My Home and Native Land

As I was preparing to return to Canada for the summer months of June and July, I wondered whether I would experience reverse culture shock as this was my first time back from Asia in almost a year. Interesting that upon my arrival I seemed to slide right back into North American life as though I had never left! I have to admit that jet lag was more of an issue for me on my return than reverse culture shock. For some reason the 13 hour time difference is hardly noticed when I travel west to Korea, but it takes about a week to adjust when traveling back to Eastern Standard Time...?

Even though I didn't experience reverse culture shock there were reminders of what I hadn't witnessed for awhile, such as the trail of Tim Hortons and Harveys signs dotting the landscape, buses without curtains, stop signs, availability of dessert, knowing exactly what I was purchasing in grocery stores and open grass areas without vegetable gardens... with a population of 60 million (nearly double the population of Canada) on land 2/3 the size of Florida, South Koreans can't imagine having open areas without 'purpose'!


I must say it was good to step on Canadian soil again and experience life in my home and native land. I am thankful for phone, email and blogs, but there's nothing like connecting with friends and family at the personal level. As it turned out, I had a lot of opportunity to do that and more...

Stopping to Smell the Roses

Besides sitting over coffee and enjoying backyard BBQs this summer, I was able to travel to a number of favorite spots in southern Ontario and Michigan. One place I wanted to visit was the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. Even though June is a little late for lilac season (my all-time favorite flower, hands down), I could hardly resist the opportunity to sit back and smell the roses.





After entertaining my guests (Pam, Phil and Becky) in my backyard gardens, I got the chauffeur to bring the car around and drive us to dinner at Mexicali Rosa's. Nothing like going first class for some chimichangas and burritos. As if =)

Excuse me, do you have any Daejon?

For those of you wondering about the heading of this post, this line is a spoof off an old Dijon mustard (Grey Poupon) commercial.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, as it turns out, I was able to visit friends from Daejon who were staying in Michigan for the summer, a mere 3 hour drive from where I was staying in Ontario! It was a visit that, shall we say, spiced up my summer =) What a glorious time -- first visiting a couple days with my good friend Mark Reichel (from my Denver days) and then a few days with my friends from Daejon, the Emery's.

Who can go to Frankenmuth without a trip to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland? Nothing like Christmas in June. By the time I left this huge (did I say huge... I meant to say gi-normous) Christmas store, I was ready for the Christmas season! Only 184 more days till the real thing =)




Touring the town was a real treat as well. We visited the oldest and most famous restaurant, Zehnders, which had its start back in 1856 and today serves over 20,000 people a week; that's a lot of chicken dinners!


After visiting the oldest restaurant we took a tour of the oldest church in the neighborhood, Saint Lorenz Evangelical Lutheran Church, which also had its beginnings when the town began in the 1840s. Then, pastor Wilhelm Loehe of Bavaria Germany was inspired to establish a German Lutheran colony by Michigan circuit riders who requested aid in bringing the Gospel of Christ to the Saginaw Valley Chippewa Indians.

Who says North America doesn't have history? Well, it doesn't really compare to the thousand year old structures in Europe or Asia but its a good start =)