I'm baaaaaaack!!!

Holy cow....

It's been way too long since I've touched this thing.

So many things in my life have changed since my last post.  Instead of writing about life, I've been living it.  I really wish I could write about all of it right now...sometimes it's much more interesting to do that.  But I find myself so busy these days...much busier than being back at Maple Leaf, that's for sure.

You're wondering where I am.  I'm back in my native Vancouver.  That's right...I'm no longer an expat.  All those times are just memories now.  It was an amazing three years abroad. I have no regrets in leaving Canada for that amount of time.  I traveled to some great places and have met some great friends that I'll never ever forget.

But my real struggles start now.  Expatriation was surprisingly easy for me. It might seem like a struggle for some.  I think it gets easier over time. Some even come to love it.  I suppose it all depends on how you go about living life and traveling out there.  Only now in retrospect, in the comfort of my home, do I have a deep appreciation of what has happened to me in the last 3 years.  I miss being abroad, and I realize now how brave expats really are.  Maybe one day, I'll go back out there...

I have found, and as many expats have found, repatriation is hard.  I'd go so far to say that it is the most difficult part of being an expat.  My first few months back home...well...let's just say I'll be writing about that later...a lot about that later...

And now for catch-up blogging!  I gotta finish off my stories from my final year abroad...

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I'm too lazy to actually put pictures up of Yangshuo, so I'll just make a bullet list of some interesting things that led up to Spring Festival 2013...I'll do Yangshuo later.

• Another Shanghai bachelor party.  Trained it to Nanjing then to Shanghai.  Highlights: a colleague throwing a large McDonald's drink at a taxi that almost ran us over, seeing Chinese youth dance to Indian beats in a Nanjing nightclub, eating a delicious Teppanyaki  feast, and then replacing beer with a bottle of scotch because I wasn't getting drunk fast enough.  Needless to say, that last one was foolish of me. I was the first one to drop that night.  Apparently, I did tough guy shots again, but I don't seem to remember.  My colleague Joe had to drag my sorry ass back to the hotel. What a great guy. The next day, I had lunch with Hedy near Hongqiao Airport. We had one of our shared favorites  - American BBQ ribs. Coming from Wuhan where that doesn't exist, it was pretty effing sweet.
• I "fought" a student during Sports Day.  Muay Thai Boran vs. North Korean Tae Kwon Do. Highlight (accident) of the fight: I took a full on flying kick to the face which stunned the crowd.  In the end, I was "killed."  Students loved seeing me dead, and my victorious opponent was deemed "the most dangerous student at Maple Leaf."
• Cathy left Maple Leaf in January for a seemingly better job.  Seemingly.  Yes it is a lot calmer and less bothersome than being a Maple Leaf counselor, but it is also quite isolated and the pay was initially not as much.  However, we think it was a good move and she's "moving up." Now she's getting better pay for a less stressful job.  Cathy also moved in with me just before the end of her time at Maple Leaf.
• A swanky bar at the Royal Grace Hotel opened up near Wanke Cheng Shi Hua Yuan (Wanke Garden City), an apartment complex where most of the teachers lived.  I'm not much of a mixed drink guy, but my new favorite mixed drink is hands down the Singapore Sling.

Epic Fail

Well, well, well...I totally effed up real bad.  I haven't written about my vacation with Cathy, Hedy and Alex in Yangshuo yet, and now I'm on vacation again!  Right now, I'm in Bangkok doing some training in Muay Thai with Kru Suphan again.  To top it all off, not only did I miss posting about Yangshuo, I went to Nanjing and Shanghai in November.  Lots of stuff has happened at the school too.  I'll have lots of time to blog once I'm in Seoul, so maybe that's when I'll actually sit down and write.

National Week 2012 Kicks Off in Jingzhou

Back in Jingzhou for 3 days before heading down to Guilin and Yangshuo
to hangout with our old colleagues Hedy and Alex.

Typical of China, but nonetheless still interesting to see.

An awesome parking job in front of Cathy's aunt's restaurant.

Cathy's friend's dog, McGrady.

