Chapel Hill and Wilmington, NC

So the rest of North Carolina went well. After Asheville, we went further instate to this town called Chapel Hill. Smack dab in the middle of the state, it was far away from mountains or any body of water so the weather was hawt and humid. We stayed with this really cool chick, Danielle. First night she invited us to join her and her friends for a vegetarian potluck. The food was delicious. Ever since meeting Divya (who's a vegetarian herself) I've learned to have a greater appreciation for not just vegetables- I always loved veggies- but also veg food such as tofu. And after spending nearly a whole month with her I've tried things I never thought I'd try, such as tofurky, boca burgers, and veg bologna. I know, my father the carnivore would be disappointed in me. But I have to say, I've grown to like these meat alternatives. Shhh don't tell my family. Right, back to my story.

Then that night at Chapel Hill, Div and I went out with a guy named JD who we'd met at the potluck. He took us to a few venues and we heard a few bands amidst trying new wines and beers. For such a small place, Chapel Hill definitely is a hopping place in terms of music. Feist is stopping there on her tour so the place must be cool. The next day Div and I hopped on her dad's benz (I know, we were poor students traveling on a low budget, on a not so low budget car) to a city called Wilmington. Wilmington is by the Atlantic ocean. And one of the reasons Div and I picked this place is because we wanted to spend some time at the beach, and also Div wanted to introduce me to the Atlantic ocean, which I'd never set foot in before. So to the beach we went, and Div has a great photo of me holding my skirt and clenching my teeth as the cold Atlantic water is washing over my feet. We stayed there with this guy name Bobby. We had a great time with him. The word "groovy" was part of his daily vocabulary so I was a big fan of him. He took us to this cute little sushi place that had Japanese anime artwork all over the walls. With sushi he made us try plum wine. A-amazing.

Then we went to a bar and tried some awesome martinis. Mine wasn't so awesome. It was called "Choco cherry cheesecake." How could you go wrong?? You can, then it's mostly cherry based. And then we ended off the night by going to a gay bar and watching a drag show, and then dancing the night away. The next day we drove back to Maryland (to her parent's place) and that's where I've been since. I fly back home tomorrow and get back to "real life." It's been an awesome month. A great break from home, school etc. But I'm ready to head back and do all the things I have to do. Find a second job, start my summer course, and look forward to summer in general. I shall upload some photos on here in a few days. Until then, toodle doo!

North Carolina: Asheville

So Div's family and I have helped her move all her stuff from her college town to her family's home in Maryland. It was a long wonderful drive. Div and I were in one car with her two year old nephew, Alex. He's adorable. I often want to squish him. We came back to Maryland and Div and I hung around for around 5 days. She took me into DC and showed me the White House, US house of Treasury and other important government building s and crap. It was weird to actually stand in front of buildings that I see in the news all the time. We also went to the Museum of Natural History which was fascinating. I am a geek, I am well aware. Alex's 2nd birthday party and Divya's graduation party was this past Saturday which was filled with food, a sponge bob pinata, a moon bounce and a BBQ.

Anyway, so yesterday Div and I left for the long anticipated road trip to North Carolina. We arrived at NC yesterday. We're starting on the west side of the state and working our way to the east. So right now we're staying in the amazing little town called Asheville. If you ever get the chance to come here, do! It's filled with Art Deco and Victorian architecture. The downtown area has heaps of boutiques, trendy shops, "ethnic" (there's that word again) restaurants, music shops, and artist guilds everywhere. The bohemian lifestyle definitely attracts a person such as me. Much like the neighbourhood I lived in last year in Sydney. Anyway, we're staying with a couple here, Laura and Lindsey and their hospitality has been amazing. They let us tag along with them yesterday with all their friends to cheap martini night, and then told us how to drive to the Pisgah National Forest before we went to bed. So today Div and I got up and headed to the national forest and went on a grueling 14 km hike. We climbed one of the Appalachian Mountains and the view on top was breathtaking. On the way back we stopped at a natural water slide. It's a 60 feet slanted rock that has water rushing down it into a big pool. The water melts from the tops of the mountains so it's freezing! We slid down and when I fell into the pool the rush of cold water woke up every cell on my body. I should upload those photos and put them on here soon. Anyway, tonight we're going out with them again. To- I can't tell you. It's PG 15 so I can't be writing about it here in case you're below that age. Ha. Anyway, tomorrow we're headed to another city in North Carolina called Chapel Hill. I'll keep you updated. Lots of love.

