Happy Natal Day!

Hello everyone. I'm sorry but its one of those times when I'm just having to much fun to take the time to write about it on my blog. I've finished one class, and the next one hasn't really got going yet; and it's a long weekend. So happy Natal Day to you all (what is that, anyway?) and I'll post pictures on Tuesday. (P.S. Kathy, I know you need to know how to get to the airport, I'll call you -it's easier than emailing)

Dum-de-do

Hello - nothing new. I'm finished organizing the powerpoint for our group presentation for the last day of Human Rights class tommorrow. I think it's quite a good powerpoint, although I still vividly remember being docked points in my freshman public speaking class for having too much going on visually in my "Fairtrade Coffee" powerpoint. But really, you can't have too many pictures of African genocide or United Nations peacekeepers can you? (Our presentation is entitled: "Sovereignty versus the responsibility to protect).

I started my next summer class last night, but for a few reasons I am throughly unimpressed and am partially considering dropping it (depending on the financial benefits!) We'll see.

It's genetics

Alright, here's the thing. I finished that take-home essay, but am currently focused entirely on getting ready for a group presentation on Friday. I voluteered to coordinate the powerpoint. Silly me. Anyway, so I'm way behind in emails and intelligent blog posts, but it'll just have to wait.

So, in the mean time, two very interesting tidbits of information for you:

1. The cleanest stall in any washroom is the one closest to the door. It's been scientifically proven that if there is a row of three toliets, most people coming in the door will go to the middle. It's true, Ive been testing it out.

2. You know how Kathy, Dad, and I all sneeze when we walk out of a building into the sun. That's called the Photic Sneeze Reflex (PSR), and it affects 10% of the population, to varying degrees. (We have the classic case.) "One theory holds that a person's wires get crossed, and sometimes impulses on the optic nerves triggerd by the light source hop to the cranial nerves that control sneezing." (Real Simple Magazine) Oh, and it's in your genetics, so that's why Kathy, Dad and I have it, but Mom doesn't.

For the visual learners...

This is the Parrsboro wharf when the tide is in.



This is when the tide is out. Notice the difference.
(Thanks to Aunt Dorie for the "in" shot!)

My room

So cute, eh? I've always been a fan of dorm rooms, so I'm quite comfortable. Compared to my last dorm room in Meadows at Huntington, this is a jail cell! Which got me to thinking, out of everyone I know, I think I would be the most contented to live in jail. Weird thought, huh?

So the only thing you don't see is a small wardrobe and sink in the right hand corner. And that clothes rack is really three times what is shown, mammoth is not an exagerration! It fit all of my clothes from two load of laundry. Lovely. Finally, good news- paper's done, I'm quite happy with it. However, I have the same kind of nervous feeling I had when I turned in my first paper freshman year; I did my best but I have no idea how it will stack up and what grade I'll get. Here's hoping the grading isn't too different from Huntington.

Halifax houses

By the university, all the houses seem to look like this. Old, but well kept up, with the loveliest selection of paint jobs. For those of you who have seen my bookcase, all my houses look a lot like all of the ones here.

A little too bright for my taste

This house is right across the street from my new favorite coffeeshop. I give them bonus points for being distintive, it certainly stands out from all the blue, green, and burgandy houses.

Pretty Bank

This is a Bank of Nova Scotia, in an old round brick building with a cupola on top. Pretty, eh?

Hard Work

No pictures today, I've been very good at working steadily on my papers. Now I'm at the library to print off all ten pages. You might say, Good Job Carole!, but no, the paper is only supposed to be 5 - 7 pages, so I still have a lot of cutting and proofreading to do. I'm on schedule though. The whole intensive course thing isn't that bad, even if I had this take-home for two weeks, I would have probably still done it the weekend before, right? (=

Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

This is my favorite picture I took today. I have no idea what kind of flower it is, and whether its supposed to look like that, or if it's dead. I don't care - it's beautiful!

