Day 1: Entered Canada

Translated by Ian Haight and Hwajin Kang (original: http://blog.naver.com/mahabira6061/70135000180) 

This was taken just after I passed through immigration customs. Because I had my bicycle equipment in my carry-bag, every time I went through security I had to take my bike out of the bag out and then after the check put it back in. In Beijing, particularly, after making me open the bag, they informed me they owned no tape to reseal the bag. If I had known ahead of time, I would have taken tape from Incheon. After the initial check, the Chinese customs official put a “security check” sticker on my body and I forgot to take it off until I got on the flight. People must have thought of me as a dangerous monk. I hope I did not scare anyone. ^^;; Anyhow, because this precious bag was heavy, I had to drag it around later. I had to force myself to smile because I was nervous and lost in a foreign country. Fortunately, I succeeded in entering Canada!

It seems like cherry blossoms are already falling. Don’t confuse yourself because of the photo with spring flowers. It is extremely cold. I have seen no sun for three days. We had rain this evening and it was seriously windy at night. The house you see on the right side of this picture is the place I am staying at. It has a double room for me. It cost $49 a night, but since people hardly come in March, I got a discount. So, I paid $39 a night. I was planning on staying only for four days, but due to the unexpected cold, I decided to stay for a week. Luckily, I received a discount for all seven days. In addition, the house’s airport pick-up fee of $20 was waived, so they picked me up for free.