Home... Sweet Home

That is correct: I'm homesick... and I really need to get away, even if it's not to go home, at least I can be a tourist again.

You wouldn't think you'd get homesick or get a culture shock. The reality is that Bay Area, California, USA and Ottawa/Montreal, East Canada are very different.

At this time of the year, I'm used to get prepared for the first snow fall. I actually miss the snow. I don't know how I'm going to survive California's winter. I'm serious. Before moving to California, I've been visited it during winter, oh boy I didn't like it. I was constantly cold, even indoor, even in shopping malls!!! Yes, it is colder in Canada, people make fun of our winter, but there's one thing people don't realize is that we are prepared for winter. Houses are well insulated to keep warmth, hence it is possible to maintained a room temperature. Here house walls are roughly 15cm thick, with no insulator fibers, so it is like a reptile: its temperature follows the outdoor temperature. Ok, I know what you are thinking, you probably want to tell me to turn on the heater. Hey, but the room or house can't keep the heat and it just leaks out... So what? I turn on the heater, there's like a draft of hot air... and that's it!!! If I keep the heater at low, then there's just as much cold air coming in as there's hot air leaking out, hence the room never gets warm. If I turn the heater higher, there's a big draft of hot air, then you'll have to turn it off before over heating the room... It is very hard to maintain a good temperature. So my intention is to give you a different point of view. People who make fun of our winter are maybe not aware that houses don't have to follow outdoor temperature. But because winter is milder here, there's not need to invest money in insulating the house with bricks and fibers. However, the big irony is... houses cost 3 times more in California...

I so need to get away... After my Las Vegas trip this next week, I'm going to meet my parents and sister in Chicago for Thanksgiving. Then for New Year, I'm going back to home sweet home.