The Sins of the Grandfather

During my time here in Taiwan, I have had the opportunity to really bond with members of my dad's family.  I love that  I've had the chance to learn about this other part of my identity and now that I'm older, I can have mature conversations about my family's past, no matter how upsetting the information might be.


I've posted about my mom's side of the family before and also the fracture that happened when my mom and dad decided to divorce.  When the divorce happened, I really didn't realize how much everyone on both sides were invested in trying to keep my parents together or split my parents apart.


Over the years, I've been able to dig up more and more information, mostly through my grandmother (mom's mom) who in her last couple of months of her life decided it was important for me to know some truths about the divorce.  The news was shocking to hear (that my grandfather, my mom's dad, really wanted my parents to divorce) and that my grandmother's regret was not standing up to him and encouraging my parents to stay together. 


This was confirmed by my other grandmother last night at dinner.  She and my father's family was always a big fan of my mom's mom, but never of my mom's dad.  There's a bit of an unspoken hatred between Mainlanders and the Taiwanese, not just because of the civil war stuff, but more of a status attitude.  Since my grandfather was from Shanghai, he had a hard time equating the Taiwanese Chinese (my dad's family) were the same level as him and his family.  How sad that this causes such family drama.


But the bigger shock was the revelation that my grandfather was an informant for the government.  The only thing that helped lighten this shocker was the fact that my grandmother thought "tattletale" was the correct English term for it.  God bless her, she was so close.  When she revealed the news, my mind started spinning with questions - who did he work for (I'm assuming it was for the Kuomingtan against the Communists since he had to flee China in 1949), how long was he an informant, why was he an informant and (shudder) did his actions lead to anyone's imprisonment or death.


My mother's side of the family had never explained what my grandfather did and to be fair, I doubt his children would know anything about this either.  The only people that know the truth have both passed, and I only have the account of my dad's mom.


I've always had fond memories of my grandfather.  He took a lead role in raising myself and my brother before he passed in 1997.  It's hard to believe that the man I used to watch hockey with would have a past as dark as this.  The times were much different back then.  Living through the 2nd world war must not have been easy and my grandfather was an orphan.  By passing on information and collaborating, was this the only he could survive?  On the one hand, it is hard to judge him for trying to survive, but the thought of how many people were impacted by his actions causes some internal conflict.


When the conversation with my dad's mom ended, we agreed, that the past is the past, but that it was important for me to know and absorb this information.  Family histories are never pretty, and plenty of people make mistakes.  In the end, you love your family members no matter what and forgiveness comes with time.  But knowing what I know now, it's hard to forget the sins of my grandfather and how much sadness his actions created for an unknown number of people and their families.

Drunk Laundry

When you're funemployed, the everyday mundane activities around the house need that extra kick.  That extra kick really means +1 on the alcohol.  Let's all agree - drinking while doing housework just makes the time pass by faster, it's like you weren't doing any work at all.  And it isn't until the next morning that you realized you actually didn't do any housework because you've passed out while Swiffering the floor and actually made more of a mess because you spilled wine everywhere.  Oh well, the maid will get that spot out.


So after swinging by Costco tonight and picking up two fuel can containers of Tide (with Actilift...ohhhhh, fancy!), four boxes of Bounce (static cling really irks my family) and a vat of Margarita mixer, the stage was set for drunk laundry night.


First, it was whites.  Now, whites (the clothes, not the people) are quite delicate and they can become dull quickly if not treated with care (we're still talking about the clothes right?)  Drunk laundry is quite counterproductive when it comes to keeping your whites their brightest.  Trying to hold the wine goblet with one hand while trying to throw in the load of laundry with the other, you're bound to spill a little.  The Hindu Gods got it right, multiple arms really do come in handy.  No worries about that wine, a shot glass full of bleach should get that nasty stain out.  WARNING - DO NOT DRINK FROM THAT SHOTGLASS AFTER.


While waiting for the whites, it was time to open up that Margarita mixer.  Due to the fact that my family is a bunch of alcoholics, a bottle of Jose Cuervo was hiding right behind the the columns of whisky bottles in the "alcohol pit" behind the dining room table.  With a healthy serving of tequila (cough) *half-glass* (cough), some ice and then the mix, the first swig nearly knocked me out.  Apparently, after a month in Taiwan, I've forgotten how to read English - the mix already had tequila in it.  Fuck it.  There were two other loads to get through, I can sip it, right?