A Morning Stroll

Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. ~Walt Whitman

So, technically I probably should have spent the entire day strapped down to my desk working on the take home essay that's due Monday. But I'm glad I didn't! I woke up, took my backpack, and headed down to Keith's Brewery for the Saturday morning Farmer's Market. To get there, I walked through a huge old graveyard, and then the Halifax Public Gardens. That's a rather mundane name for such a place of beauty - the guide book says that it's the best example of a Victorian garden in Canada. I wandered slowly around, trying not to disturb the sleeping ducks. And I couldn't help but take a bunch of pictures; it was morning, but overcast and rainy, so the light was nice. I did eventually get to the Market, which was huge and overwhelming, so I forgot to take a picture. I had a relaxing lunch and a quick stop at Roots which secured me a great pair of jeans and khakis for deep discount. Lovely Saturday. Can I just say again how much I like it here! Sorry, Kathy, but last night I got to see "What Not to Wear" and tonight is "Monarch of the Glen." (=

Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul. ~The Koran

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into. ~Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity. ~John Ruskin

I will be the gladdest thing

Under the sun!

I will touch a hundred flowers

And not pick one.

~Edna St. Vincent Millay

"Afternoon on a Hill"

Sweet

So, I've been getting emails from Kathy, and I think she's reached the end of her cultural sensitivity. Something about the six month point, but she's started to be tempted to hit Taiwanese women over the head with her umbrella (only if provoked). I'm just glad I'm here, everyone is SO polite. I'll be 10 steps behind someone, and they will wait, holding the door open for me to go through. And it's not just one well-mannered person, it's happened three times today!

And last night, I went for a swim after class, then to the library for 2 hours of research before it closed at 9. Then I walked to the Oxford Theatre, which is a movie theatre that was built in 1937. I went to see the last night of Ladies in Lavender, which was recommended by multiple family members. It was a lovely film, on it's own merit, but made even better by the fancy old theatre, and the fact that Freddie Jones was in it. Freddie Jones lived in Charlbury, the villiage we lived in near Oxford. We would pass his old house every day we walked in to classes. And for the Valentine's Day party, he came in his cordorys and turtleneck to read poems to us. His performance was incredible, I remember his deep rolling voice vividly. So I so enjoyed seeing him play the crazy old fisherman in the movie.

PIckle Barrell

This was only 10 days ago, although it seems like so much longer. I was only in Toronto for about a day and a half, but I got the two most important things done - meeting up with Michelle (you saw the picture with the two of us and Chairman the cat), and meeting up with Heidi. Heidi was my Oxford roommate, fellow member of the made-up Beta Phi Gamma sorority, and travelling companion to Venice. We had a wonderful time in Spring of 2004, and I was so excited that she could drive up to Toronto so we could visit. We caught up over breakfast at the Pickle Barrell, and then went on an H&M shopping spree (Heidi loves to shop too). We talked all about her upcoming wedding, (Congrats!) and made elaborate schemes to travel Asia together (it could happen!)

Reading in the Dining Room

Mom wanted Grammie to be able to read my novel, so I brought my one and only printed copy back from Taiwan. It needed to escape the humidity anyway, or the paper cover wouldn't have made it. So, Grammie sat down and started reading. She didn't tell me what she thought of it, but she read the whole thing in two days, I think!

Different Shades!

This picture makes me smile. It's my mom and aunt heading out of Grammie's driveway to walk down the street to the Mapleton United Church. Don't they look like sisters? That will be Kathy and I some day. We were all headed out to the Strawberry Supper.

Party in the Basement

I'm trying not to overlap too much with the photos that are on the Gilroy family site, but I just think this one tells a good story. This is the basement of the church, were the church members hold their famous Strawberry Supper. We were not disappointed. The food was all homemade (including the bread, which I ate at least 4 pieces of!) The dinner choices were baked beans or chop suey (I still don't understand where that name came from), and of course it was finished off with fresh strawberrys on a homemade biscuit with real whipped cream. Yum! Is your mouth watering?

I added the little Nova Scotia Weather Pixie to the sidebar a week ago, so that we could all be shocked by how cold it was in Halifax compared to Taipei. Now, my two little weather pixies have almost the same temperature and are dressed alike. How can this be! Actually, I'm not too upset, this 'heatwave' in Halifax is still a chilly November day in Taipei. I'm still carrying my fleece everywhere just in case. And I know this heat and humidity streak will end, then hopefully we'll get back to the high of 23 temperatures that I was expecting for the summer.

Still going back a week, this is me in Debert, Nova Scotia, walking the rails. Now, there's a reason for this, Debert was where my grandmother lived as a child. Actually, her father ran the Debert railway station, and she lived right at the station. My mom said that her mom told them stories about being a little girl, and having to go to the washroom. She would have to leave her room and walk all the way down the platform to the washroom at the other end. She was so embarrased because she felt all the people who were waiting for the train knew exactly where she was going!

