Author Archives: Todd

The Tyee: Article on Mixed Marriage aka inter-racial marriage by Amy Chow

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The Tyee: Article on Mixed Marriage aka inter-racial marriage by Amy Chow

Amy Chow has written an article called The Face of Asian Mixed Marriage in BC
 http://thetyee.ca/Life/2005/12/27/MixedMarriageBC/
for The Tyee.ca

She tells the story of a nice Canadian boy eloping with a nice Canadian
girl because his mother, has always wanted him to marry a girl that
would be “more appropriate” for him and the family. It's a familiar
story – not a new story… but one that most Canadians could related to
and share.
In this case, the boy is of Jewish ancestry and the girl is of Chinese
ancestry.

I grew up in Vancouver, first meeting people from mixed marriages in
the early sixties when I was a child. “Chinnie” was somebody who always
was hanging out at my great-grandma's house – one of her best friends.
She was white. I have recently bumped into her daughter Evelyn. It's
great that we have shared history of our elders.

Mixed race marriages is common place on both sides of my family. On my
mother's side, there has been a mixed race marriage in every generation
since our elder Rev. Chan Yu Tan arrived in Canada in 1896. There was
his son Luke, who became an actor in Hollywood. There were his
grandsons Henry and Art. Incidently it was Art who married a First
Nations woman, and their daughter Rhonda has become the elected band
chief for the Qayqayt Nation (New Westminster), that she singlehandedly
resurrected.

My mother's youngest brother married a woman of Scottish-English
background, steeped in Ontario Canadian heritage. 9 of my 12 cousins on
my mom's side have married caucasians + my brother. And on my father's
side, 6 of my 9 cousins married caucasians.

I was the only person out of my maternal cousins that married somebody
of Chinese Canadian descent. It should have worked out… our
grandparents had known each other, as had our parents, our aunts and
uncles, our cousins, and even their children…. but it was not to be.
No regrets.

And today, I am spending my 2nd Christmas with my Canadian girlfriend
of British ancestry, and her parents. I haven't seen another Asian
since I left the Kelowna airport two days ago. There haven't been any
racial clashes. We talk about the issues that I am involved in such as
the Save Kogawa House campaign and the Chinese Canadian head tax – even
with their caucasian friends.

We listened to my friends Joy Kogawa and Ann-Marie Metten on CBC radio
yesterday, and we read in the newspaper about my friends Bill Chu and
Gabriel Yiu and Thekla Lit who helped organize a Boxing Day press
conference on Head Tax redress. And these are just Canadian issues. And
the 3 dogs love all the hugs they can get. Race isn't an issue for them.


Todd out walking with dogs in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park.

Redress: The book by Roy Miki – addressing racial identity and its consequences

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Redress: The book by Roy Miki – addressing racial identity and its consequences

It's Boxing Day morning at Kalamalka Lake, and I am not at any Boxing
Day sales in Vancouver. I am reading Roy Miki's book Redress: Inside
the Japanese Canadian redress movement. Roy is an amazing person. In
1994 I interviewed him for an article in the Simon Fraser University
student newspaper “The Peak”.

I am stunned by the atrocities and restrictions placed on the Canadians
of Japanese descent, even though I have read many accounts. I nod
knowingly when I read that Asian Canadians were “racialized” in the
1900's – particularly by the Anti-Asiastic League who wanted to create
and maintain a “white Vancouver” despite the presence of First Nations
peoples. I read about the 1907 meeting at City Hall, that erupted into
a riot in Chinatown, where stores were attacked and damaged, before the
white rioters headed to Japantown where they were repelled by a
prepared community.

This was the Vancouver where my maternal grandmother was raised,
soon after being born in 1910 in Victoria BC. This was the political
and social climate where my paternal grandfather was given a
“Chinaman's Chance” of defending a non-guilty plea for drug
trafficking, because the RCMP wanted to make an example of him as one
of Victoria's top community leaders that they could “take down.” This
was the BC, where the $500 head tax was only applied to ethnic Chinese
in an effort to keep “the Yellow Peril” away from “British” Vancouver,
where the early city fathers, provincial fathers and leaders of
Canadian Federation had emmigrated from Scotland and England, seeking a
better life…. just as the Chinese had, leaving behind a corrupt
Imperial government, famines, to come to “Gum San” – the gold mountain
of opportunity.

