Saturday and Sunday, I went to Mass here;
Inside it was beautiful.
I got to meet the priest who presided over the mass;
My posture in this photo was so bad. My excuse? I was very emotional. It was always my goal upon coming to Canada to go here to take RCIA classes.
My son Tony first noticed a lot of police vehicles down the street from my Mom’s house. He asked me to investigate. So, I left the house and walked down the street where I meet a neighbor who told me what was happening: a drug bust at a house that parents had gifted to their children, and they subsequently turned into a drug den. A big armored swat vehicle had been used in the bust. My son claims he heard a gunshot from the locale.
My Mother says I eat too fast. My manner of eating, she says, makes her ashamed to be seen in public with me.
She's right, of course! She's my Mom after all. And she's 87 and still ticking. I'd be a fool to not heed what she says.
So. Why is it that I eat so fast, other than, I am a barbarian who is so, only because he never heeded what his Mother told him? I can blame my bad habit on a few things: 1) My brief career as a courier driver in the valley of the lower mainland of British Columbia. Many days, I was behind on deliveries and only had a few minutes to eat. 2) I was a bachelor who cleaned up after himself. A full meal took a while and I rushed to get through the eating. 3) Using a chopstick in China often involved shovelling food into one's mouth, especially eating a bowl of rice with the utensils. 4) Clean up eating. What I mean is often, I have to eat past my fill because there is too much food cooked at home or ordered at a restaurant. When something becomes a task or duty, I like to rush through it. 5) Delicious food. My Wife and my Mother are good cooks who make food that is so easy to gobble up quickly.
Yesterday, my Mother asked me to finish a bowl of cantaloup chopped up into chunks because she wanted to clean the bowl and put it away. Dutiful son I was trying to be, I asked her if I could eat it fast. My Mother smiled and said that I could.
I took these on Monday.
This photos were taken on Portage Avenue where I saw an old Chinese man busking. He was playing an erhu.
I tried to talk to him. My ice breaker was to ask if he was playing an erhu. My attempt at speaking Chinese was not understood. I gave him some change.
It was easier dealing with trash in China. I know I say this, maybe, because I'm not accustomed to the practices here, but I have to ask lots of questions of my mother about what to do with plastic, meat, poultry products and so on...
Monday, my son & I were at the Manitoba Legislature grounds.
Who’s this guy? Why did they honor him?
The view from the front steps of the building.
I was walking near the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg when I saw greenish colored poop on the sidewalk. I wondered whose dog had done it, only to quickly see some Canada Geese, and then much more green poop on the sidewalk. I quickly deduced that the geese had made the poop.
Sidewalks full of poop! I thought of San Francisco. There the poop is made by homeless people or so I’ve been told.
“What would you like to drink?” asked the waitress.
“I’d like some cola please!” I replied.
The waitress responded “We serve Coke (or Pepsi). Would that be okay?”
I would respond with a “Sure!” Then I would get chastised by the others at my table: “No one says THAT in Canada!”
I suppose I am expected to say: “I would like a Coke (or Pepsi) please!” Though I don’t see how that solves the problem of what to say if you don’t know if they serve Coke or Pepsi. The Coca Cola Company and the Pepsi Cola Company both make cola, don’t they?
What a crazy country where I’m living!
I looked at tracks.
That’s near my brother’s and my cousin’s place.
My brother’s place backs into this street. I can’t visit there. There’s a crazy woman living there.
I’m had time with a long time friend who’s old. My son Tony drank his first ever legal beer in Canada.
Jenny & My brother Ron
Jenny & my cousin Lolita.
Jenny & me.
Jenny & Tony.
This entry is a market. That is, I making an obligatory entry to show my commitment, even though I am not yet settled into a routine because I’m not settled yet here. Capiche?
I’ll have to reconsider my thoughts on driving in China and here. It turns out there are impatient drivers everywhere…. Among other things. More about this, anon.
They do things different in China and Canada. In this blog, I will be documenting the ways. I'll try to present in a neutral light. Being married to China while being a Canadian, I don't want to offend anybody, though probably will.
Last week, our visit was a great success. My wife Jenny really liked all the food she purchased.
Yesterday (Monday), I got my son registered at Neelin High School.
Tony will be going there for Grade 12 like I did in 1981-82.
I was able to establish my residency in Brandon. I had enough documents.
My wife has flights to get back to China on August 25 with Air Canada. Cross our fingers and hope the thing is resolved by then.
Here is another reason that I’m happy to be back in Canada.
Yesterday, Saturday, I drove my wife around Brandon to visit yard sales. I found the address of a few at the eBrandin site and found more as we were driving about
I got to see a lot of Brandon and found some bargoons
I’d appreciate it if my rare readers took a glance at one of the episodes and tell me what they think of it. Are the views he puts forth valid? Why? Why not?
