Going back to Vancouver was great.
Vancouver is just as I left it, with all the people and places I love. My parents are looking good. They are relaxed and getting out more and still enjoying the afterglow from their trip to India in February. My Baba and Zaida (grandparents) were in good spirits and actually looking quite good considering their age. It felt good to know that they are proud of me. It is unfortunate that they will not come to see my graduation from Queen's, even though I don't know any of the details about it yet. I tried to see as many people as I could, but I regret that scheduling did prevent me from seeing everyone as much as I would have liked. I will try to make a reasonable chronological review of the trip.
Ashley was in town for pretty much the same time I was so I got to celebrate her birthday with her. First, there was a nice dinner at her house that was oddly reminiscent of her birthday dinner last year. So much has changed in our lives in that time, but we are still the same people and celebrating in the same way. It was nice to have this continuity and I think Ashley enjoyed herself. The next night, we went out to the sandbar on Granville Island with her friends. It was fun, although I got there late and missed most of the drinking.
Much of the rest of the week was spent seeing a variety of friends. I had coffee with Dima, who was about to go to Calgary to sell books. He is very happy with that and is probably going to stay with that company for a while. I saw Carolynn who is working in just about the best that the Vancouver financial industry has to offer - a shop that does junior mining companies - and enjoying that life. We had an interesting conversation as always.
I saw Rae for dinner at Guu which was somewhat more awkward than our last meeting in January. It is hard not to think about how things could have been. She is looking good and is doing quite well as a Chinese teacher/tutor. She is exactly the right person at the right time to be benefiting from the trend of learning Chinese. At the same time, she is not sure that this is what she wants to be doing so she is looking for a full time job through which she can start a career in Canada. I saw her one more time before I left with Gloria, the wife of a friend in Beijing. It was more awkward. We went for a walk. Both of us were talking to Gloria but not really to eachother. The whole situation felt strained, I did not know what to do.
I saw Noah a few times. His office is nice and his job seems to be going places. He has also moved into a new apartment right downtown, although it still needs some furnishing and decoration. Seeing him was like seeing the Vancouver lifestyle that I could be living... it was tempting.
I had lunch with Cam one day. He is seeing someone new and looking really good. My last night I saw Sarah who was back from her internship at the African Development Bank and looking for work in Vancouver, which is not a particularly easy thing to do. That same night I also saw Tristan who is about to go back to Toronto to finish up his MA. He did not seem so excited about this, but it is probably the right thing to do. It will be cool to have more people in Toronto so that I have more excuses to visit.
On friday night me and Noah went out with Greg to celebrate Greg's birthday. It was a fun night, starting with a big walk to gastown and the Alibi Room for some tasty imported beer. Greg is teaching pretty much full time at SFU now and he seems to be enjoying it. He still talks of moving to Montreal which would be cool for me, but I think that as long as he has good work in Vancouver, he will probably stay put.
On saturday night I went to Richmond with Noah and my parents for good Chinese food. We ended up stumbling upon a great Sichuan restaurant. The whole thing really brought me back to Beijing and its many Sichuan restaurants. They even had a very authentic 水煮鱼. Later, I went out with Noah to see some NUS people who are in town. It was fun to go through a few old memories with Amy.
Sunday night I met up with Duran, Ellen and Lauren, three people I went to Britannia with. It was a great evening. I had not seen Duran for about two years and the Ellen and Lauren for at least four. Catching up with their interesting lives was great fun. I was surprised that the highschool connection was still so strong even though so much time had passed. It made me regret not hanging out with these people while I was still living in Vancouver. Hopefully there will be a 10 year high school reunion...
I am sure I am missing some things... but I will go on anyway.
The whole trip made me realise that Vancouver really is my home. Although I will not change my mind about moving to Ottawa, I think I will decide to make it back to Vancouver a few times a year just to stay connected with the place and the people there. Even though so many people have left town after they graduated, I am still much much more connected to that place than anywhere else. The network that I have there from UBC and even high school is not something that I will be able to easily replace in Ottawa. Maybe life is not about being a nomad. Doing cool things is fun, but having a sense of home is nice too.
Back in Kingston things are pretty fun. It is wierd that all the undergrads are gone, but at the same time it is nice to be done with classes. My grades were also ok except for macro and it's stupid exam... Now I just need to make some progress on the thesis...
