My week and a bit

Monday morning at around 10 o'clock Sara and I left to go meet Emily, Sara's friend, from there we went to our University Campus to get textboo in my case; The Great Gatsby, Macbeth and Of Mice and Men (Macbeth and Of Mice and Men I have already read). After that we went to a mall to pick up back to school essentials. And that was pretty much Monday.

Tuesday Sara and I went to Cathedral Grove a forest reserve where the trees stand tall and Little Qualicum Falls a set of waterfalls in a gorge. It was fun, the trees were huge and the falls were really neat. It was a really fun day. I also got some good pictures.

Wednesday we went into town to ask about health insurance and such for me, as I am not sure if I am still covered in Germany. All week Sara and I had been feeding the sheep and geese. Rather uneventful, if you ask me. However on this day it was slightly more interesting as, as I was carrying the hay for the sheep to the roofed feeding trough I clipped the top of my head on one of the crossbars. After further inspection I noticed that the crossbar was not only a very solid chunk of metal but also a very flat piece of metal. This then feeding wound then began to seep and for hours was pounding. For the evening we had invited over two of Sara's friends to play Minecraft. And did so in style until 2 am.

Thursday was ROCK THE VIU, an orientation day in your classes with fun, games and food. It was fun and I got to meet some of my soon to be classmates, Sara and I got some free merch and I found out that my class doesn't start until the 9th, which I must still verify. In the afternoon Sara took a well deserved nap and I to my horror found out that Microsoft in a pathetic attempt to force loyal customers to buy more accessories only sold a transformer block on the cable which can only handle voltage from 200 - 240 who would do this in a day and age where moving and traveling happens so readily answer. MICROSOFT. if you hadn't guessed already it is a very touchy subject especially after I just bought Xbox Live and now may not be able to use it for another week or so. Thursday night Sara's friend Sabina came to visit before she left for her first semester at a School called Quest. It was cool being able to meet her before she leaves.

Friday Sara and I began work on the basement. Pretty much just applying putty on all the dents and holes in the walls. A rather uneventful day.

Saturday was an early morning as we wanted to be in I Victoria at 8, to move Sara's brother, so we had to leave at 6. It took the better part of the day. The great thing though is that I got the Canadian Xbox power cable yay! Then we spent that night hanging out with the family. Sunday was my first visit to mt. Arrowsmith corps, it was a lot of fun. Then after church we had a family dinner thing, lots of good food and company. It was during this that I drove the Argo, see blue vehicle below. At night we got our zombie estate going. So much fun.

Monday we drove to visit Sara's great grandma who is 98 years old. Then we said by to Sara's brother who is now living with in Kelowna. When we got home Sara and I began priming the walls, when we were done that sara went to bed because today is her first day at uni and I played a couple of games of Battlefield 3. 

Now I am about to continue painting the basement after having fed the sheep and skyping with; Matt, Lisa, Sarah, Patrick and my nieces and nephew. 

Cameron Lake. Crystal clear and surrounded by water.

The Big Tree... The really big tree.

Sara and the Big Tree

Look how blue the water is!

The Little Qualicum Falls River.

The River again...

The Little Qualicum Falls

THE ARGO!!!

Cowboys and actual hills

I have safely arrived in Calgary, the furthest west I have ever been. There actual hills here and you can see the rockies, only partly in the picture because of the clouds. But a cowboy I saw up close in the security terminal paisley shirt sunburnt and cowboy boots, I was disappointed about the lack of hat, but the father son duo behind me made up for it with flying colours.

Tomorrow's the big day!

Tomorrow morning at 7 am local time, 1pm in Germany and 10am on Vancouver Island, I will be boarding my flight to Calgary and then onwards to Victoria. It feels like I have been waiting for this forever, however it has only really been just shy of two months! I am very excited about this adventure and ready, at least I think so, for it. So here I go on an adventure. I so psyched that I can share it with you no matter where you are!

Golf, Kroc Center, Outlet mall and Tony's

So every time we have come back to Canada for our summer holiday, when in Michigan, the adult boys always went golfing. This time Micah , Carson and I went along. My first time real golfing and I didn't even do too bad. The next day was Thursday. This day the guys (Carson, Micah, Uncle George, Dad and I) all crammed into our little Chevi Impala. We drove three hours to grand rapids where we boys spent all day swimming, rock climbing and playing video games in the center. We then met up with the women to eat at an excellent buffet restaurant, The Golden Corral. Friday was our last real shopping day. We went to a large outlet mall; with shops like Levi's, Nike, Reebok. We spent all day in the mall... It was a long shopping spree. After we were done we went to a restaurant called Tony's. This is a restaurant where what you order is for four people NOT ONE! I did not finish. But just to explain the size of food. Dad's omelette was made with a full dozen eggs, that is a lot. After rolling out of the restaurant we drove home and found out that for breakfast today, we are going to the Golden Corral.

Grandma.

My grandma is here! She was really sick 2 years ago but she came down to spend the week end with all her kids, grand kids and great grand kids.

