Everyone seems to be very big on Christmas here but because of the diverse cultures they tend to say 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Happy Christmas'. They have a Santa Claus parade each year that runs through downtown Vancouver and takes hours to complete. You can also visit Santa Claus on the top of Grouse Mountain - you can get a sleigh ride in lots of real snow and see real reindeers - they are looked after very well and you can go to a talk by one of their keepers who will tell you what they eat, how they look after them and their various habits.
Rowan wrote this at school and brought it home for us to stick up on the wall:
Peace is being nice
Peace is not having violence
Peace is being generous
Peace is no war
Peace is respect
Peace is being honest
Peace is being helpful
Peace is making the world a better place
...... that's ma' boy :-)))))
There is much talk about what to do with bears. There was a story on the news recently about a little boy who found a bear in his back yard, told his mom and she phoned the animal authorities. They came along and took it away. They both wanted to know what had happened to the bear so the next day his mom phoned to find out what had happened and it had been shot. This happens a lot. The boy has now formed a children's 'Save the Bears' organisation and it has attracted many youngsters already.
Sam arrives on Saturday, he flies in at 3.30pm. We have all missed him at various points. I cannot wait to see him now, I have suppressed lots of feelings over these last few months and missing Sam was one of them. Now it is just under 2 days until he arrives and I am like a kid at Christmas, I just cannot wait. The kids have made him a sign to welcome him at the airport and Josh said last Tuesday 'You know, last week just seemed to fly by, but now when I know Sammy is arriving on Saturday this week seems to be going by very slowly'. Isn't it just!
The Canadians can be a bit earnest in their dealings with you. One of our friends here, Martin, rides his bike everywhere but doesn't wear the new biking gear. He also doesn't wear a helmet, now I know that I would not condone this - but he is a mature gentleman and should know his own mind! The lycra clad bikers who overtake him often shout 'Helmet - wear one!' at him, so he has now taken to shouting back 'Trousers - wear them!'