After cleaning up after Margarita Madness, the whites were done.  Well, thank god for that Actilift shit and bleach, not one wine stain to be found.  Light colours were next - and as I lifted all of the light colours into the machine, I silently cursed myself for my fondness of light coloured clothing and made a mental note to only buy whites or dark coloured clothing to avoid three loads.  That mental note was quickly wiped away with the next chug of my drink - which I nicknamed Amnesia (no explanation required).


With the whites rolling around in the dryer, and the other load in the washer, it was time for some drunken Draw Something, this great new game I was talked into adding.  It didn't help that I could likely now light a fire with my breath, but my drawings grew progressively worse and worse with each sip of Amnesia.


So it's midnight, and it has taken me about an hour to try to type this entry without massive amounts of spelling or grammar mistakes.  I can barely stand and I doubt I'll get to the darks before I pass out.  Three things I pray for tonight:


1) That the dryer doesn't blow up because I forget to remove the lint from the lint trap before pressing START.
2) That the wet clothes in the washer won't smell like wet rags tomorrow (it happens a lot here).
3) That I'll remember I was doing laundry last night tomorrow morning.


(hiccup) Time to hit PUBLISH.  G'night.

Funemployment Joys #1: Lazy Monday.

It's been a while since I've blogged and I have nothing but laziness to blame the lack of posting.  Laziness reared its ugly head again today as I did absolutely nothing.  I have a semi-excuse for my Lazy Monday and it was that I felt under the weather when I woke up (likely due to the 3 servings of fried rice I had at dinner last night), but by lunchtime, the queasiness had left the station, and rather than being a productive member of society, I just decided it was a do-nothing kind of afternoon.  It wasn't that hard to clear my afternoon either, unlike my life two months ago, my schedule is pretty open.

I quite enjoyed my Lazy Monday, I zoomed through two episodes of Band of Brothers, looked for airline tickets to Vietnam while The Da Vinci Code was playing on the TV in the background and when typing letters into a Google search bar became just too much work, a nap was needed to get me through such a trying experience.  I was abruptly awoken from my slumber by a phone call from my dad telling me where we were going out for dinner, otherwise, I would have slept through that too.

Everyone deserves a lazy day once in a while, and I highly recommend everyone to take one, for inspiration, listen to Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song if you have to.  But one shouldn't make it a habit, which is easy to do if you take too many Lazy Days in a row.  My A-Type personality will likely kick my lazy side out of bed tomorrow to at least go to the gym and take a walk around the city or to finish that short story I've been having some trouble finishing.

Sigh, too much thinking.  Time for another nap.

Ask, Try, Fail and Learn.

So a couple of humbling experiences this week.  It's lead me to a new motto - Ask, Try, Fail, and Learn.  It's something that we do so infrequently, perhaps pride or fear gets in the way.

Experience #1: Learning a hobby in a different language.
Learning photography from someone who only speaks Mandarin (or any other language foreign to you, for that matter) can be the most frustrating and fascinating experiences of your life.  It happened to me yesterday.  A friend of my dad's owns and operates a chain of photography studios in Taipei.  One of his main photographers was kind enough to help me with a one hour lesson on portrait photography.  Now my Mandarin is not terrible, but it's not up to the level where I could understand everything he was saying to me.  Though he was patient, I could see some frustration from the instructor.  Frustration was brewing on my end too, not towards him, but anger towards myself for not being able to understand better.  


Experience #2: Navigating a new city.
Taiwan is a small city in comparison to a New York or a London.  It has one of the best transportation systems in the world in my opinion with an expansive underground transit network that rivals even those cities.  And even though the system is multi-lingual, it is still easy to get lost.  For someone who is pretty good with directions, I've found myself in a couple of situations here now with missing stops, asking for directions and just looking plain foolish each time I exit the wrong gate.


Experience #3: Making friends.
Having no friends in the city, it's been tough meeting people and finding people that can speak English.  Don't get me wrong, I want to practice Mandarin, but there's nothing more comforting than being able to converse with like minded people.  On a few occasions I've tried to strike up conversations with people in coffee shops or restaurants, and they have failed.  It's probably because I never had to do that when I was back in Toronto with friends accompanying me everywhere.


All of these three experiences have humbled me.  Failing at something isn't the end of it, it's an opportunity to learn and to improve.  I've been either too proud or too scared of asking people for help before that it feels even more awkward when it doesn't work out.  Confidence bruised, I've got to keep reminding myself of what you were told as a child - try, try again.


I also have to remind myself that it's only been a week and a half since I've been here.  Patience is something I've always struggled with, so I need to remind myself that these things take time.  This cycle of Asking, Trying, Failing and Learning is not an instantaneous action.  