In the first chapeter of Redress, Roy Miki tells the story of
Tomekichi (Tomey) Homma “naturalized as a British Subject” in Canada,
who tried to have his name put on the voter's list, but was turned down
no doubt, because of the stipulation in Section 8 of the Provincial
Election Act which stated: “No Chinaman, Japanese, or Indian shall have
his name placed on the Register of Voters for any Electoral District,
or be entitled to vote in any election.”

Homma decided to challange the ruling on October 19th, 1900, but
was eventurally denied by a lengthy court case and both the BC and
Canadian governments. The Privy council at the time had stated that
“Orientals… were so inassimilable that they were incapable of
participating in the democratic process.” (Miki, p. 33-34)

The Victoria Times Colonist newspaper at the time had written
“We are relieved from the possibility of having polling booths swampd
by a horde of Orientals who are totally uniftted either by custom of
education to exercise the ballot, and whose voting would completely
demoralise politics… they have not the remotest idea of what a
democratic and representative government is, and are quite incapable of
taking part in it.” (Miki, p 28)

My great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan, was educated at the
Wesleyan Mission in Hong Kong, and arrived in Canada in 1896, following
his elder brother the Rev. Chan Sing Kai – the first Chinese ordained
in Canada. The Chinese Methodist Church helped teach the Chinese
immigrants how to speak English. A favourite story that my grandmother
tells me is that her granfather would tell his family, “We are in
Canada now – we should do things the Canadian way.” In every generation
of his 6 descendants in Canada, there have been inter-racial marriages
with Caucasians. In fact, descendants in the 6th and 7th generation are
now only 1/4 and 1/8 Chinese.

Yes, Canada has had a racist history, and yes Asians have
successfully integrated and assimilated. But is this alone a case for
redress for past wrongs? Certainly not. The case for redress is that in
the 17 years since the 1988 redress settlement there has been
tremendous healing in the Japanese Canadian community. In his final
chapter, Miki shares that in order to become fully Canadian, the
community had to forge an identity of being Japanese-Canadian through
both internment and redress.

Similarly, my grandmother's younger brother Daniel Lee, a WW2
veteran, has consistenly requested that the Canadian government
apologize for the head tax. Our family elders did not have the
privilege or franchise to vote in the country of their birth until
1947, while other families were kept apart because of the consequences
of the head tax and Chinese Exclusion Act. I am aware that as I have
grown up in Canada, I have always been racialized, as my uncles before
me who were denied jobs and university admittance. These were the real
consequences of the head tax and continued legislated and socialized
racism. Reading the accounts of the Japanese Canadians during
internment, I can only marvel at what my own ancestors endured from
arrivals in 1888 to 1947, when they were finally able to vote.

Joy Kogawa featured on CBC Radio “Sounds Like Canada”, Boxing Day morning 10:40am

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Joy Kogawa featured on CBC Radio “Sounds Like Canada” on Boxind Day morning 10:30am

Joy Kogawa is interviewed about her childhood home and the Save Kogawa House campaign.

Kathryn Gretzinger met Joy at the house at 1450 West 64th Avenue earlier in November for this special interview. Joy also went to the CBC radio studio for some further interviews.

Listen to CBC Radio 690 AM in Vancouver – or on the web – www.cbc.ca

10:35am

Dec 26, 2005

It has been such a pleasure getting to know Joy this year of 2005. The first time I met her was in 1986, at Expo 86's Folk Pavillion for a poetry and book reading. The next time I saw her was at a reading at the Vancouver Public Library in summer 2004 for Centre A. I was amazed at how tiny and fragile she was. But over the course of this year, I have gotten to know how, humble, warm and sincere she is. She truly is amazed at all the attention she has recieved from the Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver Opera, Vancouver City Hall, and the media for the Save Kogawa House campaign.

Some significant Joy Kogawa Events I have attended for 2005 include:

May at the opening event for One Book One Vancouver at the Vancouver Public Library;

Joining Save Kogawa House committee in September

September ACWW Ricepaper Magazine 10th Anniversary Dinner where ACWW presented Joy with a Community Builder's Award in September;

Vancouver Arts Awards which included performances from opera Naomi's Road

Reading at Word on the Street for final One Book One Vancouver event

Oct 1 – opening weekend for the premiere of Naomi's Road Opera;

Nov 1st – Obasan Cherry Tree Day at City Hall – with cherry tree planting

Nov 3rd – presentation at City Hall, asking for an unprecedented 120 day delay for demolition of Kogawa House

Nov 12th Save Kogawa House – Awareness concert with Harry Aoki, Raymond Chow and performance of Naomi's Road

Here are some upcoming media coverage for Save Kogawa House events.

