Sunday -- I thought I was finally over jetlag but then I fell asleep at 11 last night and woke up at 6 this morning. Back in Canada I didn't have any real difficulty, but then there was no reason to get up before noon. Going home you sleep late, but when you come this way, you end up falling asleep and waking up early. The latter should be easier to get used to, but I arrived back on the 13th and didn't have to be back at work until the 18th. Too bad I wasn't able to enjoy the time off as I kept nodding off after 8pm then waking up at 5?:30. I had tried to lengthen my time in Canada by a few days, but even though I was allowed free changes on my Air Canada ticket they had nothing for me to change into until the end up August.
I made it back to Canada without incident. Even the extra 2 litres of soju that I brought over and had to pay duty on only cost about $7. Good news for the next time that I go home. Of course 2 lites of soju only costs about $3.50 to begin with but it's nice to have been able to share Korea's national drink with your friends (even though some wouldn't touch it). I also brought home some delicious Korean side dishes like dried squid that my friends would eat and one friend even admonished me for "eating squid like a bag of potato chips." Is there something wrong with that?
All in all I had a very expensive vacation, but it was well worth it. I'm somewhat surprised that it didn't make me want to stay. I looked around my home town of Winnipeg after having been gone for 18 months and although many things had changed things were still basically the same. Most of my friends were still working at the same jobs and getting drunk at the same bars as they were when I left. I really enjoyed being there, but I knew that if I had to get a job, apartment, etc, I'd be bored in a couple months and wishing I was back in Korea. Things are just more interesting here. I was thinking after I went into Wal-mart's pharmacy and asked a worker for some Advil she just simply showed me where it was. It made me miss Korea where even simple things like that can turn into an adventure. For example trying to use hand signals at a store because you want to buy a little cable to connect your TV and VCR.
I spent the first 4 days in Penticton at my cousin Brad's wedding, which was great to be back for. I got to see basically everyone on my Dad's side of the family at one event. On the trip back to Winnipeg I got to buy my cousin Chris his first "legal" beer because we both had a layover in Calgary. He, being 18, can't drink in Saskatchewan (where he lives) or in B.C. because the drinking age is 19 in both provinces. So even though it was the middle of the afternoon and the last thing we needed after a weekend with heavy drinking relatives we went to the bar in the airport.
I spent the next 2 weeks in Winnipeg. I was supposed to go on a trip to Edmonton and Jasper during this time, but I cancelled the flight at the last minute for a few different reasons. I saw all of my old friends and went to all the old places we used to go. One of my oldest friend's (Mike) flew in from Toronto for a week and stayed with me at my parent's house. It was funny talking to people at the bar, "Yeah, he's from Toronto and I live in South Korea...we just thought that Winnipeg was a good place to meet up." (Of course that's only to people that didn't know us) We spent August long weekend at his friend's cabin. Where I managed to roll his friends's 4-day old quad. His new toy wasn't scratched up at all(just ended up on it's side resting on its wheels) and I wasn't hurt (just my pride and a little road rash). He had told me that sometimes when you take a corner quickly it feels like it's gonna roll, but don't worry it can't...well I got a little bold and proved him wrong.
I spent my last weekend camping at Detroit Lakes, Minn(USA) at a 4 day music festival. There ?I saw a few old acquaintances, a bunch of good concerts, and a lot of bikinis (even quite a few bare breasts). It was basically 4 days of sitting in the sun(weather was great) and drinking. I went with two other buddies and we met up with a group of guys from Minneapolis who are there every year and we've gotten to know over the years...nice guys.
That's about all I can write right now. Some other interesting things happened, but I've gotta get over to the gym before it closes. I picked up a little weight over the trip that I have to get rid of. Of course I had to go to Taco Bell, Wendy's, and various other fast food places that they don't have in Korea. That coupled with 2.5 weeks of going out drinking have taken its toll. However, maybe I'll come back to my computer here and go into more detail later. Have a peachy day!
Brent