Working...
Well, the election was called, and I'm now officially working. I've sworn an oath to secrecy, so no juicy tales from behind the scenes (sorry). I'm the recruiting officer for my electoral district, meaning that I take the applications, and do an on-site interview, then hire people. I've heard that I need up to 550 people. It's great fun, but I've heard that it will get more hectic in the weeks to come.

Happy Victoria Day!
Happy Victoria to everyone out there. It's a holiday in Canada on May 24th (2004 - it changes every year). Which means not a whole lot to me, since I'm not working at the moment anyway.
But, the good news is that Paul Martin called the election today for June 28th, which means that I should be starting work soon. Really soon, hopefully...

French Banks...
I'm trying to get my money transferred from my French bank account to my Canadian one, but I guess that the bank doesn't want to give up the money.
I emailed them a week ago to find out what "Référence (resituées sur votre relevé de compte) : Numérique, Libellé" are on my form for a foreign country wire transfer are, but I've never heard back. Does anyone know? Is it from my Canadian account, or my French one?
I also found out that Canada doesn't have BIC (SWIFT) adresses on banks, which most other countries have. I hope that doesn't make it harder to get my money, or get my money lost in the numberland that is computers.

(un)Daily life...
I've been back in Canada for a few days now, and I'm starting to get used to life back home. I've gone to the cinema, and out for coffee or dinner, with friends that I haven't seen in eight months. It's nice to do some catching up. It's amazing how much changes in a city in eight months.
This Monday is Victoria Day, which means a long weekend. But since I haven't started working yet, it's a long week(end) every day...
It'll be nice to start working, and have a little less free time. But, I think that I'll say the opposite once I start working.
Ciao

Back Home...
Well, I am back home now in Canada, after almost a full eight months in Europe.
It has certainly been a crazy experience, beyond anything that I could have possible imagined. There have certainly been good times, but there were a lot of hard times as well. If you have been reading for a while, the incident with the police might remind you of something, or not getting paid, or...
But the experience has allowed me to make some good friends (and visit with some old ones), and to do a lot of travelling. All in all, I got to visit nine different countries!
I think that it will be a bit of a change for me living back in Canada again, and especially in the city where I live. But we'll see how that all works out.
For the moment, I need to catch up on my sleep. I spent almost 22 hours in transit, from leaving Lille until I pulled up in my drive way.

Hello from Sweden...
Once again I'm battling with a different keyboard. I guess this one is more like the Canadian one, but I've gotten used to the French one while in France.
Anyway, I made it to Stockholm OK thanks to a cheap flight with RyanAir. You've got to love that company.
Stockholm was beautiful. The whole city is a bunch of islands, with brightly coloured buildings, and a lot of copper roofs (which have turned green with time). The weather was a bit dodgy the first day, but the blue sky came out the second day. It was really amazing.
I'm surprised by how many people here actually have blond hair. I thought that it was just a stereotype, but it's definitely based on reality.
I'm now at my friend's house, enjoying the quieter Swedish countryside (there are 1000 people in the village). The nature here is really beautiful. I've been deprived of trees and water for so long, that it's wonderful to see them again.