PanAmazing journey

The PanAm games came and went.
From July 10 to July 26, I lived and breathed the games.
The whole city, despite some negativity about the HOV lanes, embraced the games.

My PanAm journey started on Sunday, July 5 with my first shift as a T3 driver.
I had a total of 6 shifts for the PanAm games, all of them starting at 6:00am.
It was hard to wake up at 5:00am and ride the bike to the depot on Cherry street.
That first day, I was in the Yellow group, Charlie 747

The first thing I did at the depot, was to lose my radio. Someone took it by mistake, so I had to tell the people in charge and get them to give me another radio. That first day, I was stationed at the Athletes village, then moved to the Westin before being moved to the staging area at the airport. We spent quite a lot of time in the tent at the airport, with no water or coffee. I was finally sent to terminal 3 where I picked up one passenger going to the Westin. He did not talk to me, and I went the wrong way on Queen's Quay. I dropped him off in the T3 line and told him I could not go in the drop off zone. The venue manager told me that I could if they have luggage, immediately after. I was let off early, around 11:30am.

Saturday, July 11: 

My second shift was not much busier than the first. 

I was in the Gold group, Charlie 605. I met Allan that day, old gentleman with lots of stories to tell. They did not allow us in the village this time, but a cop walked us around the village and showed us the buildings. I got one Brazilian reporter going to the media centre at Exhibition Place. The poor guy was friendly and wanted to talk but had very limited English. I went back to the Athletes village before being called back at 11:00.

Monday, July 13:

First vacation day of the year. Charlie 298.

Allan was in line ahead of me and told me to get in line behind him and be 'white' so we end up being stationed together. We were deployed to the Westin this time, and we made it through the second staging to first staging and then back to Cooper street. I drove to the Athletes village twice, once with 2 officials from Argentina and once with a sole female client, origin unknown. She did not look up from her phone. I was let go at 11:45, and I made my way to PAP (Pan Am Park) where I enjoyed some beach volleyball for free.

Sunday, July 19:
Blue team, Charlie 212. Westin, again.
Two cars jumped in line ahead of me, but was relatively short staging at staging 2.
I drove 2 guys to the Intercontinental Hotel on Bloor. They talked to each other mostly, except when we drove through Yorkville. As I pulled up in front of a T1 car, I felt a little rattle, and the official in the back said that I hit the car. They got out of the car and I checked the car but I couldn't see anything. I went to the other car and the driver said that I caught his tire. I returned to the Westin. All blue cars were sent to PAP, where I followed 2 drivers to the workforce dining room and got a hot meal and 3 pins. The driver I followed was a Quebec guy. We were called back shortly after we started watching the gymnastic rhythmic. I went to the car wash before returning the car and saw scrapes on the front right bumper. I reported the scrapes to Abraham, and he was very nice about it all.

Wednesday, July 22:

I got into the Gold team today, I was about 5 minutes later to the depot than usual. Charlie 311. The folder had 'RFT' on it, but later when I asked, I was told I was not RFT. There were 2 other drivers who were RFT and one of them had to pick up someone at a hotel and drive him to the airport. The other one had to pick up someone in Oakville. [I learned today that he picked up Pinball Clemons and drove him all day!!].
I popped into the trailer to say hi to the controllers today and finally got to see what the guy in my ear all day looked like. I was soon deployed to the Westin, on Cooper street, but was asked to go to PAP as soon as we got there. I went in with Janet and her niece Kristi. As soon as we were done using the washroom, we were redeployed to OPW (Ontario Place West) where waterskiing was taking place. We got to watch that for a bit and then Kristi got us meal vouchers at the workforce tent. When we got back to the parking lot, I was asked to drive 2 Canadian athletes to the village. One was a marathon runner and already ran the previous Saturday and the other was running the 10km in a couple of days. I nearly missed the exit on Jarvis and quickly exited the Gardiner, giving them a fright. They were very nice about it when I apologized for it. I drove back to OPW and then was called to PAV (Athletes village). I drove 4 Argentinians to the media centre at the Exhibition before my shift was over. I did watch Janet scrape her car on a big block at the village during this shift. When she reported it at the depot, Abraham told me that I did not scrape the car the other day! It was already reported! 

