why am I updating my blog all of the sudden? I have no clue. I am not really into blogs anymore. I have always kept my travel diaries in handy where I would reveal my true feelings and emotions. mostly, I would write in foreign languages too, so noone could read it. this blog, however I started back in 2004 and when I used to work at a movie theatre me and my co-workers had this blog community, so we would all blog and bitch and share the joy of work. then it became normal to let 'the world' know how my day went. by the end of 2008 I have forgotten all about it. 

 I work at an art gallery. wait, what?! i work at an ar gallery. oh yeah. me? yes me. the adventurer. why? you know why. yesterday we had a big artist reception and it was a total madness, I got home at 1am with an incredible headache.  I should probably backtrack my news this time.  So an art gallery, just recently started working there.  I like it, but I would rather have someting closer to my home, because getting there takes up an incredible amount of time and money. 

now going back to new years day...i can't believe it's already the new year.  looking back at 2008, an amazing year of my life. let 2009 be the same. oh yeah, why am I not on the beach teaching scuba like I alwasy wanted to? no answer.  back to december, just got back from Thailand and Cambodia getaway with my two friend I met in Alberta- Leah and Sarah. my new travel buddies. hope we get to travel again soon. I loved that trip.  even though I blew all of my cash on it, all of my savings from summer in Alberta.  Thailand did change me, it was very different from all of my travels. it was very long too, almoust 2 months. and very cheap! the whole thrill of going came from the feeling that noone wanted me to go. people keep bashing on Thailand because they believe the common stereotypes. you know, office nerds with 9-5 jobs who haven't been anywhere outside of their work-home cubicle. to prove them wrong I came back alive. some peopel think travelling is dangerous.  not to me. it thrills me, it gets me going and I am wondering if I can ever settle down. 

...going back to may 2008, starting my job in jasper, Alberta as a tour leader and a boat driver. excitement, many new friends, crappy apartment that I got to share with Sarah, which we did not want to leave towards the end (well, actually we did, who's kidding who?:)..beautiful nature, lots of hikes, camping. hardcore lifestyle. coming to work and being excited to actually work. driving boats  full of people on Maligne lake , touring to them , mingling with them. then a very scenic driving home , partying, blowing money, pizzas and laptop movies. what's not to like?

So, the 2009 have officially began. ta-da-da-da. oh my? what should I do? Living in a big city once again make me feel like a lunatic. I have this little feeling that something's not right. something's missing. I always find my way out, I know I can this time.  I swear that by the end of this year....the latest I will be far away from Toronto. (hmhm, prefferably on a beach teaching scuba:)))

Welcome back!
Mood:  happy

Hey, It's been over a year and now, looking back at everything that I went through and felt reflected through my posts, it feels like it was written by a different person. so different, in fact that I do not remember half of it!

Well, my friends, it's been a long journey and Katia is still chasing her dream. A lot of things happened last year, I finished college, travelled to ocean a couple of times , then I became a flight attendant. It was exciting at first, but it's a cheap-ass commercial airline and they treat newbies like ..... we never once got off the plane for a layover in tropics, we were stuck inside for up to 15 hours inside a330's and b757's with mad passengers who were always unhappy and with even worse senior co-workers who kept making up stories about us, newbies to get us fired faster. I really did hate it, the only positive part was the 6 week training which was very fun, I made so many friends but after it was over I never got to fly with any of them even once

Then I saw a job posting for a resort and when I got a callback for an interview all the way in London, I rented a car and drove there in a heartbeat. And guess what, I got the job. In Cancun, Mexico . I was singing and dancing and could not stop talking about it for over a week

...then during one of my vacations I have changed my mind (like I always do) yes it's Cancun, but the salary is below average and it was not really something relevant to tour guiding and I am so old I need to start thinking about gaining experience! Back at home I was contacted by a couple of families in Uk looking for an au pair (my long lost forgotten profile at nanny website) and I jumped at it . I thought it woul be fabulous to live abroad for a couple of years, but after reading all the horror stories about families making you a slave and making you work 24/7 I backed out. 

