The speed of life

The other day in the office I had a chat with someone about how long it used to take to get from Sooke BC to downtown Victoria BC due to road conditions and technology.  Well I've spent 12 hours on a plane and have crossed the Pacific Ocean, still hasn't it me yet how amazing our lives are in modern times.

While on my last flight I was eating a seaweed salad and though "how strange is it to eat something from the sea while sitting 30,000 ft in the sky watching a movie".

Yet even as technology lets us get further away faster I also realize how easy it is to stay at home in my mind.  At both airports I have been able to hook up to wifi, skype video chat, check e-mail and read the news from home.

I guess thats what Marshal McLuhan was right... we are a global village.

Fast time, Slow time

The last few days have been crazy, weather, events, babies popping out all over the place.  After some concerns about this weather delaying my flight it all worked out.  I'm sitting at Gate D65 waiting for my China Air flight to Taipei where I will then changes planes to Hanoi.

Security went smoothly but that was only after I had to repack because my mom OVER packed. I will have to show you guys my little backpackers special compaired to the two sea-container sized suitcases my mom stuff all sorts of essentials into such as.... marshmellow candy, shoes, stuffed animals, knicknacks, odds and ends.  Oh yes a picture when I get into Hanoi for sure.

I am in seat G36 meaning isle which is what I like, I'm also at the back of the aircraft.  Good thing I have movies loaded on my netbook

see if you can find my seat in the picture.

There is a lot more details to talk about but they are calling the pre-boarding.... the adventure begins.

Pre-trip surprise

 I was going to get ready for my trip by taking it easy the last couple of days, however chance would have it things didn't work out that way.  It started off with a freak snowstorm and they closed work early, I tried to make it up the hill with my little car but 'no way jose' so I turned around and headed back to work where I would leave the car.

Well as I was slowing to stop at a stop sign a jeep skid into my lane and CRUNCH went my new paint job..... by someone at work, but he was good about it, told me he'd pay for the damages so all will be well...... oh yeah his jeep was fine.

So that set me up for a day of running around looking for parts and a place to repair the car.  It will have to wait till I get back.

This morning however another surprise a call from my sister's phone at 7am could only mean two things, one something big happened to my parents that I needed to know OR.... BABY TIME!!!!

see my sister was due on the 28th of November so I was expecting to be away when the little bugger came, but as we speak I am waiting in the hospital and I made it just 2 minutes short of actually seeing her.

When I walked into the room there were doctors-and-nurses-and-curtains-oh-my!" So I made it all the way from Victoria to sit in a waiting lounge by myself.... but at least there is wifi!!!!

I don't think me and my sister will be able to go out for dinner as planned.

Traitor

I had some friends over this past Sunday for some Pho (yes I made it myself, no I didn't use any powders or pre-made stock, yes it was northern style, no I didn't give them food poisoning).  After a lovely brunch of Pho we had a nice chat about my up coming vacation.  I was commenting on the fact that I was going to have to be delicate in the way I dodge possible setups with family friends so that I can escape from my vacation unscathed and more importantly unengaged.

Since my Parents still have friends and other family connections there I am expected to make the rounds on their behalf.  I have no problem doing this and I look forward to really getting a good taste of life in Hanoi from the perspective of the locals.  I do however want to avoid the “marriage setup” attempts that will likely happen.

This and having space to work on my thesis was some of the reasons I wanted to live in a hotel or shared house with other expats. 

I also did not want some poor girl to be pressured by her family to secure my affections.  I also wouldn’t want to subject some nice local girl to the idea that she would have to move away from her family, friends, and culture in Hanoi to fly to a totally new country as my *gulp* foreign bride.  Oh I am sure I could fall for a smart, nice daughter of my parents friends, however I’m actually trying to think about what is best for all here.

I think my mom (who has pushed this more then anyone) would love for nothing more then for her only remaining unmarried child to wed the daughter of a good friend.  This would set her giggling like a high school gossip queen and she could call all her other friends spread the word.

After relaying this conundrum to my guest, I had been expecting the full support of my friends on this matter.  What I did NOT expect was for one of them to say what they did.  

Ok so before I get into this heated topic (like a dancer at the Blue Fox) I will give them stage names to protect their true identities.  Think the names Bert and Ernie will suffice (except Ernie in this case will be a girl) and now I can go on without fear of reprisals against them.

 Ernie grew up in Canada on the west coast and is very much a Canadian girl of Caucasian background.  I would think that she would advocate for supporting Canadian girls but in stead she said “oh I don’t know about not giving the Hanoi girls a chance”, she further went on and elaborated while I sat there amused and shocked.  I will boil down her tirade to some key points from her perspective.

1)      “didn’t trust Canadian girls”

2)      “They are pretty messed up”

3)      “the feminist movement has screwed up my generation”

4)      “you are likely to find a better girl in Vietnam”

Without going on more I think you get the drift, I did try and counter her points even saying “well you telling me all your friends that are girls aren’t good then?” to which she replied “oh yeah they are screwed up” … this had me laughing a bit.  Bert for his part was more excited by the idea that if I marred a Vietnamese girl he would have unlimited access to good home Vietnamese cooking.  

I like everyone else reading this blog was appalled by Ernie’s lack of loyalty for her home town girls, I thought I would get validation at my plans to avoid problems....

Now to be clear I'm not fully against the idea, I just don't want someone to feel undue pressure and there are a lot of great girls in Canada, I was just supprised at "Ernie's" attitude.

I know like the rest of you when she said all these things I was thinking.... Traitor!

Time Warp

This will be my fist blog... but "this ain't my first rodeo" as they say.  I've done a lot of travelling, both for work and on my own, mostly with just a backpack and a smile.

I'm going on a trip, a journey not just physically but also mentally.  This "Time Warp" was also tied into the fact that I found all my old travel photos the other day, from a time when people still used film in stead of memory cards to capture our memories.

After the ups and downs of last year I'm giving my self a destination vacation.  This blog will be a way for those that know me and care (all 3 of them) to follow my trip and keep tabs on what I'm doing..... hmmm maybe I shouldn't tell my friends, if did maybe they will affect what I say or what I will reveal.  

My trip is one month away and I am going to the city I was born, but have never really known.  This will be my chance to change all that.  Unlike may of the other places I've seen this time will be different since I speak the local language, that will change my experience for certain.

Thinking about travel, my mind wandered back to those first trips I took many years ago.  Trying to think of a name for this blog brought me back to a single moment in time with such clarity I can smell the scent of new plastic and material in a luggage store on Manhattan Island's little Italy in NYC.

That day I had been looking around for a the bag that would be my home during my first European backpacking adventure.  I found a few good choices but when I tried on this green bag from Eagle Creek, and the owner said this model was called "Endless Journey" right away I was hit with a feeling that this was the one and that I was headed for an adventure never to be forgotten.  So hence the name of the blog because it really is a reflection of my travel philosophy both past, present and future.

There is no stop, there is no end... it will be a continuum.

Anyways as first pots go this is not all that exciting.