Patrick Lam

Thoughts and travels of Patrick Lam

July: last month of classes for Spring, plus some trips

5 weekends, 5 trips; now in Waterloo to close out the term (and do lots of marking). July less brutal than June.

June: better late than never; so much work.

More normal life. Lots of teaching, some paper writing, not much recreation except for an overnight car camping trip.

Trip report: 2022 judo Open Nationals

Good showing in seniors (2 wins) and veterans (3rd) at Canadian Open Nationals.

May: first month of Spring term, so much teaching, focus on judo

Mostly teaching. I got off the plane from New Zealand, took the taxi back to Waterloo, got up early the next morning, and went to an OAC event at Rattlesnake Point. Back to normal life.

plam's travel philosophy

[Written March 2020. But it hasn’t been the best time to travel, so I’ve been waiting for a better moment. Now’s still not ideal, but maybe better.]

SE student Rachel asked me for travel suggestions. That’s a pretty broad topic; digging deeper, I learned that the question was about cultural experiences and going beyond sightseeing on family vacations. I’ll write about some of my best travel experiences so far. There is going to have to be flexing. Otherwise the answer would be generic and boring.


Three full days in Yellowknife

Checking off another territory from my Canada list; brief visit to Yellowknife (NWT) and successful aurora spotting.

April: between Winter and Spring; more travels

End of term. Still avoiding COVID. Getting out of Waterloo while there is no teaching: travels to Yellowknife and New Zealand.

March: first and last full month of teaching in Winter 2022, and some trips

People are pretending it’s back to normal, but the sixth wave has started in Quebec.

24 Hours in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is surprisingly scenic. About giant eggs and porcupines (in Alberta), another Blue Mountain, aurora borealis, and just one ditch.

February: with short escapes to Quebec

Back to normal? Well, maybe, except that there are still a lot of cases out there.