A wonderful family Christmas...

Today is boxing day.  That is the name we give the day after Christmas because we have so many gift boxes left over from Christmas Day.  As with most holidays, the preparations take up a lot more time than the celebrations.

So much time shopping, decorating, wrapping, visiting.  It's a wonderful time of year for giving and eating lots of treats.  Most of the decorations on our tree are home made.  Some of the decorations were made by our kids when they were younger.  I like to add new ones every year but I think our tree is finally full!

Happy birthday Stephen

Two weeks before Christmas is my husband's birthday.  That is an added celebration for our family.  This year the family was quite amused when I lit the special candles that I brought back from China (thank you Anna for buying it for me).  His favourite cake is chocolate so I made a four layer double chocolate fudge cake for him!

There were many family dinners involving members of our family.  Stephen and I get the most enjoyment watching the kids open their gifts.  Now they are adults and they share their celebrations between our home and their respective boy/girlfriends.

Eldest daughter Kendra

Son Sean & girlfriend Leighann

Daughter Victoria & boyfriend Rob

Eldest son Garrett & girlfriend Cameron

Missing from our Christmas dinner was son Garrett.  He and his girlfriend came earlier in the week from Ottawa because of his work schedule.  We had a special dinner while he was here.

In this picture on the left, we were all tired out after the dinner and Stephen and I took some time to relax.

The next day we were invited to my brother's home for a party of friends and more family members.  There were a number of musicians playing instruments and singing.  My niece plays violin and she let me try it out.  I wasn't very successful at playing any tunes but it was fun trying.  Notice my Chinese jacket?  :-)

My tea corner

Well thank you all for your holiday greetings.  It is wonderful to hear from you.  I hope you are enjoying your shutdown with your family and friends also.  I'm sure January will be very challenging with MRT start up coming on board.  Good luck!  New Years is just around the corner...

Take care,

Jo-Anne

Found some more pics...

Well here it is, Christmas eve and I finally got my computer set up and although we are still in the midst of Christmas celebrations, the shopping is done, the family visits are winding down (although many to come) and I have a moment to write a post.

Gang Wang

I found some more pics and I thought I'd post.  It makes me happy to look back on these photos - you're all on the other side of the globe but you are close to my heart.  I can't help but feel a little sad inside at the same time.

Taking a break.

I remember vividly our volleyball tournament that resulted in our Pulandian team winning the finals.  We had a great team and more importantly, I got to meet people that I would not have met if I hadn't joined the team.  Now bringing our "trophy" (a large cooking pot) home was difficult to manage in my luggage - pretty heavy and I was worried about getting through the x-ray at customs.  But all went fine and I've used it a couple of times already.  Everytime I cook a big family dinner I will be using that pot and it will remind me of that day.

Another sweet memory is our dinner at the BBQ (barbeque).  The food was delicious - the company was wonderful and James - you worked so hard to get that beautiful statue.  I think you were as excited as me!  I love the "hug" picture above and send my hugs to all of you.  I hope all is well with you and thank you for the lovely e-mails and Christmas wishes that I have received from many of you.

xo

Take care!

Still missing you guys....

Reid Tolley

Well I am still am so busy that I haven't felt retired yet. Christmas is getting so close and yesterday was the first day I got to go shopping with my sister-in-law. I have 2 sister-in-laws and both are named Judy. Stephen and I are still busy painting and putting the finishing touches to our house. We will be finished well before Christmas... Then we will be buying all the traditional foods for Christmas dinner.... yummy.

I had to post a picture of Reid because he is the person who originally got in touch with me last year and asked me to consider the possibility of coming to China.  I was so excited at the prospect but I had no idea how fulfilling it would be because of the friends I would make.

Victoria & Richard

James

Of course it was Richard who would make the offer and the HR team was my first group of "friends".

I also met some beautiful children...

I still think about you all every day and wonder how things are going.  Take care and I will talk to you soon....

Love Jo

Home safely..

Hello my friends. I'm sorry to have taken so long to get in contact. I have a little bit of jet lag and my husband and I have been so busy catching up with family.

The trip home was uneventful (thank goodness). Left Beijing at 6:20 pm Saturday night (China time) and arrived at 6:35 pm Saturday night (Canada time). Good food on the plane and lots of movies to watch.

My husband was waiting at the airport for me when I arrived before you know it, we were home in two hours. I only had four hours sleep on the plane, but I still couldn't sleep when I got home... too much excitement I guess.

Again I want to thank you for such a wonderful experience. I want to dedicate this blog post to you... Here are some pictures that will always keep you close to me. So smile and say cheese (or chesa)! :-) Take care and I hope all is well.

Jo-Anne

Kingston Ontario

By Canadian standards, Kingston is pretty old - older than Canada itself. By China standards, it's a baby.

Of course the land belonged to the natives, but Europeans established a fur trading post here in 1673. Kingston served as the capital of the "Province of Canada" from 1841 to 1844 but it was considered too close to the United States so the capital was moved (eventually to Ottawa, our current capital city of Canada).

This is a picture of our city hall. Most of the old city buildings are constructed from grey limestone, therefore the city is nicknamed "The Limestone City".

