Happy New Year!

Today's post is going to be cut a bit shorter than originally intended on account of my phone taking way longer than anticipated to upload pictures from Canada.

So, in lieu of that, I will say simply Happy Losar! March 2nd this year marks the beginning of the Tibetan New Year, which is called Losar (I believe it's the same in Bhutan... but don't quote me on that). If I understood my students correctly that one day in conversation class, Losar is traditionally celebrated by receiving new clothing, playing games, and eating lots of brightly colored noodles. I don't know about you, but I say that sounds like at least as much fun as the American equivalent of  getting drunk, watching a big shiny ball drop on TV, and kissing someone you may or may not actually even know.

I wish I could be in India right now to celebrate with my students and friends. Lately I've also been feeling like I really wish I could have been there for Holi, the Hindu spring festival where people throw colored dye at each other all day long (apparently). Go ahead, click on that link and tell me that doesn't look like an absolute blast. Maybe next spring, if I'm not off teaching somewhere already, I'll head back over there to check it out.

In related news, the job search continues. I've had a couple of interviews but so far nothing has gone past that. My top pick for the moment is Japan; solid pay and a first-world culture I've always found interesting makes it an enticing destination. I've got a friend who's currently teaching in China and trying to convince me to head that way. China isn't exactly near the top of my list of places I'd like to visit simply based on the fact that I tend to be a little outspoken on issues of human (and animal) rights and welfare, gender equality, and other such stuff, and China isn't exactly known for championing any of those. It's also the biggest reason I can't see myself teaching in the Middle East, even though they tend to pay better than anywhere else in the world. They can afford to, after all... they've got all that oil money. As a woman, though? Nah, not going to fly with me. I'd be deported before the first week ended.

Heading Home

Ugh, what a day! All I've got to say is I wish I had a few more days in BC, and also that Imodium is my new best friend. I seriously thought I was going to have to postpone my flight out. I was that miserable yesterday.

Now I'm at Seatac though, chilling at my gate, and in another 5ish hours I'll be back in IL. Then it's back to blanketing the internet with job apps and resumes....

And of course on the last day, I get sick

It stopped snowing last night long enough for us all to go out for dinner. We went to a Greek place down by the beach; it was pretty quiet, no doubt because there were six inches of snow on the ground and apparently that's more than this area usually gets in a couple of years.

Dinner conversation was fun: apparently there are parts of Canada that are so desperate for workers that even the local McDonaldses will pay $25/hr just to get people in, sometimes also offering signing bonuses. Now, I have no desire whatsoever to step foot anywhere near those golden arches for any reason, even if they're paying me, but it got me thinking. Maybe I can get a job up here somewhere after all. I had an interview with a school in Japan last week that I think went pretty well, but it sounded like I won't hear back for a little while longer. I've wanted to see Canada for a long time. I've said for years that it seems like the kind of place I could enjoy living. After visiting for the last couple of weeks, I think I might be on to something. I think I'll have to look at what's available and what's involved in getting a work visa....

After dinner we came back and lounged around for a while before bed. Brij and I watched some Seinfeld; I can't remember when the last time I actually sat down and did that was, but it has to have been at least a good 5 or 6 years ago. I developed a tummy ache and drank some tea so hopefully I'd be comfortable enough to sleep.

Everything was fine until about 5am, at which point I woke up suddenly and decided I'd better head for the bathroom. My belly was all gurgly and weird-feeling, and I remembered feeling like that sometime in the not-too-distant past, but I couldn't think of when it would have been.

After making it to the bathroom and relaxing  and doing my thing, it suddenly hit me... India. India's where I'd felt all that tummy rumbling. Ugh. That's one thing I don't miss.

I decided to lie down on the couch in the living room so I'd be close to the toilet should I need it again and looked outside. The snow was piled up on the patio, on the tree branches, but none was falling from the sky. In fact, the clouds and fog had cleared up so much that I could clearly see not just the ocean but the lights across the bay. It was beautiful. I sat myself down on the couch with a glass of hot water and admired the view until I felt like I could fall asleep again.

That's where we are now... I'm still on the couch; the stomach pains come and go. What a way to spend my last day in Canada, eh? We were hoping to take a trip up to Whistler because apparently the view is incredible, but with big fat snowflakes falling out of the sky once more and everything blanketed in fog -- not to mention the roads being covered in snow -- it doesn't seem worth the trip. Maybe next time.

