Sunday, November 19, 2017

Yasu's story: Our first senior foster dog

Hello all,

So I'm the worst and haven't posted since the new job began because I suck aka I'm so busy it hurts. To be honest, after a long day of planning, teaching, dealing with emotions via teenagers and the fact that they need me to be everything to them including all wisdom, all I want to do is come home and marathon "Friends" while I slip into slumber.

I'm on my second cup of java today, and it's Sunday and I am in the mood to write! So what's on today's agenda? Despite a million things going on in my mind and in my life, I think the most important thing to update you all on is our newest foster dog, Yasu. He's got quite the story, so here it goes:

This is Yasu's story.

So it was late September and we were in the middle of fostering a sweet dog named Hildegard (I know...) and I saw a post for an urgent foster needed over October holiday for an old dog with some needs. I was going to Bali over October holiday, but I thought Bernard could use some company as he was sticking around. I got in touch with the rescuer, but they said our house should probably be dog-free and we had Hilde, so I was a little bummed out.

Then I learned about an opportunity to go to a pet clinic and walk and cuddle shelter dogs who hadn't had much interaction and needed it. DONE! I signed up for that immediately and was on my way to walk a big, beautiful dog who had been living in a cage for a while.



When I got to the clinic, I walked in and asked the woman to lead me to the dog. She took me in the back where there were lined up cages of cats and kittens and one cage with a big, black dog in it. I asked her what his name was and she shrugged. Then, I found out his name was Yasu! I gently called his name and waited for him to budge. He was sleeping and didn't move. The woman at the clinic shouted at him, kicked the cage, and opened the door harshly. I gasped a little but wasn't really surprised. Yasu lifted his head calmly but struggled to get up. The woman grabbed a scruff of his fur and dragged him out of the small cage. I took hold of him
and nodded at her to let me put the "leash" on him and take it from here. The "leash" was a rope that she tied roughly around his neck. He didn't mind any of it!


After the woman pulled Yasu out of the room and practically shoved him out the door, I grabbed the leash and we walked slowly across the street to a park. He was really nervous and wouldn't look at me, but was clearly very excited to be outside and just wanted to explore. I patiently let him sniff around, do his business, and then we found a bench and just chilled. A nice man saw me and came over and said hi. He asked me about "my dog". I told him I was just walking him and that he was from the clinic. Yasu was getting anxious so we continued on after I thanked the man for saying I was a nice person to take up my time with helping animals. :)


As I walked this adorable old dog with greying jowls and limpy legs, I couldn't help but feel like I recognized him. Then I checked my phone and saw that the dog I inquired about fostering was, in fact, Yasu! What a small world!

I finally took Yasu back to the clinic after about 30 minutes because he was getting slower and I figured he couldn't walk very far on account of his age. We got to the clinic doors and he stopped and stood his ground. He was so strong that it was really difficult to get him inside. The woman at the clinic saw me struggling and came out. I gently pet Yasu and talked calmly to him to see if he would trust me enough to pick him up and bring him inside. The woman came over, ripped the leash out of my hands and roughly dragged Yasu back inside. He walked calmly back into his extremely small cage, sighed, and lay down. She asked me if I would take him and I said, I don't think so. She looked disappointed... so did I.

I instantly fell in love with Yasu and sent Bernard pictures.


Speaking of coincidences...

The next day, Hilde needed to go to the vet for a check up. While she was there, a woman passed by and saw her in the window and thought she was beautiful. She went inside and asked about Hilde. Within days, Hilde was adopted. Our apartment was now dog free just in time for us to start fostering Yasu! We took him a week earlier than October holiday which was nice for me because I could meet him before going to Bali.


Yasu got used to us and our apartment faster than any other foster dog we've ever had! He is easily the most tolerant and chillest dog. He's a handful though. His back legs are really bad so he can't use stairs... and we have stairs. Normally, when we foster dogs, we keep them upstairs during the day, so that's what we did with Yasu. Bad plan...

When we came home from work the first few days, Yasu would cry knowing that he had to go down the stairs to get to the door to go out for his walk. I ended up having to carry him down the stairs twice, and it took a long time for Yasu to let me approach him. He growled and cried and oh my goodness... it broke my heart. We almost gave him back because I was really nervous he was going to get aggressive.

Yasu has never been aggressive with me or Bernard. He growls at other dogs because he's a grumpy old man and I think he is trying to intimidate them. His growl sounds like a dinosaur! It makes me laugh.

