Blame Canada

Sorry if my blog isn't particularly humour-packed today. I woke up to find frantic emails from all my friends asking everyone else if they were okay. After about the fifth one I started getting worried, so I checked the BBC website. And there it was. Now thirty people are dead, and there's carnage all over London, where I was having such a good time just 2 days ago.

Seeing stuff like that really makes me miss the place. I know I'm not London's biggest fan, but I felt so proud when it won the Olympics (just yesterday - thanks to Al-Qaeda for bringing us back to sobriety), and I had a really good time seeing all my family and friends there. On my last day I had a few hours free, so I hopped on the Tube and took in some of London's more multicultural bits. In just half an hour I travelled from markets selling plantain in Brixton to corner shops selling ghee in Tower Hamlets. If I'd had time I could have gone and had some lahmacun (Turkish pizza) in Tottenham or baklava in Edgware Road. I can't think of anywhere else on earth (except possibly Toronto) you can do that.


[Right: Brixton market. Okay, so it looks like a landfill, but it sells pretty interesting stuff]

So that's why I backed the bid at the last minute - because London really does have a lot going for it. All it really needs is a big injection of cash and organisation, and better policing, and to knock everything down and replan the city from scratch... okay, so that's a lot. But I think the Olympics could make sure at least some of that gets done.

Sigh. So like I said, I had a really good time in my last few days in Britain. I hung out with Kitsch in Sync and sang 'Fame'; I went to a sleepover in Oxford with my uni friends (Rach, Marta and Jo) and consumed far too much grease and sugar - and sang along to 'Phantom of the Opera'; and then there was my old friend Kate's wedding in Bournemouth, where I consumed far too much of everything and killed my ankles on the dancefloor while headbanging and singing myself hoarse. So, a general pattern of singing and over-consumption then. It rocked!!!

[Left: the result of being slightly tipsy and having access to a dancefloor. Fatal combination]

I love rushing around and seeing everyone and being constantly busy. It makes me feel like I have purpose. Now I'm back in Canada, I feel as aimless as I did before I left. I keep asking myself what I'm doing here, and the only answer I can come up with is: "Because Joe's here." Which is a perfectly valid reason - and I do love Canada. But neither Joe nor patriotism can fill up my days. Which is why I need a job.

So watch this space - hopefully within a few weeks I'll either be a snazzy media babe or working in a convenience store. Either way it'll be nice to earn some dosh.

Anyway, that's it for now. One last thought - looking at the news this morning, I was all too aware that this kind of thing will probably never happen to Canada. We just don't matter enough in international affairs. In one sense that's good. In another sense, it proves my theory that whenever you stick your neck out, you're going to get attacked. England stuck its neck out, whether right or wrong in retrospect, and now it's facing the consequences. Canada has no guts on the international scene, therefore it's safe. I think I admire England more.