So I’m back and somewhat rested from my weeks training in Vancouver. My boss met me with open arms at the airport. We had a chat….OK, more me firing out questions about anything and everything about the job. She happily obliged to answer everything!

I met all of my Pilot team mates (that’s what we’re called….Pilots) ready to tell them everything about myself in 10 minutes. For those of you that know me well – this is difficult as my train of thought is somewhat random…at times.

The reality is that I’m going to be intensively spending the next 4 months with the same people – I think we all felt like we had to get each other up to speed on our lives up to now, so that when a conversation comes up about an occurrence back home (during an 9 hour drive through northern Ontario) they’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.

My Piloting partners’ name is Philiipe. I prayed that I would be with someone who would force me to speak French, and my prayers were answered! Phil’s first language is French, which is great because he can explain French jokes that go over my head and I, in turn, explain points of English sarcasm – match made in heaven!

So we eventually met our whole team….all 250 people who will be traveling together across the country. I only remember 5 people’s names. I’m sure my memory will get better. We had, what I like to call, our Pep Rally where we met all the heads of the different departments. These are people who have worked on multiple Olympic Games and they each had one congruent message: We are beginning the journey of a lifetime! This is an emotional event for many (yes, including me – which I quickly realized after watching the promotional video for the torch relay – if you haven’t watched it, click Lights will guide you home…..balled like a baby!!!). So, I got the sense that we’re all going to be “happy crying” a lot during the next four months; well, some of us I guess.

So aside from all the crying I’ll be doing, I had some other things I had to think about on my way home:

· Will I be able to teach my boyfriend how to use Skype before I leave? (This was actually a breeze – let’s see if he remembers two weeks from now!)

· How readily will coffee be available (can’t function in the morning without it)

· What will be my favorite part of our uniform? (This is after wearing the same thing everyday for four months).

· How many times will I bail when I get out of the car? (I’m sure this will be concentrated in Quebec, Ontario and across the prairies).

I’m sure more questions will arise, but these are just a start.

I’m eagerly awaiting the start of my position – leaving this Sunday, October 18^th!

I have to mention that I am totally distraught that I’ll be missing the celebration of one of my oldest friends’ wedding, but grateful that I’ll be able to witness the ceremony! Anyone who is from Almonte will agree that there’s no party like an Almontonians wedding!