As a matter of inspiration, Ask, Try, Fail, Learn is my March 13th entry in my one line a day journal.  Bookmarked.

When Criticism Turns into Cynicism - Hating on Cause Campaigns

Well, a lot has happened in a week - a video of a Ugandan warlord who enslaves children to become his soldiers becomes viral and he is a household name for 48 hours, Japan remembers the earthquake and tsunami that took so many lives a year ago, and Austin, Texas had it's biggest influx of people ignoring other people in person while communicating with them on their mobile devices for it's annual SxSW (South by Southwest) conference. There is a common thread through these three events, each are attached in someways to a cause related campaign and those campaigns have gathered a lot or very few controversies in the news.

So for those who haven't been able to catch up with the news, here's a quick synopsis on all three:

- Kony2012 is a campaign by Invisible Children to arrest Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord, to prevent him from recruiting child soldiers. The campaign garnered global praise and criticism, the latter focused on the organization itself and how a social media campaign won't really change the larger situation that Africa faces that result in people like Kony being able to get away with his actions

- BBH launched a cause campaign to equip the homeless people of Austin with wifi access. All the wifi they sell, they keep the proceeds. Critics slam this as using the poor to serve the rich.

- A year after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the rebuilding continues. Thousands are still in government housing and many have wondered why the aid money hasn't gone further. (Pretty similar to what happened with Haiti after their earthquake in Jan 2010.)

Having worked on Cause campaigns through my previous line of work and through volunteering in school, let's just say it's fucking hard to put any charity or charitable work activity together. Those who are smart enough, tough enough and dedicated enough to put a charitable work organization together should receive kudos for their efforts. But like all things that take off and garner attention for good work, the critics sit back and start to evaluate what is not so great about the work. This is fine, constructive criticism will help to improve things, it is when people turn criticism into cynicism that really doesn't help the situation.

From what I've learned from any cause campaign, there are three things you want to achieve (even if you achieve one or two should be considered a success):

1) Awareness - make people understand why they should care about the issue you care about.

2) Educate - make those who care learn more and form their own opinions about the issue and how they can help

3) Action - make those who have formed their opinions take action and participate in the cause by donating, volunteering or paying the information forward.

Critics will still find fault with all of these campaigns and while some do a good job at keeping their evaluations objective, many dive into cynicism. The cynics will have you believe a couple of things:

- fancy films and marketing of issues are poor use of charitable funds

- too many people just read one article and take that position, not really educating themselves on the issue

- LIKE-ing a status or SHARE-ing an article on social media does not make you an activist

- that there are more things to do than an isolated issue (in the example of KONY, it's not about just removing KONY, it's about stopping the crisis that is child abuse and enslavement in Africa)

But let's get real here, there's only so much one can do in a short period of time. Issues cannot be solved overnight, but what causes like KONY does is help show those who have little to no understanding of the issues happening in Africa a small, digestible piece of the overall puzzle and let them investigate for themselves. There's no mistaking the impact that campaign has made in the past week - it has everyone talking. Even by sharing the story via the web, I argue that people have become activists by making people in their network aware of the story that was being told.

I'm also a fan of the work done by BBH to bringing a fresh approach to looking at the issues of homelessness. Sure, it's not helping to solve the issue right there and then, but it brings the faces of those that are homeless to people's attention. People looking for wifi had to go an interact with the homeless people selling it - a situation which would never happen if this transaction never presented itself. It gives the homeless people a voice and an opportunity for others to hear their stories.

Even the most reputable of charitable organizations have trouble with cynics. There will always be those who will try to bring down those who are trying to make a difference in the world. There will always be those that say that the smallest of actions are not what makes the difference. There will always be those that hold a holier than thou attitude when it comes to what causes deserve attention and which ones don't.

So choose to be an optimist when it comes to causes. Yes, there are many out there and you'll be bombarded. Yes, you should always be informed before you donate your money or time. And yes, baby steps have to be taken as you can't solve the entire problem all at once. But when there are people putting their time, energy and passion into trying to make a difference, don't be that asshole who rains on their parade.

One month of Funemployment

So it was one month ago that I spent my last day at work. A month has passed since I've had to send a work related email, fill out a status document, count revenue towards my jobs, and attend meetings, meetings about meetings, and meetings to discuss meetings about meetings. It certainly is a weird feeling to not have any responsibilities and the associated stress and anxiety that comes along with said duties. Then I realized that the weird feeling is a sense of happiness.

