Well, it was exactly a year ago that I left Canada on a 4-day road trip that would see me end up in West Texas. It's been a long journey both physically and also emotionally. I am appreciative of the opportunity that I've been given to pursue a post-doctoral research position here at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. First impressions: dry grass, tumbleweed, spread out, lots of tan, brown and red--from the colour of the grass, to the colour of the buildings and hats. I guess you're not going to get away with having a blue-coloured or green house here...you'd just clash with everything else. Other impressions are that everyone is friendly, people are obsessed with fast food judging from the number of fast food joints around, and everyone is lazy to get out of the car based on the number of drive-throughs there are...from fast food to bank and pharmacy drive-throughs...what, are people in a huge rush? Or maybe getting down from their trucks is too much hassle.
The university campus where I work is very spread out - it'd probably take you 30-40 minutes to walk across it...you really need a car here! (Ironically, if you're a student here, you actually can't drive around campus as this would cause too much traffic and you have to park at designated parking lots, only then to catch a bus to get where you want to get on campus...which seems funny since there's nothing but roads here.)
I've been used to living on my own throughout my graduate studies back at Queen's University in Canada, but living on my own in another country and not within reasonable driving distance of my true home in the Great White North is quite a different cup of tea...or coffee. Some things I miss are being able to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs on TV, being able to have dim sum, poutine, a still quiet winter night walking through a park with the sound of snow softly crunching underneath my boots and I try to make out if I'm actually walking on the pathway while seeing the sky lit up with a sparse freckling of snow flakes as they gently drift towards the snow piled on the grass that make you want to jump and slide across it on your stomach. But hey, I do enjoy the heat here...I'm actually quite impressed I've been able to handle it so well - maybe it's because I'm used to staying indoors when the sun's at it's peak. I've experienced 40's (Celcius) weather and that's a first for me. Luckily Lubbock has a high elevation (~3000ft) and distant from a major body of water, making the heat here a "dry heat"...desert-like...so it's much more bearable.
It's taken a bit of getting used to not being able to drive to a major city within a couple hours, although I don't miss being forced to parallel park for a parking space...and having to pay for parking! But there's a certain energy that you feel when you're in a major city like Toronto...people going in all directions around you - you feel like you can hide in plain sight and you can find anything you want within walking distance. There are lots of 'moods' around you - happy people, depressed people, people in a rush, people bored at a Tim Hortons, hungry people lining up at a hot dog stand...in contrast, the people and mood here is all very relaxed - which is nice...(although some people's driving skills would lead you to think otherwise)...I actually prefer this type of relaxed setting - no rush, no road rage, no grid-look traffic jams or having to wait for more than two cycles of lights before you actually get a chance to move through the intersection due to traffic and here you can drive across this small city to anywhere you want within 10-15 minutes. It's just that sometimes I miss being able to immerse myself in the bustle of the chaos of a larger city from time to time. Of course, the biggest thing I miss is the chance to see my old high school and university friends every so often. Somehow not being able to see people feels so much more restrictive knowing it's physical distance and not scheduling that is preventing it from happening.
Well, surprisingly for some, I have not purchased a big belt buckle, a cowboy hat or boots...or a rifle, haha...I'm not sure I'm allowing myself to totally assimilate....I am a rare breed down here...being Canadian and Asian...I'll represent the word of Canada proudly...spreading of the legendary poutine, HOCKEY and snow around to those that think 0C/32F is crazy cold...yes, I'm from Canada and damn proud of it! Sorry!
So as I tread past my first year no longer being a Canadian resident, I will continue to remember where I come from, appreciate that which I cannot have and continue to experience all that I can down here...new places are always exciting and I do look forward to the next year or two I spend here before I move on in my career.
The Christmas holidays are coming up...and one thing I will always look forward to is going back home to visit family and friends...time for me to start planning for my short trip back!
Cheers (and I look forward to being able to do it with good Canadian beer)!
