I don't know exactly when it happened and I am not sure why it happened but as we traveled around the world this last break and we were asked where we lived,
we responded with Harbin and not Penticton as we usually did. They say "home is where your heart is" and ours is certainly still in Penticton. But it took a e-mail from a friend last week to remind us that we are facing our last few months in Harbin and we realized that we will be leaving a bit of our heart here when we leave and that this has been our home not just a stop in our relentless drive to see the world.
we responded with Harbin and not Penticton as we usually did. They say "home is where your heart is" and ours is certainly still in Penticton. But it took a e-mail from a friend last week to remind us that we are facing our last few months in Harbin and we realized that we will be leaving a bit of our heart here when we leave and that this has been our home not just a stop in our relentless drive to see the world. The memory card that we were using for our camera had a melt down and at this point it looks like we lost all of our pictures that we have taken since we returned to Harbin. Thankfully we have been able to tap into those of our extended family and can share them with you. A picture is worth a thousand words especially with my commentary. It has been almost 10 weeks since we returned to Harb
in and we quickly picked up where we left of. First up was the Persian New Year. A fabulous evening at Solmaz and Abbas's.
in and we quickly picked up where we left of. First up was the Persian New Year. A fabulous evening at Solmaz and Abbas's. Before we knew it, St. Patricks day was upon us. It isn't easy being green. As I am 1/4 Irish it just seemed like the right thing to do. Can you pick out the other person in the picture who lays claim to Irish descent. Nonie cooked up an extravaganza of green baked products for the event. We played Toss the Coin into the Pot of Gold and had a lively game of Pass the Irish Potato. We even had a Russian leprechaun show up for the festivities. The Qingmin Festival 
or "Tomb Sweeping Festival" closely followed St. Paddy's Day. It is a time to honor and remember our ancestors. The Chinese burn paper offerings so that there ancestors can have better lives in the hereafter. With the help of Janie, Nonie and I were able send an offering to all our ancestors. See my blog of March 2009 for more on the Qingmin Festival.
or "Tomb Sweeping Festival" closely followed St. Paddy's Day. It is a time to honor and remember our ancestors. The Chinese burn paper offerings so that there ancestors can have better lives in the hereafter. With the help of Janie, Nonie and I were able send an offering to all our ancestors. See my blog of March 2009 for more on the Qingmin Festival.This weekend is Easter Weekend. Nonie has some time on her hands this semester. She is teaching six classes a week of first year students. She only see each class once in the semester so her preparations time is almost zero along
with zero administration time. Her classes will end around the middle of May and at this point in time, she has no other work scheduled. With all this spare time, she decided to create an Easter that HIT would not forget. She enlisted an multinational task force to create and paint 100 paper mache Easter eggs that she planned to hang in the trees located in the courtyard in front of our dorm. The task force comprised 3 Iranians, 2 Iraqis, 6 Chinese, 2 Russians, 3 Americans, 1 Japanese and 1 Phillipino. Did I mention they were all women, no men allowed. Needless to say, I either locked myself in the bedroom or one night I met up with Abbas to play some some pool. Too many women in one place always makes me very nervous. On Good Friday, 
we let the men in on the secret and everyone got together to hand the eggs. Sadly, the weather did not cooperate and rain forced us to hang them in the lobby our dormitory. Nonie once again cooked up a storm and everyone came back to our apartment for drinks, cookies and cake. We enjoyed hearing and singing songs from our native countries. Nonie, Armin and I sang Frere Jaques with much gusto. It was surprising how many of our other guests knew the lyrics.
with zero administration time. Her classes will end around the middle of May and at this point in time, she has no other work scheduled. With all this spare time, she decided to create an Easter that HIT would not forget. She enlisted an multinational task force to create and paint 100 paper mache Easter eggs that she planned to hang in the trees located in the courtyard in front of our dorm. The task force comprised 3 Iranians, 2 Iraqis, 6 Chinese, 2 Russians, 3 Americans, 1 Japanese and 1 Phillipino. Did I mention they were all women, no men allowed. Needless to say, I either locked myself in the bedroom or one night I met up with Abbas to play some some pool. Too many women in one place always makes me very nervous. On Good Friday, 
we let the men in on the secret and everyone got together to hand the eggs. Sadly, the weather did not cooperate and rain forced us to hang them in the lobby our dormitory. Nonie once again cooked up a storm and everyone came back to our apartment for drinks, cookies and cake. We enjoyed hearing and singing songs from our native countries. Nonie, Armin and I sang Frere Jaques with much gusto. It was surprising how many of our other guests knew the lyrics.
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