Stephanie here reporting in from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. How’d I end up here? Subbing for someone who was unable to teach a CEM class. Found out on a Monday. Left that Friday.

What a beautiful place! Saint John (you have to spell it our or they think it’s another city named “St. John’s” in another province – Newfoundland) is located northeast of Maine. Green. Very green. And COLD. Well, after leaving home in mid June where it was 113 degrees (44 c) and sunny, 55 (12c) and cloudy/foggy is COLD. It was really a challenge to pack – jacket? What’s that? Jeans? You MUST be joking…boots? It’s summer! Besides, my plan was to do my purse and only use carry-on luggage.

On the way out at LAX, they weighed my carry-on luggage at the check in counter. It was over the 22lb allotment. Turns out the reading materials and computer weigh another 20 lbs! The “nice” folks at the check in counter for Air Canada made me take out the paperwork and computer til the bag weighed 22 lbs. (Why so much paperwork you may ask? 10-12 hours from Los Angeles to Saint John, including a 3+ hour layover in Toronto both there and back. Good time to get caught up on reading the trades, books and anything else!)

“Ok – so let me get this straight,” I said to the guy at the Air Canada counter, “ I take all this stuff out of my carry-on but can still bring it on the plane without a bag so it doesn’t count as extra weight?” He answered yes. Seriously. If I pay you the $15 extra for the checked luggage, will it make my luggage get to baggage claim faster? Don’t think so. When I asked that question, got a blank look. Geez. I feel better about things in the airline industry, don’t you?

So there I am, forced to carry the darn 20lbs. of paperwork and computer in my arms along with lunch bag, purse and roll the now lighter carry-on bag through a long, long, long line for security. Once inside, bought a bottle of water and a very nice cashier at the store threw in two big plastic bags (double-bagged) to hold the computer and paperwork.

On the airplane, this woman sitting on the aisle seat in my row looked really familiar. Turns out she works for an old dentist I used to go to. She and her husband were off on vacation for a week staying at Niagara Lake – near the falls on the Canadian side –about an hour from Toronto. Small world! Nice plane – caught up on movies on my own personal screen while reading the trades and prepping for class.

While waiting for the plane in Toronto, the following announcement is made: “Attention passengers to Saint John: there is a 50-50 chance you will land in Saint John due to fog. You may end up in Fredericton instead and be bused into Saint John”. That was a new one! We landed as the fog was coming in. Before the fog, green forests, lakes and the ocean. Spectacular.

Saint John is the first incorporated city in North America. It’s got an oil refinery and the gas is $8.00 a gallon. Hmmmmmm…how do the oil companies get away with that one?

Waking up on Saturday morning was a challenge – 6am was the equivalent of 2am LA Time. Factoid – there are more than 4 time zones in North America. Great time to go to bed – but wake up and start my day – on the same continent??? Talk about some “whine” with my cheese – could I have that with some poached eggs and toast and some more coffee?

The class was great – involved and fun. Really enjoyed it! Ended up with a bunch of folks going to dinner – those from the U.S. sat on one side of the table facing the Canadians on the opposite side.

Did you know beer in Canada is way stronger than in the U.S.? Also, no California wines – but plenty from Australia. Yum.

Sunday was a great day to sleep in – then walked around the town in the fog with one of the women from my class. Charming sea town – lots of brick buildings dating back to the 1800’s (some earlier). Went and visited the “Loyalist Burial Grounds” – a cemetery from the early 1800’s that’s been made into a park. Lovely but the little grave markers were quite sad. Guess being a kid and making it to adulthood was hard in those days. (It’s called the “Loyalist” because those who supported the British in the U.S. War of Independence fled the former colonies to Canada when they lost.)

Here’s another interesting factoid about Saint John - they have a 39 foot drop (or rise) difference from high to low tide. That’s pretty darn big. In fact there’s an area called the“reverse falls”where the tide rushes into the river and makes it flow backward. Then the process reverses at low tide. Unfortunately I was unable to make it up to that area – got to save something for next time!

Saw the sun shine for about an hour. Sat, enjoyed a coffee and people watching. Then it was time for a nap! By the way – the seafood here is amazing (duh!).

Sunday evening attended a very nice opening reception of CAEM in the New Brunswick Hall of Whales. The whales were suspended above us. It was great to see old friends and students. Met some really nice people as well. Our Canadian tradeshow friends need to give themselves more credit sometimes – they really are quite knowledgeable, professional and fun! So the organization isn’t as large as IAEE or UFI – the smaller size gives them a tremendous amount of flexibility the big guys don’t have! (That would be the entrepreneur in me speaking…)

Left on Monday morning in the rain – after discovering I had booked the ticket home for the wrong month! Oops! So much for “experience”, right? Fortunately, I only had to pay a $50 “idiot” fee and got the last seat on the plane to Toronto. And they did not weigh my carry-on!

A big thanks to my Canadian friends and students for a great trip!