When Do Really Canadians Like You?

The relationship between you, as an immigrant, and Canadians, and by Canadians I mean Caucasians who are originally from western Europe, truly depends on a number of factors but generally follows a few rules. 

First of all the majority of Canadians look down on you and they don't care where you're from. To them you're all foreigners and mostly unwanted and irritating! But they love you under one condition: If they see you in a lower class of society than them! If they see you in shabby cloths and worn out shoes, struggling in life, doing hard labour job, having a sad face and wrinkled forehead, then they give you a big smile and petty you! They show a friendly face and even might help you with food and money!

I remember once I was in a McDonald's in Surrey years ago and was getting a coffee or something and there was a pause because I was looking for change. A Caucasian guy next to me tossed a Loony on the counter(!) and asked the person to give me whatever I had wanted! I didn't say anything but thank you. It's just a very simple example. 

The other time I remember that we were being evaluated(!) for a rental apartment, a nasty disgusting dump where White Trash mostly prefers that, and I knew that later. When the person saw my pay-stub he was surprised and clearly upset.

In volunteer work, for a charity organization, where the majority of people, both volunteers and employees are Caucasian it was very difficult for them to analyse why a non-Caucasian with dark hair and big nose (that's what they believe) works here! I didn't mind it.
Even my buddy A. F. I'm sure that he like me more now that I'm struggling compare to the time that my earning was as much as what he only could dream of that. When I was to CFLRS he was curious to see whether I will graduate or not and e-mailed me while I was there. This is the guy who barely contacts unless I contact first. I bet when he realized that I was in the process of being released he was quite happy! Same over there. In CFLRS the level of animosity from recruits and some trainers were very high and that basically one of the main reasons that I decided to quit. One example of that would be the story of Sergeant P. which I have told it earlier. Many recruits had a very hard time to accept that a non-Caucasian could be their superior officer and they shows their hatred with using different signs, gestures and comments. For that I believe it was a mistake to go to CFLRS in the first place.
(Photo: For this post I decided to use Canadian symbols. These are basically things which are genuinely Canadians and I like them all but the crown which is not Canadian! It's imposed to Canadians!)

1 Billion Bugs!

I had a plan to hike in Bob Creek area and reach a summit in there last weekend. Hard work and laziness combined together and prevented me to go. Basically most of the day was waste. In the afternoon though I decided to have a walk in one of the parks in the city and it was not just a simple decision. I had to! I ate two medium Vegetarian Pizza from Pizza Hut and I felt really heavy! In fact I wanted to eat have of the first one and keep the next one for Mon. but it was tasty and I finish them both! 

I went to Fish Creek Provincial Park and what kind of mistake that was! A bad mistake. It was hot and there were a billion bugs everywhere! I don't think they were mosquitos because I didn't bitten not once but they were very disturbing and they were almost everywhere. The timing was wrong too! It was very sunny and hot and just after perhaps an hour or so I decided to leave.

This, I think, is what is called Saskatoon Berry. I have purchased this from a farm in Southern Calgary called The Saskatoon Farm and it was not bad but picking fresh from the tree [if it's called tree!] is different. These can be easily seen at the sides of trails in Glenmore Park as well as Bow River Trail in Downtown Calgary)

I felt it was too early to go home because I needed more walk to help to digest those Pizzas! So I went to Glenmore Park on my way back. It was not that bad. Not that many bugs and not crowded and not that hot. I tasted wild Saskatoon Berry or at least this is what I think they were! They were sweet and tasty. Walked for nearly an hour and decided to go back. I hoped I could see the Deer again but they were not there! 

(Photo, top: While in Fish Creek Provincial Park I saw a Pelican on the Elbow River bank and took this photo from it but it's not so good. I used the new lens but did adjust the light correctly. The sun was behind me and the Pelican being all white, reflected all the light from the environment and the result is what you see)

The Chef's Trip to Dehradun

The Chef sent me a text message a couple of weeks ago but I couldn't read that! It looked like that he was drunk! I wrote that back to him. It was a surprise to me because we had not been in touch for nearly 4 months! He called a few days after. We eventually met last weekend and it seemed that he was bored and wanted to go do something!  

