Dear diary,
I’m in Calgary since Wednesday the 14th now. Staying in the HI-Calgary City Center hostel in East Village. I’m not in the mood to type a lot right now, but for memories sake I’ll write a quick log about what happened in the last couple of days.
Tue 13th of December
At 15:00 (GMT+1) I took the bus from Gent to London Victoria bus station. There I had to take another bus, because the trains to Gatwick airport where not riding because of a strike. When I finally arrived at the empty airport I found a nice spot to sleep. During the night some Icelanders, on their way to Spain, came to join me. One of them was throwing up in the trash bin every 20 minutes because of weed withdrawal symptoms. Or at least that’s what he said. Some more nice people came to join me later on, and all in all it was a fun night, with not much sleep.
Wed 14th of December
It’s weird to have a new headline here, because I still felt like it was the previous day. Took the plane at 11:40 (GMT+0). It was an interesting flight because the sun slowly went down and then up again. I have my theory about this, which you can probably figure out yourself 🙂 Landed in Calgary around 14:00 (GMT -7). Got hold up at customs because I reported bringing in chocolate. 2 hours later, after they finally let me go, I took a taxi to the hostel, and went to sleep at around 18:00, after being awake and napping on and of for 42 hours.
Thu 15th of December
I woke up around 7:00, got a shower and walked to the ReSource co-working center, a couple of blocks away, to get some work done. It was -25°C outside. The frost felt like needles sticking trough my legs. Alyssa let me in and showed me a desk. She also invited me for a Christmas party that same day. It was a lot of fun and I met some nice people.
Fri 16th of December
The next day I went in again and after that I visited city hall and walked around the city a bit. Thanks to the +15 walk ways I didn’t need to get trough the cold walking from building to building.
Sat 17th of December
At noon I went climbing with Kate, a girl I met at the co-working christmas party, and who’s also very much into climbing. I climbed a 5.10+ which converts to a 6b+ in Europe, so I felt pretty good about that. Afterwards we went to Kensington to meet up with Alyssa (also from co-working) and her boyfriend, KayCee, to watch a free movie and drink some free chocolate milk. It’s crazy how much free stuff Canadians give away during the holiday season. After that we went out for pizza.
Back at the hostel I joined the long-term crew: Karim, Joe, and Trysa (not sure about the spelling). Karim is my 62 year old roommate with prostate cancer from Kenya, who just got a back surgery and sits up on the side of his bed most of the night and day. Joe is a tall fella who’s getting out of a depression and is starting a new live in Calgary, after he lived here as a child, close to his daughter and son-in-law and grandchild. And Trysa just found a job in Kensington today. She as a big hearted spiritual person who’s into the Tibetian Book of the Death and the light flashes of Nicola Tesla. She taught me the slogan “It’s all good!”, which you can say whenever you feel bad.
Although they are a bit weird at first sight they’re a lovely bunch and really smart and funny people, and I’m starting to have a lot of fun with them whenever I’m at the hostel.
Sun 18th of December
I’m typing this text now. Will probably go and check out the Studio Bell music center around 2. Hang out a couple of hours there, go up the Calgary tower to have a view of the city (if it’s cleared up by then), and then get back to the hostel to eat some of Karim’s famous chicken soup. Ahhh lazy Sundays. It’s all good!