My new phone

I bought a new phone in Whistler, because my old phone, which was working well enough in China, no longer connects to networks. I blame it on China's government.

I had to buy a new phone. When I turned my new phone on, I found a number of text messages that were not addressed to me, but sent to my number anyway. They were likely sent to the last owner of the number, and he never received them until I hooked the number back up. Here they are.

Dion. Please call Dean about my wellness. Miss you luv.

Hi. I am really sad. The world is so ugly right now. Be back in 10 days with a new outlook on life. I hope we can hug when I get home. C U soon. I really miss u!

Talk in 10 days :). Boarding my flight soon.

I'm sorry. I never call you again. Thank you talk to me last time. My English is not good for everyone. Thank you for everything. Have great life.

I think there a couple different authors in there. I don't think the last text is related to the first three, but it would be interesting if it was.

I think the last owner of my cell number was some sort of lay social worker.

Whistler

I'm in Whistler at the moment, figuring out my next move. I walked around and enjoyed my old stomping grounds, taking some pictures. Remember, click on them to make them bigger.



This is at a park called Wayside. In the summer, this is one of the places where you could rent paddle-boats and canoes. I love the little hut on the right, which gives the picture an anti-Whistler feel. There are still some mountain shacks left in town!



I went for a walk in the woods. I love this spot because you have to follow some hard-to-find trails to find it, so there is nobody there, ever. There is moss covering the forest floor, and since there's nobody else around it will likely stay that way. Even though it's not too far from some houses, you cannot hear anything but the wildlife. It's beautiful.



I found some mushrooms sprouting, and thought they looked nice in their bed of loam.

There used to be a cool, ultra-secret bike trail in the area. Nobody knew where it was, and you had to hike up the trail from the bottom to ride it. When I went to the trail this time, it had been torn down. I rode the trail for the first time two years ago, and then again last year a few days before I flew to China. Since I rode it, it's been dismantled.

First, I'll post a picture of me riding the trail two years ago. Then, I'll post a shot of what the spot looks like now.





It's too bad the trail is gone, but I guess it keeps people out of the pristine forest. I could tell the trail had been ridden a lot in the last year, as it was more visable in the woods than it used to be. I think fewer people will find this area now that there is no secret trail there anymore, and I don't mind that.

That's the news from Whistler.

Last Post: Goodbye Guangzhou, Goodbye China!

Well, it's been a long time coming, but this is the last post of jvd in China.

This picture was taken in the Guangzhou airport just before I passed through security. The feeling I had when leaving China for the last time was so thoroughly positive...I felt that the whole year of hardship and toil in the classroom was worth it, just so I could feel that particular enormous sense of accomplishment.

Now that I've been home for a few weeks, the tough experiences of teaching in China have faded in my memory, and the good ones remain. While it was a tough slog, it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it.

The highlight of the past year was running the xc race series in Hong Kong, particularly the final race at Discovery Bay, where I ran a tactical and fast race, coming in 15th out of 300 racers. My goal had been to break the top twenty, and I did that in the final race.

In retrospect, I also enjoyed training for those races in Guangzhou. I am one of the few people who have trained hard in those adverse environmental conditions...the humidity, the heat, the ever-present pollution. I trained hard, and saw results in the race series.

Thanks for reading this blog. I don't know what the future holds for this space, but I imagine I'll keep this blog up for awhile, until I find something else to write about.

Again, thanks for reading. It was enjoyable writing words that I knew people were going to read. I found I really enjoy writing, editing, and rephrasing my work. It was fun, all this blogging.

JVD is no longer in China, and this blog is no longer active. Bye!

One Last Post from KVD

Well, our trip is over, and J-man and I are both back safely in Canada - me to the old grind of defending Kitchener's criminal element, Jon to hopes of new adventures in B.C. Here are the last set of photos for our faithful readers to enjoy.


A nice scene from a cafe terrace in the middle of Ubud - a lush creek valley.

Below are Kecak dancers. The main dancers tell a story from the Hindu holy writings, but the best part is that the story is accompanied by an orchestra of more than a hundred men, stripped to the waist and singing and making monkey noises. For real!



The next few pictures are from my luxury accomodation in Macau. I bet the Olympic athletes who trained in Macau didn't stay at the San Va! I stayed there for the place's funk factor, and also because I thought the guest house was in Indiana Jones. Well, I watched the movie when I got home, and it's only the outside street scene that was in the movie! So I could have just as well stayed at the nicer spot a block away for the same brush with Hollywood movie glory.





Staying at the San Va was a real experience - no a/c, mid-30 degree heat, and interesting neighbours...



From Macau, I took a ferry to Central in Hong Kong, and from there another ferry to Lantau Island. Lantau was where Jon and I went bike riding my first day in Asia. I stayed overnight in a down-at-the-heels seaside resort, and enjoyed the last day of my trip.

On my last night in Asia, I went to the China Bear pub, a watering hole that (aside from the decor) would not have been out of place beside Bentley's in Stratford. I had a pint of cider, Hawaiian pizza, and apple crisp with ice cream - cultural re-integration! Here's a photo of me after my tasty pub supper...



View from outside my hotel - Mui Wo harbour.



I had an amazing trip. The best part was rediscovering the joys of budget international travel. It was a rush to meet new challenges and to see and experience something new almost every day. I'm already thinking about where I'll go next!

For all the joys of being away though, it was great to be back. Peter met me at the airport and I was so happy to see him again and talk to him about all about my adventures. I've had a good time since I've been back too - going up to Peter's mom's cottage, paddling at the Woodstock Dragon Boat Festival, spending a nice day in Stratford with Mom and Brooke. Our indoor soccer team is winning in our league, and I'm back training for mountain bike racing. So life is good here too.