After a few minutes of discussion he decided to call The Brave so we could all get together and visit the King. However he had Beer in his truck as usual and wanted to enjoy that before we go for the meal. Therefore we went to a nearby quiet and nice park and enjoyed the beverage! I don't remember what brand of Beer it was but after 3 freaking cans (more than 5%! but not sure what!) my head was spinning and I couldn't hold it straight! It actually was not bad but having three cans on empty stomach, especially if it is more than 5%, would affect your system efficiently. I was like that for the next 2 hours or so but it felt good because I had not had a beer for 3 months or so!

In honor of that(!) I'm going to write a story about The Chef's life from the time that he lived in India, which was a long time, probably 10 years or so.

The Chef's business in India, for a large part, was drinking booze and doing drugs! For that, as he said, he even was homeless for a while. It's amazing that he got back on his feet and although that he doesn't have a great life, he at least has a permanent and well-paid job which fits him very well. Here is a short version of his story but if he narrated, it would sound much nicer!
Living in New Delhi once he and a buddy of his, an Indian (or as they're called here, East Indian!), once decide to go to Dehradun a city some 250 Km north, via train. If you must know train is the most popular way of transportation in that country because it's the cheapest. According to him they went there to see a Baba. This world in Hindi means a wise old man. Probably something like Guru but not quiet. Usually the purpose of such visit would be spiritual! So they visit and while The Chef didn't say much about the meeting, he added that he decides to go back as it was enough but the buddy of his wanted to stay and visit some family or friends. With no money, as the man had paid for him, The Chef decides to go to the train station and get back to New Delhi anyways. He added that he had to go back even if it was on foot! And this part, I should day that I believe. he would have walked back all the way, if he had too! In the train station he is reported to the police because apparently he was bothering a woman who also was waiting for a train. The Chef added that he was intoxicated at the time possibly because of the material that the so-called Baba had given to them or simply as a habit. That I don't know! So the police comes and arrests him. They take him to the nearby station and start beating him with the long Bamboo sticks which is very popular in Indian sub-continent! 

After they serve(!) him very well, in a way that he barely able to stand on his feet(!), the chief orders a cup of Tea for him and lets him go! He gets himself to the train station and goes back to New Delhi! I'm sure that was not the only time that he was beaten up but I'm sure that many times he was the dominant one during the fights! I guess he added that he just got on the train with the hope that the controller misses him and added that it was the way that many who don't have money travel but he didn't mention what the penalty would be for such person, if he was caught. Probably just some beating or throwing him out at the next stop!
(Photo: An Indian police member is beating the shit out of a big crowd with a Bamboo stick. Scenes similar to this can be seen often when there's a demonstration or any other kind of gathering in that part of the world. I think police in Pakistan and other parts of Indian subcontinent uses the same method to punish people. I guess it's cheap and effective but considering that India has a big population, I wonder what happens if the demonstrators just rush toward the police. I guess they usually don't because the armed members are backing the ones who solely use sticks)

A Beautiful Scene in the Park

I have become very lazy lately both physically and mentally. I've written about this earlier and have no intention to bring this up. I set my alarm clock at 05:30 AM this past Sat. to go for hiking. My destination was southern Alberta but despite the fact that the alarm went off, I stayed in the bed and didn't go! If I had stayed and did something positive with my time, that would have been fine but I normally don't! I waste time and money! Then again I set the alarm at the same time on Sun. and it went off I didn't go! Instead I stayed in the bed and slept until 08:30! 

This last one was probably because I went for a walk to North Glenmore Park late evening and went to bed at around 12:00 AM. The walk and sleep of only nearly 05:30 was not enough but when I went to the park I faced beautiful mammals sprinting, walking or grazing in the park. They were a kind of Deer for that matter! Unfortunately I didn't have a good camera on me and used my telephone. The result is not so great but worth watching once. Where in the world you can walk to a nearby park and enjoy the beauty of summer and peace of fantastic animals? Calgary! I hope Calgarians and generally Albertans and Canadians value their town, province and country more and stop destroying it.

(Photo: These two deer were peacefully grazing on the hills next to Glenmore Reservoir when the sun was going down and didn't mind a few passersby)

Canon's Amazing Service and Products

I dropped my telephoto lens when I A. F. was showing me around in Summerland two years ago and partially broke it! He took me to Summerland Sweets and then we went to a railroad bridge, I guess it was and I had it in my camera bag and silly me I had not zipped it! It fell 10 m. down and boom! The little motor which make the zooming available broke. This at side but when I told A. F. that I had dropped the thing(!) down in the ravine he got upset and said that it would take me 1 hour to get it and left while I had no car and basically didn't know my surrounding very well. I never brought that up and I went down and got the lens in less than 15 minutes and called him! He came and picked me up. This is not the topic of this post but the way I look at it is he would stay with me and even if he was not going down he could wait up on the rail until I get the thing and then we would leave together but I think friendship has a different meaning for him or it's because we're not that close of a friend. 

