An Egg-citing past few weeks!

Bonjour mes amis! My time in Quebec is quickly coming to an end and I can't believe that I am almost done my first year of university! I am sorry that I haven't been very consistent with my blog these past few weeks - I will try to be better for these last few weeks. So without further adieu, here is what I have been up to since my last post!

So I guess the last time I posted was just after I sent my student ambassador video in and I am still waiting to find out the results! I think my video is up to about 85 views on YouTube now which is kind of exciting. I really, really hope that I get hired by recruitment and I will let you know what happens as soon as I find out! A lot of my friends applied too and their videos were really good so I know that I am up against some fierce competition! If you didn't get the concept, I was trying to simulate a campus tour to display my "skills." It's in my last post if you haven't seen it yet!

Me filming myself in Dewies!

Two Fridays ago, the Residence Events Committee had our final event of the year - a Rez Wide game of Capture the Flag (in the dark)! We were hoping that people from all different buildings would show up, but it ended up being NoPo vs all other buildings. My team kind of cheated as we hid our white flag in the white snow so it wasn't exactly visible but our sneaky hiding spot enabled us to be victorious against the other team! I then spent Saturday making my application video and I owe a lot of thanks to my friend Vicki who filmed my video - she spent 2 or 3 hours following my around campus! As a small token of thanks, that afternoon, I went with her into Sherbrooke to hold her hand while she got a new piercing!

Vicki at Nefty's Tattoo Parlour!

Last week was really busy in terms of school work - I had a lot to do for my History Simulation, in which I am simulating Singapore in 1995. I also had a presentation in Ethics and Religious Culture on Animal Rights and had to work on my biology presentation which I am presenting this Friday. I was also busy with applying for jobs for the summer - I sent out a million resumes and made a lot of phone calls! So by the end of the week, I was extremely ready to trek back to Ancaster for Easter.

Outside the classroom, I discovered that our residence has a laundry thief as I lost a sweater and a tank top in last week's laundry. It was also Passover last week, and so I decided to attempt to follow the Kosher for Passover rules along with my friend Vicki who was actually celebrating Passover. I was not allowed to eat pork or leavened bread - essentially no grain products and I was not allowed to mix meat and dairy. I also tried to learn the reasoning behind these rules. For the pork, it is specifically mentioned in Leviticus 11:7, JPS: "And the swine, because it has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but cheweth not the cud, it is unkosher for you." Essentially, the pig is an "unkosher" animal, along with certain other animals so Jewish people do not eat it. For the meat and dairy, it is written in the Torah that "thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk" meaning to cook the meat of one animal in the milk of that animal's own mother is an "abomination to God". And finally, you don't eat unleavened bread, because when Moses helped the Jewish people to escape from Egypt, they had to leave in such a rush that there wasn't time for their bread to rise. So all in all, this was a very educational experience for me, as well as a difficult challenge - I was only able to follow the rules until Thursday!

On Tuesday, my friends and I went to Acoustic Tuesday at the Lion for the first time and two of our friends performed. On Thursday, I made another homemade lip gloss at a Rez Event - this time it was peppermint flavour. Also on Thursday, Red Bull athlete Will Gadd came to our school for a visit and a presentation. He is an extreme athlete who specializes in ice climbing and paragliding. For an added bonus, he decided to climb up the front of Johnson, an academic building here on campus. That night, he gave a presentation in Centennial, complete with lots of video clips and unlimited Red Bull. It was really neat to hear what he had to say - you wouldn't expect him to be such a great speaker but his talk was very motivational and I am glad that I went to hear him speak. One really neat thing that he did to raise money was climb an ice face for 24 hours straight! After that, Jocelyn had a friend from home come visit her for the weekend so we welcomed her into our home in Abbot 215/217.

 Friday morning I got up bright and early (6:45am) and began the long trip back to Ontario. I caught a carpool into Montreal and then took the bus to Toronto where my dad picked me up to go to my Granny's house for Good Friday dinner.  It was really great to see my family again - after spring break, I didn't think that I would want to go home because the end of the year is so close but I am really glad that I decided to go back. We had a really nice dinner with my granny and cousins and then later that night, I got to skype a friend from camp. Saturday, my mom and I had a girls day, complete with a trip to Mapleview mall to get some spring clothing (and a matching bathing suit to my little sister) and then I went to see one of my best friends, Andrea. She is in grade twelve and is looking at going into the same program that I am in. Unfortunately, right now, she is getting a lot of the same disheartening feedback that I got last year after applying to Con Ed - Why do you want to be a teacher, you are wasting your potential, there's no jobs, etc, etc. I really do not understand why people say these things - why do people not want smart teachers??? And if this is what we want to do, just be supportive! Anywho, I told her to keep her chin up and go do whatever she wants because I know that she will make a great teacher one day! After our nice chat, we watched Spy Kids - such a great movie.

On Sunday, my brother, sister and I went on our traditional Easter egg hunt in the backyard. The rabbit was feeling extra generous this year and hid some cash in my Easter eggs! During the day, I caught up on some homework and then we went to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner. One set of our cousins couldn't make it, so some family friends of my aunt and uncle's came as a substitute. One of my cousins is currently on a co-op in Ottawa so we made a potential plan to meet up in Montreal later in April, so we will see if that actually happens. On Easter Monday, I went out for breakfast with my friend Elena and then went for a job interview and (drum roll please) was hired to work for my mom`s landscaper during May and June! I feel like such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and am super exciting to start working once I come home in May! However, after my interview, I hopped in a car and made the trek back to Bishops! Fun little story, when we stopped at an En Route in Belleville, I ate dinner with one of the guys who currently lives in my future house!

Me hunting for Easter eggs!

I got back to campus really late on Monday night and things picked right back up on Tuesday! I am currently working on a really big project for my ERC class - developing a unit on Buddhism so a lot of my attention right now is focused on that. Also, today was very exciting as a volunteer group on campus hosted Bishop`s first Relaxation Day, complete with puppies and play dough! As well, Abbott Blocks 1 and 2 had an Unbirthday Party (like in Alice in Wonderland) to celebrate the birthdays of summer babies! And now, I am heading off to watch a movie with Jocelyn and Hannah, who were let out of class two hours early and Elizabeth who just finished her first final! Miss you and love you all! See you in 24 days!

All my love, Erica xoxoxox

PS Happy Birthday to my 17 year old cousins Jaye and Claire! I cannot believe you are getting so old! But my invitation stands to come celebrate your next birthday with me in Quebec! <3