- Headed to YVR about 2.5 hours early and went to the bookstores to find new books to read. After some time spent browsing the books, I went to Tim Hortons for a hot chocolate and to review my book on interview questions. With about 1.5 hours left, I decided to head over to my gate and plug in my laptop to talk to a few people about my interview.
- When I booked my flight online and looked at the seating chart, it showed that seat D out of the consecutive seats D, E and F (I was in F) was taken. Once I was on the plane and they shut the doors, seat D was empty - I wondered whether someone missed their flight, or perhaps the person in Seat D went to sit with others.
- I arrive in Edmonton after trying to lip read about half of the movie "How to lose friends and alienate people"
- As I wait for my luggage on the conveyor belt, here are some of the strange items I see: various pieces of luggage, large crate with marker all over, red tool box and then finally my bag!
- I arrive at the hotel pretty hungry so I drop off my stuff in my room and then head down to Madison's Grill (the restaurant in the Union Bank Inn) for a candy almond crusted salmon. I liked the mix of sweet and salty and want to try making it myself one day.
- Everybody else in the restaurant is dressed quite nicely. I, on the other hand, am dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and try my best to look as inconspicuous as possible.
- After eating the delicious salmon (love seafood!), I head back to my room to try to get some sleep. I totally forget about the jet lag and so I end up falling asleep about an hour after I try to sleep.
- 4 hours later, I wake up from the heat of the room. I had turned the fan off earlier (there was only one fan for the room and no separate fan for the bathroom) so that I could fall asleep but it had gotten so hot that I woke up anyway. I try to fall back asleep with various combinations of fans on / off, blankets on / off and with the window not opening, I get up and decide to prep for my interview by reviewing my questions and answers again.
- Around 7 AM, I get a wake-up call. Before I went to bed, I looked around for the fitness room and see that there is a treadmill and a step machine as well as a few dumbbells. I head down to the fitness room for a 20 min run and then come back up to shower.
- I head down to breakfast and order the West Coast Eggs (smoked salmon, poached eggs and a lemon dill hollandaise sauce with a fresh fruit salad and some taters). After exchanging some kind words with the waitress, I head back up to change.
- As I walk to the Law Courts Building, I realize that I did not bring enough clothing. It is -3 and significantly colder than I thought it would be. (Later on, I heard from my taxi driver that it was -42 a few weeks ago, I secretly feel glad that I wasn't here to interview then)
- I thought the interview went well - I got a tour of the 3 libraries and meet many of the staff working there. I also get a very cool story of the heritage room (built by the grandson of Nelly McClung). It reminds me of the heritage core in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.
- At around 11, the manager of the interviewed position, a coworker and I head to the foodcourts through the underground passages. The underground passages are very cool and remind me of the very cool +15's in Calgary
- I get to the YEG and try to find books to read that have nothing to do with interviewing or programming. I mull over buying the Watchmen comic book but finally decide to leave without it (though I feel that if given another chance, I would buy it)
- Once I claimed my luggage, I went to the bookstores in YVR looking for the Watchmen comic but cannot find it (oh well). I head home and now I'm going to crash
All in all, it was a great experience in Edmonton despite the cold and the lack of sleep.
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