You guys...Canada is cool!

 I love Vancouver! I know as an American, I'm not supposed to admit that I love Canada, but I really do.  I would live there if I could. Gasp! I know. But seriously, Vancouver is like a cooler Seattle (and I probably shouldn't say that either).

I've been up north a handful of times. In high school, my band director was cool enough to let us go there on a band trip. My friend Alana and I were determined to get a picture with some cute Canadian guys. By the time we had the guts to actually ask, it was our last day, right before we had to board our bus. They were definitely cute, but definitely not Canadian. "We're not Canadian, we're Norwegian," the boys told us. Bummer. But not quite.

Three summers ago I attended the LDS Temple open house for the Vancouver Temple. My friend Joseph, whom I taught with in Taiwan, came out from Spokane and we drove up with my lovely friend Lyndsi. We spent most of our time in China-town, which I definitely did not oppose. It felt like I was back in Taiwan.

A few weekends ago I went up again to BC with some of my friends.My friend Kyle is an amazing artist and put together this gem of a video of our experience.

    

Highlights of the trip included"

•  A super cute and tasty creperie
• Catching an awesome sand volleyball game
• Testing my hands-free metro skills on our way into the city
• Everyone crossing the street and leaving me on the other side.
• Empenadas
• An amazing suspension bridge
• Great gelato (I made sure I had some!)
• And an epic geography game on the road trip home
• A drunk 20-something jumping off his balcony (it was on the 1st level) to evade some cops. He landed in some bushes near where we were staking out our spots for the fireworks show, and he couldn't understand why the police would want to arrest him. He was scratched pretty badly, and was oblivious to his wounds. It was funny and sad at the same time. 
• Visiting the Vancouver singles branch
• Eating poutine (it's actually quite good!)

Oh, and did I mention the fireworks? They were better than the 4th of July!! Way to go Vietnam!

Here's to Vancouver and all it's great goodness!

O Canada!

Last weekend, my good friend Joseph came up for a visit.

Side note: I've totally lucked out. 

In the past 4 months I've seen 3 of 

my teaching buddies from Taiwan.

Seriously, how cool is that???

You remember Joseph, right? The one that I went with to the amazing waterfall near Taiping? Yeah, that's the one. Well, he came up last Friday for a visit. And it was soooo good to see him.

{Me and Mr. Joseph. Taken from the picnic area of the BC Temple. Trying to hold onto our Taiwan style.}

 Saturday, we took a little trip up to the Vancouver Temple open house with my ward (which is pretty much the best ward in the world). It was absolutely beautiful!

{The crew: Me, Diane, Jackie, Matt, Sam, Lyndsi, Aaren and Derek}

The temple tour was amazing, and I can't wait to get back to do an actual session!
And then...we went to China Town!!!

{Me and Lynds at the gates}

  

And what did I see?

A wonderful park dedicated to Sun Yat-sen, the father of the ROC.

Complete with Chinglish.

It made my day!

I was on the hunt for a dong gwa neo nai, or for pineapple cakes, but none were to be found. But, Diane, Matt and Jackie found some delicious mochi at one of the bakeries:

And I was super excited when I came across this little bank:

You're wondering why, huh? Well, I recognized a Chinese character!!! The character next to the red design thingy is Feng, as in Feng Yuan! So all those months in Taiwan did pay off! :)

Here's to Vancouver, BC in all it's loveliness. I wouldn't mind retiring there one day!