Congratulations, Leah and Will.

It was our great luck to meet Leah and Will, our very first morning in Harbin in 2008. We arrived from the airport to our apartment late into the night after a 24 hour marathon trip. We were requested to meet in the lobby early the next morning to deal with visa and other issues. Completely overwhelmed by jet lag, very little sleep and with great trepidation, we made our way down to the lobby and had our first glimpse (with extremely bleary eyes) of the kids who would become our friends and colleagues over the next year. Will easily stood out in the crowd. Tall lad, with the reddest hair and scruffiest beard. Leah, not so tall but with a smile that made up for her small stature. Over the next few weeks, Leah and Will along with Tom, Brian and branson were to become the mentors and guides for an old couple surviving their first few weeks in an extremely foreign country. Please take an opportunity to glance over our past blogs from September 2008 onward for those adventures.

Flash forward almost two years and once again suffering a little jet lag and in another foreign country, we are blessed with the opportunity to attend the wedding celebrations for Leah and Will. We were joined there by Brian who stopped in from France on his way home for a visit with family before returning to Harbin. Once again Leah and Will took care of us, hooking us up with family friends, Suzanne and Walt. Suzanne and Walt opened up their lovely home and hearts to us, making sure we wanted for nothing. Walt, taking a day out of his busy schedule, acting as a tour guide, transported us to the birth place of John Adams (2nd President) and John Quincy Adams (6th President) along with side trips to the battle fields of Lexington and Concorde. They made our time there even more special.

Leah and Will took time out of their hectic schedule to drop in and see us on our first evening at Suzanne and Walt's. Nonie presented them with a quilt which she had spent the last six months planning and making for them. I must say, that is one of her most brilliant ones to date.


The wedding attended by the immediate family was held on a small island located a short 100 metres (125 yards for you American readers) off the beach of Leah's family's home. The wedding party was transported to the island on a boat that Leah had built when she was a teenager. The reception/celebration attended by a hundred or so friends and family was held a few days later at the Russell home. Met both sets of parents and quickly discovered where Will got his sense of adventure/humour (humor for your American readers) and Leah got her sense of well being and that beautiful smile. The evening ended with the couple walking down a small trail, lined by family and friends holding candles, to the lake. They then cast a small raft decorated with flowers and lit with candles out into the lake. It was to represent the beginning of their journey together as man and wife. I would not want to start any rumours (rumors for you American readers) but I think it brought a tear to Brian's eye. The couple would leave a few days later to return to their home in England and another wedding party for friends and family.

Brian was delivered to the airport the next day while Nonie and I stayed an extra day exploring the little bits of Boston that we did not see in our first three days. The next day, a short 12 hour flight (acutually three flights) and 6 hour drive found us home in Penticton. Oh, by the way, with our luggage! Take that Air Canada!!!!

Harbin, here we come.

Bahston Been There

Day 2 saw us further inundated with American history. We started the day with a visit to North Boston or Little Italy as it is now known. Skinny streets with miles and miles of 200 - 300 year old brownstone houses and apartments. The area is home to the "Old North Church" which played a pivotal part in the American Revolution. Perhaps the quote "One if by land and two if by sea." rings a bell. No pun intended. It is the church where they used the bell tower in which to hang the two lanterns that told the revolutionaries that the English were coming across the Charles River to march toward Lexington and Concord. " One if by land and two if by sea" were words in the poem "Paul Revere's Ride" written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow long after the actual event. Then on to a visit and a quick tour to Paul Reveres house which is still standing in North Boston. It seems that Paul was only one of over a dozen riders who headed out to warn the Revolutionaries. Paul became the poster boy for these heroes, mostly in part because of Longfellow's poem.


Boston is an excellent walking city but at the same time has an excellent transit system and getting to the various historical sites is very easy. The Old Government House was our next stop. The building is considered the geographic centre of Boston and the "Boston Massacre" occurred just outside the front door of the building. Massacres were more compact in the Revolutionary times with only 7 people killed in this fight. The massacre was not planned by the British to occur. A small group British Regulars were surrounded by a very large and unruly crowd and only fired into the crowd when they were spooked by someone in the crowd firing a gun into the air. A while later, the newly written constitution was read from the balcony of the building to the citizens of the newly created republic.



Dropped in to Hahvard University to sign up our grandchildren. That is assuming MIT or Oxford doesn't get them first.









Day 3 started with a visit to Fenway Park, the oldest operating baseball field in the world. During our travels around Boston, we found many sites that claimed to be the first and/or oldest something in the world /North America. Boston has done a wonderful job maintaining their historic sites. We were lucky and our tour group was allowed to access the playing field and I got to touch the "Green Monster" as well as sitting in the seats at the top of it. We finished the day with a ferry ride to Salem and a visit to the Salem Witches Museum. Scary stuff.

