Vacation season

Last night I went out with some friends I made this past year at university. A small group of us have become quite close and we like to get together a few times a month for a night out. Last night was a little different though; I had to defend my hometown. I had to explain that Vancouver isn’t a dangerous place and the images they saw making it resemble a war zone was the outcome of an isolated incident. I explained that this wasn’t the product of a lost hockey game, that the game was just the excuse for people who set out to smash and destroy in a fervent rage. The one thing I was completely unable to defend were the police, which is unusual for me as I am usually the one (sometimes the only one) defending them when they do something stupid or heavy-handed.

Police Chief Chui sees it as a success that the riot was quashed in half the time it took them in ’94. I would argue they didn’t take the necessary precautions to prevent it from growing to the size and level of destruction it did. I think the success of the Olympics lulled the police into a false sense of security and they were caught ill prepared this time. The looting was an abysmal blight on the name of our city, one which I am having a hard time coming to grips with as it appeared the police made to attempt to prevent it.

The good news in all of this is the way the “regular” citizens came together to help clean up the mess the following day. But more than that, the number of websites that popped up to allow people to identify the culprits in the photographs was heartening. Everyone has a camera on their phone and this riot was well documented. With the help of social media, particularly Facebook, many of the looters and rioters were recognized and then appropriately tagged with their name (and in one case, their phone number). Some people were fired or arrested the following day and although I have very little faith the justice system will deal with these people appropriately, I think the social shaming is just punishment with more defined penalties than the suspended sentences or community service hours they might receive from the courts.

I know I have been remiss from writing my blog and I have a good reason; I have been out living life.

The weekend of the Royal Wedding in April was a big deal in the UK and they made it a national holiday. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to London to watch. Those that didn’t make the journey arranged viewing parties to ensure they didn’t miss any of the wedding action. Nina went to one of these parties with her girlfriends. I, on the other hand, treated it as any other Friday and worked. But we did take advantage of the rest of the weekend and did two day trips. On the Saturday we drove up to Matlock Bath which sits up against the edge of the Peak District. And on the Sunday we went to visit Kedleston Hall in Derby; a palatial estate house on a piece of land the size of a small county. It belongs to the National Trust which we decided to join as there are hundreds of beaches, gardens and homes across the UK and with our nominal fee we gain free access to all of them for a year. Although there are few of them in the Midlands, there is a massive splattering of National Trust properties in Devon where we will be for 1.5 weeks in August.

Nina knows someone who has a house in Totnes which sits halfway between Dartmoor National Park and Tor Bay on the south coast of England. They are going away and require someone to look after their home and pets and we saw it as an opportunity to see another part of the country; a part everyone speaks very highly of. Nina’s parents have a sailboat currently moored in Brittany which we have an outstanding invitation to use as a floating hotel. We have decided to combine the two trips in August. We will drive down to the south coast, hop a ferry and stay on the boat for a week in France. Then we will head back across to Devon for another week and a half before returning home.

Nina is currently in Italy where she has been for a month now doing her fieldwork in Pantelleria. She has now finished the ‘work’ part of her trip as I am leaving this afternoon to join her for a week of sun and surf on her tiny Mediterranean island. Afterward we will head over to Sicily where we will spend another half week exploring the area around Palermo.

While Nina has been away, I have been remarkably busy. Andrew visited, for a day, before heading down to London for a conference with dad. I joined them at the end of the conference and the three of us spent an evening together. Then dad and I had a day together before we each left, so we rented some bikes and rode through the many parks which essentially allow you to cross the middle of London. We rode from Westminster Abbey to London Bridge along the Thames waterfront path and ended up at Borough Market which was a haven I immediately fell in love with. I been to London for the day many times, but this was one of the more memorable experiences for both dad and myself.

The following morning dad headed back home and I was off to Amsterdam to have a meeting with my employers which also went well. I received the job security I have wanted for some time. I saw some old friends and had the unique opportunity to meet up with Claudio for a day as he was in on business and we overlapped. Then I had the added pleasure of seeing Claudio again a few days later as he passed through the Midlands on his way back home.

Dad was back in the UK two weeks later, this time with Marie, and we spent a weekend together. I showed them Leicester and the surrounding areas and I think they really enjoyed it.

Toward the end of semester our department had an open house where members of the public were invited in to see the work we are doing. We were all required to show some of our work and be onsite to discuss it with anyone interested. A photographer came through and took some fantastic shots of us in various poses.

My classes have finished for the semester and my first year is now done. This summer I have the task of finalising my thesis project as I have to submit my formal proposal by the end of September. I will have to find some time to put toward that, but with all my trips and other work on the side, it seems the summer is filling up quickly.

Nina’s parents have invited us to join them in Austria for Christmas. We are going to return to the resort they took us to last September for Nina’s father’s 70^th birthday. We will stay for a week, come back home for 2 days (to do laundry) and then we will be jetting off to Vancouver for New Year’s and mom’s 70^th birthday. But, I am sure I will write again before then.