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.