Taking the next step

As many of you will already be aware, I have toyed with the idea of opening my own hostel for some time now. Even before my time in Canada, it was something that had been discussed with my dear friend Michael. We came up with the general concept of a good time hostel (that sounds a little like a brothel - definitely not in our plan) as well as the name; Hostelle Mickelena. 'Hostelle' was an homage to our friends Down Under who are constantly being ridiculed for not being able to grasp the Northern Hemisphere pronunciation of 'hostel'. Mickelena should be self explanatory; it was a very simple yet effective joining of our names.

While working in Canada however, the idea began to take more shape. I met people from all over the world who stayed in such a wide variety of hostels. Even my own experiences travelling throughout Europe had given me some insight into the way it all worked. Hostels are a viable option for many tourists - for the more independent traveller it is nearly always the first port of call - apart from those thrill seekers who are capable of couch surfing! It is also no longer just for younger backpackers. A lot of hostels will cater to any age and, due to the (generally) better value pricing options than a hotel and the general public's tendency to travel on a budget, a much wider demographic are looking to hostel accommodation while travelling.

So, I made my decision and came up with many drunken plans over my time at Global, discussing with all different ages and nationalities the sort of hostel I would open. It would be a fun place to stay, with a kitchen and a huge common area and a smoking patio on the roof and big rooms with fireplaces and personalised towels and a heli-pad and a spiral staircase leading from reception to the bar and a games room... dreaming big and a little beyond my means clearly. I do have a certain amount of practical knowledge already (who knew my degree would come in so handy?!) to go with my big ideas but where to go from there?

In reality, setting up a business is not always just a case of a (in my humble opinion) brilliant idea. It requires planning; market research, a business plan, marketing ideas, pricing strategies, budgets, financial backing, premises, design, recruitment, implementation, growing and maintaining a customer base. Not to mention actually running the feckin thing once all of these steps are accomplished, as well as the multitude of steps I'm sure to have forgotten. It's kind of like what I imagine Alcoholics Anonymous to be like; it's not only hard getting sober (depending on who you're talking to); it's staying sober that is the really difficult part.

What should the first step be? I've got the name - Mama Goose. No offence to Michael but as the nickname stuck to me in Toronto, it came to embody the ethos that I wanted to embrace at my hostel - a family-like, welcoming atmosphere that makes people feel at home away from home. Might not be the most exciting or original but I know that is what I look for when I travel. A policy I would like to continue to stick by; if I wouldn't stay there, why should I expect my guests to?

Watch this space - I will most likely be looking for lots of feedback to my upcoming posts as I struggle to get this off the ground and look forward to having you all stay at Mama Goose in the future!

It's Been A While.....

The Departure Lounge 

Obviously, I've been spending far too much time enjoying myself and not nearly enough time considering how much people have been missing my updates and my extremely talented style of writing. I will do my best to go back to regularly posting but I'll use this one as a bit of a round up of the last 2 months of my time here.

• I passed my official 6 month mark of working in the hostel by....TA DA!...moving in. Circumstances (personal and financial) led me to bite the bullet and give up my privacy and space to move into the staff room. I now share my living quarters with 140 other people, live a whole 40 seconds away from where I work and have a bar in my back garden. Could be worse ;)



Reunited after 6 years!