Don't get me wrong, I miss the daily interaction with people - shooting the shit about the day's latest celebrity gossip, sharing the latest viral video, or just being outright inappropriate. The people I worked with were great and I miss them dearly. But at this point, I can never picture myself stepping into an office again. Too much confinement, too structured, too routine.

It's also another anniversary - a shorter one this time, it's been a full week since I've been away from Toronto. Spending time with my family has been a blast, but there's something to be said about being able to hang out and have fun with people your own age. I miss my friends, especially when trying to find new friends in a new city is not the easiest of tasks. The language barrier and the nuances of my tone and jokes are a bit lost on people here, something that would garner many laughs at home. It can't be homesickness - that can't kick in this early, but I have to make more of an effort to put myself out there and take chances and risks to meet new people. Hopefully it'll start with St. Patty's Day next Saturday - still on a quest to find an Irish pub in the city.

Anyway, just a quick note to mark an important date - March 10th - in my year of travels.

Glass half empty - why people are people so cynical about life?

KONY2012 - it's taken off. Thanks to social media and a little button called SHARE, the video that was launched 72 hours ago, has become a worldwide phenomenon. Putting on my old advertising hat - what an incredible amount of unearned media coverage it's received!

A little known Ugandan warlord has now achieved international recognition all thanks to a charity called Invisible Children and within three days, they knocked off one of the goals off of their list - make him famous. Celebrities, politicians, ordinary citizens have all jumped on the bandwagon and watched a 30 minute video, told their friends to watch and many have pledged to take action, either by just sharing the information, buying a $30 action kit or taking part on April 20th in the Cover the Night movement.

Well, with every successful campaign, those that are critical of its success come out of the woodwork to point out all the lies propagated by Invisible Children and how shady they are. There have been blogs, articles in VICE, and hundreds, if not thousands of response videos to KONY on Youtube all questioning the motivations that Invisible Children has or the goals and expectations they have set out.

The debate is great - discourse has always served to help enlighten and educate. What's funny is that the majority of the anti-KONY2012 (which is totally inappropriately named as it makes it seem that they are pro-KONY), is doing the exactly the same thing they are accusing those that support the KONY2012 movement are doing - jumping on the bandwagon.

To use the 99%/1% analogy (because it's been so popular this year, cough, bandwagon), it seems that 99% of the people raging against the KONY2012 video is doing the exact same thing - they are just SHARE-ing articles of thought pieces put forth by critics of KONY2012. They add their microblog thought to it - i.e. "before everyone jumps on the bandwagon, they better read this first" but not any true thought or an opinion on the piece themselves. It's truly the 1% that's having the discourse here about KONY, whether they be pro or con. Everyone else is just drifting to those with the microphones.

What gets even worse is when the critics come out to play, they arm themselves with "I don't mean to be negative but..." and then do nothing but be negative and cynical. It's like when someone says to you, "with all due respect" what they really mean is "fuck you." That negativity then starts an emotional counter attack from the pro-KONY2012 side, and everything turns into a FOX News Bill O'Reilly segment. Let's be honest, neither side can claim they have a 100% lock on all of their facts, and it will take more action than just clicking SHARE or buying a kit to make a difference in that part of the world, but let's look on the bright side folks.

What Invisible Children and the group of filmmakers have done has been an extraordinary thing that only once in a while manifests itself. In my opinion, it's been over five years since we've seen a campaign like this, and the Obama election campaign didn't have the same amount of global impact as KONY2012 has within even the same time period. It's storytelling at it's best - making people care about a topic and taking them through a journey that is both interesting and educational. Of course this success would bring out jealousy in people - and a lot of the criticism is rooted in just that. And the majority of the criticism here is rooted in the organization, not the issue, which is an important point to differentiate. If anything, Invisible Children has put this issue in the minds of millions around the globe.

What this campaign has done well is making a bunch of people aware and care about an issue that they knew nothing about 72 hours ago, to start looking into it and having a discussion with their friends, and take some sort of action - either by sharing or participating in the movement. It's motivated young people to say that they can make a difference - and who knows, could inspire and influence those young people to choose a life of activism over some silly corporate job.

Anyway, that's just my view of things.

The Power of Storytelling

What's great about funemployment, my term for unemployment on your own terms, is the fact that you have all the time in the world to pursue things that make you happy. I've stated to many people that one of my goals during my year off of travelling is to see what I can do with creative writing. Can I write a book, a play, a short story? It's a scary feeling of entering into a world I have had little training in, especially since I've been focused on business for the last nine years of my life.

