Tricia's World of Mystery and Mayhem

2011-06-03T20:17:00.003-05:00

I'm in the midst of planning another trip to Norway. This time with Brad. It should be fantastic.

2011-02-21T16:22:00.012-06:00

I haven't posted any of my knitting projects lately - partly due to the fact that I have not completed a lot of interesting knitting projects lately. But then I started to use Ravelry and the addiction has been renewed. The problem is I have a huge queue of projects now, all items for me, when I should be working on items for friends who keep producing small humans. Oh well... The photos below are a project I started two years ago. Normally I'm known for my speed knitting, but this pattern confounded me - so I put it in storage for a year a half. Finally when I pulled it out in November I realized the problem was actually an error in the colour pattern instructions in the book I was using. So I spent 1 month un-knitting a huge portion of this sweater. At the same time, I decided the colours I had used in the colour work were ugly so it was a chance to switch to something I prefered. I had a few problems along the way with lapels and colours, but finally finished it in mid-February. And after blocking it, I'm pretty happy with the finished project. I think I should have knitted the size smaller as I normally like a more form-fitting sweater. Nonetheless, it's done, it's warm and it will get worn.

And here are some house photos. The projects don't seem to end regardless of how much work is done. This week Brad is on Reading week, so I took vacation. Our intention is supposed to be to finish up some housing jobs that were started in the summer. Unfortunately, it seems like none of them will actually come to an end, so we're working on them a little more, but nothing will be finished. Oh well, painting the drywall behind the sink is definitely an improvment. So here's our home in it's constant half-finished state. At least it's mostly clean at present. Except for our bedroom... Enjoy the half painted walls!

2010-11-15T16:20:00.003-06:00

Today I had some disappointing news. There was a particular position within my organization, located in Vietnam, I had been holding out for. I knew it was supposed to be posted shortly, and I had high hopes of being the one to fill it. But alas, the current person has decided to extend for another 3 years instead. So I have to figure out what to do with my life until 2014.

2010-11-04T18:53:00.002-05:00

I have been feeling a little lost lately. My job is fine, but it's just not very challenging. So my chronic restlessness has been in high mode as of late. I've been passively looking for jobs, submitting a decent number of resumes for higher ranking positions. Mostly my applications are ignored, I've had a few interviews, one where the organization acted incredibly positive and interested in hiring me until it stretched into a 3 month process where at the end I was just not the right candidate. Fine, I can deal with rejection, but at least do it professionally. The latest one came today. Apparently the position I was interviewed for was filled internally, and a memo was sent out making the official announcement. Too bad they haven't bothered to tell me the position was filled, instead I heard from one of my references who's wife works for the same organization. Again, professionalism? Where?

So my apparent inability to be a desirable candidate in the job market has me thinking about school. I've always wanted to obtain a Masters degree internationally, and hoped this was a realistic probability. Unfortunately, time keeps passing, and I get older. Brad's tied to Manitoba for two more years, and I`d really like to work internationally when he`s done school. So the probability of pursuing a part-time post-graduate program is becoming more and more realistic. I need something to make me think again... something.

2010-10-27T11:58:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I get annoyed with having to rewrite the work produced by my management. If your written communication skills are so poor - how did you end up in management? Especially in a position where one of your roles is directing a communications department...

September 25, 2010

2010-09-25T13:23:00.005-05:00

Owen, this post is for you. I am supposed to be leaving for a wedding in 1.5 hours for which I have neither decided what I am wearing or purchased a gift. Nonetheless, you demanded a wedding report so I will do my best.

Brad and I made the decision to get married at his parent's home out of shear simplicity. It was easy. Or at least that was what he argued. For me it was more of a matter of appearance. I like outdoor weddings better than traditional ones, and our church is really ugly. We briefly talked about a ceremony in a cute church about 20 minutes from Winnipeg, and then our friends got engaged and booked the same church for their wedding. So we were stuck with this. A beautiful property on the river...

The weather forecast told us all week that Saturday, August 28th would be the most beautiful day of the week, 23'C and sunny. I personally had no problem with the idea of rain, I took the stance that that would just mean there would be fewer people in attendance. Of course no rain at an outdoor wedding makes things much simpler.

But it did rain. It rained a lot. On Saturday morning the weather forecasters were still predicting a bright sunny afternoon. It was not. My first inclination that the rain was not going to disappear was on my walk to the hair salon. I thought a 45 minute walk on the morning of my wedding would be a good way to deal with any potential mental health issues, and it was. However, I did have to wrap my hair in a white cardigan - making me appear as though I was trying to embrace Julia Stiles' African-American inspired style in the horrid movie Save the Last Dance - in order to keep it as dry and frizz free as my hairstylist had instructed me. Regardless I made it to the hair salon where my hair was styled (while discussing my hair stylist's upcoming trip to South East Asia) and my makeup done. I was ready.

We made it to the Epp family farm around 12:30. I put on my dress, encouraged Brad that it was also time to dress, and waited. The wedding was supposed to start at 1pm. It was not raining so the decision had been made to have the ceremony outside. However at 1pm Brad's father appeared in his work clothes declaring his need to shower and shave.

So the wedding started at 1:20. And the rain started at 1:30. We made it about half way through the ceremony before we had to take a brief intermission, where people were asked to pick up their chairs and move into the tent. Moving to the tent took another 20 minutes as Brad and his friends ran around in the pouring rain moving sound equipment and random tables. When we were ready to reconvene our backdrop had changed to a table full of salads and chaffing dishes. Regardless, we got married, and the fact the my best friend had to wipe mud off my wedding dress in the middle of the ceremony, with water from a melted ice bucket, does not diminish that.

The reception was supposed to be a picnic luncheon with lots of room for games and visiting. Instead there were 160 people crowded in a tent while it poured rain outside. My lovely caterer (a colleague from work and some friends of hers) attempted to bbq 300 burgers and skewers under a tarp in the rain on 1.5 BBQs. Apparently one had gone missing the night before, and another decided to only partially work. Nonetheless everyone got fed. Although the farmer sausage did run out... (should have guess that would happen at a Mennonite wedding). Then there were other issues like not having napkins and running out of cutlery. Oh well, the cake was fabulous.

Reflecting on the wedding, the term I would use to describe it is chaotic. Nothing went according to plan, and the professional event planner in me cringes when I think about certain aspects of it. But the reality is, I really did not care. I had fun because I got to marry Brad. The lack of traditionalism in the whole event probably appropriately reflects my general attitude to weddings - thus making it my perfect day. I am glad it is over. Weddings are still way too much hype for one day - regardless of how simple they are and how relaxed you are. One of Brad's friends commented that our wedding fit us well - apparently it was very "organic". If organic means going with the flow that I would have to agree, if it meant unplanned then I take exception.

2010-05-14T15:12:00.003-05:00

And the word is out....

Join us August 28th for a BBQ Picnic and help us celebrate the move from dating to marriage. Visit our website Brad & Tricia's BBQ Picnic for more info.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

2010-04-24T13:15:00.001-05:00

I just bought a dress. Maybe there is going to be a real wedding...

Saturday, March 13, 2010

2010-03-13T15:09:00.002-06:00

Brad recently moved into a house we acquired in Winnipeg's core. It's a cute house on a tiny lot, with an oversized garage and a basement designed for people 5'3" and under (meaning it fits me perfectly, and Brad has to walk half bent over). The kitchen is reminiscent of the 1970s with its lovely wooden cabinetry, room dividing spindles and layers of real wood paneling that stretch from the kitchen all the way upstairs. This period piece was perfected with a final finishing touch when we replaced the somewhat modern non-functioning refrigerator, that accompanied the house's possession, with a $60 burnt orange/red Viking model from a local thrift shop. Quaint is a kind word for the kitchen.

I've spent a fair amount of time in this house over the last few weeks, mostly unpacking and setting things up. Hoping that somehow Brad moving in 6 months before I do, doesn't mean I'll inherit a boy house where all the useful dishes are on the second and third shelves far above my reach. A number of the things I've unpacked were mine anyway since I used Brad's apartment as a storage depot when I moved from my own place into Sarah's.

Today I was unpacking some of the boxes/bags of things that weren't important enough to move with me, but had enough sentimental value to warrant not sitting in a landfill or ending up in a thrift shop. It's funny how unpacking can bring on a serious bout of nostalgia.

A lovely envelope of photos captured my first three years following high school - featuring many of the friends I still consider to be my closest, one of which five years has now passed since her tragic death.

A Brazilian hammock made me think of a friend from California whom I've only spent eight days with in person, but one intense year of cross-cultural experiences was vetted across continents via MSN, googlechat, facebook, blog reading and email.

A small ball of yarn is all that remains from my knitting fascination and the poor quality of stuff I had the pleasure of purchasing in Viet Nam. I remember summer arriving and attempting to purchase yarn from the same shop I had been able to acquire it from all winter long. They understood my non-existent Vietnamese enough to dig out a bag from the storage room and look for the colour brown so I could finish a particular project. A cabled purse was one of the many things I made from that yarn. I mailed it across the globe from Ha Noi, Viet Nam to Recife, Brazil in time for Megan's birthday. I received the hammock in return.

A piece of silk sits on the arm of my couch as I question what to do with it. It was one of my first purchases, and experiences in bargaining in Hong Kong. The Western Market on Hong Kong Island was always a favourite space of mine. Fabric... the difference in organization between that market and the one I frequented in Viet Nam was astounding. And professionalism... and air quality... and ease of communication... I'm not sure which one I preferred.

As I unpacked my memories and put the items associated with them in a closet, I couldn't help but notice the small marks around my new home that indicated this used to be someone else's home. The black marker drawing on the wood panel at the top of the stairs - obviously someone's special art project that probably got them punished. The claw marks from a pet on the carpet in the master bedroom. The purple kitchen.

I'm content here. I can see myself making new memories. And when it comes time to move from here, I envision myself packing boxes and thinking some of the same memories I've had today as well as the new ones I'll have the chance to create here. Let's just hope the kitchen has progressed into the 21st century by the time Viet Nam calls me to return.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

2010-03-03T21:07:00.004-06:00

I don't like wedding planning. And the thing is, it's not even a real wedding...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

2010-02-18T16:18:00.001-06:00

My goal for tomorrow is to clean my desk. I am taking next week off for the sake of my mental health. I am tired. Work since my return from Christmas vacation has been overwhelming and busy. Far too much overtime has accumulated. So next week I plan to sit on Brad's couch, watching Olympics on 6 different television stations. The joy of cable.

All that is between me and a week of rest is a mountain of papers on my desk. The sad part is that if I can get it cleared by 5 pm tomorrow, when I return in a week's time - the mountain will only be bigger.

Friday, January 22, 2009

2010-01-22T17:44:00.000-06:00

Apparently I'm famous.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

2010-01-19T22:56:00.002-06:00

Last Tuesday, I found out via a friend's facebook status that there had been an earthquake in Haiti. My first thought was "we will be busy tomorrow," and then I moved on.

Wednesday morning I had a meeting scheduled with a colleague from another office at our downtown location, and was planning to arrive to my office around lunch. Then I turned on the tv. CBC Newsworld was obsessed with Haiti. Suddenly it was apparent that I needed to go to my office immediately and be prepared for the attention of media and donors that was bound to follow. So instead of making the 20 minute walk to our downtown office, I boarded the bus for my 20 minute ride into the suburbs to my office. When I arrived I called my colleague to cancel our meeting, explaining that I could not make it because of the situation in Haiti. She had no idea what I was talking about. Wednesday was busy. We took a number of donations, and entertained every major media outlet in Manitoba - newspapers, tv, radio etc. I worked until 7:30 pm. It was only the beginning.

Thursday I arrived at work at 7:30 am. The phone started ringing at 7:40 am. First it was media , and then it was donors. The calls from both never ended. We convinced volunteers to come in and pulled staff from their other duties to help respond to the outpouring of compassion and generosity. We took credit cards numbers. We explained administation costs. We prayed for the safety of our missing staff in Haiti. We spoke to the media. I took no breaks. I worked until 7:30 pm.

Friday I arrived at work at 7:30 pm. The phone started ringing at 7:45. The phone rang constantly. People wanted to give. People wanted to help. People wanted to go to Haiti. Stories of our staff digging themselves out collapsed buildings become public. People continued to give. I punched in $60 000 worth of credit card donations. Within three days our Manitoba office raised nearly $500 000.

Saturday I went to work. We planned to accept donations between 10am and 1 pm. We finally closed our doors at 5pm.

On Sunday I went to church. And then I slept. I had a work function in the evening.

Monday, I arrived at work at 7:30 am. I expected it to be slower. It was. But it was not slow. The mail arrived at 10 am. It took two people 2.5 hours to open it. My favourite local printer offered to print the 185 posters I needed for free. He had them to me in an hour. I spoke to an elementary school (kindergarten to grade 4) in rural Manitoba who had been studying Haiti when the earthquake hit. The kids were devastated and now wanted to solicit their family and friends for donations. They wanted their donations to come to us. I worked until 7:30 pm.

Tuesday (today) I arrived at work just after 8 am. I should have been there earlier. I took donations. I talked to media. I shot a video. I cried in front of my boss. I finally took a break. I worked until 7 pm.

Tomorrow a prairie-wide radio company with multiple stations plans to hold a tele-thon with all funds going to MCC. We have recruited volunteers. We have added extra phone lines. We have officially entended our hours. I don't know if we are over prepared or under. I plan to be at work for 7 am.

Regardless of how exhausted I am at the end of each day, hearing phones ring and the beeps of a credit card machine when there are none around, I cannot help but love what I do. Every morning in the shower or on my walk from the bus stop to my office, I thank God for the opportunity I have to do what I am doing. I get to make a difference. I get to do what I wanted to do. Sometimes I am not sure how I got so lucky.

2009-10-31T21:53:00.002-05:00

Saturday, October 31, 2009

I hate having my expectations shattered. That is, in large part, why I avoid excitement. If you resign yourself to accepting the outcomes whether good or bad with limited emotions attached it is much easier to deal with results.

2009-08-12T21:06:00.004-05:00

August 12, 2009

I cry in the travel sections of bookstores.

Today wasn't the first time. Lonely Planet recently published a new Vietnam book. The last time there was a new edition I cried too. I also cried looking at a picture book of Hong Kong when I returned from Asia in 2007, and got misty eyed looking at a Hong Kong map today. I had to go look at travel books of Central America to stabalize my emotions.

When do I get to go back? And will just visitng be enough?

2009-07-23T09:26:00.002-05:00

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I'm moving today.

It was all very spur of the moment. Two weeks ago when I decided I was not prepared to purchase a house I felt like it was time for another significant change in my life. So I decided to move in with my friend Sarah.

Sarah has a two bedroom, two bath condo five blocks from my current apartment. Everything about moving in with her seemed logical. Emersson can come; there is a gym in the building; it is the same distance to work; rent is cheaper. I was also informed that I am anti-social and thus living alone is not healthy for me. So two days later the decision was made.

Two weeks later my apartment is in complete disarray. I am partially packed and freaking out about the logistics of it all. The definite positive to this move is realizing how much less stuff I have compared to previous moves. Maybe I am able to embrace simplistic living (well apart from the vast quantity of clothing I own).

Regardless, after tonight and a solid week of cleaning, I will be saying good bye to my apartment. I think it will be good for me.

2009-07-09T18:35:00.002-05:00

Thursday, July 9, 2009

I started looking at purchasing a house recently. Well not really looking. I was serious enough to apply for a pre-approved mortgage and contact a realtor. But not serious enough to start physically visiting homes. Anyway, I think that's over. I didn't like the size of a mortgage I was approved for.

I reactivated my facebook account last week. It was a bad idea. I spent the last hour looking at other people's profiles. I know why facebook is bad for me. It makes me feel inferior. Unsuccessful. Jealous. I compare my life, and my status in life, to people I've known at one point or another. In that hour I could pinpoint all the things that were missing from my life.

owning a house
a scooter
being engaged
being married
having a baby/child (since when do I want kids?)
having enough money to live somewhere else
having enough money to travel
postgraduate degree

It was stupid. I know I don't need any of things to validate me. But when I look at my profile, and then at their profile all I can see is how much farther behind I am.