Andover and the wedding celebrations are next on our to do list.

Bahston Been

Bahston is steeped in history. Where else could you sit in an 200 year old pub and sip a Samuel Adam's beah (beer) while looking across the street at the grave of Samuel Adams. There were in fact three signahs (signers) of the Constitution located in the same graveyard. Sadly they did not have beahs named aftah themselves.



Old Ironsides. No not Raymond Burr but the oldest operating naval ship in the world. Built at the beginning of the 19th century, it still floats and at least a couple times a year gets out on the hawbah (harbour) for a float. It is manned by the Navy and foh a small fee and a non-invasive body frisk, you can tooah (tour) the ship.




Bahston Hawbah has been around for ovah 300 yeeahs (years). It is rumoured that the pilgrims actually built the first high rises.

Bahston has more American history per square mile than any othah City and this was just the first day.

Welcome to Bawston

Befoah, I begin the story of our lovely trip to Bawston you will be required to complete a short lesson on Bonglish or Boslish if you prefer.

Boston- Bawston
before- befoah
after- aftah
never- nevah
Harvard- havahd
lobster- lobstah
over- ovah
cool dude- wicked pissah

You get the ideah!
Stay tuned.

Article 7, Subsection 5.4 Grandparents Handbook

As per the Grandparent Handbook please find attached the obligatory and latest pictures of our recent visit with said grandchildren. Future PHD, Ronan was busy trying on lab coats, looking for that perfect fit.





Future marine biologist Isla checking out her dinghy. Snicker, snicker!
She doesn't have a dinghy.







Future Olympic triathletes getting in a few laps in the pool.

The Emperor Has His Clothes

Armed with some clothes, we took the opportunity to explore the Niagara region for a few days. We started with a visit to the Welland Canal and were lucky to see a freighter use a lock on it's way to Lake Erie. We spent a few hours in Niagara On The Lake. Lovely little place with our visit slightly tarnished by a $25 dollar parking ticket. Our bad! We parked on the street and walked by at least four or five ticket spitters with out seeing them.


We ended that day with an overnighter in The Falls. Niagara Falls seems to have become a mecca for families. It felt like Nonie and I were the only couple there. Back in the day The Falls was a place for honeymooners. Perhaps the honeymooners are now coming back with their kids. We spent the night in a lovely hotel that overlooked the falls.


Opting for the cheaper room, our view of the Falls was more a view of the water vapor coming off the Falls but it was a great view of the fire works that were scheduled for that night.



From there it was off to Toronto by train for a visit with my aunt and cousin. Toronto continues to be the centre of universe. Up early the next day to catch a train to Smiths Falls and an overnight to visit with another aunt. Found that train travel is very civilized and we arrived with our luggage. Okay, that was my last shot, I will move on. Smiths Falls is a lovely place to pass a few hours. It is located right on the Rideau Canal with a lock, considerably smaller than the locks on the Welland Canal. Once again our timing was good and we saw a couple of small power boats pass on through.

Next stop Ottawa and the chance to fill up on grandchildren before we leave for China.

Luggage Lost, Luggage Found, Lugggage Undelivered

Flying on points, getting bumped to business class, access to the Maple Leaf Lounge, all good. Then Air Canada went and spoiled it by losing my luggage for almost four days. To be fair, my luggage was not lost, it just didn't follow to Ontario at the same pace I did.

It started with bad weather in Edmonton and being redirected to Calgary to wait out the bad weather occurring in Edmonton. This meant missing my Edmonton connection to to Toronto and a probable overnight in Edmonton. A nice attendant got me onto a Toronto flight out of Calgary that had been delayed due too some inclement weather there. I arrived in Toronto the next day and about three hours after my original arrival time only to discover my luggage did not. Hey no problem, the bag would arrive sometime that day and be delivered the next day.

Hearing nothing the next day, I called 1-888-LOSTLUGGAGE and found myself talking to a very apologetic operator on another continent whom I would get to know very well over the next three days. Actually, I talked to seven different operators over the next few days, but all were very sincerely apologetic and following to the letter, the script found in the "How To Deal With Irate Passengers Who Didn't Get Their Luggage" manual. To be fair to me, I did not get irate till at least the fourth call.

Despite the bag laying dormant in the Toronto baggage claim area for over 48 hours, Air Canada could not or would not figure out how to get the damn bag to me in Beamsville. With time running out, I borrowed a vehicle and spent five hours of my vacation traveling to the airport, getting lost due to some construction near the airport, then a two hour commute back on the freeway that had turned into a parking lot.

I got the feeling that Air Canada had no intention of getting my bag to me. A very frustrating few days.

Thanks for the vent, I feel better already plus I smell better. I didn't realize how much I rely on under arm deodorant till I quit using it for a few days.