Walking back into Totem I realized how much I missed it. It really has become my home, and a wicked sweet home at that. I mean, where else can you live SO CLOSE to all your friends? Well, I suppose in ANY dormitory, Totem just has all of mine. :)
Anyway, I wanted to use this entry to write about my oh-so-eventful winter break, which I spent all over the place, beginning in Orange County, CA, (where I visited my best friends), then on to Washington D.C. (for a week with my mom) and then, finally, ending in Toronto, where I spent about 9 days with Max and his family. That’s right, I met my boyfriend’s family.
First off, Orange County. Max saw me off at the airport the afternoon after my last test. I cried most of the time I was in the airport. It was so scary, to cry as he saw me off. I’ve been flying alone since age 6, bouncing between parents 3 or 4 times a year, and I stopped crying at those goodbyes ten years ago. Now, all of a sudden, he’s saying goodbye and my chin is doing that involuntary wrinkle thing and I can’t call him while I am waiting at the gate because the sound of his voice will just make me cry more. It was awful. Actually, that whole trip was awful. My flights were delayed, I thought I lost my passport, I just felt entirely alone. Well once I gained some composure I managed to bury myself in a Chuck Palahniuk novel, Invisible Monsters. (I am a serious fan of Palahniuk, like, don’t even get me started on how awesome he is.) Once I arrived in LA I joined 3 of my very close friends and we went off to have IHOP, which was awesome. The rest of my stay in Orange County was spent shopping for Christmas presents, baking cookies, visiting friends, and knitting a scarf (one of my gifts to Max).
Next was Washington DC, I left the LA airport right around sunset, so as we took off I watched the sun sink low on the horizon and as we came around I could see the full moon reflected in the ocean just outside of LA. It was rather beautiful. Because of delays I ended up missing my second plane, so I got to sit in the Las Vegas airport for six hours, talking to Max, knitting, and basically just killing time. My second flight, across the United States, left at 11pm, we flew through the night. It was a horrible flight. I couldn’t get comfortable, my reading light was broken, and I was exhausted but I couldn’t sleep. I mostly just stared out the window into the dark, trying to recognize the cities below. As we came to land in Baltimore, VA the sun was rising, and I could see the same full moon glimmering in the waters of the bay. It was as though my evening had come full-circle. Mom picked me up at the airport and we drove in to DC. Once we got back to her house I fell asleep, actually I spent most of my first three days there sleeping. Once I was rested we went out and explored Washington, visiting the monuments, going to the museums, shopping a little here and there. I really love Washington DC, it’s a place that fits my mom extremely well.
Next came Toronto, and that whole flight was a blur. I mostly just listened to music and tried to keep from getting too nervous. This would be my first time meeting Max’s family. As soon as I cleared myself through customs I marched out into the airport and caught eye of Max and his mom. I threw myself into his arms, and introduced myself to his mom. She was as delightful as he had said she was. The rest of the Toronto trip was eventful. We went to all of Max’s favorite restaurants (and he has quite a few), saw a couple movies, met Max’s dad and his girlfriend Sera, went shopping, and basically just explored Toronto. But my favorite adventure was when we went up in the CN Tower…
Okay, so I have a fear of heights, as does Max, but I really wanted to see the CN Tower because I had never been to Toronto before, and Max was awesome enough to take me. It took us a little while to get there, but I got to have a Toronto hot dog from a cart on the street, which was really good. Anyway, after buying tickets we proceeded through security and up into the elevator. That dropped us off at the lookout floor. This was rather high up, but the view was fantastic. We could also go down some stairs to the glass floor…which is, literally, a glass floor. So you can walk on air. I was extremely nervous, but I managed to stand out on it for a little bit. Max refused. We then had a nice little snack as the sun set before heading up to the Sky Pod, which is another 50 stories higher than the lookout level. It was really amazing, to be so high up. It really did look like the world was at your feet. I walked around it once while Max waited near the elevator, the Sky Pod was too narrow for him. We headed down to the glass floor level again, ready to leave, when Max decided that he wanted to walk on the glass floor. We held hands and walked out on it before he leaned in and kissed me! We both felt rather proud of ourselves for conquering our fear. I think that was my favorite part of the whole trip.
Anyway, Max and I flew back to Vancouver together, and that’s where I’ve been the past few days. My break was awesome, but it really does feel nice to be home. :)