Have you seen the list? Have you seen that number 1 is crossed? Well, this is because we did that
We went to Eagle Tour (of course ) which contains 5 ziplines, one of them so steep and long that you reach almost 100kmph We even tried to go up-side-down but I think next time we'll have more success Because there will be next time!!!
Album with first 9 photos is here:

You have a unique opportunity to see me flying here. Click here to see the rest of them

http://www.ziptrek.com/whistler-canada

San has a few weeks off so we planned this trip about 3 months ago. I will not bother you too much with details, photos I posted here and here will show you a part of what we experienced on that trip. To say the truth I got a bit bored of regular one-per-week blogging. I have no idea about what to post next so it will probably be sort of flash-of-the-moment kind of inspiration. I made big changes in my life this last year and there are more important things to plan and do in a nearby future: obtaining Canadian driving licence (my Serbian one will expire in a month and I will have to go through testing again; pain in the ass but there is no way around it), making a proper resume and finding a job, establishing dojo, buying a new sword, winning the lottery, etc, etc, etc....
Just to mention that Victoria, the capital of BC is a city where I almost felt as like being in Europe. Streets in old part look like something I have already seen in old continent and BC parliament building looks like almost every similar building I've seen all over western Europe. Being found by an Englishman, established as a trade post by another and, on the bottom line, named after one British queen, certainly helped that feeling. Just to add, they have a lot of local breweries around and beer is excellent Food was ok too but I've seen some very odd things

No, I didn't try it. I mean, I like chocolate but this was a bit too much
What was really unusual was a weather. As meteorologists expected this winter to be one of the worst in Canadian history, it feels like a big fail so far. During entire trip we had mild weather and even in Tofino (where we expected a lot of rain and wind) it was unusually sunny. Well, winter is not over yet. We will see.
The biggest animal we saw was a deer in Fort Rodd Hill, even though all over Pacific Rim they put warnings about wolves and cougars Well, I've seen something...

...but even after consulting Sitting Fox, I am still not sure what was that - an average wolf or a very big dog?
While going to Okanagan, we stopped by in a city of Hope. Do you know why is that city THAT interesting for? I will give you a hint: one of the most famous movies in the history of cinematography was made there
We visited family and friends, spent some really nice time with them, saw a little bit of a snow in Salmon Arm and returned home. It feels good to be out of car for a while. One interesting thing is that, whenever I ask about distance from one city to another, I usually get the answer in number of hours of driving. Not in kilometers but in hours, something quite unusual for us who live or has lived in Europe. Also, it was some time ago since I was travelling for more than 600km and stayed in the same country. Well, I better say in province, because Canada is way too big.

I must say I am proud of this little girl ( San don't like me to call it "a boy"), she's been through so many roads with us without a single malfunction

... and a possibility to try that code I've seen on Mik's post


Thanks Mik

Since it shows only first 9 photos, for the rest you must go here

No not me. I mean, not yet. But I`ve heard some stories about my fellow citizen who went over the pond during 70s, 80s and 90s and settled there, in USA and Canada.
People in general start to feel homesick after some time, after all excitement about living in another continent has gone. To ease that, some of them do weird things. I`ve heard a story about an old man who brought entire device for making alcohol drinks (rakija). Of course, he is not permitted by law to sell it but he is making it for his family and friends. And he is doing it for years now.

Some of them went a step further. One of my friends wanted desperately to have sarma for lunch, time after time. Traditional Serbian (or Balkan) sarma is made of minced meat, rice and sour cabbage leaves (sauerkraut) To achieve that, he has bought a blue plastic barrel, the one that is usual for storing a garbage in Vancouver. Since his landlord didn`t give him permission to keep it in cellar, he put it in backyard. He also went to Capilano river and dug out a piece of rock to put it on top of cabbage in that barrel. He was taking a really good care of it, changing water when it was needed (if you are interested you can find entire process here - it is in Serbian but you will get a general idea; and no, we are usually not using electric drill to remove that root ) and when it was just about to be ready, someone, thinking it was a real garbage barrel (probably because of smell), dropped some bones that were left over after someone`s lunch. My friend was furious. I will not go into details

Another interesting story about sour cabbage. One man from Belgrade tried to smuggle it in his hand luggage, he packed leaves in welded plastic bags, few of them, in order to prevent smell from going out. Unfortunately, he was suspicious to customs officer at Vancouver airport. A conversation was something like this:
- Sir, what is in those plastic bags?
- It is some ingredient for a traditional Serbian dish.
- Would you please open it.
- No, it won`t be a smart idea.
- Please sir, open it.
- We better don`t...
They better didn`t. He said they almost called special service to remove biohazard materials and wanted to arrest him. Who ever had the opportunity to smell sour cabbage leaves, knows what I am talking about

But the top of the list, according to my opinion, is holding a man from New York who emigrated during 70s. I was not told a firsthand story so parts of it are unknown but it goes something like this. He was working about 20 years in USA, tried to settle and make some money to make a decent living. Years were gone and finaly he was able to invite some of his family members to come and visit him. As it is usual, he wanted to make a traditional Serbian lunch to show his family he didn`t forget his homeland. But there was a problem: it is impossible to buy entire porkling in a shop. Being innovative and nimble, he went to a nearest pet shop and bought alive piggy, brought it home, killed it on his balcony, washed blood and let it dry a bit, hanging on some rope. Unfortunately, someone was walking near the building, saw blood on the pavement, looked up and saw piggy hanging on. I don`t know what that person thought but soon a place was flooded with police, SWAT, helicopters.... They were all arrested and had a lot of trouble explaining they were not a sect, cult or something worse. They were fined, of course and soon everyone tried to forget entire episode.
Except people from pet shop.
Few months later, that man received a letter from people in pet shop, they were asking how is piggy doing....

I hope I did not spoil a general picture you, my readers, are having about people from Balkan. Homesickness is not easy to bear with. People are ready to do the craziest things you can ever imagine. Knowing all this, I was thinking what "form" of homesickness I will have
Canada, be prepared.
I am coming.

Some of you know that I worked in a small, mesh printing company for about 10 years now. On Friday 30th of September, it was the last day I spent there. So, I planned to buy some drinks and have a lunch break with my colleagues. In Serbia, it is usual to make a small party and that was my plan. But my colleagues were a bit ahead of me and they organized barbecue without me knowing that and even made a small but funny present for me.

For those of you who are reading this on their cell phones, here is the main detail

They were teasing me that I will have to wear that t-shirt in Canada from a very first day. Then, they said, I won`t have a problem finding a new job
Of course, they all signed on the back.

I was really touched.
A day was nice, sunny and warm, the beer was cold and we spent a nice time talking and laughing. One colleague even made a layered cake for us

This is a team I spent most of those 10 years with.