Vancouver is just as I left it, with all the people and places I love. My parents are looking good. They are relaxed and getting out more and still enjoying the afterglow from their trip to India in February. My Baba and Zaida (grandparents) were in good spirits and actually looking quite good considering their age. It felt good to know that they are proud of me. It is unfortunate that they will not come to see my graduation from Queen's, even though I don't know any of the details about it yet. I tried to see as many people as I could, but I regret that scheduling did prevent me from seeing everyone as much as I would have liked. I will try to make a reasonable chronological review of the trip.
Ashley was in town for pretty much the same time I was so I got to celebrate her birthday with her. First, there was a nice dinner at her house that was oddly reminiscent of her birthday dinner last year. So much has changed in our lives in that time, but we are still the same people and celebrating in the same way. It was nice to have this continuity and I think Ashley enjoyed herself. The next night, we went out to the sandbar on Granville Island with her friends. It was fun, although I got there late and missed most of the drinking.
Much of the rest of the week was spent seeing a variety of friends. I had coffee with Dima, who was about to go to Calgary to sell books. He is very happy with that and is probably going to stay with that company for a while. I saw Carolynn who is working in just about the best that the Vancouver financial industry has to offer - a shop that does junior mining companies - and enjoying that life. We had an interesting conversation as always.
I saw Rae for dinner at Guu which was somewhat more awkward than our last meeting in January. It is hard not to think about how things could have been. She is looking good and is doing quite well as a Chinese teacher/tutor. She is exactly the right person at the right time to be benefiting from the trend of learning Chinese. At the same time, she is not sure that this is what she wants to be doing so she is looking for a full time job through which she can start a career in Canada. I saw her one more time before I left with Gloria, the wife of a friend in Beijing. It was more awkward. We went for a walk. Both of us were talking to Gloria but not really to eachother. The whole situation felt strained, I did not know what to do.
I saw Noah a few times. His office is nice and his job seems to be going places. He has also moved into a new apartment right downtown, although it still needs some furnishing and decoration. Seeing him was like seeing the Vancouver lifestyle that I could be living... it was tempting.
I had lunch with Cam one day. He is seeing someone new and looking really good. My last night I saw Sarah who was back from her internship at the African Development Bank and looking for work in Vancouver, which is not a particularly easy thing to do. That same night I also saw Tristan who is about to go back to Toronto to finish up his MA. He did not seem so excited about this, but it is probably the right thing to do. It will be cool to have more people in Toronto so that I have more excuses to visit.
On friday night me and Noah went out with Greg to celebrate Greg's birthday. It was a fun night, starting with a big walk to gastown and the Alibi Room for some tasty imported beer. Greg is teaching pretty much full time at SFU now and he seems to be enjoying it. He still talks of moving to Montreal which would be cool for me, but I think that as long as he has good work in Vancouver, he will probably stay put.
On saturday night I went to Richmond with Noah and my parents for good Chinese food. We ended up stumbling upon a great Sichuan restaurant. The whole thing really brought me back to Beijing and its many Sichuan restaurants. They even had a very authentic 水煮鱼. Later, I went out with Noah to see some NUS people who are in town. It was fun to go through a few old memories with Amy.
Sunday night I met up with Duran, Ellen and Lauren, three people I went to Britannia with. It was a great evening. I had not seen Duran for about two years and the Ellen and Lauren for at least four. Catching up with their interesting lives was great fun. I was surprised that the highschool connection was still so strong even though so much time had passed. It made me regret not hanging out with these people while I was still living in Vancouver. Hopefully there will be a 10 year high school reunion...
I am sure I am missing some things... but I will go on anyway.
The whole trip made me realise that Vancouver really is my home. Although I will not change my mind about moving to Ottawa, I think I will decide to make it back to Vancouver a few times a year just to stay connected with the place and the people there. Even though so many people have left town after they graduated, I am still much much more connected to that place than anywhere else. The network that I have there from UBC and even high school is not something that I will be able to easily replace in Ottawa. Maybe life is not about being a nomad. Doing cool things is fun, but having a sense of home is nice too.
Back in Kingston things are pretty fun. It is wierd that all the undergrads are gone, but at the same time it is nice to be done with classes. My grades were also ok except for macro and it's stupid exam... Now I just need to make some progress on the thesis...
