Travel Life

Where did it come from? Why did it begin? How started the trend? Who is to thank for the opportunities? Was it the Canadian or Sherman? Maple Leaf International School has a humble beginning back in 1995 with a few students in China. The direction if the school was blending the best of western and eastern educational cultures.  Sherman Jen was the man who started it all, he sought out BC offshore school accreditation. Sherman had his vision after his daughter had a terrible accident in Vancouver. Sherman and his first wife lived in Canada, they were not strong English speakers and with fear in their hearts that they were going to lose their daughter, a stranger, a Canadian man came by and transported her to the hospital where she was well looked after. To this day the man was never found and is still unknown but his act of kindness lives on everyday in the mind of Sherman Jen and the lives of the students attending MLIS. Sherman believes in "blending the best of the easy and west

It is require that you have a passport visa when travelling to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, why? Well obviously because they can ask for it!? Duh! Actually I have no idea aside from the regular reasons you might think? Keep out drug dealers, unwanted travellers, delinquents, spies, etc.? Who knows? Actually asking, let me know :P Heading here towards end of February with some great new-ish friends, I mean, I met them a couple months ago, great people, and we have gotten to know each other well, so really how "new" would they be? Anyways, I was posting to pass along the visa application to anyone who may be looking to go there, check it out, worth that at least :) Cheers! CB http://visa-vietnam.ca/

Well remember Central: Party Central (expat and locals mingle spot), white male? Single? Not worries about what you might catch? Adventurous? Want to meet girls, or "girls"? Lol ya that's a thing there from what I have been told. There is  Central (not the station) the strip of bars along the street that open up into the street, amazing. But then you have the scuzzy street, or sketchy bars :p not so cheap and not so clean, also kind of "catty" if you know what I mean? These are around...causeway? I think, from what I remember, I recommend just not though. I mean ya they got a few sports pubs and bars but realistically unless your hotel is there, not worth it.  If you don't mind walking, everything on the same island is totally walkable and ya depending on how far, could take awhile but if you like walking and are a fast mover, you are fine my friend :)  Late night snacks? Drunk? Or maybe more drinks? Well, seven eleven has all your vacation midnight needs :)

When very thing is made so convienent, you really, and I mean really cut things close. The funny thing is that most people would say I'm late for everything. I would agree that normally I imagine thibgs happening faster in my mind and do not account for the X factor depending on the priority of the original plan. Example, original plan is be at point b in 2 hours, I end up 15 minutes or so late because the point B was important to me, so I made the plans to be as quick in and out or to get there as soon as possible. I find out recently that I am doing it all wrong, give cushion for the plans that matter and plan the less important ones closer to the deadline.  Well aside from ranting randomly about my faults, I'm actually bringing this up because of how overwhelmingly convienent and efficient life can be in certain places around the world. When things become a maximum of 40-50 mins when you know 20 of those minutes will be transporting, the rest, well, run baby, run. I feel lik

Well it's official, the flight to Singapore is booked for lamding there from dalian January 31st. The flight home is on Feb. 27th and that is leaving Vietnam (Hanoi) to Dalian.  We leave the first day of our holiday and get back the weekend before. Need to start preparing bags, budgeting and looking at things to do; prepare apartment for short term vacancy and research into the amazing things I'll hopefully be experiencing :) Flying with the teacher I went to Hong Kong with and the other teacher that I flew into japan with when I was first coming here. You can't even understand the excitement I feel because I'm travelling with them. Travel buddy A and myself made that week in Hong Kong nothing short of magical, in ever which way that two stag awesome English speaking guys with limited baggage could :) Travel buddy B and I have experiences travelling here originally and when we hang out we certainly get a few laughs (just a few though :p ) and we see eye to eye most cert

My honda scooter (Japanese brand) can boot, and she is gorgeous. She was starting fine, but the battery is uhhhh not so good? Need a new battery I think, but I can still start it :) just a few manual jump starts and she goes, whatever, as long as she moves :) Gas is so cheap, it's inly 20rmb to fill the tank!  But ya, that glass wine last post was much needed, talked to the guys that I bought it from and it's all good, I think they really didn't want to make the trip to dalian to here to fix it if it was actually broken or damaged so they helped run like a full diagnostic on it :p I'll be a mechanic in no time, now to change the engine oil -_- ugh, do I really want to? Maybe I'll leave the mechanics to the mechanic :p  CB

