Thank You!

To each and every one of you who reads this message, I want to thank you for your interest and indulgence in the recorded thoughts found herein. You probably already know that I am passionate about several things. 

I am passionate about teaching children. I am grateful to have an interesting and enjoyable job that allows me that opportunity.

Reading and writing are favourite pastimes because the process give me peace and joy.  I am thankful for my primary and secondary education which formed the foundation for lifetime learning. 

I love to move- whether it be hiking or swimming or dancing, and more recently moving weights at the gym. And again, I am thankful for the physical ability to move. 

This past two weeks has been a time to take a break from the daily teaching, to focus more on the other two passions, and to discover some other things I really enjoy doing, like:

• drinking lattes in cosy cafes
• eating croissants
• tasting chocolate
• being a "sous chef" in the kitchen (my husband is the "chef"!)
• watching snow fall
• watching old movies
• taking pictures
• walking in the snow
• learning new technologies (iPad!) by reading the instructions and trying it out
• spending time with my life partner
• afternoon napping
• watching Romanian television
• keeping in contact with friends and family

But now the time has come to pack up and head back to the warmer climate of Kuwait. The suitcase is ready and the items waiting patiently to be placed carefully inside. My heart is sad because its over but my mind is looking forward to what is next.

Time to get packing, but first I think I will surf the channels on the television. Maybe there is an old movie with Romanian subtitles!

Until next time, 

Bee Rich 

Once Upon a Wintery Day

After a very warm and sunny Christmas Day, which fell in between rainy days. the snow has arrived! The weather outside is a little frightful. Snow is falling, wind is blowing, snow plows are out and about at 4 a.m. and the online Weather Network says it's -1 degree Celsius. The days are shorter here and a 6 a.m. it is still very dark outside.

The view out the balcony this morning- Let it Snow!

My daughter has to work today but my husband and I are taking advantage of a snow day near the end of our Christmas holiday in Romania. Thinking about it, everyday here has seemed like a snow day, just without the white stuff!

We have shopped and baked and ate. We have gone out for coffee and breakfast and dinner. We have put up the tree, decorated the tree, enjoyed the tree, un-decorated the tree and taken down the tree. The Christmas decorations are now safely stowed away for Christmas 2015. Our daughter called the landlord yesterday to find out where to place the un-decorated tree, only to discover that traditionally Romanians leave the tree up until the week after New Years Day.  Oops!

The Decorated Tree

Perfect!

The Un-Decorated Tree

While this tree remained full and delightful for the 5 or 6 days it was standing in the living room, across the globe in Ontario another tree in our family did not fair so well. Our daughter-in-law had been complaining about the number of needles their tree, cut fresh on December 6, had lost. We did not believe the extent of the problem until we saw this picture of their tree on taken December 26...

Meanwhile in Canada- this is what happens when you hit the tree with a broom!

Apparently this was not the only tree it their area to lose all of the needles.  So I contacted a wise friend of the family who lives in Ontario and this was his recommendation for a green tree:

"Yo

I recommend a Fraser Fir, great tree, specially developed for the Xmas tree market, amazing needle holding characteristics, we have had ours up since Dec 5th, not a needle has fallen off. Very full foliage, trimmed to a nice tapering pyramid.   I put it out near the bird feeder and it keeps fresh and green the rest of the winter..... a little more expensive, $60 for a 8 foot tree at a local "cut your own". 

so there you go

Happy New Year"

Wise advice from BT.  Thank you!

The rest of our days on holidays were spent keeping up with the hockey scores, speaking to family members on Skype, playing games like Carom, Canada-opoly, Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase, going for long walks along the streets and in the parks of Bucharest, eating leftover turkey and apple pie and drinking Starbucks 2014 Christmas Blend coffee. All in all, it has been a very lovely time and I will be quite sad to leave on December 31. 

However, we do have two full days left in Romania and a list of things to do...take pictures/videos of the street decorations, shop for groceries and find a local swimming pool for our daughter, look for souvenirs and a suitable something for our daughter. We know it hasn't been easy for her hosting us here while she has continued to work, and we are so thankful for her and to her for her generous hospitality. 

No promises, but I am hoping that we will all be together next Christmas in Canada so as to include our number one son, daughter-in-law, grandson, granddaughter and our siblings. 

Until next time, 

Bee Rich

Carom- a game from India

Christmas - All Year Long

Christmas Day is over for another year. Here it is December 26 and all is calm. Our daughter has had to go back to work. After a brisk walk along the very quiet streets of Bucharest my husband has gone to have a post Christmas nap. I am feeling warm and very fortunate.