• I had a visit from an old friend who I first met over 6 years ago in South Africa. It was the first time that me Mick and Viv had been together since we met in Cape Town so it was quite an emotional reunion. It was one of those things where you wonder if it would be awkward after so much time away from each other but lo and behold, it was like we'd seen each other weeks previous rather than years. Spent a lovely couple of days together, along with Mick's partner Conall. Far too short a time together. Looking forward to getting some more visitors before the end of the year!!
• I finally managed to do something touristy (apart from Steamwhistle) and visit the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was nice and all but I'm really not a gallery type of person. It's just a load of paintings at the end of the day and most of them weren't even that nice. There was a bathroom sink stuck on the wall at one point, that was vaguely interesting. You were supposed to focus on the negative space around the sink. Random.
• I took up (and subsequently quit) a second job at a Call Centre. Not being one of those really annoying losers who calls at dinner time asking if you would like to switch phone/internet provider or if you want to answer a 30 minute survey on your consumer behaviour habits. No, I participated in what is known as 'business to business guided voicemail messaging'. Sounds way more complicated than it is. I would turn up for 4 hours, dial a load of numbers, usually navigate some sort of automated receptionist to press play and leave a voicemail in the contact's mailbox. Boom. Some new type of direct marketing, we'll see how well it does. 
• I stage managed a concert for the Irish Choral Society of Canada, it was my second ever paying gig as a stage manager - I wasn't even expecting that! It was a beautiful concert based on an Irish Immigrants tale of coming to Canada and the adjustments that need to be made, obstacles to overcome, all told through a variety of musical pieces performed by the choir interspersed with recitations by the 'immigrant'. It was lovely. They even let me do the light design which was pretty special.

Just to briefly mention some other bits and pieces that will require their own posts (hopefully not too far in the future) - going to see 'Bring It On' the Musical; Medieval Times; Wine Tasting Olympics at the Plummer Chalet, the start of Threesome Thursdays (not what you think!) the end of Karaoke Fridays. So much to tell, so little time.....

Moral of the Story - don't leave it too long between blog updates. Your head will be MELTED with all the stuff you're trying to remember. Then again, if I wasn't out doing all these things, there would be nothing for me to post about now would there?

The Dinosaur Prank

Henry enjoying the Falls

Most of you will know my dear friend, Henry Brontasaurus, who has been on many adventures with me. We met in London, went bowling in Bray, had many party nights out in Fitzgeralds and even rubbed shoulders with some famous people at the Radio Nova 1st Birthday Party. It was never a question as to whether or not he would accompany me to Canada. He loved New York; tried his first twinkie, went to Central Park, Times Square, etc. Been to Burlington and Niagara Falls so far in Canada and am looking forward to showing him more of the sights over the next year or two.

I had waited a little while before I introduced him to everyone at the hostel. After all, I was trying to make a good impression on these people and telling anyone about the toy dinosaur that you bring everywhere with you and consider part of your family is a little strange. Although, strangely enough, once most people have met me, they don't find the story that weird at all. But I digress.....

Me, Henry & the Irish Rebels

So, a couple of weeks ago, I brought him down. There was a band called the Irish Rebels playing at the hostel and I figured this would be a perfect time to introduce him. It was all going swimmingly. Everyone was getting in photos with him (including the band!) and we were having a great time. The next morning, I decided that perhaps it would be good for Henry to live at the hostel for a while, get a bit of independence and what not. I placed him on top of the speaker in reception so he could keep an eye on everything that was going on and off I went. I was going for dinner at Gillian's that night and knew that she would like to see him so dropped back to the hostel to pick him up. I couldn't see him on top of the speaker and panicked immediately. The others that were working were taking a look around for him but he was nowhere to be found. I rang Aine, who had been working when I left him there and she said she hadn't noticed whether or not he was still there when she left. I was distraught and do not mind admitting that there was a tear in my eye. Poor Tom, he had to listen to me rant and rave all the way to Gillian's, where I then spent the start of the evening bitching about where my dinosaur might be.

Poor Henry...

