The Adventures of Tap

For me one of the highlights of going to University is when I’m not going to University. Like Christmas vacation. No classes, no stress, and I’m no longer 1500km away from family and the bulk of my friends. All Christmases previous to this last one I spent almost entirely at my parents place (which, back then, was home because ‘my room’ was still there) and that was cool, because I was fed great food that I didn’t have to pay for or make, and I like being around family for the holidays. This past Christmas however, there was something different.

This Christmas, I had a freaking car! And I drove it. Many places. It was spectacular seeing people that I would normally only see during the summer, and even though I love my family, breaking up the time I spent with them made the time I was home that much more enjoyable. I had allot of fun with everyone I saw, and my family, and I hope I can do the same thing next year.

My first day back at home, my super good friends Paul and Sarah came for a visit. I’m pretty sure they are the only two that can handle my family. Not that there is anything wrong with my family, we are just special in our own way, and you either have to have a mountain of patience (Paul) or be open minded with a hearty sense of humor (Sarah). For example, we were playing crokinole and to spice things up, my mother decided that we would spice up the game with Mr. Potato head. Whoever scored the most points in a round got to draw a piece from a bag of potato head parts. First one to build a complete head won. It was odd, but strangely allot of fun.

After Christmas, I went to visit my friend Steph. I’ve not known her as long as some of my friends, but we are super close, none the less. I’m also friends with her brother, and in fact knew him first, but over the years we drifted apart while his sister and I grew closer. Despite that, Hanging out with him was pretty much the same as it always was. I always enjoyed his sense of humor, and we’ve shared allot of laughs. It was great to see Steph again, having not seen her since July, and we had the sort of great time we always do – the care free kind, the kind that you used to have when you were still a kid and you had not made life so complicated. It was sad to leave after only one day, but others awaited, others no less important!

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On my way out from Steph, I stopped in midland to have some lunch with one of my high school friends Alex. Giant Dutch man, and a giant dutch heart to match. I really should not generalize the kindness of the Dutch, but every dutch person I’ve met has been fantastic. Alex and I do not share similar lifestyles at all, but somehow we became friends, and have stayed friends despite the fact that our visits have slimmed down to one annually. It was good

Next visit was to Sarah. I had not seen her since the spring, and was really looking forward to hanging out with her for a couple days. Now, some how, despite the fact that I had known her for a number of years, I had never met her parents, and since she was staying at their place for the holidays, it was time. For some reason, i was slightly anxious about meeting them (most likely Sarah’s fault, lol) but they turned out to be very enjoyable people. It makes sense, how can a child be awesome if their parents are not…. right? We ate good food, made sushi and tempura (burned myself several times) and did lots of cuddling. Just sit and cuddle. I’m not a big talker, and with the closest of my friends, there usually isn’t a need to talk. You just enjoy each other’s company.

There are allot of birds at Sarah’s parents place. Parrot type birds, and while most of them didn’t seem to like me, one was okay. It walked over to my while I was laying on the floor, and tried to pry the studs off my belt, then climbed up on my head and groomed my head. I thought that was pretty cool, and then it shit on my head. Needless to say, I was not impressed but looking back on it it was pretty funny. I left Sarah’s with the same bit of sadness as when I left Steph’s, knowing that it could be many months before I saw them again.

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Stopping briefly I met three other friends for lunch. Two I had worked with this past summer doing the leadership program, and had become good friends of mine. It was a little sad it was such a sort visit, but it could not be helped. I hope to see them again soon!

My last night down south was an interesting one. In order to keep things simple, I was driven to my grandparent’s place, was to stay with them overnight, then have them drive me to the airport the next day. Sweet plan, since I like my grandparents. I hate Toronto though. It scares the crap out of me. I’ve lived in small towns all my life and being surrounded by millions of people freaks me right out. But I had a friend living there and even cooler, some mutual friends of ours were visiting! It was like getting three friends for the price of one! The only problem was, I had to spend 50 minutes in the subway system to get there. So I had to be in Toronto, by myself, at night, and underground. None of those things are cool with me, but I’m a bigger guy so I figured my chances of getting mugged were low. For my friends, I risked it.

I made it to the station safely, and waited there. I was supposed to call when I arrived, and I assumed I was going to get directions to the house. The phone was busy. So I waited, and waited. I heard a voice behind me call my name, hesitantly, and with question as if they were not sure if it was me. I turned around and there was Piller! After a big hug she led me back to her car, and inside were Venus and Magnum, and right then it became totally worth it to have taken the subway. We picked up a movie and watched it – Jack the Ripper. It was pretty intensely gross, but we were all fans of Depp. Afterwards I got shot in the face with a few foam darts, and it was time for me to go. I was taken back to the subway, and I made my way back to Islington station, not far from my grandparents place. And then it got fun.

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I was driven to Islington station by my grandfather, so I wasn’t too sure how to get back, but I had a good idea… or so I thought. I missed one turn on the way back, one of TWO turns, and ended up walking more than an hour out of my way, at one in the morning, in Toronto. But I realized my mistake eventually, and found my way back. My grandfather was still up when I got there, surprisingly. He had been worried that I had been mugged, and had stayed up. it was about 2am at that point. Why he had not just phoned my cell, I don’t can;t figure out, but after fixing his TV, I went to bed, and so ended my Christmas vacation

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