New Years Eve is the future

As a group of us were shivering, laughing, and preparing to blast champagne corks into oblivion while watching fireworks light up the sky further down the beach, I sent a text to my sister and brother from the future. It was midnight in my far-off world and I was rolling into Twenty-Twelve. Thousands of kilometres away, these two dear siblings of mine were probably still sleeping or were just barely awake enough to be pouring themselves some much-needed java. I'd already had dinner, a night at the ballet (no, this is not a typo), an adventurous cab ride into the heart of Dalian's downtown before meeting some friends at a beach-side hangout for some holiday cheer. Their new year was still nearly a day away... this idea still makes me smile and laugh every time I think about it.

New Years this year was ridiculously excellent. I actually did attend a performance of Swan Lake (I am after all, a fount of culture and good taste) before heading into the city for more music and some dancing. And it's a bit strange... although I wasn't with a massive group of close friends and didn't have a big party to attend, it was one of the best new years outings I think I've ever had.

I haven't been writing too much lately, mainly because it's been a trying 6 weeks. Work has, at times, seemed endlessly frustrating, hours in the day have been lacking and I just haven't been in a mindset to share my bitterness with others. However, things started turning a corner around Christmas and I've been able to spend a tonne of time with all the awesome people here who help make my life overseas amazing. My good buddy WP cooked a turkey and MM hosted an open house for the ML folks. LA and JL hosted an ugly sweater party and our Wednesday Night FanDianWan (Restaurant Night) crew all went out for some delicious peking duck. I got spoiled by my family again (as per usual) with the presents they packed up and shipped over to me and I even found some time to just sit and enjoy the season. Even though we didn't get any holidays from work for Christmas, our final week of teaching before final exams is this coming week, and in exactly 15 days I will be boarding a flight to Beijing and another to the wonderfully hot world of Kuala Lumpur. I can't wait.

I'm spending this vacation touring Malaysia (I've been to KL a couple times and to the Cameron Highlands when my good buddy SP came through the continent). If I can find a good locale for it, I'm planning to do my diving certification, and I'm hoping to do some snorkeling/rock climbing/hiking as well. I guess it just depends on time and money. The rest of the time will be focussed on relaxing, eating, and staying cool in the tropics. A tough life, I know. How many people can say that they can finance an annual 5 week winter holiday to the fantastic lands of SE Asia and work more or less pays for it! Not too many, I'm sure.

Anyways, I won't bore everyone with the boring details of teaching and wearing 10 layers to battle the Siberian winds, so for now, I just want to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Festivus and I hope that the turning of 2012 allows everyone to find time with the most important people in their lives... through this, everything else is improved.

As I continue to pursue my own grand version of La Dolce Vita, much love from China, everyone.

T

Hilarious... it is the giving season, after all

My big brother pointed me in the direction of this video yesterday and I can't stop watching. It's absolutely hilarious (albeit a bit sad).

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4a9CKgLprQ

T

Oh, China.

It was about -5 yesterday. Wind blowing 50km/h. Am I back in Alberta? Ugh... moved to Van Isle for a reason all those years ago.

So, I'm walking out of my office today, Friday, moments before the bell is to ring to end the day. Classroom doors are beginning to open and I'm dodging boys on all sides, attempting to get down the four flights of stairs and out the campus gates so I can grab a taxi and get to the Qinggui (LRT).

A grade 10 steps out of a classroom and spits a big puddle on the floor in front of me. It wasn't juice. Or because of a joke. It happens to be one of my own students who I teach in both PE and English. A stare down takes place, me with a look of disgust on my face. I tell him to clean it up. He apologizes, although I point out that it seemed pretty natural and that he should NEVER do it again. After the cleaning, I walk on, not wanting to ruin my Friday.

Three days ago, I'm wrapping up my workout at the gym. I'm changing into my street clothes, zipping my bag, and exiting the locker room as I get a big whiff of what's coming from the showers. A guy, half naked, has a lit cigarette in his hand and is blowing smoke towards the lockers as he talks to his friends. I stop. A stare down takes place, me with a look of disgust on my face. I shake my head and just before I open my mouth to utter something impolite in Chinese, the locker room attendant sees what I see and tells the guy to butt out. I walk on, not wanting to ruin my post-gym buzz.

Did I ever tell the story about the guy who dropped his pants across the street from my apartment complex and proceeded to use the grass/treed area as a squat toilet? I won't recount it again, but let's just say he wasn't just having an open-air pee.