Suddenly, I got a friend request on Facebook from a character named Rambo Hunter. The accompanying message stated that 'We have Henry. If you ever want to see your dinosaur again, you better meet all of our demands'  There were also some very distressing photos; Henry in a frying pan, Henry with a butcher's knife to his throat, Henry hanging from his own bow from a light fixture and, my own personal favourite, Henry tied to a chair with a note asking for my help. The demands were as follows; a) $20, half in dollar coins, half in quarters; b) one can of coke; c) bar of Galaxy chocolate; d) bag of Tayto crisps. Now, these dastardly creatures had very cleverly set the deadline before payday as they obviously knew how I would struggle to scrape the necessary demands together. They did not count on the resourcefulness of one James Stafford, as well as my own ability to take things to a new extreme. Hence, the foundation of the Dinosaur Abduction Awareness Organisation and the set up of a silent auction in order to raise the funds necessary, including items such as dinner cooked by Gillian, an arm wrestle with Sally, a voodoo doll made of the hair shaved from Tom's head, among other items. I even managed to get the plight discussed on the radio in Dublin by my dear stalkee Marty Miller on Radio Nova.

Now I wish I could tell you that there was (as was planned by me) a SWAT team assault on the main suspects house in the middle of the night but in the end I didn't deem it appropriate. I was depending on the good nature of the kidnappers that they would not keep me in suspense for too long. What I had not predicted was the power of a nagging girlfriend. Without much evidence (apart from the pure gut instinct that I had), I accused the Scouse trouble maker, Joe Newsham. Despite his protestations, nothing could sway me from my conviction. 2 minutes after the deadline, I sent the following threatening message to Áine 'Look, is Joe gonna give Henry back to me or what?'. Her reply; 'Yes, the fool. He's gonna drop it into the hostel tomorrow before he heads off to New York'.

Moral of the Story - don't leave your dinosaur unprotected around a criminally minded Scouse. And don't worry, when the film rights are purchased, I will ensure to change the ending to something more exciting.

Life's Too Short To Sleep Alone

What greets you as you check in......

That is the slogan of Global Village Backpackers, stated very plainly on the information board at reception. What a motto to live and work by! It definitely describes the hostel perfectly ;). Now, you could go down the dirty route (as I know most of you will, you filthy minded creatures! As Ian pointed out 'if my mind didn't live in the gutter, it would be homeless') and assume that we are encouraging promiscuous activity but we certainly don't. Not that we are judgemental if there are some innocent hook ups but before you embark on any wild passionate love affairs in a hostel, make sure to read the following guide....

Anyway, I had been applying for lots of different types of positions, as per my previous blog post on Job Hunting in Canada, and when I applied for the Front Desk Agent position here, it was on a bit of a whim, with a lot of encouragement from Gillian. Once I had posted on Facebook where I was going to be working, I got a wonderful reaction from people telling me how perfect they thought the job would be for me. And how right they were. I work with a great bunch of people and get to meet new people all the time, which can be both a good and a bad thing! There is also a bar on site, the wonderful Departure Lounge, which will undoubtedly finish the job that Fitzgeralds started in terms of my liver failure.

I would take you through a typical day but there is no such thing as a typical day at GVB. I think the best way to express what it's like working in the hostel is to describe a few of the more entertaining guests (by entertaining, I mean mental obviously), my colleagues and a few of the stand-out moments that have occurred in my 2 and a half months here so far......

• In terms of the guests.....generally, they're pretty great. A few of the more memorable ones include the woman who carried a pile of washing out the door and across the street because she saw a limo pull up at the traffic lights and assumed 'there must be someone interesting in there'; knocked on the car window to talk to the driver and got annoyed when it pulled away. There was the man who passed out in the toilets and then tried to accuse us of stealing money from him.....while he was locked in the toilet cubicle. The staff are talented but we're not ninjas. The man who asked one too many times about why the internet connection wasn't working......and was killed (not really, he was moved to another, more internet receptive room). Let's not forget creepy condo guy.He never actually stayed here, he just frequents the bar and tried to lure people to his condo for 'parties'.
• Where do I start with my colleagues? Great bunch of people altogether. We've got 5 Irish, 3 Germans, 3 Australians, 1 English and 1 Cornish. There's a couple of Canadians as well, so we're not prejudiced! Quite a mix but we manage to get along pretty well. Karaoke on Friday nights can be quite a spectacle when we all get involved. Many of these colleagues feature in my Top 5 GVB moments so far.....