Yasu has "play" bitten me a few times but because the left side of his mouth on the bottom has no teeth, it doesn't hurt. He also doesn't bite down at all. He just nibbles. It's very cute when he "plays" like a puppy. It last for about 18 seconds and then he gets tired and needs a 3 hour nap. HAH!

It took us about a week to realize that Yasu needs to stay downstairs. Now, our downstairs is his domain. He's very comfortable and doesn't have to move much. He's happy, and we are EXTREMELY happy because he sheds like a beast and our bedroom (upstairs) remains free of dog hair! Win/win!

I remember one day, Bernard messaged me saying that Yasu had climbed the stairs at some point during the day while he was at work and when Bernard got home, Yasu was at the top of the stairs so scared and crying. He had pooped. It broke my heart to see him so scared! Bernard got a leash on him and helped him down the stairs. After that, we now move the coffee table in front of the stairs to prevent Yasu from making that mistake again. We are all learning. :)

My favourite part about having Yasu so far (there are so many reasons) is when his rescuer came over to check on him after two weeks of us having him. She told us that he had been found caught in a gate crying with his legs all squished up and it took a while for him to let someone approach him and help him out because he was scared. Because he was found with his legs all squished -- we don't know how long he was like that! -- his back legs are extremely weak and he cannot physically go down stairs and it's really hard for him to even get up. Combine that with him being over ten years old (she told us he's 8.... but he's definitely older...I think that's just to help him get adopted... I mean, who wants a 10+ year old dog?), and he's in bad shape.

Well anyway, his rescuer came over and when she walked in, her jaw dropped. Yasu was resting his big head on my knee and wagging his tail. I was petting him and he was play biting my hands like a puppy. He walked over to her without much of a limp and she cooed his name. He wasn't super receptive to her, but he was mobile and happy. She had tears in her eyes and said she had never seen him like this.

I told her that his back legs were improving because he would lift his front legs up onto the couch and "sit" with me, but he couldn't lift his back legs. Nevertheless, lifting his front legs was making him have to stand up and therefore strengthening his legs. She was speechless and hugged me.
   
I felt instantly amazing. It was similar to Moses. I felt like the dog whisperer! We hadn't really done anything special at all with Yasu! We were just patient with him and tried to have him adapt to our lifestyle as fast as possible, and he did!

Fast forward almost two months and Yasu is currently cuddled up in his bed with his Christmas sweater on (a hand me down from Moses, haha) and a doggy blanket over his chilly paws. He was whining because he was cold, but now he's snoozing. He loves playing with the Kong toy we brought back from Canada for Moses who was an idiot when it came to dog toys, treats, and the like. His appetite is unbelievable! He didn't eat for about three days, and now he actually barks when I take his food dish upstairs to fill it as if to say, "Hurry Mama! I'm so hungry!!!" It takes him a while to eat because of his lack of teeth and sometimes he drops his kibble in his water dish.


(picture) Yasu: "Rooo!! Mama, look! I'm standing up! Now pet me."


He's got a bit of a skin condition (we always attract skin diseased dogs!) so he sheds like no tomorrow, but he isn't scared of the vacuum and actually lets Bernard vacuum him directly! It's quite funny!

So I absolutely love Yasu and feel very blessed to foster him. Bernard and I are both pretty aware that we will probably have him for the rest of his life. The reality is: he's old, he's big, he's not a typical light, curly haired dog that is so desired by Shanghai locals, and he has problems. I've made my peace with the fact that he might die on our watch. To be honest, I'd be happy knowing that he passed away safe and relaxed in his cozy dog bed than in an uncomfortably small and freezing cage.


I guarantee that Bernard and I are adding at least a year onto this beautiful dog's life. His personality is amazing and he makes me laugh. To be honest, I really wish he would let me pick him up and cuddle him, but he's just not into it, and I need to respect that. Fostering all these dogs with different personalities is just making me love dogs even more! They are so unique and I love them all!

If I had to pick one thing about Yasu that I wish was better it would be the bath time situation. Oh my goodness... so NO dog we've ever housed has liked having a bath. Moses would put his big gangly legs out and block himself from entering the bathroom and Hildegard would shuffle herself under the couch. Adele would book it upstairs and hide in the corner. Yasu? He does all of this AND cries. No... screams. He cries the entire time. He's SO dramatic, I can't even tell you.

