This is like a month late but whatever.
We didn’t really do much on the last day. We went to a nearby mall to see if I could buy anything but I couldn’t find anything I wanted. This will be the first trip to the states where I don’t actually go home with anything. Weird.
Anyways, the flights were uneventful. I got to have some delicious Mac and Cheese while in Seattle’s airport. I also had my favourite microbrew while on the plane because it was free. Yay!
YAY! IT’S THE DAY OF THE WEDDING.
We got up pretty early but there wasn’t much work to be done by our family this time. My cousin had to run a lot of errands so I couldn’t go do a little bit of shopping but that’s fine. I accompanied him around the city to pick up this and that.
We eventually all met up back at the house and everyone got dressed. It was weird to see so many of my family members so dressed up before. We’re a simpl- well they’re a simple bunch. Whatever comfortable is good enough for them. Once we moved 200 bunt cakes into the trunk of the van, we zipped off to the venue.
It was a little overcast but that was fine. The ceremony itself was beautiful and it was really touching to see Christie and Stephan exchange their vows. It was cocktail hour afterwards and my parents were kinda driving me nuts so I made good use of that open bar. We eventually got seated and the dinner part began.
Food was really quite delicious and the games played were pretty funny. When the dancefloor opened up, I didn’t really feel like breakin’ it down but stuck with the famjam instead.
The wedding ended around 10:30 or so but we were glad to go home. We were all exhausted.
Overall, it was a fantastic first wedding experience and I can’t wait to go to my friend’s next year in August!
My mother kindly woke me up at 6 AM today. So in a slight fit of frustration, I just showered and went to Starbucks for breakfast instead of eating the continental breakfast with them.
My uncle eventually came and picked us up and then I was thrown into a whirlwind of tradition and heritage. My aunts were get papers ready to burn (offerings for those who have passed away) and one of my uncles, who is a chef, was cooking up a storm for 40 people. I went on a variety of errands with my cousin like getting ice or shaving cream for his brother. At one point, I just sat around, staying out of the way, because poor Canadian me is no good for this heritage-y stuff.
Eventually it was time to head over to Christie’s house for her part of the tea ceremony. It was then that I realized how horribly underdressed I was for this occasion. Everyone else was in either a really nice dress or in a dress shirt, tie, and dress pants. There I was, in my gingham shirt, khaki shorts, and Jack Purcell’s looking terribly out of place. Eventually we eat after some tea drinking by the parents. After about an hour of schmoozing with some relatives and whatever, we headed back to my cousin’s place where their part of the tea ceremony took place. I stayed outside for most of it, setting up tables and chairs, as to avoid the insanity that was the household.
For anyone wondering why I’m so loud, all you need to do is to sit at a dinner table with my mother’s family. If yelling was a sport, they’d be Olympians. Anyways, eventually the tea ceremony finished up in there and people flooded out to eat. After that was all over and everyone went home, my family just hung out a little bit. We ate, I drank beer with my aunt, and shoved red envelopes into my hands.
At some point, I had to go back to the hotel since I was meeting up with Steven for dinner. He lives in LA and I figured that, since I was coming down, I might as well meet him in person because he seemed like a cool guy. He came and picked me up eventually and we headed off to Manhattan Beach. We were going to go somewhere for some American food but it was just PACKED. We walked a little further and found a nice Mexican restaurant instead. We ate and talked about everything from science to cool classes we’ve taken to Transformers. It was nice just to get away from the crazy family for a bit and just be on a slower pace.
He drove me back and we took an obnoxious selfie. Now I’m back in the hotel room loungin’ around to Phoenix. I don’t really have a choice anyways since I have a huge burrito in my stomach right now.
So today, I woke up pretty early and made it to the airport in a timely manner. After a delicious meal of eggs benedict, I got on a plane and headed down to LA.
My parents and I were greeted by a balmy 29 degrees of sunshine. Eventually, my uncle came to get us and we showed up at his house where more of my family was. It’s rare that I get to see many members of my family together so I am always excited at the opportunity. I am, however, never excited for the consistent questions of my lack of a dating life. It was a loud affair. At one point, my aunt asked me what religion I followed. But in Cantonese, a word is used to mean both sleep and religion and she made some snarky comment about me not really following one. That one of the reasons why she is my favourite aunt.
Anyways, after we prayed to my grandma (who passed away when my mom was quite young), we ate lunch and then headed off to check in at the hotel.
I ended up napping with my laptop beside me because a 5 AM wake up tuckers everyone out. We were then picked up by my cousin to go to the rehearsal for the wedding.
And holy shit. It was a beautiful venue. It’s RIGHT by the ocean and it’s lush and green and wow. Just wow. I’m extremely excited for Sunday! We went out for a later dinner afterwards where we just gorged ourselves on delicious food.