THEN... I got a tour guide job offer in Alberta for the summer. it is costly, because ,well, you don't get any perks and priveledges. you pay rent, food, transportation like everyone else. tough... but for the sake of expereince, I decided to go for it! even though I am still in debt. I really do hope I made the right choice, I always follow my instincts

.....let's see where my journey takes me this time

freezing season

My annual winter-hating is back once again and I am officialy 'opening' the worst season of them all by running away to warm paradise, where I belong!

No, no...I do not hate the Christmas Season. I am loving the Christmas trees, gifts, cookies, parties and relatives coming over.....What I hate is the cold weather! I mean, people who have this amazing opportunity to drive their cars every day and who enjoy putting on thousands of layers of clothes might think I am crazy if I am not enjoying running around in snow and making snowballs and I am sorry, but I just don't. I am not a winter person and I really do hope that someday I will be living in tropics. brrrrrrrrrrrrr, happy holidays, everyone!

Oh, wow, I actually found one thing that I am scared of - sharks! The fearless me, the person who have been through so many extreme and life-threatening adventures is affraid of.....sharks.  But who isn't? They are bloody men-eaters! But that won't stop me from swimming far far away from the shore in the pacific ocean, because I don't get to swim in the ocean every day

my cousin Alina finally is in the army. She is having so much fun, learning to shoot, and sleeping in the middle of the desert.  I must come next year to visit. I have nostalgia for middle east and it seem that Idan cannot get me off his mind (ahh good times, good times)

family bought a camcorder for us to make movies. I hate using camcorders, and i would rather have a digital camera. but unfortunately mine is broken forever and the new one would cost a fortune

And....it makes me want to throw up, when guys are trying to impress me by pulling out dirty jokes, thinking that they are so cool by saying all of that, not even realizing how stupid and pathetic they sound.

education obsessed
Mood:  loud

...no, not me! :)

You know what I just haaaaaate. People, here are obsessed with education. Everytime I meet someone, the first question they ask me is: "So, which university are you at?" or "What are you studying?". Or when you meet your long-lost friend for the first time in 3 years this is what happens

-OHhhh! Heeeyyy Jamie, I haven't seen you for so long? How is your life? do you remmeber the last time we saw each other was...

-yeyey, well I am fine. So, where do you go now?

I mean, can't they ask me other questions, like how is my family doing or where do I plan to travel to, what kind of guys I like or at least about the shoes I am wearing. But noooo they will either ask you about education or , 'na hudoj konec uze', about your job.  Or a combination of both 'What are you studying+where do you work" and then "good bye, I know everyhting about you know".  and the worst thing is that I notice that I tend to ask these questions to others. Who am I turning to? 'an obsessed person who got sucked into our colourless, breathless and lifeless society where everyone is being told what to do"

Also people tend to judge you if you are not pursuing any kind of post-secondary education: "are you in university?"......"oh no, I am taking a year off"....'What is wrong with you???? are you insane????"

But who cares what people say? You do what you want to do and fuck everyone else. Why do you have to be like everybody? just go and do what you want to do. Yes, it's not going to be easy, you will face pressures, judging and other forms of influence, but you have to be strong and follow your own path.

(well, I just felt like writing. And experessing what I feel. Oh, and I am not writing this because I am mad or upset (I got my line of credit by the way! uuuraa!)

news from la-la land
Mood:  happy

and here I am, eating chocolate (after 6pm!!! ahhh screw that diet!) and updating.  Well, since I missed at least 3 parties last week due to extensive studying, illness and laziness I decided to reunite with my old and forgotten friends. Ok fine, they decided, so they called me. I do miss them, especially Lisa.  Oh, on thursday I went to pig out at Rich Tree with Nina, Amina and Debra. They have such great deserts down there. I couldn't resist....

Well here is another thing that will make all of you happy. I went to an interview at international tourism institute, claiming that I can speak 4 languages and I got in! ahahaha. Ok I didn't get in because if that. But I really do speak 4 languages! Well......3.....and Spanish 'un poco' (pero you estudio todo dia! trust me!). I think some of the people are starting to understand why I am doing this and how important it is for me to do what I want to do more than anything.