He will cry and cry, step into the shower, and just cry. After the shower, he'll look at me like I just did something illegal, shiver and cry. Then, he gets tired and needs a 3 hour nap. Did I mention that this whole time, he sheds triple his normal shedding? So essentially he destroys our bathroom and living room with water and dog hair! It's brutal. ...I live for it. :)

(picture) Yasu: "Who me? No, you must be mistaken. I think Bernard left all that hair in the bathroom."










I love Yasu so much and I'm really nervous about leaving him when we come home for Christmas, but I know he'll be as excited as a year old puppy when we come back. And we will. We always do.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah the dog loving Wun

Friday, August 25, 2017

Being Comfortable: The New job!

Greetings friends!

It has been a very eventful few weeks since B and I arrived back in Shanghai. First of all, we had to get used to the sweltering heat and humidity of this amazing city. After scowling at the weather for approximately 800 hours, I finally accepted the fact that I have to WORK in humidity for at least a month. Actually, today is quite beautiful at 30 degrees! Trust me, 30 is nothing compared to 37 + humidity. Guh!

Anyway, so we buckled up for another year at SUIS. B waltzed into his familiar territory and I embarked on a scary new adventure yet again. I really am sick and tired of being NEW at my job and would LOVE to just stay put... 

Last week was orientation and it was great. During orientation, I did a lot more reflecting than I did planning (let's be honest...). There were a couple of times that I thought to myself, wow I really miss my old digs. Why? Because I knew what I was doing. I was comfortable.

But was I comfortable?

As our new principal gave us a speech about how the school was "not perfect" and we would face many "challenges", I felt really ... COMFORTABLE! I appreciated the honesty and the genuine facts that no school (no job for that matter) is perfect. There was a sense that we were all in the same boat and here to help each other, not out of obligation but just because humans are naturally helpful. There was a sense that we had choice. 

The year before, I was bombarded by boasting and swooning over a company that I didn't really care about. I care about the students and a happy work environment. I don't care about the business and the marketing and all that jazz. Sorry, I just don't. 


So this is when I realized that there are two kinds of comfort. There's being comfortable in what you are doing. You know what you are doing and it is routine so you aren't stressed out or worried. This is very comforting and keeps me calm.

Then there's being comfortable where you are, not what you are. This year I am a Grade 10 English Literature teacher. Have I done this before? No. Am I terrified... maybe...


But I am also in a place where people seem genuinely excited to have me there. My boss has already shown that he values me and my needs... hell, the man wished me a Happy Birthday on Skype ON my birthday this summer! Honestly... I love him. My English team seems really chill and real. They seem like they want me there and I just feel comfortable. It's kind of hard to explain, but I feel really comfortable. 

Please don't mistaken my spiritual and emotional comfort for PHYSICAL comfort. This heat though... the struggle is real in the 'hai.


So needless to say, after orientation I was quite excited to start my journey at my new school. 

The first week has been crazy but fine. People are stressed, but communicating it in healthy ways and I am finding common threads with people. Have I kept myself at an arm's length a little bit? Yes. I can't help it. Sometimes I am so afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing that I doubt myself hard, but then I remember that I am supposed to be here and I CAN do this. I've got people rooting for me, even if it IS just Bernard and my parents. :) That's enough. 

So the first week was quite good. I had a couple of ups and downs, but so it goes. To be honest, I think most of it was the heat. SERIOUSLY THOUGH, picture yourself running circuits in a sauna, wearing a snowsuit, times it by ten, and then you will know what it means to set foot outside of my apartment. It's so hot, that right now, I'm actually only warm in 30 degrees + hella humidity. Hell, I was a little "cool" this morning walking the dog because there was a slight warm breeze. Save me...


So I'm comfortable in a sense. Am I uncomfortable about teaching teenagers? I think the word is not uncomfortable but "green". I know I am new at this but I think challenges are refreshing and stimulating and help us grow as people. I think this challenge can make me happy in the long run. I'm looking forward to a reflective year and NOT in a way that I reflected last year. 

Already this week has brought on a couple of major challenges such as the faces of all my angsty teenaged students looking a little something like this:


However, I know that I will win them over. I'm too awesome not to. ;) 

So here's to a new year and hopefully the beginning of a budding career at my new campus. I'd love to stick around long enough to be comfortable in more than one way. 


Love you all and stay cool!

Yours,
Sarah the comfortable Wun


Thursday, May 25, 2017

Christmas in Thailand: Day 7-9 CHRISTMAS DAY!

