Pride and the Island and Zombies - August 2009

My second summer in Vancouver has been jam-packed with activities. I'm still working, doing basically the same thing as last month, and continuing to enjoy it. Not only has that kept me busy during the week, but my weekends have also been quite full.

First, there were the fireworks. I'd been to see them last August, and this year I went with my roommates to see them again. The same weekend was the Pride celebration. Last year, I went to see my very first Pride Parade; this year, I marched in the parade. I went with my church, which in turn went as part of the Anglican Diocese of Vancouver. Since the parade was on Sunday, we gathered at church for an early-morning service, then had breakfast, and took our places in the parade line-up. It was a hot day, and we spent a good hour or so just standing around before the parade even started! Besides having fun, I got a nifty tan that day – which was good, as I'd somehow managed to go half a summer without getting tanned!

The next weekend I went over to Nanaimo for an AVEN meet-up. It was a pretty short visit; I spent more time just getting to Nanaimo and back than actually being in the city. Still, it gave me an excuse to see more of Vancouver Island, and also to see more of North Vancouver and the Gulf Islands, which I found remarkably lovely.

A buddy of mine from the Netherlands came to visit for a week, and we spent much of the following weekend together. Saturday happened to be the Vancouver Zombie Walk, which I mentioned last year in my September post. Last time I wasn't able to take pictures, so this time I made a point of bringing my camera. Unfortunately, this year's walk wasn't as exciting as last year's; the zombies seemed much less organised, and it came off more like a Zombie Stroll or Zombie Chill. Still, I did get a few good pictures, including zombie pirates, a zombie Dorothy and Scarecrow, and – my favourite – zombie Michael Jackson! After the zombies we went to Granville Island to see a high school production of Macbeth. Obviously, being done by high school students, it wasn't the best Shakespeare production I've seen, but it was still pretty good, and it was free!

I used the next weekend to take my last trip to Victoria. I decided I should take advantage of the opportunity to do a little more sight-seeing, so I spent an afternoon at the Royal B.C. Museum. I'd heard it was really good, and it was, but I found it a bit small, and very expensive. I spent most of my time in the native American art exhibit. I enjoyed learning about native American culture and history, both pre- and post-European contact. I especially appreciated that the exhibit was limited specifically to B.C. native cultures. Too often it seems that Canada's native peoples get discussed in a holistic way that obfuscates the vast diversity among them. The other exhibits were about the local environment and local culture, neither of which I found very exciting. There was also a special exhibit of artefacts from the British Museum, which should have been fascinating – except that I'd seen the same exhibit when I was in Hong Kong two years ago. The best part of the whole day may have been as I was leaving the museum. A guy in a Darth Vader costume was standing on a street corner playing the fiddle. Now, a guy standing on a street corner and playing a fiddle – we've all seen that. But a guy standing on a corner, playing a fiddle, and wearing a Darth Vader costume… that's special!

The last weekend of the month I had a work dinner on Saturday and an AVEN dinner on Sunday. The work dinner was at my boss's house, and it went quite well, although, oddly, my boss was unable to eat anything because she is Muslim and was observing Ramadan! The AVEN dinner was almost a complete disaster when we got to the intended restaurant and found it closed, but fortunately we quickly scouted the restaurant across the street, and were able to move the whole even over there! That weekend, I also saw my sister off. She'd been living and studying in Victoria, but now she's moving back to Ontario. I've enjoyed having her so close by. With her gone, I probably won't stay in Vancouver much longer.

Movies I've seen this month:

The Last King of Scotland – I thought this was quite a good movie over-all, although, as often happens with films about political upheaval in foreign countries, I found myself wondering, "Why are they making it all about the white guy?" (Three and a half stars)

Plays I've seen this month:

Macbeth – This was technically my second time seeing Macbeth in as many years, the first having been in Hong Kong. It wasn't terribly professional, but I thought the young actors did a pretty good job with their parts, especially the lead. I also liked the decision to dress the characters in a neo-Goth style, which I thought suited the material quite well.

Books I've read this month:

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham – Aside from my slight disappointment that this book, despite its title, has comparatively little to do with triffids, I was quite impressed with it. It paints a very interesting picture of humanity struggling to survive in the aftermath of a biological holocaust, and although I don't agree with all its predictions, I still found it a good read.

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain – A sweet children's fable with a completely fantastic premise. I appreciated the mix of historical realism and gentle satire with a sense of whimsy and innocence.