Highlights from my trip so far (part II)

My cousin and I pretending to be hobos in the streets of Queens, NYC



Cedar Point (Ohio). Apparently one of the greatest amusement parks around.



1950s style diners rock my world. Even if they're of the "chain restaurant" type. The red leather booths, oldschool jukeboxes, to the photos up on the walls...



Divya's grad dinner/dance. She wore my clothes and I wore hers. Black and white we were.

Highlights from my trip so far (part I)

The midwest- in a town of 8000

So I left NYC on Sunday for Ohio. I left 10 in the morning on a greyhound and after severel pickup and drop offs (at Syracuse, Buffalo etc) I arrived in Cleveland, Ohio at 10:30 pm. It was a long arse day on the bus. But, I made a new friend so it wasn't a complete waste of time. His name is Ramiz and he was returning to Chicago from Syracuse. He works in construction and moved to Chicago 4 years ago from Bosnia. We sat beside each other from the busride from Buffalo to Cleveland and bonded over topics such as soccer, relationships, the military...you know, the usual. When he heard that I was meeting up with my girlfriend Divya in Ohio and would be travelling with her in June he gave me his business card and told me that I should drag Div along with me to Chicago and we could crash at his and he'd love to show us around. So since Divya has picked me up from Cleveland and brought me to the small town of Oberlin, Ohio at her college campus, I've-

- Explored the town with her, and have gotten an extensive tour of her college campus
- Been accompanying her to 'senior week' events such as 90s themed dance parties, stand up comedy nights, etc
- Watched Spider-man 3 for 3 bucks at the local theatre with Divya and laughed our arses off. We have since decided that an emo superhero is what's been missing in our lives
- Went out to dinner at the local chinese/japanese restaurant. Being from Vancouver, I have high expectations when it comes to sushi. I was a bit hesitant to try sushi in a state that DOESN't border an ocean, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food.
- Have been working daily with Div to plan our roadtrip to North Carolina in June. So far, so good.
- Am getting Divya mentally prepared for graduation -which is in a few days- and am looking forward to seeing all her family again. They are driving up here from DC this Saturday.

The weather has gotten really hot these past few days. It's been 31 degrees during the day! That's Vancouver at its highest during the summer! Divya lives in a co-op housing and her room is on the very top floor so all the heat rises to that level at night and since she leaves for DC every year around this time she never got a fan or an AC. We've been sleeping semi naked and flopping around like fish on dry land trying to find a non sweating position on our mattresses. Anyway, that's all for now. I will upload some photos and post them on here very very soon. Ciao for now!

The city girl meets her challenge: a city just too damn "large" to keep up with

So I arrived in NY on Monday and have been scoping out the scene here since. I'm staying at my aunt's. She and the fam have moved houses since I've last been in this city. Now they live in a nice rich neighbourhood between Brooklyn and Queens. It's funny, their house falls under Brooklyn but the neighbouring 5 houses fall under Queens.

It's been awesome being able to explore NYC on my own. I love wandering around in foreign cities not knowing where the heck I'm going. But I must say/brag, I'm very good with public transportation. Maybe it's from the years of commuting around Vancity due to the lack of my drivers license but I'm just awesome at figuring out public transporation in new cities. My aunt was well impressed with my ability to just pick up a map and trodd all over town on the subway and bus and not get lost. Even in a city as overwhelming as New York. So far in the big apple I've:

-Pranced around the greater Times Square area numerous times

-Tried to get a ticket to my favourite musical ever, Wicked, and failed. And cried. No I didn't cry but I spent the rest of the day at the Museum of the City of New York and looked at the history of Broadway shows instead. And the history of jewish immigrants in NYC as well as the history of every other thing related to this city.

-Visited a childhood friend of mine, Popy,(who just had a baby girl, Shiloh) and spent the whole day with them. We hadn't seen each other in 5 years so there was a lot of catching up to do. She showed me some interesting parts of town like the rich jewish neighberhoods, Jackson Heights, and Jamaica Ave (where we got manicures and pedicures done for 12 bucks!) I also met her husband Jose and helped him put together an Ikea table only to realize it was too big for their living room.