DAY SEVEN/EIGHT:

Other than the 4 islands tour of death and beauty, we didn’t do much on Koh Lanta other than enjoy its food, views, and beach walking. We got a lot of reading done and just enjoyed relaxing. To be honest, I needed a day to recover from my nausea. Happy tears streamed down my face when I woke up on Day 7 in solid ground NOT rocking back and forth in a rain soaked boat. I’m easy to please!

So our last few days in Lanta we saw a washed up jellyfish which was kind of cool and ate more dessert at “The Kitchen” where we had to wait over an hour because the place rocks and it was so worth the wait!

The next day we hopped a tuktuk to the pier and boated over to the even smaller island of Railay Beach. SO small in fact that there are no tuktuks, taxis, bikes, or anything…. Just walking. Our hotel was on the opposite side of the beach and we walked there in about five minutes. Loved it!

We got to Railay beach around dinner time so we picked some random restaurant, which was stupid, ate there, grabbed some beach snacks and sat on the beach listening to Christmas music and watched the sunset. Perfect way to spend Christmas eve night!







DAY NINE (Christmas Day!!!):

The next morning I woke up really excited. It was Christmas!!! We had breakfast at the hotel (a decent spread considering the food options on the beach, in my opinion, weren’t the best) and made a plan to check out the caves and snorkel. I dawned my Santa hat even though it was a million degrees as per my mom’s request to get a Christmas hat picture on the beach! I was boiling but people were smiling at me and some even wished us a Merry Christmas. Believe it or not, we didn’t get a lot of smiley face wishes, but it didn’t matter. 
We were still happy to be on a beach having a very untraditional Christmas! We checked out some caves and swam through an area that had a big DANGER sign that I saw after swimming in it. I felt really badass to have swam through a place that had something called “Portugese Manowar” (I called it Man of War for months… Bernard just corrected me now) that could cause death. Don’t worry Mom and Dad! We are fine and many people were swimming there. I think the sign was outdated. No big deal!


Anyway, so we snorkeled all over the caves and around giant rocks and such. Railay had the best snorkeling of the trip that’s for sure! 

We spent hours enjoying the sea life and every now and then coming to shore for a fruit smoothie to regain sustenance before hopping back in the water to check out more coral and fish!

We decided to have a special Christmas dinner at a very popping restaurant that had a cute cocktail bar attached. My food was delicious and my drink even more so! It was a perfect day, until…

Around midnight, my tummy was like GET UP WOMAN and I had a bout of the most horrific food poisoning known to man for about 48 hours solid. It was the worst thing ever; however, I must admit, if you are going to toss your cookies for what seems like a lifetime, it’s nice to do so in your own private hut amongst nature and monkeys and beautiful sunshine. Hah! The silver lining needed to be found! What a Christmas! So I spent two days in bed reading and sleeping and heaving and throwing up. It was awful. I hallucinated hardcore too. I thought I was going to die, but luckily before our boat back to Ao Nang and later flight, I felt kind of alive enough to make it back to Shanghai! Thank goodness. What a Christmas indeed!!! Next year, I think we will lay low. I cannot handle another perfect storm food poisoning throw up Christmas… but it was a Christmas to remember that’s for sure.




Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Christmas in Thailand: Day 6 - The Perfect Storm

DAY SIX:

On December 22nd, we went on a 4 island snorkeling tour in Koh Lanta! We were really excited to get some good snorkeling in as we hadn’t snorkeled yet because the beaches we had been to so far were pretty shallow.

So how can I describe the island tour other than calling it that scene from The Perfect Storm! Sweet Jesus, I have never experienced rockier waters than this damn boat tour. Christ, I’m still nauseous from it! First of all, we were on this rickety canoe with a top, which is hardly a “boat” more than a piece of wood wobbly floating on water. There were many boat rides. After a bumpy tuktuk ride to the pier, we boarded a rickety ass boat and boated to another boat and another boat, each boat more decrepit than the last! This whole time it was windy and raining on and off. Nevertheless, B and I smiled the whole time because we were feeling lucky to be having a cool experience in Thailand. My Lord did I ever feel motion sick though. Luckily, I brought a sniffer thing (smelling salts for motion sickness) and sniffed it probably 2/3 of the way. I was groggy and spaced out of my face by the time we got to our second snorkel destination.