Oh, China. Wo ai ni.

The countdown to my winter vacation in Malaysia is on. Five weeks and three days until Kuala Lumpur.

T

Fine moments in teaching

It hasn't been a good day. I'm exhausted, the kids are off the wall, we have a new schedule in place which incorporates a homeroom block (adding to the already-long days), and it's Friday. Fatigue barely tiptoes toward a description of my bodily sensation right now. However, good things exist in which to be indulged... my final block on Friday is my prep and I'm going to share with you the assignment highlight of my recent two weeks.

A few weeks back, I assigned a bit of a homework assignment for my PE 10 classes. I wanted them to write down what their participation mark should be and why, and I also asked them to write down three or four goals they had for the semester, particularly in the realm of health and fitness. Due to the severe lack of available, organized sports at this school (only one school team, one PE class per year, few other options for regular activity for the 1300+ boys on my side of the road), fitness is a big part of our assessment practices in our PE department. This, along with absolutely horrendous eating habits amongst the young gents, contributes to a lot of grade twelve obesity and laziness.

One of my grade ten boys gave the following response for his homework assignment. Keep in mind he is one of, ummmm, two mostly-fluent English speakers I teach out of 140 boys. If only all kids had the vocabulary to be this clever at our school...

"This semester my goal for PE is to improve my cardio. Reason? Jesse Eisenberg's #1 rule for surviving a zombie apocalypse is cardio and fitness. As I have prepared for the moment all my life, I cannot be caught off guard. Cardio helps build stamina which comes in handy in case of an outbreak anywhere around you by half a kilometer. The ability to outrun your horror not only prepares me for the breakout, but also gives me self confidence that I am "untouchable". Those are my reasons for my goal."

Even if it is plagiarized, I can't be bothered to call him out on it. When these weeks carry so few victories, I can at least indulge in some good humour. Happy Friday, all, and Happy Thanksgiving to those Pilgrim-loving neighbours to the south of Canuckistan. 

T

An experiment (as a follow-up to a funny story)

My father probably wonders what planet I'm from more than once a week.

Rewind about 6 years ago. My dad came out to Victoria to visit me while I was a west-coast pseudo-hippy. I still remain enamoured with Van Isle and will continue to want to attempt to make my life there (upon, of course, my return to Canada).

I was showing my pop around the city and giving him a bit of a glimpse of my life out on the Pacific coast. As we were touring near downtown, we headed down to Fisherman's Wharf and decided to get some coffee at my favourite hangout, Moka House. I am a bit more loyal to the Cook Street location, but I digress...

My dad steps up to the counter, orders a coffee. I follow, asking for a coffee as well. My dad stops... "What the hell did you just order??" he asks. 

I respond, "Uhhh, a dark roast coffee. It's a good one!" I reply. 

He stares are me with a sideways look and clarifies: "What KIND of dark roast coffee?" he inquires.

 "Uhhh.... ummm... you mean, like, the country it's from? Or the organic part?"

"ORGANIC?!? What the hell are you trying to do to me?? Kill me??? Do you know what I DO for a living??"

He's been in agri-chemical sales in southern Alberta for more than 20 years. 

If you know my dad, you'd know how funny this moment would be.

I bust up laughing, and he does the same, although his has a twinge of exasperation mixed in. I think he believed I was a lost cause, then and there.

Anyways...

The blog title refers to my recent experiment of becoming a kinda-sorta-vegetarian for a month. I've cut out meat from my diet, save for the smallest amount of seafood and a limited supply of eggs. Part of it is just a small attempt to offset my carbon footprint (I do, after all, fly all over the world for recreational purposes), and another part is just to diversify my cooking experiences. The final part is just to see if I can make the switch.

I stopped eating meat after lunch on the 15th, so I guess I'm about 10 days in and I think I'm doing alright thus far. I've had friends from a bunch of places send me recipes and cooking ideas, and I think I've even got one of the girls from work doing some cooking FOR me! Awesome. I'll let you know how it goes.

I know my big brother is disappointed in this decision... he is, after all, most well-known for his late Friday night Bacon-Time parties with the boys, but I'll just have to postpone my own bacon-time for the time being.

So animal-friendly friends and acquaintances, let me know if you have any recipes or cooking ideas in mind that I need to try. For now, though, off I go...

