The One Where Santa Claus Comes To O-Town

It's winter, I'm in Canada, and yet I'm still in no coat and my tights and flats combo. Go figure. The Canadians, I have discovered, have been telling porky pies about them being hardy for the cold. Whilst they're all wrapped up warm, I'm basking in the 8 degrees C and loving coat-less and boot-less life! But, with winter comes Christmas! And Ottawa has gone a little bit Christmas crazy. First of all, Santa is now settled in the Rideau Centre every weekend for the forseeable future. I had to go for a compromise between social convention and my intimate desire when it came to Rideau Centre Santa. Social convention dictates that, age 20, it's not ok to go sit on Santa's lap and have a photot taken. But I like Santa, and he didn't set my dodgy-old-man radar off, so I wanted a picture with him. In the end, I went for the sneaky I've got an iPhone that I'm just holding up in the direction of something. Fortunately, Santa saw and gave a litte wave! See, Santa is great!

Santa!

The Rideau Centre fun was not over with Santa. Oh no. The food court is an interesting place; it's super-crowded and a haven for slightly dodgy, definitely-stodgy fast food, including a KFC which sells poutine. One of the problems with going on a Saturday is that it's impossible to get a seat, which means having to irritate the lone people taking up a whole table, and asking to sit there whilst just sitting and not taking no for an answer. So Team Exeter are chatting about life over dinner whilst this woman sits sulkily on her own, texting. Anyway, I say something about my period. This lone woman puts down her phone, gives me the dirtiest look I have ever seen, and then skulks off. So, if you ever find yourself trying to get rid of somebody, just start talking about your period. (This may not work for men).

I went to see Skyfall which was amazing - and my first ever Bond film. Daniel Craig's torso is a delight. Killing Judi Dench was not cool. I got very British in the cinema afterwards, bleeting on about how it must be some kind of capital crime to kill Judi Dench and all the Canadians thought I was adorable.

Didn't you get the memo?

Intro to Ab Soc this week has shown what may well have been an Inuit porn film, complete with an Inuit throat singing soundtrack. Turns out that groceries in Nunavut are extortionate. Like $80 for diapers extortionate. We also watched a mocumentary by an Inuit group which included the great conversation: "Does he walk fast?" "He walks fast because he's always late." You may have needed to be there. Yvet and I also played the "didn't you get the memo? Don't be so touristy!" gag in our uOttawa stash.

Christina turned up to Women in North American Christianity with ice cream, again. Love that girl! She then continued to abuse me in the Ressa meeting, voting against me in the ratification ceremony. So mean, so mean. I'm gonna have to get all colonial on her ass!

And, I am now coursework free for 2012! Thank goodness, I can't take much more of research when all the books use the bloody Oxford comma.

Loving life.

Yes it does.