1. The night we shaved Tom's head - so Tom decided that he wanted to try having his head shaved as he'd never done it before and always wondered what it would look like. I was on shift til 11 and had asked that they wait until I was finished before they did it so that I could watch. They went one better and got Shaun to agree to let them do it in the bar. We all took turns taking snips at his floppy English locks until Andy went hell for leather with the razor.....
2. Karaoke Friday Nights - it's really hard to pick just one stand out moment from karaoke, there have been so many epic performances. Tom and Andy with their Jason Beaver tributes; Gillian, Kate and Nic doing Journey proud,; Craig doing Mustang Sally after bitching that he wouldn't sing EVER. I think the winner has to be both renditions of Fairytale of New York that we kicked out over Christmas.
3. New Year's Eve - not generally the biggest fan of New Years as traditionally, it's a massive let down. I was even more apprehensive being away from home but that didn't matter. Everyone who was there was in the same boat pretty much, the music was great and I drank way too much. And there was no Auld Lang Syne. Perfect.
4. The night I threw the pint over Alan - this was possibly the great turning point in my time here. We'd been at our staff party and everyone was very merry with a lot of fizzy drinks having been taken on board. After the session in the party room at Sally & Shaun's condo, we all headed over to the hostel bar for more drinks (as if we needed them). A few of us were out on the patio and Alan decided it might be funny if he leaned over and poured some beer down my top. Through my shock, I reacted on instinct......and launched my entire pint over his head. Dear reader, I cannot express how tense those few seconds immediately following that were. As soon as the beer was leaving the glass, my first thought was 'bollox. I've taken this way too far'. There was pure silence from everyone else (probably some tumbleweed blowing) as we all waited for his reaction. He raised his head, beer dripping from his glasses, looked at me....and started laughing. The he high-fived me, gave me a hug and said that it was well deserved. Boom.
5. The kidnapping saga - this incident is very recent and will require an entire blog post all of it's own but let's just say that my dearest friend Henry Brontasaurus was kidnapped by a dreadful Scouse Gangster and it was touch and go as to whether I would ever see him again. An elaborate Facebook creation, a ransom note and a Dinosaur Abduction Awareness Organisation hosting a Silent Auction later and it has all been resolved.

Me outside GVB (this was actually before I started working)

Moral of the Story - if you want to take a year out and are lucky enough not to be saddled with a mortgage/kids/other grown up responsibilities; work in a hostel. You may not make a lot of money, but you'll have some craic. And sure, isn't that what it's all about at the end of the day? ;) 

Finding the new Fitzgeralds

I've drank in many bars in my time. In fact, some people would even say that I may have been in a few too many bars and consumed more than my fair share of fizzy drinks. You would be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't be of the opinion that I spent far too much time in one bar. No one ever said that to Cliff or Norm and they spent a lot more time in their bar than I did in mine.....

Fitzgeralds was the place that I could walk into anytime and be guaranteed to know at least one other person at the bar, as well as the staff. Comfortable. Friendly. Inviting. I could have a pint on my own and read the paper or end up having the craic with some random people and end up heading to the Czech Inn for some ridiculous dancing. And let's not forget the infamous Friday night sessions. Rare was the Friday that I didn't scarper from my office next door with a fierce thirst on me and eager to while away the evening with a few 'civilised drinks'. Until, lo and behold, a mere few hours later I'm weaving drunkenly on my chair with whoever I managed to drag from the office with me waiting for Totally Wired to start. Inevitably, despite many protestations that we would leave after the next pint, all of a sudden, we'd realise that one staff member was mopping around us while the other was vaguely encouraging us to drink up and go but not really forcing us out the door. Good times.

Obviously, when I got to Canada, one of the first things that I was keen to accomplish (apart from the very obvious finding employment and accommodation) was finding my replacement bar. I am quite easily pleased and like to think that my expectations are not too high but Fitzgeralds had set the bar very high. Below are some of the bars I tested out and my verdict on each of them....

