Halifax: Four days of pre-departure training

It seems I have a bit of luck when it comes to visiting parts of Canada on the government's dime. Last summer I did the government sponsored Explore program, and got to spend five weeks in Montreal, Quebec learning french. During the last week of May I attended a mandatory CIDA four day training session in Halifax, Nova Scotia with most of my expenses covered once again. In case anyone was wondering where their tax dollars are going, I've been redistributing the money to help bolster the Canadian economy. I like to think of it as a win-win-win situation, for you Office fans out there.

So from May 25th through May 28th I was on the East Coast at Dalhousie University. I met the six other interns, and was able to put faces to the name of my Canadian supervisors. Day One was all about orientation, form signing, learning a bit more about our placements, and the signing of more forms. After that we were attending a intercultural effectiveness courses put on by the Centre for Intercultural Learning, a government initiative. In my highly biased opinion, this course was better suited for a younger and less traveled crowd. Granted I've taken a similar course before, but I wasn't the only one feeling impatient and a bit frustrated by the end of it. Our instructor was very nice though, and it was a good opportunity for some swapping of personal experiences. The most beneficial part was for me was when we were paired up with someone from the country we're each heading to. I spent a few hours chatting with a young girl from Kingston who just started university at St. Mary's. She was great at dolling out the practical information from what taxi service to use and which radio stations are best for music or news, to those ever important safety tips. She stressed more than once that she could tell I was going to smile too much, and that I'd have to make an effort not to walk down the street with an open invitation to approach me on my face. Her multiple statements that after talking with me she's sure I'll love it there made me that much more excited to be going.

During our off hours, those of us interns from out of town did our best to make the most of our short time in Halifax. Our efforts were hindered by the fact that we were at Dalhousie until 4:30pm, and most places like to close around 5pm. I was also disappointed to find out that Nova Scotia wasn't going through the same heat wave as Ontario. With my bags packed for Jamaica's 30+ temperatures, I was left wearing the only pair of pants and sweater I'd brought with me. While out and about, I'm pretty sure most of our time was spent deciding where to go to eat and then deciding where to go afterward. I even made the effort of trying some seafood, which vegetarian or not I usually go out of my way to avoid. My highlights from our wandering included a phenomenal small bookstore with shelves of thousands of books from floor to ceiling, making friends with some bartenders while drinking raspberry beer at a local pub, uncontrollable fits of laughter in Shoppers Drug Mart with people likely mistaking us for being intoxicated, and of course a visit to the water's edge...

This is an artificial picture - I yelled at her when she tried to smile at the camera.
I was going for a reflective shot.

The two girls I spent the most time with, Danielle and Katherine.

I was pretty confused and a bit distraught to find that the Bluenose II was missing from the docks on the one day I came to visit.

What would the East Coast be without giant lobsters painted with flowers?
Slightly less amusing for me is what.