Liebster

The snow has been falling here in lower BC for over a day now. It's fluffy, and it's piling up. Too bad it's covering up all those buds on the trees...

It sure is pretty, though.

It's so foggy we can't even see the ocean.

I spent the morning watching Indian movies and poorly made commercials, and knitting mittens. I think there's sushi on the way now. I've also heard rumors of Greek food for dinner.

In the meantime, I thought I'd catch up on old blog comments. I really am an all-star at procrastinating. A few weeks back, my friend Teri mentioned my blog on hers as part of a nomination for a Liebster Award. Part of the "rules" state that I'm supposed to in turn nominate ten other blogs with fewer than 200 followers, but I'm going to come right out and admit the only blog I've ever followed for any length of time is that of The Yarn Harlot, and I know for a fact that she's got way more fans than that. Besides, I haven't even been keeping up with her in ... damn, I think it's been about two years now. Sorry, Steph!

Anyway, head on over to Teri's blog and check out what she's got. 

Snow days are movie days

You know how I'd said it was kind of interesting that most of the time I've spent in Canada has been warm and sunny? Well the weather gods must have had a change of heart because this morning we woke up to snow. It's been coming down all day, though it doesn't seem that much of it is sticking. The flakes are big and soft and wet. It's pretty, and arguably more Canadian than the balmy upper-40s we've been experiencing lately.

Last night a bunch of us went out dancing at a local bar. I think the last time I did that was the night before Verity left McLeod Ganj, so I was well overdue. You know it's been a good night when you get home with your feet aching and your ears ringing. The DJ was so-so; I did hear some Nine Inch Nails, but other than that it wasn't anything I was familiar with. The rest of our party seemed to be more up on the hip-hop scene, so I think they enjoyed it. Regardless, a fun time was had by all. Brij definitely stole the show with his sweet moves and leopard-print shirt he'd had made back in Dharamsala. I mean really... how do you top that?

This morning Brij's mom invited me out to see a movie. It sounded like fun and I average about one movie in the theater per year, so off we went...

... to the local Rialto Theatre.

We saw the movie Philomena, which I'd never heard of but stars Judi Dench and Mita said all of her friends who'd seen it gave it rave reviews. I actually love watching movies where I have no idea what to expect; you can really get lost in the story (assuming it's well-made), and you don't go in with expectations. I also have a weakness for true stories -- there's something inherently moving about watching a film and pausing for a moment to think "wow... this really happened." It makes some movies, like Blood Diamond or Django Unchained (I know, I know.. not entirely historically accurate, but enough of it was that I had to turn it off halfway through), more difficult to watch, but in general I dig it.

That being said, if you also like story-driven movies based on true events and high regard for Dame Judi Dench and/or a dubious view of the Catholic church on top of it, you'll probably enjoy this one.

As for the rest of the evening, I think I'll stay in and knit.

Legend of the White Rock

Four days after the snowboarding adventure and I'd say I'm back to about 95%. My neck is still a bit stiff, but for the most part I can go about my day and not be distracted by it. This pleases me.

We've been making an effort to soak up as much of the sunshine as possible, especially since this region is known for its clouds and rain. It's still a little cool -- 40s, mostly -- but compared to 30 below it's practically flipflop weather. Yesterday Brij took me down to one of the local scenic spots, White Rock Beach. I had been wanting some ice cream, so we found a shop, grabbed some, and talked to the old guys sitting out in front for a few minutes. Canadians are so fucking nice, eh (5:20).

For which the town and beach are named.

Walking down to the end of the pier.

According to the plaque near the big rock, scientists say it was brought down by a glacier. According to one of the local First Nation (I'm told that's what the people native to the area prefer to be called -- Native Americans, natives, Indians, etc are considered insulting) tribal stories, it was thrown out of the sea by a god who had fallen in love with a human princess; wherever the rock landed, their people would settle. That's how the local First Nation got started, apparently. The rock itself is periodically spraypainted white because early in the 20th century it suffered bouts of graffiti; the plaque states that the last straw was when some hooligans painted it black and put a big white skull and crossbones on it. Personally, I think that's pretty awesome.

White is cool too though, I guess.

Forty-Six and Sunny

My first few days in Canada were warm compared to the winter back in Illinois, but they were still windy enough that it was too chilly to really hang out outside. Wednesday the wind had died down, so Brij wanted to make the most of it by showing me around Vancouver.

Our first stop was Stanley Park.

