Last Wed. I began my treck North-ward, specfically to Anime North in Toronto, Canada. I live closer to PA than Canada, so it took me a few clever arrangements to get up to Niagra Falls, and then Toronto. Where to start off? Perhaps with my company?

Lizzie- Our host for the weekend, 3 year veteran of Anime North. Is also now friends with Svetlana Chmakova on deviantart.

Becky- Lizzie's older sister, very sweet but mostly insane. Also an awesome baker.

Jaime- Cosplayed as Professor Oak. A very strange creature that I didn't appreciate hitting on me.

Gorbi- One of my very best friends from school. Another strange creature and rumored dendrophiliac.

Ginger- Has analyzed all of the 150 pokemon, and then some. Has a large ginger beard.

And then there were the friends that we made along the way:

Cody- Lizzie and Becky met him 2 years ago at Anime North and have kept in touch to see him again every year. On Saturday he was wearing a school girl outfit...not that he stood out or anything. Still, I think it's really cool that they made and kept a friend after only knowing him for about three days.

Link- Becky, Lizzie and I all dressed up as Navi and ran around harrassing all the Link cosplayers we could find. "Hey! Listen! Hey! Listen! Hey! Lava is hot! Press A to open the door! That wall looks rough, you can climb on it! Hold Z to target your enemies!" And, my favorite for the Dealer's Room: "Press A to select an item!" We kept running into the same Link and ended up chatting for a little bit.

Kiyu- A friend of Cody's, at his first con of the day. We met at dinner on Saturday night and he tried to convince me that Chinese wasn't as difficult as it sounded while I blathered on about Japanese particles.

Ryan- Stood in line behind us for the J-pop dance, (It took us almost 2 hours to get in, and then we danced for 2 hours, never realizing that our roommies were waiting for us) who appears to be living my life before I can. Psych major who went to Japan after graduating...this guy stole my plan! He also cosplayed Dark on Sunday, awesome costume complete with expandable wings!

Kristen- A very promising young artist that Lizzie and I both encouraged to keep up with her drawing hobby. She was doing really great stuff for someone her age, and I just hope that her talent keeps blooming as the years go by.

Dixie- A dog who, upon finding out we possessed donuts, ignored her master for most of the afternoon.

Sventlana Chmakova- I MET HER! I FREAKING MET HER AND GOT HER TO SIGN HER PRINT AND I FREAKING MET HER!!!!!!!!!! She is kind of my manga-ka hero, especially for North American manga. The only other manga-ka I would love to meet as much as her is Mineko Ohkami, because I still am a ridiculous Dragon Knights fan, but mostly because I really want to know what happens to Nohiro. Also,

I MET SVETLANA CHMAKOVA!

Taking pictures was fun, spending all my money in the dealer's room and artist's alley was fun, the panels were great ("Pokemon Biology" and "Sailor Moon Never Dies" were very fun, as was the Ouran one). Getting free hugs, free kisses (well, only one. And it was on the hand! It doesn't count as cheating.) Getting sunburnt, watching all the "normies" stare at us (which were actually hard to find until Sat. night), Zelda photoshoot, and dancing for two hours straight were all a lot of fun. But what I love most about cons is that you're surrounded by thousands of people who love the same thing that you do. You can go up to almost anyone and start a conversation. I believe I talked to someone about Sailor Moon for about 20 minutes straight, especially about how annoying Chibiusa is. It's one of those places where you can really geek out and not be afraid to show how much you love something. It's a place where waiting in lines is fun because you never know who your neighbors will be. It's a place where everyone gets your jokes, and for three days, a crazy different world full of short skirts, unnaturally colored hair and thousands of people around you, all coming together for the same reason: celebrating something that you love with everyone else who loves it too.

And I met Svetlana Chmakova.

By the by, my hypothesis did prove correct. Canadians really do give the best hugs.