We went shopping today Robert had a great need to see the traditional market and I had a great need to test-drive the new camera Wyatt had other needs … Emily coaxed me into joining her at the market I had prepared to veg on my sole day off this week Then Robert called and asked […]

We talked about what was possible,doable and useful. Should I fly to Canada? Mom had died. I had suspected as much after the first cryptic email. Or, to be more precise, I had an inkling of this after the first email and the next couple. ‘Call your brother Mike.’ and then ‘Call Roxanne.”(a cousin) … […]

The day dawns inappropriately bright. Snow covers the ground and the way is icy. We arrive at the church I had not seen my mom in five years and this was not the way I’d wanted to see her again She lay there in her open casket. It took a moment to compose myself and […]

I’m back in Canada Unfortunately it’s to attend a funeral On Friday night I checked my email and had a couple of cryptic messages … call home/urgent and words to that effect So I dug through my phone list and called home Mom has died was the gist of the conversation I called our accountant/financial […]

Seems no matter how often you work with people they can’t resist the urge to revert to type. The parable of the scorpion and the frog comes to mind … (and you have to look for that yourself) Last week was long. Preparing for the spring course, doing demos dealing with staff, administration and teachers […]

I still think of the old days occasionally. There were, thankfully, more good times than bad times. I realize that’s almost an Edie Brickell song. The Old Days There have been a few changes in mine. The November before last, I changed jobs. The December before last, Dec 14,1997, I got married. Her name is Emily. She’s […]

After the Winter Course 2005 We’d just finished winter course and had some travel arranged … we took off for Hainan. Hainan is in the south of China. Actually a tropical island. We spent our time in Sanya, Xinlong and Haiko A few of us even managed to scuba dive I did well until I came to the edge of the […]

I’ve been living and working in Asia for almost a decade. Perhaps you’ll find some of the tales interesting. Perhaps you’ll find some useful information. Perhaps you can’t sleep. I’ve been living in Asia for a bit, originally from Canada I don’t consider myself an expat, just a Canadian living elsewhere. We lived in China with […]