Overdosing

Since I've been back, I've been making a concentrated effort to enjoy all the things I didn't have living in the UK. Ok, 'enjoying' isn't really the right word -- more like 'squeezing every last inch of use out of them by employing them in every possible way, kind of like how you use your fist and all your  upper body strength to squeeze every last bit of toothpaste out of that tube'. It's all part of savouring what you've got, right?

Here are some things in Canada I can't get enough of:

Fucking eh, My car.
I used to enjoy walking on warm winter days. I would make a point of walking my ass over to the bank or the Starbucks or whatever because, hey, sunshine and exercise and all that. Nowadays, after a year of not having the option to drive, of having to balance huge grocery bags on my aching shoulders, of having to always leave the house on time because I don't have the option of driving like a maniac to make up for lost time, my subconscious has decided that walking is clearly for chumps and as a result, I'm well and truly overdosing on driving. Case in point: I went to the gym the other day, and then decided to go to the Canadian Tire next door afterwards. I drove there. Yep, from one parking lot to the one next to it. Then I drove to the front of the parking lot so I could get the closest space possible, thus eliminating the extra pesky steps I'd have to take if I parked towards the middle. I hate people who do this. Or at least, I used to.

Hoodies.
In London, hoodies were for hungover Sundays when I was heading to the grocery store to pick up the bare essentials for my workweek. Or really cold sightseeing days when practicality outweighs the desire to look fashionable. Or for the (two) nights out when I intentionally wanted to look 'Canadian snowboarder cool', in which case I'd take extra precautions to do my hair and makeup just right, so that doesn't really count. London's just not really a hoodie kind of town when you're pushing 30. It's too stylish. And I'm not even a person who usually cares about such things but for some reason, heading to funky pubs or even just going on the tube in a hoodie felt wrong. Now that I'm back in good old casual Canada, I wear a hoodie every single day. And I'm not going to lie, it's usually the same one. Hey, I wash it. Sometimes. On a related note, working from home kind of rocks.

Sushi.
When I first arrived home, I had sushi for five meals in a row. That includes a couple of breakfasts. Enough said. Except I'll say this: I missed the raw seafoodfrom the Canadian prairie -- over a thousand kilometres from ths ocean -- when I was living on a small island? That's fucked.

Downtime.
In London, I felt like every second I spent on my sofa was time wasted, time that could be spent doing something fabulous. I don't feel that way about home. I've done it all. Ok, that's a lie but I've lived here long enough to do all I care to do. Now, insteading of spending my weekends on some mad, frantic tourist crusade mission, I spend my time on the couch watching Jersey Shore.

On that note, Oh my god, Cable.
I have 111 channels here and it's true -- there's usually nothing on. But after a year of having a do an extensive antenna dance every time I wanted to tune to the right channel to watch something, I'm happy just flicking through with the concentration of a zombie-like drone.

Half and Half.
They don't have half and half in England, much to my chagrin. Milk in coffee just doesn't cut it, and full cream is kind of appallingly digusting and overindulgent. Therefore, half and half totally rocks my world.

A dryer. And a normal-sized washing machine.
I can wash my clothes in the morning and wear them that afternoon. The insanity! And the washers here are so big, I can wear three different outfits every day for two weeks and still fit everything in the machine with room to wash my duvet too. I'm pretty sure I don't even own enough clothes to fit in that thing. It's crazy. Sure, it's probably killing the environment but oh, the convenience!

Not sharing a bar-sized fridge with three people.
I loved my roomates and we made it work but the fridge was fecking tiny. Where I'm living now, there are two fridges that are three times bigger for half as many people. I'm tempted to buy perishable food I have no intention of eating just because I can.

Reliable internet.
What a novelty. Again, amazed that I have better wireless in the countryside of the Canadian foothills than I do living in one of the biggest cities in the world, but I'm definitely not complaining.