Kinderen voor Kinderen song - Two Fathers

If there's one thing I love, it's people expressing our need to embrace our differences as a single humanity. This sentiment is increased ten-fold when I see children propogating such a message, as they truly serve as a litmus test to collective societal attitude. This video features a Dutch boy praising his fathers through song and really is worth viewing. (Thank you to my lovely friend Frank who sent this to me, and who will one day make a most fantastic father himself.)



My kudos to Dutch television for broadcasting a very positive piece on same-sex parents from the perspective of a child, especially on a children's program! This is a huge step towards teaching children from a young age we should celebrate our differences by teaching through such a positive manner (I can only imagine what would happen if this was aired on American tv....)

Sadly, this climate of acceptance isn't universal. I'm reposting something Becca wrote about the institutionalisation of homophobia by the Polish government on a blog she contributes regularly to:

I was going to write a post about the upcoming local elections. They fall on my birthday, and as I’m an EU citizen registered to vote in Warsaw, I’m going to have to take time out of my partying and present opening to go and vote, but I don’t know who to vote for. I was going to ask for your help in choosing. First though, I need your help for something so much more important.

I came to Warsaw originally to take part in a European Voluntary Service project. This has now finished, and I’m running a second follow-up project, but a few days ago I received an email from a current EVS volunteer. She’s working with the Campaign Against Homophobia organisation, here in Warsaw, and the Ministry of Education seems to have decided to wage war on them.

I’d better give you a bit of background, or it’s not going to be clear how the ministry could have such an impact on a section of civil society. EU funds for EVS are managed by National Agencies for the Youth Programme in member countries. The Polish National Agency is governed by the Foundation of Educational Development, which was established by the Ministry of Education.

EVS projects have to be submitted to and approved by a committee in the National Agency. This brings us back round to the Campaign Against Homophobia, whose latest project was rejected on the following grounds:

[The] “majority of members of the Selection Committee stated that [the] project of [the] Campaign is against the policy of raising children and youth, which is implemented by the Ministry. The policy of [the] Ministry does not support actions that aim to propogate homosexual behaviour and such attitude[s] among young people. Also, the role of [the] Ministry is not to support cooperation of homosexual organisations.”

When I first read that my brain hissed and fizzed and then my head exploded. Oh sure, we all know this country’s administration is homophobic, but to have such a blatantly discriminatory statement from the Director of the Youth programme in Poland (a programme whose aims include giving young people “a better understanding of cultural diversity and the fight against any form of racism and xenophobia or discrimination”) is just very simply wrong.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski knows how to sweet talk the Brussels lot. “I ask you not to believe in the myth of Poland as an anti-semitic, homophobic and xenophobic country… People with such preferences have full rights in Poland, there is no tradition in Poland of persecuting such people.” You can ask me not to believe what you like Jarek, but when a ministry is persecuting organisations that are working against discrimination, I’m just not going to believe you.

The Ministry of Education is spitting out homophobic statements left right and centre, with absolutely no shame nor the slightest inkling that what it’s doing is wrong. A different LGBT project that was funded by the Youth Programme last year was considered a “depravation of young people” and it was said that “as this project was financially supported under the Ministry of Education, we seriously need to review the criteria of supported projects. […] The rules and priorities of the programme under which such projects get money, need to be changed in order to prevent such projects getting money in the future.”

These attitudes get me foaming at the mouth with rage, and when I hear Giertych and his cronies have got their way so far, and have managed to block projects that deal with homophobia from getting EU funding, even accusing organisations of fraud, when the project documents prove otherwise, I want to scream.

I’ve had enough and I hope you have too.

If you do one good deed this week, hell, this year, let it be this: write to someone.

The European Comission has a responsibility to stand up to member states that propogate such poisonous attitudes. Write to:
- Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
- Vladimir Spidla, Commissioner of Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
- Anyone you like at the Directorate General for Education and Culture

Your Member of the European Parliament has a responsibility to target discrimination, wherever it rears its ugly head and get the issue into the public sphere. Write to:
- your MEP

The National Agency has a responsibility to distribute EU funds according to the principles stated in the Youth Programme and the founding treaties of the EU. Education ministry bigots cannot be allowed to retain the power to pick and choose projects according to personal preferences. There are clear guidelines for EVS projects. If the requirements are met, they should be funded. Write to:
- the National Agency

We all have a responsibility not to sit back and watch as Poland sinks in a bog of ignorance and discrimination. Those of us who went on the equality parade have already showed solidarity with those people fighting discrimination. Don’t stop there, do more.