DOES THIS EVER CHANGE? Will I ever get out of this Jr High mentality of comparing myself to everyone else? I mean it's much less about body image and appearance now (although that still registers on the radar of my inferiority complex) than it was then, but the logic is still the same. I can't live like this. I don't want to live like this. I don't want to feel inferior to other people because we have made different choices. Why should I be jealous of the 28 year old friend who just had a baby? I don't want a baby. I don't want to be pregnant. I don't want that responsibility or life. I've never wanted to be married at 19, or 21 or 23 or even 25. Why would I be jealous of the people that chose that? It's ridiculous. Logic why have you failed me?

I started thinking about law school again. I wonder if it's my cop out. Whenever this inferiority complex rises, I revert back to thinking about it as an option. I don't regret declining my admission offer to the University of Manitoba for last fall. It wasn't right for me. I had finally landed a real job. And honestly U of M is one of the last places I would like to secure an LLB... But nonetheless the idea is still tempting. The debt related to it is not.

2009-06-23T10:12:00.004-05:00

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I recently read an article on the selfishness of traveling. It made me feel guilty.

The article was in a magazine I always feel like I should read, but I never make it through. The magazine is written, edited and produced by a group of cynical Christians, who hold firmly to their faith but have serious ethical problems with the hyper-consumerism and behaviours of the church and Christians' sense of global responsibility. It is a magazine that I should identify with.

I preach a gospel of anti-exploitation. I hate the thought that choices I make might adversely affect other peoples lives. I do not like the fact that the laptop I type this on furthers civil war in Congo. I refuse to use a cell phone for the same reason. (Coltan, a mineral used in many electronics including laptops, cellphones and mp3 players/ipods. It is almost exlusively mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has fueled an extremely violent civil war) The exploitation of peoples around the world from the mining industry really bothers me. I refuse to drink or purchase bottled water when I have the privilege of being able to drink clean tap water. I make a conscious effort to be aware of how my consumption patterns negatively (or in very rare cases, positively) affect people in other regions of the world, and attempt to avoid said behaviours.

But whenever the opportunity arises, I hop on an airplane (I'm actually open to any means of transportation, but time constraints usually make airplanes the logical choice) and head to some distant locale for the purposes of acquiring another (or multiple) stamp in my passport, taking photos, and giving myself somehing to talk about at our next dinner party. Encouraging the commercialization of cultures, and furthering their dependency on western dollars.

It bugs me that I live my life by a double standard.

2009-06-12T22:25:00.001-05:00

June 12, 2009

I feel like I keep waiting for something exciting to happen. And instead I just get life.

Embracing Normalacy & Routine

2009-05-12T09:28:00.004-05:00

May 12, 2009

It's hard to blog when I do not feel like anything is happening.

Wow, that sounded way more negative than I had intended.

I guess it just feels like life is way too normal. There is no adventure involved in doing virtually the same thing every day. Thus there is no sharing.

Nonetheless I embrace routine. It is nice to wake up everyday and know where and when I have to be at work and that that is a constant. It helps me live a healthier life. One where there is time to exercise daily (or at least attempt to) and cook proper meals. The extent to which I love routine makes me feel prematurely old.

But the problem with routine is that it can cause a rut. It makes you too comfortable where you are at and impedes growth and the act of embracing change. Routine builds complacency.

So when I should be thinking about returning to school and figuring out what my options for study are, what Master's program in what country with what specialty, instead I think about purchasing items that will make my life here more convenient (bought a freezer last week). Or I should be looking into opportunities that will further my professional development in terms of a job that better uses my skill set and could involve moving, instead I look at houses on MLS and evaluate the size of mortgage I am eligible for versus what I could afford. I am happy here. Winnipeg is home. There are times walking through my neighbourhood of West Broadway that I am extremely content. I like my mixed-income neighbourhood, where I am faced with the reality of poverty on a daily basis. But I like it for now. I don't want to like it for forever.

I want to want more. Does that make sense?

Escape

2009-04-24T23:14:00.002-05:00

April 24, 2009

My Grandpa died on April 14th. He was 97. My time since then has largely consisted of me coming to grips with that. I have travelled to and from Ottawa, spent time with my parents, reunited with cousins, met new people, attended two viewings, a funeral and interment service. Through all of this I have tried to determine what my perspectives are on death and family. I have tried to come up with orderly boxes in which to contain these two things (two things that apparently no one can escape), so that I can better know how to approach them and deal effectively with them.

I have come up with nothing. I understand neither.

California

2009-04-16T17:29:00.022-05:00

March 21, 2009 (posted April 16, 2009)

Six days in California are over, and Candace and I are both back to our respective jobs. California was interesting. I have never seen so many Lexus automobiles in my life. Of course there were Benz and BMWs as well, but Lexus definitely was far more represented. Then there were the plethora of for sale signs for bank owned houses. Prosperity displayed via credit?

Anyway, Candace and I flew in to San Francisco Wednesday night. We crashed at the cheapest hotel within a 5 mile radius of SFO; a Travelodge that was also within walking distance to our car rental locale for the next day. Our hotel offered a free shuttle service in collaboration with the other hotels of the neighbourhood so we found the hotel shuttle service stop and waited for an hour a half. It wasn’t until the shuttle we wanted had passed for a fourth time that I realized we were not staying at Travelodge South as I was convinced we were. Rather we were staying at Travelodge North which is in South San Francisco on South Airport Road. There was no Travelodge South. With our bags loaded we took the shuttle to our hotel where we were informed upon check-in that Expedia had requested a smoking room for us. Upon requesting a change we were assigned to a room laden with teddy bear linens.

Thursday was no different than any other day on our trip. Candace was starving and relieved to see an Ihop attached to our hotel. I was still recovering from being struck with the stomach flu the day before, and had barely managed to eat that day at all; a theme that would continue throughout the trip, driving Candace absolutely crazy. We went to Ihop. Candace ordered grease, I ordered salad. The salad turned out to be greasy too. I ate one third of it. I was however pleasantly surprised by the Musak station. In the midst of 80s light rock, a song by a folk band from Winnipeg, The Dukhs, was played. I thought the only people outside of Winnipeg (or Canada at least) who knew about The Dukhs was due to the musical education I provide (Laura, did I tell you they have a new cd?). Clearly I was wrong, and positively so.

Friday morning we found the Hertz car rental location after walking half a mile in the wrong direction, climbed in our 2009 Aveo and headed for the coast. Thankfully the car was equipped with GPS as Lonely Planet maps are not quite as helpful when it comes to navigating freeways as they are in the exploration of cities/towns/rural campgrounds in Slovakia by foot. We drove Hwy 1 or the California coastal highway from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo that day. We stopped countless times along the way for photos, and a few times to let me vomit. Apparently windy, mountainous roads are not the best approach to dealing with a post-flu stomach that has been injected with an overdose of midol and zantec to combat cramping. You think I would have learned that lesson in Morocco. We finally arrived at our hostel, and went to find Candace some food. I continued to not be hungry so I was not very helpful in the searching process. We wondered around the quaint square and shops, looking for something that resembled quick sustenance. I think Candace finally settled on food from a gas station. We called it quits around 9 pm. I love early bed times, especially on a Friday night.

Saturday morning we were back in the car by 8 AM and this time headed for San Diego. After Candace stopped at a gas station for breakfast (I was not hungry again) we were really on our way. The drive from San Luis Obispo to San Diego was much less picturesque than the trip from San Francisco as we opted for the freeway route through Greater LA and Orange County. We did however make a few stops along the way. The first was about an hour out of San Luis Obispo in a town called Solvang. Solvang was settled by Danish immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century. This has somehow led to a town obsession with Denmark and all things Scandinavian. The entire town is constructed in a faux-Scandinavian architectural style, with public buildings being named typically Scandinavian names like “Jensen/Magnusson/Rasmussen’s General store”. It was sort of like being in a folk village or museum – except people actually live there. I even witnessed a t-shirt for sale that said “More Denmark than Denmark.” After snapping a few obligatory pictures of the completely insane town it was back to Hwy 101.

The next step was making it through the freeways in LA. I have driven on freeways before. I drove in Detroit as a teenager. I have been to New York City. I have driven through Toronto and Vancouver. For some reason LA petrified me. Candace was driving (again… I think I drove 3 hours the whole trip) but I felt the need to press my imaginary break pedal for the two hours it took to get through LA/Orange County. I think I aged about 40 years, and the amount of anxiety I felt had me thinking on I was on the verge of a nervous break down. Luckily Little Saigon proved to be a nice break before our onward travels. We had the pleasure of wondering through a Vietnamese shopping mall before settling on our restaurant of choice for lunch in the Hanoi Plaza. I was finally hungry and beyond excited to be on the premises of a restaurant that served northern Vietnamese food. The Pho at Pho No 1 in Winnipeg tides me over, but it is northern food I have craved since July 2007. Upon opening the menu I was nearly salivating reading that they had bun cha Ha Noi. I ate bun cha nearly ever day in Viet Nam, and was beyond ecstatic to be in its presence once again. I consumed my bowl, choosing to ignore the lack of hunger pains. It was definitively not as good as my local street stall would have prepared it. It was a touch too salty and the pork had obviously not been grilled over charcoal burners on the side of the street, but nonetheless it was fabulous. Following our Vietnamese food consumption we were back on the highway.

We made one more stop before San Diego, this time at an outlet mall. The number of people shopping was truly terrifying. But I succeeded in picking up a super cheap Fossil watch and considered the outing a success. We found our hotel in San Diego and headed out for a night on the town that included visiting the beach, a mall and me watching Candace eat.

Sunday morning we had tossed around the idea of going to Tijuana, and then decided against it due to utter laziness. Instead we opted to visit the San Diego Wildlife Park (as it was on our way out of town) where we were consequently robbed of our money. Ok, perhaps that is an overreaction. Parking was $9 and entry was $35 each, an amount I considered to be somewhat excessive. We were able to see some large African animals (giraffes, rhinos, elephants, lions) in slightly larger cages, called “natural habitats,” than at the zoo. Candace and I agreed that given the choice again we would not spend that money, and instead allocate it toward a real safari in Africa, not California. Translation: the park was a little lame.

So back on the road again, Candace and I were both petrified of the thought of the OC/LA freeways, and chose the alternate route of Hwy 1 along the coast. This infuriated the GPS to no end as it continued to bark directions for us to get back on the freeway: “Please make a legal U-turn.” However, once we were halfway through the OC we realized that Hwy 1 would make the 200 mile drive to Santa Barbara last about 7 hours. So after seeing the beauty, beaches, and hideous wealth of enclaves like Newport and Huntington Beach we caved to the advice of the GPS and headed back to the freeway. Arriving in Santa Barbara was an almost rural relief after the incessant commercialized civilization of Hwy 101. We were greeted by large palm trees, an open beach, Mediterranean architecture and a hostel that looked like a concrete block. The hostel although similar in structure and feel to a college dorm, turned out to be a rather clean, cheap place to crash. Candace and I took a lengthy walk on the beach and then through town, where I convinced Candace that food was an evil thing and she did not want to eat. Amazingly enough, she listened to me. So we headed back to the hostel and found random things to read before crashing for the night to sounds of the Amtrak station next door.

Monday morning we were both up ridiculously early as the result of going to bed at 9 PM the night before. We climbed back in the car for our last day of driving and headed north to San Francisco. Freeways adventures were rather non-existent and after our morning ritual of finding Candace breakfast at a gas station it was asked that I drive. We opted to stop in San Jose at another Vietnamese shopping mall in another Little Saigon. This time we ordered pho, which was disappointingly mediocre. I ate ¼ of it and was full. We made a stop in South San Francisco to drop off our rental car and then walked back to our cheap Travelodge from night number one. From there we caught the shuttle back to airport to catch the Subway in to San Francisco. It was a lovely sunny day when we arrived. We found our hostel a few blocks from the train station and went to drop off our backpacks before the exploration could begin in earnest. Upon check-in we were informed that the hostel was overbooked and that as such we would be assigned to a staff dorm. But on the plus side this included a 50% rebate. Actually there were a lot of positives about it. We only shared our room with two other people, both who were overworked and opted to be in bed as ridiculously early as Candace and I prefer. After we unloaded our stuff we headed out the door to be greeted by what had turned into a rainy, blustery day. Choosing to ignore the weather, we hopped on a cable car and headed to Fisherman’s Wharf. An eventful $5 trip later (the cable car lost the cable and our brakeman directed traffic for 30 minutes) we were welcomed into a tourist enclave where San Francisco hoodies were sold for $10. I nearly bought one just to make me warmer. From Fisherman’s Wharf, Candace and I decided to walk to Golden Gate Park. The goal was a little ridiculous and unrealistic, but we headed in the direction of the bridge stopping to take some photos of the largely mist shrouded red structure. We never made it to the park. Instead we made it far enough to determine it was too far to walk back to our hostel. Thus the use of public transportation was essential. Eventually after visiting Safeway, to purchase a $0.50 bottle of water in order to get correct change for the bus fare, walking for blocks and stopping to check transit maps at every bus shelter we caught a bus that got us back to our neighbourhood. We ended the evening with some chilli and headed to bed at the late hour of 9 pm.

Tuesday was all about exploring every quintessential tourist trap of San Francisco. It was also St Patrick’s Day so it involved running into countless tourists/locals that were intoxicated and wearing green all throughout the day. We started our day of exploration in Chinatown where Candace and I were sucked into the wonderful commercialism of Chinese exports. The downside to North American Chinatowns is the prices. I mean for North America the prices are reasonable if not cheap, but for Asia they’re atrocious. So I spend far too much time looking at price tags and thinking about how much I would have paid for this same item, or a much nicer item if I were actually in Asia. Oh well. Chinatowns tend to the trick of tiding me over in my lust for returning to Asia. Hopefully this will last long enough for my bank account to grow large enough to pay for said trip.

Right, San Francisco.

Candace and I decided to invest in all day transit passes that included cable cars, trolleys and buses which was great because it meant whenever we saw a hill we didn’t want to climb we could just hope on some public transportation and let natural resources, carbon emissions and destroyed eco-systems do it for us. After Chinatown we headed toward some tower on a big hill that was built by some eccentric multi-millionaire. (What’s with the apparent trend in eccentricity and wealth? Does wealth make you eccentric or are eccentric people more prone to be wealthy?) Then we climbed down a bazillion stairs to the bay. We spent some time slumming with the tourists at Pier 39, where the only affordable food to eat was deep fried. I opted for deep fried vegetables. Then we watched a seal colony that has made Pier 39 home. They were highly entertaining. As we continued to walk along the bay we made (or I somewhat aggressively suggested) the impulse decision to take a boat tour of the bay. An hour on the bay gave us good views of the Golden Gate Bridge and a trip around Alcatraz making the tour well worth the $15 paid. We made the trek back to our hostel, stopping to visit the world’s “Crookedest Street” and decided to end our last day in America in the American way, doing some brief shopping and spending the evening in a movie theatre.

Wednesday we took the BART system back to the airport for our flight to Minneapolis and onward to Winnipeg. Security was normal and the whole flight process was entirely uneventful. However, I was convinced that the four hour flight to Minneapolis would never end. I have spent a lot of time complaining about the poor service of Canadian airlines and the expense of flying within Canada, but trans-American flights are ridiculously boring. I mean at least with WestJet and Air Canada you are guaranteed entertainment with a seatback television and a choice of something to watch. I spent the four hour flight with Northwest (followed by an additional hour and a half to Winnipeg) hoping that my Ipod battery wouldn’t die and playing solitaire. US airlines are ridiculously behind in the whole in-flight entertainment aspect. In 1999 when I flew to Sweden with British Airways there were seat back televisions. In 2006 I flew United to Hong Kong and had a central screen for the entire cabin that played (unfortunately) Pride & Prejudice (the man-jaw version). I know it’s superficial, but I really don’t think I should have to bring my laptop and personal movies along to be entertained on an American flight.

Now that the negativity amidst a largely positive review of the California trip has been voiced… It’s taken me a month to write this. I wonder if it will get read?

America

2009-03-25T09:25:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, March 12, 2009

America is a strange place.

