I decided to leave all my packing for the last night I had in Vancouver because that's just how we do. Mind you I did already separate everything that I wanted to bring so it wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds. I managed to go to bed by 3am (not irregular for me) so a got 3-4 hours of sleep. WIN.
I will spare you the details but my goodbye were filled with (nearly) restrained tears. I think I was procrastinating packing so I didn't have to deal with the feels that come along with leaving. It was a little reassuring listening to the radio talking about Chinese horoscopes. As some of you may know it is Chinese New Year today (yesterday), it it the year of the horse; my year. The radio was saying it was a good year for travel and exploration for horses this year so everyone born in 1990 should come visit me.
I got to the airport and had a little trouble checking in because the machine asked me a billion questions. Clearly I had not had enough sleep but I made it through, helped some confused Chinese folks with my broken cantonese and got a pat-down #firsttime. I apologize, I didn't mean to use hashtags but I can't think of another way to put it right now.
I found the Maple lounge (brought to you by Air Canada brought to me by my dad). It had comfy chairs, wifi, free showers and free noms. I enjoyed my breakfast while tearing into my yogurt. So many feels from all the text messages I was receiving. I forgot the best and worst part:
I got a nice seat with no one behind me (there were a row of bathrooms) so no kicking children and there was a personal TV which had games. I slept for most of it but at one point I watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, played street fighter and tried to play tetris. Tried. It froze on the loading page and was stuck the entire flight. It was still like that when I left but... They can probably fix it. It was great service though, we each got slippers to walk around in and I had a nice glass of Chardonnay with my first meal (Clayton you were correct!).
I got through immigration, baggage claims, busses and taxis with little trouble. I met my roomie for the training program and she is from Vancouver Island. It is incredibly nice to have someone to chat with after being a near mute for the last day.