Your veggie-loving, Moustache-sporting friend,

T

BY THE WAY... get out and support the fight against prostate cancer by donating to my MoSpace page... http://mobro.co/TMoRAK

Just another Sunday... a visual tour.

I am woken up by the sunshine coming in through my skylight above my bed which is a major luxury. It was about 8:30 in the morning and normally my alarm makes me snap awake just after 5am. After brewing up a pot of coffee, I organize some breakfast and head to my computer. After hooking up my vpn, I hit the CBC website, connect my laptop to my TV and spend the rest of the morning filling my caffeine tank and watching the Oilers lose to the Phoenix Coyotes. It's Hockey Morning in China and the game is streaming at a pretty solid rate. No one else was available to join in on the viewing, but I had papers to mark so this wasn't a problem. I didn't really mark too many, but some is better than none.

After my lazy morning, I pack my shoes and clothes and head out to get some lunch and go to the gym. On my walk, my IPod attempts to block out the techno music pumping from every third shop I pass, along with the noise from the fireworks that blast in the distance. China is the home of fireworks and there's no shortage of indulgence... shop openings, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries. Who knows... they may even celebrate the resolution to domestic disputes with fireworks. They seem to ring and blast and crack at any and every moment of the day, every day of the week. It's rare that I notice them now after being here for more than 2 years (that or the continual honking of car horns), as my brain has learned to filter out these blasts fairly efficiently. I just have to hope that there are no airstrikes in DongBei while I'm living abroad... I definitely wouldn't wake up.

After lunch at one my regular stops at the local mall, Ajisen Ramen (a Japanese noodle place that I frequent too often), I head upstairs to the gym. The gym I go to is called WhyteWolf and is on the top floor of the AnSheng mall in my suburb of KaiFaQu. It's decked out like a trendy nightclub, with dim neon lighting, black walls lit up with colour-changing LCD lights, and has either bad Chinese love ballads or bad Chinese techno playing over the speakers. Luckily, the TVs by the cardio equipment mostly show sports so it's not a total loss. The gym has excellent equipment and a lot of machines and it's quite tidy. Still, though, the local beefcakes are often sans-shirts and there's no disinfectant spray for any of the equipment so there's a lingering worry about ringworm which enters my mind from time to time . As I put my headphones in my ears, I block out the thoughts and will deal with the issue if/when it ever arrives.

After hanging at the nightclub/gym, I head out to do some shopping at what's called the Stinky Market by our local expat staff. Why, you ask? Because it's stinky. It's full of meat, seafood, tofu and produce vendors, and the related cleaning and drippings of said vendors run into the shallow grates in the floor. However, the quality of produce and meat and tofu is pretty good and super cheap. And all the regular stops for our staff that don't have proper English names are called by slightly silly pseudonyms. Yesterday I met my friend SL and a few members of our volleyball team to get some cardigans made for our team. Where did we say to meet? Sweater Lady. You can guess why. We often eat at a restaurant called DingDing. Why? Because we know the name of one dish: DingDing QiaoMien, or DingDing fried noodles. What was the name of the shop that used to be run by my buddy AA and his wife Sunshine? "The Shop". What are other names for favourite restaurants in town? High Chair Hotpot (Obvious), Cultural Revolution restaurant (waitresses dress in CR uniforms), Cannon (there are cannons in front of the place), Rosta Beef restaurant (they serve roast beef and have a poorly translated menu), and the list goes on.

Anyway, I enter the Stinky Market and purchase all the food seen in the picture below. I make a couple of stops at various vendors and buy all I can carry. It's ridiculously cheap. Peppers, onion, tomatoes, baby bokchoy, spinach, squash, zucchini, tofu and tofu skins, lettuce, chili peppers, broccoli and bananas. ALL for less than $10 Canadian. People stare as I fill up my bags, listening to my Chinese skills and wondering what the hell I'm wearing. After HMIC (Hockey Morning in China), I donned my newish Team Canada Lemieux jersey from the Canada Cup a million years ago, so I'm in bright red with CANADA blazing across my chest. They're probably also curious why I'm in the market and not shopping at WalMart or Tesco. Some people are impressed with my speaking, some are assuming I'm Russian, some are not particularly impressed by either my speaking ability or my fashion sense, and some are just curious about the odd-looking white guy. There are a lot of foreigners in KaiFaQu these days, but not so many shop at local markets.