We saw some baby geese.

And whatever this cool-looking bird is.

The city of Vancouver as seen from Stanley Park.

I got a coffee from this place. We also picked up some touristy maps.

We checked out the totem poles.

So.. cyclists can weigh as much as they want?

Brij holding the Lions Gate Bridge.

Another angle of the aforementioned bridge.

We wandered around and scoped out the scenery for a while. We were both hurting from snowboarding, though, so we drove more than we walked. Oh well, at least we were in the sun and fresh air.

After the park we headed out to see Granville Island, a touristy area full of artisan shops. Now, normally I'm not all that interested in this sort of thing (the quaint small-town Main Street vibe doesn't tend to do it for me), but there was something about this place that I really enjoyed. I've found that the general demeanor of the west coast is totally different from other places I've been. Seattle seemed more chill than home, and Canada is even more so. All the people are nice, everyone seems relatively happy. To my delight, I've heard a fair amount of "eh"s and "aboats" and such.

Anyway, back to Granville Island.

Not long after leaving Stanley Park, we found that both of our phones were dead (and our GPS along with them). Being resourceful, we grabbed the coffee shop maps from the back seat and managed to navigate most of the way to Granville Island before deciding we needed to find food and a place recharge our phones. We wound up stopping at a pizza place where the guy behind the counter told us he'd toss our pizza back into the oven for $3; maybe we were hungry or maybe he really did just have a damned good poker face, but either way he got us good.

The pizza was so-so, but the staff was good company.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on Granville Island before meeting one of Brij's buddies for "a real lunch."

It appears the slide is closed for the season. Bummer. :(

I got endless amusement out of the fact that there's a place called False Creek. So what is it, really?

Compost bins abound in Vancouver.

Seagulls do whatever they damn well please, thankyouverymuch.

Sign up sheet for live performers in the Granville Market. I'm not sure why I can't get it to rotate... sorry. :/

This dude must be a regular here. He was covered in pigeons. I mean COVERED.

I figured why not? Plus, look at the cute kiddo!

Those vicious beasts...

Surviving Snowboarding

This blog post comes to you from Highway 99 heading toward Vancouver on a bright, sunny, beautifully warm day in Canada. The mountains are covered in trees and snow, and clouds obscure the tops.

That’s right, I said mountains. For a girl from Illinois, they just never get old.

Speaking of mountains, a bunch of us went up to one of the local ones, Mt. Seymour, on Monday evening to snowboard. Monday nights are Ladies’ Nights, which means each of us girls gets in for only a $5 donation to the BC Cancer Foundation. Brij gave me his brother’s gear to use – a few pairs of socks later and even the boots fit pretty well – so we didn’t have to rent me anything.

See the mountains in the back?

Getting closer...

Snow + fog = almost there.....

Long story short, I choose to gauge the success of the evening not by how flawlessly I was able to ride down the cute little “bunny hill,” but rather by how many fewer times I fell on the last run as compared to the first. Going by that criterion, I’m pretty satisfied. I suppose it wasn’t too bad for someone who’s never snowboarded or skied in her life. I did whack my head on the ground pretty hard the first few times I fell (yes, I had a helmet), but after that it was my glutes and wrists that took the worst of it.

I think I rode down that hill about 6 or 7 times in the 4ish hours we were on the mountain, including the first two where Brij was giving me a crash course – rather literally – in snowboarding. By the end of the evening I was able to make it almost to the bottom without wiping out, instead of every few feet the whole way down. A considerable improvement, if I do say so myself. I would have gone down one more time but my muscles were completely wrecked and there was no way it was going to happen.

The next day, yesterday, was spent almost entirely lounging at home recovering. Everyone in our party had sustained some kind of injury and I, being a complete noob, was really hurting all over. It was so bad I couldn’t even sit up from lying on my back because my neck was sooooo sore; I had to roll over and push myself up with my hands. Today I woke up feeling considerably better. I’m not sure if it was the rest or the fact that I broke down and took a couple of Extra Strength Tylenols, but I feel like I’m on the way to recovery.

This morning, the sun was shining and the wind had died down, so we decided to head into Vancouver for a day in the city. So here we are, driving up the highway. Stories and photos to follow.

Northwest... Pacific Northwest

It seemed like forever away when I booked my ticket to Seattle back in December, but just as I knew they would, the last few days flew by. Suddenly I didn't have enough time to finish the sweater I was knitting or the books I was reading. I didn't pack a single thing until the night before I left. I don't remember being such a procrastinator in the past. So it goes.

