So here is my nutshell summary of my trip to Canada. I put it off (once again) too late at night, so I am kind of tired, but if I don't write it now, I doubt I ever will.So I drove up there Friday evening, leaving at about 5:45PM. The drive was just under 3 hours and went without incident. The customs guy at the border rapid-fired some questions at me, just to make sure my story didn't fall apart under questioning, but he seemed to be satisfied with the "visiting a friend from college" excuse. So pretty much as soon as I got there, Pinne, his girlfriend Julie and his friend Ian and I all went to see Talledega Nights (Ian was quite geeked for it, and sprung for the tickets). It was pretty standard Will Ferrell comedy, so far as I'm concerned, by which I mean: hit and miss. Some parts were pretty funny, other parts just fell completely dead. Some stuff is clever, some stuff is straight up medio-core (or: mXc). On the one hand, it was cleaner than Anchorman; on the other hand, it was less funny. So, **shrugs** See it if you want. I'd wait until it's at the dollar-theatre, myself.
After that, we cruised the town, having some fun in what is apparently the norm there. This involved shouting random things such as "Hey!" or "Smokers are jokers!" out the window at people who were just standing there. We also pranked fast food drive-thrus. This involved Pinne or Ian attempting to order items that were not on the menu (such as the "Hot Turkey Jam Packet") in a quick, mumbled voice and driving off once they asked us to come to the front window. I took a spectator role and merely absorbed the culture. After that, we went home and went to bed at about 4:30AM.
Saturday morning started at 11AM with a breakfast of cereal, and just chillin/showering until early afternoon. At that point, we headed to Pinne's church, which was about 30 minutes away, stopping to pick up Julie on the way. Fr. Graham had booked us to do music for two weddings in a row. Both weddings were "in-and-out" affairs. One couple had requested that their ferret be ringbearer, and were denied. The other couple had their 3-year-old daughter present, and gave her a ring too at that part of the ceremony. The weddings were decently attended, but we three (kings of orient) were the only ones who gave the responses. So perhaps the family that was pressuring them to get married in the Church weren't that Catholic themselves? Who knows... I just figure, hey: God works with what faith we've got. I'm sure He'll bless them as much as they let Him, and marriage is certainly a step.
So after that we went to Julie's house and hung out there for a while until we were invited for dinner. We went out into their corn-field and picked some corn to replenish their road-side stand, then took the day-old corn for eatings. We grilled chicken on their crazy grill and ate it. After that, we hung around her house a bit more, then went Cosmic Mini-Golfing, which was a new experience to me. Apparently it exists up in Canada though. It is essentially minigolf inside, in the dark, lit only by ultraviolet lights. The walls were painted with a bunch of ultraviolet animals, so that looked pretty coo. Julie's little sister and I were on a team, and we ended up winning, which was fun. After that, we did 5-Pin Bowling (another Canadian specialty) in the same building! It involves only 5 pins, and a much smaller ball that one chucks down the aisle rather than sticking your fingers in it. I followed my traditional bowling pattern: starting off strong, faltering near the middle and falling headlong on my face three inches from the finish line. But it was fun!
After that we took a snack break at the DQ, then went drive-thru pranking again before we dropped the girls off at their house. This time, I took three of the drive-thrus, and had a lot of fun asking them if the turkey-bacon sandwiches were kosher, if the Burger Specials were free-range beef, and which way they stirred the coffee. Then Pinne and I went out drinking. You have the summary of alcohol consumed by me (see two posts down). Be assured, if you are the sort of person who worries about that kind of thing, that neither Pinne nor I was anywhere near "hammered". We were quite lucid and had no trouble speaking or thinking. The only irregularity you might have noticed was our sudden obsession with heel-toe walking every straight line we encountered. We did this flawlessly. Anyways, those fears out of the way, I will proceed to a short synopsis of the evening. We started at about 12/12:30AM by walking (so we didn't have to worry about driving at the end of the night) 10 minutes to a comfortable drinking establishment named Crabby Joe's. There we sat in a booth, ate peanuts, and drank most of our drinks. We were alone in the bar, and had quite a good time. At one point, this woman came up to Pinne, sat next to him and said, "Hi, I work here, and I've been having a really crappy night. I was just down at Koolz (the hippest new club in town) for a party, and it was all full and happenin, then I come back here and it's empty except for you guys. I'm pretty hammered now, but anyways. I just need to know: do you guys like it here? Was the service good? Will you come again?" we assured her that we loved it, etc. and she said, "Good, that's all I wanted to know" and left. On our way home, Pinne proposed that we check out Koolz, so we did. We bought the last drink on the list and stood around watching the dance floor. It was pretty much too loud to talk. It was interesting, because it was not really that young of a crowd. Not exactly your "party scene". We had a good reflection on "the culture" based on this experience, though, and left. Upon arriving home at about 1:30, we talked to Mrs. Pinne for a while, then when she went to bed, we channel-surfed and web-browsed. We happened upon Goldeneye (excellent movie) on TV and watched it for a bit until I started dropping off and declared that we should go to bed. That was around 3:30AM.
Sunday morning also started at about 11AM. Pinne's grandma made us a large breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon. It was da-fishes! I was stuffed! After that, we hung around the house a bit and showed each other various hilarious YouTube videos. Then we left at about 4PM for LifeTeen music practice. Pinne is a regular there, but I was kind of sprung upon them. Pinne brought his djembe and I rocked that out for the duration of Mass. It was my first public djembe performance, and first ever Mass-played, but regardless I had a pretty good time. I have been meaning to buy a djembe for a while so I can play at Steubenville... maybe I will someday.
After Mass I said my goodbyes and left for home at about 7:30PM. I expected to arrive back at about 10/10:30PM, but I got stuck at the bridge for TWO HOURS. The line up to the bridge was an hour, then it took an hour to actually cross the bridge. Rediculous. So I finally got home at about 12:30AM and went to bed. So yeah. The trip was an absolute blast, and Monday was a spaced-out day at work...
In more current news: Randy and I, according to Randy's information, have both made the newest cut of Survivor: TRW Factory. That makes about the 3rd cut I've survived, and the 5th that he has. We are the champions, my friends! We'll keep on packing 'til the end! (which is one week from today! Horray!) So yeah. Maybe I will tell you about some of the people who /didn't/ make the cut. You kids already heard about Shanna, but there is at least one other kid who bears mentioning. Sorry this entry is so long and late. Yeah. It should have been more effusive, but it was my bedtime 30 minutes ago. If you live in Ann Arbor, I want to see you one more time before I leave. If you go to Steubenville, I am excited to see you soon. If you live in Canada... well. I love you bro, and I'll see you again pretty soon.
"In our hearts, we must carry on."
-L