Saturday, July 25:

Final shift today. I heard stories about fleet workforce not being happy with drivers who got their cards punched at other venues, so I was stressing out about it. I overheard the guy talking to Allan and when I walked up to him, I asked him not to be mad. He was very cool about it and he gave me a pin and a small Pachi as well as my participation letter. 

I was in the Blue team, Charlie 214 and deployed to PAP right away. 

We went to see the marathon start and finish. Today I was with Teresa, Merle, Anna and Lynn. 

We saw a Canadian athlete walk by and Teresa congratulated him. He walked over and showed us his medal and chatted with us for a bit. He won the 20km walk. 

When the marathon was over, we went into the park and got ourselves Coca Cola cans with our names on it. Lynn sent Merle and myself the picture later. We then went to watch some racquetball and handball. Canadians were playing in both sports. As I returned to my car, we were called back shortly after, around 11:30.

When all was said and done, it was a great PanAm experience even if I did not drive as many people as I thought. The other drivers, a lot of them retirees, most of them offering their time in the spirit of the games, are kindred spirits. So long PanAm, looking forward to the Parapan in a week....

LINC: The classes that saved me.

When my parents moved in with me in a 2 bedroom in January, things started to settle down finally.
I enrolled them in the Language Instruction for New Comers, a program intended to help new comers with getting jobs and/or integrating Canadian society.
I did not enrol them for them to get a job, but I did enrol them to give them something to do.
And it has given me even more than expected.

Structure
First, the classes gave their days some structure.
Before they were enrolled, they would wake up whenever they felt like it and the rest of their day would flow accordingly, with them having lunch at 4pm sometimes. By being enrolled in a 9:00 to 2:30pm class, their days were regimented by their commitment to attending the classes. It gave them just enough freedom after school, to go to the library or to Chinatown to pick up some groceries for dinner before they had to return home. They even have homework to fill their afternoons before dinner time.

Exercise
Second, the Ukrainian centre where the classes are held is about 2km from home. My parents found out that it will take them at least 30 minutes one way to get there, 45 minutes if they take their time. That was for me, the best way to ensure that they will get at least 1 hr of walking every day. After seeing how my grandmother's mobility decreased due to inactivity, I loved it when they said they don't mind the walk and even walked in the harsh Canadian weather. With the right boots and jackets, they did not complain much even when the weather was really, really bad.

Something to talk about
Last, but not least, the classes gave them something to talk about at dinner time.
When before they would assault me with questions about my day as soon as I walked through the door, we are now all in the same state of mind when I get home. By the time we sit down for dinner, we are all ready to share how our day went, and instead of not having much to say, now they both cheerily share what their teachers have said, or what they have learned at school that day.

In addition to all the above, the classes gave both of them a small circle of friends to socialize with on a daily basis. My parents were put in different levels and therefore do not spend the whole day together, which definitely has its own benefits.

They were hooked from the very first week. They look forward to learning and spending the day at the Ukrainian centre. Whenever they have to skip classes to go to doctor's appointments, I feel their regret about having to miss school, so now I make sure that, when possible, doctor's appointments are made in the afternoon so that they would only miss a couple of hours of their classes.
Yes, these classes have been good, not only for my parents, but for me as well.
And the best is that they are free to stay in these classes for as long as they wish, until they become Canadian citizens!

New Year, New Place

Last week I moved for the third time in 7 years.

A lot of people asked me if I was excited about the move or stressed out. 

I wasn't much of the former and I only got stressed out the days leading to the move....

There isn't much to it really, 

1. Pick a date

2. Save the date with your friends/movers

3. Book the elevators at the current address and the next address

4. Reserve a truck

5. Get boxes

6. Start packing...(a little every day works great for me!)

7. Disassemble furniture that can be disassembled.

8. Protect corners of furniture that cannot be disassembled

9. Secure loose items

Come the big day, hope that everything goes as planned!

The best part of the day was that I get to drive a big 10 footer! Driving a car right after seemed quite ordinary.The funniest part of the day was when the security guy looked at us and asked who's going to reverse the truck into the loading area and all the guys looked at me! Yes, the only woman around is backing up the truck! Not too bad for an asian female driver!

Then when everybody has left and you have boxes everywhere, make sure you take a big breath and start unpacking, first with the basics and then with the "peripherals".

The faster you get to it, the better it is.

Of course, the first thing that was set up was my computer! 

Then to admire the view:

Granted, that's not the CN tower, but I get an unobstructed view of GO trains!

