(This is my second try at this: I had nearly finished typing my message when the hotel computer shut down on me... Typical!!)
Here we go again!
When I left for the airport this morning at 0600, I was greeted by a wondrous sunrise and I thought: "This is going to be a wonderful day."
... I shouldn't have said that. My flight was good; watched a movie called "The Losers" (those who know me will see the irony in that title) and I struck up a conversation with my neighbor who is an 82-year-old grandmother of 4 with interesting stories to tell.
When I got to Vancouver, it was raining cats and dogs (I guess that beautiful sunrise didn't follow me westward).
I took the Skylink to my hotel (which is in downtown YVR). The Skylink is a mixture of the Chicago El trains and the Montreal metros: i.e. a train that goes above and below ground. The Vancouverites built this for their Winter Olympics. It was a smoooooth ride...
However, due to lack of good signage, I had to do quite a bit of walking outside (Picture this: backpack on my back, toting 2 suitcases - thankfully on rollers - and my laptap case). When I got to the hotel, I was soaking wet and obviously not in a good mood. Two things changed that:
1) my room which is really, really nice
2) meeting my partners-in-crime in this wonderful adventure.
We all went out for supper at The Boathouse (excellent meal - but I'll talk about that tomorrow): Alden, the 8 participants (we went down from 9 to 8 because one of our colleagues - Majeed from Kuwait - couldn't make it. Majeed, we were all really sorry to hear that and we hope we get a chance to meet you under other circumstances); and people from Outfitters and ISIS - hope I spelled that right (more on these great people tomorrow).
As for my 8 international colleagues: they are great! They are funny, interesting... and all younger than me (Drats !!)
This is going to be A-MA-ZING! I'm going to have to get a dictionnary and find qualifiers that mean "amazing" and "wonderful" because I know I am going to need them!
That's it for now. Stay tuned for more news tomorrow.
Until then, keep on smiling!
Jo-Ann :o)
ABOUT THE TRIP
CHANGE ACTION TEAM 2010
From September 12-20, 2010, Aeroplan Canada will lead Groupe Aeroplan’s second Change Action Team experience in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.
The 2010 Change Action Team is composed of nine Groupe Aeroplan employees: one employee from Aeroplan Canada, three from Groupe Aeroplan-UK, three from Carlson Marketing, one employee from Air Miles Middle East and one from Nectar Italia.
Working with Offsetters, Groupe Aeroplan’s and Aeroplan Canada’s carbon management partner, the Change Action Team will travel to the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Lead by Alden Hadwen, CSR, Groupe Aeroplan, and a representative from Offsetters, employees will spend a week learning about climate change, carbon emissions, carbon offset projects and how local communities are linked with these projects. The CAT will visit clean technology projects in Vancouver, First Nations communities in Tofino and the resort of Whistler in the Coastal Mountains.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
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FUN FACTS ABOUT THE TEAM
Jo-Ann: In 2006, I had my head shaved during the Shave to Save campaign to raise funds for the fight against Breast Cancer.Laura: I recently achieved my personal goal to visit 30 countries before I turned 30 and celebrated with a visit to Brazil at Carnaval.
Will: I hold a private pilot’s licence and have been flying since I was 16 years old.
Jackie: When I was in high school I won a contest to name a ride at a local amusement park – The Flitting Flume of Festal Frenzy! It was a log water ride. I won a $100 savings bond, six case of Coke and a season pass to Valleyfair. Oh, and let's not forget the coverage in the local newspaper...ha!
Brendan:The Metro (London’s free newspaper) once sent me on a blind date to Paris, along with a film crew who normally worked on documentaries in war-zones.
Marcello: I visited Geogia during Russian air raids, Ukraine after Orange Revolution and I’ve just come back from former war countries in Balkans: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro. I use my trips as inspiration, writing for newspapers and magazines, I’ve even created a blog: http://www.marcellopeluso.it/. I’ve also published some books…and more are coming! It’s my way to describe the world.
Sanju: My love for animals constantly worries my wife as she isn’t sure what new addition I’ll bring into our home at anytime.
Emma-Lee: I used to work for Bridgeclimb in Sydney. I’ve climbed 1,439 steps to the top of the Sydney harbour bridge over 500 times – that’s 719,500 steps in total! Once I was caught in a freak storm at the top of the bridge with 50 tourists, the winds were over 140Kmph and we were completely exposed to the elements, unable to move until the storm passed.
Majeed:I love to eat - my favourite saying is: “People eat to live, while I live to eat”.
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