Security at O'Hare wasn't bad. It always happens that way when you get there early; it's the times you're running late that the TSA takes their sweet time nosing through your things and looking at you like certainly you must be hiding something.

Boarding went smoothly, but we wound up sitting in the plane at the gate for what must have been almost an hour. At least the seats were comfy. Four and a half hours is nothing compared to the 15 or so it took me to get to Delhi a few months ago, but it's still a considerable chunk out of one's day. The cool part is I was flying west, so I managed to not lose too many hours on the clock.

We got some pho at a Vietnamese restaurant near our hotel. After our meal, the owner asked how our food was, told us it was nice to meet us, and gave Brij and me each a hug. Talk about a warm welcome to Seattle.

Obviously I had to pick up some Starbucks since I was in the place where it originated. It's pretty much the same as anywhere else.

My first two days in a city known for its rain, the weather was bright and sunny. And warm. I mean REALLY warm. Considering I'd escaped the polar vortex that's been ravaging the Midwest for however many weeks now, 50 degrees in Seattle felt like summer vacation.

Anyway, across the street from our place was this restaurant:

On Friday we set off in search of a vegan sandwich restaurant called Plum, which Brij had gotten a Groupon for. After misreading a map and subsequently walking all around Seattle, we finally found it.

Following that, we wandered across the street to the Space Needle and, being tourists, decided we ought to check it out. Twenty bucks a person for a pretty sweet view of the city is not a bad deal. (More pix will follow when I can get them off my phone):

Saturday the plan was to hang out in Seattle and head up to Vancouver in the evening. My good friend Cory, who has recently made a move to the west coast, met us in Seattle and the three of us got some delicious Thai food at In The Bowl which, to our surprise and delight, happened to be having a 50% off promotion in observance of their anniversary. We all recommend you go there if you're in the area.

After food and some deliberation, we made our way to Belltown Billiards for some pool. I guess all those hours of Wii Pool paid off because I managed to win a couple of games. Woot. :)

Sorry Cory, I think my action shots of you are still on my phone...

None of us managed to remember that it was Saturday night by the time we were done, so there was no parking to be had, all the restaurants looked busy.. plus it was raining pretty hard at this point and we had no idea where to go anyway. So we parted ways and Brij and I headed up to Vancouver.

The border crossing guard asked us a bunch of questions like how long I was staying and when I was expected back at work, where had I come from, and when was the last time I was in Canada? When it became clear that he was going to let us through I asked for a stamp for my passport and he informed us that he'd forgotten his stamp that day, and we'd have to park and go inside and did we really want it that bad? Yes, yes we did.

So long story short, I made it to Canada and I've got a stamp to prove it.


Right now we're chilling at Brij's friend Justin's house, waiting to go snowboarding, and they are bugging me to get off the computer so we can play something called Oculus. I guess that's going to happen.

So tonight's agenda: coffee, snowboarding, return to suburban Vancouver. Possible Indian food to follow.

I've also established that my phone doesn't work here, so leave me comments, send an email, or message me on FB if you need to get in touch with me.

Catch you later, eh.

In, and right back out again.

Alright, people!

I've now been back in the US for nearly 2 months. I'm ready to get back out.

The mobsters at Sallie Mae want their money, and my part time job -- as much as I love it -- doesn't quite cut it in the face of massive American student loans. Therefore, I have begun to look for somewhat more traditional employment. Bummer, right? My millennial self thinks so, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. A few years working for The Man and then pay for everything else in cash seems like it might be the way to go.

I've got a few leads that could take me to Brooklyn, Chicago, Milwaukee, or even Utah. I've considered going back to school for something practical like engineering. And then, earlier this evening, one of my fellow ESL teachers from Tibet Charity floated the idea that we pursue a joint teaching venture in Japan. Now THAT sounds interesting.

In other news, my venture to the Pacific Northwest is drawing nearer! In just a little over a week I'll be on my way out to Seattle, and from there roaming around the general area as far as, perhaps, Portland, Vancouver, and somewhere further into the interior of British Columbia. Mostly I'm looking forward to the super-fresh sushi.

Stay tuned for pix!

(Oh, and the Japan jobs want us to start in March/April... so it could be that I'm back in Illinois for a month or less before heading overseas again. Talk about doing things last-minute!)