On Wednesday, October 26th, after I finished work we went to Josh's so we could all make the early morning departure together. When we got there we found out that Josh had bought the Vive virtual reality gear from the meetup the other day so we spent the evening fighting zombies and trying not to punch holes in the walls...
We spent the next day on the road driving for something like 13 hours to get to Salt Lake City, Utah. That evening, and the whole next day, we walked around town. We ended up stopping in at Leonardo's Museum of Flight for some oddball exhibits with mirrors, illusions, general weirdness as well as, believe it or not, some actual airplanes!
Finally, game day arrived so we went to the stadium to hassle the local fans about their signs... as you do. After about an hour of standing in crowds with cameras whipping overhead the others went to the game while I took a hike up to "the Living Room" as it's called. Not being antisocial mind you - we just didn't have enough tickets.
Well, maybe I'm weird, but I'll take mind-blowing views from mountain tops over watching a football game any day. After the hike I went back at Ute Stadium where I met a lady at the crosswalk. She was leaving the game so she gave me her ticket stub so that I could go inside with the others. In the end we cheered as the Huskies won the game then we made our way Boise, Idaho for the night.
On Tuesday, October 25th, after I finished work, Chu Sum and I hopped on the bike for a two hour journey - destination: Mt Rainier.
As we arrived we found that the weather was turning for the worse. At first this seemed like it might be a bad thing, but then we saw that the rain was actually thawing the roads... the mountain had recently experienced something of a blizzard.
At the top of the access road we pulled into an empty car park. Looking around we realized it wasn't exactly business hours. In fact, the rangers eventually showed up on their way passing through. They gave us a curious look, explained the trails and pointed out the mountain to us. Apparently, if the air was clear, we would have had the mountain dominating the backdrop of the few trees currently visible. Nevertheless, this was the first time Chu Sum had ever seen snow and he was LOVING it!
After making a snow man, we decided to go for a hike along one of the paths. Most people stepped out of their cars, looked around and immediately headed off back down the mountain (one guy was actually wearing shorts and flip flops!). We gave it a fair go though; slipped around on the icy tracks for a ways, saw a river, some more snow and trees... Finally, we took a few more photos in the car park then, on the way back, had a look at Narada Falls followed by the Nisqually River at the terminal end of the Nisqually Glacier.
On Thursday, October 13th, Chu Sum and I rode the bike to Hong Kong Market in Tacoma. We thought it might rain so we covered up head to toe in rain gear... the sky opened up. We bought our Cantonese cooking supplies before starting the journey back during which time our rain gear was fully put to the test. Despite the low visibility, we took the freeway all the way home where we were pleased to find that our luck had held out - totally dry!
Over the next week I worked a bit but we managed some trail riding on the dirt bike, a couple meals out with friends, a little fishing at Spanaway Lake in my raft, and a virtual reality demo in Seattle with Josh and Jason.
Finally, on the 22nd, we went to Schilter's Farm to meet up with my sister, Jennifer for another pumpkin patch experience. There Chu Sum got to see a few different animals than at Lattin's Farm as well as my brother-in-law's real-life gun (a novel experience for a Hong Konger). After that we went to Wild Waves for Fright Fest.
On Monday, September 10th, I took Chu Sum way out to the boonies! Well, to my dad's house but... same thing. Though, first, we stopped off at my old stomping grounds in Vaughn (a place I haven't been for years) to see the farm and a local swimming hole called Jackson lake - a place where I probably made a majority of my childhood memories.
Next we headed over to my dad's for dinner and politics - my dad loves his country and wasn't about to let Chu Sum go without a thorough rundown on US history/politics. Finally, we packed up the paddle boat in preparation for a night at the secret camping spot.
The next day we took a drive over to my property to have a little fun. Chu Sum thought we were there for him to earn his keep but it was really, mainly, a good opportunity for him to experience his first bonfire (originally bigger than in the picture...)
The next day I did some teaching work online before taking Chu Sum out to Twanoh State Park for a short hike in the woods.