I liked my old place, but I think with time, I'll get to like this place too.
After all, home is where the heart is, right?

Where did 2014 go?

As I sit here and ponder where the year has gone, I cannot believe that the last 12 months have gone by so fast. It seems only yesterday I was writing the retrospective of 2013. It's almost as if 2014 happened without any big impact on my life. But I know this is not true. 2014 has brought a lot of changes in my life. Maybe it's true what they say....as you grow older, the years just seem like days...

Well, if that's the case, then here's a summary of what I did over the last few days!

In January, Christina and Patrice were in Toronto for a visit. We hung out a lot and went to karaoke.
It was sad when they left. I went to Ripley's Aquarium a couple of times which is more than most people have since the aquarium opened in October.

February was a winterlicious month. I was at Casa Loma for High Tea and visited the castle for the first time. This high tea gave me the idea of organizing my own tea party! Another meaningful event was a trip to Ottawa to skate on Rideau Canal. We skated the whole length of the canal! The next day, we visited Parliament Hill before heading back to Toronto.

In March, I finally was able to host a tea party at my place. With lots of food, which were apparently all of the same shade, I invited a few friends over after going to pick new glasses for them in chinatown. A week later, I built my most impressive fondant cake yet, a LEGO movie cake for Nathaniel's birthday!

In April, I agreed to become a Toastmasters mentor to a club at MaRS Discovery District. For Easter, I went on a road trip to Cleveland. We went to the symphony orchestra, to a Blue Jays game and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

May and June were fairly quiet before I flew back home at the end of June for Christina and Pat's wedding. It was a bittersweet return to the island. I appreciated it more because I don't anticipate going back soon. Being in the wedding party was relatively easy for Christina's wedding. Everything was planned, so it went fairly smoothly. I stayed one night at Angsana before going back to my own bed. Time outside of the wedding and its related activities were spent with family.

In July, as soon as I got back to Toronto, I went to a Katy Perry concert and another first for me, axe throwing! I wasn't too bad at it, I lost in the semis and was the top female in our group!

August was a big month for me. We went to the East Coast. As per my previous post, it started on a high with meeting a stranger on the plane. The whole trip was a lot of fun, with lots of sights and cities to see on the east coast of our beautiful Canada.

September came and went and in October, my parents arrived. This was the start of a big change for all of us.Between living in a cramped 1 bedroom in downtown Toronto and the trek to Mississauga, the weeks went by fast. Months of preparation culminated in the United Way CN tower climb. where for 3 days, I was in the cross-over room looking at climbers arrive at the finish line.

November has been a blur. It was spent looking at a lot of 2 bedroom condos around the area. Finally, just after mom's birthday, I found a place. So most of the beginning of December was spent making arrangements for the move and going to factory sales and dinners.

Which bring us to today! It's now 3 hrs into the new year and I'm watching The Godfather on Netflix. There's a saying which dictates that whatever you do on New Year's day, that's what you'll be doing the rest of the year. The plan when I wake up is to make dessert for dinner and clean and de-clutter. What's in store for 2015? Hopefully, not more cleaning and de-cluttering!! :)

How long is enough to make an impression?

Last August, I went on a trip to the East Coast with 6 friends.
On Friday, August 8, for the first time in my life, I took Porter Airlines to Halifax, Nov

a Scotia.
On Friday, August 8, for the first time in my life, I met DC (Name protected for privacy reasons).

DC and I hit it off right away. I must say, he is my 'type'. Clean shaven, blond, blue eyed, in a suit. I would have been perfectly happy to just sit next to him without much interaction, after all, on all the flights I've taken throughout my life, I've never really 'talked' to whoever sits next to me.
DC, however, engaged me in conversation almost as soon as I sat down.
He asked me where I was heading and the purpose of my trip. By the time we took off, he was sharing his plans over the next few days and how he has to get ready for his friend's wedding the next day. I gave him some pointers on delivering speeches and even talked about Toastmasters.

By the time the plane made a stop in Ottawa, we've been having a blast, not letting the banter die down and laughing so loud that most of the plane could hear us. My friends dropped by to say hi and they were all introduced to DC, my new BFF. It's funny how we didn't need retrospective to realize that we were having a great time and sharing too much. DC said it a few times and I said it a few times. Like 'woah, okay we are really sharing our lives here....'