• Elephant & Castle - no, they did not have chicken wings (well they probably did but I was unwilling to order them and shatter the illusion). I did try the curry chips and they were pretty good. The beer was an alright price (so long as you stuck to the local brews) and the staff were friendly enough. They went to great lengths to try to find the Irish Euro 2012 Qualifier match for me on TV. I haven't been back since but would still give it 3/5.
• Fynn's of Temple Bar - being a huge fan of the Temple Bar Bar, I was hoping for something vaguely similar but I really didn't find it here. The staff seemed friendly enough but I didn't feel enough of a pull to visit there more than 3 times in the last 10 weeks. Their food is pretty good though. 3/5
• Pogue Mahone - now this one, I had to go into just to see what the bleeding story was. After having a chat with the bartender, he confirmed that the name was an attempt at wittiness. Good attempt There was no atmosphere there, the staff were surly enough to a point (although I did manage to get one of them to have a bit of banter with me eventually). Not likely to go back 1/5
• McVeighs - everyone said to me, if you want a taste of home, get yourself to Mc Veighs. I decided to pop along on a Sunday afternoon to have a nose. It was dark, there weren't many people there, there were a few others on their own and the bartender was having the banter with a couple of lads at the end of the bar. Somehow though, it just didn't work for me. After a while, there was a group at the end of the bar, all Irish, gossiping about the night before in some other pub when this person had done this that and the other, and he'd kissed her and she'd punched him. And I realised that it seemed like just another small town in Ireland. And I didn't actually want to be a part of that. 3/5
• The Bier Markt - here's one I wasn't expecting to like, it seemed a little bit pretentious at first glance but they had a lot of international beers on tap so we figured we'd give it a go. Not only do they have a lot of different beers but they will allow you to have little tasters of different ones to help you make up your mind about which one you want. The first night we were there, I tried a few different ones, as did my friend Viv. The following week when we went in, the same bartenders were there and they remembered everything we had tasted and which ones we liked and didn't like. Either we were very memorable or they were very good at their jobs! Been there a few times now and the staff are always lovely, the music sounds like a playlist from my own MP3 Player and their Poutine is delish. 4/5
• The Foggy Dew - again, based on the name, I was hoping for something even vaguely similar to the dear old Dublin Foggy Dew. My first day there, I made friends with some locals and the bartender. This looked promising. Been back a few times since and even when I brought in the guys visiting from Ireland, the lovely Jeremy didn't even charge them for their tea and soft drinks which I thought was pretty decent. My only criticism is that their chips are not crispy enough. Otherwise though 5/5
• And then we come to the closest thing I've found so far. The dear old Departure Lounge at Global Village. I know the staff, I'm getting to know the regulars, I get good deals on drinks. Couple of slight bonuses over Fitzgeralds - crazy drinks specials every night and karaoke on Fridays. However, Fitzgeralds still wins over slightly....although, ask me again in about 8 months time. 5/5

Moral of the Story - I will continue my search for a substitute bar and will ensure to keep you all updated. Don't worry too much Lennie; you're a hard one to replace. 

Likes and Dislikes in Canada so far....

I would like to preface this one by saying that I understand that these points may not necessarily apply to the whole of Canada but you can take that up with someone who gives a rats ass.....

