MinHo checks out a totem pole on the grounds of the UBC Museum of Anthropology, June 20, 2005
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MinHo's first view of downtown Vancouver, accompanied by good friend (and faithful tour guide!) Paula. June 19, 2005
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Boats on False Creek, Vancouver, June 19, 2005
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Boats on False Creek, Vancouver, June 19, 2005 (PS. the next post should read ...Vanier Park, Vancouver, June 19, 2005)
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A Father's Day Kite festival in Vanier
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MinHo sits on the rocks at Wreck Beach, Vancouver, June 20, 1005
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On the way down to Wreck Beach, Vancouver, June 20, 2005
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On the temple grounds, Narita, Japan, June 19, 2005
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A temple in Narita, Japan. June 19, 2005
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Summer

My last morning in Changwon for quite a while - 2 months. The next 2 days will see me in Changwon, Seoul and Tokyo for about 9 hours each, in flight over the Pacific for 11 hours, and in Vancouver for about 13 hours. At which point I can crash happily into bed in that city. If you think the math doesn't quite add up on this equation, you're right - I land in Vancouver about 8 hours before I leave Tokyo, thus getting to spend nearly all of Sunday in BOTH those cities. Am I too late to take part in that MIT guy's "time travellers" convention??

This is my first trip back to Canada since leaving for Asia 26 months ago. I think the culture shock will be enormous, but I'm looking forward to it - I'm already aware of plenty of changes in myself, but how many other changes am I unaware of? How much have the people I loved back home changed as well? I'm eager to see, to share, to add even more love with these changes to the already enormous love for them all that I've been carrying around since leaving. I hope!

And then there's the place itself - everyone here keeps asking me if I'm excited to go home, and yes, I'm excited. But it's not home, this is. Right now it feels more like a trip to summer camp - my absolute favorite place growing up. I went every year for a week or two without fail, knew the grounds intimately, loved the people and the place passionately. But it was still camp, still a diversion from everyday life, rather than everyday life itself. My campground's just gotten a whole lot bigger of late - as it should.

The next few days are bound to be chaotic, so forgive the pause in my posting while I settle into the travel groove once again. The wait will be worth it - for all of us!

Perhaps anticipating my imminent departure, Mo has been extra friendly the last few days - allowing me to do pretty much anything to her without complaint. Here I am comparing her current bulk to her one-handful entry into my life 16 months ago. June 17, 2005
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My favorite flowering tree - I call them fraggle trees, both for the odd blossoms seen here and for their peculiar fern-like leaves that fold up in bunches at night to resemble twigs. June 16, 2005
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Afternoon at the duck pond on campus. Straight ahead is one of the university dorms and cafeteria. June 16, 2005
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Shaving mirror on the fort wall, Bikaner, January 2005
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Me and a a group of Korean and Russian students take a break during an end of term celebration at my house. Changwon, June 9, 2005
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A group of Korean and Chinese students playing "Go-Stop" at my house during an end of term celebration. Changwon, June 9, 2005
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Bikaner Camel Fair, January 2005
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Nighttime among the daisies in my garden. Changwon, June 13, 2005.
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Door pull on the oldest wooden temple in Korea, Andong, November 2004
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Young Rajasthani women take part in a parade to mark the start of the Bikaner Camel Fair, January 2005
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Today - yesterday's bank of storm clouds hovers over the mountain behind my home.
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Just like Koreans, Indian's just can't get enough of their cell phones! Bikaner Camel Fair, Rajasthan, January 2005
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Teamwork!! The 14-rope-jumpers event at my department's "membership training"...Cheongdo, April 2, 2005 

This week my garden is awash in orange from the profusion of painted daisies blooming - a state of affairs that will last through the fall. Changwon, June 7, 2005
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Morning on the rice paddies at the top of the world. Yuanyang, China, January 2004
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Naxi women shopping at the local market. LiJiang, China, August 2004.
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MoShui on Mother's Day. Changwon.
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In my garden. May 2005 

A gas station in a remote section of southern Yunnan, China - see the elevated barrels? See the hose? See the cigarette in the hand of the man holding the hose? See my bus???
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A 500 year old (?) painting on the wall of the palace at Bundi, Rajasthan, February 2005.
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