In the 3+ hours we were together, he made me switch on my phone to check the meaning of the word 'gesticulating', he spilled wine on himself and he told me about his stay in hospital a few months ago. We talked extensively about his siblings and his girlfriend as well.

When we landed in Halifax, DC got off the plane in a hurry, his family was waiting for him as we were about 1 hour behind. We had exchanged numbers but he said he'll see me at the baggage claim. That never happened. I forgot my hat in the plane so I had to go back for it and by the time we waited for everybody to visit the washroom, nobody was at the baggage claim anymore. That was a bit of a disappointment, after 3 hours of non-stop talking, to close the chapter on such a meeting without even a proper goodbye. But DC came through, he messaged me to apologize for not waiting around.

The first few days of that east coast trip rode on the high of having made an acquaintance before it became about the trip itself. I messaged him when I got back to Toronto and we chatted back and forth for a bit that night. Then nothing, until last Wednesday. I saw DC at The Bay, with his girlfriend. I saw him, I had 2 seconds to decide whether to say hi, decided not to and walked on. I regretted it almost instantly.

Why didn't I say hi?
The main reason was that I feared he wouldn't recognize me.
What if I did say hi and he drew a blank? What if I did say hi and then had to explain how I know him? After all, although we were both there, how he perceived our interaction on the plane could have been totally different from mine. Although HE made an impression on me, have *I* made an impression on him? Are 3 hours enough for someone to remember you? If yes, then for how long? Would I remember him if we crossed paths 3 years down the road? Would I dare to say hi then, even if I regretted not doing so this time? Very unlikely, unless I was in a particularly outgoing mood.
In any case, DC will always be remembered fondly even if this 'friendship' does not last. After all, it's not every flight that you get to share your life with someone else...even if it's just for 3 hours!

As my world turns...

My life has changed over the last 2 weeks.
On October 4, my life as I knew it so far came to an end.
After 7 years away from my parents, they finally joined me here in Canada, as sponsored immigrants.
It's funny how your life changes with two other people in your space.
I cannot believe how much more dust, more hair, more mess, and thus more cleaning I had to do.
I better get used to seeing pee all over the toilet seat because at 63 years old, it's unlikely I'll get my dad to aim better when he tinkles.

The first few days, I resented the fact that I now have to share everything at my place, and for now, I even had to give up my bed. I also resented the fact that they are now old and cannot adapt as easily as I would have wished. After a few days of explaining EVERYTHING at least twice, any question was met with exasperation, a deep breath, followed by an impatient explanation. Under normal circumstances, I do not have the patience to explain the little things. Imagine that under stress, confined to sharing my space and just a general sense of exhaustion, there is no patience or kindness left to explain things that I have learned over the last 14 years about being in Toronto and being Canadian.

Just when I thought I was getting a handle of things, my dad had to go and push my buttons. It's true what they say, your parents make you, so they know exactly where your buttons are. I hardly ever cry, but when I do, it's mostly of frustration. My dad so frustrated me last night, that I cried. Not tears of anger or sadness or regret. Tears of frustration that were accompanied by hacking sobs. I can't remember sobbing like this since December 2012 when Keira left Canada after a 2 week visit, but then, those were tears of sadness.

I'm over it now. I know that in the weeks, months, years (maybe) to come, I somehow have to find a secret fountain of patience to deal with my ageing parents, their expectations and somewhat skewed view of the world while managing my own expectations and worries. In more ways than one, it is like raising rebellious teenagers. They have their good days, and they have their bad days.

Gone are the days when all I had to worry about was myself.
Gone are the days when I had all the 'me' time I wanted.
But also gone are the days when I had to cook when I get home from work!
Chin up, at least I'm well fed!

Sochi 2014 - Oh Canada!

That's it, 25 medals in 2 weeks.
Today was the last day of the winter olympics in Sochi, Russia.
It was with a lot of emotions that I have watched the olympics religiously over the last 15 days, from 7pm to 11pm.

The whole gamut of emotions included nostalgia of the last olympics in Vancouver and my time there; the excitement of hearing 'Oh Canada' and the feeling of kinship when the Canadian gold medallists cried watching the Canadian flag being hoisted and sadness when the Canadian athletes did not make it through to the podium.