CBC Radio One, Sounds like Canada, Dec 26, 2005, 10am – 11am .

Vancouver Sun, Reporter Kevin Griffin, Dec 30 or 31, 2006.

CBC Radio One, “On the Coast,” Early January 2006 (air date to be confirmed).

Shaw Cable, “The Express,” January 4, 2006, 6pm and 8pm.

Common Ground Magazine, January 2006 issue.

OMNI TV: BC, “The Standard,” January 11, 2006, 9pm and January 12, 8am and 12 noon.

“Have a multi-cultural Christmas” – Vancouver Sun's Douglas Todd vs Todd Wong's experiences

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“Have a multi-cultural Christmas” – Vancouver Sun's Douglas Todd vs Todd Wong's experiences

Douglas Todd looks at the students and celebrations of Sir Richard
McBride elementary school in Vancouver.  He compares present day
activities and student ethnicity to when he attended in the early
1960s.  DT is a thoughtful writer and he explores the issues of
religious holidays, political correctness, inclusion, school 
cultural programming, and what the children really want and think.

Of special note, DT writes that more schools are celebrating Chinese
New Year, or rather the more exclusive term “Lunar New Year,” as an
inclusive event that often celebrates all ethnic cultures.  I have
certainly found this to be true, especially when I was invited early this year
to bring my Scottish-Chinese fusion of “Gung Haggis Fat Choy” to
Westridge Elementary School in Burnaby. 
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog
/_archives/2005/2/5/303618.html

Check out DT's feature article titled
A Multicultural Christmas:
Sir Richard McBride students balance ethnicity with new traditions
Vancouver Sun – Dec 24th page C1

Personally, when I grew up at Vancouver's Laura Secord elementary school
in the from 1965 to 1973 – I thought I was already experiencing
multiculturalism by going to school with mostly white students. 
Okay… there were a few students of Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Dutch,
Portuguese…etc heritage there too.  By 1973, the Chinese
proportion grew significantly, and in my grade 7 class there were 6
other Wongs in the class, including the teacher.

I had started noticing more ESL immigrants of Chinese ancestry around
1970.  This was the effect of changed immigration laws in 1967,
that now allowed independant Chinese immigrants, no longer only
sponsored by relatives to come to Canada.  You see, even though
the Chinese Exclusion Act was removed in 1947, only very limited
immigration was allowed for family members only.

My experiences of Christmas growing up, involved dinners with sticky
rice, turkey, cranberry sauce, stir-fried vegetables – always a
combination of Chinese and Canadian food.  When we visited 
my father's side of the family – there were more Chinese speakers, as
his mother spoke almost exclusively Chinese, and his eldest sister had
been raised in China – despite having been born in Canada. I referred
to my mother's side of the family as our “English side” because the
family had been in Canada longer since the arrival of my grandmother's
grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan in 1896.  Even my great-grandmother
Kate Chan was fluent in english.  So… even in my family we were
multicultural… I guess.

Last year I visited my girlfriend's parents in Vernon, and we attended
Christmas dinner at a friend of theirs.  I was the only, non-Asian
attending, of the 10 guests.  It was my first ethnically “white”
Christmas dinner.  We ate turkey with cranberry sauce, potatoes,
salad… just like my own family dinners.  I felt comfortable with
the company, because of shared language and values.  Nobody asked
how I was enjoying the new “cultural experience” because they just
assumed I was “Canadian”, knowing that I considered myself a 5th
generation Vancouverite.  The cultural differences and
conversations were more concerned with the differences between
Vancouver and Vernon. Big City culture versus Small City culture.

Culture and “multiculturalism” is relative.  Especially if it is married into the family.

CCNC releases Election Primer for Chinese Canadians urging them to vote and make a difference

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CCNC releases Election Primer for Chinese Canadians urging them to vote and make a difference

Chinese
Canadian National Council

News
Release: December 23 2005

Chinese
Canadians Launch 2006 Election Primer; Urges Community To Vote

TORONTO. The
Chinese Canadian National Council launched its 2006 Election Primer today.
“Head Tax redress has become a key community driven election
issue,” Colleen Hua, CCNC National President said today.
“We’ve developed a questionnaire of 12 questions on a range of
topics for the Party Leaders and for the community to use when candidates knock
at their door.” 

