C'est Halloween

I had such a good day today. I am sick with a cold and had been feeling miserable the past few days, and working to boot, but I met up with Amy for coffee which turned into quite the adventure.

We had to renew our bus passes so met up at the OC Transpo location at MacKenzie entrance of Rideau. After waiting in a long lineup and being butted in front of by a little old lady (so much for the cute little old lady stereotype), I got my pass and turned around to see Amy chatting with a very tall blond guy. When I approached, he was asking how to get to the SMT bus terminal. His accent seemed German. I explained that he'd need the 4, but trying to give directions through the Rideau is difficult at the best of times, and combine that with a possible language barrier and my terrible sense of direction in the mall and it would have been a lot cause. So I suggested that we walk him there. Did I mention he was cute??

It turns out that he wasn't just any tourist, but in town for the day on a break from his teaching job at a private school half-way between Montreal and Ottawa. We dropped him off at his bus stop, and then Amy suggested with a mischievious grin that we invite him out for coffee. I made her ask because I was too chicken, but I'm glad we did it because I ended up having a great day. We went to Second Cup in the Market, then back to the Rideau Mall to find some things Torsten had been looking for. (What a great name!) Amy had to leave to meet a friend for supper, but I decided to stick around shopping, and Torsten didn't seem to mind and we ended up going for supper at Darcy McGee's. He's a very nice guy - very interesting and genuine, which all came across despite the slight language difficulties. He told me a little bit about himself and what made him decide to come to Canada (to learn English), and I tried to tell him a little bit about Canada, touting the East Coast, of course. I managed to give him my email and phone number and told him to call me if he ever came back to Ottawa. I probably won't hear from him, but it certainly was a fun and unusual way to spend a rainy and cold Sunday afternoon!