A Season for Everything - May 2009

At the end of April I returned to Ottawa for my first visit in nine months. The primary reason was to attend a friend's wedding, but it also gave me a chance to see people, and take care of practical matters like getting my teeth checked and renewing my driver's licence. I stayed there until the middle of May, and then flew back to Vancouver.

The wedding was something of a first for me. Previously, the only weddings I'd been to were for members of my extended family. This was the first time I actually knew both the bride and groom. That made it much more exciting and personally relevant. I only have a few friends, and each of them is (hopefully) only going to get married once. From that perspective the wedding was one of the most important events of my life, or at least the highlight of my year. The ceremony was simple but nice. I got a bit emotional, but didn't cry. The family asked me to take pictures at the reception, which was good, because it gave me something to do. I took lots of photos, got caught up with some Ottawa acquaintances, and danced with lots of people, including the bride and groom.

Even though my Ottawa visit was short, I'm glad I got to have it. It was nice to be back among familiar things, and to see friends and family again. Most of all, it made me realise something: Ottawa is home, at least for now. Travelling and seeing the world is nice, and of course working is good, but Ottawa's still the most important place in the world to me, and probably will be until things change dramatically.

Now that I'm in Vancouver again, I'm back to job-hunting. This is the season where a lot of schools hire new staff, and I'm hopeful that I can find a good job for the summer. Being unemployed, I'm once again too poor to do anything interesting with my time, so my days have mostly been filled with books and television. On the bright side, the weather these past few weeks has been gorgeous, warm and sunny, with blue skies every day. I've been taking advantage by going on a lot of long walks around the city. I walked all the way around Stanley Park one day, which I'd done last June when it was unseasonably cold and wet. This time was a lot better.

I began this post with some happy news, but I have to end it with something sad. My friend who got married at the beginning of the month lost her brother only a few weeks later. As when my uncle died, it isn't something that affects me personally, but it affects my friends, and friends can be just as important as family, if not more so. I went to Victoria for the funeral. I'd never attended a funeral before, so it was another first for me. Obviously it was a much less pleasant experience than the wedding, and I can't say I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I went.

In the news, the civil war in Sri Lanka has finally come to an end. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's thrilling to think of any war ending, especially one that's as old as I am. On the other hand, it seems to have generated a massive humanitarian crisis, with both government and rebel forces partly to blame. I don't understand the situation very well, but I'm surprised the international community hasn't done more to address this crisis. If innocent civilians in a foreign country are suffering, isn't it our job to get involved? I certainly hope more is done to help the victims now that combat has ceased. I also hope a peace can be reached that respects the needs of everyone involved, so that the country can heal and move forward.

Movies I've seen this month:

Star Trek – Saying it was better than I expected may not be saying much, but the truth is, I actually liked this movie. Hard to say why. On the one hand, it lacked the philosophical depth that was supposedly the strength of the T.V. shows. On the other hand, as pure sci-fi action-adventure it was at best mediocre, with decent special effects, okay action sequences, and a pretty silly story. The interest really came from the characters. The movie managed to re-invent, send-up, and pay homage to the classic figures all at the same time, and it was remarkably fun to watch. I appreciated all the little tributes – surprising, given that I've never been more than a very casual TOS viewer. I especially liked NewMcCoy! This would make a very good opening to a new T.V. show, or – as is more likely – a movie trilogy. They'd have to come up with a better story next time, though. (Three stars)

T.V. shows I've seen this month:

New Doctor Who (Season 1) – Entertaining if generally dumb sci-fi show. Unlike Torchwood, it doesn't take itself too seriously, but seems content with being so-bad-it's-good. I like Christopher Eccleston.

Books I've read this month:

J. M. Barrie and the Lost Boys: The real story behind Peter Pan by Andrew Birkin – A biography of J. M. Barrie and his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family. This is the same story told in the movie Finding Neverland, which I really ought to see, now. I haven't read many biographies lately, but I thought this one was very well done. I felt a real sympathy for the characters, who are all flawed people in complex relationships, and I also felt that I learned something about the time period they lived in. The story is touching, and consistently tragic; I wanted to cry on several occasions.

