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So What's My Story?

After 3 years of being a poor social worker (the work I loved, the pay I didn't), I decided it was time to go back to school and get my Master's! After weighing my options (school far away from home, or school in a different country that is only an 8-hour drive from home) I decided to try my luck in British Columbia, Canada.

For a year I lived in
Surrey, BC while attending Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. However, as the final component of my work toward my Masters degree in Criminology I have moved back to the states to complete an internship at an Independent Living Program for youth leaving the foster care system.

Here is the story of my adventures as a graduate student in a "foreign" country as well as my current work back in the states.

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Friday, May 22, 2009

May 2-4

This is Memorial Day weekend back home and I am in a country that doesn't recognize it... in all actuality, had it not been for all the "Going camping this weekend!" status updates on facebook, I would probably have no idea that it had come and gone! However, being in Canada, I was able to (somewhat) experience this country's version of a holiday in May... Victoria Day. This weekend, apparently originally intended as a day to honor Queen Victoria's birthday and that of whichever other Monarch is currently on the throne (no matter when his/her ACTUAL birthday is), has since become a day to become incredibly wasted. When I asked a classmate if anything exciting happens in Victoria, BC over the holiday weekend, her response was:

"I don't know if anything specific happens in Victoria, but this long weekend is typically a weekend to drink your face off, hence it's nickname 'May 2-4'. :)"

Yes, this weekend (also commonly referred to as "May Long Weekend"... they are VERY original over here) is nicknamed "May 2-4" due to the fact that it occurs SOMEWHERE around the 24th of May... but, more importantly, because beer comes in packs of 24. =)

While Jacob and I didn't join the masses camping and "drinking our faces off", we did do a little something out of the ordinary and went to the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair (you can take the girl out of the country, but can't take the country out of the girl!) We had a pretty good time watching the rodeo events, fair performances and people of all ages trying to stay on a mechanical bull... not to mention partaking in the fair food. They had your traditional funnel cakes (Yay!!!), hot dogs, lemonade, etc. But, I don't know that I've ever been to a fair where Greek food was a vendor option.

The rodeo was kind of a trip, too! At rodeos back home, we don't really rely on other countries for competitors... but Canada does. I would make a rough estimate that only about 1/3 of those riding were actually from Canada, the rest were from the good ol' USA. Even the rodeo announcer was a Texan. Because of this we sang both the American National Anthem and the Canadian Anthem, O Canada!. But the US was not the only "foreign" country present. They also had a "cowboy" from Mexico performing mid-rodeo entertainment with his horses. It was quite the interesting experience... including the security officials... some of which were police officers wearing turbans (nothing wrong with this, just not something I'd see back home), and Mounties in their "official" dress (you know what I'm talking about!).






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