Vivace in Canada

看到上ㄧ篇文章發表的日期，才發現這個部落格被我冷落了整整兩年。今天突然想到要上來更新一下搬來加拿大的日子，才發現從冰島玩回來的那天，剛好是10月12日，也是搬來加拿大滿十年的日子。其實還是很想寫寫文章，但是真的心有餘而力不足。回想這十年，我們從沒工作到有穩定的工作，從租公寓到買房子，從兩個人變成三個人。這十年一路過來大致上都很平順，有悲傷，有歡樂，有獲得，有失去，有死，也有生。家裡多了個孩子，讓我們的生活變得更加多采多姿，我們的生活型態並沒有因為孩子而改變，我們一樣愛玩、愛亂跑，只是多帶了一個寶貝跟我們到處去。從冰島回來之後的一周，其實都還在休假，原本想要把遊記整理上來，但是休假的日子都在生病，所以最後還是什麼也沒寫。或許聖誕節假期，可以用來分享冰島的行程。而今天，就在簡短的更新後停筆。

2015年10月10日在冰島首都Reykjavik的市政府前。

2013年艾德蒙頓的同志遊行是在6月8日進行，不過前一的天氣預報讓我一直很擔心下雨。一早醒來看到藍色的天空，感到特別開心。
 

遊行在市警的前導下開始。示警還派出了一部古董警車。

The frist time I heard about Tres Carnales Mexican restaurnt was from my colleague Lisa. We talked about restaurants from the TV show "You Gotta Eat Here!" on Food Network while we ate at Fatburgers after the Pride Parade. We tried to make our way there but it was closed.
 

 
My third course of the Management Studies Certificate program is about to finish. Although there are seven more courses to go, I need to skip the Spring term due to my parents' visit in May; I'm not in a rush to get the certificate, but I also prefer to get it over with as soon as possible. I'm thinking of taking one course during the Summer term, but I really don't want to spend my wonderful Summer evenings on studying, I guess I'll see how I feel when the time comes.
Surprisingly I didn't go back to H&R Block this year, I contacted Violet prior to the tax season, she told me that because of the new district manager decided to cut down manpower in her office, she would not returned to H&R Block. Violet was the only reason I went back to H&R Block the last time, so we both took this time out from going back. Next year though, we'll see then.

I have canceled several blog accounts recently, even the personal website I had for years; Most of those blogs were lacking in content, once in a while I would logged on but did nothing with them; and I hadn't written and posted articles on my website neither, which was my original purpose of building a website for, so I decided to let go of them, and saved myself some trouble too.
I keep my yahoo blog, pixnet blog, facebook account and MSN Spaces, I still have a lot to maintain, but it is better than looking after 10 blogs at the same time, and MSN Spaces is now a major blog of mine for sharing my life with my friends and family.
Writing both in Chinese and English becomes very difficult, my English is improving very slowly, and my Chinese writing ability is deteriorating, I need to read and write more often, to keep myself on track.

August 28th 2009, Tim, his younger sister Lindsey and I went to Dartmouth in Nova Scotia to visit some family he has there. We arrived at the Halifax airport late in the afternoon and stayed at Mom and Robert's place for the next few days.
August 29th. The weahter was bad because of the tropical storm Danny, but we couldn't wait to visit downtown Halifax. We spent sometime walked around the downtown area and waterfront, and then visited the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Waterfront of Halifax Harbour.
A figurehead in the museum.
 
Outside of Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.
The rain was getting heavier, we returned to Dartmouth and went to John's Lunch for a snack.
Lindsey has been to John's Lunch before, she strongly recommended us to go there. Tim and I shared an order of their Seafood Platter, it was very tasty!
August 30th, luckily the weather was very nice right after the storm passed, Mom and Robert took us to Fisherman's Cove at Eastern Passage.
Shops at Fisherman's Cove, all the houses are painted in different colours, very beautiful.
Lots of lobster traps, but the lobster season had passed.
Before leaving Fisherman's Cove, we bought and shared a lobster sandwich. Later that day, we went to Cow Bay and Lawrencetown Beach, and then returned to Dartmouth.
August 31st, Mom and Robert stayed at home. Tim, Lindsey and I took a ferry from Dartmouth to Halifax in the afternoon.
There was Theodore the tug-boat right outside of the Ferry Terminal.
 
