Back in Canada

Hello? Anybody there? Yeah, figured its been awhile so I thought I might update it again just for old times sake. If anybody’s still reading this, email me at arts_senator@hotmail.com. Otherwise I’ll assume it’s a done-deal, and not bother updating it anymore, but if enough people are still reading it, I might be able to update once a month (assuming I stop forgetting, hehe).

Well I’ve been back in Canada now for over a month, and sometimes I think to myself, was I actually in Taiwan, or was it all just dream, like I was stuck in a coma for 8 months or something. But no, I have the photos to prove it, which I still haven’t posted, so I think I’ll post a few today, and cut my entry short (yes, I actually plan on having a short entry, now let’s see if I stick to the plan). An update on what I’ve been up to: Coming back to Canada, I stopped first in Vancouver to see if the university there, Simon Fraser University, was going to accept me or not. After crossing an ocean to talk to them, they told me, “Oh sorry, you weren’t accepted, but we’d love for you to [pay your $50] and apply again next year!” Yay! Luckily I did get into the school in Toronto I applied for, York University. York is apparently the 3rd biggest university in Canada, and I can believe it. The campus is literally a small city, complete with hockey rinks, pools, the biggest legal library in the British commonwealth, and even an entire shopping mall. They also had a ton of Canada geese (for non-Canadians, these are big gooses with grey bodies, black heads, and big white patches around the eyes), and one big momma goose decided to camp out and lay its eggs in front of the main entrance of a building, and it glares at you as you go by. In my past experience, geese are not creatures to be messed with, as I learned with a certain Pass-the-Goose fundraiser I ran a couple years back. York is also apparently one of the leading researchers on anti-matter, so if Toronto suddenly gets replaced by a giant crater in the next couple of years, all I can say is “I didn’t do it.” By the way, in case you’re wondering, what I’m studying is a Master’s in Communication and Culture, which I’m hoping I can turn into some form of pick-up line, but probably not. But I don’t start there until the fall. In the mean time, I’m working as an Assistant Curator for the Daly House Museum, a small museum in Brandon, my hometown. It seems to have a lot of memorabilia from my great great grandfather and uncle and what not. The Clement family were fairly big whigs here about a century ago, when the city was being founded and all. My great-great grandpappy was the first sheriff, but then the city was apparently a bit of a wild west town and was also supposedly the prostitution capital of Canada for a while, so I don’t know exactly what kind of sheriff he was. I do know that his sons, the ones that became mayors and judges and city councilors and whatnot, used their positions of privilege to engrave their names in every city council desk they could get their hands on. One of the main points I have to say now, when I give my tour of the museum, is how my late late uncle little graffiti of a tree and a landscape was likely scratched in during a particularly dull council meeting. Thus the most memorable legacy of his term, and my family, after nearly a 100 years ago, is office vandalism. So kids, when a teacher yells at you for scratching the desk, remember you’re making history!

I also have another casual job as a freelance radio reporter for the CBC (Canada’s version of the BBC). What this entails, basically is going around with a microphone that doesn’t work half the time, and shoving it in people’s faces and telling them to be natural. Next week I’m covering a Role-playing Convention (think Dungeons & Dragons) that’s being held in an old Anglican Cathedral (my old church incidentally).

Anyways, I've added some Taiwanese photos. For the ones on Japan, go see the Japanese section. I'm afraid the ones I have from China are all on regular film (you know the kind you used to get developed when you were a kid) so I don't have them on my computer.