I had a great time this Saturday at Dragon Dance practice. It was one of the most motivational days at Kung Fu I've had in awhile. It was fantastic to see so many people turn out to put together a dragon and lion dance. There was such a lively ambiance in the room. I can see why everyone keeps telling me to come out on Saturdays more often.
I tweaked my knee the night before and about 1/3 of the way through practice it was starting to hurt, making me limp a bit. I decided to power through it and by the end of practice it felt fine, so that's a relief. The dragon dance and demo practices have really been driving me lately. I really enjoy the team aspect and the freedom for creativity.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Expatriate
It's been a long time since my last entry. Lately, my lack of journaling seems to be stemming largely from my inability to express what I'm thinking. I've been mulling things over lately, collecting thoughts, many of which led to half written, unintelligible discarded drafts. Thoughts and ideas come by and I store them away. They start as hazy, vague outlines, and take time to become fully realized. Next thing I know, I've spent all my time thinking instead of writing. Time to start putting things on paper.
Topic of the day is how I've felt so confused lately about what community means to me. I feel divided among three different homes. The first is Stony Plain. The place of my childhood, teenage years and, at the youngish age of twenty six, where I've lived most of my life. The second is Edmonton where I've lived for the past six years or so. Where I've gone to college, matured into adulthood and met most of my current friends. Lastly there's my place of work in Sherwood Park. Honestly it's far too early for me to have any feelings for Sherwood Park. I'm only a year and a half into my first genuine career and my job has me working all over the province more than it does in Sherwood Park. Therefore I'm mostly indifferent to Sherwood Park. Nevertheless I do spend the majority of my week there and that takes a toll.
My condo in downtown Edmonton is a base camp for frequent journeys to the East and West. I've been living away from Stony Plain long enough that I've become disconnected from it. My sense of community in Stony Plain now comes from Silent River and my parents house. My parents place is an acreage about eight kilometers West of Stony so growing up I always had a slight rural disconnect from the town. As Silent River becomes more and more involved in the parkland community, the harder it is for me to feel like I'm part of the parkland community. I can't hop out the door and be at class in a few minutes. I can't shovel a seniors driveway after breakfast, before heading to work. I don't have the luxury of acting on impulse anymore. Most of everything I do in Stony is planned and so damn deliberate.
As this very moment, reading what I just wrote, I realize I should have said I have four homes. Don't think I've forgotten you dear readers. The community of the Kwoon is the most powerful of them all. I didn't mention it earlier because, really, you could say that the Silent River community IS my Stony Plain community.
There's no question that Edmonton is where I belong right now. I like it here. I love living within walking distance of an amazing Thai restaurant. I love the proximity of so many cultural, artistic and social venues. I cherish my freedom and the oh so accessible ability to go wherever I want, to do anything I want, whenever I want. My social life and activities with friends is very important to me. Edmonton is where I want to live right now. Still in the background of my consciousness there is the distant call of a rural parkland life. I can see myself eventually ending up there. But that would be for when I decide to settle down and adopt a more domestic life. The family, wife, kids and a dog idea.
This post has gotten out of control and I'm going to have to continue it later. Until next time.
Topic of the day is how I've felt so confused lately about what community means to me. I feel divided among three different homes. The first is Stony Plain. The place of my childhood, teenage years and, at the youngish age of twenty six, where I've lived most of my life. The second is Edmonton where I've lived for the past six years or so. Where I've gone to college, matured into adulthood and met most of my current friends. Lastly there's my place of work in Sherwood Park. Honestly it's far too early for me to have any feelings for Sherwood Park. I'm only a year and a half into my first genuine career and my job has me working all over the province more than it does in Sherwood Park. Therefore I'm mostly indifferent to Sherwood Park. Nevertheless I do spend the majority of my week there and that takes a toll.
My condo in downtown Edmonton is a base camp for frequent journeys to the East and West. I've been living away from Stony Plain long enough that I've become disconnected from it. My sense of community in Stony Plain now comes from Silent River and my parents house. My parents place is an acreage about eight kilometers West of Stony so growing up I always had a slight rural disconnect from the town. As Silent River becomes more and more involved in the parkland community, the harder it is for me to feel like I'm part of the parkland community. I can't hop out the door and be at class in a few minutes. I can't shovel a seniors driveway after breakfast, before heading to work. I don't have the luxury of acting on impulse anymore. Most of everything I do in Stony is planned and so damn deliberate.
As this very moment, reading what I just wrote, I realize I should have said I have four homes. Don't think I've forgotten you dear readers. The community of the Kwoon is the most powerful of them all. I didn't mention it earlier because, really, you could say that the Silent River community IS my Stony Plain community.
There's no question that Edmonton is where I belong right now. I like it here. I love living within walking distance of an amazing Thai restaurant. I love the proximity of so many cultural, artistic and social venues. I cherish my freedom and the oh so accessible ability to go wherever I want, to do anything I want, whenever I want. My social life and activities with friends is very important to me. Edmonton is where I want to live right now. Still in the background of my consciousness there is the distant call of a rural parkland life. I can see myself eventually ending up there. But that would be for when I decide to settle down and adopt a more domestic life. The family, wife, kids and a dog idea.