The first attraction we stopped by was Halifax City Hall, unfortunately it was closed to the public for maintenance, we were not able to go in and have a look.
St. Paul's Anglican Church, it's right across from the City Hall. St. Paul's Anglican Church is considered the oldest church in Halifax.
Town Clock, on the foothill of Halifax Citadel.
 
Halifax Citadel.
"The Halifax Citadel endures as a gateway to Canada's military heritage and passage to nationhood. Once the command post and landward bastion of Halifax's defences, the Citadel stands watch as it has done since the city was the principal British naval station in North America. Since Halifax's founding in 1749, Citadel Hill has served as the site of four different forts. Each was built during a time of perceived threat.
The Citadel you see today was the last to be built, and took over 28 years to complete. This Citadel, finished in 1856, was intended to deter an overland assault on the city and dockyard. Such was the strength of the Citadel and harbour defences that no enemy ever dared attack.
The British garrison of Halifax was ultimately withdrawn in 1906 iresponse to growing tensions in Europe, leading up to the First World War. The Citadel continued to serve an important role with the Canadian military. During two world wars the Citadel served as a sentinel on the home front and a symbol for those departing for overseas.
In 1952 the Citadel was declared a natinal historic site, signalling the end of its proud military career. Today it's restored walls welcome all who wish to learn about defining moments in Canadian history." Parks Canada.
Bagpipes playing in the afternoon. We spent several hours in the Halifax Citadel, and then headed to Public Gardens.
Oversee Halifax Harbour from Citadel Hill. Halifax is truly a beautiful city.
Gazebo in the Public Gardens.
St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, a very beautiful chruch, the weather was nice, I got to take a better picture of it.
The Old Burying Ground, 1749-1844, it is a national histroic & Provincial heritage site.
 
The front shot of St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica.
Our lovely seafood dinner and beer.
September 1st, we headed to western Nova Scotia to visit Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove.
Lunenburg Harbour. The first Bluenose scooner was built here.
 
Lunenburg town full of colour houses.
St. John Church in Lunenburg, my favorite church on this trip, amazingly beautiful.
Lunenburg Academy, it is a historical building as well.
It was about a one and a half hour drive from Lunenburg to Peggy's Cove.
It's around sunset time when we arrived at Peggy's Cove.
"A romantic folk tale is told about now the cove got its name. Young Peggy was travelling to Halifax to meet her fiance when the ship she was in foundered on the rocks. She was rescued by local folk, and when visitors went to see her they would say they were going  to see Peggy of the Cove" The Halifax Foundation.
The lighthouse at Peggy's Cove is a very popular sopt for photographers.
September 2nd, Mom took us to their other home in Aspen, which located at eastern Nova Scotia.
We took a scenic route slowly driving to eastern Nova Scotia, we stopped at Sheet Hourbour for coffee. We saw a nice church.
Then we arrived their home in Aspen. We planned to stay here for three days and returned to Halifax on September 4th. Aspen is a very small town, there are only very few houses around their property.
 
A tiny trailer on a very huge lot, they have their own gardens, growing their own vegetables and herbs, I wish I could retire at a place like this!
 
We had a very relaxing vacation while we stayed in Aspen, although we didn't do much, we enjoyed the life in the countryside a lot. Tim's uncle llves not too far from Mom's home, I got to meet more of Tim's family members.
September 4th, we were supposed to return to Dartmouth, Mom's van broke down on the highway, we had to go back to Aspen and stayed for another night. Uncle Tink let us use his car to go back to Dartmouth on September 5th.
 
While we stayed with Mom and Robert, Robert cooked us breakfast and dinner every day, Tim and I decided to take them out for dinner at the last night of our trip, we took a Ferry to Halifax, and had a buffet dinner at a casino.
After dinner, we walked around Halifax Historic Properties area, I was glad that I got to visit downtown Halifax again.
The last day in Dartmouth, we went to John's Lunch again, and then got ready to return to our sweet home in Edmonton.

