Farewell to Thee Burnaby

(The Chilliwack Rafting camp grounds)

Well, it is my last night here in the Burnaby Katimahouse on Georgia St. Through all the craziness that happened here, I am very sad to leave. The thought of going back so close to home is a tad scary. Yesterday, amidst the sun and warm weather, we went to the Anthropology Museum and hung out at Rec Beach after. From the beach you can see the mountains on Vancouver Island, and more mountains to the north across the inlet. We watched the tugs pulling huge loads of what looked like pulp across the bay. There is a huge amount of boat activity around Vancouver. We were running around in T-shirts on the beach in March. A few old men were enjoying the sun, laying naked on beds of ferns. A crew of University kids were trying out the water with their skim-boards. A friendly woman with a backpack and a cooler strolled the beach selling hash cookies. We set up a slackline between two dried posts in the sand. At that time I couldn't think of anywhere more beautiful that I would rather be.
I will miss the mountains and all the sites around here. I am not a city person and don't see myself living in a city, but I think I may have to visit every once-in-a-while. Tonight we went out for dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. There's nothing like digging into various spicy tidbits with fingers and steamed sourdough flatbread. I also got to go to dim sum with some people from my work. You pick and choose different morsals from carts that come by your table. These dishes are placed on a large rotating lazy-susan in the center of the table. The chinese restaurants I've seen in our area have nothing on this experience.
We have been so terrible at taking pictures this trismester, I've grown to hate wasting time trying to get a good picture instead of just chilling and going with the flow of what's going on. So my apologies, but not too many pictures this time. We went rafting on the Chilliwack river last week. This was the best brithday time I could have wished for. We went with another Katimavik group in Vancouver. We volunteered for a day in order to get a discount and went rafting the next day. We did alot of hard work and the weather was chilly, rainy and snowy, but it was a huge amount of fun. We went into the moss covered forest to split and stack firewould. I have never split such huge pieces of cedar. Once quartered, each piece was barely possible to carry. The river conditions were relatively low, so the rafting was not as intense as it could have been, but it was alot of fun anyhow. The mist was covering most of the mountain view, but we could still see the eagles flying overhead, and the little abandoned cottages hanging halfway over the steep eroding banks. I need to come back out west! Anyhow, there have been alot of nights up until the wee hours of the morning getting stuff done, and I should get some sleep before we begin the stint of tiresome travelling in the next few days. So farewell to you all, and I always love hearing from you. Perhaps I will see some of you soon. Untill then, ta.


(Katimacrew atop Burnaby Mountain, and still looking up).

Hodgepodge of Events in the West

(the dock at Horseshoe Bay)

Hello everyone. I'll try to catch up on the news here. I am sorry for the lack of pictures, I've really died down on taking photos recently. I don't like spending too much time worrying and fiddling with a camera and missing out on just having a good time, so just use your imaginations. I've just come back from my 9-day billet period. I would have loved for it to be much longer. I was living with a wonderful family in East Vancouver; Andy, Jen, and their 7-year-old son Sam. We had a week with beautiful weather and made good use of it. We went for a hike in Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. It was a very joyful day. We stopped for a bite to eat on an outcrop of rocks overlooking the water. We saw a bald eagle in a tree closeby. It called to another eagle on the other side of the rock clearing. Soon 2 more eagles swooped overhead and perched around us. As time went on we must have had about 5 or 6 eagles conversing overhead.



(Moi, Karl et Charles)






(The idiots... and the professional Munju Makers
at the Buddhist Temple on Jackson Av.)


