[Original title:] There are no intellectuals in Quebec; there is no stand up comedy scene in Montreal; there is no filmmaking opportunity in Canada.
There are no intellectuals in Quebec.
There is no stand up comedy scene in Montreal.
There is no filmmaking opportunity in Canada.
There are no universities in Canada where I could study cinematography, baking, Chinese, OR ANYTHING ELSE. (It's a long list.)
I am now 44. I've done twenty years of research into SO MANY THINGS.
I have absolutely nothing positive to show for it: we've only confirmed (again and again) what is impossible.
[And, I will add, I live by this very simple religious principle: everything impossible is forbidden.]
Just to get between our apartment and the nearest bakery (which is quite close by!) we walk past/over about 15 drug addicts —very often they are smoking methamphetamine, crack cocaine and/or fentanyl out of a glass pipe while we walk past them (openly). To get to the nearest bank increases the number of drug addicts, we walk past even though we plan our route (street by street) to avoid them. THIS IS NOW LEGAL IN B.C.
There was a time when Melissa wanted to start playing basketball (ALONE: WE HAVE NO FRIENDS IN CANADA) but I told her this was impossible because she wouldn't be able to walk to the park (and back) without me as a bodyguard —and there are drug addicts in the park, also, where she would in theory be using the basketball.
I do not have a single friend in Victoria. I do not have a single friend in Vancouver. I do not have a single friend in Montreal. I do not have a single friend anywhere in Canada (AFTER ALL THESE YEARS AS A PUBLIC FIGURE). Neither Melissa nor I talk with a single person in all of Canada aside from you, Gail.
E.M.
—————
You have a good understanding of your situation... It very limiting. The logical conclusion is that you need to move.
Where you move represents a new beginning
If it is less than perfect, It would be an improvement over where you are now.
I love you as your mother
I can support your education
And some basic living expenses
Only you two can choose your destination and only you two can make friends
On the education side, you are both great a self-learning ---
Are there learning programmes at great universities that can provide certificates if not degrees?
Would the various "nomad visas" in countries like Spain work for you?? You seem to have friends there to build on?
You often talked about returning to Taiwan -- what has changed your mind about that?
It is a good time for you to make choices that get you out of the situation you are in... and take you toward some of your goals which I understood to be marriage and a child.
Taking steps -- even if halting and imperfect -- can take you in a positive direction.
You are both talented and you have love
I understand your disappointments -- but I hope that your strength of character and love will take you toward a happier life... There was a time about a year ago when you were more hopeful. I think that staying in Victoria has been bad for you -- I think it is time to make a move that can bring positive change even if you cannot see it now.
Love - gail
—————
Gail,
You're asking the right questions.
(1) "Would the various "nomad visas" in countries like Spain work for you??" The problem with Spain is that we cannot earn money there: moving to Spain basically means "retirement", and we will never be "normal people" there. Whether you call that being a nomad or a retired person makes no difference, really: different icing on the same cake.
There are no other options for Spain: zero.
We can take language classes there (i.e., learning Spanish) but that would really just be a transition to living somewhere else that the Spanish language is spoken (Cuba?).
In the past, when we thought California and Florida were options, there could have been strategic significance to being in Spain for six months (to learn to speak Spanish and then return to the United States). Now, nothing in the U.S.A. is an option anymore, so Spain and Spanish have disappeared from consideration.
(1.5) Greece is different: we could eventually become citizens in Greece, and we could work and earn money in Greece (legally) if we buy a house there and go through a series of stages. I am just mentioning this to say, "Not every country in Europe plays by the same rules as Spain". Each country has its own rules. We do not know of a single positive example or opportunity anywhere.
(2) "Where you move represents a new beginning"
Correct.
(3) "Are there learning programmes at great universities that can provide certificates if not degrees?"
I have searched for any opportunity for twenty years: I have not found a single one under any heading, anywhere in the world.
I have never said to you, "Gail, there's this great university program, but I can't go there for some logistical reason" —I have been saying to you again and again, "there is absolutely nothing".
And I do not know if I can even type out a list of the options I have investigated (it has included so many different subjects, many dozens, even just within the last four years) but the areas I've discussed most recently are (a) "Agenting" (being a talent agent), (b) cinematography / filmmaking, (c) Chinese as a language, (d) Latin (Ancient Latin) as a language.
None of these four would be "my first choice". I never even wanted to study Chinese: I was forced to do so because of the impossibility of studying other things (including Cree and Ojibwe!) that I actually did study (in some cases for many years, e.g., the overlapping languages (and history and politics) of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma and Pali —a huge amount of work that very few people alive can imagine).
Let me just repeat your question: "Are there learning programmes at great universities that can provide certificates if not degrees?"
You've talked to us for so many hours about this over so many years: you should already know the answer.
No, Gail, we haven't even found a program in baking bread (!) in all these years, let alone a single program related to something I actually want to do / something I'm actually talented and experienced in.
There is nowhere in the world that we can even study Chinese. That is about as mainstream a subject as I could possibly name (with over one billion speakers). Keep in mind that —until recently— Melissa had assumed we had the option of living in the U.S.A., and she looked at universities across the United States for all these things (Chinese, Cinematography, etc. etc.).
(4) Re: "You often talked about returning to Taiwan -- what has changed your mind about that?"
I sent you an email about this recently: THE ONLY OPTION that exists in Taiwan is taking short term language courses (as a holiday). We can do that, and we could do that in Kunming, also, if you would pay for it, but all of our belongings would remain here (in this apartment) and we'd return to the same situation afterward, but better able to speak Chinese. Both Taiwan and Communist China offer this kind of short term language education program, but it is a vacation, nothing more. And we would have zero positive options thereafter: we'd be facing the same crisis again after the course is over that we're facing now.
(5) "…but I hope that your strength of character and love will take you toward a happier life..."
I DO NOT HAVE ANY STRENGTH OF CHARACTER LEFT.
I AM NOW 44 YEARS OLD: I HAVE ALREADY DONE EVERYTHING I CAN DO.
I NEED HELP. I HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO GIVE.
(6) "There was a time about a year ago when you were more hopeful."
That was when we assumed we could live in the United States of America once the paperwork was completed: that assumption turned out to be false. The whole of the U.S.A. is no longer an option for us.
I was more hopeful when I assumed Israel was an option for us, even though Israel is hell on earth (it nevertheless has more intellectuals than Canada!).
E.M.