I sent the lens to Canon in Ontario nearly after 2 years. They work on it and eventually said to me that they would not be able to fix it. They sent me a new one for the initial cost that I had paid for diagnosis. I haven't had the chance to take any photo with it yet but I tried it and it's good. Excellent work but Canon and to add, as a very good thing, this lens was obtained for me by The Lady from Shopper's Drug Mart. She used all of the points that she had accumulated for years and got that for me! And now where she is? I don't know. Perhaps remarried. I hope wherever she is she's happy.
(Photo: An EF600 Canon telephoto lens is sold for more than $9000. An excellent tool for bringing far objects close. Mine, of course, is much less powerful and much less expensive than this!)

The Month's End Race

I spent a lot of time on V-Work (volunteer work) on Jul.01 long weekend. I basically were not able to do anything else. What could I have done?! Besides I wanted to do as much as I was able to so I win the monthly recognition award. 

Failed! How? A tiny mistake! Apparently, and I learnt that later, I'm supposed to submit my work to the manager by the end of the month's last day and I worked up to the evening of Jul.02! Therefore most of the work that I did, was not considered for June, which was the month I was working hard to get the reward. Now that the one third of month has passed, I haven't even started! 

Being exhausted after daily shitty work, lack of motivation (rather than the pity reward!), being so freaking board are the main reasons that I'm not that determined as I was. I've written about this so there's no point to bring it up again! 

What I wanted to add, as a new thing here, is that while I was working I realized that I was in direct race with at least one person. We get a number for the items we work on and of course the number increases when you submit the next piece of work. When I get a number that is only one digit different from the previous work I submitted it means that no one is in the race. When I get a number which is bigger than the previous one, at least by a value of one, it means that someone has just submitted a work between the two ones that I have. This game was in progress for the entire time that I was working, meaning that there were other losers(!) who had better to do rather than working on V-Work!
(Photo: A pile of mixed numbers reminds me of my race with the other contestants[!] in a race that I unfairly lost it!)

A Short Hike in Ghost Lake Area

The Mumbling Guy told me that he wanted to go hiking with me, few weeks ago. I postponed it for a number of reasons. First of I didn't think I was ready for a hike considering the shitty job I have been doing for months now. Secondly I didn't think it was a good idea going hiking with a cheap asshole particularly because I had seen sides of stinginess. However I decided to take him because there are not many people that I have around and I need a few friends in case a reference is required or anything else is up. So after we met on a Sun. morning he suggested to take a hike in Canmore area. I, in turn, wanted to go somewhere else and I suggested Ghost Lake area and convinced him by an e-mail, using his own stinginess techniques! I calculated for him that if we went to Ghost Lake instead of Canmore we eventually would as much as $5 on gasoline! What did idiot didn't know, and possibly realized when we hit the gravel road(!), is that your car would consume more fuel when you're driving on a gravel road, particularly if it's a 4 x 4 which it's system kicks in automatically!

Anyways we got ourselves to Highway # 1A and the Highway # 40 and got ourselves to TransAlta Road, which by the way, in case you need to go there, is a gravel road which branches from Highway # 40 in the north part of Highway # 1A and goes west. This is the key point of the trip because you have to take the road, which goes parallel to Ghost River and go all the way to reach mountains. You first get elevation and then you go down and reach the river bed and based on the available maps you can choose whatever hike you want to do. 

He obviously freaked out after a few kilometers on the road and decided just to park and have a hike there while our destination was Black Rock Mountain. I didn't want to argue considering he had brought his car. So we stopped, geared up and hit a nearby trail. It was a very beautiful day and despite a few showers and wind we enjoyed the scenery of the area. 

I guess we had gone between %50 to %75 of the road before we get to the river bed and would have had another 15 minutes to reach but he didn't want to go further. He said that he only wanted to go for 1.5 hours of hike but after only 1 hour his nagging started! I even tried to get him up a boulder pile to get to a good elevation so we could take a few photos, he complained a lot over there and in one case ask for help(!) which I went back down and rescued(!) him. I had written it in an ae-mail the day before that he would need hiking boots but the cheap asshole had come with $20 Wal-Mart shoes which caused him to land on his ass(!) during the hike at least 3 times! 

