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Virtual Canuck

This “January in Jasper”

Written by terrya

A trip to Jasper - After the Fire

Every year in January, Susan and I  take a short trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary- this year our 43rd!  As often or not, we head for the Rocky Mountains and the nearest mountain town of Jasper. Alberta. 

This year, we expected an unappreciated change in this “mountain jewel”.  In August, a huge wildfire had swept through the Athabasca Valley, reaching and engulfing the area around the town. Sadly, the fire didn’t stop at the town’s edge and when it was finally extinguished about 30% of the town was reduced to  smoldering ruins. 

We couldn’t help but be disaster tourists as we  slowly drove through the hardest hit western part of town.  First we saw the ruins of the historic Anglican Church.

The building reminded me of  the remains of European Church that time alone had reduced to stone corner and foundation. The churches walls, floor and arched ceiling trucked to the landfill and only these stones and a a pile of twisted metal from heating and fixtures remained 

The adjacent suburb was mostly flattened ground with piles of rubble and two large excavators loading these piles into trucks. Remarkedly, the devastated area was marked by individual houses and one whole street that seemed untouched. Vehicles outside these surviving houses showing residents had returned – perhaps with a sense of survivor guilt.  We later heard that firefighters had bulldozed certain houses (some already alit) to create fire breaks that allowed neighbors homes to be spared. 

All that was left of the Esso service station and convenience store was the Esso sign and two iron ceiling beams.  The Maligne Lodge and our favorite coffee shop now sadly a bulldozed, scarred empty lot.

Downtown Jasper, as expected of a major tourist destination, is full of restaurants, mountaineering stores, souvenirs and gift. stores  and historic hotels. Sprinkled in of course are municipal buildings, banks, library and other services for a town of  5,000 residents.

The commercial buildings seemed intact and open for business, with two exceptions, In the middle of both main streets were blocks of 4-5 two story buildings that were now either empty or covered with scaffolding.  This scaffolding was the only evidence we could see of active rebuilding in the whole town.  It seems that, as in the suburbs, flying embers had set alight one of more buildings in the downtown core and firefighters had destroyed these to prevent spreading the wildfire spreading.  

We then headed to the most famous hotel in Jasper, the luxurious Jasper Park Lodge. This hotel had been built to accommodate  well healed visitors travelling on the newly constructed CN cross Canada Railroad. Unlike many of the other luxury railway hotels, the Jasper Park Lodge was not constructed like a medieval castle, but rather consists of a main lodges and 30-40 smaller cabins – that vary in size and cost from hotel studios to multi room log cabins. 

We usually stayed at the Lodge for our anniversary but this year we just couldn’t see our selves paying $400 plus a night for the privilege of acting rich. However, we couldn’t  resist a couple of visits to the main lodge to enjoy an expensive lunch or two. 

 

In our hike around the lake that fronts the Lodge, we marveled at how close the fire had come. The lodge building were was completely surrounded (though with a buffer of 3-400 meters) by blackened stumps where once the fir forest had thrived.  the next day we hiked up the Maligne canyon to really visual the forest destruction. In years past we usually put our ice cleats on and hiked through the frozen canyon marvelling athe ice encrusted rock walls. This year however the hike trough the canyon itself was closed as 3 of the wooden bridges and many guard rails  that surrounded the canyon had been destroyed.  Further down the river at the 6th bridge we walked through the forest, amazed at the  blackened trunks, mostly still standing. WSe could see the work that had already done by Parks Canada staff to clear this trail of fallen trees and other debris.  Very few of the trees had actually burned though – but all had lost their needles and many leaned on their denuded neighbours for support.

On most of the mountains surrounding the town, the fire had climbed up to the tree line. Blackening all the trees. Of course, fire in the forested mountains is partof the cycle of nature. The problem is this cycle revolves on time scales not set by humans.  It will likely be far past my lifetime before Jasper’s mountain slopes return to their emerald majesty.

Despite the tragedy of this wildfire, the spirit of Jasper lives on. Fortunately the Marmot Basin ski hill was not burnt and though electrical and other utilities suffered, the Hill opened for skiers on time. The Town also is shaking off the tragedy. We attended the annual Street Party that finishes “January in Jasper” celebrations. The temperature – about -15C with wind was a wee bit chilly, but bonfires, propane heaters and our Riverdale friends from Major Love warmed the crowd with their music.

Despite the challenges that lay in front for residents, flora and fauna of Jasper National Park, irt remains a jewel in the Rockies and this will not be our last visit. 

Personal, Travel,

My Home Solar Finances

Written by terrya

Not my roof, but similar system

Almost two years ago I installed solar collectors on our Edmonton home and garage. Neither location was perfect- one facing WSW rather than South and one partially covered with shadow from trees an a neighbouring house. Nonetheless, I was able to install 20, 385 watt panels for a total capacity (under full sun) of 7.7KW. The total cost was around $18,000 Can and I received about $4,000 government incentive – so $14000 investment. For the first few months I stuck with my old supplier and saw minimal returns and terrible documentation of my micro-generation.

So last year I switched to a small energy coop the  Alberta Cooperative Energy which has a great deal for micro-producers. I  sell (and buy) electricity to the grid at a much higher rate ($.25 KWH) when my collectors are producing during the summer- yielding a nice monthly payment. During the winter I revert to standard rates in Alberta (~.06 KWH).

The annual bills from ACE revealed that we had  used 5.940 MWHs from the grid and generated 5.950 MWHs to put back in!  Self sufficiency – sort of. Of course in dark and cold Northern Alberta winter, we were consuming much more than we produced.

A further look at bills showed the financial payback detail.  The first full year produced an annual return of 5.56%! Too bad the panels were snow covered for 4 months!

