Photos from Cache Creek Ranch July 2011

Thankfully, one of my friends and faithful blog followers reminded me that he is not on Facebook, so I will post the link to my photo album. Facebook at least provides a way for photo albums to be shared publicly with people who aren't on Facebook, so hopefully this link will work.

Canadian Sights

As much as I love travelling around the world, I do enjoy staying close to home and enjoying local sights and scenery. One thing I've learned over the years, I'm a Prairie girl through and through. I can enjoy the mountains or a beautiful beach, and I've seen some really exotic things on this planet, but there is nothing I love more than my pastoral, prairie scenes. It's the most impressive for me when the canola fields are in full bloom, their bright yellow blossoms a bright contrast against blue summer skies or when grain fields are golden at harvest time, and their sway in gentle winds is to me as soothing as ocean waves. It's so life-giving, too, knowing how these fields feed us and other people in the world.

When I went out to my aunt's ranch over the Canada Day long weekend, I didn't get to see these things as it's too early in the year yet, but it was still a relaxing drive about 2 hours northeast of where I live. It's Ukrainian country out that way, so you see several Orthodox churches dotting the landscape along the way. I posted a few pictures on Facebook, which I think anyone who follows my blog is on anyway, so I direct you to the photos there.

My other purpose, aside from visiting family, was to go horseback riding at my aunt's place. I started riding before I could walk and would ride every summer when I'd go to my grandparents' farm as a child, but once I wasn't able to spend my whole summers there, combined with my grandparents' aging process not allowing them to break horses anymore, there was a long hiatus where I barely rode. My uncle up north has great horses, but he lives about a 7 hour drive from me, which isn't really convenient to just pop by on a weekend. In any case, it's so great to have my aunt and her horses closer so I can go more often. So far, this has only resulted in my being able to go out once a year in the last 3 years, but it's more than I was doing in the past. I love the smell of saddle leather and of the horses. Riding in and of itself is great fun for me, but it also reminds me of my grandpa a lot because he loved horses so much, and I remember going to horse sales and rodeos with him all the time during those summers when I was little.

I definitely didn't become the horsewoman I sometimes dreamed I might. This became especially apparent through the events of my last ride! It always takes me a bit to get used to the horse I'm on. I usually don't ride the same horse twice when I go, so I just have to figure out what to do with the horse I have, and then once that comfortable relationship is established, it's smooth-going from there on in. I think I felt a little overconfident with that relationship when I let my horse run up a steep hill, not an uncommon thing to do as horses do like to run up as it seems to make it a bit easier for them. I've gone up that hill before without difficulty, but I didn't maintain control of the horse this time and let her go too fast. Before I knew it, it became a slow-motion moment in which one of my feet came out of the stirrup, I lost balance and was trying to figure out how to re-gain control. The horse started getting a bit jumpy, however, and before I knew it, I proceeded to be launched into the air and ended up flat on my back. Thankfully, we were in a grassy field and not on a gravel road, and I was not kicked or stomped on by the horse, so it was a best-case scenario if you're ever going to be bucked off a horse. I woke up really stiff the next day, but by today, I was already able to cycle to the gym and do a light workout there, so my recovery is also not going too slowly. I think I should just concede to the fact that I'm not an expert and don't have sufficient time to become so!

Home

As the traveller, the wayfaring stranger that I am, I do often reflect on "home," what it is and what it means to come there. As readers, you may have wondered yourself, sometimes, where my home is or where I feel most at home. And I think the reason I reflect on the subject so much is because I haven't got a definitive answer for myself!

My original concept of home was a place that was familiar, a structure, be it a house or condo or what have you, a place where you felt safe, and somewhere that's a refuge. I had most of that growing up, all except for the refuge part as family issues often created certain difficulties, but for the most part, I thought the house where I grew up was a good place to be. I knew my way around. I knew my neighbours. And I liked them. The places I hung out and went to school were nearby. And it was indeed familiar as I lived there for 16 years of my life.