With most of the more than one million
Chinese Canadians living in urban ridings, the federal Parties need to pay
attention to the concerns of the Chinese Canadian community. “There are
no less than 14 candidates of Chinese descent running for elected office and
Chinese Canadians are involved at all levels of this federal campaign,”
Dr. Joseph Wong, Founding President of CCNC said today, “CCNC and
equality-seeking groups urge prospective voters to register, to become familiar
with the issues, to ask questions of candidates and to vote in this upcoming
election.” 

The youth vote is important in this
election if we want an elected government that reflects all aspects of Canadian
society.  “Currently International Students are being directed to
contact their local Embassy for assistance in the case of an emergency,”
Christine Li, Co-Founder of the Chinese Canadian National Youth Council said
today.  “What is the federal government’s responsibility to
safeguard and attend to the well-being of thousands of international students
living away from home?”

NGOs face a funding crunch every year due
to the elimination of core funding some years ago. “Actually, it was
then-Finance Minister Paul Martin who delivered that lump of coal a few years
ago,” Victor Wong, CCNC Executive Director said today.
“Community-based organizations contribute greatly to society by promoting
positive social change and their efforts should be supported by the
Parties.”  

CCNC is a national human
rights organization with 27 chapters across Canada. CCNC is joined in the
campaign for redress of the Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act by the Ontario
Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families, BC Coalition of Head Tax
Payers Spouses and Descendants, Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance, the Association
of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, and Metro Toronto
Chinese and South East Asian Legal Clinic. 

-30-

For media interviews with Chinese
Canadian National Council, please contact

Colleen Hua (647) 299-1775
Sid Tan (604) 783-1853

2006 CCNC ELECTION PRIMER

 REDRESS 

Canada's
“National Dream” was realized when the Last Spike was driven to
complete the transcontinental railway in 1885. The ceremony excluded the
Chinese railway workers who blasted through the Rockies
and lay the tracks and, for thousands, gave their lives to the building of this
country.

Instead of gratitude, the government
imposed the head tax on all new Chinese immigrants – $50 in 1885,
increased to $100 in 1900 and finally $500 in 1903. In all, $23 million in head
taxes was paid. Finally, in 1923, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to stop
Chinese immigration altogether until the legislation was repealed in 1947.

Question
1:
Do you support an all-party Parliamentary resolution to acknowledge the
injustice and racial discrimination, and to recognize the suffering of
individual Chinese Canadians, their families, and the entire Chinese Canadian
community that resulted from this legislated racism, including the emotional
and financial hardship, and the forced separation of families?

The Chinese Canadian National Council
(CCNC) started in 1984 to campaign for redress for the 62 years of legislated
racism. Over 4,000 head taxpayers and families registered with CCNC across Canada.
But after 20 years of foot dragging by successive federal governments, there
are only a couple hundred head tax payers or surviving spouses alive today.

Question
2:
Do you support the return of a symbolic amount to the approximately 250
surviving head tax payers and surviving spouses? 

In its 2005 federal budget, Prime
Minister Paul Martin’s government set aside $25 million to address
redress claims from several communities but it set preconditions on the
so-called Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education [ACE] program: “no
apology, no compensation”. Despite widespread opposition, the government
rushed to sign an agreement in principle to allocate $2.5 million from the ACE
program to the National Congress of Chinese Canadians which accepted the
preconditions but which does not represent head tax families.

Question
3:
Will you rescind the agreement in principle signed with the Congress and stop
payment on the $2.5 million ACE program funds identified therein? 

The process of reconciliation cannot
begin until the federal government deals directly with those most affected: the
head tax families. It must also negotiate in good faith with groups that the
head tax families themselves chose to represent them, not those that the
government chooses for them. 

Question
4:
Do you support good-faith negotiations with the representatives of head tax
families as to the nature and extent of redress for the impact of 62 years of
legislated racism on head tax families and the Chinese Canadian community as a
whole, including a transparent and legitimate process of gathering input from
the head tax families and the broader Chinese Canadian community?

IMMIGRATION

It is unfair and discriminatory that
there are serious backlogs in processing immigration and sponsorship
applications in Beijing and Hong Kong locations
where Chinese applicants are concentrated, especially in comparison to other
locations such as Paris or London.  Delays are particularly long
for sponsorship applications.

Question
5: 
What would your Party do to reduce the long waiting time for these applicants?