This post has gotten out of control and I'm going to have to continue it later. Until next time.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Dragon Dance
Last Thursday I spent my first practice learning how to dragon dance. I quite enjoyed it. It was even more fun than I was expecting. Its also a lot trickier than I thought. Knowing which direction to move isn't always intuitive. Being aware of everyone else and knowing how to adjust your own direction and speed is very important. I can definitely see how it would take a fair bit of practice as a team to make it look smooth.
I have yet to learn the lion dance. I've never made a great effort to learn the lion dance, not really sure why. I'm oddly nervous around the lions, like they are something to be revered. Fragile and holy. They make me feel brutish. I'm uncomfortable even handling them much less being in one. Its all very silly I know. I'm going to have to learn...
I have yet to learn the lion dance. I've never made a great effort to learn the lion dance, not really sure why. I'm oddly nervous around the lions, like they are something to be revered. Fragile and holy. They make me feel brutish. I'm uncomfortable even handling them much less being in one. Its all very silly I know. I'm going to have to learn...
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Jasper
I spent the weekend camping in Jasper. Its the first time I've been out camping this summer. Seems to be harder and harder to get people together for trips. It felt great to be out in the woods again. Saturday was spent swimming at lake Annette and some light hiking. I managed to get a wicked sunburn on my shoulders and back from the beach.
The weather was perfect Saturday but kind of lousy Sunday. The mosquitoes at the campground were absolutely terrible so we tried to spend as little time there as possible. We visited Maligned lake Sunday and I was amazed at how high the water is everywhere. The boathouse at the lake was underwater. I've always wanted to canoe across Maligne lake and camp on the sites there, hopefully I will be able to do it this summer.
The weather was perfect Saturday but kind of lousy Sunday. The mosquitoes at the campground were absolutely terrible so we tried to spend as little time there as possible. We visited Maligned lake Sunday and I was amazed at how high the water is everywhere. The boathouse at the lake was underwater. I've always wanted to canoe across Maligne lake and camp on the sites there, hopefully I will be able to do it this summer.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I wonder if I can fit in my fridge...
This heat wave is really kicking my butt. My primary directive the past few days has been to keep as cool as possible. It doesn't help that the AC in my office at work broke yesterday, when its 28 degrees in the office I should be allowed shorts! My condo is sweltering and I haven't been getting much sleep because of it. Stupid lousy weather isn't making it any easier to exercise. Here's hoping we have a surprise blizzard. Alright I gotta turn off the computer, its too hot.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Ganza
I'm taking this week off from work for the annual Improvaganza put on by Rapid Fire Theater. Improvaganza is a improv comedy festival where teams are brought in from all over the world to compete against each other in "whose line is it anyway" style battles. Its always a good time and a bit of a tradition for my friends and I. One of my friends living in grand prairie decided to take the week off to hit up the shows and visit. I figured it would be a good a time as any to take some vacation days.
So my June mini vacation will be spent around Edmonton. The plan is to catch up on some chores, do some biking, play some squash and go to at least a show a day. I've got tickets every night through to Saturday so I'll be absent from classes this week including missing the I Ho Chuan (nuts). I'm writing this between cleaning sessions. Just finished my bathroom, next up is the kitchen!
So my June mini vacation will be spent around Edmonton. The plan is to catch up on some chores, do some biking, play some squash and go to at least a show a day. I've got tickets every night through to Saturday so I'll be absent from classes this week including missing the I Ho Chuan (nuts). I'm writing this between cleaning sessions. Just finished my bathroom, next up is the kitchen!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Hotel Jesse
The past few weeks have been a hurricane of social activity. One of my friends works in Nicaragua on a rotation of two months away, two weeks back. When shes in town, she usually stays at her parents or my couch. On top of that another friend of mine who lives in Grand Prairie was visiting the last couple weekends with his sister. All of the people mentioned are good friends with myself and my roommate so we have a blast together.
When people are in town we try to make the most of it and do as much together as we can. These moments are a treat for me. I am making an effort to be more social. Even now I can feel the effects of decay on my social life that came from my time in school. For awhile I felt like I was losing friends because I stopped doing things. Say no enough and soon you might find yourself not being asked at all. Between my easygoing introverted attitude and a lack of effort I've found it hard to establish the same life I had a few years ago.
My couch and I have enjoyed the company of late but having a revolving front door has a way of throwing a wrench into routine. My class attendance certainly waned and I'm hating myself a little for that. I need to figure out how to balance better and binge less...
When people are in town we try to make the most of it and do as much together as we can. These moments are a treat for me. I am making an effort to be more social. Even now I can feel the effects of decay on my social life that came from my time in school. For awhile I felt like I was losing friends because I stopped doing things. Say no enough and soon you might find yourself not being asked at all. Between my easygoing introverted attitude and a lack of effort I've found it hard to establish the same life I had a few years ago.
My couch and I have enjoyed the company of late but having a revolving front door has a way of throwing a wrench into routine. My class attendance certainly waned and I'm hating myself a little for that. I need to figure out how to balance better and binge less...
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