This return is tax free and appeals to my inherently frugal mentality.

I hope this data inspires others to make their own solar investments.

Personal, Uncategorized,

Most Eco Solstice Tree

Written by terrya
Most Eco Solstice Tree

In the perennial seasonal debate about the best kind of Solstice/Christmas tree we have been around the choices labyrinth.  From the trees we harvested on our own land near Joussard, to ones we’ve purchased at the local Kinseman lot, to cheap ones from IKEA, through to a few years with a rummage sale artificial tree.  Each option has usually conflicting eco and money encumbrances.  Not to denigrate any other choice, but I think we have found a near perfect solution – at least for us.

Each year for the past five seasons I have harvested the crowns from a seven-cedar hedge that we planted 20 years ago.  Standing precariously on our recycled wooden stepladder and armed with Susan’s Jr. Forest Warden pruning saw, I detach two of the tallest crowns.  In the picture below you see in the middle ,Solstice Tree 2020, waiting for its big day inside, next year.

The individual tree crowns are a whee bit skinny, so I now harvest two crowns and wire them together.

 

 

Each year for the past 5 solstice seasons I have harvested the crowns from a 7 cedar hedge that we planted 20 years ago.  Standing precariously on our recycled wooden stepladder and armed with Susan’s Jr. Forest Warden pruning saw, I detach two of the tallest crowns.  In the picture below you see in the middle Solstice Tree 2020, waiting for its big day inside next year.The individual tree crowns are a whee bit skinny, so I now harvest two crowns and wire them together.Th

Despite the fact that it took Susan some time to get the bead garlands “just right”, even when I thought they were ‘good enough” two hours earlier,  I think the tree looks great!

We don’t want the cedars to grow too tall, so as to block the solar panels and of course the zero cost appeals to my frugal nature.  Add to that the zero transportation costs and the fun of growing your own, makes me think we have the perfect Solstice Tree.

Happy Solstice, Christmas and  any other tradition that your are celebrating this season.

And of course, all the best in the New Year!

Personal

Sorry, Riverdale is Full

Written by terrya
1 Comment
Sorry, Riverdale is Full
The Economist USA – April 20, 2019, has an article on urban development that gives an interesting analysis that can usefully be applied to my home community of Riverdale. The article Sorry, We’re full looks at the context of San Fransisco – one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in the world, but with striking similarities to Riverdale ‘discussions’ during the past year or so.
Riverdale is a small river valley community bordering on downtown Edmonton. It once was home to coal miners and other working class families. Extensive residential development on the former industrial brickyard has taken place. In addition more than half of the original houses have now been replaced by infills. This has resulted in social media fuelled arguments and discussions about population density, green space and affordability in Riverdale.

The Economist article describes three perspectives that residents tend to look at potential development issues. The first group are referred to as the “Landed Gentry” – those who got in earlier when prices were lower and are striving to maintain the existing culture and land values in the community. The second group are referred as “Left Wing Activists” to whom gentrification is to be avoided by creating affordable living opportunities for all citizens. Finally, there is the “Market-Orientated Urbanists” who want us to fix the housing shortage by building more. Ironically each of these three types jockey for the title of liberal and even progressive.

Each of us has components of all three characterizations lurking in our psyche, but it isn’t too hard to label myself and most of my neighbours that are active in the community or on social media.

All three have valid arguments. Only by willing to compromise and treating each other with respect in the process, will we arrive at the best combinations of housing and thus community in Riverdale, San Fransisco and many other places faced with growing populations.

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Personal

Our Guatemalan Adventure

Written by terrya

Our long time friends Ted and Joanne Koopmans invited us to come along and house-sit a house that a friend of theirs had made available for 4 weeks in February. The prospect (and reality) of -30 weather in Edmonton in February, was but one reason we accepted their invitation. We also hoped we would learn and perhaps contribute a bit to our NGO host.

Ted and Joanne were Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) volunteers in Indonesia in the late 1980’s and still maintained contacts with MCC. Our host, Mark Richard had lived for many years in Guatemala and had started a wheelchair factory in association with the Christian, US based NGO Hope Haven International who has distributed over 130,000 wheel chairs globally . (Check out their impressive Google Earth graphic). He was in the United States for a few weeks in February and invited Ted to house sit.

We arrived in Guatemala City and were met by the regional manager from MCC who drove us to an MCC guest house for the evening. The next morning we had a great visit with MCC staff member and a walk to the MCC offices.  There we were introduced to the 15 or so projects they were involved with here and in El Salvadore. Each project was managed by a partner organization and was typically related to agricultural production, education, or handicraft coops. They also showed us slides of the challenges and opportunities in Guatemala which is plagued with near obscene levels of wealth disparity, very high unemployment, corruption and narco gangs . We learned that the biggest source of foreign income for the country was remittances from those who have been migrated to Canada or the US. These hard economic facts underscore the challenges of Trumps proposed immigration policies and the need to develop local economic opportunities.

We then were picked up by a young driver from Mark’s organization and headed to Xenacoj and our home for the next 10 days.  Mark lives alone but has a large house in a walled compound that also houses a guest house and dormitory for his many visitors.  The house came with 3 large dogs (one tail in the picture at left!)

Later that afternoon we headed to the wheelchair factory.  We were quite blown away by the scale of the factory- this was no mom and pop shop outfit.  The factory manufactures two lines of wheel chairs – both  designed to be fully adjustable so as to grow with the occupant and to be repaired with local materials. They also refurbish wheelchairs donated from North America.

