Sunday January 15, 10:08 p.m.
I've been back in Toronto now for exactly a month. If this had been the usual vacation, I would've already been back in Japan teaching and giving out the usual souvenirs of Canadian calendars. But I no longer have that responsibility. I'm now in a bit of limbo...the usual limbo inhabited by folks who have finished one major stage in their lives but have yet to start the next one...kinda like divorce. I'm poking through the Net searching for prospective schools and have targeted one place downtown with a resume and covering letter. Yup, at my middle age, I'm getting those prepped. Fortunately, I have that one translation assignment completed and sent out back to my old student, Cozy, so that I don't feel completely useless. Holiday vacations are fine as long as there is an end to them; if they are indefinite, not so great.
My brother came back from that annual CES thingie in Las Vegas. I've always seen those on TV. Can't imagine what they must be like in person. He's been to CES every year for the past few years, and he usually doesn't return feeling supremely starstruck. But this time, he was able to see a couple of members from that other Korean girl group, Wonder Girls, and actually got to see the band, Chicago, perform. Because of his job, he and his team didn't go the cheapo buffet route; it was winin' & dinin' over lobster.
He and his family came over today for the 2nd day in a row to complete the mission of setting the new flatpanel up in the living room. Last night, it was to construct the IKEA TV stand, so today was the actual introduction of the newest gadget in our place to electricity. "Taira no Kiyomori"came in loud and clear on TV Japan, pockmarks and spittle included.
Had Chinese takeout for dinner tonight with everybody. Maybe the others thought that this was rather run-of-the-mill, but over in Japan, I never had the stuff although the service does exist. Domino's was the only thing I ever had delivered to my apartment. It was therefore great to have Sweet N'Sour Chicken and Beef N' Broccoli once more.
My sister-in-law cottoned me onto this semi-annual food festival here in Toronto. The January festival is known as Winterlicious, and as a foodie, my eyes and ears are pricked up for it.