Christmas Day is one of my favourite days of the entire year. A time to visit family, give gifts, eat rich food, play board games and generally enjoy the company of those we love. This year was no exception!  Not only did we spend the day at our daughter's apartment in Bucharest, we were able to Skype (face to face) with our son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. We also spoke with my husband's sisters and brother in Canada. Today I hope to contact my brother and sisters in Ottawa, Florida and Toronto.

Helen Steiner Rice's quotation got me thinking about the possibility of living Christmas every day. It also made me wonder about the person who wrote such inspiring messages. Helen Steiner Rice was an American, born in 1900 and known as America's inspirational poet laureate.  "Her books of inspirational poetry have now sold nearly seven million copies. Her strong religious faith and the ability she had to express deep emotion gave her poems timeless appeal" (Wikipedia).

Reading further about this remarkable woman brought me to her personal ten commandments for living:

1. Be happy
2. Use your talents to make others glad. 
3. Rise above defeat and trouble. 
4. Look upon each day as a new day. 

5. Do not waste time and energy in useless worry.
6. Always do your best and leave the rest to God.
7. Look and the bright side of life.
8. Do not be afraid of tomorrow.
9. Have a kind word and a kind deed for everyone.

10. Say each morning "I am a child of God and nothing can hurt me." 

http://www.helensteinerrice.com/foundation.html

Prior to her death in 1981 Helen Steiner Rice established a foundation, a non-profit corporation, whose purpose is to award grants to programs that assist the needy and the elderly. Not only did this woman overcome the early death of her father and her husband, she went on to give back to her community after her passing.

And yes there are millions of people who are much like her- caring, thoughtful, optimistic, spiritual- who live Christmas every day...a worthy goal for the upcoming years.

Until next time,


Bee Rich


PS  Apparently Charles Dickens felt the same way...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You-Our Christmas Letter

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful.

-Norman Vincent Peale

The Mika, enjoying a little Christmas LOVE!

December 24, 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

I have never left our annual Christmas letter to this late in the year, except when we were teaching overseas and did not sent letters at all, until July! However, judging by the number of Christmas letters we have received via email this year, I have decided to write and let you know that we are indeed, thinking of you at this time of the year!

One of my favourite Christmas songs is called Christmas is a time to LOVE. It goes like this:

Christmas is a time,

Christmas is a time,

Christmas is a time to LOVE

Christmas is a time,

Christmas is a time,

Christmas is a time to LOVE

We often start to worry and people get upset

When things don’t go just right on Christmas Day

What we should remember in all the push and shove

Is Christmas is a time to LOVE.

The year 2014 has been eventful with the loss of one job and the beginning of another.  I am presently teaching in Kuwait, a country in the Middle East, at a school that values bilingualism and the teachings of the Quran. The children are respectful and loving.  The teachers are warm and caring.  I have two grade two classes (two of eight grade two classes). The children range in age from 6 through 8 years and keep me very busy during the week. I have to say that I LOVE my job!  Hopefully I will be here for another year after this one.

Clarke is now “visiting” me in Kuwait.  He arrived in early November and will depart in early March.  It works well for him as he has had enough teaching in his lifetime and not yet enough fishing.  The difference now is that Sara’s dog, Mika, a miniature schnauzer, is also living with us.  She keeps Clarke occupied during the day with three long walks and good English speaking company.  Clarke is also tutoring on the side, evenings and weekends, which keeps him out of trouble.

Nathan and Talia are living in Cambridge, Ontario, with there their two little ones, MacArthur (Mac) and Everly (Evie or Ev).  Both are teaching Mathematics full time at schools in Cambridge. I am missing them like crazy this year. We look forward to travelling with them next summer.

Nate, Tal, Mac, Evie

Sara is presently working in Romania (since March 2014) as a Field Service Manager with her company. Both Clarke and I visited her earlier this year at separate times. She remains very busy with work and is still playing host to us during the Christmas holidays. Two years ago we spent Christmas with her in Aberdeen, Scotland. This year it is in Bucharest.  So far it is green but we are hoping for a little white by December 25.

Sara trimming the tree!

One of the highlights for this year was the celebration of our 35^th wedding anniversary at the local community hall which brought together many family members and friends. Clarke and I enjoyed a trip to Vancouver followed by an Alaskan cruise up the inside channel. Our first stop was in Ketchikan where we were reacquainted with one of my American first cousins and his wife. Needless to say trip was a once in a lifetime experience! 

