4 Things I Appreciate More about Winnipeg

Well I've been in China for over three months now, and I feel that's long enough to qualify me to discuss things I miss about my hometown. Here's an unranked list of things that I'll definitely appreciate more when I go back to Winnipeg...

1. Chocolate
Honestly, I didn't think I could appreciate chocolate any more than I already do, but when I get home I'll find a way. The chocolate selection here is extremely limited, and the good stuff that's available is pretty expensive. The only chocolate bars that have made it in China are Dove and Snickers, and chocolate chips (possibly my favourite food) may as well be non-existent. China is torture. Thankfully they have Oreos over here though, so I've gotten into them in a big way.

I wanna dive into this picture and eat my way out of that alternate reality. 

2. Multiculturalism
A very cool aspect of Winnipeg, and Canada in general, that I didn't consider much before is how prevalent other cultures are. I'm not talking about bottled up, specific evenings like Folklorama that brag about here or there once a year; I mean the wide array of choices that are available to you on a daily basis. If you want to get a Greek gyro, drink a bunch of bubble tea, do whatever French people do, and hang out with a busty gal from Trinidad and Tobago all in the same day, you're free to do so. You have those opportunities!

3. A Clothes Dryer
If you read my blog, you know that I'm an outspoken supporter of clothing dryers. Here in China I have a spin dryer, and it's just not the same. I spin my wardrobe like a breakdancer testing out a new cardboard sheet, then I still have to hang it all up to finish the job, like a breakdancer that can't afford a clothes dryer. All that is actually fine, but the finished product is stiff and scratchy, which I imagine is how clothing felt a hundred years ago. Who am I, Tom Sawyer? Also, without that hot dryer keeping things tight, all my t-shirts are slowly getting bigger. Necklines are plunging further and further, and in a few more washes that white v-neck is going to get downright revealing.

4. Clean Air
It's pretty amazing because I'm not even in a large city by Chinese standards (Jilin only has around four million people) so I should count my blessings, but the air just ain't as good as it could be. Now I actually look forward to some rain here and there, welcoming the refreshing, crisp air that follows it. I think of wide open, green spaces just minutes from my home in Winnipeg, and miss the clean air that goes along with it.

I'm told this is Winnipeg. Look at all that clean air!

Of course there's a few other things that I miss while I'm out here... specific foods like spinach (for spinach salads), and dairy products like cheese (for spinach salads with cheese on them), and specific activities like training jiu-jitsu, and going to movies and concerts. But I won't bore you with discussing all of them. The point is that yes Mom, I miss home, and yes I'll come back sometime.

A Groovy Flea Market Find

This weekend I went to a flea market.

While we were at a family dinner, some of my family members started discussing plans to go for lunch the following day and then visit the Mulvey Flea Market. It sounded like such a lovely afternoon, and before I knew it I was filling with a longing to be invited to join them. Please family… please let me come along!

After sitting in silence, biting my lip apprehensively for several minutes, I got the invitation. So I decided I would put off all my homework and go along.

My uncle, dad, brother, and I grabbed lunch and headed to the Mulvey Flea Market, a stone’s throw beside the new rapid transit station on Osborne, in a huge, seemingly uninhabitable warehouse. Once you get through the service doors, you enter into a magical world of used and ancient unpredictability.

(Click on the pictures to see them bigger)

Through the piles of randomness, I hunted for great deals on original Nintendos and weird art. In the process, I discovered an amazing product that I didn’t even really know existed, and definitely didn’t think I was into.

Gorgeous craftsmanship, anyone?

 We noticed this little beauty right away, an unassuming cabinet, but upon further inspection it had a lot more going on. We opened one of the drawers, and there was a record player going! I was blown away.

Where's that music coming from? Oh, right here in this drawer!

This cabinet has a working record player in it, a not-working radio, and drawers packed with prehistoric records. When I confirmed that the $25 price tag was accurate, I said sold. I didn’t know who was getting it, who was paying for it, how we were getting it to their house, but someone I came with was taking this home. TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. You don’t walk away from that.

So after we checked out the rest of the market, it was time to load up. The cabinet was very heavy but thankfully most of the weight turned out to be the records inside, so it became light as a rare, finely carved, wooden feather. Our main man Morris, the 80-year old flea market kingpin, helped us put the cabinet in the back of the truck, and my brother and I rode along in the back with it down Osborne, which is always fun.

So the record cabinet ended up in my brother’s apartment, which means I am still in the market for a record player within a cabinet. Do you have one? Let me know. Very old? Great- I want to play jazz and big band to set the mood for standing around at home. One of those newer ones from the 70’s? That’s good too- I need to set the mood for a key party I’m throwing. Basically there’s a lot of mood setting going on. Sell me your record cabinet.

Anyways, what can you learn? The market is a pretty interesting way to spend an afternoon on the weekend- check it out! If you want to see what else is at the market in a long, poorly shot home video, click on the word here.