Wednesday

This is me.

This is me on the Calf Robe Bridge at 4:45 driving into the sun on my way home from work.

Weekend

We spent the weekend in Fairmont. My parents have had a timeshare there since I was wee lad and it’s one of my favorite things to do. Taking Cate and Maggie there was a big deal for me, even though I don’t make it seem that way (I do my best to hide any sentimental feelings or emotion in everything I do, and it serves me well). It was a great few days.

Carmen and I made a commitment to watch a movie every week for the entire year of 09. Repeats are discouraged, but accepted if they’re quality. Suggestions are welcome. So far we’ve hit Benjamin Button, The Wrestler, The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Slumdog, and we almost didn’t get it done this week, but we caught the second half of Boyz N the Hood on Saturday night. I’ve seen enough Kate Winslet to last the next 365, and I mean that on a couple of levels. If you’ve seen The Reader, you know what I mean. On deck is Doubt and Frost/Nixon (I don't understand how a movie with a literally adapted screenplay based on a conversation can be considered one of the best of the year, but I guess I'll find out). The new Che will count as three because it’s about about sixhourslong. Once we work our way through the awards season, I'd like to watch every movie containing Bryan Adams in its soundtrack.

If you missed The Office on Sunday, you missed the funniest scene in the history of television that doesn’t include Ricky Gervais.

This is why my kids are so cute

Home, sweet home

We miss Lethbridge. One of Cate's favorite things to do is sit on this bench and look at the bridge, waiting for trains to go by. She never gets to do it though, because we don't live there (obviously). And it wouldn't be fun right now anyway because, if you can't tell from the photo, it was bloody cold.

This is my photo of the day for Jan. 14. I was in Lethbridge for work for the day, and the grey sky over the coulees on my way out of town was too nostalgic for me not to stop and snap a shot.

The girls

Oh ... it's you

Hi there. It’s been a while. Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is David. I’m a bit older now – less hair, but more experience. I no longer drift around Asian cities. I live in the soulless cesspool that is Calgary. I still have a beautiful wife, but I now have two gorgeous daughters: Cate Rowan and Maggie Jane.

I’ve decided to continue this blog for no reason other than my life seems more interesting when I look at it as a series of stories … or posts if you will. There isn’t much to say, and I doubt there will be any time soon, but I’ll spin a yarn every now and then. Mostly I’ll be posting photos, including selections from my just-started 365 Project; one photo every day in 2009. The entire thing will be on Flickr. Carmen and I have also committed to snapping a shot of each of our girls for the next 365.

There's actually eight happy feet now. And they're not really happy. They're fairly stationary for the time being. But that's okay - for the sake of simplicity, I'll keep the name the same.

Enjoy.

May

Alright dudes. Let's get reacquainted. I live in Calgary. I have a twentysixmonthold daughter and a wife who's about five months pregnant.

Besides all that, things are the same. We live really close to Chinatown, so we can go there when we get homesick. Although Koreatown would probably make more sense, it's still Asian. Most people don't know the difference anyway. Okay, I'm not really ethnocentric, it's just nice to live close to Asian grocery stores again. I really miss Korea.

Ameijing (*wink*)

You'd think that on a travelblog, a trip to Beijing, China would be worth a few posts, wouldn't you? Apparently not. Not yet, anyway. We've been busy lately with a job search, trips to Key West and Saskatoon and a real, live social life outside of Facebook.

There's a lot to talk about, but I'll start with what is by far the most amazing place I've ever been to, Beijing. We took a bus from Daegu to the Busan International Airport, and then a two hour flight to The Capital City of China. We'd gotten used to the confusion and disarray of Korea, so the chaos that awaited us at the Beijing Int'l Airport was almost overwhelming. I was on the verge of a panic attack when I realized I couldn't communicate with anyone other than the clerks at the Information booths who wanted to rip us off on our taxi fare and hotel accommodation. Culture shock wasn't something I expected on our way home from Korea. But we'd done enough research to know which taxis were legitimate, so that was okay. But, explaining to our driver where our hotel was was another matter. Luckily, by some miracle, the Chinese guy getting into the taxi next to ours spoke perfect English and translated to our driver. Then it was the best hour-long traffic jam I've ever experienced as we drove through the city.

Our hotel was a tenminutewalk from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City and five minutes from Wangfujing. We only had three days, so it was impossible to do and see everything we wanted to, but it was an extraordinary experience. It's hard to describe the character of the city. It's massive and modern, but crowded with groups of old men in fedoras and people riding 50yearold bicycles.

This, I think, is my favorite photo of the city. It best captures our experience of Beijing:

It's almost a shame to have to make such a quick schedule out of seeing some of the most significant and historic places in the world, but we made the most of it. In the morning of our first full day we walked to the Forbidden City. It was already overcrowded at 9:00 in the morning. I hadn't realized until we got there that the Square and the front wall of the City are separated by an eight-lane-wide road and are joined by tunnels. Tiananmen Square is actually totally isolated so it can be closed at night. Also, it's enormous. Like, really, really huge. Here's a view of the City from the Square:

That's the National Flag of China in the middle, which stands at the front of Tiananmen Square and is raised every morning in ceremony at sunrise. The Square is heavily patrolled by military and police. In fact, you can't go a block in the entire city without seeing at least a few uniforms.

That's the Monument to the People's Heroes above. The intersection to the right of that is, I think, the sight of the Unknown Rebel.

Our hotel was surrounded by hutongs, which are alleys lined with small shacks. They are the traditional style of homes in Beijing and are quickly being wiped out to make way for modern apartments. At the risk of sounding ignorant, I can't believe people live in these:

Since we didn't have a long time to spend in the city, getting to the Great Wall was going to be difficult. But we found a great tour guide who picked us up at our hotel and took us to the Mutianyu section of the wall, which is far less visited and much older than the popular Badaling area. The drive to the wall was a surreal experience in itself, taking us through a few small villages and the beautiful countryside of China. Along the way our guide told us the story of the Wall and how it was built. Every man, from the age of 16, was required to help build, and thousands died in the process. Their bodies are buried beneath it. Chairman Mao once said, "We are not heroes until we've climbed the Wall." So every Chinese person feels obligated to visit at least once in their life.


Later that day we went to the Temple of Heaven:


We got a bit of shopping in too. The rumours are true - stuff in China is cheap. Dirt cheap. Bartering in Wangfujing Market was exhausting, but it worked and was actually sort of fun. Prices would start at around 250 Yuan and I'd end up paying between 15 and 30. And, to be perfectly honest, I was still getting ripped off.

We definitely didn't have as much time in Beijing as we would've liked, but I've made a promise to myself that we'll go back some day. We'd even consider living there for six months. It's certainly a possibility. Actually, a lot of things are a possibility. I guess we've learned that over the last year. It makes settling down a bit more difficult. But, as some of you know, we've got another two feet on the way, so settling down is priority one at the moment. I still have to give a debriefing of our time in Korea. It'll take a bit of thought but I'll get to it ... soon. There's plenty of other stuff to talk about too. But until then, here are a few more of my faves from Beijing.

Happy Birthday Cate Rowan

Somehow, this rascal is two years old already.

We've made life a bit difficult for her lately, but she's put up with us and manages to get more beautiful and sweet every day.

Hold your horses, people

This blog isn't finished. I just need some time to get my head straight. It's been a wild three weeks. There's much more to come. It won't be long.

In the meantime, check out my Flickr account for new photogs. The link is on the right.

Peace.