Cousin Greg in Ketchikan

This is the time of year when we traditionally pause to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We carry our traditions with us from year to year, remembering Christmases past and hoping for peace in the future. This year is no exception as we are presently spending the Christmas holidays in Bucharest with our daughter.  The baking is done, the gifts are almost all wrapped and the turkey is in the refrigerator.  We are truly blessed.

We would like to wish you and your family the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years in 2015 and thank you for keeping in touch!

Sending you love, peace and hope

Barb, Clarke and Mika

(aka Bee Rich)

Sara's Romanian Christmas Tree 

                                                

Oh Christmas Tree

Santa's Spot at the Mall, early morning

And we are back!  Back to the blog and back at the apartment after a morning of shopping for groceries for Christmas dinner, a Christmas tree stand and stuff for stockings.  We left our daughter's apartment without proper change for a taxi so we had to purchase a shot of espresso on the way to the taxi stand. Every taxi driver in Bucharest knows where the location of the closest Carrefour so we had no problem arriving there by the 8:00 a.m. opening.

We looked around and smiled at each other knowing that there were very few people shopping at this early hour. Indeed, it was still dark outside! My husband and I usually have a list and this time was no exception. Many things were easy to find, like hamburger meet, a turkey, milk, etc. However because we don't speak or read much Romanian we found ourselves stumped more than a few times.

We needed baking powder and baking soda for Ma's date cookies. We found tiny packets of various powders and even picked out one. We will know on baking day (tomorrow) if we were successful. Otherwise the cookies will not rise. Worse things could happen.

It was also tricky to find cream for the pumpkin pie and clam chowder for Christmas Eve. We discovered, with assistance from three non-English speaking store clerks that there was an aisle for milk (0.5%, 3.5%) and also another aisle of 5%, 10%, 15%, 35% cream. Everyone celebrated when at last the correct fatness was found.

My traditional winter Waldorf salad calls for celery. After travelling up and down the veggie aisle and realizing there was none to be had, we  figured that cucumbers might work instead. We found no fresh cranberries nor canned cranberries but were directed to the dried cranberry section. Hopefully they can be reconstituted for cranberry sauce.

For dessert, we traditionally have pumpkin and apple pies. Searching far and wide for pie plates was an interesting endeavour. We finally found two glass dishes that will have to do!

So then I am asking myself, just what do Romanians serve for Christmas dinner? Do they eat turkey and all the fixings or what?

Answers in Yahoo yielded this result:

Romanian Christmas

Christmas is a very important holiday for Christians: it is the celebration of Jesus’s birth, a time of joy, peace and quietness of the soul. It’s a time when we heartily get and give much love. One can notice this in the excitement of the people preparing for this holiday.

During 40 days before this holiday Christians respect the Advent when they do not eat meat or dairy products thus preparing for the great celebration.

The cutting of the pig is an extremely important moment anticipating the Christmas. Then, the preparation of foods takes the dimension of an ancient ritual. The traditional foods: sausages, “chişca”, mosaic salame, meat jelly, “sarmale” (traditional Romanian dish made of mincemeat rolled in cabbage or vine leaves), pork steak, “jufla” and the unfailing sponge cake will be present at the Christmas dinner joining the red wine enjoyed by everybody.

One of the most important moments of the 24th December evening is to decorate the Christmas tree when all the members of the family are usually present. During the night, Father Christmas will slide through the chimney and leave gifts for everybody in stockings or under the tree. If we look up in the sky we may see Father Christmas passing in his sledge drawn by eight reindeer.

Source:

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas to you!!!

Ah! So that reminded me of an event we witnessed the other day...a very large pig was delivered to the next door neighbours. It was carried into the house by four strong men. Later that day we walked by the home and heard sawing noises.

So the pig is ready but how do we get it into the house?

Our final purchase of the day was a Christmas tree stand. This proved to be a bit more difficult. The one we bought yesterday just wasn't going to work.  With no screws or tie-downs the tree just flopped on to the floor. We had seen a better one at Carrefour so returned the original one and then realized that they were sold out of the premium tree stand. So we started asking for assistance from the Christmas tree sales people, found all along the streets of Bucharest.

Finally someone suggested that we go to a Home Depot like store just across the parking lot. And sure enough we got the perfect Christmas tree stand.  So now the tree is up and just waiting for our daughter to come home and start the decorating.

Still a few days early to trim a tree in Romania!

Our trip home from the market was uneventful. The taxi drivers here are very courteous and helpful and the groceries filled the cupboards and refrigerator. Tomorrow will be baking day in my daughter's kitchen. Anticipation is making us wait!

