Mid-Summer

It's been a while.

I have been articling for 1.5 months. I am half way through my rotation in Drayton Valley, my home town. It's been interesting running into high school friends I haven't seen since graduation. Sometime awkward ( very awkward) and sometimes quite pleasant. My parents are away in Europe so I have the house to myself, which I find more lonely than pleasant, but it isn't too bad.

Also, I kinda like my job. Though this type of law (working for paying customers) isn't where my heart really lives, I think I could do it for a while if I needed to. I find it interesting and challenging. I am learning tons. I still feel like I only know a small fraction of what is required of me but I think I am picking it up at an acceptable pace. Liking this law thing is good news as I was going into articling thinking I might hate it all, or at the very least (or most?) find it unstimulating, but it's OK, even more than OK.

I've walked people through real estate sales, applied for probate of an estate, written wills and personal directives, prepared a commercial lease, subpoenaed a witness, and incorporated a company. These are run-of-mill tasks for any lawyer but for me they are firsts. I like knowing how to do these things.

On another note, I've joined an internet dating site. eek.

Back Home and Moving Forward

I've been home from my trip for a week and a half now. It was a good trip. I saw some really beautiful things and got a taste of some wonderful cities. Maybe one day I can enjoy more than just a taste.



Summer is here and it makes me so happy. The heat is off and the windows are open (and, unfortunately, the motorcycles are roaring past). There are flowers on my balcony and I spend much time out there. I can step out of the house without a coat on or without one ready to be put on should the need arise. The downtown farmer's market is in full swing. Soon, Churchill Square will have regular weekend events. Just the knowledge that summer is here makes me smile, maybe even giggle a bit. Edmonton is wonderful in the summer.



I am back at work answering phones. The new office is pretty nice, though still in need of some putting together. There are a number of new faces. I enjoy working there and the days fly by. The plan was to start my articling there and then move to the other rotations starting in the fall. However, things have changed and I am now going to Drayton Valley for June 2nd. I was disappointed at first not to be spending the summer months in the city, but I have adjusted my attitude. And I plan on coming back on the weekends. I have a steep learning curve waiting for me in DV so it might be best to get that done and over with. Also, I have old friends in DV that will be great to catch up with. I am looking forward to it in some ways. My parents have a deck waiting for me there too.

Quick "Hi" From Abroad

I only have 7 minutes left on my hour of internet time so this will be quick.

I am currently in Valencia, Spain. We (Justina and I) have just begun our tour of Spain. We came from France and Switzerland which were lovely. We don´t have any Spanish langage skills really so we´re just fumbling along but so far, so good, now that we have all of our trains booked.

I like being here but I do wish I was a little more adventurous. I am trying to be but I could be more, as always.

But, that said, things are really great. I certainly don´t miss the snow storm I left behind as I sit here in the Mediteranean air.

Endings

When I was nearing the end of my degree at CBC I was pretty sad. I really loved that place and those people. I suppose I wasn't so sad to be done school, but to leave the friends.

When I completed my last class of my sociology degree, it really just felt like a formality. I had already completed a year of law and that class was more of an annoyance taking up my spring time evenings.

I just wrote my last law school exam. I'm done. And I'm not sad. I feel so relieved. I have been working non-stop for the last 3 weeks and now, I am blogging instead of reading. It's so much better.

I'm happy to be done, but it's not like I am fleeing from the school hoping to never see it again. I had some good times and met some great people who I hope to continue seeing around. I'm happy to be moving on after so long in school.

I'm done. I'm done. I'm done.

And now for a little vacation, and then the real work starts. yikes.

[At moments during my test I caught myself smiling thinking about Jim and Pam on The Office last night. I really am a super fan. Thankfully I have friends who record it so I can catch up when I get back. And LOST is starting again too!]

Addict

I REALLY love the office. It's been gone since November when the WGA strike started. It's back on Thursday. IT'S BACK ON THURSDAY!!

Yesterday, my TV started acting up (during the OC...maybe the drama killed it?). It chirps and cuts out and freezes. The Telus guy said it should be fixed by Monday when a new software update is installed. Nooooooo. Monday is too late!

(And I am up to my eyeballs in homework so going to someone else's house could be really detrimental to me.)

Oh please God, heal my TV. Please.

Or maybe this is God's message to me that I'm an addict...

UPDATE: It's miraculously working again. Miraculously. With a day to spare, no less.

pain in the ass

i've just been doing homework for the last week. that's it. aside from going to class and watching the o.c. at 5 o'clock.

every year i slack in the first two months and scramble in the last two. already my butt hurts from sitting for hours on end, just reading and writing and thinking. and my computer plug-in is being finicky so i can't move my laptop around a lot, forcing me to sit in the same spot. i suppose things could be worse.

every november/march is wonder if i will actually survive the semester and every december/april, i do. but not without enough stress to make me physically ill. i'm still waiting for the inevitable stomach cramps.

but this is the last of it. the last semester in a long line of semesters. 19 semesters to be exact.

although i can't help but feeling like my graduation is only the beginning of a long hard run at a difficult career...

the presentation i was working towards this past week was this morning and it went well. there was potential for it to not go well as there are some unstable elements in the classroom. i was presenting on my paper which compares the laws relating to criminal organizations and those relating to terrorism in the criminal code. i've spent a lot of time reading about the hells angels. it was easy to get side-tracked from the topic at hand. here is this organization involved in some awful crimes including 100s of murders but they still insist they are a legitimated motorcycle club. they are currently suing disney for copyright infringement. it's terribly interesting.

one of the unstable elements in the class is an über conservative boy who speaks with such authority on so many topics and has the ability to get me completely worked up. he made a comment today that i couldn't get out of my head all day. i just mentally argued with him for hours but he heard none of it. really, i just have to let it go.

well, back to work. see you in may.

Tibetan Memories

The recent events in Tibet have caused it to be on my mind a lot lately. I taught English there for 6 weeks in the summer of 2002. There were some team tensions but overall it was a really great experience. The city of Lhasa and the people I met there were wonderful.

I have been reflecting on what I saw there in terms of the treatment of the Tibetan people. We were there as teachers and our organization made it clear to us that we shouldn't do anything to jeopardize our present there. So, we didn't ask any questions of our students about the political situation. But, we could still see things going on that pointed to oppression.

We were told not to go our much on the day of the Dali Lama's birthday. There was the potential for protests or demonstrations that could lead to altercations between the Tibetans and Chinese. The day before, as we were walking along a main street in front of the Potala Palace, a huge parade of policemen went by. I'm not very good at guess numbers, but at least 100 officers drove by on motorbikes and in police cars. The apparent message: don't try anything tomorrow, we're here and we're prepared. That was the most obvious display.

When I was in Lhasa, the population was about 50% Tibetan, 50% Han Chinese. There were (are?) incentives from the government for Chinese to move there. A new street had just be redone with a distinctively Chinese feel (neon light palm trees, coloured fountains, pop music blaring) as opposed to a Tibetan feel like at the Barkhor (prayer flags, yak hair, saffron and burgundy). We met a Tibetan man who was unable to get job, aside from the serving one he had at an Western-style bakery, because he did not speak Mandarin. The best English-speaking Tibetan was denied the scholarship reserved for a Tibetan student presumably because of his family connections to the Tibetan government in exile.

Those were small observations. I do not doubt the passion of the Tibetan people to seek independence, or at least greater autonomy. I pray they can send their message loudly but without violence. But I know, sometime that seems like an impossible task.

Hopefully I will be able to return the beautiful city of Lhasa one day. It enchanted me. Despite the team tensions I experienced on that trip, when I look back on it, I remember first and foremost the amazing experience that it was.