Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Got this in my inbox on the weekend from the Food Bloggers of Canada ... Hello to our BC Members! While we try to keep the email noise to a minimum, we wanted to make sure that all of you were aware that we are hosting a food photography workshop on June 30th in Vancouver. The number one thing we hear from all our members is that they wish they could improve their photography so we wanted to give you an opportunity to do so with a fabulous instructor. We are hosting two sessions with professional food photographer Jackie Connelly at Sugar Studios in Vancouver: The first will focus on hands on food photography with one on one instruction from Jackie. She’ll be showing you how to get the most out of your camera – be it point and shoot or a DSLR, how to cope with poor lighting and how to work with different types of foods. The second will focus on the business side of food photography, including how to find clients (restaurants, magazines, stock imagery, on-line), prepare f...

From a very shy student at King George International College (KGIC), where I was a teaching assistant/conversation assistant between 2002-2003. I recall trying to keep in touch with her through e-mail, and there may possibly have been an e-mail or two back and forth, but things fizzled out -- as they often do when there is a great physical distance between acquaintances who didn't bond into close friends before going their separate ways. I don't think I ever did ask her about the Korean dollar and coin. I'm actually not 100% certain that the coin with the "lucky cat"/Maneki Neko is the one referred to in the letter -- a side effect of putting all my keepsakes in the same box. She struck me as a very gentle person. I wasn't sure whether she had a crush on me or just felt safer to try to be less shy around me. In any case, her time at the school was soon up, and off she went. Shyness is definitely a disadvantageous trait for an overseas ESL s...

In one particular way, my time at KGIC (King George International College) was a very sad and depressing one. Here I was, surrounded by a lot of bright, fun, friendly, and often very beautiful women -- and I couldn't date any of them. Sure, I was "just" a teaching assistant, but it still meant that I theoretically had influence with the school, so all of them were off-limits. Trying to nurture friendships after they were done with school was a tricky business as well. I think a lot of them come to realize that their time in Canada is done, and their time with their fellow students, especially those from different countries, is over. Sort of like how friendships with people you meet on vacations, in school, or at work can sometimes vanish when you finally go your separate ways. One student I knew had pursued another quite ardently, and I think there was some reciprocity (how much, I'm not sure). She finished her studies sooner than he, and left. Just a couple o...

It was really gratifying to get this letter from one of the many students at King George International College (KGIC) where I worked from around 2002-2003. I don't recall this particular student had anything problems other than the usual schoolwork. She was, however, one of the few extra-studious ones, who hung around after classes to get extra help with their English. Word gets around the school, however, and I think somehow just being empathetic to the students about their lives here and their troubles with living abroad had warmed them to me and given me a good reputation. I give a lot of credit to Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People and the Vancouver Crisis Centre for training me with that mindset and giving me the tools. I don't know if I would have done so well at the school if I hadn't started volunteering with the Vancouver Crisis Centre only a few months prior in November 2001 -- especially as I was (and am) still generally very shy a...

There is something adorable about someone older than a young teen who still has the innocent heart to painstakingly create something like the cover to this card. Just count the different colours and elements, and you'll suddenly realize that this is no mere five minute doodle. And crafts like this are at it's best in more mature years, because along with the heartfelt hand-crafted effort are practical, thoughtful, touches like putting the card in protective plastic to give it the best chance of weathering time and travel. Maybe all those seasonal activities that go on in ESL schools (and make them sometimes seem less school than a fun summer camp) contribute toward maintaining a certain playfulness despite the relentless advance of years.

Of all my keepsakes -- and not just the ones from King George International College (KGIC), of which this is one -- this is probably the one that will be hardest to let go of. I'm not even sure if I will clear it out like most of the other photos and letters, to be preserved only electronically in a photo album. So much work had gone into this, and there are so many memories embedded in it. * The picture's not entirely clear about this because of the lighting, but I think that's my khaki-coloured shirt. I still have that same shirt. After all these years, the bend in the collar has finally worn and frayed a bit, but it is otherwise still in excellent condition. Crazy, eh?

Instead of throwing all my keepsakes haphazardly into my treasure box, I probably should have kept them more in order and with little notes to indicate what is what. The letter is from one of the many hard-working students at King George International College (KGIC) where I worked around 2002-2003. If I remember correctly, she was one of the advanced students, had round cheeks, and short hair in a bit of a retro cut. Her letter refers to a Japanese bookmark, so the bookmark pictured, being Korean, is probably not the right one, but it's the only one I could find in my keepsake box. In any case, it was so beautiful and delicate that I just kept it in its packaging. The gift meant something to me and I kept it, obviously, but I also didn't want to lose it. I guess a part of me wanted to preserve it, and the memory, intact. Gifts meant to be used can remind us daily of the person who gave it to us. But what happens when they are worn and damaged, and time to be retired ...

Not very many gifts have really meant a lot to me. I think it takes a deeper personal connection with the person for it to become a keepsake -- and it definitely helps if the gift is non-consumable (i.e., not food or cash). Looking back at all the keepsakes I had held onto, I noticed that gifts were invariably left unopened. Like this little calendar. I'm actually not 100% sure that it was from a student at King George International College (KGIC). If the picture of a dog is meant to indicate the year of the dog, then it would be either a 1994 or 2006 calendar.

Christmas was a stressful time at King George International College, but ultimately a fun one for the students. There was a potluck, a gingerbread house building contest, and every class had to put on some kind of skit. The higher the level of English, the more ambitious the production: One class had a full-blown play involving X-Files character Mulder and Scully, and stolen Christmas toys. Another had a skit about Santa's elves and reindeer going on strike because they were overworked. And then there was what to do with the students during the holidays. School was officially closed, so there wouldn't be any official events. If I remember correctly, some of the staff organized a few drop-in get-togethers at pubs, just so the far-away-from-home students had somewhere to go, somewhere to belong to. Somewhere to belong. I recall having a brief conversation with one of the teachers about that and Christmas. For North America, it tends to be one of those family-get-together ti...

Even after typically ruthlessly discarding "keepsakes" like brochures from faraway lands I've visited, or Christmas and birthday cards, there's still quite a bit of stuff left over. As you may know, I'm "spring cleaning" in preparation for finally moving into a place of my own . Subjects were removed on the offer to purchase on December 10th, but possession isn't till the end of February, with the possibility of renting it out in March to the existing owner. The latest batch is from my days as a teaching assistant / conversation assistant at King George International College (KGIC) in Surrey , BC. I honestly can't remember when I was with the Surrey campus of King George International College. All I remember was that I had Christmas and Valentines with them, and was possibly downsized around March 2003 because the SARS crisis had blacklisted Canada and business plummetted. At least that was the official reason. Based on seniority and LIFO...