Many Canadians feel that the current
point system is too stringent and screens out many qualified applicants. Its
emphasis on language capability discriminates against immigrants who are not of
Francophone or Anglophone background. In addition, Canada's immigration levels are not
meeting target levels, despite the continuing need for workers to build our
economy.

Question
6:
What is your Party's plan to reduce barriers to independent immigrants to Canada?


INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS

This past summer, international students
attending university in St. John, New Brunswick, were attacked by local youth;
the story making national headlines. The Canadian Government for all its good
intentions, has not been effective in curtailing the growing number of violent
incidents targetted at international students.  Recently, two
international students were shot to death in Ottawa.

Question
7:
What is your Party's policy on the role of the Canadian Government in guarding
the well-being of International Students after they enter Canada?


CORE
FUNDING

Community-based organizations no longer
receive core funding for their daily operations and staffing resources which
has significantly impeded the participation of organizations in supporting
social change and community capacity building.  While transparent
processes and accountability are important, it is also important that the
government recognize and acknowledge the contribution of non-profit
organizations in maintaining and sustaining a stable, healthy Canadian
society.  Project funding is time limited, targetted, and does not
acknowledge the infrastructure needed to implement and deliver results.   

Question
8:
What will your Party do to restore core funding to community-based
organizations?

HEALTH

Canada is known
for its universal health care system that provides free health care for all its
citizens and ensures there are no barriers to accessing health care in every
jurisdiction of the country. 

Question
9:
What will your Party do to ensure that Canada’s Health Care System
continues to be a universal right of every Canadian and prevent the growth of
the private for-profit system? 

Health care is a right of every Canadian,
but many people living in Canada, who are not citizens, continue to contribute
to the growth and development of Canada’s economic system while waiting
to be naturalized.   

Question
10: What will your Party do to ensure that people who are not
citizens living in Canada,
continue to have access to health care while they are waiting to be
naturalized?

Canada is a
diverse country that is composed of people from a variety of different
cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds.  Along with languages, and
culture, people bring with them different approaches and understandings of health
and health care. 

Question
11: What will your Party do to work towards the recognition and
resourcing of different approaches to health care?   

EMPLOYMENT

There is a built in assumption that our
immigration eligibility criteria matches the needs of the country, particularly
with respect to employment opportunities.  Because of a lack of
coordination and resources on the part of the government, many newcomers who
are successful in their applications to come to Canada, are not able to find
employment in their area of expertise and find themselves unemployed or working
in jobs where they are enormously over qualified.   

Question
12: What will your Party do to ensure that a plan is developed
and implemented to facilitate and expedite the accreditation process for
internationally trained professionals?

Partial
List of Federal Candidates of Chinese Descent (2006 Election)

Bloc
Quebecois

May
Chiu                    
Quebec
Meili
Faille                   
Quebec

 Conservative
Party

 Michael Chong            
Ontario
Joe
Li                          
Ontario
Inky
Mark                   
Manitoba
Kanman Wong
            British Columbia

 Liberal
Party

Raymond Chan
            British Columbia
Soeung Tang   
            Quebec
Dobie
To                     
Alberta
Simon
Yu                    
British Columbia

New
Democratic Party

John
Chan                   
Alberta
Olivia
Chow                
Ontario
Mary-Woo
Sims          British Columbia
Helen
Yum                  
Saskatchewan

Chinese style bbq turkeys for Christmas…. yum yum!

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Chinese style bbq turkeys for Christmas…. yum yum!

Jenny Uechi of Ricepaper Magazine wrote this very interesting foodie
article about turkey dinner served Chinese style for the Georgia Straight.  I LOVE Chinese
style bbq duck, and was intrigued with this idea….  I mentioned
it to my mother, and she told me that she sometimes would take a turkey
to a Chinatown butcher/meat store, and they would BBQ it on a price per
pound basis.

Jim Wong-Chu is a long-time friend and Asian Canadian Arts
mentor.  We came up with the idea of haggis won ton, as he has
helped advise me on the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners over the
years…  Jim loves Chinese food too!


Put a little extra red in your dinner with a Chinese-style BBQ turkey

By jenny uechi

Publish Date: 15-Dec-2005

Traditionalists
will tell you that Christmas dinner just doesn’t feel complete without
a roasted whole turkey as its centrepiece. The more daring, however,
may want to try a new spin on this holiday favourite: Chinese-style
barbecue turkey. With its reddish skin and sweet-savoury flavour, it’s
a dish that not only tastes (and looks) spectacular but also reflects
Vancouver’s multiethnic history.

