Great thread, great stories….Life!

As for me, it started in Montreal, Canada, in '67. First kid of 3, a skinny lad who just couldn't stop running! Into sports, all kinds. My favorites were skiing, football, tennis and cycling. My folks put me on a pair of skis at the age of 2… and moved on to be an racer and coach/instructor for 17 years. Also was recruited to play high school football, but my parents made me choose between skiing and football….

Was too smart for school (yeah right!) so didn't study much in high school… still managed to get decent grades. Discovered music in junior high. Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Rush, … you get the feel. Pre-college years were a blast! I "discovered" the party scene! Alcohol and other stuff, girls, not many hours of sleep! I was the "don't do like your older brother PLEASE" kind of example to my younger brother and sister. Still my parents trusted that I wouldn't do something completely stupid. Well, I did stupid things but never anything BAD. I respect others just as I expect respect from others. I am a friendly person, and I get even friendlier when I am under the influence of… whatever. Rave anyone?

College was great and finished way too fast! That's why I stayed a bit… Major and master in Environmental Biology, got a great job, a year later: recession. 180 turn, gave a shot to Architecture (my father's dream for me) stayed 3 years and bailed. I wanted to design houses for real people, but only jobs available were designing stairs for big firms or sell elevators. Did a year of computer studies, then decided to really start working, besides my ski instructor job.

A succession of different jobs from customer service and manager of outdoor stores like a small version of REI to selling billboards and other ad related stuff. That last one, I hated it. Ads people always want it for yesterday, and when something is wrong, it's never their fault…

Had a buddy who was living and working in Taiwan. Sent me an email every week for about a year for me to move to Taiwan! Got fed up of the ads scene and quit, a couple of weeks later, I was boarding a plane with a small backpack thinking of a nice 1 to 3 months long vacation / letting steam off and of new discoveries in an Asian world.

That was 9 years ago….

My backpack got too small to hold a house, a car, a nice America '06, surfboards, and lately, a drum set! Amazing how it turned out.

Also fell in love with a wonderful taiwanese girl and been married for 6 years this month.

There are many reasons for me to stick around this place. Even though my family is 25 flying hours away, on the other side of the planet, Taiwan is a wonderful place to live. The people are amazingly friendly, life is cheap, 6% income tax is really nice, and I live in a place stuck between ocean and mountains. Got the best of both! I am in the countryside, so clean air, no traffic, and lots of space to ride the bike. Freedom.

On the bad, Xmas is a hard time of the year for me... missing family and friends a lot. And no snow. At least I can always go back to visit them. I am now a visitor when I go to Canada, I enjoy all the good stuff while on vacation, and leave the not so good (shoveling the snow at 6am, traffic jams, feet in the "slush", ...) to get back to my home and life now In Taiwan.

We now have our own school, great countryside students, I traded my ski boots and jacket for a pair of swim shorts and a surfboard, recently got a set of drums and I have been banging on them more than riding the America… I guess she feels a little lonely these days!

All the best to you and enjoy every moments of your life. You never know where your feet will take you until you get up and start walking! I am glad I did… and … Keep Walking! (oh, I think that one is taken already!)

My new venture: http://www.voglosounds.com