The tea ceremony is tomorrow and I am grabbing dinner with a friend of mine in LA so I’m really looking forward to that. Can’t wait!
My cousin’s getting married and this will be my first wedding ever! I have my suit and shoes ready to go, along with a couple of tank tops (of course) and shorts.
I’ll end up participating in a tea ceremony (lol Chinese traditions what?) and hopefully grabbing dinner with Steven!
I’ll also get to enjoy some legitimate sunshine before I buckle down and work for Orientation full time during the summer. Yikes.
No, not the one in Edmonton…
We hit up our final destination before leaving because there was a store at the Northgate mall that Alesha really wanted to go to. There were a lot of other stores to check out so everyone had somewhere to go.
After spending the last of our money, it was off to the airport. Finding a gas station to fill up the rental car was a bit of an adventure but we spent it singing along to songs in the car, so that was a lot of fun. At one point, while leaving the hotel, we had been singing and dancing, when the person in the car next to us turned and laughed. Oh well.
We made it to the airport in time and zipped off to Vancouver for a 2 hour layover. After some mediocre food and some work time, it was back onto an airplane.
We made it back home to cold, Edmonton. I’m not doing any travelling anytime soon (well…not until May). So until then!
This is CRAZY late.
We all woke up a little later since we were all reeling still from the two day conference. Eventually we made our way down to Pike Place.
We were starving by this point so we went to Beecher’s for some mac and cheese. It was awesome.
We spent the next handful of hours perusing the massive market. I spent some money at the comic book store picking up some Adventure Time and Doctor Who stuff.
Eventually we all met up again and opted to head off for dinner along Ballard street. We wanted to go to The Walrus and the Carpenter, but they had a three hour wait time :( We put our name down anyways and went off to Shiku sushi with the plan of having sushi, some coffee in between, and then second dinner at TW&TC.
Sushi was AMAZING. Oh my god. I have never had such delicious sushi in my life. One roll even had cream cheese on it. Think about that for a second.
When we were paying the bill, we got a phone call about our reservation and we promptly went back. I didn’t indulge too much since I was actually stuffed so all I got was some bread and butter (which was actually amazing- they salt their own butter) and a beer. Afterwards, we all shared some dessert and I just about passed out in a food coma right there and then.
We eventually made it back to the hotel and had some wine before all going to bed.
It was a great day and all of us were exhausted by the end of it.
So I just completed this conference so I guess I can look back on it.
We woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning on Friday and trekked our way to the airport. We got onto a small propeller plane and flew over to Seattle.
We landed and found our rental car. It was a miniature Fiat…which definitely wasn’t going to fit the five of us + luggage. We traded up for a bigger car and made our way to Nook.
Biscuits were on the menu. They were actually so delicious. Holy crap. After that, it peaked my mood and I wasn’t such a grumpy morning pants.
From there, it was off to the outlets. A few hours and a exhausted credit card swiping hand later, we were done. We went off to the hotel and then headed over to the conference.
Once there, we had a quick welcome, met some people from the University of Montana and then got started. The first day wasn’t too bad. We started our case study and did some ice breaker games in typical Orientation fashion.
The next day was filled with conference sessions. After doing five of them in total, I was exhausted. We also presented our case study which could have gone better, but whatever.
That night, we met some kids from Oregon and partied with them in their hotel room. By party, I mean talk about Orientation and teach them about Canada. At one point, we all got way too tired so I made it back to my room.
And that was that. I’ve met a lot of really great people and they were all just as stoked about Orientation as I was. They were from all areas of studies and different ages, so I thought that that was really cool.
I’m super stoked to visit Seattle now though!
I barely did anything today. It was basically some last minute packing and some wandering around downtown.
I hit up yet another coffee shop and then chilled in the lobby of Laura’s work before my cab got there.
I got to the airport super early, grabbed some dinner, and just sat around.
The flight was pretty delayed since we were waiting for a ton of people but I made it home in one piece.
Now I have a week of rest and school before the next adventure to Bothel. I’m super excited to meet other people who are as passionate about their Orientation programs as I am!
I spent my morning, yet again, just waking up. I eventually made it out to grab lunch with Laura and another one of her friends. Shortly after, I headed off to the Art Gallery of Ontario which was actually really cool. I have a penchant for science and dinosaur bones, but there was a lot of cool art.
Afterwards, I explored downtown a little bit more before meeting Laura and some friends to go to a pub called Sin and Redemption. Ironically enough, said pub is across a church. I got currywurst again and it was great (especially when accompanied with an Erdinger Weissbier).
Now I’m sitting around, updating the blog. I have to pack for tomorrow since I’m heading home.
Don’t fret too much though. I am going on a conference to Bothel (read: Seattle) next weekend for Orientation. YAY!