With all of this time that I've had, I've been occupying my time with activities that allow me to just listen. Sitting in a busy food court observing people's interactions and conversations (it's not that creepy, I swear). Or watching cool educational videos online (thank God for Youtube). Today, I watched two videos which has had a profound impact on my view of storytelling and how I'm going to delve into the world of creative writing.

TED.com has always been a playground for inspirational talks - at the most recent TED conference, Andrew Stanton, director of Wall-E and the new movie John Carter, talks about the clues to a great story. I've always loved telling stories, mainly because I like to talk a lot. But I've never taken the time to investigate and to think about what it takes to tell a great story. When watching his video, all of his key points made me reflect on the stories I've told, both successful and not so great, and his points proved correct! For those that want the Coles notes, here are the major points, but I highly suggest that you watch the full video:

- Make the audience care. If they don't care, they won't pay attention.

- Make a promise - this is a promise that their attention is worthwhile and that they will get something out of the story.

- Make them work for their meal without letting them know that they are working for the story at all.

- Identify your character's motivations - every good character has one.

- Change is fundamental.

- Create anticipation and tension - this uncertainty will keep the audience wanting to know the resolution.

- Have a theme.

- Invoke wonder.

- And most importantly, use what you know, capture your experiences and values as it will be authentic.

The second video I watched today was the Kony 2012 campaign, which launched not 48 hours ago on Youtube and Facebook, has more than 175K views and is honestly one of the best short films I've seen in a while. This campaign (putting my advertiser hat back on here) has the essence of good storytelling. If there was a tick box beside each of the points I listed from Andrew's TED talk, it's checked every one of them. I encourage each of you to watch the video, which is why I won't summarize it for you (yes, it's 30 minutes, but honestly, you spend more time doing other useless things, you might as well watch).

What got me is how incredible the story was, but the guy who created the video was able to succinctly distill it down into a piece which motivated me to sit, watch the whole thing and take action afterwards. The action steps are simple and I can't wait to see what happens with this movement over the next couple of weeks, especially the event on April 20th. I encourage all of you to get involved.

In any case, I hope that these two videos help to inspire and motivate me to do great work. As I sit in the food court of Taipei 101 after eating delicious xiao long bao dumplings at Ding Tai Fung, I am starting on my first chapter of a book that I hope people will enjoy when I'm done.

5 Simple Things I'm Doing Daily

I'm starting something new. A small simple list of five things now that I have all the time in the world on my hands. These are things I always found an excuse for when I was working and decided that taking the time out for simple things wasn't worth my time.

1. Take 45 minutes out of the day for a stroll or to run. I was able to do this while I was in Toronto (as I loved to walk to and from home to work) but as the winters came around, there was always an excuse not to go to the gym to hop on a treadmill. Exercise is so important, especially when you've been sitting at work all day. Your health is important, so give yourself that needed time to walk it out.

2. Brown bag a lunch and eat away from home/work - I find a small park is a great setting for this. When I was working, it was so easy not to take time away from my desk - a meeting gets booked in, a client wants to talk, your boss needs something. All excuses that kept me from taking a walk outside for a break and to clear my head. Now that I no longer work in an office environment, it's easy to appreciate the small pleasure of sitting outside and having time to reflect.

3. Read a chapter or two of a book and really read it. Understand it. Reflect on it. Love it. Ever since university ended, I've done very little reading. Sure, the odd book here and there, but it's time that I focus on reading again and kickstarting the passion I had for it when I was a young child in grade school.

4. Trying something new. Whether it be a new running route or sitting on a bus in the city and letting it take me somewhere I've never been before, I've committed to doing something new everyday.

5. Do a small chore - wipe down your kitchen counter, clean your sink, vacuum your room. A mindless chore helps take you away from the rapid pace the rest of the world is travelling at.

It's been three days since I've jotted down these five things to do. I've been keeping up with them. With no other commitments to stop me from doing this daily, I have no excuses not to keep this going. Wish me luck.

Hello from the other side of the world!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. It was Thursday evening that I got on a plane headed towards this small island in the Pacific, and when I touched down on Saturday morning (yes, I lost a complete day) I was well rested and ready to embrace this new chapter of my life.

The flight was very comfortable. After upgrading my ticket from economy to elite class, I found out that elite class was half empty for my flight and I got two seats to myself. Eva Air is a fantastic airline. The food was decent, the drinks were strong (mmm...gin and tonic), and the movies were plentiful. Having knocked out about 5 movies back, I came to the conclusion that multi-talented cast RomComs like New Year's Eve is a big waste of people's time and studio's money. I really liked My Life with Marilyn and thought that Michelle Williams did an incredible job with portraying the bombshell.

