So how did I get here? I ask myself this question on an almost daily basis. And how did we meet? The other question I get asked as soon as I open my mouth to speak and my Canadian 'accent' gives me away.
This journey began back in February 2009 on a weekend adventure to Whistler. I almost skipped out on the trip completely. My girlfriend, Mandy, and I were scheduled to leave for Whistler early Saturday morning. The Thursday prior to this, Mandy had accompanied me to the dentist's office to have a difficult tooth pulled. I wrongly assumed that the whole procedure would be no big deal. After an adverse reaction to the pain killers I was prescribed, I wound up in intense pain and unable to sleep. Intent on having our fun weekend, I filled a new prescription, handed over the keys of my car to Mandy and we were on our way to Whistler.
The other reason for the trip was to visit Mandy's good friend Chris (from Manchester, U.K.) who was living in Whistler for three months completing a ski instructor course. He had stayed with Mandy the previous weekend and experienced his first ever Keg party. He told us the red beer cups were just like the movies. We arrived to find an apartment with numerous hung over room mates on the couches. Mandy and I dropped our bags and headed out to explore.
The plan for the evening was dinner out with Chris and his room mates and then out to party in a club. At the dinner table, shortly after we had placed our orders, I took a pain killer assuming that our food would arrive promptly and absorb the pill in my stomach. The restaurant was very busy and by the time our food arrived my head had almost hit the table. I wasn't drinking but everyone else was and suddenly the one very quiet room mate became animated. While the conversation was mostly dominated by the hilarious "Ginger" Pete, I started to get to know British Matt who was sat across from me.
After dinner we headed over to a club and the ridiculous shots began. Matt began to ask me a bunch of questions and promised to show me around London when I came to visit that summer. At one point I wondered "Why is he asking me so many questions in a noisy bar?"It then occurred to me that he might be interested and/or very drunk.
We left the next morning and Matt and I said good-bye. I thought he was a nice enough guy but what were the chances that I was going to see him again before he went back to England in 3 weeks?
But I did see him again. The next weekend after Whistler was Mandy's going away party (she was moving to Kelowna) and Chris, Ginger Pete and Matt came down to Vancouver for the weekend and stayed at my place. The party was a great success!! It was really fun except that Mandy introducing me as her non-sexual lesbian life partner only served the purpose of making Mandy's guy friends question her sexuality. Since I was in the process of finishing up my thesis and preparing to defend, I had plenty of time to hang out with the guys before they took the bus back up to Whistler Sunday evening.
Knowing that Matt was leaving and heading back to London, I was trying not to become overly emotionally involved. To that effect, I did not break off a date that had been arranged since before I went to Whistler and met Matt.
I went on this blind date feeling that I had nothing to lose (except for 2 hours of my time...)It was almost instantly apparent that we were poorly matched. He was a well established investment banker with his own condo and boat whereas I had recently finished my masters degree, rented my apartment and was about to embark on a four month trip through Europe rather than get a job.
Things went from bad to worse when he began to discuss his personal views on race relations. He felt that woman of different ethnicities were great for fun and sexual experimentation but that for marriage and procreation, only a white woman would do. I nodded politely, struggling to swallow my salad and planning my quick exit. We parted ways with no further exchange of information or plans to meet up in the future.
Matt and I spoke a few times and sent a few messages over facebook. I invited him to stay with me for his last few days in Canada which coincided with my 25th birthday. He was reluctant to commit at first claiming that there was most likely going to be numerous parties that weekend as it was the end of the ski instructor course that he had also been a part of for the past three months. I think that he also questioned why I had no real plans for my actual birthday. The reason for that was because my thesis defence was on March 26th and I was having big family/friend celebrations afterwards.
He must have been sufficiently convinced that I wasn't a friendless loser with no plans for my own birthday and agreed to spend the day with me. It was one of my best birthdays complete with my free Denny's breakfast, a visit to the Vancouver Aquarium, a matinee movie, out for dinner and cake at my mom's house.
I wasn't sure how he would feel meeting my mom so soon. As we approached her house I stated that "nothing I can say can adequately prepare you for what may or may not happen in the next hour or so..." My warning proved to be deadly accurate when my mom informed us that she had been rehearsing her ventriloquism skills and then brought out her dummies to demonstrate said skills. When we left he turned to me and said "Well, at least she's madder than you!" I suppose I couldn't have hoped for any better.
The next day I lived up to my end of the bargain and gave Matt a ride to the airport and spent time with him before he had to board his flight. He seemed slightly down but I attributed his mood to the fact that his three month holiday was coming to a close and he was now returning his former working life. I was sad to see him go but I had only spent a grand total of 7 days with this person and wasn't really sure what to feel.
We parted ways neither of us knowing that 8 months later I would be the one boarding the plane and moving my life to England.
