About This Blog
Started 29 August 2005, this blog is meant primarily to follow my adventures around the world. There will undoubtedly be detours into other things that interest me.The Secretive Thai Embassy
The Thai Embassy is either on the 41st or the 44th floor of the Scotia Plaza in downtown Toronto (depending on which website you read). It isn't listed on the directory computer in the entrance, and at the security desk I was instructed to go to the "Plus One" courier office just outside the building. The courier office? The Thai embassy cannot be visited "for security reasons," but the couriers have two messages taped to the wall about getting Visa applications from them (the couriers), returning Visa applications to them, their delivery of Visa applications to the Thai embassy, and picking up Visas from the couriers after three working days ... What an incredibly weird relationship. In any case, I've pretty much decided I'm not going to get a Visa - a Canadian can get a 30 day Visa on entry into the country, and the only reason I would get a Visa here is to get one that would be valid for 60 days. Even that's not much of a reason, as you pay an almost meaninglessly small per day fine at the border if you overstay your Visa.Adventure Travel (a division of Travel Cuts) found me an open ticket to Bangkok for about $2400 CAN, much better than anything I've found online. It also solves one of my dilemnas: open tickets I'd seen online were very expensive ($4500 US!), but a one way ticket wouldn't meet the official (but apparently not frequently enforced) requirement of proof of onward travel (ie. "prove you're going to leave again"). I hope to look into other sources for the flight tomorrow, and book in a day or two. ^ TOP
Toronto
" The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution, spread, and demise of a particular urban legend about Toronto; namely, the notion that the United Nations had declared Toronto to be the world's most multicultural city ... Without question, Toronto is Canada's most cosmopolitan city, and certainly is one of the most diverse urban centres in the world, a place recently described as a 'City of Nations.' What is in dispute, then, is not the remarkable ethnic/racial/linguistic/religious diversity of Toronto, but whether or not the United Nations, or any of its agencies, ever officially commented on it in the fashion described so often in the media." I've been telling people about this for years, and it is with some sadness I must admit that the paper referenced above debunks this oft-cited statement. It was easy to believe.Today Paul and I had dim sum at a Chinese bakery in Chinatown (Dundas and Spadina) for lunch, shopped at Mountain Equipment Co-op for gear for my trip, drove through Chinatown number two (Gerard and Pape) over to Little India (Gerard and Coxwell) to shop for food, and returned to my brother's house near the Danforth (which is very Greek). I love this city and have missed it so much ...
Sitting outside of Yung Sing (the Chinese bakery) I talked to a man who was wearing a shirt from Angkor Wat in Cambodia. As we discussed world-travelling adventures, a woman joined in talking about how I might get better airfares for my trip. I grew up in this city believing I should never talk to strangers: it's good to be proven wrong about things like this.
^ TOP
What does it mean?
I'm in the bedroom at my brother's place, soaking up the network connectedness of his DSL line. I'm back in Toronto, and trying to figure out just what I've done: yes, you're in your hometown, but you're unemployed. As the parting from so many good friends in M'ville was bittersweet, so is my return to T.O. My possessions are en route, somewhere between Georgia, Montreal, and Toronto. Probably Montreal, where they're supposed to call me and transfer everything to another truck bound for Toronto where the warm arms of a storage locker await everything I own. But not before Canada Customs inspects my possessions, and declares them fit for the country - or for an appropriate tax. ^ TOPWhat I'll Miss in Milledgeville
What I Won't Miss:- living around people who think George W. Bush is right
- Southern Baptists
- handguns
- "Intelligent Design"
- the American "healthcare" system
- incredibly hot summers that run from May through mid-October
- lack of choice in movies, restaurants, plays, and concerts
- NASCAR and other racing obsessions
- a total lack of fall colours
What I'll Miss:
- my friends
- warm fall and spring
- light traffic
- Lieu's Peking, Little Tokyo, Rosemary Chicken Ravioli at the Brick
- easy access to good Tequila
^ TOP
Strange Creatures in Foreign Places
These spiders are about 6mm or 1/4" across the spines, not terribly big. Definitely showing its distant relationship to crabs. It's hanging head down, in case you were wondering. I've seen them around Georgia for years, and have always wanted a decent picture of one. That proved challenging, but a good look at my camera's manual allowed me to finally figure out how to do manual focus (as the auto-focus won't work on such a small object that close up).
Does anyone know the name of these? Colloquial or Scientific, I don't care.
Update: Thanks to Brianne, this has been identified as a Spinybacked Orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis). ^ TOP
My life in boxes
There it is, a large chunk of my life in a big heap in what was the guest bedroom. But no, that isn't everything: there are two dressers in another bedroom and another smaller heap in the living room. This is after I sold a great deal of stuff. The movers took it away tonight.