Orientalism by Edward Said – I think I liked the idea behind this book, but to be honest, most of it went straight over my head. Maybe I've been outside of university too long, and have lost the ability to decipher academic texts (which I was never that good at to begin with). Or maybe it was that virtually all the literary allusions were lost on me, which kind of detracted from the "support" portion of the argument. Somebody needs to give me a dumbed-down version of this book – maybe with less Flaubert and more David Lean.

April Flowers - April 2009

My first winter in Vancouver has finally come to an end! In truth, Vancouver doesn't really get much of a winter, at least not in the traditional sense of snow and sub-zero temperatures. Instead, the year began with three months of what you might think of as a long, early spring: no snow, no freezing, but still cold, dark, and wet enough to be unpleasant. But the end of March brought longer days, increased sunshine, and – the real herald of springtime – flowers! Maybe it's because I missed out on the experience in Hong Kong, but I'd forgotten what a thrill it is to see things growing again. Best of all were the cherry blossoms. At least, I assume they were cherry blossoms. They're pink, they grow on trees, and they were all over the place, making the air smell sweet and covering the ground like pink snowflakes! Do we have this many cherry trees in Ottawa? I don't remember them, but there are quite a few in Vancouver and Victoria.

In my fourth week of work, there was a party for the students. All the teachers were required to go, and to dress up according to the theme, which was "celebrities". I reprised my role from Hallowe'en, since I still had most of my costume, although I had to improvise the make-up a bit. (Here's a tip: unless you're really desperate, white-out is not a good substitute for hair paint!) As it turned out, I wasn't the only Johnny Depp there; someone else came as the character from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Now I know what it's like to come to a party wearing the same dress as someone else! Costume mishaps aside, I had a lot of fun. I danced a lot, hung out with the students, and got hit on by a drunk Saudi Arabian.

Unfortunately, that was also my last week of work. They'd originally hired me for four weeks, and decided not to keep me on for longer. So as of the middle of April I was once again unemployed.

Around that time I also got a letter from the JET Programme telling me that I'd been selected as one of their "alternates". That means that I didn't make it onto their list of people they decided to hire, but I might still be offered a position if someone else drops out of the programme. I have pretty mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I'm glad that I still have a chance of getting in. On the other hand, I doubt many people would turn down an opportunity to go to Japan, so I don't expect many spots to open up. Also, if I do get offered a position, it might not happen for several weeks, or even months, and in the mean time, my future is still uncertain. Compared to that, I'd almost prefer a straight "no" from them. But I'm still trying to be optimistic. In the mean time, I've decided to stay in Vancouver for the summer. If I do get into the programme, it will still be my point of departure, and I think my chances of getting a summer job are better here than in Ottawa.

On the bright side, I've discovered something neat: did you know that if you're unemployed you can actually get free money from the government? Okay, it's called Employment Insurance, and I'm sure you did know that, but prior to this year it's something I've never thought about, let alone applied for. Fortunately, someone suggested I apply, and I'm glad I did, because I have actually gotten a little money out of it. I don't know how long it will last, but it's certainly better than getting no money at all. This experience makes me feel much more grown up than I did before. Perhaps it's because in the past I always relied on my parents to support me, whereas applying for E.I. really makes me feel like part of the working population.

I went to Victoria for the Easter weekend. The weather was finicky, but there was enough sunshine to get out of the house and enjoy a nature walk or two. I found an Anglican church in the city and went there for Easter Sunday. Then I celebrated the end of Lent with chocolate and non-vegetarian sushi.

For the second half of April I was back to having free time, and since I'd earned a little bit of money, I decided it was time to treat myself by doing some of that sight-seeing I'd never gotten around to. First, I went to the Vancouver Aquarium to see the belugas and other attractions. The baby beluga was cute, and they also had a bird show, dolphins, frogs, sharks, and – my personal favourite – jellyfish!

The Vancouver Art Gallery was pretty much a waste of money. They didn't have any special exhibits on when I went, and the permanent exhibit consisted of modern art and Canadian landscapes. The former included attractions such as a large purple plank, a pile of earth, and three throw-cushions stuck to an orange background. As for the latter, I've never been a fan of Canadian landscape painting, which always strikes me as flat and joyless – in contrast to actual Canadian landscapes, which are often quite lovely!

Science World was a lot more fun. It's mostly geared towards children, but hey, put me near anything science-y, and I can become very child-like. There was an entire room full of interactive science activities. It reminded me a lot of the Children's Museum in London, Ontario, where I used to go as a child. They were also running a special exhibit on Lego, with Lego models of different things.

