little. yellow. different. A weblog by Ernie Hsiung

Why yes, this IS a perfect time to stop smoking

It’s 4:43am. I am in Vancouver. I am wide awake at the moment.

I’m not 100% sure as to why I’m totally awake: it’s not depression and I don’t think it’s anxiety and I haven’t had any heavy caffeine tonight. But if I were to venture a guess, I’m probably awake because my body is in total shock since I’m hour 58 into not smoking anymore, cold-turkey.

Because working in Canada isn’t a big enough change for me, right?

I will admit that if it weren’t for reading Allen Carr’s book, I probably wouldn’t even be attempting this right now, and certainly wouldn’t be trying to do this cold-turkey. On Friday afternoon, I ran out of cigarettes; since I was getting towards the end of the book anyway, why not at least attempt it, right? It doesn’t hurt that I’m in Canada and my hosts don’t smoke and I don’t have a car, so I have no way to buy cigarettes even if I wanted to.

As for the book itself: I might expand on this more later, but while it might be an effective book, you’re not reading it because it’s well-written. If I see the phrase “villainous weed” to describe tobacco one more time, I’m going to gouge my eyes out with a dull spoon. (Although now that I think about it, it’s probably on purpose.)

Some other things that have happened in Canada thus far:

• I learned that if you come to Canada on business, they automatically send you to the Immigration office where you wait two hours working with a customs agent trying to figure whether a work-visa is required for foreign consultants. While waiting in line, I noticed a lot of pretty Korean girls, some of whom just seemed to “show up” without a job or a place to live. Each time, a Korean lady has to stand by the stern customs agent and gently tell them that no, you can’t stay; you were here eleven months last time on ‘vacation,’ you can’t do it again, you must go home. I then realize that I’m stuck in someones Korean Soap Opera, and I’m all like, “Damn. That’s pretty sweet.”
• Yesterday at the mall we stumbled across the Vancouver leg of the Canadian Idol auditions. (Imagine American Idol auditions, except with less minorities.) We were walking around downstairs, cup of Tim Horton’s coffee in hand, where one of the Production Assistants asked where I could get a cup of coffee. I answered, “The Tim Hortons is in the food court upstairs, eh?” and never had I felt more Canadian until that very moment.

Congratulations, man. Keep it up. I quit 3 years ago and the best advice I can give is this: tell everyone you know that you are quitting. Your parents, friends, co-workers, aunts, everyone. The more people that know, the more of a disappointment it would be to them to find out you started up again. The guilt will keep you honest.

See - if somebody ever said that to me, I would say “Dude, that ‘eh’ was totally misplaced. You’re obviously not Canadian.”

Right? I can’t believe you said ‘eh?’ you hoser.

‘Eh’ is actually Maritimes … you’re on the wrong coast.

While I’d encourage your smoke-quitting activities, I’d like to note that Vancouver has an excellent public transportation system.

When I visited Vancouver, I’d heard Canadian customs was tough, especially on lone male travellers, so I promised myself that if I was strip-searched, I was going to enjoy it. Alas, my customs agent was female. Fortunately, I wasn’t strip-searched (although I was patted down).

That’s so cool. Glad to hear that you’re trying to quit. At least you’re making the effort. If I hear one more time, “Nobody likes a quitter” I’m gonna shove my foot so far up where the sun don’t shine that they’ll be tasting my toe polish. Lamest excuses for the laziest people. So when can we expect to see pics? You’re about the closest I’m ever going to get to Canada.

congrats on your first 58 hours. Go for it. I did a few years ago and I’m a lot happier.

and “eh” is the other coast, but you can at least pretend

Congrats! I’m on day 35. I’m treating it like AA. I’ve now accepted that a day is never going to pass in which I don’t, at least one time, want a cigarette so bad I could eat it.

And I totally disagree with you, mark; mostly because the other times I’ve tried to quit the extra pressure just made me want to smoke *more*. This time I didn’t tell anyone until I had gone a week already. So… I guess you kinda blew that, Ernie.

they totally say eh in vancouver. i can almost slip it into appropriate places in my sentences, after 3.5 years here.

