Another day in the life

Another action packed week has passed in Whistler. Parties galore; too much drinking had by all. Good times. I am still training hard towards my level two certification. It's hard work but it's all worth it. Funnily enough last week was the first time I have been snowboarding with my housemate. That's just the way our days off have worked out. He's a good laugh, Vic. Took me a few places I didn't know about and in return I gave him a few of my instructorial tips.I took my first run through the half pipe and while I'm hardly getting 10 ft air off the coping... it was incredible. The next day was yet another snowboarding first when I went riding with one of my colleagues; Jo from Canberra- but I try not to hold that against her. She is a very solid rider and can definitely keep me on my toes at times.And before I knew it, Monday night rolled around and it was 80's night yet again. As usual I drank far too much and danced up a storm. But what else is one to do in a quiet little drinking town with a snowboarding problem? - This week was special however as we put in a spot of effort attire-wise - some creative purchases at the local op shop yielded some interesting outcomes.
My post-Whistler plans are starting to take shape. It's a big task to co-ordinate but it looks like we're starting out with a trip down to Florida to top it all off. It's only just starting to sink in that the season is drawing to an end. The streets are bare, the sun is shining and people are out in shorts throwing a frisbee around!? - At least there are a few good weeks of boarding to be done. I have a lot of practice to get in before I sit my next exam. I want lots of positive energy sent my way for the 14-15th/21st-22nd of April ok? - I need it.

Quick trip to Van

The first time I have left Whistler in 3 months. How's that for shinanigans? I raced out of work early to get on the bus down to Vancouver. I have some administrative things to take care of for my onward journey. Swedish consulate, visa, $200, bought some junk and ate A&W. Actually you know what? This is a really boring entry so I'm going to abort now. Read the last one. It's better.

Having said that I did get a picture of a pretty funny store they have in Canada - might not be too funny to them but in the context of Australian slang? - It's gold.

Craziness. Last night we had yet another staff do down at Dusty's in Creekside. It's a nice little venue; - a few free beers and some video game punching bags - maybe that's how it all started?

When things started to wind down we were all given bus vouchers to get home. A bunch of us jumped on the bus to head back to the village to kick on for the night. When we got on there were a bunch of younger Canadians sitting down the back. We paid no notice really...

After about 5 minutes or so the bus stopped. We paid no notice really... after a little while we started getting restless and someone went up to ask the bus driver what was going on. "This bus isn't going anywhere until that beer gets thrown out" - we all looked around a bit confused... None of us were drinking any beer? But, we were all drunk and having a good laugh so we paid no notice really... But after about 20 minutes it started to get a bit ridiculous so and we quickly spotted one of the kids in the back drinking beer. Finally we took notice.

One of the most eloquent of our bunch (note the sarcasm) took it upon herself to kindly ask (note the sarcasm) them to throw out their beers or get off the bus. Them being 17 year old Canadians with an apparent resentment for the ominous Australian presence in their country - didn't take too well to this request. Arguments quickly flared into pushing, punching, hair pulling and kicking.

But it gets better - pay attention now...

It was EXCLUSIVELY the girls who were perpetrating this violence. The guys on both sides were just trying to break it up and stand in between the barrage of grabbing and clawing hands. Somehow the Canadians ended up outside the bus with our group standing above them in the rear doorway. The younger girls were blindly throwing punches up onto the bus and two of the girls were nearly pulled completely off the bus by their hair. There was me standing there trying to run interference between them all and telling both sides to just chill the fuck out when I hear a voice behind me scream "We're trying to but they've got Emma's hair!" I look down to see an arm grappling a bunch of black hair between the confusion of legs and bodies and quickly detach them.

This went on for a surprisingly long time.