If my old job doesn't take me back, I will have to start looking for work again in May. In the mean time, I'm heading back to Ottawa for a couple of weeks. I'm glad to be going home again, even if it's only for a short time. I've missed Ottawa a lot, and I'm looking forward to seeing people again.

In the news, Obama's first hundred days are over, and he still seems to be relatively popular. Recently he's been doing things like overturning the ban on photographing war dead, relaxing the U.S. position on Cuba, and calling for nuclear disarmament – the last of which seems like an especially laudable, if idealistic, goal. I also heard that Vermont has legalised same-sex marriage. I'm especially pleased about this because it's the first state to do so through and act of legislation, rather than a court ruling. I've always felt that courts who asserted same-sex marriage rights were acting outside of their jurisdiction, so I see this as a positive step both for gay rights and for democracy!

Movies I've seen this month:

Slumdog Millionaire – Entertaining film, but definitely not what I would have expected from a Best Picture Oscar-winner. It sort of combines the romanticism of a Bollywood musical with the harsh realism of a movie like Salaam Bombay. That made it different from any other film I'd seen about India, but still wasn't enough to really engage me. (Three stars)

Goodfellas – Pretty good mob film. The story could be the precursor to The Sopranos, and you can see how the show was influenced by the movie. However, it has neither the character depth of The Sopranos nor the emotional resonance of The Godfather, and as a result I wasn't quite as keen on it as other mob films. (Three and a half stars)

Doubt – Quite a good little movie, though obviously small in scope and based on a play. I was really impressed by how ambiguous the story was. Unlike most films, this one never gives away the answers, leaving the audience to draw their own conclusions. We had quite a lively discussion about it – which, of course, is usually the best part of watching a movie! (Three and a half stars)

T.V. shows I've seen this month:

Torchwood (Season 2) – Once upon a time there were some T.V. fans who loved Buffy and really loved Angel. They loved it so much they wrote fan-fic about it – specifically, slash. One day they decided to take their Angel Slash and turn it into its own T.V. series. So they wouldn't get sued, they moved the setting from California to Wales, recast most of the characters (but not all), and renamed it Torchwood. Seriously. How else do you explain this show?

Anyway… Season 2 starts off a lot better than Season 1: better stories, sharper dialogue, and more well-rounded characters. It gets worse as it goes along, but thanks to a more cohesive cast it's still the better season over all. Highlights include James Marsters, who basically reprises his role as Spike from Buffy and Angel. It may be unoriginal, but hey, I like Spike! Rhys finally finds out Gwen's secret, and gets to prove he can be just as big a man as Jack Harkness. And then there's Owen, who was already the strongest character – even before he died! My biggest complaint is that Tosh doesn't get the development I thought she deserved. I'm also sad about the end of the season. I doubt that the next one will be as good, but I'm still looking forward to seeing it. Hope it airs soon!

Books I've read this month:

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende – One of those really fast-paced and engrossing novels that are hard to put down. I didn't care too much for the story at first, but I got really into it in the second half. Although I thought the book ended a bit suddenly, I still liked it over all.

Interesting Times - December 2008

In the middle of October, Canada had an election in which not much changed and almost half of the electorate failed to vote. The impression this gave was of a Canadian population that didn't really care much about politics. Seven weeks later, the opposition parties apparently decided that they were gonna make us care, darn it! Having slept through one of the least inspiring elections in their history, Canadians woke up to find themselves facing what could be the biggest constitutional crisis in eighty years. We were suddenly living in interesting times - with all the good and the bad that implies!

The story is fascinating. It brings back memories of university, and makes me wish I was back there studying Political Science again. The short version (you don't need me to tell you what's going on in the news) is that the Liberals, N.D.P., and Bloc Québécois decided to get together and form a coalition to oust Stephen Harper's Conservative minority government. But before they had a chance to do this, Harper went to the Governor General and convinced her to suspend parliament until the end of January. I honestly can't say how I feel about this decision, except that it was a tough call to make, and I don't know what I would have done in Michaëlle Jean's position. On the one hand, a coalition has every right to form a government if it commands the support of a majority of the house. On the other hand, the parties involved are so disparate that it's hard to imagine them governing effectively.

