Here's to Today, Better Than Yesterday

Greetings

Remember when you were a kid and you would wait all week for your favourite TV show to come on, but instead of finding a new escapade about uncle Phil and little Will you would be greeted by the dastardly clip show. Surely you remember the clip show? A whopping thirty minutes of recycled clips that producers pull out whenever they are too lazy to actually create a new episode. Who doesn't love a good montage?

Anyway, on that note I present to you our version of the clip show: Shayne and Jo's favourite moments of 2006.

Moment #5 : Shayne's Graduation

Now admittedly this has more to do with Shayne than Jo, but we had some extra space and figured why not. Besides after 5 (cough, maybe 6, cough) years, $15,000 in student loans, and hundreds of half-assed assignments, it was a major accomplishment. Or at least that's what Shayne says when he brags about having a degree in Sociology and an almost completed minor in Womens' Studies.

Moment #4 : Sasquatch Festival

(photos are courtesy of www.truthandart.blogspot.com)

For those of you who might not be familiar with it, Sasquatch is a three day music festival in Washington that takes place every summer. It's one of the last great festivals that hasn't gone to hell (Lollapalooza we're looking at you). We only went to one of the three days, but on the day we went the following acts played:

• Ben Harper
• The Shins
• The Tragically Hip
• Iron and Wine
• Neko Case
• The Flaming Lips
• Sam Roberts
• Plus about twenty more bands
  

If the concert had gone as planned it might not have made our list. Although the music was great and we were there with some good friends, it's what happened during the show that made it truly memorable. During Neko Case's set a massive hailstorm hit down and was so bad they actually stopped the show for about thirty minutes. We were wearing shorts and the hail really gave us a beating. Thankfully we found cover under the umbrella of a helpful American who sold us some space for a mere twenty dollars.

Once the hail stopped and the rest of the show continued we found ourselves with the dilemma of being soaking wet and with no where dry to sit. Thankfully for us the Flaming lips felt sorry for the thousands of people in attendance and put on such a good show that we forgot how miserable we were. We did learn a valuable lesson though, and will be bringing garbage bags (which make nifty rain jackets in a pinch) to every concert we attend in the future.

Moment #3 : Visiting Japan


Before this trip the closest we had come to experiencing Japanese culture was eating at Ozekis' in Kelowna. So we were both pretty excited to visit the land of the rising sun and it definitely didn't let us down. From riding the bullet trains up and down the coast to riding rollercoasters at the Tokyo Dome, we definitely jam-packed the seven days that we were there. We probably don't have to say much about the trip as many of you probably remember the short novel we wrote about it back in August. The Japan trip still stands as our longest blog entry and with how longwinded Shayne is, that says a lot.

Of course we would be fools if we didn't include this gem of a picture in the best of 2006 blog:

Ahh yeah. Who can forget her? I imagine that she hasn't forgotten us either. The poor girl probably still has nightmares about the foreigners who chased her for 5 blocks. This picture is the probably the coolest one we've taken since coming to Asia and will one day hold a top position on our mantle.

Moment #2 : Moving to Korea

Until last month this would have been the number one most memorable moment of 2006. How could it not be? We left behind our families and friends and moved ten thousand km away to a strange land full of strange food and even stranger people.

Thankfully for us it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. We have come to really like life in Korea and now think of it as our home away from home.

Moving here was especially life changing for Shayne who somehow managed to stay at home until the ripe old age of 23. Imagine his surprise when he moved into his own place for the first time and realized that magical elves didn't do all of the cleaning and that someone actually had to dust and wash the floors.

Living here has given us the opportunity to experience firsthand a new culture and to appreciate how other people live. It's also given us the opportunity to do this:


Moment #1 : Getting engaged

A year ago we both had a few doubts about spending the rest of our lives together. But if there's one thing that we've learned from living in Korea, it's that if we can survive being together for 18 hours a day in a small apartment with no car to leave in, we can survive anything.

Since most of you have asked us this question at one point or another let us answer it on here so that everyone can see. We still have no plans for the wedding and probably won't for a little while. It's a combination of being lazy, scared, and broke. :)

But we will definitely be waiting until we got back home until we get married.

Well, what else can we say about 2006? It started out pretty crappy but ended up being one of the (if not the) best years of our lives. Here's hoping that all of you had an equally good year and that 2007 finds all of us a little healthier and a little wiser.

Cheers

Shayne and Jo

P.S - For the one or two of you who might care about such things Shayne presents his...

...Best CDs of 2006 list

5) Tragically Hip - World Container
4) Neko Case - Fox confessor brings the flood
3)Chris Cornell- Live in Sweden
2) Todd Snider - The Devil you Know
1) Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way