Crashed Ice and Caffeine Cliffs

So on Friday and Saturday, my Katimagroup and six others (five of which were only there on Saturday) volunteered at the massive Red Bull Crashed Ice event in Québec City.

If you didn`t know, for the last few years, this event has been happening in Québec where they build a gargantuan slide of ice with twists, turns, bumps & jumps down which skate four competitors, trying to reach the finish line first.

On Friday, we were assigned to be security-ish people with official-looking uniforms going around to stop people climbing onto the slide. We then snow-shovelled the sidewalks. There were only about 20,000 people (because Friday is only the qualification rounds) , whereas on Saturday there were more than 80,000 people.

On Saturday, we got to see the finals (it was a bloody cold day...), and it was really friggin`cool. I managed to snag a spot really close to the slide, got to see the action right up front. Really exciting stuff. Hung out with a bunch of other Katimagroups too.

Then, when the event was over, oh god, it felt like we were in some sort of landfill. Beer cans/bottles, LOTS of Red Bull cans, and other various recyclables which we were assigned to pick up. It actually went surprisingly fast, with around 70 Katima-victims cleaning up Le Vieux-Québec, it only took about an hour to have bags and bags filled with stuff to recyle.

The hardest part was fending off all the drunkies who were somewhat hindering our tasks. There were a couple assholes who staggered up to us and threw their beer cans into the snow banks, laughing at us while we were cleaning up.

I`m not a violent person, as such, I didn`t feel the need to punch them in the face like so many other people would have. I contented myself with humbly passing by and ignoring them.

Being a massive Red Bull-sponsored event, free Red Bull cans all around.

Terrible, terrible idea for me.

I know I`m not supposed to ingest caffeine, but I kinda like the Red Bull taste, and it`s completely free, so I couldn`t help but take four Red Bulls. I also finished half a beer can before the ride home to Ste-Marie because I was so thirsty.

Definitely one of the stupidest choices I`ve done in Katimavik.

Hyper-ventilation, buzzing, vibrating eyesight etc.

And since I know you like to spy on my blog, K, thank you for that magic potion and that peanut-butter-bread-thing (it tasted awful, but er, that`s beside the point).

Didn`t get much sleep either.

Back to work tomorrow, oh joy.

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The Arctic

Today was a very windy day.

My work consists of taking this giant pole thing and cutting tree limbs off. Really, really repetitive and boring. The smile on my face on the picture below is deceptive. It's boring.

The picture is also deceptive in that I work with J. I`m not alone in wielding this beastly tool. Our system is that I`ll either adjust the hook thing at the end onto a branch, and J will pull the string to cut, or vice-versa.

So, since we get bored of that work quickly (we`ve been doing it since Monday - many more weeks to come...) we decided to drop the tool and go off to explore the forest, not following a path or anything. It was really cool, we found a clearing with a little hill surrounded by trees, and we ended up at a field, pictured below, and the wind is very strong. And it sounds just like that classic arctic wind (although it wasn`t particularily cold), a strong wooooooosh sound.

To warm up, a nice hearty lunch at the local restaurant (I work at the municipality of Ste. Marguerite - 1000 people or so, it`s not in Ste. Marie).

Oh, and at the end of the day today, I got to drive around on this ATV-with-snowtreads, it was a lot of fun. It`s almost like a tank, it can plow through anything.

After a hard day`s work, J and I relaxed on the ATV, and J`s camera is always snapping pictures...

Good times in Québec.

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Laura

Who is Laura?

Okay, Laura is the missing Katimavik participant from my group. Katimagroups originally start with eleven participants.

We only started with ten.

Laura was sick with mono, we figured she might join later. But no, she never showed up.

Laura is also a nickname for when I`m in a certain type of mood - according to the other people in this Katimagroup. It`s when I turn quiet and don`t speak very much, or something of the sort. It also represents all the girlish aspects of me - say, my long hair, my habit of using a straightening iron etc.

I don`t mind the nickname. It gives me a cover to feel the way that I feel - How are you, Laura?