Candace and I started our journey to California today. We left a frigid Winnipeg behind in hopes of reaching a much warmer climate two airplane rides away. We made it. Along the way I had the chance to make some interesting observations of American people.

First was the Vietnam War veteran at the Minnesota Saint Paul airport. A man in his early sixties, he proudly wore a baseball cap that identified him as “Vietnam Veteran”. I confess I jumped to conclusions about what kind of person he was for wearing that hat. About how much we would disagree on the politics of the world and America’s place in it. Then again, I’ve never had a discussion about issues like that with a person who has had his experiences. Most of the American men I know from his age range, I either had as professors since they came to Canada as draft dodgers or I know in the context of pacifists who were conscientious objectors. But I couldn’t help but think that somehow that hat said something about him. It was part of his identity. To him Vietnam is a war. Regardless, of whether it was moral or just or rationalized. Vietnam is war.

My memories and feelings about Viet Nam are very different than that. To me Viet Nam is good food, incredible progress and development, hot weather, good American friends, a period of loneliness, isolation, and testing and incredibly resourceful, empowered people. It makes me sad that he can’t see the Viet Nam I see. I wonder if he can see the negative results of his Vietnam, the one with a scarred landscape, broken people and a line still drawn between north and south. I wonder if we could talk about our experiences in Viet Nam/Vietnam and even come close to believing that we’re discussing the same country.

On the plane from MSP to San Francisco, Candace and I sat in front of three of the chattiest people in the world. A man in his 50’s from Minnesota who organizes motorcycle shows, a 40 year old IT guy from San Francisco and a female in her 20s that hailed from the twin cities and sold insurance. I learned more about them on that 3.5 hour plane ride, than I had ever hoped to. They fit the stereotypical American. Ridiculously friendly, loud and completely unaware of anything outside their own boarder (ok, that’s a little harsh, one of the men had been to Montreal and the other Vancouver. The girl wanted to visit Canada so she could go fishing…). They spent a good 2 hours talking about every American city they had ever visited, and how well traveled they were. One mentioned that he had even been overseas once but that the flights were just too long… to which his seatmates wholeheartedly agreed.

Does domestic travel really count? If you don’t need a passport is it really travelling? I even have a hard time considering this trip to really be travelling. I did it because the airplane ticket was super cheap and California is warmer than Manitoba in March. I did get a stamp in my passport, to add to the stack of increasingly growing Department of Homeland Security stamps. But I’m not sure that visiting California really makes me world traveller.

When did my blog/life get so lame?

2009-03-06T12:54:00.004-06:00

Friday, March 5, 2009

There are times when no matter how well everything is going, and how good my life is, I just can't see the positive. Times when I am overly sensitive and choose to interpret every action in the most negative context possible.

This is beyond annoying.

Lately, I've been particularly sensitive, as I have attempted to make new friends. I haven't had to make new friends since I moved to Manitoba, nearly 8 years ago. And the group of friends I made then has stuck with me since. But unfortunately, now it's shrinking. Jamie died 4 years ago. Allison moved to France. Janie got married, had a kid, and is in school. We all got jobs. We all started life. We all got busy.

For lent this year, I canceled my internet at home. Doing that has made me realize what a complete loner I am. I spend time by myself. I spend time with Brad. And occasionally I spend time with one of my friends (usually Candace or Sarah).

So this increased sense of self-awareness has pushed me to attempt to crawl out of my shell and attempt to form relationships with other people. The problem is when my invitations are not reciprocated, I immediately equate that to rejection. Maybe it's just my general inability to know how to function in current social settings? I have not made regular Friday night plans since I was in High School. Or maybe it's just my general insecurities that I have not had to face in a really long time.

Regardless, it sucks.

2009-02-16T11:05:00.004-06:00

I am an inherently messy person. It seems that everything I do generates mess.

I want to be neat and orderly. I want to have a clean working space, and home, but it doesn't happen. Does cleanliness and neatness come naturally to some people? Is it genetic? Or am I just messy individual as some form of continued childhood rebellion against my parents and their obsession with me having a neat room?

Regardless, my lack of cleanliness does drive me crazy. It seems as if I am always trying to clean. I cleaned my living room and kitchen on Tuesday night. They're both a disaster again. I've purchased easily accessible laundry hampers, and nice furniture for my bedroom in an attempt to keep my clothes off the floor. I vowed to make my bed every day. It doesn't work. My work clothes end up hanging from my fan and everything else rotates between the floor and the desk.

Is it just a matter of discipline? Can I learn to be neat? Can I learn not to generate mess? I mean even when I cook, it seems that I use every kitchen utensil, pot, pan and casserole dish that I own.

I drive myself crazy. I think I need to hire a maid.

2009-02-04T13:53:00.001-06:00

Does no one else find it funny/ironic that the Conservative Party proposed a budget that has the government running a deficit, and the NDPs voted against it?

2009-02-01T12:59:00.001-06:00

I have decided I hate facebook, so I deactivated my account. If you want to contact me, you should probably try email or a phone call.

The last one from Morocco

2008-12-26T04:08:00.003-06:00

I am no longer good at blogging. My apologies for anyone that still may try to follow...

So a recap from where I left off last time. We took a crazy bus ride over some mountains. It was intense. We spent that night in Ait Benhaddou and took some time exploring the kasbah (fort) on the edge of the Sahara. It was lovely. Photos will appear on Facebook upon our arrival home. From Ait Benhaddou we went back to Marrakesh, this time taking a crazy bus ride down the mountain. Nausea was abundant. The women next to me spent much of the time emptying her stomach into a plastic bag.

We spent one more night in Marrakesh, wandering the market and square, and eating kebabs in excess. From Marrakesh we boarded a bus and headed for the Atlantic. We've spent the last two days in a lovely dar/villa/2 appartments of a house in a city on the ocean. We've roamed the beach, read a lot and largely been lazy. Comsuming vast amounts of seafood. It was an excellent way to spend Christmas. However, Mom still has not had her much requested camel ride.

Tomorrow morning we head back to Marrakesh by bus, and then on to Casablanca by train. We fly out from Casablanca early Sunday morning and should be back in Montreal and Winnipeg sometime Sunday evening/night. This vacation has gone too quickly. I almost forgot that I have job, but I suppose I will remember on Monday morning...

Avoid the flu when travelling

2008-12-21T11:19:00.003-06:00

Ive spent the last 42 hours either emptying the contents of my stomach into a toilet bowl or bag or sleeping: I have eaten two bananas and drank 1 litre of Sprite: I still feel like crap: Do you know how hard exploring is when you are running on zero fuel and you want to vomit everytime you see or hear about food? Not so much fun: Most of my energy from this session of being awake has already been spent on an email to Brad: I am now flushed and tired again: Too bad we are currently in Moroccos culture capital and all I want to do is sleep: The markets are fabulous: But there is too much food and walking requires too much energy: Pam wrote stuff on her blog maybe you should read it:

2008-12-19T08:24:00.002-06:00

Morocco is fabulous thus far: We are currently in Meknes which is an imperial city somwhere in the north-central part of the country: We went to see some crazy ruins from the Roman empire today: It was a perfect day for it: Then we went to a pretty mountain town: We took lots of photos but the internet cafe we are using is little sketchy and the computers are a little old: So you wîll probably have to wait until we are home to see them: It is gorgeous though: Dad is being his pompous self enough said: The food is fabulous although we have largely been living off of pasteries: But what else would one want to eat? Tomorrow we take an early morning train to Marrakesh (8 hours): For anyone interested in visiting Morocco, navigation thus far has been ridiculously easy! We may be facing few more challenges in the upcoming days as we get back on the crazy part of the tourist trail and then off again, but I suppose only adventure awaits?

Morocco if I can find the keys

2008-12-18T07:44:00.002-06:00

Arabic keybords are different to use: Punctuation is difficult to find: But We hqve arrived in Morroco and all is well: Our flight was delayed in France but with our 6 hour layover we took the train into town and did some very limited exploration: We got to Casablanca about 2 hours late and ly luggazge didnt come: So we spent the night in Casa; got my bag and went to Rabat the next day: It was lovely: Now we are in Meknes: We will go see some Roman ruins tommorow: Weather is lovely: Fighting has been pretty infrequent: I will try to write again soon:

2008-12-13T08:54:00.005-06:00

We leave for Morocco on Monday. It's kind of crazy. I'm not exactly sure where the time went... I work my last shift at the post office today (thankfully) and then embrace a life of normalacy with only one job. I'm even debating the thought of not taking a class this winter. What would I do with all the free time?

So Morocco... I am attempting to train myself to think in French. I find myself questioning every English phrase or word in terms of an accurate translation. This is going to be interesting.

This is the first family vacation since we moved me out to Manitoba 7 years ago... I might be scared.

But at this point winter is so stinking cold, that I am excited about the prospect of being anywhere with a temperature above freezing.

I also think it was somewhat ironic that the title for this week's episode of The Office was "Moroccan Christmas". What are the chances?

2008-11-28T23:28:00.000-06:00

What the hell is wrong with people?

A Wal-Mart worker has died after being trampled by a throng of shoppers shortly after a store opened Friday on Long Island in New York State, police said.

Frenzied shoppers desperate for bargains broke down the doors at a 5 a.m. sale. Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials said they were closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries, and the store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store.

CBC.ca

Baby Fever?

2008-11-23T19:28:00.003-06:00

I would procreate just for the chance to make this dress and have someone to wear it.

2008-11-22T10:35:00.005-06:00

I am a complete advocate of public transit. I think the whole principle of it is ingenious. I like to be able to leave my apartment, walk to a certain spot on the sidewalk, and wait for someone to pick me up and bring me within walking distance of my destination. And I can do this as many times as I want in a month for $71.25.

There are so many advantages to taking the bus. I don't have to drive in rush hour, or pay attention to traffic in general. It's cheap (the $71.25/ month covers my insurance and gasoline). I can sleep, read or people watch. It makes me walk.

I also love the fact that public transportation is international. I've taken buses, trains, subways, trolleys etc in every country I've ever visited. Public transit is definitively my primary mode of transportation. Obviously there are issues with the transit system in Canada, especially in terms of inner-city travel. I wish it were more accessible and ecnomical for me to take a train or bus to Edmonton. But these are realities I need to live with.

Of course there are disadvantages to taking the bus as well. Obviously conforming to a schedule can be difficult for some. Or missing your connection and waiting for another 30 minutes for the right route to show up. But I still think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Especially when I actually show up at the bus stop on time...

Winter can be a funny time for transit taking in Winnipeg. Let's face it, Winnipeg gets really cold in the wintertime, -45'C is not considered a phenomenon. Thus, in a city with a winter climate like this you have to take the necessary precautions in order to survive when leaving the warmth of one's home for the outdoors (I still have no idea how so many homeless people can survive in Winnipeg). Winter in Winnipeg means layers. Long johns, snowpants, a parka and sorels (think the ice makers boots in Cool Runnings) are somewhat essential. Of course I've failed to mention the obvious necessity of the scarf, mittens and toque found elsewhere in Canada during the season. We wear those too. The major problem with taking transit during a Winnipeg winter is that once you've put all these layers on as protection to waddle to the bus stop, and wait in the "heated" bus shelter (where the homeless people live in winter) you have to get on a heated bus. So for 20 minutes, or 40 minutes, or however long you sit and sweat in your layers shoved in a tiny seat next to someone who is as overdressed as you.

I love Winnipeg

Funny enough, most of the buses look the same as 1983

2008-09-23T09:19:00.001-05:00

My supervisors think I'm efficient and overqualified. I suppose that's a positive thing.

Return to the past

2008-09-15T18:40:00.005-05:00

Today I felt like a real adult. I drove to work (company vehicle). I left the office on my break to purchase items with my company credit card. I then worked through lunch, finally taking a break around 3:30 pm to eat lunch. I left work immediately at 5, because I started class tonight. It wasn't until I was on the bus a few blocks from my stop that I even remembered the basics of school. I had no school supplies! Luckily my bus stopped outside Giant Tiger, and I had the time to make a pitstop for a notebook. I did momentarily panic that I would need my laptop as it is a Website Development course. But after finding the washroom, I found my classroom which was a computer lab, so my brief fear of being completely unprepared vanished.

I am presently in class. One hour done, three more to go. So far, the information being passed along is nothing new. But it still feels strange. I've come to a Monday night class, after a full day at work, in my dress pants and nice sweater. I ate lunch on our break. I am one of those now. I am the despised adult. The one with work and life experience. Perhaps the one who talks too much about how their life experiences relate so well to the class. Or perhaps not. This is website development. And it's also a Continuing-Ed course, therefore, I may in fact be the youngest in the class...

2008-09-07T21:46:00.002-05:00

I assume by the large red and blue signs on people's front lawns that there has been an election called.

I really could care less.

Domino Effect

2008-08-17T15:25:00.004-05:00

I have dreams of becoming extremely organized.

I can envision a neat and orderly life full of little boxes. Boxes in calendars to organize the moments of my life. Boxes in my mind to categorize the thoughts that, oh so often, try to run free. And finally physical boxes to create some semblance to the endless possessions I claim to "need".

The physical boxes in my life usually require the most energy, and are those that are most likely to lapse. Unfortunately relinquishing control of one set of boxes causes catastrophic results for all the other sets of boxes.
If I don't organize my thoughts, which leads to an organized calendar, then my physical surroundings falter.

In other words my aparment is a mess.

I wish it weren't.

It's Over

2008-08-16T08:14:00.003-05:00

It's Over.

Bobby's appointment was scheduled for this morning at 10:15, but she didn't make it through the night. She deteriorated rapidly over the last two days, and when I came home last night from being out all day, I didn't think she would make it. I found her at 6 this morning in the bottom of the linen closet.

So now I guess it's time for a trip to Brad's farm to bury her somewhere.

The End of an Era

2008-08-09T11:56:00.006-05:00

I brought Bobby to the vet today. I have never been to the vet before. It was an intimidating experience.

Bobby has been losing weight for a while. I tried to be proactive when it first started happening, and started to include wet food into both her and Emersson's diets. It kept her stable for a while. Then over the last month she has gone drastically downhill. Her vertebrae are very visible, as is every single one of her ribs. She's ridiculously tiny. So we went to the vet. The news was not positive. To determine what exactly is wrong she will have to go through many hundreds of dollars of testing. But the vet assured me there was no doubt that she is suffering and is a very sick cat. It could be her heart, as she is now using her stomach muscles to breathe rather than her chest.

I took her home knowing full well that this means I have to put her to sleep in the next week. But I didn't have the resolution to do it right there at the vet's office. I couldn't make that decision on the spot, although in practice I knew it was already made. The vet told me I need to make an official decision by Monday, otherwise I am being selfish and cruel. I agree.

So it looks like this is the end of my life as a pet owner. If Bobby dies, then I can't keep Emerson. He'd go crazy all by himself all day long. Now, I have to find a home for him.

I would like to say I am content with the way things are turning out. Now I will have an opportunity to live out my philosophies regarding pet ownership. But I'm not truly happy. Bobby has been around half my life, 13 years. I have been Emersson's primary caregiver for 5 years. This will mean major changes. And a fair bit of loneliness.

2008-06-24T12:08:00.002-05:00

I guess it is about time for some positive news. I got a job. A real job. Most people who still stop by this infrequently used site, are already aware of this, but I suppose it is time for a public service announcement.

I was offered a job by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba. I will be working at the head office here in Winnipeg. My job title is Executive Assistant. It is a essentially an entry level admin position, which is fine with me. It means I don't have to work two jobs anymore, and that I make something close to resembling a good salary. For those of you who don't know what MCC is, they are the organization that I went to Hong Kong and Viet Nam with in 2006-2007. It is a relief/ development agency that works in areas around the world, particularly in areas of peace education. Since I work for MCC Manitoba, there is more of an emphasis on Mantioba programs and thus community development. My first official day of work is July 2nd, although I have had two training shifts already.

So now that my life will be on a more permanent schedule, perhaps there will be more time for blogging as well as numerous other things I had hoped to do when I came back to Canada. Including taking some language courses.

The Domestication of Animals for Pleasure?

