Thursday, December 23, 2010

Wild World

“Oh baby, baby it’s a wild world.”
                        -    Wild World by Cat Stevens

While I was in the Toronto airport, waiting for the plane to London, I was listening to a shuffled playlist of all my songs on my ipod and this lovely tune came on. I was happy to hear such a mellow melody as I had been waiting for over 4 hours for this darn flight! Yet, as I listened to the words of the song, I realised that it wasn’t a soothing message at all, for the situation I found myself. What Cat Stevens is essentially doing in this song is warning his lady friend of the dangers of the world. So, as I sat in the airport facing the large window that displayed the giant plane I would soon be getting on to take me out into this “wild world”, this song wasn’t exactly as calming as I would have liked. It is rather discouraging that one of his first lines says,

“A lot of nice things turn bad out there.”

However, now that I have successfully come out on the other side of the first day of my travels, I have concluded that Mr. Stevens is a little too world-weary.
I completely disagree with his verse,

“It’s hard to get by just upon a smile, girl.”

In my experience, this is just simply not the case. If, by ‘smile’, he means being nice, well, as a traveller I am inclined to reject this theory. 
Don’t get me wrong, I am not being naïve in thinking that I can smile my way through a successful travelling experience. But I truly believe that it is not hard to get by when being a kind person. Actually, I think that the truth is quite opposite to what the song says. It is much easier to do well in this world by being pleasant than it is by being pessimistic and unsociable. Wouldn’t you agree? Like, get real Cat Stevens.
Yesterday alone, I experienced many cases where my happy demeanour played a roll in making my life easier. Let me eloborate.
When checking my baggage I was shocked to hear that my carry-on was only allowed to be 5 kilos when I thought it was allowed to be 11. I looked at the Air Transat regulations (because that’s who I booked with) and I was flying with an airline that was not Air Transat. So my carry-on was 4 kilos over. And on top of that, my checked baggage was 1 kilo over. The penalty for weight overage was 20 dollars per kilo. I had to pay 100 dollars because the man behind the desk told me I should check both bags. My response to that was “You’re joking, right?” I seriously thought he was pulling my leg. And when he assured me that it was not a joke I am sure my face demonstrated a not-so-impressed look. BUT, I didn’t put up a fuss and got out my credit card. And surely for that reason he lowered my fine by 20 dollars. Woohoo!
Later on in the day I was delighted to meet up with two friends. One friend is from back home (Calla) and the other is one that I met cherry picking this summer (Milo). I have to say, Calla is turning out to be a perfect travelling partner. Milo, who is from England, was so helpful in showing us around the Southbank in London and he even brought us to the Tate Modern Art Gallery for something to do while he went to meet up with a friend. He took us to the outdoor Christmas market along the water where we had a delicious Bratwurst sausage from a German sausage tent and watched kids play in a human snow globe. Now, had I not been a pleasant person to Milo upon meeting him this summer and had I not befriended Calla back home, my first day here in London would not have been as rewarding.
Finally, last night we stayed in a strangers home; courtesy of couchsurfing.org. Now, based on the lyrics of his song, Cat Stevens would not have been impressed with this decision (and neither was my father).

“Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there, just remember there’s a lot of bad anywhere.”

I am happy to say that Sami, the guy we stayed with, was very nice and extremely welcoming – a newfound friend, indeed. Yet, keeping in mind that the experience could have been less fortunate, Calla and I had a code word to say in case either of us felt uncomfortable. That word was not needed in this particular case and everything worked out well.

See! Being adventurous, yet cautious as well as utilizing your smile can get you far in travelling.

Now, in Brockley, I sit in a quaint little coffee shop with comfy couches and eccentric artsy décor. Calla and I are about to get on a train back into the city to run some errands before Natalie arrives later today. We have decided not to stay at Sami’s again tonight because it is a little too small to add another person for sleeping comfort levels. So, we are going to look for a hostel to sleep at tonight.

But for now, I will enjoy this relaxing atmosphere with reggae music and hot coffee – in this not-so-wild world.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

I Hope You Dance

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger...
And if you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance."
                                - I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack

I chose to use this song for my first blog for many reasons.
This past summer I had a discussion with a couple of my friends who were not too partial to this song and not so convinced by its obvious inspirational value. I, on the other hand, see this song to be very uplifting and inspiring. So naturally I fought for the integrity of this lovely ballad but in the end we just had to agree to disagree. So this blog is for you guys! You know who you are and I hope I can still try to change your mind!
The second reason I chose this song is because it was my grade 8 graduation song (inspirational, right?) To accompany the motivating message of this tune, my grade 8 teacher read aloud the Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You'll Go!
This book's beginning lines are so perfect for me as I sit in the Toronto airport...

"Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!"

The messages of both the song and the book that my teacher chose to use are clear.
They encourage us to get up and do something fulfilling with our life. Lee Ann Womack's words,

"I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean"

is one of my favourite verses. It helps us to keep our modesty in check and reminds us to stay humble.
The line,

"Life's a great balancing act!"

in Dr. Seuss's book is also a reminder to keep grounded.


Another line in Womack's song that I would like to recognize states,

"I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking."

This verse especially speaks to me while I sit in this airport, waiting to board my flight. Although I have sorted out a lot of what is going to happen in the first two weeks when I arrive in Europe, it's not in my nature to have everything planned out perfectly. So, those "mountains in the distance", well, I'm not afraid of them, but I am curious as to what adventures they have in store for me!

So, here I am. Not sitting it out. I'm dancing!



Just a quick point-form list of my plans thus far:

Dec 22nd - fly to London, meet Calla (friend from home), meet Milo(friend from cherry picking and London resident) for lunch and sightseeing, stay at Sami's (couchsurfer friend) www.couchsurfing.org
Dec 23rd - meet up with Natalie (bestie from university) and more sightseeing
Dec 24th - say goodbye to Calla :( and check in to Clink hostel (www.clinkhostels.com/) for Christmas Eve!
Dec 25th - spend Christmas in London with bestie Natalie
Dec 26th - take 9hr bus ride from London, England to Edinburgh, Scotland
Dec 26th-28th - view potential homes and meet potential flatmates whilst staying with Cam (another couchsurfer friend)
Dec 29th - fly from Edinburgh, Scotland to Dublin, Ireland
Dec 29th-Jan 2nd - sightseeing and partying in Dublin to bring in the new year right!
Jan 3rd - say goodbye to Natalie as she returns to her aupair job in France
Jan 3rd-5th - spend a little more time with my friends in Dublin
Jan 5th - fly from Dublin, Ireland back to Edinburgh, Scotland, move in, and begin my Scottish life!

Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog post! 

ta ta for now!