Cathy's cousin of a cousin works at the Jingzhou Museum
and took us on one of her tours.  It was really busy there.

Whoever wrote this BS was one paranoid guy.  I read something like
"Dear Lord of the Afterlife, please allow this man to be an official in the Afterlife
because he was an official  in this life." Bit of stretch...

The second mummy in the Jingzhou Museum.
Somehow, I missed it last time I was there.
Note the embalmed innards on the right.

We went to see a classic musical performance.

Waiting around for our train to Guilin.

Never again will I travel on a Chinese train for more than 6 hours.
The train to Guilin from Wuhan was a nightmare.  16 hours of nightmare
to be exact.  It was crowded to the point where people were
standing IN the washroom. The seats were so uncomfortable, and I got
a grand total of 0 hours of sleep. I actually begged Cathy to get off at Changsha
so we can fly, but we ended up just taking the train.  Hands down my WORST
 experience in the PRC in the last 3 years...and it will be tough to beat.
Highlights included someone spitting on my pants and a kid
taking a dump next to me. If you take a Chinese train, go berth and not seat.

Gangnam Style!

On the way back to Wuhan for this current school year, I stopped through my favorite city in all Asia: Seoul.  I haven't been to Taipei yet (which is my new course heading come January 2013), but I'm going to call it now: Seoul is better, even during rainy season.  To my friend who disagrees (you know who you are), sorry, but Seoul is much cooler than whatever Asian city you think is cooler.  If you want to know why I love Seoul so much, perhaps you and your boyfriend can meet me and Cathy there one day?  Just a thought.

My last meal in North America. Fitting that it 
included some Boston Lager.

This time around, my friend Sue had a cleared up schedule, so her and I hung out quite a bit.  Seoul is such an awesome city, and what better than to have an old friend show you the sights?  I also rented an iPhone 4S just for shits and giggles, yet it proved to be invaluable.  I came to love the iPhone quite a bit, but just the other day (it's now Halloween 2012) I became a traitor and purchased a Samsung Galaxy SIII.  I have to say, I love them both.  However, Cathy got a Galaxy SIII.  My colleagues Clara and Meighan put pressure on me to get one.  Sue swears by it.  Heck, her fiancee Kwangseok works for Samsung!

Checking out the urban art near Naksan Park

Upon arrival, awesome times ensued.   I went to check out the urban artwork around Naksan Park, hang out in jjimjibang, and visited the eerie Seodaemun Prison. I also had my fill of coffee and donuts during the days I got rained out since China is devoid of good donut shops.  Unfortunately for me, there were quite a few of those days since Seoul experienced a ridiculous amount of rainfall while I was there.

In no particular order, let's start with my walk around Naksan Park.  Quaint little area, filled with urban artwork that's either really pretty or worn and neglected.  Cathy was curious about that neighborhood  and since she couldn't meet me in Seoul, I went to check it out for her.  It proved to be a very photogenic area!  I was stuck at the top of Naksan Park due to heavy rain, but had a broken conversation with a Chinese tourist.

Artwork around the Naksan Park area.

The outside of Seodaemun Prison

I went to Seodaemun Prison on my last full day in Seoul.  I tried to visit it before, but it was closed during my first visit.  This time, I got in, and holy s**t was it worth my time.  I seemed to have forgotten that the Japanese didn't just mistreat Chinese during Imperial Japan, but they committed atrocities to everyone else they invaded as well.  Korea was no exception.

Seodaemun Prison was built as a prison for political prisoners during the Japanese occupation.  Needless to say, a lot of atrocities and deaths occurred at this prison.  It was well used by the Japanese as well as the military government immediately after WWII and the Korean War.  Many patriots of Korea met their deaths here, often in brutal and agonizing ways.

The interrogation room.  Many Korean patriots spent their
last few hours of life being psychologically tortured
by Japanese agents.

