we explore a Canadian monument and a Canadian past-timetime

...christmas and bali pics to come...

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so we took advantage and went to Kowloon Park.

And enjoyed some McFreezes at a McDonald's ice cream stand that was set up there. Yup, McDonald's here has stands AND ice cream treats like McFreezes which are slurpee's with ice cream on top, with a flavoured swirl through the ice cream... YUM!
And... we paid a visit to this Tlingit Blackfish Totem Pole, which was presented as a gift from the people of Canada to the people of Hong Kong by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on the occasion of Festival Canada in 1991.

Did you know we'd given Hong Kong such a memorable gift? How nice we could appreciate it. And then the girls played in the playground. We knew it was warm enough that we didn't need jackets, but really we could have been in shorts. We weren't the only ones overdressed- there were bundled up-but-sweaty kids running around everywhere!

(too cute for words!)

Mike was "shootin' the breeze" with this gentleman for a very long time.
And then we walked around and saw the flamingoes and black necked swans that live there.

Today we tried skating for our first time here. If our little Canadians are going to live in a country without snow, we probably should still remember to teach them to skate. Luckily, there are three malls i can think of offhand, all fairly close to us that all have skating rinks in them.
This was Leila's first time on single-blade skates, and she did really well! Better than I expected. She was willing to try to take little steps on her own.
Annie, however, was spaghetti-legs at first! She had been doing so well by the end of last winter that I had hoped it would come back to her, but it didn't seem like it was- she seemed worse than I'd remembered. But then we got her a penguin to push around, and her confidence came back. She didn't want to quit. She was try to do some crazy moves, and kept encouraging me to not follow her so closely (aren't they supposed to be teenagers when they say that?)


We ended it off with a visit to the park that is above the mall. Annie makes friends in playgrounds so easily. Maybe it's the age.... Anyway, we love holidays! (Except when we're sick. We think it may have been Dengue fever that we all had, but mostly we seem to be better.)

Christmas in HK

"I used to think Christmas was just about presents and Christmas trees. Now, I think it's about Jesus. And presents. And Christmas trees." ~ Annika, December 2011

I don't know if anybody missed me, but seems I've taken a bit of a hiatus this month from blogging. Partly because our computer crashed, and then it took another few days once it was going again to install the new iPhoto. And then partly due to a lack of motivation and just keeping busy with various Christmas activities. But I wanted to at least write one last post before we leave for Bali tomorrow.

Christmas has been different this year. I was actually relieved at first to take a step back from the craziness that is Christmas in Canada, and have things be really simple. I didn't even think I wanted a tree since our place is so small. But then the girls asked for one, and I realized that it still is important to make Christmas special for them. So while Annika was at her ballet lesson, I picked up a rather homely little artificial tree. The girls don't even know the difference! We can't believe how expensive real trees are here. You can get them at places like Ikea, and they even deliver. Since our friends are also all far from home, it seems like lots of them splurged on real trees to make their places feel Christmas-y, but even a really tiny one is about $65. They can easily cost over $100. And they don't necessarily even look that nice! Our little one cost about $10, and came in a pretty small box that we can store away for next year.

(decorating with precision)

(Christmas crafts, and some Christmas decor sent to us by Grandma Ruth)
(our tree and stockings hung on the bookcase with care. I soooo regret not bringing our stockings- they would have been easy to pack, and I love ours so much- they are probably my favourite decoration)
Since we were lacking in Christmas decor, I invested in the Playmobil nativity scene (it is an investment- Playmobil is not cheap!). I was just so happy to find it here, and Leila has played with it every single day. There have been some interesting story lines that have come out of it and it keeps me entertained. The little butterfly decoration on the tree is actually a cell phone ornament that an elderly lady passed to Leila while we were on the bus one day.

We have presents under the tree from Grandma Ruth, Grandma and Grandpa Janzen, Auntie Rita & Uncle Steve, and Grandpa Erwin. So thankful that they have been willing to pay so much for postage so we'll have some things to open from home on Christmas Eve. Or Day. We're not sure when we will actually celebrate since we get back from Bali on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

Our church had a live Christmas nativity called 'One Starry Night'. It was packed with people, and although not as elaborate as the one at WECA was, the girls still enjoyed themselves. I was happy to discover that their Christmas outfits from last year still fit!

We enjoyed Annika's kindergarten Christmas concert. Since there are five kindergarten classes, the kindergarten program gets a concert all to themselves. Annika was in the "choir" and knew the actions to all the songs. That's an improvement from her participation last year! The kids behind her are spelling out GOSPEL, not GO as it may appear.
If you want to know what paparazzi looks like, picture 75 sets of Chinese parents of kindergarten students. I've never seen so many camera and video cameras in my life! They all stood up and congregated in the middle of the gym, and no one could see anything, so they were told to sit down and there would be photo opts at the end. Annika and her friends then had a great time posting for pictures! Japanese, Chinese, Canadian, Indian... I love what an international experience she's having!
This season of advent has been a good mix of Christmas activities, but not feeling overly busy. I don't think Mike missed being in charge of a school Christmas concert even one little bit. That definitely made things less stressful this month. I'm so glad that there have been Christmas festivities that have happened or we'd be feeling more homesick. Mostly we just feel guilty that we won't be home for Christmas. Also, we have been thinking of those who may be finding Christmas to be a difficult time this year. You are in our prayers.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas, and may peace be unto you this Christmas season.

Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer

Or... Annika, the Dancin' Janzen. I signed her up for ballet lessons, and her first one was tonight. She came out beaming... success!
And... one of Leila getting ready to go to our Mom's group/playgroup today. Isn't her hair getting long?