Well, it's been quite some time since I wrote a post. Life hasn't really been all that interesting, but I'll give you a quick overview.
I didn't blog anything over my summer in Banff as I was flat out working, living and hanging out with my amazing Evelun's co-workers, Jordan, Haylee, Heather (my English and Canadian housemates), Sandra, Diego, Zoe, Jamie, Shania, Mikey, Robin and Sam. There were more people we hung out with, like others who'd stayed after the winter at Sunshine but this was my main squad.
I stayed at a hostel briefly before my Hawaii vacation, called HI-Banff Alpine Centre. It's the same one I stayed at when I first got to town in 2013, and when I stabbed my hand with that wine glass. It was a wee ways out of town up the hill but it was easy walking distance and with the distance there was more wildlife to see. Almost every day there were deer to see or squirrels, chipmunks and on the odd occasion, elk. Also the views of the valley and surrounding mountains were breathtaking.
I'd started working at Evelyn's about 10 days before I went to Maui, so seeing as I'd been in that room for a wee while (10 days in the same room of a hostel is practically forever) I requested it when I came back. I'd been getting to know the other long-term English residence, Amber, Tamina and Fraser during those 10 days, and it's so much nicer to return to familiar faces than all new ones. That being said, you make friends so easily when you're in hostels! (Exhibit A: Fraser came to New Zealand last year and stayed a few days with me, and Exhibit B: Amber came only a few months ago and stayed for a weeklong stopover between backpacking around the country and her flight to Australia. Tamina is yet to make it to NZ.)
It was absolutely insane how busy Banff got during summer. People had told me that Banff was the busiest during it's warm, 4 month period, but nothing prepared me for it. The sidewalk was choked with people, 6 abreast and all the way down the main street non-stop from 9:30am-10pm every day. there were alleyways designed for delivery vans to get to stores, but you started using them if you had to go anywhere as pressing through the throng as you go about daily life very soon gets tedious. Or you just wouldn't go out until late at night as most stores were open until 10 or 11 to cater to tourists bizarre shopping habits.
Evelyn's Coffee Bar, was no different. We'd be open from 7-10 everyday and during summer, there would consistently be a line for food and drinks from 8am-8pm. The line would range from just a few during our lulls to 20-30+ people for 5 hours straight on the busier days. Every cafe was the same. Some days were hellish, but if you had a good 5 member team it could be enjoyable.
Partway through summer I was moved from full time barista into the kitchen to help as they hadn't been able to keep anyone on down there: and if there's no food, there's nothing for the two cafes. At first I didn't like it as I was the only girl but after a little while it wasn't so bad once I got to know the boys. I still did shifts in the cafe when we were short staffed which kept my skills from getting rusty, and there was more than one time where the girls would call me to come fix something with either the coffee machine or grinder. I made so many panini's, cookies, various kinds of cake, soups, salads and slices daily, it was insane: during the peak summer we'd work 12+ hours down in the kitchen to keep up with the demand. As winter came back around we dropped from having 4 staff in the kitchen to sometimes only 1 person. When you're used to the long shifts and within a matter of weeks you're down to working 4 hours, you don't know what to do with yourself. I just ended up perfecting the art of mid afternoon naps.
My visa was up on October 19th 2014. I'd fallen in love with Banff, I'd never felt so close to God in creation and Canada felt like home from day one, so in August I talked to my bosses about the possibility of them sponsoring me to stay. They said yes, we started the paperwork, but a week before the deadline my boss went to Holland for a month to see her eldest son - without completing her papers. I sent mine in which gave me just over a month extra. I was so upset at having to leave, I cried for two weeks. And ended up at a house party 10 days before my flight out, where I got quite a concussion. Apparently I fell down some stairs and face planted a drywall, none of which I remember, that's just what I've been told. I was off work for a day but as I only had 3 shifts left and we were understaffed I continued to work. In hindsight that was the worse thing I could've done but you live and learn. I'm pretty sure I wasn't very helpful anyway as I couldn't walk without holding on to something to keep the room from spinning. But I did it and managed to pack up all I had acquired. I hadn't given up on returning to Banff so I left my snowboarding gear in my bag as I was sure I'd be able to return in April. I wouldn't be able to, so then had to ship my gear back to New Zealand which ended up being a huge struggle, but again, another life lesson.
I surprised my family when I came back, just in time for Christmas. I then moved to Christchurch and got a job in a cafe / winebar where I quickly became acting manger.
In April 2015 I went to Europe with Heather when it became clear unless Canadian Immigration change their visas with New Zealand, I was never moving back.
Europe was amazing. We met up in London and took the EuroStar under the Chanel to Brussels, and then Amsterdam. We stayed a few nights with our friend from Evelyn's, Diego in Hamburg, before going off to Berlin, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Munich, Zurich and Paris.