That night we brought out Monopoly Deal (Hong Kong version) - a game that I bought at the wet market in Hong Kong. I usually do pretty well but I guess Chu Sum saw me coming. The next day we stopped at the Purdy Spit to skip some rocks on our way back to a place Chu Sum undoubtedly thinks of as an extension of the boonies (that is when you compare Puyallup to the metropolis that is Hong Kong).
On Friday, October 7th, I picked up my friend Chu Sum from the airport. He'd never been to America so he and I made plans for him to come visit for a month - a long visit to some but completely reasonable when you consider our history. I met Chu Sum back in 2014 in Hong Kong at a couchsurfing meeting at which time he agreed to put me up at his place for a while until I finally started work... this ended up taking about two months. Nevertheless, accommodation in Hong Kong is prohibitively expensive (everything else is pretty affordable though) so he insisted that I enjoy his family's hospitality until I had a reasonable financial situation.
Chu Sum's introduction to America was basically a crash course. He had only just got off the plane when he learned that our public transportation system was a little less convenient than what he was accustomed to. Upon making contact over the airport wifi he let me know that he was on his way to my house.... of course, I had to explain that this was not really a practical undertaking in this part of the world - in fact, nobody does that. Coming from a city where literally everything is connected by bus, subway and train, Chu Sum hadn't quite figured out that virtually all travel (despite aggressive political efforts in my region) is done by car. After a short drive (a long trip by Hong Kong standards), we arrived in town and I started introducing him to everyone. First he met my mom, Brian and the dogs then we stopped at the college so he could meet my coworkers/friends there. Later that evening, I took him to meet my friends Josh and Jason at a movie night that we just so happened to have planned for that evening.
The next day we went to the Apple Festival at Lattin's Farm where Chu Sum had his first taste of American farm life. After seeing lots of different farm animals, checking out his (first?) pumpkin patch and eating a fresh apple fritter, Chu Sum finished his second day in America - the land of the free and the home of McDonalds.
On Monday, June 13th, I arrived back stateside only to start experiencing culture shock... in my own culture. I don't know if recent events are to blame but I was a bit disappointed by the behavior of my fellow Americans. During one of the flights I had a lady in front of me who, during meal time, decided to put her seat back. This, of course, spilled my drink all over my lap. I tapped her on the shoulder and calmly explained my predicament... to which the polite response would be "sorry", right? Nope. She didn't even put her seat back up for me.
On the next flight I had another pleasant experience - this time with the stewardess. I asked for a drink that was free on the previous flight and she insisted that I had somehow paid for it on the last flight (without knowing it?) and that it was the same price this time... apparently the customer is always wrong.
The fun continued with TSA delays... and confiscation of the Swiss bacon I bought in Zofingen. I had made it all the way home and was going through my last level of security when they decided my rather pricey, vacuum sealed chunk of deliciousness was too high a risk to national health and safety to be allowed into the country. I even asked if I could just have a bite but apparently that'd be a threat to national security or something...
Over the following weeks I signed back on as security at Pierce College and spent time with family. We had BBQs, went hiking at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, wake boarding, shot off fireworks for the 4th and enjoyed motorbike rides to local restaurants. My bike (the one that no mechanic will touch) actually needed a little TLC and, fortunately, the neighbor down the street had experience with the unexpectedly challenging job of spoke repair.
During my first trips out on my little enduro I began to discover just how bad road rage has become in my neck of the woods. I had a guy swear at me for lane splitting (which was technically legal here in Washington State at the time and is commonplace/accepted in most of the world) and, at other times, people actually tried to run me over! One guy in a truck sped through a light and increased his speed as he approached my rear tire causing me to skid into an evasive turn almost sliding sideways into the side of the car coming from the other direction! Thankfully, my little bike is highly maneuverable and it wasn't too overly difficult to regain control.
Over the following month I continued pulling scotch broom on my property, working for my neighbors for extra cash and I even got a new job teaching online! I had previously tried to get students through a webpage that I made called Simple English and, of course, through networking in general, but nobody was really willing to commit... turns out you need to build up a bit of a reputation before people really take interest in what you're offering - even if you're the only option they're aware of! Interestingly, a friend of a friend was teaching in Spain and she had found a job with a company in Turkey called English Ninjas. She referred me to them and, as a result, I can now add "Ninja" to my rather long list of work experiences!
