Wo xiang Cathy

Vancouver, week 4.  I've been enjoying my time here in my native Vancity for the last few weeks, although it's been pretty busy.  So far, highlights include relearning how to drive, seeing my childhood friends, hanging out with colleagues here and in Victoria, purchasing a PS3, seeing the old Sage Bistro crew at UBC, purchasing an Cannon SLR camera, seeing my buddy Anthony and visiting my old Toastmasters club.  I also threw away a lot of junk from university, although it hardly made a dent in my junk pile at my parent's house.
 In the next few days, I plan to buy shoes that actually fit me (Chinese shoes do not fit my feet at all), and an MEC frame pack.

I'm also really beginning to miss my girlfriend Cathy.

All my friends and family told me they want to meet her.  I want her to come visit my hometown and see the people who raised me and hung out with me through the years.  Unfortunately, she isn't here by my side.  It will be very hard for her to be here with me. You might say, "Paul, just pay for her plane ticket! What the hell, man?! You're a privileged Westerner!"  Well, it's not so simple.  I'd love to do that, but I must respect the fact that Cathy wants to be independent.  But let's say I do get a plane ticket for her.  There's an even bigger issue...

The visa application of my department head's girlfriend was rejected.  It was a simple visitor's visa, and yet she still got nothing!  Her English is as good as Cathy's.  She has a job and family in China.  The big issue was travel experience and money.  According to Immigration Canada, you need money and international travel experience coming from China to Canada.  It's more or less saying that if you are Chinese and don't have money, you can't visit Canada...even if your boyfriend is a Canadian.

Before I left Wuhan, Cathy and I did a bit of research.  We learned that single people seeking visitor visas (who speak English and have had no travel experience) are sometimes deemed a bunch of gold-diggers and freeloaders with immigration tenancies, so rejection of a visa application to such people is very high.  I would be very offended if my government categorized her as a freeloader.  Cathy is part of a Canadian offshore school community and one of the hardest working staff members.  Hell, she's even hung out with and understands more about Canadians than many immigrants in Vancouver! She works harder than a good chunk of them too.  Not to be hating on immigrants in Canada, but Cathy's a cut above many of them for sure.

Anyways, I guess I have to take a chill pill and just go with the flow on this one.  I already knew Canadian immigration is oft subjective and even accused of some officials as discriminatory...no big surprise there.  I'm sure we'll will get through this one somehow.

Kung Fu Fighting and the English Arts Festival

Today some of my colleagues and I went to Kung Fu lessons.  My instructor Carol kicked the crap out of us...as usual.  By the end of the lesson, my left arm was ready to fall off.  I've been having some muscular pain in my shoulder as of late.  Probably just a minor rotater cuff injury.

After Kung Fu, I went to my school's English Arts Festival.  The kids and volunteer teachers put in a lot of care and work into the production of this year's play The Jungle Book.  I was really impressed, especially with the shadow puppet show the art teacher spearheaded.  My role this year was helping with the speech competition.  Out of the 40 students that competed for the speech cup, a grade 9 girl came out on top. When I saw her speak at the finale earlier today, I was so proud of her.  Her English was better than some of my grade 11 and 12's. She used many techniques outlined in my Toastmasters CC manual...without any formal training. Wow.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures.

"Hypothetically, you could be teaching your own class in September..."

 The day after tomorrow, I start my teaching career.  My sponsor teacher back at Graham Bruce said that I might have my own class come September.  I didn't have enough long term vision to see that what he said was actually true.  Focusing on the situation back in Vancouver, I thought I'd be a TOC or tutor for years and years.  Heck, I even doubted that I would get hired anywhere.

Now, I am about to teach in a country, grade level, and course content that are foreign to me.  I don't hide the fact that I'm a bit nervous from all of this.  But I will do well.  I can feel it.  I am ready.  I'm a Toastmaster, and Toastmasters are never unprepared and use whatever nervousness they have (if any) to do exemplary work.