Lesson of the Day

Here's your little Nova Scotia tidbit for today. Did you know that Parrsboro, Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world (that is the most change between high tide and low tide)? So it's always fun to go walk on the ocean floor when the tide is out. This picture shows how far the tide has gone, and you can see the little person in the foreground, digging for clams in the still damp ground. I actually took this picture to show the rock, it's one of those rocks with a puzzle. If you look at it one way you see an old fisherman and if you look at it the other way you see a young woman with a bonnet. I definately see it. (=

Hay Bales (I thought it looked funny!)

A fun family afternoon

For entertainment in Mapleton, we played games. This is a game called Authors that is a twist on Go Fish. You try to collect 4 "books"/ cards by the same author. It's an old game, I think Mom said she played it when she was a kid? Anyway, every time we visited Nova Scotia, we had to play Authors. Mom eventually bought us our own set for home, but the illustrations were new, so it wasn't quite the same.

Close Up

My theory is that if I hadn't played Authors so much in my developmental years, I probably wouldn't have been an English major. It certainly cultivated a love of literature. Or at least a level of greed to acquire books.

Contact Info

For those of you that asked, my address in Halifax is:

Carole Nickle
Risley Hall
1233 LeMarchant St.
Halifax, NS B3H 3P6

and I believe my direct phone number is (902) 344-1485. But that's from memory, so maybe mom or dad could confirm that in the comments section. Oh, and if you send mail, send it right away, I'm only at that dorm for one month.

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Well, taking pictures at Peggy's Cove is something of a competition among photographers, I think. Or at least Canadian photographers. It's not that big of a spot, and it's the most photographed spot in Canada. Every subsequent photographer that comes has to try to find something new, or something at least somewhat special to make their lighthouse shot unique from all the other lighthouse shots. Mom and Dad were happy to take a trip out to Peggy's Cove on our first evening in Halifax. First rule of photography, shoot in morning or evening light. Anyway, I don't think I'll be winning any competitions, but I'll share with you some of my favorite shots. I didn't even try to get good photos of the fishing boats, my Aunt Dorie has an incredible Boat at Peggy's Cove shot that is hanging in the living room.

Oh, and I've made myself not take any more pictures, because I have shots from Toronto, Mapleton and Parrsboro still to put on. After I get caught up, then I'll try to show you how beautiful Halifax is.

I have no more time to catch you up on my life. Although this human rights course isn't hard, persay, it's 'intensive' which means you squish a semester's worth of classes into two weeks. This means I have lots of reading to do tonight, as well as working on a group presentation and a research paper proposal due friday!

Top of Lighthouse

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Enjoying the Sunset

Dad and Mom, enjoying the view of the sunset from Peggy's Cove.

Peggy's Cove

Fishing Sheds

Sunset at Peggy's Cove

On a Scale of 1 -10...It's a 10.

I'm as pleased as punch to be happily settled in Halifax for the rest of the summer. Being home in Canada makes me feel very settled and relaxed. Having a new city to explore and weeks of academic challenges in front of me makes me giddy with anticipation. In short, I'm estatic. (=

The dorm is lovely, the classes are going to be right at the right level, and the computers in the library are quite happy to get my pictures off my USB flash onto my blog. So, you'll be hearing lots from me this summer, with accompanying pictures.

If you are only really interested in my experiences in Taiwan, check back in September, when I will (hopefully) be glad to return to my teaching job in Taipei.

Another School, Another Class

Well, I've become a bit of an academic conossiour. Why go to one school when you can take classes at a bunch? This is my fifth university to take classes at. I think this might end up being one of my favorites. Why? Well, the campus is right downtown, walking distance to everything including the harbour. Yet, it's really compact. At Huntington, I'd have to walk 10 minutes to get from my dorm to some of my classes. Here, it's two minutes from the dorm to the library, or the Student Union Building or the classrooms. Nice.

Oh, and Dalhousie was founded in 1818, which trumps Huntington's 1898. (=

My class, which you will hear more about later, is a seminar of 20 mixed graduate and undergraduate students. So it's basically like my Huntington classes, in size and level of discussion. Of course, I've said nothing so far, I'm just trying to get used to hearing so many people talking English at one time! I blame it on the cultural transition, although I can only use that excuse for so long.

The View

Halifax is a beautiful city, obviously designed for tourists in the summer. The waterfront has a well developed boardwalk with a plethora of outdoor patios on piers. We ate at one, and enjoyed watching the sunset over the others.