The Factory

Hand Cranked Model

Standing Board

Current unmet need for wheelchairs 

Workers at the Factory

Ted on a Bumblebee

The following day, we took it easy -enjoying the house. Ted, Susan and I went for a hike to the nearest town of Xenacoj. The town was only about 4 K away – but up and down the equivalent of a 23 story building (according to Google Health). I’ve come to appreciate the challenges of transportation in Guatemala as everywhere we have been thus far has been trough deeply cut ravines, up and down hills. There is lots of agriculture, most of which is one the sides of hills and sometimes gullies.

We enjoyed a pop overlooking the main square market and church and then bought some vegetables and chicken from women at the stalls dressed in bright traditional clothing. I bought an (expensive) bottle of wine to celebrate our arrival, but alas Susan slipped and fell on the way home and into a now wine-red ditch beside the road.  Rather than attempt

Chicken Buses

the ups and downs of the hike home we jumped on a ‘chicken bus’ and for some reason the drivers helper asked for .20 fare from all of the others in the crowded bus- but not from us. Likely the three who could most afford it rode for free!  The chicken buses are used school buses imported from the US – some still bearing the name of the school division on the side. Soon after their arrival though most are re decorated with metres of chrome- running on all sides, as well as flashing lights and various insignia and religious statues – quote colorful, bu always crowded and zooming up and down the hills

We spend the evening watching the Olympics via CBC streaming video and Marks hi dev screen. We had assumed we’d be without such creature comforts, but we were able to cheer the Canadians on to a few medals.

The next day our young driver Josue, arrived early for an overnight trip north. We were

Religious Procession

heading for ChiChiCastenango, a town about 60 kms north. ChiChi holds one the largest markets in Central America. The streets in the centre of the town were closed and the locals set up temporary stalls. These sold everything from vegetables and treats, to shovels, pails and of course at least 20 varieties of corn which became tortillas- the staple food of Guatemala. It was also Sunday so we watched a couple of processions with relics and statues paraded around to the accompaniment of a drum, oboe like flute and fire crackers. We only bought a few things – but not for lack of invitations to purchase from the vendors.

At six o’clock the roads finally opened and we were able to get to our 2 star hotel. On a final walk around town, I found a smart phone on the street and with Josue’s help we were able to text the owners friends and 30 minutes later a very grateful owner appeared to reclaim the phone.

The next day we were up early to head to Lake Atitlan. one of the most picturesque and popular tourist sites in Guatemala.  The road down to the coastal town of Panachel was unbelievably steep and twisty – we were very glad to not be driving. Heading for the lake front we took a wrong turn and ended up on a very narrow street with barely room for one vehicle and of course we met a car coming the opposite way- necessitating a nerve-racking reversal of 500 metres or so!

Lake Atitlan

The lake is surrounded by about 7 small villages- a few of which are only accessible by boat. With a fair bit of bargaining, we hired one of the 20 passenger, fibreglass  water taxis and were soon heading across the lake to Santiago Atitlan. The wind had come up and the boat ride was a bit nerve racking as we rode up and over whitecaps and came crashing down on the far side.  If we had of known that the return trip would be even rougher, we might have enjoyed the ride there a bit more. It is quite amazing that the fibreglass boats can stand the abuse.

Saiago, is a beautiful town on the lakeside with a host of tourist related craft booths lining the main street. The aggressive sales were a bit much.  We stumbled upon a house

Maximon pauses for a smoke

with a preChristian cult (Maximon) in which a 400 year old (supposedly) idol could intercede with various gods for any request. Fortunately Maximon speaks EVERY language and for $4.00 allows his picture to be taken.

Next we hopped aboard a couple of Tuktuks (3 wheeled taxis) for a short trip to the Peace Park. This small park was a memorial to the 14 people killed when the Army open fire on a crowd of between over 1,000 civilians, who were protesting the Armies drunken abuse of San Diago citizens. This event was a turning point in both national and international resistance to the Army abuses of civilians during the guerilla wars.  As results the Army is prohibited from entering the region, except to guard specific visiting public figures.

Next to the park we visited ANADESA the New Dawn Association of Santiago Atitlan. This

Ted Translating at ANADESA

Cool building at COOP

cooperative was formed after the MCC had been involved in relief work following a devastating mud slide that killed over 1,000  people following Hurricane Stan  in 2005. MCC stayed on the support a Cooperative that focused on supporting women, providing education for children and youth and providing a centre for handicraft production.  The members of the coop gave us an impromptu talk (with Ted translating). We bought a few handicrafts.  It occurred to me that a visit from a volunteer artist type might be very useful in inspiring the manufacture of different handicrafts than those sold throughout the town.

We returned that night to our ‘home’ grateful to have seen a lot, survived the traffic. However, without Ted’s Spanish (acquired mostly through 4 years of study – much with Duolingo App on his iPad) this trip would have been MUCH more challenging. Maybe time for me to get a bit multi-lingual!  We have a few more days here. Time to visit the museums in the capital and to put in a day or so of volunteer work at the wheelchair factory.

 

 

 

Personal, Travel

An encounter with the Chinese health system

Written by terrya
1 Comment

You can tell when a blogger is getting old by the percentage of their posts relating to health issues- and especially their own. This is one of that genre.

About three months ago a painful bump appeared on my heel, and after a couple of weeks of denying its existence, Susan talked me into going to see my family Doc.  He didn’t give me a name but said it was fairly common, suggested some stretching exercises  and booked me with a specialist. Rather miraculously (in Canada) I was able to see the specialist a week later.  The specialist told me it was a case of Achilles Bursitis, and booked for x-rays and an ultrasound. Of course I rushed off for an appointment with Dr. Google and found that indeed I (and you) have a number of cushion pads called bursae that shield the moving tendons from the bones of our joints. When they get inflamed you call it bursitis.  The specialist prescribed some anti-inflammatory cream and I got used to (almost) a dull pain as we trotted around Italy last month.