History of St. Joachime Cemetery:
Established in 1888 on land donated by the Groat family, this cemetery initially served the downtown community of St. Joachim Parish, the Catholic parish originally centered in the old Fort Edmonton. The cemetery contains a variety of historic monuments; walking through its many rows of memorials, one can begin to appreciate the history of the Catholic presence in central Alberta.
A large central cross marks the burial crypt of Archbishop Henry Joseph O'Leary (d. 1938).
The Saturday afternoon of the Victoria Day long weekend, we went out for a walk at St. Joachime Cemetery with Keri & R.D., I don't know if people usually 'take a walk' at cementeries, but it's actually a nice and quiet place to have a walk. Keri and I have read about the historic monuments in the cemetery in a book she has that mentions places and things arround Edmonton. It was more like to visit to some ruins than a cemetery.

Headstones.
R.D. used to work here, he cut grass in the cemetery, usually early in the morning before sunrise. Lots of people questioned him if it's scary or creepy woking at the cemetery, he found it's peaceful, and enjoyed working here.

A very elaborate and beautiful Cross headstone; there was spiderweb haning on the Cross, I guess the family stop coming to visit for a very long time.

Keri & I were wondering if Whyte avenue (82nd avenue in Edmonton) is named after this Whyte family.

MacKay family's monument.

This section is a military burial ground.

The headstone of the First Mayor of Edmonton.

A headstone with a little elegant statue of Mary. I'm happy to see someone is still coming to visit the deceased.

I found the Cross headstones are all very unique.

We thought the couple must be so in love, even their headstones lean against to each other, very sweet.

The large central cross marks the burial crypt of Archbishop Henry Joseph O'Leary (dated 1938).

Another headstone with the Cross relief.

A tiny statue at the cemetery, not a headstone, and too new to be a monument.

This statue is also a headstone, very beautiful.

February 27th, the last working day for two of my colleagues at the College; Christina is taking one year maternity leave, she is expecting her baby in few weeks, we're all so excited as she is.
Michelle was also a Administrative Assistant at the department, she got a great job offer from her part time job; Michelle has been a great help to me, we were also very close, I'm happy for her new opportunity, but also feel kind of sad over her leaving. Michelle is a very nice girl with good sense of humor, our birthdays are only few days away, we are very similar in some way, I guess that why we became friends easily.
And that's not it, it was Tim's last day at the coffee shop too; mostly because of more and more conflicts with the owner's wife, Tim decided to move on, he is going to try out writing, one thing he has been dreaming about for a very long time, I will support him fully and financially for up to one year, I sure hope he could become what he always wants to be, even the chance of being a novelist is insignificantly, and I believe he will continue his journey in different field once writing dosen't work out.
Tim's friends and colleagues are surprised at how supportive I'm, honestly, I had struggled, I shuold have belief in my own husband, and I know he is trying to create a better life for me.

It has been two weeks since we came back from Taiwan, I don’t know why I still feel sad over leaving home.
 
Maybe it is because I didn’t have enough time to be with my family and friends.
Maybe I have never wanted to leave home.
And I realized the last two trips returned from Taiwan, I wasn't upset about couldn't work or didn't have a job, I was upset about leaving home.

Tim & I went to an area around Chinatown at 96th street and 108th avenue on June 1st, we've driven through this area few times before, I noticed there were quite a lot of churchs gathered within 3 blocks, although I'm not a Christian or Catholic, some churchs in town are very gorgeous, they've been waving at me, wanted me to visit them.
We first stopped by at 97th street, the St. Josaphat's Cathedral, a Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral stands out so much in Chinatown.
 

Tim studied in Catholic school for 9 years, he is aware of the difference between Christian, Catholic and orthodox, or other forms of churchs, but to me, they are just beautiful bulidings.

Front shot of the cathedral, amazingly gorgeous!
Pictures I took that day are pretty nice, the nice weather helped a lot.
An official information plaque on the wall, tells the history of the church. There is a large amount of historical architectures in Edmonton, you could esaily see those plaques everywhere.

The back shot of the church, I felt like going in, but it was closed.

I like the structure of these stairs.

Went back to 96th street, but my camera's bettry was dying.

This is an Vietnamese Catholic church.

A native Christian church, the color is wonderful!

Do you see God? I mean the statue.......

A German church.

I don't know why, but this church reminds of me Greece.

Another church on 96th street, the name is Holy Trinity, this is an Orthodox church.

First Christian Reformed Church, I really don't know the difference from other churchs.

St. Peter Lutheran Church, then again, I don't know the difference.

Met a Blue Jay on our little church journey, a beautiful creature in North America.