I leave the Stinky Market and start walking home. The street outside SM is packed with people and with stalls selling everything you can imagine from D&G shirts and "trendy" bedazzled jeans to recycled/knock-off shoes and cartoon-covered boxers, and pretty much anything else you could (not) want. Live turtles, puppies, birds and cats are likewise available at the far end. The wind is starting to turn cold and people are beginning to bundle up for winter. This doesn't stop the girls from wearing short-shorts and tights with the ugliest shoes you can imagine. See my last post for my feelings about Chinese fashion.

The techno is pumping from these vendor stalls as well and people are mic'ed on loudspeakers attempting to get people to notice the wares they're selling. It's not like the Beijing Silk Market or the Shanghai Fake Market... these people aren't going to grab you and drag you into their stalls... they haven't embraced the aggressive, nearly-abusive attitude of the big cities and are often too busy on QQ or on their phones to worry about some foreigner walking past. Although the sounds are obnoxious and the style of stuff is generally quite offensive, it's preferable to being accosted when trying to get from Point A to B.

As I exit the market area, I enter the street near McDonald's. I can smell the grease from McD's mixed with the scents from the food vendors on the street selling meat on a stick, spicy fried squid, roasted chestnuts, roast sweet-corn and a host of other readily available snacks. There's an impromptu concert going on as a way of advertising for a cell-phone shop, and in between songs and jokes, they try to see passers-by a variety of cell phones and electronic sundries. I escape the busyness of the road and enter the university to make the shortcut back to my apartment.

The 18 outdoor basketball nets on campus are all full and have people waiting, as there are countless games of 3-on-3 happening at the same time. Nope... not a tournament... just a regular Sunday. The soccer field is likewise packed and there's an obvious wait for pitch time. Not a single girl is playing in either venue. Some watch, but none play. Not a part of their experience for the most part. More nearby vendors sell bbq'd yams and fruit on a stick outside the courts. Girls are walking hand in hand, carrying their thermoses full of hot water back to their apartments. There's no readily available hot water or kitchens in any of the university dorms, so they make tea and instant noodles in their rooms and otherwise find food to eat from the street or local restaurants. The hot water in the common bathrooms/showers is only available a couple hours at night and in the morning, so showering is chock-a-block and takes some serious planning.

I exit the university and turn onto the street leading to my apartment complex. I walk past the entrance to the UFO park, passing by the coolest guy in town: a Muslim-Chinese guy from XinJiang province who makes/sells cotton candy at the entrance to the park and has a moustache that is ready for the movies. He's joined on the corner by a couple who roast sweet cobs of corn on a portable bbq as well as a young guy who pierces fruit on a stick and rolls it in a candied concoction he makes on a portable burner on his work cart. All of these will disappear once the sun goes down. As I look across the street, I see a guy selling full-sized, live chickens to people exiting my apartment complex. The chickens are yanked out of a portable cage and hog-tied and bagged, as money changes hands and the locals go away with a rooster in hand. Shaking my head, I get to my building, noticing that one of my neighbours (1 door down and about 4 floors below) is drying a string of filleted fish outside their kitchen window. The fish hang from a string tied to the bars covering the window. Green cabbage is also drying on the windowsill, a site that is extremely common at this time of year. The old traditions of thrift carry on, even if they are dying away.

I climb the six flights of stairs to my top-floor apartment and spread my purchases out on the table near my entrance. It's an absurd amount of food for an even more-absurdly small amount of money. China is easy on a budget... if you want it to be.

This is what $10 Canadian buys you.

T

"Another day in..."

I often conclude this sentence cheerfully,  chirruping to my fellow teachers that "It's another beautiful China day" or "It's another day in paradise". Some days these cheerful responses are dripping with sarcasm and the slightest bit of contempt. Other days I actually mean it, whether or not it seems sarcastic. Just depends on the day. And the sarcasm often depends on if I'm marking Intro to Lit essays for my Grade 10 boys. Today, I'm invigilating exams and... marking Intro to Lit essays for my Grade 10 boys.

Because of this, I'm going to post a list of funny things that I don't know if I've ever discussed here. A few of my fellow China bloggers have done similar posts recently and since I seem to have stopped posting about random China stuff, here we go.

English names.