That house was sold a year after my parents separated and my brother moved to the US for school. My mom and I moved into a new place, and we had to make that our home. I had hoped it would become home, anyway. I painted a mural on my bedroom wall with the sense that this would be a permanent place to come back to. My mom and I lived there for a few years, seeing me through the majority of my undergraduate and graduate school life. But life changed again, and neither my mom or me was to remain in that place, and shortly after my mom remarried, she moved into a new house. That happened while I was living in Mexico, and while it saddened me in many ways, I had thought I would eventually make a life and a home in Mexico now that I was living on my own with the intention of staying there and never moving back to Canada.

Oh, how life changes. I lasted 2 years in Mexico but was unable to develop any community of stable and reliable friends (I did have good friends, but some were other Canadians that wouldn't be there with me forever, so they were reliable but just not stable to stay there). There were many reasons for this, which are not worth going into, but suffice it to say that what I was hoping to have happen to create the home I wanted--developing that network of friends, meeting and marrying someone and buying a home, having good work/life balance--did not happen, and I returned home to recuperate.

I thought I would only stay here for a couple of years before heading out to another country again or even to another city. But I've stayed in my home city since I returned from Mexico and have gone through a lot of instability here such as the inability to find employment I like well enough to stay at for a long period of time, and this has taken a bit of a financial toll on me, which makes it more difficult to leave again when I think about moving expenses. I think I'm digressing. In any case, during this time, my grandparents' yard was also sold to someone outside the family after Grandpa passed away (at least I think that's the chronology of events, if I remember right), and Grandma remained in the house for some years but eventually had to move into a home as her health deteriorated, and she wasn't able to look after herself anymore. This felt like a pretty big blow the first time this event seemed it would become a reality as the farm felt like the only home I had left in the world. It was the place I spent my childhood summers, a place of fun and where there were so many good memories and where happy memories of childhood seemed to outnumber the sad ones. But now it is gone.

When you see your homes disappear from your life, it's unsettling, literally. I feel unsettled because I feel like there's no real home for me, no place where I have the kinds of deep-rooted memories and the history that I had with these places.

I have also realised over time, as a result of these events, that part of the reason I struggle with this is that I dwell too much on the past, that I dislike change, and that I'm an "out of sight, out of mind" person that needs the visual cues to evoke memories of the past. Maybe that's why it's better I not have these things. Maybe I never would have moved forward. I have now no attachment to a place. Because I rent an apartment now, my memories here seem impermanent, like they don't want to sink into the walls to tell a story later one because they know it's not going to last, so there's no point in trying. (I love my apartment's location, though, as it's a couple of blocks from the house where I grew up, and I feel like the neighbourhood is my home.) I realised that this instability has made me thankful, in some ways, of being forced to have no attachment to a place and of having other things I have no attachment to, like traditions, because we didn't really have many of them growing up anyway. And so as it seemed like my whole life fell apart, I came to the understanding that all I really want is stability, something that doesn't change, or something that I can rely on. That's what my home will be. It might be a place. It might be a relationship. It might even be my faith. It will be a space that provides me with rest, to fully be myself without fear of judgment, a refuge from the world when it seems like it's raging against you.

What's home to you? I haven't found it yet, though I do enjoy my quiet solitude in my apartment sometimes, and I can only presume that my definition may once again change as life goes on, and I get a little older, and hopefully a little wiser.

Quick West Coast Trip

I ended up having to go to Southern California, Seattle, and Portland for work recently. It was a quick trip and somewhat packed, although I did have a couple of days where I only had evening events or I was travelling in the evening with no events during the day, so I was able to do a bit of sightseeing. My sightseeing in Balboa Park in San Diego was cut short by some rain, but later in the day the sun came out, so I made my way over to the original part of San Diego. There isn't much for me to say that my pictures don't, but the one thing I can say is that I was happy that my hotel in Seattle was right across from the Space Needle there since I didn't get a chance to see anything there due to lack of time. Below is a bit of an album I put together. I hadn't realised my camera's battery would already be dead, so I never bothered checking it before I went out in San Diego to see stuff, so all those photos are taken with my iPhone as well as the night photos of the Space Needle as I just arrived there that same day and wouldn't have been able to charge my battery yet.

