The evening I arrived it was mild and partly cloudy, probably about 18 degrees Celsius. Starting the next day was to be the most consecutive days of nice weather I can remember in a long time; right up until my premature return to the Artemis…
Coming home this time was different than any other time because I was going to be staying with my mom instead of my dad for the first time. I was excited about this because my mom and I get along so well.
The first week at home was relaxed and peaceful. On the Wednesday I had lunch with my grandma and bride-to-be sister in White Rock. The weather was great so we also went down to the beach and caught some rays. The rest of the week I spent some time trying to organize my room at my dad’s place and make room at my mom’s place to put everything. When my grandma passed away last November, she left behind a lot of things that I would like to keep but am struggling to find places for.
On the 13th I got a call from a friend in Vancouver I met on the ship inviting me to join her and her fiancée to her aunt’s mobile home at Cultus Lake. I said that would be great and to let me know when they wanted to set off. We set off the next day (the 14th) at around noon and made it to the lake at about 1400. We stayed until about the same time on the 16th. In that time we swam in the lake, went to the waterslides, disputed a parking ticket, played mini golf, compared ice cream/gelato from three different vendors that were within a few hundred meters of each other, and chilled out with some Palm Bay and super fruit smoothies. I think we all agreed then and there that it would be great to have a place of our own around there. It was a nice three days.
It was only slightly marred by the fact that the very morning before we set off to Cultus Lake the Carnival Head office called me and asked if I could come back early to replace the fellow who had replaced me less than 10 days ago because of an incident which resulted in him being disembarked. Well I can only hope that something good happens in the first two weeks of my extended contract to make me say “everything happens for a reason”.
From when I got back on Friday the 16th until Wednesday, I just chilled at my mom’s place in the West End. I started to paint the living room white and at that time we hadn’t yet decided on a trim colour. I would also lay out in the sun for about an hour every couple of days, which was really nice and relaxing. I got more tanned in Vancouver than I did in the Mediterranean. I generally don’t like taking vitamins but D I do.
Wednesday the 21st was the first firework display put on for the Celebration of Light competition held at English Bay in Vancouver. I have been lucky enough throughout my life to see it every year and I have never been disappointed. The weather was amazing, the crowds were blazing; it was a great atmosphere.
Thursday was the rehearsal for my sister’s wedding and it was the first one I had ever gone to. The Reverend that was presiding over the wedding was very funny, but he could have been a bit more sensitive to the situation and avoided saying things like “Don’t come too early or you might change your mind” to my sister, or “I’ve actually seen more men than women chicken out and not show up to their weddings.” to my sister’s fiancée. Since my sister and her fiancée are so solid his jokes actually eased the tension because we could all laugh a little.
The wedding was held in Steveston, Richmond about a 10 minute walk away from the Fisherman’s Wharf. I had been asked to be a groomsman from the very beginning, which was quite an honour. I was prepared to do everything in my power to make the wedding a success. Unfortunately I couldn’t follow through because I spent all but the three weeks right before the wedding halfway across the world working on the MV Artemis. I did manage to deliver some very important flowers the morning of the wedding to the bride’s headquarters.
When it came to the wedding I knew I wanted to give a short speech at the reception to make the occasion more memorable since I am not usually one for public speaking. I did follow through with that plan and everyone told me afterwards it was good, so it felt nice to contribute something unique to the event.
Besides the wedding itself, it was great to see practically my whole family again all in one place. It is just too bad there wasn’t more time to spend with them.
The next day after the wedding, which was Sunday, some of the family from the bride and groom gathered for a barbecue lunch, hosted by the mother of the groom. It was a good time.
The week was another slow but enjoyable one, involving more painting of the apartment, as well as going to the gym. The highlights of the week were watching a pre-screening of “Scott Pilgrim Vs the World” on Monday and watching the fireworks on Wednesday.
I spent most the afternoon on Monday with a girl from Germany who is staying with my aunt in Vancouver as a foreign exchange student here to learn English. She was really nice and I was able to practice with her some of the German I learnt a couple of years ago, which was a bit rusty. I feel inspired again to finish what I started and learn German more thoroughly so that I can go there and experience the culture. I am grateful to my aunt for introducing us because now I have someone I can visit in Stuttgart.
Wednesday the 28th was the third Celebration of Light show and I watched it with one of my sisters, two cousins and their friends, my mom and my friend. Before the show my godfather took me out for dinner at a place on West 4th Avenue called Trattoria. It was good. Earlier in the day I had lunch again with my Grandma, this time just by myself. After lunch I went back to her apartment. I tweaked her computer and we had a game of Scrabble, which she won.
The next couple of days I had to start thinking about getting ready to fly away again to Southampton, England. I was joining the ship on the 1st of August, but Carnival needed to fly me early to ensure I joined the ship on time. Therefore I flew out of Vancouver on Friday the 30th, arrived in Southampton on Saturday afternoon, and stayed a night in a hotel in Southampton.
Before I left for the airport I kept thinking that this was the most reluctant I had felt since joining cruise ships to leave everyone I cared about for 3-4 months for the privilege of working aboard a cruise ship. Vancouver never felt as much like home as it did the last few weeks. When I stepped on that 747 bound direct for Heathrow Airport, it was officially the end of my summer leave 2010. It will be one I remember forever, enough pictures were taken by various people to make certain of that. I hope I have many more like it…
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