Canadian Spirit Newsletter / December 2010 / Newsletter No. 15
It has been a very busy (but enjoyable) end of 2010 for us.
We went to our first Christmas party in mid-November which got us in the Christmas mood. It was our dentist’s office decorating party and we had so much fun putting up the decorations and tasting the Christmas goodies. A few days later Penticton saw its first snowfall of the year. The snow did not last and so far it has been a very mild winter with hardly any snow on the ground. The local ski resort – Apex Mountain Resort – has over a 100 cm alpine base and hopefully they will have a good season this year.
In addition to the oncoming snow and Christmas festivities, Atsuko and I did a lot of work at the Salvation Army in Penticton. In November, Atsuko volunteered at the “Salvation Army Community Kitchen.” The Community Kitchen is a way of bringing people in the community together to share recipes and exchange ideas on how everyone can “stretch their dollar” by learning how to make home-made, nutritious meals for their family. Atsuko attended several of the Community Kitchens
http://canadianspiritservices.com/blog-e/photos/nov-2010-pakora/
http://canadianspiritservices.com/blog-e/photos/nov-2010-stew/
and even led one Community Kitchen by showing people how to make Japanese rice balls.
In December, Atsuko and I volunteered at the “10,000 Tonite” which was the annual food drive in Penticton. High school students went door to door in Penticton asking for donations to the Salvation Army Food Bank. It was a big success and a great learning experience for all of us:
http://canadianspiritservices.com/blog-e/photos/dec-2010-10000-tonite/
Last week Atsuko and I helped out with the Christmas Hamper packing and distribution at the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre. The Penticton Salvation Army purchased food for Christmas hampers for approximately 825 families and individuals living in the Penticton area. We worked from Tuesday through Thursday packing the hampers and then spent all day Friday handing out the hampers. Again, it was a great experience for us and a real eye-opener on how so many people are facing such hardship during these tough economic times:
http://canadianspiritservices.com/blog-e/photos/dec-2010-hamper-packing/
and
http://canadianspiritservices.com/blog-e/photos/dec-2010-hamper-dist/
In great contrast to helping the less fortunate, Atsuko and I went to a couple of parties this month. Atsuko won tickets to a fancy dress ball which was a fund-raiser for children facing early developmental problems. The ballroom was decorated as a Christmas Forest with freshly cut trees decorated with Christmas ornaments – stunning – and the live entertainment and music and food were wonderful. To top it off, there was a big fund-raising auction (diamond jewelry, helicopter rides to golf courses, etc.). We have never been to such an event and we had a fun pretending we were rich and famous! We were also invited to a wonderful Christmas party at the Penticton Lakeside Resort as part of Dr. Ng’s office party and ate way too much Christmas dinner and then tried to dance the night away!
On a final note, Angela and Matthew are doing well in and out of school. Angela had a very good first report card from her French Immersion Program and Matthew continues to do well at school too. Matthew is nuts about soccer and attended a soccer clinic led by a local professional soccer player (he played for Meinz 05 in Germany) as well as indoor soccer sessions here in Penticton.
Well, this newsletter has grown well beyond expectations so I guess I should end it here! Merry Christmas to everyone and we wish you a very happy and prosperous 2011.
