About
Hi. My name is Steve.
Originally from the Eastern Townships of Quebec, I grew up in a 90% French environment in a totally English family with a name more French than that of most Quebecois. After completing a degree in chemistry and mathematics, I embarked on a career of teaching. That lasted for all of five years before I threw in the towel, went back to school and studied ceramics for a couple of years and proceeded to operate my own pottery studio for seven or eight years.
Reality Strikes
When my kids came along, life took another turn. Suddenly a monthly paycheck, healthcare, retirement pension, and a variety of other perks looked pretty good! Back to the classroom I went…for another 25 years or so. Apart from a year of exchange teaching in Scotland, my lengthy career was spent in Canada.
You must be really desperate to want to move to China!
Said my eighty-something-year-old mother when I accepted a job on the other side of the world. Well, not really desperate but I needed a change. Two or three decades in a town of five thousand people was a little bit too long, even for me. Add on an ex-wife, a couple of ex-girlfriends, and a new wife, and the town got even smaller. So when I got that phone call in the middle of winter asking if I wanted a job teaching science in the middle of China in a small village of ten million…hell, yeah! It took us three weeks to sell most of our stuff, give away the rest, pack up four suitcases, and head to the other side of the world.
China Ain’t So Bad!
In fact, we fell in love with the place; the country, the people, and the food. But six years was enough. Being able to look at the sun all day is probably not a good thing! During our time there, we managed to travel through a lot of the country and other places throughout Southeast Asia. Life was good! When it came time to retire, we decided to stay in that part of the world and moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Fast Forward to 2016
We lived in Thailand for three years. We loved the food, we loved the weather (ok, it got damn hot sometimes), we loved the people. We didn’t like the direction the new “government” was heading, we didn’t like the political unrest simmering in the background, and we really didn’t like the fact that you can never obtain any kind of permanent residency. Even if you own a million dollar property, even if you own a million dollar business. It is next to impossible.
On To Peru
After doing a little research, we decided on Peru. We wanted a place that was not too hot, not too cold, lots of good food, inexpensive, and within an hour or two from the coast. We also were looking for a more authentic experience that was not inundated with other expats…yet. Arequipa seemed like a good fit! And so far, so good.
A Little Rambling
Traveling, biking (as in motorcycles), blogging and virtual worlds are my three obsessions in life. Now I will have time to do them all…any time, any day!
Over 60 but 18 at heart, I love riding anything with two wheels that has an engine. We have crisscrossed North America several times on our Kawasaki Nomad 1500cc cruiser and navigated the traffic of China on our CJ750 and numerous scooters and trikes. We have already started to explore Thailand’s backroads with our new Honda PCX150. I figure if I can drive in China, I can drive anywhere!
This blog chronicles some of our past adventures, our years in China and Thailand, and our search for a new future in Peru and countries beyond.
Can I do anything else other than teach?
Well, actually, yeah… Over the years I have had many websites and blogs. Although not formally trained in any of it, I have learned my way around HTML and WordPress. I can’t do much from scratch but give me a theme or two, and I can put it all together. Add RSS feeds, set up a simple store, find and install necessary plugins, etc. If anyone needs help doing this kind of stuff, give me a shout. I won’t charge much but don’t expect a custom-designed site made from my own code either!
I am also currently writing for International Living Magazine, both the American and Australian editions. You will also find my latest stuff on their website and Facebook page.
Spammers Beware
Spam is automatically deleted so don’t even bother! Since I started this site, over 16,000 spam comments have been removed automatically. Why anyone even still tries to do this is beyond me! All comments from new subscribers will not appear until they are approved so don’t be surprised if you don’t see your comment right away.
Photographs
I have a lot of photos on this site. They are not always going to be incredible quality because I have resized them, and decreased the resolution, to decrease the load time of the pages. I am also taking more and more photos with my iPhone. It’s a lot easier than tramping around with my large SLR camera. I doubt most people would notice the difference, especially if they are viewed on something other than a laptop or desktop. If you like a photo you see and would like a decent copy for other purposes, let me know and I will try to find the original. I don’t really care what you use or how you use it, as long as this site is credited.
Interested In Linking To This Site?
Link http://thaicanuck.com to your site, in the blog roll or some other way.
Send me an email at slepoidevin@gmail.com requesting to link up. I will personally check it out.
If appropriate, it will be done quickly. You site will be added to our blogroll, and my readers will be encouraged to visit your site if I like it. No porn, super weird sites, sites that get me in trouble, sites that are only advertisements or stupid sites. If it works out, traffic will grow for the both of us.