Then you can tell me which of the Warsaw candidates is the least homophobic, so I can go out and vote on Sunday.

More information here.

Hello from sunny Warwickshire.

I'm currently in England for the Vacances de la Toussaint (All-Saints Day). We get a week and a half off for Toussaint, which is pretty great since I only started my job a mere 3 weeks ago. I love France.

My journey from Commercy to London was relatively uneventful, spare two noteworthy situations that occured. One was the sounding of the 'International Incident Alarm' which went off right as I was about to make it past baggage claim in London. Instead, I found myself being ushered onto the tarmac while we waited out the alarm. This is the second time the very same thing has happened to me at a London airport upon arrival.

As for the second incident, I learned of it in retrospect. Now, I wouldn't classify myself as being the paranoid type, having travelled solo quite extensively. But taking the RER from Paris to the airport Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't help but feel like a bit of a target with my huge pack. Any hopes of looking like a local student en route home for the week were dashed by the conspicous Canadian flag patch affixed to my bag. I initially chalked my feelings of uneasiness down to me being overly self-conscious. However, reading the newspaper yesterday, I learned that this weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the deaths of Bouna Traore and Zyed Benna, which catalyzed the Race Riots in suburban Paris and later of all France.

According to this story on BBC News, on Thursday afternoon,

"Two armed men forced passengers from a bus in the northern Parisian suburb of Blanc Mesnil, before burning it."

Comforting news, as I actually passed through Blanc Mesnil on transit the day earlier. Maybe I'm not so paranoid after all....

My flat.

A lot of people have been asking me lately about where I live. Basically, because the French education system is super organized (no! I really mean that in this case!), they have staff-loging in nearly every town which is particularly useful when you live in a very small one and have limited accomodation options (i.e. camping in a tent). As you may have guessed, I live in a building for staff of the town lycee (high school, for the uninformed), but I teach at the primary level. They threw me into the mix just to keep things lively, I suppose. As the town lycee is the only one within a 40 km radius, many students whose homes are too far away to commute daily live at an internat (boarding quarters) which is directly adjacent to our building. This means that due to proximity, I am privy to the late-night sordid affairs of the hormonal 16-year-olds who hang out below my window, keeping me up with their late-night flirting. Hot.

Anyway, enough small talk. Here are the pictures I'm sure you're all itching to see:

My sweet (single) bed and chaise. After having a queen-sized bed in Toronto, this is quite a change. I've basically almost fallen out of it every night I've been here so far.

My 'kitchen'. Yes, it really is as small as it looks. I can proudly say that I have the smallest 'kitchen' my friend Laura has ever seen. It's better if you simply don't ask questions.

My sweet shower. Surprisingly not as bad as you may imagine. I can usually manage to wash for a solid 8 minutes before the basin at the bottom of the shower becomes threateningly close to spilling onto the floor.

And lastly, my unphenomenal view. I can actually see the town steeple-mit-clock from my window, but I didn't capture that here. Tant pis.

Commercy

Sorry for the delay, folks. Anyway, to translate an expression from French, I am now 'installed' in the charmingly provincial town of Commercy where I will be living for the next several months. Consisting of a mere 7000 inhabitants, Commercy's claim to fame extends far beyond the confines err, limits, of this modest country town. For this very town is credited with the creation of a biscuit of (inter)national notoriety, the 'Madeleine'.

Voici une boite des Madeleines de Commercy:

The story behind the biscuit is rather inconsequential, but should you be truly interested, you can watch a hilarious Flash presentation explaining its rise to fame here. Though completely irrelevant to the story itself, I enjoy how the artist decided to enhance the heroine's 'assets'.

The town has more to offer than delicious butter-infused biscuits alone. Last Sunday, I took advantage of the sunshine and went on a bike ride around the town and environs. Here is a photo of la Meuse, the region's namesake and the very river responsible for floods in neighbouring towns which trapped residents in their homes last week. It looks so peaceful, doesn't it? Deceiving...

