News From The Front

Few things in life are better than coffee and a nice Saturday morning. I sit here at a local shop (forgetting that the cappuccino tastes like ass) content with things no matter how bad that appeared last week. It is the perspective from my cup I guess, but what I am seeing today is a brighter future than the bleak destitute, over-whelming stress, and the constant annoyance of a corporate douche-bag that was facing last week. Life is good and I just thought that I would type this little note in here to share it with you all

This has nothing to do with photography or anything really but I just have to point out the fact that I am going to see Bad Religion this weekend. I have been listening to these guys since I was in grade 9 and I am old now, so that shows you how long they have been around. This concert is going to kick ass and I am very happy that I could scrape together enough cash to pay the meager amount to get my sorry ass there.

I haven’t really been keeping up with this part of my site due to the fact that work has been taking up most of my time. However, now that I am sitting down with enough caffeine in my system to kill a small donkey, I thought that I would right a short missive before I take off home.

To catch most of you up on what is going on with my life here in Vancouver, I will give you the short and quick version. I had a short stint as a wedding photographer that gave me some very useful tips. I also tested my skills with the HSBC Celebration of light that took place near my home in English Bay. That was an amazing sight if not just for the sheer amount of people that flooded the street each night it was on.

I also took some time off from running the coffee shop to cruise home and show my girlfriend around Brandon, Manitoba. Along the way I managed to snap a few tourist-type shots as one has to do when cruising through the Rockies and other more notable parts of Canada.

After that, it was back to business and trying to run the shop. Keep an eye out on my site for new galleries such as the HSBC Celebration of light and new additions to existing galleries. Most new additions will be added on the weekends, so take a peek each Monday for for the latest updates.

After what seemed to be an eternity of problems with my slideshow. I am finally up and running again. keep checking back for your old favorites and a large amount of new work from the Vancouver area. I thank you all for your patience over this time of repair and rebuilding.

Hi everyone,
So you may notice that the slide show or anything in the black square isn’t loading. Don’t worry it is not your computer… it’s me. I have taken the site down for some repairs and am trying to get some galleries back up.
Thanks to some lovely hackers who tried to get into my website, the codes were all changed on my site. Thus denying access to my uploading platform that I use to create my galleries. In an effort to fix this problem, I removed that platform from my site and am trying to upload it again, but it has also deleted all of the galleries. So with some time, I will be back up and running.
Please check out my flickr postings in the meantime, by clicking on the “Flickr Gallery” icon on my site or going to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonteale/ to see what I have been up to.
Thanks again for visiting and for your patience during this rather frustrating time.

It is that time again where I post some new stuff. This time around, I have created a new gallery feature some selected pics from around Vancouver. This is an amazing city and there are some amazing view. Keep your eyes posted on this gallery because I will be adding more to it as time goes by.

I have a home… sort of (I move on Friday). In one day it all came together for me. That day was Sunday. With in a few hours my current worries were put to rest as I walked into the new location of the coffee shop. The laid out the battle plan for the next 4 - 6 weeks and it included me as a “lead Manager” basically running the daytime operations.

Following that, I met up with “Ivanne” the Eastern European guy that manages the apartment building right across the street from where I have been staying these past two weeks. With no questions asked and better yet, no references needed, I got a place. It is a small but comfortable one bedroom apartment in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

The references are the biggest problem of house hunting here. Most decent places need more references than your credit card or your job. It is just stupid. You spend half your time fighting the crowds to view crappy little one bedroom for outrageous prices, then only to find out that the application is just stupid. However, now I don’t even have to think about that anymore, I have a place.

The rest is just up to me and getting used to being in Vancouver and all that it is. One of the things that I have noticed is that parking in Vancouver… SUCKS! Living downtown I don’t really need to drive to work, but now where the hell do I park my car?

This morning is even more nasty! With the dump of snow that we got last night, the cars behind the place where I have been staying are not going anywhere. Problem is that time is running out on the spot that I have parked… what to do, what to do.

Skipping on many steps, I bought a car and pounded off down the road. With a brain like mine, this is a difficult task as driving and thinking for too long makes me a little weird. At any rate, the boredom was broken up by numerous detours and ideas for photography that I had along the way. After 10 hours of straight driving, I pulled over in Brooks Alberta to get a room. Being tired and weird I some how ended up in a $140 room. I am used to paying about $100 less for a room just as good. At any rate, this is Canada and everything is quite a lot more expensive.

The next day had me screaming through the mountains. Everyone had said these would be tough and for two solid days, they didn’t disappoint. From just past golden to all the ways past Merritt BC, the roads sucked. By “sucked” I meant to say a “white-knuckled ride through what hell would look like frozen over” It was nasty. By the time I got to Vancouver my car looked like a giant salty turd on wheels.

Vancouver is a large beautiful city that I am still getting used to. When sleeping on someone’s couch for longer than the weekend, my mind and body switch to survival mode. This is the serious side of my personality that examines every situation to “survive” what bullshit it may come across. This time around it is housing.

So far it has been a complete failure. I have looked at a number of houses and apartment and have found a lot that I wouldn’t even let my worst enemy stay in. The ones that I do like, I would need about a $60,000 minimum ( a year) to be able to move into a shitty one bedroom apartment. This is not mentioning the fact that I need references from Canada or anywhere, which I don’t have. It blows, but I am determined to find something.

The new job has already started and I have the feeling that I am going to enjoy it. I have the 2007 Canadian Barista Champion as a manager and trainer and I am working at one of the best coffee shops in the city of Vancouver. So far so good, and tomorrow is coming up fast. I’d better sign out and get to bed.

I guess now that I am in Canada I should keep you up dated on my travels and whereabouts. So far it has been a bit of a strange time. A little bit of a trip down memory lane to be more precise. Everyone talks about how things have changed and how different it is to be back, but what I think threw me off the most was how little things have changed.

I left Korea on Christmas Eve, after spending a great weekend with my girlfriend. We had the unspoken rule of not talking about what was going to happen (me actually leaving) and just had a good time. After an emotional week and many hard good-byes to some very good friends, I really needed to just relax. It is amazing how powerful “good-bye” is when you really mean it.

After years and years of moving around, you know that are some really good friends that will disappear, once you turn your back. They are not gone for good but you know that chances are rare that you will ever see them again or regain the same friendship that you had before. This is just the hard reality that you face when you have lived in as many places as I have.

The plane ride was not quite as long as I thought it would be. I tuned out for a while trying hard not to think about the life and the love that I left behind. Some of you may laugh at that, but you have never walked in my shoes. It was a hard thing to just walk away, even knowing that I would be reunited with her in a few months.

Getting on the plane to Canada felt like I had left the stove on at home. I spent the next 11 hours wondering what it was that I was leaving behind and questioning my motives for leaving. An 11 hour flight will give you more than enough time to examine every little detail of your life and your future.

Home was strange. Even now, after a couple of weeks here, it still fells like it will vanish as soon as I drive away. There have been weird feelings, memories and problems that were so far away, that I had to come to terms with once I walked through that door. Being away for so long you get a chance to sort of distance yourself from everything like that.

Home is always home, but now it has some new additions. My family structure has changed a bit since I have been away and I am not sure where I fit any more. Thus, the push out West was a needed change. I love my home and my family, but after being away for so long, I just don’t fit in anymore.

So I filled the tank up with gas, filled my mug up with coffee and drove out to Vancouver. 2 and a half days of driving await me. Icy roads, mountain passes and the unknown future lay waiting for me up ahead…

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