Some of the models and artifacts in the prison were pretty graphic.  There was one that had a Japanese torturer drowning a bloodied up Korean prisoner hanging upside down.  Another display had torturing devices - everything from torturing racks to small closets that the Japanese put Koreans into for days. You might not think that one so bad, but these closets were specifically designed so that the occupant could not properly stand, sit, or lie down.  The occupant would be in an awkward position for days.

The one thing that really got to me was that some prison guards would simply beat people to death if they felt like it.  Seriously, I'd rather get shot.  It's a lot quicker and cleaner.  Why the hell would someone beat another person to death with a club when they're already arrested?  In such cases, an attacker has to continue hitting a victim who is not resisting to actually kill him or her.  Knowing that happened in Seodaemun prison made me sick. Other torturing methods included burning and sticking things up private parts, hammering nails between fingernails, and putting prisoners onto a spiked "dog house."

A torturing device used by the Japanese.

Some prisoners of Seodaemun Prison.

It's easy to forget that South Korea has been burdened with atrocity and war in its recent history.  I wanted to go to this prison so I would not forget that ugly part of history.  It proved to be the right thing to do.

Mugunghwa, South Korea's national flower.

I did other things in Seoul too.  Aside from going to jjimjibang, I took a trip to the Trickeye museum, which proved to be really entertaining.  I hung out with a new friend who I met in Boston the month prior to returning to Asia. She happened to be going to Seoul around the same time I was going, so we hung out at Lotte World and around Garosugil in Gangnam.  After my little episode in Vancouver with a .357 Magnum, I really wanted to go shooting again.  Apparently there was a shooting range in Lotte World Mall, and both of were pretty excited about the prospect of firing lead downrange, but it was closed down.  We went ice skating instead.  My traveling tradition of drinking Guinness was fulfilled after we had burgers.

The Trickeye Museum

At a burger joint with a my new friend Jiso.

After burgers, we washed 'em down with rounds of  Guinness on
Garosugil  in  Gangnam.  Silliness ensued.

My home stay.  The sweet old lady that ran the place reminded me a lot of Sue. 
She was well-traveled, spoke English, and smiled a lot.

The view from my homestay.  I stayed near Korea University.

Some members from one of Cathy's favorite bands, TVXQ.

Hanging out with Sue on Sejongno.  Before that, I sat in a
jjimjibang for about 3 hours.  Totally worth going, even in
the middle of summer.

Apart from the really great shopping around Seoul, I also enjoyed having conversations with my new home stay host.  My last home stay in Seoul was unavailable, so I chose another location near Korea University.  It was really nice, and the mother was such an awesome cook.  She fed me huge homemade breakfasts!  Half the time I didn't have to eat lunch because breakfast was so filling.  I guess she was used to cooking that way because she raised two sons.  She also spoke English and was well-traveled across North America, much like my friend Sue.

Like I said earlier, Sue had her schedule all cleared up by the time I arrived, so we hung out a lot.  I showed her around Vancouver twice, so she showed me around Seoul twice.  Fair deal.  Visits with Sue usually circle around food.  The first choice was easy: Korean barbecue with her fiancee Kwangseok.  Unfortunately, Kwangseok's schedule at Samsung is so busy, he couldn't join us on adventure during weekdays.    And so it was up to Sue and I to go on a crusade across Seoul to eat delicious food.

Korean BBQ at its best - dining with Kwangseok and Sue!

Samgyetang. It resembles Cantonese juk 
and Filipino arroz caldo, but with  ginseng.

Sue making me try some radish kimchi at the Samgyetang
restaurant. 

Nomnomnom!! Tteokbokki!  Definitely one of my favorites.

After a hard day of duty free shopping, Sue and I relaxed 
in a ye olde Korean bakery.

A neat place in Insadong. You can write messages and post
them anywhere you want.

My "lunchbox" dinner was a typical lunch for a Korean school kid
from back in the day.  Kimchi and rice was standard.  Cuts of 
meat meant I would be from a rich family.

Makegeolli. Thanks to Sue, it's become one of my favorites drinks.

We had our final dinner at an underground eatery.
Kwangseok managed to join us!

Some sort of tofu.