The kids at our school are all expected to adopt English names. Call it ethnocentric or imperialistic if you want, but it's policy. So the kids, knowing that they are in an environment which is pretty low on the judgment end of the spectrum (because they're all surrounded by fellow Asian kids and not the ruthless bullies of N. America) and because they've never had so much freedom in their lives, they get pretty creative and are happy to pay homage to their favourite things.

Example: The boys here LOVE basketball. What are some of my students' names? Iverson. McGrady. Lebron.

Example: The boys here LOVE soccer. What are some of their names? Messi. Villa. Davidvilla (all one word). Beckham. Dempsey.

Example: The students love fashion (although I generally find the Chinese population should predominantly star in "What Not to Wear"). What are their English names? Dolce. DG. LV. Prada, Louis, Sakun.

Example: The kids don't speak English well. What are some of their mistakenly written but maintained names? Danio (Daniel), Vicent (Vincent), Tadi (Teddy), Christom (Christian? Tom?), Augus (August?), Laski (?), 

Example: The kids love pop culture, especially popular singers and books. What are their names? Lucius, Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Avril, Bieber (TWO in one class),

Example: The kids like unique names or names that "Have Meaning", but sometimes they end up being nonsense. Or absurd. Or strange. What are these nonsensical endeavours? Far, Silence, Nice, Funny, Curry, Zero, Cloud, Amok, Jone (Jones?), Estate ("like the Italian way"), Dample (??), Tofick (??), Luffy (??), Freedom, Flint, Lamorak (I'm still trying to sort out if this is legit or if this kid hates me and is making fun of my name), Platinum Caliente (Yes, this is the ACTUAL name chosen by one of the BOYS on campus),

This is a strange world I inhabit. Much love from China, all.

T

Adventures south

It's crazy how quickly I've lost my ability to be an efficient solo traveler.

It's Tuesday night in Shanghai as the stars begin to peek out through the glow of city lights and between the nomadic clouds above me. I'm on the rooftop veranda of my hostel, giving my legs a break after an entire day of being mobile, carrying my bags with me as I tried to sort out where, exactly, my hostel was. I arrived yesterday (Monday) and have already spent a night in the steel expanses of this town, but since I had to change hostel locales I was on the move again, attempting to get by on the mediocre directions I typed up for myself from the establishment's website.

Being absent-minded this morning as I was getting ready (and being seriously consumed by my desirous thoughts about coffee since by about 11am I hadn't yet ingested my requisite two cups of java) I copied the address in my email inbox in both English and Chinese and didn't transpose this information into a non-wifi accessible place like my IPod's notepad. Nope… I punched in the "turn here, follow this road" directions up until the final sentence which proved to be the most important of them all (but that shouldn't be a surprise… isn't the ending always the most important thing??). And I also neglected to put down the actual street address. And the telephone number. I'm an idiot.

Anyhoo, I called a friend who was stuck being bored in Dalian for the week and she was able to provide me with an address. And a phone number. So since I've developed the highly important skill of being able to follow street signs, I thought I was on my way. Except that, at the location provided by said friend, I was at a loss as to where the building was. It didn't exist on that street. So I tried calling the number… and I realized that she'd shorted me on two digits. And this whole time I was seeking out a Starbucks or McDonalds in order to help my bid to find my new home. And nothing.

Finally, after roaming altogether for about an hour, I found a small Taiwanese-style restaurant with free Wifi and sat down. I was getting pretty huangry, too (no, that's not a typo… Huangry is when you're getting angry because of hunger). I thanked the stars above for shining their lights on Cloud 9 restaurant (which was, in fact, pretty mediocre, but did the trick in a pinch). After loading up the website, I realized that "only-semi-reliable-but-good-natured friend" gave me an inaccurate address (she'd switched the building number and the street numbers… when I called her, I was actually in rock-throwing distance from the alley I needed to enter).

I arrived without any problems after this and got on with the planning for the rest of the trip. I got some caffeine in me, met some friendly travelers in the cafe, and began hiking around the city in search of one of my favourite Shanghai restaurants (Vietnamese place called "Pho Real!") as well as a massage place which will rescue my hurting feet and legs in coming days. Then, it was off to the markets, off to take some random city photos and have an amazing solo dinner at another dining favourite, "Element Fresh". Indulgence is the only word (and although there's a pricetag associated with it, I'm not gonna complain).

So for now, I'm going to indulge more in this stunning cityscape and in the prose of my new book and sign off from here.

