Weekend in Whistler

It's been a long while since I last blogged. Less travel equals less blog time, I suppose. Although I traveled a fair amount during January for Scholarship Junkies, it didn't seem particularly blog-worthy.

Last weekend though, a few of the boys from my Berlin 2007 study abroad program and I headed up to Whistler, British Columbia, for a little weekend getaway. They started the tradition last year, but since I was in Germany then, I missed it.

We booked a timeshare condo for the five of us, but then at the last minute, one of the guys couldn't go. So our group was down to just four. Nevertheless, we had a great time. I don't actually ski or snowboard, so I wasn't exactly sure what I'd be doing while they all hit the slopes. But I was just happy to have a bit of a vacation.

I feel lazy, so I'm just going to post pictures and caption them. Enjoy!

There was plenty of snow as the view from our room showed.

Our first night in town, we went to the Banff Film Festival event and watched some incredible films. My favorite was one about a guy named Tim Cope, who traveled from Mongolia to Hungary with just horses and a dog. Took him three and a half years.

On Saturday, the guys went up Whistler to ski and snowboard. I went on a snowmobile tour in Callaghan Valley. Pretty nuts.

Having ridden ATVs in Greece, I figured riding a snowmobile might be similar. I was wrong. It's a bit tougher, 'cause snowmobiles don't like to turn.

The snow was phenomenal though, and in the picture below, you can see our guide taking pictures of the other dudes. There was a group of 4 guys from KY, and they were all way better at snowmobiling than me. Oh, we're riding on a frozen lake below all that snow. :)

Then we drove up the side of this hill and went straight down the side of it. It doesn't look all that steep in this picture, but when you're at the top of it and have to drive a snowmobile straight down, it feels steep.

I headed back to the pad after that with some groceries and a chicken caesar salad. Place looks nice, doesn't it? I didn't have internet, but I had some work to do. Hence, the laptop. I don't vacation well.

We had a kitchen too, so that was nice.

I had taken a nasty spill the week before and banged up my knee. In fact, I had a huge bruise that was dark purple, and my knee was swollen to the size of a grapefruit. It's still a bit puffy and bruised.

The guys got back in the afternoon, and after they went to the hot tub downstairs (I had to refrain for medical reasons—no intense heat with my implants), I started making dinner. We had some Italian sausages to go with our pasta.

Joe didn't want any veggies, but I chopped up some celery for the pasta sauce anyway. Is that weird? I never thought it was in Germany...I even threw in carrots and zucchini in Berlin. Apparently, the guys thought that was strange.

Yum. It had been a while, since I last cooked.

I had also bought a loaf of garlic bread that we popped in the oven.

Later that night, we went out to some of the bars in Whistler Village. It was a fun night, and we even got a picture on the Olympic rings.

Right before returning home though, we were a bit hungry, so we stopped by a little joint called Dinky Dawgs. Crazy what you can put on your hot dog.

On Sunday morning, I joined the guys up on the slopes, except I went up just to join 'em for lunch. So I bought a sightseeing ticket to ride the gondola up and then the Peak2Peak gondola from Whistler to Blackcomb. Took me an hour to get all the way up there 'cause of the lines.

Nevertheless, it's quite nice up there. Like a little village on the mountain.

The Peak2Peak gondola was great for nice views.

After a rather unhealthy lunch of poutine and pizza, we rode the gondola back to Whistler together, so they could continue skiing.

The gray gondolas have a glass floor, so you can see straight down. Too bad we didn't get one of those.

Oh, Canada...

Whistler Village itself is quite nice. Felt like a little Hogsmeade of sorts.

I enjoyed my first time there, and I'm sure we'll be heading back again next year. I will be much more ready with the right clothes.

On Sunday night, we decided to celebrate our last night by going out for dinner and drinks. We had enjoyed the Irish Pub from the night before, so we went there for dinner this time. Look at that huge sprig of rosemary in my shepherd's pie!

After dinner, we were all extremely full and tired, even though we'd been planning to go out to another bar or two. But, the toll of the day must've hit us all, even though I hadn't even skied or snowboarded. So we went home.

We packed up the next morning, cleaned the place up, and then hit the road.

