Heading home for the holidays

Well folks, as of next writing I’ll be back in the land of William Lyon Mackenzie King, trying to explain to Maggie why most of us Canucks go by two names, and he went by four.

Alright, I’ll spare her the Canadian politics – I don’t want to inundate her with too much too fast, and Canadian politics is a lot of excitement to handle for one’s first trip.

It’s 3 a.m., I’m mostly packed, mostly finished work, mostly ready to leave, and mostly asleep.

These last few days – hell, few weeks – have been a blur of busyness trying to get enough work done so that I’ll actually be able to hang out and visit with the friends and family I’ve not seen for a year and a half – as well as show my wife what sort of country a bloke like me comes from.

This is the first time I’ll be home for Christmas since Christmas 2002 – I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but my mind left a few days ago and refuses to call or write. Needless to say, I’m tickled.

Full-sized Christmas trees; real turkey smothered in gravy instead of chicken smothered in imagination; snow (Ullr willing); and – of course, most important of all – family and friends.

Aside from futile attempts to explain Christmas to Maggie in previous years, I’ve never really looked at the holiday as objectively as I will be forced to this year. I think in that objectivity I’m bound to appreciate it more than ever.

I’ve a rather random list of places I want to show Maggie, but if anyone has any suggestions of a good way to spend our somewhat limited time in Southern Ontario, please throw a comment my way. A good winery in NotL? Any must-see things for a newcomer to Canada? A kick-ass Chinese restaurant anywhere in the Golden Horseshoe?

14 Responses

  1. I suggest Le Chinois restaurant on King Street in Hamilton. It serves really good “Mandarin style cooking” (Cantonese, Hunanese, Sichuan and Beijing style food all on one menu). It’s much better than any of the buffet places or overly fried food of the Cantonese restaurants in the area.

  2. Windsor, man. Windsor. I know it’s a trip, but that is real, authentic Canadian culture right there.
    Just kidding…please don’t take her there. (Oh god…the thought of that place sends shivers down my spine.)
    Sorry…no real advice, but have a blast man!

  3. no offense, but you can’t take any chinese restaurant recommendation in hamilton seriously(with a french name no less).

    head up to the 5 chinatowns in toronto, the old chinatown at spadina and dundas, or the newer chinatown at pacific mall in markham are the choices.

    have a great time dude!

  4. Ok so you want a suggestion…. i know that this is obvious and i’m sure that you have thought about it but what about taking her to see the Falls and the festival of lights there too

  5. Hey guys, just a quick note to say we made it safely and thanks for the suggestions!

    Jason – no worries, we’re not going anywhere near Windsor! My hometown is enough to push her back to China! 😉

    We’ve not settled on plans of what to do yet – but have baptized her “Canuck” with a random stroll around Canadian Tire. 😉

    More observations of Maggie’s experience in Canada as soon as I’ve a more stable Internet connection (I’m not sure how long I can steal this guy’s wireless without him noticing)

  6. @Tian: Ouch – but if it’s any indicator why we got beat, I had to Google “the sevens” to find out what you were on about.

    Put some kiwi’s on ice and see how they do against us Canucks. 😉

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*