Evening's Entertainment

So, we wanted something cheap and fun for our evenings entertainment. After much deliberation, the decision was a ferry across the harbour. Halifax is only a stone's throw away from the city of Dartmouth across the river. So the commuter ferry gives a nice view of the two cities skylines. This is Dad and Mom enjoying the view.

The Halifax Harbour

The view of the harbor, taken from the ferry. The sun was setting, and just moments later the fog started to roll in. It was a fascinating shade of pinky violet.

So long, no post

Sorry it's been quiet so long, you wouldn't think finding internet access would be a problem in Canada, but I've been struggling.

To make a long story short, I'm at a computer lab on the Dalhousie campus that closes in 5 minutes. Here's the rundown:

LOVE: Halifax. First impressions: beautiful, small city, where people walk places and the houses are all painted various pastel hues.
LOVE: Dalhousie. I had my first class this afternoon (it's an almost 4 hour class, 5 days a week!) We started our discussion of human rights by watching a documentary on the Rwandan genocide. It's going to be a fascinating class, I was enthralled by both the movie and the very enlightened discussion that followed. I've missed the classroom so much.

What do you think? Shall my light and fluffy Taiwan blog be bogged down by discussions of all that I'm learning? We shall see, we shall see.

Southhampton Baptist Church Picnic

This is my future. (=

"The Aunts": Aunt Dorie, Mom (Edie), and Aunt Evelyn. (Missing, my namesake Aunt Carole). Those four sisters remind me of all the Gilroy quirks that I have inherited. Their visits to this blog probably also make up half the blog counter!

There has also been a kind reminder of my spelling mistakes. So, I have given permission to them to post any errors they see in the comments. You all can join in , if it floats your boat. I don't mind and I won't take it personally!

Crokinole: A Classic Gilroy Game

This is Kathleen: I have nothing better to do than help Carole with her blog! I got these pictures off our Gilroy family website (That's Mom's side of the family). So this is crokinole: I'm not sure if it's popular elsewhere, but it's a mandatory skill in the Maritimes.

Strawberries in Grammie's Kitchen

Another picture of Carole's. She's the one taking pictures instead of doing work!

Well I'm sorry but you may need to wait a week or so for pictures. I am simply too busy cramming fun and relaxation into a very short time frame and dial-up is not accomadating. It's been a lovely day, with two hours of dedicated strawberry work to turn three flats of strawberries into the winter supply.

Then there was a rather exciting 6-hand crokinole game. Dad, Aunt Evelyn, and Grammie won hands down. Mom was too nervous about getting it wrong, and I am admittedly too non-chalant in setting up my play.

We went to the Mapleton Stawberry Supper for dinner. You'll really have to see the picture to get the sense of the down-home nature of the church basement full of friendly country folk. The food was delicious, and there was even a band tucked away in the corner. Worlds away from Toronto and worlds away from Taiwan.

Next on my to-do list is to get all the stuff I bought out of the shopping bags and repacked into my suitcase.

Then the sun-porch beckons; "I long to be out in the sun with no work to be done." - Irving Berlin

Nova Scotia

So, I'm in Nova Scotia, worlds away from Taiwan. Perhaps I should change the name of my blog for the summer. Nah, too much trouble. I have my ticket back to Taipei at the end of August, but I'm going to do everything possible to fully enjoy my 'vacation' in Nova Scotia this summer and not waste any energy thinking about going back for the fall.

Right now, I'm at my Grandmother's house, full of wonderful memories. I can think of no more relaxing place in the world. It's full of cats and pictures of cats, the beds all have deep crevices in the middle that are rather tricky to roll out of, the view from the window is hummingbirds on the feeder, the small white country church, and the bluberry hills. The job for today is taking three flats of strawberries and washing, hulling, and cutting them to eat all winter. I'll put a picture on later.

Mao, Me and Michelle

This is from Monday, July 11, when I spent the evening with Michelle. I forgot my camera, can you imagine, so Michelle was nice enough to take lots and send them to me. This is Michelle's wonderful kitty, Chairman Mao, Me, and Michelle. The internet here is dial-up, so I'll put more pictures on if I get a chance.

Bonjour!

So, I`m currently in Quebec. It`s quite an odd sensation to go from being surrounded by Chinese to being surrounded by French so quickly. For those of you who aren`t Canadian, yes, everyone really does speak French in Quebec, although it`s all bilingual, so it`s much easier to get around.