 

T

Only in China

So, there are some things that make me recall that China and Canada are much different. In some moments, particularly when shopping at various grocery stores in Dalian, I find that I was in a place not all too different from the grocery stores back in Canada. Some of them even have the big box-style feel that Costco and other locations have. Until I see this...

Now I know I'm in China. A whole section dedicated to MSG.

T

Teaching curses

I'm not sure if these exist but right now it seems like one might be hanging over my head, similar to the dark cloud that enjoyed following Eeyore around in his (mis)adventures with Winnie and the gang.

In the past two weeks, I've had the following events take place in my PE classes:
- a kid pass out due to hypoglycemia and low blood sugar after our class run
- a student sprained his wrist and hit the deck while playing ultimate frisbee after slipping on the wet basketball court
- a kid get smashed in the face with a soccer ball (no blood, thankfully, but a pretty crooked pair of glasses went flying)
- a second kid with something akin to hypoglycemia more or less pass out and vomit because of low blood sugar (and possibly mild heat stroke)

-  I did a movie-style slip and fall while attempting to run to the kid who sprained his wrist... I'm talking a one foot slip, both legs in the air, flat on my back, head slamming into the hardtop, and mild whiplash the next day

I'm starting to wonder if there's enough injury forms to satisfy my need for being a PE teacher.

Luckily I'm clumsy and I've had enough injuries in my time to have an idea of what to do. The first holiday is only 3 work days from now, and it can't come soon enough.

T

From the deck of my apartment

Lately the days have been stunning and the nights have followed suit.

As the darkness chases away the daylight...



T

Cool photo project

This country is one of quiet contradiction. In the name of "harmony", people continually bypass their regular/constant impulse to speak their mind, share their worries, and express their inner anxieties or their inner dreams. They don't want to ruffle feathers, or in the most extreme cases they fear prison or legal incrimination. There is an endless amount of rote regurgitation of party line and nationalistic nonsense living on the lips of Chinese people and the true thoughts of many Chinese are never known but to their closest friends/family members. As I enter my third year here, I see the same surface of the students I teach, all following the jargon-based platform that has been placed inside their head since the moment they began speaking. It's rare that we get real, honest insight into what they muse/worry/fret/dream about. Although not impossible, such moments are fleeting. But they're worth chasing.

A co-worker of mine came across a fantastic photo-based e-project that allows a small (and likewise honest) peek at what people around China really think about life and the world without worry of judgment or incrimination. I've always believed that we're at our most... real in private, safe moments and places. And I think this sort of project provides just that sort of environment. These people were given a piece of paper and encouraged to write whatever they want/feel on it. Then they had their photos taken. The website is simply a collection of photos and mini-bios of people from across the excessively vast landscape while inhabits 1.4 billion people.

Spend some time here.

iSpeak China

T

I'm the worst pet-sitter ever.

You may ask me, after hearing this story, "How can you POSSIBLY LOSE two out of three cats in TWO DAYS?!?!?". Well, my friends. It's not probable. But it is possible. And it was true.

I arrived at A&S's place tonight to feed their cats and clean the litter boxes. S's mom is seriously sick and they are together in Harbin (northern China, home of the Ice Festival I attended the past two years), and A went up to stay with them for an extended weekend. I, being the excellent friend that I am, told them it was no problem to take care of the three rascals while he was away. No worries. De nada.

Day 1 found no issues (other than the terribly involved feeding process for their little cat Arza... spelled Erzi in pinyin Chinese) and I thought to myself, "Hey, there's nothing to this do-gooder thing."

Day 2 was even easier... the cats seemed to be friendlier and more curious and I got the routine for feeding Erzi down to a smooth process. I aired out the place a bit, opening up the windows, cleaned the litter boxes, refilled bowls and all was well.

Day 3 was strange. I walked in with my friend TL who loves cats and wanted some cuddle time. Looking at the state of bowls in the living room, I was struck by something... their food dishes were full. As were the water dishes.

Now, I know cats are finicky. And I knew that the little cat Erzi only ate wet food provided by me upon arrival. TL thought it odd, but also mentioned the fact that cats can be moody and cantankerous and it shouldn't be something to worry about.

But the strangeness kept on going. The past two nights, the other cats (Mia and Peter) had checked me out with some serious curiosity and uncertainty while I was feeding Erzi in the kitchen. Tonight... no visit. No appearance. Nothing.

