WINE AND CAKE for NEW YEAR

红酒,水晶杯,芝士蛋糕

迎来二零零八

BC省的红酒听说也有点名气

SHIRAZ一瓶

AWESOME

"AWESOME!" "AWESOME!"

This is the words she repeats almost every week, especially at the concert night of her school.

Every student whoever chooses music as selective lesson during the term will get a seat in a band, or string or orchestra. There are more than ten bands, or stings or chestra groups at the school. Even beginners got a seat!

It is a signal to hard working educators, esp those in HK today -- what out come do we expect when we worry about our kids education? Do elite schools raise up more talented students? What kind of the school could encourage students, enrich their confidence?

Students passed grade 5 grade 6 musical instrument exams and could not find a seat in a school band. It is very popular in some areas.

"AWESOME!"

This is what we parents and children's wish, and more valuable than any other elite outcome.

A few years ago, I went to a golf resort in Guang Dong province in China.
The dinner of first night is buffet in the big hall of the fancy resort. All travel groups show up for the delicious dinner.
When we were moving on in a line from dish to dish, there are so many people jumping around, budging into the line.
I think they believe if they don't want this dish, they just can skip one or the other, and move from the first one to the last one and come back to the second one.
If anyone would like to chase their footprint and draw down the line, one could easily find out a pattern of a spiderweb.

The generation grown up under the red flag never know this kind of behavior is a disturbance to others.
Now this disease is spreading around, first Hong Kong, because it is just cross the boarder, and second, Vancouver.
Disturbing!
Today, at the general office of a secondary school of west side of Vancouver, I was talking to a staff, (attention! I was talking! not finished!) a woman leaned on the counter right next to me, kept sticking her head into the counter, looks urgent, so we had to stopped, and the staff who serving me had to ask her first. Her situation is similar to me, about her child's application file. Why she is so urgent to stress the staff to serve her first?
So disturbing!
And her child will be at the same school with my child, and with all the Canadian kids.

We learn to be gentle. We learn to be not disturbing people in Canada. Why we allow more and more this kind of people coming in and DISTURB our tradition here?

Is this what we want to learn from North America?

There is a teen girl in a secondary school located in west side of Vancouver. The school’s ranking is almost the top in this area. There are many students from rich or/and well educated families. The girl is one of them. She lives in a house of three or four million Canadian dollars.

Teens are always in groups. She joined in a group at the beginning of the school year. She has lunch with her group everyday. She is always the first one to touch others’ food that favoured her, ignoring others’ feeling. When the group girls talking about something funny, if that is the thing she is not interested in, she will not pay attention. Whenever she found the topic being discussed interested her, she will just bud her head in the talkers to disturb their conversation. Everybody in the group hates her, talking bad words behind her, discussing how to get rid of her, but nobody dares to inform her of this point.

It is just about a story of a rude person manipulated a group of gentle people. However, I doubt how this girl going to melt in the culture of North America when she is grown up.
Her father separated from her family, working in another country, so that she can receive the best education in the world. She joined lots of after school programs, and had some achievements. She studied hard as well. Is this the whole thing of those immigrants looking for in North America?
I believe her parents never realized her behaviour is a problem at all, or maybe they are behaving the same at home, setting up a model for kids.

If more and more of these kinds of children rush into North America, the social culture will have a big change in the future, and the moral standard in this gentle society will be challenged.

"It will make your hair straight right away!"

Today, I went to downtown for an interview. It was in Bank of Montreal building, right next to Burrard skytrain station, two blocks south of the coast, a very good location. When I arrived, I found I was 15 minutes early, so I went to the washroom located in the basement shopping mall floor. There are two basins in the washroom. A blond girl was there touching up her make up in the mirror when I entered. At first I did not look at her in the mirror but just at myself. As she was leaving, she smiled to me from the mirror, so I smiled back to her. She flicked her wavy hair and said:"Isn't that nice?" I replied:"Beautiful, where did you get it done?"

"This one? It is natural."

"Mine is natural, too. but I like it be straight."

She let go of the washroom door, drew back her body towards me:

"Babylist! B-a-b-ylist, find it, it will make your hair straight right away!"

"Really? thank you very much!"

"Have a great day!"

"You too!"



What a North American day today!

The time I have been dreaming to enjoy for the past seven years!

I have been thinking to come back, seeing people on the street and having this kind of conversation on and off.

Vancouver is fantastic. For the past seven years, eighty thousand people moving out, with even more newcomers coming in, it is still the same.



We don't know each other, but we help each other. It is a real community. If whenever something happened, the only helpful persons are either our friends or relatives, that is not North American lifestyle.



If whenever a stranger comes to talk to you, you have to stay away most of the time, that is not North American social relationship.



I hope this will not change because of one who moves in, who lacks concept of community.

Sunday evening, almost seven oclock, the snow stopped.

My girl made a snowman in our backyard, using red berries from a tree in the yard as its eyes, buttons and a mouth with lipstick on.

What a fun time, after so many years away from this city.

The next morning, it was raining, no snow on the ground.

Our snowman's head was gone, leaving the body standing there stubbornly.

SNOW

Snow! What a exciting time for my girl!

What a massive moment for adults--driving on the snow!

We need to change the tires for our car.

The flakes are really beautiful, flying around.

Pictures taken outside of our home.