Flurries and Fall Part Two: Misadventures

We all know this is the part of the post that everyone is looking forward to. My mom is scanning very carefully for every little thing (even though she hopefully knows all of it already.)

Let's start with how last week (on Thursday, Oct 10th) I won a $10 Tim Horton's gift card from winning a quiz game on mental health. That's not a misadventure right? Well on Friday I went there for the second time (Sunday was my third time) and this one time I was somehow not careful enough. Maybe the door just was being even less cooperative than normal. But i accidentally hit the door and the upper right footrest of my scooter fractured and was just barely on. I had to use my foot to keep the piece in place as I made my way back home. To make matters worse, I was streaming a series for my friends, so I felt pressured. In the end, no glaring damage happened. But this illuminated how vital my Muscular Dystrophy Canada connection would be -- tomorrow I have to ask them for help! As I've already had to paid for some scooter repairs here, I was not in a hurry to pay full price agian.


Same pattern here. On September 23rd, I went and saw Promare with my supervisor! I was surprised that he had time to go with me. But he was exceptionally well organized and told me to get my ticket ahead of time. (This is not a concept I"m that familiar with yet.)

You may be wondering how I excused *myself* for a Monday. Well, simply put, the professor was gone that day, and I had my animal training (with live mice) in the morning (and Promare in the afternoon) That animal training was demanding both physically and emotionally...to the dismay of one of my friends. After that, I was ready to go and see an action anime film. We both had a lot of fun, though it must be said that this cinema was quite far. It was near where he lived, but it was around an hour of transit from the university. Going with him, it was quite smooth, and we talked about many things, both research and not research. It was a great experience and a nice way to spend 2 hrs!

However, I decided on October 4th to go again to that same theater for the anime sequel film Rascal Does Not Dream of Dreaming Girl (not how I would localize that title personally). But I quickly realized that the film was sold out....this was why I needed to get tickets ahead of time. I spent an entire hour to come here but it was for nothing! I had to be responsible though so I bought a ticket for the next day. This gave me my chance to check out the Indigo bookstore, which is very close to the theater. It honestly reminds me of Barnes and Nobles down to the layout and the Starbucks cafe. It gave me a chance to call and complain about misadventures with my family. It also led me to contact the person my mom had sent "goodies" with for me.

So October 5th, I went out that direction again and me with this person, and got my items! By now, these items have generally been eaten because of course I would. (Things like cookies, Goldfish crackers, etc, and also a shirt!) That person was quite kind but we only met briefly. After that, I realized I had several hours before the film and that....I was too tired to spend all of them at the mall. Or to go to the bookstore early. So I grabbed sushi at the mall, which tasted good as sushi tends to with the right amount of wasabi and soy sauce, and then headed home. I made the hourlong train-bus-walking journey again back to the theater and ended up in the auditorium a solid half hour before the film. It was already filled with people. The film, with its solid blend of comedy and tragedy, was quite moving, and aided by the many people excitedly watching it. It was a great time and well worth all the misadventures.

Misadventures aren't all bad I tell you! Seems like I got to know the city way better than I would otherwise.



Which is why I have one last misadventure to tell you about. I made the trek to the Pakistani Association of my city, but it was not straightforward given how far out the place was. First I had to take a bus from my university station (the easy part)...but then this bus was late! And I had to transfer bus stations immediately, but could not even find the other bus station. It was actually just a pole on a sidewalk next to a fence. That frustrated me a lot. Then I waited half an hour for the next bus, making me late, and then I transferred to the train. This got me fairly close but not close enough.

I entered the event at 7 pm, which was late enough, and I was feeling pretty annoyed. But you know what, seeing middle schoolers and high schoolers trying their best at public speaking was a great sight to see! I actually came out there in connection with Toastmasters. I even got a chance to deliver a speech of my own, letting them know how to keep improving at public speaking.

But there was a catch...I learned after the fact that I could have gotten a ride to the place. But because I brought my mobility scooter, I could not. So I braved some decently chilly temperatures (not subfreezing though) to get to the nearest rail station. Going straight on scooter would have been 50 minutes, but after 20 minutes or so I knew I needed to take a bus. Once I got to the transit station and to the platform, I finally got to relax shortly. I called my parents and explained the situation. My mom was frightened by the news but my dad took it calmly. By this point, the worst was over, and I made my way home.

For those finding my description of this Youth Leadership event sparse....don't worry! I will be doing it again, and this time actually getting a ride! So next time I can focus more on describing the event proper.

But there were some miscellaneous misadventures. From September 23rd through about October 7th, I was feeling sick; my body kept making me feel like I had to cough to clear my throat. This whole time I kept battling my throat, but at some point, things returned to normal. I do not remember the exact moment I stopped being sick...yet I feel so much clearer in head than I did two weeks ago! Sickness is such a mysterious thing.

As is the trend with these misadventures, I fought the feelings of sickness and tiredness to watch Toy Story 4, on campus, with a friend just the day after I saw another film with a friend. Two friends, two films, two days -- that's definitely a record for me!