, what it's like to grow up with an eccentric gay dad, the reformation of a hardened criminal, a behind-the-scenes peek into a documentary on Peter Mandelson, and the sexual nature of cars. Quite an eclectic mix of subjects, and an equally eclectic mix of personalities.

I think I was most touched by Noel 'Razor' Smith's account of how he turned to a life of crime after having been victimized and harassed by the police. He spent the majority of his adult life in prison, where he taught himself to read and write, and eventually realised he could raise more havoc by writing complaints than he could by punching out the guards. The real turning point, though, was when his son died and he wasn't allowed to attend the funeral. Despite never having done any public speaking before (except "from the witness box at the Old Bailey," he quipped), he had a captivating presence and I didn't want him to stop. Alas, the bell rang and he was cut short. Just to give you an idea of how enraptured I was, the bell apparently rang several times and I never even heard it.

To give the evening a little more texture, there was also a musical interlude. Lulu and the Lampshades were absolutely enchanting. Their creative use of instrumentation, rhythm, and melody sucked me right in.



This little number is their most popular on YouTube. I think I might have preferred some of their other songs, but I love how they've incorporated the cup game here. Their stage rendition was even better, backed by a flute, guitar, and more percussion.

This all took place at Union Chapel, a Gothic church souped up with red stage lights, candles, and strung up number cut-outs. There was even a proper trendy bar upstairs where we hung out with a diverse crowd of hip 20-somethings, middle-aged professionals, and the retired elite during the intermission. A perfectly quirky venue for a perfectly quirky evening. They run these events regularly, and I think I might be hooked.