Tim's Birthday

Simon, Laureen, Max, Tim ready for dinner and a movie

This past weekend we celebrated Tim's birthday. It was a quiet affair and similar to our weekly Friday night movie with Laureen. We started inviting Laureen to join us for a movie and supper on Fridays. It is fun for us and a "cultural experience" for her -- given that our tastes in movies are drastically different from her normal. For Tim's birthday we had take-out Indian food from our favourite Tandoor Restaurant. Our movie was the second Indiana Jones movie (we are doing all of them this month).

Tim's birthday gift was a new BBQ. We were given a second hand BBQ when we moved to Doha and it has served us well this past year. But now that only half of it works, we thought it time for an upgrade. Tim's challenge was to put it together and get it functioning for a gathering we were hosting on Saturday night. He succeeded with the assembly and then filled up the propane tank. To fill the tank cost exactly 8 Qatari Riyals (about $2). Tim thought the man said 80 riyals because $20 would be closer to what we are used to paying. But no, it was just 8 riyals!

Lisa's new wheels

Since starting work at University of Calgary - Qatar, Lisa has been renting a small car to carry her back and forth to work.  For awhile it was a Hyundai Accent and most recently the Kia Rio. This has mostly worked out well. Last week another Canadian put her vehicle for sale in preparation for returning to Ontario in December. For less than the cost of renting Lisa now owns a 2008 Honda Jazz in great condition with just 42,000km.  The Jazz is the same as the Honda Fit in Canada.

And the Jazz is much more "zippy" on the roads -- great for getting in and out of busy round-abouts. In fact, it is so zippy that Lisa got stopped for speeding yesterday -- the first time in her life. And it was on the compound! She was clocked going 33 km/h in a 20 zone. It sure didn't feel that fast......

Swimming in Egypt

Final instructions before the first event

Max and Simon swim on the Qatar Academy Swim Team. Three times a week they are trained by a coach that we all appreciate. Coach Jemma swam competitively for the UK National Swim Team and she is a gifted teacher. Both boys have flourished under her coaching style. Max is also the team captain this year.

Simon competing in 200m Individual Medly

Simon getting tips from his Coach

This past weekend we traveled to Cairo for an International Swim Meet. The QA team of 20 students is young and early on in their training. The program at QA is only 3 years old and the oldest students are in Grade 9. It is hard to attract older students because their time commitment with the IB program makes extra curricular activites difficult to squeeze in.

But despite their lack of experience, the QA Swim Team performed very well! They brought home 53 medals in total!

Max on the starting block for 50m backstroke

Max and his 200m Freestyle Relay Team

Max and Simon each earned 6 medals: a variety of gold, silver, bronze, in both individual and team events. It was such fun to watch and cheer them on. Even though Simon says "we can't hear you cheering mom" it still feels like we make a difference from the sidelines.  Tim went on the trip as a chaperone along with two other coaches. He helps coach the Swim team one day a week. Lisa was able to go because her teaching commitments at the University of Calgary are minimal for these few weeks before Christmas. It was a great time to be together as a family.

Max with members of the Swim team

One of the concerns about this swim meet was, of course, the location. The organizers of the meet said that due to political unrest their school teams have not hosted a competition in any sport for more than 3 years. We saw no protests or cause for worry. We did not go see the pyramids, nor did we venture far from the hotel or the pool. But on our return to Doha we did hear about a group of 10,000 protesters that created a riot while we were there. Thankfully that was news to us!

Coach Jemma surrounded by her team

China Adventure Day 6

Today we spent looking for souvenirs and seeing last minute sights of Shenyang. It was a cool day but sunny so we did not mind walking. During this visit we have seen many different types of shopping. Very "Chinesey" types of shopping.

Lisa was thrilled to buy a piece of fabric with Chinese characters and stamps on it. We had it made into a tablecloth while we waited. Each little booth had a Singer sewing machine -- treadle type! --   and a man or woman stitching fabric for customers.

 

We took a lunch break at a small restaurant that is known to the locals for its Wonton Soup. Delicious!

We ended the day with a celebration of Tricia's 50th Birthday! More friends gathering around a lazy susan for authentic Chinese food. 

The difference this time was that there was no menu. The person ordering the meal walks around a large room where samples are on display. A hostess walks with you to explain the dishes (a very necessary part of the process) and then enters the order into a phone device for the kitchen. Minutes later the food arrives in your room.

A Chinese birthday tradition is that at the end of your meal the birthday person receives a bowl of noodle -- one great long noodle! He or she slurps as much of the noodle as they can and this is a predictor of how long their life will be.

China Adventure Day 5

Today we traveled three hours south to visit the Great Wall of China. This was a remarkable adventure! The Great Wall was built over several centuries and in several different parts of the country. It was meant as a defense against enemies. The part of the Wall that we visited was built in the 1400s by the Ming Dynasty, near the city of Dandong on the border between China and North Korea.

It was a surprise to us that you can walk on top of the wall -- it is tall and long and wide. The Watch Towers are located every 200 meters. The wall follows the ridge of the mountain so we had a beautiful view of both sides. It is also a good hike to climb the height of the wall -- very steep steps to get up the side of the mountain and onto the wall.

There is a river that separates China from North Korea. Behind us you can see a bridge that goes between the two countries. There is also a Broken Bridge running parallel to the good bridge. It is left there as a reminder of the USA Aggression against North Korea. When China was asked to help North Korea, the Americans destroyed the bridge to prevent easy assistance.

The boys are getting good lessons in history and international relations!