The flights have been booked, the dates are set in stone as holiday (not by choice but I'm not compaining) :)  I won't be with the lady for valentines day which is a bit of heart break but I'm sure we will make it work! February 1st to the 27th I will be travelling from country to country with two fellow teachers, a fourth will be joining is through the trip and hopefully I will run into my lady as her travels will start a wee but later than my own :(  Thinking about sending her flowers maybe :) hopefully that will do the trick :) I'm super nervous about her, she is so wonderful and I know sometimes I can be a right pain, but she still seems to put up with me, I adore her and I really wish she was going to be on this trip but it is what it is, plus I haven't had much time with the boys (one of the teachers I am going with is my buddy I went to Hong Kong with) so it will be nice to just go and peruse the countries, the world (I guess is how must people would say that

Wow! Five stars for sure! This is our second time staying here, Courtnay and I. Been awhile since we started seeing each other and thought we might take the weekend to get out and explore, so, why not actually make it a weekend :) that was the first time, the second time (now) is for Ryan's, wife's birthday (Sheri). Ryan and Sheri are American teachers at DAIS, amazing people. Ryan, great musician. Very hard to catch his shows but that was where I met Courtnay! We are going for dinner at cafe Copenhagen. Great place, are there the first time we came to dalian for the weekend. Saturday nights are live music and salsa. I don't think we are going anywhere else after that only because Ryan had injured his leg and court is still have horse broken hip problems. The doctor says it's probably soft tissue damage, she will be okay, but until then, I'll gladly be her superman. Sorry, I mean spiderman ;) Dalian is great, the hotel, Nikko, that we have chosen to claim as our sec

Trying to get on the train? Running late? Worried about getting to point b on time?  Ya, trying to get on the train but at the same time staying alive! When you are getting on the train the first few times, your concern is whether or not you are going to get on alive.  Once you are on the train it's not dangerous or bad, just super crowded. The train here stops running at 7 or 8ish (19:00 or 20:00) so people rush to make it home before they have to cab.  Cabs are a whole different ball game. They can be super cheap and use the meter or they can be super expensive and be a flat rate. Some drivers speak a lot of English while others are just familiar with numbers and ripping you off to cover their cost.  The best thing to do for price is always take a motorcycle taxi. Of course you won't be able to be going from ikea or metro to your place because of the lack their of storage space, but for short or small luggage trips they are cheap. Keep in mind china gets chilly in October, on

NO MOLD: need to maintain this. Need a dehumidifier, and humidity gauge for the apartment. It is 86 sq feet, in a gates community, with mud room, pavement patio as well as garden area which I think was supposed to be paved but they just never did lol High level security, furnished with a 43 inch TV They wanted 2500 RMB a month with hearing but since the neighbours have heat and the apartment is well insulated, it's no biggie meaning it has come down to 2300 a month, now I need to get internet for the year which may be a but of a hassle.  They didn't have a bottles water dispenser however, I can find one that works and roll with that then I can continue getting water from the Maple Leaf water guy or whatever :)  They have a ton of dry food storage space meaning I can stock up and they have a huge clean cooking area, omg! This is going to be a huge project :) so pumped and this will certainly keep me busy :) The big thing for me is the lighting of the place, even in the bathroom.

Seriously bro? Go figure, this is life I guess. Just seems like for every step ahead you get sometimes, you need to take a step back and not the need in the sense that you want to but in the sense that you need to learn, your optimism in life must be challeneged.  Now about this battery...options hmmmm Well, 1. Suck it up and pay for whole new battery Or 2. Text the guy I boght it from and  find out if there is anything he can do...for free. Ugh need a glass of wine. Or a beer, but we got wine, better for the heart anyways :p Ciao for now Carm

