The first time I saw snow fall from the sky. A fulfillment of dreams.

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Canada just keeps breaking the record of the most beautiful places I've seen. So today I went to Whistler village. It's where the 2010 Winter Olympics happened. They built it in the 1930's and bid for the olympics but it didn't happen until 2010. It's the most charming place I've ever been in my life! It's like im in a dream!

Stopped by Shannon Falls on the way there. It was nice and all but really, what's the use if you can't swim and play in the water. It was cold so that was not an option. I went with a Filipino family that moved here two years ago. I used to teach their kids piano when I was in college. Plus with the Filipino hospitality they will take you somewhere. So weekends are booked with activities because they want to show me around. And it's great because they have cars and we can go to places that are difficult to reach. The best part is I don't have to pay for gas!

Shannon falls had this hole in the ground toilets. It had a toilet bowl but it's not the type that can be flushed. The stuff just goes straight down the whole where you can see all the poopers and tissue. Gross but I really had to pee.

After Shannon falls we drove to where they did the Ski Jump in the winter olympics. It's my first time to see snow falling from the sky! I thought I would never see that. Now my Canada experience is complete! I put my hand out the window as we were driving. The snow melted as it landed on me. Up close it looked like little balls of wet ice. I thought it would look like stars like in the pictures that I saw. But anyways, that was good enough. It's another first for me.

The parking lot had walls of snow. I'm sure locals don't think that's cool but that was very interesting for me. I punched that wall. Unlike the snow that I saw in Seymour when it was raining, they had soft snow here that buried me up to the thighs! Like in the movies when they're travelling during a snowstorm.

Then it hit me how fortunate I am. Right there where I’m buried up to my thighs in the snow. I was never supposed to experience this. I’m a son of a poor rice farmer. I grew up in the ghetto where everyone is poor and going to another country other than for the purpose of work is unheard of. Not sure how or why I was granted a visa. Even Annie was surprised that I was granted a tourist visa because they have family in the Philippines who have been wanting to come here for the longest time but their visa application gets denied. I am not rich by any stretch of imagination but I know a few people who have way more money than I have but their visa application got denied. How lucky I am! I say lucky because I’m not particularly smart to get to where I am now. Wasn't smart enough to pass the entrance test of the best universities. I can’t even say that I’m hardworking. Things just happened and doors were opened and I was there.

How lucky I am that I experienced building a snow man. Now I know that big balls of snow are heavy. I’ve had snowballs thrown at me by the kids that I used to teach! I discovered that I’m a little too uptight and formal to have snowball fights.

Snow angels are hard to make when you’re buried deep in the snow.

Little kids make slides out of the muddy snow that are piled on the side of the street.

-1C is not really that bad as long as you’re dressed warm.

Snow is magical I wish I got to play in it when I was young.

I am thankful to my parents and sisters for making sure that I get the best education that they can afford. So that someday I can experience things that we’ve only dreamed of and I can tell them all about it.



My dad loved to travel. I inherited his curiosity. I he lived to see this day, it would be the fulfillment of his lifelong dream that was not possible for him back then.

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Photos

Whistler village
this is the location of 2010 Winter olympics