So landing in China for a month, I thought, why not see what Chinese medicine can do for me.  My first stop was at the hospital conveniently located on the University Campus. A 5 minute wait and a short examination and I had another tube of anti-inflationary cream. (Total cost about $7.00 for the cream and I some small payment via my new Jiangnan University staff card).  I learned from Chinese colleagues that the University hospital used western medicine, so they helped me get an appointment at the major Chinese medicine hospital in the centre of Wuzi.

So this morning we headed downtown for an 8:oo AM appointment. Unfortunately, my colleague had mistakenly made the appointment for the following day, so we decided to just see if we could ‘walk in”. This entailed showing my passport and lining up for 5 minutes to pay a cashier $12 to see the doctor.  2o minutes later we were standing at the open door as the doctor finished a session with an earlier patient (the Chinese don’t bother about patent/Dr privacy the way we do in Canada).  He quickly examined my heel and (through Zhijun’s interpretation) asked about my “western diagnosis” and the Internet gave us a Chinese translation of the afore mentioned malady.

He wanted to see an x-ray, so back we went to the line up at the cashier (waited about 15 minutes) paid $22 and we were on our way to radiology department. Another 10 minute wait and I was on the x-ray table. The equipment and safety of operator looked pretty much the same as my recent experience in Canada – with a much shorter wait time. Then it was back to the doctor (another 10 minute wait) and he was examining the x-ray on his computer. As expected the bones were fine, just the inflamed bursai.

He then punched in 3 prescriptions on his computer, printed them out and we were back in the cashier line (another 10 minute wait). I paid another $12 and went to the dispensary, waited 5 minutes and was given a bag with my prescriptions – a tube of herbal anti-inflammatory cream (made at the hospital), 8 packets of herbs (also made up at the hospital) with which I was to make a tea and soak my foot 3 times a day and a 24 tablets of an internal anti-inflammatory.  I may not take the internal pills as I was able to get a second opinion from Dr Google – who noted the drug  is associated with stomach problems.  The final stop was back to the radiology department to pick up the 11″ by 14″ x-ray.  I think it will be a nice souvenir and I’ve never known anyone else who has their own foot xray!

So, I still have bursitis, but as I write my foot is having a bath and the room smells like a wet autumn woods. The hospital experience cost me about $46 and two hours of my time – without an appointment.  It was, all in all, an interesting experience and I was impressed with the service and brusk but efficient operations of the staff.  However, I am certain that  this would have been an entirely different experience, without the translation services from my good friend and ex-PhD student Zhijung.

Only time (and perhaps a later blog post) will tell if the treatments work.

China, Personal, Travel,

Classical Chinese Dance and Music Concert

Written by terrya

Did I ever tell you about the time I starred in a Classical Chinese Dance and Music presentation?

Last night my host here at Jiangnan University invited to go with her to the annual performance of the students in the classical fine arts program here at the University. We got great seats in the campus performance center, which is a fairly large concert hall seating perhaps 1500 people and it was about ¾ full. The set was of the stone arch bridge and simulated streams that characterize this campus.

The program consisted of a mixture of dance and classical songs each based upon well known Chinese poems. Of course I didn’t understand the language but  Zhijun was able to find English translations of some of the poems. So I got to appreciate the often melancholy but also occasionally joyful emotions, movement and sounds created by the dancers and musicians.

Traditional Chinese Guzheng

I was especially interested in two of the traditional instruments. One, the guzheng was not unlike the hammer dulcimer that I’ve been building and playing the last few years. It had about 20 strings but rather than  being struck with hammers, it was plucked. supposedly “Guzheng’s sound touches the Heavens above and the Gods and spirits below.”

Guqin, China’s oldest instrument.

The second instrument is called a Guqin, not unlike a zither. It too was played horizontally, and plucked or stroked by the musician. It however had a fret board so each of the seven strings could be shortened by the musician to create higher notes and eerie slides. According to TopChinaTravel  “Chinese ancient scholars have to acknowledge four art, including play the Guqin, play Chinese chess, write good calligraphy and draw painting”

A bit surprisingly at the end the audience very briefly clapped and then proceeded to exit the auditorium. Meanwhile the cast was still all on stage, the director accepting a bouquet of flowers and everyone doing a final bow – to the quickly emptying auditorium. My colleague Zhijun asked if I wanted to go up and take a picture of the musical instruments. I thought that was a good idea, so we proceeded up near the front waiting for the photos to be completed and cast to disburse. However, soon the director noticed me standing there and came down and insisted that I come up and get my picture taken with the cast. And not only that, but I was dragged up beside her, right in the center of the cast. Then the official photographer arrived and seemed to take forever  snapping pictures and me looking and feeling pretty goofy as if I was really desperate to get my picture taken.

Crashing the photos take at Jiangnan concert

Likely you won’t have to guess “Where’s Elmo” to see me in the picture. After the photos were finally done, I was able to take my picture of the instruments  and get off that huge stage.

As I look at this photo I realize I don’t exactly blend in with the crowd. Last Sunday I was visiting one of the ‘ancient villages” near Wuzi, and a little 4 year old boy came up and asked my colleague if I was a “real foreigner”. This prompted me to think well maybe I am starting to look just a little bit Chinese, but tonight’s photo proves that I’ve a long way to go.

China, hammer dulcimer, Personal, Travel

Teaching at Jiangnan University, Wuxi China

Written by terrya

My 4 week trip to China is a week done, and I thought I would document the trip to date (you know us old guys have trouble remembering the details!).