When I first heard about the coalition, I was rather annoyed, because it seemed like a desperate power grab by the opposition parties. But when it comes to being obnoxious, there's plenty of blame to go around. If Dion was obnoxiously ambitious, putting his own desire for power ahead of our need for a stable government, then Harper was equally obnoxious in the way he clung to power, even with only 38% of the popular vote. Moreover, he made some infuriatingly insulting comments about the Bloc, in which he implied that sovereigntists aren't real Canadians. (You can't say secessionists aren't Canadians while denying them the right to secede. Make up your mind, okay!) The Bloc, of course, is obnoxiously separatist; the Greens are obnoxiously impotent; and Jack Layton is just obnoxious. Period.

The upshot of all this is that we get to be without a government for a month and a half. (Watch us get along just as well without them!) Fortunately Canada's supposedly weathering the financial crisis fairly well so far, but it still seems like the result of all this intrigue has been similar to the result of the last election: nobody has really won, least of all the Canadian people.

At the beginning of December I moved into a new apartment. I was sad to leave the hostel, but I still go back and visit. I'm now living in the basement of a house. It's in east Vancouver, but very close to the SkyTrain (Vancouver's metro/el-train system) station, and only a ten-minute train ride from downtown. There are several other tenants, but they're rarely around, so I usually get the communal kitchen and dining area to myself. My room is small, but it's private, and contains everything I need, including wireless internet. I even have my own television with full cable! Initially, I saw that as an unnecessary perk. I haven't had proper T.V. since I left university. At home we don't have cable; in Hong Kong we had only four stations, two of which were in Cantonese; and at the hostel the T.V. was shared. So I'd gotten used to life without television, and didn't expect to use mine much. But it turns out that on dark, cold, rainy nights, when you're stuck at home with nothing to do and no one to talk to, T.V. becomes very inviting. So on my first night I turned it on and, being fairly out of touch with the hot, popular shows of today, sought out the comfortable and familiar - syndicated re-runs of shows I used to watch when I was in high school. Since then I've been spending most of my evenings with the brothers Crane and the crew of Starfleet. I think I may need a life.

In December I got my first taste of what work in Japan might be like. A group of Japanese high school students came to our school for a week, and I was one of the teachers assigned to teach them. I was quite nervous about it before hand. Japanese students have a reputation for being well-behaved, but they're also notoriously weak in English, and I was afraid that if I had a bad experience with my students it would put me off going to Japan. As it turned out, they were quite wonderful. Their level of English was low, but we ended up teaching very basic language and playing a lot of games, which was fun for everyone. One day I accompanied the kids (who wore a lot of plaid, by the way; who knew?!) to a Canadian primary school. We got a tour of the school, and then the Japanese students showed some Grade 1s origami, calligraphy, and other Japanese games. The best part was hearing the Japanese girls squeal, "kawaii desu!"* in response to the little Canadian students. Heh, don't they know they're plenty cute themselves? At the end of the week we let them try waffles with maple syrup and gave them all dream catchers. Overall, it was a very positive experience, and now I'm looking forward to Japan all the more.

Since then, my work hours have been cut down quite a lot, due to a drop in the number of students. I'm not sure when it may start to rise again, but it seems unlikely that I'll be able to keep working there in the new year, so I will probably have to look for another job.

December started off much like November: cold, wet, and rainy. The temperature hovered steadily at around 10ºC, about the same as the winter low in Hong Kong, but felt much colder with the humidity. I'd been told that that was about standard for a Vancouver winter, and was all prepared for a wet, green Christmas. But something unexpected happened in the middle of the month: one morning the temperature dropped below zero, and it started to snow! The snow only stayed around for about ten minutes, but the next day it started snowing in earnest, and pretty soon the ground was covered in a thick blanket of the soft, fluffy, white stuff. The reaction from the locals was largely surprise and complaining, both of which I had trouble understanding. I mean, there were only about four inches on the ground, and people were acting like they'd never seen the stuff before. (What, snow? In Canada?! In the winter time?! Naaaw!) This may explain why the streets took so long to get ploughed, and why the sidewalks were perpetually slushy. I had to laugh at them (wish winters in Ottawa were like this!) and also to feel a bit annoyed at the ingratitude. I mean, really. After a month and a half of rain, we finally got some nice weather! The skies cleared and the humidity dropped. The snow - as it does, paradoxically - made everything feel warmer, and - even better - made everything brighter, which was a relief after weeks of unyielding darkness. For a week we got crystal blue skies, pristine white snow, and temperatures just cold enough to put a spring in your step without being physically painful. Seriously, could you ask for better weather? As someone who grew up with harsh Ottawa winters, and endured a snow-free Christmas in Hong Kong, I for one was thrilled.