Fried appies

One of the places that we went to was a coffee shop in the hills around Jongro-gu.  There was no subway nearby, so we had to bus into the neighborhood and then walk up a mountain.  The coffee shop used to be a set for various Korean soap operas.  One series called Coffee Prince was particularly famous, and thus made the coffee shop very famous too.  Sue and I stopped there to have a coffee and look at the gallery.

The cast of Coffee Prince.  Cathy loved this show and
suggested we go to the film location made coffee shop.

Sue figuring out where we're going.

The Coffee Prince filming place proved to be a bit elusive,
but Sue found our bearings.

Unlike other coffee shops in Seoul, it wasn't too busy. It was in a secluded
neighborhood surrounded by lots of mountains and trees, more or
less made for rich people.

Taking pictures around the gallery.

Berry cheesecake and a hot cappuccino.  Perfect for
...um....a summer day?

Near the end of my time in Seoul, Sue and I went to an area called Samcheongdong (삼청동).  We reenacted "the good ol' days" with a glass of wine and a nice long conversation late into the night. The last time we shared some wine together was in Vancouver back in 2009.  It's always a pleasure talking to Sue over a bottle of red.  In a way, she kind of acts as my personal psychologist.  Too bad it takes me going to Seoul just to have a session! Thanks Sue for being a good ear and an even better friend.

Sue and I in Vancouver back in 2009 drinking wine out of a
water glass and a coffee mug.

At 삼청동 (Samcheongdong), years later.

Unfortunately, it rained hard for a couple of days.  The ground was wet and we couldn't have a beer and fried chicken picnic on the bank of the Han River.  According to Sue, hanging out with beer and chicken next to the river is a favorite among Seoulites.  I believe it, and to be honest it was one of the things I was looking forward to doing in Seoul when I left Vancouver.  Since we didn't do  it up on the Han River, I decided that my last meal before heading back into China would be beer and chicken.  @Sue: Next time I'm in Seoul during summer (or when you and Kwangseok visit me in Vancouver), we'll eat beer and chicken. We'll eat so much that we won't want to have chicken for weeks!

Beer and fried chicken at Incheon International Airport.

During my five week holiday, Sue and Kwangseok are getting married.  I'm so happy for both of them, for they make a hell of a couple.  It was too bad Kwangseok had to work so much while I was there. I wished he could have come with us on our foodie tour of Seoul. Alas, it's Korea.  They work long and hard hours there, much like what Chinese workers have to suffer through in China, Cathy being no exception.  As for Cathy, I hope one day she can come with me and enjoy my favorite city in all of Asia, and finally meet my awesome friend Sue.

Seoul, I'll see you in February.

Goodbye Honey

For the last 10 years, I had a great friend named Honey.  She was my companion from late high school all the way through university.  She had golden hair and the warmest smile I've ever seen.  While Honey was the Parungao family's guard dog and took her job very seriously, her personality was that of a puppy since the day she came running into my mom and dad's backyard to when I held her in my arms and watched her life slip away from me.

The way my family adopted Honey goes like this.  Her previous owners were a couple that were breaking up.  They had two pets: Honey the dog  (Siberian Husky/German Shepard) and Holly the cat (Himalayan).  Both were around 5 years old.  The couple gave Honey and Holly to us for free on the condition that the two pets never get separate.  We took them both.

Mom and I took care of Honey.  We trained her, washed her, picked up her shit, and took her out on walks.  For the most part, I was charged with doing these things, but being a very young and very stupid new university student, mom did a lot of work on Honey as well while I was either studying or procrastinating.

Honey in her youth.  She could outrun and out-wrestle me.

Honey under her tree at Deer Lake

I have some very fond memories with Honey.  Back when she was new to the family, I still did competitive fencing.  Roy, my instructor, said I should be running 5 km per day, followed by practicing lunges and footwork in my backyard.  Not only did Honey keep my pace, she often made me run faster and longer.  When I started doing lunges, she would bark and sometimes jump on me and start to wrestle me.

