Well guys, I'm finally at a city where I'll be at for the next 3 days. It has been an absolutly insane journey. I wrote in my journal the entire way on the train, so I'm really just going to transcribe it for you on this blog then I'll write again tomorrow.

Day One: August 22

Well, I'm on the first leg of my trip, Vancouver to Quebec City with a bit of layover in Toronto if there's time. My train left about 45 minutes late and has stopped so often it has averaged a speed of about 10 km an hour for at least the last hour and a half. But I'm not complaining, just concerned. Apparenly there is track construction east of Winnipeg that caused another train to be 12 hours late. This doesn't mean a whole lot except I'll miss my hostel in Toronto and probably get charged for a no show. I was looking forward to those 13 hours off the train to bathe...oh well. I'll just apply the deoderant to all parts of me. The train ride I am on is going to last 5 days. All I have with me is my little carry on with 2 books, select essentials including my hairbrush, toothbrush and paste, bobby pins, hair elastics, facewash, a washcloth, my wallet, ipod, phone, senior seminar research, and of course, this little journal. As well as a pair of sweat pants and a couple shirts. This is it. The art of survival.
For those who aren't aware, I'm a huge people watcher. I would almost call it a favorite pasttime of mine. There's this girl sitting alone across the aisle from me. She's probably a bit older than me, but everyone is, so that almost goes without saying. About 5 minutes after our train finally left, she received a phone call from her parents. She's from Australia! And a little later, after she got food, she pulled out a map of Canada. So..now my mind begins to run away from me. Is she an immigrant to Canada with an accent, or is she traveling North America as I am? Well, we have at least 3 more days sitting across from each other, so maybe tomorrow at lunchtime I'll ask her. I like people watching. It's not weird. Don't pretend you don't do it too. Ok, tomorrow we'll be traveling across Alberta and Saskatchewan on day 2.

Day 2: August 23

Day 2 on the train. I talked to the girl from Australia. She's 20, from Brisbane and she's been in Canada since August 10. She's going to Toronto til February. She came here all by herself too, if she can do it, I can do it!
Ok, so sleeping yesterday went just as anyone would have expected on a train in "comfrot class". I just want to thank Mommy and Daddy for the genes that said "stop growing at 5'1" so I could almost lay down on these two seats. Plus, there was this super old lady behind me that snored so horribly that I thought her entire face was going to implode. I'm not even joking.So after going all the tossing and turning I was able to in this seat, I was exhausted all day. As a result, I, Kristina, took a nap. A nap! I never nap! But when there's nothing else to do, you sleep. I read 3 articles for research, but learned a lot more from my other book...about...the history of the Canadian sex life. Which could also be used for research, if I stretch is far enough. Supplemental knowledge I guess.
I have run into the frist road block of the trip, but it's not really a road block. When our train was leaving an hour late yesterday, to make us feel better, the staff told us about a train from Toronto that was just arriving 12 hours late. As I've written, if we run into this after Winnipeg, I'll miss my hostel in Toronto, but hopefully not my connection to Montreal. There's nothing I can do about it, so I can't stress or worry about it. I'm sure this is just going to be one thing out of many that causes plans to go awry. I can't say that plans will go wrong because that's the beauty of this trip. There are zero cemented plans, except for the shcool meetings, which should all be fine.
The longer I'm on this train, the more I'm assured that I can actually do this. Which is good because I've already left. I guess I'm worried about making friends. I mean, I know I'm going to meet a ton of people int he hostels. I just want to be friends with people I can go out to some bars with. I guess if I can make a friend on a train by hour 20 minus the 12 hours of sleeping, I'll be able to make a hostel friend. Not to be confused with a hostile friend. Haha!! Get it, hostel, hostile? Play on words...LAUGH!!

Day 3: August 24

Awesome. Day 3 and there is a derailment ahead. We've been sitting here in Sioux Lookout for about four hours but it doesn't look like we'll be moving anytime son. Tegan, the girl from Australia, has turned out to be quite the gal. Her boyfriend is from Toronto and she's really on a search to find out what she wants to do with her life. Kinda like my seach fro the city of my dreams.
In part, that is what this trip is about for me. I have friends who know what kind of city they'll be happy in, whether it's Bellingham, Seattle, San Fransisco. I don't have a city like that. I don't know how well I'll like ahuge city like Toronto, or a smaller city like Kingston. I think I'll really like Montreal and Ottawa, but again, I have no idea. I know I'll figure out where I want to be when I get there. I'm pretty sure. I just hope there's a university that I like that is also in that city, and that I get accepted there.
Ok so, this rerailment. The service manager just told us we have to go back to Winnipeg. But not for two more hours. Then another 6 hours back to Winnipeg. They're figuring out what to do with us then. If I can get a flight to Toronto and I'm there by Tuesday at 6:00am, I'll be happy. I just want to make it to Quebec City. But really I ust need to be at McGill byu Friday at noon if ViaRail takes care of me until then. I don't care. If I end up in Montreal early and I don't make it to Quebec City, life goes on. That's what this whole trip is about. Going with the flow and seeing what is going to work. I would have loved to see Quebec City, but ifI don't, I save money, and days on my CanRail pass. I'm not against flying. It would actually get me to a shower faster. Tha't sgood for me. My hair is getting a little bit questionable going into day 4.
So I thought about it today, what happens if I need medical attention whil I'm here? I'm a Canadian citizen, but I don't have my passport, birth certificate or greencard. I've applied for my social insurance number, but it didn't come before I left. Oh well, hopefully nothing like the anxiety attack before I left will happen again. Knock on wood.

I'll do today's tomorrow. I'm running out of internet time!!!