I arrived back in Canada a little less than a week ago.

I have:

• Had Tim Hortons
• visited Home Depot
• experienced a thunderstorm
• eaten corn on the cob, and pecan pie
• Had Canadian Beer ( something with taste)
• had Pizza with real cheese and crust

The only things on my “list” that I haven’t done is had a piece of Cherry Pie, Butter Tarts  and “real” chinese food.

Waterloo ( city I am staying in) is very clean, green and friendly, but it does have the same urban sprawl that most cities in North America have… you have to drive almost everywhere.  I am concerned about my weight..food in vs. exercise.  It was so easy to burn calories in Ecuador when I had to walk everywhere.

Television and the media is worse than I remeber, all about fear hate and war, and selling unneeded stuff.

I am going to be here for a while I think.

It is strange to walk into a store and not be different… I am surrounded by people who look like me, and talk like me… I am not the stranger or foreigner in the crowd.  Having been the “different” one both in Japan and then Ecuador the anonymity is something I will need to get used to.

I have been working on getting myself set-up to teach online.  I am close to working with two different companies, one which deals mostly with China and Taiwan, the other which deals mostly with Japan.  Once I have confirmed these arrangements I will publish details.  I have set up a little teaching “studio” so I can spend the time needed online without disrupting the day to day life of my parents.

Next week I will make my first trip into Toronto to visit friends.  This is a difficult time of the year to make arrangements, since so many people in Ontario take holidays in August.

Stay tuned