And here's one of my beautiful bicycle, purchased on last week's visit to Bonn. Let it be known that finding an adult bicycle for someone around my height is no easy feat, particularly in Deutschland, where everyone is at least 6 feet tall.



Until the next time I can scam free wireless internet from some poor unsuspecting soul...

The road ahead...

I leave for France in just over a week. I can't remember the last time I've been this excited to go somewhere. Perhaps it's the opportunity to resume my life as an independent and semi-mature adult, or possibly, the appeal of moving to an unknown place and adding a new chapter in my life is the reason. While both of these are solid justifications, I think what's most exciting of all is the feeling that I don't have a set path ahead of me, but I know I'll have the best partner, no matter where I find myself. I love you, Edward.

Sacre bleu!

.... I'm moving to France!

Oh, and I lost everything on my MacBook due to a Hard Drive failure (manufacturer's defect - put that in your highly-produced commercials, Apple). Anyway, if you have been a supporting actor in the theatrical presentation otherwise known as my life over the past few years, and have any photos I may be interested in having once again, please let me know.

Happy Vancouver Pride Week 2006!

I'd never been to a single Pride event in my hometown (though I've been to several in other cities) until today when I attended the parade in Vancouver's West End with my mother and her friend, Manolis. I couldn't have asked for better weather or a more stunning setting to form the backdrop of the parade. You can see the creme de la creme of photos here. Bear in mind I'm short and I can only hold the camera so high.

In other news, I have procured a short-term job at the Head Office of a national company. I won't name them outright, but here's a hint if you are curious: the company I'm working for is a major sponsor of the 2010 Whistler Olympics. Any fantasies I've ever had regarding working a '9-5 job' have fully been realized with my appointment to the glamorous position of Mailroom Clerk. Seriously. I friggin' love the structure and micro-scale organization required to keep things in line, it's like an OC (obsessive compulsive) person's dream come true.

Happy (belated) Birthday!

Whose birthday, you ask? Well, it was my birthday this past Saturday and I had a fantastic day. It started with the indulgent breakfast at IHOP (International House of Pancakes for the uninitiated) with my friends Shannon and Sarah, where the convulsive laughing made it difficult to eat at times, and continued onto the waterslides, where I'd decided I most wanted to spend my day given the very hot weather we've been having. The waterpark was awesome, except for the nagging fear we all had that we'd get athlete's foot from walking around barefoot. To quote Sarah, "I want to pressure wash everything in this place". Quand meme, it was fun.

In the evening, my mom and I saw Measure for Measure at Bard on the Beach, a marvelous Shakespeare festival situated on the beach in Vanier Park, Vancouver. Perhaps the most captivating part of the entire Bard production (besides the excellent quality of acting) is the setting. The Mainstage tent is completely open behind the stage, so that the sunset over the Pacific ocean and Coast mountains forms the backdrop of the performance. I am one lucky girl to be able to call Vancouver home.

Having a summer birthday, I am privileged to have celebrated my birthday in various settings and even continents over the years. In fact, I don't think I've ever done the same thing two years in a row. While as a young child I lamented the timing of my birthday, one thing I *truly* realized this birthday is that it's not about how many people you spend the day with, how intoxicated you get, or where you are. What really matters most is who you share the day with. I think that's why this birthday was one of my happiest in memory. My only regrets are that I couldn't share with all the people I would have liked, but you were there in spirit.

P.S. When did I get this corny?

Weddings

I've put some photos from the final few days in Toronto up here if you are interested. They're from a bunch of different days so if you notice a lack of cohesive narrative in the series of pictures, that's because there isn't one. The jumbledness kind of reflects my state of mind during those final days. In other news, I am back 'home' in Vancouver. I put the word home in quotations because although I grew up here and my mother lives here, it doesn't quite feel like home after having lived on my own in a different province and even a different country for 5 years. I guess the saying 'You can never go home' becomes true once you've lived it. Nevertheless, I am having a great time being here. There are many wonderful things I forgot about here, including the mild climate. I do not envy those of you in Toronto and Western Europe who are subjected to temperatures in the mid 30s. Thank you proximity to the ocean!