We used to bushwhack our way off-trail in various nature parks around Burnaby.  We often walked through Deer Lake Park in the dead of night; the coyotes howling off in the distance made her very nervous.  One of the best memories I have with her was simply going to my old elementary school and playing fetch.  She usually demolished any so-called "indestructible" rubber balls my family bought her after one run.

Our "traditions" were often seasonal.  In autumn, I would walk with her to a large willow tree which Honey loved to sit under, sniff, and pee on.  Years later, I would pick this spot to spread her ashes.  In winter, I would spend some days with her in the field at Deer Lake Park, aggressively wrestling with her in the snow.  I wore an old jacket, so she could actually pounce on me, bite me, and take me down.  I would smack her upside the head, only for her to redouble her efforts.  It was all very barbaric and child-like, but by the end, her and I were covered with mud, melted snow and sweat, grinning with adrenaline and satisfaction.  She even made me bleed one year.  Winter sports like snowboarding or skiing have nothing on these violent encounters with my dog.

After Rob left for Montreal, our cat Holly vanished, the reasons unknown.  We speculated that she was killed by a predator, or she was taken by a neighbor.  Maybe she went to go look for Rob?  We'll never know.  Anyways, Honey was now alone in the backyard, but the disappearance of the cat didn't have an effect on her duty as the guard of the house.  It was too bad Holly disappeared.  She was a part of the family and Honey's sister.

We often brought the dog into the house so she could have company.

Honey established many good relationships with family and friends.  She absolutely loved my Uncle Keith from Edmonton.  Every time he came to visit, she would spend hours with him out on the patio, sometimes late into the night. Another person Honey really liked was my mom's friend Rick.  I've never met Rick, but from the stories I've heard, Honey would follow him around looking for snacks, specifically bacon.

Honey and I at my old elementary school in 2011

It was tough leaving Honey when I moved to China for work, but it needed to be done.  Out of all the things I missed from home, going on a walk with Honey in a clean neighborhood and park was the one thing that I missed the most.  Being in China, you learn to appreciate the simple things in life that you've lost in North America, like fresh air and the companionship of a large dog.  There's none of that here in China, especially the part about fresh air and a clean neighborhood.

When I came back to Vancouver this year, it was clear that Honey was sick.  She couldn't go for a walk for more than 5 minutes without laying down in exhaustion, and there were cancerous lumps on her belly.  Usually, large breeds have a life span of 10 to 14 years, and Honey was approaching 15.  She could have died anytime during my first 2 years in China, but I like to think she waited to see me one last time.  This summer, her health quickly deteriorated and she was in a lot of pain.  We put her on meds to ease that pain, but then her legs gave out and she couldn't walk.  After I came back from Boston, my family made the tough decision to put her down.  My Aunt Peggy advised me to not be in the room when the vet would put her down, but I went in regardless.  Honey died in my arms at the SPCA in Vancouver on August 8th, 2012.

Honey in her golden years

That afternoon, I went out for a long walk.  While I was at Deer Lake, it began to rain. It hadn't rained for weeks, but in a blink of an eye, Vancouver had a flash thunderstorm.  And there was plenty of lightening and rain.  So much, in fact, that I almost got hit by some of it while running back home soaking wet.  Call it coincidence, or me being a fool for running through a forest of tall trees during a thunderstorm, but to me it marked the end of my companionship with my best friend for a decade.  It stopped raining and thundering once I got inside, and it didn't rain again in Vancouver until I left for South Korea.  Was it a sign? I've always scoffed when Mom and Dad claim belief in that bunk.  But was it?  Sure. I'll think that it was a sign this once. It was Honey saying goodbye to me.

Honey put a smile on my face as I came home from work and school everyday.  And when I think of her now, I can recount on how I have changed over the last decade.  Her presence comforted me during my darkest and saddest moments in university.  Walking her around my native Burnaby and Vancouver made me realize how much I love my hometown and its natural beauty.  I will have other pet dogs in the future.  That is for certain.  But Honey was with me as I grew from adolescence into adulthood.  For this, her memory will never leave my mind.

Goodbye Honey.  You'll be missed.