Very Important!

Hi everyone! I've been pretty slack in updating my blog lately, but there has been some cool stuff happening over here that I definitely want to post. I will endeavour to do so in the near future. (But then again, don't hold your breath waiting!)
Now, here in the US they are issuing a 25cent (quarter) coin depicting each state. They have already released quite a few different state quarters. Next year, they will release Alaska's state quarter - but the exciting thing is, they are getting the public to vote on the design that should go on Alaska's state quarter! So, all of you who are following this Alaskan adventure can vote too! I've put a link to the page on the right: click the link and choose what you think should be the Alaskan state quarter. The real question is, can you guess which quarter I voted for???

Visa is a four-letter word!

Well, I have had a period of ups and downs trying to sort out my visa. But I have learnt that when one door closes, another one opens. This is particularly true of my ongoing visa struggle this week. The long and the short of it is this: the way my current visa application stands, I won't start work until October! By that time I will be broke and hungry. I thought that I was at the end of the line and was thinking that maybe I would have to go back to New Zealand and try it again in about a year's time. This is not something that I wanted to do, but it seemed inevitable - I didn't really have any other option.
And then, I bumped into the owner of the McDonald's restaurant in the supermarket and she told me that there is a McDonald's trainee programme that I would be eligible for. Under this trainee programme I could effectively continue my management development from where I left off in New Zealand, and as it is a trainee programme it falls under a different visa category. I have done some research of my own and this trainee programme would allow me to stay here for up to 18 months, and I could possible have a visa in about eight weeks. When I found this out I could have kicked myself: why didn't I discover this before? But then again, I had investigated many options, and we had closed the McDonald's door, so it is probably little wonder that I didn't find this out.
I'm still trying to digest it all: it all has happened very quickly. And I think because we had previously shelved the option of working at McDonald's, it is taking me a little getting used to the idea that now the McDonald's door is open again. I left McDonald's New Zealand on a really positive note, but now when I think about the possibility of working at McDonald's here, I have mixed memories of my previous work at McDonald's. Am I ready to go back to supervising fickle staff who are temperamental at the best of times? Am I ready to be called into work on my days off? Do I want to go back to being a little piece in the big corporate jigsaw puzzle? Do I really want to slave my guts out for what was a thankless job at the best of times?
The thing that I really must recognise is this: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I have the chance to work and stay here - guaranteed work and visa for the next 18 months. And I want to stay here. Perhaps this is my last option if I want to stay here at this time. So if I don't take it, I'm a fool. And as for McDonald's second time around, (well, third time around actually) maybe this time I might be able to call some of the shots.

YVR

I had a fleeting visit to Vancouver earlier in the week. Vancouver is a really beautiful city and the little I saw of Canada has left me with a really good impression. Vancouver reminded me of Sydney - without the Australians. At the same time it reminded me somewhat of Christchurch with lots of similar street names and localities. (This is obviously due to the British influence on both cities.)

While I was there I took in the Granville Island markets. These markets were a hive of activity: lots of meat and produce and food! There was even a little tea stall, so I sat and drank some tea. I had Masala Chai, which is the best stuff I have ever tasted. And it wasn't the crap that comes out of a bottle, it was all hand mixed and it was superb. I also tried some Hawai'ian Rooibos tea with coconut and pineapple in it. So the tea was awesome but I drank so much of it that I needed to pee all afternoon!

The Canadians are really friendly. They are very laid-back and I could definitely see myself living there.Even though I was there only for a short visit, I had a great time and I would love to got back and explore some more.

The Piano

No, this isn't about the movie, but something really quite amusing that happened this weekend. My house-mate (flatmate) Maria bought a piano. Well, in truth she got it for free! And she had wanted a piano, and this was a bargain staring her in the eye, so she grabbed it. And to top it off, the guy selling it said he would deliver it -- also for free. Now, it has been snowing off and on for at least the past week here in Sitka. So, in preparation for the delivery of the piano, Maria's brother-in-law came around on his four-wheeler and ploughed the driveway. In the middle of the morning, along comes the van loaded with about five brute men and a piano. Now, I was inside cooking eggs for everyone's breakfast ('over-easy' - my first time cooking eggs 'over easy', I was just going to scramble the lot of them) so I missed some of the spectacle. But I did get to view the unfolding scene from our third storey window between batches of eggs. You can probably work out how the story goes: snow... living on the third floor... hmmmm. But anyway...

So, the guys in the van decided to drive up the steep driveway in reverse! I don't know if I can even comment on their logic, so I will repeat what Maria's sister Rhonda said: "They're idiots. But at least they're free idiots!"

And alas, they got bogged in the snow! So everyone piles out of the van and stands around and holds a Geneva conference... all this time there is a lot of talking and not much action. I don't quite know how the conversation went, but from what I gather one of the guys finally blew his fuse and said, "We are doing this for free... it would be different if we were getting paid... you're lucky we are even delivering it... whinge whinge whinge." Brian said that at that point we should have told him to take his piano and shove it - or at least dump it in the ocean!