I'll admit, the snow did start to get too much, after a while, though. The week of Christmas it snowed again, and then it snowed the next day, and then snowed some more. The snow made walking a wet business, driving dangerous, and commuting slow. My sister and I had a painful experience on Christmas Eve. We were trying to get from downtown to my place, but after half an hour waiting for the train, two hours on the train waiting for someone to clear away a fallen tree (you wouldn't think it would take two hours plus to cut up a tree, but I guess that assumes you can actually find a chainsaw somewhere in the city of Vancouver...) and another half-hour waiting for a bus, we finally gave up and ended up spending Christmas Eve in a Chinese diner eating eggs and toast! Fortunately we were able to make it home in the end. Christmas Day was a lot better. We had Christmas dinner with some relatives who live in Vancouver. By that time the snow had gotten so deep that those foolhardy enough to drive literally had to dig their cars out. That was about the time I decided we'd had enough snow for a while.

To celebrate Christmas I also went to see the Santa Clause Parade, my first ever - or at least the first one I can remember! I saw the Christmas lights in different parts of downtown. I went to the Christmas pageant at church. And I saw some really cool gingerbread houses in the lobby of a hotel! I spent New Year's in Victoria.

The only other thing I want to mention is that I'm continuing my guitar-playing. My co-workers very kindly suggested that I take the guitar from work home over the holiday, so that's what I did. I've played it every day I've been here. I thought it might be difficult to get motivated (I was never that industrious in my piano-practice), but it turns out the guitar is addictive! Most of the time I only end up stopping when the pain in my fingers becomes unbearable! Unfortunately, I'll have to give it back in the new year. I could look into buying one of my own, but they're generally expensive, and I'm not planning on being here that long, so it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Movies I've seen this month:

A History of Violence - I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie, but I was very disappointed in it. It was surprisingly short, and I didn't really understand what its point was supposed to be. (Two stars)

No Country for Old Men - A slow, moody picture that combines atmosphere, brutal violence, and the subtlest touch of humour. I liked it a lot, and I think Anton Chigurh deserves to go on my list of great movie villains. (Three and a half stars)

T.V. shows I've seen this month:

The Sopranos - Crazy Italian Mobsters and the Women Who Love Them: a year and a half after it aired, I finally got to see the final season of this show. It was a rather disappointing ending, but The Sopranos was still a great series, and that's how I'll always remember it. Tony, Carmela, Meadow, A.J., Jennifer, Christopher, Pussy, Paulie, Silvio, Bobby, Livia, Junior, Janice, and Adriana: I will miss you all. Most of you were obnoxious, and many of you were despicable, but I'm glad I got to share in your weird family hijinks. R.I.P., those of you who didn't make it. Things I learned from The Sopranos: 1) Don't be a mobster. 2) Don't marry a mobster. 3) Never do business with a mobster. 4) Never borrow money from a mobster. 5) Never act as a mobster's shrink, priest, doctor, or A.A. sponsor. And finally... 6) Never ever EVER play cards with a mobster! Salut.

* Japanese for, "So cute!"

I Met David Jay!!! - October 2008

I may as well begin this post with a piece of good-bad news. At the end of September I found a place to live, and moved in. I was in a one-bedroom apartment with a couple of other girls. It was downtown near Stanley Park, which is a really good location, and was close to my work, too. Unfortunately, I had some problems there, and had to move out at the end of the month. So the good news is that I had a place to live in October, and the bad news is that I'm back to being homeless and living in a hostel. It's a bit frustrating, but with a little luck I'll be able to find another place.

Early in the month I saw an exhibit that MSF (Doctors Without Borders) was doing at the library. I thought it was pretty interesting and worth talking about. It was an interactive display on their work with refugees in different parts of the world. They took us around what was supposed to be a model refugee camp. It looked like life there would be hard, but bearable. I'm guessing that in a real life refugee camp life would be a lot harder and not so bearable at times. What's really amazing is that there are people who spend years, all their lives sometimes, in places like that. Seems like a depressing way to live, but at least there are aid organisations to help them. Sometimes.

