Home Again Home Again Jiggidy Jig!!!

So...up at 5:00 on a Saturday morning, (bed at 2:30 after porn motel...another post!!!) 2.5 hour bus ride to Taipei and I was off. Next was the 2 hour plane ride to Manila where I got to spend 5 hours, at least I got one last cool stamp in my passport before I renew it!! After that was a lovely 13 or so hours to Vancouver. I took a sleeping pill so it was relatively unscathing. Coincidentally I was seated with a guy who teaches in Taipei, and is from the town I grew up in. We were part of the same drama club in high school!

Bleary eyed, I disembarked my make-shift home only 5 hours later than the time that I left Taiwan!! Standing there smiling in the beautiful Vancouver airport, was my friend Ali. This girl is SO cool! She took me back to her place by Main and Broadway and took me out for lunch at some cool, funky and DELICIOUS veggie restaurant! She was starting a house-sitting job that night so we Sky Train-ed and bussed out to the North Shore! What a great reintroduction to Canada!!! This house had a panoramic view of mountains, ocean, bridges, beautiful Vancouver skyline!!

Next day I went out to New West to meet up with my friend Kathy. She is as jaded and cynical as ever! I am glad that some things never change!! We shopped, we walked along the Quay, we giggled, chatted and best of all we had micro-brewery beer-waterside!!! Monday we did some more shopping (and clothes fit me!!!!), traveled downtown and did some running around and had coffee, again you guessed it-seaside!! I went back to Ali's and we headed back to the North Shore to eat dinner on the deck and watch a movie. Tues (yesterday) I was scheduled to fly here to Saskatchewan so Ali and I got up early got her bikes and went for a ride. First we rode out to Granville Island, then over the bridge and back up to her place along the seawall! God I Love Vancouver!!!

I am now in Saskatchewan with my mom, and it is great! I am glad to have the decompression time in Van before I came here though. No big reverse culture shocks though, I was expecting much worse! The biggest things that I noticed was how fat everyone here is! I am far from skinny, but I did not remember how overweight we are as a society! The most notable was teenage girls. I remembered them to be skinny minnies, but even the ones that are not 'fat' are not healthy looking....
Second thing I noticed was that people stopped for me when I was crossing the street. Ali laughed at me and said they must be mistaking me for a foreign dignitary because I was so surprised when they stopped without even a redlight!!!

I am really trying to keep Taiwan in my forethoughts, and even try and to miss it a bit! It will be too hard to go back if I don't!
OK well that is about it for now.....I have lots of time, so I should be posting more often!!! Miss you

Bu Shi Wan Jung Lung!!!!!

One of the first phrases I learned in Chinese. I still get random students coming up and saying it to me...The other day a parent even came up to me, said it and laughed...It means "I don't like cockroaches!!!"
James was cooking dinner, so I was going to wash up the dishes real quick. I was running some water in the sink when out from the tiny drain holes at the top of the sink squeezed, or more like oozed a huge cockroach! I TOTALLY freaked!! I am usually pretty good about keeping my cool with them. Dave and Leah are usually the big girls about cockroaches (unless Leah has her bowstaff!) so it usually corners me to be tough about it. My reaction was so involuntary though...It was like something out of a movie, only in the movie hundreds more would have followed...SO GROSS! I am so excited that in two more sleeps I will be in a cockroach free zone!!!

dumb phrase

I want to know what is up with the phrase "have your cake and eat it too". Why on earth would Iwant cake that Icouldn't eat? And if it is my cake to start with who are you to tell me that I can't eat it? I don't even like cake, so you can keep the whole boody thing!!!! Does anyone know where this ridiculous phrase comes from?

