The reason for the reunion being in Calgary was because Dad's former teacher eventually settled down in Canada and wanted to bring his students to the beloved national parks that the region is famous for. Mom and Dad were the only ones who travelled all the way from Asia, and hoped Jie and I could join them too, so another family vacation it became!
The trip started out in Jie-Mei drama fashion when we landed at the Chicago O'Hare airport only to find that our connection to Calgary was cancelled! As we stared incredulously at the words 'CANCELLED' next to our flight on the monitor, a familiar feeling of dread washed over us, as we had no idea what the itinerary was for the next few days. Dad's teacher had meticulously planned the entire week out, including staying overnight at various locations along the way, and missing a day could mean missing out on the entire trip. Luckily, once we checked into the complementary airport hotel and read through the schedule, we found out that we would only miss a visit to the museum on the first day and could meet up with the group afterwards. With a potential disaster averted, we quickly emailed our parents to let them know of our delay, ate some greasy airport American Chinese take out food and went to bed in the yoga pants we wore onto the plane. As long as the sisters are together, nothing can go wrong!
A little bit about Alberta before we continue:
Alberta, Canada is home to some of the most stunning and picturesque natural landscapes in the world. There are five national parks within the province of Alberta. These are: Banff, Elk Island, Jasper, Waterton and Wood Buffalo. Alberta is also home to the Canadian Rocky Mountains and several famous lakes. During the summer, the weather is generally sunny and temperatures can reach a high of 30C in the middle of the day. It also gets dark fairly late, around 930 pm, so it is a popular time for people to take a trip to one of the national parks and spend a good amount of time hiking and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
When Jie and I finally met up with the rest of the group for dinner on the first day, we were introduced to six of my dad's classmates (including the teacher) and each of their spouses. Unsurprisingly, Jie and I were the only 'kids' on the trip. We quickly became used to hanging out with the older crew, and learned some great tips, including the importance of choosing the right socks to wear for each day, depending on the activity and climate. We thus affectionately coined the nickname 'Uncle Socks' for the classmate who raised this concern and issue.
Some highlights and key takeaways from the trip included:
1) Thank goodness my sister came with me
2) We used the bathroom A LOT
3) Canada is huge, beautiful and expensive
4) Calgarians are nice. They didn't honk when we stopped illegally in the middle of the road at a green light to let people off (smh)
5) Being one of "those" loud Asians isn't so bad when you are part of the group
6) Best way to save money is to picnic your way through Banff
7) Being one of the "kids" means you can free ride your way through the trip since the "adults" plan for everything
8) Your dad can "subcontract" his journal writing responsibilities to you without your consent
9) Husbands go off to do their own thing, wives nag them back to reality
10) Dad looks good in Lululemon shorts
11) Uncle Chen's philosophy. Short term goal: wake up in one piece everyday. Long term goal: live until 100
12) Uncle Song's philosophy. Check yourself into an old people's community before you are too old to do it yourself
13) Everyone's philosophy. Stay healthy and kick your kids butts hiking and playing golf
2) We used the bathroom A LOT
3) Canada is huge, beautiful and expensive
4) Calgarians are nice. They didn't honk when we stopped illegally in the middle of the road at a green light to let people off (smh)
5) Being one of "those" loud Asians isn't so bad when you are part of the group
6) Best way to save money is to picnic your way through Banff
7) Being one of the "kids" means you can free ride your way through the trip since the "adults" plan for everything
8) Your dad can "subcontract" his journal writing responsibilities to you without your consent
9) Husbands go off to do their own thing, wives nag them back to reality
10) Dad looks good in Lululemon shorts
11) Uncle Chen's philosophy. Short term goal: wake up in one piece everyday. Long term goal: live until 100
12) Uncle Song's philosophy. Check yourself into an old people's community before you are too old to do it yourself
13) Everyone's philosophy. Stay healthy and kick your kids butts hiking and playing golf
Waterton National Park
Grassi Lakes, Canmore
How Asians save money by packing everything imaginable for picnics and finding storage holes at the bottom of SUVs
Columbia Icefield
Peyto Lake
Moraine Lake
Lake Louise