Besides the weather, there are other things going on here, such as this month's theme: weddings. To begin, I went wedding dress shopping with Cassandra, my lifelong friend this past weekend. It was a successful day, as she found her dress! She looked beautiful; her tiny little waist lends itself very well to dresses. That aside, I really can't get over how opulent some of these wedding stores are... Personally, I find it to be overkill. To be fair, I have no personal investment in the spectacle of weddings as I am not getting married, but even so, I think anyone with any social conscience realizes they're rather ridiculous. Some of the dresses I saw cost over $5000, and I know that's pocket change compared to some of the higher end garments. Christ.

The weekend prior, I had the honour of attending a wedding for my friend Melanie. We both lived in Dunedin, NZ in 2003-2004, and she ended up meeting a fellow Canadian during our summer holidays up in the North Island. Long story short, she and Chris got married at a golf course at the foot of Burnaby Mountain. It may sound surprising to some to meet and fall inlove with someone of the same nationality while overseas, but it's actually fairly common given the mobility of young'uns these days. Then again, it's just as likely to meet someone of a different nationality while travelling and fall in love (i.e. my case), but I digress. Anyway, the wedding was great. Keeping with the New Zealand theme, they played the Lord of the Rings Soundtrack in the background before the wedding. The wedding favours were Douglas Fir saplings, which suited the couple who are outdoor enthusiasts perfectly. Here are a couple not-so-great photos from the wedding due to my poor camera skillZ:

And rounding out the wedding speak, my close friends Shannon and Greig , who have been dating for almost 10 years and are my age, are finally getting married. In their defense, we've been banking on them getting married for about 9 years, so they've done remarkably well in waiting so many years. While nothing is for certain, it looks like it may be a Destintion Wedding, with the destination being Jamaica! Bring it on, Ochos Rio, I want to meet Bob Marley's mom.

THANK YOU!

As of 9 pm EST last Thursday, I am finished university. There are no words to express my enthusiasm....

I want to send a huge thank-you to all the people who have supported me over the past 5 years and given me endless support, particularly my mother and my sister who have helped me to keep things in perspective, even when things seemed overwhelmingly difficult. Thank you to all the wonderful friends I've made over the years in Toronto, you will never, ever be forgotten. Thank you to the friends I've made on my exchange in New Zealand, my journey to the other side of the planet would not have been as joyous without you. And thank you to my friends here in Vancouver, who despite having seen me sporadically at best over the past few years, have welcomed be right back into their lives. And finally, an extra special gracias to Edward whose unfaltering love and support over the years has helped me to excel...

I also want to say merci bien to all those who came to visit me over the years in Toronto: Laura and Hamish (from New Zealand) Frank (from Norway), my mom, Leonard (from Va ncouver), Edward (from the homogenous nation of Europe), Muck (from England), Kat (from New Zealand) and Sara (from Vancouver), Becca and Marek (from Poland), and Penny and Gareth (from Belgium). My experiences in Toronto would not have been nearly as fun and memorable without your presence.

Once more, thank you!

New MacBook

I think the purchase of my new MacBook is summed up nicely in this photo taken with iSight:



Jealous? I think so.

The day after the worst week ever.

Now that I've found a pocket of time, I will briefly review what I've had to do this past week:

- Write two mid-terms for accelerated summer school courses

- MOVE! (No small feat)

- Work at my Legislative job
- Work at my Statistics Canada job
- And by no means an awful obligation, but Edd's parents arrived this week for their Canadian holiday as well...

Now, I'm the first to admit that I generally enjoy having a full schedule, though it certainly does have its drawbacks. I often joke that I may be a workaholic in training, but deep down I love the bragging rights working nearly full-time and attending school full-time affords me. But this week was simply overkill. Moving is in itself, a huge job. Now, factor in two mid-terms on the day before and the day after moving day (which of course, as anyone whose ever moved knows, turns into 'moving week'), on top of juggling my work situation... Oh, did I mention it was nearly 40 degrees Celsius the entire time we were moving, and then the moment we finished, it dropped to 25? Blah.

Thankfully, it's all over. Now it's just a matter of damage control, tidying this disaster of a room here in the old Anglican residence and trying to relax. Easier said than done....