Until next time,


Bee Rich
  

Christmas Preparations!

After a busy few months at a new school we are officially on holidays for the next two weeks. In the part of the world where I am presently teaching, Christmas is not celebrated; in fact, it is not even mentioned in the classroom.  Every once in a while I caught myself saying "After the Christmas...er, I mean after the winter holidays..."

There was no Christmas staff or student parties, no Christmas gifts, no Christmas concert, no Christmas music, with the exception of a celebration of Beethoven's birthday with the song Bells Are Ringing:

Bells are ringing,

Hearts are singing

Hymns of love and life worthwhile.

Bells are ringing,

Hearts are singing

Hymns of love and life worthwhile.

All mankind with on great mind 

Join in song of hope and praise

Candlelight's a joyful sight

With singers marching down the aisle

It was moving to hear 480 primary students singing this song in unison on Wednesday morning this past week.

Ding dong merrily on high; in Heaven the bells are ringing!

Thursday was Crazy Socks day- really a half-day at school with the students dismissed at noon and the teachers released at 12:30 pm. There was time to go home, go to the bank, pack for Friday's trip to Romania and then head to bed early (6 pm).

Thanks to Em, I had these beauties to wear!

The taxi picked us up at 2 am for a ride to the airport. Flights were all on time and we arrived in Bucharest, Romania shortly after noon.  After passing through passport control and customs, we were greeted with Coca-Cola elves dressed in red and white furry mini-skirts passing out free bottles of Coke while waiting for the luggage.

The label turned in to a bow!  Merry Christmas from Coke!

A driver picked us up from the airport and we were whisked away to our daughter's apartment. It was a lovely way to spend a Friday! Early Christmas presents were opened while we caught up on what's been happening at work in our lives.

Since our arrival we have taken several walks around the area, eaten Romanian food at several restaurants, shopped at two or three malls in Bucharest and attended the Christmas Market in downtown. There we heard choirs singing carols in Romanian and English, saw Santa Claus and ate more Romanian food.

The highlight so far was a walk to a local market where we asked about Christmas trees and were sold what we thought was their last tree. After the purchase we negotiated a ride back to our daughter's apartment in the vendor's small truck. The sputtering noises made by said truck had us wondering if we were actually going to arrive in one piece. Happily we are here to tell you that
the tree will be a beautiful one once we get it set upright and decorated.

Star in the middle of the street in Bucharest- Star of Wonder, Star of Night

So far, so good!  We still have many things to do in preparation for the arrival of Santa, but we are quite pleased with the progress so far. Can't wait to bake cookies and pies over the next few days as well as decorate the tree, wrap the gifts, write a Christmas 2014 letter, etc.

Today is Sunday already. We tried to shop at Carrefour but the store was so crowded we returned the few items to the shelves and came back to the apartment. Tomorrow morning we will start with an early trip to the market to purchase Christmas goodies required for the celebration.

Hope to write more soon!

Until then,

Bee Rich  

Happy Birthday to the Guy Who Changed A Life!

It was 34 years ago today, a Sunday morning on December 7, when my life changed forever!  That was the day I became a parent. And I was terrified! I knew little about babies and less about being a mother. Fortunately I had some experienced people to help me along the way. Although the learning curve was a steep one I discovered that being a mom was a pretty nice opportunity to contribute to the world's population.

I remember a friend saying, "We have come to welcome a new citizen."  I remember the cards, good wishes and the five day hospital stay (my, how times have changed!) I remember my own mother being at home that first week while my husband went off to work.  Her advice,"No matter what you do or you don't do, he will grow up."  And sure enough, he did.

We didn't always get along.  I remember age 11 as being a terribly trying time for both of us, and yet, somehow we managed to grow and change. He has become a man, a loving husband and a gentle father to two young children. I have become a grandma who is married to a grandpa!

For this son I am truly thankful.  I am proud of the choices he has made, particularly in the marriage department- his wife is a gift to our family. I am proud that he chose teaching as a career and daily passes on mathematical knowledge and skills to the students in his classes. I am sure they also benefit from his sense of humour and caring nature.

I wish I could be at home in Canada to bake a cake and to sing a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". However, since that is not possible, let me finish this post with the best part- the icing on the cake and the candles, which symbolize hope for another year of health and happiness.

Happy Birthday, Nate!  I think you are pretty great!

Until next time,

Mom  xoxoxoox

a.k.a. Bee Rich

Happy 34th B-day to my Wonderful Son!