& i’m sure i’m scaring you by now, ernie, since i tried to invite you for coffee when you had a vacation here six months or so ago, but I WAS AT METROTOWN YESTERDAY.

one of these days i really will bump into you. & have absolutely nothing to say.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Canadians *don’t* say eh (and it certainly isn’t a regional thing, though some regions may say it MORE than others, especially rural areas), but it tends to be used more when making observational statements, not when answering questions.

Examples:
- It’s pretty cold out there, eh?
- We drank a hell of a lot of Molson Canadian last night, eh?
- There sure isn’t much cod left in the Grand Banks, eh?

Oh, and I forgot to mention - congrats on trying to quit! It’s pretty tough, eh?

I actually quit cold turkey, after half-hearted attempts at “cutting down” (yeah right), less than a month into a move from Virginia to New Hampshire. In March. While simultaneously starting 2 new jobs, both of which were fairly degrading retail/service jobs. The key was making sure I didn’t start new bad habits - i.e., going out for smoke breaks on my new job(s). And it totally worked, amazingly. It’s been almost 3 years now, and if I can quit - with my mega-addicitive personality - you can too, Ernie. Yay quitting! (Also: yay your new job/life!)

I’m going to have to pump you on the visa information. There’s a 50/50 chance the Husband and I will be moving to Canada this year, depending on what happens in April…he’ll have a job, I’ll have to get one.

And Tim Horton’s is Canadian Crack. They have Tim Horton’s in the Home Depot. They have them in the Wendy’s. I swear, they could sneak one in to the Starbucks. And it isn’t even that good (I have this on solid authority from my Canadian Coffee snob friend who won’t have Tim Horton’s in his house, but HAS to have his cup on the way to work each morning.)

Ernie, wish you the best for the cold turkey. I never smoked so cannot imagine what quitting must be like. I have thought about starting to help lose weight, but my doctor said that might not be the best way to approach it . . .

Starting a new job and possibly moving is a rough time to consider another major change, so the best to you. Keep us in the loop!

Have you eaten at a “White Spot” yet? Nothing says “I’ve been to Vancouver” than having eaten at a “White Spot”.

I was at Metrotown on Sat too. It took me a while to figure it out- I was wondering why the hell all these teenagers were wandering around, playing guitar in the mall

Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking. I wish you all the best.

Vancouver is a beautiful city. It also has pretty strict anti-smoking bylaws that will hopefully help you quit smoking altogether.

1. I’ve lived in Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver, and I hardly know anyone who says “eh.”

2. On what planet is the Vancouver public transit sytsem “excellent”? It’s really not excellent if you’re not traveling on the SkyTrain, aka between downtown and Burnaby. If you’re south of False Creek, it’s inconsistent and crowded.

3. FYI Tim Horton’s is owned by the same company as Wendy’s, which is why they’re always in the same place.

Welcome to Canada though!

Just wait until you try to get a driver’s license and realize that it is a 3 year process (even for grown adults). Say goodbye to evening driving! (or be prepared to use your CA driver’s license)

I also read Allen Carr’s book and stopped about five weeks ago. My biggest takeaway is that you undo the notion that quitting smoking is scary and frightful and that you will gain a ton of weight and turn into an insane raving asshole (which is what I did the last time). But since reading the book it’s all been quite painless and free of drama. I still get a mild craving on occasion but it passes. I’ve gained like 4 pounds, big deal.

Oh and next time you go to Canada never ever ever utter the word “work” in any context to Immigration Canada, who kept me in Winnipeg airport for a few hours explaining in 27 different ways, only one successful, why I was there. In subsequent visits I usually claimed to be going for meetings or to do some training and went right through.

Link: CBC.CA
“Richmond woman faces bawdy house charges”

This is why young Korean women without school ties or family in Vancouver/Canada are given so much hassle at the airport.
Sexual exploitation is a serious yet difficult to prosecute crime here in Canada.
Most women won’t testify against their captors/madames.