Whistler's not inexpensive at all, so you have to do your best to save money where you can. We saved a lot by cooking on our own and by booking our place way in advance.

The drive back was gorgeous too. It had been rainy and foggy when we drove up, so the view of the fjord wasn't visible. Our return trip was nice and clear though.

We had stopped for dim sum in Richmond on Friday when we went up, so on our way back, we stopped at Shabusen in Vancouver for Korean BBQ and sushi. No reservation, no seats in the boat.

Our table still had the grills though, so we went all out at this all-you-can-eat joint.

I lost track of how many meat dishes we ordered...

But, man, were we stuffed...

The drive back was rather uneventful, but we stopped by the duty free shop before returning to the US. This looks like a normal sized Jameson, but it's 4.5 L!!! Costs about $100 Canadian. For Jameson, I would've bought it, but I wouldn't be able to finish 4.5 L of Jameson for a looooong time.

I spy freedom...haha.

All in all, I had a blast, and I thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing weekend away with some good friends. Hard to believe that our study abroad group from 2007 still hangs out so much, but we are awesome like that.

I've got a few more trips coming up soon, but mostly for work. Still, I'll do my best to blog, since there'll be some new cities and sights to talk about.

Cheerio,
Sam

Hell's Kitchen, Meetings, and a Holidazzle Parade

This morning, I woke up early to meet with Will and Jeff for breakfast. They were both part of the crew who did all the filming in San Francisco. It was very nice to catch up! They met me in my hotel lobby, and together we walked to breakfast. On our six-block stroll, we came across this statue of Mary Tyler Moore. Not gonna lie...I knew her name, but I didn't know anything about her. Cool statue though.

We went to a place called Hell's Kitchen, which I had seen online as one of the best places to eat in Minneapolis. It reminded me of Auersbach Keller in Leipzig, Germany, which I had visited last November. I had a Bison Benedict, which was deeeeeeeelicious. I wish I could have another right now...

After we had breakfast and chatted about schools, politics, and life in general, we walked back to the hotel, where my mom was already waiting downstairs. Our limo driver had also arrived already, and today we got an actual limo (a mini one). Picture's for you, Natalie! :)

Mom got a nice picture of me, Will, and Jeff too. So thankful to know such great people.

Our limo took us to one of Medtronic's campuses/facilities, and on our way, we passed Target Field, which is a great looking ballpark. I will have to return some day to catch a game.

At the facility, we got a tour of where they manufacture many of the parts for their medical technology products. I was extremely surprised to learn that many of the parts had to be made by hand. Crazy!

After our tour, we were driven over to another facility, where the neuromodulation offices are. We met with various groups and teams, including folks from government affairs, DBS, and introthecal baclofen therapy. It was all very fascinating, and we had a great time. Then with our bit of free time in the afternoon, Mom and I went to visit the Mall of America briefly. The limo we had this time was a lot bigger than the others—basically, it was a regularly-sized limo. Crazy!

I had visited the Mall of America when I came to Minnesota the first time. So I'm glad my mom could see it too. It's huge!

Back then, the amusement park in the middle of the mall was Camp Snoopy, but now it's Nickelodeon-themed.

Ever seen a mall with roller coasters in it?

It seemed emptier than I remembered though...

I did find the log chute that my dad and I had gone on when I was in 4th grade. Still cool. :)

I don't remember if this was there then. I didn't like baseball then, but this is pretty cool.

If you couldn't read the sign in the picture above, it basically said Harmon Killebrew once hit a 520-foot home run. It shattered two seats, and those seats were never sold again. They hang up on the wall now.

I tried to capture right when some people were on their way down.

We walked around a bit more and came across this group singing Christmas songs. They were also singing church songs, so it was interesting to have this feeling of being in church while at the home. They were singing really slowly...haha.

We headed back to the hotel then, and I spent my afternoon catching up on work. The sunset was nice too.

The Target Center really isn't very good looking.

At six, we met with a group of Medtronic folks for a nice stroll to dinner. We got to watch the Holidazzle Parade, which was pretty neat. Lots of lights.

Dinner was incredible. Nice setting and atmosphere with live music. The food was excellent, and the company even better.