-Hung out with my aunt, uncle and my cousins and have fallen in love with their dog. He's a Yorkshire Terrier and his name in Pluto. He has ditched the rest of the family and sleeps on my bed with me and follows me everywhere. He probably weighs less than 5 pounds and I often have the urge to squish him to death he's so cute.

-Been analyzing the subculture that is the "subway lifestyle." Hiphop artists breaking out and doing their thang on the train, on the platform of the stations, hearing accents from all over the place and being surrounded by people of every age, class, and race imaginable.

-Tomorrow I will be meeting up with my mom's ex-classmate's son, John. Or just simply family friends. When I was last in NY him and I were both in high school so it'll be interesting to catch up and see how he's been. Apparently he works at a law firm in Empire State Building and that's where he's taking me so...you know, just another typical day in Zen's life. NOT.

That's all for now. I'll be leaving this overpopulated all important city on Sunday for Ohio. It's a 13 hour bus ride from here to Cleveland. Mmmmm. I cannot wait. Until then,

xoxoxoxox

Just a little down south

I'd originally opened this blog for my exchange trip to Australia and thought I wasn't going to use it once I'd return to Canada. And since I've come back, I've only written one post so it has pretty much been left to sit and twiddle its cyber thumbs.

However, after 5 months in Canada my heart grew restless and off I went to travel around again. Ok, I won't pretend I'm in a distant, exotic (as much as I hate using that word) country. I'm in the U S of freakin A. The land of one dollar notes, iced tea with syrup only upon request, and less tax. The lack of tax rocks. So I figured maybe I'll only write on my blog when I'm traveling...? Ha. I won't be writing on this thing much during the next year. But here goes-

Since I've left Vancouver on Friday morning I've:

- Been on a bus with a driver who'd never taken this trip before, got lost, forgot to shut the luggage cabinet shut and almost lost some of our luggage

- Checked into the awesomest hostel ever in Seattle, checked out the Seattle Art Museum, and ran into a club for catholic navy men called "The Catholic Seamen's Club." The smile that was brought to my face...I took a photo. I shall upload it soon.

- On the way to the airport, sitting on the bus, chatted with two guys, one of whom kept on commenting on how small and cute my feet were...and then insisted on seeing my toes...I told him for olfactory reasons I probably should refrain...and I did.

- Flew for 3 hours to Chicago, ate at a McDonald's at the airport because that's how desperate and time restrained I was, before boarding a plane to Washington, DC

- Arrived in DC confuzzled by the time zone switch and flustered by the Alaska Airlines' lack of information about my luggage. I did however get picked up by Divya's bro and was brought to Divya's parents' house in Maryland. And I also got all my luggage.

I've been staying here in Maryland with Div's family since yesterday. She's still writing her exams at her school in Ohio. But it's been really fun hanging out with her family and getting to know them. This morning I went to a Methodist church with Div's mom. The suburban Maryland Methodist church and sleep deprived Zenith got along well enough. There were a few moments where church was like "word" and I was like "meh I'm tired" but all in all it was a fun time. Tomorrow I'm catching a train to DC and then a bus for 5 hours to NY. The weather is getting nicer by the day. I'm looking forward to whipping out the skirts and the shorts! Anyway, enough rambling for now. I will write again in a few days. Toodle doo.

-Z-

The long and overdue update

Ok so I guess I should write a blog entry...it's been two and a half months! Yeesh. So during the past 2.5 months I've-

- Switched continents: southern hemisphere to northern hemisphere, hot to cold, kangaroos to moose, and everything else that comes with it
- Lost two umbrellas in the Vancouver rain
- Spent Christmas and New Years with family and friends
- Started uni and have since skipped classes occasionally...like the badass I am
- Got a job (something that didn't quite happen in Australia) at a place where I have to wear a tie! A tie!!
- Started saying "eh" again
- Stopped saying "loo", "mate", "reckon", and "Oh no, your dingo ate my kebab"

Other things have happened as well. But those were the important ones I had to get out there...on le internet.