After that first "party" weekend in kaifaqu, that is the juicy part of this story. Playing pool against tht gorgeous woman and getting her number is the introduction. Here I am, standing at the Ching-qui, waiting, and waiting, this train can't come soon enough. I was running late, what am I going to tell this woman? Hey I'm silly, nervous and kept second guessin my attire sooooo now I am running late? I told her I took the train too far and I had to back track...no pun intended :p I got up that morning not expecting a response, because well, she didn't take my number last night. I thought surely her giving me her number was her way of seeing whether or not I was a creep. At the same time though I didn't think this rendezvous was leading to anything significant, I just had hopes that it could. I'm always keeping my options open with a mindset for positivity, never negative :) she gave me her number which also originally made me think it was a clever rouse t

Never packed like this before, I inagine there are a couple different ways to do so, I'll run you through some thoughts, 1. Light packing 2. Pack to the max for weary travellers 3. Weary traveller 4. Pleasure travelling 5. Cheap travelling 1. The light packing, i would imagine this is for someone who is on the road a fair bit, moving around a lot and unable to really use much of anything except for clothes and toiletries. For the light packer, you can probably get away with clothes for half the time you will be there or say half a weeks worth and just look into washes near you; otherwise, maybe I'd  recommend one pair of hiking pants (depending on the area), one pair of hiker boots or sneakers,  and flip flops. Your clothes should reflect the climate you are, keep in mind the cheaper area you are in; the better chance you are of finding nice stuff to wear at a decent club on the event that there is a dress code. In the experiences I have had travelling, I always practically pac

First night here, guess what the date is, September 27th....I changed my booking for that day because i didn't realize I would be here on this night, lesson learned, don't book when half asleep or you will end up haggling for a hotel room that only needs bars to be Alcatraz prison cells. I got here, we found the tmr and octopus cards, 200hdk later (won't last me this trip, I have hotels all over Hong Kong), Kyle and I split ways, I found Nathan road...I might as well have gone looking for a needle in a hay stack, the hotels are crammed onto floors of "mansions" which is a fancy word for huge apartment building changes into dormitories. On the way there, was not hard to get a free beer...or three, or make friends, a lot of brown people from canada, met a tailor for Russell peters as well! Ya small world :p  So needless to say I made friends with some guys who were pretty nice, wanted me to hit up the party area with them we had very indepth and a little more than r

I am going to Hong Kong. Backpacking with a fellow teacher, thanks for letting me tag along brother. I'm nervous but everyone is convinced it will be so good and a fun experience. I'm pretty much travelling alone once we get there. Luckily I took notes on important things to know and how to say things in Cantonese. I booked 6 different hotels in Hong Kong, 3 different areas, 1 of which is close to my travel buddy as well as a fellow teacher who is meeting with us once we get there. We are all maple leaf teachers, my travel buddy and I have never been to Hong Kong, but the other teacher has been, lived there for awhile. He knows the ropes and would be glad to show us around.  We were supposed to stay the night at his place here in dalian the night before before the flight but it was cutting the time too close to the end of work, he was flying out that night and was going to let us stay there to save time and money. Plans fell through but we made do, I got to see my lady that for

Spent in kaifaqu, buzzed we cabbed back to her place...oh sorry let me get you up to speed. So Friday was fun, wasn't quite what I thought it was going to be, thought we were going all out Thunder Bay style (for those of you who are unfamiliar, means loud music, bright lights, dancing and 5 am pizza service) well I was dressed in regular Thunder Bay party attire :p white jeans, plaid shirt, cowboy boots and Spiderman mask/glasses <3 we got on the train, had a couple ice cold sodas, then got off the train (ya rebel rebel :p ) then ventures through the neons and store fronts to a place located across the street of the busy square which was called "Mr.Beer". Beside it was a food eatery/bakery called euro-bake, amazing pizza I must say!!! It was embarassing that I thought we were all going to get our crazy on and decompress when I realized our admin staff was present...holy embarassing, I been embarrassed as spiderman for different reasons before but not like this, they st

Omg! Sorry I totally forgot to tell you about the amazing weekend I had and how amazing the people I met were! I always should tell you that drinking here is not as cheap as people say it is....ugh So we started Saturday...sorry back track, Friday we got together, took some pictures, had...ice cold sodas..and wandered into kaifaqu, bigger city outside of the city centre, I live in jinshitan. We went to a place called mr.beer and ordered food from a bakery next door, got pizza! Yummm this place was called euro bake. People had a hoot when I wore my spiderman mask from the ever so lovely Kaitlin Lovegrove! :p uhhhh it was. Little hard and embarassing to explain to my Adminstrative team who was also at this get together lol but it was all good, I met some Dutch buisnessmen as well, we had good laughs! German beers are probably almost as common, if not more common than Chinese beers here...the only American beers are Heineken, Budweiser, and corona...funny how technically two of those are

