Summer in NOT Europe!

Hi there! Did you miss me? All summer I've been enjoying the familiar Canadian scenery and it's time to return to life in Europe, so let's catch up!!

In late May, after finishing all my exams (32 hours after finishing my last exam to be exact), I packed up, hopped on a plane and flew home!

54 hours after arriving back in Napanee, I started my job working at a provincial fish hatchery in Sharbot Lake. Those 4 days between completing year 1 of my master's, travelling for 16 hours and starting a brand new job were a whirlwind but thinking about how fast everything between then and now has happened is even more whirlwindy!!

My job this summer also qualified as the "internship" portion of my degree to get experience in the aquaculture industry and boy did I get an experience. It was nice to work with lots of different freshwater fish species but I also learned a lot of valuable lessons about what I don't want to ever do again lol. A lot of my time was spent working with walleye and a silly little feed trial. The walleye survival was not what we were expecting and most definitely not what we were hoping for but thankfully I don't have to think about them again (until I have to write an entire report and give an hour-long presentation...).

As soon as I got home, I also got to see some childhood friends!! I hung out with Georgia and Sarah a couple of times and caught up with them! It's so nice to get to see familiar faces in Napanee and hear about everything that I've missed (including knitting techniques).

At the end of May, I took a quick weekend trip to Halifax to meet my new nephew, see my best friends graduate AND drive my car back to Ontario. What a productive trip!!

First: the graduation! Due to ticketing issues, I wasn't able to attend James & Paris's graduation in person in the auditorium, but I did get to see them before they walked across the stage and then watched it on a live stream from Corey & Sarah's house!

That leads perfectly to my second point in Halifax: meeting baby Nolan! I became an aunt (still trying to figure out the proper pronunciation) in early May so I got to meet my 3-week-old nephew and he is absolutely perfect!! I am determined that his first words will be "auntie chop" so if he has figured out how to read by now: Hi Nolan, can you say "Chop"? And if he hasn't learned to read yet: Hi Corey & Sarah, if you could please repeat the previous sentence about 40 times a day until it happens, that would be great! Thanks:)

And the last point of Halifax: driving the Impreza from Halifax back to Ontario! James and I made this road trip last April but in reverse so it was fun to get to do it again! We stopped at our favourite sandwich stop in Maine and found out they also make tasty (and massive) cinnamon buns! This road trip meant that we got to have lots of time to catch up after many months of long distance!!

Back in Napanee, living with Kimmy & Kenny means that sometimes random activities take place that no one can predict or even give an accurate description of what it is. Sometimes that includes going to a circus in Napanee. Now this wasn't anything close to The Greatest Showman or Cirque De Soleil but it was the most "elementary school talent show" circus that you could imagine. It was just the most bizarre collection of acts, but I guess that's just what a circus is? So I guess mission accomplished? Sure. I'm just glad that the 2 people hoisting up the woman on the ring didn't slip because there was most definitely no safety net.

Coming back to Canada also meant that "long-distance" with James is only a two-hour drive and no more time difference!! It was so nice to get to see James on the weekends, have "in-person" dates again, play tennis, see some of our old roommates, compete in a canoe regatta, have some nice dinners and see a Down with Webster concert.

Quickly coming to the middle of July, it was Grandpa's 90th birthday!! A huge milestone that the whole family gathered for:) All the grandchildren, the aunts, uncles and great-grandchildren came to celebrate Grandpa and it was such a special day!!

At the end of July, I got reunited with my best friends Paris & Syd in Newmarket!! It was a short visit but they are both doing crazy cool things so any opportunity we get to see each other is so much fun!!

Wrapping up the summer, Kimmy & I took some time and went to St. Annes's Spa for some relaxation! Much needed and it was very nice to have time together:)

And there it is, the whirlwind recap of a whirlwind summer in Canada! I'm writing this at my gate in Amsterdam ready to board my flight back to Trondheim! The time change is already killing me but our orientation week for the new Masters' students (called Fadderweek in Norwegian, so yes I have become a Fadder unexpectedly) starts tonight!! Next week my classes start then the week after that I'll be meeting up with James in Berlin for his birthday, a Noah Kahan concert, and the beginning of James's travels in Europe! Talk to you soon!!