Friday afternoon, I drove to the driver testing place to do the knowledge and eye tests so I could get my class 5 Manitoba Driver’s License. I passed both the tests, but I will have to wait a while before I can do my road test. But it must be done by October 21.
As I waited to do the knowledge test I saw a father with his son, or I should say a farmer with his son. They were both dressed in the same manner, wearing patterned shirts, suspenders and dark dungarees. The boy was probably 16 or 17, slim but solid looking from having done agricultural work. He ended up in a booth next to me doing his knowledge test. The boy would have put all my NJHS students to shame. He looked like someone who didn’t spend so much time on his electronic device. He was used to being outdoors and doing physical labor.
Over ten years ago, I took a computerized test to get my Chinese driving test. On that test, I had to answer 100 multiple choice questions. The pass mark was 90. I prepared well for the test and got a 99 score. And I still am annoyed at missing that one question. The Manitoba test was 30 questions and the pass mark was 24. I got one wrong.
Yes, there are many things I am going to miss from my time in China. For instance:
I finally got the e-statement I needed from the Royal Bank. I printed it and took it with my other necessary document to a Manitoba Public Insurance agent so I could start the process of getting my Class 5 Manitoba driver's license. The documents were fine and got me on the system and I was able to get an appointment to take my knowledge test, but there was another hitch.
When I pass the test, I will have to turn in my Chinese driving license and get a special class of driver license, not a learner's, which allows me to drive only when I with a driver supervisor, till I can take and pass my driving test. I told the agent I didn't know one and that I was renting a car. He told me I could pass the knowledge test and wait to turn in my license once I resolved my situation.
And there was yet another hitch. I am going to have to borrow a car for the road test, unless I could use the rental.
The knowledge test is on Friday. I will have to worry the weekend about how I am going to get a car for the test.
I need the class five license for my job hunt.
Serves me right! I suppose.
I want to prove that I reside in Manitoba so I can get my class 5 driver's license. I have one of the documents I need. I am waiting for the other which is my bank statement which shows me as living at my mother's house. I first thought I would get it on the 11th, and then the 12th, and then this morning, but it may not arrive till tomorrow, or the day after that.... Annoying!!!
This morning, my mother was saying that there was smoke from the forest fires. Looking out the window, I couldn’t see anything, for it seemed like a pleasant sunny summer morning after a period of rain, but when I opened the front door, it smelled like a campfire.
In China, the air could be smoggy.
Let me list the reasons that I can think of, off the top of my head, that I happy to be back in Canada:
I'm trying to get my Manitoba driver's license. I thought it would be a simple case of presenting them my Chinese driver's license, which is linked to my passport, which I of course have, and presenting a document to show my address here. It turns out I will have to take a knowledge test again, as well as a road test, before I can get my class five license.
But before I can do that, I have to establish my residency for which I need two documents. One of them is a guarantor form, like the form for a passport. But I can get someone who knows me and has a driver's license in Manitoba to be my guarantor. I had to go to Walmart to get passport sized pictures taken to accompany the form. The other document will be a bank statement which I will get sometime this week. Luckily, I was informed that I needed to make three transactions with my bank card otherwise the bank statement would not have been good enough. Once I get the statement, I'll zip off to a Manitoba Public Insurance broker office and start the process of getting the license.
I need to establish my residency in order to register my son Tony into school.
Paperwork! Bureaucracy! Aggh!!
I heard about the forest fires while I was still in China.
Once in Canada, I first noticed their effects while looking at the horizon which was dark in the evenings.
I have had people tell me that they have experienced bad smoky air because of the forest fires. I, not so much. Maybe this is because I have been in China for so long.
The cause of the forest fires? Climate change say some; other says bad forest management on the part of the government.
In Nova Scotia, controversy has arisen because of the premier's decision to impose 25,000 dollar fines (plus tax and fees) on people who go into the woods. People, who think this is an imposition, are being selfish say one side of the controversy. The people who don't agree with the prohibition and the fines think they are a serious further infringement on people's freedoms started by what they see as the over reaction to Covid.
This is probably the best way to help me make my transition from China to Canada:
You can give me as much as you want or don't want.
You can also go to the button at the right.
When I am able to get myself organized, I will be working on this personal project
I drove an hour north of Brandon to get to Riding Mountain National Park. I took my family with me.
We first went to Clear Lake.
We walked around the nearby tourist village.
I made a three W’s video
The lake and village seemed crowded. But it was expensive.
After an hour of that, I drove us to the Eastern Escarpment. I was told about it by Weiming Zhao. We had to drive over 25 km of dirt road in the bush to get to it but it was worth it.
The view was spectacular. My son Tony said it was cool.
We didn’t drive back on the dirt road. After three clicks, we drove through the park’s east gate. We went through Neepawa to get home.
Here is a compilation of all the video and photos I took on our drive to and from the park.
Here are some bad videos I made in the house.
My impression of the new arena? Nice and modern.
I was driving from Souris to the #1 Highway. My son took the video. Below is a video I took in China.