Jim Wong-Chu, Ricepaper
publisher and local Asian-food guru, takes time to meet with the
Straight to recount the origins of the Chinese-style turkey. “From what
people tell me,” he says, “this tradition started way back in the olden
days, when none of the Chinese had ovens in their homes. So on special
occasions, they asked the local barbecue houses to roast the turkey for
them.” Prepared much like a traditional roasted duck, the turkey had
crisply seared skin, marinade sauce, and better-preserved juices than
the oven-roasting birds. “Even now, when most people have their own
ovens, people crave that barbecue taste,” he says.

As proof of
this, many barbecue houses in Chinatown still cater to that tradition.
At Kwong Hing Co. Ltd (228 East Pender Street, 604-681-1939) and Dollar
Meat Store (266 East Pender Street, 604-681-0536), turkey is sold at
$4.99 a pound and can be ordered in advance. As with most stores in
Chinatown, Cantonese is the lingua franca among staff: Wong-Chu advises
that non–Cantonese speakers may want to order through a translator to
avoid miscommunication.

For more of the story click here

Winter Solstice 2006 Dong Zhi at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens

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Winter Solstice 2006 Dong Zhi at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens

We went down to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens last night in Vancouver's Chinatown.  Chinese Winter Solstice or Dong Zhi was being celebrated as part of the Secret Lantern Society's extensive programming that took part at Chinatown, Yaletown, Westend, Strathcona and Brittania Community Centre.

Chinese Winter Solstice is also a time when there are special foods and
activities, especially to be shared with family and friends. 

It was my girlfriend's first time seeing the Chinese garden all lit up
with hand made lanterns and candles, and it was magically
beautiful.  Even before we had walked into the garden, I bumped
into musician friends Qiu Xia He and Andre Thibault who regularly
perform at the Garden as Silk Road Music.

Ji Rong Huang performed erhu in the Scholar's Study, and Alcvin Ramos
performed shakahachi flute in the Hall of One Hundred Rivers.  Click here for a virtual tour of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens.

Because of rain, many of the paper lanterns were not hanging on the
trees, in the ritual of returning the fallen leaves of Autum, to their
original trees in new forms of lanterns.  Many of these paper
lanterns feauting leaf designs were instead hung along the walkways of
the gardens. 

My favorite lanterns are the floating ones designed like lotus
flowers.  The gentle breeze pushed them around on the ponds, and
they looked gorgeous in the dark.



A floating lotus lantern lit by photo flash – photo Todd Wong

We soon bumped into my friend Meena Wong showing the garden to a friend
of hers visiting from Singapore.  My first dragon boat mentor
James Yu was there with his mother.  James is also restorer for
the gardens, making sure it is in good maintenance and running
order.  He has taught me how to steer dragon boat as well as both
Tai Chi, and  many stories about the Chinese garden and traditions.


Dragon Boat buddies Todd Wong and James Yu – photo Deb Martin


As we left the Gardens, we looked around in the Gardens giftshop,
and I found a lovely little amulet thingy with the Chinese character
for “Love” – which I bought as a gift for my girlfriend.  We also
had some fun, doing water brush strokes on a “buddha board” where I
demonstrated my long lost skills of having taken a class in Chinese
brush painting back in 1980.  It was also a big surprise to meet
the new Gardens giftshop manager Alexis who used to run the balloon
shop in Deman Place Mall.  Alexis had attended my 2002 Gung Haggis
Fat Choy dinner when her good actor /voice coach friend  Sonia
Baker co-hosted with me.

A real big surprise was bumping into former classmates from Grade 7 at
Laura Secord Elementary in Vancouver.  While I have bumped into
Selina So over the past years through many Asian Canadian events, this
was the first time I had seen Leslie Ikeda since 1978 – and we both
fondly recounted that we had been in kindergarten together, as well as
grade 7 and grade 8 Math. Winter Solstice really is a time for friends
and family, as they meet at all the community events!

We met in the Terracotta Warrior gift shop, owned by my friends Charles
and Grace.  It's a wonderful shop and I bought two silk ties – one
with Pandas, another with dragons… and a special framed print as a
Christmas present for my parents (shhh…. it's a secret for now!)


Classmates from Grade 7 Reunited – Selena So, Leslie Ikeda and Todd Wong – photo Deb Martin