Four years I received a request to host and sponsor a PhD student from Bejing Normal School. Zhijun Wang soon worked her way into our hearts and proved to be a very helpful and capable student.  After her thesis on connectivism and her graduation, and a new baby, she accepted a faculty job at Jiangnan University. A year later she invited me to teach her Masters degree students for a month in the Department of Educational Technology, where she has just recently been appointed a very young department chair. The course I am teaching is called Advanced Research Methods – but it isn’t that advanced (which is fine, as neither am I!). We are focussing on the hot methodology of ‘design-based research’.

Satellite shot of Lake Tau with Yangtze river at top, Shanghai at mouth of the river

Wuzi is located about 70 km west of Shanghai and is one of those Chinese cities of 6.2 million people that almost nobody I know had ever heard off.  This is (I think) my 6th trip to China and I have to say that Wuzi is by far the prettiest large city that I have visited. The City is located on the ancient Grand Canal on the edge of Tai Lake one of the largest lakes in China. The relatively new University campus is on the lakeshore on the Western outskirts of the City.  The campus (like the old City Centre is bisected by a number of  canals and small rivers – complete with lily pads, fish and the the odd scenic bridge. The day I arrived the air was pretty thick (not nearly as bad as the Beijing soup, but a bit disconcerting).  However a rain fall the second day cleared away the smog and has been clear skies the rest of this week.

Student residences on the jiangnan campus

I’ve been accommodated in “foreign teacher” apartments that are quite spacious, one bedroom suites. The other teachers here are from all over the place, with maybe the largest component from Australia. Today I enjoyed a United Nations type talk over beers in our courtyard – and yes the Trumper was talked about.

I’ve been met for breakfast and most lunches by grad students who want to practice their English and it is really a treat to get to talk and ask questions about the ‘real China’.  On Thursday four students took me to Three Kingdoms theme park.

You’ve probably noticed how much Chinese people enjoy watching ancient warriors (with or without supernatural powers) battle each other and win princesses. Well, many of those movies were shot on the 86 acre or site built for that purpose and when not actively making films – the tourists descend. However Wuzi is quite far off the international tourist circuit and I think I was the only ‘big nose’ foreign tourist at the park that day. We toured the palaces (all built of stone) on the model of the Forbidden City in Bejing, the parks, castles and docks. We also watched a pitched battle between sword and various other weapon-carrying soldiers galloping around on horses. The speed and acrobats of the horseman was impressive, but the rides for visitors after the performance were pathetic by Calgary cowboy standards – the saddles all had big steel handles to hold onto while an employee took the reins and led the riders (walking) around the arena.

Last night Zhijung and a colleague took for dinner in the “ancient canal zone” which was very impressive. Lots of restaurants and bars and people out for a Friday evening stroll.

Ancient canals of Wuxi

We also saw a group of 20 or so amateur musicians playing  traditional Chinese  instruments and singing opera ballads.  We ended the evening with a 45 minute boat ride through the central part of town and saw the usual spectacular high rise buildings (most lit up) and a new Mosque and a very old Buddhist temple – which still has monks.

My course is going well and they ended class on Friday by bringing in a birthday cake for me and singing (with not quite right tune, nor words)

 

I finally got it together to buy a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that allows me to use the Internet and makes the sites visited think I am located in a selection of cities around the world- one of which I choose. This allowed me

First day of Class

to watch a couple of NHL games streamed on CBC (which CBC restricts to Canadian sites). Fortunately the Oilers lost on Thursday, so I do not need to be too compulsive about watching the remainder of the playoffs. More importantly, the VPN allows me to access the numerous sites that are blocked in China – including Google, Google Scholar, Facebook, Twitter YouTube, Netflicks and many more. It is interesting to see the extensive use of WeChat and I am told many other equivalent net applications that are Chinese – no Google and Facebook domination here!

I  have been delivering my classes in English(of course), but I cut and paste Google translation of the text into Chinese characters beside, the English text. And having Zhijung as a ready translator really helps as well.

This morning one of the Faculty took me to visit historic town of Dankou. Near the entrance a little boy asked my Chinese Colleague if I was a ‘real foreigner’ – I guess I must be looking more Chinese now, if he couldn’t tell.  The town was nice to walk through – no cars and lots of boats on the canal. I also saw a man returning from fishing with 4 cormorants in the boat. Each of the birds went fishing with string on their leg and a ring around their neck so as not to swallow the catch.

Next weekend, we are off to China’s old capital of Nanjing for a couple of nights as a tourist and then visiting and giving a talk at Jiangsu Open University. All for now

My Work, Personal, Travel

Our trip to Italy – April 2017

Written by terrya
Our trip to Italy – April 2017

Note: What follows is a 6 page account of the 24 days that Susan and I spent as tourists in Italy in April 2017. Hopefully it can be used by ourselves to recall those names and dates we too easily forget and for others to help plan similar vacations.

Introduction: Despite the numerous personal and business trips that we have made to Europe in the last 25 years, the only major country we have never visited was Italy. Thus, I sort of saved it for a retirement holiday and it did not disappoint!.

We decided to travel in April for two reasons – it is often a terrible month in Edmonton mostly because the expectations (for spring) and the reality (of winter) often do not align. This was borne out this year when we heard of (not sadly) two separate snowfalls of over 20 cm while we were away. We had also heard of the very hot weather and HUGE crowds in Italy during the summer. We were still quite shocked at the number of tourists and we were glad we brought sweaters and jackets, but we concluded that April is a very good month to visit Italy.

We planned the trip to visit the major tourist sights in North and Central Italy – mostly for the art, culture, and scenery. We also wanted to visit Genoa, where I had been invited to do a presentation at the National Institute for Educational Technology. Finally we wanted to try to use AirB&Bs and from previous travels, we knew that one had to book very early to insure good selection and prices. Thus, our itinerary was more or less set, when we booked four AirB&B sites in September 2016.