Well, it turns out that A&S's cats are super athletic and were able to jump, climb through the 3 inch gap in the skylight and out onto the roof. 2 cats gone. Out of 3. That's a 33% success rate. And an epic fail. But how was I supposed to know?

After some serious searching, a bit of finding, and a whole lot of coaxing (which turned into me literally reaching my hand into a dark hole and pulling out this scared-witless cat), we were back to a passing grade of 67%, or 2/3 cats. But really... are A&S gonna forgive the loss of one pet within 3 days of me housesitting? Uhhh... it's unlikely.

After numerous phone calls, tonnes of food-bag shaking, some beckoning from balconies and a whole lot of prayers, no 3rd cat was located. Not on the roof (it seems roofs for me are particularly important in China... Halloween last year I had another rooftop escapade), not on the patios, not in the neighbours apartments. Nothing. I couldn't find him. So, there's a bowl of food and water on the patio and a whole lot of wishing rising to the heavens tonight for Peter to safely return to A&S's place.

For now, it's time to attempt to sleep while dreaming about accidentally killing my friends' animals while they are on vacay. Worst. Petsitter. Ever.

T

Whirlwind returns

After another adventure-filled summer, I'm left weary-legged and saggy-eyed as I boarded my flight from Victoria to Vancouver to Tokyo to Dalian. I've been back almost two weeks and this passage of time has zipped by with a serious amount of urgency. I attempt to ask, "Why the hurry?", but Time has no regard for such nonsensical questions. The weekends are now full of errands and recovering from too much excitement, and the weekdays are filled with the furious race to be ready for the hooligans waiting for us (im)patiently in classrooms. New faces appear every day and just when the moment arrives when I've come to learn the names of many/most of my students, classes change or shuffle or shift so that I'm left reeling. PE facilities are constantly being rearranged to accommodate a variety of challenges and ongoing requests. And, being the social creature I am, I feel compelled to sign up for everything being offered up by my ambitious co-workers.

In all the continual hubbub, I can't seem to focus long enough on a story in my head to tease out anything of interest. But I was able to finish posting my summer pictures (all the ones I can manage to put up), and enough time to read the blog of a friend from last year who moved on to the brighter pastures in Pakistan to teach. N&J are now in Lahore, Pakistan working at another international school. And after being sent the link, I realized that N wasn't kidding about J's talent for writing. So, in the spirit of passing the buck, GO HERE to read about N&J's adventures in the South Asian lands of Pakistan. The link is a fantastic story which makes me believe that some profound experiences are only found when immersing one's self in a new place and new culture. Check out the rest of her blog when you have time.

In the meantime for me, I'm signing off. Enjoy the pics, enjoy J's story, and I'll write more in coming days... particularly about small linguistic triumphs and my moments of love for this place called China. Until then...

T

Entry 48

In pursuit of Hermes in the mountains, though Olympus lies far beyond these borders.

Entry 47

Remnants from time and fires gone by.

Entry 46

Getting ready to sign off from the mountains.

Entry 45

Time on the lake.

Entry 44

Shots of colour in the forest.

Entry 43

Mountain recreation.

Entry 42

Chasing storms across the prairies.

Entry 41

Paddles and pelicans.

Entry 40

From fairways to farmland. From Montana to the Alberta prairie.

Entry 39

Sometimes I feel like a propaganda poster for coffee.

Entry 38

Landscapes passing by.

Entry 37

Slow shutter speeds and quick steps.

Entry 36

Sorry for the hiatus, everyone. I'll post a few more pics on here to round out my favourites, and then will get back to posting stories about the summer and about being back. I'm officially back to the distant eastern lands of NE China for another year of weird experiences, crazy food, and far too much fun. And some work will be thrown in there as well. For now, here are a couple of pics from Blue Lake at the Blue Lake Centre north of Jasper, Alberta.

Entry 35

Canmore town and area.

Entry 34

Alberta-based band The Shoulder Season during Canmore's Folkfest weekend. Check them out at: http://www.reverbnation.com/theshoulderseason

Entry 33

On the way to the mountains of Canmore.

Entry 32

The cutest kids in the world.

Entry 31

The last of coastal waters in July.

Entry 30

It's hard to beat bald eagles and humpback whales. I don't know how I actually got the humpback picture, but just glad it worked out.

Entry 29

Shortly before leaving the beach.

Entry 28

West coast of the Island, in B&W.

Entry 27

Island livin' on the beach. More beach to come.