I eventually agreed to go back after nearly 01:25 hour. I didn't want to insist more considering he would get upset and although I knew he would most likely not go for a hike with me in near future, I didn't want to push him further as he clearly showed signs of fatigue. 

That's all I can say about our hike. To add more about the region, which I had been twice before that (here and here), Ghost Lake area is mostly used by the cheap assholes who want to get high, drink booze, shoot a rifle or so and do stuff like that without being caught or pay a Penny! There's no entry or camping fee and there's no supervision but it has amazing scenery and beautiful mountain. I might get a rental and go hike Black Rock Mountain. it must be a 4 x 4!

(Photo; Ghost River in Ghost lake area from TransAlta Road. This is a road parallel to the river which branches from Highway # 40 in the north part of Highway 1A, as I mentioned earlier and eventually gets you to the river itself)

What's Worse than Cocaine?

When I had my application with CAF in process back in 2016, one of the steps that I had to take, was filling out a form in regards to consumption, purchasing or selling of illegal substances. This is something which is considered OK in West and people even are honored and proud that they have used, sold or purchased those kind of stuff. I, however come from a society, which at least when I was growing up, that would have been considered unacceptable.

On that in the CAF office, I sat at the desk with a few others and it was a long list. I didn't recognise more than perhaps 3 or 4 of them and all I knew, and still I know, is from what I have read or heard on the news. I obviously denied being involved in any type of illegal drugs but I read it later that there's something which is worse than any known drug: Sugar!

Sugar, which these days is seen in any processed food is many times worse than any drug. Why? Because it's cheap and accessible anywhere and most of people are addicted to that without knowing it. The nasty Filipino or the stinking African who comes from where he or she didn't even had shit to swallow, goes to toilets such as McDonald's and Tim Horton's and stuff him/herself and his calf with cheap sugary food such as Doughnut, Cookie, Coca Cola and all sorts of crap which is full of sugar and other sources of illness and a big chunk of provincial budget has to go to provide health services of different kinds to animals like that who consume sugar like an SUV eats up gasoline! 

I give you an example of what just happened to me the other day: A colleague said that he had brought Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble and offered me some. While leaving work and I was not hungry at all, I was completely fine, decided to try a piece on my way out. I cut a small one and tried it. It was good of course. Just less than 5 minutes after that I felt I wanted more! The Sugar kicked in so fast that I could not believe it! I do not know how it works in the body that the more you eat, the more you want. To add I have to say that one day I was looking at the ingredients in a table Salt box and I realized that the bastards even add Sugar to table Salt! Many believe that salt is a major contributor to many health issue. How about Sugar? They even add Sugar to Salsa!!! 

That's why I stay away from most of the ready-to-eat foods and canned and bottled ones! 

(Photo: The so-called Crumble that the gut brought was similar to this. I, of course didn't take any photo as it would have been considered weird!)

Cultural Discripancies (5): Canadians and Coupons

One of the concepts of shopping here in Canada is coupons that different services provide and distribute to boots their businesses and attract more customers. Coupons and flyers I should say which at times they come together. They could be for anything: From household items to vehicle parts and sporting goods. However the ones which appear in shape of coupon are mostly for food industry or to be specific, for fast food restaurants. 

However the funny thing is when I go to the mail room, which I barely go, to see what's available, I see a big pile of coupons and flyers in the recycle bin! It's funny because Canadians mostly eat out and many at least once in the fast food joints! So when I see A&W, McDonald's or Pizza Hut coupons there, I can't stop smiling! Do they want to show that they have enough money and they don't need coupons? Or as my Newfoundlander buddy once told me: If you're making your own sandwich it means you're really broke! If a medium Pizza in Pizza Hut is with coupon is $9.99, why the hell should I pay more, even if I eat that only once a week or once in two weeks?

I think they feel cheap to use the coupons while there was on CBC once that there were a bunch of losers(!) in a city that would sit somewhere in a library or somewhere and search all the newspapers and available flyer, cut them off and then go for shopping! Which one to believe?

(Photo: A Pizza Hut coupon booklet. That's the only time I buy Pizza from them. I decided to check Boston Pizza's take out recently but haven't done that. I haven't been to Boston Pizza for a long time. The last time possibly was when I and The Lady went to a location in Vancouver and sat in their patio. It was nice but those days are long gone. I'm alone now and have to eat take out Pizza like a loser!)