Art Gala

Last month Tim and Lisa attended a beautiful evening of Art, dinner, and entertainment. This black tie Gala was sponsored by the Galerie Nguyen and we were guests of the gallery director, who has children in the High School.  It was a special opportunity to view 20 up-and-coming young Vietnamese artists. Selections of their work was on display in the foyer and we had opportunity to vote for our favourite. Each piece was unique and beautiful!

There were also several prestigious international Art judges in attendance and at the end of the evening there was an awards ceremony to honour five of the artists. The top winner won money, a trip to an International Art Fair, and a 5-year contract with one of the galleries in Ho Chi Minh City. This type of exposure is an amazing gift to these young men and women.

Besides a magnificent dinner (green pea soup with truffle creme fraiche, Cape grim beef, red chimichurri, creme brulee), surrounded by extraordinary Art, there was entertainment in the form of a young Vietnamese pianist, named Tuan Manh. He is a spectacular performer and actually composed a piece on the spot, inspired by one of the pieces of Art. Very special!

Art for the Soul

This semester, Lisa joined a weekly Art Club with several teachers from SSIS. The teachers are naturally very gifted in artistic expression and this was a time of relaxation for them at the end of a busy week. For Lisa, it was a creative stretch and an opportunity to engage her right brain. 

Makenna's Bike

Last week Simon's friend, Makenna, purchased a brand new electric bike. These are a popular way to get around our district -- when you need a little extra help with the pedaling. Makenna's bike is an HKBike Cap A2. It is battery operated and very quiet, but also quite sturdy. It has enough seat room for two people and a bit of storage. 

Happy Birthday Max!

This week Max had his 19th birthday. It was hard to be apart from him and we are very thankful for his surrogate family, the Squires, who are caring for him during his Co-Op placement.




Our Canadian son is thriving in the winter activities of Ontario. Much to our surprise he has been enjoying skating and skiing and doing very well learning about these.

Max has always had a desire to skate better and he has made huge improvement this winter. He has sent videos from the skating park and we are amazed at his new-found skill.

Max also spent a week in Ottawa at the Canadian Nuclear Energy Association Conference. He has been interested in Nuclear Engineering and was keen to learn about the industry. He did some great networking and enjoyed the trip to Ottawa.

We miss our boy but we are thrilled that he is thriving in his new home.

Soccer Season

Yesterday Simon's soccer team won their first game of the season! Well it is not actually Simon's team -- he isn't even playing soccer this season! But he is the Team Manager for the Varsity Girls soccer team at SSIS.

Simon's role is to set up the field before practices, fill water bottles, coordinate paperwork, keep statistics, and assist the coach in anything he asks him to do. He is truly enjoying this new activity, except for being in the heat and sun. He has equipped himself with sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, water bottle and umbrella.

Shrove Tuesday

This week we invited friends to share pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. As we look forward to Easter, this marks the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It was a fun evening with pancakes and maple syrup!