It's getting colder and colder and as all of you know I despise winter so, to 'practicar' my espanol skills I am off to Mexico in december. No, I am lying. I am taking my mom to relax, not to study. To relax and eat and drink and dance and swim...well that is if the bank will pay for my tuition. Oh, that reminds me, I have to go and fill out the student line of credit form NOW. Have to run now, don't miss me!

20
Mood:  happy

     Oh, my god, I am 20 years old 

 ....as of todaaay! Unbelievable. But I already got over the shock of being so old. I have been preparing myself emotionally for this day. But today I woke up and Boom, I am 20! This is weard for me, ok?

I already celebrated with my family (they took me to the zoo....auwww) and the caek was good too, although I still don't have an appetite, since I am still very sick. Dad told me that every 10 years a person is exposed to world's most deadly viruses. And there we go, when I was 10 I had bronchitis, and now I have pneumonia! "How exciting". So I've been eating expired antibiotics an drinking mixtures for the past 2 weeks and I am refusing to go to the doctor, because doctors know nothing! I want to thank all of my friends who still remember that I have a birthday. I love you all! (you know who you are and you know that you are the only real friends I have)

Over the past 10 years I have seen and done so much that I person twice my age would never dream of. That makes me feel very proud of myself, because half of everything was entirely my effort. And now, I am off to another exciting adventure called life, for the next 10 years. But the next decade scares me a lot, because...oh well because I will be facing even more pressures from the stupid society that I am facing now and I have to be strong and just LIVE MY LIFE!!!

Sick and Stressed
Mood:  don't ask
For the past 6 days I've been drinking.....Tylenol. Stupid flu! and I know WHERE I got it from! grrrr
I have never been sick for that long. Usually it's 2-3 days...but 6! I should have gotten a flu shot, stupid me.
Trust me, having this flu is so soooo sooo much worse than recovering from wisdom teeth surgery. I cannot move, I cannot eat, I'm coughing my lungs out, I am frezzing to death with 6 layers of blankets and every single piece of my body hurts as if someone is hitting me with the hammer.
It's the worst feeling ever. I haaaatttttte being sick. And we don't even have any normal books or movies on tv, so there's clearly nothing to do. I tryed surfing the net, but it gives me more headaches.
I really do hope I'll get better by sunday since I am celebrating my birthday with my family. I am not sure if I will be having a friends-get-together wild party, because everyone is in different parts of Ontario and plus noone has any money, especcially me! My dad told me he already got me a gift. Ehhh shit, it means that he didn't buy an exotic family getaway, because he doesn't know where to find cheap packages. Omg, I am becoming so spoiled. What's wrong with me?
And seriosuly, the thoughts of going into travel institute won't leave me alone. I don't want to spend 4,5 years in university and then living with my parents until I am 30 so I can repay my crazy loans. I just cannot wait to move out. But now it scares me. Where will I live? Where will I work? and the scariest question ever - Who will do my tax returns?????!!!!!

Europe Video

apparently stupid YouTube has restrictions tripod blogs, and therefore, cannot post a video here, so here is the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kewARKTU4hc

The end of summer marks the beginning of my current obsession with the raisins. I love raisins. I eat them all the time, whenever I have a chance - for breakfast, in class, in subway, in bed.... Is that abnormal? maybe I am pregnant

I chose Middle East crisis for my research paper. It concern me a lot. Probably because I went there and experienced everything myself. Well, how would you feel being searched all over by security guards prior to entering mall or a coffee shop? I want to defend the rights of Israeli people. Hmm, maybe I should reconsider anthropology and work for the government

Oh, well as I promised, I will publish the list of everything I want to do, very soon. I don't even know what I want to do yet. Well I know that I want to go to Carribean for Christmas and last week every time after dinner I had to bed my dad on my knees. He is strongly against celebrating New Year at the beach, drinking Pina colada, with your feet covered in white warm sand, with the palm tress and hot spanish lifeguards surrounding you, he is against surfing, diving and swiming in crystal , see-through water , eating unlimited amounts of food and drinking alcohol at the local restauraunts ...... yes, he'd rather stay in 50cm snow-covered Markahm, with his feet freezing, sitting in the basement and watching 'live from red Square at New year's eve'.  Well, i really do hope he'll reconsider.  He must, my birthday is in 2 weeks!