Venice: We decided to visit Venice first and booked our flight booked with Air Canada and they only fly nonstop from Canada to Rome, when we arrived in Rome. We took a pre-booked (cheaper than getting last-minute) a high-speed train ticket which departed 2 hours after our landing. Although we were a bit concerned with timing, we made the train from the airport directly to Venice. The scenery was great but after an all night flight, Sue mostly slept – my new policy of popping half a sleeping pill on the plane worked wonderfully and so had no problem enjoying the view as we sped along – up to 300 KPH.

Walking out from the main train station onto the Grand Canal is a wonderful experience for all first time visitors.

We bought SIM cards for our IPhones (25Euros which gave us telephone and 4 gigs data (but no text) Sue’s worked fine but mine would not activate – problem with Apple Canada?? This data phones proved extremely valuable for Google maps and for phoning our hosts in the AirB&B – and of course for answering disputes and queries with a brief consult with Mr Google.

We bought a 2 day pass on Vaporetta boat buses (a bit expensive at 30 Euros each) but a great way to explore Venice. After the 2 days we found we could (and did) walk everywhere. Venice is like no other city we have visited because of the lack of cars and roads. Everything from garbage, to ambulances, delivery vehicles to fire engines is a boat! Thus creating a unique and very quiet environment. The Grand Canal is packed with water taxis and tourist gondolas but also with all types of commercial boats. In addition a huge cruise ship briefly blocked the view one night from St Mark’s square.

We did the usual top tourist sights, museums and churches including visits to LIDO and one of the other small islands. We also booked one walking tour with only 6 of us and a charming young Art student as guide. Our AirB&B Campo St Marco was great, full kitchen, a large eating area, bedroom and living room (which we hardly used). The large windows opening onto St Thomas Square afforded us a bird’s eye view of a bit of Venetian life. We also experienced for the first (but certainly not last time) great Italian pasta, fish and pizza. After 4 nights we took the train for a one day visit to Milan.

Milan: We left early for the 2 hour trip to Milan. We found our hotel near the train station and headed to the old town. We tried for a few minutes to buy tickets to visit the famous Douma (Cathedral) but the line up was atrocious, so we opted for a far too expensive hamburger and beer on a terrace overlooking the Doumo Square, and had a great view of a very excited champion soccer team getting photographed for over an hour. We paid the big bucks for an excellent guided walking tour which ended with 15 minutes in front of Da Vinci’s Last Supper in the Rectory of a Dominican Monastory the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie. This was as our first walking tour with ear phones and it make a tremendous difference as the guide can chat away without halting to gather in the 18 tourists on this tour. He was excellent with lots of stories and time for questions. I hadn’t realized how badly the City had been damaged by British bombers during the 2nd world war. We visited the usual tourist haunts – Cathedral, opera house, Gallery, castle etc .and two hours later arrived for our 15 minutes with the last supper. Having the guide interpret the painting and its restoration (it was NOT done as Fresco on wet plaster so immediately began to fad and was re-painted by various authors and finally the Monks cut in a door which cut off Jesus feet!_. Twenty years of restoration in the late 1980-90 revealed some of the original Di Vinci paint and outlines. He also informed us that this very Monastery was the headquarters of the Italian Inquisition and that the fires burned nightly in Milan for many years – YUK!. But the expressions on the faces of the apostles, the effect of lighting in the refractory, the ‘miracle” that 2 sides of the room had been destroyed by bombs in WWII but left the painting intact, were each impressive.

Genoa: The next morning we headed for Genoa – normally a 2 hour (slower) train, which was over an hour late leaving the station in Milan. Thus, we missed a lunch for us put on by the National Ed Tech Centre folks. I did an updated presentation on Interaction modes in 3 generations of distance education pedagogy. There were about 30 people in attendance and one off-site location. They celebrated my visit and the tomorrow’s Easter break with a delicious and complex traditional Italian home made Easter cake and lemoncello – lemon liquor. The day ended with likely our best meal – with our host Francesca Pozzi and her husband Massi at a great sea-side restaurant owned by one of their friends. There was only one other couple at the restaurant and the owner had to show us pictures of the very fish we were eating and how he had caught it earlier that day. The next day they took us for our first-ever sail on a 38 Ft Bavaria sail boat in the Mediterranean. Not much wind but nice to see this largest harbor in Italy.

Our Genoa AirBnB was right downtown and turned out to be the most luxurious accommodation that we enjoyed on the trip. It was a large apartment with marble and hardwood everywhere , very modern kitchen and a great king sized bed!

We spent the following day exploring Genoa. I went to the Maritime museum while Susan got lost trying to go shopping and wound up in an interesting museum! The old town was great and quite amusing to see the faithful gathered around and praying at a full sized body of the dead Jesus on Easter Saturday – waiting for resurrection tomorrow I guess. Also heard a great guitar player outside the Cathedral, who told us he had played the Bach Cello suite just for us, as he saw us watching!

Cinque Terre: We had, from most visitors we knew, heard to Italy of the wonders of the 5 villages along the Italian Riviera that make up the CinqTerre. We had an Air B&B for 3 nights (2 days) at Manorola. It was Easter weekend and even without the cruise ships it was PACKED with mostly Italian tourists. Anyways we arrived at Manorla by train about 8:30 PM and had a bit of a time finding the AirBnB – thank goodness Manorola only has one road!!

