"Super Natural British Colombia"

That is the slogan for the province, and I could not agree more with it. As I start to prepare the last minute details before my departure, I can't help but look around and marvel at the beauty of this place. BC is really supernatural. The mountains, lakes, glaciers, animals... the tall trees, the energy of the forest... I will miss it, a lot. The Hudson Bay mountain silhouette against a big blue ski, main street with its cute little shops and the ice cream booth in Telkwa (hum.. black cherry sundaes). Yes, I will miss it a lot. The picture below is actually Mount Robson, the highest point in the Canadian Rockies.

But I think that what makes this place really special is the people. Canadians are awesome people. Always so friendly and helpful and polite to the point of being annoyingly polite. I am used to it now, but I remember just thinking "oh people, get over it!". It's always "please", "pardon me", "excuse me", "I'm so sorry"...

In Brazil, if you want somebody to pass you the salt on the table, you don't beat around the bush, you just say "Pass me the salt" and nobody will take you for an ungrateful person. But don't you dare say such a thing at a Canadian dinner table... you will hurt feelings and be considered very rude! Say "Could you be so nice and pass me the salt please", much better. And if you don't understand something, don't say "what?", might as well just slap the person on the face. Instead you have to say "pardon me?". Sensible Canadians... you gotta love them.

Anyways, now I have to decide what to pack, and what kind of goodies to take with me. Chocolate might melt, but I thought of putting some ice packs around it.. might work. If not we can just drink it instead of eating it. Some maple syrup as a treat for my team, of course, along with some other novelties and a cpl of bottles of wine. I think that should do, no?