2008-05-13T11:06:00.003-05:00

Seriously, who came up with this? Who decided one day that the function of certain animals should be companionship or pets? I have been annoyed with the responsibility of my two cats lately. Bobby throws up everywhere. Emersson leaves chunks of his fluffy hair everywhere. They scratch my furniture. I spend about as much money on them every month (food, litter) as I do on groceries for myself in the same timeframe. And then there is of course the dreaded litters boxes, that never end. I think about getting rid of them. Probably at least once a week. But to who? And then the guilt sets in. Bobby is 13, Emersson is 6. I think Bobby could adapt and be happy anywhere, but Emersson? He's people needy and in love with Bobby. Would they hate me if I gave them away? Would I be able to live with the guilt? I mean they are good companions right now as I live by myelf. If they weren't here, I would be talking to myelf a lot more. Not that talking to your cats is anymore sane... But as I wonder about the feelings of my cats, I realize how stupid this is. How ridiculous our culture has become.

This realization was fully piqued last night as I worked at the post office. A women came in and asked me to fax a letter. She was upper-middle class from River Heights (if you are from Winnipeg, you know what this means). I am a nosey individual, there is no denying it. So sometimes when I send faxes that aren't full of private personal information I read them. Or parts of them anyway. This one I only had the chance to skim. It was being sent to some high profile leader in Washington D.C. who works with issues related to Asia. It was about dog meat.

The woman was very concerned about the fact that dogs are consumed in Korea, China and the Philippines (obviously she knows nothing about Viet Nam, Cambodia, or a good chunk of Africa). Her argument was that dogs have special relationships with humans. The whole argument that they are "man's best friend." I wish I could have photocopied the letter, I would have liked to read the whole thing to gain more insight into her perspectives. But unfortunately I thought it might look a little suspicious if after sending the fax, I made a copy of it. So I resisted.

Honestly though? Man's best friend? Dogs? They are what they are. They are animals. So what if another culture eats something we wouldn't? Who are you to decide that it is inhumane? And what is with the dichotomy of the word inhumane when used in reference to animals?

2008-05-08T10:10:00.003-05:00

Does anyone else ever wonder if others', or their own, expectations of life are too high? And if instead the reality is that failure is imminent?

One more thing completed

2008-04-29T21:07:00.002-05:00

I have started knitting again. Well in all honesty, I have been knitting for a while. My most recent project is the argyle vest I alluded to in a previous post. It took far too long. I was not dedicated enough.

This is a photo of a mass of my yarn after it had taken some shape. I used a combination of lett lopi (an Icelandic wool I am addicted to) and pt3 (random stuff I picked up in Norway two years ago.) I got the pattern from here.

It was a challeging pattern with excellent instructions. I learned a few more basics to knitting and had my first experience with steeking. I thought I was going to cry at one point and that my whole work would unravel. Thankfully, my crocheted steeks seem to be holding my work in place. The project is now lying on my new kitchen table as I complete the blocking process. It seems to fit so far, so here is to hoping that some blocking will take out a few of the bumps, and diminish some of the mistakes. I guess I will find out in the next couple of days.

Someday I will have something more interesting to say

2008-04-08T20:15:00.004-05:00

I was taught to believe growing up, that I was capable of doing and being anything I wanted. I bought in.

Living in privileged western society, I believed that my gender would never hinder me from achieving my dreams. I knew that I would have access to the finances I would need, whether through government loans, parental handouts, or some other means. And my responsibility in it all was to provide my best effort. The rest would work out. I would succeed. I could be anything.

Well life has a different way of presenting reality. And the truth has revealed itself over the last few months. It appears that in actuality I cannot be ANYTHING that I want. There are in fact limits.

For instance, I cannot get into law school.

(Thanks to my mother's Christmas letter, and my parents general inability to keep certain pieces of information to themselves the whole world was already aware of the application process. Now they should be aware of the results.) I was surprised by this to some extent. I mean I did not score anywhere close to well on the LSAT, but I did have a 4.0 GPA for the final 2.5 years of my undergraduate degree. And I did apply to the two bottom-feeder schools in Canada - University of Manitoba and the University of Saskatchewan, in addition to one that uses a more comprehensive standard of admission, including weighting GPAs at 75% versus LSAT score at 25% - University of Victoria. I thought I would get in. My friend Phil, a second year law student at Queen's, told me I would get in. But alas early offers started in December. Any realistic hope passed in February.

In truth, I am not disappointed by not getting into law school. In some ways it is a relief. Law school was a brain wave that developed while I lay in bed staring at the mold on my ceiling in Viet Nam sometime early last spring. It sounded grandiose. Maybe it would actually qualify me to work in the fields that would interest me. And honestly, it was an excellent distraction when I was bored at work, and an easy response to people who asked me what I was doing or planning on doing. Did I have attachement to the idea of having a future profession as a lawyer? Not so much.

So here I start from scratch again. What will I do? What am I supposed to do? What do I want to do?

Maybe it is easier to start by looking at these questions in their negative context. I know I do not want to work in retail. At any level. Management or not. I dislike people.

I do not think I am ready to go back to school. I have not had the opportunity to develop enough as an individual, especially intellectually.

I have no desire to acquire more responsibility, regardless of whether that means a pay increase or not. I am not ready to grow up.

So I have decided. I will work. I will make some money. I will try to save some money. I will not take life too seriously. I will travel. I will do whatever I want. For the next four years. Then I will evaluate once again. Damn restless spirit.

2008-03-30T19:52:00.002-05:00

Dear Blog,

I have been thinking about you a lot lately. Mostly about how I have somewhat abondoned you this year. I blame this on my limited time to think which has negatively affected any ability I have to express myself and has thus resulted in close to 8 months of intellectual stagnation. But as spring approaches, and my brain seems set to thaw with it, I have started to contemplate the concept of written public expression once again. Maybe when this whole two job thing comes to a close, I'll have the opportunity to waste vast amounts of time exploring the depths of my mind and sharing some of those precious insights with you. I hope you look forward to that time. I know I do.

Sincerely,

Tricia

Winter Blues

2008-02-19T20:49:00.001-06:00

Seriously. If winter does not end soon, then I am going to have to move.

I've already started looking for jobs and schools in warmer climates.

The Perils of a Prairie Winter

2008-01-30T22:21:00.000-06:00

There is frost growing on my bathroom walls.

Last year at this time there was mold growing on my clothing.

It's bloody cold.

The curse of the 20's

2008-01-23T11:21:00.000-06:00

I just got invited to another wedding. That means thus far this year I have three wedding invites. One in British Columbia, one in New Brunswick, and now one in Wisconsin. The one in New Brunswick preceeds the one in Wisconsin by one week.

I had originally planned on using the wedding in NB as an excuse to spend the rest of August in the East Coast. That looks like it might no longer be the case. Weddings change my trip plans every year.

Oh well, at least I get to see Vancouver and Seattle with the B.C. invite. Hmm, I still need to get a gift for that one...

2008-01-18T09:31:00.000-06:00

I wanted to knit an argyle vest. So I started looking for patterns on the internet. There is virtually nothing. I guess this means I have to design my own.... But that takes so much more work...

The way it goes (welcome new laptop)

2008-01-13T17:15:00.000-06:00

This post should have probably coincided with New Years. Or maybe I should be saving it for my birthday. It just seems like a reflection like this would be more appropriate with one of those events. But alas it is the middle of January, two weeks into a new year and two weeks before my birthday and here I am contemplating life and where exactly I am in it.

My general feelings of unhappiness and lack of contentment have been brewing for awhile. To put it mildly, I have been somewhat depressed. I have no career. I am not saving the world. I am not fulfilling any of my life dreams. I am just in a state of existence. I spend lots of time working and have little to show for it. My work is not intellectually stimulating. It is in no way fulfilling, but yet I get up everday to perform a service that is necessary for the people who use it. I suppose people do need stamps, and someone to process their transaction of potato chips and cereal. So perhaps I am performing an essential service...

I have/ had been spending a fair bit of time dwelling on my general unhappiness, and lack of direction in life. This is especially true when I consider it in the light of my impending birthday. I am going to be 26 soon. I feel like there is pressure for me to have my life more together at this point than what I do.

On New Year's Eve I attended a small gathering at a friend's home. As the time approaching the commencement of a New Year grew shorter and shorter, our conversation steered toward the passage of time and what 2008 would mean. I share a birth year with one of the party hosts, and mentioned that 2008 meant celebrating our 26th birthdays. I moaned, alluding to the fact that 26 sounded old. To my surprise, our host disagreed. At the age of 25 he has been married for over three years, is the father of a toddler, the primary income earner, and has just purchased a family home. His perspective on the impending age of 26 was that it sounded far too young for the amount of responsibilty he faces.

Maybe this was what I needed to hear. I do not have that level of responsibility. Apart from a lease that I could easily get out of, and my cats (which is somewhat more problematic), I have a sense of freedom. Which I suppose is excellent for my restless spirit (thanks Dad). So perhaps all of this not knowing where I am going, or where I should be is a blessing I should embrace.

2007-11-21T21:17:00.000-06:00

For those who have not seen my apartment, I have decided to post some photos. I think this might be photo overload today... The colours were present when I moved in.

A Photographic Ode to Churchill

2007-11-21T20:30:00.000-06:00

So I am back from Churchill. It was wonderful. Getting home was a little bit of adventure, after the train arrived in Thompson nearly eight hours late. Then a 700 km drive turned into almost ten hours of driving. Thankfully I had random companions. We had the chance to meet lots of interesting people from all over the world. My pictures are better than my words are.

**The last photo is an actual train station on the route from Churchill to Thompson. Everyone who got off at this stop, got picked up by a snowmobile. It gave me a little more perspective on "the North".**

A Trip to the Sub-Arctic

2007-11-14T18:31:00.000-06:00

I am presently lying on the bed in the hotel room I am sharing with Pam in the small northern town of Churchill. Since I have access to a functioning computer (thank you Pam) and free wireless, I figured it was time to update my lovely little blog.

Right so Churchill. I have been talking about coming to Churchill since I moved to Manitoba 6 years ago and discovered there were polar bears that were somewhat accessible, and that transportation was fairly inexpensive. I am not sure when Pam become sold on the idea, but it has been agreed for sometime that we would take the train to Churchill to see the polar bears. We actually got our act together early enough this year to book accommodations, tundra buggy trips and train tickets. So here we are in Manitoba's far north, in what is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.

Our initial plan was to take the train all the way from Winnipeg to Churchill. However, after some research we discovered that the train ride from Thompson to Churchill was 24 hours shorter and $200 less due to the rather indirect route that Via follows to get to Manitoba's north. So we started out adventure in Pam's Saturn at 6:30 AM on Monday morning, driving the 750 km to Thompson. After 8.5 hours in the car, which included some nice ice and a rather vicious 360, we arrived in the bustling town of Thompson. Our train was delayed by two hours, so we spent some time at Wal-Mart (yes, I entered a Wal-Mart) and Safeway. Then off we were to see the polar bears.

Pam and I being quite cheap and knowing that a mere 14 hour train ride faced us were of course in coach seating. The train was quite full when we started out from Thompson, but emptied as we travelled along through the various isolated communities serviced primarily by the railroad. We were lucky enough to have free entertainment for a good four hour period in the form of a rather intoxicated young male and his girlfriend. The f-bomb was dropped rather frequently, and at one point the young man made the statement "I'm going to kill everyone on this train." Let me make it clear that at no point did I feel unsafe, or fear that this individual was violent. He was far too drunk to be violent. Instead we observed his idiocy with mild amusement. My favourite of his antics was when he shouted, "Olivia wants my sperm!" How random. After his departure from our train the night was rather uneventful.

Tuesday morning we were scheduled to arrive four hours late, but we had the privilege of seeing hundreds of caribou running alongside the tracks for that last two hours or so of the ride. We arrived in Churchill, found out hotel and spent the rest of the day in relative rest and seclusion. It was lovely. And cold.

Today was day number one on the tundra buggies, or polar bear watching. For an exorbitant amount of money, one has the opportunity to hop an what is essentially a bus on oversized wheels that has a viewing deck. Pam and I realized on our train trip up that we would probably be a generation younger than virtually every other tourist, because travelling to Churchill costs money. This was the case. But traveling with middle aged to older people is actually quite enjoyable, as they tend to be more friendly and less likely to only talk about sex, drugs and alcohol. We had an interesting group on our tundra buggy that was comprised of a Dutch man who had immigrated to Ontario in the 1950s but managed to have an accent closer to that of a Newfoundlander, an overly friendly man from Saskatchewan who kept tabs on the number of polar bears we saw, and a couple from France who could speak virtually no English to name a few. (The female half of the French couple made the statement later in the day about a friend of theirs from Montreal "Our friend is a killer." Taken in context that meant their friend was a hunter.) It was a fabulous group. Mr Friendly Saskatchewan determined that we saw 38 polar bears. Regardless of how many we actually saw, it was phenomenal. I have included only a few pictures from Pam's collection, but rest assured that there are hundreds more.

Tomorrow we have some dog sledding arranged. Friday we will be viewing polar bears again. Then on Saturday it is back to Winnipeg. Pam has it easy. She fly from Churchill to Winnipeg in order to attend a conference in Banff on Monday. I take the train back to Thompson and then drive back to Winnipeg. It should be a fun winter drive.

Flight Stuff

2007-07-25T04:27:00.000-05:00

This is for anyone who cares about my flight time arrival on Friday. The information I posted previously is no longer accurate. I will now be arriving at 2:10 pm on Friday, July 27th from Chicago with United Airlines.

My apologies to those I have not yet emailed back or called. This is the first time I have been on the internet since I arrived in Pennsylvania. It is currently 5 am and I only have the energy to read things not respond to them. I thought I was not jet-lagged, but I went to bed at 7:30 last night so I suppose I am still recovering from an 11 hour time difference.

I'm just a product of my raising

2007-07-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

I just finished what may be my last bowl of bun cha in Vietnam. Unless of course I decide to eat it tomorrow. Bun cha is my favourite Vietnamese food. Bun is a kind of noodle, translated as vermicelli. Bun cha is bun with barbecued pork in the best soup broth ever with green papaya. I love it. I eat it all the time. I have already scoured the menus of the Vietnamese restaurants in Winnipeg online and unfortunately none serve it. I blame this on the fact that bun cha is a northern Vietnamese food while the majority of Vietnamese people in Canada are from the south. Maybe it's time I learned to cook.

Right, so I leave tomorrow night. Well technically Sunday morning since my flight is at 1 am, but I leave my house for the airport around 10:30 pm. That's really soon. I'm basically done packing. I need to tweak my carry-on a bit, but everything else that I want to bring home is in some sort of packed state. Currently I am lying on my bed between my overstuffed suitcase that has definitely seen its last trip [I hope the zippers last one more week], and a hiking backpack that is nearly the same size I am. I have been debating buying a gorgeous lamp and mailing it home, but I just cannot make up my mind. I am presently viewing the indecision as a sign that I should not buy it, but I have a feeling that if I do not buy it I will regret that decision when I finally get home. Then again, I don't even have a place to put it in as I am temporarily homeless...

I'm not sure what to do tomorrow. Since the packing is done, and I've finished up everything I needed to do, it should be a day of freedom. I might head over to the movie theatre as it is the coldest place in Ha Noi and an excellent way to waste two hours. It is the only movie theatre in the city that plays international movies in English with Vietnamese subtitles, most are dubbed in Vietnamese. It's also pretty classy and western with a yummy coffee shop, popcorn, snickers and slushies. Basically it's a carbon copy of any major theatre in Canada, which seems so contrary to everything that is Vietnam.

I had planned on going photo-taking crazy this week, but it turns out that was not possible. When we went to Mai Chau two weeks ago I pulled my camera to take pictures and it wouldn't turn on. I assumed my batteries were dead. After recharging them and purchasing new batteries it appears that is not the case. So all the last minute photos of crazy hydro lines, people sleeping on the side of the street on their motorbikes, the bicycle peddler selling goldfish, traffic jams of motorbikes and other typical daily sites will have to remain in my head instead. I do hope my camera can be fixed for nominal amount as I don't have the funds to spend a lot or buy a new camera.

Here are some photos from Mai Chau and the past few weeks' good-bye parties that I stole from Laura and Lowell.