I'm flying Delta to Toronto shortly, so I looked them up: "Just under half of all airline-flight seats available in the US are now being operated by bankrupt airlines". According to the same article, passengers shouldn't notice any difference now that Delta's bankrupt. ^ TOP
Twist ties and vinegar
I don't know what acetic acid is used for in packing tape, but whenever you pull off a strip of packing tape you get the stink of vinegar. It's a smell I've become very familiar with as I work my way through my second roll ...My student employees probably thought I had a particular fixation with twist ties, as I hoarded very nearly every one that went through the Systems Office at the library. In the end I left a bag full behind me. My smaller but equally OCD collection at home has proven incredibly useful and is almost exhausted, as I tie up mile after mile of power supply cables, network cables, and USB cables. Did I mention I have a lot of computer junk?
Nearly there, nearly there ... ^ TOP
t-shirt tag from India
When I was in India in 2001, our hosts gave everyone in the group a t-shirt. Being detail-oriented, I promptly read the label on the shirt (which you see here). "Dhobis" are places that do your washing for you - generally by hand, in a river, and, well, beating the shit out of the garment. ^ TOP
Throwing Away Chunks of My Life
I woke up on Thursday and realised that movers were coming in six days and I wasn't ready. So I've been madly selling stuff and throwing stuff away and packing. I've gotten rid of more than I ever thought I could, and I still have too much stuff. Not much progress on the trip right now, although I've been wondering if I shouldn't just fly right to Bangkok and make flights out from there to any other destinations I decide on. I have this idea that I'm going to like Thailand and be comfortable there. If I'm wrong, this might be a bad plan ...The movie "Fight Club" (see it if you haven't - it's great) talks about how our possessions define us, or that we define ourselves by our possessions. The main character's great odyssey takes a hell of a turn when his apartment full of designer furniture blows up. My personality isn't being that radically redefined, but I now own hardly any books - an amazing thing for a librarian. That's not the only stuff that's been stripped away. It's hard to do. ^ TOP
Chinese Lesson
I went across the hall last night to Begoña and Will's place so Stephen (proper name Xihao, who's from Shanghai) could give us a lesson in Chinese. We spent the whole time working on the pronunciation of Hanyu Pinyin (Wikipedia) structures. If you look at the linked page, take a look at the "affricates" in the chart a short distance down the page. These are particularly difficult to distinguish/pronounce for a native English speaker with little other language experience. Several of them involve a sound like "sss" that we make when we see an "S" in a word, but they start with another small and short sound. Pinyin "c" is pronounced sort of "tsss." I think. Of course, the "c" is an "initial," and a word is never constructed without a "final," a vowel sound following the "c." The system itself isn't too bad, but pronunciations are going to keep me stumped for a while. Not to mention that it's also a tonal language ... But perhaps I shouldn't complain: this is Mandarin, which is spoken in most of China. Cantonese is spoken in Canton and Hong Kong, and it has nine tones instead of the mere four used in Mandarin. This isn't singing - you don't have to hit 2000 Hz to pronounce a particular word. Instead, the tone changes as you speak the word (see further down in the Wikipedia article).About a week ago, again in discussion with Bego, Will, and Stephen, we decided that I needed a Chinese nickname. We chose "Long Legs," which translates to "Chang Tui." ^ TOP
The Flag gets axed
There's a joke in Canada: "how can you tell a Canadian backpacker in Europe?" The answer is "he has only one Canadian flag on his backpack." Canadians have (or had?) a reputation for being much more polite than Americans. A lot of Americans went to Europe masquerading as Canadians to avoid European expectations. Today I had the sewing kit out to fix the backpack anyway, so I tried to sew a small Canadian flag patch onto the backpack. I was ignominiously defeated - the needle actually broke. The backpack is made of thick material, as is the patch. Apparently I'm going to Asia with only my passport to identify me. ^ TOPSlow Progress
A few boxes have been packed. The living room has been ransacked and re-arranged so I can sell some stuff that was under some other stuff (desk, shelves). The car is on the market. I have too many computers (nine? not sure - a couple will be junked). Not a damn one of them worth stealing. Another salmonella pill consumed. Drug prices confirmed (ack! Malarone is EXPENSIVE, I guess it's mefloquine for me ...). Flight to Toronto booked. Lots of lunches planned with friends before I go. Who knew? I might actually miss this place - or at least the people.The folks at the library got me a gift certificate to ThinkGeek, and my toys arrived yesterday. I've really be enjoying them. I got a KillAWatt and a Griffin Powermate, both of which I've really been enjoying. The Powermate in particular has assumed its glowing blue place on my desktop, and is really handy for controlling my music without having to locate the application that's making the noise. It was originally intended for Macs, and apparently works best with them (I'm using it with Linux), so I'd highly recommend this to any Mac users. And everyone in general. Pretty expensive for a knob, but it's a really great knob. :-) ^ TOP