foreign kid in a foreign land

once again, i find myself in a foreign land. this time, it's canada. i must say that even though coming here wasn't my choice (due to normal foreign kid complications), things could definitely be worse. i guess i'm choosing to be optimistic about the whole situation. plus, friends are coming to visit really soon... 1. i live with my parents. something i haven't done since i was in 4th grade. this is a blessing and a curse rolled into one. 2. for the past few weeks, i've been working on a pear orchard slash mushroom spawn making facility with (let's call him) mr miyagi. we spent the first week thinning pear trees and now, a few weeks later, have progressed to other tasks like digging up his front yard and resurfacing it. mr miyagi has been patiently identifying the local flora and going to great efforts to explain to me the origins of the plants and flowers that he's collected over the years. mr miyagi is a caucasian man in his 60s and more asian than i could ever hope to be. he has grown wasabi and bok choy and kai lan and has made herbal soups and teas from scratch with chinese herbs that i've seen but wouldn't be able to identify. he also likes durian and a whole bunch of other asian fruit. i'm amazed by his adventurous taste buds. 3. although i've spent the past few days cursing the rainy weather, vancouver is the kind of city that i think i could set up shop in. it has a good balance of fancy and crusty and it feels healthy to be surrounded by the ocean and the mountains... 4. i still miss baltimore and my friends.