The journey of learning another language adds so much to our lives. It is definitely more than worth the effort. The two best tips i have been given are 1) study and practice everyday - no matter how busy you are you can find 15 minutes to listen to an audio file song, messages, sitcoms in your language of study (while on the bus, train or plane, walking, doing household chores or exercises) 2) Practice what you know today - Don't wait till you think you are ready, speak it today & every day you are as ready to speak as you will ever be until you start speaking it. It takes you out of passive learning and puts you in active learning. Don't worry what others will think, the smart ones will congratulate you for your determination and drive to grow. Your fun will beginI got these tips from Language Hero - Kevin Moorehouse.

I finally got involved in a Dragon Boat festival. Ever since I first got on a dragon boat at a company team event back in 2009, I have wanted to join a Dragon Boat team. Well maybe next year, this year i was as close to the action as you can get with out being a paddler.I inquired about joining a team or becoming a festival volunteer. Well the next thing I know I was enrolled to be a Dock Marshal on the day of the festival. I went to the volunteer orientation meeting complete with a signed waiver and eager to find out what my responsibilities would be. I would be working in the team loading and unloading area helping to ensure smooth and fast loading and unloading the boats between each of the 42 races. With 55 teams competing and 22 athletes per team that was a total of 1210 athletes participating. I was assured that my love of kayaking, canoeing and patient tutoring would make me an ideal volunteer to work on the docks.A week later a call came out over email requesting people to volunteer for site crew for the site setup the day before the festival. Well I figured that by participating in the site setup I would feel more involved and a part of the event, so I signed up.As part of the site setup crew we were asked to unload tents, tables and chairs from trailers or trucks. Distribute recycling containers and garbage cans throughout. We erected three kinds of fencing in different portions of the host site to fence in the docking area, and a beer garden as well as the Dragon Boat Team Village. The volunteer coordinators made sure we were fed lunch and supplied with sufficient work and water to keep us busy and hydrated. Work started at 9 am August 26 and we were finished at 4 PM and free to go.Sign in as Dock Marshals was required for 6:15 AM sharp, Aug 27 Well as luck would have it, I was given the honour of being one of 8 drummers in the Opening Ceremony " The waking of the Dragon"I am in the dragon boat on the right in the picture above. The picture from 2015 shows my part of the opening ceremony, starting from a light taping on the drum, increasing in speed and soundthe tapping became a loud banging on the drum, together with the other seven drummers.Canada Docks area used for the loading and unloading of the dragon boat teams. The building in the background with the green roof is the Downtown Barrie Bus terminalNine hours later the races were over for another year. Next morning I rode down to the site to get some picturesAll that remains are the fond memories, experiences, new friendships made and old friendships enriched, and the carnations that were thrown into the pond during the Memories Ceremony, to honour children, team mates, friends and relatives or other community members who lost their battle with cancer since the previous races. This tradition started at the Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver, Canada in 1996 when one of the teams wore a carnation to honour a teammate who had lost their battle with cancer since the previous festival. The tradition spread and is now performed at Dragon Boat Festivals around the wworld.Barrie's Beautiful Heritage Park the host site of the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Today, while talking to the volunteer coordinator, I was thanked for getting involved. I replied, Emily, thanks to your devotion and professionalism I had a fantastic experience and got at least as much out of the event as the 16 hours effort I contributed. Thank you Emily and the Barrie Library, and others including dragon boat paddlers, volunteers and sponsors, that contributed to the events success. Looking forward to next year.

I just finished reading a book about Todd Preston struggle with embracing change in his life and forgiving.One of the key points I got from the book was that in order to grow as a person we must learn to embrace change and forgive the people in our life that have tormented us. I found it interesting that he stated that we must first forgive ourselves before we can truly stop blaming others and imparting honest forgiving. I also found it interesting that he pointed out that it is this self victimizing game of blaming others that really inhibits growth and development of true friendships. The point being that if we blame other we are abusing ourselves by becoming victims. The lesson to learn is that when we blame others we sacrifice control in our lives. When we forgive and see events we learn to take control of our lives and our own happiness.I find that when we read of other peoples journey in personal growth it helps us assess where we are and ideas on next steps to take to get to where we want to be.

