Week 3-4

Wednesday 23 September

My second day at the other location of the coffee shop. This one is called Millstone (I think I forgot to mention that before. The location at the hospital is called Code Brew). Anyway, I have slowly been learning to make the specialty coffees and teas. I'm lucky I have a very experienced coworker who doesn't mind to go out of her way to teach me. Soon, I'll know all the Starbucks Coffees!

Thursday 24 September

Another workday at Code Brew in the hospital. This was the busiest day the coffee shop had ever had thus far! There was no end of the line! Because it was so busy, there was hardly any time left to talk. They're slowly giving me more responsibilities here, though. Soup is now on my list of stuff I'm allowed to pour!

Friday 25 September

Another day at the hospital! This time it was a lot slower again, so I could catch up on some things with coworkers. 

A lot of Canadians have gone on holiday to like the States or Mexico, but only a handful have actually left America. Some have never even left Canada itself. Then again, I have never really been outside of Europe until now, so there isn't much to compare.

A lot of Canadians do have family in Europe, though. One of my coworkers told me he had family in the UK and in Poland. He's been to the UK, but he also wishes to go to Poland. He'd love to go and tour through Europe one day. He even asked me for smaller town he could visit in the Netherlands.

Sunday 27 September

I went to Victoria this day! Man, oh man! It's a really pretty city! 

The distance from Nanaimo to Victoria is about the same as the distance between Deventer and Amsterdam. It took us about one and a half hour to get there. 

First, we went to a restaurant that only serves breakfast. They're opened until 3 pm and then they're done for the day. They have many, many choices. For example, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, crepes, fruit salads, sandwiches, and so much more! I had a crepe with ham and molten cheese with a side of caramel apples. It was yummy! 

Something that I noticed here is how the waiter staff treats their customers. In comparison to the Dutch staff, here they're much more attentive and are always asking if everything's or if you're thirsty. This is because they live of off their tips, so it is general etiquette to leave a tip when you pay. Sometimes I wish the Dutch waiters were a bit more attentive, so you wouldn't be sitting in a restaurant waving your arms about to get their attention.

Monday 28 September

I went shopping on this day. One thing that I have figured out here is that the one thing that is not cheaper here in Canada are frigging shoes. Leah even told me that sometimes the leather stickers they put on the shoes are fake too. So for fake leather boots you would pay a 100 dollars not including tax. So about 70-80 euros? Ha. No. Also shoe sizes. In the Netherlands I am size 42, which is eh to find. In Britain I'm size 8/8.5, actually pretty easy to find. In Canada/US I'm size 10 which is ridiculously hard to find. Yay.

Another strange thing here that I forget to mention before. Taxes. When you enter a shop and look at the prizes, generally they are without taxes. So, when you go shopping, you always have to add some extra dollars to your calculation because hey, taxes. It really threw me off a couple of times. For something that costs 10 dollars, you have 50 cents of tax to pay. 

Also, Leah will have an exam on Anthropology this Friday and I have been helping her study. She's come to the conclusion that, to remember certain primates their behaviour, living locations and characteristics, songs are a good way to remember. It started by accident when I tested her on the Bonobo, and now she's made them for other primates too. They are, err, very interesting.

Tuesday 29 September

Work at Millstone again! I am finally able to make Americanos and Mochas by myself. 

I'm fairly sure I'm wrong, but this guy looking very, very, very much like Bruce Willis entered the shop and ordered so much food. I was behind the till at the moment, but I didn't realise until after. 

All in all, not that much happened actually. However, the elections for prime minister are coming up over here. So, for next week I'll have a lot of politics to figure out and hear about. Thus far the one thing I have learnt about politics here is that Harper sucks and pretty much everyone doesn't want him to run the country any longer because he is Americanising everything.