august long weekend

i spent a lovely long weekend on Vancouver island with Meg, Danielle, Friso, and George the dog. Danielle lives in Saanich so she played a wonderful host to us all weekend, greeting us ever morning with yummy breakfasts on the patio which overlooked the trees and the mountains (and some construction sites). we went from town to town all over the island, meeting Friso's parents in Nanaimo, checking out the harbour and the giant starfish in Sidney, going window shopping in Victoria, getting overwhelmed by candy and memories in Chemainus, stopping for sandwich lunches in Ladysmith.

We also went tubing down the Cowichan, which was an extraordinarily pleasant experience. The next day, we went hiking in Goldstream park and accidentally ended up climbing Mount Finlayson. I can tell you that will never happen in Ottawa, where you're hiking and your trail suddenly turns into a mountain. it was fun though, we were searching for the magical entrance to the adult Narnia. which is sort of how i've started viewing the Island, because i've never lived there, but i've been there several times and they've all become pleasant, dream-like memories, whether it's fishing with my family in Crofton, kissing with the first man i loved on a Victoria harbour, or eating fish and chips with rob in tofino. i don't think i could live there, at least right now, but for the first time i thought about my retirement, while i was walking through sidney and thought, wow, i could be happy spending the end of my life here. a strange thing to think at twenty-four.

tracing the coastline of the island
jumping from boulder to boulder
past old Chinese men picking seaweed
that’s washed up on the shore
i scramble over a rocky beach,
stones big as my fist
rubbed smooth by the tide
i should not have worn flipflops today...

i've stopped writing poetry in the last few years because i always start off somewhat serious, and then give up halfway through and goof off. one day the old asian poets will rise from their graves to shake their fists at me and what i've done to their art.

Bad haikus about Victoria

as I explore victoria, i've been reading Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums which makes for a fine companion when you're travelling alone. The book reads like an odd parallel to my own adventures. As he's stowing away on steamships, I'm loading on to the ferry. As he jumps from boulder to boulder, climbing a west coast mountain, singing the praises of the beauties of the wilderness, I'm jumping from boulder to boulder as I'm tracing the shoreline of a west coast island, singing similar praises myself in my head. As he contemplates the meaning of Buddhism, I see the meditative chant OM written in grafitti in a park. I've gotten to the part where he's making up haikus with his friend while climbing the mountain. I've started writing haikus of my own, mainly because I lost my notebook and can only keep track of three lines at a time in my head.

FAN TAN ALLEY
eating in the oldest Chinatown in Canada
still the only Asian in the restaurant
other than the waitress

BC HOSTEL
my hostel room comes with
a fridge a locker a table
complemenary rolling papers

HYGEINE PRIORITIZATION
really wish I didn't forget soap on this journey
now I must choose which body parts
need washing most

HYGEINE part II
peacocks and palm trees in Beacon Hill Park
i weave flowers into my hair
now I look like a hippie, and am just as greasy

my name is ottawa

I blame Europe. I fully intended to go to a gypsy party held by the Victoria BC Ska Society. I don't actually drink alcohol these days, but I didn't want to let Germany outdrink me. France was already done after one beer, muttering about how she was much more of a red wine person. But she still beat England, who declared herself exhausted and went to bed around 9 o clock.

The real winner of the night was Canada. Not me, but the other Canada, a girl from Kingston. She dragged us to the harbour, where we sat on the docks, drinking beer and swapping swear words in our native tongue, while watching the sun sink into the water. Canada left us suddenly, lugging six pack of cheap beer under her arm to take a piss behind a tree, and then we didn't see her until we finished our long walk hours later back at the hostel.

The hostel room was hot as an Arizona dessert last night. I didn't bother with the PJs. Hope nobody minded. Welcome to Canada.