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My first view of the Rockies

Well, I finally made it to Canada's west coast. Took me long enough. The Rockies were beautiful from the plane window. I did think it odd that I saw the Himalayas, Andes, and Alps before the Rockies!

Vancouver Skyline

This is the Vancouver skyline. Since I had such a short time there (less than 24 hours) I decided to swallow my pride and just take a tour. I got to see the downtown, Stanley Park, Granville Island, Yaletown, etc. It took up the entire afternoon.

Lighthouse

That Rock Person Thingy

Dominion Hotel

After trapising around the city for a few hours, it was time to find my hotel, which was right downtown. I had debated forking out tons of money for a 'real hotel', because I had no desire to stay in another hostel, however I found the Dominion Hotel on hostelworld.com and decided to give it a try. It cost $70 a night! A lot more than a hostel. Still, I was attracted to it, because the description said that each room was unique and decorated by a different local artist.

When I checked in, the reception and hallways seemed scarily rundown. I think it used to be a halfway house. Anyway, the actual hotel was much nicer, and I had to read all the different bios outside each door. I got a room designed by Vicky Alexander, and it had circular cut-outs of sky on white walls, with black curtians, a white duvet, etc. And my own washroom attached, definitely better than a hostel. Full cable on the tv, and I was entirely happy with my $70 purchase.

Gastown

So, I had never been to Vancouver before and it was just pure luck the hotel I choose was right downtown. The area, Gastown, was actually really nice, with cobblestone streets and hanging plants. This is the famous steam clock, which is special because its old and it uses steam to run. I have to admit, I felt somewhat ambivalent about it. The crowds of tourists staring at it dampened my enthusiasm.

Dinner View

To end my very short time in Vancouver, I had a relaxing dinner at a new little restaurant in Gastown, called the Black Frog. They had only been open a week, and the service was great, food tasty and prices resonable.

I had my choice of tables, and sat by the open windows, looking out over the Vancouver harbour and this, the Canada Place thingy. The sunset was gorgeous, and it was nice to just sit, stare and think about transitioning between here and there.

Black Frog

These were the fresh flowers on my table at the Black Frog. I alternated staring at the view and taking pictures of the flowers!

Barrage coming...

Goodmorning! I had a lovely relaxing weekend, I got 7 pages written for my Filipina Migrant Workers paper. We also had a big Welcome shindig hosted by our principal Dr. Lee. I have lots of photos to put up, and I'll post a bunch during my lunch break today. Get ready!

Survived it

We survived Typhoon Talim. Actually it didn't seem that bad, we got off work an hour early, it came at night, and was pretty much over in the morning. We still got our typhoon day though, and I unpacked everything, reorganized my room, and put together my IKEA chair. It was a very nice bonding typhoon night, with the rain and the wind storming, the six of us girls sat around the living room eating chocolate and watching dvds. The living situation is a great improvement over last year, and the apartment feels like home.
This morning I had my three grade 1 classes, and they are very cute! They seem to be so earnest and loving. The grade 1s are the only ones that changes, otherwise I have nearly all the same students. Thank goodness! Otherwise I'd have 400 new names to learn.
I meant to put up my Vancouver photos, but the internet is down at the apartment (Noooo!) So you'll have to wait. I have come down with a massive sinus cold - must be something to do with the air / humidity / snotty-nosed children.

Typhoon Tarim

Here comes a typhoon. The weather fluctuates between sunny with showers, rainy and windy, to stormy and dry. It's crazy. School's closing early, and then we should have tommorrow off. Thank goodness. If I ever needed a typhoon day it's now. I'll feel so much better about being back in Taiwan when I have all my stuff unpacked and organized, and I have my lesson plans and curriculum ready. I still have my final paper for Gender and Empowerment class to write, but I'll worry about that later.

P.S. I got my grades for my first two classes back, both A-. That's much better than I had expected for Security, and a bit of a disappointment for Human Rights. Either way, I think it's good enough to help my masters' applications.

I'll put up some pictures from Vancouver, etc. tommorrow. Well, until we lose power. (=

Arrived in Taipei

I'm in Taipei. Let's not dwell on how I feel about this. Actually, on the positive side, I saw some of my students leaving the school and it made me smile, but other than that I'm feeling sad. The jet lag isn't that bad, because I stayed over night in Vancouver, but I have a sick, melancholy feeling. I'll be fine tommorrow morning, and even better if the Typhoon comes this weekend, then we might have a typhoon day off school on Thursday or Friday. Of course, typhoons are fun except in the case of Katrina, which seems so scary.