2007-07-19T08:52:00.000-05:00

My camera randomly stopped functioning. I am not pleased by that.

Where was the chocolate cookie dough option?

2007-07-13T01:06:00.000-05:00

Today was my last day at work so we had ice cream. There were five flavours. I have listed them below but you may want to click on them to find out what they actually are.

Just in case you are too lazy to read all of the articles concerning these particular flavours, I have included a quote concerning the description of durian:

"... its odor is best described as pig-[excrement], turpentine and
onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away.
Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some
establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public
transportation in Southeast Asia." Wikipedia

When I first arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year I could not figure out why the city smelled so awful. Finally an Indian woman I was spending time with made the connection between the odour and the fruit. Needless to say, durian ice cream is not a favourite of mine.

Right, this thing

2007-07-11T01:40:00.000-05:00

I have entered a stage of disbelief. And free-market capitalistic over-consumption.

I don't think it has hit me yet that I am leaving Vietnam in ten days. But I am. And the shopping that accompanies a major departure is slowly causing me to question the rational behind it [the shopping that is, not the departing].

Yesterday I was heading downtown from work and decided to take a xe om rather than a bus ride followed by a somewhat extensive walk. I sweat from being outside for two minutes as it is; I didn't need to exert any further energy. Part of every xe om ride is arranging the price before you get on the motorbike in order to ensure that you don't get overcharged at the end of the ride. When I went to my normal corner to catch a xe om there was only one there. It was a friendly looking older man that I had seen there plenty of times. I told him my destination and offered 6 000 VND, which is often what I pay for the trip. He said no and asked for 7 000 VND. So I walked away. Often the bluffing with walking away works and the xe om driver will immediately change his mind and agree to your price. This time it didn't. I walked about half a block before I started to think about what I had just done. I walked away from a ride over six cents. I immediately turned around and agreed to his asking price of forty-two cents. I realize that bargaining is an important aspect of Vietnamese culture, but when I thought about it in the context of a six cent difference, it just seemed so trivial.

*********

For those of you that have not yet heard, I come home on July 27. That night at 7pm there will be a bbq at a random pit in Assiniboine Park. You are welcome to come as long as you bring unhealthy food.

Also for whoever is picking me up at the airport my flight details are as follows:

Arrival airport: Winnipeg
Coming from: Toronto
Flight Number: AC 259
Arrival Time: Friday, July 27 at 4:33PM

Someone please be there to pick me up. I have too much stuff for the bus and not enough money for a cab.

In Its Essence

2007-06-26T05:44:00.000-05:00

I was asked today by some Vietnamese colleagues what I thought about Vietnam. I told them I couldn't answer such a broad question, and that they would need to break it down for me. They did. They wanted to know what impressions I would bring home with me. What thoughts I would have when I was back in Canada about their country; the place I had lived for six months. I am sure the answer I presented was vague and superficial, but it prompted me to think. What are my impressions of Vietnam? What will I remember?

I decided that first of all I could not think within the context of a holistic Vietnam, but rather I would need to divide it into two parts. There is the Vietnam I experienced as a tourist, and there is the Vietnam I experienced as a resident [or perhaps more accurately a long-term tourist]. These two Vietnams are very different. In my reflecting I determined that most of my thoughts would revolve around the Vietnam I lived in, or Ha Noi. How could I simplify my experiences in/of Ha Noi? What were my impressions? After a bus trip to the supermarket, and wondering through its four aisles my conclusion was something like this: Ha Noi is a city whose streets are lined with trees and lakes but whose potential peaceful demeanour is shattered by the incessant honking, hawking and gawking.

I have had a hard time explaining my reaction and my feelings toward Vietnam. They are complex. I guess simply expressed some days I love it, other days I am annoyed by it. It's amazing how one day crossing the street can be seen as an adventure and the next a major inconvenience. On bad days the prevalence of xe oms [motorbike taxis] is annoying, as they see me, a single white female, and do whatever they can to get my attention: wave their arms in the air, shout "XE OM," "MOTOBIKE," "HELLO, HELLO," "MADAME," or make ever annoying bird calls. On good days the presence of obvious xe om drivers is a relief, as it limits the extent of walking that is necessary to find a ride home. In terms of continuously being stared at, there are times when I almost appreciate the attention, becoming somewhat cocky about my appearance or status. And other times, I am frustrated by the fact that the same people stop what they are doing to stare at me everyday. Is it so abnormal for a white woman to take the bus that you have to watch me do it every day for five months?

There are plenty of other things I will remember about Vietnam. I will remember the feeling of returning to Ha Noi after my various escapades throughout the country. The feeling of coming home, or to something more familiar. I will remember the buzz of the markets in the morning before people leave for work, and in the evenings on their way home. I will remember the feeling of sweat continuously dripping down my face. I will remember the neighbour's rooster crowing at 4am. I will remember the cooked dog head staring at me in the market. I will remember the smile on the woman's face every time I ordered my bun cha to go [in my horribly limited Vietnamese]. I hope that I remember how confused Vietnam made me, the feeling of being an outsider while at the same time belonging.

I must confess after the experiences I have had for the past ten months and the constant upheaval of my life, I am somewhat frightened to return to the normalacy of Winnipeg. I am no longer sure how to cope with the expected, especially when that is occuring within the context of a grown up world. It's like all my friends decided to enter the world of adulthood this past year, while I opted out. Perhaps this merely means the adventure, and instability that comes along with it, continues wherever I go regardless of the locale.

Edythe, do you have an email address? If so what is it?

Sailorman?

2007-06-25T07:48:00.000-05:00

Today I sat down to lunch and looked at what we were eating. I immediately thought to myself "there's no spinach. There's no point in eating if there is no spinach."

I ate anyway but it was definitely a less satisfying experience.

I buy into capitalistic overconsumption. Literally.

2007-06-19T09:16:00.000-05:00

Curse Vietnam and all its shopping charms. I did a practice packing run today, and realized I have a lot of stuff. I think my wardrobe has doubled since I left and that is ignoring the fact that I sent clothing back with Mom and Dad, Candace and Pam. It may seem a bit early to be doing a practice packing run, but I have started to panic in the last few days that I will have no room for souveniers for people. Since it is souvenier purchasing time I thought I would check. The fear has now been validated. I have no idea how I am going to get stuff home. The thing I keep telling myself is that "it's only stuff." I had planned on sending a small suitcase home with Brad, but when we got to the airport we found out that since he was flying domestic from Hanoi to HCMC he was only allowed twenty kg of luggage total instead of two pieces at twenty kg each. That annoyed me. So I am stuck with an extra suitcase of stuff that I had not anticipated...

Right so today is June 19th. That means I left Pennsylvania 10 months ago today. It also means I arrived in Vietnam 5 months ago today. So I have now been in Vietnam as long as I was in Hong Kong. I am finding that a little hard to fanthom. Thinking back I would have to say that the last 5 months have seemed to go much more quickly than the previous 5 months. It is strange how time works like that. And keeping with the counting thing [and the number 5...] I will be back in Winnipeg 5 weeks from Friday. See you then.

A Retrospective Summary

2007-06-14T21:08:00.000-05:00

Right, so that update I had promised.

We arrived in Hoi An last Sunday afternoon. We spent the next three days devising plans to stay out of the heat, which usually involved blasting the air conditioner and fan in our hotel. 40'C is not a comfortable temperature. In order to avoid the hottest part of the day, we would leave the hotel early in the morning, and come back around 11 to crash. Then we would head out again around 3 or 4. It was still stinking hot. We went to My Son on Monday, where Brad took lots of pictures and we both lost litres of fluid from your bodies due to the absolutely insane temperatures.

On Tuesday we had thought about biking to the beach, but we both agreed that attempting to cycle 5km in those temperatures would probably kill us, and then we would get our skin torched at the beach no matter how much sunscreen we used. So instead we hid in our hotel, and listened to the Senators lose game 4.

Wednesday we participated in a cooking class, where we learned how to make things like rice paper and spring rolls. I am not domestically inclined by any means so my cooking station was a disaster. Brad fared much better, and even turned his tomato peel into something that resembled a rose. Mine resembled a tomato peel.

We left Hoi An on Thursday afternoon after listening to the Ottawa Senators lose the Stanley Cup. I didn't cry for two reasons: 1] It was too hot, and I couldn't expel the energy or the moisture 2] I was in an internet cafe packed with Vietnamese people who don't even know what hockey is, even when you say ice hockey you still get blank stares.

We arrived in Hue in the early evening, found our hotel, and crashed. On Friday we did nothing all morning. It was fabulous. Finally around 2 pm we decided to rent bicycles and headed to check out the Citadel. Hue was at one point the capital of Vietnam, and that's about where my history lesson ends. It was important to the French for some reason and was probably the most French influenced city I saw in Southern/Central Vietnam. It is famous for the citadel [giant wall] that encompasses a major portion of the city, and is generally quaint.

On Saturday we went on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone [DMZ] which is the area around the line where Vietnam was divided into North and South. Vietnam was divided into two countries as the result of some peace agreement signed in the 1950's in Geneva between the Vietnamese and the French. France did a really good job of screwing up the Indo-China region with its colonization practices. I have a question, that I am wondering if someone could answer. Why was the French Army supposedly decimated in World War II, if it still had the resources and the manpower to fight the Vietnamese during the same and following time frame? Can anyone enlighten me? The DMZ region was the area that saw the most fighting during the American War. The majority of people moved south or north depending on their political affiliations, but some villages stayed behind. We went to visit the Vinh Moc tunnels which were tunnels created by the civilians who stayed behind. Up to 300 people lived in these tunnels during the war, and 17 babies were born in the maternity ward. When looking at the map above ground, I imagined something much bigger than the reality of the tunnels. A room for a family of 4 was literally a hole in the wall about 4 ft deep and maybe 2.5 feet wide.

Sunday was our last travel day. We took a boat tour down the Perfume River and visited the "tombs" of various emperors from the Nguyen Dynasty. The tombs were really massive burial grounds that included temples, lakes and anything else the emporer decided should be included. It was quite impressive.

That night we got on a plane back to Ha Noi, and arrived at midnight. Since then it's been back to the routine for me. Work etc. Brad is in Halong Bay right now, and comes back tonight. Then he leaves tomorrow. I thnk the next 6 weeks may be longer than the last 10 months...

So home. I am going there soon. I am looking forward to being home. But I think I will get back and be surprised by how much everything has changed. Right now I have been evisioning the life I left but that does not exist anymore. I have no roommates. In fact they don't even live together anymore. Allison has an apartment, Candace gets her house in one week, Sarah gets her condo in the fall and Heather gets married in August. I will no longer live in Pam's house as I have been pre-empted by Brad and Colin. I no longer work at Zellers [fingers crossed]. I am no longer a student. No more University of Winnipeg for me. Corrina has developed into a busy toddler who can hear. Instead I need to find a place to live, a place to work and new ways to define myself. It should be an interesting year.

Elvis shaking up Memphis

2007-06-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

So we arrived in Ha Noi last night around 11 pm. I am now at worrk, and Brad is probably still sleeping in his hotel room. He plans on going to Halong Bay for three days this week, then he heads back to HCMC on Saturday where from there he will fly to Tokyo then Vancouver and finally Winnipeg.

The weather is Ha Noi is cool and rainy today. It is BEAUTIFUL. Of course cool probably means about 27'C, but after the last two weeks that is heaven.

I'll do an update on the last week when I have photos to work with.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle

2007-06-04T20:03:00.000-05:00

Time for an update. I realize when I sit down to write that I really need to journal in order to keep better track of things that happen. But I don't. So instead I sit in front of a blank computer screen and try to remember the events of the past few days and all those little moments when I thought "I should blog about this."

So let's give this recap thing a shot. Brad and I spent two nights in Dalat, and one full day. We just putzed around town and didn't do anything very special. Last Wednesday was the start of our five day motorbike trip with the "Easy Riders" through the Central Highlands. The Easy Riders are a group of motorbike guides who take tourists essentially wherever they want for $50/ day. I had wanted to travel in the Central Highlands, but it's not really on the tourist trail so travel around the region can be a little difficult. $50/ day in Vietnam is expensive, but when you consider the fact that for that price you get a guide, a ride and a chance to see places that are otherwise virtually impossible, you realize it's not that much money and pay it. We decided to travel from Dalat to Hoi An which if done by travelling on the coast is about 400kms. Because we went through the Central Highlands it was probably closer to 700 kms. So here's a break down of what happened for those five days.

Day 1

We left Dalat around 7:30 am and hit the road. Dalat is about 1500 m so there were mountains everywhere. We rode about 160 kms on Day 1, and stopped lots of times along the road to see a variety of things. The Dalat area is the greenhouse capital of Vietnam. They grow strawberries all year round, and lots of other produce/ flowers. We saw lots of coffee, a Gerber daisy greenhouse, silk worm production and a waterfall. We visited one of the ethnic minority villages in the area as well. Vietnam has over 50 different ethnic groups that are in many ways comparable to the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. They tend to live in more isolated areas, have higher levels of poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, population growth, and lower levels of education. They are generally ignored by the government and assimilation is subtly attempted. In the village we visited an older women was working on making a basket (in the picture). She said it would take her two weeks to finish making the basket at which point she would sell it for 70 000 VND. That is about US$ 4.50. Can you imagine investing 2 weeks of work in something that will get you $4.50? We spent the night at a small resort (accommodation that night was included in the $50/day) on Lak Lake.

Day 2

The second day started by me waking to see bits of sunrise over beautiful Lak Lake. That was quickly followed by what I have been talking about doing in Vietnam since I found out that I would be living here. Elephant riding! For $6 each we had a one hour elephant ride through Lak Lake. We actually rode the elephant through the lake! Asian elephants are much smaller than their African counterparts, but are still very large (about 3 m high). The elephants are owned by one of the ethnic minorities in Vietnam. They capture wild elephants and then use them for logging and a variety of other tasks (including tourism). In the small village we visited there were over 30 elephants! I should note that it is very difficult to take pictures from the back of an elephant. They kind of lurch forward making it hard to keep anything in your focus for very long.

After the elephant riding we stopped at one of the houses in the village to visit a family. The parents were both 23 and had four children. They were married when they were 15. That is abnormally young, but members of the ethnic groups do tend to get married much earlier than their Vietnamese counterparts.

We spent most of the day in a 100 km vicinity, visiting waterfalls and even a mushroom farm. We spent the night in a cabin by a river.

Day 3

This was the longest day of the bunch. We traveled about 220 kms and both of our butts were very sore at the end of it. There wasn't a lot to see on this day. The sun was hot, and I could feel my skin burning. So I opted to become Vietnamese and bought a pair of gloves and a face mask to protect my skin from the sun. It worked much better than sunscreen. The Central Highlands was a region that was hard hit by the American War. There was mountain after mountain with no trees as the result of agent orange, and bombings. It strange to see the impacts that war can have decades later. Although there wasn't anything spectacular about day 3, there was of course some incidents of interest because well this is Vietnam. The tube in the back tire on my motorbike blew three times. They couldn't find the nail in the wheel and where we stopped along the road didn't have the resources to change the entire wheel. The last time the tire blew was about 20 kms from where we were spending the night. So I got off the bike and went to take a picture of the pretty sunset. I was walking down the hill from the road to get a better picture, when a man runs out of his house and invites me in for tea (in Vietnamese). Soon his whole family is out, and they grab my arm and pull me into their house to have some tea. They couldn't speak English, and my Vietnamese is limited to about three sentences so it was interesting. They kept pointing at their alter with a crucifix on it, and then pointing at me. I assumed they were asking me whether I was a Christian. Then they asked me to take a photo of their family. About 20 minutes later Brad showed up. They realized we weren't behind them anymore and came back to find us. So Brad too was invited in for tea, and some rice wine. After about 40 minutes we decided we should go check on the progress of the motorbike, so we walked up the hill with the family following us. They talked to our guides for a while, and they translated for us. I guess we were the first western tourists they had ever seen and they were honoured to have us in their home. It's fun to travel off the beaten track.

Day 4

The day started with a trip to a wooden ethnic minority Catholic church. Many of the ethnic minorities were animistic prior to French colonization, and were converted en masse to Christianity. After the visit to the church we spent about 1.5 hours at an orphanage being crawled on by a variety of children under the age of 6.