Quick addition about photos

For some reason, my album completely mixed up the photos, and I can't figure out a way to put them in the right order, so I apologise if it gets confusing.

I also wanted to mention I didn't get good pictures from the ferry trip between Hong Kong and Macau because of the pollution, poor lighting, and dirty ferry windows. It's too bad because it was really pretty in many ways.

SE Asia spring 2011

Southeast Asia Spring 2011

February found me back in Southeast Asia for work. This time, I was gone a few more days than last time and went to a few more countries in addition to the ones I went to last time. Brunei and China (though not mainland, just Hong Kong and Macau). Despite having those extra few days, turning my trip into about a month-long affair, it was still really hectic due to the schedule organised by DFAIT for the Canadian institutions, and I ended up getting laryngitis, which then turned into a cold that lasted just over a week. One of the recruiters from another institution noted my deterioration during that week as it went from me being the life of the party in the van we were in to just dozing off in the vehicle at every chance I got. I know they say men turn into babies when they get sick, but I think I have that problem, too. I just want to stay in bed and do nothing and have people take care of me. But who doesn't, really?! In any case, I will go in order of country to describe anything I can, though I had very little time for sightseeing, except for in Macau.

Country: Indonesia

Cities: Medan and Jakarta

There is really nothing to report from either location as there wasn't much time to do anything! I arrived early in the morning on the 10th and did nothing but lie around in my room all day until the informal dinner in the evening we had with our partners in Indonesia and the Canadian Senior Trade Commissioner. The one comment I can make is that the shower I took after 38 hours of travelling, door to door, was not as refreshing as I had hoped because I couldn't get the water hot enough. It was a little disappointing, but I did at least feel clean after, which is the main thing.

Country: Malaysia

Cities: Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur

When my colleague and I flew into Kota Kinabalu, we knew we weren't going to want to leave. All we could see were little islands and beautiful beaches among the turquoise waters. We've decided we need to do something to set up our own business there and then never leave. It's so beautiful! We arrived early in the afternoon so had a few hours to roam around before a reception we were attending in the evening, so we took full advantage of the bit of free time. You'll see me sipping on ice cold coconut water in the album I've posted. We only spent a day there and then right after our fair, we had to fly off to Brunei. KL was actually after not only Brunei but also Singapore, but I leave it here for the sake of convenience.

While in KL, again, there wasn't much time for sightseeing. This is in part due to the fact that my colleague and I were there to admit students to the U of A, so after spending time collecting documents and stuff, we had to work on processing them rather than doing much else. During some of the evenings, I, along with some of the other recruiters, were able to go out to eat and stuff, but that's about it. Again, not a lot of time for sightseeing as we mostly had work to do. I didn't get to see my aunt this time either as she happened to be in India during my trip to Malaysia, so that was too bad. But it was during my last weekend in Malaysia that I ended up getting sick, so I didn't feel like doing too much but sleeping, especially after being at a fair for 7 hours in a heavily air conditioned room. The hotel we stayed at was right next to the Petronas Towers, so I was able to get some good photos of that at night, at least.