Eventually the police arrived (presumably called in by the otherwise inactive bus driver) and broke the whole thing up. As the dust settled we saw that somewhere along the line Mike had caught a stray elbow to the face and was dumping blood from his nose by the truckload. At the time it looked like it was pretty badly broken, but later turned out that it was not as bad as first thought. I myself copped a punch ricocheting head to the face. People were questioned and separated and told to move on their way. After about half an hour of standing around in the cold answering police questions the bus driver cries out "Who wants to go to the village!?" which was received with a cheer of elation. My previous desire to kick on at the club was overridden by a combination of fatigue and common sense (I started work 3 hours later).

This story was well received at work as the greatest surreality of the season - and otherwise innocent and soft spoken group of girls getting into an all out brawl. Go Whistler.

Memories (Inspired by Geoff)

Leave a comment on here about one important/funny moment in our history. After all, I have no memory left of my own. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Don't send a message, leave a comment on here. Next, re-post this in your notes and see how many people leave a memory about you.

Party, party party

Party, party party is the name of the game. May not seem like much but 4 big nights out in a week has really taken its toll. I'm getting too old for this shit. One of the best was a big keg party on the mountain in the Children's Learning Centre of all places. It was a ski school party with all the admin and instructors going a bit mental. About 1000, 20 kegs - I had never seen a double beer bong (two taps stemming from one funnel) but my extreme hangover prevented me from trying it out. Fun was had eventually - just took some time to warm up. The rest is drinking history.

Newest member of the team

It took me a lot of preparing and hard work but it paid off in the end. Say hello to the newest member of the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors. All I need to do now is get a job and I'll be getting paid to do one of my favorite things in the world. This is what Whistler is all about people.

Recognition... again.

You know it. I know it. We all know it. I'm awesome... again. But rarely does someone like me get direct recognition for the fact... again. I personally believe that is because I am just so damn obviously awesome that recognising the fact directly would just give me a big head; we don't want that now do we?

Nevertheless I would just like it to be known that today I received a $25 gift card (such a generous company I work for) for being the department's top selling sales host... again. Yup, amongst a group of 50+ sales hosts I have sold over $200,000 worth of ski school stuff for the second month in a row. Go me... again.

Realisations

We all realise some pretty profound stuff from time to time. I feel that while travelling one tends to have these realisations more frequently. Today for example; I realised that snowboarding is a pretty dangerous pastime. Believe it or not and despite my experiences, it has taken me this long to come to this conclusion.

During my training today we were getting pushed pretty hard. I have been training with instructors who are going for their level two certification while I am yet to get my level one. This, I feel, is the best way to improve, it really pushes one to one's limit. Having said that, it is also reasonably dangerous. We had spent a good part of the day doing pretty tight tree runs. I can do them pretty well but I tend to be a bit conservative. Our instructor had just finished a bit of a talk with us about committing to the line you choose and being aggressive. I did a couple of turns and pow;I hit a tree, hard. Guess which part of me hit the hardest? My knee. Yup. Those little buggers love beating themselves up don't they? Thankfully it doesn't seem bad and I might be able to ice it up and walk it off in a few days. Just as well because my level one exam is on Monday.

Monday night, as usual, was a wild one. The boys and I headed to what has become my favorite nightspot, Tommy Africa's for 80's night. Fun was had by all and randomness ensued. My personal favorite was walking home with my mate in his lycra spandex getup. Weren't the 80's Grand? The ladies love it. At times it scares me how many girls here have leg warmers and fluro headbands but it works out in the end eh?

-=Nick and I giving our cheesiest for the camera.=-

Tonight is our monthly staff party. Tonight's theme is Yin and Yang. As one department with two distinct locations (one on Whistler the other on Blackcomb)We are dressing accordingly. Black for Blackcomb and white for Whistler. Far be it from me to encourage racial profiling but hey, sounds like a laugh. Stay posted for pictures.

Onward and upward

What do we do when we fall off the horse? Spent today in an instructor's training program; considering everyone else in the class has been an instructor for the season and already has their level one certification, it was pretty rough. Still, it was good for my riding. I learned more in a day than I have in 2 weeks. Kickass. Going to get into more of that!