We visited more ethnic minority villages, and even had a musical performance by an older man who spoke fluent French.

We visited more ethnic minority villages, and even played on a crazy rickety suspension bridge. I think Brad tried to throw me overboard. The bridge is the only means of transport for people living in the mountains on the other side of the river so people drive their motorbikes across it loaded down with baskets full of jack fruit, or people walk across with 50kgs of rice on their back.

Along the way we came across an ethnic minority family that had just captured a monkey. They plan on selling it for about 500 000 VND ($30) as a pet. Our guide Quyen had told Brad and I earlier that monkey brain is considered a speciality in Vietnam that is supposed to increase your intelligence. He said that somtimes rich people in Vietnam will buy a monkey for 4 or 5 million VND. The monkey is tied to the table and the top of his head is cut off. Then they eat it's brain. Luckily that was the destiny of this monkey.

Day 5

Our last day was good. It was quite relaxed as we only had about 120 kms to travel. It got hotter though as we continued down the mountain. The views were good though, and the breeze was nice. We stopped at one more ethnic minority village, and then by aboout 4 pm we were in Hoi An.

It was a good trip. Our guides Thao and Quyen were funny and incredibly informative. It was a good five days. It was definitely worth the money.

Now we're in Hoi An. We went to My Son yesterday (see my photos from the last visit). Brad really liked it. Although the near 40'C weather is a touch unbearable. Brad's even bought into getting some clothes made here. He decided that it might be a good idea to get his favourite pair of shorts copied. We will be heading to Hue Thursday morning (by bus), and then back to Hanoi on Sunday night(by plane).

Before I end the longest post of my life, I need to include one more photo. Although the Sens lost today and are now down 3-1 in the series, I wanted to have some proof that Brad is truly on the bandwagon.

2007-06-03T03:33:00.000-05:00

After five days we are off the backs of motobikes and out of the mountains. It is HOT.

Better late than never

2007-05-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

Ok, maybe the last post was a veiled threat. Thank you everyone for taking the time to make comments on that post. It is incredibly appreciated.

So the trip has begun. Brad was supposed to arrive in HCMC on Wednesday night. I was starting to get a little worried when I didn't hear from him all day Thursday. Finally on Thursday night I decided to call the hotel I had booked from him, who was also supposed to pick him up from the airport. When I called them the lady on the other end said, "so sorry, we went to the airport last night and your friend did not come. He did not come last night at all." Excellent news. So for all I knew Brad could be wondering around Asia anywhere, lost and not knowing what to do. I called Pam and Colin in a panic wondering if they had heard from him. They hadn't. So Brad was officially lost.

I had his booking reference number from his flight so I checked the status of his flight. Where it had said he was arriving Wednesday, May 23rd before it now had the same flight details from Hong Kong to HCMC but for Thursday, May 24th. I made the assumption that Brad has missed his connecting flight in Hong Kong and would thus be arriving on Thursday instead. So I called the hotel and told them he would be there that night instead, and that he MUST call me when he got in. According to the flight schedule I saw he should have been arriving at 21:35. However, at 19:30 my mobile started to ring and I saw that it was the hotel calling me. Brad was there. I was so relieved. His plane in Vancouver flew for 1.5 hours and then had to turn around and go back because of electrical problems. He ended up staying in Vancouver for an extra 12 hours and spending the night in Hong Kong. He didn't call or email anyone to let them know he would be late because... it was too expensive.

I arrivied in HCMC on Friday night. Brad was already crashed at the hotel. We were up by 6 am on Saturday morning to do a two day tour of the Mekong Delta. That's what the photos are all of. We travelled by boat and bus, but mostly by boat. We visited floating markets and various factories in the region, ranging from coconut candy to rice husking. It was fun, and hot. Brad is not a fan of the heat either. I think we're both debating keeping our travels limited to northern climates from now on.

We spent Sunday night in HCMC, and then headed out at 7:30 for a 7 hour bus trip to Da Lat. Da Lat is located in the Central Highlands and is renowned for its temperate climate. It averages a high of 25'C with little humidity. A very refreshing experience after the heat of HCMC and the Mekong (even Ha Noi is stinking hot at the moment). Last night we spent the evening wondering around town in the rain, ate an amazing dinner, and were in bed by 8:30 pm. I love going to bed early.

Right now we are sitting in an internet cafe listening to game #1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Sens are leading 2-1 after the second period. Unfortunately we will be missing both games number 2 and 3. Tomorrow morning we leave on a five day motorbike trip through the Central Highlands, and I highly doubt we will have very much access to the internet. The Central Highlands is about as off the beaten path as you can get in Vietnam. We're planning on travelling all the way to Hoi An by motobike. Check out the map from two posts ago to get a better picture of what that means. Brad's worried about having a sore butt. We'll see what happens.

I will update again, but that won't be until at least Sunday when we arrive in Hoi An. I'm hoping the Sens will have a strong lead in the series by the time we have internet again!

Blame Yourself

2007-05-24T06:08:00.000-05:00

I have decided to take a break from blogging. The lack of responses I have been getting lately, as indicated by minimal comments, has lead me to believe that there is little interest in the product I am producing. A simple lesson in economics is that if there is no demand for the product being supplied then there is no reason to continue producing it. Perhaps I am being rash, but when I have no feedback, I have little inspiration for updates.

Oh and I leave tomorrow for Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). I think Brad is already there. At least he should be, but I haven't heard from him since his supposed arrival last night.

Questions

2007-05-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

As if describing the way the Canadian political system functions isn't hard enough, try attempting to explain to someone why your country's head of state is the Queen of another country. Then try to explain it to someone who is the citizen of country where decades of wars were fought to eradicate foreign influence. It doesn't quite make sense.

Following that, you should try to explain why you as a Protestant know relatively nothing about Catholicism.

Aren't you all supposed to be Christians?

Overwhelmed, in a totally positive way!

2007-05-19T16:21:00.000-05:00

I cannot begin to express the elation I am presently feeling. It is 4:22 AM. I have just experienced something unprecedented in my life. 15 years of intense loyalty have never given me this much satisfaction. The Ottawa Senators are going to the STANLEY CUP FINALS! At this point I would like to make reference to a post from October 10, 2006. I will confess that I was wrong in projecting an Ottawa Senators/ Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup Finals recently, but I was 50% right and it was the 50% I cared about! This has just reinforced my love for Daniel Alfredsson. I want my jersey. I want CBC. I want complete access to hockey! I will wear my Sens t-shirt with pride tomorrow (thanks Pam!).

Wow. I seriously cannot adequately express this feeling. It is phenomenal.

Brad is coming to visit me next week. He arrives in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) on Wednesday. I arrive in HCMC on Friday. Then it is two weeks of backpacking adventure! I have included a map for your reference. Our trip should include a two day trip in the Mekong Delta, then a few days in the city of Dalat, followed by four to five days in the Central Highlands, a trip to Hoi An (again - it's just too charming!), Hue and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) so that we can check out the tunnels!

I am so excited for him to come. We will have to find a way to work our trips around the Stanley Cup Finals broadcasts, because there is no way I can miss my team in the Finals. GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS!!! I am excited!

In other news, I will be leaving Vietnam in 9 weeks, and will be back in Winnipeg in 10 weeks. It seems so soon, but so far away! If anyone has any job leads let me know! I'm open to anything except for retail. Well, honestly I am open to retail, but it is a last resort.

GO SENS GO!!!

SENS FOR THE CUP!

Jeg søke rettsvesen

2007-05-15T07:01:00.000-05:00

My friend Laura from university is in Norway right now. I am inexplicably jealous.

However, if I were not in Vietnam at the moment, and my only choices for places where I could be were Norway or Canada, I would pick Canada. Because then I could watch the Ottawa Senators WIN THE STANLEY CUP!!!

Still a Valid Addiction

2007-05-10T23:16:00.000-05:00

I have not posted anything about knitting in a while. So here are some photos. I made a brown cabled bag for one of my friends in Brasil (she is also doing SALT). She asked me to make her one, so I did. Then I mailed it to Brasil for her birthday. It only took about 4 weeks, which is shorter than I expected, but the package was shredded when it arrived. Regardless the bag is in Brasil, so I can now post photos.

I am also working on a blanket. Four squares finished, 26 to go.

2007-05-05T21:34:00.000-05:00

I FRICKING LOVE THE OTTAWA SENATORS!!!

SENS FOR THE CUP!

Is it enough?

2007-05-02T22:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was not a good Vietnam experience day. It was stupid things, but they annoyed me. I got overcharged twice by xe om drivers (motorbike taxis) who refused to bargain with me and I lacked the energy to walk away. Then I took a taxi somewhere that had the fastest meter I have ever seen and resulted in me paying a small fortune by Vietnamese standards for a short ride. At work, I had virtually nothing to do all day, until 10 minutes before I normally go home, then there was lots of stuff that needed to be done. I ended up staying an hour later than normal, and was thus late for a dinner date with Laura (also the reason I had to take an overpriced xe om rather than the bus/ walking). Everything about it just annoyed me.

I have throughly enjoyed the fact that I got to split this year between Hong Kong and Vietnam. It made it feel more manageable and increseased some of my experiences. I got to travel a fair bit, and experience two places. However, perhaps this is just me feeling sorry for myself, I have also felt as though I have missed out on this year for similar reasons. Well not necessarily missed out, but not met the objectives of the SALT program.

SALT bills itself as a "cross-cultural immersion experience." I have yet to feel immersed in a different culture, and I take full responsibility for this. Last year at my MCC interview I told the two individuals interviewing me that my biggest fear about the prospective year was the idea of a host family. So I did not get a host family (for which I am still greatful). I was assigned to Hong Kong where host families were not even an option. Then since I would have only six months in Vietnam, the country representatives decided that it would be more appropriate for me to stay in the apartment at the office then to find a willing host family. Let me make this clear, I appreciate the fact that I do not have a host family. It is a huge relief for me to be able to go home from work and to just chill out with no expectations of me. I enjoy all the alone time.

One of the aspects I regret about a split year, is that I have not been able to have official language training. I have picked up the odd sentence here and there, but due to my lack of personal motivation and the excuse that I have had no official language training, it has not progressed very far. I have tried. It just comes in fits and starts, and it really is not until I am trying to communicate with some random person, that I usually want something from, that I regret my inability to learn the language.

As a result of not being able to communicate in Vietnamese, I have formed few to no relationships with Vietnamese people, apart from the women at work and the local MCC staff. In Hong Kong it was a similar matter. No one I worked with was from Hong Kong. My church was an English church, thus very few locals, and Hong Kong was not exactly the place where you strike up a random conversation with someone on the train (unless of course you are my dad) because everyone is too busy and important. So I stuck to hanging out with ex-pats (ex - patriots, or people of another citizenship who are loyal to their country of birth/ citizenship but live somewhere else for work or the fun of it).

The problem is that this trend has continued with my relocation to Vietnam. It is easier. I like to hang out with people who make me comfortable; people who understand where I am coming from. People who share similar life perspectives as me. People, it all seems, who hang out with one another rather than with locals. People who form gated residential communities, belong to international clubs, and frequent restaurants/pubs/bars geared toward them rather than the majority of the local population. People with money.

I have always questioned the purpose of living internationally if one does not embrace the local culture and community. But yet here I am, and I sense that I am doing that very thing. Is it enough to enjoy Vietnamese food, eat from street stalls, ride motorbikes and the local bus, and speak a handful of phrases? I really don't think so.

The problem is, I am not sure whether I have the energy to change any of this...

Tests don't tell you anything

2007-05-01T08:25:00.000-05:00

The East Asia MCC retreat is over. I really do not care what a Myers Brig test says. I am not an extrovert. Spending time with 59 other people is both chaotic and overwhelming. It does not register anywhere within my comfort zone. I tend to sleep a LOT when there are too many people around. This past weekend was no exception. I spent as much free time as possible in bed, because people make me tired.

I am feeling the pressure for a post, so here are photos.

So I do have a slightly more active social life than what I had in Hong Kong. I frequently hang out with my fellow Vietnam SALTers (Laura and Renee), and there are also some incredible people at the international church we attend. Among my favourites would be three girls (Bethany, Shannon and Lia) who teach English in Ha Noi with a Lutheran mission organization. They are usually referred to as the Lutheran girls, while Renee, Laura and I are the Mennonite girls. I have included some photos of a night out last week with Laura, Bethany and Shannon.

Oh wait... I'm wearing the same shirt in every picture...

Fortelling the Future

2007-04-24T07:11:00.000-05:00

Let me be so bold as to make a prediction.

The Ottawa Senators versus the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Sens will take it in 6 games. I have made this prediction for the last five years, but I sense there is something different about this year.

The Sens and the Canucks have both made it out of the first round of the playoffs. There are only 8 teams left. Each team has a one in four chance of making it to the finals.
Both teams are much stronger than they have been in years past. The Canucks have Luongo, the Sens have everyone else.
Two Canadian teams have to play each other in the Finals at some point.
The probability of all of this happening is much higher as I am not in Canada to witness the wonder of such an event

Seriously, I could go on about hockey forever, but for the benefit of my non-hockey crazed readers I will attempt to venture into some other topic, that I have yet to determine.

I have no idea why, but for some reason it seems all Vietnamese public holidays happen at the same time. Ok, this is a complete exaggeration. But this Thursday, April 26th is a holiday (I have tried to understand why it is a holiday, and the closest explanation I can get is something about an Ancient emperor from some province), Monday April 30th is a holiday (Reunification Day - North and South Vietnam were reunited when the North captured Saigon (modern day Ho Chi Minh City) during the American war) and Tuesday, May 1st is a holiday (International Labour Day - as a side note why does EVERY country in the world celebrate Labour Day on the 1st of May, while Canadians and Americans celebrate it on the first Monday of September?). Normally I would be quite excited about the approach of so many holidays, and I am excited, just not as excited as I normally would be. It just so happens that the East Asia MCC retreat is that weekend and I would have been getting all those days off, except Thursday, even if they were not national holidays. Oh well, I suppose I really shouldn't complain about holidays regardless of what form they come in.

Right, so the MCC retreat is happening here in Vietnam. We are going to Halong Bay (you can see pictures if you visit Pam's blog - although she has not updated since her return to Canada, she did arrive quite safely. No flight cock-ups). MCC people from Korea, China, Cambodia and Laos will all be coming here to join in the fun. I was a litte disappointed that I would not be able to go somewhere else for the retreat, but I think I have gotten over that. I suppose it is too minor of an aspect to actually be upset about.

Yeah hockey, holidays, retreat... Is there anything else happening in my life? Hmmm... I do not think so. I am knitting a blanket. I have not gotten very far. It is stinking hot here.

Is it possible to gain weight from eating too much (NOTE THE CHANGE SARAH) pineapple?

This post lacks depth and relevancy. I hope you enjoyed the read.

I just wanna put down all the pressures and feel how I really feel

2007-04-19T08:07:00.000-05:00

I had planned on blogging today. I was starting to feel guilty for the considerable length of time between substantial posts, and then I sat down and stared at the computer screen. What am I supposed to write about?

So please excuse this attempt at a post.

Today is April 19th. That means I was on an airplane from Philadelphia to Chicago and then Chicago to Hong Kong 8 months ago today. It also means I was on an airplane from Hong Kong to Ha Noi 3 months ago today.

I am continuously perplexed by the multi-dimensional behaviour of time. How is it possible for time to seem like it is going so slowly, while it passes so quickly? I have 93 days (this number is right , is it not Megan?) left in Vietnam. I've been too lazy to do the official counting myself, so I am relying on the work of others. I cannot decide whether 93 days is a long time or not.

I have begun to feel more comfortable in Ha Noi. I can cross the street easily, and have even ventured into biking a few times (thanks to Laura loaning me her bicycle when she was on holidays). It is no longer strange to walk down the street to my alley (oh yeah, I live in an alley, alley 103 to be exact) and be stuck in the middle of a traffic jam. My street is sort of a market. People who own/ live in the buildings on the street have stores/ markets/ produce centres in the front of their houses. Other people set up shop on the sidewalks or the street. Everyday the available space for motorbikes and cars seems to shrink to give room to the pineapple, live fish, dog meat, cow intestine and pho sellers. People shop from their motorbikes, and at times, especially just before dinner, one cannot find a place to walk down the street because there are too many motorbikes, and people in the way. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it is annoying.