For Canadian Thanksgiving I went down to Victoria again. I didn't do much while I was there, but we did go down to see the University of Victoria and the famous UVic bunnies. It's true; the campus really is overrun with rabbits. I'm not used to seeing so many rabbits close up. They were kind of pretty.

The day after the long weekend was the election. I watched it dutifully on T.V., waiting to see if anything interesting would happen, but the only thing that seems to have decisively come out of it is that Stéphane Dion will be stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party. Poor Stéphane Dion. I feel sorry for him. He was so darned earnest in the debates. It almost made you want to vote for him out of sympathy! Plus, he made the environment the centrepiece of his campaign - a pressing issue if ever there was one. I wonder what the future of climate change will look like under the new government...

I'd been told when I first came here that I needed to climb Grouse Mountain, and one weekend I woke up, looked out the window, and decided to do just that. It was a chilly day for a climb, and quite misty around the mountain, but of course I kept warm with exercise. The climb was quite difficult, as hard as climbing up to see the Big Buddha on Lantau, if not more so. The average time is one and a half hours. I did it in one hour and fifty-five minutes. It was quite steep, and a bit slippery from the recent rain, and a couple of times I worried that I might slip. In the end I managed to get to the top in one piece, very tired, but glad I'd done it. I feel like I accomplished something. Unfortunately, one of the cable cars was broken that day, so there was an hour-and-a-half lineup for the ride down. Since it was already mid-afternoon, and since I'd been warned against walking down, I pretty much lined up right away, and didn't have much of a chance to see the top of the mountain. That's too bad, because it looks like there are some interesting things to see up there, including wood carvings and grizzly bears. I'll have to go back there sometime, probably in the spring. Now that I've done it once, I know I can do it again! At least I got to see the view, though. I couldn't at first, because of the fog, but once that cleared, the sight was spectacular! I could see all of Vancouver stretched out before me like an upside-down map: Stanley Park, downtown, south Vancouver, Richmond, all the way to Tsawwassen and beyond to the U.S. border - 50 km away! That alone made the climb worth it.

The highlight of the month was the monthly AVEN meet-up - which this month was extra-special. One of the Vancouver members gave a short seminar on asexuality at UBC, and David Jay came up from San Francisco to help out. Now, there's a better than even chance that you've never heard of David Jay, but he's the founder of AVEN, and, consequently totally awesome! And in case I haven't made it clear already, I got to meet him! This is a big deal for me. I've been a fan of his for years. He started the first major online asexual community; he's been all over the United States promoting his cause; he's appeared on loads of talk shows and news specials and in countless articles. Without him, there would be no AVEN. He's a minor celebrity, the poster boy of the asexual community, and I met him. Scratch what I said before. This was one of the highlights of the year.

The talk was okay, though of course little was said that I hadn't heard before. The more interesting part was afterwards when we had an informal group discussion. Then we went to someone's house and had an AVEN party with AVEN cake - my first ever! It was good fun, and I got David to take a picture with me - just for proof!

The month ended, as Octobers do, with Hallowe'en. We had a big party at work. Since most of the students had never celebrated Hallowe'en before, we encouraged them to dress up and enjoy themselves while they could. Many of them came with really good costumes. Some of my favourites were Hannibal Lecter, a samurai, Zorro, Wednesday Adams, some playboy bunnies, and the invisible man (a guy in dark glasses, a baseball cap, and bandages wrapped around his hands and head). Most of the teachers dressed up too. One man came as a woman; other costumes included a panda, Wonder Woman, an alien, a wood nymph, and a toasted western (a cowboy with toast hanging on pieces of string around his neck). I went as Sweeney Todd, something I'd been wanting to do for the last eight months, ever since I saw Tim Burton's/Johnny Depp's marvelous reinterpretation of the character. I think I did a pretty good job, although I didn't scowl at everyone nearly as much as I probably should have!

This month I found myself going back to a lot of churches, including one of the United churches, the Presbyterian church, and an Anglican church. I still haven't chosen one, though.

Books I've read this month:

Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry - Novel set in India by the same author who wrote A Fine Balance. I liked A Fine Balance better, but I still thought this was a fairly good book, with interesting characters and a good message. Now I'd like to see the movie some time.

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman - Impressively believable teen fiction about an adolescent girl living in thirteenth-century England.