Tomorrow morning, we'll head back to the Neuromodulation facility where I'll be sharing my story with about 300 people in an auditorium. Should be fun. After that, we'll have a short tour of the Customer Experience Center and then have lunch there. Then it'll be back to the hotel for our bags and off to the airport.

It's been a great trip, and I am so glad I could come with my mom. Pretty neat.

Until next time,
Sam

Hello again, Minnesota!

Nearly 14 years ago, my dad and I flew to Minnesota for the first time, visiting the Mayo Clinic in Rochester where I was first officially diagnosed with dystonia. A lot has changed since then, but my second trip to Minnesota is also tied to my medical condition.

Medtronic, the medical technology company based in Minneapolis that has made both of my medical implants, asked me to come speak about some of my experiences after my treatment. In fact, they already flew me to San Francisco in September to film an educational video. I will get to see part of it tomorrow, so if I can share it, I will.

So I suppose this trip could probably be officially considered a medical business trip? In any case, I am happy my mother could come along with me, and in preparation for the three-day trip, I asked my fellow Fulbrighter, Natalie, what we should do in Minneapolis. She gave her expert advice, and so our first stop after arriving at the airport was Minnehaha Falls. 

As Natalie had told me, Minnehaha Falls half-frozen is beautiful. Yup, it is.

My mom's picture turned out better than mine.

But I did get a picture in front of the Science Museum of Minnesota, which we visited after checking in at the hotel and grabbing a bite to eat at the Irish pub next door.

Natalie had also suggested checking out the museum, so it seemed like a great idea to go visit. Plus, it turns out my mentor, Stan, and his wife, Julie, both used to work there in grad school. Julie actually helped put together some of the exhibits then too.

This fish seemed cool as all the pieces are basically scrap metal. Awesome.

Despite the rain, you can see the Mississippi River. Cool, huh?

This little guy was actually a giant beaver that would've weighed about 250 lbs!

This section was sponsored by Medtronic. The whole place reminded me of visiting OMSI in Portland as a kid.

There was one exhibit where you could measure how many pints of blood you have based on your weight and gender. I apparently have a little over 11 pints of blood. Yup.

This giant triceratops skeleton is the most complete one known. Cool, huh?

I didn't exactly read what this was, but it's like spider webs.

This thing seemed cool too. Like a little tornado of steam.

This sounded like a giant xylophone and would ring for every seismic reading in the world. Pretty neat.

After the museum, our driver (yes, Medtronic got us another limo/sedan/towncar) took us on a little tour around St. Paul. Despite the darkness outside, I got a pretty good shot of the Cathedral of St. Paul. Reminded me of the Frauenkirche in Dresden.

After chatting with Stan for a bit this afternoon, he told me that he and Julie had gotten married fairly close to the museum. So I told our driver, and he drove us by it. Check it out! It's dark, but that's where Stan and Julie got married!

We drove further down Summit Avenue, which is lined with all kinds of cool houses. We saw the governor's mansion and lots of historic-looking houses with festive Christmas lights and all. Further along, we saw Macalaster College, which a few of my fellow HIA Fellows attended.

Then we drove through the University of Minnesota campus, and here's their new football stadium.

We headed to dinner after this, and per Natalie's suggestion (thanks again, Natalie!), we went to a place along the water near St. Anthony Main. We ended up going to Vic's, which was quite good.

I had breaded Walleye, and it was quite good.

My friend, Josh, who is also another HIA Fellow whom I had met in Berlin this summer and is from Minnesota, came along to join us for dinner. It was great to catch up, Josh!

After dinner, we headed home, and I've been catching up on all my emails and work. This blog took a while too. But here are a few pictures from my room. It's pretty nuts...

There is a TV in the bathroom!

All in all, today was a successful day, despite crying babies on the plane, sleeping two hours last night, and forgetting my scarf and gloves at home. The rain we had today reminded me of Seattle, and it was a lot of fun exploring with my mom. Oh, and the Target Center (where the Timberwolves play) is right across the street from us. That's literally all I see from my window. Just beyond it is Target Field (where the Twins play). Awesome.

Ok, time for bed. Tomorrow's another busy day. I'll post another blog tomorrow night.

Sam