I landed early in Taipei on May 3rd (5am touchdown) and was out of the airport by 6am. I thought that the Taiwanese custom officials would stop me for carrying in 4 check-in bags along with two carry ons, but waved me through - I'm sure they've seen worse with people returning to the motherland. My Dad and Stepmom were there at the airport - both asked if I've had enough to eat.

Heading into the city, the air I was breathing in was what I remembered it when I was here back in June. A slight haze (likely smog) covered the city like a blanket, making it hard to make out the skyline. Construction was abundant - with a new subway line going to connect the city airport with Taoyuan International (Taipei's Pearson), the highway was busy with workers - working towards a deadline of Dec 2013 for completion. Incredible, this city started it's subway system back in the 90s and already it's surpassed Toronto in the number of lines and the number of people it carries. With two new lines opening downtown this year (including one right outside my grandmother's house), this is one transit friendly city.

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday with my family. My Dad still thinks I'm seven years old and insist on teaching me how to do mundane tasks like hang up my clothes or to eat noodles. It's quite funny actually except for the fact that he's incredibly stubborn and honestly cannot stand being wrong on anything (sorry Dad, Bluetooth and WIFI are two different things). What has been great is that I've gotten a chance to hang out with my grandmother for a couple of hours on both Saturday and Sunday. She's not quite sure of why I'm taking a year off, but identifies with the need to travel. She herself has travelled all over the world with various Taiwanese tour groups. In her younger days, she actually served as a tour guide in Taiwan for visitors and locals, which is why she's always had a passion for travel herself. We chatted for hours about my plans for this year and she laughed about all of the locations that I planned on going to as she's been herself - sometimes twice. Her most incredible stories and adventures were about South Africa - she loved the wildlife and the people - saying that she met some of the nicest locals she's ever met on her travels. She giggled over her photos posing with African children and told me that it was quite the sight, an old Chinese lady with a bunch of African children.

So it's Monday and it's safe to say I've started settling into my life here on the other side of the world. In five days, it'll be my one month anniversary of my last day of work, and to be very honest, I don't miss it one fucking bit. Not having to deal with the anxiety of deadlines, multiple emails requiring your attention and other office place crap has made me a happier and healthier person. I've been on walks around the city, and my first run along the riverside park was incredible today.

Over the next couple of days, as I start brainstorming and refining ideas from my book of writing material, I'll keep you posted on some of the fun things I'll be doing around the city. I plan on getting connected with a local expat group and hopefully organizing a St. Patrick's Day outing to get to meet some cool people in the city (sorry Dad, hanging out with you is not the same as hanging out with people my age.)

If any of you want to visit this awesome city, you let me know - there's a spare bedroom here at my dad's place!

Leaving on a Jetplane...finally. Goodbye Toronto. Hello Taipei!

So after the fiasco that was Tuesday's mistaken travel itinerary, I'm finally sitting in the airport waiting to board my direct flight to Taipei. What a journey it's been just to get to this gate. All you can do is to laugh at the mishaps that happened along the way.

I am really going to miss Toronto and the friends I'm leaving behind. Since 1989, I've carved out a life here in this amazing city and built some great friendships along the way. From elementary, junior high, high school, university to my working life, I am so grateful to have met such talented and amazing people along the way. With too many to name, please note that all of you have helped me be the person I am today and that all of you have impacted my life in a positive way.

The past eight weeks have been incredibly difficult. As time quickly started ticking away until I had to leave, every minute of every interaction with my friends felt much more important. Having gained about 10 lbs in the last two months (I'm going to say it's likely from the excess drinking and the lack of going to the gym because of said drinking), I'd like to think of it as 10lbs of love from friends I'm taking away (cheesy, I know).

I say goodbye to a great city - Toronto is a beautiful place and really the safest place I've ever been so far. It's the only place where I have felt stumbling home drunk at 3am by myself was just as safe as if I was to walk to work at 8am in the morning. Toronto is also a great place to learn about other cultures. I am so happy that I grew up around people from around the world and got to know their heritage (so I don't appear to be stupid or ignorant when I meet new people).

So this is it. 30 min left in TO - at least for the next year. I've said this to many people in my last weeks - 2012 is a year for change. If there's something about your life you are just not happy with, stop complaining and do something about it. I hope all the best for you, my friends!