Sarah Julien

I am currently sitting in the Vancouver airport awaiting a flight to Denver and then on to Minneapolis. My spring break plans include the exciting destination of Minnetonka, MN and hanging out with a little 4 month year old cutie, who also happens to be my first niece. I thought I would make sure that she realized early in life that I am, by far, her best aunt...not only because I am willing to go to Minnetonka for reading break...but also because I got up at 4 AM, yes 4 AM, to catch my flight.

See I have learned, through trial, that airports can be scary places. Take the two day stint in the Toronto airport on my way to Ottawa. Two days in an airport, carrying around two hockey bags full of my belongings for my next 4 months in Ottawa, was a real treat.

My favorite moment in an airport has by far been my experience in Chicago O'Hare. I was flying back from Minnesota to Ottawa and had a layover for 3 hours in Chicago. They hadn't assigned my seat when I picked up my ticket and I kept checking in at the counter, trying to get a seat assigned. It wasn't until they started loading the plane that I felt like something was wrong. While they offered me the opportunity to stay the night and get free traveling money, I was supposed to meet my mom and aunt that night in Ottawa and they were going to stay the night at the LLC so I had to be there to let them in. Unfortunately, airlines tend to engage in a little activity called OVERBOOKING which leaves some people behind in Chicago while every other since person went to Ottawa. There I was, a small town girl in a big city, my mom and aunt waiting for me in Ottawa, flashbacks of being stranded in Toronto flooding my mind, and I began to bawl. Sob was actually more like it. In fact, I started crying so hard I had strangers coming up to me asking me if I was going to be okay. Normally, I can keep my cool but when I reach my threshold, look out! I must have looked like an absolute mess walking through the airport with tears streaming down my face. The great thing was, everyone was SO nice to me! I tell you, if you ever need to get people to help you...just start crying! I managed to make it out to Ottawa the next morning and all was well.

While I have had some ridiculous experiences in airports, there is also something wonderful and exciting about them. The adventures that some are about to emark on, the returns to family and friends and the characters you meet as you travel makes airports some of the most fascinating places to hang out in. For now, safe travels and if you do end up stuck in an airport, chin up...eventually, you will get out :)

Sometimes I wonder how I end up in the situations/circumstances I do. For some reason, in certain situations...often ridiculous situations, I always seem to question, "how in the world did I end up here?". Case and point: getting locked in my hometown's post office at 11 PM on a Friday night. How did I get there? Great question! I am still trying to figure that one out. I know these thoughts aren't exactly groundbreaking in the philosophy realm, but please bare with me as I try to be deep...

One of these "epiphanies" you might say, occurred one evening in second year. My dorm had taken an exciting trip over to Cloverdale for our dorm meeting. We met in someone's ex-roommate's aunt and uncle's house. I know this may come across as a weird situation, but I have learned in my four years of living on campus that if anyone invites you to their house, you go. Anyways, at the end of the evening, I was driving back to campus with my little car, which is still running on God's good favour, full with 4 other dormmates. I believe we were keeping it holy and belting out a little Michael W. Smith, when I saw it! FREE FURNITURE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD! See, I had been looking for a chair to put in our kitchen area so I could play my guitar and talk on the phone out there. I only had about one foot across to squeeze this sucker in and would end up only looking at the drawers in front of me, but by God I was gonna find a chair and find it for FREE!

It was at this point that I pulled a u-turn and told my dormmates to make room, cause that chair was heading home with us. The chair, which I would later dub 'Madge', was the essence of the seventies: wood and a plaid burlap weave in orange and brown. This chair weighed about 50 pounds but we managed to shove it in the back of my hatch-back and took off down the road with the trunk open, a chair sticking half-way out the back and 4 laughing girls holding on to the chair to keep it in. Michael W. Smith was blaring once again. As we pulled up to the security booth, the security guard shook his head, probably thinking "those poor suckers who fell for the free furniture".

After we unloaded Madge, my friend convinced me to go back to get the love seat that was also on the side of the road. The two of us stood at the side of the road for about 10 minutes trying to fit the love seat into the back of my car before realizing my back seats folded down. Is there anything a Mazda 323 '89 doesn't do? Anyways, we proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to make this work and then I looked towards the house and saw something I didn't expect to see...the owners FILMING us trying to put the coach in. At 12 AM. I'm still looking for the video on youtube. We headed back to campus again with the trunk open, MWS blaring and half a couch sticking out the back of my car*. The security guard stared at us speechless this time. The third time I tried to come through the security gate with that couch in a car, they pulled me over and refused to let me in...but that's another story for another time.

Multiple times throughout that experience, I asked that question, "how did I get here?". Perhaps it's because I don't quite think through details until I'm in the thick of things. Perhaps it's because I prefer adventure and chaos than being realistic. Perhaps it's because I think ridiculous= hilarious. Whatever it is, I love these situations and can't wait for more.

Until the next one...

*Please do not attempt this as it is very unsafe and not recommended.

Over the past few days, I've thought over how to begin this blog. It seems overwhelming to think that I will be trying to communicate who I am through words. See I am "actions speak louder than words" type of girl. This blog therefore will probably contain more stories than concrete thoughts as I try to portray my thoughts on life.

So let me start on the right foot and tell a story: A born and raised small-town girl once headed off on an adventure to the "big city" of Langley to learn about all the world offered in the fall of 2005. Leaving behind her friends that she had known all her life, she moved in with a complete stranger to come to understand that living with someone in the a small space makes one know herself better than ever. Minus a brief stint in Ottawa in the Spring of 2008 at the Laurentian Leadership Center, this girl (turned woman somewhere in there) has continued to grow during her time in Langley...probably more than she ever expected to.

As you have probably guessed (hopefully) that is my story in a seriously condensed version. My story right now is full of intrigue because I am graduating in four months to go on to something that I am not entirely certain about. However, I've recently adopted the philosophy that not knowing makes it more exciting...or at least that is what I tell my parents. This is where I am at right now and I'm sure you will find, if you read more, that my life is more than a little chaotic, that sarcasm is my sense of humour and that I love people and their stories. 

Until next time...