Vancouver Airport, 1:30 am

As an "Alien Resident" of Taiwan, it is fitting that I was a "Visitor" citzen of Canada during my trip back, but this thought hadn't yet occured to me when the Canadian customs agent asked me upon my arrival how long I'd be staying. I was a little surpised by the question--after all, wasn't I a citizen returning home after a long time abroad? Well, I wasn't exactly returning home at all. I visited 4 different cities which all felt like home for different reasons, but there was no house for me to return to. The homes I stayed in, I stayed in for the first time. I was a visitor of 17 days snapping touristy pictures of the Canadian mundane: sprawling residential area, vast prairie landscapes and dirt-bike dealerships.

The pictures were for the benefit of my friends in Taiwan. I wanted to show them what it looked like where I'm from, but I couldn't help feeling guilty, wondering, am I really just trying to prove that Taiwan is ugly in comparison?

Canada-Taiwan comparison has been at the front of my thoughts thoughout my trip, and I suppose that is to be expected. Less expected has been all the warm and fuzzy feeling about Canada that the trip has inspired in me.

When I stepped into the Taiwan air for the first time I felt slowed by its viscosity. Upon this return to Canada after about two and a half years abroad, I was just as taken aback by the freshness and fragrance of the air, even in the cities. I kept on repeating to myself thoughout the trip--so many trees...

I took a lot of pictures of typical buildings, hearing myself say to some hypothetical Taiwanese construction industry person, "This is what you get when you use architects." I didn't take pictures of the people on the streets with their varied fashions and pursuits, though I wanted to so I could say to some hypothetical Taiwanese government minister, "This is what happens when people are given leisure time."

I kept on fearing (with good reason, apparently) that the trip was turning me into a cultural chauvinist. At the very least, for better or for worse, it has caused me to call myself, for the first time ever, patriotic.
I have it seems, fallen in love with my country.

Still I am excited to return "home" to Taiwan. Infact, I've gotten excited and nostalgic everytime I've heard Mandarin spoken during my trip here, barely able to keep from interrupting strangers' conversations to say, "I can speak Chinese too! Flatter me! Be impressed!"

--The end of my airport scribbling