See you all in person soon!
Signing off, this is guest blogger KVD's last post.

Wow.

I was never a fan of the Olympic opening ceremonies, but I figured I might as well watch today, since I'm in China and all.

Wow. Everyone said it was going to be amazing, but I never expected anything of the magnitude I just finished watching. Everything was just so BIG.

My favourite part was the final torch bearer running waaaay up at the top of the stadium.

Good work, China.

Safely in Guangzhou...halfway home!

I'm now safely in Guangzhou, and am halfway home. Tomorrow I fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, and then on to Vancouver. Being in China again is a lot different from what I expected.

The Olympic opening ceremonies are on right now, and judging by the atmosphere in Guangzhou, I'd estimate the whole of China is watching them.

It's Friday night, and there's nobody on the streets. My cab ride to YIHE, where I'll spend the night, was the fasted I've ever experienced. There were few cars on the road, and fewer people walking the sidewalks. Gone was the honking mayhem that I've come to expect from Guangzhou, and instead I experienced an amount of space and freedom that I didn't think was possible here.

I wanted to run up and down the empty streets yelling and jumping, just to take advantage of this amazing atmosphere. Guangzhou is empty, and it probably won't happen again for another few decades!

Usually, Guangzhou would be humming with activity, especially on a Friday night. But since the opening ceremonies are on, everyone is holed up in their houses. I could have shot a cannon ball through the busiest subway station, and nobody would have been injured. Stores were closing early since nobody was around to buy anything.

After I got off the plane in Macau, I took a bus to Guangzhou, a two hour trip. It felt like we were driving Highway 7+8 from Shakespeare to New Hamburg at midnight, with only a few other cars on the road.

The things I found most difficult about China over the past year are not present tonight. The crowds, the stares, the blaring horns and jostling people are all absent. It is truly amazing, to experience a whole city shut down like Guangzhou has.

I was not wanting to come back here and revisit my China experience, but it looks like I won't have to. Instead, I get to be immersed in this uncharacteristic and unexpected lull in Chinese life.

It's hard to describe the sense of freedom and joy I felt walking the streets tonight! They were so empty, so clean, and China doesn't smell like China. I bet the whole country spent the last month scrubbing every street. It sure changes the face of the city. I'll leave with a positive impression of Guangzhou, and that's great.

Goodnight from Guangzhou!

Bali wraps up.

This is Jake, Robin, and me at tonight's sunset, my last day in Bali. You may notice the claw making an appearance! Jake and Robin man the stand where I rent my board every day.

Today, my last day of surfing, didn't start on the most positive of notes. But I don't mind, since I had already accomplished what I wanted to.

After about half an hour in the water, I ended up tweaking my shoulder muscle. The paddling motion became painful, so I had to come in. My shoulder still hurts, but not as much as it did twelve hours ago.

It happened when I was battling waves, trying to get out past their breaking points. This area is termed "outside", while the area where the waves break is called "inside". Everyone waits outside until they see a wave of their liking, then they paddle towards shore and catch the wave as it speeds by.

When your ride is done, you must head back outside again, or else you must deal with waves that break infront, on, or just behind you. Being outside is calm and peaceful, while being inside is hectic and tumultuous. Everyone gets outside as soon as possible.

So, after riding a crappy wave too far in, I ended up way inside, close to shore. I had to make it back outside, so I could start paddling into waves again.

I ended up paddling back out when a big set started to come in, and I had to take three or four waves on the head. The best way to get out of an incoming wave's way is to "duckdive" under it. To accomplish that, you press the nose of your board into the water, diving after it while you hold on.

You begin this motion when the wave is just about to clobber you. The force of the wave and the downward angle of your board send you and your board under the wave, and ideally you resurface behind its fury.

The board I am using is wider, longer, and more buoyant than some other boards out there, so it's somewhat difficult to duckdive. I've managed to do it though, which is nice.

A big wave came in, the third in a row that I had to deal with. It broke about two meters in front of me, and I duckdove under the wave. I didn't do it right and must have gotten my back twisted and tweaked about by the wave as I tried to hold onto my board. When I resurfaced, my shoulder was in a lot of pain and paddling hard was impossible.

I proned out(laying on my board, not paddling) and rode the next wave all the way into shore, and ended my surfing holiday. I tried to save the day by having a massage at Carla Spa, but to no avail.

I got an epic two-hour massage for the low price of 100 000 rupiah, about ten dollars. Afterward, my shoulder still hurt, so I knew I wouldn't be heading into the water again. I went and had a nap instead.

I returned to the surfboard stand at sunset, where I bought the boys a beer to commemorate my last sunset in Bali. It was a good ending to the day and my month in Bali. I'm not too frustrated that I didn't surf much today, because my holiday has been excellent, and I learned to surf. I hope my shoulder continues to improve and doesn't cause me grief while I travel back to Canada.

Tomorrow I wake up at 5am, and head to the airport. I've been here for just under a month, and I'm ready to go home. It'll be a mission to make it back to Canadian soil though. Here's an overview of my travel plans:

Bali to Kuala Lumpur: 4 hour flight
Kuala Lumpur to Macau: 4 hour flight
Macau to Guangzhou: 2 hour bus ride
Sleep in Guangzhou
Guangzhou to Hong Kong: 45 minute flight
Hong Kong to Vancouver: 14 hour flight

Yikes!