We spent the first morning relaxing and enjoying the balcony view of the town and listening to the bells tolling for Easter morning in the Church next door. They even enticed Susan to attend Mass.  In the afternoon we headed down to wade through huge crowds at the Manorola Beach. We knew the sea trail to Riomaggiore was closed but our map showed the village was only about 3km away. What we didn’t know was that those 3 km were horizontal and didn’t count nearly an equal distance of vertical steps.  We really were not prepared for the roughness of the trail, the zillion steps and many loose rocks. But we made it!! We certainly were glad to end with Bruschetta and craft beer in Riomaggiore.  We took the 3 minute train ride back- the ticket machine was broken and the train packed so it didn’t matter much, and then hiked another km back up to our peaceful airB n B to relax and enjoy the view. We got a taste of why so many Italians are in such good physical condition

Our second and last full day in Manorola we decided to be smarter and took the local bus up 300 meters to a little town (nice church) on the ridge overlooking the sea. Then it was a still-challenging but easier walk down to the next village. The weather was nearly perfect – high of 19 degrees. There were quite a few people we passed in both directions, but it was interesting seeing the gradual rebuilding and planting of vines in the once abandoned terraces. We also looked carefully at the only mechanism used in these vineyards – the monorails that took the farmers up and grapes and olives down. We had a great lunch overlooking the sea at Corniglia and then headed along the trail to Vernazza. We enjoyed a beer overlooking the harbour and castle and then took the train home.

Florence and Tuscany: Next morning we were off to Florence and rented car so we could see some of Tuscony where we had our only one un-booked night of this trip. Two days earlier I went on Expedia and found a “members sale” for a “country hotel” for $66 Canadian near Sienna. We’ve had some less than positive experience at really cheap hotels before, so we crossed our fingers for this one. We had booked a rental car and fortunately bought our GPS with European maps. We had a wonderful drive through Tuscanny – absolutely the most stunning scenery we have seen thus far. We stopped at the mountain top town of San Gimignano. We enjoyed listening to a busker (and bought a CD) of a musician playing an new Swiss steel drum-like instrument called a Hang. The “country hotel” turned out to be a fabulous 200 year old 4 star hotel (see view from our bedroom window at Borgo San Luigi 

– a lot like Jasper Park lodge. They upgraded us (I guess they didn’t see how little we had paid) to a Junior Suite, that had a list price on the door of 350 Euros. We spent way too much on the hotel restaurant dinner but it turned out to be a wonderful night, and the breakfast the next morning turned out to be no charge.  We wish we had booked the place for another night or two. The following day we drove through Tuscany stopping at a couple of hill top towns including San Miniato and then visited the Leonardo de Vinci museum, in you guessed it – in Vinci!

Back to Florence and dropped off the car sans incident – thank goodness for GPS and found our Monastery – which seemed pretty Spartan after 4 stars last night!!

As others have noted Florence is an amazing City with a very rich Renaissance history. It is amazing that this landlocked town became the world centre for both Art and Banking – perhaps mostly due to the leadership of the Medici family leadership? Our stay at the Monastery was the worst accommodation of our trip. Susan had insisted on it based on one previous Monastery Stay and some latent fantasies of religious life. The room was (as expected very plain) but it was annoying to listen to the Italians arguing, or were they as Sue suggested just talking vivaciously next door late into the night and then again at 6:00 AM! We ‘ve noticed that besides extensive arm movements Italians tend to talk to each other very loudly. We also had trouble getting Internet, but Sue did do a couple of very early morning counseling sessions from the common room downstairs. Our two visiting days were spent at most of the big art galleries. We paid for “Skip the line” tickets for the Academia Gallery and were awed by the size and grace of Michelangelo’s David. The next day we visited the largest Art Gallery in Italy the Uffizi Palace and saw the sculptures and paintings accrued by generations of Medici rulers. We ended the day by enjoying the Sunset after a half hour climb up to Michelangelo Square overlooking the City.

Rome: For the final week of our visit we took the train from Florence to Rome. We had some trouble finding the AirB&B as we got mixed up between municipal trains and the Metro. I also had a very close brush with a pickpocket as during the rush and push to get into a very crowded Metro train I reached and noticed my wallet was missing. I swept my hand down and it was dangling, waiting to fall or be plucked at the waist line of my jacket – yikes – that would have put a damper on our holiday.

We did find the AirBnB and it lived up to its reputation and the reason we booked it, by a very large terrace (5th floor with elevator!) full of plants that overlooked St Paul’s Cathedral and the Vatican. It was a stunning view during the day and lit at night. We had 8 nights here and spent many a slow morning enjoying breakfast on this terrace.

We planned a more or less unplanned visit and spent the first day exploring our neighborhood and finding a delightful neighborhood restaurant with the owners with a huge smile, great food and not a word of English! The next afternoon we braced ourselves for the crowds and visited at Peter’s Square and Basilica. We were told it is the largest Church in Christendom – and it was impressive. We also wondered through the crypt to see all the dead popes and one lonely female – a deposed Princess who had sought refuge in the Vatican in 17th century.

The rest of the week we leisurely did the main tourists sites of Rome. All were crowded with tourists, but still retained the grandeur of past ages and great art. We did our one and only hop-on hop-off bus tour – never sure is they are worth the 30 Euros each, but did get a good overview. In turn we visited the Vatican Museum, numerous churches, Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, the Forum and Coliseum – with lots of time for relaxing in our apartment. We also really liked the winding streets, ambience, buskers and restaurants of the Travestere area (on the right bank of the Tiber.) Also took in a Saturday morning combination baroque concert/tour in the Art museum Palazzo Doria Pamphilj (30 Euros) which was really excellent. To our surprise we saw the original painting from Dutch painter Brugel of skaters on a canal – we have had a larger print of that picture hanging in our house for nearly 20 years, and didn’t really know where the original was. As compulsory, we also toured the ruins of the Roman Forum and coliseum. Both worth the visit but hordes of other tourists and a bit of a tragedy that so much of these temples and the Coliseum was recycled by later popes and the wealthy into Churches and palaces. Ironically the only temples that did survive renaissance-age savaging were the ones that had already been converted to Churches. Visiting the 2,000 year old Pantheon temple was a definite highlight, and one of the most impressive spherical works of architecture we have ever seen.