There are two major Canadian Universities in the city. Queen's University, one of Canada's oldest universities (where I graduated) and the Royal Military College (RMC). To the right is an aerial view of RMC. You can see New York State (U.S.) in the distant horizon. This is exactly where Lake Ontario flows into the St. Lawrence River. The smaller river in between the two peninsula's is the Rideau Canal.

The Rideau Canal is 202 kms (125 miles) connecting Kingston to the capital city of Ottawa. Today it is still a fully operational canal using all the same equipment as they used 180 years ago. It is a beautiful boat ride in the summer time.

In Ottawa, it is part of one of the world's longest ice skating rink in the wintertime (about 5 miles).

There are 45 locks but the canal also links dozens of lakes and towns along the way. Stephen actually grew up in Kingston Mills, the lock closest to out city. When we were in high school, this was one of our favourite places to go swimming as a group of teenagers. Because of the locks, the water is very warm so we could go swimming in May (at that time of year the water is too cold to swim anywhere else)!

Talk to ya soon!

Jo-Anne

Shopping at Canadian Tire

Today we went shopping to a "Canadian Tire Store". This store only operates in Canada and offers everything you need for your car, home and recreation. It is quite a large complex (the largest in Canada) and is not far from our home.

Tomorrow our band will be playing music at an outdoor retirement party for a friend. Yesterday it was 37 degrees C (45 with the humidity factor) so we wanted to purchase a couple of fans for tomorrow's event.

Fishing is quite a popular sport in Canada. We have so many small freshwater lakes in this area. This store has many aisles of just fishing rods and bait.

They also have a huge aquarium containing local fish. Every noon hour the staff toss in some fish food so that the children can see them being fed. It's difficult to see from this picture but the aquarium is about 10 feet tall.

And of course, you must know that hockey

is a big sport here in both winter and summer. In the summer, indoor rinks offer youngsters opportunities to continue tournament play. Canadian Tire caters to this year round with an entire section of the store dedicated to just hockey.

Stephen and I ended up buying a few plants for the cottage garden and some tin foil for the grill. Unlike China, the prices are all set and there is no bargaining. We pay sales tax (13%) on top of the price. I miss the fun of engaging in a good bargain. Also, relative to the wages, prices (with the exception of electronics) are much more expensive. And you'll be interested to know that even though it's called "Canadian Tire", most of the products were manufactured in China. Be proud!

Take care!

Critters

Since many of you asked me questions about the kinds of animals we have so close to us in nature, I thought I'd show you a sample of some.

This little guy is a Chipmunk. They run around the yard all day, hiding food everywhere. They of course love nuts and we have some of them eating peanuts out of our hands. Actually, they'd pop them in their cheeks - go hide them and then return for more.

I awoke one morning and saw a Heron standing on a log in a sheltered bay. This Heron family nests every year here but it is very difficult to get a picture of one. I was able to get one as he (or she) was taking flight.

Last week I saw a Doe (female deer) standing in the bushes. She saw me but she didn't move which is very unusual. I ran in to get my camera and even after all that time, she just stared at me, almost as curious to see me as I was to see her.

Now this critter might give some of you some

negative feelings. It is a baby Black Rat Snake. Rat Snakes are very timid and docile. They love to lay in the sun on cool days and look for cool spots (like under this deck) on hot days. They are very helpful for gardeners, eating small rodents like mice after constricting them. Large ones can reach as much as 8 feet long!

Now I don't really care for snakes. We don't really have any dangerous snakes around and I don't mind these ones. Black Rat Snakes have been an endangered species because they are so tame and they are easy to catch - especially for little boys. However, recently they are making a comeback because the laws don't allow them to be killed.

Just a few critters (slang for creatures) that live with us at the cottage. Now Anna, remember I told you that I would show you a picture of that fox who stood peeking in our living room window at home and then laid down in front of our steps for almost an hour? This is one of those pictures from last Christmas. See everyone - no snow yet!

Bye for now everyone and hope you're having a great day!

At home...

Well it has been a couple of weeks since I left you all. I think of you often but I have to be honest and say that it is nice to be on vacation at the lake.

I was thinking about a way to ensure that we all stay in touch so I've decided to keep up this blog. You have all taught me so much about China (even though I have so much more I need to learn), so I thought I'd show you some of my country - specifically where I live.

If you look on a map of Canada, you'll see the Great Lakes - a large network of fresh water lakes. The city of Kingston is on the junction where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River. This is also on the boarder of Canada and the United States. As I've told some of you, I can see the U.S. on the far side of the river on a clear day.

There are numerous small lakes and rivers just north of Kingston. Stephen and I are lucky enough to have a cottage just 40 minutes north (that's only driving 60 kms per hour) on "Thirteen Island Lake". We will be staying there throughout the summer (coming home about once a week to check up on the house and to log into e-mail). Now understand that you can get e-mail out at the cottage, but we prefer to disconnect when we are there so we only have a phone. We have a TV for DVD movies, but we purposely don't watch TV either. Like most people at the lake, we spend our days outdoors - fishing, swimming, boating and gardening... oh - and also eating!

The picture above is of our pontoon boat. It is perfect to ride around the 13 islands on our lake. That is one of the islands in the background. Starting tomorrow, I will be posting LOTS of pics in separate blog entries (because a picture says a thousand words) so that you can get a flavour for cottage life in Canada.

So I hope you choose to be a follower! I will see you in September.

Missing you all!

Jo-Anne