That day was like a little tidbit of what more can be seen outside the city in this beautiful province. I got to skate for the first time this year and hit the puck around a little bit with Sam and Andy. Well now it's back to Katimalife, which feels alot better, it's busy but good. I supose I should fill in on a couple things from before. We went to a performance at the Roundhouse Theatre which was part of the aboriginal festival, The Talking Stick. I wasn't really sure what we were going to see, as things just kind-of happen here. It turns out it was Andrea Menard's Velvet Devil Show. I remember listening to a CD of all the music at home. Here I was watching memories of Paisley in downtown Vancouver.
We also ended up getting to a poetry slam at Cafe Deux Soliel. The place was packed once again. It was awsome to see something so rooted and thriving. The talent was amazing and energizing. I don't know if I told you before about making Munju (a Japanese pastry) at the Buddhist Temple we went to. The process is very meticulous. You measure out a 30 gram ball of sugary sweetened beanpaste. These are rolled expertly in the dough. The whole pastry is then steamed for 15 minutes (exactly). At this point you fan the hot doughy balls until you can place them neetly on a rack were they are sent to the man with a brand, and he burns the emblem of a lily onto each individual munju.
This weekend we had our 48 hours of freetime. This was a wonderful break from group life. A few of us went to see FUSE, an interactive art exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. All-round a very interesting time. There was one room in which some instruments were laying. They were all functional and so I began playing bass. Another man entered and started jamming on drums. People were peering into the window of this small room. The room was relatively sound proof and so little sound exited. What I found out later was that microphones were recording and pumping the music down to the lobby entrance of the Gallery. Everything that was said and played in that room could be heard. I went skiing on Grouse Mountain with a girl, Cecile, from another Katimavik group. The weather and snow was perfect and the view was spectacular. Sorry, no pictures again. I got to visit Julia and Hugo that night and the next morning. It was alot of fun to catch up and talk all about our James Bay experiences. The whole Katimacrew will be heading to the UBC Farm this weekend to get a little tour and a taste of the things going on there.
Today we went on a little bus tour with some people from a seniors activity center in West Vancouver. We went to Horseshoe Bay and back. This was alot of fun and very rewarding for both us and our older buddies. There are hopes that the center may become a new Katimavik work partner. Anyhow, there is always much to talk about but I should really catch-up on some sleep. I love hearing from you all. I shall see many of you soon as our arrival date in Ontario is fast approaching.












(Katimacrew Burnaby)

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year

(Chinese New Year in the city of rain)

Hello everyone. It's been a while, sort-of. Its crazy busy and hard to go over everything and keep in touch. We are having to plan alot of things for this trimester and we are only here for about 2 and 1/2 months. We are trying to get out for a weekend to a woofing farm north of Vancouver in March. I want to get out of the city and really see some mountains. I might go hiking with some guys from another Katimavik group during our 48 hours off. There's alot I'd like to do outside of Katimavik, but right now there is no room outside of Katimavik. There are poetry slams and live music often at a little place called Cafe Deux Soliel. One night I went there but the place was so packed and there were people at the door listening to slam poetry through the mail slot. There are all sorts of stuff going on, it's a tad overwhelming. We manage to go to the odd thing. We went to a service at a Buddhist temple on Jackson, neer Hastings and Main. The sect of Japanese Buddhism is very westernized with no talk of reincarnation, very few rituals (besides the burning of insense and muttering of thanks), and no meditation. It was more like a Christian church service. There was a congregation sitting in pues and listening to the Teacher speak about not getting road rage. There were even english hymns. There was some chanting in Japanese which was really neet. Everyone was extremely welcomeing and imediately offered us tea and organized a discussion afterwords were we could learn more about there beliefs, but in no way impose them.
We went to Chinatown for the Chinese New Year parade and festivities. The parade was alot of fun depite the cold rain. Though there was alot of commercial and political leverage, and an emphasis on the Olympics which is popping up everywhere here. One nice side of the Olympic connection with the days festivities was the music tent supported by a branch of the Olympic committee. The music was unbelievable. There was traditional chinese dancing and drumming, as well as a mix of many other cultures. A percussionist from Uruguay played a solo so incredible, it sounded as though five of the finest drummers were grooving together. Chinatown is an amazing place to see. The shops are really something special. There are pharmacies in which 90% of the items I have never seen before.
Anyhow, there is bread to be made and other things to be organized, and I should try to get over this cold, so I will say farewell for now, and stay in touch.

(totems on Burnaby Mountain right neer Simon Fraser University)