# 2 - Penny!

1. Describe the most homesick experience of your time in Taiwan.

Homesick is really not the prevailing emotion I have in Taiwan. I spent over 2 years traveling in Europe by myself, so I hit some pretty low moments there. It was there that I imagined a hug from my brother and the sound of his voice and cried myself to sleep. It was there that I really went through the personal shit and had to do it on my own. There is stuff that I will never tell my immediate family because I know that it would make them too sad and I have since dealt with it myself....
Here I have my Leah for family, and James for love, and Dave for laughs and to make our bubble complete...I have wonderful friendships and a home with a puppy. The thing that Taiwan has that I never really felt in Europe is culture shock. A year later I still feel it.
I guess if I look at the question on a broader level and look at it as homesick for all things familiar and normal and not backwards upside down and inside out to how I am used to them then....
I think it would have to be the driving. I can not emphasize enough how fucked up it is here. They are not just bad drivers, there is a complete lack of any common sense WHATSOEVER!!! Left hand turns into on coming traffic as the light switches green, from the far right hand side, cutting in front of all the other vehicles going straight. Stopping and reversing in the middle of the road, I just can not get over it. Someone pointed out that they really believe in good fortune. So they will turn right onto a busy street without looking because the gods are looking out for them!!! I am a little nervous about coming back to drive in Canada!!

2. If you could be a band, what would you call yourself, what music would you play, what position would you hold in the band, what would the names of your top five chart toppers be and what would everyone know as your trademark?

It would definitely be a 'the' name....looking around, I like "The Socks!" Although that sounds a bit like a baseball team....It would definitely be a punk band and I would definitely be the bass player. The hard popping rhythms but with a lot more glory and spotlight than the drummer.
I am in a bit of a creative rut right now...I can't think of chart toppers let alone trademarks....I am going to have to let this one go. I have answered all the other questions and am at a total wall with this one....I will have a brain wave in the middle of the night and give you a much better answer, I promise!!!!

3. If you could cure the world of cancer or aids, which would you chose. Explain or Justify..

Well on purely selfish reasons I would cure Cancer. My mom has Cancer, as have several other people close to me. I am also a lot more likely (like almost certainly) to be diagnosed with Cancer than I am of AIDS.
On a broader level it would still be Cancer. With education and on a personal level, behavior modification, AIDS can mostly be prevented. I know that this doesn't help the people who already have it, but I am trying to look past this generation and long into the future. Cancer is going to touch all of us at some point and I don't think that I can see past how it has already touched me...

4. Explain why it's wrong to eat dogs, but not cows.

It's not...in a culture where dog's are companions it seems abhorrent to eat them, but as we all know, in India cows are sacred, and it is unthinkable for them to eat a cow. I don't really eat either animal, but if I were in a country where it was the practice to eat dog, I would not turn my nose up. I certainly wouldn't order the lab chops or anything but I would give it a try. It is a daily struggle here to get past my cultural biases, and the dog thing is just another one!! I grew up on a dairy farm, and have had a few cows as chatting companions at 5am milking time. Cows are an under rated species, and are actually a very amusing animal!!! Maybe people should start having pet cows....


5. If you could be anyone for a day, who would you be and what is the first thing you would do?

My first thought was that I have always wanted to be a boy for a day. I am dying to have a wank, write my name in the snow, get in a bar fight, pick up a hot chick and shag her senseless.
My second thought was something political like George Dub and repent for all my evils, make some major changes then commit suicide. But then I thought, why not combine the two....
I would have to time it really well so he slipped back to his body, and me out, just in time. I could just see the headlines...."President of the Free World (whatever that means anyway) Dies in Erotic Asphyxiation Mishap!"

The Official Interview Game Rules
1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying "interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each person's will be different.
3. You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

Interview #1 - Cousin Leahbelle!!

1. Describe the difference between ideal love and realistic love. Like, what do you believe true vs. what you wish were possible but haven't experienced.

OOOO!!! A love question, I should have known you would do that! I don't think that I am going to give you the answer that you think though (well except that I started to tell you last night).
I have never been a big romantic idealist about love. I had never been in love till James either. I never bought into the fairy tale. From the first night I met James, though, something was different with him. I have always been capable of having flings and walking away and after Oktoberfest I could not stop thinking about him. My point.....I have learned that romantic, fabulous, whirl wind love exists, and can survive the transition to committed, day to day love. I used to feel like falling in love would make me weak. I realize now that accepting the risk is one of the strongest steps of all. I guess that I have become more romantic and idealistic with age and experience....cool!


2. Beyond what you learned academically, what skills, perspectives and life-changing experiences did you encounter through obtaining a Psych/Lit degree...was it all worth it?

