20250628

Vancouver

I landed in Vancouver where I met up with family, probably the most concentrated amount of my relatives since I went to a family reunion in Saskatchewan maybe in the early 1990s. Though this time it included people from my dad's side and mom's side.

We stayed on Granville Island which seemed like a pretty good place to stay, at least since I didn't know how much the hotel cost. Great location, great scenery, lots of places to go for food and drink, and there was a jazz festival happening. The one time we showed up at a jazz event, it featured a Korean-led band.

I decided not to post too many family photos on this site, even though I've done so in the past, mainly because of my concerns about privacy and rights in the future, specifically related to younger relatives.

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Cruise Ship

With objections loudly stated, I ended up agreeing to go on a cruise to Alaska. My parents had planned this for their 50th wedding anniversary well before the Americans decided they wanted to see if they could speedrun 1930s Germany.

I had concerns about whether I could enter American soil, but for the most part I didn't have to worry about any problems. We went through customs in Vancouver, and at no point did they try to inspect my devices, look at my social media, or bring up what I do for work. I had pointed out to family that my concern wasn't just fear that something could happen to me, but revulsion at entering this country. The fact that they didn't screen out me, a white guy, did not alleviate my apprehensions.

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Sitka

Our first landfall in Alaska was Sitka, the largest city in the US by total area. I started off this journey trying to find out where all my relatives had disappeared to. In the process, I ruled out them lagging behind me and ended up going into town.

The weather was preteens (Celsius) and with light rain. I found a tent where they were serving drinks, and took shelter inside. There I discovered Tiger Blood, a sour beer from 49th State that was pretty excellent. I also had a pretty great burger at a restaurant, and saw another restaurant that jammed together pretty well every Asian cuisine, which I was later recommended not to try.

After I caught the bus back to the ferry dock, I ran into one of my cousins, and joined them for drinks before returning to the ship.

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Ship

Just a few photos from on board the ship after Sitka. This was Canada Day, which we didn't particularly celebrate.

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Juneau

Our next port of call was Juneau, which was probably the most photogenic of all the places we visited, at least from the ship. Sitka and Juneau are both in a rainforest, so they had a lot of rain. Not by my standards in Korea at least.

I made landfall with my parents, but they quickly lost interest in me when I stopped at a kiosk to shop for hot sauces. I was later able to run into a cousin and help her reunite with her family. They were planning to go on another paid tour, so we parted ways and I spent some time drinking in the town's bars on my own.

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Aboard

Juneau was pretty attractive from the ship, especially as we left port. I also had a fun time watching crows landing on the ship and stealing abandoned food.

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Asea

Some unidentified problem happened, which meant that the ship skipped one site, the "Inside Passage." My main goals were to find good drinks on land and to bond with family, so the loss didn't concern me.

This gallery covers some impromptu whale-watching, and also my discovery of the rotating bar, which became our favourite bar on the last few days of the trip. It may also explain why I was hit so hard by Mal de Debarquement Syndrome afterward.

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Ketchikan

We landed at Ketchikan on 7.4, which was an awkward time to be in a country that was rapidly devolving. Wherever I went, before saying I was a foreigner, despite being from land conveniently between this place and the US mainland, the locals would apologise profusely to me for how their government was mistreating my country.

There were signs of American nationalism here and there, but for the most part it wasn't people we interacted with.

I was able to be far away from the 7.4 parade, and ran into my cousins at a decent bar that was vacated due to people going over to that.

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Aboard

Back aboard the ship, I went up to the top decks to get some pictures of how Ketchikan looks from up here.

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Last Leg

After Ketchikan, we headed for Vancouver. There was some very nice scenery along the strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland, and I have to admit I'd be very interested to visit this area in the future.

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Back to Korea

I had decided to catch the first flight back after the cruise, which I later realised was a mistake. I should have taken a flight the next day, so that I could disembark properly with my family, spend one last night in Vancouver, and then return to Korea.

But I had a lot of serious responsibilities waiting for me back in Korea, so thinking about it now, I made the right choice by hurrying back.