Ice skating, job hunting, beer swilling, jig saw puzzle solving, and cooking up some damn tasty meals have made up the past week and a half since I last posted to the site.
Lou and I finally got ourselves set up with our own ice skates and went and hit the ice yesterday afternoon to try and find our skating legs again. After an initial, very wobbly, first half hour Lou and I gradually got used to the sensation again and started doing a few laps on the rink. Having a bunch of 6 year olds showing you up on skates can be quite unsettling but I figure these little guys were probably skating before they were walking so I shouldn't feel too bad. True to form Lou took a spectacular stack and emerged with a layer of carved up ice on her and a very cold bum. She's still whinging about having sore knees today.
To her defence though it was a challange hitting the ice after our form the night before. Lou and I had slowly emerged earlier that afternoon with monster headaches and a sufficient series of memory blanks to match. What had started as a trip down to the local Irish pub for a counter meal and a few beverages soon developed into a much bigger event with the barman, Rodger, more than happy to shout some 50ml shots of Ouzo for a couple of Aussies trying to celebrate Australia day in a foreign land. I tried to get the pub singing Walzing Matilda but it was a bit difficult to lead when I couldn't even remember the words myself (aside from the main chorus of course). Luckily a few Canadians helped me out with the words.
Aside from the weekends events I spent most of last week fixing up resumes, writing cover letters, researching companies to apply with, and generally doing everything possible to get a job. The mission continues this week. Lou and I went out and saw the Cannes Advertising Film Festival movie at the Bytown cinema, a local arthouse cinema that we've joined. There were some classic ads on there, if it plays back home I'd definately recommend seeing it.
The Winterlude starts this Friday which we're waiting in anticipation for (click on the icon below for more information). Live bands, ice sculpting, snow slides are all part of the program and it runs for the next three weekends. Now that we've got our skates we're also planning on getting out and skating on the Canal soon (world's longest skating rink, supposedly).