Human Rights in Alberta

In Alberta it is against the law to discriminate against anyone in the following areas of activity:

• Employment
• Employment applications or advertisements
• Goods, services, accommodation or facilities customarily available to the public (for example, restaurants, stores, hotels, or provincial government services)
• Tenancy (residential or commercial rentals)
• Public statements, publications, notices, signs, symbols, emblems, or other representations
• Membership in trade unions, employers’ organizations or occupational associations
• Equal pay

Albertans are protected from discrimination on the grounds of:

• Race or colour
• Gender, including pregnancy
• Religion, including native spirituality
• Ancestry
• Where you were born
• Age (except in tenancy and services)
• Physical disability
• Mental disability
• Family status (who you are related to by blood, marriage or adoption)
• Marital status
• Source of income
• Sexual orientation

Source: Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission

You know you are Thai when...

- You know that thai food exists beyond phad thai, green curry, and tom yum goong. you probably don't even consider anything served in oversea restaurants "thai" anyhow
- Forget dollar menus. you know the true value of a dollar (34 (CAD)/37 (US)Baht) and how far it could take you (and your stomach)
- Mama (instant noodle) fuels your soul.
- You're mad chill but you still say "mai pen rai" (It's ok.). See how polite we are....
- Nothing beats a hardcore session of back-cracking thai massage when your tired
- Your very long last name or your nickname (in english) tend to amaze people
- You don't mind drinking pop out of a plastic bag
- You watch "Lakorn" (soap), despite how predictable they are. slap that bitch, slap her.. slap her...
- You bargain even if it's already dirt cheap, you still bargain for the sake of it.
- You love the king and can't stand if somebody insults him. You have to defend!
- In April, you look forward to Songkran (Thai New Year- Water Festival) - but NOT the heat.
- You look for the 4-round "krueng prung" on the table. you need your extra dose of chili/sugar/vinegar/fish sauce to spice up your life

- Even though you don't want to admit it,

you know that she-boys could put real girls to shame.
- For some reason you know that Tiger Woods is part thai.
- You're sick of people asking you why you're not dark, and "thai? thai-wan?"
- You know the capital of thailand ain't bangkok. It's Krungtep. Krungtep mahanakorn amornratanakosin mahintaramahadirok noparatrachatani burirom udomrachaniwet mahasatarn umorn vimarn aowatarnsatit.
- You know that nobody uses Salung or 50 satang coins. They're useless. Nobody wants them - not even the ko tarns (beggar)....
- ... and it drives you crazy when some random cashier actually asks u for it ("12 baht 50 satang ka")
- You use 555 in chat instead of LOL.
- You buy food from street vendors even people say it's not clean.

- You love wearing flipflops. You wear them in any occasion.

And....

- When somebody takes your picture, for some reasons, you always end up with the V sign :p

V with Leo (Honduras)
V with Iwan (Indonesia)
Ploy and Sontaya (Thailand) and Vs
Thai cuties and German Rudolf with his V :)
Rose (Uganda) and my V
V with Manuel
Super V at Camp Squeah
V with one of my close friends, Tong

Cray V with Dima
V waiting for the flight to Saskatoon
My V and Dima's After square dance, V with Sim Sim and Rebekka

V with Manuel in Vancouver downtown

Women are persons!

Weekend of 27-28.05-07

This week I have learned and heard a lot of stories of African women who are treated cruelly and unfair. Some conversations I had with some people I met made me feel so desperate and sorry for the things that those women have experienced. Why don't some men treat women fairly and respectfully? In some cultures, women are treated so differently from men and many women are abused and suffer. When will this idea vanish from the society?

I visited the Famous Five Ladies statue and I learned how hard they tried to get the equal rights for women. I am so graceful of what they did in the past. I also met some women are are infected HIV from their husbands. I felt so sorry and sad to hear these stories. One guy knew he was HIV positive but he didn't even tell his wife, not even a word of sorry.

Apart from sad stories, we had a lovely weekend in Calgary. Snow had gone and sunshine came. U will see from my pics. It is so beautiful. My time in Canada has almost come to an end. Soon I will be going home. I don't know how my life gonna be when I'm back home. I think I have changed a lot. There are also many things I wanna do and friends I wanna spend time with. Good things and happiness always come at the end. But I feel that I am so blessed to have experienced things and met people here.

Me and sweet Levi

Uh lala... Gelato in Kensington
BBQ dinner at Abe's house
Executive Director of MCC Alberta, Abe Janzen

Canada's national animal, beaver

Eau Clair

The Bow River

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta: 20-21.05.07 Day I

West Edmonton Mall: The Greatest Indoor Show on Earth

Finally we managed to visit Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta. Thanks to Rebekka's host for giving us a ride. We got two Ivepers in Edmonton, Rose and Godfrey.

It took us about three hours to drive from Calgary.
If you come to Edmonton and don't visit West Edmonton Mall, that means you haven't reached Edmonton yet. It is the biggest mall in Canada and one of the top ten largest malls in the world.
I am Asian so I gotta visit Chinatown for sure.
Pirates of the Caribbean theme
My German friend requested to visit Europa Blvd. Yeah cus she is European!
Feel like Christmas? We just went there last week, not last Christmas. The Mall has set for a Christmas movie.

After visiting the mall, we went for dinner at Chinese resturant. It was quite interesting cus Rebekka and her host used chopsticks to eat while I just used forks. Hahaha... They said they used the chopsticks because of me! This is kind of stereotype among Western people that we always use chopsticks with all the food. Well, so I started using chopsticks for them :p I recognised that I was the only Asian in the resturant.
Rebekka's host
After dinner, we came home to rest. We stayed with Rose. This pic, Rebekka was meditating!
We watched this movie, Little Miss Sunshine.
Three cute girls; me, Rose and Rebekka. PJ party :)