I just realized that it has been absolutely ages since I've updated this page! I can only say that lots has been going on, I'm sorry if you've been checking the site, and this is going to be a long update. Sit back, relax, grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea, or juice or your preferred beverage for long stints of reading and...enjoy!

PART I: NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT...POWDER IN FERNIE!

The first big thing that happened since I last wrote is that we got lots and lots of yummy powder on the mountains here. So much fell, in fact, that the mountain went into a bit of shock and we all had to wait a bit to play in it! We got about 70cm in 48 hours and over a metre in less than a week! The first dump happened to coincide with both a long weekend in Alberta and President's Day in the States. As we are very close to both, it was packed here!

Because the change in weather was so sudden, the mountain reacted to the onslaught of snow by letting huge piles of it slide down the mountain at unpredictable times, so many of the runs were closed off due to avalanche danger. The trees were also not too impressed with the abrupt change in temperature and protested by freezing and falling over, knocking out chair lifts and power lines all over the place and generally wreaking havoc.

So this was the situation at the bottom of the hill: People started lining up at 8am to get first tracks in the incredible snow, but due to the above mentioned difficulties, the Timber chair was the only one that was set to open...so everyone gathered there...9am came and went as the sound of avalanche bombs echoed around us....10am...and the snowball fights started...11am....and there were more than 1500 people at the bottom of the lift (more than ever before in the entire history of Fernie)...11:30 and finally there was some movement. It turns out that only 3 or 4 of the 107 runs opened and it was all tracked out in an hour. Tons of people who couldn't take the long wait times for the lift, lined up for over 2 hours to get rainchecks on their day passes and everyone was grumbling.

At the end of the weekend, all the tourists went home, the helicopters stopped dropping bombs and the whole mountain opened up! The snow had had time to settle and it hadn't stopped snowing the whole weekend. Jamie and I got to the hill really early and were on the 3rd chair to the top....I am still speechless...it was a fantastic day!

And then, just as the snow finally came...we left Fernie for a week!

PART II: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOHN, NAOMI AND RENEE (MOM)

We took the bus to Calgary, arriving in the evening and intending to get a taxi to Steve, Nina and Dave's house, but decided to ask the taxi driver to drop us off at a restaurant close by instead...we lugged our huge bags into the Chinese restaurant, gorged ourselves, and then realized we had no idea where we were, or where our friends lived and that we might freeze to death if we tried looking for their place as it was about minus 10 000 degrees outside! We walked to a gas station to ask for directions and a really nice woman felt sorry for us and offered to drive us! She dropped us off, and then we found out that no one was home! Luckily for us we got in anyway and it all ended happily (thanks again guys!).

The next morning we flew to Victoria, just in time to celebrate Jamie's stepfather John's 60th Birthday! The party was a black tie affair and was at the swanky Deep Cove Chalet. Everyone looked gorgeous and I felt very posh sipping champagne and tasting amazing dishes like cariboo filet and grand marnier souffle! I met all kinds of interesting people, including a man who makes a living writing about his travels and adventures...hhhmmmm... sounds like fun....and old family friends of Jamie's who were able to tell me all his secrets...just kidding! I was the photographer of the evening and kept my new digital camera clicking all night...here's a cute one of John, Dodie and Jamie.

Happy birthday John! And just when the clock struck twelve and the party was winding down, it was MY birthday!!!!

On my birthday Jamie took me out for a day of shopping, then for a nice dinner and a movie - fun, relaxing and great! I also got to use my present from Jamie's parents - a yummy, delicious gift certificate from Chapters!

Before heading back to Fernie, I also got to celebrate my birthday with my parents! My Mom and I have the same birthday, so it's always nice when we can celebrate together. The last two years we couldn't as I was in Japan, so this was especially nice. We met up in Vancouver and opened presents (big orange pants from Julia, a fleecy scarf from my Mom and a great furry top from Mom and Dad - thanks, I love them!). Then we explored the city a bit, including Granville island (here's a photo of my Dad and Jamie in the amazing market) and generally oohed and aahed at each other as we've all been working hard at the gym and we all noticed! We had a great dinner at a seafood restaurant and then said goodnight. Very short, but it was so nice to see both of you!!

