BY PLANE, TRAIN, AND AUTOMOBILE (AND FERRY!!)

It's true. Television rots one's brain. Really.

Since I've been back in the Land Of The Gogglebox, I've not written a single blog entry. I could lie and say that I've been spending the entire time with my family (which would be almost true) but the truth is that in the evenings, instead of heading to the computer, I've been plugged into mind-numbing episodes of "Extreme Makeover Home Edition", "While You Were Out" (I sense a home reno theme), and, most embarassingly, "Las Vegas". I HAVE tempered this muck by watching the requisite Good Canadian allotment of CBC and Peter Mansbridge.

So, in the time I've not been reporting back to you, our friend Cathy (from Vancouver) visited us in Cambridge. It was great to have a visitor from "home" and she and Ray got to explore the Cambridge sights. I worked the ENTIRE time she was there but did get to see her for dinner and on my lunch break...this means, of course (Cathy are you listening?!) that she'll have to come back in the summer months when we can take her punting and I can actually take some time off work. Here's hoping that by summertime I will no longer be employed in the retail sector. But I digress; after Cathy's visit we attended a great dinner party thrown by Claire and Ian and the next day we started our trek back to Gibsons.

Our travels went like this:

Monday (Dec. 20) - I worked 7am-4pm, leaving Ray in charge of getting our flat ready to be abandoned for 3 weeks (take out garbage, turn heat down but not off so that the pipes don't freeze and burst, all that good stuff). Got home at 4:30, packed like a mad fiend and then Sultan and Bietta drove us to the train station. Hopped on the Cambridge-Kings Cross express, then took the Tube all the way across the city to Heathrow (25 Tube stops along the way). Caught a cab from Heathrow to our hotel near the airport, and finally got to bed by around 10pm. Note to London taxi drivers: we may sound like ignorant tourists, but WE DO NOTICE when you start the meter running and then go back to talk with your buddies. I can assure you that the tip you did not get would have been greater than the extra money on your meter.

Tuesday (Dec. 21) - VERY early wakeup call. Does the concierge not realize that it is poor form to chuckle when a guest requests a 4am wakeup? In any case, we were eager to get on our way and the fact that the hotel room had a SHOWER certainly softened the reality of having to get up at such an unGodly hour. Caught the shuttle bus to the airport and checked in without a hassle - thank goodness for self-serve check ins - made it through security without a hitch and then had 2 1/2 hours to kill in Heathrow. At least there were a lot of shops to browse through and keep us occupied. Caught our first plane at 9am and arrived in Toronto without a hitch at noon their time (8ish hour flight), then rushed to get through customs and have our baggage reloaded before grabbing our next flight to Vancouver. Thank goodness we made it through Pearson International before the snow storm hit a few days later! After 4 1/2 flying across the country (had fun explaining that to my English co-workers: yes, you can fly for hours and hours and STILL be only partway across Canada) we landed in Vancouver at sunset, 4pm local time. Stepping off the plane felt like landing in Hawaii - it is warmer in Vancouver than Cambridge at the moment - but better, because in the airport we had FAMILY to meet us!! Piled into the car to drive across the city, only to miss the ferry by two cars (heck - at least the boats were running this time around). Had dinner in a pub in Horseshoe Bay, then finally arrived in Gibsons and got to bed around 10pm - 26 hours after we started our journey.

Wednesday (Dec. 22) - What, you expect me to remember what we did on the day after the above-described journey, and switching eight time zones??

Thursday (Dec. 23) - Only being able to blame being dopey on jet lag for one day, my loved ones are forced to concede that working in UK retail really has affected my brain cells (and not in a good way). I resolve to redouble my efforts to find a suitable research position early in 2005.

In the intervening days, we have had a wonderful time visiting with our families and friends (and shamefully watching a wee bit of television). Christmas was lovely and I hope that all of you had a very nice holiday as well. Ray and I are finding it very nice to be back in a familiar place where we don't have to worry about figuring out how to get groceries, remember to keep our electricity meter filled, and can shower daily (twice! daily, if we feel like it). But at the same time, we have worked - and are working - hard to make Cambridge feel like home and we will be in good shape when it comes time to return to the Wee Island.

While many of you are on holidays, I bet you don't want to spend all of your time reading this blog. So I'll wind this up for now and be back in a few days, depending on whether I can resist getting sucked back into TV-land. Happy New Year to you all!

As an endnote to my otherwise cheery report: My thoughts and sympathy are with the people of South East Asia this week. I know that writing this sentiment out in a blog isn't going to be of any help to the people who have been affected by the disaster, but my sorrow over this event is forefront in my thoughts this week.