first taste of canadian way

most people think canada is not that different from united states, for good reasons. But after a couple of weeks, I am starting to get a feel that there are fundamental differences between the two, especially in how work is being done.

a package was sent to me, from a place that is one hour away from me, on monday afternoon, it is supposed to get here first thing in the morning, tuesday. It is being handled by a company not unlike UPS or fedex.

it is wednesday morning, I still don't have the package, supposedly they made three attempts yesterday, but according to their record, the customer was "closed'. I live in a condo building, there is a dude (sometimes a woman) at the front desk 24 hours a day. This is a fucking residence, it is never "closed". I tried to explain this over the phone to them, but I failed miserably. My effort to assure that this thing will be in my hands today someway, somehow, is not working either.

am I suppose to wait outside the door all day, so my fucking building is not "closed".

from my past experience with company like UPS, they will connect you directly to the driver, let you work out kinks like this, to ensure that delivery such as this is done. I guess that sort of flexibility in customer service is not known in these parts.

fight it out

I try not to get political on NOWARMSODA, as it is a forum mostly for me to bitch about stuff.

but what is the deal with obama not willing to have another debate. I don't understand that. I know this primary has already been too long, but I think the best way for voters to see what these people are all about is during debates, not speeches, not television interviews, and definitely not those stupid TV spots.

what is the thing that people get when they go to popeye's, fried "chi...."

St. Lawrence market

I went to checkout the St. Lawrence market in downtown toronto this morning. This place is not unlike the pike place market in seattle. it is in an old ass building, has shit load of history, and it is got permanent stalls that sell produce, meats, seafood, cheese, plus tons of crafts shit that no one really ever need. On saturday though, it opens another small building across the street, where farmers set up stands to sell whatever they got.

the place has great stuff, but like pike place, ferry building plaza in san francisco and other markets like that in big cities, prices are really high. Family on average income can't possible afford to shop there for all their dietary needs. It was a serious yuppies magnet. I didn't buy any meat or seafood and I was down probably 60 bucks by the time I walk out of there. An organic chicken was around $25, I saw some nice pate of foie gras, but was afraid to ask how much it was.

however, freshly made pasta with some spring vegetable (fava, broad beans) and panchetta made a really nice lunch. I also got some fantastic whole grain mustard ... wait, what else did I get? where the fuck did all my money go.

big boy

last time I saw hudson, it was the fall, and he was not even a month old, he was this tiny little thing. I stopped in seattle for a couple days to visit jason, helen, and hudson, as well as the schulze family, right before I came up to toronto last week.

and there he was, a big chubby kid at 7 month old. I didn't see him much the night I arrived, as it was around his bedtime. but the next morning, he would start crying every time he sees me, it was pretty god damn funny. after he took a nap while we ate breakfast, we went grocery shopping, I think he started to warm up to me then.

I don't know how they do it, I can barely take care of myself, a baby .... and I have a feeling he is going to turn out just fine.

can't be said enough - why fuck with the chinese?

well, my entries are not going to be chronological for a while, but my life has been a little bit up side down, so I think you will understand.

You all have heard about protests related to the beijing game, organized by different interest group. I understand that since the spot light is on china, it is a good time to put pressure on that government to make some changes. But from my experience at this particular gathering that I went to with duan (the torch passing san francisco, three days before I left town), it is not clear to me that people understand what they are standing up for. All these protester (non-chinese), their views are shaped by western media, do they really understand what needed to be done vs what is non-issue? All of us chinese people present at the event were not there to support the communist (and come on, they are definitely no fucking communist), we were there because we are proud of being chinese, we are proud of the fact that our country came from the ruin it was 50 years ago and now is hosting the biggest civilian event of the world.

I am sure most americans are proud of being american, proud of being part of a country that was funded on great moral and principle. But how many americans are proud of the events that has taken place in america as well as around the globe caused by american policies and actions? Chinese people understand the inadequacy of their government, progress will take time, external pressure can be both positive and negative, and I am afraid the anti-china based protest in the name of tibet or related to the olympics are not doing any good.

my friend duan wrote a piece in the school news paper that really reflect the sentiment of most chinese people in china and around the globe (http://www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2008/Apr/17/china.html). I don't have duan's intellect or patience, all I can say is, through history, many countries or empires have tried to fuck with the chinese, nothing good ever happens.

too small

move in to my new place on tuesday, my stuff just arrived yesterday.

this place is smaller than I thought, although my place in san francisco was also tiny, it had a lot of storage capacity, this place, not so much. I don't know wtf I am going to do with all my shit. And the truth is, most of my shit are useless, I really don't need most of the crap I got.

hopefully I will get enough shit unpacked tonight so I can cook my first meal there.

although it is a little too small, and not in the best location, but the view is not that bad

finally

I know I have been talking about this move to toronto for like weeks.

friday was my last night in the city, tropp was kind enough to let me brought a few bottle of wine to his cellar to store. On top of that, he invited me to stay for supper. we had chopped liver (yes, he is a jew, but that had nothing to do with why were eating liver, he just like it, so do I), and text book perfect roasted chicken.

duan took me to the airport yesterday afternoon, we were running late as usually (not quite disaster though), so there wasn't time to think about much,

but, it is official now, we will see what sort of trouble I can get myself into north of the border.

love

going away after six and half years is really not easy, especially when you try to say goodbye to people you know and love. Last night, my friend Gianina hosted a party at her apartment for me, with a lot of these people on hand.

When I first moved here, 'my fearless leader' matt was the first person who I got to know, and he became one of my closest friend. I met Gianina shortly after that through matt. Believe me, they have some of the biggest hearts of anyone I know.

the party was simply stupid, we had foie gras, oyster with caviar, really good cheese, tuna, duck burger with home made buns, ....
it was just ridiculous.

I know it has been said too many times, but you really can't appreciate fully what you have until you are about to lose it.