Seeing as I haven't written in absolute ages I thought I had better update you all on my travels and what has happened since my last blog. Leaving Seattle on the 12th of October I arrived in Vancouver via a (very smelly) Greyhound bus. Sitting near the back and having the toilet door opened often near me accompanied by the 'slosh-slosh' of the septic tank was not a pleasant experience at all. Needless to say there were many many holdings of breath that took place on that trip! Living in Vancouver at 1270 Robson Street was amazing. It is a truly beautiful city and although it rained mots days I didn't mind at all. I joined the WCA gym down the road which led to the purchase of some (rather expensive) cycling shorts so I could attend spinning classes. Capillano suspension Bridge was beautiful - it is a long bridge suspended over a raging river with a forest and a treetop walk on the other side. Stanley Park in Vancouver is also absolutely beautiful. I ran around the park one afternoon - it took me around 2 hours as the park is HUGE (bigger than Central Park in NYC) but the fall colours were truly remarkable. Golds, reds, oranges and browns engulfed me and I was able to appreciate a wonderful aspect of what nature has to offer. Halloween was also great. Everyone goes to town and it looks amazing - one family had converted the front of their house into a pirate ship that was captained by a skeleton pirate. Little kids were running around town after school 'trick or treating' - it was very festive. We carved a pumpkin and dressed up for the occasion although we got a tad bit excited and carved the pumpkin two weeks before Halloween. Our pumpkin was very mouldy and leaking juices by the 31st so he was nicknamed 'Arthur the mouldy pumpkin.'I officially arrived in Whistler on the 3rd of November after two previous trips (on the dreaded greyhound) to drop off stuff. The job fair was from the 6th to the 10th of November and I had my first interview at 8:45am on the 6th. I had originally applied for the position of 'Den Master' for Whistler Kids but I didn't get the position due to the fact that I did not have a degree in Early Childhood Education. As you can imagine I didn't sleep very much that night as I was panicking about not having a job and I also hated the fact that I had failed. I got up extra early and arrived at the job fair at 7:50am the next day waiting for the doors to open at 8am. I talked to a careers advisor who signed me up for an interview for the position of 'Ski School Sales Host'. I was offered the job and took it right away with much appreciation and relief and I love every second of my job here in Whistler. My team at work are amazing and they are so supportive and encouraging. My supervisors are easy to talk to and I never feel intimidated. I have become very good friends with the girls at work and we often go out together for a night on the town. Mum, Dad, Greg and Aides came to visit on the 19th of December and I caught a bus down to the airport in Vancouver to meet them all. It was the best Christmas present I have ever received and I was so so happy to see them all. Man oh man do I miss my family. Aides has grown so tall - he now has to rest his arm on my shoulder instead of the other way around. After three days of snowboarding lessons the boys were up and riding down the mountain with no fear whatsoever. Mum and Dad had two lessons after which mum hurt her knee so was unable to ski for a while. Dad didn't know how to stop when he was going too fast and decided he would rather ski down the mountain backwards which led to many many laughs and photo opportunities! As you can imagine Christmas and New Year were crazy at work due to it being peak period and therefore I didn't get to ski with them as much as I would have liked. I also caught bad flu and bronchitis over New Year and therefore couldn't ski. Antibiotics sorted it all out and am now 100% again. Saying good-bye to them all broke my heart but time will fly and I'll be home before I know it.Since Mum left I have been working at Ski School Sales as much as I can and babysitting as much as I can. Am trying to get another evening job as am trying to save as much money as possible for Europe and if it means I have to work hard for 12weeks then so be it. My next day off is Wednesday next week and by then I would have worked for 2.5weeks straight with only one day off. I love my job though so do not mind one bit! Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Eddy Murphy and Will Smith were all in Whistler last week although I never saw them. I did see Pat Rafter though and I served Tea Leoni and David Duchovny (from X-files) at the Four Seasons!! Was so excited but very nervous - my hands were shaking! She is such a nice lady though. We had a Ski School Sales party the other night to say thank-you for working so hard over the past few months and it was a themed party - we had to dress up using the letter 's'. I went as a survivor from a plane crash. It was an awesome night - one of the girls I work with was leaving the next day so it was also very sad as we had to say good-bye to her. Will definitely keep in touch though as she leaves in Sydney so will have to save up and make my way over to Sydney to visit all the girls at some stage in the next couple of years! Hope you are all well and had a good festive season. All the best for 2008!!