• Like.... the public transport system. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), as far as I'm concerned provides an excellent service, particularly when coming from the likes of Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. The subway and streetcar schedules are super frequent, I'm rarely waiting too long for one (except in the middle of the night, when you could be waiting half an hour.....when it's -15 out. Not that pleasant). My favourite thing has to be the drivers though. Maybe it's a public transport driver trait across the world to have an amazingly sarcastic sense of humour. Case in point; on a streetcar one evening and a woman got on talking on her mobile phone. Well, she was shouting and she had the other person on speaker phone so it was a very annoying conversation to have to listen to. Next thing, the driver gets on the intercom 'Excuse me lady, no one wants to hear your conversation. Please either hang up the phone, or get off the streetcar. Thank you'. I nearly wet myself. No one else seemed to think it was that funny though......
• Dislike..... milk. At home we've got full fat, low fat, slimline, whatever. They've the same stuff over here but they also have 'percentages'. As in 2%, 1%. That's not milk, it's a percentage, as Tracy would say. Also, it comes in bags as well as in cartons. Plastic bags of milk feel so weird. I can't even describe it if you've never felt one. Everyone seems to have these special plastic jugs that they use for them. You cut a wee corner out of the bag and plop it in there. Why you don't just empty the milk from the bag into the jug, I do not know. Strange.....
• Like.....the Plummers. I've had a few issues with the odd crazy Canadian since I got here, and haven't met a huge amount that I would be able to admit that I was overly fond of. Apart from the Plummer family. I don't think that there could be a more welcoming or easy going family within the entire North American continent. They should be on the Canadian Tourism Boards advertisements for reasons to come to Canada.
• Dislike.....HST. Harmonized Sales Tax in other words. Nothing, NOTHING that you buy is actually the price that is listed. You get to the counter and realise that the exact change that you've scoured your wallet for is no use to you as you forgot to consider the taxes. According to Wikipedia (the bible of completely accurate information), when they were introducing the HST in Ontario in 2010 was opposed by 74% of the population. Nice to know it matters what the public think!
• Like.....my job. Not many people get to say that these days but I thoroughly enjoy my job. Not that I don't have my off days and I have met some crazy people (not the good kind either) but working at Global Village has been an extremely welcome break from the office work of the last 3 years. I've met some great people, there's a bar on the premises and a smoking patio. And, although I complain about it sometimes, I've learned that I really enjoy folding sheets!
• Dislike.....lack of chicken fillet or breakfast roll availability. Snack food is very different here. It's all pizza slices and pizza slices and more pizza slices. They don't have the same kind of deli vibe that I'm used to where you can get an ol ham and cheese sandwich made up (or the legendary chicken fillet roll). Some of the convenience stores do have counters with samosas, meat pies, imitation cornish pasties, sausage rolls, etc. Even they're not the same. The only sausage rolls I've been able to find are beef ones, not even pork ones!
• Like.....poutine. Yes, I do love poutine. Let me explain it for anyone who may not know about it. It's basically gravy chips with cheese curds but the Canadians consider it very precious and unique to them. Before I tasted it for the first time, I was advised that I had to be very careful where I tried it to ensure that I was tasting high quality poutine. Apparently, the cheese curds have to be really squeaky, the gravy should be chicken or turkey (with a hint of pepper), and the chips should be thin cut and crispy on the outside. I tasted it in the BierMarkt and was very happy with it!
• Dislike.....LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). The LCBO and the Beer Store are the only places that you can buy alcohol in the province of Ontario apart from licensed premises like bars and restaurants (where you can't get take out). If the opening hours don't suit you or you don't have one too near to your house, it can be very awkward. Which I found out to my detriment last Sunday when I discovered that most of them close by 6pm at the latest. Shocking.
• Like..... Steamwhistle Brewery. I've mentioned them in a couple of blogs before but I cannot get enough of these guys. Not only is the Brewery a great attraction and good fun, the beer is really tasty and has been made in the most efficient and green ways. As their motto goes 'Do One Thing Really, Really Well'. Too true, too true. 
• Dislike.... there's no Fitzgeralds. It's been really hard to find a bar here that I can call home. I have searched high and low (which is really tough here considering how expensive it is to drink over here). Lennie and co have pretty much ruined me for any other bar. The closest thing I am likely to find is the bar at Global Village; I know the staff, I know the regulars, I get good prices on the beer. If I could get Totally Wired over to play there, it would actually be perfect.....

Moral of the Story - Moving to a new place is exciting....but sometimes it's just fun to make a pros and cons list!