Of course, in a country where hockey is almost a religion, that sport was the main focus for most Canadians. I, however, was more elated by the double Gold we won in curling than the double Gold in hockey. I got hooked watching curling in Vancouver. Although I never followed through to watch it outside of the olympics, when the Canadian curlers hit the ice this time around, I was hooked again. I spent more late nights watching curling than watching hockey. I know more about the curlers than any of the hockey players. In fact, I did not even wake up early this morning to watch the gold medal game for the men, against Sweden.
Errrr, can they revoke my citizenship if I admit this online? I hope not.

As for any olympics, the media brings you focus to specific athletes and sports. Here in Canada, hockey always steals the spotlight. The women's curling finals were overshadowed by the women's hockey team winning gold. Just like the men's curling team's win was overshadowed by the semifinals between the USA and Canada for men's hockey. Because the men's hockey final game is on the last day of the Olympics, that is what the media is talking about today and will continue to talk about when they talk of the Sochi games. What about curling though? The women's curling team was undefeated throughout these games! The men's curling was defending the gold Canada won in Vancouver. What about the double gold in moguls in the first few days of the games? This is unfair! The world must perceive us as a nation of moguls, curling AND hockey. At least until the next Olympics.

"We're sorry. The country you are trying to reach is not available at the moment because of Hockey, Curling OR moguls. Please try again later."

Retrospective on 2013

Two months into 2014 already.
At the beginning of the year, I thought of doing a recap of 2013. Of course, I didn't get to it until now.
So here it goes...

2013 was the year of Toastmasters for me, starting with my icebreaker speech in January and delivering a speech almost every month. I did not get to do my CC10 until this month but the bulk of the heavy lifting was done in 2013, and I even became VP Education for Supreme TD Toastmasters in July.

There were quite a few 'firsts' in 2013.
First time I tried pole dancing, first time I went sugar-off in Quebec, first time camping in Tobermory, first time scubadiving (in Tobermory), first time skydiving in Niagara Falls and first time attending a Zoroastrian wedding.

Then of course the travels: Boston in May, San Francisco in June, Atwater/Yosemite in June, Washington DC in September, Rochester in November and Singapore in November/December. I loved Singapore because I got to spend time with Keira. At 17 months, she did not talk much, but she loved to play and she allowed me to hold and play with her when she was in a good mood. She unfortunately had to go to the hospital on the last Thursday I was there, so I spent the last few days in the hospital as well. It was heart-wrenching. On my way back home, I had a stop-over in Narita airport in Japan. That was probably the best stop-over experience EVER! 8 hrs of freebies!

As for running, I did a MEC run in the snow in January, then the Harry Spring Run-off, the Sporting Life 10K and finally the Scotiabank Waterfront half marathon with the exact same time as last year. I could have improved my time if I wasn't nursing a stomachache from the day before.

I did not have any life events, but my cousin Eric got married and my parents came to surprise him at his wedding in June. Then while I was in Singapore enjoying 2 weeks with Keira, Gabriel was born at almost 10lbs.

Apart from the ballet, I attended La Boheme at the opera, went to Kelly Clarkson's concert which also featured Maroon 5 and went to two musicals: Wizard of Oz and Cats.

I ended the year with a pot luck among friends at my place as per last year and we had a game of 'Cards against Humanity'.

All in all, 2013 was a great year, with lots of new experiences and travels.
2014 promises to be more hectic, with big changes looming for me and my parents.
The first 2 months of the year have already set the pace....

I am now competent....

Last Thursday, I gave the speech that would give me Competent Communicator status.
After 9 speeches, the tenth one was to inspire my audience. I have selected the imaginary situation where I appointed to join and lead a kindness committee at my company. The title of the speech: One coffee at a time. Having only finished the speech the night before, I was nervous for not learning the speech by heart. I faltered a couple of times and glanced at my notes, but it went relatively well. Here's the speech:

Have you ever wanted to scream at a coworker in the course of the day? Or fought the urge to throw something at them? This happens to me way more often than I would like to admit. Sometimes I snap at them or I let out exasperated sighs. Then I feel guilty about not being patient and kind. This is what motivated me to join and lead the Kindness committee.

Fellow employees, in a world where bullying is a reality for one in every 3 students, in a world where the news reports show more atrocities around the world than good being done, in a world where kindness is almost a novelty; where are we, as a society, heading? Do you hold the door to the person behind you or do you let it flatten their nose? Do you give your seat to someone in need or feign sleep? Do you try to help your coworker out when he has a deadline or just go about completing your own tasks? If we do not practice being kind to each other, could we survive as a community? More importantly, will the next generation know what kindness is? When I asked myself these questions, I made an astounding discovery. People, like you and I, may not be intrinsically kind, but they can work at it and inspire others to do the same. How do we become kinder and make the world around us kinder?