Would I do it all again excactly the same way...no! I would work harder and get it over with quicker. I would realize that it is alot like a high school diploma and merely a means to an end. I learned that I don't like where psych is going as a field. It is really struggling to be scientific. Although it was the science side of it that I excelled at, I think you lose something when you try to break down the human mind into a quanifiable unit. The human touch is being lost, and meds are taking their place. Just because you can make someone feel better by blocking there seretonin uptake receptors or whatever doesnt mean that you should ignore the reason that they are feeling shit in the first place.

On a broader level I belive that there is no wasted education. I would not trade my measely BA for anything. I worked hard academically and otherwise to get it and it feels good to have it.

3. If you could change something about yourself personality-wise, what would it be?

oh my, leah!!! The only way I can answer this is by answering the things that I work on daily. Overall I like me, but I am very aware of things that annoy me too! oh god but just one??? I work on not being bossy and controlling. I know that I like to have things my way and have a full variety of means to try and get them. James is really good for me in that he is easy going to a point then just doesn't budge. I really try not to be overbearing as well. On my dad's side of the family the women are all these bossy, overbearing slightly nuts (altough lovable) women with really weak men. It has been engrained in me from a very early age that these are very unattractive qualities and I am hyperaware of my tendancies towards them. I take comfort in the fact that the thing I find most unattractive is the weak men!!! Have I even remotely answered the question?

4. What song title, lyric, quote or book do you feel embodies your life experience right now?

I can't belive how much trouble I am having with this question...I always have a song, or quote or something. I searched my music library, looked at the books on the shelf, and even went to one of those quote pages. I found a few that summed things up, but they lacked the personal touch I was looking for. Then it came to me, a song we have been listening to a lot. It sums my life up in a concise yet poetic way!! It covers life in Taiwan, it covers my relationship, it's all right here!!! Thank you my little tantric lover!!!
"De Do Do Do De Da Da Da "

5. If you could only travel to one more country for the rest of your life, what would your destination be, and why?

If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be? If you could only watch one tv show for the rest of your life, what would it be? If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be? This is a truely unfair question!!! AAARRRGGGG!!!!!
Ok but if I think rationally for a moment....(ONE COUNTRY????) I would have to say New Zealand. Leah you know, but James is from New Zealand, and I have never been there. I think that if he and are doing this then I want to see where he is from and meet his family and friends. It would not be my first choice as merely a travel destination, but I always new I would go there one day. (Although I think that about most countries in the world!!!) Ok, there you go...

The Official Interview Game Rules
1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying "interview me."

2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each person's will be different.

3. You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

18 more sleeps!!!

MAMA I'm comin home!!! Hurrah! I am so excited that I can't believe that I have not blogged about it! My brother was supposed to get married in Aug, and we Leah and I were going to go home for that. Since that has been cancelled/postponed (?) and my bro is feeling a bit down I have decided to head back early. It actually works out a lot better as far as the timing with my Visa so off I go. I fly in to Van on the afternoon of June 19 and get 3 wonderful shopping days with two of my favourite people. (this is under the guise of getting my passport renewed, which I will have to do as well). Then I fly straight to the lovely flatlands of Saskatchewan. I will probably spend only 2 weeks there with mom and Kevin, then mama will drive me and Kevin back to BC. My dad has his CD release party on July 9, and I would LOVE to be there for that! How cool that my dad is releasing a CD of music that I would buy even if he wasn't in the band!!!! I will have just over 2 weeks to catch up with all my family and friends in the Okanagan before I have to hit Vancouver for one last day of shopping and back to Taiwan in time for my birthday!!!
My boss here is baffled at the thought of what I will do for six weeks, and I am baffled at how I am going to fit it all in, especially all the shopping!! I have been composing my wish list for a while now...bras (even the odd time that they come in my size they are so padded that I end up with 'boobies on a platter'), Frank's Red Hot, big bottle (oh my sweet sweet frank, how I have missed you!), Twizzlers, Purdy's Chocolate, shoes for James (not a lot of Taiwanese people have a size 13, go figure!!), jeans for me (can get my size but I look a lot like Urkle...not flattering!), well it is going to be a whole lot of clothes. After a year here it is sometimes hard to realize what is cool and what looks kinda pretty cause your perspective is WAY off (I am turning Taiwanese, yes I'm turning Taiwanese, I really think so!)
Ok well that is my excited rant about going home....trust me, it will not be the last you hear about it. I am excitable at the best of times!!!! YYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!