I totally didn`t leave enough time to`do` Toronto. I flew in Monday morning, had appointments all day, met with Michelle monday night. Then I spent Tuesday morning with Heidi and Mom, Dad and I left to start driving to Nova Scotia tuesday afternoon. I didn`t have time to even look at my room, and I forgot to get my last Huntington yearbook to look at (probably not missing much, but heh). And I throughly loved seeing Michelle and Heidi, but it seemed way too short. It took Claire and I ten days of talking non-stop to catch up, I need to same with cousins and Oxford-buddies. It makes me sad that I live so far away from my friends and family.

On a side note, I had a shopping spree. Or at least as close to a shopping spree as I`ll get on my own money. I brought very few clothes from Taipei, and I decided it was okay to buy lots. Actually, I am in the process of composing an ode to H&M. Anyone want to guess how much I spend total, or how much I spent just at H&M? To preface it, Ì used to just shop at Value Villiage and other used clothing stores, and probably never spent more than $30 or $40 at one time.

Alright, I should get back to the lovely Days Inn Continential Breakfast.

Halfway there

Well, I made it to the LA airport. I suppose that's half way there. I was so happy to leave Taipei. In fact, I couldn't even wait to get out of the aiport. I felt like people kept invading my space amd trying to take advantage of me (it's cultural). The flight was enjoyable - I sat and watched movie after movie. I recommend "The Love Song of Bobby Long" starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johanasson, which I had not heard of, but which made me cry.

Well, the US government still has me listed as a student, so I had to go sit in a waiting room with a bunch of suspicious looking characters. The customs people were all very jovial, which suprised me. The guy suggested i always leave extra time for transit, because he says it will be years before I get cleared out of their system.

Being in the US is more of a shock than I thought it would be. I think part of it is that I have so many different memories of trips coming and going through here. All the corners our groups were shuffled into and told to stay. The bad memories of group travel and unfamiliar jetlag. Just the fact that everyone around me is mostly caucasian and mostly speaking English is startling. Every interaction I have had with the counter staff and store clerks has seemed so friendly and personal. After Taipei, everyone in LA seems down-home friendly!

I'm still anxious to be back in Canada. I almost laughed when they told me there was a problem with my student visa, because I felt like saying "I spent four years in this country - you couldn't pay me to sneak back in!" In Canada everyone will be even more polite, and no one will invade my personal space, or so I hope.

Good Morning!

Good Morning! Actually, if you're on the East Coast, you know it's a little past good morning. Yes, according to my newly adopted time zone, I slept in. How did I manage that? THe wonders of Gravol. Well, I went to sleep at 6:30am Taipei time, 6:30 pm EST. I put on my comfy eyemask and ear plugs and went right to sleep. Then, next thing I knew, there was a sound at my door, I sat up, pulled out my ear plugs and paranoidly whispered "who's there?" Well, it was Kathy making sure I was alive before she went to sleep. I couldn't believe it, it was 11pm Taipei time. I slept for about 16 hours. That's good though, because I have a lot of packing to do 'today' and then one more 'night's' sleep before I leave.

Oh, and this was a picture I took when I was bored. It was awhile ago, but I thought it went with the post title. I fuzzed the edges a little, but the color isn't touched.

A question of time

I love travelling but I am beginning to hate time zones. I'm doing the whole 12 zones on the way back to Canada this weekend. So my body is debating whether it believes it is 4:32 am or 4:32 pm. I thought I'd try something new this time, and start adjusting ahead of time. It's not like I have much to do these last few days in Taiwan, so I'm staying up at night and sleeping during the day - that's the plan. Last night I made it till 5am, and slept pretty much till 1pm. A little bit longer tonight and I should be close to ready. See, I only have about 24 hours in Toronto, and it's full up of appointments, shopping, and catching up with two wonderful friends (can't wait, michelle and heidi!) I'd hate to spend the one day I have half-asleep or feeling yucky. So a little pain now will hopefully pay off. And of course, I can just use it as an excuse for a steady stream of Tim Horton's coffee. Visions of timbits dance in my head. I'm counting down - 52 hours until I fly off.

Which reminds me, Real Live Preacher has an interesting essay loosely associated with time zones, considering what our faith is based on. Turtles All the Way Down

Check out the Carole and Claire Taiwan Adventure photoblog! Actually, only check it out if you have a big chunk of time. Maybe take it in a couple sittings. It's not exactly consise! Really, it's more for us than for you all, but I'll share if you'd find it interesting.

 

A summer afternoon rain. 

Green Island boat.