Noo-fin-lun: day one

First day in the land o' the Newfies was a nice one. Yesterday doesn't count, you see: I was barely awake after so many hours travelling! We left Vancouver at 11 pm and, though a direct flight should only take about 5 hours, but with the change of planes in Toronto and the stop over in Halifax, we didn't actually arrive in St. John's until 1 pm local time, or 9 1/2 hours after we'd left Vancouver.

Nine and a half?? Yes - Newfoundland has its own time zone: GMT -3.5 ! Just don't ask.

Today was the first day of the Nfld Godly Deliverance District Convention. They only have the one for Newfoundland and Labrador, and attendance averages at about 1400. Basically, everybody knew before we'd even opened our mouths and proven it with our funny accent, that we are from "somewhere else".

After the session was over, I decided to try and find a lapel badge card holder, having forgotten mine back home. I must have gone into half a dozen stores at least, with no success. The sales staff were always friendly and helpful, even if one or two of them seem to confirm the worst of the Newfie jokes... To whit:

G - I'm looking for a badge card holder, the plastic kind with a clip on the back, that are open along the top.

SP- Yes, here they are.

G - Oh these are open along the sides. If I use one of those, I'll loose my card.

SP- Yes, but they're in packages of 10, so if you loose it you can just take another one out.

G - ...

That was at Staples. At Walmart, the woman I talked to sent me to the shoes and handbags aisle. Perhaps she thought a luggage tag might do?

We decided to spend the evening driving along the coast, to look for food, and for photo ops.