Demenager

I won't bore you with the details of what I've been up to, as I don't have enough time to post it all today. Our lease in our current flat expires at the end of the month, and accordingly, I shall be residing in the only place that had any room left: an Anglican theology residence. Sweet. I'll try not to be blasphemous. Anyway, it will be for the full month of June, until I return to BC. Here is a viritual tour if you are so inclined.

Gah, Two mid-terms this week... Can you believe how accelerated summer school is?!

Bienvenue a Canada

Bonjuerno. Exams are finished and I am now waiting for final marks to roll in for all of my courses. I got one back, a personal best... but I fear it's too late for these types of grades to really impact my mediocre GPA... So much for post-graduate options.

On a less pesimistic note, Edd's sister Becca and her boyfriend Marek have been in town for the past week and a half. It has been so much fun to have them visiting, and it's made me appreciate Toronto from a different perspective, trying to remember how I felt the first time I visited this city. I'm certain Becca will post photos once she returns home so you can peep at them then should you wish.

We also had a very productive weekend. As Becca and Marek are currently trapezing around South-Western Ontario, Edd and I resigned ourselves to the umpteen tasks requiring our attention before our lease expires in 2.5 weeks. Realizing that there's no sense in shipping loads of unnecessary stuff back to BC at the end of the month, I blitzed through all of my clothing to decide what to get rid of (and I mean REALLY letting go of stuff I still really like but don't use often). I am quite proud of my discipline in parting with so much stuff since it's not an easy task, but even Edward the Frugal was inspirational in saying that I could always go shopping to replace the old stuff if I needed to (and so the cycle continues)...

Summer school starts tomorrow. I know some of you are thinking I've been in school forever and will I *ever* finish? The answer is you're right, it has been for.ev.er, but rest assured, I will be done at the end of June...

Cambridge-bound.

It's official. Rena was accepted into Cambridge for her PhD in Archealogy! Way to go, smartso! Since she is too modest to brag, I will gladly do it for her.... The family is rather proud of this one.

Saw Tristram Shandy with Edd last night, on the advice of Michelle. I didn't fully comprehend what I'd seen until I read a synopsis of the novel on which the film 'refers' to, but I fully enjoyed it nonetheless. Steve Coogan is now my newest crush, though I admit I am but a lowly North American unfamiliar with Alan Partridge and all that he represents to the Brits (although Edd would gladly tell me about it for hours given the opportunity). Here is a gratuitous photo of Steve Coogan:

And another, for good measure:


Dreamboat indeed!

And to make up for the poor Edd-mocking... Arrrrrrrrrrrsenallllllllllll!

Three guineas per week.

In true Murphy's Law style, just when you think things can't go worse, they do. Tuesday morning, as I was furiously attempting to complete an essay and prepare for an interview uptown, all before my 9-hour shift at work, the worst possible thing happened. I spilled an entire pint of water on the keyboard of my laptop. The good news is that the computer is still functional. But the bad news is that there are still some pretty signfiicant players on the keyboard, guys and girls like 'e', 'r', 's', 't', and sometimes 'y', who just don't seem to want to recover.

As a temporary solution, I have bought an external keyboard. It looks ridiculous attached to a laptop, but at least I can type! If things don't improve with the keys over time, I am going to have to bite the bullet and invest in a new computer. This isn't as tragic as it sounds, I've been wanting a new one for awhile as my current one is showing her age. My next 'puter will be an Apple, most likely an iBook. Being on a modest income of three guineas per week, I am waiting for the release of the iBooks with Intel, so I can profiteer by purchasing one of the old ones at a discount. The first person to see that they've started selling the new Intel iBooks and informs me by way of email will have my eternal gratitude.

In other news, it's exam season. First one isn't until the 27th, so it's been an effort to start studying early. Summer school begins mid-May and I will be taking one last course (ok, 2) to fulfill my requirements: Gender Issues in Religion (or as Amy called it "a course about how women are treated like crap"), and Children's Literature. I'm hoping the reading list for the latter is all stuff I've already read like Swift (one of my favorite authours of all time) and Munsch (not going to happen, but would be sweet).

Blah.

Arctic Contamination.