Our second snorkel destination was into the EMERALD cave (the part I was looking forward to the most on the tour!), which turned into a grotto! It was unbelievable and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more had I been able to see (no glasses because of the choppy waters and the fact that I was swimming) and not been so damn nauseous the whole time. Regardless of all the obstacles, it was incredible! We were given life jackets and lined up in the water to follow a guide through a cave into the grotto. It was practically pitch black and the waters were choppy as hell and I was feeling like Helen Keller in water so naturally I was pissing myself. But seriously, I was in the ocean, so I was peeing the whole time which was the only way to calm myself from the harrowing experience of swimming in the pitch black hearing echoing of people laughing and yelling and shrieking (that was me) as we moved along to the grotto. I reached in front of me and held onto what I thought was Bernard but turned out to be a Dutch chick who was very nice about me clawing at her back in fear.

As I swam through the journey to hell, I saw a teeny tiny light that grew bigger and bigger as we neared it. I paddled happily towards the light and came out into this cylindrical grotto. It was amazing and honestly really hard to describe!




^ Blog about the 4 islands tour that has pictures showing the grotto and tunnel cave (sort of)
I found a blog from a girl who went there and obviously had a waterproof camera so she took some pictures, so here you go. The pictures do not do it justice at all! It was really cool and I felt like I was on Survivor or something. The whole time though, I was swallowing and breathing myself into calmness and trying my best not to projectile vom in this beautiful place.

It was hard to see many fish because of the torrential waves and rain, but we managed to see some and stay reasonably not freezing. Finally, it was time for lunch and although I was hungry, my nauseous overpowered every feeling imaginable so I ate as much as I could knowing it would help my tummy feel better and then I just chilled on the beach where we parked for lunch until dark and ominous clouds reached us faster than expected and it bucketed down rain! People were screaming and rushing to the boat, but we took this opportunity to enjoy a rainshower swim since we were already wet anyway. A few people on the boat followed suit and we all tried to enjoy the inconvenient weather.

After trying to wait out the rain, the guide told us to get in the boat so we could head home. It took hours. HOURS! Again, this was like The Perfect Storm. The boat was practically vertical at one point. I kept my eyes closed and wrapped my soaking wet dress around my cold ass and prayed for safety. With every exhalation, I was impressed to not have vomited so I counted my lucky stars. Even Bernard said he felt really sick. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed mine and we yoga breathed our way back to dry land. I all but kissed that damn ground when we got off that frigging boat! Calling the waves torrential would be an understatement. I really cannot believe no one got sick. Maybe they did and my eyes were shut and my brain was screaming at that point so I didn’t realize. Who knows!

Anyway, we tuktuked back to the hotel with a bunch of miserable passengers. B and I were smiling and super excited to not be on the boat anymore and to have had the experience, but we were really glad to get off the bitter bus and skipped into our hotel where we told the front desk about our crazy, rainy times. She apologized for the weather which was sweet but unnecessary and wished us a happy rest of our time in Koh Lanta. Everyone in Thailand is nice. Period.

After a hot shower which was the best thing in the universe after a freezing and chilly boat ride through Jaws: Thailand edition, we had a traditional Thai dinner at a cute little place called Krua Nidnoy right on the beach. The place was super cute and placed some serious 90’s beats like Spice Girls which we chair danced to as we ate our spring rolls, curry, and hot pan (a pan that was literally on fire!)


After dinner, we met one of Bernard’s work friends and his wife for drinks and spent a beautiful evening lounging on the beach and sharing Thailand stories.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Christmas in Thailand: Day 5

DAY FIVE:

Koh Lanta was similar to Ao Nang in that we had leisurely meals and spent a lot of time walking beaches, reading, swimming, and basking in the glory of perfect views and sunshine. We did happen to arrive in Koh Lanta for some lame weather as it rained literally the whole time we were there, but this didn’t bother us and we continued to have the best time!




What is notable about this day was our dinner experience. We went to a place beside our hotel off the beach called “The Kitchen”. I think this place had some of the best food I had ever eaten in Thailand and was cheap! We ordered too much because we felt like it: spring rolls, massaman curry, pad sea ew, and banana coconut milk which tasted like Heaven if Heaven was a flavor of donut or something! OMG.


As we were finishing up dinner and waiting for dessert, I was people watching and noticed that there was a cat climbing down a tree near a table. The cat scurried down the tree and jumped on a box next to a couple at a table and scared the daylights out of them. It made me laugh but the lady was pissed so the waitress came and shewed the cat away. The same brazen cat came over to us after our table was cleared and jumped on my lap! It then tried to drink my iced tea, which made me laugh. The waitress apologized but I said not to worry and that I was extremely amused. Then the cat strutted about trying to bother other tables. I think we were the most accepting table of this annoying cat. Haha!