Country: Brunei Darussalam

Cities: Bandar Seri Begawan and Kuala Belait

Brunei was probably the most entertaining place despite having literally no time to see anything. Our schedule there was brutal, but most evenings we were free to eat out, and the one evening, one of the Canadian government officials invited us to his place for supper as it was the end of Chinese New Year, and also he had a fully stocked liquor cabinet for all the Canadians there who were missing their booze in that dry country. He thought we'd be weirded out by their traditional Chinese food that included pig intestines and sea cucumbers. I told him he'd have to do better than that as I've eaten cow eyeballs and fried grasshoppers in my lifetime! We had a good time there as he lit fireworks in his backyard, and we got served tons of snacks by his little son, who also showed off his dragon dance costume. He was so adorable! I also don't identify this government person because according to him, he isn't supposed to be inviting people to his home like that, so I don't want to give too much more information. It's classified ;o)

I got a few photos of the countryside while we were driving between BSB and KB as well, so at least there is something, and I also got some photos of all the excellent Japanese food we had at this restaurant close to the hotel.

Interesting activities in Brunei also included being quoted in a local newspaper to advertise the Canadian universities' activities there, and I got labelled as an "ethnic Punjabi" in the newspaper. That was really weird, and it really denies my other half, too! I also got to sit and dine with the Canadian High Commissioner, the Bruneian Minister and Deputy Minister of Education. That was a bit stressful, though, because relationships with such people there are so formal, I didn't quite know what to do, how to address them or if we could initiate conversation. I wasn't really prepared for that, but I survived, and so did they ;o)

Country: Singapore

City: N/A

The schedule here was a bit freer because we were not doing activities organised by DFAIT here. I stayed in the same hotel as last time so I could get my Famous Wonton Noodles for $3.50 SGD! I also was able to meet up with Eunice, who is the niece of my family doctor here in Edmonton, a doctor I've been going to almost all my life. She's really nice, and I wish I would have known she wasn't working the day we met up so that we could have spent more time together. We met up in Little India, and she knew all the good places to shop!

Country: China

Cities: Hong Kong and Macau

I'm so glad I was warned that you can't get around with English in these places. I still am surprised that Hong Kong is like that because you'd think being a British colony for so long, everyone would speak English like in Malaysia, but it just isn't so. The hotel helped me by writing out all my addresses in Chinese, and another friend that used to intern in our office met me at the airport and was able to talk to the taxi driver in Cantonese for me because it's just way easier. I got to go out a couple of the evenings I was there, but mostly just to eat and get a bit of shopping done. Note to people bargaining for knock-offs: speaking Cantonese doesn't necessarily help you! My friend there was trying to help, and although she was getting some decent deals for me, the shop owners were much ruder to her than they were being to me, and I think if I had protested enough, I would have got quite cheap deals, too. Hong Kong I found to be a very congested city, almost claustrophobic in parts because of the tall, skinny buildings, and just so many people. It was a relief to get to Macau, where you should also have your addresses written out in Chinese!

I spent my last weekend in Asia here. The morning I arrived, I went directly to the school I was visiting for work, and that was my only appointment. One of my friends actually teaches high school there, so I spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with him, and it was nice to catch up and finally have nowhere to go, no work to do for the first time in about 24 days. I counted! I could sleep in and just relax, and he took excellent care of me while I was there, too. He took me to see a really cool show called House of Dancing Water by Dragone, who used to work with the Cirque du Soleil. You can see the influence in the show, but it's really cool. Diving from great heights, motorcycle stunts, and all sorts of different acrobatics, it was pretty awesome. I didn't get any pictures, but you can get an idea of it in the link. Macau, though a casino city, is a little more laid back and less congested, though the pollution appears to be about the same as Hong Kong. But I definitely enjoyed the space a lot more. We also went out to eat all sorts of food from traditional Chinese to Korean to Portuguese. We also found that the Haagen-Dazs store there serves all kinds of interesting desserts, so we decided to have an ice cream fondue. Yep, it doesn't get much better than that, folks!

Anyway, overall, it was a successful trip for work, and it was nice travelling with a colleague as I had less alone time than usual. I like to spend time alone and in fact, I need it to re-charge myself, but there can also be too much time alone, and that isn't healthy for me. I'm also getting to rack up the air miles, so let's see where I get to travel to next, but for fun! Photos forthcoming!