First off, I want to send my sister a huge congratulations for her acceptance into Oxford university! Rena, you make me proud to be your sister. More importantly, you've dispelled some of the rumours about 'Surrey girls', and for that feat, you deserve a medal. She/we are stil waiting to hear back from Cambridge before she makes any decisions. I will update you on this issue as it develops.

Right. Well, the past few weeks sans paid work have been a lovely respite. I beat Super Mario Bros. 2 for NES, which was a labour of love. Those 20 hours were well spent. I also squeaked out a bit of work and got several assignments. For some wacky reason, my grades this term have been rather good despite the lack of energy/planning that has gone into them. Sweet.

I have an essay due next week on any topic relating to Canadian Aboriginals and the Environment. I've chosen to focus on the impact of Environmental Contaminants on the health of the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. I actually wanted to write about the implications of Climate Change on the traditional lifestyles of the Inuit, but given the nature of C.C., there is very little empirical material to work with. I guess I sort of took the 'easier' route, but when faced with a 20 page essay and less than a week to do it, wouldn't you?

Anyway, I think what's particularly interesting about the impacts of Environmental Contaminants on the Inuit (and perhaps I'm alone on this) is that these toxic pollutants which have accumulated are *not* in any way the product of careless behaviour of the Indigenous communities who inhabit these Northern areas. They are almost exclusively created in areas of temperate and tropical climates and are transported long-distance via air currents.

In simple terms, these pollutants are generated by people who are fortunate to reap the benefits of the activities that produce these toxins (industrial activity) with the majority of the environmental consequences affecting people 5,000 kms away. This is just another example of how Indigenous people/people of colour are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation. When I was in New Zealand, I read an interesting study about how the most disadvantaged people in a society tend to suffer the highest health impacts stemming from environmnetal issues, as they are often marginialized onto undesirable and thus cheap lands, which are often near landfills, heavy industry etc. I had never really considered this until then, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about these findings since. It's yet another example of how pervasive systemic discrimination is in the Western world....

Les choses

Voyons donc. Another slew of assignments complete and my Research Project has thankfully come to an end. The L.A. are also on another one of their infamous breaks so I now find myself with more free time than I know what do to with. My goal in the next few weeks is to actually get ahead on upcoming assignments, like normal people usually do. Perhaps my most self-aggravating trait is that I am by all accounts, a last-minute, down-to-the-wire kind of person when it comes to completing tasks which is not only stressful for me, but those in proximity. But to give credit where credit is do, I have not had to pull a single-all or excessively late-nighter this year and my grades aren't terrible (by my standards).

Only a few more weeks left of this term. Sadly, I must do another course in the May/June semester as I ended up dropping a course earlier this year due to my head nearing explosion from stress. My contract at work goes until the same time though, so it works out well. The only problem is the lease on our apartment is up at the end of May, so I have to figure out where to live for June. Any suggestions? Should be warm enough just to join the thousands of homeless people in Toronto and sleep on the street.

But for you B.C. people, I am planning to return around the end of June to disturb your normal routines. As you all know just how much I love Surrey, I'm going to be counting on you to keep my sanity!

London, Ontario

Last weekend, I accompanied Edward to London to visit some of his lovely extended family. Now, I was a wee bit hesitant to agree to go, not because I thought his relatives would be anything less than welcoming, but rather because I have a lot of school/project wrap-up work to tackle. But as soon as we arrived, all these thoughts fled from my head. Everyone was so enthusiastic and friendly, despite the bad weather and prevalence of winter-related aliments. Edd's second cousins, Sam and Matthew provided plenty of entertainment when we stayed at their lovely country home (yes, it's their house rather than their parents). We also went tubing at a nearby hill which was a lot of fun. I really miss interacting with the 'natural' environment; being constantly surrounded by so many human-made structures downtown and so little greenery is starting to really get to me, thus I was thrilled to escape it for a brief 2 days.

Anyway, here is Matthew lounging in a toy chest:




And Sam modeling his ultra-cool car:




Anyway, it's now the following weekend, and Leonard is here visiting so I am going to stop ignoring him now.

Les photos

I finally caved and got a Flickr Pro Account. Photos from the Festivus party last weekend are up here, as well as some other recent ones.

Today at work there is going to be a vote that will determine if all essential services run by municipalities in the province of Ontario will go on an illegal strike. Good times.