Sunday, October 23, 2005
Halifax And Back...
My week at the Pastor's Conference:
Tue, Oct 18
- Left Vancouver for Halifax on Westjet - very cool built-in TV sets in each chair with different channels to surf, including a real time flight path by MapQuest
- Arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia at approx 10:30pm local time (4 time zones away from Van)
- Settled in at the Dartmouth Holiday Inn by midnight
- In bed, twiddling my thumbs staring at the ceiling at 1:30am (it was only 9:30 back home)
Wed, Oct 19
- Woke up at 9:30am (5:30am at home... my body is not liking this)
- Decided to take a walk and check out my surroundings
- Asked the front desk if there was an internet cafe nearby - they said there was a public library "up over the hill" (I informed them that I was from out of town and that "up over the hill" wasn't too helpful, they said to go outside and then walk "up over the hill" looking for a building with a pink roof - apparently I couldn't miss it)
- Almost 2 hours later, I failed to find any kind of internet access (although I did observe 3 Tim Hortons, all less than a 5 min walk from the hotel)
- One direction I went, "up over the hill", I found an old cemetery - the very first grave marker I read was for Mona PETERS (no relation)! I asked God what He was trying to tell me, but all I heard was a chuckle
- McDonald's for lunch and then back to the hotel for a worship team practice - I would be playing in the morning sessions
- I drummed on a chair while we practised because the main conference room wasn't set up yet (I was getting good at playing the chair and wondered how they were going to mic it...)
- Registration and the first conference session in the evening - to bed and staring at the ceiling again after watching some hockey highlights on TSN (If the Canucks were playing, the game would have begun at 11pm, Halifax time - yikes)
Thu Oct 20
- Main morning session and then I attended 2 breakout sessions, one by Tom G and another one by Corey K (on "Tweens" - very good stuff)
- Met Gord D and Val B at 3:00 and we went across the 2nd largest natural harbour in the world (the largest being Sidney, Australia) into downtown Halifax
- Saw the Marine Museum (Halifax was the closest city to the Titanic disaster, so lots of artifacts and intriguing information there), Theodore Tugboat (if you don't know, don't ask), and then went to a fancy-schmancy restaurant for steak and lobster
- Since I don't love bottom-feeding, refuse-sucking mollusks and shell creatures, I had the steak (Gord and Val had the lobster, which was $64 for 2 -- they each had 2)
- Evening session and then bed
Fri Oct 21
- Annual General Meeting. Long. Need I say more?
- Harbour Tour and barbeque for everyone in the afternoon - it was a nice paddle wheeler-type boat with an outside deck and a lower inside deck
- Saw two of Canada's four new submarines that we got from the British Navy (y'know, the ones that didn't work?) One floated by us and the other was in dry dock. No one could see where the other 2 were, but, well, they are submarines
- Evening session (got to play drums at the end a bit after the other drummer had to leave) It went pretty long, then bedtime
Sat Oct 22
- Morning session, brunch all together, and then saying goodbye to people
- Went to Shoppers Drugmart and Dollarama to get gifts for the family back home (yeah, yeah I know what you're thinking - but I'm NOT cheap, it's just that there weren't any malls or good stores around this place! And Jayce liked her sticker books and Halifax t-shirt, so there)
- Caught Air Canada at 5:30pm Halifax time and arrived back in Vancouver at 9:00 pm (after the lady beside me threw up in her barf bag twice while watching Batman Begins - it's a better movie than that...)
Nova Scotia is a very nice province, in a Murder She Wrote picturesque kind of way. The place reminded me so much of small town coastal USA, that I expected Angela Lansbury to show up any minute to interrogate the local fishermen about something fishy going on down at the old cannery. And I have never been called "dear" and "honey" by old ladies working the register at McDonald's so often in my life. They really are a friendly bunch over there on the right coast. It's no wonder the scowling, tatooed girl behind the counter of the used CD store can co-exist with the shop owner selling brooms, rocks, and other curling equipment out of a back room in the same location....