There are 2 ways we could do this. The first one, which I have seen a friend advertise on Facebook, is to follow the Pay-it-forward formula. The first step is to commit to be kind to a number of people, say 3, and that in turn, instead of repaying you for the kindness, they would pay the kindness forward to someone else. What if I turn back and hold the door for the person behind me ? Wouldn’t that person also hold the door for the person behind him? What if I pay for the next one in line when I get my coffee tomorrow morning?  Would that person also pay for the 3^rd person in line? That’s exactly what someone did at a Tim Hortons drive-thru in Winnipeg and the pay-it-forward chain lasted for 3 hours and 28 minutes, until someone refused to pay for the next customer in line. That person was depicted as ‘The Grinch’. I’m sure there was more than just one Grinch in that line, but nobody before him, wanted to be the one to stop the chain. Most people find it far worse to be labeled as a jerk than to pay for the next order. Nonetheless, it lasted a few hours and it all started with ONE individual doing ONE simple gesture of kindness. A gesture that both you and I could do.

A second way of infusing more kindness in the world is to go BIG, like, really big. Have you heard of the young man in Edmonton who bought himself a donut and a coffee and then paid for the next 500 large coffees? He was talked about in the news, without being on the news. Nobody knows why he did it, he just walked in, ordered his breakfast and paid $859 on his debit card. And then he left. He stays anonymous, but I’m sure the satisfaction he must have had of making 500 coffee lovers happy is exhilarating. A week later, another Tim Hortons customer did the same thing in another city. Now, a year later, I still remember the news segment on that story. Not only are these big random acts of kindness, as they call it, likely to have a ripple effect, but they have a greater impact on us. We talk about it for DAYS, even more so if we are one of the 500, or if we know someone these 500 customers.

Imagine how you would feel if when you are about to pay the cashier for your coffee, she says that it has already been taken care of. Wouldn’t that make your day? Wouldn’t you want to share your joy around? ‘You know what happened to me today? Someone paid for my coffee!’ At a minimum, it makes one person happy. In reality, it makes at least 2 people happy. I remember the Friends episode where Joey tells Phoebe that no act of charity or kindness is selfless, because the person doing the good deed feels good about making someone else’s life better. If you do not care about saving society from a lack of kindness, or about setting an example for the next generation, then at least do it to feel good about yourself and encourage others to do the same.

If you were here last week, you would have heard Wendy, our area governor talk about ‘heroes-in-waiting’ in her speech. Ordinary people who have the potential to be heroes. We do not all have to be heroes, we can improve the world one coffee at a time. Both examples I gave today, the pay it forward chain at the drive thru in Winnipeg and the guy who paid for 500 coffees in Edmonton , happened at Tim Hortons. Most of us get a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, so these are both things we could do without straying too far from our daily routine. Whether we choose to start small and just pay for a friend’s coffee or we want to make a big splash and touch as many people as possible, it only needs one person to start a chain reaction. To improve ourselves and paint a kinder picture around us, it has to start with nobody else but US! Let’s stop being spectators to the disintegration of kindness around us and commit to just ONE act of kindness TODAY. I assure you that it will not be wasted. It will be one additional day where kindness prevails.  In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.’

CC 9 - Because I'm a girl

This was my CC9 delivered in November. I haven't had time to post it until now. The goal was to influence your audience.

Have you ever seen this poster? Have you ever heard of the ‘BECAUSE I’M A GIRL’ campaign?

Toastmasters and dear guests, ‘Because I’m a girl’ is a global initiative to end gender inequality, promote girls’ rights and lift millions of girls, and everyone around them, out of poverty. Their motto is to invest in girls and change the world. Why girls? Because of the way girls are treated in poorer countries around the world. Because they are the first ones to suffer. Yet, they have the biggest potential to help themselves and their families if they are given a chance. Because I am a girl provides these little girls that chance. Let me give you 3 reasons why I am raising awareness to this cause today.