As I sit and search the internet for things to do with visiting friends, and ponder what destinations i will explore over the coming months, I can not help but reflect on the summer that is fading as the bright colours of fall are taking hold.Growing up in Canada either you embrace and enjoy the changing seasons or you tolerate them or try to escape them like many snowbirds do. People that flee to warm destinations during the brisk cold of northern winters are called snowbirds.I had a great weekend this past weekend enjoying one of the last weekends of the summer of 2014. I thought I would share with you some pictures I took to capture the wonders of nature and the peace of a kayak trip. Kayaking is my passion, I do it every chance I get, which is not often enough.

Yesterday I arrived in Taipei after a short flight from Xiamen. The temperature was 82 degrees and it was sunny, before night fall came a cloud ceiling and a light sprinkle of rain. This helped to create a very pleasant start to my trip. 我会少一点普通话！ I only speak a little of the common language (Mandarin) so I mostly have to rely on my English and the English skills of the people I meet. Currently the only real advantage my Chinese Language skills provide is the ability to show courtesy, respect and politeness at the basic level. It also provides a curiosity level of entertainment or conversation with most people saying I am doing well. However I know I have a long journey ahead of me but I appreciate the positive feedback and encouragement. My bus journey from the airport to the center of the city, at first showed scenes familiar to scenes I saw in cities in China. Then when I got to the heart of the city I made my first real observation which was confirmed when I got off the bus and started walking around. Pedestrians could safely walk out into the intersections when they had the walk signal as all or most vehicles and bicycles yielded the right of way to the pedestrians. I also noticed that they have painted markings in the cross walks to designate separate areas for bicycles and pedestrians. It is still advisable to look both ways when crossing the street, but it was pleasant to see the vehicles going the right direction in the lanes not having to dodge vehicles and bicycles from both directions. On my first day I found that the majority of people that I met could speak English either fluently or enough to offer assistance. That is one of my goals of learning Mandarin is to be able to communicate at the basic level to ask for and offer assistance and improve my ability to communicate. Taipei appears to be a very clean city in the areas that I saw, as well as a very extensive public transportation system with several subway lines. On my first day I gave my camera a rest and just relaxed and tried to get my bearings on the city. On my excursion today I plan to take the Mookong Gondolo to get a bird’s eye view and hopefully take some nice pictures. Updated Oct 25 to add pictures. Well I have finally loaded up the first batch of my pictures you can chech them in my Taipei Album but here are a few. The Taipei zoo is one of the best if not the best Zoo's I have ever been to. They have taken great care to provide comfortable space for the animals to make them feel at home while providing save veiwing for people. I like the Gorilla's attitude the best.My home in Taipei is (Mu homes fashion hotel) The Loft Hostel. I enjoyed my 6 days there so far. I love Taipei and i love (Mu homes fashion hotel) The Loft Hostel我爱台北，我爱沐舍時尚酒店wǒ ài táiběi, wǒ ài mù shě shíshàng jiǔdiàn

