And he's in BANFF baby

31st March 2011
So here I am reporting from an aeroplane of all places. With 20 minutes left before I land in Calgary I was trying to think of ways to kill the time – so a blog seemed like the best idea. Sleeping would be ideal however it will be 2pm in the afternoon when I land, better to save all that tiredness to sync up with the Canadian time zone!! – Oh Joy! In the 10 days I was back in the UK I just managed to get the sleeping pattern back for there, now I need to re-adjust yet again! I hope I am ok for my exams. They start on the 4th April.
So I am currently going through that nervous/excited feeling of yet another adventure! This one in a new part of Canada – I have never been to the state of Alberta and am certainly looking forward to Snowboarding in the Rockies. I have exams in Lake Louise and Sunshine Villiage so I will get to see 2 amazing resorts. I am really looking forward to picturesque beauty and tranquillity for sure!!
I had to close the laptop down as the plane was landing. However to continue after landing, going through customs was not as painful as it normally is and Matt was there in his Toyota Corolla to pick me up. It was good to see him and I was so grateful for everything he was doing for me. It was amazing driving through from Calgary to Banff, I loved out of nowhere, the horizon changed from and before you knew it you could see this epic mountain range in front of you. It was truly beautiful. I tried to get pictures to capture the beauty but unfortunately they didn’t do it justice. Matt and I were catching up on the journey home and stopped off at Costco to do some shopping. I managed to organise a bank account card for my Canadian Savings Account and dumped a load of cash into the account so I wouldn’t have to carry it. I converted all of the yens I had saved from Japan into Canadian Dollars – there looks like there might be enough for me to survive but its going to be tough not earning in the mountains. Matt was telling me how slammed Norquay Mountain Ski School were, and suggested I could do a couple of hours of lessons for a free pass for the mountain. I gratefully accepted the offer so I could get some free snowboarding in and check out Norquay. I am up early tomorrow to start with the school. The thought of working for the school does amuse me a little given I know nothing about the mountain or the products the school sells etc... but it should work out.
When we arrived into Banff I settled into Matts lovely little place, we had some dinner and then went for a stroll around Banff town. It is a typical ski town and I absolutely love being back in the small Canadian ski town scene. It is soo nice to be around friendly people and just those who share the same passion as you!
As we were strolling through some of the shops, I bumped into a friend from Hemel Snowdome – Charlotte Kierle! It was so random I didnt even know she was here – we caught up and she seems to be living the dream in Canada doing winter after winter and just enjoying life – sounds familiar . It was great to see a friendly face for sure!
I met Matts lovely girlfriend Mandii in the evening after she finished work and we talked for a while about stuff and now after being awake for 24hrs I am tucked up in my little sofa bed just waiting to put my head down. I will report further later but for now its sleepy time.

Much love
Koo