PART III: OUR NEW APARTMENT!!!

The day of our flight back to Fernie was very very busy! We had four hours to travel all around North Vancouver, find an apartment and visit Capilano College, where Jamie is hoping to start in September. We visited about ten different places, some great, some gross and some with drunken landlords, and finally settled on the very first one we saw!!!! Ah well, at least we know we shopped around! It's bright, big, and even has a patio! Now we just have to furnish it and move in. Once that's all done, please add us to your international tatami timeshare plan! Here's Jamie in front of our new place.

Whew! Did you get all that?! I promise to try and deliver my news in smaller chunks in the future!

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Today was our last day up on the mountain.

Before I get into that though, I wanted to show you some cool photos I took at the Fernie Big Air Competition for Snowboarders (the skiiers went the day before, but I didn't get any photos).

As you can see, some of the locals did get some "big air". There were also a lot of spills, crunches, crashes and tears, but I didn't get any of that on film - I like to focus on the positive, you know!

I didn't enter the competition as I'm not quite at that level yet and one of my goals has been to make it through the season in one piece, but I do think I've improved a lot. During this season, I've discovered a few things about my boarding, including the fact that I am a powder snob. Let's face it, learning to snowboard involves a lot of falling down and when the snow is packed hard and icy, it hurts! When there's powder I'm much more confident and relaxed because it's easier to get in a groove and I know that even if I do fall, it won't hurt. As with any sport, the more relaxed you are, the less likely you are to hurt yourself, so lots of powder means less falling down and fewer bruises, which is always good! Plus, there's no better feeling than leaning back on a snowboard and surfing through the trees in deep powder!

It feels strange in a way, to be leaving this little town that we've lived in for the past couple of months. We've made some friends here, Jamie got involved with the local judo club, we taught some classes at Fernie Senior High School, and I've got used to seeing spectacular snow-capped mountains, no matter which way I'm facing. Still, I don't feel like I really made a connection here. Most of the people we met are here for the season just like us, and in many ways it reminds me of Jasper, Alberta (where I lived and worked for a few months one summer while I was at University) - a large transient population that plays and parties hard during the high season and then leaves as soon at the season ends. I really have no idea what Fernie might be like once all the tourists and ski bums leave in a few weeks. I have had a great time here and the laid back schedule (or lack of one) has given me a chance to really relax, unwind and gear myself up for entry into the "real world". I've needed this time of transition just to get used to the idea that very possibly, I will soon have a 9-5 job (and believe me, that's a strange idea that needed lots of pondering since I haven't had permanent employment since last July!!). I think I've done enough thinking about it now and I'm far too excited about moving to Vancouver and starting this next adventure to be sad about the end of this one.

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is packing. I hate packing. I just have to look at it as the dues I must pay to travel and then it doesn't seem so bad. At least this time I won't have to suffer through the worst part about packing...deciding what to take and what to leave behind, because we're taking everything!

Actually, there's one more thing that I'm not really excited about and that is the 18+ hour bus ride we will be taking. I guess I can't really complain about it too much though - it's cheap, and at least it isn't the three-day-with-no-stop-longer-than-thrity-minutes trip that Macarena (a really nice Australian girl who came to stay with us a couple of weeks ago) took from Toronto to Vancouver!!!

Once we get to Vancouver, we'll be without internet hook-up for a few days, but as soon as we're back up and running, I'll let you know how moving into our first apartment together is going! We've got a big order of IKEA stuff coming, so we'll be knee deep in Allen keys, sandpaper and varnish for a little while, but once it's all done, I'll post some "before and after" photos so you can see the beginning of the transformation of our little place.

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