When in America do as the Americans do...

At my aunt's house in Michigan, USA (the last time we were here, 4 years ago) we shot a 12 gauge shotgun and a 22 caliber rifle. This time my cousin Gary brought along a few guns from his collection. Including what I would like to call a ristol, a gun that looks like a long pistol but fires rifle ammo. Quite the gun. We also fired a magnum handgun, NOT THE SAME SIZE AS DIRTY HARRY'S, but I now have a new found respect for guys that can actually shoot handguns. Also there was a double barrel shotgun which we noticed a wee bit later was loaded with extra strength shells and those at 12 gauge packed a punch. With four shotguns at the ready we then started shooting clay pigeons, which is a lot harder then one would think. All in all a fun and loud day.

Burgers and Baseball

Today for lunch we ate Burgers, Hotdogs, potato salad, noodle salad and lots of deserts. Not long after lunch I was called and told we were playing catch, which turned into a full game of baseball. AWESOME!

Blacklight golfing and bowling.

On Monday we all, Micah, Mom, Dad, Daniel and Bhreagh (second shout-out)  Grandma and Grandpa and I all went to an indodor blacklight mini golfing place which was quite cool. However before I get a head of myself, on the way to the mini golf place Daniel driving just in front of us decided to hit a dead skunk which when re-hit sprayed it stench all into our car (disgusting). There were two teams, the spring-chickens and the dino-golfers. I can only speak for my own team but we had great fun. After this was finished we went to the bowling alley palasad. Which on Mondays had 1$ games, we played two, the second of which was much better. Then we rushed over to Swiss Chalet, where Micah and Daniel decided would be an excellent spot for a spitball battle. I apologize for the lack of photos this time around. Right now I am in Michigan , USA with my mother's family. Today I went with my cousin, Carson, and Micah to a driving range where once we got there realized we only had right handed clubs and Micah and I both bat left so we looked like floundering fish. Pictures will be coming soon of this part of my trip. Next week we will be at the Kroc center in grand rapids, hopefully many pictures from that.

1 Week in Canada

Sorry this is so late!

So I am now one week into my holiday here. Some days have been busy and great while others the "hangout" days have been less great. Micah arrived on Thursday in London Ontario at 11pm, after a great day in Toronto including dinner at Moxie's (the steakhouse and grill equivalent to hooters) with my parents session mates (their friends that trained with them at the training college) it was a fun night. Friday we started off with a slow morning but by noon uncle Ron and aunt Judi had arrived and the boys went out to play catch. The day ended with grandma and grandpa; mom and dad; Micah and I going to a London Majors' baseball game. It was a great game and the four boys in front of us added to the entertainment along with the guy just behind yelling things at the opposing team such as "you're as slow as when you played" (directed at the 1st base coach), "You're limping, now you're limping" (at the opposing batter who pulled his muscle sprinting) and finally "how did that feel ump?" (Directed at the first base umpire who got hit by a ball). Saturday not much happened, we went to a thrift store, I didn't find anything, in the evening Micah and I went to watch The Wolverine. Today we went to Woodstock Ontario corps and visited Bill and Sue O'Neil ate burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob and pie. Fun day.

Finally Canada

After a 23 hour day, I finally arrived in London Ontario at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was a long day but it was fun. Security in the States makes everyone feel like a criminal, however the boarder patrolman did not ask one serious question. His were directed at what sports I like the teams I support, perhaps because I am Canadian, but if this were the case why do I have to stand in the international passports line? Why can't Canadians simply go into the U.S citizen line where there are an entirety of 12 people, in the time I worked my way to the end of the international line. It took me from 2:30 to 16:30 to get from my airplane to my next flight's gate. But at long last I arrived safely in London, Ontario. I am now visiting with my father's parents, next week I will be with my mother's family in Michigan. In twenty days I will finally be with Sara again, it has felt much longer than four weeks. Looking forward to all that we have planned.

My Last Post in Germany

Hey guys,
This is gonna be my last post in Germany! Tomorrow morning at 6.15 I will be leaving for Frankfurt International Airport (Not Frankfurt Hahn Airport, little shout out to Dad, Dan and Bhreagh) with parents, Micah follows on the 8th due to University exams.
My flight leaves at noon but due to the 3 hour a head of time Check-in I have to be at the Airport for 9, but I am going with my parents, who's flight leaves an hour earlier, hence Luke arrives four hours ahead of his flight's departure (YAY). I have a 5 hour overlay tomorrow in Chicago hopefully I will have time to post some more.
I will miss Germany and all who have left me with food for thought, whether it be to aspire to be like them or to learn from their shortcomings. It's been great Germany and it's not you it's me. Sometimes great things come to an end. Yet more often then not better things are to follow.

Because there were no pictures in my last post.

Just a short packing update!

Sorry that I didn't take any pictures but the boxes are off! 2 more sleeps! Now I am cleaning my room for the last time (at least this one, that is). I'll be writing a longer post mid-week next week. So keep an eye out for it.