First, let's talk about food. When I was growing up, my mom would layout the food on the table and everybody would serve themselves to as much food as they want. Now picture yourself as poor in a developing country and that for dinner everybody else was allowed to eat first before it was your turn. Imagine that the same scenario happened every day, where you would silently pray that the other members of your family would leave you some food or you'll have to wait till the next day to see if you will have better luck. This happens not because your parents do not love you as much as the other members of your family but because of your gender! Little girls around the world go through this every day. They have to watch the male members of their family eat and hope that there is enough left for them to eat. Is that fair? From someone who would not even let her brother get away with a piece of chocolate if she also didn't get one, that idea is outrageous to me. “Because I'm a girl” initiative, provides food to little girls around the world so that they have a fighting chance to survive poverty. 

The next thing where girls are overlooked is education.  66 million girls in developing countries are not in school. The main reason is because families think that the daughters will be more helpful working for the family than getting an education. Since there is little opportunity for girls to get a paying job even if they are educated, the family seldom wants to spare them, so that they help with cleaning, cooking, collecting wood or water and looking after the younger children. Another reason that families do not send the girls to school is that most schools in poorer countries do not have the facilities to accommodate girls. ‘Because I’m a girl’ helps to send girls to school by building schools with the appropriate facilities and by giving them food if they need it. That gives the parents an incentive to send them to school as well. Research has shown that for every year of school a girl attends, her lifetime income raises by 10 to 20%. And the more education she gets, the healthier her children will be. My dad is a male chauvinist, but he never denied me the education I wanted. He could have said ‘you are a girl, you do not need an education and certainly not in Canada’, but he didn’t.

Thirdly, by promoting gender equality, ‘Because I’m a girl’ is not only promoting a better life for girls but also for boys. Children have a better future when their mothers are educated and their fathers are more involved in the family life. For example, let’s take my brother and I. My dad believes that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. He never goes in the kitchen except to eat. Yet, for all of his shortcomings, or maybe because my mother was educated enough to know how to counter argue him, my brother and I were raised in a gender equal environment. Every chore was divided equally between my brother and I, regardless of the nature of the task, from cleaning the kitchen floors to raking the yard. Today, my brother is well versed in domestic chores, something that I’m sure, his wife appreciates. But more than that, the cycle of gender inequality has been stopped in our generation.

With a little food, as much education as they can get, and by promoting gender equality, girls have the potential to lift themselves out of poverty. The global initiative ‘Because I’m a girl’ is changing the world, one little girl at a time. If you want to help be part of that change, you can donate or shop on the website www.because I am a girl.ca. Or you can make a difference by fundraising or by increasing awareness to the cause. Little girls everywhere need YOU to advocate for them so that THEY in turn may make a difference in THEIR world.

Facebook worthy - CC8

What is the BEST souvenir you could bring home for yourself from your travels?

Toastmasters and most welcome guests, if you are like me and have a terrible memory, then photographs are the most valuable souvenirs from your travels.  I have travelled over the world and depending on who I travel with, the pictures I have as mementos might not be the only memories I want to keep from a particular destination. Some are really bad. Now, with digital cameras, you are at least able to check on the spot if the picture will make it to my Facebook and if not, to take another one right away. It does not however, take away the fact that if you follow 3 simple rules, you will not be spending the whole afternoon trying to get the perfect shot with the Eiffel tower.

First rule, determine what you are trying to capture. Do you want a picture where the focus is a person or a particular monument or object? As a rule of thumb, the focal point should be in the center of the picture, vertically and horizontally, whether it is a person or an object. Take this for example:

 What do you think the photographer was trying to capture in this picture? The lamp or the sofa? …These days, digital cameras allow you to have a grid on the screen to make it easier to center the main subject of your picture and to align the ground horizontally. It always amazes me that as easy as technology has made it, quite a few people still cannot take a decent picture. Like this one:

Apparently it is okay to cut my head off when taking a picture in the south of France. After all, I just need a memento of how blue the sky was and a sample of that wall there. Or maybe I want to remember that in Geneva [slide], the ground might not have been quite level.

The second thing you have to think about when you are the photographer is the lighting. [slide] I think most people would know that if you are behind the camera, then you want the sun to be at your back.

This guy knows what he’s doing. With the newest cameras, if the setting is on ‘automatic’, they would sometimes detect that you are taking a picture against a brighter background and the flash will be triggered automatically. If you do not know better however, you would end up with pictures like this.