Xiamen is now gearing up to stage the 2013 Cross-Strait Dragon Boat Race on 26th & 27 held in Jimei Dragon Pool According to the organizing committee, a total of 80 teams, which includes 37 teams from Xiamen, 15 teams from Taiwan, 2 teams from Hong Kong, and 1 teams from Macao, will compete in the dragon boat race this year. The participants were divided into 8 groups: Social Men’s Group, Social Women’s Group, University Men’s Group, University Women’s Group, Men’s Group of Middle School & Technical High School Students, Women’s Group of Middle School & Technical High School Students, Female Teachers’ Group, and Male Teachers’ Group. The dragon boat race in Jimei dates back to half a century ago. It is an important sports event organized by the General Administration of Sports of China. Jimei is also the hometown of Mr. Tan Kah-Kee, the late Chinese philanthropist and a celebrated leader of overseas Chinese, who devoted himself entirely to the cause of education. A lot of educational institutions started by Mr. Tan Kah-Kee, including Jimei Kindergarten, Jimei Primary School and Jimei Middle School, are located here. Note : If the pictures do not display here properly you can find them in my album titled blog picturexs Banners Banners promoting the Race That's me standing under the entrance “gate” to the Dragon Boat Race Thi picture and the next 2 Dragon Boats are getting in position for a race. Teams in the various races included women. Men, mostly Chinese, and also included some westerners. They are off and racing the drummer sets the pace for the team above it is mostly quiet during a break in the competition. below Dragon Boats sit empty waiting for the resumption of the racing. The next two pictures shows the busy schedule for th etwo days of Dragon Boat Racing a look at some of the local architecture After a nice lunch at a local restaurant, we decide to visit The Turtle Garden and the Jimie Liberation Monument Above A narration describing the Turtle Garden and the Jimie Liberation Monument origins. The next two pictures of The Jimie Liberation Monument All thru the Garden information from the art work illustrated here to the images of insects, snakes and all kinds of information displayed on walls throughout the site the second picture below shows is a closer look at the artwork Then next three pictures show the Dragon Boat Race in full flight all six lanes are full Above the Dragon Boat in lane three has won and the race is now for second place Below for me the lure of the Dragon Boat Race is not just the mystery and colour but the dedication of all members of the six teams, each with more than 20 people all working in unison for one team goal Above More Dragon Boat teams getting ready in the staging area to head to the starting line. Below shows fans and supporters at the finish line viewing area, watching and cheering their favourite Dragon boat to the finish. What are you doing when the official Dragon Boat Holiday comes?

Xiamen is now gearing up to stage the 2013 Cross-Strait Dragon Boat Race on 25th May, which is scheduled to be held in Jimei Dragon Pool in the city to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the school and promote friendly relationships across the Straits. According to the organizing committee, a total of 80 teams, which includes 37 teams from Xiamen, 15 teams from Taiwan, 2 teams from Hong Kong, and 1 teams from Macao, will compete in the dragon boat race this year. The participants will be divided into 8 groups: Social Men’s Group, Social Women’s Group, University Men’s Group, University Women’s Group, Men’s Group of Middle School & Technical High School Students, Women’s Group of Middle School & Technical High School Students, Female Teachers’ Group, and Male Teachers’ Group. The dragon boat race in Jimei dates back to half a century ago. It is an important sports event organized by the General Administration of Sports of China. Jimei is also the hometown of Mr. Tan Kah-Kee, the late Chinese philanthropist and a celebrated leader of overseas Chinese, who devoted himself entirely to the cause of education. A lot of educational institutions started by Mr. Tan Kah-Kee, including Jimei Kindergarten, Jimei Primary School and Jimei Middle School, are located here. SOURCE: WOX Team at What's On Xiamen Xiamen Cross Straight Dragon Boat Race May 25 & 26 - Source What's ON Xiamen

May 18 we went back to Bay Park in the evening to enjoy a free musical concert and th eambiance of the area at night. Hubin West Road Side Road Siming, Xiamen, Fujian, China. from Relocated to <span id="placestatus" style="display: none;" jstcache="26" jsdisplay="m&&m.ss&&has('m.ss.status')&&m.ss.status>0">=1&&m.ss.status=12&&m.ss.status Not true? Show all edits=7&&m.ss.status Not true?Placement on map is approximate May 18 & 19 2013 Seawind Singer free park Concert XiamenMay 18 & 19 2013 Seawind Singer free park Concert XiamenMay 18 & 19 2013 Seawind Singer free park Concert XiamenOne of many waterfront restauraunts with in a 2 minute walk of the May 18 & 19 2013 Seawind Singer free park Concert Xiamen