They come and go, this first week is a lot of moving around for them, trying make sure they are in the right classes and right streams, some are in classes they have already passed, so much non sense, it's no wonder this first week is using provided lesson plans that essentially revolve around diagnostics and ice breakers...some of these grade 10's can't spell their name properly...this is going to be interesting. Some of them are high functioning English students, others are low floor, trying to practice "differentiated" instruction lol shoot me...I strongly dislike jargon, but it is what it is. Wish I could kind of just teach my own material! Also wish they had us create a unit plan and send it in for inspection before applying! Like ugh so unprepared, probably the worst teacher here... Am I cut out for this? Carm

The students are wonderful. My first day was a gongshow and it started with an event that has never happened befor at the school which even confused a lot of the veterans :p no one knew where to go or what we were doing for the timetable lol Reminded me of a couple situations at lakeshore catholic when the teachers had to completely reset the timetable :p talk about free first day out of class lol what a situation, then I was not completely prepared nor were my students :p I don't think anything could have prepared me for the amount of nervousness I had when my students approached me with awe...frikin short y-low lol y-low is English phonetic   spelling of round-eye lol I was dressed to the nine! Tie and all, was pretty excited and nervous, also felt a little nerdy because we had permission to dress down a bit but I wanted to make myself professional and successful to my students and administration instead of that super young and unconventional English teacher that just talks for d

Well the initial smell of the place here...ugh less than attractive...I'm not in a centre really, it's like living in downtown dunnville, and ya not much here :p the scenery is gorgeous but at the same time there is much obstructions and interference.  Canada is much missed not just by myself but certainly by some of the other new teachers. I know for me, I miss my family, the animals, my friends, linds, and everyone else who made life exactly what I wanted. From what I noticed here, canada offers the most beautiful range of scenery, and a relatively clean and put together city centre usually. The graffiti kind of tales away from the vast prestige of the city now when I think about it and listen to how people compare and talk about travel experiences. It's crazy how much changes after spending sometime away from home and living in an area that you need to interact more so with your surroundings than you do elsewhere, in canada you can mindlessly wander down the street, here

Hey mom, hey dad! Hope you two are well! I miss you both very much and wish you the best in this ever so quiet and peaceful year! :) It is a busy time for me...it's always busy when I go somewhere new because it is nothing but adventure, how could it be anything else?  I am good, the living situation is livable, a few minor set backs that I worked out because you both rose me so well, but I'm dealing and it's all good. I love you both so much! I miss home, miss the animals, miss my friends, miss my neighbour, my siblings, my lovely parents, my spot on the couch, my silly arguments with ma and my TV movie time with dad. I am glad that I miss those things because it reminds me constantly that home is still my true north, and in the end after whatever other. Adventures, I will be home, and I would have hopefully made you proud! I love you both, always thinking of you. Tons of stories when I get back, hopefully you are following my blogs, if you are I'll actually post more

I'm trying to post all my journals, please bare with me as there is clearly a lack in time and experiences. I should be caught up soon.  I am well, it is nearing the end of September and I have been paid. Internet sucks here so I do what I can with what I have. Thank you for staying in touch and please, please....someone start digging to me, I'll start digging to you and hopefully the first international tunnel shuttle will allow me to come get some things I needed from home...as well as bring all these ninja stars and samurai swords back for the family and friends lol jk you wish! Actually I saw a nice little sword setup, but if I am buying something here, I want it to be a legit something not just "a sword" from china, needs to be a sword from china! Also thinking about getting a scooter or motorcycle :p not to go in public with just down the road a bit to visit people so I don't have to pay so much for a cab all the time :p  And ya planned a trip to Hong Kong a