This is my very first picture with the CN tower.  “Hi mom, I made it to Toronto. Can’t you guess that’s me with the CN tower?”. This is me not very happy that the houses on the canals of Amsterdam were brighter than me.

This is what happens when you put the flash on.

Let’s not talk about the angle there, just make sure you know where the brightest source of light is.

Framing and lighting may be subject to taste. The photographer may always use as an excuse that he or she, wanted to create an artistic photo, an out of the ordinary perspective on the subject in the picture. However, nobody could excuse a picture like this one.

The third rule is, unless you are trying to take a candid photograph, wait for the subjects to be ready. It is good to count out loud ‘1, 2, 3’ so that the people being photographed are fully aware of when it is going to happen. Now, my memento from Le Casino de Monte Carlo is a picture where I am half sitting or half standing. And my souvenir picture in Bangkok’s Grand Palace is this one, where I was still trying to figure out what the guide was saying.

Capturing digital mementos is easier than it has ever been before. According to 1000memories, a website that allows users to archive and share old photos, “Every 2 minutes today we snap as many photos as the whole of humanity took in the 1800s.” Quantity does not trump quality however so just remember the 3 rules: center the picture on what you want your focal point to be, think about lighting and allow the subjects to settle in before you click. Those will make for better mementos and will not make you ashamed of sharing your vacation pictures. There is nothing worse than going through hundreds of pictures to find 10 good ones to share on Facebook.

Two is better than one.

Raise your hand if you are bilingual!

Toastmaster Chair, fellow Toastmasters and honored guests, in this country, ‘bilingual’ largely means French and English, but you may know another language other than French. I am a bilingual, having learned French and English from a young age, as have all of my cousins. I visited one cousin and her family last week-end. She is married to a monolingual man and has 2 kids with one more on the way. Early on, they have decided that the children will be bilingual even though the father misses out on half of his kids’ conversations. Why would they do it? Why would he voluntarily put himself in a situation where he might not understand his kids? Let me give you 3 reasons why, like my cousin, I feel more parents should aspire to raise bilingual children.

Research has shown that bilingual children outperform monolingual children in executive functions. Executive functions are cognitive processes such as problem solving, mental flexibility, attentional control and task switching. I am NOT saying that because I’m bilingual J! Ellen Bialystok, a Canadian psychologist and Distinguished Research Professor at York University has done extensive research on the effect of bilingualism on different aspects of cognitive development in children. She has found that being bilingual gives the individual an advantage of better attention control and therefore facilitates processing and functioning in several cognitive tasks. Imagine presenting an object to me. Immediately my brain provides the labels of the object in both languages I know. Which word I pick to say out loud depends largely on which language is being used and the appropriate word to use in the context. Constantly making the decision about how to best respond to a situation, as well as having better control over what they select, results in better performance in regards to problem solving and attention control. In other words, bilinguals are exposed to more situations where they have to make decisions based solely on the situation they are in, making them better at focusing their attention on the details that are relevant at a specific moment in time.

If that isn’t reason enough, let me give you a second reason. The American Speech Language Hearing Association promotes good listening skills and ability to connect well with others as advantages of being bilingual. Language goes beyond just a means of communication. Each language has the ability to shape an individual's perception of the world, and a bilingual's perception of the world would change according to the language they are currently functioning in. This makes them more sensitive to cultural differences hence makes them more adaptable in a social setting and more likely to make friends.

There is another strong, third, reason parents decide to raise bilingual children in Canada. In a 2007 survey, 60 percent of Canadian parents cited increased job opportunities for their children as the main reason for enrollment in French immersion schools. That is because a 2006 research poll for Canadian Heritage revealed that almost 70 per cent of Canadians felt that bilingualism improved employment and business opportunities. With over 30 countries with French as an official language and over 220 million French speakers worldwide, bilingual employees may work with multinational corporations working in or with these countries. Exports from French-speaking countries represent 19 per cent of world exports, creating a sizeable market which requires French speakers.

In summary, my cousin’s children will be better than their monolingual counterparts in executive control tasks such as problem solving and task switching; they will do well socially thanks to an increased cultural sensitivity and; they will have a better chance at landing a job when they get older. If you are not bilingual, and you are thinking right now about how to reap the benefits of being bilingual, do not despair. Since learning a new language is no small task, prove your dedication and determination, other traits increasingly valued in the globalized world, by picking up a new language now.