Good Stuff

what I just had for breakfast

Ironically, Backyards & Kitchens is the complete opposite of my 20s and 30s. Back then I backpacked, slept on beaches, stayed in discos all night, sailed, spoke in foreign tongues ... but not anymore. I went from being able to put everything I needed in a backpack to being able to fit it all into a hatchback, and now it takes a whole house and a double bay garage. My passport expired over a year ago and it hasn't even mattered. 

Several years ago, resigned to the fact that I would be staying put for a while, I came across the Nova Scotia International Student Program. When I was a-traveling, I often enjoyed the hospitality of people willing to share their culture and wanting to learn about mine, and so NSISP seemed like a good way to share what we have with young people who wanted to see the world. We signed up to be a homestay family and have since hosted 4 students.

Natsuki in 2009

Natsuki was our first, 4 years ago, and this week she came back to Canada to visit. It was great to see her, now 23, grown into a confident young woman; her English is more fluent, she has traveled to the USA and New Zealand since living here, and she graduates from university this month with a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language! 

Natsuki & Daniel in 2013

So although Backyards & Kitchens can't be about palm trees and high seas, it can be about what's good here and now. And sometimes what's good is what I just had for breakfast.