Four hours to go...
I guess I should start packing eh?! I've got a nice pile of stuff on my floor now, that I have to somehow fit into my bags.
I went out last night to a friends place, and we had a wee get-together with pizza, and LOTS of dessert (sex-in-a-pan, two kinds of ice cream, strawberries, some sort of fruit crumble). I stayed up later than I probably should have, but it was nice to be able to say goodbye (at least for the summer), especially as some of my friends are graduating now, or by the end of the summer. There was an attempt to make me give a speech, but I resisted, lol. Most of them I'll see in the fall though. I'm only gone for 4 months after all...

24 hours...
In a little over 24 hours, I'll be boarding an airplane headed to Ottawa (via Calgary). I've almost got everything that I need before I leave. I went out yesterday and got two ties for the training period. I first went looking for ties at MCC and Value Village, but most of them had yellow spots near the top, where old men had spilled borsht on them. It was really quite gross.
Anyway, I'm almost ready to go, and I'm quite looking forward to it.

Woodland Park Zoo...
Yesterday I woke up early, around 6:15, and went to White Spot for breakfast with my parents before heading to uni. I met up with 9 other science students (mainly biology majors), and we headed down to Seattle to go to the zoo. The American border guard was a bit surprised that there were 7 of us crammed into a van. But the Canadian lady coming back kept asking if we had brought back any "exotic animals" with us (she said they would make for good show and tell, lol!).
Anyway, when we left it was beautiful and sunny in Canada, but about 20 minutes past the American border it got cloudy and foggy. It was really quite weird. It stayed cloudy the whole time we were in the States, but about 10 minutes from the border on our way back the sun came out again. Sunny Canada!
The zoo itself was really cool. Woodland Park Zoo is probably one of the best that I've been too. We got to see the tiger cubs, and blind cave fish (we learned about them in evolution), as well as the regular plethora of animals.
We had dinner at the Olive Garden, and since it was being paid for by my student fees, I figured I'd get as much food as I could. So I started with a lemon Italian soda, then had mussel, shrimp, scallop, and mushroom linguine in a white wine alfredo sauce (yah, it was good!), and for dessert a coffee and tiramisu.

Family Get-Together...
Last night I went over to my aunt and uncle's place for a bit of a family get-together before I take off. My oldest cousin and his wife just got the two cutest puppies, black labs, and they brought them last night. I talked with my other cousin on the phone, and we're going to try and meet up for dinner in Calgary on my layover. Hopefully I'll be able to get through security and all that.
I realized that this is the first summer since 2001 that I haven't been in Europe, and that I won't have even been home for a year before I leave again. Despite the fact that I'm only leaving for 4 months, it seems like I'll be gone for a lot longer than that.

Of the 2010 Olympics and Inukshuks...
The 2010 Winter Olympic Committee (for the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver) unveiled the logo last night for the upcoming Games. It's a colourful Inuit inukshuk (stacked rocks in the Arctic used to guide hunters), that's named Ilanaaq. It looks a bit like the Inukshuk in English Bay (a beach in Vancouver).
It's a bit weird considering that the Inuit don't live in BC! You'd think they'd pick something by the Haida, the Westcoast Salish, or some other local Indian band. I guess they were trying to pick something more 'Canadian', eh?

One Week To Go!
I'm finally done my final exams. I had my last one yesterday morning. I think that it went fairly well. I wrote everything that I knew about the topic (and made some stuff up) over 2.5 hours. It feels really nice to have my exams done -I'm so glad that I don't have to study anymore!
As per the title of this post, I'm leaving for Ottawa in a week. Now I've got to start getting my stuff together (and cleaning up my room before I leave).
I went to the bank yesterday (I got my taxes back not too long ago), and put money into my RSP (Registered Savings Plan -tax free from the government). I know it seems a bit early, but I don't want to retire poor.

Benedict XVI...
A new Pope has been chosen. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church this morning, and he's chosen the name Benedict XVI. He's the first Germanic Pope since the 11th century.
I think that he'll be a good choice for Pope. But, in any case, he's got a lot of work to do, and it'll be hard to fill John Paul II's shoes.

Eye Twitch...
OK, so my eye has been twitching on and off since I wrote that exam yesterday. Does anyone know why? Maybe I'm just tired.

Two weeks and counting down...
It's hard to believe, but in two weeks I'll be in Ottawa. I'm counting down the days.

3 Down, 3 To Go...
I had my third final exam today (yes, it was on a Saturday afternoon). I must say that I'm glad French phonetics is finally over. I didn't mind when people brought in food for their presentations (cream puffs, lemon tarts, champagne, cheese, etc.), but most of the class was a total bore.
But, I've only got three exams left. One on Monday (French film), Tuesday (Developmental Biology), and my last one on Friday (Evolution).

Snow?!
Yup, we had a dusting of snow overnight. Which is weird because it's almost the middle of April. Not that any of it stayed around, but still. Snow? I thought there was global warming.

Why?
I was reading my Developmental Biology textbook (I've got the tutorial final on Tuesday), and I came across this quote:
"Theories come and theories go. The frog remains." Jean Rostand (1960)
I swear that I will never be able to get away from France. One of the middle schools where I worked last year was "Collège Jean Rostand". I guess I now know that it was named after a developmental frog researcher.

Marriage...
As a lot of people are aware of, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles got married yesterday. This comic was run in the local paper not too long ago, and I rather liked it. In case you've never seen a Canadian $20, it's got the face of Queen Elizabeth II on it. But, when she dies, and if Camilla becomes Queen...

Too scary to think about.

Last Lecture!!!
I finally had my last lecture today (French film, so it wasn't really a lecture, but last day of classes). Now it's just exam time. I've got 6 exams over the next two weeks (including one Saturday exam, ugh). I've got my first two finals this Tuesday. Two weeks, two weeks...
Only three weeks until I leave!

Two Days, One Essay...
I'm so glad that I've only got today and tomorrow left of lectures. I can't wait until they're done. I've only got one big essay left (for French film). I'm stuck with the last 500 words though. I've got an intro and conclusion, so I'll have to figure out some more examples from the films. Two more days, two more days...

Three Days...
I can make it -only three days of lectures left! (And one lecture in each class). I'm so happy that it's the end of the semester, although I'm not looking forward to the exams so much. For once I actually worked ahead a little bit, so I've only got one big essay due this week (I got the other one done last week).
My first two exams are on Tuesday. The one in the morning scares me, but the one in the afternoon shouldn't be too bad. It's the Saturday one that sucks. Why do they have exams on Saturdays??

The Pope Dies...
The Pope died not too long ago. While I'm not Catholic, I still think that he was a great man, who did a lot to help humanity. He was the first Pope to visit a Jewish synagogue and ask forgiveness for sins committed against Jews.
He was also the first Pope to visit Canada in 1984. I found out yesterday that his only mass in my province was actually the city where I live (a bit out of Vancouver). It'll be interesting to see who is chosen, and how long it takes.
Be in peace.