This morning saw tons of errands and such as I fulfilled my volunteer duties as "official gopher with car" for the CSCW conference in Banff.
I have driven and been driven to Banff so many times, but with the fog, sunset and light dusting of snow, the scenery was just breathtaking. It was just an incredible drive.
Over Scott Lake Hill, there was this gorgeous vista as I passed the crest of the hill - the valley was filled with a mist, the mountains rose up in the background, and the layers of tree-covered hills in the foreground was like something out of an art gallery. I will never forget the scene in my mind.
I drove up to the Banff Springs and waited for the conference staff to help me unload. To pass the time I was chatting with a bunch of Japanese people in a tour group. I now have a bunch of business cards from people living all over Japan who want me to come visit them next time I'm over J-side ^^; It was so awesome to speak Japanese again. During all this, one of the hotel staff (clad in a kilt, who often got his picture taken) was asked by one of them in Japanese (I had to translate)... "so what do you wear under there?" I had to translate the answer ("normal underwear, but traditionally they don't wear anything"... and the lady who asked the question went red as a tomato).... oh man, it was wierd.
The hotel has changed a lot since I was last here (like the lobby), but some areas look identical (like the haunted staircase by the Oak Room). I love being in the hotel because it's just so beautifully decorated. I noticed that they've kept the ambiance of the place while making it brighter.
After that I went to Banff proper, found a kaiten-zushi (rotating sushi) restaurant where they had a model train with all the sushi as "cargo" going around the track. Very uniquely Canadian :P