Tue, Oct 18
- Left Vancouver for Halifax on Westjet - very cool built-in TV sets in each chair with different channels to surf, including a real time flight path by MapQuest
- Arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia at approx 10:30pm local time (4 time zones away from Van)
- Settled in at the Dartmouth Holiday Inn by midnight
- In bed, twiddling my thumbs staring at the ceiling at 1:30am (it was only 9:30 back home)
Wed, Oct 19
- Woke up at 9:30am (5:30am at home... my body is not liking this)
- Decided to take a walk and check out my surroundings
- Asked the front desk if there was an internet cafe nearby - they said there was a public library "up over the hill" (I informed them that I was from out of town and that "up over the hill" wasn't too helpful, they said to go outside and then walk "up over the hill" looking for a building with a pink roof - apparently I couldn't miss it)
- Almost 2 hours later, I failed to find any kind of internet access (although I did observe 3 Tim Hortons, all less than a 5 min walk from the hotel)
- One direction I went, "up over the hill", I found an old cemetery - the very first grave marker I read was for Mona PETERS (no relation)! I asked God what He was trying to tell me, but all I heard was a chuckle
- McDonald's for lunch and then back to the hotel for a worship team practice - I would be playing in the morning sessions
- I drummed on a chair while we practised because the main conference room wasn't set up yet (I was getting good at playing the chair and wondered how they were going to mic it...)
- Registration and the first conference session in the evening - to bed and staring at the ceiling again after watching some hockey highlights on TSN (If the Canucks were playing, the game would have begun at 11pm, Halifax time - yikes)
Thu Oct 20
- Main morning session and then I attended 2 breakout sessions, one by Tom G and another one by Corey K (on "Tweens" - very good stuff)
- Met Gord D and Val B at 3:00 and we went across the 2nd largest natural harbour in the world (the largest being Sidney, Australia) into downtown Halifax
- Saw the Marine Museum (Halifax was the closest city to the Titanic disaster, so lots of artifacts and intriguing information there), Theodore Tugboat (if you don't know, don't ask), and then went to a fancy-schmancy restaurant for steak and lobster
- Since I don't love bottom-feeding, refuse-sucking mollusks and shell creatures, I had the steak (Gord and Val had the lobster, which was $64 for 2 -- they each had 2)
- Evening session and then bed
Fri Oct 21
- Annual General Meeting. Long. Need I say more?
- Harbour Tour and barbeque for everyone in the afternoon - it was a nice paddle wheeler-type boat with an outside deck and a lower inside deck
- Saw two of Canada's four new submarines that we got from the British Navy (y'know, the ones that didn't work?) One floated by us and the other was in dry dock. No one could see where the other 2 were, but, well, they are submarines
- Evening session (got to play drums at the end a bit after the other drummer had to leave) It went pretty long, then bedtime
Sat Oct 22
- Morning session, brunch all together, and then saying goodbye to people
- Went to Shoppers Drugmart and Dollarama to get gifts for the family back home (yeah, yeah I know what you're thinking - but I'm NOT cheap, it's just that there weren't any malls or good stores around this place! And Jayce liked her sticker books and Halifax t-shirt, so there)
- Caught Air Canada at 5:30pm Halifax time and arrived back in Vancouver at 9:00 pm (after the lady beside me threw up in her barf bag twice while watching Batman Begins - it's a better movie than that...)
Nova Scotia is a very nice province, in a Murder She Wrote picturesque kind of way. The place reminded me so much of small town coastal USA, that I expected Angela Lansbury to show up any minute to interrogate the local fishermen about something fishy going on down at the old cannery. And I have never been called "dear" and "honey" by old ladies working the register at McDonald's so often in my life. They really are a friendly bunch over there on the right coast. It's no wonder the scowling, tatooed girl behind the counter of the used CD store can co-exist with the shop owner selling brooms, rocks, and other curling equipment out of a back room in the same location....
# posted by Dairn @ 9:59 PM 