First Month in Vancouver - August 2008

Well, I tried keeping a blog of my time in Hong Kong. That didn't end up happening. But I'm going to try again. I came back from Hong Kong in the middle of June, spent a few weeks in Ottawa, and then flew out to Vancouver with plans to move here and get a job teaching English. Admittedly, living in Vancouver isn't as interesting as living in Hong Kong, but I thought it might still be worth it to keep a journal of my time here. And if I'm successful this time around, maybe I'll be able to keep doing it when (and if) I next travel abroad.

So, I came out here in the middle of July. At five hours, the flight was short (at least compared to the Hong Kong flight), and I spent most of it reading. Fortunately I'd visited Vancouver on my way back from Hong Kong, so I knew what to do when I arrived. I caught the airport shuttle to downtown Vancouver, and then got the SkyTrain to the East Side, where my hostel was. Carting around a heavy suitcase and several bags was a little tricky, but not as bad as grappling with my Hong Kong luggage would have been.

I spent my first few weeks here in a combination of exploring and job-hunting. Since my hostel is within walking-distance of downtown, I would walk into town almost every day, either to run errands or just for exercise. I started sending out résumés at once, hoping to find a job as soon as possible. After a couple of interviews, I was successful - at least partly. I got a position at a language school downtown, teaching English to small classes of international students. Unfortunately it's only a temporary job, and when enrolment drops off I will have to look for another job. Still, it's nice to be working again, and so far the job seems to be going well. The classes each have about twelve people, which is a nice size for working with. The students come from various places, including Korea, Japan, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. There are even French Canadians and a couple of Taiwanese students. I'm enjoying the chance to meet people from so many different countries, and I feel like every week I'm at the school I get a little bit better at my job.

Shortly after I arrived here I took a trip to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. The ferry trip was nice; it was a beautiful day and I went up on deck to look at the gulf islands. The total commute was rather aggravatingly long, though. Beside the one-and-a-half hour ferry ride, there was also an hour-long bus trip at either end. Factor in waiting time and it took a good four to five hours each way. Victoria itself is a nice little city, rather like London, Ontario in terms of size, but much prettier. I was only there for a few days, but I did get to see the downtown area and climb a small hill.

At the beginning of August I went to the beach to watch a fireworks competition between Canada, the United States, and China. We had a really good view, right down on the beach next to the water. I'd seen fireworks before, but I'd rarely seen a fireworks show set to music, and I'd never seen one from that close. Canada won the competition, which was good, because I think we had the best show.

The same weekend also happened to be Pride Weekend in Vancouver. On Saturday I went out to one of the parks to see a lesbian live music show. On Sunday morning I had a charity pancake breakfast and the went to see the parade on Robson St. It was my first time attending a Pride parade, and I found it a little peculiar, but I'm still glad I went. Oh, and the pancakes were really good. That was probably the best breakfast I've ever had for $5.00!

I was pretty excited about the Beijing Olympics in August. It was a really hot topic when I was in Hong Kong. In the event, I didn't get to see as much of the games I hoped to, because I started work at the same. I missed most of the opening ceremonies, and a lot of the first week. I watched more in the second week, and I got to see some of the swimming, the diving, the volleyball, the running, and the gymnastics, which is one of my favourites. I also made a point of watching all of the closing ceremonies. The best part was when the Chinese stars all got together to sing "Wo Ai Bei Jing" ("I Love Beijing"). I actually recognised some of the singers!

As when I went to Hong Kong, I've been experimenting with different churches in the city. So far I've been to a Chinese church, a United church, and a Presbyterian church. I haven't settled on one yet, though.

I'm still working, and still staying at a hostel. I'm also still enjoying my time here. The weather's been lovely so far, and I still do a lot of walking every day. My only regret is that I haven't gotten out of the city more. Vancouver is surrounded by hills and forest, and is a great location for hiking, but so far I haven't done any. I will try to get out more, though, before the good weather goes.

Movies I've seen this month:

The Dark Knight - Very impressive movie. Exciting action sequences, solid storyline, and a surprisingly dark tone. I especially enjoyed the Hong Kong scenes, which featured familiar landmarks like Victoria Harbour, the International Finance Centre, and the Wan Chai bridge. I want to see it again! (Four stars)

Books I've read this month:

Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke - Interesting and somewhat entertaining science fiction about astronauts investigating an abandoned alien spacecraft.

Tolkien's Ring by David Day - Survey of the myths and legends that influenced the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Interesting both for its analysis of Tolkien and its recounting of various folk-tales.