Conclusion: I’ll end with a few lessons and hints:

  1. April is likely a good month to visit Italy as we had only one day of rain, but I did wear my sweater at least part of every day. Susan admitted that she brought too many warm weather items. I can’t image the hordes of tourists when it gets busy in the summer, as there were more than I liked in the Spring.
  2. Getting a sim card with data for google maps, downloading tickets, contacting AirB&B hosts and other conveniences – is a must. We likely could have gotten by without our GPS by using Google Maps, but it was nice to have a backup.
  3. AirB&B is a great way to travel. The price of accommodations are similar to hotels (see below). The size of accommodations, kitchens, appliances and balconies are MUCH better and 3 of our 4 AirBnB’s could have slept 4 people. But you are charged a cleaning fee and making contact with host is more challenging than walking into a hotel- so they are best for stays of 3 or more nights. With AirBnBs book VERY early to get best selection and prices. Our experience booking that 4 star country hotel in Tuscony through Expedia at $66 Cdn was a real bonus but hard to repeat!.
  4. Total Costs. We ate out at least once every day at medium priced restaurants average maybe 40 Euros/meal with wine, paid around $120/night for accommodations, usually used public transportation, but did grab a taxi when really needed or desired, and didn’t skimp on museums – but also didn’t do things like 80 Euros for a half hour Gondola ride in Venice. A nice way to enjoy these once of a lifetime experiences is to delude yourself that a Euro is equivalent to $1 Canadian even though in 2017 it costs $1.50 Can for a Euro!
Airfare $2373 (Can.) Average/day
Accommodation
     AirBnB $2373 $131
   Hotel $212 $106
   Monastery $315 $105
Concerts, restaurants, tours, museum, transportation, etc. $3074 $128
Total (2 persons) $8357 $348 – $249 minus airfare

These totals compare quite favourably with costs of 3 week cruise, but one shouldn’t underestimate the time and worry of booking everything oneself – and then resolving the challenges when you get lost or show up for a train at the wrong time or the wrong station!

 

 

Personal, Travel

Our Spanish adventure

Written by terrya
Our Spanish adventure

Unlike most of our voyages, this month I was accompanying my wife Susan on a trip to her conference. She registered in the 16 European Symposium on Suicide Prevention that took place this month in Oviedo, Spain. We took the opportunity to rent a car and bought a GPS with European maps (thank god!) and travelled through most of northern Spain. We headed up to the Basque country with stops in Pamplona (fortunately no running bulls this month) and then to the beautiful, but tourist plugged town of San Sebastian. We then motored through Basque countries, many mountain passes and tunnels (a bit white knuckled at 120 Km/H) to visit Guernica (site of first mass civilian bombing and immortalized by Pablo Picasso) and then to Bilbao.

guggenheim-museum-belboaOf course, like all good tourists we couldn’t miss the Guggenheim Museum and it did not disappoint.

We then headed west to Oviedo, capital of Asturias.  I didn’t attend much of Susan’s conference, except for a couple of sessions in which Danish and Belgian online Suicide prevention systems were presented.  I was impressed with the scientific rigour with which these interventions were tested – though trying to randomly assign suicidal participants to interventions presents a variety of ethical challenges.

We also travelled by car, (I know it was cheating) along some of the Camino de Santiago routes, trying to assess if we have the interest and the legs for such adventures. I had not realized the number of different Camino routes nor the number of pilgrims on them. I learned that  in one day they ‘processed” over 600 pilgrims who were finishing the pilgrimage in Santiago.

We then headed south to Madrid with a stop in Leon. I was fortunate to be invited to give a talk at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, which is the largest University in Spain with all courses delivered at a distance. Like Athabasca University, this University has had considerable challenges moving from its roots as a correspondence university to interactive online delivery. We visited many of the tourist spots and of course the famous museums in Madrid – though the huge line ups at the Prada scared us away.

Next we headed back to Barcelona, but we ventured into the hinterland for a brief visit to Belchite

belchite-1296 This town was left in ruins after a horrendous battle during the Spanish Civil War and a new town was built beside the ruins. These ruins now stand as a monument to the destruction of war, though they seem far off the tourist trail and we were the only visitors that day. It is strange that, unlike the American Civil war which is celebrated by numerous monuments and re-enactments, Spaniards seem to want to forget this sad time in their history. Perhaps because the “good guys” lost??

We then headed to Barcelona. As always, Barcelona with the inspiring architecture was a treat.  It was interesting to see the progress on the Sagrada Familia, sagrada-familiaGaudi’s most famous design. It looks to be on track for completion marking the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death in 2026. The new stain glass (abstracts and NOT crucifixion scenes) in the windows (though still far from complete) adds blue and green hues to the whole interior – in keeping with the natural and forest like feeling. I am sure that this is the most spectacular building that I have seen anywhere and I hope to live to see its completion!

I then spent 2 days and 2 web-cast lectures with my old friends at Open University of Catalonia.  The first talk was a repeat plus additions from a chapter I recently did on Theories for Online Learning and Research.

For the second talk, I overviewed the chapter that Jon Dron and I (mostly Jon) did on the Future of E-Learning.

After a great weekend with friends in Barcelona – we even made it to the beach and to watch my first game of handball, we headed back. Susan home to Edmonton and me to Helsinki, where I am the “opponent” in a PhD defence here on Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

Distance Education, Personal, Travel