Anyway, don't worry- I expect my mood to improve. I'll wait until it does before I tell you all about the last of my time in Halifax and my day in Vancouver.

o

One week!

This will be me, one week from today. Fun? I hope so.

The crazy thing is I have at least 27 pages of assignments to write before then.

Oh, and let me say, last night as I was trying to finish up the last few pages of my scrapbook from the last year, I realized I was missing the month of May. The entire month of May, all my pictures were gone from my computer. Yikes! That's what I don't like about digital, too easy to accidently delete a file! Thankfully, I made back ups of all my pictures, so I'm sending them to Wal-Mart to get done today!

I'm melting...

Sad news. Today I met with the Dalhousie IDS (International Development Studies) Graduate Coordinator. To make a long story short he was very nice in gently informing me that I have a 'snowball's chance in hell' to get into the Dal IDS Master's programme. They have over 150 applicants, and take about 15. Most applicants have their undergrad degree in IDS. He was very a very nice guy, and gave me some suggestions to improve my application, but he was very upfront about how competitive it was, and that it was almost like a 'lottery.'

I am not too upset though. I am glad I have a more realistic view now. I will certainly be looking at other schools to apply to as well, including St. Mary's in Halifax. He said, as I had already assumed, that my grades from these three summer classes would be "extremely" important. No pressure, eh?! We shall see, we shall see.

So, I'm off to work on my last class and maker sure it's an A! I'm pretty excited about my paper, it's on female Philippine migrant workers in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. I enjoy creating links between what I experienced every day on the streets of Taipei and the current academic research. And if I ever do get to do my Masters, I'm pretty sure my thesis will have to be focused on the Asian sphere, probably specifically China and Co.

New CD

Alright, so I sheepishly bought Theresa Sokyrka's album "These Old Charms." For those of you who don't know why I should be so embarrassed: Theresa was the Runner-up in last summer's Canadian Idol competition. Yes, I bought an 'idol' cd. Still, she is the only competitor in any of the US or Canadian shows that I've ever really liked. (the British version is another story). And frankly, it's a great cd, underproduced, earthy, relaxed, Canadian. Cheap too, because it's on a small Canadian label, Maple Music. She's coming in concert on Saturday, but I, sadly, leave Saturday morning. So, I bought her cd, in hopes that she'll stick in the Canadian market, and I'll be able to buy her next cd!

P.S. Funny story. After I bought the cd, I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe, reading the newspaper and enjoying my coffee. One of the guys from my class walked by, and happened to ask what cds I had bought. The one day I buy an 'idol' cd! I admitted it, but I think I turned red. (=

Kathy's work

This is Kathy's shot of Frangipani in the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Isn't it pretty? She didn't even do a 'glow' filter, that's an unedited shot. Lovely. She has more of her pictures up on her travel blog.

Saturday Morning

I successfully changed dorms this morning. Mount St. Vincent University is quite nice, reminds me of Huntington a bit. It's outside of Halifax, in a suburb called Bedford. The bus in is quick, so I came to 'town' to finish up my errands. Thank goodness for MEC, I got a cheap duffell that will carry everything I need, and not break like the Wal-mart junk.

My new phone number is (902) 457-0899. I'll be there until Saturday morning, the 27th, when I fly to Vancouver.

Crunch Day

Come Back to Taiwan!

Today is crunch day, when everything is due. Fortunately I'm am on schedule and feeling fine. (=

Part of that is because I got an email from Kathy saying that Pong (Taiwanese housemate whose family is always in the apartment) will be moving out, because we have two new young female English teachers moving in. So, I am SOOO much more excited about going back to Taiwan to live with 6 peers. I think the whole Pong, culture, mess, language, angry issue was a real reason I wasn't excited about moving back. I've come to realize that a sense of 'home' that is a safe and comfortable place is the key to living in any culture. That makes me much more ready to face Taiwan. When cockroaches invade my safe space, well that's something else. It will make me a stronger woman.

I wrote the names of some of my favorite students on a little piece of paper and pinned it up on my bulletin board. Whenever I think about leaving Halifax in a week, and feel sad, I think about how rewarding it is to see them every day, and how much I want to get to teach them again.

Temptation comes in all forms

So much has been happening in my mind and my life, and I have a great desire to write a nice long blog entry.

But, I also have the common sense to realize that 90% of that desire comes from the fact that I only have this small window of opportunity to finish editing my paper and print it off.

Get behind me, Procrastination!

All that to say...Talk to you later! (=