There are plenty of strange things I have yet to mention about Vietnam. The number of things that I found so novel at first, have however eventually diminished. Tonight, as I was entering my gate, I was serenaded by the familiar sounds of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." I am not sure whether the music was coming from one of the many portable scales or the bicycle popcorn vendor, but it made me smile. The portable singing scales are something that I still find entertaining. Where else would you have a person pushing a doctor's scale through back alleys and streets? The women at my work have asked me a number of times as to whether I have gained or lost weight since my arrival in Vietnam. When I told them I was not sure, they were confused as to why I would not know this. When I explained to them that I did not have a scale, they laughed at me and said there were plenty of public weighing scales (ie: the portable singing scales) that I could use. I laughed at the thought of this. I can just imagine the size of the crowd that would gather to watch me pay 1000 VND to find out my weight and height. When the average woman in Vietnam weighs 45 kgs, someone of my size and weight is a novelty that would ensure many comments and perhaps the occasional fat squeeze.

My Vietnamese language learning is progressing at an incredibly slow pace. I was informed the other day that when I meant to say No, I was saying rice, and when I meant to Yes, I was saying fish. So the good news is I can order myself a full meal, but I am incapable of responding to a Yes-No question.

In order to read an interesting comparative reaction between America and Vietnam in light of the recent Virgina Tech shooting, check out my fellow SALTer Renee's blog.

I hate how addicting fresh pineapple is.

2007-04-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

Yes, I need to post a real update again. Pam has been monopolizing all my time once again.

What the heck am I doing here?

2007-04-13T09:12:00.000-05:00

The weather website says Sunday is supposed to reach 38'C. It's April...

***EDIT*** The weather forcast has changed. Sunday will now only reach a high of 35'C...

***EDIT #2*** Thank goodness the weather forecasts are ALWAYS wrong for Ha Noi. It is now supposed to be a much more manageable 30'C today. I can live with that.

Internet Frustrations

2007-04-12T07:59:00.000-05:00

So it appears my Tricia@ehmail.com email address has disappeared from the Canada.com website, without giving me any notice... So if you have emailed me in the last 24 hours, chances are I have not received it. So please send all your emails to Tricanada@gmail.com . I'm working on developing another email address, I just can't decide where. Bre, please change my address for the MSC job postings!

On a more positive note, Sens won game #1!

Hockey makes me happy

2007-04-11T05:44:00.000-05:00

I figured it was time to post. I apologize for the delay, Pam has been consuming all of my time.

As most of you have already read on Pam's blog, we went to Ninh Binh last weekend. Ninh Binh is about two hours from Ha Noi. We spent Friday night and Saturday night there [we left at 4 am to get back to Ha Noi on Sunday morning]. We took a boat ride through some crazy formations, got lost on our bikes, and took motorbikes to a town 30 kms away to see the coolest church I've ever seen. It's stellar combination of Vietnamese Pagoda architechture, with European church architecture, and the inside reminded Pam and I of Norwegian Staave churches. It was a good weekend apart from the hideous fight we had on Sunday night regarding the location of my keys... Don't ask. Oh and we ate goat. It was yummy. I hadn't had it in years.

The NHL playoffs start tomorrow. I love hockey. Ottawa is playing Pittsburgh for all of you that are uninformed. I must confess that I have a sneaking suspicion that Ottawa's success is imminent based on the fact that I am not in the country. Translation - they will win the Cup because I am not in Canada to witness it. Things like this appear to by my luck. Another example of this lies in the fact that neither Toronto or Montreal made the playoffs this year, leaving all of CBC's Eastern Conference coverage to the Senators. In years past I was lucky to see one or two Sens games in the first round, due to CBC's belief that everyone in Canada loves the Maple Leafs [stupid Toronto-centric bias]. This year Ottawa is it. Every one of their games will be broadcast across the country. But wait... I'm in Vietnam... Oh hockey how I miss you. Thank goodness for radio broadcasts via the internet.

Hmmm... I think that's it.

Switzerland: Not Just Holes in the Cheese

2007-04-04T22:16:00.000-05:00

I found this too funny not to mention:

The Alps aren't the only things that are high these days, and the Swiss government is putting its foot down. It's warned farmers to stop feeding their cows cannabis, or face prosecution. Farmers say the easy-to-grow weed makes the animals happy and they produce more milk. Agricultural officials warn that the active ingredient in cannabis, THC, can get into milk and even contaminate Swiss cheese. Making it more popular than ever.

Macleans
March 12th, 2007

Another example of my wonderful creativity

2007-04-02T22:42:00.000-05:00

Jennifer, this map is for you in response to your questions about Angelina Jolie.

I think I'm in love with Jimmy Rankin... Sorry Brad

2007-04-01T08:57:00.000-05:00

Hoi An... It felt so good to get away for a few days. I just chilled out and didn't exert too much energy. It was nice. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon, found a hotel, had a nap and then set out on a mission to find a tailor to get a new summer wardrobe. Hoi An is a city of about 75 000 people with over 200 tailor shops. It's a really quaint place. I got lots of clothes made. You can go in any shop, sit down and look at a catalogue and pick anything for them to make. It's great. I also got boots and shoes made! I spent far too much money, but I think it was worth it.

On Thursday I went to visit My Son which is similar to Anker Wat in Cambodia (you can see pictures from Pam's blog) except it's older, smaller and poorer shape. My Son is ruins from the Cham kingdom that ruled much of central/ southern Vietnam between the 4th and 13th century. The buildings that are left were temples and were mostly constructed between the 7th and 13th century. Part of the site was bombed heavily by the Americans during the American war because it was a hideout for the Vietcong. There are still bomb holes around some of the ruins. Still, it was pretty amazing to see. When you see ruins like this that are so incredible when they've been in disrepair for 1000 years, it's hard to imagine how phenomenal they were when they existed whole.

I met two really nice German women on my tour. Later that evening when I was walking around Hoi An, they spotted me and invited me to dinner with them. It was fun. Pam arrived early Friday morning (6:15 AM). I was up and waiting for her. We crashed for a bit, bathed, had breakfast and walked around town for a bit. We rented bicycles for the equivalent of $0.60 for the day and biked 5 kms to the beach. It was stinking hot. So we played in the South China Sea, lay in the shade of some palm trees, spoke Vietnamese to the women trying to sell us everything from manicures and massages to pineapple and mosquito bite cream, and got along extremely well. I got fried to a crisp. We ate seafood by the beach, and headed back to town. I picked up all my clothes and then Pam decided to order some. It must have taken her 3 hours to decided what she wanted and I think she want to 5 different shops... Oh well, she got stuff.

Saturday morning I headed to Danang to catch my train. My train ride back was rather uneventful, apart from the somewhat creepy middle-aged train conducter hitting on me. Vietnamese men... I arrived in Ha Noi about 6 AM, caught a xe om (motorbike taxi) home, and then went to church. It was a good day.

Somehow my laptop miraculously fixed itself, and the keyboard is completely functioning once again after about 6 weeks of being a pain. So that was wonderful to realize today. All in all, my three days of vacation have perked me up, and I think that the next few months won't seem so long. Especially if Brad gets his passport and comes visits me.

Moving Vehicles Always Make Me Sleepy

2007-03-28T05:46:00.000-05:00

I am in Hoi An. After an uneventful train ride, through which I slept blissfully (thank you hard sleeper), and meeting up with a Swiss couple who I shared a car with from the train station in Danang to Hoi An (30 kms) I arrived safe and sound. I found a cheap hotel ($6/night - I'm sure I could have done better) on the outskirts of town which is really only about a 10 minute walk from the center. There are far too many tourists but at the same time it is completely relaxing.

Hoi An is renouned for its abundance of tailor shops. I already made a trip to one and am getting virtually a summer wardrobe made. How will I get this stuff back to Canada you ask? Good question... Brad you are coming to visit right?

Tomorrow I'm going on a bus tour to some ruins nearby. I don't really have too many other details. Pam is supposed to be arriving on Friday afternoon (Pam if you are trying to get in contact with me PLEASE do not do so by leaving a comment on my blog - the internet at my hotel only allows me to access the posting part. I can't actually visit my blog) so I'm thinking we'll hang out in town see some of the sights and then head to the beach where we'll eat some cheap seafood. Hmmm... Well I think that's it. Day #1 of vacation has been wonderful. Now I'm hungry and need to go find food.

A Surprise Vacation

2007-03-26T03:26:00.000-05:00

I'm going on a trip.

It turns out there's no work this week for people who can't speak Vietnamese. All the women from the office are running workshops around the country for women who are running as candidates in the National Assembly Election. So I don't need to be in the office after Tuesday morning. And really what is the point in me sitting in my bedroom for the rest of the week trying to come with things to do, but still being lazy? So Pam proded me to have some energy and be adventurous.

I'm going to Hoi An. I take the train tomorrow night (Tuesday) and arrive around noon on Wednesday. Then I leave for Ha Noi on noon on Saturday and arrive around 5 AM on Sunday. I actually take the train to Danang and then somehow get some form of transportation to take me the 30 kms to Hoi An. The exciting news is that I actually have a hard sleeper on the way down and a soft sleeper on the way back. No ghetto seating! So I posted a map of Vietnam (thank you Lonely Planet - giving credit means there should be no copyright issues, right?) so you can all have a visual of where I'm going. I hope you enjoy my wonderful editing job.

Sorry, it's really not worth your time.

2007-03-24T04:03:00.000-05:00

Thank you fellow SALTers for completely understanding the complex emotions I attempted to present in my previous post. Your support and knowing that I am not alone in this emotional confusion is somehow helpful.

Hmmm... what to write? I discovered that you can make free computer to computer phone calls with Yahoo Messenger. If people want to talk to me, you can download Yahoo Messenger for free from here. You will also need a headset or some kind of microphone/ earphone combination, as well as a yahoo ID. My user name is Branadian. Call me sometime.

I've been applying for jobs recently. There was one position I was pretty excited about, and I met all the requirements. I got an email today informing me that I hadn't even been selected for an interview. That was a bit of a blow. Everyday I feel like I'm going to end up back at Zellers... I don't want to go back there. But if it's Zellers or being unemployed, Zellers will obviously win.

On a more positive note, I have been unexpectedly granted an extra week of holidays this week. It turns out that all the women in the office will be hosting training courses around the country, so after Tuesday morning I don't need to be at work. I'm in the midst of trying to develop some elaborate trip with these days I've suddenly been given. I might head to central Vietnam. If I take the train I hope I'm not limited to hard seats again...

I have posted three photos of my modelling (uncomfortably) my lastest knitting completion. There are too many buttons. I'm not sure what to do about that. But I still like it. It turned out reasonably well, considering I developed the pattern myself. I guess this is the first example of a Tricia Original. I'm really into Cabling right now...

For some reason I had the urge to re-pierce my ears today. So I did. It took a little more effort than I expected. I suppose not having worn earrings for 6 years will do that. Add to that the fact that the short time I did regularly wear earrings for was probably less than 6 months. I'm probably lucky I got anything through the scar tissue at all. Wow, this update is pointless.

Long enough...

2007-03-22T08:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I ate partially hatched duck eggs. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like. The eggs are fertilized, and 14 days old. Translation - there are half formed ducks inside the egg. In some cases you can see little feet etc. Vietnamese people love it. They claim it's incredibly nutritious for you. I had to exert a large amount of mind over matter in this instance. I've eaten duck before, I've eaten eggs before - what's the difference when you eat both together? Surprisingly they weren't horrible, however I don't think they will become a regular part of my diet. Still, the Vietnamese women I worked with were extremely impressed by my general willingness to eat it. In addition to chicken feet (which actually tastes exactly like you would imagine they would tase like - it's like eating rubber), I have had eel and countless other oddities I can't even remember now. My supervisor promised me that we would be going out for "thit cho" (dog meat) soon. That being said, Vietnamese food is generally good (even eel was fine). There are lots of green vegetables and that makes me really happy. The most disappointing thing for me is Vietnamese Spring Rolls. I love Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Unfortunately I had eaten a few too many prior to my bout of sickness on the train home from Sa Pa, so now even the sight/smell of them makes me nauseous.

Four months from today I take a plane back to Pennsylvania. Right now I feel like that time will never come. It's not that I'm not enjoying myself in Vietnam. I'm having lots of fun. I like my work, I like my colleagues, I like the MCC people, I like my church and I like Vietnam. I'm just at the point where I feel like I've had enough. I don't want to have to try anymore. I don't want grocery shopping to be an emotionally exhausting event. I don't want to be stared at. I don't want to be told that I'm beautiful 6 times in a day (I'm not sure that I ever had the phrase said to me prior to coming to Vietnam - it can get quite annoying quickly). I don't want to be asked how much I weigh. And I'm lucky. I don't live with a host-family. I can spend as much time as I want by myself, and there are really no expectations of me when I'm at home. But still right now four months seems like a really long time.

I know in reality that four months will probably fly by, and that by the time July is here I'll be regretting the fact that I wanted to go home now. I know that, but I don't feel it. It's the whole gap between head and heart. That being said (I've used this phrase too much lately), I've managed to deal with my impatience according to the typical Tricia method. I went to the grocery store and bought far too much junkfood. Thankfully my stomach as shrunk considerably so I couldn't eat the epic portions of food I had envisioned. Now, I have stuff to eat that doesn't require cooking. Really, nothing in my life has changed except for my geographical location.

It's ok, you can skip this one if you want

2007-03-20T07:02:00.000-05:00

You all know it's been coming. It's been far too long, and there have been far too many events leading up to it. It's time for a political rant by Tricia.

All this talk of "uniting the left" is starting to get on my nerves. Macleans has featured two articles on the topic in less than a month.

Is It Time to Unite the Left? (February 15, 2007)
Unite the Left (March 15, 2007)

(Albeit the second article does question the rationale behind the philosophy or politics of such a movement.) Recently a number of key players within the New Democratic Party (NDP) at both the provincial and federal levels have come out and questioned the future of their party and the viability of participating in another election for few results or gains. Most notable, was the defection of Bob Rae, former Ontario NDP Premier, to the federal Liberal party. However, both Lorne Calvert, the NDP Premier of Saskatchewan, and Pat Martin, a long time NDP MP of Winnipeg's inner-city, have made headlines recently for their open discussion of the need to "unite the left".

This whole "unite the left" talk annoys me for a number of reasons. However, it has absolutely nothing to do with my political loyalties to either the NDP or the Liberal Party. I will confess that I have voted for the NDP in the past, and provincially in Manitoba I still think they are the most legitimate party, but I don't really buy into partisan politics at a personal level. I don't support any party enough to be upset by their eradication, or a merger.

The real reason this whole debate annoys me is that Canada is a legitimate multi-party system. So why doesn't it act like it?

I am fully aware of Canadian political history and the fact that although we have a multi-party system, that we have always been governed as if we were a two-party system. By this I mean, Canada has always been ruled by one of two parties - the Liberal or Conservative (although an argument could be made that the present Conservative Party of Canada is a distinct party from that of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada - whatever). I don't think this takes aways from the legitimacy of Canada's standing as a multi-party system at all. Parties that have representatives elected to the House of Commons still influence the direction of the government, and the legislation that it creates regardless of whether their party is in power. In my opinion Canada needs a multi-party system to properly reflect the regionality of the nation, and the different political perspectives that exist.

That being said, I think I am in the minority. From what I have witnessed, both the Canadian government and the Canadian public are terrified of a functioning multi-party system. For some reason minority governments are feared in Canada. I don't understand this. Minority governments may be the most blatant demonstration of representative democracy in our political system. Minority governments more greatly reflect the voting diversity of Canadians and party support in terms of popular vote than any majority government ever could. Opponents of minority governments argue that they aren't useful, because little gets accomplished, and there is always the threat of an impending election. I would argue in return that multi-party systems and minority governments exist all around the world, and they are fully functioning. The difference between those systems and Canada? The formation of official coalitions are common in other multi-party systems while Canadians/ the government of Canada seems to abhor such a thought.

