August, 2012

The Keddys

Well, what a difference a month makes! I'm sitting in our new apartment in lovely Kingston, Ontario. For the first time in two years our apartment is NOT the size of a shoebox, and I'm eating a bag of ketchup chips with a cat on my lap. All of these things would have been unthinkable just 6 weeks ago, but it's amazing how quickly things start to seem normal again.

Another big change is that I've gone from being a teacher to being a student- I'm now taking the BEd program at Queen's University. In a random twist of fate, Melodie got a job right away, and she is now teaching for... Queen's! She got a great job at their School of English. Did I mention that we're actually renting our apartment from Queen's, too? I guess they own us now- hahaha.

Oh yeah, one more big change since our last update:

We got hitched!

Vegas was awesome! Can you think of a better place to reunite with 30+ family members and friends after two years abroad? I can't. We got married at the Graceland wedding chapel. We went to the chapel in a white limo- neither of us had ever been in a limo before- and we just barely got to the chapel on time. The whole ceremony was only two minutes and forty-five seconds long, which was just long enough for us! Elvis sang two songs and before you knew it, we were the Keddys!

The wedding after-party was at the Fremont Street Experience, a covered street flanked by flashy casinos, shops and restaurants. The street was full of crazy people (present company included) and impersonators of Michael Jackson, cupid, KISS and more. Loverboy was playing a free show and the ceiling of the covered street had a light show projected on it all night long. It was so fun!!

We ate lots of good food, toured through most of the famous hotels and saw a couple of shows.

The fountain show at the Bellagio was amazing.

We saw the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. It was grand, but all the driving to get there was not.

After 6 days in Las Vegas, we spent a day in Portland before going back to Melodie's parent's in Kingston, NB. Then we visited family and friends in Fredericton, Moncton, Hampton, Sussex, Aylesford, and Montreal before finally winding up here in Ontario. So you can understand why it took me so long to update this blog! I probably won't be updating it too much this year unless something really interesting happens because I'm SWAMPED with all my classwork, plus we're starting sign language classes next week in the evenings. But even if you don't hear from us for a little while, loyal reader, you can rest assured that we are content in Canada- happily eating our Arby's, petting our cat and maybe even day dreaming about the next place to go ostrich riding.

Vancouver

Jet lag is an evil witch. We thought we’d beat her, but when it came time to get to bed on Sunday night, neither of us could sleep a wink. Frustrated, I got up at 5:45am, made coffee, saw the sun rise and watched a lot of "Breaking Bad" on Grandma’s balcony.

The scene at the Vernon Greyhound terminal was a joke, thanks to the bumbling ticket booth operator, but everyone eventually got on the bus and we were off (an hour late). The 8-hour trip took us through Kamloops, Abbotsford, Hope and Chilliwack and although it was scenic and mountainous, it was hard to enjoy. I was so tired and felt so sick.

We took a taxi from the Greyhound terminal in Vancouver to Mel’s Uncle and Aunt’s house near Granville Island. Man, they could not live in a nicer area. They are right along the sea wall, which has to be one of the most scenic urban places in Canada, and are just a 5-minute walk to Granville Market.

After a BBQ dinner, we took a walk along the sea wall with Mel’s cousin/amateur tour guide Kaleb. We saw some big birds.

We popped some of Rick’s jet lag pills and settled in to a normal night’s sleep. We felt a hell of a lot better the next morning. And there was a lot to be excited about- we were going to ARBY’S!! For two long years, I’ve been dreaming of a delectable beef n’cheddar sandwich, and it was everything I had hoped for and more. Arby’s was located in the Metrotown Mall, which is BC’s largest mall, and Mel was able to check something important off her shopping list: her shoes for the wedding. Later, Rick’s brothers and niece came over for a family BBQ, so we spent the night chatting and getting all the new Canadian gossip.

The next morning, Mel and I headed out on a mission: Operation Taiwanese Meatball. This was our favourite street food in Taiwan, and we haven’t seen it for sale anywhere since we moved. Thank you, multicultural Vancouver! The meat ball was great, and actually, everywhere we went the food looked amazing. Every style of food seems to be represented and we only wish we’d had more time to spend eating!! We've been so deprived!

We took a bus downtown and walked around a very red Chinatown.

Next we went to Gas Town. The streets were very historic-looking. That’s a gas powered clock there in the picture.

Catching some sun on the sea wall on our walk back to Rick and Barb’s.

Surprisingly, there are coyotes on the sea wall! WTF!!

In the evening we watched Big Brother and walked over to a park by the water to watch the International Fireworks Festival with Kaleb. It was Spain’s night and, at 30 minutes long, the show was pretty cool. Another sign that we’re back in Canada: the smell of pot wafting by every 30-seconds. Oh, BC.

After demolishing a bag of dill pickle chips, we tried to get some sleep. It was hard!! I was so excited about Vegas. But, in the morning, we crawled out of bed, packed up and then took a walk over to Granville Island Market for lunch.

This market is enormous and absolutely everything looked amazingly delicious. What we would’ve done for just one place like this in Korea!! For lunch we got a combo of perogies, chicken kiev and salad, which was interestingly served by a Korean family (Why don’t you set up a shop in Seoul? I know a lot of people who’d love you for it!!)

We got a big ass brownie and some coffee for dessert, and sat by the house boats on the sea wall for a while. Just like that, our super quick stay in Vancouver was over, and it was time to head to the airport. It was fun to check Facebook while we were at the airport, as everyone started to update “We’re in Vegas!” “The resort is awesome!” and “It’s goddamn hot!” I’m typing this up during our flight, and we’ll soon be there too! With 33 of our favourite people, and one special Elvis.

Vegas, baby!!