Once people realize I`m in a Laura stage, I think I`m left alone more, which is good.

Work is going alright. I work with J now, since she`s done being house manager. We go into this beautiful snowshoe trail and clear branches out of the way. It`s boring and repetitive, but work is work, and we can clearly see the work we`ve accomplished by seeing the cleared path.

It does, however, get rather cold, because standing there cutting branches off doesn`t really keep me warm. I`m not moving enough.

And my feet kill me after spending a whole day in snowshoes.

We have this self-defence workshop tomorrow. Doesn`t sound very exciting - I grew bored of Karate class when I was younger. Twice.

I miss a certain someone.

Cold

Good evening madames et messieurs, this is my first blog post that I write from my new headquarters in Ste-Marie, Quebec.

Before I continue, I know many of you have been asking for a mailing address so that you can stop procrastination on those letters. Without further ado:

-Redacted-
Your deadline is March 20th, because that`s when I leave for my next rotation, which is, quite majestically, in Vancouver.

There`s also a phone number I can list, but we have a really cheap quality cord phone, which is conveniently located in the girl`s room. I don`t use the phone very much anyway. And besides, it`s really hard to get a hold of a Katimaparticipant, what with all the things we do.

So, first off, I gotta say, Ste-Marie is actually more exciting than Strathroy.
We don`t need to walk 25 minutes to get downtown, our house is pretty much there.
Of course, you know what I refer to when I say -downtown- in a 12,000 people city.

I live in a much smaller place than in Strathroy.
I say place, because it isn`t even a house, it`s in fact two apartments.

The bottom apartment is very small, it`s got a small kitchen, a little living room, a washroom, and two bedrooms, and I can get to any of those places within 2 seconds of each other.
The upstairs apartment is slightly bigger, with two bedrooms, a bigger bathroom, and a common space. Still very small.

To commute between these two apartments, one must go outside, climb the stairs, and go back inside.

Speaking of outside, do you know what the temperature these few days has been like?

I ought to inform you.

-30 without the wind chill factor.

Obviously, I came knowing that it would be very cold, but the cold, it`s...
You open your mouth, and you can almost bite into it, it is frigid.

My new project leader, Pascal, is very very cool. He is much better than our previous one. We have so many activities planned.

Tomorrow we`re going to the Musée des beaux arts, followed by a trip to the Québec Katimahouse.

Sunday there`s some swimming going down.

Next weekend we`re volunteering, along with seven other Katimagroups, at the Red Bull Crashed Ice! We`re gonna be right next to the action (we`re cleaning the mess up afterward) so tune into TSN or something and look for me (:

Oh, in case you didn`t know, the Red Bull thing is, of course, that giant ice-slide where these extreme badasses go down in packs of four at 70 mph on skates, trying to get to the finish line. Epic.

I work at La Municipalité de Ste-Marguerite.

I am very sad that I work there.

You see, I really wanted to work at Câble Axion, a local tv station. Everyone in my group thought it would be a perfect place for me to work. I thought so too. It was my number 1 choice. I didn`t get the work placement. I was really bummed out for a few days, it was depressing, and I still think it`s unfair, because the participant who got it only had the tv station as their 3rd choice.

So why didn`t I get my work placement?

Apparently, the work placements decide who works where, unlike Strathroy. It blows.

Ste-Marguerite isn`t bad, it`s half paperwork, half building a snowshow trail outside in the woods.

It`s just that the TV station would have been so perfect, I would have done some video editing, some reporting, some covering of press conferences etc...

Oh well.

I better damn well get my first work choice in Vancouver.

Other than that big deception, I`m still having a good time in Katimavik.

Oh, and at my work, between the hours of 8-9, 12-1, 4-5, I`m technically not at work, but rather at my supervisor`s house, because the building I work at is closed during those hours.

And I have nothing to do.

Free long distance calls though, and I get really bored.

-You- might get a call, if my boredom goes to an extreme, I might resort to a phone, out of loneliness.

Lots of things to talk about, but this blog is just too long, wouldn`t you say?

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