Saskatchewan

This week, I returned to the province that I fondly remember as a cold white place, and saw it in a way I rarely did when I was going to school there! It's been a week full of great reunions! It all started with an eventful Greyhound ride. The bus was an hour late, and then when it arrived in Medicine Hat, they took a 30 minute break. When we finally got on the bus, the air conditioner wasn't working! We stopped after about an hour of driving in an increasingly stuffy bus, and got off while they tried to reboot the bus computer. It did start working again eventually. Then because of all the delays, by the time we got to Swift Current (originally the dinner break) the store and bus depot were all closed up, and happened to be situated in the industrial area of the city where there were no other shops around, so there was no food, drink or bathroom to be found! I finally made it to Regina around midnight, but the original arrival time was 10:30.

I spent the evening and morning with Kris, my sometimes across-the-hall-mate and Brazil team member and we did some reminiscing as we looked at her scrapbooked pictures. Then we met my old roommate for lunch. Johanna, whose wedding I was in two years ago (actually to the day, I stole her away from her husband on their anniversary....oops!) who drove in from Manitoba to see me. After hanging out for awhile, we went back to Moose Jaw and ended up staying in the Pilgrim Inn in Caronport, just for old time's sake! We talked for hours over walks, coffee, more walks, more tea, and a game of Scrabble Sentences which was kind of a flop, no wonder we'd never heard of it!

I went back to Regina the next day as Johanna needed to head home, and spent more time with Kris and had dinner with her and some relatives I haven't seen for a few years. Then we met Vanessa, who happened to be in Regina for a birthday party and I went back to Nokomis with her. I kind of just got passed from friend to friend on this trip! I'm so thankful for everyone who let me stay with them, and who drove me around! At Vanessa's we took some walks, visited the museum where she worked for a number of summers, and played with a new kitten that her mom rescued! Her name is Sadie, and amazingly Vanessa and her mom both came up with the same name on their own! I was able to explain the Chinese idea of "mo chi" to them, which we really should have an English word for! It describes people who are of the same mind, or on the same wavelength.
I found out that Colleen Taylor, an old prof, friend and scrabble buddy of mine from school is now living about 30 minutes from Vanessa, so I suprised her with a phone call, and we ended up going over there for dinner! It was a lot of fun, and we got to hear about a new children's series she is publishing. I took a few books to bring back to Taiwan. You should check it out! BlueBeary
Vanessa was kind enough to drive me south, and we stopped for a little frolic along the path we used to walk and a visit to our old dorm. And now I'm in Swift Current where I'm hanging out with friends from high school, Adam and Erin, and playing with their adorable children! Which reminds me, I should go take some pictures of them!