The other argument of the fear of impending elections, I don't disagree with. I am a supporter of fixed election dates. Coalition governments last for four years in Norway. I am especially a supporter of fixed election dates as I witness the circus of Canadian politics at this present time. Harper and the Conservatives attempting to bully the other parties into submission with the threat of an election is pile of garbage. You people were voted for, so do your work and quit crying wolf. But fixed elections dates is another topic for another time.

So I've started knitting again. I finished the sweater I started in Hong Kong in January. I was having some issues with the collar so I stopped working on it. Last night I decided to turn the collar into a hood and now it is finished. It is presently being blocked, so I will have photos to post ina few days. I like it. It's more of a jacket than a sweater. It think I went a little button crazy with it though. So now I have two other projects to start on. Both are gifts for people who occasionally read this blog, so I will have to put off posting photos of them for some time.

2007-03-16T05:49:00.000-05:00

I found a dead gecko in the kitchen sink this morning.

The Sun will come out

2007-03-15T01:44:00.000-05:00

Thank you for everyone who responded to my Canadian political poll. Your contributions were most appreciated (especially yours Tara - I think you gave me a good picture of what is going on). Also Uncle Clare - I have been trying to follow every Sens game so I was aware of the third period collapses. The postive aspect of those games was that we came out with points from them all. Still not wins though, which is what we need to win a cup. Although, the game against the Rangers does offer some hope.

I know I've been really vague with what I've been doing for work. So I'll try to further explain it. My official position title is English Editor for NCFAW (National Committee for the Advancement of Women in Vietnam). NCFAW is a pretty powerful organization. They are essentially a wing of the government, and their main purpose is to influence national legislation in regards to gender equality and the advancement of women. They are in direct contact with the Prime Minister, as well as other ministries and non governmental organizations, working to create a cohesive strategy for gender equality/ advancement. NCFAW is also very active in regional and international organizations, such as ASEAN, APEC, UNIFEM etc.

My main function within NCFAW is to edit anything that has been written in English (thus the title English editor...). However, sometimes this role is expanded to writing proposals, responding to emails or writing anything that needs to happen in English. Unfortunately there isn't always a lot to do. NCFAW's main task at the moment is focusing on the upcoming National Assembly election in May. They have set a target of 30% for female representation of elected candidates. They are working on setting up a number of workshops to train potential candidates (election campaigns do not last as long here as in Canada, or the USA - for crying outloud, who needs to start an election campaign nearly two years in advance?). Obvsiously all of this is done in the Vietnamese language, and thus all my skills are rendered useless. I usually bring a book to read, so that I have something to fill my hours where tasks are not presented to me. I am however working on a few things, such as preparing a budget proposal for an ASEAN workshop on domestic violence. I have been learning a lot though, so I'm valuing the experience. I just wish I could be slightly more productive.

Today is the first sunny day in Ha Noi in about the last two weeks. It just kept raining, and raining, but it wasn't even raining hard it was just misting. The air was so damp that there was no point in doing laundry because clothes wouldn't dry. In the last two days it got so bad that all the floors in offices/ houses started sweating. I mean it looked like people were trying to wash the floor, but they weren't. It was just so damp that everything was wet. All the wood (bannisters, stairs, doors) at the MCC office was soaked. I came home from work one day, put my hand on the bannister to go upstairs and was completely weirded out for it to be damp sticky-like. Last night I fell on the floor in the kitchen (much to the amusment of Renee and Laura) because it was so wet. Needless to say the dampness has not made Ha Noi smell too pretty. The street I live off of is essentially an open market, and there are interesting enough smells there as it is. But they just permeated everything when it was damp. I have been told by ex-pats who have lived here for a few years, that sometimes winter is so bad that your clothes will grow mold, and the only way to get rid of it is to boil your clothing... It's a strange place.

Last night when I was coming home from work, I was passing through the market. Now my market sells all kinds of food and it's not uncommon to see live poultry, or raw poultry, or cooked poultry. There is always fresh pork, including the feet and frequently the head, and often fresh beef. It's just a mess of bloody meat everywhere. Yesterday I had the privilege of seeing dog. Dog is considered a specialty meat here, so it's presence isn't so frequent in the market. However, people's consumption of dog increases in the last half of the calendar month and the lunar month. So sitting among the rest of the meat, was a cooked dog, chopped up in pieces. I should note that they cook animals whole here, so the dog head was sitting staring at all that walked by. I actually found it marginally entertaining. Little surprises me anymore. That being said, I'm starting to enjoy purchasing my fresh fruit and vegetables from my market. For the most part I don't get overcharged, and my limited Vietnamese has expanded to include numbers so I actually understand what price I'm supposed to be paying.

Here are a few pictures of dinner from my supervisor's house. Enjoy the sight of the big pile of chicken feet.

The mess you left when you went away

2007-03-11T05:30:00.000-05:00

It was weird to come home today. There's no one here but me. I guess I kind of got used to sharing a bed with someone, and having someone else sleeping on the floor. But now it's just me, and really I'm ok with that. I had fun with Pam and Candace, but I think I was/ am a bit peopled out. I need LOTS of space and alone time. Still, if anyone would like to come visit you are more than welcome.

I feel like I have writer's block. What did I used to write about all the time when I was in Hong Kong? Maybe I just haven't felt overly inspired since my arrival in Vietnam. I'm not sure. Regardless life in Vietnam is still going very well. I've been here almost two months. That's a little crazy. It also means that I'll be back in Winnipeg in a little more than 4 months. I feel like I've been really busy since I came to Ha Noi. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because there are alot more people to spend time with and I watch far less tv. I feel tired.

I don't quite understand myself and my relationship with the emotion/feeling/expression of excitement. I generally don't get excited, however there are some significant exceptions to this rule of which Hockey seems to be the standard. I can't believe the regular season is almost over. I think the Senators have 13 games left. One more month and it's play-off time. I am going to be so disappointed with my lack of access to hockey during the play-offs. Games broadcasted on the radio over the internet can only do so much. I will miss the feeling of just sitting on the couch in front of the television watching a double-header and screaming. I love hockey.

Wow, my lack inspiration is unnervingly evident. So I will end this with a poll for all my readers. Leave your response in the form of a comment.

Will there be a federal election called before summer?
If yes, then when? If no, how much longer will the government last?

I feel completely out of the loop in regards to Canadian politics. That is a very, very wrong feeling for me.

Bre, what song is my title from?

Thank goodness I no longer use cameras that require film

2007-03-06T05:09:00.000-06:00

I am annoyed with Vietnam.

I am annoyed with its stupid ability to be so freaking photogenic. Do you know how many photos of rice fields and mountains I now have? And the thing is that everytime I see a new one, I want to take another picture. So everyone who reads my blog is now subjected to staring at my inadequate representations of a truly stunning country.

Following up on my previous post, Candace and I spent last Friday night in Mai Chau, along with some other people from my church and MCC. Mai Chau is an ethnic minority area about 3 hours (135 kms - I'm still getting used to the fact that 135 kms equals 3 hours of driving...) from Ha Noi. We were able to stay in stilt houses, in the middle of beautiful rice fields in the valley of some mountains. It was wonderful. I think it might have been the most peaceful night of sleep I have had since coming to Vietnam (apart from my hacking cough that woke me up periodically). The food was good. The fellowship was great. The air was clean. The scenery was amazing. All in all it was a good experience. So enjoy some of the following pictures of this great experience.

We returned to Hanoi in the late afternoon on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Candace and I had the privilege of waking up at 4 AM. We travelled to a festival about 2.5 hours from Ha Noi where there was water buffalo fighting. It was great. Water buffalo are usually pretty placid animals, so seeing them fighting was quite entertaining. Of the four matches we saw, the fights ranged anywhere from about 45 seconds in length to 45 minutes. It was pretty intense. There were 24 water buffalo, and the losers of the matches on the first day (the day we were there - it was a two day festival) got slaughtered immediately. So at lunch time we ate buffalo #24. You can see him fighting in one of my photos. He tasted really good. The third and fourth matches got a little crazy, because some people are stupid. There were too many people in the stadium and not everyone could see, so people started jumping over the fence into the ring. I'm not sure what would posess someone to want to be in a ring where two water buffalo are charging at one another, and I'm not sure why you would allow your 6 year old child to come with you. Regardless, by the fourth match, there were probably 300 people in the ring. The MC tried to get them to leave, but there wasn't enough security to enforce it. So 300 people stood in the ring while the buffalo fought. I should explain, that when one buffalo decides he doesn't want to fight anymore, he runs away. This prompts the victorious water buffalo to chase the loser around the ring until their trainers get them caught. So envision this. Two water buffalo weighing close to 1000 lbs each (if not more) chasing each other around a ring, with 300 people in it. That's what we call chaos. You know the footage of human stampedes you've seen on the news? It was kind of like that. I tried to get it on video tape, but I wasn't fast enough. You would have really enjoyed it. Oh well, you get to see a few photos instead. The middle photo is of the ring full of people, while a fight it going on. Stupid People...

Tomorrow morning I have another early morning. I'm going Chinese border shopping with the MCC staff, and we leave at 6 am. By Chinese border shopping I do not mean we are crossing the border to China. Instead we are just going to a town near the border where cheap Chinese imports can be purchased. I envision it kind of being like a giant dollar store market.

If anyone wants to follow my sister's (Pam) journey through Vietnam, with a week in Cambodia, you can access it from the links to the right, or click here. She likes comments too.

Sa Pa

2007-03-01T07:12:00.000-06:00

Alright, time for an update. Things have been going well. Candace arrived a week ago yesterday and times have been pretty busy since then. I think this post is going to be more of an event recap than anything. Thursday night we took the train to Sa Pa. I was wrong; it was a ten hour trip and not a six hour trip. There are four classes of travel on Vietnamese trains. There are Soft Sleepers which are rooms that sleep four people. Everyone has a bed (two bunk beds), and a mattress. There are also hard sleepers. I think there are 6 people to a room in hard sleepers, and there are no mattresses, but there is still a place to sleep. Soft Seats are roughly the equivalent to traveling economy on trains in Canada. Then there are hard seats. Hard seats are essentially a park bench. Candace and I took hard seats to Sa Pa because those were the only tickets left. Now I really can't complain about the hard seats because round-trip tickets were under $10 US each, so that's a pretty good bargain. However, hard seats are not the most conducive for sleeping, especially when the train is overbooked and people are sitting on plastic stools in the middle of the aisle. Still, the trip there was fine. We both managed to sleep decently, although I joined those on the floor to do so at one point. Seriously stretching out on the floor in the aisle for that 1.5 hours was the best sleep I got that night. After our train trip we took a bus up the mountain to Sa Pa. We had a lovely little hotel, and we just relaxed and had a good time.

Sa Pa is an ethnic minority area in Vietnam. The ethnic minority peoples are somewhat comparable to Aboriginal peoples in Canada, although they are not necessarily the indigenous people of Vietnam. Still Sa Pa is home to I think 7 different minority groups. It's situated high in the mountains and has some wonderful views. Candace and I were there from Friday morning until Monday night, and most of those days we went trekking through the minority villages with a local guide. We had fun but we got REALLY sore. Prairie legs are not built for 6 hours of hill climbing/descending. There were lots of good handicrafts to buy as the minority groups specialize in a lot of textiles. I have never seen so many hemp products in my life, and for considerably much cheaper than the Hemp Store at the Forks in Winnipeg. Sometimes it was a little annoying to have women in your face all the time trying to sell you things. I think the most common English phrase was "Buy from me" which was used by girls as young as 3, very elderly women and everyone in between. We went to a market on Sunday in Bac Ha, which about 100 KM from Sa Pa, and home to the Flower H'Mong people. It was crazy busy, selling everything you could imagine, including jugs of potent, rice wine. We headed home on the train Monday night, and I started to puke around midnight. I spent the next 5 hours vomiting in a squatty toilet. I've definitely had more fun before. It got to the point where I just sat on the floor outside of the toilet so that I wouldn't have to climb over people every 20 minutes when I needed to use it. Needless to say I called in sick on Tuesday as the stomach issues continued until that night. It was quite fun. Now, I just have a weird cough, that's really dry but phlegm-y. It doesn't make much sense.

So tonight Candace and I are joining a group from my church and going to another ethnic minority area about 3 hours from Ha Noi. I think we're doing a home-stay (staying at their house in the village), but I'm really not sure what's happening because my involvement in it is pretty last minute. It still should be fun. Pam arrives tomorrow night. Then on Sunday Candace and I are going to some festival that has bull-fighting. I can't say that I ever really associated the sport of bull-fighting with Vietnam or Vietnamese people, but this year is all about correcting me on my stereotypes and associations. Candace and Pam have planned to go to Halong Bay, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, from Tuesday to Thursday of next week. Wednesday it looks like I get another day off work to go to the Chinese border with the MCC staff. I guess MCC Vietnam takes a group holiday for International Women's Day. I'm not complaining.

I don't really have too much to say right now. Enjoy the random photos. I don't feel like captioning them all. There are far too many.

My tricia@ehmail address seems to be having a few issues at present. If you want to e-mail me please send it to both the tricia@ehmail and tricanada@gmail. If you have recently e-mailed me and I have not responded I've probably lost your address [Carolyn].

2007-02-27T00:11:00.000-06:00

We are back. Sa Pa was great. I have the flu, and was sick almost the entire 10 hour train ride back to Ha Noi. That doesn't work well with a swaying train and squatty toilets. I'll post photos and an update soon.

Photo Overload

2007-02-19T23:33:00.000-06:00

There is a warning for anyone who hates my photos, or has a REALLY slow computer. There are far too many photos in this post. It might take hours to load.

Tet (Lunar New Year) has been good. My vacation technically started on Friday, February 16th, but we went home at 10 am on the Thursday. Since then most of my days have consisted of visiting local MCC staff and eating too much food. On Saturday (new years day), Renee, Ruth, Lowell and I went for a motorbike ride into the countryside. We left at 7:30 am and got back to Hanoi after 3pm. It was a good day, but my butt was a little sore the next day. Many of the photos are from that day.

My mother will be shocked by the following statement. I think I've become a morning person. Now, by saying I'm a morning person I don't mean that I enjoy getting out of bed in the morning. It's still an exercise in self-discipline to get myself up, but rather I think I'm a morning person by default. I'm not a night person, so I guess that means I'm morning person. Since coming to Vietnam, most mornings I'm out of bed well before 6:30, and sometimes as early as 5am. I do go to bed equally as early, usually before 10 pm and sometimes as early as 8:30pm. I'm not sure that I can express to you the wonders of going to bed at 8:30pm just because you feel like it. But once I'm out of bed early in the morning, I like the feeling. I like the way the air feels, the smells, seeing the streets starting to get busy, and best of all, I like that I can accomplish things before I go to work. It's good times.

Candace comes to visit me on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to that. I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday, Februray 27th (I got three extra days for her visit) so we're going to head to Sa Pa. Sa Pa is an ethnic minority area in the mountains about 400 kms from Ha Noi. It takes 6 hours by train and then two hours by bus to get there. The downside to our trip is that Candace arrives at 10:30 am on Thursday after an incredibly heinous flight itinery, and we depart for Sa Pa that night at 10pm. I also was unable to get us sleepers, so Candace gets to be super jet-lagged, sitting on a hard wooden bench on a super crowded train with her best friend for six hours. What better way is there to travel? I think she'll hate me by the time it's over. However, the tickets only cost the equivalent of $10 US each for the round trip. So perhaps the price will appeal to the Mennonite in her...

Did I mention that it's stinking hot here? It's been high-20s to low 30's for the last week and a half or so. It's February. It normally isn't this warm until May. The level of humidity has been picking up too. I've been sweating walking to the corner. I have a sunburn/windburn from my motorbike ride. I'm not sure I'll make it through the summer.

This is what a rice field looks like.

When we went on our motorbike ride on Lunar New Year's Day, these little kids were so excited to see white people that they waited by their front gate for us to come back.

Pretty things

Our visit to an MCC local staff person's home in the countryside. There were lots of kids.

My special friend. He was so cute.

This has to be my most favourite Asian fruit so far. It's called dragon fruit and it's yummy. I ate this whole thing soon after the photos.