REPRINTING ARTICLES on this site on your blog, including pictures, is always permitted and allowed for any legit use on another site, as long as credit is made to this website as the source (http://thaicanuck.com) and a link is made to this site for anything used. If you use our material without crediting this site as the originator, that is considered theft. Also, no changes should be made to our writing when reprinting without our permission.
Cheers,
Steve LePoidevin
We seem to have similar experiences, backgrounds, interests and personal histories. Retired and 63, and returning to Chiang Mai Nov.2014 to further explore potential long term stay. Would love to sit down over a coffee and chat a bit. There are at least 20 special spots in and around CM that come to mind. All somewhat off the “beaten track”. Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by! Give me a shout when you are in town and we can meet up for a coffee.
Steve; Thank you so much for your publication of Chiang Mai Celadon. I have been visiting this place now for 5 years and LOVE it. It was through your review of my favorite celadon house that I found your review of Takrai and had to go last year. NO ONe seemed to know where it was or how to get there until I came across a great travel person at Ginnys cafe in the old town. They arranged a taxi for us for the day. What a place. I think we may have come across a major future tourist site; but we have seen it in its primary stage. Thank you so much again for your site. I return to Chiang Mai annually if not twice a year. It truelly is a wonderful land and the people are the best. Again thank you and keep writing Julie Clarke
Thanks for your kind words. That really is quite a place, isn’t it? We have seen so many interesting sites out in the country but I need to start taking better notes and GPS readings so I can tell others where they are located!
We recently visited The Giant coffee shop and guest house located on top of one of the nearby mountains. Another great place to visit if you haven’t already. It is located in a giant tree on the edge of the mountain overlooking incredible scenery.
So then, you are on the coast now?
Please know and understand…..
You remember FUKUSHIMA, 201 1?
Just consider 6 + years of non-stop, HIGH-toxicity (MOX fuel) radiation from 4 Reactors gone China Syndrome.
I would not stick a toe into the Pacific, let alone swim in the soup.
Seafood is toxic to inedible
Radiation cancers….. Th eilluminati’s soft-kill plan for DE-pop.
Can we keep in touch? I cannot escape CA yet
Hi, Steve,
I’ve read some of your posts and I have to say that you’ve got a truly interesting life.
My husband and I are also teachers currently living in Bangkok. We’re now applying to a Canadian school for the next year and they recommended two campuses to us: one in Shanghai and one in Wuhan. Since you have a lot of experience in this area could you give us some tips on which one to choose?
By the way we’ve already visited Chiang Mai and I’m not surprised that you chose it for your retirement. Is beautiful and a nice place to live.
Veronica Garbinska
Hi! After three years in Thailand, we moved to Peru where we are now living. It’s a long story. Anyway, Shanghai and Wuhan are two totally different cities. Shanghai is much more international with many more expats, clubs, international restaurants, etc than Wuhan. Wuhan is the real China! We lived there for six years and enjoyed it a lot; others left after one year or less! I have friends who have worked in Shanghai for years and think it is the best place in China and others are still in Wuhan and loving it. It all depends what you are looking for.
If you want the real Chinese experience, Wuhan is the place to go. If you want access to lots of international restaurants and tons of other expats, some degree of sophistication, then Shanghai would be a good place for you. Wuhan is “down and dirty” China but we loved it! The food is fantastic but super spicy…it puts Thailand to shame when it comes to hot peppers. lol Wuhan has about 50 universities so you do run into other expats who are either teaching or attending classes. It is the technology and education center of China. I taught at the Wuhan Maple Leaf International School campus and we always thought ours was the best! It was probably the best six years of my teaching career.
We always enjoyed visiting Shanghai but I think if I was doing it over again, I would choose wild and crazy Wuhan again! It’s just a whole different world. But be ready to be flexible, accepting and roll with the punches. It’s a sensory overload on a daily basis! lol
Hi Steve. It’s interesting reading about your thoughts on living abroad.. I have a close friend that’s recently purchased a condo in Patong. He asked me to look into finding a good used newer-scooter. Would you have any tips on sourcing a reliable yamaha vendor or private seller? Thanks. Rod & Gary
Hi Rod,
We haven’t lived in Thailand for over two years now so I am a little out of touch with purchasing scooters. We bought ours new from the dealer in Chiangmai but I know they also had good used ones for sale. Of course, you’re probably going to pay more from a dealer than if you can find something privately. I know that some of the areas have their own Facebook classifieds so you could check to see if there is anything for Patong. Thaivisa.com has a good classifieds section as well.