Grade 5 Musical Concert attended by Invitation, back on track Wednesday May 15 My apology as my last post was for Tuesday May 14, (not 15.) I was back on the ferry, heading to Gulang Yu to meet my friend to attend a grade 5 Musical concert that he had been invited to by his students. Fortunately the heavy rain that was falling in the morning had stopped, and I was able to get to my destination without even opening my umbrella. We walked through the lovely side streets with the majestic older buildings winding our way around to the entrance of the school. After validating our invitation and calling someone to escort us to the music hall, we were allowed in to the school property. Upon arriving at the entrance to the school hall I was introduced to a couple of students, which were going to perform in the concert and the parents of one of them. During the course of the next two hours I was impressed with professional format and conduct of the students performing their solos in the concert. The students that I was introduced to were playing their selection on a cello and on a grand piano. At the start of the concert the audience was advised they are welcome to take pictures and make personal videos of the concert but they are requested (required) to be quiet during all the performances. As quickly as the announcement was over the concert began. Throughout the concert the performers would assist with set up for the next selection, then one participant would introduce then next student (and I assume, as all communication was in Chinese, advise the audience on what musical selection and instrument would be performed.) I am not sure what impressed me the most. Was it the advanced skill level, which each of the performers displayed during their solo, or was it the professional way they moved from performer to performer? Even I could tell that some of the students were at a higher skill level than others but without exception they are all to be praised for their cooperation and professionalism. I was advised by my friend that the cello player was very advanced for his age by any standard and from my ear alone was able to tell that both the students I was introduced to were fine musicians. I felt privileged to be able to sit in on the concert. Following the concert another friend of mine joined us for a simple Chinese dinner, following which we were invited back for a glass or two of wine and a pleasant evening. After sharing stories, pictures and discussing their upcoming move we departed for the ferry and headed back home.

A day in Beautiful Xiamen 美丽的厦门 Trip to a Bakery followed by a relaxing afternoon at the waterfront and evening out. On Tuesday May 14 we arranged to meet at a bakery out behind the Marco Polo Hotel with the plans to relax at a beachfront bar followed by a dinner out. The two of us met at the Bakery where I purchased a loaf of walnut dark rye bread and a plain rye bread. The server offered and then sliced the bread rewrapping them for me. My friend purchased about five loaves of bread having three of them sliced, wrapped and paid for we were ready to head out. We decided to walk from the bakery to the chain of restaurants along the waterfront and settle in at a bar near Haifu Park Natatorium, 海富公园游泳馆. My friend also a Canadian but having lived in China on and off for about a decade illustrated to me the correct way to walk across the crosswalk. He advised me once he checked the law and found out that in China cars must yield the right of way pedestrians that are in the crosswalk. He saw a break in the traffic and stepped into the crosswalk, pointing the direction he was walking to let drivers know that he was crossing. When drivers approached he pointed at the pavement where the cross walk was clearly painted and continued to walk. As traffic laws in China require the drivers yielded the right away for us to safely cross. Over on the other side of the four lane roadway and safely on the sidewalk we continued our stroll until we reached our destination. We ordered a couple drinks, yes beers lol. After about an hour enjoying conversation, the beach bar atmosphere and our refreshments, deciding that no one else was joining us we would take the ferry to Gu Lang Yu 鼓浪屿。 I have always incorrectly been saying Gulangyu Island, so my friend pointed out that is either Gulang Island or Gulang Yu. Thank full for his correction I have now corrected that mistake. After a short taxi ride and walk we were now boarding the ferry and heading to Gu Lang Yu. We went to a neighborhood bar on Gulang Yu where we met and had a refreshment with another friend before heading to the restaurant. Together we enjoyed a nice meal with five or six dishes including an egg and oyster dish, steamed broccoli, fried beef with snow peas and a side of steamed rice each. Well it was time to head home so my friends went further in toward the center of Gu Lang Yu and I headed back to the ferry and a bus that would take me along Huandao East Road toward the Exhibition Center环岛东路朝会展中心and to my home. Picture looking from Yun dang Road , Xiàmén 筼筜路厦门Picture looking from Yun dang Road , Xiàmén 筼筜路厦门Picture looking from Yun dang Road , Xiàmén 筼筜路厦门Picture looking from Yun dang Road , Xiàmén 筼筜路厦门Picture looking from Yun dang Road , Xiàmén 筼筜路厦门Picture near Hubin West Road湖滨西路from my personal archive, a picture of the beach along Huandao East Road Xiamen环岛东路