After almost a decade in Asia - vacationing in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, etc - I am firmly settled into the US of A and changing gears. My first vacation/trip from this side of the globe: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.And you know what they say is absolutely right: It's not where you are, it is who you are with that is important. By this measure Winnipeg is the equal of a beach in Bali or a mountain in Thailand: my trip reunited me with Julien Bedard, an old and dear friend with whom I whiled away many a Korean night over beer and Jja-Jjang Myeon (noodles in black bean paste - tastes MUCH better than it sounds)!
Julien and Annabel, his witty, intelligent, attractive and charming partner, put up with me for a full week in their cozy home. I can only imagine that Annabel must have thought SHE was in Seoul after the number of stories she heard during the week~!Now before going any further let's get one thing straight for those who are a little lost geographically - Winnipeg is in the prairies of Canada, the bread basket of the British empire such as it was/is. We are talking flat land here. Period. I spent a fair amount
of days in the desert while traveling Egypt, Jordan and Israel - and this is eerily similar but for the slight difference of vegetation!But to quote Blue Rodeo, one of the greatest Canadian bands (fairly out of context but accurately) this is a land that makes you imagine you could go on forever "Into that never ending sky / Into wide and endless nite".
Well straight from the airport and into the breach! A quick stop at the liquor commission for 50 bottles of beer, a dash into the Superstore for sausages and buns, and within two hours flat a blazing fire was going in the back yard, and I was quaffing ales with a raucous band of French Canadians I had heard tales of for almost a decade: here were, among others, Christian, Eric, Remi, Annabel (of course), Marie Chantal, Michael - and of course the dog and two cats to boot!
What a party - its no wonder the hangovers the next morning kept us from leaving for breakfast and our planned camping trip until well after 4:00pm!
I had not been camping in at least 10-12 years - the last time was a trip to Kejimkujik in Nova Scotia with my brother Jan-Mark. Too long my friends, too long...
A fire under the dark sky that graced us with a showing of Aurora Borealis that was no polar region dance of colors and shapes, but was beautiful nonetheless - patterns of green sifting across the horizon in a display that I had hoped for but not expected. Friends dropped by with a guitar and many more beers to pass the evening with socialist songs of times past and stories of adventures from other days.Riding Mountain National Park was beautiful, and I had a great time camping - but I have to tactfully inform the Manitoba public in this forum that despite its beauty and wonder, the park could be more appropriately named "Riding Hill National Park". I guess a mountain is a state of mind, however, and context remains king!
After three days of fires, hotdogs and swimming at Crystal Lake, we retired back to Winnipeg to relax, see the city a bit and eat some prairie-style Korean food. I also played my first ever round of Frolf, which is frisbee golf - they have official courses in the city and it is a totally rocking game that I recommend highly!And around it all - the beers, the fires, the frolf and all - was the chance to settle back, relax completely and relive the past while discussing our lives as we find them today and th directions we are headed.
I am so happy to find one of my best friends settled with a wonderful woman he loves, into a job that challenges and rewards him, and a community of friends and family that care for him. This is really living the dream Julien - thank you, thank you Annabel, thank you Balzac (mong mong) and thanks to the purring furballs who also put up with my presence!