The hotel not bad, me hammmeedssss!!!!! Time: ppffttttt terminator time!!! It's like 4am for me but something like late afternoon for you! Lol oh god, japan, I love you, this place has potential! Boyssss! Assembleee! I miss the boys! And lindsssss! Oh gosh, I just realized I moved to a predominately Asian culture and I'm not an Asian lover kinda guy...I mean ya if she is nice and understands what I'm saying but...ugh japan problems lol Made a new bestie! Jesse! Sweet dude! From Manitoba, has enlightened me that I'm-young. Like young and already ahead in the game...hope he is right...cause I'm super tired, hammed, and on my way to China in 3 hours...breakfast...why can't it be breakfast now...the beer though! You can buy it anywhere anytime! As long as a store is open! And seven eleven...always open! We almost bought wine to go with our Japanese seven eleven food! We also found the thunder dome! Not that kind of thunder dome you perv! A legit mad max thu

Well here we go, officially past the point of no return, met the other teachers, made a flight delayed a little and may have made the flight crew think I'm a super shifty foreigner cause I left my carry on hard shell suitcase at the bar in the milestones -_- good going! :p had my last Canadian in canada there! :)  What I would have given to have that last kiss before boarding <3 miss you linds. Can't stop thinking about you. Ya so I got on my flight and I was seated next to this very beautiful young Asian woman and I was very friendly and began practicing my esl speaking skills. Trying to ask her where she was from, very slowly and making hand features to ensure she understood. Wow! Way to go, not only was I hammered but super narrow minded as well....she was a Japanese girl travelling to Tokyo for a 3 week vacation; been working marketing for 3 years after she graduated from UNBC with buisness....oops lol she wasn't made of laughing but thought I was just a weird small

Well I'm here. The point if no return, on an airplane, taking off into the sunset; leaving on a jet plane don't know when I'll be back again. That's a lie, I'll be back in July of 2015. Who would have thought I followed through. Everyone except me apparently...I'm excited, I need to learn to just accept this in my life, I'm now an international teacher and of all goes well, I will be...for a long time, just wish certain others were here with me :( I haven't stopped think about it since I left and I won't be able to stop thinking about her. I'll see you sooner than you think love. I'm going to the otherside of this large planet but yet it still feels like I'm just around the corner. Still have an obscene amount of time until we land in narita japan. Inflight movie, alcohol, good, paid for....economy class for Asia is like buisness class for North America; goodness we get ripped off hard! So after only being to a couple different countries

Here I am. Almost at the point of no return. Everything in life to this point has been interesting to say the least. Well people make it seem like my life is interesting at least: I feel like it is but still something makes me hesitant to say so. That's not entirely why I am taking this two year excursion to the other side of the world, interest is part of it though.  I can't believe I am here, haven't stopped having anxiety since I left Hamilton; I don't actually have diagnosed anxiety but it feels like my heart is about to explode and my eyes are about to burst. I need a dart so bad....what the hell am I thinking?  Why do I want to go? Do I want to go? Or am I being forced to make this decision? How could one ever really know the difference? I seen other North Americans and assorted white people walking into this gate. I see Shane who I was in first year with when I started at Lakehead five years ago...I also see Krista. Such a beauty, why didn't I meet her before

A couple hours have gone by and I am in Calgary, messaging fiends and family when I can. Still telling Lindsay I'll see her again, still imagining my parents and family standing there waving and crying, my ma who I love to death and will miss the most because I know how much she will miss me and I hate seeing her cry. I made her cry so many times in life I just wish, ugh I love you mom, please. Don't. This is important to me, and for my life, I'll always be with you and I will be back, this is what you and he family always knew would happen, what you always hoped for me, the best. -carm

I'm getting ready to go. Had an ugly exchange of last words with my ma last night, we were both stressed upset and super tired. She didn't sleep, I couldn't rest, I woke up still thinking I was dreaming, I lie, I still wish I was dreaming, I'm trying to sleep on the way to the airport and feel like shit, my family is all nervous and tired, dad had on his game face, he is proud and happy for me but I think he and my ma feel it the most. I never seen so much pain in my life that was caused directly because of me, and I never felt so much pain because of pain that I caused someone else. No heart that I have ever broken, could ever amount to this, sorry ladies and no time my heart has been broken could never prepare. Broken hearts; where I am going, I may not know how or what about them for quite sometime.  What am I doing.....6am at the Hamilton airport? Going to Calgary. -carm

missing home!

posting these as i can, apologies for the disorganization but i think i got it working :)