What eventuated next was that the guys drove themselves forward out of the bog and they unloaded the piano right there in the middle of the driveway!

Ah well... I looked down from aloft in our third floor flat at the piano, seemingly stranded in the middle of the driveway. It reminded me somewhat of the iconic scene from the film. We wrapped the piano up in a tarp, and for the moment, we've left it there...

And the snow continues!!

Let it snow...

Well, seemingly from out of nowhere it has started snowing. Like crazy! There have been some huge dumps in the past two days, and I woke up this morning to find the whole place blanketed in deep snow. I couldn't tell you how much exactly, but there is bloody heaps! The whole town is nearly knee-deep in snow. It is very beautiful and even with this snow it isn't too cold.
I think that this is how most people down under imagine Alaska to be: white with snow everywhere! If you look again at the pictures of the Jamestown Bay sunsets and imagine that the scenery is a grayish white, you'll come pretty close to how it looks today! Even with all this snow, though, life continues on as normal for everyone. I was kind of surprised: in New Zealand the whole place would shut down if there was this much snow! But here everyone just gets stuck in and gets on with it. I suppose it reflects how laid back the kiwis are: any excuse to get a day off work.

Sitka Sunsets

Here are some shots of the sunset over the area. The house I live in is on a little bay called Jamestown Bay. There were a few days last we when we were blessed with some beautiful sunsets. I grew up watching the sun rise over the ocean (on the east coast of Australia) so it is different to see the sun set over the ocean. This stretch of water is beautiful, pristine and protected by the surounding islands so there isn't too much ocean swell.

I mentioned in my last blog entry that Alaska was once on the other side of the International Date Line; the shifting of the International Date Line to its present position now means that Alaska is one of the last places in the world to see the sunset!! You see, Alaska was once owned and governed by Russia, therefore Russia's day actually began in Alaska! Russia agreed to sell Alaska to the United States and the sale took place in 1867. Under Russian rule Alaska followed the Julian calendar (which is approximately 10-12 days different to the Gregorian calenday).
When the sale of Alaska took place in 1867, it was also agreed that Alaska would change to the Gregorian calendar and the International Date Line would also be shifted all at the same time! So the sale of Alaska took place on 6 October 1867 under the Julian calendar (18 October on the Gregorian calendar) and that night at midnight they switched calendars and shifted the International Date Line making that next day the 18 October! This leads me to beg one question: Alaska commemorates the sale on 18 October each year, but should this celebration really occur on the 17 October??? Because even though it was effectively the 18 October for Alaska then, for the rest of the US it was 17 October! And when you factor in the shifting of the International Date Line (where the 18 October was followed by the 18 October) and......
I've just realised that all of this is starting to sound like 'blah-blah-blah-blah-blah', so I think I'll stop here. But really, if you woke up one morning and it was the 18 October, that would mean the previous day was the 17 October, but if you wake up and you've been on a long-haul Air New Zealand flight, then it might be the same day again, or if you were going in the opposite direction it could be two days later and you've completely missed a day and you won't know where it has gone.......

Work... Food... Time...

I have a job! Woo-hoo! I'm very thankful, and somewhat relieved! Job-hunting had become a bit of a chore. There are quite a few openings here, but with the added paperwork that an employer would need to go through for my work visa, things ended up in the too-hard basket, and a few promising job offers headed south. However, I persevered. I got out there and started pounding the pavement, introducing myself to people and making myself known. And finally I was interviewed and offered a job at a restaurant here. I'm quite happy with the offer too. It looks like I'll ultimately work in the kitchin, so I'll be able to put my McDonald's experience to good use while learning some new tricks at the same time. Not sure when I'll actually start work, though. That's all dependant on the work visa being approved... but hey, I'm pretty positive that this will be the last hurdle!

A really peculiar and interesting and exciting aspect to American culture is the food. There are lots of yummy things to eat here. On top of that, any foreign food usually has a bit of an American spin to it. I've had some great Mexican food: burritos, nachos; plus some huge steak. The meat tastes great: and there's lots of it! A ham sandwich is loaded with shavings of ham... The steak is awesome, often with marbling -- something that I had eaten little of before coming here. I still see some things at the store and I think: "What the hell is that???" but I am trying quite a few different things. One peculiar thing that is often eaten here at breakfast time is 'sausage'. And it's not sausage like we think of it, it's a flat, round patty of pork that is grilled or fried and eaten with eggs. Kind of like the sausage meat in a sausage and egg mcmuffin from McDonald's. (However, point of note: the sausage patty from McDonald's--in New Zealand at least--is actually made from beef.) I've tried eating the sausage, but it gives me a tummy-ache afterwards, so I'm going to give them a break for the time being.

Lastly, here is a really interesting fact about Alaska that I only recently discovered. Alaska used to be on the other side of the International Date Line!!! Seriously!!! The International Date Line used to run through the middle of the ocean between Fiji and Samoa (roughly) and would continue along the border between Canada and Alaska!!! How about that! So Alaska used to be the first place in the world to see the sun -- not Tonga or Gisborne!!!